[Footnote 445: Hafiz. A Persian poet of the fourteenth century.] [Footnote 446: Firdousi. A Persian poet of the tenth century.] [Footnote 447: She was an elemental force, etc. Of this passage Oliver Wendell Holmes said that Emerson "speaks of woman in language that seems to pant for rhythm and rhyme."] [Footnote 448: Byzantine. An ornate style of architecture developed in the fourth and fifth centuries, marked especially by its use of gold and color.] [Footnote 449: Golden Book. In a book, called "the Golden Book," were recorded the names of all the children of Venetian noblemen.] [Footnote 450: Schiraz. A province of Persia famous especially for its roses, wine, and nightingales, and described by the poets as a place of ideal beauty.] [Footnote 451: Osman. The name given by Emerson in his journal and essays to his ideal man, one subject to the same conditions as himself.] [Footnote 452: Koran. The sacred book of the Mohammedans.] [Footnote 453: Jove. Jupiter, the supreme god of Roman mythology.] [Footnote 454: Silenus. In Greek mythology, the leader of the satyrs. This fable, which Emerson credits to tradition, was original.] [Footnote 455: Her owl. The owl was the bird sacred to Minerva, the goddess of wisdom.] GIFTS [Footnote 456: This essay was first printed in the periodical called _The Dial_. It was a part of Emerson's philosophic faith that there is no such thing as giving,--everything that belongs to a man or that he ought to have, will come to him. But in the ordinarily accepted sense of the word, Emerson was a gracious giver and receiver. In his family the old New England custom of New Year's presents was kept up to his last days. His presents were accompanied with verses to be read before the gift was opened.] [Footnote 457: Into chancery. The phrase "in chancery," means in litigation, as an estate, in a court of equity.] [Footnote 458: Cocker. Spoil, indulge,--a word now little used.] [Footnote 459: Fruits are acceptable gifts. Emerson took especial pleasure in the beauty of fruits and the thought of how they had been evolved from useless, insipid seed cases.] [Footnote 460: To let the petitioner, etc. We can hardly imagine Emerson's asking a gift or favor. He often quoted the words of Landor, an English writer: "The highest price you can pay for a thing is to ask for it."] [Footnote 461: Furies. In Roman mythology, three goddesses who sought out and punished evil-doers.] [Footnote 462: A man's biography, etc. Emerson wrote in his journal: "Long ago I wrote of _gifts_ and neglected a capital example. John Thoreau, Jr. [who, like his brother Henry, was a lover of nature] one day put a bluebird's box on my barn,--fifteen years ago it must be,--and there it still is, with every summer a melodious family in it adorning the place and singing its praises. There's a gift for you which cost the giver no money, but nothing which he bought could have been as good."]