О. Генри - Лучшие рассказы О. Генри = The Best of O. Henry

hie = hurry ( archaic )

Mosby – John Singleton Mosby (1833–1916), a Confederacy guerrilla band leader during the American Civil War

Upernavik – a town in Greenland

Cincinnati – a town in Ohio

Battle Creek – a town in the state of Michigan

Yokohama – a city and port southwest of Tokyo in Japan

Zulus – the largest ethnic group in South Africa, a branch of the Bantu people

Patagonians – residents of Patagonia, a region in southern Argentina

the Kaw River – a river in Vietnam

Titans – in Greek mythology, giants, the children of Heaven and Earth

Maine – the US state in the north-east of the country

answers to Lawson – here: court decisions

Bohemians – representatives of Bohemia, usually an artistic circle

faux pas = a false step, a mistake ( French )

pounds – pound is a unit of weight equal to 0.4535 kg

Palm Beach – a famous resort on the Atlantic coast in Florida

cicerone – a guide who describes to sightseers the places of interest

Tuskageenial – the word invented by the author from Tuskagee, a city in central Alabama, and genial (kindly, sociable)

lambrequins – the Baroque style ornaments; originally the mantling on a helmet to shield the wearer from the sun’s rays.

tocsin = poisonous

goblin – in Western folklore, a mischievous and malicious spirit attached to a household

Stygian – here: terrible; from Styx, in Greek mythology, a river in the underworld.

epicedian tears – here: mournful tears

Falstaff – a fictional character in Shakespeare’s ‘Henry IV’

Momus – in Greek mythology, the god of mockery

Avaunt! = Go away! Off with you!

Helen – Helen of Troy, a beauty, the cause of the Trojan War

Cassiopeia – a constellation in the Milky Way Galaxy

balustrade – a row of banisters to support a handrail on a balcony, staircase, etc.

Erebus – here: darkness; in Greek mythology, Erebus (Darkness) is the offspring of Chaos.

debility – weakness (of health)

Wagner – Richard Wagner (1813–1883), a German dramatic composer

Waldteufel – Emil Waldteufel (1887–1915), a French pianist and waltz composer

Oolong – a famous sort of Chinese tea

the Golden Gate – the strait in California between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean

Hatteras – Cape Hatteras in North Carolina

Cape Horn – a rocky headland on the southern tip of South America in Chile

the Labrador – the Labrador current in North Atlantic Ocean, between Canada and Greenland

Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571) – a famous Florentine sculptor and goldsmith

inches – an inch is a unit of length equal to 2.54 cm

feet – pl. from foot ; a unit of length equal to 30.48 cm

Astrakhan rug portieres – thick woolen curtains

Peoria – a city in central Illinois

parkscape – from park + landscape

the smile of the Cheshire cat – a very wide smile (idiom)

Paphian = sensual

typograph – a typewriter for the blind

the Battery – White Point Gardens in South Carolina with monuments and military relics

Gotham – a legendary village in Nottinghamshire in England; in English legend, Wise Men of Gotham were wise fools who pretended stupidity to avoid unwanted expenses.

Bellevue Hospital – a famous hospital in New York City

the Vesuvian Bay – the Bay of Naples in southern Italy with Vesuvius, an active volcano rising high above it

Boreas – in Greek mythology, the personification of the north wind

bluecoats – here: policemen

Blackwell’s – the name of the prison

the Riviera – the seacoast on the Mediterranean Sea in the south of France

Caesar (100 BC–44 BC) – a Roman ruler, general and dictator, assassinated by the group of conspirators

Brutus (85 BC–42 BC) – a Roman politician, one of the leaders in the conspiracy against Julius Caesar

Chablis – white wine of northern Burgundy in France, made of Chardonnay grapes

Camembert – cheese of Normandy, covered with white mold

Yale – a private university in New Haven, one of the oldest universities in the USA, founded in 1701

Hartford College – University of Hartford in Connecticut, founded in 1877

Arcadia – in Greek and Roman poetry and the Renaissance literature, the blessed country, paradise

Hendrik (Henry) Hudson (1565–1611) – an English navigator and explorer whose name was given to a river, a strait and a bay

Napoleon III (1808–1873) – president of the Second Republic of France, and since 1852 emperor of France

Minerva – in Roman religion, the goddess of handicrafts, profession and arts

the Palisades – high vertical rocks along the west side of the Hudson River

Yosemite – Yosemite Valley, a picturesque region in east-central California

Haydn – Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), a famous Austrian composer of the Classical style in music

Carnegie medal – the award given for heroic deeds, established by Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919), a famous American industrialist and philanthropist

Morgan – John Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913), an American financier and industrialist

the Badgers – the nickname of the residents of Wisconsin, the US state in the Midwest

Chilcoot – a mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains in Alaska; served as a way to the lands rich in gold.