Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Dracula

Dracula
Bram Stoker
Barnes and Noble Classics
c. 2003

Jonathan Harker: new solicitor having just passed the bar; sent to County Dracula by his employer, Mr Hawkins
Mina: Harker's fiance
Count Dracula: looking for a place to buy in England; says Mr Hawkins is his friend


From Dracula, new words and comments


Chapter I
  • diligence: a stagecoach used in France and England during the 1700s and 1800s
  • St George's eve: from wiki, St George's Day was a major feast and national holiday in England on a par with Christmas from the early 15th century; April 23, May 6, a moveable feast; at the time considered the most dangerous night of the year; folks were terrified of vampires on this night; vampires most active on eves of St George's Day and St Andrews' Day; vampires and wolves
  • leiter-wagon: a peasant wagon
  • calèche: drawn by one horse; for two passengers, with driver on own seat on/above the splash board
Chapter II
  • traps: luggage
  • Victorian England: one dined in the afternoon; supped in the evening (explains why Linda made a big deal about dinner at noon; and supper in the evening)
  • Carfax: the name of the estate that Hawkins had found for Count Dracula
  • Kodak: mentions this in passing; does not call it a camera; simply a "Kodak"
Chapter III
  • mentions the Vikings and the Berserkers
  • culverin: a kind of handgun of the 15th and 16th centuries; later, a long cannon
  • half-mothered child:
Chapter IV
  • basilisk: mythic reptile that was said to be able to kill with a single glance
  • devils of the Pit: Satan thrown in to a bottomless pit, Book of Revelation
Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII 
  • the storm; the ship of interest makes it safely to harbor
  • East Cliff, the new searchlight was ready for experiment but had not yet been tried
  • silver sand: fine white sand
  • a nine-day's wonder: something that is of interest for a very short period
Chapter VIII


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