20 лучших повестей на английском / 20 Best Short Novels

pro and con = for and against

555

Virginia  – a state on the US Atlantic coast

556

Jersey City  – a city at the mouth of the Hudson opposite New York City, founded by the Dutch in 1618

557

Hoboken  – a city on the Hudson River near Jersey City

558

Manhattanville, Astoria  – districts of New York City

559

alms-house  – a house where poor people, unable to earn money, can live without paying rent

560

Sing-Sing  – a state prison in Ossining, New York

561

the Dead Letter Office  – the office where letters that can’t be delivered, because the addressee is either dead or absent, are kept

562

Butler  – Samuel Butler (1612–1680), a famous poet and the first English satirist, the author of ‘Hudibras’, the most burlesque English-language poem

563

Ben Jonson (1572–1637) – a famous English dramatist, poet and critic

564

Ay esleu gazouiller et siffler oye, comme dit le commun proverbe, entre les cygnes, plutoust que d’estre entre tant de gentils po’tes et faconds orateurs mut du tout estime. – They prefer, as the proverb says, to cackle and hiss among the swans, as geese do, rather than, among good poets and eloquent speakers, to pass for the dumb. (French)

565

Rabelais – François Rabelais (1494–1553), a French writer and humanist, the author of the famous ‘Gargantua and Pantagruel’

566

Lincoln  – Lincolnshire, a historic county on the North Sea, in eastern England

567

Christabel  – a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834), an English poet and philosopher

568

tædium vitae = aversion to life ( Latin )

569

felo de se = suicide ( Latin )

570

Ecclesiastes  – a book of wisdom in the Old Testament, usually placed between Proverbs and The Song of Solomon

571

seraglio = a palace (of a sultan) or harem

572

ad libitum  – here: as you wish, as you prefer ( Latin )

573

Kantian  – related to Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), one of the greatest philosophers of all time who opened a new era in the development of philosophical thought

574

ignis fauus = stupid luminary ( Latin )

575

Manichean  – related to Manichaeism, a religious movement founded in Persia in the 3d century by Mani, who was called ‘Apostle of Light’ and ‘Illuminator’

576

Millenarian  – follower of Millenarianism, the belief that Christ is going to establish a 1000-year reign of the saints before the Last Judgement, expressed in the Book of Revelation

577

Revelations  – The Book of Revelation by John (or Apocalypse), the last book of the New Testament

578

vicar  – in the Western Christian Churches, a clergyman in charge of a parish

579

‘The Sorrows of Young Wert(h)er’  – a famous novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), an outstanding German poet, novelist, scientist and philosopher

580

transcendental philosophy  – the term applied to Kant’s study of nature, origin of things and limited human knowledge

581

illuminati  – followers of illuminism, a secret religious and political movement of the 18th century, founded by the German religious leader Adam Weishaupt (1748–1830)

582

eleutherarchs  – leaders of the secret society

583

esoterical  – secret, known only by the initiates

584

exoterical  – not secret, comprehensible, accessible to everybody

585

nil curo  – here: indifference ( Latin )

586

chariot  – an open, two-wheeled carriage

587

Allegro Vivace  – a musical term meaning ‘up-tempo, gaily’

588

Andante Doloroso  – a musical term meaning ‘moderately slow, wistfully’

589

inamorato  – lover, man in love ( Italian )

590

Rosalia, Carlos  – characters in ‘The Genius’, a novel by the German writer Carl Grosse (1761–1811)

591

&c. = etc.

592

Madeira  – Portuguese fortified wine from the island of Madeira

593

Ahrimanic philosophy  – in Zoroastrism, the ancient Persian religion, Ahriman is the evil spirit who represents greed, wrath and envy, attacks light, creates demons, etc.

594

Thalia  – in Greek mythology and religion, the Muse of comedy

595

Melpomene  – in Greek mythology and religion, the Muse of tragedy

596

Allegra, Penserosa  – an Italian translation of the names of the muses of comedy and tragedy

597

Rondo  – a musical form with the initial statement and subsequent restatement of a certain melody

598

‘Zitti, zitti, piano, piano, Non facciamo confusione,’  – Be quiet, keep silent to avoid confusion… ( Italian )

599

facezia  – a joke, witticism ( Italian )

600

Nina pazza per amore  – Nina, mad with love ( Italian )

601