Chapter 10

_2_ 20: _flèches caraïbes_: 'Carib arrows.' The Caribs are the most war-like tribe of northern South America, the home of the famous curare poison and other arrow-poisons.--_casse-tête_: any kind of war-club that can be wielded by one hand; transl. 'war-clubs' (cf. _59_ 29); indeclinable.

_2_ 21: _est-ce que je sais!_ lit. 'do I know!' transl. 'and what not.'

_2_ 23: _glaives_: 'swords.' _Glaive_ (cf. Engl. "glaive"), from Latin _gladius_, is a poetic word for _épée_.

_2_ 24 _vous donner la chair de poule:_ 'make your flesh creep' With the French _chair de poule_ 'hen flesh' cf. Engl. "goose flesh".

_2_36 _yataganerie._ the _yatagan,_ 'yataghan,' is the saber of the Turks and the Arabs, from this word Daudet coined _yataganerie_ on the analogy of _épicerie, papeterie,_ etc, transl. 'paraphernalia of war'.

_2_28 _bonhomme_ a noun used adjectively, transl. 'kindly'.

_2_ 29 _n'y touchez pas_ _Toucher à quelque chose,_ hence _y toucher,_ 'to touch it,' _y_,' replacing _à_ + a pronoun, cf. _à Shang Hai_ and _y_ _16_ 10, and notes to _6_ 14, _7_ 6, _9_ 7, _24_ 7.

_3_3 _Cook:_ Captain James Cook (1728-1779), famous English scientific explorer, killed by savages in Hawaii.--_Cooper_ James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851), the famous American writer of Indian and sea stories Leatherstocking (_Bas de cuir_) is as well known in France as in America--_Gustave Aimard_ (1818 1883) spent several years in America and wrote many tales in the style of Cooper.

_3_ 4 _chasse à l'ours_ 'bear hunting,' but _chasse au faucon_ 'hunting with the falcon,' 'hawking.'

_3_ 10 _tout en lisant_ 'while reading' _En_ with the present participle is reinforced by _tout_.

_3_12 _brave:_ cf. _un brave homme_ 'a good, kindly man,' _un homme brave_ 'a brave man'.

_3_ 13 _bonasse:_ _bon_ + the pejorative suffix _-asse,_ 'guileless'.

_3_ 19 _midi_ midday,' 'noon,' 'South', Latin _media dies._

_3_ 22 _Vous saurez:_ 'you must know'.

_3_ 25 _Tarasque:_ a monster which, according to the legend, devastated the country about Tarascon until it was slain by Saint Martha, sister of Lazarus, who, in company with the three Marys, had come to Provence after the death of Christ At irregular intervals there is a festival in Tarascon to celebrate the destruction of the Tarasque. Martha is the patron saint of Tarascon See "Port-Tarascon," I, iv (pp 73 ff)--_faisait les cent coups._ 'was playing the hundred tricks,' 'raged.'

_3_ 27 _Il y a beau jour_ '(that was) a long time ago'.

_4_ 1 _tous les dimanches matin:_ 'every Sunday morning ', cf. _tous les jours_ 'every day' and _le matin_ 'in the morning'_--prend les armes:_ 'takes arms' (not "takes its arms "), 'arms itself '.

_4_ 3 _tremblement:_ 'whole lot,' 'noisy throng,' colloquial.

_4_6 _Si ... que_ + subjunctive = 'however ', cf. _67_ 12-13, _78_ 18-19 --_bête:_ a pun on the word _bête,_ which means as a noun 'animal,' as an adjective 'foolish'--_vous pensez bien:_ 'you can readily imagine', cf. _7_ 10, _9_ 7, _12_ 3, _23_ 7, _56_ 17.

_4_ 8 _A cinq lieues_: 'within a radius of fîve leagues', cf. _48_ 26.

_4_ 9-10 _le moindre_: 'the least'--_le plus petit_: 'the smallest'.

_4_ 14 _Rhône_ 'Rhone,' the great river of southeastern France, in the heart of Provence--_diablement_: 'deucedly' _Diable_ and _Dieu_ are used very freely in French.

