=Pen=, Philemon Holland, translator-general of the classics. Of him was the epigram written: Holland, with his translations doth so fill us, He will not let _Suetonius_ be _Tranquillus_. (The point of which is, of course, that the name of the Roman historian was _C. Suetonius Tranquillus_.) Many of these translations were written from beginning to end with one pen, and hence he himself wrote: With one sole pen I writ this book, Made of a grey goose-quill; A pen it was when it I took, And a pen I leave it still. =Pendennis= (_Arthur_), pseudonym of W. M. Thackeray in _The Newcomes_ (1854). _Pendennis_, a novel by Thackeray (1849), in which much of his own history and experience is recorded with a novelist’s license. _Pendennis_ stands in relation to Thackeray as _David Copperfield_ to Charles Dickens. _Arthur Pendennis_, a young man of ardent feelings and lively intellect, but conceited and selfish. He has a keen sense of honor, and a capacity for loving, but altogether he is not an attractive character. _Laura Pendennis._ This is one of the best of Thackeray’s characters. _Major Pendennis_, a tuft-hunter, who fawns on his patrons for the sake of wedging himself into their society.--_History of Pendennis_, published originally in monthly parts, beginning in 1849. =Pendrag´on=, probably a title meaning “chief leader in war.” _Dragon_ is Welsh for a “leader in war,” and _pcn_[TN-79] for “head” or “chief.” The title was given to Uther, brother of Constans, and father of Prince Arthur. Like the word “Pharaoh,” it is used as a proper name without the article.--Geoffrey of Monmouth, _Chron._, vi. (1142). Once I read, That stout Pendragon in his litter, sick, Came to the field, and vanquished his foes. Shakespeare, 1 _Henry VI._ act iii. sc. 2 (1589)[TN-80] =Penel´ope’s Web=, a work that never progresses. Penelopê, the wife of Ulysses, being importuned by several suitors during her husband’s long absence, made reply that she could not marry again, even if Ulysses were dead, till she had finished weaving a shroud for her aged father-in-law. Every night she pulled out what she had woven during the day, and thus the shroud made no progress towards completion.--_Greek Mythology._ The French say of a work “never ending, still beginning,” _c’est l’ouvrage de Pénélope_. =Penelope Lapham=, vivacious, but not pretty daughter of Silas Lapham. Her wit wins the love her sister’s beauty could not capture. Penelope’s unintentional conquest brings painful perplexity to herself, with anguish to her sister. Still she yields finally to Irene’s magnanimity and her suitor’s persuasions, and weds Tom Corey.--W. D. Howells, _The Rise of Silas Lapham_ (1887). =Penel´ophon=, the beggar loved by King Cophetua. Shakespeare calls the name Zenelophon in _Love’s Labor’s Lost_, act iv. sc. 1 (1594).--Percy, _Reliques_, I. ii. 6 (1765).