The Facts on File Dictionary of Allusions - Green Valley High School

was Narcissism in him to love the city so well; he
saw his refl ection in it; and, like it, he was grimy,
big, careless, rich, strong, and unquenchably optimistic”
(Booth Tarkington, <strong>The</strong> Turmoil, 1915). See
also echo.
Narnia (nahrneeb) A beguiling but also menacing
fantasy world peopled by witches and creatures
from folklore and mythology. Narnia, ruled
over by the benefi cent Christlike lion Aslan (when
not deposed), was the creation of British novelist
C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), providing the setting
for seven books beginning with <strong>The</strong> Lion, the Witch
and the Wardrobe (1950). Lewis gave no par tic u lar
reason for choosing this name for his imaginary
land, beyond liking the sound, although he may have
been infl uenced by various Roman towns bearing
the name. This is no Narnia to be reached through the
back of a wardrobe but a reality that must be faced.
narrow way See straight and narrow.
nasty, brutish, and short Referring to the brevity
and essential unpleasantness of life. This pessimistic
view of human existence was fi rst voiced by the
En glish writer Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) in
his book Leviathan (1651): “No arts; no letters; no
society; and which is worst of all, continual fear
and danger of violent death; and the life of man,
solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” His career
in national politics proved nasty, brutish, and short. See
also hobbesian.
Nathan See ewe lamb.
Nation, Carry See carry nation.
nation of shop keep ers <strong>The</strong> British. It was the
French emperor napoleon who thus famously
Nazareth, good thing come out of
dismissed the nation of his enemies, the British,
scorning their commercial preoccupations in comparison
with the military glories of France. This
was not, however, his own conception, as he knew
it already from Adam Smith’s <strong>The</strong> Wealth of Nations
(1776): “To found a great empire for the sole purpose
of raising up a people of customers, may at
fi rst sight appear a project fi t only for a nation of
shop keep ers.” “To sum up: in a time of unpre cedented
expansion of world trade Britain, the
nation of shop keep ers, paid itself higher wages for
producing very little more, while putting up its
prices much faster than its competitors” (Peter
Lewis, <strong>The</strong> Fifties: Portrait of a Period, 1989).
Nativity, the <strong>The</strong> birth of Jesus Christ (Matthew
1:18–2:12; Luke 2:1–40); commemorations of
this event held during the Christmas period. <strong>The</strong>
original Cave of the Nativity, where Christ is
thought to have been born (although there is no
defi nite suggestion in the Bible that the birth took
place in a cave), is traditionally located under the
chancel of the basilica of the Church of the Nativity
in Bethlehem. “Attached to the bolster by a
towel, under his father’s bayonet and the oleograph
depicting the Nativity, sat the baby” ( John
Galsworthy, <strong>The</strong> Forsyte Saga, 1922).
Nazarene (nazbreen) Someone who comes from
the town of Nazareth in Israel. <strong>The</strong> term is usually
reserved for Christ, who spent his childhood there
(Matthew 2:23). “ ‘Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid,’ said the Nazarene. Clare
chimed in cordially; but his heart was troubled all
the same” (Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles,
1891).
Nazareth, good thing come out of See good
thing come out of nazareth.
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