Chapter 10

C'est ainsi que nous arrivâmes aux premières maisons du village. Alors on s'arrêta quelques instants pour se mettre en ordre, petit Jean accrocha son tambour sur sa cuisse, et le commandant ayant crié: «En avant, marche!» les tambours retentirent.

Nous descendîmes la grande rue, marchant tous au pas et nous réjouissant d'une entrée si magnifique. Tous les vieux et les vieilles qui n'avaient pu sortir étaient aux fenêtres et se montraient l'oncle Jacob, qui s'avançait d'un air digne derrière le commandant entre ses deux aides. Je remarquai surtout le père 117 Schmitt, debout à la porte de sa baraque; il redressait sa haute taille voûté et nous regardait défiler avec un éclair dans l'oeil.

Sur la place de la fontaine le commandant cria: «Halte!» On mit les fusils en faisceaux, et tout le monde se dispersa, les uns à droite, les autres à gauche; chaque bourgeois voulait avoir un soldat, tous voulaient se réjouir du triomphe de la République une et indivisible; mais ces Français, avec leurs mines joyeuses, suivaient de préférence les jolies filles. Le commandant vint avec nous. La vieille Lisbeth était déjà sur la porte, ses longues mains levées au ciel, et criait:

«Ah! madame Thérèse... ah! monsieur le docteur!...»

Tout ce jour-là, le Ier[1] bataillon resta chez nous; puis il lui fallut poursuivre sa route, car ses quartiers d'hiver étaient à Hacmatt, à deux petites lieues d'Anstatt. L'oncle resta au village, il déposa son grand sabre et son grand chapeau; mais depuis ce moment jusqu'au printemps, il ne se passa pas de jour qu'il ne fût en route pour Hacmatt: il ne pensait plus qu'à Hacmatt.

De temps en temps madame Thérèse venait aussi nous voir avec petit Jean; nous riions, nous étions heureux, nous nous aimions!

Que vous dirai-je encore?[2] Au printemps, quand commence à chanter l'alouette, un jour on apprit que le Ier bataillon allait partir pour la Vendée. Alors l'oncle, tout pâle, courut à l'écurie et monta sur son Rappel; il partit ventre à terre,[3] la tête nue, ayant oublié de mettre son bonnet.

Que se passa-t-il à Hacmatt! Je n'en sais rien; mais ce qu'il y a de sûr, c'est que le lendemain, l'oncle fier comme un roi, revint 118 avec madame Thérèse et petit Jean, qu'il y eut grande noce chez nous, embrassades et réjouissances. Huit jours après, le commandant Duchêne arriva avec tous les capitaines du bataillon. Ce jour-là, les réjouissances furent encore plus grandes. Madame Thérèse et l'oncle se rendirent à la mairie, suivis d'une longue file de joyeux convives. Le mauser, qu'on avait nommé bourgmestre à l'élection populaire, nous attendait, son écharpe tricolore autour des reins. Il inscrivit l'oncle et madame Thérèse sur un gros registre, à la satisfaction universelle; et dès lors petit Jean eut un père, et moi j'eus une bonne mère, dont je ne puis me rappeler le souvenir sans répandre des larmes.

119

NOTES

=Page 1.=--1. =Anstatt=, a fictitious name used to represent some town in Alsace.

2. =Vosges allemandes=, the _Vosges_ is a mountain range in northern France, running up into Alsace; a northern portion of the Alsatian Vosges being called _Vosges allemandes_.

3. =Christine=, the mother of the boy Fritzel who is supposed to be telling this story.

4. =courses=, _visits to patients, calls_.

5. =me faisait=, _would have me_; here the imperfect, as usual, expresses customary or habitual action.

6. =M. de Buffon=, to be read: _Monsieur de Buffon_. Buffon's _Histoire naturelle_, though a work on science, is, because of its style, one of the French literary masterpieces of the eighteenth century.

7. =il me semble être=, _it seems to me that I am_.

8. =dessinant ... avec grâce=, _throwing into graceful relief_.

9. =sentimental=, _kind-hearted_. In its modern sense it usually means "silly, foolish;" not so here.

10. =le=, i.e. _tout cela_; omit in translating.

