{9} Dounzel is the word used by Jasmin. Miss H. W. Preston says of this passage: "There is something essentially knightly in Pascal's cast of character, and it is singular that, at the supreme crisis of his fate, he assumes, as if unconsciously, the very phraseology of chivalry. 'Some squire (dounzel) should follow me to death,' &c., and we find it altogether natural and burning in the high-hearted smith. There are many places where Jasmin addresses his hearers directly as 'Messieurs,' where the context also makes it evident that the word is emphatic, that he is distinctly conscious of addressing those who are above him in rank, and that the proper translation is 'gentles,' or even 'masters'; yet no poet ever lived who was less of a sycophant."
{10} Low sedas (the sieve) is made of raw silk, and is used for sifting flour. It has also a singular use in necromancy. When one desires to know the name of the doer of an act—a theft for instance—the sieve is made to revolve, but woe to him whose name is spoken just as the sieve stops!
{11} An ancient practice. Lou Tourrin noubial, a highly-spiced onion soup, was carried by the wedding guests to the bridegroom at a late hour of the night.
{12} The aoubado—a song of early morning, corresponding to the serenade or evening song.