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

Jeremy Tailor (1613–1667) – an Anglican clergyman and writer

St. Simeon – St. Simeon Stylites (390–459), a Syrian monk, a pillar hermit known for his austerity

Cerberus – in Greek mythology, the watchdog of the underground, a monster with many heads and a serpent’s tail who devoured everybody who tried to escape the house of Hades

Nome – a city in western Alaska

Gotham – here: a playful name of New York City

Chilkoot – a river and an inlet in Alaska

Sieber-Mason’s – a large department store in New York City

Siwash – the North American Indian tribe

Chilkat – Alaska was originally inhabited by the Chilcat Indians

Diana – in Roman religion, the goddess of hunt and wild animals

Juneau – a city, the capital of Alaska since 1906

Circle City – a city on the Yukon River, near the Arctic Circle

sotto voce = soft voice ( Italian )

John D – the way John Rockefeller, Junior, was called

Ceres – in Roman religion, the goddess of food plants

Maxine Elliot – an American actress (1868–1940)

Buffalo bill – the author uses the name of Buffalo Bill, the byname of William Cody (1846–1917), a famous buffalo hunter, rider, scout, fighter and actor

George Washington (1732–1799) – the first president of the United States

Charing Cross – a area in the City of Westminster in London

Port Arthur – a city and port in China, the place of the severe battle in the course of the Russian-Japanese War (1904–1905)

Portsmouth – the city in the USA where the Peaceful Treaty between Russia and Japan was signed in 1905

‘who giveth to the poor, lendeth to the Lord’ – lines from the Bible (Proverbs 19:17)

the Grand Central Deport – the Grand Central Station, railroad terminal in New York City built in 1903–1913

’85 Johannisburger = Johannesburg Riesling, white wine produced in 1885

peacherino = peach (used to a pretty girl)

Stetson – a high man’s hat with broad brims

epitomisng = epitomizing, making a speech, summarizing

habeas corpus – order requiring an arrested person to be brought before a judge or in court ( Latin )

Warwick – Richard Neville, 1st earl of Warwick (1428–1471), called ‘the Kingmaker’ for his role in obtaining the crown for Edward IV in 1461

chaparral = here: an enclosure for cattle (bordered by bushes of chaparral)

prince-consort – the reigning queen’s husband

San Antone – San Antonio, a city in south-central Texas

compañeros = friends ( Spanish )

Adiós – good-bye ( Spanish )

Allegro – fast and lively ( music )

Fortissimo – very loudly ( music )

Philistines – an ancient people that lived in Palestine in the 12th century BC; they came in conflict with the Israelites and were their mortal enemies.

Samson – in the Old Testament, an Israelite hero, a legendary warrior who was captured and blinded by the Philistines with the help of a Philistine woman, Delilah, who betrayed him; when his strength returned, he destroyed his captors and himself.

slicker – a long waterproof coat

lobos = wolves ( Spanish )

Tempus fugit = Time goes ( Latin )

Ex consuetudine = following the tradition ( Latin )

Aaron’s rod – Aaron (the 14th century BC), the first Israelite priest; together with his brother, Moses, he let his people out of Egypt. It was Moses’ rod that brought water from the rock, Aaron’s one blossomed and gave fruit.

mayordomo = majordomo, butler ( Spanish )

vaqueros = cowboys ( Spanish )

lasso – a thick rope used for catching cattle and horses

nabobs – wealthy persons living in luxury

faro – one of the oldest card-games, a popular gambling game of the 19th century

Banjo – a stringed musical instrument of African origin, popular in the United States

sciatica – inflammation of the nerve in the hip and the thigh

burro = donkey ( Spanish )

the Lick Observatory – an astronomic mountaintop observatory in California, founded in 1880 by James Lick

justice of (the) peace = magistrate, a judge in the lowest court

Indian summer – a period of warm weather in autumn; a metaphor for a revival of the feelings of youth in old age.

Telemachus – the name of the main character is taken from Greek mythology; Telemachus was the son of Odysseus who left home in search of his wandering father.

Barranquilla – a city and large port on the Caribbean Sea in northwestern Colombia

reales – real is a Spanish coin first used in 1497; later real became the monetary unit of Spanish America.

Damon – in Greek mythology, a pair of devoted friends ready to sacrifice oneself for the sake of the other

Pythias – in Greek mythology, a pair of devoted friends ready to sacrifice oneself for the sake of the other

in hoc signo = a sure sign ( Latin )

Tennyson – Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892), an English poet of the Victorian age

fidus = faithful ( Latin )

Diogenes (4th century BC) – an ancient Greek philosopher who rejected luxury and stressed stoic self-sufficiency

Squills and Chalybeates = Scylla and Charybdis, in Greek mythology, two supernatural monsters who beset the narrow strait between Italy and Sicily, equally dangerous for travelers

opodeldoc – an old liquid medicine used for treating rheumatism

hoss – here: friend