sabre a heavy cavalry sword with a slightly curved blade. Swords were rendered largely ineffectual by the development of firearms, thus Catherine's reference is ironic.
Saint Paul the Apostle Paul.
" . . . Saint Paul . . . was a rounder and a chaser and then when he was no longer hot he said it was no good. When he was finished he made the rules for those of us who are still hot." According the Book of Acts in the New Testament, St. Paul was originally a persecutor of Christians named Saul; he saw Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and was converted.
San Dona town on the Piave River, in Italy just east of Venice.
San Gabriele town near the present-day border between Italy and Slovenia.
San Siro a famous Milan racetrack.
San Vito San Vito al Tagliamento, a town to the west of the River Tagliamento in northeast Italy.
Savoia region in southeast France, on the borders of Italy and Switzerland: a former duchy and part of the kingdom of Sardinia: annexed by France (1860).
schutzen (German) marksmen.
screens of corn-stalk and straw matting and matting over the top used here as camouflage.
sergeant-adjutant a staff officer who serves as an administrative assistant to the commanding officer.
seventy-sevens shells fired by the Austrians.
sherry a Spanish fortified wine varying in color from light yellow to dark brown and in flavor from very dry to sweet.
sight draft a means of wiring money overseas.
Signor Tenente (Italian) Mr. Lieutenant.
signorino (Italian) young master.
smistimento (Italian) sorting or shunting place.
some cylinders . . . a rubber mask attached to a tube apparatus for delivering nitrous oxide ("laughing gas").
Sorella (Italian) sister.
sotto-tenente (Italian) second lieutenant.
spaghetti course Sometimes called the primo piatto, or first course, it follows the antipasto in a traditional Italian meal and precedes the secundo piatto, or entrée.
spile a heavy stake or timber driven into the ground as a foundation or support.
Sporchissimo very dirty.
St. Estephe a type of wine.
stazione (Italian) station.
Strega an after-dinner drink.
Stresa town on Lake Maggiore.
strike the pull on the line by a fish seizing or snatching at bait.
synovial fluid the clear albuminous lubricating fluid secreted by the membranes of joint cavities, tendon sheaths, etc.
Tagliamento a river in the Venetia region of northeast Italy, to the west of Udine, that flows south to the Adriatic Sea.
tannic tasting of tannins absorbed from grape skins and seeds and from oak barrels; somewhat bitter or astringent.
tenente (Italian) lieutenant.
tenente-colonello (Italian) lieutenant-colonel.
Ternova ridge in present-day Slovenia.
The American news was all training camps It is unclear whether this refers to spring training prior to the baseball season, to the training of newly-enlisted soldiers, or to both.
The apple the fruit of knowledge, offered by the serpent to Eve. When she shared the apple with Adam, they were cast out of Eden by God.
the cathedral Milan's famous cathedral, designed and built in the Gothic style. It is the second-largest church in Italy, after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
the Cova restaurant in Milan.
the French will hog them all The major predicts, correctly, that most of the American troops will be sent to the Western Front.
the Isonze the Isonzo River, in northeast Italy. At the time during which the story takes place, it lay within the boundaries of Austria-Hungary.
the jaundice colloquial reference to a disease, usually hepatitis, causing the eyeballs, the skin, and the urine to become abnormally yellowish as a result of increased amounts of bile pigments in the blood.
the King here, meaning Victor Emmanuel III (d. 1947), King of Italy (1900–46).
The Lancet medical journal.
the Lyrico Milanese theater.
The News of the World a British tabloid newspaper.
the snake of reason a reference to the serpent in the story of the Garden of Eden, from the Book of Genesis in the Bible.
the Somme a river in north France, site of brutal fighting between Allied and German forces during World War I.
the Trentino region of north Italy.
the war in Libya Libya was won by Italy from the Ottoman Empire in 1912.
"They asked me if I would declare war on Turkey" Turkey became allied with the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary) after the start of World War I in 1914.
"Tomorrow maybe we'll sleep in — " The dash replaces an obscenity.
The Woolworth Building a New York skyscraper designed by Cass Gilbert and built in 1913; until 1931 it was the tallest building in the world. The Woolworth Building was known as the "cathedral of commerce," which makes Catherine's desire to go there vaguely ironic after her refusal to enter the actual cathedral in Milan.
There's no hole in my side a reference to Jesus Christ, wounded in the side by a Roman spear. Henry's sacrilegious joke is inspired by his blistered palms, which recall Christ's stigmata.
three hundred fives 305-millimeter guns.
to the Crystal Palace, to the Cova, to Campari's, to Biffi's, to the galleria . . . the Gran Italia . . . the Scala Sites of interest around Milan. The galleria is the Victor Emmanuel Gallery, a glass-covered walkway lined with shops. La Scala is Milan's world-famous opera house.
Torino Italian name for Turin, commune in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy, on the Po River.
Tosca title of Puccini opera.
tourniquet any device for compressing a blood vessel to stop bleeding or control the circulation of blood to some part, as a bandage twisted about a limb and released at intervals.
Treatments . . . for bending the knees, mechanical treatments, baking in a box of mirrors with violet rays, massage, and baths examples of mechano-therapy mentioned in Chapter XII.
trench a long, narrow ditch dug by soldiers for cover and concealment, with the removed earth heaped up in front. Protracted trench warfare was characteristic of World War I, especially on the Western Front, in France.
Trieste seaport in present-day northeast Italy, on an inlet (Gulf of Trieste) of the Adriatic Sea. At the time during which the story takes place, it lay within the boundaries of Austria-Hungary.
" . . . two other things; one is bad for my work and the other is over in half an hour or fifteen minutes." drinking and sex, presumably.
Udine a commune (that is, the smallest administrative district of local government) between the Tagliamento and Isonzo Rivers in the Venetia region of northeast Italy.
