chapter ii

. full=ii)

3. à côté de, ‘by the side of,’ ‘beside.’ Cf. note, p. 7 l. 13. Distinguish also _à côté_ and _de côté_; e.g. _il demeure à côté_, ‘he lives close by’; _la maison d’à côté_ ‘the next house’; _le tableau est de côté_ ‘the picture is on one side’; _un regard de côté_, ‘a side glance.’

7. large, ‘broad,’ _never_ ‘large.’

8. le ciel riait, ‘the sky was radiant.’

9. descendaient au fil de l’eau, ‘were going down stream.’

19. ma foi! ‘upon my word!’ ‘faith!’ _not_ ‘my faith!’ Never translate this expression literally.

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3. serrés les uns contre les autres, ‘closely packed.’

9. à tâtons, ‘groping his way along.’

qui vive? ‘who goes there?’ The challenge of a French sentinel.

14. et en route, ‘and moved off.’

21. ah! mon Dieu! see note, p. 8 l. 14.

23. me serra plus fort, ‘grasped my hand more firmly.’

29. s’il parlait, je crois bien: on l’entendait d’une lieue, ‘I should rather think it was talking, you could hear it a mile off.’ The sentence is elliptical, _vous demandez_ being understood before _s’il_. Note the idiomatic use of _bien_, and cf. _je le veux bien_, ‘I am _perfectly_ willing’; _voulez-vous bien vous en aller_, ‘_won’t_ you go away!’ _je donnerais bien un franc_, ‘I shouldn’t mind giving a franc.’

30. trouble, ‘agitation,’ ‘confusion,’ _not_ ‘trouble,’ the French for which is _peine, chagrin, douleur. Les troubles_=‘rebellion,’ ‘rising,’ e.g. _des troubles éclatèrent en France_.

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9. plus de Vendredi! plus de perroquet…plus possible: _plus_ is often used negatively without _ne_ when the verb is understood. Trans. ‘without a Friday, or a parrot, a Robinson would not be possible any longer.’

10. le moyen: elliptical for _dites-moi le moyen_. Trans. ‘how was it possible to…’ or ‘how could one…’

11. d’ailleurs, ‘besides’; _ailleurs_=‘elsewhere.’

13. rue Lanterne: note omission of preposition and article.

28. le lendemain soir: note this is the correct way of expressing in French ‘next evening’; cf. _le lendemain matin_.

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17. s’y maria, ‘got married there.’ Note _marier_, ‘to give in marriage,’ or ‘to perform the marriage ceremony’; e.g. _le curé les a mariés; se marier avec_, ‘to be married to,’ e.g. _elle s’est mariée avec Monsieur B_., or _elle a épousé Monsieur B_.

20. gros ouvrage, ‘rough work.’

26. par exemple: see note, p. 3 l. 22.

27. lui non plus, ‘either,’ added for emphasis at the end of the sentence.

29. avait fini par le prendre en grippe, ‘had at length taken a dislike to him.’

l’abreuvait de taloches, ‘rapped his head at every turn.’

31. le fait est: a favourite expression of Daudet. It does not correspond to the English ‘the fact is,’ which generally denotes a contradiction, but rather strengthens what has been said. Trans. ‘indeed.’

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2. perdait tous ses moyens, ‘completely lost his wits.’

9. le voilà qui prend: the use of _le voilà_ is very emphatic; _voi_ is the imperative of _voir_, and _le voilà=vois-le là_.

18. tu as beau lui dire, ‘it is no use your telling him.’ _Avoir beau_ + infinitive is ironical, and elliptical for _avoir beau temps pour_, i.e. to have a fine opportunity, but to no purpose; cf. the English ‘it is all very _fine_ for you to tell him.’

19. tout de même: see note, p. 10 l. 3.

30. pourvu qu’il ne lui soit rien arrivé, ‘I hope nothing has happened to him.’

31. parbleu: a euphemism for _pardieu_. Trans. ‘why, of course not.’

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15. recteur: as far as education is concerned, France is divided into seventeen _académies_, each under a _recteur_, who represents the _Ministre de l’instruction publique_.

24. de bonne foi, ‘honestly’; cf. _de bon cœur_, ‘gladly’ (p. 35 l. 28); _de meilleur cœur_, ‘more cheerfully,’ ‘more willingly’ (p. 49 l. 27).

28. non plus: see note, p. 14 l. 27.

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1. gones: provincial slang, ‘street arabs.’

2. blouse à carreaux: note the French _à_ of description where we say ‘with’; cf.—

p. 33 l. 14, _un personnage à favoris rouges_. p. 35 l. 20, _la fée aux lunettes_. p. 35 l. 24, _l’ homme aux moustaches_. p. 42 l. 20, _l’ homme aux clefs_. p. 52 l. 28, _ses souliers à boucles_.

5. Tiens! expresses surprise and may be rendered, according to the context, by ‘here!’ ‘look here!’ ‘I say!’ ‘halloa!’ ‘well, I never!’ etc.

6. me prit en aversion, ‘took a violent dislike to me’; cf. note, p. 14 l. 29.

7. du bout des lèvres, ‘in a most casual manner’; cf. _rire du tout des lèvres_.

16. sentaient bon, ‘smelt very nice.’ For other adjectives used as adverbs cf. _parlant haut_ (p. 40 l. 27); _il s’arrêta court_ (p. 43 l. 26); _ne pas manger tranquille_ (p 51 l. 23); _prier ferme_ (p. 56 l. 2); _il s’arrêta net_ (p. 98 l. 1).

20. moisis, fanés, sentant le rance, ‘mouldy, musty and frowsy.’ _Sentir le rance_, ‘to smell rancid,’ lit. ‘to smell of rancidity’ (cf. _sentir le vin, le tabac_, etc.). The term ‘rancid’ could not be applied here. In English it is only used of _oil_ and similar substances.

22. faisait bien de son mieux, ‘did indeed his very best.’

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4. boursier, ‘foundation scholar’; cf. the Scotch ‘bursar.’

6. ma foi! see note, p. 11 l. 19.

10. le givre fouettait les vitres, ‘the frozen rain was beating against the window-panes.’

13. j’ai reçu votre honorée du 8 courant, ‘I have received your favour of the 8th instant.

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