NOTES
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Dedication: Gonzague-Privat (Louis de): painter, art critic and novelist, born at Montpellier in 1843. Daudet wrote a preface for his "Joie perdue" (1893).
1 1 Tarascon: a very old city (population 9,000) on the east bank of the Rhone, opposite Beaucaire (cf. note to 13 28), about fifty miles northwest of Marseilles. To Daudet the choice of proper names was always a matter for careful consideration. Tarascon was not the home of the original Tartarin (see Introduction, p xxvi), but, as Daudet explains in "Trente Ans de Paris," p 142, "a pseudonym picked up on the road from Paris to Marseilles because when rounded out by the southern accent it vibrated sonorously and triumphed at the conductor's call of stations like the war-cry of an Apache Indian." On the Tarasque cf. note to 3 25.
1 2 il y a ... de cela: 'that was ... ago,' lit. 'there are ... from that.'
1 3 je m'en souviens: 'I remember it.' Se souvenir de quelque chose, hence s'en souvenir (en replacing de + a pronoun); cf. changer de chanson, en changer 7 5, revenir de là-bas, en revenir 16 12.
1 4 habitait: 'was living in.' Be careful to give the imperfect its progressive force wherever possible.
1 5 le chemin d'Avignon: 'the Avignon road.' Note that an English noun used adjectively is usually replaced in French by de + noun, the student should be careful to translate une robe de soie 'a silk dress' and not 'a dress of silk'; cf. de petits soldats de plomb (71 4) 'little lead soldiers,' l'eau de mer (93 26) 'the sea water', 52 25, 79 23. For une voix de femme (89 5) we cannot say 'a woman voice,' but must say 'the voice of a woman,' 'woman' not being a possible noun-adjective here; still voix de femme is a noun-phrase modified by une; cf. une cour de caravansérail (70 21) 'the court of a caravansary,' un coin de méchante route (70 28) 'the corner of a wretched road'--Avignon: city on the Rhone, above Tarascon; famous as the residence of the Popes from 1309 to 1377.
1 6: devant: adverb, 'in front'; cf. derrière in this sentence, dessus 24 1, 46 12, depuis 56 32, autour 79 15.
1_ 8: Savoyards: boys and men from Savoy, southeastern France, are seen throughout the country exercising such trades as those of bootblacks, chimney-sweeps, charcoal-venders; cf. note to 74 27.--Savoyards ... tête ... leurs boîtes: cf. note to 29 11.
1 10: Du dehors ... rien: 'seen from the outside the house seemed nothing at all,' 'was in no way remarkable'.
1 12: coquin de sort: a characteristic Southern oath, lit. 'rascal of (a) fate' translate 'heavens and earth!' cf. monstre de sort 63 27, coquin de bon sort 68 21. For the construction cf. coquin de lièvre 4 24, diable d'homme 9 3. The genitive (de + noun) in these expressions replaces a noun in apposition. Cf. Engl. "rascal of a man," Latin scelus viri; "the city New York," "the city of New York."
1 16: du pays. i.e. 'native' to that part of Europe; cf. au pays 64 27, du cru 26 6.
1 17: rien que: 'nothing but'; i.e. il n'y avait rien que. Cf. 37 10, and notes to 13 1, 4 23.--plantes exotiques: a few lines farther on, our author explains that these exotic plants were, of course, not of full natural size. The baobab in its native African home is only 40-70 feet in height, but its trunk is sometimes 30 feet in diameter. In 17 20-21 we are given to understand that Tartarin's baobab, the most admired of his botanical rarities, is perhaps after all nothing but a turnip, and we are led to suspect that some of the others are not what they pretend to be. If we are gifted with even a small portion of the imagination possessed by Tartarin and his fellow-townsmen, we can understand how a turnip may after a while come really to be a baobab; if we have not sufficient imagination to admit this possibility, we shall not be able to appreciate the story of the life and adventures of Tartarin de Tarascon.
2 2: à se croire ... Afrique: '(enough) to (make one) believe himself in the very heart of (cf. 5 7) Africa.' à = assez pour; cf. c'est à mourir de rire, 'it's enough to make you die with laughter'; also 6 14, 21 16.
2 3: bien entendu: 'of course'; lit. 'well (heard) understood.'
2 5: arbos gigantea: Latin, = arbre géant 'giant tree.'--tenait à l'aise dans: 'easily found room in.'
2 6:pot de réséda: 'mignonette pot.' Pot de fleurs = 'flower pot' Logically we should expect, and in a dealer's catalogue we find, pot à fleurs, cf. une tasse à café 'a coffee cup,' une tasse de café 'a cup of coffee.' Daudet in speaking of this same mignonette pot uses pot à réséda in "Tartarin sur les Alpes," p. 358.--c'est égal: 'all the same'.
2 7: déjà: lit. 'already'; 'anyhow,' 'nevertheless'.
2 8: s'en retournaient: cf. s'en aller 17 4, s'en revenir 53 11.
2 10: je dus éprouver: 'I must have experienced.' Devoir is difficult to translate because the corresponding English auxiliaries (must, ought) are defective. The following are the most usual translations: je dois aller I must go, I ought to go, I should go, I have to go, I am to go. je devais aller I had to go, I was to go (cf. 18 2) I should have gone, I must have gone (cf. 16 26). je dus aller I had to go (cf. 67 7), I must have gone (cf. 40 4). je devrai aller I shall have to go je devrais aller I should go, I ought to go, I should have to go. j'ai dû aller I had to go, I have had to go, I must have gone Cf. notes to 43 20, 29.
2 11: mirifique: a mock-heroic synonym for merveilleux.--bien autre: bien in its common intensive use, 'quite.' Bien frequently adds to a passage a shade of meaning which can be rendered in English only by a complete remodeling of the sentence, e.g. je veux bien 'I have no objection,' 'I consent.' When autre is preceded by bien or tout, it usually carries the idea of superiority.
2 14: ouvrant de plain-pied sur le baobab: 'opening on a level with the baobab'; there was no step. Plain='flat.'
2 18: carabines: 'rifles.' carabine is the French word for "rifle", fusil is the general term (gun) and is applied particularly to the shotgun The English word "rifle" is sometimes used in French for a rifle having a long barrel. With carabine cf. English "carbine," a short-barreled rifle. Translate here 'carbines, rifles.'
2 19: catalans: Catalonia is in northeastern Spain. --couteaux-revolvers: 'pistol dirks,' pistols with dirks set in their butts, ordaggers with pistols in their hilts.--couteaux-poignards: 'dagger-knives' an ancient form of one-edged dagger, having a long and heavy blade.--krish (criss, kriss) malais: 'Malay creeses,' daggers with sinuous edges, famous for deadliness.
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 26 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 noté '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 universal. 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 the 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'.
1328 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 th 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 32 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)'.
16 10 Avoir failli aller cf. 15 13.
16 11 c'était tout comme colloquial, 'it was just the same'.
16 12 en revenait = revenait de là bas, 'was returning from there'.
16 13 tous ces messieurs 'everybody' English has no construction corresponding to this use of ce It is used deferentially, especially by servants Madame prie ces messieurs de l'attendre 'Mrs X will see you in a moment, cf. 6 3, 53 7.
16 19 en arrivait à dire redundant en (cf. note to 8 19), 'came to the point of saying'.
16 26 il devait bien savoir 'he must have known perfectly well'.
16 29 s'entendre 'come to an understanding', lit 'hear each other','understand each other' cf. notes to 2 3, 7 2.
16 32 Toulouse an important city in southwestern France.
17 1 son mensonge à lui à lui repeats the idea expressed by son thus emphasizing it, cf. 20 13.
17 4 allez-vous-en dans le Midi 'go (away) into the South' The force of s'en in s'en aller is sometimes vague, and in colloquial speech s'en aller often is almost equivalent to the simple aller, e.g. je m'en vais vous dire 'I am going to tell you', cf. 55 10, 63 22, 2 8, 53 11.
17 8 butte Montmartre a hill (butte) in Paris.
17 9 Maison carrée ('Square House') de Nîmes one of the most beautiful Roman remains in France It was a Roman temple and is very small a mere nothing in comparison with Notre Dame--bijou d'étagère 'cabinet gem' The étagère is used for displaying small articles of value, see "étagère" and "whatnot" in Engl. Dict.
17 10 Notre-Dame the celebrated cathedral in Paris.
17 14 Tout au plus une sous-préfecture 'at the very most a subprefecture' Arles (cf. 29 11) with a population of 29,000, is an example of a subprefecture Both Athens and Sparta were decidedly larger than this, cf. note to 80 13 The French départements (compare our 'States') are divided into arrondissements (compare our 'counties') A prefect (préfet) presides over a département, and a subprefect (sous préfet) over an arrondissement Sous préfecture is synonymous with arrondissement, or, as here, is used for the city in which the subprefect has his offices. An arrondissement is divided into cantons and a canton into communes.
17 chapter heading Atlas: a mountain range in northwestern Africa.
17 25 séculaire: 'lasting for centuries'(Lat sæculum), 'everlasting' not 'secular' See Engl dict.
18 2 devait: 'was to', cf. 26 9, 32 10, 39 26 See note to 2 10.
18 4 était en train de démontrer: 'was in the act of demonstrating'; Transl. simply 'was demonstrating'--amateur 'admirer,' 'lover' The distinction 'amateur,' 'professional,' is French as well as English, but in French the word amateur also means 'lover'--not, however, the lover of a person Tartarin was demonstrating to some 'lovers (of arms)'.
18 5 fusil à aiguille: 'needle gun,' invented in 1836, and used in the Prussian army in 1841 The cartridge in this gun is exploded by a slender needle, or pin, which is driven into it.
18 11 foire de Beaucaire: cf. 13 28 The Beaucaire fair (July 1-28), instituted in the Middle Ages, is still famous but has in recent years lost much of its importance.
18 13 place du château: the square in front of the castle.
18 14 un tas de: 'a large number of', lit 'a pile of'.
18 16 de mémoire d'homme: 'within the memory of man', Latin hominum Memoria.
18 17 s'était vue: 'had been seen', cf. note to 5 23--comme: connect with fièrement in translation.
18 24 entre ses mains: 'in his hands'.
18 25 à deux pas: 'only a step or two away', cf. à dix mille lieues de Tarascon (2 2) 'ten thousand leagues away from Tarascon,' à combien de pas (24 8) 'how many paces away'.
18 27 premier sujet: 'star,' in the company of players.
18 32 n'en pouvait supporter: on en cf. note to 8 19.
18 33 lui monta au visage: 'mounted to his face', cf. 12 25, 45 8.
19 1 D'un geste: 'with a gesture', cf. note to 51 20.
19 5 Hé bé...: Provençal for eh bien! 'Well, but....'
19 8 emboîtant le pas: a military expression, 'marching in lock step'.
19 14 kabyle: cf. note to 40 17 The Kabyle woman's dress, which reaches not quite to the ankles, is loose and held in at the waist, her feet and arms are bare, she wears bracelets and anklets.
19 19 pensionnaires: 'boarders,' here referring to the animals.
19 20 jeta un froid: 'threw cold water,' 'chilled the enthusiasm'.
19 27 se trouva: 'was', cf. note to 13 22.
20 7 perruque: 'wig,' here applied to the lion's mane (crinière, 1 16).
20 10 soit que ... soit que: 'either because ('be it that') or because'--donne de l'humeur. 'made ill-tempered' Humeur usually means 'ill humor' in French.
20 13 en leur bâillant an nez à tous: cf. note to 12 25 A tous is in apposition with leur, hence the dative case, cf. 17 1-2. When tous is a pronoun the s is sounded, cf.below, 1 19.
20 26 Ça, oui, c'est une chasse: 'that, now, that's a hunt worth while!'
21 10-12 Et autrement ... au moins: 'I say, you surely have heard the news--That depends What is it? Tartarin's departure, perhaps?' Et autrement and au moins cannot be translated literally See the paragraph following in the text.
21 15 mouain: = moins misspelled to indicate a pronuntiation as two syllables instead of one.
21 16 à faire trembler: cf. note to 2 2.
21 19 ce que c'est que la vanité: the construction will be clear if a second est is supplied after vanité, 'what vanity is', cf. note to 72 21.
21 22 fit: = dit There are many examples of this usage in this book.
21 23 je ne dis pas: 'I don't say (that I shan't),' 'I won't commit Myself'
22 12 fit ... effroyable: 'gave Tartarin-Quixote a terrible grilling'.
22 16 éléphantiasis: 'elephantiasis,' a disease of the skin which makes it thick, hard, and fissured like an elephant's hide.
22 21 feu Cambyse: 'the late Cambyses' feu is frequently used, but only with humorous intent, in speaking of persons long since dead. For the story of the expedition (525 B.C.) sent by Cambyses, king of Persia, to plunder the temple of Jupiter Ammon in the desert of Libya, see Herodotus III Cambyses himself did not perish in this expedition as Daudet erroneously states.
22 27 que diable! 'hang it all!'
22 30 Mungo-Park (1771-1806, no hyphen in English) Scotch explorer of the Niger--Caillé (René, 1799-1838} a Frenchman, the first European to return alive from Timbuktu.
22 31 Livingstone (David, 1813-1873) celebrated Scotch missionary and traveler--Duveyrier(1840-1892) French geographer, and explorer of the northwestern Sahara.
23 3 à partir de ce jour-là: 'from that day on'--ne ... plus que: cf. note to 4 23.
23 10 faire son tour de ville: cf. note to 12 21.
23 11 pas accéléré: 'quick time', pas redoublé, 'double quick', pas gymnastique, 'run.'
23 13 selon la mode antique: there is no evidence that ancient runners carried pebbles in their mouths Daudet is perhaps thinking of the well known story about Demosthenes Modern runners carry something, not usually pebbles, in their mouths to induce themselves to hold the mouth shut and breathe through the nose, and also to keep the mouth moist by inciting the flow of saliva.
23 16 jusqu'à des dix et onze heures: 'even as late as ten and eleven o'clock' Des and et (instead of ou, 'or) lend emphasis to the Expression.
23 27 ne battait plus que d'une aile: 'was almost dead', lit 'could no longer flap more than one wing' (like a wounded bird), cf. note to 4 23.
24 1 mouches cantharides: 'Spanish flies' These insects, which are found in southern Europe, are used (crushed) as the chief element in blistering plasters--dessus adverb, 'on top of it', cf. note to 1 6.
24 3 Il fallait voir: 'you should have seen', cf. 69 4.
24 4 se l'arrachait: for se cf. note to 7 2 Se is dative, cf. 4 24.
24 6 se faire expliquer: cf. note to 7 25.
