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[55-57]

Chapter 58
The Fate of the Small House

You know the story of the boy who wouldn't cry though the wolf was gnawing him underneath his frock
The earl refers to this story when he is telling Johnny not to let Lily Dale's rejection affect him outwardly.  This allusion refers to a story in Plutarch's Life of Lycurgus.  In the story, a little boy would rather be gnawed than admit he had stolen a fox.  The earl is saying that John must be like that boy and hide his pain.
http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/lycurgus.html  [KD]

By Jove
An exclamation identical to "By God," as Jove was the chief Roman god, Jupiter.  Trollope uses "by Jove" when describing what another man in John Eames' position might say after being rejected by someone like Lily Dale.  [KD]

He would have been the hero of the hour and everybody would have sung for him his song of triumph
Johnny Eames thinks that if he had successfully engaged himself to Lily then "he would have been the hero of the hour." The "songs of truimph" are reminiscent of Pindar's Odes written for victorious athletes in ancient Greece.  [KD]

Chapter 59
John Eames Becomes a Man

His place was a place among gods
Johnny Eames thinks this about himself when he finds out that Amelia and Cradell are engaged.  Trollope is using this to express how happy John was that he was not engaged to Amelia, even though Johnny is still sad about Lily's rejection.  [KD]

Run away from the country as if London in May were more pleasant that the woods and fields
Trollope says that Johnny leaves Guestwick as if London were better than the country.  Of course, we know that Johnny is leaving because he is embarrassed about Lily's rejection.  John would rather leave the pastoral setting than be reminded of Lily's rejection. See commentary for Chapter 14 in Small House in Allington.  [KD]

A mutton meal is not envied by gods
Trollope says eating mutton in a hotel lobby is not a banquet to be envied by gods.  This occurs when Johnny Eames is eating dinner after moving from Burton Crescent and after being refused by Lily Dale.  This is where we last see John in this novel.  Horace uses the phrase cenae deum ("banquets of the gods") in Satire 2.6, line 65, to describe a highly desired simple meal in the country.  [KD]

Chapter 60
Conclusion

Interregnum
An interregnum is the time in between reigns.  Mention of an interregnum recalls Livy's History of Rome, Book 1 section 17, when Livy describes a vacant throne after Romulus disappears. Trollope writes of the interregnum in the garden when the squire and Hopkins have their argument about Hopkins' taking manure without permission.  Trollope is being humorous here by comparing the king of Rome to the king of the garden.  Later in the sentence, Trollope refers to the event as terrible in the annals of Allington.  Annals, we know, are the records of events.  Trollope's use of "annals", a common name for historical writing in Rome, gives the sentence a sense of Romanness.  [KD]

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