I, however, am up for it, and am enjoying it so far (even if the opening is basically a straight ripoff of Bely’s Petersburg). Now, at one point he’s describing a turn-of-the-century interior and he uses the word ламбрекен [lambrekén], which meant nothing to me. Wiktionary doesn’t have one, but the OED (entry revised 2005) says:Probably a variant of palmette n. (compare sense 2 at that entry), palmette designs having been a conventional ornament on window cornices. Well, that’s straightforwardly from French lambrequin, for which Wiktionary says:From Middle French lambequin, perhaps from Middle Dutch lappekijn, lepperkijn, from Old Dutch lappakīn. F. M. Crawford, Dr. Claudius iii[…] 1888 The carved marble mantle-piece was concealed by a lambrequin.