GUY DE MAUPASSANT
Miromesnil (Seine-Supérieure), 1850-Paris, 1893
De Maupassant was a godson and disciple of Flaubert, thus his name is closely connected with the Naturalistic School, which goes back to Madame Bovary, Flaubert's masterpiece. The leading writers of this school are: Flaubert, the de Goncourt brothers, Daudet (only in portions of his work), Zola and Maupassant. Maupassant is known as a writer of short stories and as a novelist. His work is at times pessimistic and morbid, in this respect he represents the worst side of the Naturalists; he had, however, a remarkable power of observation and the "saving gift of irony," and was a master of style, the chief characteristics of which are strength and simplicity. In the artistic composition of the short story he is probably unsurpassed. Important works: Des Vers (1880), Une Vie (1883), Bel Ami (1885), Mont Oriol (1881), Pierre et Jean (1888), Fort comme la Mort (1889), and especially several collections of Contes.
Edition: Havard, 9 vols.; Ollendorff, 8 vols.
LA MAIN
[27.]--20. qu'entourent partout de hautes montagnes. Note the inversion in the relative clause.
28. ce terrible préjugé corse. Compare Mérimée's Colomba.
[28.]--10. on prétendit que c'était. Prétendre, "to maintain," has the construction of a verb of saying, prétendre, "to require" or "to insist on," takes the subjunctive.
[29.]--6. qui fumait. Note the relative clause where in English the participle would be used.
11. cette pays, cette rivage. Illustrations of the frequent mistakes in gender made by the English.
17. j'avé ...bôcoup. Illustrations of the errors made by the English in pronouncing French vowels; avais is pronounced avè and eau in beaucoup should not be drawled; this latter remark applies generally to French vowels. Nô (l. 24) represents the failure to nasalize; c'été (for c'était, l. 24) illustrates the error mentioned in regard to avais; une drap japonaise (p. 30, l. 2), wrong gender; ma (p. 30, l. 17) for mon; c'été, vené, avé (11. 17, 18), illustrate mistakes already mentioned; arraché la peau, that is, la peau avait été arrachée; une caillou coupante, wrong gender; aoh, represents the English tendency to diphthongize simple vowels; très bonne pour moi, cette = c'est une très bonne chose pour moi; je été (l. 30) for j'étais or j'ai été.
UNE VENDETTA
[37.]--13. revenir, retourner. These words are not synonymous.
[39.]--5. pour la lui entrer dedans. Entrer is here transitive; it is used intransitively in the preceding paragraph.
26. dès qu'elle apercevait. The imperfect is used to express the repetition of the action; this and the following paragraphs offer good material for a study of the use of tenses.
L'AVENTURE DE WALTER SCHNAFFS
[41.]--1. l'année d'invasion. The reference is to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. This war was largely brought on through The instrumentality of Bismarck, who went so far as to falsify French telegrams; it resulted in the defeat of France and the loss of the Alsace-Lorraine territory. The French Emperor, Napoleon III, was overthrown and the present Republic was established.
9. il aimait se lever tard. Aimer, except in poetry or unless used colloquially as in this instance, is usually followed by the infinitive with à; sometimes it is followed by the simple infinitive,. in this case it is usually in the conditional or it is accompanied by certain adverbs (mieux, autant, bien, assez, etc.); it may even be followed by the infinitive with de when the infinitive gives the cause (je vous aime d'avoir fait cela).
[46.]--21. des petites bêtes. In familiar style, or when the words form really only one idea, partition is expressed by de and the article even when an adjective precedes the noun.
[47.]--16. on aperçut l'ennemi. Apercevoir refers especially to the sense of sight, s'apercevoir de to a mental process (il s'aperçut de son erreur).
[48.]--4. cessèrent. Note the plural verb though the singular subjects are not connected by et.
17. mangeaille, -aille is a derogatory suffix; the force of the various French suffixes, to which little or no attention is paid in the ordinary French grammars, may be seen in the Dictionnaire général, vol. l, pp. 43 ff. and pp. 48 ff.; also in Ayer, Grammaire comparée de la langue française (4th edition), pp. 300 ff.
[49.]--25. mon colonel. The possessive pronoun is used by French soldiers in addressing superior officers.
