Enchanted Castle and Five Children and It (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (63 page)

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Authors: Edith Nesbit

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County on the southern coast of England.

Hard work (slang).

Well? (French).

Dear (French).

Partly or wholly underground structure used to store ice.

Not so bad (slang).

Shiny.

Tower of London, where the Crown Jewels are housed.

Decorative gold necklace, traditionally restricted to certain government officials, composed of a string of small emblems shaped like the letter S.

In the French fairy tale Le Petit Poucet (“Little Tom Thumb”), by Charles Perrault (1628-1703), the young hero deceives an ogre and steals a pair of magic boots that allow the wearer to cover 7 leagues (about 3 miles) in one stride.

Famous stage magicians (see footnote on p. 10 to
Five Children and It
)
.

Tawdry (archaic).

Elizabeth I (1533-1603), the venerated British monarch who was also known for her stately self-display.

Fool (slang) .

Exclamation of surprise (slang).

Breakfast (slang).

Innkeeper or stableman at an inn.

Type of colored lithograph finished to resemble an oil painting.

Covered in black polish derived from graphite.

Occupation.

Little fellow (slang).

All serene (slang)—that is, “so everyone’s happy.”

From “safe as houses,” a saying that refers to the stability of the real estate market.

Here you are (French) .

Sleight of hand; a conjuring trick.

Built for the Great Exhibition of 1851; see endnote 5 to Five Children and It.

Unbleached linen fabric originally from Holland.

Coarse woolen cloth.

Soiled (slang).

Chimney (dialect) .

Stolen goods.

Money; a pound (slang).

That is, in the arms of Morpheus; in other words, asleep.

Coins (slang).

Rain barrel.

Such a swell (slang).

Roman goddess of the hunt and the moon. t Byname for Apollo, the Greek sun god associated with song and wisdom.
^‡Greek god of wine and patron of agriculture and the theater.

Roman god of commerce and the messenger of the gods.

Greek equivalent of Mercury.

Half a moment (dialect).

Monsieur Lecoq, the detective created by Émile Gaboriau (c.1832-1873); the character preceded by several decades his more famous counterpart, Sherlock Holmes, the creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ( 18 5 9-19 3 0) .

Slave who performs a low bow accompanied by the placement of his right palm on his forehead. In
The Arabian Nights,
Mesrour is a henchman of the Khalif Haroun er Reshid.

Mable means “entail”; the property has an assigned line of inheritance and can be sold or bequeathed only to a specified class of heirs.

Heavens! (French).

So! (French).

Concentrated liquid extract of beef, marketed by German chemist Justus von Liebig (1803-1873) as an inexpensive source of meat nutrients.

Bonnet with a projecting brim.

Wooden frame on which towels are hung.

Long stuffed pillows.

Recipient of the highest award for gallantry granted to a member of the British and Commonwealth armed forces.

Stock exchange term for South African mine shares.

Sixpence (slang).

Big pile of money (slang).

Money (slang).

Festive gathering (slang).

5 shillings (slang).

Twopence; that is, I couldn’t care less.

Street in London.

Female oracles: The Pithia (named after the Python slain by Apollo) is the Oracle at Delphi; the Sibyl lived in caves, the most respected in Cumae near Naples.

Mystery novel (1901), by E. F. Benson (1867-1940), set among the English aristocracy.

Gooseberries (dialect).

Out of their senses (slang).

Roman god of gates and doors, beginnings and endings, and major transitions in individual and social life; the month of January is named for him.

Major plaza in central London commemorating the 1805 British naval victory over the French at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Celestial Aphrodite; a particular vision of Aphrodite as the Greek goddess of spiritual as opposed to merely sensual love.

Eros:
Greek god of love; Psyche: princess in Roman mythology who marries Cupid (Eros);
Hebe:
Greek goddess of youth;
Ganymede:
in Greek myth, the Trojan prince who is carried off to become cupbearer of the gods. See also endnote 10.

Greek goddess of marriage; wife and sister of Zeus.

Ruler of the gods, and god of the sky and weather.

Greece.

Greek goddess of agriculture.

Staff entwined with two snakes; traditionally associated with Hermes (Mercury).

From vivandiere, a woman who accompanies troops to sell them supplies (French).

Prince Albert (1819-1861), husband of Queen Victoria.

Famed British gardener and hothouse designer who was the architect of the Crystal Palace (see endnote 5 to
Five Children and It).

Phrase that replaces other words when one derisively repeats a statement.

Mercy! (French).