FINIS.
[NOTES TO THE MAN WITH THE BROKEN EAR.]
[ [1] Note 1, page 69.—Black butterflies, a French expression that we might tastefully substitute for blue devils.
[ [2] Note 2, page 72.—The 15th of August is the Emperor's birthday.
[ [3] Note 3, page 85.—Centigrade, of course.
[ [4] Note 4, page 101.—Fougas' surprise is explained by the well-known fact that Napoleon was obliged to forbid the playing of Partant pour la Syrie in his armies, on account of the homesickness and consequent desertion it occasioned.
[ [5] Note 5, page 118.—Jeu de Paume (tennis-court), is the name given to the meeting of the third-estate (tiers-état) in 1789, from the locality where it took place.
[ [6] Note 6, page 161.—The English used by the two young noblemen is M. About's own. It is certainly such English as Frenchmen would be apt to speak, and it is as fair to attribute that fact to M. About's fine sense of the requirements of the occasion, as to lack of familiarity with our language.
[ [7] Note 7, page 164.—It is not without interest to note that M. About used the English word gentlemen.
[ [8] Note 8, page 166.—War against tyrants! Never, never, never shall the Briton reign in France!
[ [9] Note 9, page 214.—The original here contains a neat little conceit, which cannot be translated, but which is too good to be lost. The French for daughter-in-law is belle fille, literally "beautiful girl." To Fougas' address "Ma belle fille!" Mme. Langevin replies: "I am not beautiful, and I am not a girl." It suggests the similar retort received by Faust from Marguerite, when he addressed her as beautiful young lady!
[ [10] Note 10, page 230.—The Translator has intentionally used both the singular and the plural of the second person in Fougas' apostrophe to Clementine, as it seemed to him naturally required by the variations of the sentiment.
[ [11] Note 11, page 248.—The reader will bear in mind Marshal Leblanc's allusion to condemned horses.