Sonechka 39-45
pg. 39 — stetl
Another spelling of "shtetl," the Yiddish term for a small Jewish town.
pg. 40 — Ostrovsky
Aleksandr Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (1823- 1886), a Russian playwright known for his works on the lives of the merchant class.
pg. 42 — dacha
A Russian summer house typically in the countryside.
pg. 43 — Montmartre
Historically, an artistic (and racy) neighborhood located in Paris, France.
pg. 43 — Antaean contact
Antaeus was a giant in Greek mythology who challenged passerby to wrestling matches. He was the son of Gaia and Poseidon, so he possessed superhuman strength which increased every time he came into contact with the ground. Antaeus was only defeated after Heracles outwitted him and crushed him mid-air, weakening Antaeus' power and killing him.
pg. 43 — draughtsmanship
Someone who has the ability to sketch plans for machinery, buildings and other technical purposes.
pg. 44 — laconic
Concise.
pg. 44 — Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was an influential German lawyer, novelist, poet, philosopher and royal advisor. While Goethe is remembered in the present day for his works dealing with themes of life, death, knowledge, the mind, and other philosophical topics, during his life he had hoped that his book Theory of Colours (1810), which describes his views on human perception of color and their nature, would be his lasting legacy.
