54 8 Bullier ... Casino: Parisian dance-halls--vierges folles: 'frail sisters.' In the French version of the parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew xxv, 1-12) the foolish virgins are called vierges folles.
54 9 chicards: 'dandies'--debardeurs: men who unload wood, 'stevedores.' Conventionalized dandy and stevedore costumes were made popular as early as the thirties by the clever cartoonist Gavarni and were seen at all masked balls. The reference here is to frequenters of Parisian masked balls who have found it advisable to leave France (en déroute) and have carried their costumes with them.
54 10 se lancent: 'are launching out,' = 'are getting started,' i.e. in a disreputable life.
54 12 Le vrai coup d'oeil: 'the real spectacle', coup d'oeil = 'glance,' and hence 'view' such as may be taken in all at once.
54 15 tapis verts: the green coverings of the gaming tables--turcos: 'Turcos,' native soldiers of the French army in Algeria.
54 16 prêt: 'pay' of non commissioned officers and soldiers, called prêt (cf. prêter 'to lend') because advanced to them before it is due.
54 18 l'argent d'une charrue: 'the price of a plow.'
54 29 la barbe de Père éternel: le Père éternel is, of course, God. The Middle Ages and the Renaissance did not scruple to represent him in sculpture and painting. Transl. 'with a long white beard.'