FOOTNOTES:
[A] That is, a leader in revelry or merrymaking.
| When you're asked to take a walk, |
| Look well to the weather, Lisa! |
| If it blows, say that you're ill, |
| Or else he'll make the most of it, |
| To work his wicked will on you. |
| Nay, I joke not, on my soul! |
| On windy days, I've oft been caught! |
| My love, for us poor, helpless girls, |
| There's naught so trait'rous as the wind. |
| And then, what can a poor girl do? |
| She dons her good clothes, when 'tis fair: |
| The wind springs up, she's in a mess, |
| She cannot hold her hat in place |
| And skirts and flounces all at once; |
| Her eyes are quickly filled with dust, |
| When in her face the sly wind blows; |
| But 'tis more trait'rous far, my love, |
| When she sees not the wind's approach. |
| If the rain is most unpleasant, |
| And wets our poor skirts thro' and thro', |
| The wind's as wanton as the deuce! |
| He draws in outline all our figure. |
| 'Tis just as if we wore tight breeches; |
| A man at such times is less careful, |
| For it makes him sentimental! |
| And, my love, it's not our face |
| He looks at while the wind is blowing. |
[E] I, who once had the glory of singing for Mademoiselle Iris, propose, with your leave, to tell you the story of the young shepherd Paris, etc.
[F] Tutoyer; that is, to use the more familiar form of address, to "thee and thou" one; which, the reader will please understand, Frédérique proceeds to do, and Rochebrune also, with some slips.