Terms

Dependent A free and dependent person who lives in a well-off family's house, not as a family member and without a wage, in exchange for shelter, food, and small services. In the book, José Dias is the dependent of Matacavalos: he arrived in Itaguaí selling himself as... Seminary An internal school where the Church trains future priests, with studies in Latin and theology and religious life under the direction of a rector. In the book, it is the Seminary of S. José, in Rio: Bentinho enters at fifteen to fulfill his mother's promise,... Apostolic Protonotary An honorary title that the pope grants to a priest, by decree, without giving him a post in the Roman Curia. In the book, Father Cabral, Bentinho's Latin teacher, receives the title through the internuncio, and the whole family repeats it: Cabral explains... Paternosters Common Catholic prayers which, in Bentinho's house, also serve as currency for promises: one asks heaven for a favor and commits to saying a certain number of them, as with a debt to be paid. The Hail Mary is also the evening hour at which the prayer is said:... Insurance Policy A public debt security that pays interest to whoever holds it. In the book, the word has two uses: Dona Glória lives on buildings and bonds, and José Dias, who received from Bentinho's father's will a bond and four words of praise, frames the words and calls... Carriage A closed two-wheeled carriage, drawn by animals, used by families of means for visits and for Mass. Bentinho's father's is narrow, with leather curtains and a glass peephole, and has an enslaved coachman. Dona Glória keeps it as a memento of her husband, and... Pallium The Blessed Sacrament is the consecrated host, carried in procession to a sick or dying person for communion. The pallium is the canopy that covers the vicar and the sacrament, held up by poles; holding a pole is a distinction, and whoever does not get one... Bachelor of Laws Someone who completes higher studies, especially in Law, and receives the bachelor's diploma. For a young man of modest means in the Empire, it was the door to the legal profession and public office, and a bachelor was addressed as doctor. In the book,... Third-Party Injunction A procedural action by which a person outside a lawsuit claims property of theirs that was seized or attached in a dispute between others. In the book, it is the legal matter that Escobar brings to Bentinho, the lawyer friend, on an opera night, and that... Tale A unit of account of the Empire, equal to a thousand mil-réis, written 1:000$000, with a colon after the millions. Here "conto" means money, not narrative: Pádua buys the house with the lottery jackpot, ten contos, and Escobar adds up in his head the rents of... Engenho Novo A neighborhood far from downtown Rio de Janeiro, served by the train. It is where Bento Santiago, now old, writes the book, in a house he had built as a copy of the one at Matacavalos, with the same look and the same layout. From Engenho Novo he goes to and... Passeio Público A public garden in downtown Rio de Janeiro, with a terrace, open to the city's strollers. In the book, José Dias and Bentinho get off the bus, which Dona Glória insisted on because of the heat, the day after the boy's message; it is on the terrace that...