=Page 2.=--1. =mauser=, for _taupier, molecatcher_; this word is German, meaning "mouser."

2. =Héming=, a village in Alsace.

3. =faisait de tout=, _did everything_.

4. =avec du fil de fer=, _with iron wire_; translate with _rafistolait_.

=Page 3.=--1. =tiroir à rabots=, _cabbage cutter_, a box or drawer in which the cabbage to be cut was drawn against stationary blades.

2. =Pas de choux?= for _N'avez-vous pas de choux?_

3. =Voilà=, _that's ..._

4. =monsieur le=, omit in our idiom.

5. =Si le coeur vous en dit=, "If your mind (inclination) tells you (to do so, have supper with us);" _if you feel inclined, take supper with us_.

6. =beau temps=, _good weather_.

7. =lui=, omit in translating; it is merely emphatic.

=Page 4.=--1. =sifflions=, _used to whistle_; i.e. in admiring amazement.

2. =vieille=, emphatic.

3. =Salm-Salm=, a district of southwestern Germany.

4. =le plus grand usurier=, _the most notorious money lender_.

=Page 5.=--1. =Les Républicains=, see Introduction, § 5.

2. =le Palatinat=, the lower _Palatinate_, of which region Anstatt was a part.

3. =les trois électeurs=, so called because they elected (or at least had the right of electing) the emperors of Germany. They were the archbishops of Trèves, Mainz, and Cologne. An account may be found in Bryce, _Holy Roman Empire_.

4. =le roi=, Frederick William II, King of Prussia, 1740-1786. Introduction, § 8.

5. =Joseph= (the Second), Emperor of Germany and of the Holy Roman Empire. As he died in 1790 and as the French did not reach Anstatt till 1793, this conversation must be understood as taking place at least three years before the events described in the subsequent chapters.

6. =ne pouvait=, _pas_ omitted; it may be omitted with _cesser_, _oser_, _pouvoir_, and _savoir_.

=Page 6.=--1. =rien que=, _nothing but_.

2. =chapeaux à cornes=, like the three-cornered hats worn by some of the American troops in the Revolutionary War.

=Page 7.=--1. =citoyen=, word introduced during the Revolution to supplant _monsieur_.

2. =monsieur=, see above note; it is an indeclinable plural here.

3. =madame=, see above notes; this word was replaced by _citoyenne_.

4. =quatre chemins=, this term is inclusive; it embraces roads leading to the four cardinal points of the compass; translate, with _est toujours_, _travels all the roads_.

5. =habits blancs=, _white coats_, i.e. the Austrians.

=Page 8.=--1. =eau-de-vie=, it was the business of the _cantinière_ to distribute liquor to the soldiers, especially to those needing it by reason of wounds or exposure.

2. =j'ai découvert=, the dawn enabled her to discover the sign.

3. =la branche=, this was the sign of a place where liquors could be obtained. People who could not read could understand such signs. Compare Shakspere, _As you like it, Epilogue_, "good wine needs no bush."

=Page 9.=--1. =kaiserlick=, for the German _kaiserlich_ (imperial), _one favorable to the emperor_. This term was first applied to adherents of the Emperor of Austria. It is here a term of contempt.

2. =faisait le sourd=, _played deaf, would not hear_.--on, _we_.

3. =aveugle=, possibly it was a matter of observation that the blind are more easily alarmed than others because they do not have the sense of sight with which to judge dangers.

4. =assignats=, the paper money (irredeemable) of the French Revolution. It was a promise to pay gold and was secured by the confiscated church property, the confiscated estates of those who had fled at the outbreak of the Revolution, and the public domain. Assignats were in circulation from 1789 to 1796. Like the paper money of our own country they did not circulate freely in foreign lands.

=Page 10.=--1. =je ... fais=, present with future meaning. This use is frequent in English.

2. =caniche=, _French poodle_, a dog with a curly black coat. Ordinarily these dogs are shorn to resemble lions--their manes are uncut and a tuft is left at the end of the tail. Rings of hair are left on their joints and tufts on their haunches. There is a rarer variety of _caniche_ which is pure white.

=Page 11.=--1. =prêtant l'oreille=, _listening_.

