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Midas-eared
Without discrimination or judgment. Midas, King of Phrygia, was
appointed to judge a musical contest between Apollo and Pan, and gave
judgment in favour of the satyr; whereupon Apollo in contempt gave the
king a pair of ass's ears. Midas hid them under his Phrygian cap; out
his servant, who used to cut his hair, discovered them, and was so
tickled at the “joke,” which he durst not mention, that he dug a hole
in the earth, and relieved his mind by whispering in it “Midas has
ass's ears.” Budaeus gives a different version. He says that Midas kept
spies to tell him everything that transpired throughout his kingdom,
and the proverb “that kings have long arms” was changed in his case to
“Midas has long ears.” “Ex eo in proverbium venit, quod multos
otacustas—i.e. auricularios habebat. ” (De Asse.)
(See Pope: Prologues to Satires.)
Domenichino (1581-1661) has a painting on the Judgment of Midas.
Midas has ass's ears. An exact parallel of this tale is told of
Portzmach, king of a part of Brittany. It is said Portzmach had all the
barbers of his kingdom put to death, lest they should announce to the
public that he had the ears of a horse. An intimate friend was found
willing to shave him, after swearing profound secrecy; but not able to
contain himself, he confined his secret to the sands of a river bank.
The reeds of this river were used for pan-pipes and hautbois, which
repeated the words “Portzmach- King Portzmach has horse's ears.”
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Midas-eared from Infoplease:
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