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Like quills upon the fretful porpentine: [131-3]— Familiar Quotations A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature
Fretful porpentine, 131. stir unprofitable, 467.— Familiar Quotations A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature
Quills, stops of various, 248. upon the porcupine, 131. upon the porpentine, 131.— Familiar Quotations A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature
“Like quills upon the fretful _porpentine_”, this being the earlier, and in Shakespeare’s time the more common form of the word [e.g. “the _purpentines_ nature” (Puttenham,— English Past and Present
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