fusil_ = 'to aim a gun' _Mettre_ (_coucher_) _en joue quelque chose_ = 'to
aim at a thing.'
_45_ 29 _Il en a!_ 'he has (caught) it!' 'he's hit!' LIT. 'he has some.'
_45_ 30 _en avait ... compte:_ 'had more than it wanted.'
_46_ 7 _venir a bout de:_ 'come to (the) end of' 'succeed '.
_46_ 8 _Il eut beau s'escrimer:_ on _avoir beau_ cf. note to _11_ 9.
_Escrimer_ = 'to fence,' _s'escrimer_ = 'to exert oneself.'
_46_ 9 _ne s'ouvrit pas:_ cf. note to _5_ 23.
_46_ 11 _De guerre lasse:_ for _de guerre las_ 'tired of struggling.'
Final _s_ was pronounced in Old French, after it was no longer pronounced
in most words it still continued to be sounded in _las_ in the expression
_de guerre las_ because of the presence of the feminine _guerre whence the
erroneous spelling _lasse_.
_46_ 12 _dessus:_ adverb, cf. note to _1_ 6.
_46_ 19 _artichauts:_ the true or globe artichoke (not to be confounded
with the Jerusalem artichoke) resembles a large thistle, and hence is
well adapted to give the impression described in _44_ 26-27.
_46_ 24 _bastides, bastidons:_ Provençal _bastido_ = 'country house,'
'villa', Provençal _bastidoun_ is the diminutive, = 'little villa,'
'cottage.'
_47_ 6 _parbleu!_ euphemistic for _pardieu_, transl. 'of course!'
_47_ 8 _bourriquots:_ cf. Engl. _burro_, which is borrowed from the
Spanish French _bourrique_ 'she ass' comes from the Provençal _bourric_
'donkey' (Latin _burricus_ a kind of small horse.)
_47_ 11 _tout à la pitié:_ 'entirely one of pity', cf. _79_ 30.
_47_ 16 _tout ce que ... touchant:_ 'the most touching thing you could
imagine.'
_47_ 18 _avait ... vie:_ 'had two farthings' worth of life left in him',
_liard_, an ancient coin worth a quarter of a sou (i.e. of a cent), is
usually translated 'farthing.'
_47_ 23 _Noiraud:_ 'Blacky,' a pet name often given to animals.
_47_ 28 _en marmotte:_ 'with a kerchief tied over her head.' This use
of the word _marmotte_ is derived from the fact that Savoyard women who
formerly traveled about the country with marmots (cf. note to _74_ 27)
employed this form of head covering.
_48_ 1 _réclamant ... Mustapha:_ 'shouting for her donkey till all the
echos of Mustapha rang.' _Réclamer a_ = 'to demand from.'
_48_ 6 _tarterfle:_ corruption of German _der Teufel_ 'the devil.' German
was the language generally used by the Alsatian peasants before the war,
though their sympathies were French (cf. note to _43_ 7) See "La Dernière
Classe" and some of the other stories in "Contes du lundi."
_48_ 11 _Va te promener!_ lit. 'go take a walk!' transl. 'much good it
did him!'--_sa vigueur le prouvait bien _'her vigor proved it (that she
was deaf) conclusively.' 'To strike like a deaf person,' _frapper comme
un sourd_, is said of one who uses the cudgel energetically and wildly,
as if he did not hear the laments of his victim.
_48_ 17 _l'on s'entendit:_ cf. note to _16_ 29.
_48_ 21 _douros:_ say 'dollars' or 'cash.' A duro is a Spanish coin whose
par value is now five francs, before 1871, a trifle more.
_48_ 20 _a deux lieues:_ cf. note to _4_ 8.
_49_ 1 _Ah! ben! merci:_ 'ah, indeed! no, thank you!' _Ben_ (pronounced
like _bain_) is popular for _bien Merci_ in answer to a question (e.g.
"will you have some more meat?") means "no, thank you!" Contrast English
'thank you,' which usually expresses assent--_pourquoi faire?_ cf. note to
_38_ 21.
_49 7 _banlieue:_ distinguish _banlieue_, 'suburbs' in the sense now
usual, the district of country surrounding a city and full of dependent
villages, from _faubourgs_, 'suburbs' in the older sense, forming a
continuous mass of houses with the main city, and _un village_ (or _une
ville_) _de_ (_la_) _banlieue_ from _un faubourg_. Cf. note to _43_ 2.
_49_ 8 _comme on en voit:_ cf. note to _32 17--_rameau:_ a branch hung out
was used formerly and is still used to a certain extent as the sign of a
country inn, of the English proverb "good wine needs no bush."
_49_ 11 _Au Rendez-vous des lapins:_ 'The Rabbits' Headquarters.' The
original expression _à l'enseigne de_, 'at the sign of,' became by
ellipsis _a_ plus the article, which takes the gender and number of the
noun following e.g. _à la Belle jardinière, aux Armes de France._
_49_ 12 _O Bravida, quel souvenir!_ cf. _9_ 7.
_49_ 13 _de quoi:_ cf. note to _10_ 7.
_49_ 14 _ne se laissent pas abattre:_ cf. note to _7_ 25.
_49_ 24 _il faisait un soleil, une poussière:_ _faire_ may be used in
almost any expression concerning the weather; _faire chaud, du soleil, du
vent, de la poussière,_ etc. Here, 'it was so terribly hot, so dusty.'
_49_ 25 _d'un lourd:_ 'frightfully heavy', adjective used as an abstract
noun, of such English usages as 'of a decided red.' On the suppression
cf. note to _15_ 21.
_50_ 7 _fusils rayés à doubles canons:_ cf. note to _14_ 32. To rifle
(_rayer_) a gun is to cut spiral grooves in the barrel.
_50_ 8 _complet:_ French law requires that only a certain number of
passengers be carried on omnibuses. When this number is reached the
omnibus is said to be _complet_, 'filled.'
_50_ 14 _Abd-el-Kader:_ the great leader of Algerian resistance to the
French conquest. He surrendered in 1847, was carried to France as a
prisoner by a breach of faith, was released in 1852 on his oath to make no
more trouble, went to Damascus and lived there till his death in 1883,
using his influence in favor of the French. (Note that he was alive when
"Tartarin" was published.)
_50_ 19 _de toute la route:_ 'during the whole ride,' 'all the way.'
_50_ 21 _k'hol:_ 'kohl,' a powder used in the Orient from ancient times,
particularly to darken the eyes, thus making them seem larger and more
oblong.
_50_ 32 _Que faire?_ 'what was he to do?'
_51_ 3 _aux mains des:_ 'into the hands of the.'
_51_ 7 _s'ouvraient tout grands:_ 'opened wide', cf. _42_ 14.
_51_ 10 _à l'entrée de:_ 'at the beginning of.'
_51_ 14 _en se levant:_ 'as she rose.'
_51_ 15 _qu'il l'effleura de son haleine:_ lit. 'that it (_le visage_)
touched him lightly with its breath', transl. 'that he felt her breath
sweep lightly over him.'
_51_ 17 _prêt à tout:_ 'ready for anything.'
_51_ 18 _buffleteries:_ 'belts' (of a soldier's outfit), 'strappings.'
_Buffle_, masculine, = 'buffalo' or 'buff leather.'
_51 20 _de:_ 'with', _jeter de_ = 'to throw with', cf. _69_ 10.
_51_ 28 _De quelques jours encore:_ 'for a few days yet.'
_52_ 7 _pied de trappeur:_ transl. 'hunting boot.'
_52_ 8 _se parfume:_ cf. note to _5_ 23.
_52_ 9 _quoi qu'il fasse:_ 'whatever he does,' i.e. despite all his
efforts.
_52_ 10 _Maugrabine:_ 'Maghrebi girl' Maghreb is the Arabic name of
the western part of the north coast of Africa.
_52_ 13 _il n'y a qu'un Tarasconnais ... capable:_ lit. 'there is only a
Tarasconian capable', transl. 'only a Tarasconian would be capable.'
