ECA DE QUEIROZ

eca de queiroz, jose maria (1843-1900), portuguese writer, was born at the northern fishing town of povoa de varzim, his father being a retired judge. he went through the university of coimbra, and on taking his degree in law was appointed administrador de concelho at leiria, but soon tired of the narrow mental atmosphere of the old cathedral town and left it. he accompanied the conde de rezende to egypt, where he assisted at the opening of the suez canal, and to palestine, and on his return settled down to journalism in lisbon and began to evolve a style, at once magical and unique, which was to renovate his country's prose. though he spent much of his days with the philosopher sonneteer anthero de quental, and the critic jayme batalha reis, afterwards consul-general in london, he did not restrict his intimacy to men of letters, but frequented all kinds of society, acquiring a complete acquaintance with contemporary portuguese life and manners. entering the consular service in 1872, he went to havana, and, after a tour in the united states, was transferred two years later to newcastle-on-tyne and in 1876 to bristol. in 1888 he became portuguese consul-general in paris, and there died in 1900. queiroz made his literary debut in 1870 by a sensational story, _the mystery of the cintra road_, written in collaboration with the art critic ramalho ortigao, but the first publication which brought him fame was _the farpas_, a series of satirical and humorous sketches of various phases of social life, which, to quote the poet guerra junqueiro, contain "the epilepsy of talent." these essays, the joint production of the same partners, criticized and ridiculed the faults and foibles of every class in turn, mainly by a comparison with the french, for the education of queiroz had made him a frenchman in ideas and sympathies. his brazilian friend, eduardo prado, bears witness that at this period french literature, especially hugo's verse, and even french politics, interested queiroz profoundly, while he altogether ignored the _belles-lettres_ of his own country and its public affairs. this phase lasted for some years, and even when he travelled in the east he was inclined to see it with the eyes of flaubert, though the publication of _the relic_ and that delightful prose poem _sweet miracle_ afterwards showed that he had been directly impressed and deeply penetrated by its scenery, poetry and mysticism. the franco-german war of 1870, however, by lowering the prestige of france, proved the herald of a national portuguese revival, and had a great influence on queiroz, as also had his friend oliveira martins (q.v.), the biographer of the patriot kings of the aviz dynasty. he founded the portuguese realist-naturalist school, of which he remained for the rest of his life the chief exponent, by a powerful romance, _the crime of father amaro_, written in 1871 at leiria but only issued in 1875. its appearance then led to a baseless charge that he had plagiarized _la faute de l'abbe mouret_, and ill-informed critics began to name queiroz the portuguese zola, though he clearly occupied an altogether different plane in the domain of art. during his stay in england he produced two masterpieces, _cousin basil_ and _the maias_, but they show no traces of english influence, nor again are they french in tone, for, living near to france, his disillusionment progressed and was completed when he went to paris and had to live under the regime of the third republic. settling at neuilly, the novelist became chronicler, critic, and letter-writer as well, and in all these capacities queiroz displayed a spontaneity, power and artistic finish unequalled in the literature of his country since the death of garrett. a bold draughtsman, he excelled in freshness of imagination and careful choice and collocation of words, while his warmth of colouring and brilliance of language speak of the south. many of his pages descriptive of natural scenery, such for instance as the episode of the return to tormes in _the city and the mountains_, have taken rank as classic examples of portuguese prose, while as a creator of characters he stood unsurpassed by any writer of his generation in the same field. he particularly loved to draw and judge the middle class, and he mocks at and chastises its hypocrisy and narrowness, its veneer of religion and culture, its triumphant lying, its self-satisfied propriety, its cruel egotism. but though he manifested a predilection for middle-class types, his portrait gallery comprises men and women of all social conditions. _the maias_, his longest book, treats of _fidalgos_, while perhaps his most remarkable character study is of a servant, juliana, in _cousin basil_. at least two of his books, this latter and _the crime of father amaro_, are _chroniques scandaleuses_ in their plots and episodes; these volumes, however, mark not only the high-water line of the realist-naturalist school in portugal, but are in themselves, leaving aside all accidentals, creative achievements of a high order. though queiroz was a keen satirist of the ills of society, his pages show hardly a trace of pessimism. _the city and the mountains_, and in part _the relic_ also, reveal the apostle of realism as an idealist and dreamer, a true representative of that celtic tradition which survives in the race and has permeated the whole literature of portugal. _the mandarin_, a fantastic variation on the old theme of a man self-sold to satan, and _the illustrious house of ramires_, are the only other writings of his that require mention, except _the correspondence of fradique mendes_. in conjunction with anthero de quental and jayme batalha reis, queiroz invented under that name a smart man of the world who had something of himself and something of eduardo prado, and made him correspond on all sorts of subjects with imaginary friends and relatives to the delight of the public, many of whom saw in him a mysterious new writer whose identity they were eager to discover. these