24 7 comment on s'y prenait: 'how you go at it' On y cf. note to 2 29.
24 8 à combien de pas: cf. note to 18 25.
24 11 Jules Gerard (1817-1864) called le Tueur de lions, an officer of spahis (cf. note to 43 8) and celebrated lion hunter.
24 12 Aussi: cf. note to 5 32.
24 16 que = quand cf. note to 5 1.
24 21 disait: cf. note to 7 26.
24 22 laurier-rose: 'oleander', all parts of this shrub are poisonous.
24 23 pluies de sauterelles: particularly in Africa and Asia migratory locusts collect in countless numbers, forming a cloud so dense as to obscure the sun, and consume every green thing, cf. 81 25 and note to 86 20 See the pages on "Les Sauterelles" in "Lettres de mon moulin," where Daudet describes an invasion of these terrible insects.
24 29 balle explosible: a bullet which explodes on striking an object.
24 30 pfft! the sound of the bullet passing through the air.
25 2 garçonnets: 'urchins,' diminutive of garçon, cf. note to 33 27.
25 3 grand'peur: cf. grand'mère, grand'peine, etc The Latin adjectives of two terminations (grandis, e) had regularly in French one form (grand) for masculine and feminine An e was added in the feminine through the influence of other feminine adjectives (bonne, from bona), but the old form is retained, with the addition of the apostrophe, in certain phrases Pronounce as if grand' were masculine.
25 chapter heading pas de on the absence of ne cf. note to 13 1.
25 9 Toujours est-il que: 'at any rate' On the inversion after toujours (still ') cf. note to 5 32.
25 11 peut-être ... se figurait-il the same inversion as that referred to in the preceding note. Compare in the next sentence Peut être qu(e) il s'imaginait.
25 18 le: 'it,' that is, victime, omit in translation cf. 59 13, 84 3.
25 22 fit fureur: 'was all the rage', of cette piece (de theâtre) fait fureur 'this play is all the rage'.
26 2 ne faisait plus foi: 'was no longer regarded as unimpeachable'
26 5 faisait deux doigts de cour a: 'courted a little' (two finger Breadths).
26 6 langue du cru: 'local dialect,' 'vernacular' Cru means 'growth,' 'that which grows in a certain district', croître = 'grow' Vin du cru ='local wine', donner une oeuvre de son cru = 'to produce a work of one's own imagination', cf. dame du cru 60 29, jurons du cru 65 4.
26 9 devait: cf. note to 18 2.
26 10 on le chargeait toujours: cf. 11 12.
26 12 l'allusion: like Master Gervais's gun, Tartarin never went off, partir = 'to depart,' 'to go off' (of a gun).
26 13 En un tour de main: 'in a turning of the hand,' 'like a flash'.
26 16 Le fusil de maître Gervais--Toujours on le charge, toujours on le charge--Le fusil de maître Gervais--Toujours on le charge, il ne part jamais.
26 24 lui glisser dans la main: 'slipping in (i.e. out of) his hand'.
26 27 il fait bon: 'it's a pleasant thing'.
26 30 sa même vie: 'the same life as before '--comme si de rien n'était 'as if it was (all) about nothing,' 'as if it all amounted to Nothing'.
27 4 portait toute sa barbe: 'wore a full beard'.
27 14 s'adresser: cf. note to 5 23--fouchtras transl. rascals'Fouchtra is an inelegant exclamation, originally peculiar to the inhabitants of Auvergne (south central France), hence, used as a noun it means a person from Auvergne Many bootblacks come from Auvergne, so the word is not inappropriately applied to the little Savoyard bootblacks.
27 16 tenait bon: 'stood its ground firmly', adverbial use of the adjective cf. sentir bon and the corresponding English 'to smell good'.
27 26 ganté ... oreilles: 'with black gloves on, (his coat) buttoned up to his ears' With boutonné cf. sanglé 9 20.
27 27 fit: cf. note to 21 22.
28 8 il lui prit la main: 'he took his hand', cf. note to 12 25.
28 12 Bompard: the personages of "Tartarin de Tarascon" appear in other novels of Daudet. For Bompard see particularly "Numa Roumestan."
28 13 CAISSE D'ARMES: 'WEAPON-CHEST.'
28 18 toute une cargaison: 'a whole cargo', cf. 33 2-3.
28 19 pemmican: 'pemmican', dried meat, pulverized or shredded, and mixed with melted fat, for Arctic rather than tropical use.
28 20 tente-abri: a light, easily-handled tent, used particularly by troops in the field. Abri, masculine, = 'shelter.'
28 21 à la: here = 'in a.'
28 24 vinaigre des quatre-voleurs: 'thieves' vinegar,' a kind of aromatic vinegar, formerly used as a disinfectant. The name is derived from the fact that this concoction was popularly supposed to have rendered immune from contagion certain thieves who were pillaging the city of Toulouse during a severe plague (1720).
28 26 ce qu'il en faisait: on en cf. note to 8 19.--ce n'était pas pour lui: 'it wasn't for him,' i.e. it wasn't for Tartarin-Quixote.
29 10 grelots ... sonnettes: the grelot is sounded by a ball inside, as in a sleigh bell. Sonnette is a broader term, used for any small bell. Une cloche is a large bell; cf. 31 25.
29 11 Arles: an ancient city on the Rhone, nine miles south of Tarascon. Its women, of a marked Greek type, are famed for their beauty, which is enhanced by a very picturesque head-dress (coiffe). --venues en croupe de leur galant: 'riding behind their sweethearts.' Note that leur galant is singular; cf. ses deux fusils dans leur gaine 71 25; cf. also note to 92 15, and Savoyards ... la tête ... leurs 1 8. We say 'arms bare to the elbow', cf. 19 14-15.
29 18 Mésopotamie: 'Mesopotamia,' that part of Asia which lies between the Tigris and the Euphrates.
29 22 traçant ... sillons glorieux: 'leaving, as it were, glorious furrows in their wake.' Note the force of comme; cf. 31 19, 34 9.
29 25 laissant voir: 'permitting to be seen'; cf. note to 7 25.
30 3 il se fit: cf. note to 5 23.
30 12 avait cru de son devoir ... de: 'had thought it his duty ... to.'
30 14 en toile blanche: en is used to denote the material of which a thing is made. De also may be used: une table d'acajou, but we find des commodes en acajou 82 7; cf. un sac de cuir 51 4, une serviette en cuir 71 14.
30 16 chechia: the cap worn by the natives of Algeria; as used by the Algerian sharpshooters of the French army it is somewhat like a fez (note to 33 25), but less close.
30 17 d'une longueur: for the suppression cf. note to 15 21.
30 22 venaient là bien à propos: 'came in quite opportunely.'
30 26 à quoi s'en tenir sur: 'what to expect from ' En is redundant.
30 29 son ... chez lui: 'his ... home'; mon chez moi = 'my home.'
30 30 ne se voyait pas: 'was not seen,' ' did not appear', cf. note to 5 23.
31 5 vieil Africain de 1830: 'African veteran of 30', cf. note to 40 17.
31 6 lui serra la main: cf. note to 12 25.
31 7 express Paris-Marseille: 'express from Paris to Marseilles.'
31 9 fit fermer les grilles: cf. note to 7 25.
31 13 On s'inscrivait: inscrire = 'to inscribe,' 'to enter,' as on a register; s'inscrire= 'to enter one's name.'
31 15 Socrate: ' Socrates,' famous Athenian philosopher(470-400 B.C.), convicted of impiety and of corrupting the youth, was condemned to drink the poisonous hemlock. He conversed calmly with his friends until the end. See Plato's "Apology," "Crito," and " Phaedo."
31 16 ciguë. the diaeresis is written over the e to show that the u is pronounced, [sigy]; contrast the pronunciation of figue.
31 19 comme: cf. note to 29 22.
31 20 D'entendre: 'as a result of hearing,' 'on hearing.'
31 23 hommes d'équipe: 'station hands' An équipe is a gang of men engaged on a particular piece of work.
31 25 cloche: the large bell which announced the approach of the train. On words for 'bell' cf. note to 29 10.
31 31 monta dans un wagon: 'got into a car' Monter is always followed by dans when used in this sense, cf. entrer dans une maison 'to enter a house' cf. note to 94 9.
31 32 pensèrent mourir = faillirent mourir (cf. 15 13): 'almost died.'
32 1 1er =premier.--par: cf. note to 10 22.
32 3 déboucher: used of rivers ('empty into'), streets ('terminate at'), armies ('debouch'). Here used for comic effect; transl. 'debouch.'--la Canebière: the principal Street of Marseilles, of which the inhabitants are very proud.
32 5 s'il en manque ... des Teurs: des Teurs is anticipated by en; cf. 36 19, 38 32, 69 2.
32 10 le Zouave. the corps of French infantry in Algeria called 'zouaves' was organized in 1831. It was at first composed almost entirely of natives (hence the well-known costume which is still worn), but is now made up exclusively of Frenchmen.--devait: cf. note to 18 2.
32 14 pour la première fois: cf. 13 26-27.
32 16 Sinbad le Marin 'Sindbad the Sailor,' the hero of a well-known series of stories in the "Arabian Nights" (Mille et une nuits)
32 17 comme il y en a: 'such as there are', cf.49 8.
32 19 à perte de vue: 'as far as the eye could reach'.
32 21 tunisiens: Tunis was independent when "Tartarin" was written, and has the flag of an independent state to this day. Note that this fragmentary list names only the flags less often seen.
32 22 arrivant sur: 'projecting over'.
32 23 Au-dessous (adv, cf.1 6) les naïades ... saintes vierges: just below the bowsprit is a figure head representing the naïad (water nymph), the goddess, or the madonna, whose name is inscribed on both sides of the bow. Les saintes vierges are images of the Virgin, which are particularized by specific attitudes, attributes, or localities Read "La Diligence de Beaucaire," in " Lettres de mon moulin".
32 29 mousses: le mousse='cabin boy,' la mousse='moss,' 'foam'
33 2 tout un peuple: cf. note to 28 18.
33 4 bogheys: borrowed from the English 'buggy' Paquebot (32 10) is from Engl. 'packet-boat,' and redingote (34 6) is from Engl 'riding coat'
33 8 bric-à-brac: this word means 'bric-a-brac' (odds and ends), 'a dealer in bric-a-brac,' or his store, 'curiosity shop,' as here.
33 9 coulevrines: 'culverins,' an obsolete form of cannon.
33 11 Jean Bart (1651-1702): a famous sailor and privateer, of low birth, ennobled by Louis XIV. Duguay-Trouin (1673-1736) privateer and naval commander.
33 18 saumons: 'salmon' (fish), in metallurgy 'pigs' (here, of lead) A pig is an oblong mass of cast metal, especially iron or lead.
33 19 caroubes: 'carob beans,' the sweet pulpy pods, dried, of the caroubier (76 24), a tree of the countries bordering the Medditerranean, the "husks" of Luke xv, 16, and sometimes sold as a dainty at American fruit stands--colzas colza, or rape, is a sort of turnip with no thick root, raised for the oil of its seeds and for pasturage.
33 20 de Hollande: 'Dutch' The hard Edam cheese, made in globular molds and dyed red on the outside, is familiar to Americans.
33 21 Génoises: women of Genoa (Gênes], seaport in northern Italy.
33 25 fez: 'fez', named from the city of Fez in Morocco, where it is made a felt or cloth cap, dark red, with a tassel--a mesure: 'in proportion) as it fell ', cf. note to 58 18.
33 27 de femmes et d'enfants: they followed to pick up (glean, glaner) what fell from the carts--balayette dimmutive of balai cf. colline, collinette 4 11, garçon, garçonnet 25 2, seul,seulet 63 18, seulette.
33 28 bassin de carénage: 'dry dock' Carénage 'careenage' = a place for, or the act of, careening a ship for the purpose of examining or repairng its hull or keel (carène).
34 3 Malte: 'Malta,' an island in the Mediterranean, between Sicily and Africa, which has belonged to England since 1814.
34 9 comme en l'air: 'as if they were sailing in the air', cf. note to 29 22.
34 12 fort Saint-Jean, fort Saint-Nicolas: the two forts which guard the entrance to the harbor of Marseilles.
34 13 la Major: the old cathedral of Marseilles (Sainte Marie Majeure}.--Accoules, Saint-Victor: old churches in Marseilles.
34 14 mistral: (Latin magistralis 'masterly') 'mistral,' a violent north-west wind which sweeps down the Rhône valley.
35 12 golfe du Lion: 'Gulf of the Lion,' off southern France.
36 10 comme ... voulu: en vouloir à quelqu'un means 'to bear a grudge against a person.' Il en veut à Jean = 'he bears a grudge against John.' Here 'how angry they would have been with themselves!' 'how they would have reproached themselves!'
36 13 courage: 'energy.' The word courage (ordinarily = English 'courage') is often so used. Je n'ai pas le courage de travailler aujourd'hui 'I haven't the energy to work (do not feel like working) to day.' Cf. 50 1.
36 16 ne cessait: pas is often omitted with savoir, pouvoir, cesser, oser, bouger, cf. 18 32, 86 3.
36 18 Imbécile, va!: 'what a fool you are!' Va! allez! and allons! (imperatives of aller) are common exclamations, the sense varies with the context. For allons! cf. 56 1--Je te l'avais bien dit 'I told you so.'
36 19 Eh bien ... l'Afrique!: 'well now, here's your Africa!' On té see note to 13 7. La anticipates l'Afrique, cf. 32 5.
36 25 Alcazar: a music-hall. Alcazar means in Arabic 'the palace.'
36 27 la Mecque: 'Mecca,' in Arabia, the birthplace of Mohammed; the Holy City to which every good Mohammedan goes in pilgrimage at least once.
36 28 Ravel, Gil Pérès: popular comedians in Paris at the time Daudet was writing.
36 30 un bon gros vivant de Marseillais: a bon vivant is 'a man who lives well,' 'a jolly fellow' On de see note to 1 12.
37 3 il se fit: cf. note to 5 23.
37 7 Machine en avant! machine en arrière! 'Go ahead! back her!' Machine = 'engine'.
37 9 Machine, stop! 'stop her!' 'The verb stopper (borrowed from English stop) is regularly used of engines. Stop in machine, stop! is an imperative taken directly from the English.
37 10 plus rien: cf. notes to 13 1 and 4 23--Rien que: cf. 1 17.
37 19 Alger la blanche: 'Algiers,' capital of Algeria, about 500 miles from Marseilles. For the epithet blanche, see next note.
37 22 Meudon: a town on the Seine between Paris and Versailles. The white houses of Algiers sloping towards the sea look like the washing of a laundress spread out on the grassy hill which at Meudon descends to the Seine. Étalage means a 'spreading out,' as of things for sale; then, by extension, the objects displayed. Cf. note to 69 15.