_52_ 17 _se ressemblent:_ 'look alike', cf. note to _7_ 2--_ces dames:_
cf. note to _16_ 13--_ne sortent guère:_ 'rarely leave their homes',
_sortir_ = 'to go out,' 'to leave the house.'
_52_ 18 _ville haute:_ cf. note to _37_ 27.
_52_ 25 _Teurs ... forbans:_ 'fierce Turks with pirate like heads', cf.
note to _1_ 5.
_52_ 29 _cité:_ 'city.' This term, in English as well as in French, is
applied in some cases to the oldest portion of a city, eg 'the City'
of London, 'the City' of Paris.
_53_ 3 _janissaires:_ 'janizaries,' the standing army of Turkey till 1826;
a corps of most turbulent history, full of lawless arrogance toward
civilians and Christians. The janizaries of Algiers became independent in
1669, and dominated the pirate commonwealth.
_53_ 5 _Huit jours durant:_ 'for a whole week.' _Durant_, 'during,' is
emphatic when it follows its noun, cf. _61_ 7.
_53_ 6 _faire le pied de grue:_ 'stand and wait,' lit. to stand like a
crane (i.e. on one foot.)
_53_ 7 _ces dames:_ cf. note to _16_ 13.
_53_ 9 _quitter ... bottes:_ shoes must be taken off (which is easy with
Oriental shoes) before one enters a Mohammedan sacred place. Cf. Exodus
III, 5.
_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.'
_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_ 20 _trouble:_ adjective.
_54_ 29 _à barbe de Père éternel:_ _le Père étetnel_ 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.'
_55_ 7 _la garde qui monte:_ 'the guard coming up.' Note that a French
relative clause is often to be rendered by a present participle in English
e g, _je l'entends qui frappe_ 'I hear him knocking.' Cf. _6_ 10, _64_ 18,
_68_ 9.
_55_ 8 _ces saturnales:_ 'this saturnalia' The Roman festival of Saturn
was a penod of riotous license--_était venu s'égarer: 'had come straying',
cf. _93_ 19.
_55_ 10 _s'en allait:_ for _allait_, cf. note to _17_ 4.
_55_ 13 _M'sieu:_ indicates by the spelling the usual pronunciation of
_Monsieur_.
_55_ 15 _Après?_ 'Well, what have you to say?'
_55_ 17 _Je ne demande pas mieux:_ 'I don't ask (anything) better,'
'that's exactly what I should like to know.'
_55_ 25 _algarade:_ a word borrowed from the Spanish, the root being
Arabic. It was originally a military expression meaning a raid, but now is
used more or less jocularly for a wordy attack. Transl. 'dispute.'
_55_ 26 _Me voilà bien avancé:_ 'I'm much farther along,' 'I'm much the
wiser' (sarcastically).
_55_ 28 _ça:_ = _cela_, 'that,' 'the thing Gregory du Montenegro,'
contemptuous when used of persons, cf. _69_ 32.
_55_ 30 _préince:_ Tartarin's Southern pronunciation of _prince_.
_56_ 1 _Allons!_ 'well!' cf. note to _36_ 18--_Partagez-vous ...
question:_ the officer in disgust bids the prince and Tartarin to divide
between them the twenty francs that are missing and let the matter drop.
_56_ 2 _qu'il n'en soit plus question:_ 'let's have no more talk about
it', cf. note to _4 23_.
_56_ 6 _j'en fais mon affaire:_ 'I'll attend to this.'
_56_ 12 _Barbarin:_ when this work first appeared in serial form Tartarin
was called "Barbarin." The name was changed when Daudet discovered that a
family named Barbarin was living at Tarascon. See Introduction. The word
_tartarin_ means the sacred or Arabian baboon.
_56_ 13 _souffla:_ 'prompted.' _Souffler_, 'to blow,' 'to breathe,' in
theatrical parlance means 'to prompt.' _Le souffleur_ is 'the prompter.'
_56_ 14 _Entre ... mort:_ 'between us now it's a compact for life and
death!'
_56_ 17 _Vous pensez:_ cf. note to _4_ 6.
_56_ 21 _terrasses:_ cf. note to _64_ 2.
_56_ 22 _salade russe:_ 'Russian salad,' a heavy fish and vegetable salad.
_56_ 25 _frisé au petit fer:_ 'with fineîy curled hair.' _Friser au fer_ =
'to curl with an iron.'
_56_ 26 _rasé à la pierre ponce:_ 'very closely shaven.' Pumice stone has
from ancient times been used by the effeminate for smoothing the skin.
_56_ 27 _lui donnait un faux air de:_ 'made him look like', lit 'gave him
a false air of.'
_56_ 28 _Mazarin:_ Giulio Mazarini (1602-1661), an Italian who became
cardinal, and prime minister under Louis XIII and Louis XIV, talked French
with an Italian accent. He wore the mustache and slight beard usual at
that period.
_56_ 29 _les langues latines:_ pompously for _la langue latine_--_à tout
propos:_ 'apropos of everything,' 'at every opportunity'--_Tacite:_
'Tacitus' (54-140 A.D.), the famous latin historian.
_56_ 30 _Horace_ (64-8 B.C.) the Latin lyric poet--_Commentaires:_ the
histories of the wars of Julius Caesar written by himself, with
supplements by his officers, bear the Latin title _Commentarii_, i.e.
'Notebooks.'
_56_ 31 _héréditaire:_ transl. 'noble.'
_56_ 32 _depuis:_ adverb, 'since then', cf. note to _1_ 6.
_56_ 33 _en Altesse philosophe:_ 'in the role of philosophizing noble';
cf. note to _5_ 20.
_57_ 7 _bon:_ 'good natured,' 'kindly,' not 'good.'
_57_ 11 _On but sec:_ 'they drank hard.' _Boire sec_ means to drink pure
wine, without the usual admixture of water.
_57_ 12 _au Monténégro libre:_ Montenegrin independence was frequently
menaced by Turkey during the nineteenth century. In 1862, as a result of a
short but disastrous war, Montenegro had been forced to sign a humiliating
treaty of peace in which she virtually acknowledged the suzerainty of
Turkey. Daudet was in Africa in 1861-1862, gathering materials out of
which "Tartarin" grew. It is possible that he met there the prototype of
Gregory brooding over the disgrace of his country, or, at least,
pretending to do so. However, the character of the prince and the
information given in _56_ 31 ff lead us to suppose that in Gregory's mind
"a free Montenegro" means a Montenegro free from the existing
constitutional authorities, rather than free from Turkish domination.
_57_ 14 _qu'on secoue:_ 'being shaken,' cf. note to _55_ 7.
_57_ 18 _Parlez-moi des:_ 'just trust'--_lever ... la caille._ 'start the
game.' The usual expression is _lever le lievre_ 'to start the hare,' 'to
uncover something hidden.' A loose woman is sometimes called _caille_
('quail'), _caille coiffée_, hence the substitution of _caille_ for
_lievre_.
_57_ 20 _aux Platanes:_ = _au restaurant des Platanes_, cf. _56_ 20.
_58_ 4 _Bon!_ 'that's nothing!'--_vous n'êtes pas homme:_ 'you are not the
sort of man.'
_58_ 5 _on ... à bout de:_ 'we'll perhaps be able to dispose of', cf. note
to _46_ 7.
_58_ 6 _lui achetant:_ cf. note to _5_ 27--_Allons:_ 'come now!' cf. notes
to _36_ 18, _56_ 1.
_58_ 12 _Écrire ... simplement:_ 'just write to the lady.'
_58_ 18 _à mesure:_ 'as you go along', cf. note to _33_ 25.
_58_ 19 _que de bontés:_ lit. 'how many kindnesses!' transl. 'how good you
are!' Cf. note to _10_ 24.
_58_ 23 _Fort heureusement que:_ cf. note to _41_ 2.
_58_ 26 _Lamartine_ (Alphonse, 1790 1869) famous French poet, prose
writer, and statesman. His "Voyage en Orient" is the record of his travels
in 1832-1833.
_58_ 27 _Cantique des Cantiques:_ the 'Song of Songs,' or 'Song of
Solomon,' full of the Oriental phraseology of passion.
