Лучшие романы Уилки Коллинза / The Best of Wilkie Collins - читать бесплатно онлайн полную версию книги автора Уильям Уилки Коллинз (ч. notes)

Примечания

1

Seringapatam – a town in southern India; the town got its name for the 12th century temple to the Hindu god Vishnu. In the 15th century it became the capital of the rajahs and sultans

2

Mohammedan – Muslim

3

Mahmud of Ghizni (998–1030) – sultan of Ghazna, the king-dom comprising the territory of present-day Afghanistan, most of Iran and northern India

4

Somnauth – Somnath, an ancient city in west-central India, now ruined; it is known for its temple of Shiva (Lord of the Moon)

5

Brahmins – members of the caste of Hindu priests

6

Benares – Varanasi, a sacred city of the Hindus in northern India on the left bank of the Ganges River

7

Vishnu – one of the main Hindu gods; Vishnu is associated with the Sun

8

Aurungzebe – Aurangzeb (1618–1707), emperor of India in 1658–1707, the last of the Mogul emperors

9

the Moguls – a Muslim dynasty that ruled India in the 16th–18th centuries

10

Brahma(h) – one of the major gods in Hinduism who created the earth and everything on it

11

Tippoo – Tippu (1750–1799), sultan of Mysore; he died in 1799 when his capital, Seringapatam, was stormed by the Brit-ish forces.

12

Yorkshire – a large historic county in the north-central part of England

13

the Garden of Eden – in the Old Testament, paradise where the first man and woman lived

14

Adam – in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the first man cre-ated by God on the sixth day of creation

15

claret – Bordeaux wine; the city of Bordeaux was known for its wine even in the Roman times

16

jugglers – persons who perform tricks to amuse people

17

Reformatory – an institution for reforming young crimi-nals

18

quicksand – liquid sand combined with pools of water at the mouth of large rivers or along the beach

19

cambric – cotton (originally linen) cloth first made in France, used for bands, cuffs, ruffs

20

Hampstead – originally a village, now an inner borough (in-corporated town or district) of London north of Westminster and the City of London

21

plaguy – dangerous, annoying

22

freaks – a freak is somebody or something unusual or ab-normal

23

Christendom – the Christian world; cultural and religious community of Christian countries.

24

boudoir – a woman’s dressing room or a private sitting room

25

Satan – in Christianity and Judaism, the prince of evil forces, the enemy of God

26

misalliance – unequal or unsuitable marriage

27

a good Samaritan – in the Bible, the man who, with love and patience, helped every suffering person

28

philanthropist – a person who helps those in need or in trou-ble

29

ditto = the same thing (the word is used to avoid repetition)

30

griffins – mythological creatures with bodies of lions and heads of eagles

31

cupids – Cupid is a Roman god of love portrayed as a winged child with arrows and a bow

32

cravat – folded linen or lace worn as a necktie

33

salaams – low bows

34

cheroot – a thin cigar with both ends open

35

gig – a light two-wheeled carriage with one horse

36

magistrate – an official, acting as judge in lower courts

37

embargo – a decision that forbids trade, import, export, com-merce, etc.; also means a ban on smth.

38

sal-volatile – solution of smelling salts used as a medicine when a person is unconscious

39

pony-chaise – a low carriage with two or four wheels pulled by a pony

40

holus-bolus – with one hit; at one gulp; at once; in a body, in bulk

41

sovereign – a British gold coin with face value of one pound; the coin is out of use now.

42

Solomon – the greatest king of Israel (10th century BC), son of David; Solomon was famous for his wisdom, military expan-sion and the construction of the temple in Jerusalem.

43

memorandum – a written plan for future

44

hieroglyphics – an ancient system of writing, in which pic-tures and symbols are used for words and sounds

45

gibberish – unintelligible, meaningless sounds

46

conservatory – a glass building for growing plants in cold climate

47

dog-rose – Latin Rosa Canina, a sort of sweetbrier

48

Heaven – the place where God and the saints live

49

the metropolis – London

50

the House of Commons – the elected legislative body and, formally, the lower house of the British Parliament; its origin goes back to the 13th century.

51

Lambeth – an inner borough of London to the south of the River Thames; the first settlement dates back to pre-Roman times.

52

intagli – pl. from intaglio – figure or ornament cut deep into the surface of stone

53

tankard – a large mug for drinking beer

54

ale – a kind of beer

55

Brittany – a region of France, a peninsula washed by the At-lantic Ocean, the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel

56

Protestant – a member of any of the Christian churches that separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century at the time of the Reformation

57

Patmos – an island, the smallest of the twelve Greek Islands, the place of the exile of St. John the Divine

58

NOTE. ADDED BY FRANKLIN BLAKE. – Miss Clack may make her mind quite easy on this point. Nothing will be added, altered or removed, in her manuscript, or in any of the other manuscripts which pass through my hands. Whatever opinions any of the writers may express, whatever peculiarities of treatment may mark, and perhaps in a literary sense, disfigure the narratives which I am now collecting, not a line will be tampered with anywhere, from first to last. As genuine documents they are sent to me – and as genuine documents I shall preserve them, endorsed by the attestations of witnesses who can speak to the facts. It only remains to be added that “the person chiefly concerned” in Miss Clack’s narrative, is happy enough at the present moment, not only to brave the smartest exercise of Miss Clack’s pen, but even to recognise its unquestionable value as an instrument for the exhibition of Miss Clack’s character.

59

Lombard Street – a street in the City of London, a financial and banking centre

60

Kilburn – an area in Brent, an outer borough of London, to the northwest of the metropolis

61

Northumberland Street – a street in central London

62

(the) Strand – one of the main streets in central London with theatres, expensive shops and hotels

63

Tottenham Court Road – a street in central London

64

Mammon – the god of greed

65

Montagu Square – a square in central London

66

the Flood – the biblical flood described in the Old Testa-ment; God determined to punish people for corruption and told the righteous man Noah to build the ark and to take into it his family and all species of animals.

67

phial – a small bottle for liquid medicine

68

Pagan – pre-Christian or not following the teachings of the world’s major religions

69

St. Paul’s Cathedral – the cathedral of the Anglican Bish-op of London in central London, built in 17–18th centuries by Sir Christopher Wren (1632–1723), an outstanding English architect; the first cathedral dedicated to St. Paul was build there in 604 AD.

70

the Evil One – the Devil

71

apostotise – to give up some religion or faith

72

ottoman – a long bench without back and with cushions

73

annals – a written record of events year by year

74

apostosy – giving up one’s faith or religion

75

See Betteredge’s Narrative, chapter viii.

76

rector – in Anglican Church, a clergyman in charge of a par-ish

77

clerical – related to the clergy

78

custaway – a shipwrecked person

79

Brighton – a town in Sussex on the English Channel, a sea-side resort 82 km south of London

80

Grand Lama of Tibet – Dalai Lama, head of the Tibetan Buddhists, spiritual ruler of Tibet; the tradition of reincarnate lamas goes back to the 14th century.

81

the Serpent – a mythological creature that, according to the Bible, tempted Eve to taste the fruit from the tree of knowl-edge (the tree of Good and Evil) in the Garden of Eden