_4_ 16 _du poil et de la plume_ 'of fur and feathers'--_est très mal note_ 'has a black mark against its name', _noter_= 'to note,' 'to mark,' 'to make a note of'.

_4_ 19 _Camargue_ a vast marshy delta at the mouth of the Rhone See Daudet's "En Camargue," in "Lettres de mon moulin".

_4_ 23 _il ne reste plus ... que_: 'there remains nothing now, but' _Il_ is impersonal, cf. _5_ 23, _8_ 1, _58_ 28 _Ne plus_ = 'no longer,' _ne que_ = 'only,' the same _ne_ serving for both _plus_ and _que_, cf. line 30, _23_ 3, 27-28, _ne ... guère que_ _5_ 26, _1_ 17.

_4_ 24 _coquin de lièvre_: cf. note to _1_ 12--_échappe ... aux_: note the use of _à_ with _échapper_, cf. _88_ 22, and _s'arracher à_ _10_ 14 --_septembrisades_ on September 25, 1792, mobs broke into the Paris prisons and massacred many political prisoners, hence _septembrisade_ 'massacre'.

_4_ 27 _le Rapide_: _le (train) rapide_ 'the express train'.

_4_ 30 _A l'heure qu'il est même_: 'even at the present time'.

_4_ 31 _enragés_ 'stubborn enthusiasts'.

_4_ 32 _deuil_: _faire son deuil d'une chose_ = 'to go into mourning about a thing,' 'to give it up for lost'.

_5_ 1 _de sa nature_: 'by nature'--_qu'il mange_: _que_ for _bien que_ to avoid repetition of _6_ 1, _24_ 16, _69_ 9--_hirondelles en salmis_ 'stewed swallows' From time immemorial the swallow has been recogmzed as the friend of man; the superstition that to kill one brings bad luck is very old and almost umversal. Despite this belief and despite the game laws, in southern France generally, especially in the Camargue, large numbers of swallows are killed and eaten. Swallows and other small birds are usually roasted, cut in small pièces, and stewed with wine (_salmis_).

_5_ 3 _me direz-vous_ 'you [reader] will say to me [author]'.

_5_ 7 _en pleine campagne_: 'into the open country', cf. _2_ 2, _41_ 13.

_5_ 11 _boeuf en daube_ 'stewed beef', properly, stewed with vegetables and then baked slowly _Dauber_ = _braiser_--_saucissot_: italicized because a dialectal form, = _saucisson_ 'sausage'.

_5_ 17 _du 5 etc_ 'number 5' etc, sizes of shot.

_5_ 19 _met dans_ 'hits'.

_5_ 20 _en triomphateur_: 'like a conqueror,' 'in triumph'; cf. _en bon Méridional_ _8_ 13.

_5_ 23 _il se fait:_ 'there is carried on.' Impersonal _il_; cf. note to _4_ 23. Note the reflexive used for the passive; cf. _cela se fait_ = 'that is done,' lit. 'that does itself,' _ce qui se consomme_ _6_ 13 = 'what is consumed,' _la forte s'ouvre_ _18_ 6 = 'the door opens itself,' 'is opened,' 'opens,' _cela se sait_ _6_ 18 = 'that is known,' _cela se peut_ = 'that is possible'; cf. also _s'animer_ 'to animate oneself,' 'to become (be) animated,' _se décourager_ 'to become (be) discouraged.'

_5_ 26 _ne guère que:_ 'scarcely any one besides '; cf. note to _4_ 23.

_5_27 _leur en achète:_ _acheter des casquettes aux chapeliers;_ hence _leur en achète, leur_ replacing _à eux._

_5_ 29 _il partait:_ 'he used to set out.'

_5_ 32 _Aussi:_ _aussi_ at the beginning of a sentence or phrase is usually to be rendered 'and so,' 'therefore.' With this _aussi_ (as with some other adverbs) the word-order is verb--pronoun; hence _reconnaissent-ils._ Cf. _24_ 12, _41_ 20; _à peine_ _7_ 33, _40_ 14; _en vain_ _10_ 10; _toujours_ _25_ 9. Note the order with aussi comme...! _18_ 17.