_58_ 28 _qu'il se pût voir:_ (= _pût se voir_) 'that could be seen,' 'that
ever was seen', cf. notes to _4_ 23 (_il_ impersonal), _5_ 23 (_se voir_,
reflexive with passive force).
_59_ 7 _Allons:_ plain imperative, not the exclamation cf. _58_ 6.
_59_ 15 _l'espérer:_ for this _le_ cf. note to _25_ 18.
_59_ 16 _du reste:_ 'besides.'
_59_ 29 _casse-tête à pointes:_ 'war club with spikes', cf. note to _2_
20.
_59_ 32 _le haut de la ville:_ = _la ville haute_ (_37_ 27).
_60_ 5 _cour intérieure:_ Oriental houses are built in the form of a
hollow square, the house surrounding the courtyard on all sides.
_60_ 8 _plus forte:_ 'stouter.'
_60_ 9 _ne fit que traverser:_ 'did no more than pass through,' 'merely
passed through.'
_60_ 13 _sous les ramages ... fleurs:_ 'under the figures of her flowered
dress'--_laissant deviner:_ cf. note to _7_ 23.
_60_ 14 _friande à point:_ 'dainty to the point of perfection.'
_60_ 15 _ronde de partout:_ 'round all over'--_narghile:_ 'nargile,' a
Turkish pipe in which the smoke is drawn through water, a hookah.
_60_ 16 _toute:_ 'entirely.'
_60_ _chapter heading_ _Sidi:_ among the Mohammedans a title of respect,
when addressed to a foreigner, about equivalent to Mr--_ben:_ Arabic, 'son
of' 'Tartarin son of Tartarin.'
_60_ 24 _à la veillée:_ 'at the gossiping hour' _Veillée_ = a sitting up
at night for work or pleasure, especially to tell stories.
_60_ 28 _voici ... déjà:_ 'already several years ago,' 'several years have
already passed since then.'
_60_ 29 _dame du cru:_ 'native girl', cf. note to _26_ 6.
_61_ 2 _n'est autre que:_ 'is no other than.'
_61_ 4 _Qu'est-ce que vous voulez:_ 'what can you expect?' lit. 'what do
you wish?' Cf. _75_ 18.
_61_ 7 _durant:_ cf. note to _53_ 5.
_61_ 9 _Annibal à Capoue:_ 'Hannibal at Capua.' After the battle of Cannae
(216 B.C.) in which the Roman army was overwhelmed, Hannibal, the
Carthaginian general, instead of following up his success, retired for the
winter into Capua, where his army was demoralized by the enervating
influences of the luxury loving city. Livy makes this to have been the
cause of Hannibal's failure--a view now generally discredited.
_61_ 15 _confitures au musc:_ 'preserves perfumed with musk.'
_61_ 19 _se faisait des mines:_ 'made grimaces to herself.'
_61_ 23 _avait tout le temps de:_ 'had plenty of time to.'
_62_ 2 _la ville européenne:_ the part of the city inhabited by Europeans,
as distinguished from _la ville haute_ _37_ 27, the Moorish quarter.
_62_ 9 _on ne peut plus satisfait:_ 'perfectly satisfied', lit. 'one
cannot (be) more satisfied.'
_62_ 12 _il suffisait d'un regard:_ 'a glance was enough', cf. _il suffit
d'un képi_ (_77_ 15) 'a military cap is enough.'
_62_ 14 _Circe._ 'Circe,' the enchantress, who by means of a potion
transformed the companions of Ulysses into swine (Odyssey x).
_62_ 21 _se trouvaient être:_ 'proved to be', cf. note to _13_ 22.
_62_ 24 _tous:_ pronoun, for pronunciation cf. note to _20_ 13.
_62_ 26 _lui gagnaient son argent:_ 'won his money from him.'
_62_ 29 _le Prophète:_ Mohammed It is common in European literature to
represent Mohammedans as paying to Mohammed the same sort of worship as
Catholics pay to the highest saints. Cf. note to _83_ 8.
_62_ 31 _leur ... et:_ 'their white housetop which', lit. 'their terrace
... which acted as roof to the house and' _Terrasse_ is any artificial
level place for spending time outdoors, whether a terrace or a flat roof
such as characterizes Oriental architecture, cf. the less familiar
meanings of _terrace_ in English.
_63_ 1 _en s'échelonnant:_ 'in tiers', cf. _4_ 13.
_63_ 4 _s'égrenait ... ciel:_ 'was diffused gently note by note through
the sky.' _Égrener_ = 'to strip' grain from the head, grapes from the
bunch--_minaret:_ the tower of a mosque. See next note.
_63_ 5 _muezzin:_ an officer of a Mohammedan mosque who calls the faithful
to prayer by crying from the top of the minaret. Since the minaret is high
and from the top the muezzin has a view of the roofs of the houses where
the Mohammedan women spend a great deal of the time, blind men are sought
for this office--_découpant ... dans:_ 'his white shadow standing out
against.'
_63_ 6 _chantant la gloire d'Allah:_ cf. note to _92_ 1.
_63_ 12 _une sainte Thérèse d'Orient:_ 'an oriental St Theresa' St-Theresa
(1515-1582) was one of Spain's greatest mystic poets.
_63_ _chapter heading_ _On ... Tarascon._ 'our Tarascon correspondent
writes us.'
_63_ 17 _Par:_ cf. note to _10_ 22.
_63_ 18 _tout seulet:_ 'in solitary ease' _Seulet_, fem _seulette_,
diminutive of _seul_ (cf. note to _33_ 27) The masculine is rarely used.
_63_ 19 _en spartene:_ 'of esparto cloth,' woven from esparto, a Spanish
grass much used in the manufacture of mats, baskets, hats, ropes, etc.
_63_ 20 _cédrats:_ 'cedrats,' an especially fragrant citron (not melon).
_63_ 21 _balin-balan:_ Provençal, 'swaying.'
_63_ 22 _s'en allait:_ cf. note to _17_ 4.
_63_ 27 _Hé! monstre de sort:_ cf. note to _1_ 12--_on dirait monsieur
Tartarin:_ transl. 'if that doesn't look like Mr Tartarin!'
_64_ 2 _sur la porte de._ = _sur la terrasse de_ transl. 'in front of.'
Tables are spread on the sidewalk in front of French restaurants and cafes
in fine weather.
_64_ 4 _He! adieu:_ cf. note to _13_ 7.
_64_ 6 _le voilà parti à rire:_ 'he burst out laughing.'
_64_ 9 _Qué:_ Provençal for _quel_.
_64_ 11 _Marco:_ a Provençal feminine noun, hence _o_ instead of _a_
Marca.
_64_ 15 _D'où sortez-vous donc:_ 'where under the sun do you come from?'
(that you are so credulous).
_64_ 18 _qui s'allongeait:_ cf. note to _55_ 7.
_64_ 20 _Mettons:_ 'let's say.'
_64_ 21 _voyez-vous:_ 'see here.'
_64_ 24 _sa moue:_ cf. _3_ 11-14, _39_ 10.
_64_ 27 _faire dire:_ cf. note to _7_ 25--_au pays:_ 'at home' _Pays_ =
native 'country,' 'province,' or 'district.' _La France_ (_la Provence,
Tarascon_) _est mon pays._ Cf. note to _1_ 16.
_64_ 28 _collègue:_ = Provençal _coulego_ 'colleague,' 'comrade.'
_64_ 30 _quelques pipes:_ 'a few pipefuls'--_vous fera du bien:_ 'will do
you good', contrast _ferez bien_ without _du_, line 22.
_65_ 4 _jurons du cru:_ 'oaths of his native land', cf. note to _26_ 6.
_65_ 5 _là-has:_ 'over there' in Provence.
_65_ 11 _lui sauta aux yeux:_ cf. note to _12_ 25.
_65_ 14 _n'a ... depuis:_ 'has not been heard from for', lit. 'has not
given of his news since.'
_65_ 15 _Qu'est devenu:_ 'what has become of?' lit. 'what has become?' Cf.
note to _93_ 7.
_65_ 23 _Tombouctou:_ 'Timbuktu,' the most famous city of central Africa,
a French possession since 1893, in Tartarin's time only three Europeans
had ever reached it, and one of these was killed two days after he left
the city.
