ACTE I, SCÈNE VII
1: entends: note that this verb means: 1. to hear; 2. to understand; 3. to mean.
2: Sauf votre respect: Beg pardon, major, but… Lit., «the respect due to you being preserved.» Cf. the Irish expression, «saving your presence.»
3: autant vaudrait: idiomatic inversion = il vaudrait autant. Tr. you might as well.
4: on: the reluctance of the Major to mention his sweetheart by name must be preserved: anybody.
5: Allons, c'est bien: That'll do! See List of Exclamations. Observe the Major's impatience to get a letter, in spite of his running away.