37 26 à ses côtés: 'at his (Tartarin's) side'; note the plural côtés; cf. aux flancs du paquebot 93 19.
37 27 Casbah: the citadel, 400 feet above the sea, crowning the hill on which the Moorish quarter (la ville haute 'the Upper City') is built--la rue Bab-Azoun: lower down, parallel to the shore, the most important street in Algiers.
38 18 Qués aco? Provençal for qu'est ce que c'est que cela? 'what's that?'--qu'est-ce que vous avez?' 'what's the matter with you?'
38 21 pourquoi faire? 'why?' 'what for?' cf. 49 1.--boun Diou: Provençal for bon Dieu.
38 31 tron de ler: more properly tron de l'er, a Provençal oath = tonnerre de l'air, 'thunder of the air!' A Provençal newspaper with the name Lou Tron de l'Er appeared in Marseilles in 1877-1878.
38 32 longtemps: cf. note to 40 17.--en: anticipates des pirates; cf. note to 32 5.
39 4 un brave garçon: cf. note to 3 12.
39 8 tire-vieille: 'man-rope,' one of the side ropes on the gangway of a ship. Tire-vieille (tirer + vieille,' that which helps old women to mount') is often misspelled tire-veille (tirer + veille, 'pull and take care').
39 17 tourmentait: 'tormented,' 'twisted and turned.'
39 20 sous le bâton de: 'under the cudgel used upon.'
39 23 barbaresque: 'Barbary.' La Barbarie ('Barbary') = États barbaresques is a general term formerly applied to the North African states: Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli.
39 24 Michel Cervantes: in 1575 Cervantes was captured by Barbary pirates and carried to Algiers. His five years of slavery afforded him materials for "Don Quixote" and other works; cf. note to 10 13.
39 26 devait: cf. note to 18 2.
40 1 Saavedra: upon his return from Algiers in 1580 Cervantes assumed the additional surname of Saavedra from one of his ancestors, always signing himself thenceforth Cervantes Saavedra.
40 4 dut tressaillir: 'must have leaped', cf. note to 2 10.
40 14 à peine Tartarin eut-il mis: cf. note to 5 32.
40 17 Arabes ... M'zabites: the aborigines of Algeria, three quarters of the population even now, are the Berber race, including the Kabyles (19 14) in the north, the Mzabites, purest Berbers of all, in the south, and the marauding Tuaregs (11 6) in the Sahara. The Mzabites, the heretical Puritans of Algerian Mohammedanism, are seen everywhere as honest petty traders and workers in street industries. The Arab conquest about 700 A.D. made Arabic the dominant language of all North Africa to this day--an important fact to remember--and introduced the Arabs as a permanent population along the north edge of the Sahara. The conquest by Turkish pirates about 1500 A.D., with subordination to the Sultan of Turkey till 1669, brought in very few Turks; the pirates were a mixture of various Mohammedan nations with renegades from the Christian nations. The "Moors" of to-day in Algeria are their descendants; the ancient Moors were Berbers. During the centuries of pirate rule, and earlier, negroes were brought in as slaves; Mohammedan custom favored setting them free in a few years if they became Mohammedans. The overthrow of the pirates by the French in 1830, and the French conquest during the next thirty years, caused most of the few Turks to leave the country, and started an influx of Europeans from the Mediterranean countries; Daudet notices especially the Minorcans (Mahonnais from the city of Port Mahon).
40 22 charabia: borrowed from the Spanish algarabía, which means properly 'Arabic,' then, by extension, any unintelligible 'jargon.' The French word is usually applied contemptuously to the dialect of Auvergne (cf. note to 27 14).
40 23 invraisemblables: lit. 'unlike the truth,' 'improbable', then 'strange,' 'outlandish', of German unwahrscheinlich.
40 26 se faire comprendre: cf. note to 7 25.--barbares: 'barbarians,' the word used by Greeks and Romans to designate uncivilized peoples. Not to be confused with barbaresque.
40 28 du latin de Pourceaugnac: 'Pourceaugnac Latin,' meaningless Latin such as that which Molière introduces into some of his plays. "Monsieur de Pourceaugnac" is the name of one of Molière's farces, and there is some Latin in it; but Daudet probably had in mind "Le Médecin malgré lui," II, 6. He uses the name Pourceaugnac here because he likes the sound. Rosa, rosae, is the type-noun of the first declension in French grammars of to-day, where we have ordinarily mensa or stella. In Molière's time, as suggested by the passage of "Le Médecin malgré lui" referred to, musa, musae, was the noun commonly used.
41 2 Heureusement qu': que is redundant, cf. 58 23.
41 3 canne de compagnon: 'stout cane.' When the young artisan (compagnon) set out on his travels (tour de France) to learn his trade, he carried a stout cane which is one of the principal attributes of compagnonnage.
41 4 dieu d'Homère: in the " Iliad" and the "Odyssey" the gods often intervene in the affairs of men.
41 11 tenant le milieu entre: 'a cross between.'
41 12 Zanzibar: capital, since 1832, of the Mohammedan power in East Africa, and place of entry for travelers to Central Africa in the middle of the nineteenth century; hence here representing the idea of an African capital, as Constantinople that of a Turkish capital.
41 13 en plein Tarascon: cf. note to 5 7.
41 15 la ligne: in the French and English armies the term la ligne, 'the line,' is applied ordinarily to the infantry of the regular army as opposed to the militia, cavalry, artillery, etc. In America the line includes all that part of the regular army whose business is actual fighting.--Offenbach: Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), born at Cologne, a naturalized Frenchman, composer of light operas.
41 24 Crusoé: the final e of English proper names terminating in -oe is ordinarily pronounced in French; cf. Edgard Poé or Poë.
41 28 monter: the active use of this verb, 'carry up', cf. promener 74 26.
42 1 Gouvernement: the building in which are the offices of the provincial government. Cf. 70 8.
42 4 en avait vu de rudes: 'had had a hard time of it', with rudes supply some such noun as choses, anticipated by en; cf. note to 32 5.
42 14 il se fit servir: cf. note to 7 25.--grande ouverte: 'wide open'; cf. 51 7.
42 15 Crescia: a wine-producing district near Algiers.
42 22 fréter: 'to charter,' a nautical term used here mock-heroically.
42 26 montait d'un bon pied: note the de with expressions of measure, haute de cinq doigts (71 14) 'five fingers high,' il est plus grand (plus âgé) de deux pouces (deux ans) 'he is two inches (two years) taller (older)'; cf. 95 8.
42 28 enfila: enfiler = 'to thread (a needle, pearls, etc.)', then, 'to thread (one's way through arcades, crowded streets, etc).'
43 2 prit le faubourg: 'took the street which leads through the suburb.' Faubourg meant originally the portion of a city outside the walled town (bourg); then also the street leading through this district. Cf. note to 49 7.--route de Mustapha: 'Mustapha road', cf. note to 1 5. Mustapha is a suburb of Algiers, on the sea.
43 4 corricolos: corricolo is the Neapolitan word (Latin 'curriculum, 'chariot'; see curricle in Engl. dict.) for a sort of gig.--fourgons du train: 'army wagons', train = train des équipages, 'the train,' an army's equipment for the transportation of provisions and other necessities.
43 5 chasseurs d'Afrique: French light cavalry serving in Algeria; transl. 'Africa cavalry.'
43 7 Alsaciens émigrants: 'emigrating Alsatians'; contrast émigrés alsaciens 'Alsatian emigrants.' After the Franco-Prussian war (1870-871), as a result of which Alsace became a German province, many Alsatians emigrated rather than submit to German domination. In 1871 about 11,000 natives of Alsace-Lorraine were granted land in Algeria. Daudet visited Algeria in 1861, before the Alsatians immigrated in large numbers.
43 8 spahis: 'spahis,' native cavalry in the French service, commanded by French officers.
43 12-13 bouchers: 'butchers.'--équarrisseurs: 'slaughterers.' Équarisseur, probably because of a falsely imputed connection with Latin equus, is ordinarily used to mean 'horse slaughterer,' 'knacker.' The root of the word is, however, Latin quadratus, French carré, and an équarisseur is properly 'one who cuts a beast into quarters,' one whose chief interest is in the by-products--hide, bones, fat, etc.
43 20 ne devaient pas être: 'ought not to be,' 'surely were not,' 'could not be', see note to 2 10.
43 29 crut devoir: 'thought he had better'; see note to 2 10.
43 31 Et autrement: cf. note to 21 10.
44 1 Vous avez tué? ... voyez plutôt: 'killed any? Oh, yes--some--just take a look for yourself.' With pas mal 'not badly' cf. j'ai tué pas mal de bécasses 'I killed quite a number of woodcocks.'
44 7 c'est des tout petits: popular for ce sont, cf. 90 26.
44 11 en resta planté: 'stood rooted (to the spot)', cf. note to 12 31 En = de cela, 'at all this', cf. note to 8 19.
44 15 se faisaient: 'were becoming', cf. note to 5 23.
44 28 Sous ... étoiles: 'in the dim starlight'--leur ombre cf. note to 29 11.
45 8 en 1ui tirant la patte: en tirant la patte au chevreau, cf. lui faisant battre le coeur 53 16.
45 13 que le lion l'entendît: colloquial omission of ne, which is regularly used with verbs of fearing, avoiding, etc, eg j'ai peur qu'il ne vienne 'I fear that he may come.'
45 15 de plus belle: cf. note to 8 18.
45 19 Cela se baissait ... s'arrêtait net: an admirable description
45 21 a n'en pas douter: 'no doubt of it!' cf. note to 2 2.
45 24 En joue! feu!: 'aim! fire!' Mettre (coucher) en joue un fusil = 'to aim a gun' Mettre (coucher) en joue quelque chose = 'to aim at a thing.'
45 29 Il en a! 'he has (caught) it!' 'he's hit!' LIT. 'he has some.'
45 30 en avait ... compte: 'had more than it wanted.'
46 7 venir a bout de: 'come to (the) end of' 'succeed'.
46 8 Il eut beau s'escrimer: on avoir beau cf. note to 11 9. Escrimer = 'to fence,' s'escrimer = 'to exert oneself.'
46 9 ne s'ouvrit pas: cf. note to 5 23.
46 11 De guerre lasse: for de guerre las 'tired of struggling.' Final s was pronounced in Old French, after it was no longer pronounced in most words it still continued to be sounded in las in the expression de guerre las because of the presence of the feminine guerre whence the erroneous spelling lasse.
46 12 dessus: adverb, cf. note to 1 6.
46 19 artichauts: the true or globe artichoke (not to be confounded with the Jerusalem artichoke) resembles a large thistle, and hence is well adapted to give the impression described in 44 26-27.
46 24 bastides, bastidons: Provençal bastido = 'country house,' 'villa', Provençal bastidoun is the diminutive, = 'little villa,' 'cottage.'
47 6 parbleu! euphemistic for pardieu, transl. 'of course!'
47 8 bourriquots: cf. Engl. burro, which is borrowed from the Spanish French bourrique 'she ass' comes from the Provençal bourric 'donkey' (Latin burricus a kind of small horse.)
47 11 tout à la pitié: 'entirely one of pity', cf. 79 30.
47 16 tout ce que ... touchant: 'the most touching thing you could imagine.'
47 18 avait ... vie: 'had two farthings' worth of life left in him', liard, an ancient coin worth a quarter of a sou (i.e. of a cent), is usually translated 'farthing.'
47 23 Noiraud: 'Blacky,' a pet name often given to animals.
47 28 en marmotte: 'with a kerchief tied over her head.' This use of the word marmotte is derived from the fact that Savoyard women who formerly traveled about the country with marmots (cf. note to 74 27) employed this form of head covering.
48 1 réclamant ... Mustapha: 'shouting for her donkey till all the echos of Mustapha rang.' Réclamer à = 'to demand from.'
48 6 tarterfle: corruption of German der Teufel 'the devil.' German was the language generally used by the Alsatian peasants before the war, though their sympathies were French (cf. note to 43 7) See "La Dernière Classe" and some of the other stories in "Contes du lundi."
48 11 Va te promener! lit. 'go take a walk!' transl. 'much good it did him!'--sa vigueur le prouvait bien 'her vigor proved it (that she was deaf) conclusively.' 'To strike like a deaf person,' frapper comme un sourd, is said of one who uses the cudgel energetically and wildly, as if he did not hear the laments of his victim.
48 17 l'on s'entendit: cf. note to 16 29.
48 21 douros: say 'dollars' or 'cash.' A duro is a Spanish coin whose par value is now five francs, before 1871, a trifle more.
48 26 a deux lieues: cf. note to 4 8.
49 1 Ah! ben! merci: 'ah, indeed! no, thank you!' Ben (pronounced like bain) is popular for bien Merci in answer to a question (e.g. "will you have some more meat?") means "no, thank you!" Contrast English 'thank you,' which usually expresses assent--pourquoi faire? cf. note to 38 21.
49 7 banlieue: distinguish banlieue, 'suburbs' in the sense now usual, the district of country surrounding a city and full of dependent villages, from faubourgs, 'suburbs' in the older sense, forming a continuous mass of houses with the main city, and un village (or une ville) de (la) banlieue from un faubourg. Cf. note to 43 2.
49 8 comme on en voit: cf. note to 32 17--rameau: a branch hung out was used formerly and is still used to a certain extent as the sign of a country inn, of the English proverb "good wine needs no bush."
49 11 Au Rendez-vous des lapins: 'The Rabbits' Headquarters.' The original expression à l'enseigne de, 'at the sign of,' became by ellipsis a plus the article, which takes the gender and number of the noun following e.g. à la Belle jardinière, aux Armes de France.
49 12 O Bravida, quel souvenir! cf. 9 7.
49 13 de quoi: cf. note to 10 7.
49 14 ne se laissent pas abattre: cf. note to 7 25.
49 24 il faisait un soleil, une poussière: faire may be used in almost any expression concerning the weather; faire chaud, du soleil, du vent, de la poussière, etc. Here, 'it was so terribly hot, so dusty.'
49 25 d'un lourd: 'frightfully heavy', adjective used as an abstract noun, of such English usages as 'of a decided red.' On the suppression cf. note to 15 21.
50 7 fusils rayés à doubles canons: cf. note to 14 32. To rifle (rayer) a gun is to cut spiral grooves in the barrel.
50 8 complet: French law requires that only a certain number of passengers be carried on omnibuses. When this number is reached the omnibus is said to be complet, 'filled.'
