ATD 374-396
- Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.
Contents
Page 374
a dime novel . . . suffering in its name
The novel is, presumably, The Chums of Chance in Old Mexico, as described on p. 7.
Ewball Oust
Eyeball? Cueball?
Toplady Oust
???
Patio method
???
Page 375
Washoe process
???
Espato... espanto... Espantoso
Espato: spar (Spanish). Iceland Spar is 'espato de Islandia'.
Espanto: something strange, ugly or shocking. Also a haunt or ghost (Spanish).
Espantoso: Horrible or shocking (Spanish)
'La Cucaracha'
'The Cockroach', a popular folk song during the Mexican revolution. There were many versions of different lyrics. One of them was said to mock General Huerta. Wikipedia.
grifa
marihuana
Page 376
General Huerta
Gen. Victoriano Huerta (1854-1916) was on the make in the period of the action. He was an Army general, but also a villain, a drunkard, a drug addict and, for a brief time, the President of Mexico between October 1913 and July 1914. Here is a précis of his career.
Bajio... Guanajuato... Torreon... Zacatecas... Leon... Silao
Bajío is a region in Mexico in the central highland state of Guanajuato. Guanajuato is the capital city of the Guanajuato state. Torreón is a desert city to the north, in Coahuila. Zacatecas is both a state and city in Central Mexico, situated between Torreón and León. León and Silao are cities in Guanajuato. León is the fifth largest city in Mexico (by population).
Zacatecas was the site of a major revolt against Porfirio Díaz's government during the Mexican Revolution of 1910, in which Pancho Villa attempted to capture the city of Zacatecas and the state's lucrative silver mines. see here
tlachiqueros
The workers who make pulque - a traditional navtive beverage of Mesoamerica (pulque).
maguey juice
Juice from the maguey, or century plant, from which pulque is made.
Vera Cruz puros
Puros: cigars (Spanish).
zinc
Galvanized iron doesn't rust?
Empresas Oustianas, S.A.
Oustian Enterprises, Anonymous Society.
Page 377
pulque
A Mexican alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of various agaves.
callejon... subida
callejon: narrow street, alley (Spanish).
subida: a street going uphill (Spanish).
Semana Santa
Holy Week (week before Easter) (Spanish).
Page 378
juzgado
Sp. court, likely orgin of hoosegow.
Mordida
Sp. bribe.
Broomhandle
Cf German self-loader.
esposas
esposas: Handcuffs (Spanish).
Panteon
Cemetery.
Cerro del trozado
A hill in Guanajuato, where the cemetery of St. Paula is located. The place the famous 'momias de Guanajuato' were found.
El Palacio de Cristal
The Crystal Palace (Spanish).
Page 379
chinches
Bedbugs
Dwayne Provecho
In Mexico, and other Latin American cultures, "Buen Provecho" is a phrase spoken to one's companions before a meal. Used like the French "Bon appétit", it means "Enjoy your meal." This makes Dwayne's comment on page 381 that much more humorous: "You boys sure eat good,"
No say prayo-coopy, compadre
"No se preoccupe" Don't worry
Page 380
Amparo
???
hidalgo
A member of the lower nobility of Spain. (Merriam-Webster's Unabridged Dictionary)
Page 381
lisonjeros
Flatterers (Spanish)
"They say it was something one of you did a long time ago, back on the Other Side."
Cf. Page 37, Lew Basnight's unknowable transgression: "...by way of a sin he was supposed to have once committed." Also interesting to note the capitalization of Other Side, which sounds the other-dimension motif.
bolillos
Mexican rolls.
El Chinganariz
The nosefuck (approximately). The salsa described here would be so potent it would cause your nose to turn red, get runny, irritated and perhaps even bleed.
in the shadow of the paredón
Delicate reference to his being stood against the big wall and shot.
P.L.M.
Partido liberal mexicano, Mexican Liberal Party, reformist organization prominent in the 1910 Revolution.
Flores Magón
Ricardo Flores Magón, founder of P.L.M., and his brothers Jesús and Enrique. Considered heroes of the Mexican Revolution. Wikipedia entry
Camilo Arriaga
Mexican journalist, politic and writer form San Luis Potosí. Founder, along with the Flores Magon brothers, of the P.L.M.
potosino
i.e. from San Luis Potosi, San Luis Potosi
Page 382
muñeca
Doll (Spanish). Often used as a term of endearment or compliment.
caldereros y sus macheteros
Perhaps a reference to the makers of 'barbacoa', which has a very strong odor, traditionally associated also with its makers. Wikipedia entry on barbacoa
Page 383
cuchillo
Knife.
momias
Mummies (Spanish). More about Guanajuato's famous Mummies at Wikipedia.
'"everybody here thinks you're the Kieselguhr Kid"'
The 'Kieselguhr Kid' has become a myth, a construct. There has to be one. All sorts of things are expected of 'him' from both his enemies and his friends. A little like Bin Laden?
Page 384
Marfil
Ivory (Spanish).
compinche
Pal, buddy, (chum?)
Ay, Jalisco
Ay, Jalisco! No te rajes, is a common Mexican idiom. It means that you shouldn't back out of any situation, even when the odds are against you.
El Ñato
Also a character in Gravity's Rainbow, where he was the leader of the Argentinians trying to emigrate to Germany.