TOMBOUCTOU
[63.]--12. bonjou. The letter r is as difficult for Tombouctou as it is for the negroes in the Southern States. Tombouctou's language is like the Pidgin-English used in the Orient, he pays no attention to syntax, but puts his verbs in the first conjugation and in the> infinitive, that is, he knows only one form of the verb (aimé, cherché; reconné, etc.); the mistakes will be easily seen (Bézi, p. 53, l. 18, is for Bézières; Empéeu, p. 54, l. 7, is for Empereur; gives and capules, p. 57, l. 11, are for grives and crapules; povisions, p. 58, l. 3, for provisions, etc.); gadé, pésonne = garder, personne (p. 60, l. 5); pati, p. 60, l. 21, is for parti, one verb which he does not put in the first conjugation; moi fait mangé colonel, that is, he was the colonel's cook; Algéie, for Algérie.
EN MER
[64.]--13. faut couper. Popular omission of the subject pronoun.
19. coupe pas. An example of the popular omission of ne.--je vas, for je vais; the first person is formed on analogy with the second and third (vas, va).
[66.]--13. iau. Dialectic for eau.
19. drait. Dialectic (Norman) for droit; this peculiarity may be seen in Canadian French, which is partly Norman in origin; the Latin i and ë became in Old French ei, this sound developed in Modern French into oi, but the Norman dialect retained the Old French sound (represented here by ai).
23. aiguë. Note the diaeresis, which indicates that u is pronounced in this word.
[67.]--3. à c't'-heure. For à cette heure, a popular phrase for maintenant; this also illustrates the popular tendency to slur over syllables and to omit completely the pronunciation of mute e.
11. j'pourrions t'y point. For ne pourrais-je point? The uneducated often use the first person plural with je; t'y (sometimes written ti and il) represents the interrogative particle also used by the uneducated, it arose by analogy with the sound of the final syllable in such phrases as est-il?, sont-ils?
[68.]--17. il était regardant à son bien. Compare the English construction: "he was looking after his property"; this use of the French present participle is incorrect.
LES PRISONNIERS
[70.]--21. tous, boulangers, épiciers, etc. The French are fond of ridiculing these classes of tradespeople, particularly the épiciers, the notaires and the pharmaciens; such soldiers would be far from the martial type.
[72.]--5. sept~huit. For sept ou huit; v'là, for voilà, illustrates the popular tendency to slur over syllables.
13. oufrez. For ouvrez; the Germans in speaking a foreign language confuse voiced and unvoiced consonants, that is, b, d, g, j, v, become p, t, c, ch, f, and vice versa; these errors will be easily detected (ché = j'ai; manché = mangé, etc.).
[73.]--6. Un brave homme. Compare un homme brave; adjectives having secondary meanings precede their nouns when they have the figurative meaning and follow when the literal meaning occurs.
7. fous nous ferez à mancher. That is, vous nous ferez manger or vous nous donnerez à manger.
[74.]--6. c'est les loups. Popular for ce sont les loups. 12. ché. For je.
[77.]--11. entre eux. Note that there is no elision with entre except in compound verbs (entr'ouvrir, etc.).
32. qué qui font. For qu'est-ce qu'ils font (il and ils are often pronounced i even by the well educated).
[78.]--14. pi is for puis, t'as, for tu as; the other errors have already been noted.
[80.]--25. Potdevin. Note de Maupassant's choice of names (cf. Maloison, etc.).
[83.]--21. médaille militaire. See note to p. 195, l. 24.
LE BAPTÊME
[85.]--3. les femmes, c'est jamais prêt. A further example of the popular omission of ne and of the use of a singular verb instead of the agreement of the verb with the real subject.
5. qui avait appelé le premier. Le premier is in apposition to qui.
7. all' viendront point. All' represents the vulgar pronunciation of elles with the tendency to omit completely the mute e; the omission of ne has already been noted.
27. sage-femme. Compare femme sage, and notice the importance of the correct position of the adjective.
[86.]--29. le sel symbolique. Used in the Catholic christening ceremony.
[87.]--10. m'sieu. A further example of the slurring over of syllables by the uneducated (qu' for que, m' for me, vot' for votre, Etc.).
12. dans les estomacs. That is, dans l'estomac, the plural may be by analogy with les entrailles.
