notes

p. 118, St Augustine: Aurelius Augustinus (354430), bishop of Hippo,

theologian, Doctor of the Church, and author of the autobiographi-
cal Confessions with the famous line in which he recalls himself
praying, in his youth: Lord, make me chaste, but not yet.
p. 122, Laudetur in ternum: Praised be Jesus Christ. In eter-
nity (Latin)
p. 135, crmeries: Creameries (French).
p. 137, le patron: The boss (French).
p. 137, moche: Ugly (French).
p. 148, mondain: Sophisticated, worldly (French).
p. 154, Better to be a cotter prince among the dead: Homer,
Odyssey xi, 465540: Odysseus visits the ghost of Achilles in
Hades, where Achilles rejects Odysseuss felicitations on his hon-
oured state with the line Szerb quotes.
p. 155, Cestius Mal vorbei, leise zum Orcus hinab: Goethe, Roman
Elegies: Lead me softly down to the underworld, next to Cestius
pyramid (German).
p. 155, Cor cordium: Heart of hearts (Latin). This does, indeed,
appear on Shelleys gravestone.
p. 159, Incipit vita nova: [Here] begins the new life (Latin). From
the Introduction to Dante, La vita nuova (The New Life) (Italian).
p. 161, Popolo dItalia: People of Italy (Italian).
p. 161, Aspetti religione antiche: Aspects of Death in Ancient
Religions (Italian).
p. 165, Doorn the German ex-Kaisers archaeological team:
Wilhelm II lived in Doorn, Netherlands, from his exile in November
1918 until his death in 1941.
p. 166, Pozsony: Present-day Bratislava, Slovakia. At the time of the
novels setting (and writing), 1937, it was already Bratislava, part
of Czechoslovakia as a result of the 1920 Treaty of Trianon (part
of the Versailles peace process); but Hungarians continue (to this
day) to refer to it by its Hungarian name.

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