The Awakening and Selected Short Fiction (Barnes & Noble Classics) - Kate Chopin [146]
115
A town in southern Rhode Island.
116
“Boor” in this context means peasant.
117
Capricious, unpredictable; an allusion to the novel Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), about an idealist who traveled the countryside in pursuit of romantic adventures.
118
Leo Tolstoi (1828-1910), great Russian author of realist fiction.
119
A parish in southeastern Louisiana.
120
That’s the Spanish (Fr.). The old men attribute Calixta’s wayward behavior to her Spanish blood.
121
A good dog shows its breeding (Fr.), a version of a French proverb, “Children take after their parents.”
122
An insult: “Hey, bitch! You lioness, take that and that!” (Fr.).
123
Pastor (Fr.).
124
A billowing robe; Creole term for a loosely hanging garment.
125
Honesfly! (Fr.).
126
Roman Catholic rituals to request divine protection.
127
Pronounced “Nack-e-tosh”; a parish in northwest Louisiana, birthplace of Oscar Chopin (husband of Kate) and home to the Chopin family during the 1880s.
128
Godmother (Fr.).
129
Holy Virgin! Give me patience! Brute, get away! (Fr.).
130
A bitter medicine used as an anesthetic and muscle relaxant.
131
Large quantity, an amount suitable for a horse.
132
Children’s room (Fr.), a traditional feature of Acadian balls.
133
These damn people from the railroad (Fr.).
134
Good man (Fr.).
135
Fashionable, how fashionable (Fr.).
136
Dash or flamboyance of style (Fr.).
137
General Georges Boulanger (1837-1891), a charismatic French politician who died romantically by committing suicide when he was charged with treason.
138
But what’s the matter? (Fr.).
139
Planted there (Fr.).
140
Eh? (Fr.).
141
Oh, is it you, Calixta? How are you doing, my child? (Fr.).
142
I’m well; and you, miss? (Fr.).
143
Good God! (Fr.).
144
Good heavens! (Fr.).
145
Oh God knows! (Fr.).
146
The ball is over (Fr.).
147
Wedding presents from the groom to his bride (Fr.).
148
Piglet (Fr.); a term of endearment.
149
But of course (Fr.).
150
A marshy body of water; Désirée’s death by drowning anticipates the fate of Edna Pontellier in The Awakening.
151
A set of infant clothing and blankets (Fr.).
152
Carancro means “black vulture” in Acadian.
153
Calico.
154
Like that (Fr.).
155
Intimate conversation (Fr.).
156
A covered walkway at the entrance of a building.
157
Ornately decorated columns in the Classical Revival style, c. 1835-1850, favored by wealthy American planters.
158
Land by the river (Fr.).
159
Light grooming.
160
The lines are from Song of Myself (1855) by Walt Whitman (1819-1892), whom Chopin admired for his celebration of sexual freedom.
161
My love (Fr.).
162
Chopin’s father, Thomas O’Flaherty, died in a train accident when the Gasconade Bridge collapsed as he rode across it .
163
A small stream in Natchitoches parish.
164
Hey, that isn’t Christian! (Fr.).
165
A traditional Spanish tune with words by Caroline Norton (1808-1877), an aristocratic English woman who fled her own unhappy marriage and led a campaign to change British laws about divorce.
166
A traditional stew of chicken or shrimp thickened with dried sassafras instead of okra.
167
Pig! ... damn pig! (Fr.).
168
How’s it going? (Fr.).
169
My God! (Fr.).
170
An insoluble problem.
171
See The Awakening, chap. 31, p. 106.
172
Her father’s daughter (Fr.).
173
Now a lake, this body of water was once a beautiful river running through Natchitoches and plantation country.
174
Cursed (Fr.).
175
Hey! You’ll keep them like you used to. I want no more of this business! (Fr.).
176
Go on! (Fr.).
177
A street in the French Quarter named after a branch of the Bourbon family.
178
A back extension of the building, at a right angle to the house, in the shape of the letter L.
179
A passenger boat usually carrying mail or cargo.
180
A major waterway in northern Louisiana, intersected by the Cane River.
181
Play the part of the nobleman