Chapter 22

216.--27. Ibnn-Ben-Omaz. There seems to have been no celebrated poet of this name. Gautier's knowledge of Arabiç was apparently limited (a number of his errors have been indicated under the proper words in the vocabulary). Omar Khayyam (eleventh and twelfth centuries) is naturally suggested; Ibn al-Khattab Omar, the second Caliph, who succeeded Abu-Bekr in 634 and who took part in writing the Koran, is also suggested. Omaz is not an Arabic name.

218.--22. l'escarboucle magique, ou l'aigrette de plume de héron. That is, she was neither a fairy nor of royal blood; the carbuncle was formerly a magic stone and was credited with the power to emit light; in regard to the héron, possibly Gautier had in mind the ibis, the sacred bird of Egypt.

219.--29. la princesse... n'enverrait... que je refuserais. For _si la princesse envoyait... je refuserais_.

220.--23. vous l'a fait préférer. Notice that in this construction the object of the infinitive precedes _faire_.

221.--1. c'est tout au plus si je pourrais. In conditional clauses the conditional is not allowed after _si_; this clause is declarative, the meaning is: "aldquo;at the utmost I could do no more than."

HONORÉ DE BALZAC

Tours, 1799--Paris, 1850

Because of his father's circumstances Balzac was at an early age placed in a law office; this work was especially irksome to him, and he soon went over to literature. For a long time he suffered hardships from want of money, which seems to have strongly colored much of his work. In 1850 he married a wealthy Polish lady, Madame Hanska, but he never was able to enjoy the life of ease to which he had been looking forward for many years; his death occurred a few months after his marriage. Balzac's chief work is to be found in his _Comédie Humaine_, a collection of stones filling some forty volumes. It is divided into: _(1) Scènes de la Vie Privée, (2) Scènes de la Vie de Province, (3) Scènes de la Vie Parisienne, (4) Scènes de la Vie Politique, (5) Scènes de la Vie Militaire, (6) Scènes de la Vie de Campagne, (7) Études Philosophiques, (8) Études Analytiques_. These novels are often connected by the reappearance of certain characters, and especially by the analysis of character which is always intimately connected with Balzac's name. Of a robust, exuberant and vulgar nature, his style is poor; he lacked an artistic sense and he was without poetic genius. He was unable to depict a gentleman or a lady; but he excelled in the analysis of character, especially among the middle and lower classes, and in the descriptions of their surroundings; it is thus that he stands at the head of the Realists.

Important works: To the _Comédie Humaine_ (1829-1850) above mentioned should be added the _Contes Drolatiques_ (in which he imitates the style and the language of the sixteenth century) and several volumes of _Contes_. In the _Comédie Humaine_ the following volumes should be especially mentioned: _Le Père Goriot_, _Le Colonel Chabert_, _Le Lys dans la Vallée_, _Ursule Mirouet_, _Eugénie Grandet_, _Le Curé de Tours, Illusions Perdues, César Birotteau, Les Paysans, Le Curé de Village_. _Un Drame au Bord de la Mer_ (written in 1834) is taken from the _Études Philosophiques_ (published in 1835)

Edltlon: Calmann Lévy, in 24 vols. and in 45 vols. (his works have been published in several other editions).

UN DRAME AU BORD DE LA MER

222.--7. conceptions premières. Numerals precede their nouns; when _premier_ follows its noun, as here, the idea conveyed is "cldquo;conceptions which form the basis of other conceptions."

12. durant. According to Littré, this preposition differs from _pendant_ in that it means "dldquo;during the entire time," whereas pendant may mean "aldquo;at a certain point during the time": _durant la campagne les ennemis se sont enfermés dans leurs places_, and _c'est pendant la campagne que s'est livrée la bataille dont vous parlez_.

227.--27. sans mot dire. Note the position of _mot_ in this phrase; cf. _sans rien dire_.

229.--4. faquir. The fakirs or ascetic Mohammedan monks comprise various classes and orders; Balzac apparently has in mind those known as yogis, who assume and maintain for a long time various unnatural postures, their belief being that this will effect a union of the human soul with the Supreme Being, whereby further migration will be avoided (this is known as the yoga system of philosophy).

6. si le voulait la mer. Notice the inversion.

230.--24. mon cher oncle. A detailed account of Balzac's family can be found in E. Biré, _Honoré de Balzac_.

232.--28. bestiaux. This word is now used as the plural of _bétail_; it is, however, etymologically not the plural of bétail, but of the adjective _bestial_; the latter singular form is not now used as a substantive in the literary language, although it occurs in works of the seventeenth century and is still used in Normandy, meaning "aldquo;all the cattle" (cf. Nyrop, _Grammaire historique de la langue française_, vol. II, sec. 292, 2, remark).

235.--22. anachorètes. Anchorites differ from hermits in that they live in the most absolute solitude and subject themselves to the greatest privations.

237.--4. il ne se serait pas sacré comme ça, que la frayeur ...That is, _quand même il ne se serait pas sacré comme ça, la frayeur..._ (the principal clause expresses a concession, and the _que_ clause the conclusion).

11. qu'est. A popular error already noted (see note to p. 92, l. 29).

18. qué qui te dit. For _qu'est-ce qu'il te dit_; qu'elle répond (l. 19), an example of the superfluous que used by the uneducated; qu'a dit (l. 21) _= qu'elle dit = dit-elle_.

31. défunt ma mère. _Défunt_, as also the adjective _feu_, does not agree with its noun when the latter follows.

