Шарлотта Бронте - Лучшие романы сестер Бронте / The best of the Brontë sisters

Est-ce que je ne puis pas prendre une seule de ces fleurs magnifiques, mademoiselle? Seulement pour completer ma toilette. – Oh Miss, can’t I take one of these beautiful flowers? Just to complete my toilette.

minois chiffoné – here: pretty

père noble de théâtre – noble (aristocratic) head of the family, father (theater emploi)

Tant pis! – even worse! (meaning “it serves her right”)

Au reste – as for the rest of it

Who would not be the Rizzio of so divine a Mary – an allusion to the story of David Rizzio, a private secretary of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots (1542–1587)

black Bothwell – the husband of the said Mary who mastered the murder of Rizzio

con spirito – here: in a high-spirited way ( Italian )

Gardez-vous en bien – Look out!

Paynim – Muslim or pagan

airs – here: songs

Voilà, Monsieur Rochester, qui revient ! – Here is Mr. Rochester, he’s come back!

Mother Bunches – a person from the English folklore, a wise old countrywoman, teaching a mixture of charms and magical recipes

le cas – the proper case

the old gentleman – the devil

ad infinitum – eternally ( Latin )

Queen Boadicea – a British Celtic warrior queen who led an uprising against Roman occupation.

prête à croquer sa petite maman Anglaise – ready to eat her English mommy up

Midsummer – a religious holiday celebrated on the 24 thof June

Day its fervid fires had wasted – it is a slightly changed quotation from Thomas Campbell’s “The Turkish Lady.” The original phrase was “Day her sultry fires had wasted.”

organ of Adhesiveness – according to Phrenology (a science of faculty psychology and theory of brain), each faculty must have a separate seat or “organ” in the brain

gild refined gold – it is a quotation from William Shakespeare’s “King John,” meaning “to improve something unnecessarily.”

King Ahasuerus – Persian king (better known as Xerxes I), famous for his riches and splendor

Oh, qu’ elle y sera mal – peu comfortable! – Oh, she would be quite uncomfortable there!

un vrai menteur – a true liar

contes de fée – fairy tales

du reste, il n’y avait pas de fées, et quand même il y en avait – besides, there were no fairies, and if they were

pour me donner une contenance –to give me composure

D.V. – Devout Virgin (from Latin Devota Virgo )

with a sullen, moaning sound – it’s a quotation from “The Lay of the Last Minstrel” by Sir Walter Scott.

the waters came into my soul; I sank in deep mire: I felt no standing; I came into deep waters; the floods overflowed me. – it’s a quotation from Psalm 69, where King David is calling for God to save him from his then present state.

Achan – a character from the Bible; he took some treasures from the ruined Jericho. All the treasures of Jericho were to be consecrated to God, so the act displeased God and the next battle of the army was lost. The treasures were found in Achan’s tent and he was stoned.

bombazeen – fabric constructed of a silk warp and worsted filling, often dyed black for mourning wear

Da trat hervor Einer, anzusehen wie die Sternen Nacht –Here comes forth He Who looks like a starry night. (Friedrich Schiller, “The Robbers,” Act V, Scene 1.)

Ich wäge die Gedanken in der Schale meines Zornes und die Werke mit dem Gewichte meines Grimms. – I weigh your thoughts on the scales of my anger, and your deeds by the weights of my anger. (Friedrich Schiller, “The Robbers,” Act V, Scene 1.)

Calvinistic doctrines – a series of theological beliefs first promoted by John Calvin (1509–1564), known for extremely stern attitude to “sinful and depraved” humanity

The air was mild, the dew was balm – the phrases are quotations from “The Lay of the Last Minstrel” by Sir Walter Scott

lusus naturæ – a freak of nature ( Latin )

“Marmion” – an epic poem by Sir Walter Scott devoted to the Battle of Flodden Field (1513), published in 1808

Cui bono? – what/who for? ( Latin )

that caps the globe – nobody has ever seen such a thing!

Demas – a companion of apostle Paul, who left him for the love of this world that is opposed to the love of God and His rule.

Looked to river, looked to hill – a quotation from “The Lay of the Last Minstrel” by Sir Walter Scott

Dives – a rich man ( Latin )

Jeune encore – still young

Apollyon – Biblical name for Satan

flags – flagstones, slabs that pave the path

penetralium – penetralia ( Latin ), inner part of the house or a sacred one.

pre-eminently – with some superiority

The herd of possessed swine could have had no worse spirits in them – this is an allusion to the Bible: when demons were made to leave the human body, they got into swine.

N.B. – nota bene ( Latin ): pay attention to

Here and after Joseph uses both archaic and dialect (Yorkshire) words. What are ye for? T’ maister’s down i’ t’ fowld. Go round by th’ end o’ t’ laith, if ye went to spake to him. – What do you want? The master is in the fold (sheep shed). Go down to the end of the barn if you want to speak to him.