_6_ 1 _qu'il:_ _que_ replaces _comme;_ cf. note to _5_ 1.

_6_ 3 _birman:_ 'Burman.' Burma is in southeastern Asia.--_ces_: cf. note to _16_ 13.

_6_ 6 _de trois à quatre:_ 'from three to four (o'clock).'

_6 10_ _qui rendait:_ 'dispensing,' see note to _55_ 7.--_Nemrod doublé de Salomon:_ 'a Nimrod and a Solomon at the same time.' _Doubler_--'to line'; _un manteau doublé de fourrure_ 'a fur-lined coat.' For Nimrod, "a mighty hunter before the Lord," see Genesis x, 8-9; for Solomon as unerring judge, I Kings iii, 28.

_6_ _chapter heading_ _Nan!_ dialectal form of _non!_ See _8_ 13-14.

_6_ 13 _Ce qui ... de romances:_ lit. 'what ... of ballads'; transl. 'the number of ballads that ...' Note that _romance_ = 'ballad,' _roman_ = 'novel,' 'romance.' See Engl. dict. for etymology.

_6_ 14 _c'est à n'y pas croire:_ 'it passes belief,' lit. 'it is enough to not believe it'; cf. note to _2_ 2. _Croire à, y croire,_ cf. note to _2_ 29.

_6_ 18 _cela se sait:_ cf. note to _5_ 23.

_6_ 23 _receveur de l'enregistrement:_ 'recorder' (of deeds and various transactions).

_6_ 24 _si j'étais-t-invisible:_ the non-etymological _t_ is inserted to avoid hiatus, the _s_ of _étais_ being unpronounced: cf. _Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre._ This error is common in the speech of the uneducated classes.--_n'me_: the _e_ of _ne_ is omitted as in conversational French.

_7_ 3 _on se réunit:_ see next note.--_on se les chante:_ 'they sing them (the ballads) to one another.' Note _se_ = '(to) one another.' _Nous, vous,_ _se_, are used as reflexive or reciprocal objects, direct or indirect ('ourselves' or 'each other,' 'to ourselves' or 'to each other' etc.), cf. _9_ 21, _16_ 29, _93_ 8. _Se_ is used as a reciprocal pronoun several times in this paragraph.

_7_ 4 _depuis_ ... _chantent_ 'in all the time that they have been singing them to one another.' _Chantent_ is present tense with _depuis_.

_7_ 5 _en changer_: cf. note to _1_ 3.

_7_ 6 _n'y touche_: cf. note to _2_ 29.

_7_ 18 _les lui faire chanter_: 'to make him sing them'; _faire chanter à Tartarin, lui faire chanter_, = 'to make T. sing,' 'to make him sing.' --_Revenu ... salon_: 'early (in life) surfeited with salon successes' _Revenu_ = 'returned,' 'satiated,' 'tired of.'

_7_ 21 _cercle_: 'club.' The English word "club" is used in French in reference to sporting and political clubs.

_7_ 22 _Nîmes_: Daudet's birthplace, an ancient city with remarkable Roman remains, eighteen miles west of Tarascon.

_7_ 25 _après s'être bien fait prier_: 'after having been begged a long time'; cf. _je me fais prier, je me suis fait prier_. An active infinitive after _faire_ is to be translated passively: _faire bâtir une maison_ = 'to cause (some one) to build a house,' 'to have a house built'; cf. _31_ 9, _64_ 27, _77_ 25, _81_ 7. _Se faire prier_ = 'to have oneself begged,' _se faire comprendre (_40_ 26) = 'to make himself understood.' _Se faire expliquer_ (_24_ 6-7) = 'to have explained to themselves,' _faire expliquer une leçon_ = 'to have a lesson explained.' The same constructions are used with _laisser_; cf. _29_ 25, _49_ 14-15, _60_ 13.