50 14 Abd-el-Kader: the great leader of Algerian resistance to the French conquest. He surrendered in 1847, was carried to France as a prisoner by a breach of faith, was released in 1852 on his oath to make no more trouble, went to Damascus and lived there till his death in 1883, using his influence in favor of the French. (Note that he was alive when "Tartarin" was published.)
50 19 de toute la route: 'during the whole ride,' 'all the way.'
50 21 k'hol: 'kohl,' a powder used in the Orient from ancient times, particularly to darken the eyes, thus making them seem larger and more oblong.
50 32 Que faire? 'what was he to do?'
51 3 aux mains des: 'into the hands of the.'
51 7 s'ouvraient tout grands: 'opened wide', cf. 42 14.
51 10 à l'entrée de: 'at the beginning of.'
51 14 en se levant: 'as she rose.'
51 15 qu'il l'effleura de son haleine: lit. 'that it (le visage) touched him lightly with its breath', transl. 'that he felt her breath sweep lightly over him.'
51 17 prêt à tout: 'ready for anything.'
51 18 buffleteries: 'belts' (of a soldier's outfit), 'strappings.' Buffle, masculine, = 'buffalo' or 'buff leather.'
51 20 de: 'with', jeter de = 'to throw with', cf. 69 10.
51 28 De quelques jours encore: 'for a few days yet.'
52 7 pied de trappeur: transl. 'hunting boot.'
52 8 se parfume: cf. note to 5 23.
52 9 quoi qu'il fasse: 'whatever he does,' i.e. despite all his efforts.
52 10 Maugrabine: 'Maghrebi girl' Maghreb is the Arabic name of the western part of the north coast of Africa.
52 13 il n'y a qu'un Tarasconnais ... capable: lit. 'there is only a Tarasconian capable', transl. 'only a Tarasconian would be capable.'
52 17 se ressemblent: 'look alike', cf. note to 7 2 --ces dames: cf. note to 16 13--ne sortent guère: 'rarely leave their homes', sortir = 'to go out,' 'to leave the house.'
52 18 ville haute: cf. note to 37 27.
52 25 Teurs ... forbans: 'fierce Turks with pirate like heads', cf. note to 1 5.
52 29 cité: 'city.' This term, in English as well as in French, is applied in some cases to the oldest portion of a city, e.g. 'the City' of London, 'the City' of Paris.
53 3 janissaires: 'janizaries,' the standing army of Turkey till 1826; a corps of most turbulent history, full of lawless arrogance toward civilians and Christians. The janizaries of Algiers became independent in 1669, and dominated the pirate commonwealth.
53 5 Huit jours durant: 'for a whole week.' Durant, 'during,' is emphatic when it follows its noun, cf. 61 7.
53 6 faire le pied de grue: 'stand and wait,' lit. to stand like a crane (i.e. on one foot.)
53 7 ces dames: cf. note to 16 13.
53 9 quitter ... bottes: shoes must be taken off (which is easy with Oriental shoes) before one enters a Mohammedan sacred place. Cf. Exodus III, 5.
53 11 s'en revenait: Cf. s'en aller 17 4, s'en retourner 2 8.
53 15 tambours de basque: 'tambourines,' called 'Biscayan drums' because generally seen in the northern (Biscayan, Basque) provinces of Spain.
53 19 poterne: 'postern,' a back door, and then, by extension, any small door.
53 23 Tenons-nous bien: a phrase of warning to be on guard and ready, transl. 'ware Turks!'--Il: cf. note to 4 23.
54 1 Il y avait ... cherchait: 'for two long weeks the luckless Tartarin had been seeking.'
54 4 Voici: 'here is (how it happened).'
54 6 ni plus ni moins que l'Opéra: 'just as the Opera does.' The Opéra is the famous Opera House in Paris, where a great masked ball is given every year.
54 7 de province: 'provincial' All France outside of Paris is disdainfully designated by Parisians as la province. With province do not confuse Provence (cf. note to 13 27)--Peu de monde: 'few people.'
54 8 Bullier ... Casino: Parisian dance-halls--vierges folles: 'frail sisters.' In the French version of the parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew xxv, 1-12) the foolish virgins are called vierges folles.
54 9 chicards: 'dandies'--debardeurs: men who unload wood, 'stevedores.' Conventionalized dandy and stevedore costumes were made popular as early as the thirties by the clever cartoonist Gavarni and were seen at all masked balls. The reference here is to frequenters of Parisian masked balls who have found it advisable to leave France (en déroute) and have carried their costumes with them.
54 10 se lancent: 'are launching out,' = 'are getting started,' i.e. in a disreputable life.
54 12 Le vrai coup d'oeil: 'the real spectacle', coup d'oeil = 'glance,' and hence 'view' such as may be taken in all at once.
54 15 tapis verts: the green coverings of the gaming tables--turcos: 'Turcos,' native soldiers of the French army in Algeria.
54 16 prêt: 'pay' of non commissioned officers and soldiers, called prêt (cf. prêter 'to lend') because advanced to them before it is due.
54 18 l'argent d'une charrue: 'the price of a plow.'
54 29 la barbe de Père éternel: le Père éternel is, of course, God. The Middle Ages and the Renaissance did not scruple to represent him in sculpture and painting. Transl. 'with a long white beard.'
55 7 la garde qui monte: 'the guard coming up.' Note that a French relative clause is often to be rendered by a present participle in English e g, je l'entends qui frappe 'I hear him knocking.' Cf. 6 10, 64 18, 68 9.
55 8 ces saturnales: 'this saturnalia' The Roman festival of Saturn was a penod of riotous license--était venu s'égarer: 'had come straying', cf. 93 19.
55 10 s'en allait: for allait, cf. note to 17 4.
55 13 M'sieu: indicates by the spelling the usual pronunciation of Monsieur.
55 15 Après? 'Well, what have you to say?'
55 17 Je ne demande pas mieux: 'I don't ask (anything) better,' 'that's exactly what I should like to know.'
55 25 algarade: a word borrowed from the Spanish, the root being Arabic. It was originally a military expression meaning a raid, but now is used more or less jocularly for a wordy attack. Transl. 'dispute.'
55 26 Me voilà bien avancé: 'I'm much farther along,' 'I'm much the wiser' (sarcastically).
55 28 ça: = cela, 'that,' 'the thing Gregory du Montenegro,' contemptuous when used of persons, cf. 69 32.
55 30 préince: Tartarin's Southern pronunciation of prince.
56 1 Allons! 'well!' cf. note to 36 18--Partagez-vous... question: the officer in disgust bids the prince and Tartarin to divide between them the twenty francs that are missing and let the matter drop.
56 2 qu'il n'en soit plus question: 'let's have no more talk about it', cf. note to 4 23.
56 6 j'en fais mon affaire: 'I'll attend to this.'
56 12 Barbarin: when this work first appeared in serial form Tartarin was called "Barbarin." The name was changed when Daudet discovered that a family named Barbarin was living at Tarascon. See Introduction. The word tartarin means the sacred or Arabian baboon.
56 13 souffla: 'prompted.' Souffler, 'to blow,' 'to breathe,' in theatrical parlance means 'to prompt.' Le souffleur is 'the prompter.'
56 14 Entre ... mort: 'between us now it's a compact for life and death!'
56 17 Vous pensez: cf. note to 4 6.
56 21 terrasses: cf. note to 64 2.
56 22 salade russe: 'Russian salad,' a heavy fish and vegetable salad.
56 25 frisé au petit fer: 'with finely curled hair.' Friser au fer = 'to curl with an iron.'
56 26 rasé à la pierre ponce: 'very closely shaven.' Pumice stone has from ancient times been used by the effeminate for smoothing the skin.
56 27 lui donnait un faux air de: 'made him look like', lit. 'gave him a false air of.'
56 28 Mazarin: Giulio Mazarini (1602-1661), an Italian who became cardinal, and prime minister under Louis XIII and Louis XIV, talked French with an Italian accent. He wore the mustache and slight beard usual at that period.
56 29 les langues latines: pompously for la langue latine--à tout propos: 'apropos of everything,' 'at every opportunity'--Tacite: 'Tacitus' (54-140 A.D.), the famous latin historian.
56 30 Horace (64-8 B.C.) the Latin lyric poet--Commentaires: the histories of the wars of Julius Caesar written by himself, with supplements by his officers, bear the Latin title Commentarii, i.e. 'Notebooks.'
56 31 héréditaire: transl. 'noble.'
56 32 depuis: adverb, 'since then', cf. note to 1 6.
56 33 en Altesse philosophe: 'in the role of philosophizing noble'; cf. note to 5 20.
57 7 bon: 'good natured,' 'kindly,' not 'good.'
57 11 On but sec: 'they drank hard.' Boire sec means to drink pure wine, without the usual admixture of water.
57 12 au Monténégro libre: Montenegrin independence was frequently menaced by Turkey during the nineteenth century. In 1862, as a result of a short but disastrous war, Montenegro had been forced to sign a humiliating treaty of peace in which she virtually acknowledged the suzerainty of Turkey. Daudet was in Africa in 1861-1862, gathering materials out of which "Tartarin" grew. It is possible that he met there the prototype of Gregory brooding over the disgrace of his country, or, at least, pretending to do so. However, the character of the prince and the information given in 56 31 ff lead us to suppose that in Gregory's mind "a free Montenegro" means a Montenegro free from the existing constitutional authorities, rather than free from Turkish domination.
57 14 qu'on secoue: 'being shaken,' cf. note to 55 7.
57 18 Parlez-moi des: 'just trust'--lever ... la caille. 'start the game.' The usual expression is lever le lièvre 'to start the hare,' 'to uncover something hidden.' A loose woman is sometimes called caille ('quail'), caille coiffée, hence the substitution of caille for lièvre.
57 20 aux Platanes: = au restaurant des Platanes, cf. 56 20.
58 4 Bon! 'that's nothing!'--vous n'êtes pas homme: 'you are not the sort of man.'
58 5 on ... à bout de: 'we'll perhaps be able to dispose of', cf. note to 46 7.
58 6 lui achetant: cf. note to 5 27--Allons: 'come now!' cf. notes to 36 18, 56 1.
58 12 Écrire ... simplement: 'just write to the lady.'
58 18 à mesure: 'as you go along', cf. note to 33 25.
58 19 que de bontés: lit. 'how many kindnesses!' transl. 'how good you are!' Cf. note to 10 24.
58 23 Fort heureusement que: cf. note to 41 2.
58 26 Lamartine (Alphonse, 1790 1869) famous French poet, prose writer, and statesman. His "Voyage en Orient" is the record of his travels in 1832-1833.
58 27 Cantique des Cantiques: the 'Song of Songs,' or 'Song of Solomon,' full of the Oriental phraseology of passion.
58 28 qu'il se pût voir: (= pût se voir) 'that could be seen,' 'that ever was seen', cf. notes to 4 23 (il impersonal), 5 23 (se voir, reflexive with passive force).
59 7 Allons: plain imperative, not the exclamation cf. 58 6.
59 15 l'espérer: for this le cf. note to 25 18.
59 16 du reste: 'besides.'
59 29 casse-tête à pointes: 'war club with spikes', cf. note to 2 20.
59 32 le haut de la ville: = la ville haute (37 27).
60 5 cour intérieure: Oriental houses are built in the form of a hollow square, the house surrounding the courtyard on all sides.
60 9 ne fit que traverser: 'did no more than pass through,' 'merely passed through.'
60 13 sous les ramages ... fleurs: 'under the figures of her flowered dress'--laissant deviner: cf. note to 7 23.
60 14 friande à point: 'dainty to the point of perfection.'
60 15 ronde de partout: 'round all over'--narghile: 'nargile,' a Turkish pipe in which the smoke is drawn through water, a hookah.
60 16 toute: 'entirely.'
60 chapter heading Sidi: among the Mohammedans a title of respect, when addressed to a foreigner, about equivalent to Mr--ben: Arabic, 'son of' 'Tartarin son of Tartarin.'
60 24 à la veillée: 'at the gossiping hour' Veillée = a sitting up at night for work or pleasure, especially to tell stories.
60 28 voici ... déjà: 'already several years ago,' 'several years have already passed since then.'
60 29 dame du cru: 'native girl', cf. note to 26 6.
61 2 n'est autre que: 'is no other than.'
61 4 Qu'est-ce que vous voulez: 'what can you expect?' lit. 'what do you wish?' Cf. 75 18.
61 7 durant: cf. note to 53 5.
61 9 Annibal à Capoue: 'Hannibal at Capua.' After the battle of Cannae (216 B.C.) in which the Roman army was overwhelmed, Hannibal, the Carthaginian general, instead of following up his success, retired for the winter into Capua, where his army was demoralized by the enervating influences of the luxury loving city. Livy makes this to have been the cause of Hannibal's failure--a view now generally discredited.
61 15 confitures au musc: 'preserves perfumed with musk.'
61 19 se faisait des mines: 'made grimaces to herself.'
61 23 avait tout le temps de: 'had plenty of time to.'
62 2 la ville européenne: the part of the city inhabited by Europeans, as distinguished from la ville haute 37 27, the Moorish quarter.
62 9 on ne peut plus satisfait: 'perfectly satisfied', lit. 'one cannot (be) more satisfied.'
62 12 il suffisait d'un regard: 'a glance was enough', cf. il suffit d'un képi (77 15) 'a military cap is enough.'
62 14 Circe. 'Circe,' the enchantress, who by means of a potion transformed the companions of Ulysses into swine (Odyssey x).
62 21 se trouvaient être: 'proved to be', cf. note to 13 22.
62 24 tous: pronoun, for pronunciation cf. note to 20 13.
62 26 lui gagnaient son argent: 'won his money from him.'
62 29 le Prophète: Mohammed It is common in European literature to represent Mohammedans as paying to Mohammed the same sort of worship as Catholics pay to the highest saints. Cf. note to 83 8.
62 31 leur ... et: 'their white housetop which', lit. 'their terrace ... which acted as roof to the house and' Terrasse is any artificial level place for spending time outdoors, whether a terrace or a flat roof such as characterizes Oriental architecture, cf. the less familiar meanings of terrace in English.
63 1 en s'échelonnant: 'in tiers', cf. 4 13.
63 4 s'égrenait ... ciel: 'was diffused gently note by note through the sky.' Égrener = 'to strip' grain from the head, grapes from the bunch--minaret: the tower of a mosque. See next note.
63 5 muezzin: an officer of a Mohammedan mosque who calls the faithful to prayer by crying from the top of the minaret. Since the minaret is high and from the top the muezzin has a view of the roofs of the houses where the Mohammedan women spend a great deal of the time, blind men are sought for this office--découpant ... dans: 'his white shadow standing out against.'
