Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/250

* BOHLFS. 226 ROLAND. equipped by the Khoilive of Egypt. In 1S78 he set out from Tripoli on a senii-otlicial mission to the Sultan of Vailai, but, owing to the hostile attitude of the desert tribes, was compelled to turn back at Kufra. The long list of his works comprises: Reise durcli Marokko (1860); hand uiid Volk in Afrika (1870) ; Von Tripolis nach Alexandria (1871); Quer diirch Afrika (1874- 75) ; Bcitrdge zur Entdcckiing and Erforsclniny Afrikas (1870) : licise von Tripolis nach der Oase Kufra (1881); Quid Xovi ex Africa (1886). KOI D'YVETOT, Le (Fr., the King of Yvetot). The title of a poem by Biranger (1813), telling of the contented King of the insig- nificant little mediaeval principality of Yvetot, near Eouen. The King of Yvetot's happy though inglorious life was intended to satirize Napoleon's insatiable love of glory for which the nation paid so heavily. The name has since been used of petty princes with great pretensions. ROI S'AMTJSE, rwa sa'muz', Le (Fr., the King amuses himself). A drama by Victor Hugo produced in 1832. The King, Francis I., is ruled in his excesses by his buffoon Triboulet, whose daughter Blanche he seduces. In re- venge Triboulet plans the murder of Francis at a low tavern he frequents, but when he plunges his victim in a sack, he finds it is Blanche who had followed her lover and met her death. The story was used by Verdi as the basis for the libretto of his opera Riffoletto (1851), Francis appearing as the Duke of Mantua. ROIS EN EXIL, rwit ziiN neg'zel', Les (Fr., Kings in Exile). A story by Alphonse Daudet (1879), dealing with the misfortunes of crowned heads, and notable in its close study of charac- ter and motive. ROJAS, rd'Has, Fernando de. A Spanish writer, who flourished about 1500 ; the author of the greater part if not the whole of the famous dramatic novel entitled the Tragi- comcdia de Calisto y Melibea. also known as the Celestina, a work produced first in 1499. Xothing is known of the life of Rojas beyond the fact that he was a bachelor of laws. According to a statement made in the preface of the «ork by Rojas himself, he was only continviing the work of another man, who had written the first act of the Celestina. De- spite its title, the Celestina is not a drama; it is properly a novel in dialogue, and as such it had a very great influence ipon the later novel and drama of Spain. Consult the edi- tion of the Celestina in the Biblioteea de au- tores espafioles, vol. iii. and jSI. Menendez y Pelayo's essa,y on Rojas in his Estiidios de crit- ica literaria (Madrid, 1895). ROJAS ZORRILLA, tho-re'lya, Francisco DE ( 1007-e.l600). A Spanish dramatist. Hebe- longs to the second half of the siglo de oro, the age of Calderon, and produced pla.ys in collabora- tion with that illustrious poet, with Velez de Guevara, and with Mira de Amescua, as well as notable original comedies. He also cultivated the sacred play or auto. The best known of his pieces is that entitled Del rey ahajo ninguno, still interesting on the stage. Other noteworth.v comedies of Rojas are Lo que son mujcrcs and Entre hohos auda el juego. He himself pub- lished two volumes of his works, comprising some twenty- four plays, in 1640 and 1645. Some of his more important plays are to be found in the liihliolcca de autores espat'ioles, vol. xxxix. (Mad- rid, 1806). ROKITANSKY, ro'ke-tiin'sk*, Ivabl, Baron (18U4-7S). An Austrian pathologist, born in Koiiiggriitz, Bohemia. He studied medicine in Prague and Vienna ; was aiipointed assistant to the chair of pathological anatomy in the Uni- versity of Vienna in 1828, and professor in 1834, retiring in 1875. He occupied several municipal medical positions. In 1869 he was elected presi- dent of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Roki- tansky, more than any other one man, deserves the credit of establishing the scientific study of medicine upon the basis of pathological anat- omy. He published Handbuch der patholog- isclien Anatomie (3d ed. 1851-61; Eng, trans. 1849-52), which embodied his teachings. Con- sult anonymous biography (1874). RO'LAND, Fr. pron. rS'laN', The Song of. An old Frencii epic jjoem or chanson de geste of the end of the eleventh century, pronounced by competent critics one of the masterpieces of French literature. The work, consisting of 4002 assonant verses in decasyllabic form, arranged in laisses or stanza.s of varying length, takes its name from its chief character, Roland, prefect of Brittany, and, according to tradition, nephew of Charles the Cireat. Nothing definite is kuora concerning its author, though some commen- tators identif,y him with a certain Turoldus mentioned in the last verse. The narrative of the poem runs briefl,y as follows: Charles, King of the French, has for seven years successfully fought the 'Saracens' of Spain. News of his vic- tories reaches Marslle, commander of the infi- dels, who, fearing for his own sceptre, sends mes- sengers to the French to sue for peace. After deliberation, Charles appoints Ganelon, the per- sonal foe of Roland (here represented as Roland's stepfather), to arrange terms with Marslle. In- cited by his bitter hatred of Roland, Ganelon seizes the opportunity to gratify his desire for vengeance. Having reached the 'pagan' court, he artfully proposes to Marslle to betray the French rearguard under Roland into Marslle's hands, when the main army of Charles shall be fairh- on its way home. The plan is accepted; Ganelon returns to Charles, and the French army crosses the Pyrenees into France, while Roland remains behind in the mountains with a guard of twenty thousand men. At Roneevau.x, or as the text says Rencesvals (the plain of Ros), he and his valiant band are overwlielmed by a 'pagan' army of twenty times their number. The details of this disaster, which Europe regarded during centuries as the representative struggle of Christian against Moslem, constitute the ker- nel and real beauty of the poem. The eft'cct of the drama is heightened b_v making the heroic but reckless Roland in part responsible for the catastrophe. His boon companion Oliver, whose courage is' second only to his prudence, in three beautiful laisses (each on a different assonance) beseeches Roland to w-ind his horn and bring Charles to the rescue. Only when his doom is complete, when his companions, the twelve peers of France, including the warlike Bishop Turpin, lie slain about him. will Roland raise the horn to his lips and summon his liege with his dying breath. The poem then draws rapidly to a close. Charles, at whose prayer the Almighty arrests