_7_ 26 _dire_: 'to say,' 'relate impressively,' 'sing', cf. _24_ 21 --_Robert_ le _Diable_: 'Robert the Devil,' a famous opera by Meyerbeer, text by Scribe (1832). The story, widespread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and later, is concerned with the struggle of a pious mother to rescue her son from the devil. She is successful Robert saves Rome from the Saracens and ends his life as a hermit.

_7_ 28 _Pour moi_: 'as for me,' 'as far as I am concerned'--_quand je vivrais cent ans_: 'even if I should live for a hundred years', note this meaning of _quand_ with the conditional.

_7_ 29 _s'approchant du_: note _de_ used with _s'approcher, se rapprocher_, _20_ 25.

_7_ 33 _A peine avait-il_: cf. note to _5_ 32.

_8_ 1 _il allait se passer_: 'there was going to happen'; cf. note to _4_ 23.--_quelque chose de grand_: 'something great'; note the _de_ Cf. _quelque chose d'informe_ _35_ 21, _quelque chose de noir_ _45_ 18.

_8_ 6 _bis_: Latin, 'twice,' indicating that a thing is to be repeated.

_8_ 9 _A vous, Tartarin:_ 'your turn, Tartarin!'

_8_ 13 _en bon Méridional:_ 'like a true Southerner'; cf. note to _5_ 20.

_8_ 18 _de plus belle:_ 'louder than ever'; supply a feminine noun _(manière, façon_) after _belle;_ of _45_ 15.

_8_ 19 _la chose en restait là:_ 'the thing stopped there'; the so called redundant _en;_ of _16_ 19-20, _17_ 16, _18_ 32, _28_ 26, _90 30 Cf. the redundant _y_ (note to _9 7) _En_ and _y_ in these cases cannot easily be translated, but the student should train himself to recognize their force.

_8_ 25 _clignait de l'oeil:_ cf. _battre des mains_ 'to clap one's hands.'

_8_ 26 _dire d'un ... air:_ 'to say with an ... air'--_Je viens de:_ _venir de faire quelque chose_ = 'to have just done somethmg.' In this passage the expression has both the figurative and the literal meaning: 'I come (have come) from the Bézuquets', where I have just sung.'

_9_ 3 _diable d'homme:_ cf. note to _1_ 12.

_9_ 4 _prendre:_ 'to captivate.'

_9_ 7 _lapin:_ lit. 'rabbit'; familiarly, as here, 'a game one.'--_s'y connaissait en lapins:_ _se connaître à_ or _en_ = 'to be an expert in.' _Y_ in this passage is redundant: it replaces _à_ + _eux_ (cf. note to _2_29), which is repeated in _en lapins_, cf. _10_ 30, and the redundant _en_ (note to _8_ 19).

_9_ 14 _cheval de trompette:_ 'trumpeter's horse,' 'war-horse.' _Trompette_ = 'trumpet,' 'trumpeter.'

_9_ 16 _gros sous:_ 'ten-centime pieces,' 'two-cent pieces.' A five-centime piece (one cent) is called _un petit sou._

_9_ 17 _lord Seymour:_ Henry Seymour (1805-1859), an eccentric, extravagant English lord who spent most of his life in Paris. He was well known to the Parisian populace.

_9_ 18 _Roi des halles tarasconnaises:_ 'King of the Tarascon Market-Place.' François de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort (1616-1669), fearless, presumptuous, coarse, was the idol of the rabble, by whom he was surnamed _Roi des Halles_ (the great market of Paris).

_9_ 20 _bien sanglé ... futaine:_ 'in his tight-fitting fustian shooting-jacket. _Sangler_= 'to bind with a girth,' 'to strap'; cf. _un officier sanglé_ 'an officer with a tight-fitting coat on.'

_9_ 21 _se montrant ... ils se disaient:_ cf. note to _7_ 2.

_10_ 4 _pampas:_ 'pampas,' vast plains in Argentina, extending from the Atlantic to the Andes.

_10_ 5 _faire ... casquette:_ _faire une battue_ = to beat (_battre_) the woods or bushes for game. Transl. 'to go a-cap-hunting.'

