Gloves are so ancient that the first mention of them in literature is to be found in a great classic of three thousand years ago—the Bible. Zealous3 disputants in all kinds of causes have had a trick of twisting Holy Writ4 to serve the purpose of their arguments. But in appropriating the above lines from the Book of Ruth, the writer has not been guilty of taking liberties with the Scriptures5—even though the passage does not read as he has quoted it in the King James Version.
Turning to the authorized6 text, we find: “Now this was the manner in former times in Israel concerning redeeming7 and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor, and this was for a testimony in Israel. Therefore the kinsman8 said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe.”
A certain learned Hebrew of high literary attainments9, M. Josephs, a noted10 authority in the early part of the nineteenth century, in dealing11 with this passage bids us follow the Targum, or Chaldaic version of the Old Testament, which renders, instead of shoe, the word glove. He reminds us that the men who wrote the Targum lived fifteen hundred years before the translators of our English Bible; that their rendition grew directly out 10of the oral interpretations12 and paraphrases13 of the Scriptures read in the synagogues—a custom which began, probably, soon after the return of the Jews from captivity14. The Targumists, of course, were much closer to the original Hebrew usages than the medi?val scribes. The disputed phrase in their version, narthek yad, means “the covering of the right hand.” It is derived15 from the Hebrew text, nangal, which, employed verbally, means to close or enclose. The expression, nangal regel, is, literally16, “to enclose the foot” and signifies a shoe. The use of nangal alone, however, as a noun, always implied an article enclosing the hand—in other words, a glove. There can be no doubt that the writer of the Chaldaic version accepted the term as a hand-covering, not a foot-covering—even specifying17 that the glove given as a testimony in Israel was drawn18 off the right hand.
Both ancient and modern rabbinical scholars, we are told, agree in rendering19 the word from the original as “glove,” not shoe. And Joel Levy20, a distinguished21 German translator, gave, instead of shoe, his picturesque22, native idiom of hand-schuh (hand-shoe), by which gloves are known in Germany to this day.
Added to etymological23 testimony, moreover, is the evidence of ancient custom. Gloves, in the symbolical24 sense, have been employed as a token of good faith as far back as history can be traced. The shoe, on the other hand, never is used figuratively in Holy Writ except to express humility25 or supine obedience26. The man who wished to 11make a compact with his neighbor, as Boaz when he bought the lands of Ruth, must offer his glove as pledge in the transaction. The very same practice is common in the Orient to-day.
Challenge by the glove also appears to have been customary from antiquity27. In the one hundredth and eighth Psalm28, the prophet in an ecstacy of triumph cries: “Over Edom will I cast out my glove!” Had this warrior29 of the spirit merely thrown a shoe over the city he had vowed30 to reclaim31 to Jehovah, what boastful promise would there have been in that?
Among the Jews, however, three thousand years ago, gloves were by no means in common use. Probably they were worn only by men of high rank, and then solely32 on ceremonial occasions. We have reason to suppose that kings wore them, for in the mural paintings of Thebes ambassadors are depicted33 bearing from some far country gifts of gloves. The women certainly did not wear them, for they are not mentioned in the exhaustive list of “bravery,” enumerated35 by Isaiah (Chapter III.), the vainglorious36 fallals of which the daughters of Zion in their pride were to be despoiled37 on the Day of Doom38. “Feet-rings, neck chains, thin veils, tires or bonnets39, zones or girdles, jewels for the nostrils40, embroidered41 robes, tunics42, transparent43 garments, fine linen44 vests, armlets”—all such fineries as these must the fair Israelites relinquish45 at the sound of the last trump46. Surely, had gloves been among their vanities, these also must have been confiscated47 by the Inexorable Judge!
12Nearly a century after the Book of Ruth was written, Homer relates how he came upon Laertes, the father of Ulysses, working in his garden (for he was a farmer) “while gloves secured his hands to shield them from the thorns.” So, we know that the early Greeks wore gloves. It is striking to note that they employed them, too, for humble48 and useful purposes. They were not monopolized49 by priests and kings. However, we are given no hint how Laertes’ gloves were shaped nor of what materials they were made. Probably they resembled the modern mitten50, for it is not until under the Roman emperors that we actually learn that gloves were made with fingers. These were called, specially51, digitalia, to distinguish them from the chirothocae, or fingerless variety.
Virgil makes reference to gauntlets worn at the Trojan contests, as “the gloves of death”; and he describes gloves worn by Eryx, “composed of seven folds of the thickest bull’s hide, sewn and stiffened52 with knots of lead and iron.”
The gloves of the Persians, we may suspect, were not of the warlike type, but were sported simply for luxury and display. Zenophon who, somebody has remarked, “had the courage of his dislikes,” despised the ancient Persians and stigmatized53 them as effeminate because they gloried in their gloves. In his Cyropaedia he lays stress on the fact that on one occasion Cyrus was actually known to go forth54 “without his gloves”!
