chapter iii

. full=iv)

6. fermer à double tour, ‘double-lock.’

16. pour toute réponse, ‘by way of answer.’

17. veste, ‘jacket’ _gilet_=‘vest,’ ‘waistcoat.’

Page 20.

7. songez donc! ‘just think!’

10. qu’il n’y avait encore de fait que les quatre premiers vers, ‘that the first four lines only were done so far.’

17. jamais il n’en put venir a bout, ‘he could never get through.’ _En_ is used here as the object, _ce reste_, to which it refers, precedes the verb for the sake of emphasis. Note _n’en put_, somewhat archaic for _ne put en…_

18. que voulez-vous? ‘there is no help for it!’ See note, p. 5 l. 12.

21. le poète eut beau faire: see note, p. 15 l. 18.

Page 21.

1. parbleu! ‘of course!’ See note, p. 15 l. 31.

3. si le lecteur le veut bien, ‘if the reader has an objection.’ Note _lecteur, lectrice_, ‘reader’; _lecture_, ‘reading’; _conférence_, ‘lecture’; _conférencier_, ‘lecturer.’

4. est en train de: cf. _être en train de travailler_, ‘to be busy working.’

5. enjambée: the suffix _-ée_ denotes _quantity_; e.g. p. 36 l. 5, _poignée_, ‘handful’; p. 47 l. 2, _nuée_, ‘thick cloud,’ ‘swarm.’

12. la même chanson, ‘the same old tune.’

13. misère, ‘poverty,’ ‘want,’ _not_ misery’; _les misères_, ‘hardships’; une misère, ‘a trifle.’

les affaires qui ne vont pas, ‘business not prospering.’

en retard, ‘in arrears,’ ‘to be paid up.’

15. l’argenterie au mont-de-piété, ‘the pawning of the family plate.’ Monts-de-piété, ‘pawnshops,’ were founded out of piety to enable people in straitened circumstances to escape the exorbitant usury of the Jews, and borrow money at a reasonable rate of interest. The most ancient of these was established at Perugia, 1477, and situated on a _mountain_; hence its name. The name and system were introduced into France, where these institutions were put under Government control. Had such benevolent establishments only been introduced into England under the same conditions thousands of people might have been saved from utter ruin.

19. huissier, ‘bailiff,’ lit, one who keeps the _huis_ or ‘door.’

23. achevait sa philosophie, ‘was finishing his course of philosophy,’ i.e. was completing his school education. The order of the forms in a French school, beginning with the lowest, is _neuvième, huitième, septième, sixième, cinquième, quatrième, troisième, seconde, première, philosophie_.

29. Eyssette père, ‘Eyssette senior’ so _Eyssette fils_ (p. 24 l. 21), ‘Eyssette junior.’

Page 22.

20. un parti à prendre, ‘one decision to come to.’ Note _prendre son parti_, ‘to make up one’s mind’; _épouser un bon parti_, ‘to make a good match’; _tirer parti de_, ‘to turn to account.’ Distinguish carefully from _la part_, ‘share,’ and _la partie_, ‘part,’ ‘portion,’ ‘game,’ etc.

22. de notre côté, ‘for ourselves.’ Cf. note, p. 7 l. 13.

28. jusqu’à nouvel ordre, ‘until matters improve.’

31. comme commis-voyageur à la société vinicole, ‘as a commercial traveller for the wine-growers’ society.’

Page 23.

3. justement je reçois, ‘it just happens that I have received.’

4. maître d’étude, ‘usher.’

10. c’est bien, ‘very well.’

19. qu’on s’occupe de sa malle, ‘let some one see to his trunk being packed.’

23. fait au . ., ‘accustomed to . .’

28. Eyesette: names of persons or families are _invariable_ in the plural, e.g. _les Corneille et les Racine_, except certain well-known historical names, chiefly of dynasties, e.g. _les Césars, les Tudors, les Bourbons_. But when used as common nouns to denote ‘persons like’ or ‘works by’ those named, they are variable. In the latter case, however, they only take the mark of the plural, according to some grammarians, when speaking of different editions, not of several copies of the same edition.

