TO PAGE 47
to shrug something off – to dismiss it with a shrug of the shoulders
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back-breaking potholes – holes in a road fit to break one's back when driving over them had played me false – had failed me, had deceived me
what I took to be the male of the herd – the animal I took for the male guanaco (a guanaco herd consists of a male, several females and some baby guanacos)
a pair of… lorgnettes
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terrier – a breed of dog, usually of small size anthropomorphic –
TO PAGE 51
rocker – a curved piece of wood on which a rocking-horse (children's toy) is mounted discretion is the better part of valour – a saying which means that it is unwise to take unnecessary risks bichos
TO PAGE 52
maternity ward – a ward in a hospital where women are taken Care of during and after childbirth elefanteria
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I shivered my way into a half-sleep – shivering, I tried to sleep, but succeeded in falling only into a half-sleep my cocoon of semi-warmth – my covering which protected me against the cold but did not give real warmth
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a nerve- and spine-shattering experience – an experience that racked your nerves and could easily break your back (note the literal and figurative meanings of
TO PAGE 55
moving plate = moving picture: the word
TO PAGE 56
was a constant state of nerves
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dropsical-looking – looking swollen as if they had dropsy, a disease in which watery fluids collect in the tissues of the body to feint – in box, to sham an attack to deceive the opponent by diverting his attention
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one's elders and betters – persons deserving respect because of their age, experience and social standing star-gazing – being in an absent-minded and dreamy state, like a person studying the stars (from the noun
TO PAGE 59
balloon animals – toy animals made of rubber balloons filled with air creche
TO PAGE 60
The author means that he had plenty of character and determination, which amply compensated his small size.
to lollop off – to walk off in a clumsy manner
Note the author's tendency to replace one of the words in a stock phrase, thus producing a humorous effect (cf. "as fast as his legs would carry him").
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cummerbund
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a free drink – a drink for nothing, at someone else's expense to negotiate – see note to p. 35; here this verb acquires an ironical ring, since Oswald has to overcome a living obstacle in one's depth – in water not too deep to touch bottom
TO PAGE 64
none of them seemed any the worse – evidently none of-them suffered from the ill effects of their swimming lesson would hump themselves down – would move down, proceeding with the help of humping their backs (cf. the description of the elephant seals manner of movement on p. 78)
Elizabethan ruff – a kind of collar worn in the 16th century, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. It was made of white
material, stiffly starched and standing up in folds touching each other.
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maypole – a high pole decorated with ribbons, flowers, etc., set up in the open for dancing round on May day, the first of May, celebrated in England as a spring festival belly-splitting charge – the leap taken by the old bull in charging the young one, which ended in his hurting his belly (note the author's device of alluding ironically to current idiomatic expressions, here to
TO PAGE 67
bulbous – shaped like a bulb, an enlarged, spherical termination of stem in certain plants, such as the onion, tulip or lily
TO PAGE 68
cul-de-sac ['kulde'saek] (Fr.) – a passage or street with an opening at one end only, from which there is no escape tinamu (or tinamou) [ti'na:mu:] – a South American bird resembling a quail (a game bird of America, Europe, Asia and Africa, also called
TO PAGE 70
Darwin's rhea – a South American three-toed ostrich
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school crocodile – a long line of schoolchildren walking by twos to pace,
TO PAGE 73
windfall – an unexpected piece of good fortune (literally, something blown down by the wind, especially fruit) -
sea-front
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The verb
TO PAGE 75
to make the best of a disaster – to try and got along as best one can, in spite of a disastrous state of things trippers (from
TO PAGE 76
the Leaning Tower of Pisa ['pi:ze] – one of the famous sights in Italy: the white marble bell-tower, 178 feet in height, which leans 14 feet off the perpendicular the Acropolis – the citadel of Athens, Greece, situated on a hill about 250 feet high and richly adorned with architecture and sculpture (especially in the 5th century B. C.)
TO PAGE 77
barrage balloon – one of a series of balloons used to form a barrier against enemy planes stop-watch – a watch with a hand that can be stopped or started by pressing a knob on the rim; a stop-watch is used for timing a race, etc.
rather him than me – I wouldn't do it; let him, if he likes
TO PAGE 78
there was quite a colour variation – there was a considerable variation in color (note the current colloquial construction with
TO PAGE 79
the animation of a group of opium smokers – no animation at all (opium smoking has the effect of reducing the smokers to a state of insensibility); cf. the Turkish bath simile on p, 75
concertina -a musical instrument with hollows, resembling a small accordion morale – the mental state or condition of a body of men, especially of an army; the word is generally used in the meaning of 'high morale', i.e. courageous, determined conduct despite danger and privations gargantuan – enormous, gigantic (from the name of Gargantua, a giant in Rabelais
TO PAGE 80
maggots – the larvae of a cheese-fly
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to rev up – to cause the engine to run quickly when first starting (the word was first used as a colloquial abbreviation of
TO PAGE 82
Sophie – the author's secretary to minister unto
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pernicious anaemia – lack of blood, unhealthy paleness. This introduction of a medical term into an elaborate paraphrase describing the faint electric light is highly typical of Durrell’s verbal humour: he likes to spice his descriptions with scientific-sounding words.
buenas noches
- good evening she twitched and mumbled her way into sleep – she twitched and mumbled until she fell asleep; she fell asleep twitching and mumbling
all twenty stone of her – the whole of her enormous person (the author estimates the woman's weight at about 20 stone, or 127 kg: see also note to p. 19)
Here we find an interplay of the two meanings of the verb
to crown this means 'to give a finishing touch to the whole'.