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

barrel – unit of liquid and dry measure; wine barrel is equal to 119.24 litres, and beer barrel is equal to 136.27 litres.

’pollinaris – Apollinaris, the name of the mineral water

matron – a respectable and dignified married woman

Cornelia (2nd century BC) – a Roman aristocrat and a highly educated woman, the mother of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, Roman reformers

Oxfords = man’s boots with laces ( US )

silk lisle threads = silk stockings

Maori – a member of a Polynesian people of New Zealand

Dante – Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), a great Italian poet, writer and philosopher, the author of ‘The Divine Comedy’

canto – a division of a long epic or narrative poem

Labor Day – in the USA and Canada, the holiday on the first Monday of September honouring labour and workers

Pilsener – famous beer originally made in Plzen (Pilsen), a city in Czech Republic

Vizier – originally the chief minister or the representative of the ruler in Moslem countries

Selzer – mineral water

the bi-monthly dance – the ball that takes place twice a month

Loreley – in German legend, a siren who lured fishermen, and they found death on the rocks

Milesian = Irish

nom de guerre = pseudonym, a fictitious name ( French )

Jim Jeffries – James Jackson Jeffries (1875–1953), a famous American boxer, the world heavyweight champion

the bailiff angel – an angel who acts as a court official and executes legal process

the South Sea Islands – a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean including Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa, the Gilbert Islands, the Marquesas Islands, etc.

alma mater – the university, college, etc. that a person attended

asphaltward = on the asphalt

Luciferian – from Lucifer , the prince of evil in Judaism and Christianity

Gotham – in English legend of the 12th–13th centuries, the village, the inhabitants of which feigned stupidity to avoid the expenses on King John’s visit

Prince Hal – a character of William Shakespeare’s plays ‘Henry IV’ and ‘Henry V’, an irresponsible and life-loving young man

Falstaff – Sir John Falstaff, a fictional character of four Shakespeare’s plays, the most comic character in the English literature

Bowery – a district and street in Lower Manhattan where cheap restaurants, cafés and dance halls are located

Reginald Vanderbilt – a member of the Vanderbilt family, one of the wealthiest in the United States

dog-days – 1) very hot days in July and August; 2) the dead season; 3) hard times.

senoreena = a young girl

chop-suey – a Chinese meal

Judas – Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve Christ’s apostles known for betraying Jesus

Hades – in Greek mythology and religion, the ruler of the underworld which is often called ‘the house of Hades’ or simply Hades

Pompeii – an ancient city southeast of Naples in Italy, destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79

Andirondacks – the Andirondack Mountains in northeastern New York state

Catskills – the Catskill Mountains, a part of the Appalachian mountains in southeastern New York state

Miss Clay – Bertha Clay (1836–1884), an English writer, the author of sentimental novels

Greenwich Village – a residential area in Lower Manhattan in New York City where artists, writers, bohemians and intellectuals live

table d’hôte – a restaurant meal at a fixed price with little or no choice

‘Delmonico’s’ – the name of a cheap restaurant in Greenwich Village and a luxurious one in central New York City

zephyr – light wind from the west

the Bay of Naples – an inlet of the Mediterranean Sea southeast of Naples, a city in southern Italy

‘Vass!’ = What! (German)

in der prain = in the brain

Gott! = Oh, God! (German)

crêpe de Chine – fine high-quality silk fabric

mullygrubs = melancholy, blue moods

trousseau = dowry (French)

gondola – a 10-metre long boat with flat bottom, used mainly on the canals and lagoon of Venice

Tammany – the executive committee of the Democratic Party in New York City

highball – whisky mixed with soda, served with ice in tall glasses

Bohemia – artists, musicians and writers who lead an eccentric and reckless life

Maupassant – Guy de Maupassant (1850–1893), a famous French writer, the author of novels and short stories

Meringue – a dessert, a mixture of egg whites and sugar, invented in 1720

Vesuvian lava-bed – Vesuvius is an active volcano in southern Italy.

Gallic = here: Celtic

absinthe – an alcoholic drink, a distilled aromatic dry liquor with a bitter taste

the Grand Lama of Thibet (Tibet) – the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism

Terra del Fuego = the Land of Fire (Spanish) , a province in Argentina and Chile in the south of South America

Bois de Boulogne – a famous park west of Paris in France

Whistler – James Whistler (1834–1903), an American-born artist who worked in Britain and is noted for his paintings of London, etchings and lithographs

Micmac – the largest of the North American Indian tribes

Laissser faire = the policy of non-interference (French)

Attic salt – refined wit (idiom)

chanson = song (French)

Bridgeport – a city in southwestern Connecticut, founded in 1639

Calvinistic – from Calvinism , a Protestant religious movement spread in England, Scotland, France and the Netherlands, founded by John Calvin, a Protestant Reformer of the 16th century