Montresor brings Fortunato into the catacombs beneath his home. Montresor knows all his servants will be away enjoying the Mardi Gras celebrations, so his home is empty. Montresor leads the drunken Fortunato down a winding staircase into the dark, damp catacombs. Catacombs, or cemeteries the Romans built under ground, have ledges against the walls on which they put dead bodies, so they pass old bones. Their way is lit only by the two flambeaux or torches that they carry. A webwork of white mold lines the walls, causing Fortunato to cough. They pass under low arches, and the mold--or nitre--on the walls increases, making the walls look mossy. Finally, they enter into a crypt and at the end of it, a smaller crypt, lined on three sides with human bones. Beyond that is a small niche. This is the final destination, where Montresor chains Fortunato up and bricks him in to die.
Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Comments
Post a Comment