FOOTNOTES:
[13] Rubinstein used this as a foundation for the libretto of his delightful opera, with the same title.
[14] Rubinstein used this as the libretto foundation for his opera of the same title, which was produced once, prohibited by the censor, produced once again after a lapse of eight or ten years, and again promptly prohibited. After another interval of years it was again permitted.
[15] An unaristocratic form of Eléna—Helen.
[16] The "Guests' Court," that is, the bazaar.
[17] His Russian name, "Grózny," means, rather, "menacing, threatening," than "terrible," the customary translation, being derived from "grozá," a thunderstorm.
[18] Most Russians prefer to have the world "Slavyáne" translated Slavonians, rather than Slavs, as the latter is calculated to mislead.
[19] His "Family Chronicle" was the favorite book (during her girlhood) of Márya Alexándrovna, the daughter of Alexander II., afterwards Duchess of Edinburg, and now Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. I made acquaintance with this fascinating work by reading aloud from her copy to a mutual friend, a Russian.
[20] Literally, "Old-fashioned Landed Proprietors," who would, as a matter of course, belong to the gentry, or "nobility," as the Russian term is. This title is often translated, "Old-fashioned Farmers."
[21] This expression has become proverbial in Russia, and is used to repress any one who becomes unduly excited.