_10_ 7 _A la longue, il y aurait eu_ (conditional anterior of _il y a_) _de quoi:_ 'in the end there would have been wherewith,' 'if this existence were continued long, it would have been enough.'

_10_ 10 _en vain s'entourait-il:_ cf. note to _5_ 32.

_10_ 13 _lectures romanesques:_ 'romantic readings.' The French for Engl. 'lecture' is _conférence, causerie. Romanesque_ = 'romantic.' The French _romantique_ is used in speaking of the Romantic School literary history, and of landscapes.--_don Quichotte:_ hero of the celebrated novel "Don Quixote," by Cervantes (1547-1616, cf. note to _39_ 24). Don Quixote, a Spanish gentleman, has his head turned as a result of excessive reading of romances, and, attended by his fat, vulgar squire, Sancho Panza, scours Spain, righting wrongs and rescuing fair damsels, in the fashion of the knights of old. Don Quixote was ever tireless and fearless, while Sancho Panza disliked hard knocks and preferred a slothful life of ease and plenty to the glorious career of privations which was the lot of the knight errant. Tartarin de Tarascon combined the qualities of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza; hence a terrible internal conflict of which we shall read in chapter vi. This disconcerting complexity of character, which is not confined to a Southerner if we may believe the epigraph of this work (_En France tout le monde est un peu de Tarascon_), is again elucidated in "La Défense de Tarascon" (in "Contes du lundi") and in "Tartarin sur les Alpes," ch. ii, p 35, where the adventurous spirit of warren rabbits (_lapins de garenne_) clashes with the domesticity of cabbage-garden rabbits (_lapins de choux_).

_10_ 14 _s'arracher aux:_ cf. note to _4_ 24.

_10_ 22 _par les lourdes après-midi d'été:_ 'during the sultry summer afternoons.' Note the use of _par_ in statements relating to the weather; cf. _32_ 1, _63_ 17.--_à lire:_ 'engaged in reading'; cf. _à mener_ _68_ 32, and _73_ 30.

_10_ 24 _que de fois:_ 'how many times.'

_10_ 27 _foulard de tête:_ 'kerchief round his head.'

_10_ 30 _Qu'ils y viennent maintenant!_ 'now just let'em come!' _Y_ is redundant; cf. note to _9_ 7.

_11_ 6 _Touareg:_ cf. note to _40_ 17.--_des Abruzzes:_ 'of the Abruzzi,' a mountainous district of central Italy, noted for its brigands.

_11_ 9 _avait beau les appeler:_ 'called them in vain'; cf. _28_ 16, _46_ 8. _Beau_ is ironical in this expression; cf. Engl. "a fine fellow," "a pretty mess."

_11_ 10 _Pécaïré_ (Latin _peccator = pécheur_ 'sinner'): sometimes Gallicized by Daudet under the form _péchère_. A very common Provençal exclamation, usually denoting pity or resignation. Transl. 'alas,' 'dear me.'

_11_ 12 _les attendait toujours:_ 'continued to wait for them'; note this force of _toujours_; cf. _26_ 11, _71_ 20.

_11_ 14 _chevalier du Temple:_ 'Knight Templar.' The order of the knights of the Temple (i.e. the temple of Solomon) was organized in 1118 for the purpose of protecting pilgrims on the way to the Holy Land.

_11_ 15 _tigre chinois_ the Chinese soldiers used to be called _tigres de guerre_ (Littre, Suppl).

_11_ 17 _de pied en cap_ (Lat _caput_) 'from head to foot', of Engl. 'armed cap a pic' _Cap_ = 'head' is obsolete except in this expression and in a few technical terms.

_11_ 20 _Branle-bas de combat!_ 'clear decks for action!' _Le branle_ is the word formerly used for the seaman's hammock (now usually _le hamac_), _branle bas_ = 'down with the hammocks,' get them out of the way.

_11_ 24 _entre drap et flanelle:_ transl. 'under his coat'--_Par exemple_ lit 'for example', a common exclamation of which the translation varies with the context, here, 'I assure you!'

_11_ 27 _se fendait, tirait:_ 'lunged,' 'thrust,' fencing expressions.

