The Winter of Our Discontent

  II Unimum et . . . : Joseph Fontenrose, classical scholar, says Ethan chants "counterfeit Latin . . . in something like the Black Mass." To translate Malory, Steinbeck wrote to a California friend that he had to "reactivate my limping Latin, Anglo-Saxon and old French."

  II As soon as it was day . . . : Luke 22:66-23:31.

  13 Well, this also serves . . . : The final line of "On His Blindness," a sonnet by John Milton, is "They also serve who only stand and wait."

  16 Artemis: Goddess of the hunt in Greek mythology.

  18 And after that . . . : Matthew 27:31-33.

  21 Valerius Maximus: (ca. 20 B.C.E.-A.D. 50) Roman historian, moralist, and author of Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX (Nine Books of Memorable Deeds and Sayings), a popular collection of moralistic stories and anecdotes used by writers and rhetoricians.

  27 lama sabach thani: Matthew 27:46: "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

  CHAPTER TWO

  30 Hearst papers: William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951) took over the San Francisco Examiner from his father in 1887 and then went on to create a newspaper empire in the United States, with twenty-eight dailies by the late 1920s. His wealth was legendary in California.

  CHAPTER THREE

  37 Elizabeth . . . Cromwell . . . Charles Stuart: Elizabeth I (1533-1603), daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, ruled as queen of England and Ireland from 1558-1603. Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) helped defeat the Royalists in the English Civil War and ruled as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death. Charles Stuart, Charles II (1630-85), restored the monarchy after the English Interregnum.

  39 Adam influence and Greek revival: Robert Adam (1728-92) was a renowned neoclassical Scottish architect and interior designer. Greek Revival is a late neoclassical movement in architecture, inspired by Greek design.

  46 The stars incline, they do not command: In Latin, Astra inclinant, non necessitant. A common Elizabethan astrological notion.

  50 I'm going to make our fortune: What Steinbeck wrote in Sea of Cortez provides a gloss to Ethan's decision and to the ethical issues of this novel: "There is a strange duality in the human which makes for an ethical paradox. We have definitions of good qualities and of bad; not changing things, but generally considered good and bad throughout the ages and throughout the species. Of the good, we think always of wisdom, tolerance, kindliness, generosity, humility; and the qualities of cruelty, greed, self-interest, graspingness, and rapacity are universally considered undesirable. And yet in our structure of society, the so-called and considered good qualities are invariable concomitants of failure, while the bad ones are the cornerstones of success. . . . Perhaps no other animal is so torn between alternatives. Man might be described fairly adequately, if simply, as a two-legged paradox."

  CHAPTER FOUR

  56 If the laws of thinking are the laws of things: John Elof Boodin (1869-1950), A Realistic Universe: An Introduction to Metaphysics (1916): "Somehow the laws of thought must be the laws of things if we are going to attempt a science of reality." In November 1939, Steinbeck asked Pascal Covici to send him five of Boodin's philosophical works; he and Ricketts discussed Boodin's ideas on the Sea of Cortez trip.

  57 General Fremont: (1813-90) Military officer and explorer who took part in numerous expeditions to the West.

  64 They're curiouser and curiouser: Alice's Adventures in Wonder-land (1865) by Lewis Carroll, chapter 2: "'Curiouser and curiouser! ' cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English)."

  CHAPTER FIVE

  66 Old Dobbin: Steinbeck also named his clothes: suits were "Burying Black," "Old Blue," "New Blue," and "Dorian Gray."

  68 Knight Templar: Western Christian military order during the Middle Ages, founded after First Crusade of 1096. Knights Templars were protectors of pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem. The modern organization is international and focuses on education, human rights, and humanitarian aid.

