Array Коллектив авторов - 20 лучших повестей на английском / 20 Best Short Novels

the Gauls – Celtic tribes known to the Romans as Gauls; they inhabited Europe in 500 BC–500 AD.

concertina – a musical wind instrument held in the hands and played by pressing keys

Falernian wine – an Italian dark red wine

Ravenna – a city in northeastern Italy 10 km from the Adriatic Sea

Buddha(6th-4th century BC) – the founder of Buddhism, one of the major world religious and philosophical systems

Fleet Street – a street in central London where important newspaper offices used to be located at the time of the events depicted in the story

the Channel – or the English Channel, a narrow arm of the Atlantic Ocean separating the British Isles from the Continent

venetian blinds – a window screen with horizontal strips that can be adjusted as wanted

Bon voyage – Happy voyage, Happy journey ( French )

Morituri te salutant. – ‘Those who are going to die salute you.’ – the words used by Roman gladiators to greet Caesar ( Latin )

emissary – a person sent with a message (usually a secret one)

farcical – absurd

catacomb – underground gallery, often used for the burial of the dead

inch – measure of length equal to 2.54 cm

Deal – a town on the Strait of Dover, 14 km northeast of Dover

Gravesend – a town in the county of Kent, in the southeastern England, on the bank of the Thames

yokels – simple-minded countrymen

lb. – a pound, measure of weight equal to 453.59 grams

Zanzibaris – inhabitants of Zanzibar, an island in the Indian Ocean near the coast of eastern Africa

philanthropic – kind, helpful, sympathetic

papier-mâché – pulped paper used to make boxes, souvenirs, etc.

Mephistopheles – a literary character invented in the tradition of magic and demonology by anonymous author in 1587; a fallen angel, a spirit of the Devil.

lunatics – mad persons

ichthyosaurus – an extinct aquatic reptile

Eldorado – an imaginary country rich in gold

cannibals – persons who eats humans

Winchesters – rifles developed by Oliver Winchester (1810–1880), an American manufacturer of guns

hullabaloo – uproar or disturbance

apathy – indifference

Martini-Henry – a rifle used in the 19th century

a black Sahara – the southern part of Sahara, the largest desert of the world, where Negroid peoples live; the north of Sahara is inhabited by the Arabs.

harlequin – a character in Italian comedy and English pantomime wearing a mask and multicoloured clothes

brown holland – rough linen

canoes – light boats moved by one or several persons

Jupiter – in Roman mythology and religion, the chief God, the sky God

sorcerer – a person who practices magic with the help of evil spirits

dead as a door-nail – idiom absolutely dead, without any sign of life left

simile – comparison of one thing to another

Saint Paul’s (Cathedral) – the main cathedral of the Anglican Church, located in the centre of the City of London; it was built in 1675–1710 by the famous English architect Sir Christopher Wren

Bedlam – Bethlem Royal Hospital for mentally ill patients, first mentioned in 1329

treadmill – a form of punishment with the help of the device to generate power; the device is rotated by convicts

the Poor Law – laws to provide either relief for the poor, aged or sick, or work for the able-bodied in the workhouses; it was developed and adopted in the 16th century

misanthropic – hating or distrusting other people

the Lord Mayor – the title of the mayor of London

Mansion House – the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London

Saint Dunstan – Saint Dunstan of Canterbury (927–988), the archbishop of Canterbury known for his monastic reforms

Cornhill – a street in the City of London where banks and offices of trading companies are located

Camden Town – an inner borough of London to the north of Westminster and the City of London

the Scriptures – the Holy Scripture, the Bible

Cain – in the Old Testament, the first son of Adam and Eve, who murdered his brother Abel

Abel – in the Old Testament, the second son of Adam and Eve, who was killed by his brother Cain

Pharaoh’s daughter – Moses, the Hebrew prophet, when he was a baby, was set afloat on the Nile in a basket by his parents who wanted to save him from death; he was found by the Pharaoh’s daughter, taken to the Pharaoh’s palace and brought up there.

Queen of Sheba(the 10th century BC) – in the Old Testament, the queen of the Kingdom of Sheba in southwestern Arabia

Abraham(2nd millennium BC) – the first of the Hebrew patriarchs, revered by Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Belshazzar(the 6th century BC) – the king of Babylon, killed by the Persians; he is known from the biblical ‘Book of Daniel’

Damascus – an ancient city in the Middle East, ‘the pearl of the East’, the capital of modern Syria