Chapter F to Faction of F by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Fables The most famous writers of fables are -
   Pilpay, among the Hindus.
   Lokman, among the Arabs.
   Æsop and Babrios, among the Greeks.
   Phædrus and Arianus, among the Romans.
   Faerne, Abstemius, and Casti, among the Italians. The last wrote The Talking Animals.
   La Fontaine and Florian, among the French.
   John Gay and Edward Moore, among our own countrymen. The former is sometimes called "The English Æsop."
   Lessing and Pfeffel, among the Germans.
   Krilof, among the Russians.
   (See Aesop.)

Fabliaux The metrical fables of the Trouvères, or early poets north of the Loire, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The word fable, in this case, is used very widely, for it includes not only such tales as Reynard the Fox, but all sorts of familiar incidents of knavery and intrigue, all sorts of legends and family traditions. The fabliau of Aucassin and Nicolette is full of interesting incidents, and contains much true pathos and beautiful poetry.

Fabricius A Roman hero, representative of inflexible purity and honesty. The ancient writers love to tell of the frugal way in which he lived on his hereditary farm; how he refused the rich presents offered him by the Samnite ambassadors; and how at death he left no portion for his daughters, whom the senate provided for.

"Fabricius, scorner of all-conquering gold."
Thomson: Seasons (Winter).

Fabulinus The god who taught Roman children to utter their first word. It was the god Vagitanus (q.v.) who taught them to utter their first cry. From fari, to speak (Varro).

Fabulous Isles (See under Islands .)

Face (Latin, facies.)
   A brazen face. A bold, defiant look. A brazen-faced person means one with an impudent, audacious look, especially in a bad cause. Brass metaphorically is generally used in a bad or deprecatory sense, as "You have plenty of brass" [impudence], "I admire your brass."
   A rebec face (French, visage de rebec). An ugly, grotesque face, like that which used to be cut on the upper part of a rebec or three-stringed fiddle.

"Dead is the noble Badëbec,
Who had a face like a rebec."
Rabelais: Pantagruel, book ii. 4.

    Badebec was the mother of Gargantua, and died in childbirth.
   A wry face. The features drawn awry, expressive of distaste.
   To draw a long face. To look dissatisfied or sorrowful, in which case the mouth is drawn down at the corners, the eyes are dejected, and the face elongated.

"Of course, it is all right; if you had not drawn such a long face I should never have doubted." - Dr. Cupid.

   To fly in the face of ... To oppose violently and unreasonably: to set at defiance rashly.
   To put a good face on the matter. To make the best of a bad matter; to bear up under something disagreeable; "vultu malum dissimulare;" "in adversis vultum secundæ fortunæ gerere."
   To set one's face against [something]. To oppose it; to resist its being done. The expression of the face shows the state of the inclination of a person's mind.

Face to Face In the immediate presence of each other; two or more persons facing each other. To accuse another "face to face" means not "behind his back" or in his absence, but while present.

Faces To keep two faces under one hood. To be double-faced; to pretend to be very religious, and yet live an evil life.

"We never troubled the Church ... We knew we were doing what we ought not to do, and scorned to look pious, and keep two faces under one hood." - Boldrewood: Robbery Under Arms, chap. ii.

   To make faces. To make grimaces with the face.

Face To face it out. To persist in an assertion which is not true. To maintain without changing colour or hanging down the head.
   To face down. To withstand with boldness and effrontery.

Faced With a facing, lining of the cuffs, etc.; also the preterite of the verb "to face."