_11_ 29 _à l'anglaise_ (supply _mode_ 'manner'): 'in the English manner,' i.e. calmly, cf. _à la mode indienne_ _12_ 33.

_12_ 3 _vous pensez:_ cf. note to _4_ 6.

_12_ 6 _fermait la porte à double tour:_ 'double locked the gate', lit. 'with a double turn of the key' In the old lock a single turn of the key drove the bolt into the socket, a second turn drove it farther.

_12_ 15 _chaussée:_ 'highway,' the middle of a road or street, usually paved and arched, cf. _88_ 27.

_12_ 21 _cours:_ 'public promenade' "There is all round Tarascon a promenade (_cours_) lined with trees, which is called in the local dictionary _le Tour de ville_ Every Sunday afternoon the Tarasconians, slaves to habit despite their imagination, make their circuit of the town (_font leur tour de ville_)" "Tartarin sur les Alpes," ch. 11, p 42, cf. _23_ 10-11.

_12_ 22 _par le plus long:_ supply _chemin_.

_12_ 25 _coupe-gorge_ (plural and singular alike) 'haunts of cutthroats' _Coupe jarret_ = 'cut throat' (_jarret_ = 'ham string')--_lui tomber sur le dos_ 'fall upon his back', cf._18_ 33, _20_ 13, _28_ 8, _31_ 6, _65_ 11.

_12_ 27 _jamais, au grand jamais:_ 'never, NEVER'.

_12_ 28 _eut la chance:_ 'had the good luck' Engl. 'chance' = French Occasion.

_12_ 31 _planté sur place:_ 'rooted to the spot', of _en resta planté_ _44_ 11.

_12_ 32 _prenant le vent:_ 'sniffing the air,' used of hunting dogs, as a nautical expression = 'sailing near the wind'.

_13_ 1 _Plus de doutes:_ 'no more doubt', cf.1 17 With _plus, pas, jamais, rien_, and other words of this type _ne_ is omitted when the verb is omitted, but cf._71_ 8, _88_ 3.

_13_ 3 se ramassait sur lui-même._ 'gathered himself,' 'crouched'_.

_13_ 7 _Té! vé!_ dialectal for tiens, vois, used as exclamations, 'Well, well!'--_adieu:_ in Southern France occasionally (as here and _64_4) a greeting ('hello'), though ordinarily, as in Northern France, a parting salutation ('good-by'). The Southerner prefixes an exclamation which Daudet writes sometimes _et_ as here and sometimes _hé_, ('hey') as in _64_ 4.

_13_ 9 _la sienne_ 'his' (ballad), see _6_ 17.

_13_ 13 _de long en large:_ 'up and down'.

_13_ 18_: faire son bezigue:_ 'to play his game of bezique,' a game of Cards.

_13_ 21_ diable au vert:_ 'far away corners of the globe' The castle of Vauvert in the suburbs of Paris belonged to King Louis IX. Some Carthusian monks who desired to gain possession of it pretended that it was haunted by evil spirits, and it was abandoned to them, hence the expression _diable Vauvert_ (_Vauvert_ is a genitive, 'the demon of Vauvert'), which was later corrupted to _diable au vert _. The castle was far from the center of the city, perhaps it is for this reason that _aller au diable vauvert, au diable au vert_, means 'to go a long distance'. I have not seen an article on this locution which appeared in the _Revue du Midi_, 1911.--_comment diantre:_ 'how the deuce', diantre is a euphemism for diable.

_13_22 _se trouvait-il_ 'did it happen' _Se trouver_ = 'to find oneself, itself,' 'to happen,' 'to be'.

_13_26_ Marseille:_ 'Marseilles,' the greatest seaport in France and the metropolis of the south, only sixty miles from Tarascon.

_13_27 _Provençal_ a native of Provence Provence = Latin _provincia,_ '_the_ province,' comprising that part of Gaul which was first conquered and organized, later _Gallia Narbonensis_ Properly, Provence is today the southeastern part of France, but the terms _Provence, Provençal,_ are frequently used to designate all of southern France (south of the Loire), the _Midi_--_se paie:_ 'treats himself to', cf. _je me paie un bon dîner_ 'I treat myself to a good dinner'--_C'est au plus s'il_ 'at the most he,' 'scarcely did he'.

