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

that are not meant to be taken literally, a reference
to Mr. Pickwick’s teasing way of phrasing a
compliment in the form of insult in the fi rst chapter
of the book. His name may also be applied to
anyone who is similar in appearance to Dickens’s
character, who is described as short, rotund, and
bespectacled. He had a truly Pickwickian sense of
humor and loved a good practical joke. See also sam
weller.
piece of paper An agreement that is not worth
the paper it is written on. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the
Munich Agreement made between British prime
minister Neville Chamberlain and Nazi Germany’s
leader Adolf hitler in Munich on September 30,
1938 (see peace in our time). When Chamberlain
arrived back in Britain he waved a piece of paper
at the waiting crowds after emerging from his aircraft.
Many believed that this precious agreement
would ensure lasting peace in Eu rope; when war
broke out the following year, however, Chamberlain’s
treaty was revealed to be worthless. Hitler
himself had a low opinion of Chamberlain and
after the agreement was signed is said to have told
an aide: “If ever that silly old man comes interfering
here again with his umbrella, I’ll kick him
downstairs and jump on his stomach in front of
the photographers.” That contract is just a piece of
paper that will change nothing.
pied piper A person who entices others with
delusive promises. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to a German
folktale of the 15th century or earlier that provided
the basis for the poem “<strong>The</strong> Pied Piper of
Hamelin” (1842) by the British poet Robert
Browning (1812–89). Browning’s poem describes
how the rat- infested town of Hamelin in Westphalia
is cleared of its thousands of rats by the
curiously- dressed Pied Piper, whose pipe charms
all living things into following it. Having led the
town’s rats to the river to drown, the Pied Piper
demands payment; when this is refused he leads all
the town’s children, except one crippled child,
away from the town and into a hillside, never to be
seen again. It has been suggested that the original
folktale, which purported to describe events in
Hamelin in 1284, was inspired by the Children’s
Crusade of 1212, which saw thousands of French
and German children join an ill- fated crusade to
take back the Holy Land from the Muslims. “Some
fall in behind her, and follow her to the lecture
theatre, so that she appears to be leading a little
pro cession, a female Pied Piper” (David Lodge,
Nice Work, 1988).
Pierian spring (piereebn) Inspiration or learning.
According to Greek mythology the Pierian
spring lay on the slopes of Mount Olympus and
was sacred to the muses. It was said that anyone
who drank from the spring would enjoy wisdom or
inspiration. “A little learning is a dangerous thing;
/ Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring”
(Alexander Pope, Essay on Criticism, 1711).
pigmy See pygmy.
Pilate’s wife (pilbtz) A person who claims to
have learned something important from a dream.
In the New Testament the wife of pontius pilate
discussed with her husband a distressing dream
she had just had, warning him that he should avoid
any involvement with the trial of Christ, who was
about to be brought before his court: “Have thou
nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered
many things this day in a dream because of
him” (Matthew 27:19). Like Pilate’s wife, she urged
him not to take this journey. She had dreamed that he
lay in a white coffi n.
Pilate’s wife
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