Array Коллектив авторов: 30 лучших рассказов американских писателей

St. George and his Dragon – a Christian martyr of the 3d century and the patron saint of England; St. George saved a Libyan king’s daughter from the dragon and killed the monster in return for the promise that the people of Libya would be baptized.

Alabama – the US state in the south (131 334 sq. km); the first Europeans who came there were the Spanish, the first settlement was founded by the French in 1701; after the war of 1763, the territory was ceded to England.

the Federal army – the army of the federal government in the American Civil War of 1861–1865 with 11 Southern states.

the Southern cause – the southern states seceded from the Union in 1860–1861; the Northern and the Southern states had different economies, different attitude to slavery, trade and the very idea of states’ rights.

Corinth – a city in northeastern Mississippi; the bloody battle took place to the north of the city during the American Civil War.

the Yanks – Yankees, a nickname of the citizens of New England states; the word was used by Southerners for Northerners and Federal soldiers during the American Civil War.

Niagara – Niagara Falls on the Niagara River in northeastern North America, on the USA-Canadian border.

Aeolian harps – Aeolian harp is a musical instrument in which sound is produced by the movement of the wind over the strings; in Greek mythology, Aeolus is the god of the winds.

delirium – mental state marked by confused thinking, hallucinations, etc. as a result of the intoxication of the brain caused by fever or some other physical disorder.

Kentuckian – a resident of Kentucky, the US state in the south (102 694 sq. km).

a Sandwich Islander – a resident of the Sandwich Islands, the second name of the Hawaiian Islands, a group of the volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean; the first European who visited the islands in 1778 was Captain James Cook (1728–1779).

Pompadour – marquise de Pompadour (1721–1764), the mistress of Louis XV, king of France; she was a well-educated woman and a patron of art and literature.

Olympus – a mount in Greece (2,917 m); in Greek mythology, the place where gods lived.

the Lost Atlantis – a legendary island in the Atlantic Ocean, described by antique authors as a highly developed and powerful civilization.

Florence – a city in central Italy, founded in the 1st century BC and notable for its works of art.

the Commandments – in the Bible, the list of religious principles revealed to Moses, a Hebrew prophet of the 14th – 13th centuries BC, on Mount Sinai.

the Mosaic Law – the religious principles of Judaism revealed to Moses, a Hebrew prophet of the 14th – 13th centuries BC.

the Legion of Hono(u)r – the National Order of the Legion of Honour, a military and civil order of the French Republic, created by Napoleon in 1802.

damask – a silk, fine, patterned fabric, originally produced in Damascus, Syria.

catechism – a religious instruction in the form of questions and answers.

portière – heavy curtains hung in a doorway.

Marseilles – a city and port in southern France on the Mediterranean Sea, founded 2,500 years ago.

Desdemona – a fictional character in Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Othello’ (1603).

the Pantheon – the 18th century building in Paris, an example of Neoclassical architecture with columns and a high dome.

La Petite – baby. ( French )

Seigneur – Lord, God. ( French )

Tan’tante – from tante = aunt. ( French )

palmetto – a sort of small palm trees.

Il ne faut pas faire mal à Pauline. – Don’t do harm to Pauline. ( French )

la guerre = war. ( French )

Sumter – a county in South Caroline, US.

Louisiana – the US state (123,366 sq. km) admitted to the union in 1812 as the 18th member; it borders Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas.

Adieu! – Goodbye!

Venus – the second planet from the Sun; when it is visible, it is the brightest in the sky.

pied à terre – a place of refuge where a person lives from time to time. ( French )

pullman – a sleeping car used on railroads, invented by George Pullman (1831–1897), an American industrialist and inventor.

San Antonio – a city in south-central Texas, founded in 1718 by Spanish explorers and named for St. Anthony of Padua.

cashmere – a fine woolen fabric first made in Kashmir, India.

the Rio Grande – a river in Texas, US, and Mexico, one of the longest rivers in North America; it flows to the Gulf of Mexico.

mesquite – a deep rooted shrub or small tree in South America and in the southwest of the USA.

maroon-colored – brownish-red.

Apache – North American Indians who used to live in what is now southeastern Arizona and Colorado, southwestern New Mexico and western Texas.

scalp-music – war music.

Atchison, Topeka and Santana Fé Railroad – one of the largest railway companies in the United States, founded in 1859.

Prometheus – in Greek religion, the god of fire and one of the Titans; the legend said that Zeus nailed him to the rock and sent an eagle to eat his liver as punishment for stealing fire and giving it to people.

Tantalus – in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus; he was punished for his crimes against gods – in the underworld he stood in water but couldn’t drink, fruits hung above his head but he couldn’t eat them.

Ixion – in Greek mythology, Zeus, to punish Ixion for murdering his father-in-law, bound him on a wheel which rolled without stopping.

Hermes – in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus, and the god of cattle and sheep; he was also a dream god and the messenger of the gods.

babel – a noisy and confused company.

lorgnette – a pair of eye-glasses on a long handle.

Harvard – the USA oldest higher educational institution, founded in 1636.

Princeton – the fourth oldest university in the USA, founded in New Jersey in 1746.

Yale – a private university in New Heaven, the third oldest in the US, founded in 1701.