39 4 un brave garçon: cf. note to 3 12.
39 8 tire-vieille: 'man-rope,' one of the side ropes on the gangway of a ship. Tire-vieille (tirer + vieille,' that which helps old women to mount') is often misspelled tire-veille (tirer + veille, 'pull and take care').
39 17 tourmentait: 'tormented,' 'twisted and turned.'
39 20 sous le bâton de: 'under the cudgel used upon.'
39 23 barbaresque: 'Barbary.' La Barbarie ('Barbary') = États barbaresques is a general term formerly applied to the North African states: Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli.
39 24 Michel Cervantes: in 1575 Cervantes was captured by Barbary pirates and carried to Algiers. His five years of slavery afforded him materials for "Don Quixote" and other works; cf. note to 10 13.
39 26 devait: cf. note to 18 2.
40 1 Saavedra: upon his return from Algiers in 1580 Cervantes assumed the additional surname of Saavedra from one of his ancestors, always signing himself thenceforth Cervantes Saavedra.