_13_28 _Beaucaire:_ a city on the Rhone, opposite Tarascon, to which it is joined by a long suspension bridge, cf. note to _18_ 11.

_13_ 30 _diable de pont:_ cf. note to _1_ 12.

_14_4 _C'est que:_ 'the fact is that'.

_14_ 5 _Je sens deux hommes en moi_: see Romans vii, Galatians v, 17. One of the distinctive features of the religion of St Paul was its insistence upon an internal conflict between the higher and lower impulses of man. Daudet is probably thinking of the expression of this doctrine in one of Racine's canticles (III) where the words _Je trouve deux hommes en moi_ appear.

_14_ 6 _Père d'Église_ 'Church Father' Paul was an Apostle, not a Church Father. The Church Fathers were the early disseminators and expounders of the Christian faith who continued the work of the apostles--_Il l'eût dit vrai_ = _il l'aurait dit vrai. Vrai_ is used adverbially, 'truly'.

_14_ 10 _hidalgo_ Spanish, 'nobleman', Latin _filius de aliquo_ 'son of somebody '--_prétexte de corps_ 'apology for a body'.

_14_ 11 _manquait de prise_ 'had no hold'.

_14_ 14 _brave homme de corps_ 'jolly old body'.

_14_ 16 _le corps ... pattes_ Tartarin's Quixotic mind dwelt in the 'fat bellied,' 'short legged' body of a Sancho Panza.

_14_ 19 _mauvais ménage_ faire _faire mauvais ménage_ is said of a husband and wife who do not get along well together.

_14_ 21 _Lucien_ 'Lucian,' the famous Greek satirist of the second century A.D., author of brilliant "Dialogues of the Gods" and "Dialogues of the Dead"--_Saint-Évremond_ (1613-1703) man of the world, Epicurean, skeptic, an unsparing satirist.

_14_ 21 _rifles a deux coups_ = _fusils rayés à doubles canons_ _50_ 7, 'double barreled rifles'.

_15_ 2 _genouillères_ 'knee caps,' flannel or knitted coverings for the knees, to prevent or ease rheumatism.

_15_ 3 _casquettes à oreillettes_ 'caps with ear laps'.

_15_ 6 _sonnant la bonne_ 'ringing for the maid' Note this use of _sonner_

_15_ 9 _moiré_ 'shimmering,' like watered silks cf. Engl. 'mohair,' 'moire'.

_15_ _chapter heading_ _Shang-Hai_ 'Shanghai,' a seaport in China--_haut commerce_14_ 5, cf. _haute finance_ 'high finance' transl. Simply. 'commerce'--_Tartares (Tatares_) 'Tartars' ('Tatars'), a generic term for certain Mongolian tribes The Manchu Tatars were till recently rulers of China--_serait-il....?_ 'is it possible that he be....?' Note the use of the conditional to express conjecture or possibility, the future is used in similar constructions _il aura manque le train_ 'he has probably missed the train'_ cf. auriez vous l'intention_ (_76_ 8) 'is it possible that you intend?'

_15_ 13 _avait failli partir_ 'had failed to départ', i.e. 'almost departed'

_15_ 21 _vous apparaissait d'une hauteur!_ 'was a wonderful thing indeed!' _Vous_ is the common ethical dative, to be omitted in translation, cf. the Shakespearean "Knock _me_ that door!" and "There's perfection _for you_!' "--_D'une hauteur!_ suppression for emphasis far more frequent in French than in English, cf._30_ 17, _49_ 25 Note the play on the words _haut, Hauteur_ _14_ 5 _n'entendait_ ... oreille-là i.e. "didn't see it in that light".

_16_ 7 _Parions que si, parions que non_ 'I'll bet (lit 'let us bet') he will, I'll bet he won't' _Si_ is used for _oui_ in contradictions _Que_ is not to be translated, cf._je crois que oui (non)_ 'I think so (not)'.