Word: hydra
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Dates: during 1870-1879
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...crush the hydra Wrong in mortal strife...
...related, on the authority of Ovid and Diodorus, that Hercules once attacked a monstrous snake called Hydra, which had nine heads, and if any of them was cut off, two others would spring up to take its place. The only way to stop these heads from growing was by burning them off. I don't believe this story, but merely quote it here because it is an exact parallel to the story of my mustache...
...Latin lesson included the story of the Lernean Hydra. From that moment my mind was made up. I rushed to my room, seized a match, and with true Herculean courage burned off my parasite completely. But alas! I soon found out that the real essence of a mustache and a hydra differs; for the former, to my chagrin, kept on growing as usual, and its color seemed to have gained in brilliancy from the fire-baptism...