sparkling and humorous letters are an especial favourite with admirers of queiroz, because they reveal so much of his very attractive personality, and perhaps the cleverest of the number, that on pacheco, has received an english dress. in addition to his longer and more important works, queiroz wrote a number of short stories, some of which have been printed in a volume under the title of _contos_. the gems of this remarkable collection are perhaps _the peculiarities of a fair-haired girl_, _a lyric poet_, _jose matthias_, _the corpse_, and _sweet miracle_. most of his books have gone through many editions, and they are even more appreciated in the brazils than in portugal. it should be mentioned that the fourth edition of _father amaro_ is entirely different in form and action from the first, the whole story having been rewritten. one of queiroz's romances and two of his short stories have been published in english. an unsatisfactory version of _cousin basil_, under the title _dragon's teeth_, appeared at boston, u.s.a., in 1889, while _sweet miracle_ has had three editions in england and one in america, and there is also a translation of _o defunto_ (_the corpse_) under the name of _our lady of the pillar_. an admirable critical study of the work of queiroz will be found in _a geracao nova--os novellistas_, by j. pereira de sampaio (_bruno_), (oporto, 1886). the _revista moderna_ of the 20th of november 1897 was entirely devoted to him. senhor batalha reis gives interesting reminiscences of the novelist's early days in his preface to some prose fragments edited by him and named _prosas barbaras_ (oporto, 1903). (e. pr.) ecarte (fr. for "separated," "discarded"), a game at cards, of modern origin, probably first played in the paris _salons_ in the first quarter of the 19th century. it is a development of a very old card game called _la triomphe_ or _french-ruff_. ecarte is generally played by two persons, but a pool of three may be formed, the player who is out taking the place of the loser, and the winner of two consecutive games winning the pool. at french ecarte (but not at english) bystanders who are betting may advise the players, but only by pointing to the cards they desire them to play, and the loser of the game goes out, one of the _rentrants_ taking his place, unless the loser is playing _la chouette_, i.e. playing single-handed against two, and taking all bets. the small cards (from the two to the six, both inclusive) are removed from an ordinary pack. the players cut for deal, the highest having the choice. the king is the highest card, the ace ranking after the knave. the dealer gives five cards to his adversary, and five to himself, by two at a time to each and by three at a time to each, or vice versa. the eleventh card is turned up for trumps. if it is a king, the dealer scores one, at any time before the next deal. the non-dealer then looks at his cards. if satisfied with them he plays, and there is no discarding; if not satisfied he "proposes." the dealer may either accept or refuse. if he accepts, each player discards face downwards as many cards as he thinks fit, and fresh ones are given from the undealt cards or "stock," first to complete the non-dealer's hand to five, then to complete the dealer's. to ask for "a book" is to ask for five cards. similarly a second proposal may be made, and so on, until one player is satisfied with his hand. if the dealer refuses, the hand is played without discarding. if the non-dealer announces that he holds the king of trumps, he scores one; and similarly, if the dealer holds the king and announces it, he scores one. the announcement must be made before playing one's first card, or if that card be the king, on playing it. the non-dealer, being satisfied with his hand, leads a card. the dealer plays a card to it, the two cards thus played forming a trick. the winner of the trick leads to the next, and so on. the second to play to a trick must follow suit if able, and must win the trick if he can. the scores are for the king and for the majority of tricks. the player who wins three tricks scores one for the "point"; if he wins all five tricks, he scores two for the "vole." if the non-dealer plays without proposing, or the dealer refuses the first proposal, and fails to win three tricks, the adversary scores two, but no more even if he wins the vole. the game is five up. the points are conveniently marked with a three-card and a two-card, as at euchre. the three is put face upwards with the two face downwards on the top of it. when one or two or three points are scored the top card is moved so as to expose them. at four, one pip of the two-card is put under the other card. games may be recorded similarly. _hints to players._--the following hints may be of service to beginners:-- shuffle thoroughly after every deal. do not announce the king until in the act of playing your first card. the hands which should be played without proposing, called _jeux de regle_ (standard hands), ought to be thoroughly known. they are as follows:-- 1. all hands with three or more trumps, whatever the other cards. 2. hands with _two trumps_ which contain also-- (a) any three cards of one plain suit; (b) two cards of one plain suit, one being as high as a queen; (c) two small cards of one suit, the fifth card being a king of another suit; (d) three high cards of different suits. 3. hands with _one trump_, which contain also-- (a) king, queen, knave of one suit, and a small card of another; (b) four cards of one suit headed by king; (c) three cards of one suit headed by queen, and queen of another suit. 4. hands with _no trump_, which contain three queens or cards of equal value in different suits, e.g., four court cards. 