63 6 chantant la gloire d'Allah: cf. note to 92 1.
63 12 une sainte Thérèse d'Orient: 'an oriental St Theresa' St-Theresa (1515-1582) was one of Spain's greatest mystic poets.
63 chapter heading On ... Tarascon. 'our Tarascon correspondent writes us.'
63 17 Par: cf. note to 10 22.
63 18 tout seulet: 'in solitary ease' Seulet, fem seulette, diminutive of seul (cf. note to 33 27) The masculine is rarely used.
63 19 en spartene: 'of esparto cloth,' woven from esparto, a Spanish grass much used in the manufacture of mats, baskets, hats, ropes, etc.
63 20 cédrats: 'cedrats,' an especially fragrant citron (not melon).
63 21 balin-balan: Provençal, 'swaying.'
63 22 s'en allait: cf. note to 17 4.
63 27 Hé! monstre de sort: cf. note to 1 12--on dirait monsieur Tartarin: transl. 'if that doesn't look like Mr Tartarin!'
64 2 sur la porte de. = sur la terrasse de transl. 'in front of.' Tables are spread on the sidewalk in front of French restaurants and cafes in fine weather.
64 4 He! adieu: cf. note to 13 7.
64 6 le voilà parti à rire: 'he burst out laughing.'
64 9 Qué: Provençal for quel.
64 11 Marco: a Provençal feminine noun, hence o instead of a Marca.
64 15 D'où sortez-vous donc: 'where under the sun do you come from?' (that you are so credulous)./p>
64 18 qui s'allongeait: cf. note to 55 7.
64 21 voyez-vous: 'see here.'
64 24 sa moue: cf. 3 11-14, 39 10.
64 27 faire dire: cf. note to 7 25--au pays: 'at home' Pays = native) 'country,' 'province,' or 'district.' La France (la Provence, Tarascon) est mon pays. Cf. note to 1 16.
64 28 collègue: = Provençal coulego 'colleague,' 'comrade.'
64 30 quelques pipes: 'a few pipefuls'--vous fera du bien: 'will do you good', contrast ferez bien without du, line 22.
65 4 jurons du cru: 'oaths of his native land', cf. note to 26 6.
65 5 là-has: 'over there' in Provence.
65 11 lui sauta aux yeux: cf. note to 12 25.
65 14 n'a ... depuis: 'has not been heard from for', lit. 'has not given of his news since.'
65 15 Qu'est devenu: 'what has become of?' lit. 'what has become?' Cf. note to 93 7.
65 23 Tombouctou: 'Timbuktu,' the most famous city of central Africa, a French possession since 1893, in Tartarin's time only three Europeans had ever reached it, and one of these was killed two days after he left the city.
65 24 garde: subjunctive.
66 6 Le temps d'inspecter ... et l'intrépide: transl. 'only a moment to inspect ... and the bold.'
66 7 écrire deux mots: = écrire un mot 'to write a line.'
66 10 la route de Blidah: 'the Blidah road.' Blidah is a city about twenty five miles southwest of Algiers. On de cf. note to 1 5.
66 12 babouches: Turkish slippers, made of colored leather, without heels--défroque: 'cast offs', properly, the possessions which a monk leaves behind at his death, then, by extension, what is abandoned disdainfully.
66 13 trèfles: 'trefoils,' an ornamental foliation consisting of three divisions, or foils (architectural term).
67 2 gros bleu: = bleu foncé, 'dark blue.'
67 4 moxas: 'blisters.' The word moxa (originally Japanese) in English or French means a wad of cottony substance laid on any part of the body and set on fire for the purpose of counter irritation, its use is now out of date. In French the word may also mean the burn thus produced on the skin.
67 5 rotonde: properly, 'rotunda,' a round building surmounted by a cupola; then, also, the 'back compartment' of a stage coach.
67 7 dut se contenter de: 'had to content himself with'; cf. 80 14, 88 14. See note to 2 10.
67 10 Il y avait de tout un peu: = il y avait un peu de tout. Il y avait de tout has about the same meaning--trappiste: 'Trappist' (monk). The abbey of La Trappe, from which this austere order takes its name, was founded in 1140 in the department of the Orne (northwestern France).
67 12 Orléansville: a city on the Sheliff, a hundred and thirty miles southwest of Algiers.--si charmante ... que fût la compagnie: 'however charming the company was.' Cf. note to 4 6.
67 13 n'était pas en train de: 'was not in the mood for.' Cf. je ne suis pas en train de travailler 'I don't feel like working,' je suis en train de travailler (cf. 18 4) 'I am (busy) working.'
67 15 brassière: the 'arm-strap' of the carriage; more commonly, the strap by which a knapsack or similar article is held.
68 8 les flancs ... qui se plaignaient: cf. note to 55 1.
68 10 vieille fée: read "Les Fées de France" in "Contes du lundi."
68 18 Joncquières (usually spelled Jonquières), Bellegarde: small towns across the river from Tarascon, on the road to Nîmes.
68 19 remis: more colloquial than reconnu.
68 20 du corps que vous avez pris: 'of the flesh you have taken on.'
68 21 coquin de bon sort: cf. note to 1 12.
68 24 Mais enfin: 'But, tell me.'
68 27 gré: a noun, 'liking,' used almost exclusively in prepositional phrases (de bon gré 'willingly,' à son gré 'to his liking,' and the like; cf. malgré) and in savoir gré à quelqu'un 'to be grateful to a person': je lui sais gré de m'avoir aidé. Latin gratum 'that which is pleasing.'
68 31 réactionnaires: 'reactionary.' This word means little to an American, but France has constantly been talking, more or less seriously, of reactions to previously existing states of affairs, as from republic to monarchy.
68 32 à mener: cf. à lire 10 22--une vie de galère: 'the life of (such as one leads on) a galley,' 'a galley-slave's life', cf. note to 1 5.
68 33 chemins de fer algériens: there were no railroads in Algeria when Daudet visited it in 1861, but between this year and 1872, when "Tartarin" appeared, several hundred miles of tracks had been constructed.
69 2 que je le regrette: 'how I long for it.' Regretter = 'to regret,' 'to regret the loss or the absence of' a thing, hence 'to long for' a thing. For the anticipatory le cf. note to 32 5.
69 4 il fallait me voir: cf. note to 24 3.
69 5 vernissées a neuf: 'varnished so that they shone like new.'
69 8 sur l'air de: 'to the tune of.'--Lagadigadeou (pronounce dèou): the refrain of Desanat's version of Tarascon's most popular song may be translated as follows: Lagadigadeou, la Tarasque--La Tarasque du Château--Un air de lagadeou--Qui résonne (resounds) à tout rompre (cf. note to 2 2) avec son tapage. Notre-Dame du Château is a place of pilgrimage near Tarascon. Lagadigadeou is meanmgless. For the Tarasque cf. note to 3 25. For this song as a Provençal carter's song, see F.Gras, "The Terror," ch xxxiii.
69 9 que: cf. note to 5 1.
69 10 jetant d'un tour de bras: 'throwing with a swing'; of à tour de bras 'with all one's might'; cf. note to 51 20.
69 12 allume: exclamation serving to encourage horses: 'quick, now!'
69 15 détaler: the opposite of étaler (cf. note to 37 22), = 'to bring in goods exposed for sale,' 'to shut up shop,' and figuratively, in familiar discourse, 'to dash away,' 'scurry along'; cf. 94 13.--grande route royale: 'king's highway.'
69 17 bornes kilométriques: 'milestones' or rather 'kilometer-stones.' --ses petits tas ... espacés: 'its little heaps of stones at regular intervals'; broken stone for repairing the road.
69 21 maires: 'mayors,' presiding officers of communes (cf. note to 17 14).
69 22 préfet ... evêque: Nîmes is the chief city of the department (cf. note to 17 14) of the Gard, and therefore the seat of the prefect. It is also the seat of a bishop.
69 23 mazet: Provençal diminutive of mas; = 'little country house.'--collégiens: 'schoolboys.' The French collège (also the lycée) carries students from the beginning of their studies through a course which corresponds roughly to that completed in the second year of the American college.
69 24 tout frais rasés du matin: 'all (adverb, = quite) freshly shaved that morning.'
69 25 vous ... casquettes: transl. 'all of you gentlemen, the caphunters.'
69 27 la vôtre: i.e. votre romance, cf. pages 6-7.
69 30 Bédouins: nomadic Arabs in northern Africa and Arabia.
69 32 tout cela: cf. note to 55 28.
69 33 auquel ... rien: cf. je ne comprends rien à tout cela 'I don't understand any of that.'
70 1 On me plaint: 'they begrudge me.'
70 5 brancards: a stage-coach has no shafts. Brancards is used also for the two pieces of wood which connect the fore and after carriages of a vehicle, transl. 'body.' Daudet may mean simply 'pole.'
70 6 tenez! lit. 'hold!' An exclamation whose force varies greatly; transl. here 'just see that!'
70 8 gouvernement: 'seat of government', cf. note to 42 1.
70 9 plus rien: cf. note to 13 1.
70 10 lentisques: 'mastic trees,' small trees growing in the Mediterranean countries, producing a resin which is used in the manufacture of paints.
70 14 champoreau: a warm drink, coffee with a copious admixture of brandy, popular among the Europeans in Africa.
70 21 une cour de caravansérail: cf. note to 1 5. A caravansary is a building for the lodging of caravans. See "Le Caravansérail" in "Contes du lundi."
70 29 kousskouss: (couscous): meat cooked with flour, the national dish of the Arabs according to Daudet, "Paysages gastronomiques" in "Contes du lundi."
71 2 une place de jolie sous-préfecture: 'the square of a pretty little city,' 'the square of a pretty city about the size of a subprefecture'; cf. note to 17 14. For the construction cf. note to 1 5.
71 4 de petits soldats de plomb: 'little lead soldiers', cf. note to 1 5. The men drilling looked like lead soldiers when seen through the vitres dépolies par la buée, on account of their stiffness and the dimness of their outline in the early morning light.
71 7 ne sentait pas encore le lion: 'did not savor of lions yet', cf.cela sent le camphre 'that smells of camphor.'
71 8 Plus au sud: not negative; cf. note to 13 1.
71 13 grosse comme le poing: 'as big as your fist.'
71 14 haute de cinq doigts: cf. notes to 26 5 and 42 23. --serviette: a kind of 'portfolio' widely used in France by public officials, professors, and others, for carrying papers and books.
71 15 notaire: the position of the French notaire is more dignified than that of our 'notary', he performs some of the functions of the American lawyer.
71 20 regardait toujours Tartarin: cf. note to 11 12.
71 21 prit la mouche: transl. 'took offense.' Prendre la mouche = 'to seize the fly,' 'to seize a slight occasion for becoming angry,' 'to become vexed easily.'
71 26 leur gaine: cf. note to 29 11.
72 17 Et toute la diligence de rire: 'and the whole stage coach laughed', cf. the Latin historical infinitive, used in place of the perfect. In French this infinitive is always preceded by de and the clause is almost always introduced by et, là dessus, or a similar word.--trois cheveux de Cadet-Roussel: the popular song called Cadet-Roussel, 'Young Roussel,' was composed on the basis of a local song by a soldier in the Northern Army of the revolutionary forces about 1792. Cadet Roussel has three houses, three coats, three hats, three hairs (two for his face, one for his wig, and when he goes to see his lady he gathers the three into a braid), three dogs, and so on.
72 21 Terrible profession que la vôtre: understand (c'est une) terrible profession que la vôtre (est); cf. note to 21 19.
72 23 Bombonnel (d. 1890): undertook to free North Africa of panthers.
72 27 Té! ... connais: 'what! know him? I should say so!' For té cf. note to 13 7. Pardi is a euphemism (really a dialectal form) for pardieu; cf. parbleu, 47 6.
73 3 Tout juste! 'exactly!' cf. note to 83 5.
73 15 ce qu'il en est: 'how matters stand.' On en cf. note to 8 19.
73 20 Chassaing (Jacques, 1821-1871): hunter of lions and panthers.
73 24 qu'est-ce que c'est donc que ... ? 'what, pray, is ... ?' disdainful; cf. 55 28.
73 27 Milianah: a city in the Zakkar mountains, about seventy-five miles southwest of Algiers. A comparison of the story of Tartarin's adventures at Milianah with the pages on that city in "Lettres de mon moulin" will show how many details have been borrowed from the notes Daudet took down during his stay in Algeria.
73 30 à regarder ... s'il: 'looking (to see) if', cf. note to 10 22.
74 4 loyal: 'honest.'
74 11 A quoi bon ... ? 'what (was) the good of ... ?' Latin cui bono?
74 16 train de derrière: 'hind quarters,' train de devant = 'fore quarters,' of an animal; properly applied only to an animal harnessed to a vehicle.
74 17 Qu'est-ce ... plus? colloquial construction; transl. 'what under the sun (donc) did they mean by telling me there were none left?'
74 26 promenaient: note the active use of this verb, cf. monter 41 28.
Savoyard ... marmotte: the 'marmot' is a rodent inhabiting the Alps, related to the American woodchuck and prairie dog. Savoyards traveling through France with marmots remind one of our Italian organ-grinders with their monkeys. Cf. note to 1 8.
74 28 Le sang ... tour: 'the Tarasconian's blood boiled', lit. 'made only one turn.'
75 2 Au zouge de paix: '(take him) to the justice of the peace' (juge de paix).
75 3 nuit: he was blind.
75 12 Sitôt votre lettre reçue: 'as soon as I received your letter,' = aussitôt que votre lettre fut reçue.
75 14 ventre à terre: 'at full speed'; so fast that the horses' bodies (almost) touched the ground.
75 16 donc: render by emphasis on auxiliary: 'what have you done?'
75 18 Que voulez-vous? cf. note to 61 4.--De voir: cf. note to 31 20.
76 3 Ce qui me va: 'what suits (pleases) me', cf. ça vous va-t-il? (91 3) 'does that suit you?'--en matière de conclusion = en manière de conclusion 'to bring the affair to a conclusion,' 'by way of conclusion.'
76 4 n'en déplaise à mons Bombonnel: 'may it not displease Mr.Bombonnel,' 'with Mr Bombonnel's leave.' Mons (the o is nasalized and the s is pronounced) is used contemptuously for Monsieur.
76 7 battre la plaine: 'beat the plain' (to rouse game); cf. note to 10 5--Chéliff: most important river in Algeria, over 370 miles long.
76 8 Auriez-vous: cf. note to 15 chapter heading.
76 24 tuyas: any trees closely related to the arbor-vitae or American white cedar, here 'sandarac trees.'--caroubiers: cf. note to 33 19.
