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

scourge of scorpions
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of the courageous exploring spirit. You’d have to be
Scott of the Antarctic to get to town through this snow.
See also captain oates.
scourge of scorpions A particularly severe punishment.
<strong>The</strong> phrase, also encountered as lash of
scorpions, alludes to 1 Kings 12:11: “My father
hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise
you with scorpions.” <strong>The</strong> rebels have threatened to
unleash a scourge of scorpions, and the government is
more ner vous today than it has been for years.
scrip and staff Wallet and stick, as symbols of
earthly possessions, usually in the context of relinquishing
them. <strong>The</strong> phrase appears in Mark 6:7–
10, Luke 9:3, and Matthew 10:10, in which Christ
urges his disciples to forsake all possessions when
embarking on their travels: “Take nothing for your
journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither brand,
neither money; neither have two coats apiece.” In
medieval times the faithful often carried a staff as a
sign that they were on pilgrimage, and somewhat
perversely, a purse and staff became recognized
emblems of pilgrimage. “. . . from that moment
until the closing of the curtain it was music, just
music—music to make one drunk with plea sure,
music to make one take scrip and staff and beg his
way round the globe to hear it” (Mark Twain, What
Is Man and Other Essays, 1906).
Scrooge (skrooj) A person who is mean with his
or her money; a parsimonious skinfl int. <strong>The</strong> allusion
is to Ebenezer Scrooge, the penny- pinching
miser who is the central character in A Christmas
Carol (1843) by the British novelist Charles Dickens
(1812–70). After being visited by the spirits of
Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas
Yet to Come, and by Marley’s ghost (the ghost of
his deceased partner Jacob Marley), he mends his
ways and determines to be more generous in the
future. Her husband is such a Scrooge he doesn’t even
buy her a birthday present. See also bob cratchit;
harpagon.
Scully, Dana See x-fi les.
Scylla and Charybdis See between scylla and
charybdis.
Scythian defi ance (sitheebn) A threat or gesture
of re sis tance, especially one tersely delivered. <strong>The</strong>
allusion is to the message the nomadic peoples of
Scythia sent to Darius I, when he approached with
an invading Persian army in 512 b.c. <strong>The</strong> Scythian
ambassador arrived at the king’s tent and without
a word produced a bird, a frog, a mouse, and fi ve
arrows. It was explained to the king that the Scythians
were warning him to fl y away like a bird, hide
in a hole like a mouse, or swim across the river
like a frog or else suffer death by Scythian arrows
fi ve days later. <strong>The</strong> attempted Persian conquest
failed. This gesture of Scythian defi ance did nothing in
the long run to alter the inevitability of defeat.
season, to every thing there is a; season for all
things See time and place for everything.
second Adam See adam.
second coming A triumphant return from obscurity.
<strong>The</strong> reference is to the Second Coming, or
Second Advent, of Jesus Christ, when he will visibly
return at the end of history to judge the world,
destroy evil, and consummate his kingdom (Matthew
16:27 and 24:30, Acts 1:11, 2 <strong>The</strong>ssalonians
1:3–10, and Revelation 1:7). <strong>The</strong> star’s return to the
silver screen in this movie was greeted as a second coming,
although he had never really been away.