Page 385
a very large tropical parrot
Cf. the "parrot with a disdainful smile," p. 129.
pendejo
A vaginal hair (Spanish). Usually, used in Mexico as an obscenity that roughly translates to "dick" or "asshole" depending on context.
sin embargo
Nevertheless (Spanish).
el Famoso Chavalito del Quiselgur
The famous Kieselguhr Kid (Spanish).
Page 386
copa
A glass (of a spirited drink).
pues
Well (Spanish)
a partial vacuum in the passage of time
Cf. p. 373, "a place promised them, not by God, which'd be asking too much of the average Anarchist, but by certain hidden geometries of History, which must include, somewhere, at least at a single point, a safe conjugate to all the spill of accursed meridians, passing daily, desolate, one upon the next."
Que guapa, que tetas fantasticas, verdad
"How beautiful, what fantastic tits, eh? (right?)"
Page 387
Cuban claro
A kind of Cuban cigar or habanos
Partidos wrapper
A region of Cuba, where some of the finest habanos are made.
tropa
A group of soldiers, a troop (Spanish)
Parrot Joaquin
Jose Joaquin Fernandez de Lizardi was the first novelist in Latin America. His most famous work is El periquillo sarniento, translated to English as The Mangy Parrot. Wikipedia entry
huevon
A Mexican obscenity, meaning literally 'to have big testicles'; roughly translates as 'lazy'.
'Double refraction'
Once again the theme of dual natures.
psitticide
Parrot-murder.
Caray
Damn!
loco... lucas
Loco: Crazy (Spanish)
Lucas: One of the writers of the gospels; a common name in Mexico. Used as an euphemism for 'crazy'
Page 388
jack
Jackass, burro.
Monte el Refugio
Mount Refuge.
Huertistas
Huerta's troops.
Sombrerete
A small town in Zacatecas.
Tarahumares
Indigenous people of northern Mexico, renowned for their long-distance running ability.
Wikipedia Entry
Page 389
Yaquis
Central American Indian tribe that inhabit the Mexican State of Sonora. Wikipedia entry.
Mayas
The Mayos are an Indian tribe that inhabit the Mexican States of Sonora and Sinaloa.
Mausers
Someone holding a Mauser bolt action rifle, commonly known as palotruenos during the Mexican Revolution. Wikipedia entry on Mauser
fandango saloon
Saloon featuring a style of flamenco music and dance. These are especially popular in the southwest United States.Wikipedia entry
Page 390
Hasta lueguito
See you later.
El Espinero
The thorn-man (Spanish).
shabotshi
This is a Tarahumare word meaning "bearded one" and is most often used to refer, with derision, to Mexicans. Among the Tarahumare men, beards are rare. Carl Lumholtz' Unknown Mexico Ebook
Que toza tienes alla
"What a log you've got there." Frank should be flattered. A toza is pretty much an entire tree trunk. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Trillo-6_tronco_de_pino.png
Page 391
nopales
Prickly pear cacti.
scalenohedral
Having the form of a scalenohedron, a solid body the faces of which are all scalene triangles.
Page 392
Hikuli
Peyote. This scene, with the brujo giving Frank peyote, followed by him barfing and then flying, is highly reminiscent of Carlos Castaneda's works, esp. Tales of Power.
while it was alive
(Most vegetables?)
Page 393
"The idea was that water should be everywhere, free to everybody. It was life. Then a few got greedy."
The idea of dual natures, or dual forces has come up repeatedly (cf. Renfrew p. 226). Here we have a variation that is a bit like the concept of Original Sin. There is a single location near the desert where all the rain that would have fallen in the desert falls. This is a punishment for the greed of some people. Alternatively, it could be seen -- and in fact is described in the passage -- as a balance. The greed of 'some people' distorts the intended even distribution of water. To balance this, a concentration occurs somewhere else. Notice that with the idea of balance, the old Original Sin concept is altered. 'Intent' in the sense of divine intent or punishment, is much less clear. Instead there is a notion of consequences. One imbalance leads to a counter balance.
Page 394
Tears of Job
An annual grass (Coix lacryma-jobi) native to Asia and naturalised in North America.
Page 395
Bolson de Mapimi
A huge region of Mexico, that comprises part of Chihuahua, Coahuila and Durango. It's an arid region with absolutely no elevations.
Budweiser Little Big Horn panorama
"This depiction of a horrific (if somewhat-deserved) massacre has been brought to you in sweeping panorama by Bludweiser and by Blud Lite. Bludweiser - this Blud's for you!"
blood . . . Fin
Cinematic imagery.
El se fue
He left (Spanish).
jarrito
A small jug, usually made of clay (Spanish).
Annotation Index
| Part One: The Light Over the Ranges |
|
|---|---|
| Part Two: Iceland Spar |
119-148, 149-170, 171-198, 199-218, 219-242, 243-272, 273-295, 296-317, 318-335, 336-357, 358-373, 374-396, 397-428 |
| Part Three: Bilocations |
429-459, 460-488, 489-524, 525-556, 557-587, 588-614, 615-643, 644-677, 678-694 |
| Part Four: Against the Day |
695-723, 724-747, 748-767, 768-791, 792-820, 821-848, 849-863, 864-891, 892-918, 919-945, 946-975, 976-999, 1000-1017, 1018-1039, 1040-1062 |
| Part Five: Rue du Départ |