76 27 Liban: 'Lebanon,' in Syria, formerly famous for its cedar forests with their far-reaching odors and its many streams, see the Song of Solomon, iv, 8, 11, 15.
77 1 brodées au fil d'argent: 'embroidered with silver thread.'
77 2 un faux air de: cf. note to 56 27.
77 12 tout son monde: 'all its servants'; cf. note to 54 7.
77 14 pas n'est besoin: for il n'est pas besoin 'there is no need.'
77 15 Il suffit d'un képi: cf. note to 62 12.
77 17 la toque de Gessler: 'Gessler's cap.' Gessler is the Austrian governor of Swltzerland who figures in the story of William Tell. The Swiss were forced to salute his cap, which was placed on a pole.
77 18 allait son train: 'went on its way.' Train = 'gait.'
77 23 bureau arabe: 'Arab office,' the French bureau for the Administration of affairs concerning the natives.--au bon frais: strengthened form of au frais 'in the fresh air.'
77 25 crut à un coup de main: 'thought it was an uprising'; cf. 94 27. Coup de main = 'surprise,' 'sudden attack.'--fit baisser: cf. note to 7 25.
77 26 mit ... en état de siège: 'proclaimed martial law in the city.'
78 2 se sauva ... jambes: 'ran away into the Zakkar as fast as he could.' For the Zakkar (a part of the Little Atlas) see note to 73 27.
78 4 ombre trouée: 'broken shade'; the light found its way in places through the foliage of the tree.
78 8 précisément: 'quite opportunely', cf. note to 83 5.
78 15 Comment voulez-vous ... ? 'how do you suppose ... ?'
78 18 Si maigre ... paraisse: cf. note to 4 6.
78 21 Demandez plutôt: cf. 44 1.
78 23 mouci: for monsieur.
78 31 coup d'oeil: 'looks'; cf. note to 54 12.--ne feraient pas très bien: 'would not do very well.'
79 1 Tant que vous en voudrez: 'as many as you like', note the future.
79 3 à quelques kilomètres: cf. note to 18 25.
79 11 pendus à: 'hanging from.'
79 15 une mesure à blé: 'a wheat measure', une mesure de blé 'a measure (full) of wheat.' Cf. 2 6.--des Kabyles qui s'éventrent autour: 'Kabyles slashing each other with knives (lit. cutting each other open) around it'; cf. notes to 55 7 (qui), 7 2 (se), 1 6 (autour).
79 16 une joie: = une joie! ...; cf. un Teur! ... 32 4, and note to 15 21.
79 17 se noyer: 'get drowned,' not 'drown himself.'
79 20 Par exemple: 'as luck would have it'; cf. note to 11 24.
79 23 tête de bédouin: 'Bedouin-like head'; cf. note to 1 5. This is a good example of Daudet's skill in finding striking simularities: the Bédouin (cf. note to 69 30) has a long, narrow head.
79 27 Toujours la folie orientale! 'his craze about things oriental was still with him!'
79 30 tout en haut = tout à fait en haut, cf. note to 47 11.
80 1 jambes à noeuds: 'knotty legs.'
80 8 étoupe: aptly characterizes the hair of a camel's hump.
80 10 Va te promener! cf. note to 48 11.
80 13 six cent mille dents: each Arab had 150 teeth! Which goes to show that Daudet himself was born not far from Tarascon. But it is to be remembered that six cent mille is sometimes used merely to indicate a very large number, like English "thousands of."
80 14 dut: cf. note to 67 7.
80 19 devant: devant for avant, auparavant, is obsolete except in certain locutions such as comme devant.
80 25 douar: 'douar,' an Arab village, composed of tents arranged with more or less regularity.--plaine du Cheliff: the broad part of the Sheliff basin is in the half desert plateau between the Great Atlas and the Little Atlas. The picture which follows is interesting, it is overdrawn, however, since Algeria never was, and certainly is not today, as bad as Daudet paints it.
80 27 se compliquent d': 'are complicated by (the addition of).'
80 28 Zouzou: military slang for zouave.
81 1 le sergent La Ramée, le brigadier Pitou: popular names for the French soldier, the English "Tommy Atkins."
81 3 su: 'known how,' 'been able.'
81 5 bachagas: 'bashagas' (Turkish for 'head agas' or 'heads of agas,' cf. note to 82 5), native chiefs of districts.--se mouchent ... Légion d'honneur: 'gravely use their insignia of the Legion of Honor as handkerchiefs.' Like much in "Tartarin de Tarascon," this detail was extracted from the memorandum books which Daudet carried during his Algerian travels, again in "Un Décoré du 15 août" ("Contes du lundi") he declares that he repeatedly saw the grand cordon used for the purpose here mentioned. The Legion of Honor was established by Napoleon (then first consul) in 1802. The insignia are a wide red ribbon from which is suspended a five-pointed cross.
81 7 font bâtonner: cf. note to 7 25.
81 8 cadis: 'cadis,' judges under Mohammedan law.
81 9 tartufes du Coran et de la loi: 'hypocritical respecters of Religion and Law.' Tartufe is the hypocrite in Moliere's play of that name, the word is now used as a common noun to designate a person who pretends to be devout. The Coran (Koran) is the Holy Book of the Mohammedans, containing the revelations of Mohammed.--quinze août: 'August 15,' Napoleon's birthday, now superseded by July 14, the national holiday. as the day on which the decorations of the Legion of Honor are distributed. Read "Un Décoré du quinze août," referred to in note to 81 5
81 12 kousskouss au sucre: 'sweetened couscous'--caïds 'caids,' Mohammedan military chiefs.
81 13 un général Yusuf quelconque. 'some General Yusuf or other' Joseph Vantini (1810-1866), of Italian birth, was a French officer who played an active part in the conquest of Algeria Yusuf (in French spelling, Yousouf) is the Arabic form of the name Joseph.
81 19 maquis: ordinarily used only of the Corsican 'maquis', extensive areas overgrown with an almost impenetrable tangle of brushwood--le grenier de la France: the words of the enthusiastic promoters of Algerian colonization Algeria's famous grain producing region does not extend farther inland than one hundred miles, and does not include the part which Tartarin was now traversing.
81 25 sauterelles enragées cf. note to 24 23.--mangent jusqu'aux rideaux 'eat the very curtains', cf. 85 17.
81 26 en train de boire 'drinking', cf. note to 18 4.
81 30 tout entier à 'engrossed in'.
81 31 allait droit devant lui 'went straight ahead'.
82 1 Smyrne: 'Smyrna,' important seaport in Asiatic Turkey, on the Aegean Sea, famous for its rugs and silks--lampes-modérateur more precisely lampes à modérateur, 'moderator lamps' A moderator is an instrument for governing the movement of machines, here, "a mechanical contrivance by which the passage of the oil from the reservoir to the burner is regulated or moderated to a uniform flow " (Oxford Dict).
82 3 dans les tribus: 'in the (camps of the) tribes'.
82 5 agas: 'agas' The aga was formerly a great military chief in Turkey, now the title is merely one of respect given to village magnates.
82 6 narghilés etc i.e. articles of the Orient and of the Occident.
82 8 sequins: 'sequins,' an old gold coin of variable value, usually worth about $2 25, formerly issued by the Venetian republic (zecchino) and largely used in the Levant.
82 9 pendules à sujets, style Louis-Philippe 'clocks adorned with figures in the Louis Philippe style' Louis Philippe was king of France from 1830 to 1848.
82 10 diffas: 'diffas,' among the Arabs of Africa receptions and feasts offered to men of rank The fantasia is an Arab equestrian Exhibition.
82 11 goums 'goums,' armed contingents supplied by Algerian tribes for the French army, and commanded by French officers.
82 15 Pont-Neuf: this 'New Bridge' is the oldest of the many which span the Seine in Paris. It was completed in 1604 by Henry IV, and figures in many legends of old Paris. C'est vieux comme le Pont-Neuf has become a proverb.
82 20 faisant frrt! 'saying sst! (scat!).'
82 23 vers les six heures: = vers six heures. Cf. note to 23 16.
83 3 Plus de doute: cf. note to 13 1.
83 5 tout juste: = précisément 78 8, cf. 73 3.
83 8 ex-voto: (sing. and pl. alike), 'ex-votos,' 'votive offerings'; an offering made in fulfillment of a vow. Latin ex voto; cf. Horace, Odes, I, v. The worship of saints in Mohammedan countries (where it ranks as a superstition rather than as orthodox religion) is mainly confined to the saint's tomb, or reputed tomb.
83 12 s'y refusa: = se refusa à cela (cf. note to 2 29); 'refused to consent.'--tenait à: 'insisted upon.' Tenir à faire quelque chose = 'to desire strongly to do a thing,' 'to be determined to do a thing'; tenir à quelque chose = 'to care greatly for a thing.'
83 31 pas de velours: 'velvet steps,' 'soft steps.'
84 1 qu'on égorge: 'having their throats cut.'
84 3 Tartarin l'était: 'Tartarin was' (it, that is, ému); cf. note to chose = 'to 25 18.
84 7 en train: cf. note to 67 13.
84 9 encore: cf. note to 18 31.
84 10 tint bon: 'held his ground'; cf. note to 27 16.
84 14 se replie ... marabout: 'retreats as fast as he can to the marabout.' For à toutes jambes cf. 78 2.
84 17 hydres: the Hydra of classical mythology was a water serpent with many heads, each of which, when cut off, was replaced immediately by two new ones.
84 18 A moi: 'help!'
84 23 filer: here, 'scamper off.' Filer = 'to spin' (yarn), 'to uncoil,' and colloquially 'to take to one's heels,' 'to race'; cf. 88 27, 94 9.
85 2 au petit jour: 'at early dawn'; au grand jour 'in full daylight.'--qu'il: cf. note to 5 1.
85 6 chameau à bosse simple: 'one-humped camel,' dromadaire 93 6.
85 9 le Christ: pronounced [krist]; always with the article (the Anointed).
85 10 Gethsémani: in the words douta, pleurer, Daudet refers to Christ's moral and physical recoil at Gethsemane. A Frenchman is not offended as we are by the flippancy of this reference to one of the supreme moments of Christ's life. Cf. De Vigny's "Le Mont des Oliviers."
85 13 d'en face: 'in front of him'; cf. 90 20.
85 17 jusqu'aux pantoufles: made 'even the slippers' shake; of 81 25.
85 19 Seul: while all trembled, Tartarin 'alone' did not.
86 1 Mahom: the most usual form of the name 'Mohammed' during the Middle Ages; retained, for effect, in the oath par Mahom.--l'échappa belle: 'had a narrow escape'; cf. note to 8 18.
86 3 si ... n'avait envoyé: note the omission of pas after the conjunction si; cf. note to 36 16.
86 7 l'homme à la plaque: 'the man with the badge,' the rural policeman.
86 14 processive: (of procès, 'lawsuit'), 'litigious.'--avocassière: 'pettifogging'; avocat = 'lawyer,' avocasser = 'to practice law' (always in a depreciatory sense, cf. bonasse 3 13).
86 15 la judiciaire ... se tripote: 'the dubious (lit. 'squinting') judicial system which is cooked up', cf. note to 5 23.
86 16 la bohème des gens de loi: 'the legal Bohemia.' Gypsies were supposed to have come from Bohemia; consequently any persons who lead an irregular life are called Bohemians. Thus, for example, the Latin Quarter of Paris, inhabited largely by artists and students, is called the "Bohemian Quarter."
86 18 sauterelles: cf. note to 24 23.
86 19 papier timbré: 'stamped paper.' A government revenue stamp, either printed on the paper (papier timbré) or affixed, must accompany French legal and commercial documents. Timbre-poste, masculine, = 'postage stamp.'
86 20 tiges de ses bottes: the locusts, sauterelles (1 18), eat a Plant jusqu'à la tige; Daudet is punning here on the two meanings of tige, 'stalk' of a plant, 'leg' of a boot.--déchiqueté ... maïs: 'stripped like a stalk of corn,' of whose foliage the locusts leave nothing but midribs and hanging fibers.
86 27 silo: a pit for storing grain. Since Goffart's work on the ensilage of green crops, published in 1877, the word has become familiar in America, our silo for green crops being usually above ground. As a punishment in the French army in Algeria, men (sometimes more of them than could lie down on the bottom of the pit) were put into a pit and kept there while filth accumulated around them.
87 2 sans (compter) les frais: 'plus the costs.'
87 3 piastres: 'dollars,' the Spanish coin also called douro (note to 48 21); Frenchmen in America sometimes call the American dollar a piastre, piastre also means the Turkish piaster (4.4 American cents).
87 5 judiciaires: 'judiciary'; i.e., offered to the judges.
87 7 au détail: 'piecemeal'; cf. vendre en (au) détail 'to sell at retail'; en gros 'wholesale.'
87 10 y passèrent: 'went by the same road'; i.e., were sold.
87 12 cochinchinoises: 'from Cochin China,' a part of Indo-China, at the south of the Siam peninsula, a French colony since its conquest in 1859-1867.
87 16 ce qu'il advint de: 'what became of.' Advenir is used only impersonally.
87 19 payer la diligence: 'pay for (his place in) the stage coach.'
87 21 d'un placement difficile: 'hard to dispose of.'
87 25 sur: the definitive edition also prints sur here; sous would seem to be the correct reading, cf. 66 13. It is possible that the reference here is to figures worked into the pavement.
87 28 par (oftener à) petites journées: 'by short stages.' Journée = a day's march,' the original meaning of Engl. journey.
87 30 s'était ... inexplicable: 'had conceived an inexplicable fancy for his master.' Se prendre d'amitié pour quelqu'un = 'to take a liking; to a person.'
87 32 ne ... semelle: 'never more than a foot behind him,' lit. 'not leaving him by (the length of) the sole of a shoe.' For de cf. note to 42 25.
88 2 à toute épreuve = à l'épreuve de tout 'proof against anything.'
88 3 d'autant que (for d'autant plus que): 'so much the more that,' 'especially because.'--rien: 'nothing '; cf. note to 13 1. Il ne se nourrissait avec rien would mean 'he did not nourish himself with anything,' the introduction of ne bringing the negation to bear upon the verb.
88 7 il lui en voulut de: cf. note to 36 10.
88 8 oie bridée: 'bridled goose' and figuratively 'ninny.' A feather is sometimes passed through the nostrils of a goose or a gosling (oison bridé) to prevent it from escaping through hedges. The ridiculous appearance which the fowl presents gives use to the figurative meaning.Cf. Rabelais's judge Bridoie and Beaumarchais's Brid'oison. --le prit en grippe: 'took a dislike to him'; grippe formerly meant 'whim,' 'fancy.'