238.--5. qu'a écouté. For _qu'elle a écouté_. 22. plus du temps. For _plus que le temps_.

239.--20. fallait des espèces. Popular omission of il.

26. mette. The dialects often other examples of the survival of Old French words; _métal_ is the modern word for "mldquo;metal," it is sometimes used in slang for "mldquo;money."

240.--27. des cent écus, des cent francs. For _des centaines d'écus, des centaines de francs_.

241.--3. la fille au cadet. Popular for la _fille du cadet_, another example of the survival of an Old French construction among the common people.

10. qu'avait. For _qui avait_.

27. pour. Incorrect use of _pour_ without an object; the other popular phrases have already been noted.

243.--18. malin. The feminine of this adjective, maligne, is only apparently irregular; the Latin etyma are _malignum_ and _malignam_ (French words, except those used in address, are derived from the Latin accusative), these give regularly _malin_ and _maligne_, because final Latin vowels fall except _a_ which becomes _e_ and final _gn_ is reduced to _n_, whereas _gn_ between vowels gives the modern French sound.

30. il pleurait du sang. Compare the English phrase "tldquo;to sweat blood."

244.--18. il savait plus. Popular omission of _ne_.

ALFRED DE MUSSET Paris, 1810--Paris, 1857

De Musset at an early age became a member of the cénacle or inner circle of the Romantic writers, with whom he is intimately connected. In 1829 he published a volume of verse of great merit; this and the _Spectacle dans un Fauteuil_ made him famous at once. He had an extremely excitable, poetic temperament and a weak will, which rendered him incapable of entering any useful employment, such as a position in the French Embassy at Madrid, or writing regularly for periodicals, both of these positions having been offered him. He was elected to the French Academy in 1852 and did little work thereafter. His best work was done in verse and in the drama, but his short stories are of extraordinary merit. His poems (especially the _Nuits_) possess preëminently the lyric quality, genuineness, originality and passion; his dramas, having usually some proverb as a title, show great delicacy, grace, ingenuity and wit; his short stories are exquisite. His style, in contrast to that of Gautier, shows little care for form, and in many respects he may be compared with the English poet Byron.

Important works: _Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie_ (1829), _Spectacle dans un Fauteuil_ (1829), _Rolla_ (1833), _Nuits_ (1835 ff.); _Lettre à Lamartine_ (1836), _Confessions d'un Enfant du Siècle_ (1836), _Poésies Nouvelles_ (1840), _Comédies et Proverbes_ (1850-1851, about fifteen), besides several _Nouvelles and Contes (1837-1854), such as: _Emmeline, Frédéric et Bernerette, Fils du Titien, Margot, Le Merle Blanc, Croisilles_ (published in 1841), etc.

Edition: Charpentier, in 9 vols.; Lemerre, in 10 vols.

CROISILLES

250.--29. et quand je l'aurais. The apodosis (_qu'est-ce que je ferais_) is omitted and only the protasis is expressed.

251.--13. que penserait-on de vous. Distinguish between _penser à_, to think of, and _penser de_, to have an opinion of.

252.--29. fermes royales. The old monarchy, which existed in France before 1789, used to farm out the taxes to private individuals or to a company, on condition that a certain sum should be turned over to the Government, anything above this sum being the profit of the _fermier_.

257.--9. de la sorte. Preservation of the old demonstrative use of _illam_; the French article is the weakened Latin demonstrative.

259.--1. à peine... que. Notice that _que_, not _quand_, is used after _à peine_; the inversion with _à peine_ has already been mentioned (note to p. 136, l. 4).

260.--10. n'avoir pas diné. Both parts of the negative are usually placed before the infinitive.

17. Monsieur aime-t-il. The third person is generally used by French servants in addressing their masters.

263.--24. un Turc. De Musset has in mind the Turkish custom of sending _sélams_ (see this word in the vocabulary).

266.--4. Mademoiselle. _Cher, chère_ in the salutation of a French letter expresses much greater intimacy than the corresponding English word; it is omitted in formal letters.

268.--10. si on lui. _Si on_ and not _si l'on_ is used when the letter _l_ immediately follows.

269.--18. plus d'une. Notice that, while the subject contains a plural idea, the verb is singular because of the influence of _un_.

270.--16. profondément. Not an exception to the rule that French adverbs are derived by adding _-ment_ to the feminine adjective; adverbs of this type go back to past participles ending in _-ée_, the final e having been lost (_aveuglément, commodément, conformément_, etc.), or are formed on analogy with adverbs that are so derived (see Darmesteter, _Historical French Grammar_, p. 382).

277.--26. grand'chose. See note to p. 87, l. 17 (cf. also grand 'peine, l. 8).

279.--7. épouser... marier. Distinguish words.

VOCABULARY

ABBREVIATIONS

The following abbreviations have been used in the vocabulary.

_adj._ adjective _adv._ adverb _art._ article _c._ about (_circa_) _card._ cardinal numeral _cf._ compare (_confer_) _conj._ conjunction _conj._ pr. conjunctive pronoun _dej._ definite _dem._ demonstrative _disj._ disjunctive pronoun _f._ feminine substantive _indef._ indefinite _int._ interrogative _interj._ interjection _m._ masculine substantive _m., f._ masculine and feminine substantive _ord._ ordinal numeral _p._ page _pl._ plural _poss._ possessive _pr._ pronoun _prep._ preposition _q.v._ which see (_quod vide_) _refl._ reflexive _rel._ relative _s._ substantive _v._ verb

A