Invitation to a Beheading 60-75
Public gardens in Cininnatus's world from which you can see the executions take place.
pg. 64 — first-person plural
Referring to first-person plural pronouns (i.e. "we"), in Russian. Marthe here was talking about herself and another lover (not Cincinnatus). That she used "we" but took their actions and motives as one and the same reduces both her and the lover not to a character, but to the action itself: another flat person in a world in which only Cincinnatus has volume.
pg. 72 — gnostical turpitude
Gnostical turpitude is the crime that Cincinnatus has been accused of. "Gnostical" relates to knowledge of the esoteric. "Turpitude" means wickedness. So, "gnostical turpitude" refers to some kind of inherently wicked esoteric knowledge. "Gnostic" also refers to a member of a sect of Christianity which claims special knowledge of things pertaining to God. "Gnostical turpitude" may also connect to Kavalerov's "foul crime" in Envy, pronounced "gnusnoe prestuplenie" in Russian.
pg. 74 — Lesser Ponds
Some landmark found in the fictional city that Cincinnatus lives in.
pg. 74 — Captain Somnus
Captain Somnus is said to have founded the fictional city that Cincinnatus lives in.
The name "Captain Somnus" may be a reference to Pushkin's "A Captain's Daughter", as well as Pushkin's poem "Rebirth", which makes use of the word somnolent. Pushkin has had a strong influence on many Russian authors.