88 16 huit grands jours: 'a whole week.' Huit jours = 'a week,' quinze jours = 'a fortnight.'
88 20 biskris: 'Biskran porters.' Biskra is a city in Algeria, at the edge of the Sahara. Many Biskrans settle in the coast cities, especially Algiers, where they obtain employment as porters; hence, biskri = 'porter.' The Arabic suffix -i corresponds to the English -an or -ite.
88 22 la patience lui échappa: 'he lost all patience'; cf. note to 4 24.
89 2 Le jour tombait: we say 'night was falling'; cf. la nuit tombait 44 16, and à la tombée de la nuit 53 11.
89 4 des bruits de verres: 'clinking of glasses.'
89 6 qui chantait: 'singing'; cf. note to 55 7.
89 9 Tron de Diou: = tonnerre de Dieu (cf. note to 38 31), a strong oath; 'by the thunder of heaven!'
89 13 tambourins: 'drums.' The Provençal and Algerian tambourin is a drum higher than it is wide. Tambour 90 1 = tambourin. Cf. note to 53 15.
89 29 Digo-li ... moun bon! = dis-lui qu'il vienne, mon bon; 'just tell him to come on, old fellow'; a Provençal challenge.
89 30 du premier (scil. étage): 'of the second floor.' The first floor of a French house is called the rez-de-chaussée.
90 2 marseillais: 'dialect of Marseilles.' Not only did she know French, but even Tartarin's own dialect. The Provençal language comprises many dialects; that of Tarascon does not differ greatly from that of Marseilles.
90 3 Quand je vous disais: 'what did I tell you about ...?'
90 9 s'est ... sac: 'let himself be caught red-handed'; cf. note to 7 25.
90 11 à l'ombre: 'in prison' (lit. 'in the shade'), slang.--maison centrale: prison to which prisoners who have been condemned to more than one year of detention are sent; transl. 'jail.'
90 12 tenez! 'hold!' 'let me see!' Cf. note to 70 6.
90 14 C'est donc ça: colloquial for c'est donc pour ça, 'that's why.'--ne ... ville: cf. 57 1-6.
90 17 sans quoi: 'otherwise,' lit. 'without which.'
90 18 votre histoire avec le muezzin: cf. the passage beginning 63 3.
90 20 d'en face: 'over there,' 'across the way'; cf. note to 85 13.
90 23 faisait des declarations (scil. d'amour): 'made love.'
90 26 c'est: cf. note to 44 7.
90 28 eut ... philosophe: 'made the gesture of a philosopher' (cf. note to 1 5); shrugged his shoulders.
90 29 si vous m'en croyez: 'if you'll take my advice.' En is redundant, cf. note to 8 19.
91 1 Qu'à cela ne tienne! 'that makes no difference!'
91 3 ça vous va-t-il: cf. note to 76 3.
91 5 croustade: a sort of 'pie' with a very crisp crust--sans Rancune lit. 'without rancor', transl. 'forget your ill will.'
91 10 fort avant dans: 'far on into.'
91 11 trois heures du matin: the regular hours for the muezzin's call are daylight hours, but two calls in the night are also made for the benefit of such pious persons as may be awake.
91 12 accompagner: i.e. to his lodging.
91 14 vengeance: Tartarin's vengeance is a delightful bit of humor.
91 16 monta encore: 'ascended still higher.'
91 21 Mostaganem: a city on the Mediterranean, west of Algiers.
91 25 curé: it is amusing to hear Tartarin apply the title of the respected French parish priest to the rascally muezzin. At home Tartarin would address the priest as monsieur le curé.
92 1 La Allah il Allah: French transliteration of the Arabic words with which the Mohammedan confession of faith, 'There is no god but God, and Mohammed is God's messenger,' begins. Both parts of this confession of faith, especially the first part, are repeated more than once in the muezzin's regular call. The first part is misquoted in various forms, as here, by Europeans who have been confused by the series of sounds. Note that Tartarin not only echoes the sound of this part, but parodies its sense in lines 3-4--farceur: 'fraud.'
92 3 viédaze: a Provençal word, used of persons, = 'a good for nothing,' of things, = 'a trifle.' Here 'isn't worth a straw.'
92 4 carotteurs: 'pikers' Jouer la carotte = to stake little (e.g. a carrot) in a game. Tirer la carotte à quelqu'un = to get a small sum out of a person by making him believe some hoax. Note the play on words in Teurs, carotteurs.
92 9 derniers: believers are few even in the upper part of the city (cf. note to 37 27).
92 15 La culasse: we should use the plural in English. Note this peculiarity of French style, cf. la face des soldats était couverte de sueur 'the soldiers' faces were covered with sweat.' Cf. note to 29 11, and 92 12.
92 16 canons turcs: cf. note to 40 17. These old cannon are set in the pavement of the quay as posts for the mooring of ships and for/similar uses.
92 24 A peine vient-il de sauter ... qu': 'scarcely has he leaped when.' A peine reenforces vient de. For the inversion cf. note to 5 32.
93 5 en carton peint: 'of painted pasteboard,' i.e. counterfeit.
93 6 dromadaire: the word is here used correctly according to the Academy's dictionary, which makes dromadaire a name of the one humped species of camel. According to more exact usage a dromedary is a high bred camel for special speed, usually of the one humped species but not necessarily so, in this sense Tartarin's beast can hardly claim the name.
93 7 que devenir: lit. 'what to become', transl. 'what to do with myself' Cf. 65 15.
93 8 Ne nous quittons plus: 'let us part no more' Cf. note to 7 2.
93 15 s'élançant a corps perdu: 'hurling himself headlong,' desperately.
93 16 de conserve: 'in consort' (with the captain's row boat). Conserve in the sense of 'the action of preserving' survives only in this nautical expression, naviguer de conserve.--'to sail in consort' (used of ships which sail together so as to help one another).
93 18 col: = cou, used in this sense only in certain fixed expressions, ordinarily = 'collar.'--en éperon de trirème: 'like (cf. note to 5 20) the beak of a trireme.' Eperon ordinarily means 'spur.' The ancient trireme was a galley with three banks of oars.
93 19 viennent ensemble se ranger: 'come to draw up together,' 'draw up together', cf. 55 8.--aux flancs du: 'alongside.' Note the plural flancs, cf. à ses côtés 37 26.
93 22 à mon bord: 'aboard.' A bord d'un vaisseau = 'on board a ship.'
93 23 j'en ... zoologique: 'I will present him to the Zoological Garden.'
93 29 fût: subjunctive with non pas que.
93 33 afficher: 'make a show of', lit. 'to post'(affiches 'placards')
94 1 mettait le nez: 'stuck his nose,' looked out.
94 9 un wagon de troisième classe: 'a third-class car.' In French trains there are cars of first, second, and third classes, the third being the cheapest. The cars were until recently divided into compartments from each of which a door (portière) opened upon the station platform. These doors were provided with windows--filant bon train sur: 'making rapidly for', cf. note to 84 23.
94 11 aux portières: 'at the door Windows', cf. note to 94 9.
94 13 détalait: cf. note to 69 15.
94 14 eu pleine Crau: 'in the heart of (cf. 2 2) the Crau.' The Crau is a vast, arid plain extending from the lower Rhone eastward. The stones which cover this plain are fabled to have been showered down by Jupiter to aid Hercules in his battle with the giant Albion.--lui tenant pied: 'keeping up with it.'
94 15 rencoigna: an old spelling of rencogna. The word is etymologically connected with coin; cf. English (Shakespearean) 'coign.'
94 19 Pas le sou: 'penniless'; je n'ai pas le sou = ' I haven't a cent.'
94 21 Tarascon! for the electrifying sonorousness of this call cf. note to 1 1.
94 27 il croyait à: 'he thought it was'; cf. note to 77 25.
94 29 sympathique: 'friendly'; contains also the ideas of 'sympathetic,' 'congenial,' 'responsive.'
95 4 s'étaient monté la tête: se monter la tête = 'to become greatly excited'; transl. 'had gone wild.'
95 6 dix ... une marmelade de lions: 'ten lions, twenty lions, a mass of lions.' Mettre en marmelade = 'to smash to a jelly'; cf. 12 3.
95 8 de deux heures: cf. note to 42 25.
95 12 descendre à cloche-pied: 'hobble down.' Clocher and marcher à cloche-pied = 'to hop.'
EXERCISES
I
(Based on page 5)
TRANSLATION
1. He has not found any. 2. What will he tell me? 3. They will go away every Sunday. 4. I told him what they were doing. 5. Some Tarasconians used to assemble and eat big pieces of beef. 6. This man makes (you) laugh and sing if you (use 'on') are naturally superstitious. 7. Take some if you find any. 8. The cap will be sold (use 'on') to the one who does it most often. g. Will you tell me what each one had at the end of his gun? 10. Throw it with all your might.
QUESTIONS
i. Qu'est-ce que les chasseurs font quand le gibier est rare? 2. Où s'allongent-ils? 3. Que mangent-ils? 4. Que boivent-ils? 5. Après le déjeuner que font-ils? 6. Qui est proclamé roi de la chasse? 7. Comment est-ce que le triomphateur rentre à Tarascon? 8. Qu'est-ce que les chapeliers vendent? 9. Qui leur en achète? 10. Qu'est-ce qu'il y a dans les greniers?
II
([page 10] )
TRANSLATION
1. Great men are bored the rest of the time. 2. It's enough to make you die of excitement. 3. The fact is that a heroic soul like mine will scarcely enlarge its horizon at Tarascon. 4. He will seek to tear himself from his dream. 5. In the long run all he does to forget reality will serve only to keep him in a state of anger. 6. Do not give me bad advice. 7. He did nothing to alleviate his thirst for adventures. 8. The wind blows during the heavy summer afternoons. 9. How many times he forgets himself! 10. Let him come!
QUESTIONS
1. Qui s'ennuie? 2. Quelles sont la nature et l'âme de Tartarin? 3. Que rêvait-il? 4. Que faisait-il tous les dimanches? 5. Qu'est-ce qu'il faisait le reste du temps? 6. De quoi se bourrait-il? 7. Pourquoi faisait-il cela? 8. Que faisait-il par les lourdes après-midi d'été? 9. Qu'est-ce qu'il oubliait? 10. Qui étaient-ils?
III
TRANSLATION
1. She is beside herself. 2. Let him ring for his maid and ask for ('demander') his chocolate. 3. That will make Tartarin laugh while stifling his cries. 4. How ('comment') does it happen that he has never left? 5. He almost left Tarascon once. 6. He offered them to her. 7. He must have his chocolate every morning. 8. However, he never offered it to him. 9. Besides, he almost received a visit from the Tartars. 10. They come more and more quickly.
QUESTIONS
1. Savez-vous tricoter? 2. Pouvez-vous voir Jeannette? 3. Que fait-elle? 4. Pourquoi est-ce que Tartarin n'a jamais quitté la ville? 5. Qu'est-ce que les frères Garcio-Camus lui out offert? 6. Avec quels pays ont-ils des relations? 7. Quel est le plus grand avantage de la maison de Garcio-Camus? 8. Que faisait-on à l'approche des Tartares? 9. Pourquoi est-ce que Tartarin n'est jamais allé à Shang-Hai? 10. Quelle est la vie qu'il lui faut?
IV
TRANSLATION
1. At last he will come and stand before him. 2. They are face to face. 3. They looked at each other. 4. Both were standing, Tartarin on one side, the lion on the other. 5. Up to that time he had not yawned in his face. 6. He rose with an air of supreme contempt. 7. At first he was stupefied, but after a moment he rushed toward the door. 8. Do not stir. 9. The women themselves were somewhat reassured by his resolute attitude and approached the cage. 10. Say no more.
QUESTIONS
1. Qu'est-ce que le lion de Tarascon a fait quand il est arrivé devant la cage du lion de l'Atlas? 2. Est-ce que celui-ci avait peur de celui-là? 3. Comment est-ce que le lion avait regardé les Tarasconnais? 4. Pourquoi s'est-il mis en colère? 5. Qu'a-t-il fait? 6. Qui a fui? 7. Est-ce que Tartarin a fui? 8. Qu'a-t-il fait? 9. Comment les chasseurs de casquettes ont-ils été rassurés? 10. Qu'est-ce qu'ils out entendu?
V
TRANSLATION
1. Did the little boy wake with a start? 2. If he is very much afraid, he will ask for the light. 3. He was put to bed in the next room. 4. He intended to go to bed early. 5. That is ('voilà') a question which I cannot answer. 6. He had been gone from Tartarin for more than three months. 7. Don't move! 8. They imagined they had gone to Algeria. 9. After three months of waiting he began to pack his trunk. 10. When these (the latter) fired a shot, those (the former) closed their eyes.
QUESTIONS
1. Pourquoi est-ce que les garçons out demandé de la lumière? 2. Pourquoi est-ce que Tartarin n'est pas parti? 3. Quelle est la question délicate? 4. Qu'est-ce que Tartarin se figurait? 5. Que s'imaginait-il? 6. Qui était la victime du mirage et qui ne l'était pas? 7 Quand et pourquoi a-t-on commencé à murmurer? 8. Comment est-ce que les Tarasconnais out fait voir qu'ils ne croyaient plus à Tartarin? 9. Qui étaient impitoyables? 10. Qu'est-ce qu'un poltron ne peut pas faire?
VI
TRANSLATION
1. Suddenly he appeared on the threshold of the garden-gate. 2. He thought it his duty to offer some explanation. 3. His head was bare, and he wore wide trousers of white linen. 4. There was a great movement among the crowd. 5. I beg your pardon, that is not all; you have forgotten that there was also a long blue tassel. 6. Besides, my eye-glasses bother me. 7. They obliged him to leave his pretty little home. 8. He was proud, but it was not apparent. 9. He did not turn, for at the bottom of his heart he cursed them. 10. I see that all is well.
QUESTIONS
1. Qu'est-ce qui est arrivé vers dix heures? 2. Pourquoi est-ce qu'il s'est fait un mouvement dans la foule? 3. Quelle était l'apparence de Tartarin? 4. Où portait-il ses fusils? 5. Qu'avait-il à la ceinture? 6. Est-ce tout? 7. Pourquoi est-ce que les lunettes étaient à propos? 8. Pourquoi est-ce que Tartarin n'a pas salué? 9. Aimait-il ses compatriotes? 10. Qu'a-t-il fait après avoir quitté sa maison?
VII
TRANSLATION
1. My reader would like to put the crossing of a great painter at the head of this episode. 2. Show me it first on board the Zouave, then show me how it was when Tartarin felt the first pangs. 3. Put it before my eyes. 4. In three days one can make the voyage from France to Algeria. 5. I shall show it to you struggling with the waves. 6. It begins to stand erect on the hero's skull. 7. As you go farther into the open sea, the coast begins to look like something formless. 8. He is in the depths of his narrow cabin. 9. At the departure of the Zouave the sea became more rough. 10. As the boat left the port Tartarin went and leaned over the rail.
