53 11 s'en revenait: Cf. s'en aller 17 4, s'en retourner 2 8.
53 15 tambours de basque: 'tambourines,' called 'Biscayan drums' because generally seen in the northern (Biscayan, Basque) provinces of Spain.
53 19 poterne: 'postern,' a back door, and then, by extension, any small door.
53 23 Tenons-nous bien: a phrase of warning to be on guard and ready, transl. 'ware Turks!'--Il: cf. note to 4 23.
54 1 Il y avait ... cherchait: 'for two long weeks the luckless Tartarin had been seeking.'
54 4 Voici: 'here is (how it happened).'
54 6 ni plus ni moins que l'Opéra: 'just as the Opera does.' The Opéra is the famous Opera House in Paris, where a great masked ball is given every year.
54 7 de province: 'provincial' All France outside of Paris is disdainfully designated by Parisians as la province. With province do not confuse Provence (cf. note to 13 27)--Peu de monde: 'few people.'