Shocky.—The Hoosier Schoolmaster, Edw. Eggleston. The little lad from the poorhouse who adores the schoolmaster and early warns him of plans for upsetting his authority. He is also a small poet, not in rhyming, but in comprehension of things about him and in his way of looking at life, and he grows to be a helper in the Church of the Best Licks, founded by the schoolmaster.
Shylock.—A sordid, avaricious, revengeful Jew, in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice.
Siege Perilous, The.—The Round Table contained sieges, or seats, in the names of different knights. One was reserved for him who was destined to attainment in the quest of the Holy Grail. This seat was called “perilous” because if anyone sat therein except he for whom it was reserved, he would “lose himself.” It finally bore the name of Sir Galahad.
Siegfried (sēg´frēd).—The hero of various Scandinavian and Teutonic legends, particularly of the old German epic poem, the Nibelungenlied. He is represented as a young warrior of physical strength and beauty, and in valor superior to all men of his time. He cannot easily be identified with any historical personage.
Sikes, Bill.—A brutal thief and housebreaker in Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist. He murders his mistress, Nancy, and, in trying to lower himself by a rope from the roof of a building where he had taken refuge from the crowd, he falls, and is choked in a noose of his own making. Sikes had an ill-conditioned, savage dog, the beast-image of his master, which he kicked and loved, ill-treated and fondled.
Silas Marner (mär´ner).—A novel by George Eliot, published in 1861. This novel is one of the authoress’ most beautiful stories, the most poetical of them all—the tale of Silas Marner, who deems himself deserted and rejected utterly of God and man, and to whom, in his deepest misery, in place of lost gold, a little foundling girl is sent. This tale is the most hopeful of all her books. The contemplation of the renewal of enterprise and energy, which comes with little children, and of the promise with which each new generation gilds the crown of honor for its sires, is pleasant and grateful to her. She writes upon her title page the lines of Wordsworth:
A child, more than all other gifts
That earth can offer to declining man,
Brings hope with it and forward-looking thoughts.
The weaver of Raveloe and Eppie are creations after Wordsworth’s own heart.
Silken Thread.—Gulliver’s Travels. In the kingdom of Lilliput, the three great prizes of honor are “fine silk threads six inches long, one blue, another red, and a third green.” The thread is girt about the loins, and no ribbon of the Legion of Honor, or of the Knight of the Garter, is worn more worthily or more proudly.
Sindbad (sind´bad) the Sailor.—A character in the Arabian Nights, in which is related the story of his strange voyages and wonderful adventures.