Varro, contemporary of Cicero, observes in his De Re Rustica that “olives gathered by the naked hand are preferable to those 13pulled with gloves on.” The Epicureans evidently had adopted the theory that fruit, to be fully55 enjoyed, should not even be handled in the plucking. Again, among the Romans, we find gloves an article of utility, worn by agriculturists—though it is likely that these hand-coverings were in the shape of mittens56 and not of the digitalia style. To the latter appear to have been attached far greater prestige.
At the same time, the fingered gloves also had come to be used for a practical protection. Pliny, the younger, speaking of the private secretary of his illustrious uncle, writes: “His amanuensis” (who accompanied him on his notable journey to Mount Vesuvius) “wore gloves upon his hands that winter, lest the severity of the weather should make him lose any time” (from his duties as scribe). It is to gloves, then, that we are indebted in part for some of the most remarkable57 passages in the works of the celebrated58 Roman naturalist59, whose scientific enthusiasm eventually cost him his life in the eruption60 of Vesuvius, 79 A.D.
Not until the age of Musonious, the philosopher, who lived near the close of the first century of the Christian61 era, do we find gloves among the Romans falling into disrepute. Musonious ejaculates: “It is shameful62 that persons in perfect health should clothe their hands with soft and hairy coverings!” The denunciation of the dress-reformers of those days, however, seems to have had as little effect in stemming the tide of fashion as in our times.
14A truly revolting use to which gloves are said to have put—if we may believe certain tales of the famous story-teller, Athen?us (200 A.D.)—is described in a bit of ancient fiction in which he relates that “a well-known glutton,” one of his own contemporaries, “always came to the table with gloves upon his hands, that he might be able to handle and eat the meat while it was hot, and devour63 more than the rest of the company.” No wonder the early Fathers of the Church looked upon gloves as vicious and corrupting64! But their biting invective65 was directed principally against the effeminancy of those who fell victim to the pleasurable practice, and about the beginning of the ninth century ecclesiastical authority forbade the monks66 from wearing any gloves save those made of the tough, unyielding sheepskin. Such, it was thought, could not possibly afford the brethren any sensuous67 enjoyment68, nor tempt69 them into love of luxuries.
There is an ancient story of Saint Gudula, patroness of Brussels, which well illustrates70 the early Christian distrust of gloves. In Butler’s Legends of the Saints, it is related of this holy woman—who died in 712 A.D.—that one day, kneeling at prayers barefooted, one of the monks, moved to compassion71, “put his gloves upon her feet” to protect them from the cold stones of the floor. St. Gudula, however, snatched off the offending articles and contemptuously tossed them ceiling high. And there they remained, says the legend, miraculously72 suspended in midair for one hour.
The first legal enactment73 concerning gloves 15occurs in the records of France. About 790, Emperor Charlemagne granted unlimited74 rights of hunting to the abbots and monks of Sithin for the purpose of procuring75 deer skins for making covers for their books, and also for gloves and girdles. The bishops76, however, grew to feel that theirs should be the exclusive privilege of wearing gloves of such fine quality; and by the Council of Aix, in the reign77 of Louis, Le Debonnaire, the inferior clergy78 were ordered to abstain79 from deer skin and to wear only sheep skin, as was formerly80 deemed fitting for monks.
In England gloves virtually “came over with the Conqueror81.” The French importation—which several centuries later was to be the cause of such intense commercial rivalry82 between the two countries—was the mailed glove of stout83 deer or sheep skin, with joined plates of metal affixed84 to the back and fingers. The early Saxons, however, wore gloves of a rude sort, for the derivation of the word from gluf is distinctly Saxon, and they are mentioned in the epic34 of Beowulf, composed in the seventh century, A.D. William S. Beck thinks that the early Britons may have been quick to appreciate the comfort afforded by the gloves worn by their Roman conquerors85. It is known for a fact that the Britons of that age wore boots of untanned leather, and it should be no tax upon the imagination to suppose that if they protected one extremity86 they probably did the other.
But Professor Boyd Dawkins, without a doubt, has pushed the history of the glove farthest back of any antiquarian. Professor 16Dawkins assures us that the cavemen wore gloves. He actually defines their style; they were “not of ordinary size,” he tells us, “but reaching even to the elbows, anticipating by untold87 ages the multi-button gloves of the Victorian era.” Now just when did these pre-historic, glove-wearing men live? Another eminent88 geologist89 holds that they inhabited the south of France before they were driven forth by the excruciating cold of the glacial period. It is impossible accurately90 to fix the date of the great ice age; Dr. Croll, however, and other celebrated scientists, appear to agree that it began about 240,000 years ago, that it lasted about 160,000 years and ended somewhat over 80,000 years since.
