The Whispering Land

to make out with something (colloq.) - to get along, be satisfied with something

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crow's feet – wrinkles at the outer corner of the eye to sum up somebody – to form a final opinion or judgment of somebody

Si, si, como no? (Sp.) - Yes, yes, why not?

forlorn – here sad lilting (said of a melody) – swinging or flowing rhythmically joie de vivre ['3wa de 'vi;vre] (Fr.) – joy of life

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cacophonous – unmelodious

T. B. ['ti:'bi:] – short for tuberculosis in a body – all together, as one man moth-eaten-looking – old and decrepit, looking like an old rag eaten by clothes-moth

When speaking of airplanes, the English sometimes use the pronoun she, as in the case of ships.

wind-sock – a canvas cylinder or cone flying from a masthead to show the direction of wind

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came into their own – here got down to business the plane bumped and shuddered to a halt – bumping and shuddering, the plane came to a halt (cf. note to p. 7)

their equine charges – the ponies in their charge, the ponies they had been holding back (Durrell is fond of Latin adjectives of this type as opposed to the simple- sounding English nouns: compare horse and equine, cat and feline, pig and porcine)

banshee – according to Irish and Scotch beliefs, a spirit whose wail gives warning of death in a house

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Trafalgar Square lions – the four bronze figures of lions, which lie with their heads thrown back, and fore paws stretched out, decorating the corners of the quadrangular base of the Nelson column in Trafalgar Square, London

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magenta – a brilliant crimson color scrunched our way – made our way noisily grinding the gravel under the wheels of the car (cf. note to p. 20)

to switchback – to follow a zigzag route in a mountainous region peon ['pi:on] – in Mexico and Spanish South America, a laborer, especially one working to pay off a debt bombachas (Sp,) - wide trousers

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asado (Sp.) - a sheep roasted whole

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manana (Sp.) - tomorrow

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headwaiter – chief waiter at a restaurant, generally wearing a black suit and a snow-white shirt-front; the author compares penguins to head waiters because of their coloring, and also because of their peculiar shuffling gait biscuit-colored – of the characteristic light-brown colour of biscuit, i.e. porcelain after the first firing and before being glazed or painted guanaco [gwar'neikou] -a wild llama ['la:ma] of the Andes with reddish-brown wool

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finger – here the breadth of a finger (about an inch), a measure generally used when pouring drinks ahora los pinguinos (Sp.) - presently (you shall see) the penguins to pock-mark – to make numerous marks or scars like those left by smallpox; to dot pigmy (or pygmy) – any person, animal or plant abnormally undersized, a dwarf fallen arches – flat feet, feet not normally arched, with the arch weakened; a professional disease with waiters

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debutante I'debjuta:nt] – a girl making her first appearance in society, especially (in England) a girl presented to the king and queen at court outsize – too big for one wattle – a fold of loose flesh hanging from the neck of some birds, i.e. turkeys nerve – self-control, courage

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jig-saw puzzle – a picture pasted on board and cut in irregular pieces with a jig-saw; one has to fit the pieces together so as to make the picture (common children's game)

to negotiate – here to get over, to surmount (often said about fences and other obstacles)

tummy – a nursery and colloquial word for stomach, belly to get the worst of the climb over – to have done with the most difficult part of the climb

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to throw one off balance – to make one lose one's balance

all-in wrestling match – a general struggle to run the gauntlet – as a punishment, to run between two lines of men who strike the victim as he passes to regurgitate – to bring (partly-digested food) from the stomach back to the mouth; to get one to do something – to make one do it

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in no uncertain fashion – without hesitation or doubt, in a determined, resolute manner from stem to stern – from the front to the back part of a ship, throughout the whole length of the ship; here throughout the whole length of the bird's body (another instance of a naval term used ironically; cf. amidships on p. 8)

minute [mai'nju:t] – very small pandemonium ['paendi'mounjem] – a scene of great disorder and confusion (as in a place inhabited by all the demons)

digestive reverie ['reveri] – a quiet, thoughtful state during the process of digestion

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Vacanttum – probably Vacant-tum (my), empty belly (the word looks amusingly like a biological term of Latin origin)

the product of an unhappy home-life – a cliché of modern sociological writings, here used ironically

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melee ['melei] (Fr.) - a confused fight air-pocket – a seeming vacuum in the air causing the aircraft to drop some distance; it produces a very unpleasant sensation of sinking stomach nifty (U.S. slang) - here quick, nimble to qualify for – to give a right to

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