  70 Chatterboxes and the Rollo series . . . the Gustave Dore Hell . . . Hans Christian Andersen . . . the Grimm Brothers, the Morte d'Arthur: Chatterbox was a juvenile magazine published in Boston and in England from 1869 until the late 1920s. The Rollo books by Jacob Abbot (1803-1879), pastor and educator, were concerned with moral instruction, European travel, and philosophy. The Gustave Dore Hell, an illustration for an 1861 edition of Dante's Inferno, became a standard vision of hell; Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm compiled fairy tales for children. The Aubrey Beardsley illustrations for Malory's Morte d'Arthur appeared in an 1893-94 edition published by J. M. Dent in London.

  71 Is life so dear . . . give me death: From a speech by Patrick Henry (1736-99) delivered before the Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775.

  72 payola scandals: Although record companies had for decades paid radio stations to play their songs, payola became widespread in the 1950s with the burgeoning popularity of rock 'n' roll and single 45-RPM records; in November 1959, Congress held hearings on payola, and in 1960 amended the Federal Communications Act to outlaw under-the-table payments.

  72 Charles, my son, my son: As John Ditsky notes, Steinbeck converts "the biblical into the secular woe by means of a reference to the unfortunate Van Doren."

  75 the most feminine story: Steinbeck loved "corny little jokes," recalled one of his agents, Shirley Fisher. "The joke about two women with a wig was one of those."

  82 l'empereur, l'ermite, le chariot, la justice, le mat, le diable . . . le pendu . . . la mort: Tarot cards, used for divination: "It's how they fall in relation . . .": The emperor (wisdom and authority to achieve goals), the hermit (mysteries of inner life), the chariot (focus energy), justice (balance scales to serve the greater good), the fool (trust your instincts), the devil (empower your passionate nature), the hanged man (one of the most complex cards in the deck, suggesting life's paradoxes), death (shed old identities to express new ones).

  83 The king of batons: Tarot card suggesting that one remain balanced and use power wisely to set a good example.

  CHAPTER SIX

  90 When we were kids together: Inserted in this paragraph, later deleted, was this passage: "I don't know what sadness made a drunk of him and I don't want to know. It would be a kind of invasion of his privacy. I've always felt that a man has a right to kill himself if he wants to. And that's what Danny was doing but it takes a long time."

  92 Decalogue: The Ten Commandments.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  94 Kyrie eleison: "Lord, have mercy."

  98 Christopher Wren: (1632-1723) Renowned English architect who designed St. Paul's Cathedral in London, as well as many other churches and secular buildings.

  99 I wore the lace and carried the cross . . . : True story from Steinbeck's childhood in Salinas.

  104 Spaniards had sunk the Maine: On February 15, 1898, the battleship USS Maine was destroyed by an explosion in Havana Harbor that killed 262 on board, precipitating the Spanish-American War and popularizing the phrase "Remember the Maine!"

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  121 Speed, bonnie boat . . . : Chorus of "Skye Boat," a ballad that commemorates the crossing of Bonnie Prince Charles (Jacobite pretender to the British throne) to the Isle of Skye after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden, April 16, 1764.

  122 There's the rub: Hamlet, III.i.65.

  124 Bering . . . Alexander Baranov: Vitus Bering (1681-1741) was a Danish navigator and explorer in the service of the Russian navy, charting much of the Siberian and Alaskan coasts. Baranov (1747-1819) established trading centers in Alaska and served as the first Russian governor of Alaska from 1799 to 1818.

  CHAPTER NINE

  131 first emergency immigration law: In 1921 the Emergency Quota Act restricted U.S. immigration by setting the number to be admitted from any country at 3 percent of those from that country who lived in the United States in 1910; this act established a nationality
quota system.

  132 Masons: Freemasonry is the oldest and largest worldwide fraternity "dedicated to the Brotherhood of Man under the Fatherhood of a Supreme Being." Steinbeck's father was a lifelong Mason.