_65_ 24 _garde:_ subjunctive.
_66_ 6 _Le temps d'inspecter ... et l'intrépide:_ transl. 'only a moment
to inspect ... and the bold.'
_66_ 7 _écrire deux mots:_ = _écrire un mot_ 'to write a line.'
_66_ 10 _la route de Blidah:_ 'the Blidah road.' Blidah is a city about
twenty five miles southwest of Algiers. On _de_ cf. note to _1_ 5.
_66_ 12 _babouches:_ Turkish slippers, made of colored leather, without
heels--_défroque:_ 'cast offs', properly, the possessions which a monk
leaves behind at his death, then, by extension, what is abandoned
disdainfully.
_66_ 13 _trèfles:_ 'trefoils,' an ornamental foliation consisting of three
divisions, or foils (architectural term).
_67_ 2 _gros bleu:_ = _bleu foncé_, 'dark blue.'
_67_ 4 _moxas:_ 'blisters.' The word _moxa_ (originally Japanese) in
English or French means a wad of cottony substance laid on any part of the
body and set on fire for the purpose of counter irritation, its use is now
out of date. In French the word may also mean the burn thus produced on
the skin.
_67_ 5 _rotonde:_ properly, 'rotunda,' a round building surmounted by a
cupola; then, also, the 'back compartment' of a stage coach.
_67_ 1 _dut se contenter de:_ 'had to content himself with'; cf. _80_ 14,
_88_ 14. See note to _2_ 10.
_67_ 10 _Il y avait de tout un peu:_ = _il y avait un peu de tout. Il y
avait de tout_ has about the same meaning--_trappiste:_ 'Trappist' (monk).
The abbey of La Trappe, from which this austere order takes its name, was
founded in 1140 in the department of the Orne (northwestern France).
_67_ 12 _Orléansville:_ a city on the Sheliff, a hundred and thirty miles
southwest of Algiers.--_si charmante ... que fût la compagnie:_ 'however
charming the company was.' Cf. note to _4_ 6.
_67_ 13 _n'était pas en train de:_ 'was not in the mood for.' Cf. _je ne
suis pas en train de travailler_ 'I don't feel like working,' _je suis en
train de travailler_ (cf. _18_ 4) 'I am (busy) working.'
_67_ 15 _brassière:_ the 'arm-strap' of the carriage; more commonly, the
strap by which a knapsack or similar article is held.
_68_ 8 _les flancs ... qui se plaignaient:_ cf. note to _55_ 1.
_68_ 10 _vieille fée:_ read "Les Fées de France" in "Contes du lundi."
_68_ 18 _Joncquières_ (usually spelled _Jonquières_), _Bellegarde:_ small
towns across the river from Tarascon, on the road to Nîmes.
_68_ 19 _remis:_ more colloquial than reconnu.
_68_ 20 _du corps que vous avez pris:_ 'of the flesh you have taken on.'
_68_ 21 _coquin de bon sort:_ cf. note to _1_ 12.
_68_ 24 _Mais enfin:_ 'But, tell me.'
_68_ 27 _gré:_ a noun, 'liking,' used almost exclusively in prepositional
phrases (_de bon gré_ 'willingly,' _à son gré_ 'to his liking,' and the
like; cf. _malgré_) and in _savoir gré à quelqu'un_ 'to be grateful to a
person': _je lui sais gré de m'avoir aidé._ Latin _gratum_ 'that which is
pleasing.'
_68_ 31 _réactionnaires:_ 'reactionary.' This word means little to an
American, but France has constantly been talking, more or less seriously,
of reactions to previously existing states of affairs, as from republic to
monarchy.
_68_ 32 _à mener:_ cf. _à lire_ _10_ 22--_une vie de galère:_ 'the life of
(such as one leads on) a galley,' 'a galley-slave's life', cf. note to _1_
5.
_68_ 33 _chemins de fer algériens:_ there were no railroads in Algeria
when Daudet visited it in 1861, but between this year and 1872, when
"Tartarin" appeared, several hundred miles of tracks had been constructed.
_69_ 2 _que je le regrette:_ 'how I long for it.' _Regretter_ = 'to
regret,' 'to regret the loss or the absence of' a thing, hence 'to long
for' a thing. For the anticipatory _le_ cf. note to 32 5.
_69_ 4 _il fallait me voir:_ cf. note to _24_ 3.
_69_ 5 _vernissées a neuf:_ 'varnished so that they shone like new.'
_69_ 8 _sur l'air de:_ 'to the tune of.'--_Lagadigadeou_ (pronounce
_dèou_): the refrain of Desanat's version of Tarascon's most popular song
may be translated as follows: _Lagadigadeou, la Tarasque--La Tarasque du
Château--Un air de lagadeou--Qui résonne_ (resounds) _à tout rompre_ (cf.
note to _2_ 2) _avec son tapage._ Notre-Dame du Château is a place of
pilgrimage near Tarascon. _Lagadigadeou_ is meanmgless. For the _Tarasque_
cf. note to _3_ 25. For this song as a Provençal carter's song, see
F. Gras, "The Terror," ch xxxiii.
_69_ 9 _que:_ cf. note to _5_ 1.
_69_ 10 _jetant d'un tour de bras:_ 'throwing with a swing'; of _à tour de
bras_ 'with all one's might'; cf. note to _51_ 20.
_69_ 12 _allume:_ exclamation serving to encourage horses: 'quick, now!'
_69_ 15 _détaler:_ the opposite of _étaler_ (cf. note to _37_ 22), = 'to
bring in goods exposed for sale,' 'to shut up shop,' and figuratively, in
familiar discourse, 'to dash away,' 'scurry along'; cf. _94_ 13.--_grande
route royale:_ 'king's highway.'
_69_ 17 _bornes kilométriques:_ 'milestones' or rather 'kilometer-stones.'
--_ses petits tas ... espacés:_ 'its little heaps of stones at regular
intervals'; broken stone for repairing the road.
_69_ 21 _maires:_ 'mayors,' presiding officers of communes (cf. note to
_17_ 14).
_69_ 22 _préfet ... evêque:_ Nîmes is the chief city of the department
(cf. note to _17_ 14) of the Gard, and therefore the seat of the prefect.
It is also the seat of a bishop.
_69_ 23 _mazet:_ Provençal diminutive of _mas_; = 'little country house.'
--_collégiens:_ 'schoolboys.' The French _collège_ (also the _lycée_)
carries students from the beginning of their studies through a course
which corresponds roughly to that completed in the second year of the
American college.
_69_ 24 _tout frais rasés du matin:_ 'all (adverb, = _quite_) freshly
shaved that morning.'
_69_ 25 _vous ... casquettes:_ transl. 'all of you gentlemen, the
caphunters.'
_69_ 27 _la vôtre:_ i.e. _votre romance_, cf. pages 6-7.
_69_ 30 _Bédouins:_ nomadic Arabs in northern Africa and Arabia.
_69_ 32 _tout cela:_ cf. note to _55_ 28.
_69_ 33 _auquel ... rien:_ cf. _je ne comprends rien à tout cela_ 'I don't
understand any of that.'
_70_ 1 _On me plaint:_ 'they begrudge me.'
_70_ 5 _brancards:_ a stage-coach has no _shafts. Brancards_ is used also
for the two pieces of wood which connect the fore and after carriages of a
vehicle, transl. 'body.' Daudet may mean simply 'pole.'
_70_ 6 _tenez!_ lit. 'hold!' An exclamation whose force varies greatly;
transl. here 'just see that!'
_70_ 8 _gouvernement:_ 'seat of government', cf. note to _42_ 1.
_70_ 9 _plus rien:_ cf. note to _13_ 1.
_70_ 10 _lentisques:_ 'mastic trees,' small trees growing in the
Mediterranean countries, producing a resin which is used in the
manufacture of paints.
_70_ 14 _champoreau:_ a warm drink, coffee with a copious admixture of
brandy, popular among the Europeans in Africa.
