The Shape of Water

106 “eighty million lire”: A little more than 53,000 dollars.

106 “ten million lire”: around 6,700 dollars.

109 “Sicilchim”: The name of the abandoned chemical factory. It’s shorthand for Sicilia Chimica, or Sicilian Chemicals.

148 thirty thousand in gas: About eighteen dollars’ worth.

150 would jerk her head backwards, as if repeatedly saying no: In Sicily, this gesture expresses a negative response.

188 an army patrol of Alpinists: The Alpini are a division of the Italian army trained in mountain warfare and tactics. Sporting quaint Tyrolean feathered caps as part of their uniform, their sudden appearance at this point in the story, though perfectly plausible and consistent with the government policy (mentioned on page 3) of dispatching army units to Sicily for the maintenance of order, is sort of a sight-gag, one that inevitably calls attention to the endlessly complicated and crisscrossing chains of command between the military and the local police forces in Italy.

211 goat-tied: The Sicilian word is incaprettato (containing the word for goat, capra), and it refers to a particularly cruel method of execution used by the Mafia, where the victim, face-down, has a rope (in this case, a wire) looped around his neck and then tied to his feet, which are raised behind his back as in hog-tying. Fatigue eventually forces him to lower his feet, strangling him in the process.

Notes compiled by Stephen Sartarelli

                                              Photo by Elvira Giorgianni

Andrea Camilleri’s Montalbano mystery series, bestsellers in Italy and Germany, have been adapted for Italian television and translated into eight languages. He lives in Rome.

Stephen Sartarelli is a poet and translator. He lives in upstate New York.

Table of Contents

THE SHAPE OF WATER

VIKING, Published by the Penguin Group

THE SHAPE OF WATER

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AUTHOR’S NOTE

NOTES