Here, then, is an antiquity for gloves which should satisfy our fondest ambitions! This theory also restores to France with a vengeance91 the original prestige for glove-making of which that country is so jealous. Theory, should we say? The cavemen’s gloves, as we are distinctly told, were made of roughly dressed skins, sewn with elaborate bone needles; and an unmistakable drawing of such a glove was discovered by Professor Dawkins, rudely etched upon a bone, found among pre-glacial relics92.
The glove, accordingly, dates from the twilight93 of mankind. The ancient peoples wore gloves; and by the tenth century in Europe we find them in fairly general use—to some degree as a practical protection and hand-covering, but, more strikingly, as the badge of royal or ecclesiastical authority and dignity.
The gentler sex, however, at that time had 17by no means come into their own, so far as gloves were concerned. Among the early nations men seem to have enjoyed the monopoly of this article of dress, and the reason is plain to see, when we remember that gloves, in those days, were worn almost exclusively as part of the regalia of public office. The daughters of Israel, and the ladies of Persia, Greece, Rome and medi?val Europe, adopted the voluminous sleeve which came down over the hand and rendered gloves, for practical purposes, unnecessary. A manuscript of the tenth century, however, describes a hand-covering worn by an Anglo-Saxon lady which resembled a muffler provided with a separate division for the thumb. This was reproduced by Planché in his History of British Costume, and is colored blue. But the long, flowing sleeves were customary, and were even worn by both sexes—men in the ordinary walks of life, apparently94, being compelled to content themselves with sharing the feminine expediency95 for keeping the hands warmly covered. For a man to be gloveless at that period certainly spelled humiliation96!
It was not until the thirteenth century that the ladies of Europe blossomed forth in gloves—not of the mitten variety, but boasting four fingers as well as a thumb. The first to be introduced for the fair sex were made of linen, of simple design, and reached to the elbows to accommodate the short-sleeved gowns of the period. Not before Queen Elizabeth’s time, however, did the elaborately embroidered, bejeweled and perfumed glove captivate woman’s fancy and satisfy her feminine dreams of beauty and extravagance.
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1
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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writ
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| n.命令状，书面命令 | |
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scriptures
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| 经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典 | |
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authorized
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| a.委任的，许可的 | |
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redeeming
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| 补偿的，弥补的 | |
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kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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attainments
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| 成就，造诣； 获得( attainment的名词复数 )； 达到； 造诣； 成就 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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interpretations
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| n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解 | |
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paraphrases
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| n.释义，意译( paraphrase的名词复数 )v.释义，意译( paraphrase的第三人称单数 ) | |
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captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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specifying
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| v.指定( specify的现在分词 )；详述；提出…的条件；使具有特性 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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levy
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| n.征收税或其他款项，征收额 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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etymological
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| adj.语源的，根据语源学的 | |
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symbolical
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| a.象征性的 | |
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humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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psalm
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| n.赞美诗，圣诗 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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reclaim
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| v.要求归还，收回；开垦 | |
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solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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depicted
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| 描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述 | |
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epic
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| n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的 | |
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enumerated
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vainglorious
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| adj.自负的；夸大的 | |
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despoiled
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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bonnets
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| n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 )；（烟囱等的）覆盖物；（苏格兰男子的）无边呢帽；（女子戴的）任何一种帽子 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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tunics
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| n.（动植物的）膜皮( tunic的名词复数 )；束腰宽松外衣；一套制服的短上衣；（天主教主教等穿的）短祭袍 | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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relinquish
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| v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手 | |
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trump
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| n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭 | |
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confiscated
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| 没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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monopolized
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| v.垄断( monopolize的过去式和过去分词 )；独占；专卖；专营 | |
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mitten
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| n.连指手套，露指手套 | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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53
stigmatized
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| v.使受耻辱，指责，污辱( stigmatize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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mittens
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| 不分指手套 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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naturalist
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| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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60
eruption
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| n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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corrupting
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的现在分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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invective
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| n.痛骂，恶意抨击 | |
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monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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67
sensuous
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| adj.激发美感的；感官的，感觉上的 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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illustrates
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| 给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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miraculously
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| ad.奇迹般地 | |
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enactment
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| n.演出，担任…角色；制订，通过 | |
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unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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bishops
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| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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abstain
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| v.自制，戒绝，弃权，避免 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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82
rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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84
affixed
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| adj.[医]附着的，附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 )；粘贴；加以；盖（印章） | |
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85
conquerors
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| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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86
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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87
untold
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| adj.数不清的，无数的 | |
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88
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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89
geologist
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| n.地质学家 | |
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90
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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91
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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92
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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93
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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94
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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95
expediency
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| n.适宜；方便；合算；利己 | |
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96
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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