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Mirrors
Alasnam's mirror. The “touchstone of virtue,” showed if the lady
beloved was chaste as well as beautiful. (Arabian Nights: Prince
Zeyn Alasnam.)
Cambuscan's mirror. Sent to Cambuscan' by the King of Araby and Ind;
it warned of the approach of ill-fortune, and told if love was
returned. (Chaucer: Canterbury Tales; The Squire's Tale.)
Lao's mirror reflected the mind and its thoughts, as an ordinary
mirror reflects the outward seeming. (Goldsmith: Citizen of the
World, xlv.)
Merlin's magic mirror,
given by Merlin to King Ryence. It informed the king of treason,
secret plots, and projected invasions. (Spenser: Faerie Queene, iii. 2.)
Reynard's wonderful mirror.
This mirror existed only in the brain of Master Fox; he told the
queen-lion that whoever looked in it could see what was done a mile
off. The wood of the frame was not subject to decay, being made of the
same block as King Crampart's magic horse. (Reynard the Fox, ch.
xii.)
Vulcan's mirror
showed the past, the present, and the future. Sir John Davies tells
us that Cupid gave the mirror to Antinous, and Antinous gave it to
Penelope who saw therein “the court of Queen Elizabeth.”
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Mirrors from Infoplease:
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