Falstaff. I did not think Master Silence had been a man of this mettle.
Silence. Who, I? I have been merry twice and once, ere now.—Shakespeare, 2 Henry IV., act vi. sc. 3 (1598).
Sile´no, husband of Mysis; a kind-hearted man, who takes pity on Apollo when cast to earth by Jupiter, and gives him a home.—Kane O’Hara, Midas (1764).
Silent (The), William I., prince of Orange (1533-1584). It was the principle of Napoleon III., emperor of the French, to “hear, see, and say nothing.”
Silent Man (The), the barber of Bagdad, the greatest chatterbox that ever lived. Being sent for to shave the head and beard of a young man who was to visit the cadi’s daughter at noon, he kept him from daybreak to midday, prating, to the unspeakable annoyance of the customer. Being subsequently taken before the caliph, he ran on telling story after story about his six brothers. He was called the “Silent Man,” because on one occasion, being accidentally taken up with ten robbers, he never said he was not one of the gang. His six brothers were Bacbouc, the hunchback, Bakbarah, the toothless, Bakac, the one-eyed, Alcouz, the blind, Alnaschar, the earless, and Schacabac, the hare-lipped.—Arabian Nights (“The Barber,” and “The Barber’s Six Brothers”).
Silent Woman (The), a comedy by Ben Jonson (1609). Morose, a miserly old fellow, who hates to hear any voice but his own, has a young nephew, Sir Dauphine, who wants to wring from him a third of his property; and the way he gains his point is this: He induces a lad to pretend to be a “silent woman.” Morose is so delighted with the phenomenon that he consents to marry the prodigy; but the moment the ceremony is over, the boy-wife assumes the character of a virago, whose tongue is a ceaseless clack. Morose is in despair, and signs away a third of his property to his nephew, on condition of being rid of this intolerable pest. The trick is now revealed, Morose retires into private life, and Sir Dauphine remains master of the situation.
Sile´nus, son of Pan, chief of the sile´ni or older satyrs. Silēnus was the foster-father of Bacchus, the wine-god, and is described as a jovial old toper, with bald head, pug nose, and pimply face.
Old Silenus, bloated, drunken,
Led by his inebriate satyrs.
Longfellow, Drinking Song.
Silky, a Jew money-lender, swindler, and miser. (See Sulky.)
Yon cheat all day, tremble at night, and act the hypocrite the first thing in the morning.—T. Holcroft, The Road to Ruin, ii. 3 (1792).