“And there, without the power to fly,
Stands fix’d a tip-toe Mercury.”
Lloyd, 1750.
“Then fiery expedition be my wing,
Jove’s Mercury, and herald for a king.”
“Be Mercury, set feathers to thy heels
And fly, like thought, from them to me again.”
Shakespeare.
Me′ru. The abode of the Hindoo god Vishnu. It is at the top of a mountain 80,000 leagues high. The Olympus of the Indians.
Mi′das. A king of Phrygia, who begged of Bacchus the special gift that everything that he touched might be turned into gold. The request was granted, and as soon as he touched his food it also was turned to gold, and for fear of being starved he was compelled to ask the god to withdraw the power he had bestowed upon him. He was told to bathe in the river Pactolus. He did so, and the sands which he stood on were golden for ever after. It was this same king who, being appointed to be judge in a musical contest between Apollo and Pan, gave the Satyr the palm; whereupon Apollo, to show his contempt, bestowed on him a pair of asses’ ears. This gave rise to the term “Midas-eared,” as a synonym for ill-judged, or indiscriminate.