Читать книгу Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools - Various - Страница 26
NOTES
ОглавлениеWall Street:—An old street in New York faced by the Stock Exchange and the offices of the wealthiest bankers and brokers.
the Treasury:—The Sub-Treasury Building.
last quotations:—The latest information on stock values given out before the Stock Exchange closes.
Trinity:—The famous old church that stands at the head of Wall Street.
curbstone war:—The clamorous quoting, auctioning, and bidding of stock out on the street curb, where the "curb brokers"—brokers who do not have seats on the Stock Exchange—do business.
sweet-do-nothing:—A translation of an Italian expression, dolce far niente.
Sicilians:—Theocritus (3rd century before Christ), the Greek pastoral poet, wrote of the happy life of the shepherds and shepherdesses in Sicily.
Doric pillar:—A heavy marble pillar, such as was used in the architecture of the Dorians in Greece.
Pan's pipe:—Pan was the Greek god of shepherds, and patron of fishing and hunting. He is represented as having the head and body of a man, with the legs, horns, and tail of a goat. It was said that he invented the shepherd's pipe or flute, which he made from reeds plucked on the bank of a stream.
pastoral ditty:—A poem about shepherds and the happy outdoor life. The word pastoral comes from the Latin pastor, shepherd.
Syracusan times:—Syracuse was an important city in Sicily. See the note on Sicilians, above.
Trinacrian hills:—Trinacria is an old name for Sicily.
bulls and bears:—A bull, on the Stock Exchange, is one who operates in expectation of a rise in stocks; a bear is a person who sells stocks in expectation of a fall in the market.
Jauncey Court:—The Jauncey family were prominent in the early New York days. This court was probably named after them.
Ægon:—Usually spelled Ægaeon; another name for Briareus, a monster with a hundred arms.
Daphnis:—In Greek myth, a shepherd who loved music.
Nais:—In Greek myth, a happy young girl, a nymph.
Cyclops:—One of a race of giants having but one eye—in the middle of the forehead. These giants helped Vulcan at his forge under Aetna.
Galatea:—A sea-nymph beloved by the Cyclops Polyphemus.
Silenus:—The foster-father and companion of Bacchus, god of wine. In pictures and sculpture Silenus is usually represented as intoxicated.
Fauns:—Fabled beings, half goat and half man.
Arethusan water:—Arethusa, in Greek myth, was a wood-nymph, who was pursued by the river Alpheus. She was changed into a fountain, and ran under the sea to Sicily, where she rose near the city of Syracuse. Shelley has a poem on Arethusa.
baton:—A rod or wand; here, of course, a policeman's club.