chapter iv

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17. que la montagne enserre de partout, ‘which is closed in on all sides by the mountains.’

21. tramontane, ‘north wind. A term used along the French Mediterranean. It comes from the Italian _tramontana_, ‘on the other side the Alps.’

25. place d’armes, ‘parade-ground.’

Page 30.

3. impériale, ‘seat behind the driver.’ The stage-coach of olden times in France was divided into four compartments—(1) _le coupé_ ‘the seat facing the horses,’ and hence the most expensive; (2) _l’intérieur_, the seat inside’; (3) _la rotonde_, ‘the back seat’; (4) _l’impériale_, a word now used for the top of an omnibus or tramway.

29. pour le quart d’heure, ‘at present,’ just now.’

M. le principal. ‘the headmaster.’ In French it is usual to prefix _monsieur, madame, mademoiselle_, etc., when speaking of a person to whom respect is due. Thus _Monsieur votre père, Madame votre mère_, but of course you would not say _Monsieur mon père_.

Page 31.

9. Monsieur, ‘the young gentleman.’

11. le fait est que: see note, p. 14 l. 31.

14. Veillon l’aîné, ‘Veillon major.’

30. avant 89: i.e. before the French Revolution of 1789.

Page 32.

6. matelassée, ‘padded.’

10. tout au fond, ‘right at the end.’

22. pâlotte et sèche, ‘rather pale and wizen.’

27. pour le coup: see note, p. 5 l. 19.

Page 33.

2. finit par: see note, p. 14 l. 29.

16. surveillant général: the duty of this official is not to teach but to supervise, i.e. to go round the school and see that masters and boys are doing their respective duties.

21. grinçaient, ‘jingled.’ Lit. _grincer_=‘to grind,’ ‘gnash.’ frinc! ‘clink!’

26. s’agitèrent, ‘rattled.’

28. allons donc! ‘nonsense!’

Page 34.

3. veut bien, ‘will be kind enough.’ Cf. note, p. 12 l. 29.

4. tutelle, ‘protection.’ _Tuteur, tutrice_=‘guardian’; ‘tutor’=_précepteur_.

8. sa bienveillance m’était acquise, ‘I could certainly rely upon his kindness.’

11. il fallait les entendre, ‘you should have heard them.’

avec frénésie, ‘frantically.’

15. couchiez: note _coucher_, ‘to spend the night’; _se coucher_, ‘to go to bed.’

21. le règlement de la maison, ‘a copy of the school rules.’

28. un peu de lune, ‘a moonbeam.’

29. s’orienter, ‘to find one’s bearings’; lit. to find out where you are in relation to the ‘orient’ or ‘east’ and the other cardinal points.

Page 35.

1. à mes côtés, ‘beside me.’ See note, p. 11 l. 3.

3. si rapide qu’elle eût été: note this use of _si . . que_ instead of _quelque . . que_, ‘however.’ In all such concessive sentences the subjunctive is necessary.

7. lunettes, ‘spectacles’; _la lunette_=telescope.’

23. mince affaire, ‘easy matter.’

26. disposition, ‘disposal,’ _not_ ‘disposition,’ which in French is generally rendered by _le caractère_ or _le naturel_.

29. avait l’air très bon enfant, ‘looked a very good fellow.’ Distinguish—

_il a l’air bon_, ‘he looks kind.’ _il a bon air_, ‘he looks gentlemanly.’

30. chemin faisant, ‘on the way.’

Page 36.

2. chasseurs d’Afrique, ‘African light cavalry.’ Cf. note, p. 85 l. 18.

acheva de: trans. by an adverb, ‘completely.’

5. force poignées de main, ‘a good deal of hand-shaking.’ What part of speech is _force_?

16. plus de toit . . plus do foyer: see note, p. 13 l. 9. _Foyer_=‘hearth,’ and in some phrases is used for ‘home.’

18. misère: _not_ ‘misery.’

20. à lui tout seul, ‘all by himself.’

24. se mettre au courant de, ‘to post himself up in.’

26. de la propre main de M. Viot, ‘in M. Viot’s own hand-writing.’

Page 37.

5. appointements, ‘salaries.’ _Traitement_ is generally used for the salary of civil servants and professional men.

17. ou bien, ‘or else.’

Page 38.

3. un original, ‘an eccentric fellow.’

21. parbleu! c’est bien le cas de dire . . ‘by Jove! one may indeed say . .’

25. en rit: _rire_ and _sourire_ with _à_ imply greeting, with _de_ derision.

28. pour avoir seulement quelques pouces de plus, ‘to have been so much as a few inches taller.’

30. ça ne fait rien, ‘never mind,’ ‘no matter.’

31. pour passer sous la même toise, ‘to be measured by the same standard.’ _Toise_, ‘fathom,’ an old length measure about 6 ft. 5 in., used for measuring the height of conscripts.

Page 39.

3. Je paye un punch d’adieu, ‘I’ll pay for a farewell glass of punch.’ _Punch_, from an Indian word meaning ‘five,’ so called from its five ingredients, viz. spirit, water, lemon, sugar and spice. It is also called ‘contradiction,’ because it is composed of spirit to make it strong, water to make it weak, lemon juice to make it sour, and sugar to make it sweet.

4. je veux que vous en soyez: cf. _êtes-vous des nôtres?_ ‘are you one of our party?’ or ‘won’t you join us?’

14. le ban et l’arrière-ban des habitués, ‘the whole body of the frequenters.’ The _ban_ in the Middle Ages=the immediate vassals of the king, i.e. those under his _banner_; the _arrière-ban_=the reserve force, composed of older citizens, who did not take up arms except in moments of peril.

17. à dire vrai, ‘to tell the truth.’ Cf. _à tout prendre_, ‘upon the whole’; _à bien regarder_, ‘on close consideration.’

28. en somme, vous êtes bien tombé, ‘on the whole you have fallen on your feet.’

29. absinthe: a plant having a somewhat strong smell and bitter taste. It is used for medicinal purposes, and also for the preparation of the liqueur known as ‘absinthe.’

30. à la boîte: cf. _baraque_, p. 25 l. 9.

31. vous ne serez pas trop mal, ‘you will not be too badly off.’

Page 40.

2. l’étude des petits, ‘the junior school.’ So _l’étude des moyens_ (p. 51 l. 5), ‘the middle school.’

3. qu’on mène à la baguette, ‘that you can rule with a rod of iron.’

4. méchant. Note—

_un méchant homme_, ‘a bad _or_ wicked man.’ _un homme méchant_, ‘a mischievous _or_ spiteful man.’ Cf. note, p. 24 l. 23.

6. père Viot, ‘old Viot.’

11. les fonctions d’économe, ‘the duties of a bursar.’

15. fée, ‘old hag’ or ‘old witch.’

24. confidences, ‘secrets.’

27. parlant haut: see note, p. 17 l. 16.

Page 41.

6. ce que c’est que de nous, pourtant! ‘and yet, what weak creatures we are!’

7. un file de famille en rupture de ban, ‘a youth of good family, who had gone the pace a bit’; lit. ‘escaped from banishment.’

11. d’un meilleur œil, ‘more favourably.’

Page 42.

13. troublé, ‘disturbed in mind.’ Cf. note, p. 12 l. 30.

15. entre deux grands coups secs frappés, ‘between two loud sharp raps.’

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