Уильям Коллинз - Лучшие романы Уилки Коллинза / The Best of Wilkie Collins

Cecilia Metella– a daughter of a Roman consul; her tomb, a circular mausoleum on a square base, constructed at the times of Emperor Augustus, is a place of interest in Rome nowa-days

fly– a one-horse carriage (long out of use)

odds and ends– small articles of various sorts, usually not valuable

Judas– Judas Iscariot, one of the 12 Apostles of the 1st cen-tury, the Apostles’ treasurer; little is said about him in the Gospels; he is known as a man who betrayed Jesus

ante-room– a waiting-room

Oratorios– an oratorio is a musical composition for voice and orchestra, usually with a religious subject

Rossini– Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868), a famous Ital-ian composer, the author of comic and historic operas; his most famous opera, ‘The Barber of Seville’, was written in 1816

Moses in Egypt– a historic opera by Gioachino Rossini

recitativo– in opera, a style of music between singing and talking

sotto voice– in a low voice (Italian)

French windows– large windows that serve as doors to the balcony or to the garden

eau sucree– sugar water (French)

go to the dogs– be ruined

trellis-work– wooden structures for supporting climbing plants

Punch– a grotesque ugly hump-backed figure in a puppet-show

Vandals– a Germanic tribe which invaded Gaul, Spain and North Africa in the 4th–5th centuries AD

Popery– Roman Catholicism

Creole– a person of mixed European and African origin

debility– weakness

i n lieu of– instead of

Torquay– a beautiful town on the seacoast in the historic county of Devon

Devonshire– Devon, a historic county of England to the east of Cornwall and to the west of Dorset and Som-erset

chaise– a horse carriage used for driving for pleasure

Islington– an inner borough of London, north of the City of London; the name Iseldone was first mentioned in Domesday Book in 1086.

Aneurism– widening of artery, a serious and even fatal dis-ease

Lyons– a large industrial city in east-central France, found-ed as a Roman military colony in 43 BC

Leicester Square– a square in central London with theatres, cinemas and restaurants in it

Chancery Lane– a street in central London where courts and lawyers’ offices are located

metaphysical– based on speculative philosophy or abstract reasoning

Hyde Park– the park in central London, in the borough of Westminster to the west of Mayfair

stratagem– a trick to deceive smb

Gray Inn’s Road– a street between the City of London and Westminster

Derby– a city on the River Derwent in the historic county of Derbyshire, founded in the 9th century by the Danes

Grimsby– a town and port in the historic county of Lin-colnshire in the east of England

Lincolnshire– a county in eastern England along the North Sea coast

Norfolk– a county in eastern England, with Suffolk in the south, the North Sea in the northeast and Lincolnshire in the west

without rhyme or reason– nonsensical

vestry– in Anglican Church, a part of church where meet-ings to discuss parish business are held

Arabia– a desert region on the peninsular bounded by the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf

Palestine– a region with rich history in the eastern Mediter-ranean known as the Holy Land

the Queen’s English– the English language spoken in Great Britain

Bath– a city and health resort on the River Avon in the historic county of Somerset; Bath is known for its nature and elegant architecture.

Fulham– an inner borough of London to the north of the River Thames and to the west of Chelsea, with a lot of 19th century residential houses

the Crystal Palace– a giant glass exhibition hall in Hyde Park

Lucrezia Borgia– an opera by Gaetano Donizetti; a repre-sentative of the Borgia family, daughter of Pope Alexander VI and sister of Cesare Borgia, Lucrezia Borgia (1480–1519) par-ticipated in their crimes.

Donizetti– Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848), a famous Ital-ian opera composer

the Seine– a river in France flowing through Paris into the English Channel at Havre

en route– on the way to (French)

the Holy Roman Empire– a historic union of western and central European countries in 800–1806

the Order of the Brazen Crown– a secret order of the crown of the Holy Roman Empire created in the 10th century

Arch-Master– in a masonic order, the Head Master of the order

Rosicrucian Masons– a worldwide brotherhood; their symbol is a rose and a cross; their teachings include esoteric wisdom, mysticism and some religious beliefs of the past

Mesopotamia– a historic region in Asia between the Ti-gris and the Euphrates rivers, an ancient cultural centre in the Middle East

Newton– Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727), the greatest Eng-lish scientist whose discoveries, laws and principles laid the foundation of modern science

Nero(37–68) – a Roman emperor known for his infamous behaviour, the burning of Rome and the prosecution of the Christians