87 32 ne ... semelle: 'never more than a foot behind him,' lit. 'not leaving him by (the length of) the sole of a shoe.' For de cf. note to 42 25.
88 2 à toute épreuve = à l'épreuve de tout 'proof against anything.'
88 3 d'autant que (for d'autant plus que): 'so much the more that,' 'especially because.'--rien: 'nothing '; cf. note to 13 1. Il ne se nourrissait avec rien would mean 'he did not nourish himself with anything,' the introduction of ne bringing the negation to bear upon the verb.
88 7 il lui en voulut de: cf. note to 36 10.
88 8 oie bridée: 'bridled goose' and figuratively 'ninny.' A feather is sometimes passed through the nostrils of a goose or a gosling (oison bridé) to prevent it from escaping through hedges. The ridiculous appearance which the fowl presents gives use to the figurative meaning.Cf. Rabelais's judge Bridoie and Beaumarchais's Brid'oison. --le prit en grippe: 'took a dislike to him'; grippe formerly meant 'whim,' 'fancy.'
88 16 huit grands jours: 'a whole week.' Huit jours = 'a week,' quinze jours = 'a fortnight.'
88 20 biskris: 'Biskran porters.' Biskra is a city in Algeria, at the edge of the Sahara. Many Biskrans settle in the coast cities, especially Algiers, where they obtain employment as porters; hence, biskri = 'porter.' The Arabic suffix -i corresponds to the English -an or -ite.
88 22 la patience lui échappa: 'he lost all patience'; cf. note to 4 24.