16
hard currency – (
17
What’s he trying to pull? – Чего он нам голову морочит? (от выражения to pull a fast one – обмануть, провести)
18
Karjalainen, perhaps: An unclear reference since Karjalainen is a common Finnish surname. One possibility is the children’s author Elina Karjalainen (1927–2006), who wrote a series of books about a teddy bear called Uppo-Nalle.
19
Mein Gott
20
the Suez crisis – Суэцкий кризис, международный конфликт (октябрь 1956 – март 1957), связанный с определением статуса администрации Суэцкого канала
21
Maybe Mantere: Again, the reference is unclear, but it may allude to the singer Eeki Mantere (1949–2007), a popular Finnish musician of the 1970s.
22
felt-tip pen – фломастер
23
to screw around – бездельничать
24
Chezet – чешская марка мотоциклов
25
nomenklatura – высший слои руководства в СССР
26
the historian Nikolai Karamzin: Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin (1766–1826), prominent conservative Russian historian and writer.
27
ballot box – избирательная урна
28
Paul Robeson: Paul Robeson (1898–1976) was an African-American civil-rights activist, singer and actor who received the International Stalin Prize in 1952. His political leanings and outspokenness caused him tremendous problems in America.
29
the famous artist Shemyakin: Mikhail Mikhailovich Shemyakin (
30
with pull – по блату
31
Yuri Gagarin, Mayakovsky, Fidel Castro: Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin (1934-68), Soviet cosmonaut and the first man in space, who received the most prestigious award in the USSR, “Hero of the Soviet Union”; Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (1893–1930), Russian Futurist poet and Soviet propagandist, often seen as the exemplar of Soviet art; Fidel Castro (1926–2016), leader of the Cuban revolution and subsequently First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba.
32
to have hair-of-the-dog – опохмеляться (от выражения to have hair of the dog that bit you)
33
Zaporozhets – «Запорожец», марка заднемоторных легковых автомобилей, выпускавшихся в городе Запорожье
34
Lomonosov: Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (1711-65), pioneering Russian grammarian, poet, scientist and founder of Moscow State University.
35
Cordilleras, Appalachians and Guiana Highlands – Кордильеры, Аппалачи и Гвианское нагорье, горные системы Северной и Южной Америки
36
Bach’s Sixth Invention – шестая инвенция Баха. Инвенция – сборник небольших учебных пьес полифонического склада. Иоганн Себастьян Бах (1685–1750) – немецкий композитор, педагог
37
tackle – тали, подвесное грузоподъемное устройство с ручным или механическим приводом
38
Khrushchev – Хрущев, Никита Сергеевич (1894–1971), советский государственный деятель.
39
to come to the fore – пробудиться, проявиться (
40
Pushkin Hills: An area in the Pskov Oblast named after Russia’s most celebrated poet, Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799–1837), who spent a period of exile and wrote some of his best-known works in the region.
41
Leger: Fernand Léger (1881–1955), French painter and sculptor, who joined the Communist Party in 1945.
42
to get sidetracked – отвлечься, отойти от темы