similies and metaphors

[eliahm]

in the book little women, what do the following simlies mean:

dark as egypt

prim as a dish

please help!
I really need to figure out what these mean in the next 5 minutes!
even if you only know one, that would still be very helpful!

[mayneverhave]

I have not read the novel, but I would only assume that "Dark as Egypt" refers to either Egypt as a land of darkness and mystery (a typical view of the East from a Western standpoint), or simply as a reference to the tan, sun-bathed skin color of Egyptians.

[L.M. The Third]

"Dark as egypt" probably refers to the the biblical story of the unnatural darkness covering Egypt before the exodus of Israel