_70_ 21 _une cour de caravansérail:_ cf. note to _1_ 5. A caravansary is a
building for the lodging of caravans. See "Le Caravansérail" in "Contes du
lundi."
_70_ 29 _kousskouss:_ (_couscous_): meat cooked with flour, the national
dish of the Arabs according to Daudet, "Paysages gastronomiques" in
"Contes du lundi."
_71_ 2 _une place de jolie sous-préfecture:_ 'the square of a pretty
little city,' 'the square of a pretty city about the size of a
subprefecture'; cf. note to _17_ 14. For the construction cf. note to _1_
5.
_71_ 4 _de petits soldats de plomb:_ 'little lead soldiers', cf. note to
_1_ 5. The men drilling looked like lead soldiers when seen through the
_vitres dépolies par la buée_, on account of their stiffness and the
dimness of their outline in the early morning light.
_71_ 7 _ne sentait pas encore le lion:_ 'did not savor of lions yet', cf.
_cela sent le camphre_ 'that smells of camphor.'
_71_ 8 _Plus au sud:_ not negative; cf. note to _13_ 1.
_71_ 13 _grosse comme le poing:_ 'as big as your fist.'
_71_ 14 _haute de cinq doigts:_ cf. notes to _26_ 5 and _42_ 23.
--_serviette:_ a kind of 'portfolio' widely used in France by public
officials, professors, and others, for carrying papers and books.
_71_ 15 _notaire:_ the position of the French notaire is more dignified
than that of our 'notary', he performs some of the functions of the
American lawyer.
_71_ 20 _regardait toujours Tartarin:_ cf. note to _11_ 12.
_71_ 21 _prit la mouche:_ transl. 'took offense.' _Prendre la mouche_ =
'to seize the fly,' 'to seize a slight occasion for becoming angry,' 'to
become vexed easily.'
_71_ 26 _leur gaine:_ cf. note to _29_ 11.
_72_ 17 _Et toute la diligence de rire:_ 'and the whole stage coach
laughed', cf. the Latin historical infinitive, used in place of the
perfect. In French this infinitive is always preceded by _de_ and the
clause is almost always introduced by _et, là dessus_, or a similar word.
--_trois cheveux de Cadet-Roussel:_ the popular song called
_Cadet-Roussel_, 'Young Roussel,' was composed on the basis of a local
song by a soldier in the Northern Army of the revolutionary forces about
1792. Cadet Roussel has three houses, three coats, three hats, three hairs
(two for his face, one for his wig, and when he goes to see his lady he
gathers the three into a braid), three dogs, and so on.
_72_ 21 _Terrible profession que la vôtre:_ understand (_c'est une_)
_terrible profession que la vôtre_ (_est_); cf. note to _21_ 19.
_72_ 23 _Bombonnel_ (d. 1890): undertook to free North Africa of panthers.
_72_ 27 _Té! ... connais:_ 'what! know him? I should say so!' For _té_ cf.
note to _13_ 7. _Pardi_ is a euphemism (really a dialectal form) for
_pardieu_; cf. _parbleu_, _47_ 6.
_73_ 3 _Tout juste!_ 'exactly!' cf. note to _83_ 5.
_73_ 15 _ce qu'il en est:_ 'how matters stand.' On _en_ cf. note to _8_
19.
_73_ 20 _Chassaing_ (Jacques, 1821-1871): hunter of lions and panthers.
_73_ 24 _qu'est-ce que c'est donc que ... ?_ 'what, pray, is ... ?'
disdainful; cf. _55_ 28.
_73_ 27 _Milianah:_ a city in the Zakkar mountains, about seventy-five
miles southwest of Algiers. A comparison of the story of Tartarin's
adventures at Milianah with the pages on that city in "Lettres de mon
moulin" will show how many details have been borrowed from the notes
Daudet took down during his stay in Algeria.
_73_ 30 _à regarder ... s'il:_ 'looking (to see) if', cf. note to _10_ 22.
_74_ 4 _loyal:_ 'honest.'
_74_ 11 _A quoi bon ... ?_ 'what (was) the good of ... ?' Latin _cui
bono?_
_74_ 16 _train de derrière:_ 'hind quarters,' _train de devant_ = 'fore
quarters,' of an animal; properly applied only to an animal harnessed to a
vehicle.
_74_ 17 _Qu'est-ce ... plus?_ colloquial construction; transl. 'what under
the sun (_donc_) did they mean by telling me there were none left?'
_74_ 26 _promenaient:_ note the active use of this verb, cf. _monter_ _41_
28.
_74_ 27 _Savoyard ... marmotte:_ the 'marmot' is a rodent inhabiting the
Alps, related to the American woodchuck and prairie dog. Savoyards
traveling through France with marmots remind one of our Italian
organ-grinders with their monkeys. Cf. note to _1_ 8.
_74_ 28 _Le sang ... tour:_ 'the Tarasconian's blood boiled', lit. 'made
only one turn.'
_75_ 2 _Au zouge de paix:_ '(take him) to the justice of the peace' (_juge
de paix_).
_75_ 3 _nuit:_ he was blind.
_75_ 12 _Sitôt votre lettre reçue:_ 'as soon as I received your letter,' =
_aussitôt que votre lettre fut reçue._
_75_ 14 _ventre à terre:_ 'at full speed'; so fast that the horses' bodies
(almost) touched the ground.
_75_ 16 _donc:_ render by emphasis on auxiliary: 'what _have_ you done?'
_75_ 18 _Que voulez-vous?_ cf. note to _61_ 4.--_De voir:_ cf. note to
_31_ 20.
_76_ 3 _Ce qui me va:_ 'what suits (pleases) me', cf. _ça vous va-t-il?_
(_91_ 3) 'does that suit you?'--_en matière de conclusion_ = _en manière
de conclusion_ 'to bring the affair to a conclusion,' 'by way of
conclusion.'
_76_ 4 n'en déplaise à mons Bombonnel: 'may it not displease Mr.
Bombonnel,' 'with Mr Bombonnel's leave.' _Mons_ (the _o_ is nasalized and
the _s_ is pronounced) is used contemptuously for _Monsieur_.
_76_ 7 _battre la plaine:_ 'beat the plain' (to rouse game); cf. note to
_10_ 5--_Chéliff:_ most important river in Algeria, over 370 miles long.
_76_ 8 _Auriez-vous:_ cf. note to _15_ _chapter heading._
_76_ 24 _tuyas:_ any trees closely related to the arbor-vitae or American
white cedar, here 'sandarac trees.'--_caroubiers:_ cf. note to _33_ 19.
_76_ 27 _Liban:_ 'Lebanon,' in Syria, formerly famous for its cedar
forests with their far-reaching odors and its many streams, see the Song
of Solomon, iv, 8, 11, 15.
_77_ 1 _brodées au fil d'argent:_ 'embroidered with silver thread.'
_77_ 2 _un faux air de:_ cf. note to _56_ 27.
_77_ 12 _tout son monde:_ 'all its servants'; cf. note to _54_ 7.
_77_ 14 _pas n'est besoin:_ for _il n'est pas besoin_ 'there is no need.'
_77_ 15 _Il suffit d'un képi:_ cf. note to _62_ 12.
_77_ 17 _la toque de Gessler:_ 'Gessler's cap.' Gessler is the Austrian
governor of Swltzerland who figures in the story of William Tell. The
Swiss were forced to salute his cap, which was placed on a pole.
_77_ 18 _allait son train:_ 'went on its way.' _Train_ = 'gait.'
_77_ 23 _bureau arabe:_ 'Arab office,' the French bureau for the
Administration of affairs concerning the natives.--_au bon frais:_
strengthened form of _au frais_ 'in the fresh air.'
_77_ 25 _crut à un coup de main:_ 'thought it was an uprising'; cf. _94_
27. _Coup de main_ = 'surprise,' 'sudden attack.'--_fit baisser:_ cf. note
to _7_ 25.
_77_ 26 _mit ... en état de siège:_ 'proclaimed martial law in the city.'
_78_ 2 _se sauva ... jambes:_ 'ran away into the Zakkar as fast as he
could.' For the Zakkar (a part of the Little Atlas) see note to _73_ 27.
