MD3PAD 25-27

[David Casseres]

Hepsie would be short for Hepzibah.  With a bit of googling I found
this, which I don't really know what to make of:

"Hepzibah Pyncheon of The House of the Seven Gables is "an old maid"
caught between the world of gentility and the world of practicality.
Her former status is dependent upon wealth (which no longer belongs to
her) and a legacy of belonging to a leading family in Salem. Her
sojourn into the world of practicality involves becoming a shopkeeper
and earning her own way. Because she is proud and because she despises
her cousin Judge Pyncheon, she refuses charity and determines to earn
the money she and her brother (soon to be released from prison) will
need for basic necessities. Hepzibah Pyncheon plays a significant role
in The House of the Seven Gables in 10 chapters: 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 15,
16, 17, and 20."

http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/Hawthorne&Women/ThreeFemaleCharacters/HaW22.html

On 1/12/06, Toby G Levy <tobylevy at juno.com> wrote:
>         Mrs. Jellow leads the dog away from the cockfight. The dog leads
> Mason to a fortune teller named Hepsie.
>
> vw#7: arietta - a brief aria
>
> vw#8: pythoness - female prophet
>
>         Here we learn of the death of Mason's wife two years earlier
> (this would make the year of her death 1758, when Mason was only 30
> years old). Mason is still mourning her and hoping to somehow connect
> with her through some paranormal means.
>
>         Here Pynchon makes up the word "nyperthrenia" which he says
> means "excess in mourning." he constructs the word from the real word
> "threnody" which means song of mourning.
>
>         For the first of many times, Pynchon uses the word "smoak" on
> page 25. The context indicates it is used to mean "understand" or
> "figure out."
>
>         The dog was hoping that Hepsie would have been given something
> for Fang by someone named Angelo but there is no package.Who knows what
> the dog was expecting?
>
>
> vw#9: scryess - a woman who predicts the future using a crystal ball
>
>         Hepsie wants a half a crown to read the future of Mason and
> Dixon. How much money is that? Mason wants Dixon to pay half, but
> eventually digs the whole fee up himself. Hepsie warns Mason and Dixon
> that they will be attacked by the French when they are at sea aboard the
> Seahorse.
>
> Toby
>