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

Raffl es
394
to think, favours could be done for the right person”
(Karl Miller, Authors, 1989).
Raffl es (rafblz) A gentleman thief. <strong>The</strong> reference
is to the central character in the Raffl es stories of E.
W. Hornung (1866–1921). Introduced in <strong>The</strong> Amateur
Cracksman (1899), A. J. Raffl es is a dashing
En glish gentleman and sportsman with a sideline in
burglary (usually from unappealing rich victims),
who commits his crimes as much for the challenge
they present as for any pecuniary interest. He shared
his name with the historical Sir Ernest Stamford
Raffl es (1781–1826), who founded the celebrated
Raffl es Hotel in Singapore. He clearly thought of himself
as some sort of modern Raffl es, but his shareholders
now realized he was just a common thief.
raft of the Medusa (mbdoosb) A harrowing
scene of human suffering, typically one depicting
survivors from a shipwreck. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to a
painting of the same title by the French artist
Théodore Géricault (1791–1824), in which he
depicted a group of stricken survivors on board a
raft from the Medusa, a French naval frigate bound
for Senegal in 1816. <strong>The</strong> vessel found ered on reefs
off the coast of Africa, and the offi cers set 154 of
their men adrift on a raft. Just 15 of them managed
to survive, allegedly resorting to cannibalism
before being rescued. Géricault’s painting
attracted notoriety for its unromantic realistic
depiction of the raft and its occupants after 13
days at sea. By the time they managed to get the yacht
and its occupants back to harbor it looked like the raft of
the Medusa.
Ragnarok (ragnbrok) A cataclysmic struggle
resulting in universal disaster. In Norse mythology
the world will end in a climactic battle between
the good and evil gods. <strong>The</strong> impact of the two armies
was so titanic it seemed for a moment he was witnessing
the fi ghting of some Ragnarok in which all creation
would be destroyed. See also götterdämmerung.
rainbow See end of the rainbow.
rain check <strong>The</strong> postponement of something. <strong>The</strong>
term comes from baseball, which, being an outdoor
game, is sometimes postponed due to bad
weather; spectators who have bought tickets can
use the counterfoil or a receipt to attend a later
game without having to pay again. <strong>The</strong> phrase has
since been applied to many other kinds of sport
and entertainment and beyond that in many other
contexts, often in the form take a rain check,
used in polite response to an invitation made at an
incon ve nient time. I’m afraid I’ll have to take a rain
check on your invitation as I have to get home before the
children go to bed.
rain falls on the just and the unjust, the Some
things affect the good and the bad regardless of
their virtues or lack of them. <strong>The</strong> phrase comes
from Christ’s Sermon on the Mount: “That ye may
be the children of your Father which is in heaven:
for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the
good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the
unjust” (Matthew 5:45). <strong>The</strong> passage is sometimes
quoted as a reminder to leave retribution against
one’s enemies to God. <strong>The</strong> rain falls on the just and
on the unjust fella, but chiefl y on the just because the
unjust has stolen his umbrella.
raise Cain (kayn) To stir up a fuss; to cause a
noisy disturbance. <strong>The</strong> phrase alludes to the story
of cain and abel, specifi cally to Cain’s violent
temper, which was the underlying cause of his
murdering his brother (Genesis 4:5). In centuries
past Cain’s name was adopted as a euphemism for