30 лучших рассказов американских писателей. Коллектив авторов
of the wind over the strings; in Greek mythology, Aeolus is the god of the winds.
14
delirium – mental state marked by confused thinking, hallucinations, etc. as a result of the intoxication of the brain caused by fever or some other physical disorder.
15
Kentuckian – a resident of Kentucky, the US state in the south (102 694 sq. km).
16
a Sandwich Islander – a resident of the Sandwich Islands, the second name of the Hawaiian Islands, a group of the volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean; the first European who visited the islands in 1778 was Captain James Cook (1728–1779).
17
Pompadour – marquise de Pompadour (1721–1764), the mistress of Louis XV, king of France; she was a well-educated woman and a patron of art and literature.
18
Olympus – a mount in Greece (2,917 m); in Greek mythology, the place where gods lived.
19
the Lost Atlantis – a legendary island in the Atlantic Ocean, described by antique authors as a highly developed and powerful civilization.
20
Florence – a city in central Italy, founded in the 1st century BC and notable for its works of art.
21
the Commandments – in the Bible, the list of religious principles revealed to Moses, a Hebrew prophet of the 14th – 13th centuries BC, on Mount Sinai.
22
the Mosaic Law – the religious principles of Judaism revealed to Moses, a Hebrew prophet of the 14th – 13th centuries BC.
23
the Legion of Hono(u)r – the National Order of the Legion of Honour, a military and civil order of the French Republic, created by Napoleon in 1802.
24
damask – a silk, fine, patterned fabric, originally produced in Damascus, Syria.
25
catechism – a religious instruction in the form of questions and answers.
26
portière – heavy curtains hung in a doorway.
27
Marseilles – a city and port in southern France on the Mediterranean Sea, founded 2,500 years ago.
28
Desdemona – a fictional character in Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Othello’ (1603).
29
the Pantheon – the 18th century building in Paris, an example of Neoclassical architecture with columns and a high dome.
30
La Petite – baby. (
31
Seigneur – Lord, God. (
32
Tan’tante –
33
palmetto – a sort of small palm trees.
34
Il ne faut pas faire mal à Pauline. – Don’t do harm to Pauline. (
35
la guerre = war. (
36
Sumter – a county in South Caroline, US.
37
Louisiana – the US state (123,366 sq. km) admitted to the union in 1812 as the 18th member; it borders Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas.
38
Adieu! – Goodbye!
39
Venus – the second planet from the Sun; when it is visible, it is the brightest in the sky.
40
pied à terre – a place of refuge where a person lives from time to time. (
41
pullman – a sleeping car used on railroads, invented by George Pullman (1831–1897), an American industrialist and inventor.
42
San Antonio – a city in south-central Texas, founded in 1718 by Spanish explorers and named for St. Anthony of Padua.
43
cashmere – a fine woolen fabric first made in Kashmir, India.
44
the Rio Grande – a river in Texas, US, and Mexico, one of the longest rivers in North America; it flows to the Gulf of Mexico.
45
mesquite – a deep rooted shrub or small tree in South America and in the southwest of the USA.
46
maroon-colored – brownish-red.
47
Apache – North American Indians who used to live in what is now southeastern Arizona and Colorado, southwestern New Mexico and western Texas.
48
scalp-music – war music.
49
Atchison, Topeka and Santana Fé Railroad – one of the largest railway companies in the United States, founded in 1859.
50
Prometheus – in Greek religion, the god of fire and one of the Titans; the legend said that Zeus nailed him to the rock and sent an eagle to eat his liver as punishment for stealing fire and giving it to people.
51
Tantalus – in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus; he was punished for his crimes against gods – in the underworld he stood in water but couldn’t drink, fruits hung above his head but he couldn’t eat them.
52
Ixion – in Greek mythology, Zeus, to punish Ixion for murdering his father-in-law, bound him on a wheel which rolled without stopping.
53
Hermes – in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus, and the god of cattle and sheep; he was also a dream god and the messenger of the gods.
54
babel – a noisy and confused company.
55
lorgnette – a pair of eye-glasses on a long handle.
56
Harvard – the USA oldest higher educational institution, founded in 1636.
57
Princeton – the fourth oldest university in the USA, founded in New Jersey in 1746.
58
Yale – a private university in New Heaven, the third oldest in the US, founded in 1701.
59
Williams – Roger Williams University in Nashville, Tennessee, US.
60
Cornell – a university in Ithaca, a city in south-central New York state, founded in 1862.
61
New Haven – a city in south-central Connecticut, founded in 1638.