_78_ 4 _ombre trouée:_ 'broken shade'; the light found its way in places
through the foliage of the tree.
_78_ 8 _précisément:_ 'quite opportunely', cf. note to _83_ 5.
_78_ 15 _Comment voulez-vous ... ?_ 'how do you suppose ... ?'
_78_ 18 _Si maigre ... paraisse:_ cf. note to _4_ 6.
_78_ 21 _Demandez plutôt:_ cf. _44_ 1.
_78_ 23 _mouci:_ for _monsieur._
_78_ 31 _coup d'oeil:_ 'looks'; cf. note to _54_ 12.--_ne feraient pas
très bien:_ 'would not do very well.'
_79_ 1 _Tant que vous en voudrez:_ 'as many as you like', note the future.
_79_ 3 _à quelques kilomètres:_ cf. note to _18_ 25.
_79_ 11 _pendus à:_ 'hanging from.'
_79_ 15 _une mesure à blé:_ 'a wheat measure', _une mesure de blé_ 'a
measure (full) of wheat.' Cf. _2_ 6.--_des Kabyles qui s'éventrent
autour:_ 'Kabyles slashing each other with knives (lit. cutting each other
open) around it'; cf. notes to _55_ 7 (_qui_), _7_ 2 (_se_), _1_ 6
(_autour_).
_79_ 16 _une joie:_ = _une joie!_ ...; cf. _un Teur!_ ... _32_ 4, and note
to _15_ 21.
_79_ 17 _se noyer:_ 'get drowned,' not 'drown himself.'
_79_ 20 _Par exemple:_ 'as luck would have it'; cf. note to _11_ 24.
_79_ 23 _tête de bédouin:_ 'Bedouin-like head'; cf. note to _1_ 5. This is
a good example of Daudet's skill in finding striking simularities: the
Bédouin (cf. note to _69_ 30) has a long, narrow head.
_79_ 27 _Toujours la folie orientale!_ 'his craze about things oriental
was still with him!'
_79_ 30 _tout en haut_ = _tout à fait en haut_, cf. note to _47_ 11.
_80_ 1 _jambes à noeuds:_ 'knotty legs.'
_80_ 8 _étoupe:_ aptly characterizes the hair of a camel's hump.
_80_ 10 _Va te promener!_ cf. note to _48_ 11.
_80_ 13 _six cent mille dents:_ each Arab had 150 teeth! Which goes to
show that Daudet himself was born not far from Tarascon. But it is to be
remembered that _six cent mille_ is sometimes used merely to indicate a
very large number, like English "thousands of."
_80_ 14 _dut:_ cf. note to _67_ 7.
_80_ 19 _devant:_ _devant_ for _avant, auparavant,_ is obsolete except in
certain locutions such as _comme devant._
_80_ 25 _douar:_ 'douar,' an Arab village, composed of tents arranged with
more or less regularity.--_plaine du Cheliff:_ the broad part of the
Sheliff basin is in the half desert plateau between the Great Atlas and
the Little Atlas. The picture which follows is interesting, it is
overdrawn, however, since Algeria never was, and certainly is not today,
as bad as Daudet paints it.
_80_ 27 _se compliquent d':_ 'are complicated by (the addition of).'
_80_ 28 _Zouzou:_ military slang for _zouave._
_81_ 1 _le sergent La Ramée, le brigadier Pitou:_ popular names for the
French soldier, the English "Tommy Atkins."
_81_ 3 _su:_ 'known how,' 'been able.'
_81_ 5 _bachagas:_ 'bashagas' (Turkish for 'head agas' or 'heads of agas,'
cf. note to _82_ 5), native chiefs of districts.--_se mouchent ... Légion
d'honneur:_ 'gravely use their insignia of the Legion of Honor as
handkerchiefs.' Like much in "Tartarin de Tarascon," this detail was
extracted from the memorandum books which Daudet carried during his
Algerian travels, again in "Un Décoré du 15 août" ("Contes du lundi") he
declares that he repeatedly saw the _grand cordon_ used for the purpose
here mentioned. The Legion of Honor was established by Napoleon (then
first consul) in 1802. The insignia are a wide red ribbon from which is
suspended a five-pointed cross.
_81_ 7 _font bâtonner:_ cf. note to _7_ 25.
_81_ 8 _cadis:_ 'cadis,' judges under Mohammedan law.
_81_ 9 _tartufes du Coran et de la loi:_ 'hypocritical respecters of
Religion and Law.' _Tartufe_ is the hypocrite in Moliere's play of that
name, the word is now used as a common noun to designate a person who
pretends to be devout. The Coran (Koran) is the Holy Book of the
Mohammedans, containing the revelations of Mohammed.--_quinze août:_
'August 15,' Napoleon's birthday, now superseded by July 14, the national
holiday, as the day on which the decorations of the Legion of Honor are
distributed. Read "Un Décoré du quinze août," referred to in note to _81_
5
_81_ 12 _kousskouss au sucre_: 'sweetened couscous'--_caïds_ 'caids,'
Mohammedan military chiefs.
_81_ 13 _un général Yusuf quelconque_81_. 'some General Yusuf or other'
Joseph Vantini (1810-1866), of Italian birth, was a French officer who
played an active part in the conquest of Algeria _Yusuf_ (in French
spelling, _Yousouf_) is the Arabic form of the name Joseph.
_81_ 19 _maquis_: ordinarily used only of the Corsican 'maquis', extensive
areas overgrown with an almost impenetrable tangle of brushwood
--_le grenier de la France_: the words of the enthusiastic promoters of
Algerian colonization Algeria's famous grain producing region does not
extend farther inland than one hundred miles, and does not include the
part which Tartarin was now traversing.
_81_ 25 _sauterelles enragées_ cf. note to _24_ 23.--_mangent jusqu'aux
rideaux_ 'eat the very curtains', cf._85_ 17.
_81_ 26 _en train de boire_ 'drinking', cf. note to _18_ 4.
_81_ 30 _tout entier à_ 'engrossed in'.
_81_ 31 _allait droit devant lui_ 'went straight ahead'.
_82_ 3 _dans les tribus_: 'in the (camps of the) tribes'.
_82_ 5 _agas_: 'agas' The _aga_ was formerly a great military chief in
Turkey, now the title is merely one of respect given to village magnates.
_82_ 6 _narghilés etc_ i.e. articles of the Orient and of the Occident.
_82_ 1 _Smyrne_: 'Smyrna,' important seaport in Asiatic Turkey, on the
Aegean Sea, famous for its rugs and silks--_lampes-modérateur_ more
precisely _lampes à modérateur_, 'moderator lamps' A moderator is an
instrument for governing the movement of machines, here, "a mechanical
contrivance by which the passage of the oil from the reservoir to the
burner is regulated or moderated to a uniform flow" (Oxford Dict).
_82_ 8 _sequins_: 'sequins,' an old gold coin of variable value, usually
worth about $2 25, formerly issued by the Venetian republic (_zecchino_)
and largely used in the Levant.
_82_ 9 _pendules à sujets, style Louis-Philippe_ 'clocks adorned with
figures in the Louis Philippe style' Louis Philippe was king of France
from 1830 to 1848.
_82_ 10 _diffas_: 'diffas,' among the Arabs of Africa receptions and
feasts offered to men of rank The fantasia is an Arab equestrian
Exhibition.
_82_ 11 _goums_ 'goums,' armed contingents supplied by Algerian tribes
for the French army, and commanded by French officers.
_82_ 15 _Pont-Neuf:_ this 'New Bridge' is the oldest of the many which
span the Seine in Paris. It was completed in 1604 by Henry IV, and
figures in many legends of old Paris. _C'est vieux comme le Pont-Neuf_
has become a proverb.
_82_ 20 _faisant frrt!_ 'saying sst! (scat!).'
_82_ 23 _vers les six heures:_ = _vers six heures._ Cf. note to _23_ 16.
_83_ 3 _Plus de doute:_ cf. note to _13_ 1.
_83_ 5 _tout juste:_ = _précisément_ _78_ 8, cf. _73_ 3.
