Tom Sawyer, Adventures of.—By Mark Twain. An “elastic” youth whose performances delight both old and young readers. Queer enterprises, influenced by the old superstitions among slaves and children in the Western states give reliable pictures of boy-life in the middle of the nineteenth century.
Topsy.—Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Mrs. Stowe. A young slave-girl, who never knew whether she had either father or mother, and being asked by Miss Ophelia St. Clare how she supposed she came into the world, replied, “I ’spects I growed.”
Touchstone (tuch´stōn).—A clown in Shakespeare’s As You Like It. His seven degrees of the lie are: (1) The retort courteous, (2) the quip modest, (3) the reply churlish, (4) the reproof valiant, (5) the countercheck quarrelsome, (6) the lie circumstantial, (7) the lie direct.
Townley Mysteries.—Certain religious dramas; so called because the MS. containing them belonged to P. Townley. These dramas are supposed to have been acted at Widkirk abbey, in Yorkshire.
Tranio (trā´ni-ō).—In Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, one of the servants of Lucentio, the gentleman who marries Bianca, sister of Katharina “the Paduan shrew.”
Triads.—Three subjects, more or less connected, formed into one continuous poem or subject; thus the “Creation, Redemption, and Resurrection” would form a triad.
Trim, Corporal.—Uncle Toby’s attendant, in Sterne’s novel, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gent., distinguished for his fidelity and affection, his respectfulness, and his volubility.
Tristram (tris´tram), Sir.—One of the most celebrated heroes of mediæval romance. His adventures form an episode in the history of Arthur’s court, and are related by Thomas the Rhymer, as well as by many romancists.
Tubal (tū´bal).—A wealthy Jew, the friend of Shylock, in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.
Tuck, Friar.—Ivanhoe, Scott. The father-confessor of Robin Hood and connected with Fountain’s Abbey. He is represented as a clerical Falstaff, very fat and self-indulgent, very humorous, and somewhat coarse. His dress was a russet habit of the Franciscan order. He was sometimes girt with a rope of rushes. Friar Tuck also appears in the “morris dance” on Mayday.