5. hands from which only two cards can be discarded without throwing a king or a trump. holding cards which make the point certain, propose. if you hold a _jeu de regle_, and one of the trumps is the king, propose, as your adversary cannot then take in the king. when discarding, throw out all cards except trumps and kings. if your adversary proposes you should accept, unless you are guarded in three suits (a queen being a sufficient guard), or in two suits with a trump, or in one suit with two trumps. hence the rule not to discard two cards, unless holding the king of trumps, applies to the dealer. the hands with which to refuse are the same as those with which to play without proposing, except as follows:-- 1. two trumps and three cards of one plain suit should not be played unless the plain suit is headed by a court card. 2. one trump and a tierce major is too weak, unless the fifth card is a court card. with similar hands weaker in the tierce major suit, accept unless the fifth card is a queen. 3. one trump and four cards of a plain suit is too weak to play. 4. one trump and two queens is too weak, unless both queens are singly guarded. 5. one trump, queen of one suit, and knave guarded of another should not be played unless the queen is also guarded, or the card of the fourth suit is a court card. 6. one trump, a king and a queen, both unguarded, should not be played, unless the fourth suit contains a card as high as an ace. 7. four court cards without a trump are too weak to play, unless they are of three different suits. refuse with three queens, if two are singly guarded; otherwise, accept. lead from your guarded suit, and lead the highest. if the strong suit led is not trumped, persevere with it, unless with king of trumps, or queen (king not having been announced), or knave ace, when lead a trump before continuing your suit. you should not lead trumps at starting, unless you hold king or queen, knave, or knave ace, with court cards out of trumps. the score has to be considered. if the dealer is at four, and the king is not in your hand nor turned up, play any cards without proposing which give an even chance of three tricks, e.g. a queen, a guarded knave, and a guarded ten. the same rule applies to the dealer's refusal. at the adverse score of four, and king not being in hand or turned up, any hand with one trump should be played, unless the plain cards are very small and of different suits. if the non-dealer plays without proposing when he is four to three, and the dealer holds the king he ought not to mark it. the same rule applies to the non-dealer after a refusal, if the dealer is four to three. at the score of non-dealer three, dealer four, the dealer should refuse on moderate cards, as the player proposing at this score must have a very bad hand. at four a forward game should not be played in trumps, as there is no advantage in winning the vole. _laws of ecarte._--the following laws are abridged from the revised code adopted by the turf club:--a cut must consist of at least two cards. card exposed in cutting, fresh cut. order of distribution of cards, whether by three and two, or vice versa, once selected, dealer must not change it during game. player announcing king when he has not got it, and playing a card without declaring error, adversary may correct score and have hand played over again. if offender wins point or vole that hand, he scores one less than he wins. proposal, acceptance, or refusal made cannot be retracted. cards discarded must not be looked at. cards exposed in giving cards to non-dealer, he has option of taking them or of having next cards; dealer exposing his own cards, no penalty. dealer turning up top card after giving cards, cannot refuse second discard. dealer accepting when too few cards in stock to supply both, non-dealer may take cards, and dealer must play his hand. card led in turn cannot be taken up again. card played to a lead can only be taken up prior to another lead, to save revoke or to correct error of not winning trick. card led out of turn may be taken up prior to its being played to. player naming one suit and leading another, adversary has option of requiring suit named to be led. if offender has none, no penalty. player abandoning hand, adversary is deemed to win remaining tricks, and scores accordingly. if a player revokes or does not win trick when he can do so, the adversary may correct score and have hand replayed. see _academie des jeux_ (various editions after the first quarter of the 19th century); hoyle's _games_ (various editions about the same dates); ch. van-tenac et louis delanoue, _traite du jeu de l'ecarte_ (paris, 1845; translated in bohn's _handbook of games_, london, 1850); "cavendish," _the laws of ecarte, adopted by the turf club, with a treatise on the game_ (london, 1878); _pocket guide to ecarte_ ("cavendish," 1897); foster's _encyclopaedia of indoor games_ (1903). ecbatana (_agbatana_ in aeschylus, _hangmatana_ in old persian, written _agamtanu_ by nabonidos, and _agamatanu_ at behistun, mod. _hamadan_), the capital of astyages (istuvegu), which was taken by cyrus in the sixth year of nabonidos (549 b.c.). the greeks supposed it to be the capital of media, confusing the manda, of whom astyages was king, with the mada or medes of media atropatene, and ascribed its foundation to deioces (the _daiukku_ of the cuneiform inscriptions), who is said to have surrounded his palace in it with seven concentric walls of different colours. under the persian kings, ecbatana, situated at the foot of mount elvend, became a summer residence; and was afterwards the capital of the parthian kings. sir h. rawlinson attempted to prove that there was a second and older ecbatana in media atropatene, on the site of the modern takht-i-suleiman, midway between hamadan and tabriz (_j.r.g.s._ x. 1841), but the cuneiform texts imply that there was only one city of the name, and takht-i-suleiman is the gazaca of classical geography. the ecbatana at which cambyses is said by herodotus (iii. 64) to have died is probably a blunder for hamath. see perrot and chipiez, _history of art in persia_ (eng. trans., 1892); m. dieulafoy, _l'art antique de la perse_, pt. i. (1884); j. de morgan, _mission scientifique en perse_, ii. (1894). see hamadan and persia: _ancient history_, sec. v. 2. (a. h. s.)