[32] Literally the Hollow of Givonne. It should not be confounded with Givonne proper, which lies some miles to the north.—Trans.
[33] Licorice-root water, a favourite drink among Parisian children.—Trans.
[34] The shooting of the civilian inhabitants who took part in defending the village was in accordance with the cruel, but recognised, usages of war; but for the deliberate burning of their bodies there can be no excuse. However, some English newspaper correspondents, on the German side, asserted at the time that the occurrence was accidental, both French and Bavarian corpses being burnt by the falling houses.—Trans.
[35] M. Zola has omitted to mention that, whilst Count von Bismarck and the Emperor were together, they came out of the house and sat talking for a couple of hours in the open air, on chairs that were placed there for them. Meantime, the staff officers present remained lying on a patch of grass not far off. When Count von Bismarck had left him, the Emperor returned into the house, which curiously enough was tenanted not by a French family, but by that of a Luxemburg weaver, speaking both French and German. After considerable delay Napoleon was escorted to the château of Bellevue by a detachment of Prussian Cuirassiers.—Trans.
[36] When we remember that the Marseillaise is typical of the French Revolution, which was the origin of the power of the Bonapartes, the significance of both these engravings, in the circumstances in which the Emperor found himself, was truly remarkable. He stood there, as it were, betwixt Alpha and Omega.—Trans.
[37] The length of the French league is about 2 miles 6 furlongs.
[38] In time of peace a bottle of the common wine, here priced at seven francs, had cost about twelve sous, whilst the usual charge for a liqueur glass of so-called brandy was no more than three sous.—Trans.
[39] It may be explained that M. Zola borrows this simile from the Roman ritual, and refers to the Stations of the Cross.—Trans.
[40] M. Zola, as was to be expected, invariably alludes to these battles by the names adopted in France. In England, however, we generally employ the names which the Germans gave to these engagements. It should therefore be explained that the battle of Borny is also that of Courcelles; that Rézonville is also Mars-la-Tour; and St. Privât, Gravelotte. These battles have been referred to in the notes to chap. III., Part I (note [19]).—Trans.
[41] The 'combined army,' so the Germans called it.—Trans.