17. grand'mères. Etymologically the apostrophe is an error. The adjective grand had no distinct feminine form in Latin (grandem) nor in Old French (grant), consequently no e has been omitted; the feminine form of Modern French (grande) is due to analogy with feminine adjectives where e represents a Latin a (bonne, from bona, etc.), the form grand' is merely a preservation of the Old French form; cf. grand'rue, main street, grand merci, I thank you kindly (where the apostrophe is not written), also such adverbs as prudemment, précipitamment, etc. (see also note to p. 12, l. 25).
TOINE
[90.]--2. Toine-ma-Fine. A further illustration of de Maupassant's choice of proper names. 24. bé, pé. Bé is for boire, pé for Père, illustrating the dialectic omission of r and the Norman pronunciation of oi (see note to p. 66, l. 19).
[91.]--7. arrondissement. See note to p. 176, l. 15. 32. qu'al'est. For parce qu'elle est (see note to p. 85, l. 7).
[92.]--1. i for il (see note to p. 77, l. 32).
29. c'qu'arrivera. For ce qui arrivera, notice the incorrect use of que as subject (no elision would occur with qui).
[93.]--4. la mé. The article may be used in familiar or disrespectful address (for la mère).
[94.]--23. té. For toi (see note to p. 66, l. 19); compare also mé for moi (l. 25); c'est-il, incorrect for est-ce que (see also note top. 67, l. 11).
[95.]--1. pu. For plus.
6. guètez. For guettez; in the same sentence both y and i represent il (see note to p. 77, l. 32).
[96.]--16. li. For lui.
23. a. For elle (see note to p. 85, l. 7).
28. pourqué. For pourquoi; pisque (l. 29) for puisque.
[97.]--6. qué que tu veux. For qu'est-ce que tu veux.
32. quasiment t'une lourdeur. t' here shows that a liaison has been made. The question of liaison is difficult for a foreigner, some book on pronunciation (such as Geddes, French Pronunciation, Oxford Press) should be consulted.
[98.]--1. on entendit entrer. Notice that the indefinite subject of the infinitive is omitted.
18. un lapin qui bat du tambour. An allusion to the drumming of rabbits.
23. il dut couver, il dut renoncer. The past definite of certain verbs expresses accomplishment, "he had to do it and he did it"; devait would not express the accomplishment of the action.
[100.]--31. qué. For quel.
[101.]--3. combien qu'i en a. For combien qu'il y en a, that is, combien y a-t-il?
5. cette famille nouvelle. When nouveau is placed after the noun, it means "recently appeared," not "other"; nouveau should also be distinguished from neuf, which means "unused" and follows its noun.
11. son enveloppe. The use of son before a feminine noun beginning with a vowel arose by analogy with bon: bon ami, bonne amie, therefore son ami, son amie.
LE PÈRE MILON
[103.]--4. la guerre de 1870. See note to p. 41, l. 1.
[105.]--14. tretous. A dialectic survival of an Old French form (in Old French trestot, trestout, etc., are at times used for tout, etc.; the word is derived from très and tout).
28. qu'il était. The uneducated are fond of introducing que in phrases where it is unnecessary. Other dialectic peculiarities in this paragraph which have not been noted are: pu de chinquante for plus de cinquante, the Picard dialect resembles the Italian in the pronunciation of the soft c, on the other hand the French ch is pronounced in the Picard dialect as hard c (k), vache becoming vaque; itou is another instance of a dialectic survival of an Old French word (in Old French itel, "such, similarly, also," occurred, formed on analogy with icel=celui; itel and tel, icel and cel were used without difference of meaning, i is a relic of the Latin ecce originally added to the word for the sake of emphasis); li is for lui. The following errors in syntax occur in this passage: The first sentence should read, Je revenais un soir, alors qu'il était peut-être dix heures, le lendemain après que vous étiez venus (or arrivés) ici. After the phrase, Je me dis, read, Autant de fois qu'ils me prendront vingt écus, autant de fois je leur revaudrai ça. De sorte or a similar phrase should be supplied before qu'il n'entendit, also before qu'il n'a pas seulement dit.
[109.]--2. pu, pus. Both stand for plus, the spelling of the latter form represents the frequent pronunciation of s in plus when it stands before a pause.
8. l'Empereur premier. For Napoléon Premier.
16. où que. Que is superfluous; after chez mé (l. 17), insert de sorte or de telle façon.
27. le vieux. See note to p. 93, l. 4.
32. toute coupée. In this construction tout does not take the feminine form if the following adjective begins with a vowel (tout ancienne, etc.).