“There is something strangely determinate and fatal about a single shot in the night.  It is as if someone had cried a message to you in one word, and would not repeat it.”  What a sentence.  I can hear that shot, and my gut gets tight.  Hunni and I just watched the movie “Faith Like Potatoes”, and there is a scence with a single shot.

“Cars run well at night, and it is pleasant to motor under the stars. . .”

Let’s start reading.

p. 89:  dog-violet – unscented violets

p. 90:  Khadija’s camel men – Khadija was Mohammed’s first wife.

p. 90:  Philosophers who spin out of moonlight systems of the Universe” –

p. 90:  Spica in the Virgin –  Wikipedia excerpt.

The bright Spica makes it easy to locate Virgo, as it can be found by following the curve of the Big Dipper to Arcturus in Boötes and continuing from there in the same curve (“follow the arc to Arcturus and speed on to Spica”).^[1]

This diagram was drawn by H.A. Rey–yep! the same guy that wrote “Curious George”.  I was lucky enough to find this book on constellations at a library book sale.  Spicia is the biggest black dot at the bottom (looks kind of like a lowercase “a”.)

Alpha and Beta  in the Centaur – Wikipedia:

Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern sky. One of the largest constellations in the sky, Centaurus was included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations.

Alpha and Beta are the two front hooves repectively.

Sirius – It is easy to locate the star Sirius in our night skies. Just to the left of Orion the hunter.  Even if you aren’t sure which way south is, just go
out around 8 or 9PM and turn around until you see a very bright star. If you
also see Orion, you have found Sirius.

Canopus – Wikipedia.  Canopus (pronounced /kəˈnoʊpəs/, α Car, α Carinae, Alpha Carinae) is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina and Argo Navis, and the second brightest star in the night-time sky, after Sirius. Canopus’s visual magnitude is −0.72, and it has an absolute magnitude of −5.53.

Rigel, Betelgeuze, and Bellatrix – stars in Orion.

p. 93:  manyatta – East African community of several huts.

p. 93:  Ngoma – Swahili for drum; a dance with drums

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6oYeq7FfqI

p. 93:  the long dungas – didn’t find a refernce.  Anybody?

p. 94:  consignments – Wikipedia.  Consignment is the act of consigning, which is placing a person or thing in the hand of another, but retaining ownership until the goods are sold or person is transferred. This may be done for shipping, transfer of prisoners, to auction, or for sale in a store (i.e. a consignment shop).

p. 95:  capons and poulardes –Wikipedia.   A capon is a rooster that has been castrated to improve the quality of its flesh for food.

A “poularde” is a fatty chicken that is grown in a particular way to avoid that
it reaches sexual maturity. It consists of a young hen which is raised free
range for the first part of its life and fed with corn, cereals and milk. Then
just before it reaches sexual maturity, it is placed in a cage and maintained in
the dark to be fattened for few weeks. In this way, the young hen do not reach
sexual maturity, resulting in a very meaty bird (around 1.8Kg), covered of an
important layer of fat, with a very tender, moist and milky flesh, but slightly
on the bland side. The most famous region of production of poulardes are Le Mans
and the Bresse regions of France.

p. 96:  cerval-cats – Wikipedia.  The serval ( /ˈsɜrvəl/), Leptailurus serval, is a medium-sized African wild cat. Modern molecular DNA analysis indicates that servals maintain their own unique lineage descending from the same Felid ancestor as the lion. The serval shares common traits with the cheetah, and it is the cheetah which is thought to have descended from ancient servals.^[3] Similar DNA studies have shown the African golden cat and the caracal are closely related to the serval.

p. 96:  anathema – accursed

p. 97:  “to heal by imposition of hands” – “laying on of hands”;  healing

p. 99:  old Goan doctor -Wikipedia.  Goan (Konkani: गोंयकार Goenkar) is the demonym used to describe the people of the Indian state of Goa who form an ethno-linguistic group.  demonyn = A demonym ( /ˈdɛmənɪm/), also referred to as a gentilic, is a name for a resident of a locality. A demonym is usually – though not always – derived from the name of the locality;^[1] thus, in English, the demonym for the people of Italy is Italian, though the one used for the people of the Netherlands is Dutch.

p. 101:  battening upon mutton – to feed gluttonously