Henoch, English Enoch, Cain’s son.
Tubalcain, English Tubal-cain, the son of Lamech
and his wife Zillah. He was ’the forger
of every cutting instrument of brass and iron.’
Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve, and
Enos was the son of Seth.
Iblis, one of the names used in the Koran for
the Spirit of Evil. He was a spirit who refused
to prostrate himself before Adam at the command of
the Almighty, and was therefore expelled from Eden.
Instead of being immediately destroyed, however, he
was given a respite till the Day of Judgement.
The word is derived from the Arabic balas,
wicked.
Another tradition, not found in the Koran, is that
Iblis was a warrior angel whom the Almighty sent to
exterminate the Djinns, the beings, half men, half
angels, who inhabited the country of the Genii.
Instead of performing this command, the spirit rebelled
and was cast down into hell. It is hardly necessary
to add that Hugo’s story is of his own invention.
Bonte (see heading), one of Hugo’s favourite
words for expressing the moral attributes of the Almighty
power. The theme that God is goodness, which
is more than justice, is developed in Dieu:
La Lumiere.
La justice, c’est vous, l’humanite;
mais Dieu
Est la bonte.
Compare also the concluding lines of Le Crapaud.
The word has no exact equivalent in English.
It comprehends kindness, tenderness, and gentleness.
It may be interesting to note that Hugo was fond of
comparing an object composed of a centre and rays
to a spider. Edmond Huguet (Les Sens de la
Forme dans les Metaphores de Victor Hugo) gives
the following examples:
’De la hauteur ou je suis,
la rade pleine de nacelles (a
quatre rames) figure une mare couverte d’araignees
d’eau.’
(Alpes
et Pyrenees.)
’Nous estimons une araignee chose
hideuse et nous sommes ravis de retrouver sa toile
en rosace sur les facades des cathedrales, et son
corps et ses pattes en clef de voute dans les chapelles.’
(France et Belgique.)
’Les lanternes de ce temps-la ressemblaient
a de grosses
etoiles rouges pendues a des cordes, et jetaient
sur le
pave une ombre qui avait la forme d’une grande
araignee.’
(Les
Miserables.)
Rostabat prend pour fronde, ayant
Roland pour cible,
Un noir grappin qui semble une araignee horrible.
(La Legende des Siecles, Le Petit
Roi de Galice.)
’Trois ou quatre larges araignees
de pluie s’ecraserent
autour de lui sur la roche.’ (Les Travailleurs
de la Mer.)
Hugo appears to have had a feeling of antipathy for
the spider and frequently chose it as the symbol of
evil. In __Dieu: Le Corbeau_,_ the spirits
of good and evil are thus described:—