Page 24.

17. Académie: see note, p. 16 l. 15.

20. n’ayant rien qui sentît le pédant, ‘having nothing about him which savoured of the pedant.’ Cf. note, p. 17 l. 20. Why is _sentît_ subjunctive?

23. brave: note _un brave homme_, ‘a good, honest man’; _un homme brave_, ‘a brave, courageous man.’

25. ah! mon Dieu! ‘why!’ Cf. note, p. 8 l. 14.

27. mauviette, ‘delicate’; _une mauviette_, lit. ‘a lark.’

Page 25.

6. mais enfin, ‘however.’

9. baraque: slang for ‘school.’

10. collège communal, ‘communal’ or ‘municipal school.’ Distinguish carefully between a lycée and a collège. The former is kept up entirely by the State; the latter partly by the State, partly by the town. Both provide ‘secondary’ education.

11. Sarlande: a fictitious name. Alais was the place where Daudet really went.

en pleine montagne: see note, p. 7 l. 3. Alais is near the Cévennes mountains.

16. la lettre terminée: this construction of a noun or pronoun with a participle, standing independently of any other word in the sentence, and representing a subordinate clause, is very common in French. It is the exact equivalent of the ablative absolute in Latin.

20. quatre à quatre, ‘four steps at a time,’ lit. ‘four by four.’ Cf. peu à peu (p. 40 l. 25); goutte à goutte (p. 83 l. 1).

21. séculaire, ‘ancient,’ lit. ‘centuries old.’ ‘Secular’ in French is séculier.

28. cabaret: a small public-house where food and drink only are supplied, not lodging, as in an auberge (p. 36 l. 9).

Page 26.

1. au compagnon du tour de France, ‘the Oddfellows’ Arms.’ A _compagnon_ was a workman affiliated to a ‘Trade Union’ (_compagnonnage_). As an emblem of their association the _compagnons_ carried long canes with ribbons tied to them. Note that in French, as in German, the dative is used in the signs of inns, shops, etc.; e.g. _à la Toison d’or, au Cerf-Volant, à la ville de Marseille; zum goldenen Löwen_.

2. voici mon affaire, ‘this is just what I want.’

13. un vieux coureur de tavernes, ‘an habitué of public-houses.’

19. miséricorde! ‘gracious me!’

22. eh! mon Dieu, oui, ‘yes indeed.’

23. anciennement, ‘formerly.’ Cf. note, p. 28 l. 31.

Page 27.

12. justice divine! see note, p. 8 l. 14.

17. mouillettes: long narrow pieces of bread to dip into wine or boiled eggs.

19. Un vieux Château-Neuf-des-Papes: a famous wine, so called from the name of a vineyard near Avignon.

25. va trinquer, ‘is going to have a friendly glass with us.’ _Trinquer_, ‘to touch glasses,’ a continental fashion when drinking some one’s health. Cf. German _trinken_, and English to ‘clink’ glasses.

29. à quoi encore? ‘and what next?’

Page 28.

9. enfin, ‘still,’ ‘however.’

21. que voulez-vous? see notes, p. 5 l. 12 and p. 20 l. 18.

31. ancien, ‘former.’ Cf. _quelques anciens_ (p. 63 l. 14), ‘a few old boys (of the school).’ So _un nouveau_ (p. 30 l. 21), ‘a new boy.’

Page 29.

1. à toutes jambes, ‘as fast as he could.’

7. bout: trans. ‘vestige.’ Note—

_un bout d’homme_, ‘a little bit of a man.’ _un bout de conversation_, ‘a short chat.’ _un bout de papier_, ‘a scrap of paper.’ _un bout de lettre_, ‘a line.’

8. qui dépasse, ‘overhanging.’

plus . . plus: see note, p. 13 l. 9.

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