_83_ 8 _ex-voto:_ (sing. and pl. alike), 'ex-votos,' 'votive offerings';
an offering made in fulfillment of a vow. Latin _ex voto_; cf. Horace,
_Odes_, _I_, v. The worship of saints in Mohammedan countries (where it
ranks as a superstition rather than as orthodox religion) is mainly
confined to the saint's tomb, or reputed tomb.
_83_ 12 _s'y refusa:_ = _se refusa à cela_ (cf. note to _2_ 29); 'refused
to consent.'--_tenait à:_ 'insisted upon.' _Tenir à faire quelque chose_ =
'to desire strongly to do a thing,' 'to be determined to do a thing';
_tenir à quelque chose_ = 'to care greatly for a thing.'
_83_ 16 _Ceci fait:_ 'this done.'
_83_ 31 _pas de velours:_ 'velvet steps,' 'soft steps.'
_84_ 1 _qu'on égorge:_ 'having their throats cut.'
_84_ 3 _Tartarin l'était:_ 'Tartarin was' (it, that is, _ému_); cf. note
to _chose_ = 'to _25_ 18.
_84_ 7 _en train:_ cf. note to _67_ 13.
_84_ 9 _encore:_ cf. note to _18_ 31.
_84_ 10 _tint bon:_ 'held his ground'; cf. note to _27_ 16.
_84_ 14 _se replie ... marabout:_ 'retreats as fast as he can to the
marabout.' For _à toutes jambes_ cf. _78_ 2.
_84_ 17 _hydres:_ the Hydra of classical mythology was a water serpent
with many heads, each of which, when cut off, was replaced immediately by
two new ones.
_64_ 18 _A moi:_ 'help!'
_84_ 23 _filer:_ here, 'scamper off.' _Filer_ = 'to spin' (yarn), 'to
uncoil,' and colloquially 'to take to one's heels,' 'to race'; cf. _88_
27, _94_ 9.
_85_ 2 _au petit jour:_ 'at early dawn'; _au grand jour_ 'in full
daylight.'--qu'il: cf. note to _5_ 1.
_85_ 6 _chameau à bosse simple:_ 'one-humped camel,' dromadaire _93_ 6.
_85_ 9 _le Christ:_ pronounced [krist]; always with the article (the
Anointed).
_85_ 10 _Gethsémani:_ in the words _douta, pleurer_, Daudet refers to
Christ's moral and physical recoil at Gethsemane. A Frenchman is not
offended as we are by the flippancy of this reference to one of the
supreme moments of Christ's life. Cf. De Vigny's "Le Mont des Oliviers."
_85_ 13 _d'en face:_ 'in front of him'; cf. _90_ 20.
_85_ 17 _jusqu'aux pantoufles:_ made 'even the slippers' shake; of _81_
25.
_85_ 19 _Seul:_ while all trembled, Tartarin 'alone' did not.
_86_ 1 _Mahom:_ the most usual form of the name 'Mohammed' during the
Middle Ages; retained, for effect, in the oath _par Mahom._--l'échappa
belle: 'had a narrow escape'; cf. note to _8_ 18.
_86_ 3 _si ... n'avait envoyé:_ note the omission of _pas_ after the
conjunction _si_; cf. note to _36_ 16.
_86_ 7 _l'homme à la plaque:_ 'the man with the badge,' the rural
policeman.
_86_ 14 processive: (of _procès,_ 'lawsuit'), 'litigious.'--_avocassière:_
'pettifogging'; _avocat_ = 'lawyer,' _avocasser_ = 'to practice law'
(always in a depreciatory sense, cf. _bonasse_ _3_ 13).
_86_ 15 _la judiciaire ... se tripote:_ 'the dubious (lit. 'squinting')
judicial system which is cooked up', cf. note to _5_ 23.
_86_ 16 _la bohème des gens de loi:_ 'the legal Bohemia.' Gypsies were
supposed to have come from Bohemia; consequently any persons who lead an
irregular life are called Bohemians. Thus, for example, the Latin Quarter
of Paris, inhabited largely by artists and students, is called the
"Bohemian Quarter."
_86_ 18 _sauterelles:_ cf. note to _24_ 23.
_86_ 19 _papier timbré:_ 'stamped paper.' A government revenue stamp,
either printed on the paper (_papier timbré_) or affixed, must accompany
French legal and commercial documents. _Timbre-poste_, masculine, =
'postage stamp.'
_86_ 20 _tiges de ses bottes:_ the locusts, _sauterelles_ (_1_ 18), eat a
Plant jusqu'à la tige; Daudet is punning here on the two meanings of
_tige,_ 'stalk' of a plant, 'leg' of a boot.--_déchiqueté ... maïs:_
'stripped like a stalk of corn,' of whose foliage the locusts leave
nothing but midribs and hanging fibers.
_86_ 27 _silo:_ a pit for storing grain. Since Goffart's work on the
ensilage of green crops, published in 1877, the word has become familiar
in America, our silo for green crops being usually above ground. As a
punishment in the French army in Algeria, men (sometimes more of them than
could lie down on the bottom of the pit) were put into a pit and kept
there while filth accumulated around them.
_87_ 2 _sans_ (_compter_) _les frais:_ 'plus the costs.'
_87_ 3 _piastres:_ 'dollars,' the Spanish coin also called _douro_ (note
to _48_ 21); Frenchmen in America sometimes call the American dollar a
_piastre_, _piastre_ also means the Turkish piaster (4.4 American cents).
_87_ 5 _judiciaires:_ 'judiciary'; i.e., offered to the judges.
_87_ 7 _au détail:_ 'piecemeal'; cf. _vendre en_ (_au_) _détail_ 'to sell
at retail'; _en gros_ 'wholesale.'
_87_ 10 _y passèrent:_ 'went by the same road'; i.e., were sold.
_87_ 12 _cochinchinoises:_ 'from Cochin China,' a part of Indo-China, at
the south of the Siam peninsula, a French colony since its conquest in
1859-1867.
_87_ 16 _ce qu'il advint de:_ 'what became of.' _Advenir_ is used only
impersonally.
_87_ 19 _payer la diligence:_ 'pay for (his place in) the stage coach.'
_87_ 20 _encore:_ 'after all.'
_87_ 21 _d'un placement difficile:_ 'hard to dispose of.'
_87_ 25 _sur:_ the definitive edition also prints _sur_ here; _sous_ would
seem to be the correct reading, cf. _66_ 13. It is possible that the
reference here is to figures worked into the pavement.
_87_ 28 _par_ (oftener à) _petites journées:_ 'by short stages.' _Journée_
= a day's march,' the original meaning of Engl. _journey._
_87_ 30 _s'était ... inexplicable:_ 'had conceived an inexplicable fancy
for his master.' _Se prendre d'amitié pour quelqu'un_ = 'to take a liking;
to a person.'
_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.
_89_ 2 _Le jour tombait:_ we say 'night was falling'; cf. _la nuit
tombait_.
_44_ 16, and _à la tombée de la nuit_ _53_ 11.
_89_ 4 _des bruits de verres:_ 'clinking of glasses.'
_89_ 6 _qui chantait:_ 'singing'; cf. note to _55_ 7.
_89_ 9 _Tron de Diou:_ = _tonnerre de Dieu_ (cf. note to _38_ 31), a
strong oath; 'by the thunder of heaven!'
_89_ 13 _tambourins:_ 'drums.' The Provençal and Algerian tambourin is a
drum higher than it is wide. _Tambour_ _90_ 1 = _tambourin._ Cf. note to
_53_ 15.
_89_ 29 _Digo-li ... moun bon!_ = _dis-lui qu'il vienne, mon bon;_ 'just
tell him to come on, old fellow'; a Provençal challenge.
_89_ 30 _du premier_ (scil. _étage_): 'of the second floor.' The first
floor of a French house is called the _rez-de-chaussée._
_90_ 2 _marseillais:_ 'dialect of Marseilles.' Not only did she know
French, but even Tartarin's own dialect. The Provençal language comprises
many dialects; that of Tarascon does not differ greatly from that of
Marseilles.
_90_ 3 _Quand je vous disais:_ 'what did I tell you about ...?'
