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

Tuxedo – dinner jacket ( American ); the style was introduced in the millionaire district of Tuxedo Park in the state of New York.

Frankoyse – here: a form of address to the waiter

Bernhardt’s tent – here: a large quantity

de cuisine = meals

since the Cambon snack – here: since very long ago; Joseph Cambon (1756–1820) was a minister of the French Revolutionary Government in 1791–1795.

go(u)rmands = lovers of tasty food

Guinness’s stout – stout, a kind of very strong dark beer, produced by Guinness, a famous Irish company founded in 1759

nong, mong, frang – an exclamation of annoyance invented by the author

Sarah Bernhardt (1844–1923) – an outstanding French actress of the late 19th century, a legendary figure in the history of stage

Heherezade – Scheherazade, a literary character from ‘The Thousand and One Nights’; each evening, to entertain the sultan, she tells him a new story leaving it unfinished, and promises to finish it the following night.

the Brooklyn Bridge – the bridge over the East River from Brooklyn to Manhattan Island in New York City, built in 1869–1883, the largest suspension bridge of its time

‘Can he sing?’ – here: Has he got money?

rajahs – rajah is an administrative rank in India

princerino = prince

Mindanao – a large island in the southern part of the Philippines

Roosevelt – Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), the 26th American president in 1901–1909, a writer, soldier and scientist

Chautauqua(s) – here: a drink from the county of Chautauqua in southwestern New York state

Imam – in Islam, the head of the Muslim community

Hygeia – in Greek mythology, the Health Giver (Athena Hygeia)

gazaboo – here: a fool

gaboozlum – here: a stupid thing

the Menger – the names of the hotel

the Maveric – the names of the hotel

the Fi’th Av’noo – the names of the hotel

the Woldorf-Astoria – the names of the hotel

Waterloo – here: a symbol of defeat; the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 between Napoleon and the Combined European forces ended in Napoleon’s final defeat.

antipodes – antipode is smth. or smb. with opposite qualities and characteristics

gladiatorial – from gladiator , a professional fighter in ancient Rome; here: ready to fight.

the International – the name of the railway company

seltzer – originally, natural mineral water from Germany

paraphernalia = belongings

javeli = a wild boar

simoleon – a bonus or coupon; here: money.

rodeo – a cattle-pen where cattle is examined and stamped

Sí, señor = Yes, sir ( Spanish )

Está bueno? = Is it all right? ( Spanish )

Sí, sí – mil gracias = Yes, yes, thank you very much. ( Spanish )

Aurora – in Greek and Roman mythology, the morning star, the personification of dawn

incubus – a night demon; the word also means a cause of trouble and anxiety.

Old Man of the Sea – in Greek mythology, a water spirit

kobold – in German mythology, an evil spirit haunting houses, mines and caves

gehenna – hell

Reubens – unsophisticated country folk ( slang )

treinta – thirty ( Spanish )

cuarenta – forty ( Spanish )

centaurs – in Greek mythology, wild creatures, part horses and part men

Dago – a contemptuous name for a Mexican

’dobe hut – a hut made of clay

mantilla – a veil or large scarf worn by Spanish women to cover the head and shoulders

Winchester – a famous rifle developed and manufactured by Oliver Fisher Winchester (1810–1880), an American manufacturer of guns

Tybalt – a fictional character from William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, one of the Capulets

Dibble = here: Devil

Horatius – Horatio, a fictional character from William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet,’ Hamlet’s best friend

the Rio Bravo (or Rio Bravo del Norte) – the Mexican name of the Rio Grande, one of the longest rivers in North America, on the border between Texas, US, and Mexico

masquerooter = masquerader, a man in disguise

sixes or six-shooters – revolvers with six bullets

Quixotic = noble; from Don Quixote , a literary character from the famous novel by Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616).

the I. & G.N. – here: a train of the I. & G.N. company

Los Estados Unidos = the United States ( Spanish )

double-eagles – 20 dollar gold coins

the Stars and Stripes – the flag of the United States of America; it has 13 horizontal stripes for the original 13 states and 50 stars for the 50 states of the union.

jacal = a hut ( Spanish )

Abraham Lincoln (1808–1865) – a legendary figure in the American history, the president of the United States during the American Civil War (1861–1865) who preserved the Union and brought about the abolition of slavery.

Andalusian – a resident of Andalusia, a historical region of southern Spain

Basque – a people who live in Spain and France in the area of the Bay of Biscay and the Pyrenees Mountains

python – 1) a large tropical snake; 2) in Greek mythology, a huge serpent killed by the god Apollo.

Gallipolees – Gallipoli, the Gallipoli Peninsula, and an ancient fortress, seaport and town in what is now European Turkey

Seville – a city in southern Spain, founded in the 2nd century BC