Sous quel règne a-t-on donné cette fête, et à quelle occasion?--Qu'est-ce que le buffet offrait aux danseurs?--Qui est-ce qui a attiré les regards des spectateurs?--De quoi cette personne était-elle couverte?--De quel meuble s'est-elle approchée?--Était-elle douée d'un grand appétit?--Comment mangeait-elle?--Qu'est-ce que les spectateurs se demandaient enfin?--Gargantua aurait-il approché du gourmand du bal?--Qui avait été préposé à la garde du château?--Quelle plaisanterie avait-on imaginée pour participer aux joies de la fête?--La reine a-t-elle ri de la mascarade?--A-t-on continué de veiller au renouvellement des provisions du buffet?
Cherchez des antonymes à dix mots de cette histoire.
[GRAMMAR REVIEW.--LESSON I]
Use of definite and indefinite articles.--Simple interrogation.--Contraction of de and à with definite article.--Possessive case of nouns.--Chez.
Examples
| La France est un beau pays. | France is a beautiful country. |
| Les chevaux sont utiles. | Horses are useful. |
| Je donne ces fruits au professeur, la femme, à l'homme, aux garçons, aux petites filles, etc. | I give this fruit to the teacher, to the woman, to the man, etc. |
| Les livres de la femme, du jeune homme, de l'élève, des enfants, des petites filles. | The woman's books, the young man's, the pupil's, etc. |
| Où est le père de Jean? Est-il chez le professeur? | Where is John's father? Is he at the teacher's? |
| A-t-il un livre? | Has he a book? |
A. 1. Molière is going to give a sou to the beggar. 2. Honesty is a good thing.[1] 3. He rewarded the beggar's honesty. 4. Voltaire's name is well known. 5. He was Piron's friend. 6. He spent some time at Piron's house.[2] 7. They[3] gave[4] a fête on the occasion of the dauphin's birth. 8. The soldier's appetite was prodigious. 9. The king's officers were at Molière's house. 10. The man with the insatiable stomach approaches[5] the buffet. 11. The beggar notices[6] Molière's mistake. 12. Will you be at the dauphin's castle? 13. I shall be at the queen's castle. 14. Does he give the beggar a sou?
[Footnotes 1: chose (f.). 2: omit. 3: on. 4: past indefinite. 5: s'approcher de. 6: s'apercevoir de (become aware of).]
B. 1. The king's officers did not laugh at[1] the joke. 2. The surprise of the old courtiers was[2] great. 3. Voltaire was a famous author. 4. The servant's master will not be at the castle. 5. He wouldn't have[3] gone to[4] see the servant. 6. The man with[5] the yellow mask had gone to the château. 7. The beggar does not notice[6] the mistake at once. 8. I wondered[7] who was the man with[5] the insatiable stomach. 9. The king winked at[8] the prank. 10. They noticed[9] the soldier in the room for the fifth time. 11. When he had[10] eaten, he withdrew. 12. He is mistaken,[11] he did not see the king. 13. I have been to[4] see John. 14. The soldiers disappear in turns.[12] 15. The officer was put in charge of the château. 16. He will see to the replenishment of the provisions. 17. He is the biggest eater I have[13] ever seen.
[Footnotes 1: de. 2: past definite. 3: être. 4: omit. 5: à. 6: s'apercevoir de. 7: se demander. 8: fermer les yeux sur. 9: apercevoir (perceive concretely). 10: eut. 11: se tromper. 12: à tour de rôle. 13: Why subjunctive?]