=Page 12.=--1. =les Croates=, soldiers from Croatia, a part of the Austrian Empire (1793) east of Venice and touching the east coast the Adriatic.

2. =ventre à terre=, descriptive of an animal running _at full speed_.

3. =se repliaient=, in its military sense this expression means _to fall back in good order_.

4. =sur trois rangs=, _three lines (of soldiers) deep_.

5. =encore=, implies a comparison between Fritzel's fear and curiosity; his fear was great, but his curiosity was greater still (_encore_).

6. =le temps de regarder=, not grammatically with the rest of the sentence. It is equivalent to a time clause; _there was merely time to_, etc.

=Page 13.=--1. =Forvertz=, French spelling of the German word _Vorwarts_ (forward), a cry of encouragement uttered by the Croats.

2. =feux de peloton=, _volleys_ fired by the soldiers as a body at command.--=feux de file=, _shots_ fired by the soldiers without system, each shooting as he pleased.

3. =coup de pointe= (point of his sword), _thrust of his sword_.

4. =pour ainsi dire=, _so to speak_.

=Page 14.=--1. =faisait serrer les rangs=, _made them close up the gaps in their ranks_.

2. =sentinelle=, other commonly used feminine nouns applying to men are: _connaissance_, _créature_, _dupe_, _personne_, _pratique_, _victime_.

3. =maison commune=, _town-hall_.

4. =manteaux rouges=, _red cloaks_, i.e. the Croats.

5. =appuyé=, _leaning_; the free and easy manner of this officer in the presence of his superior shows that this division had not yet developed a system of military etiquette and red tape.

6. =laissai là mes sabots=, because he could climb more easily without his wooden shoes (_sabots_).

=Page 15.=--1. =pelisses vertes=, _green (fur-lined) cloaks_, worn by the hussars.

=Page 16.=--1. =houlans=, light cavalry.

2. =à quatre pas=, _at short range_; lit., "four steps away."

3. =ils ne tiraient plus=, _they were no longer firing_.

4. =vous= refers to no definite person; it is like the indefinite _you_ in English.

5. =chair de poule=, "hen's flesh;" in English, _goose flesh_.

=Page 17.=--1. =C'est tout ce que j'ai vu de plus terrible=, _it was the most terrible thing that I have ever seen_.

=Page 18.=--1. =il s'agit de tirer notre peau=, _the thing that we have to do is to get away with a whole skin_; i.e. without loss or wounds.

2. =bras=, the English idiom requires _hands_ instead of "arms."

3. =faire battre la retraite=, _to have the retreat sounded_ (on the drums).

4. =C'est bien vu=, _that is a wise decision_.

5. =la rue=, this was the main-traveled road, and the only one by which the allied forces could leave the village in pursuit of the French (see page 15, lines 13-19).

6. =on ne voyait rien=, i.e. those who were shooting and shouting were not visible.

=Page 19.=--1. =bien encore=, _fully_; the _encore_ (still) is not translated here.

2. =devaient être=, _must have been_.

3. =venaient de battre en retraite=, _had just beaten a retreat_ or _fallen back_.

4. =en courant=, _by running_, or _if you run_.

5. =que j'étais sans malice=, _that I was not making fun of him_.

6. =Qu'ils soient maudits=, in English the active form (_curse them_); is preferably used.

=Page 20.=--1. =Seigneur Dieu=, expressions in French containing the name of God are devoid of any profane intent and should not be translated literally. Here, _merciful Heaven!_ might do.

2. =on finit par se rendre maître du feu=, _they finally got control of the fire_; or _the fire was finally brought under control_; notice the idiom _finir par_.

3. =Place=, _make room_!

=Page 21.=--1. =il leva son tricorne=, to acknowledge the respect shown him by the mayor and council.

2. =Pour vous rendre mes devoirs=, i.e. _your wishes shall be complied with_.

=Page 22.=--1. =un chien gronder sourdement=, the adverb means "Dully", "indistinctly", "in a rumbling way". It is better to paraphrase the whole into: _the low growls of a dog_.

2. =ça=, _they_.

3. =il tombe mal=, "he hits it badly," _he doesn't have luck on his side this time_.

