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

chivo = kid, a small goat (Spanish)

lariat = lasso

the town marshal = the local sheriff

38 bulldog = 38 calibre revolver

Arroyo = rivulet, stream ( Spanish )

Ulysses – the Latin name of Odysseus, a legendary hero of Homer’s epic poem, the king of Ithaca known for his wisdom, courage, endurance and bravery

Circe – in Greek mythology, the daughter of Helios, the sun god, a sorceress able to change people into animals; Odysseus and his companions visited her island and stayed there for one year.

laryngeal muscles = muscles of the throat

vaquero = cowboy, cattle-farm worker ( Spanish )

tienda = a small shop ( Spanish )

the Guadalupe – a river in California and Texas

lavendera = laundress ( Spanish )

El Chivato = Kid ( Spanish )

pistola = revolver ( Spanish )

frijoles = beans ( Spanish )

Qué mal muchacho! = What a bad boy! ( Spanish )

alma = soul ( Spanish ); here: darling.

chica = girl ( Spanish )

caballo = horse ( Spanish )

muy caballero = a real gentleman ( Spanish )

canciones de amor = love songs ( Spanish )

pantalones = trousers ( Spanish )

camisa = shirt ( Spanish )

dun – a mouse-coloured horse

tule = reed, cane

Ah, Dios! = Heavens! ( Spanish )

Pues = well… ( Spanish )

Válgame Dios! = Good God! ( Spanish )

Goliath – in the Bible, a Philistine giant killed by David

Trilbys – Trilby is a soft man’s hat made of felt

permitted herself to be Garlanded and McFarlanded and Solomoned = let people call her Miss Garland, or Miss McFarland, or Miss Solomon

compagnon de voyage = fellow traveler ( French )

the Wandering Jew – in Christianity, a person doomed to live until the end of the world because he had struck Jesus on His way to the Crucifixion

quota – limit on the quantity

King Solomon (10th century BC) – the greatest king of Israel

asylum – hospital for mentally ill patients

bivouacker(s) – from bivouac ( French ) = 1) rest, halt; 2) camp.

marooners = idle persons, loiterers

impromptu = improvisation

Aladdin’s apple – Aladdin is a fictional character, the hero of one of the stories from ‘The Thousand and One Night’ (Aladdin’s Lamp). In a story ‘The Three Apples’ an apple turns out to be the cause a number of tragic events.

the apple of the eye – a person who is loved best or is very dear and important to someone ( idiom)

the Hesperides – in Greek mythology, the maidens who guarded the tree with golden apples

barrel = cask, bucket

epitome = personification, incarnation

Springfield – several towns of the same name in the states of Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio, Missouri and Oregon

Guy de Mopassong – Guy de Maupassant (1850–1893), a French author, the greatest French short-story writer

chatfield-chatfield – here: foolish

hand out the mitt to the Willy with creases = to drop the rich man, to part with him; to hand smb. the frozen mitt – to receive smb. coldly ( idiom)

hits the booze = drinks heavily

aquafortis = here: strong alcoholic drink

the Rocky Mountains – a mountain range in western North America; it stretches from Alberta, Canada, to New Mexico, US.

Wyoming – the US state in the West, known for the famous Yellowstone National Park

Peruvian temple – an Inca temple in Peru, a country in western South America

ore – here: a lot of money

striking a bonanza – becoming rich

Standard Oil – an American oil company controlling almost all oil producing, processing and marketing in the USA, one of the largest oil companies in the world.

played out a lone hand = stayed alone, not married

satyr – in Greek mythology, a wild creature, part man and part goat

bonbons = sweets

East Aurora – here: the Eastern states

jack-pots – big prizes

Croesus – the name of the character coincides with the name of the last king of Lydia known for his great wealth

the Kaw – also called the Kansas River, a river in western Kansas, a tributary of the Missouri

crinoline – a petticoat worn to create volume, popular fashion in the middle of the 19th century

noodle villa – here: asylum

versus = against ( Latin )

the Slough of Despond – here: the underworld or hell where sinners were sent after death to pay the penalty for their crimes

El Toro tobacco – tobacco from Puerto Rico, from the region around El Toro mountain

under a comma mott – here: under a tree

javalis = jabalís = wild boars ( Spanish )

jigs – jig is a Scottish folk dance popular in Scotland, northern England and Ireland in the 16th–18th centuries

Star wayno – here: good, well

orchestrion – the name used for self-played mechanical musical instruments ( German )

‘Bonnie Dundee’ – a Scottish dance named for the 1st viscount of Dundee (1649–1689), a brave soldier known as ‘Bonnie Dundee’