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

the Frio Kid – Kid from the Frio River

Loma Alta – Alta Loma, a town in California

erysipelas – a bacterial infection characterized by large red spots on the skin

Hyndman – Henry Mayers Hyndman (1842–1921), a famous British Marxist who greatly influenced many British Socialists

Kautsky – Karl Kautsky (1854–1938), one of the theorists of Marxism and a leader of the German Social Democratic Party

skookum house = jail (US, slang)

the Bowery – a district in New York City with cheap cafés, saloons and dance-halls

Colden – Richard Colden (1804–1865), a British politician, best known for his defense of free trade

Ben Franklin – Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), an American author, publisher, politician, diplomat and scientist

‘Hully gee!’ – a greeting

Marco Polo (1254–1324) – an Italian explorer, merchant and adventurer

Mungo Park (1771–1806) – a Scottish explorer of the Niger River

Salado County – a region in western Texas

Teutonic = German (historical)

Ceres – in Roman religion, the goddess of agriculture

Pomona – a city in south California, an agricultural and ranching centre, founded in 1875

India ink – sticks of black pigment used for drawing or the carbon black fluid ink

des trois-quartz de monde – three quarters of the world ( French )

haut = high, elevated (French)

demi = half (of smth. or some quality) (French)

Moorish – the style in architecture and decorative art

devoirs = debts (French)

Sir Galahad – characters of the 12th century Arthurian legend

Sir Fool – characters of the 12th century Arthurian legend

Erebus – in Greek mythology, Darkness

Amazon – in Greek mythology, a woman warrior; an independent and self-sufficient woman.

Mardi Gras ( French ) festivals – Fat Tuesday, the close of the pre-Lenten season, the day celebrated in France and in New Orleans in the United States

gasolined gloves – here: old gloves cleaned with gasoline

Spanish castellar architecture – formed from the idiomatic expression ‘castles in Spain’ = smth. unreal, not existing

De mortis nil = nothing about the dead (Latin)

Beelzebub – in the Bible, the prince of the devils

Peri – 1) in Persian mythology, a fairy, a very beautiful winged woman who protects people from evil forces; 2) a beauty.

fandangos – fandango is a Spanish folk dance

Watteau hat – the hat as in the pictures by Antoine Watteau (1684–1721), a French painter of the Rococo

major-domo = house manager ( Italian )

Mother Goose – a fictional character of nursery rhymes

lotus-eater’s dream – in Greek mythology, lotus-eaters were people who ate the mysterious plant to achieve blissful forgetfulness

Strephon to Chloe – characters of the poem by Phillip Sidney (1554–1586), an English statesman and poet

Verlaine – Paul Verlaine (1844–1896), a French lyric poet, the leader of Symbolists

Spartan – an austere person whose life lacks comfort and luxury

the Hebrides – a group of islands along the Atlantic coast of Scotland

the Zuyder Zee = the North Sea