4. =elle a reçu son compte=, _she has received her dues_.--=c'est bien fait=, _she deserved it_, expresses approval.

5. =du papier= alludes to the _assignats_ which this woman had offered to Spick in payment for the brandy which she had obtained at his house.

=Page 23.=--i. =ses=, i.e. the cantinière's.

2. =n'osait=, _pas_ omitted, cf. page 5, note 6.

3. =lui sauterait à la gorge=, _would spring at his throat_.

4. =du haut en bas=, _contemptuously_.

=Page 24.=--1. =Il ne faut pas que=, translate this impersonal expression, _our misery must not_ etc.; or, _we must not let our misery_, etc.

=Page 25.=--1. =kreutzers=, worth four-fifths of a cent apiece. At one time they were marked with a cross (_Kreuz_ in German), hence the name.

=Page 26.=--1. =en reviendrait=, _would recover from it_.

2. =en vint à=, _reached_ (_en_, vaguely, "in matters"); this idiomatic use of _en_ has no equivalent in English.

=Page 27.=--1. =suis=, present indicative of _suivre_.

2. égoïste, _selfish man_.

3. =c'est le fond de=, _that is the basis of_, or _back of_.

=Page 28.=--1. =kirschenwasser=, a sort of brandy made of cherries, and flavored with wild cherries.

2. =Si= is used to answer affirmatively a question containing a negative.

=Page 29.=--1. =revenu à elle=, _recovered from her delirium, came to herself_.

=Page 30.=--1. =voulut se retourner=, _made an effort to turn herself_.

=Page 31.=--1. =tout à la fin=, _at the very end_.

2. =que= is used to avoid a repetition of _quand_.

3. =il me faisait de la peine=, _I felt sorry for him_.

4. =intérieurement=, here _to herself_.

=Page 32.=--1. =de long en large=, _up and down._

2. =qu'elle soit ... ou tout qu'on voudra=, _be she ... or whatever you please_.

3. =que=, cf. page 31, note 2.

4. =qui me regardait=, a relative clause is often used in French when a present participle would be used in English: _and looking at me_.

=Page 33.=--1. =bas= may be omitted; strictly, "here below."

2. =que voulez-vous, il le faut=, _how could it be helped; it's a case of necessity_.

3. =Un pauvre diable=, _a poor fellow_.

4. =Il sera=, _he must have_; a common idiom of the future perfect.

5. =à cette heure=, _just now_.

6. =il faudrait=, less blunt and more courteous than _il faut_.

7. =j'arrive=, _I will go_; the French present for future and the verb used are more vivid than the English rendering.

=Page 34.=--1. =Le décès constaté=, _the cause of death is determined_.

=Page 36.=--1. =j'aurais quelque chose à vous demander=, _I should like to ask a favor of you_.

2. =prairie communale=, _common_; a part of nearly every European village.

=Page 37.=--1. =Il me défendait toujours=, _he was all the time forbidding me_.

2. =la grande rue=, _the main street_.

3. =au tournant de l'église=, _after going back of the church_.

4. =Voyez un peu=, _just see_.

=Page 38.=--1. =allongeait ses hanches=, "stretched her haunches," i.e. _increased her pace_.

2. =aura=, cf. page 33, note 4.

3. =grand'rue=, cf. page 37, note 2. This road was the highway between Pirmasens and Landau. In the village of Anstatt it had the name of _rue_.

4. =père=, no relationship is intended; cf. our use of "oncle" in a similar way.

=Page 39.=--1. =Frédéric II=, Frederick the Great, King of Prussia (1740-1786).

2. =schnaps=, a German word for any sort of ardent liquor made by distilling. It is generally taken to mean brandy. It sometimes means Holland gin.

3. =la guerre de Sept ans=, the Seven Years' War was fought against Frederick the Great by a coalition of Austria, France, and Russia. It was the greatest war of the eighteenth century. One of its ramifications was the French and Indian War in America (1756-1763).

4. =moi=, omit in translating, it is a dative of interest.

=Page 40.=--1. =dépassait un peu de côté=, _slanted out a little beyond_; he was seated back to the window.

2. =si=, cf. page 28, note 2.

3. =Tiens! c'est Fritzel=, _oh, it's Fritzel, is it_?

