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Astonish the Browns Palace at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. Paxton was very lucky in his timing, for just at the moment of the Great Exhibition, glass suddenly became available in a way it never had before. Glass had always been a tricky material. It was not particularly easy to make, and really hard to make well, which is why for so much of its history it was a luxury item. The finished building was precisely 1,851 feet long (in celebration of the year), 408 feet across, and almost 110 feet high. Yet thanks to Paxton’s methods, the final cost came in at an exceedingly agreeable £80,000. From start to finish, the work took just under thirty-five weeks. By the way, St Paul’s Cathedral had taken thirty-five years. Astonish the Browns – удивить Браунов; бросить вызов укоренившимся в обществе предрассудкам Do or say something regardless of the annoyance it may cause or the shock it may give to Mrs Grundy (see p. 115); challenge deep-rooted social prejudice. All to Astonish the Browns (extract from a street ballad by John Ashton, 1888) Whatever was done by the B’s, The C’s tried to do more than equal, But as they had not the same means, They failed, as you’ll see by the sequel. Jokery, jeering, quiz, Many folks in this world’s ups and downs, Very often astonish themselves, When they try to astonish the Browns. Augean stables – (миф.) авгиевы конюшни; запущенное, загрязнённое место; clean the Augean stables – расчистить авгиевы конюшни, т.е. внести коренные изменения, совершить радикальные перемены In Greek mythology, Augeas is best known for his stables, which housed the single greatest number of cattle in the country and had never been cleaned. The fifth Labor of Heracles was to clean the Augean stables. This assignment 16