  133 Iver Johnson: "Suicide Special" pocket pistol produced between 1880 and the early twentieth century.

  141 Ars est celare artem: Latin for "It is art to conceal art." Ovid, Ars Amatoria (The Art of Love, A.D. 8).

  141 Hic erat demonstrandum: Latin for "The thing that has to be demonstrated."

  141 Io lo credo: Latin for "I believe it."

  149 Prime Minister Macmillan: Harold Macmillan (1894-1986) was prime minister of England from 1957 to 1963.

  149 Leda . . . swan: In Greek mythology, Leda, wife of the king of Sparta, is seduced by Zeus in the form of a swan.

  152 Witch of the East . . . Ozma: In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) by L. Frank Baum (1856-1919), the Wicked Witch of the West, ruler of the Munchkins, is killed when Dorothy's house falls on her. Princess Ozma, daughter of the king of Oz, appears in every other Oz book.

  CHAPTER TEN

  155 Cambellites: Church founded in 1830 by a Scotch-Irish clergyman and his son; the Cambellites stressed the importance of the New Testament, individual spiritual renewal, education, and the unification of all Christians in Christ.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  164 all's right with the world: Robert Browning (1812-89), Pippa Passes (1841), part 1.

  164 sad story of the death of kings: Shakespeare, Richard II, III.ii.156. The original line reads "sad stories."

  165 Nosy Parker: A busybody or meddler. Also a popular British comic strip, spelled "Nosey Parker," by Allan Morley, appearing in the Sunday Post Fun Section.

  166 Old Satchel Paige: (1906-82) "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." Pitcher in the Negro Baseball Leagues and the American League.

  170 speeches of Henry Clay: (1777-1852) American statesman and persuasive orator whose speeches were often more fervent than carefully documented.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  177 Pancho Villa: (1878-1923) Mexican revolutionary leader and folk hero who advocated agrarian reform.

  181 Ora pro me: Latin for "Pray for me."

  182 Manners maketh man . . . Wickham: William of Wykeham (1324-1404), bishop of Winchester, chancellor of England, and founder of New College, Oxford (1379), and Winchester College (1394).

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  191 Deborah the Judge of Israel: Judges 4-5. Deborah, a prophetess, the only woman judge mentioned in the Bible. With her guidance and aid, the Israelite general Barak conquered Sisera, captain of the Canaanite army, and delivered Israel from Canaanite rule.

  195 James G. Blaine: (1830-93) Prominent American politician who served as congressman, senator, and secretary of state. Famous for maneuvering behind the scenes. In his later life, he wrote Twenty Years of Congress (1884-86).

  198 high-colored Miss Rheingold: Rheingold beer, popular in New York, held the venerable Miss Rheingold contest each year starting in 1939, with beer drinkers voting for their favorite of several young women; in 1959 total votes for Miss Rheingold exceeded 22 million.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  202 Golgotha: Hill on which Jesus was crucified.

  205 The fifty-star: With the admission of Hawaii as the fiftieth state in 1959, the fifty-star flag became the official U.S. flag on July 4, 1960.

  211 Montauk Point . . . dude ranch: Deep Hollow Ranch in Montauk, eastern Long Island.

  214 Ye wouldna be sae worrit: "My dear, you wouldn't worry so much about what people think if you realized how little they care." According to Jackson Benson, Steinbeck heard this line on a 1956 train trip from Sag Harbor to New York City.

  217 Appian Way: An important Roman road linking Rome to southern Italy.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  231 Lupercal on the Palatine: Lupercalia, the "Wolf Festival" honoring Romulus and Remus, mythical founders of Rome, took place near the cave of Lupercal, the legendary grotto where Romulus and Remus were suckled by a she-wolf. The Palatine is one of Rome's seven hills.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  233 Me beswac . . . hire ladteow: Eve's reply to God in the Garden of Eden (the serpent deceived me through fair words)--from the Old English poem Genesis. Following is a phrase from an Old English proverb about a lioness (the chained lion, if she tastes blood, bites first her master)--from Old English translation of Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy. (See Hassell A. Simpson in the Suggestions for Further Reading.)

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  237 O Nile serpent: Antony and Cleopatra, I.v.25. The actual line refers to "my serpent of old Nile."

  239 Beaux reves: French for "pleasant dreams."

  243 Weltschmerz: German for "world-weariness."

  244 Dick Clark . . . Chessman . . . Dillinger: Clark (1929- ) hosted American Bandstand from 1957 to 1987. Although initially targeted in the payola scandal, he was never charged. Caryl Chessman (1921-60), convicted in 1948 on seventeen counts of robbery, kidnapping, and rape, was executed at San Quentin Prison on May 2, 1960. John Dillinger (1903-34) was an American bank robber, named the country's first "public enemy number one," and hunted by law officers doggedly until FBI agents killed him outside a Chicago movie theater in 1934. "Crime doesn't pay" was the moral J. Edgar Hoover drew from Dillinger's story.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  247 Aunt Harriet--"up in heben she be": "Rockin' Chair" (1929), written by Hoagy Carmichael and performed with Louis Arm-strong: "My dear old aunt Harriet, in Heaven she be."

  251 Presidential nominations: The Democratic National Convention met at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, July 11-15, 1960, and nominated John F. Kennedy for president and Lyndon B. Johnson for vice president. The Republican National Convention met at Chicago's International Amphitheater, July 25-28, 1960, and nominated Richard M. Nixon for president and Henry Cabot Lodge for vice president.

  252 keelson to skys'l: The keel is the spine of the ship, providing structural support, and the keelson is a beam or timbers along the keel to add strength. A skysail is the topsail in a square rigger.

  256 a heart just like this: Steinbeck also had a tattoo, similarly etched with a Stanford classmate.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  264 'What's My Line?' . . . 'Mystery Guest': A popular game show that ran from 1950 to 1967 where a panel of four well-known figures tried to guess the unusual occupations of two weekly guests. In the third round of each show, panelists were blindfolded and a celebrity "mystery guest" was questioned.

  264 'Teen Twisters': No quiz show with this name made it to the air, but Chubby Checker recorded "The Twist" in 1959, and by September 1960 it reached the top of the charts, launching a new dance craze.

  266 the world being too much with me . . . peace: William Wordsworth's sonnet "The World Is Too Much with Us" and allusions to Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.

  267 muleta and espada: A muleta is a red cloth attached to a stick, used by matadors; an espada is a matador's sword.

  268 A pleasure dome . . . down to a sunless sea!: From "Kubla Khan; or, a Vision in a Dream" (1816) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834). "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea."

  274 What is an individual . . . his country?: Delivered on July 22, 1850, Henry Clay's speech on the Compromise of 1850.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  279 It's so much darker when a light goes out . . . shone: The typescript of the novel ends with this sentence; the rest of the book is a handwritten addition.

  279 End. And I hope this time it's clear. I really do hope so. JS: The typescript and handwritten addition end with this remark.

  THE STORY OF PENGUIN CLASSICS

  Before 1946 ... "Classics" are mainly the domain of academics and students; readable editions for everyone else are almost unheard of. This all changes when a little-known classicist, E. V. Rieu, presents Penguin founder Allen Lane with
the translation of Homer's Odyssey that he has been working on in his spare time.

  1946 Penguin Classics debuts with The Odyssey which promptly sells three million copies. Suddenly, classics are no longer for the privileged few.

  1950s Rieu, now series editor, turns to professional writers for the best modern, readable translations, including Dorothy L. Sayers's Inferno and Robert Grave's unexpurgated Twelve Caesars.

  1960s The Classics are given the distinctive black covers that have remained a constant throughout the life of the series. Rieu retires in 1964, hailing the Penguin Classics list as "the greatest educative force of the twentieth century."

  1970s A new generation of translators swells the Penguin Classics ranks, introducing readers of English to classics of world literature from more than twenty languages. The list grows to encompass more history, philosophy science, religion, and politics.

  1980s The Penguin American Library launches with titles such as Uncle Tom's Cabin and joins forces with Penguin Classics to provide the most comprehensive library of world literature available from any paperback publisher.