4. =tabac=, (tobacco) _smoke_.

5. =se gratta l'oreille=, _scratched his ear_. The French uses an article and a dative _(se)_ where the English prefers a possessive adjective.

=Page 41.=--1. =connaître l'exercice=, _know how to drill_.

2. =en trompette=, _curved upwards like a trumpet_.

=Page 42.=--1. =en place, repos!= _stand at rest!_

2. =Reste=, for _il reste_, "it remains."

3. =derrière=, _from behind_.

4. =le mit en travers=, _held it out in a horizontal position_.

5. =le général Hoche=, a French general at this time in command of troops near Anstatt.

6. =le vieux bonhomme=, _the jolly old fellow; bonhomme_ is sometimes used in an uncomplimentary sense, but not so here.

7. =sourire tout bas=, _to chuckle_.--=les yeux plissés=, _with his eyes half closed_.

8. =arrive=, _come here_.

=Page 43.=--1. =cou=, translate plural, _necks_. The English inserts a negative with _casser_; in French the negative idea is in _prenez garde_.

2. =comme des bienheureux=, "like the blest," _like those beside themselves for joy_.

3. =sur la porte,= _on his doorstep_.

4. =A la bonne heure=, _good_, or _I'm glad of it_.

=Page 45.=--1. =avait fini par=, cf. page 20, note 2.

2. =seulement ... je=, _it was only ... that I_.

3. =Que voulez-vous=, _what else could you expect_; cf. also page 33, note 2.

=Page 46.=--1. Boeuf-Rouge... Cruchon d'Or, _Red Ox_... _Golden Pitcher_, names of taverns, so called from their signs.

=Page 47.=--1. =du moment que=, _if_.

2. =s'est livrée=, _was fought_.

=Page 48.=--1. =pour deux liards=, _two cents' worth_; strictly half a cent's worth, as the _liard_ was worth about one fourth of a cent.

2. =Brunswick=, the Duke of Brunswick, a Prussian, commander-in-chief of the allied Austrian and Prussian forces.

=Page 49.=--1. =Champagne=, this was formerly the name of a district in France lying east of Paris and a little to the south.

2. =proclamations=, for example, "A proclamation to the French, issued by Brunswick, assumed to speak to them in the name of their own legitimate government, threatened to destroy every city which should resist, and to chastise Paris in a way to be remembered forever, if a hair of the king's head was harmed. These empty threats had no effect but to serve as texts by which French patriotic orators stirred the people to fury in their resistance." Lewis, History of Germany, page 553. See Introduction, § 9.

3. =la baïonnette dans les reins=, _with a bayonet through him_: meaning that his army had been badly defeated.

4. =fait la conduite=, sarcastic, _attended him_.

5. =Argonne=, Brunswick's army suffered losses in the passes among the hills of Argonne, east of Paris.

6. =Valmy=, east of Paris in Champagne. An important battle was fought here in 1792. For a full account see Creasy's Fifteen Decisive Battles. See also Introduction, § 9.

7. =manger nous-mêmes=, see Introduction, §§ 13-20.

=Page 51.=--1. =temps=, _weather_.

2. =sous sa schlitte=; woodcutters in the Vosges sometimes bring down their wood from the mountains on _schlittes_ which move on specially constructed tracks. The woodcutter takes his place before the loaded _schlitte_ and braces his feet against ties or other obstructions, much as one would in taking a small vehicle down stairs. The woodcutter spoken of here had lost his footing while thus bringing down a _schlitte_, and the sled had plunged forward and crushed him under its weight.

=Page 53.=--1. =enjamba l'échelle=, _put his foot over the step_ and into the sleigh.

=Page 54.=--1. =Un vendredi=, _as it was Friday_. Friday was a holy day.

=Page 55.=--1. =Gleiszeller=, a wine named after the locality where it was made.--=cachet=, _seal_, a cap of sheet lead tightly fastened over the top of the bottle.

2. =lui lever la main du bout de son nez=, _to raise his hand with the end of his nose_.

3. =l'ancien=, _old fellow_.

=Page 56.=--1. =rapporte moins que de prêter à gros intérêts=, _brings back less_, that is, _does not pay so well as to lend (money) at high interest_.