_90_ 9 _s'est ... sac:_ 'let himself be caught red-handed'; cf. note to
_7_ 25.
_90_ 11 _à l'ombre:_ 'in prison' (lit. 'in the shade'), slang.--_maison
centrale:_ prison to which prisoners who have been condemned to more than
one year of detention are sent; transl. 'jail.'
_90_ 12 _tenez!_ 'hold!' 'let me see!' Cf. note to _70_ 6.
_90_ 14 _C'est donc ça:_ colloquial for _c'est donc pour ça,_ 'that's
why.'--_ne ... ville:_ cf. _57_ 1-6.
_90_ 17 _sans quoi:_ 'otherwise,' lit. 'without which.'
_90_ 18 _votre histoire avec le muezzin:_ cf. the passage beginning _63_
3.
_90_ 20 _d'en face:_ 'over there,' 'across the way'; cf. note to _85_ 13.
_90_ 23 _faisait des declarations_ (_d'amour_): 'made love declarations.'
_90_ 26 _c'est:_ cf. note to 44 7.
_90_ 28 _eut ... philosophe:_ 'made the gesture of a philosopher' (cf.
note to _1_ 5); shrugged his shoulders.
_90_ 29 _si vous m'en croyez:_ 'if you'll take my advice.' _En_ is
redundant, cf. note to _8_ 19.
_91_ 1 _Qu'à cela ne tienne!_ 'that makes no difference!'
_91_ 3 _ça vous va-t-il:_ cf. note to _76_ 3.
_91_ 5 _croustade:_ a sort of 'pie' with a very crisp crust--_sans
Rancune_ lit. 'without rancor', transl. 'forget your ill will.'
_91_ 10 _fort avant dans:_ 'far on into.'
_91_ 11 _trois heures du matin:_ the regular hours for the muezzin's call
are daylight hours, but two calls in the night are also made for the
benefit of such pious persons as may be awake.
_91_ 12 _accompagner:_ i.e. to his lodging.
_91_ 14 _vengeance:_ Tartarin's vengeance is a delightful bit of humor.
_91_ 16 _monta encore:_ 'ascended still higher.'
_91_ 21 _Mostaganem:_ a city on the Mediterranean, west of Algiers.
_91_ 25 _curé:_ it is amusing to hear Tartarin apply the title of the
respected French parish priest to the rascally muezzin. At home Tartarin
would address the priest as _monsieur le curé._
_92_ 1 _La Allah il Allah:_ French transliteration of the Arabic words
with which the Mohammedan confession of faith, 'There is no god but God,
and Mohammed is God's messenger,' begins. Both parts of this confession of
faith, especially the first part, are repeated more than once in the
muezzin's regular call. The first part is misquoted in various forms, as
here, by Europeans who have been confused by the series of sounds. Note
that Tartarin not only echoes the sound of this part, but parodies its
sense in lines 3-4--_farceur:_ 'fraud.'
_92_ 3 _viédaze:_ a Provençal word, used of persons, = 'a good for
nothing,' of things, = 'a trifle.' Here 'isn't worth a straw.'
_92_ 4 _carotteurs:_ 'pikers' _Jouer la carotte_ = to stake little (e.g. a
carrot) in a game. _Tirer la carotte à quelqu'un_ = to get a small sum out
of a person by making him believe some hoax. Note the play on words in
_Teurs, carotteurs._
_92_ 9 _derniers:_ believers are few even in the upper part of the city
(cf. note to _37_ 27).
_92_ 15 _La culasse:_ we should use the plural in English. Note this
peculiarity of French style, cf. _la face des soldats était couverte de
sueur_ 'the soldiers' faces were covered with sweat.' Cf. note to _29_ 11,
and _92_ 12.
_92_ 16 canons turcs: cf. note to _40_ 17. These old cannon are set in
the pavement of the quay as posts for the mooring of ships and for
similar uses.
_92_ 24 _A peine vient-il de sauter ... qu':_ 'scarcely has he leaped
when.' _A peine_ reenforces _vient de_. For the inversion cf. note to _5_
32.
_93_ 5 _en carton peint:_ 'of painted pasteboard,' i.e. counterfeit.
_93_ 6 _dromadaire:_ the word is here used correctly according to the
Academy's dictionary, which makes _dromadaire_ a name of the one humped
species of camel. According to more exact usage a dromedary is a high bred
camel for special speed, usually of the one humped species but not
necessarily so, in this sense Tartarin's beast can hardly claim the name.
_93_ 7 _que devenir:_ lit. 'what to become', transl. 'what to do with
myself' Cf. _65_ 15.
_93_ 8 _Ne nous quittons plus:_ 'let us part no more' Cf. note to _7_ 2.
_93_ 15 _s'élançant a corps perdu:_ 'hurling himself headlong,'
desperately.
_93_ 16 _de conserve:_ 'in consort' (with the captain's row boat).
_Conserve_ in the sense of 'the action of preserving' survives only in
this nautical expression, _naviguer de conserve._--'to sail in consort'
(used of ships which sail together so as to help one another).
_93_ 18 _col:_ = _cou_, used in this sense only in certain fixed
expressions, ordinarily = 'collar.'--_en éperon de trirème:_ 'like (cf.
note to _5_ 20) the beak of a trireme.' _Eperon_ ordinarily means 'spur.'
The ancient trireme was a galley with three banks of oars.
_93_ 19 _viennent ensemble se ranger:_ 'come to draw up together,' 'draw
up together', cf. _55_ 8.--_aux flancs du:_ 'alongside.' Note the plural
_flancs_, cf. _à ses côtés_ _37_ 26.
_93_ 21 _A la fin:_ 'I tell you.'
_93_ 22 _à mon bord:_ 'aboard.' _A bord d'un vaisseau_ = 'on board a
ship.'
_93_ 23 _j'en ... zoologique:_ 'I will present him to the Zoological
Garden.'
_93_ 29 _fût:_ subjunctive with _non pas que_.
_93_ 33 _afficher:_ 'make a show of', lit. 'to post'(_affiches_
'placards')
_94_ 1 _mettait le nez:_ 'stuck his nose,' looked out.
_94_ 9 _un wagon de troisième classe:_ 'a third-class car.' In French
trains there are cars of first, second, and third classes, the third being
the cheapest. The cars were until recently divided into compartments from
each of which a door (_portiere_) opened upon the station platform. These
doors were provided with windows--_filant bon train sur:_ 'making rapidly
for', cf. note to _84_ 23.
_94_ 11 _aux portières:_ 'at the door Windows', cf. note to _94_ 9.
_94_ 13 _détalait:_ cf. note to _69_ 15.
_94_ 14 _eu pleine Crau:_ 'in the heart of (cf. _2_ 2) the Crau.' The Crau
is a vast, arid plain extending from the lower Rhone eastward. The stones
which cover this plain are fabled to have been showered down by Jupiter to
aid Hercules in his battle with the giant Albion.--lui tenant pied:
'keeping up with it.'
_94_ 15 _rencoigna:_ an old spelling of _rencogna._ The word is
etymologically connected with _coin_; cf. English (Shakespearean) 'coign.'
_94_ 19 _Pas le sou:_ 'penniless'; _je n'ai pas le sou_ = 'I haven't a
cent.'
_94_ 21 _Tarascon!_ for the electrifying sonorousness of this call cf.
note to _1_ 1.
_94_ 27 _il croyait à:_ 'he thought it was'; cf. note to _77_ 25.
_94_ 29 _sympathique:_ 'friendly'; contains also the ideas of
'sympathetic,' 'congenial,' 'responsive.'
_95_ 4 _s'étaient monté la tête:_ _se monter la tête_ = 'to become greatly
excited'; transl. 'had gone wild.'
_95_ 6 _dix ... une marmelade de lions:_ 'ten lions, twenty lions, a mass
of lions.' _Mettre en marmelade_ = 'to smash to a jelly'; cf. _12_ 3.
_95_ 8 _de deux heures:_ cf. note to 42 25.
_95_ 12 _descendre à cloche-pied:_ 'hobble down.' _Clocher_ and _marcher à
cloche-pied_ = 'to hop.'
_EXERCISES
I