QUESTIONS
1. Voulez-vous me dire ce que c'est qu'un Teur? 2. Qu'est-ce que Daudet voudrait être? 3. Voudriez-vous savoir quelle position la chechia a prise à la sortie du port? 4. Qu'y a-t-il en tête de cet épisode? 5. Tartarin se portait-il bien pendant la traversée? 6. Quelle position la chechia a-t-elle prise au départ? 7. Quelle position a-t-elle prise dans le golfe du Lion? 8. Le flot que faisait-il? 9. De quoi le lit avait-il l'air? 10. Avez-vous jamais eu le mal de mer?
VIII
TRANSLATION
1. What is said is not always true. 2. Tartarin must have started with joy on debarking from the Zouave. 3. What is floating in the air îs not what you think. 4. Who are on the shore? 5. I can scarcely see what there is in the nets which the sailors are pulling in. 6. There was a Moor smoking his pipe on the quay. 7. He rose from among the stones, threw himself on Tartarin, and clung to his clothes. 8. They carried off his baggage. 9. Tartarin did not know how to make himself understood. 10. They threw outlandish names at his head.
QUESTIONS
1. Que dit-on de ce qui reste des grands hommes? 2. Pourquoi ce qui restait de Cervantes a-t-il dû tressaillir de joie? 3. Qu'y avait-il sur la berge? 4. Les sauvages étaient-ils beaux? 5. Qui se disputaient ses bagages? 6. Que faisaient les uns? 7. Que faisaient les autres? 8. Qu'est-ce que Tartarin faisait? 9. Pourquoi ne pouvait-il pas se faire comprendre? 10. Quelles langues pouvait-il parler?
IX
TRANSLATION
1. There were wild beasts here, but they did not wait for Tartarin. 2. He remembered that he had not brought along a kid. 3. Great lion-hunters pull the kid's foot with a string. 4. Nothing came all the same. 5. Not being afraid, Tartarin cried louder. 6. Something black stooped in front of him. 7. That is surely a lion! 8. Suddenly Tartarin became silent. 9. Nothing answered the shot. 10. He was afraid and made a leap backward.
QUESTIONS
1. Qu'y a-t-il à gauche? 2. Comment Tartarin attendait-il le lion? 3. Qu'est-ce que les grands tueurs de lions faisaient? 4. Comment est-ce que Tartarin les a imités? 5. De quoi avait-il peur? 6. Qu'est-ce que l'objet noir a fait? 7. Était-ce le lion? 8. Comment savez-vous que c'était le lion? 9. Après avoir tiré le coup de feu qu'est-ce que Tartarin a fait? 10. Pourquoi la bête n'est-elle pas revenue?
X
TRANSLATION
1. Signal, and then get in. 2. You would have done better not to go to the city on foot. 3. Tartarin got into the first omnibus that passed. 4. He perceived that there was a sailor at the back of the omnibus smoking cigarettes. 5. Opposite him there were some young Moorish women whose eyes he could not see. 6. The one who was sitting there thought she noticed that he was looking at her. 7. He had just spoken to the Maltese merchant with the heavy black beard at the risk of hearing him laugh. 8. From time to time he was cold. 9. What was he to do? 10. The eyes whose glance answered his were large and black.
QUESTIONS
1. Pourquoi Tartarin est-il monté dans l'omnibus? 2. Aurait-il mieux fait de ne pas monter dans l'omnibus? 3. Qu'est-ce qu'il aurait dû faire au lieu de monter dans l'omnibus? 4. Qui était dans l'omnibus? 5. Qu'est-ce que les dames mauresques venaient de faire? 6. Qu'a fait celle qui était assise en face de lui? 7. Pourquoi ne pouvait-il pas voir la figure de la dame? 8. Est-ce qu'il a vu son poignet? 9. Qu'est-ce que ses mouvements disaient? 10. Où Tartarin s'est-il fourré?
XI
TRANSLATION
1. He ended by turning his eye toward the table. 2. Their eyes make the gold pieces frisk. 3. The guard comes up because there are knives unsheathed and money missing. 4. One evening he strayed into the middle of this crowd. 5. The hero was thinking of the peace of his heart, when suddenly angry voices rose. 6. I am twenty francs short. 7. I ask no better. 8. He was proud to make the acquaintance of the prince whose title had dazzled him. 9. He turned toward Tartarin sneering. 10. Tartarin made a step forward without producing the slightest impression upon the officer.
QUESTIONS
1. Quel était l'effet des terribles yeux? 2. Où le héros tarasconnais est-il venu s'égarer? 3. Pourquoi y est-il venu? 4. A quoi pensait-il? 5. Qu'est-ce qui a interrompu ses pensées? 6. Qu'est-ce qui vous manque? 7. Qu'est-ce que Tartarin a fait en apprenant que c'était le prince? 8. Le titre d'altesse a-t-il produit la même impression sur les autres que sur Tartarin? 9. Qu'est-ce que l'officier a fait quand le prince a prononcé son titre? 10. Qu'a-t-il fait quand Tartarin a dit «Je connais le préince»?
XII
TRANSLATION
1. The negress appeared on seeing the door open. 2. He retired after having knocked twice at the postern. 3. The gentlemen were led across the narrow court. 4. The lady in question seems to me smaller. 5. As a matter of fact, the suspicion came to me that she was not the same. 6. She seemed to him so pretty through the smoke which enveloped her entirely! 7. Tartarin bowed and placed his hand on his lips. 8. Baia dropped the amber mouthpiece without saying anything. 9. The only thing you ('on') could see any more was her white neck. 10. If you looked at her, she would laugh.
QUESTIONS
1. Qu'est-ce qu'Ali a fait? 2. Qu'est-ce que la négresse a fait? 3. Pourquoi semblait-il à Tartarin que ce n'était pas la dame qu'il avait vue dans l'omnibus? 4. Ce soupçon est-il resté longtemps dans son esprit? 5. Quelle était l'apparence de la dame? 6. Qu'est-ce que Tartarin a fait en entrant? 7. Qu'est-ce que Baia a fait? 8. Qu'est-ce qu'on entendait chez les cafetiers algériens? 9. Depuis combien de temps Tartarin a-t-il quitté Alger? 10. Comment les Maures causaient-ils entre eux?
XIII
TRANSLATION
1. He refused to believe that, although the insinuation awakened melancholy in his great soul. 2. He found nobody who seemed ugly to him. 3. Sit down near the fountain, although you are a prey to remorse. 4. We hear from Tarascon that they have not heard from you for many months. 5. What has become of you? 6. So many of our fellow-countrymen gave some that I scarcely dare to ask them for it. 7. However, when they came to the fair they claimed to have known over there a man whose description tallied with his. 8. He was making for Paris. 9. When he had read that, Tartarin was ashamed of himself. 10. You think he is hunting lions in Africa.
QUESTIONS
1. En quittant Barbassou où est-ce que Tartarin s'est dirigé? 2. Quel était l'effet des jurons du capitaine? 3. En arrivant à la maison qu'est-ce que Tartarin a fait? 4. Comment a-t-il appris ce qu'on pensait de lui à Tarascon? 5. Que pensait-on de lui? 6. Quel était le sort de beaucoup d'autres qui étaient partis pour chasser les lions? 7. Les marchands nègres que prétendaient-ils? 8. Qu'est-ce que Tartarin a fait après avoir lu le journal? 9. Qu'est-ce qui lui a apparu? 10. Pourquoi avait-il honte de lui-même?
XIV
TRANSLATION
1. Is he going to begrudge me good horses? Never! 2. Nobody treats me well any more. 3. It's beginning again! 4. Instead of biting each other they would do well to take a roundabout way across the plains and stop at a farm. 5. If they did not fight, they would be able to make up lost time. 6. After which, he swam the river. 7. If you get wet, you will catch cold. 8. At night he feared the marauders, for he had to sleep under the open sky. 9. You could not lead the life I lead. 10. He could not do anything else.
QUESTIONS
1. Qu'est-ce que la diligence avait au lieu de ses chevaux d'autrefois? 2. Comment les chevaux arabes lui brisaient-ils ses brancards? 3. Quelle sorte de routes traversait-elle? 4. Où s'arrêtait-on? 5. Qu'est-ce que le conducteur faisait faire à la diligence? 6. Après l'arrêt que faisait-on pour rattraper le temps perdu? 7. Où fallait-il que la diligence couchât? 8. Qu'est-ce que les maraudeurs faisaient? 9. Jusque quand la diligence continuera-t-elle à mener cette vie? 10. Qu'est-ce que les Arabes en feront?
XV
TRANSLATION
1. After a desperate struggle a man broke through the crowd. 2. Tartarin himself was rolling on the ground. 3. He shook himself and sat down all out of breath. 4. As soon as he received the letter, he put aside the Arabs with a gesture. 5. What under the sun have you done? 6. You are mistaken; you are not a laughing-stock to the women and children. 7. On the contrary, you arrive just in time to get into an ugly difficulty. 8. He tried to rescue ('arracher') the lion from the hands of the strange monks who were taming him. 9. There are hundreds of them in the convent. 10. He belonged to that convent whose ('dont') friars receive gifts which they never steal.
QUESTIONS
1. Où était le cordonnier juif? 2. Où a-t-on fait rouler Tartarin? 3. Qu'est-ce que le prince a fait? 4. Comment est-il arrivé ici? 5. Comment Tartarin a-t-il expliqué son action? 6. Qu'est-ce que le lion était pour les nègres? 7. De quel couvent faisait-il partie? 8. Qu'est-ce que les moines font dans ce couvent? 9. A quoi servent les dons reçus par les frères quêteurs? 10. Pourquoi les nègres ont-ils montré tant d'humeur?
XVI
TRANSLATION
1. After several strides the camel lengthened out his long knotty legs. 2. Tartarin picked himself up. 3. He felt himself grow pale, but had to resign himself. 4. Nothing could stop him any more. 5. One by one the Arabs gesticulated and laughed like madmen. 6. Tartarin clung to the hump and collapsed on it. 7. They had to give up the camel. 8. The old Orient had something fairy-like (about it), but nothing burlesque. 9. Out of consideration for Tartarin the prince wandered from plain to plain for nearly a month. 10. However bizarre their mount was, they felt that it was picturesque.
QUESTIONS
1. Qu'est-ce que le chameau a fait? 2. Qu'est-ce qui est arrivé à Tartarin et à la chechia au bout de quelques enjambées? 3. Comment Tartarin se tenait-il sur le chameau? 4. Comment les Arabes ont-ils fait voir qu'ils s'amusaient à voir courir le chameau? 5. Tartarin se tenait-il droit? 6. Pourquoi nos tueurs ont-ils renoncé an chameau? 7. Quel était l'arrangement de la caravane? 8. Où Tartarin errait-il? 9. Quel est le caractère de l'Algérie française? 10. Comment les parfums du vieil Orient se compliquent-ils?
XVII
TRANSLATION
1. The hero awoke at dawn and saw that his treasure was gone. 2. The next day he saw that he had been robbed for the first time. 3. He began to weep bitterly. 4. Now, it was the prince that had deserted him in the heart of Africa. 5. He was sitting there with his head in his hands; suddenly he saw the camel looking at him. 6. Tartarin was stupefied on seeing the lion come forward. 7. He was ten paces from him, and made the saint's slippers tremble. 8. Everything was there in front of him. 9. Tartarin saw the big negroes running at him. 10. He had just slain the poor tame lion.
QUESTIONS
1. De quoi Tartarin s'est-il acquis la certitude en se réveillant? 2. Dans quel état se voyait-il? 3. De quoi doutait-il? 4. Qu'est devenu le prince? 5. Dans quelle position Tartarin était-il assis? 6. Qu'a-t-il vu? 7. Qu'a-t-il fait? 8. Après le coup de fusil qu'a-t-on vu dans l'air? 9. Qu'est-ce que Tartarin a aperçu? 10. Qu'est-ce que Tartarin a tué?
XVIII
TRANSLATION
1. Put not your trust in princes. 2. He raised his head and asked if the captain knew where the prince was. 3. I believe that he even let himself be caught. 4. Besides, I know he saw only the most disagreeable things. 5. Your affair with the prince is known; you must keep your eyes open mighty wide. 6. From the top of the penitentiary he could see only one side of the city. 7. Do that; otherwise he will see you somewhere. 8. He courted Baia from the top of the tower. 9. All that happened ('se passe') under Tartarin's nose. 10. If you'll take my advice, you'll return to ('en') France, for that is not the first time you have been fleeced.
QUESTIONS
1. Qu'est-ce que Tartarin a fait en apprenant que sa Mauresque savait même le marseillais? 2. Qu'est-ce que Barbas-sou a dit? 3. Où était le prince? 4. Comment l'a-t-on pris? 5. Qu'avait-il fait à Tarascon? 6. Qu'est-ce que cela fait comprendre à Tartarin? 7. Que faut-il faire en Algérie, d'après le capitaine? 8. Quelle est l'histoire du muezzin? 9. Quel conseil le capitaine donne-t-il à Tartarin? 10. Pourquoi Tartarin ne pouvait-il pas suivre ce conseil?
XIX
TRANSLATION
1. The strangest effect of the mirage is that it makes a man lie ingenuously. 2. Tartarin had killed only one lion and had sent the skin to Bravida. 3. The telegram had reached Tarascon two hours ahead of him. 4. The camel had preceded Tartarin without knowing it, covered with dust and sweat. 5. He added that the camel had seen him kill all his lions. 6. Thereupon the camel hobbled down the station stairs. 7. That is what brought the Tarasconians' joy to the climax. 8. Tartarin calmly directed his steps toward his house, followed by his fellow-countrymen. 9. Tartarin, red with happiness, began the tale of his hunt 10. The caphunters took his arm familiarly.
QUESTIONS
1. Quelle était la cause de tout ce bruit? 2. Pourquoi le Midi s'est-il monté la tête? 3. Quel drame le Sémaphore a-t-il inventé? 4. Qu'est-ce qui était déjà arrivé quand Tartarin a débarqué à Marseille? 5. Qu'est-ce qui a mis le comble à la joie populaire? 6. Quel était sur Tartarin l'effet du soleil tarasconnais? 7. Qu'a-t-il dit? 8. Qu'a-t-il fait ensuite? 9. Comment s'est-il dirigé vers la maison du baobab? 10. Qu'a-t-il dit en commençant le récit de ses chasses?