2. =Raison=, the revolutionary government had substituted the worship of Reason for the worship of God. See Introduction, § 10.--=Maximum=, the revolutionists had passed a law fixing maximum prices for the necessaries of life.

=Page 57.=--1. =Wurmser=, commander of the Austrian army.

2. =A la bonne heure=, _that was well said_.

=Page 59.=--1. =il y a de ressource=, _you can accomplish something_.

2. =prenez bien garde=, "take good notice," _you may well rest assured_.

=Page 60.=--1. =travail=, possibly alluding to blind Samson's toil. See Judges, XVI: 21.

=Page 61.=--1. =il se tenait le derrière=, _he kept backed up_.

2. =d'un coup de dent sec=, _with a single clean bite_; _sec_ modifies the whole expression _coup de dent_.

3. =il lui faisait claquer la patte=, _he cracked (the bones in) his paw_.

=Page 62.=--1. =qu'il fallut entendre=, _that you ought to have heard_.

2. =au coin de=, _from behind_.

3. =marquerez=, future for imperative; "mark," i.e. _put down_; he has an account.

=Page 63.=--1. =Postthâl=, _Post Valley_; probably the place where the stage company's barns were.

=Page 66.=--1. =n'a pas donné=, _did not take part in the battle_.

2. =Vous ne m'en diriez pas plus, que je serais déjà trop heureuse=, _tell me no more about it, I am too happy already_.

3. =pas de charge=, _quick step_.

4. =Landau=, the French were determined to raise the siege of Landau, and thus free their beleaguered comrades.

=Page 67.=--1. =blessé d'un coup de feu=, _suffering from a gunshot wound_.

2. =Université=, i.e. of the University of Heidelberg in south central Germany.

3. =on pense=, _think_, or _it is easy to imagine_.

4. =nous avons manqué d'ensemble=, _we have failed to act in concert_.

5. =il y avait de quoi=, _that was something_.

=Page 70.=--1. =Que ce soit=, _be it_.

=Page 71.=--1. =choses de la matière=, _material things_.

=Page 72.=--1. =tirés=, _drawn back_, showing the interior of the alcove.

2. =Seigneur Dieu!= _Good heavens!_ cf. page 20, note 1.

=Page 73.=--1. =plus de=, _no more_.

=Page 74.=--1. =intérieure=, i.e. secret.

=Page 75.=--1. =ce que je vous dois de=, _what I owe you in the way of_.

2. =voir les choses en beau=, _take a more cheerful view of things_.

=Page 76.=--1. =Faïence=, _porcelain_; named after a city in Italy where much glazed ware is made.

2. =le=, _this fact._

3. =proclamation=, cf. page 49, note 2.

=Page 77.=--1. =faisais l'école des jeunes femmes=, _taught the girls._

=Page 78.=--1. =Salut=, _our greetings to_.

=Page 79.=--1. =j'ai toujours=, _I still have_.

2. =la main retournée=, "with his hand turned back against his ear;" i.e. with the palm turned forward and the fingers at the visor of the cap.

=Page 80.=--1. =2e=, read: _deuxième._

2. =1re=, read: _première_.

=Page 81.=--1. =Forvertz=, cf. page 13, note 1.

2. =Convention Nationale=, see Introduction, § 10.

=Page 82.=--1. =quand je devrais tout y perdre=, _though I may be destined to lose all by it_.

2. =vendre des régiments=, compare with the purchase of Hessian regiments by the British government in our Revolutionary war.

=Page 83.=--1. =les paysans=, see Introduction, §§ 15-20.

=Page 84.=--1. =tonneau=, _cask_; to be filled with wood ashes from which lye was made.

2. =Il s'agit=; _it was a question of_, or _the work consisted in_.

3. =Sans-Culottes=, lit., "without breeches" (knickerbockers), means "ragamuffin;" it was derisively applied to some of the Revolutionists who wore pantaloons, as small clothes were the dress of the Aristocracy.

4. =si vous partiez=, _if you went away_.

=Page 85.=--1. =on vous considère beaucoup=, _people think a great deal of you_.

2. =les gens de bien=, _all good people_.