The same story is told of Napoleon in Egypt; of King Olaf, son of Harald, in Norway; of Junius Brutus, who, returning from the oracle, fell on the earth, and cried, “’Tis thus I kiss thee, mother Earth!” When Captain Jean Cœurpreux tripped in dancing at the Tuileries, Napoleon III. held out his hand to help him up, and said, “Captain, this is the second time I have seen you fall. The first was by my side in the field of Magenta.” Then, turning to the lady, he added, “Madam, Captain Cœurpreux is henceforth commandant of my Guards, and will never fall in duty or allegiance, I am persuaded.” =Trismegistus= (“_thrice greatest_”), Hermês, the Egyptian philosopher, or Thoth, councillor of Osīris. He invented the art of writing in hieroglyphics, harmony, astrology, magic, the lute and lyre, and many other things. =Tris´sotin=, a _bel esprit_. Philaminte (3 _syl._), a _femme savante_, wishes him to marry her daughter, Henriette, but Henriette is in love with Clitandre. The difficulty is soon solved by the announcement that Henriette’s father is on the verge of bankruptcy, whereupon Trissotin makes his bow and retires.--Molière, _Les Femmes Savantes_ (1672). Trissotin is meant for the Abbé Crotin, who affected to be poet, gallant and preacher. His dramatic name was “Tricotin.” =Tristram= (_Sir_), son of Sir Meliŏdas, king of Li´onês, and Elizabeth, his wife (daughter of Sir Mark, king of Cornwall). He was called Tristram (“sorrowful”) because his mother died in giving him birth. His father also died when Tristram was a mere lad (pt. ii. 1). He was knighted by his uncle, Mark (pt. ii. 5), and married Isond _le Blanch Mains_, daughter of Howell, king of Britain (_Brittany_); but he never loved her, nor would he live with her. His whole love was centered on his aunt, La Belle Isond, wife of King Mark, and this unhappy attachment was the cause of numberless troubles, and ultimately of his death. La Belle Isond, however, was quite as culpable as the knight, for she herself told him, “My measure of hate for Mark is as the measure of my love for thee;” and when she found out that her husband would not allow Sir Tristram to remain at Tintag´il Castle, she eloped with him, and lived three years at Joyous Guard, near Carlisle. At length she returned home, and Sir Tristram followed her. His death is variously related. Thus the _History of Prince Arthur_ says: When, by means of a treaty, Sir Tristram brought again La Belle Isond unto King Mark from Joyous Guard, the false traitor, King Mark, slew the noble knight as he sat harping before his lady, La Belle Isond, with a sharp-ground glaive, which he thrust into him from behind his back.--Pt. iii. 147 (1470). Tennyson gives the tale thus: He says that Sir Tristram, dallying with his aunt, hung a ruby carcanet round her throat; and, as he kissed her neck: