bora: A strong, cold wind, blowing from the mountains to the Adriatic Sea. Bridge of Sighs: The bridge on the east side of the Doges' Palace, leading across a narrow canal to the prisons. doge: Duke, the head of state in Venice from 697 to 1797. felucca: A small ship with two masts, equipped with sails as well as oars, a smaller type of galley. faro: A game of cards, also spelled "pharaoh" in English. lido: A sandbank, which separates the lagoon of Venice from the sea. There are several settlements on these sandbanks (but the one called Lido did not exist yet at the time of this story). Piazzetta: A small square near the Piazza San Marco. The administration of the Venetian republic resided in the buildings surrounding these squares. The entrance to the Piazzetta was the ceremonial landing spot for high officials and is marked by two massive granite columns. procurator: One of the nine highest ranking officials in Venice, among which the doge was elected. Procurators' Offices: These buildings are on the northern and southern sides of the Piazza San Marco. Angelo Querini: This is not a fictional character, but an actual historic person. Rialto: A corruption of "Rivo Alto", this is the oldest and most central part of Venice. sbirro: A member of the secret police. signoria: The highest public authority in Venice. tarock: A game of cards, usually played by three people with a deck of 78 cards. Terraferma: The land under the control of Venice, outside of the city itself. It stretched from the borders of Milan in the west to the Istrian Peninsula in the east and from the Alps in the north to the Po River in the south. zecchino: A gold coin (ducat), produced in Venice since 1284, until the beginning of the 19th century. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Andrea Delfin A Venetian novella by Paul Heyse Original title: Andrea Delfin, eine venezianische Novelle [Translated by Gunther Olesch in 2000]