ACTE III, SCÈNE X
1: raide en affaires: mighty peremptory. Lit., «stiff, unbending in your dealings.»
2: à la cheminée: before electric bells came into general use, there was in most parlors a bell-rope hanging on each side of the fireplace, one ringing upstairs, the other ringing in the kitchen.
3: un zouave: the zouaves were originally a troop of natives from the French colony of Algeria, who speedily got a name for fearlessness. The modern zouaves are Frenchmen, but still enjoy the same reputation as dare-devils and fire-eaters. Hence Perrichon's exclamation, semi-humorous because he does not yet fully realize his perilous position.
4: un notaire gradé: a lawyer with a commission in the National Guard. A notaire is, by profession, the very opposite of a military man. In the National Guard (for which see acte I, scène I, note 7, 14.) many acivilian would have a «rank,» or grade.
5: vous comprenez: that I may be killed and must leave all my papers in order.