J’étais recommandé, I had a letter of introduction

20. M. de P . . . François Jaubert de Passa (1784-1855), an archaeologist and writer on agriculture of Perpignan. He was also perhaps the model of M. de Peyrehorade. The original ms. of the story had “ M. J. de P.” instead of “ M. de P.”

24. monuments antiques et du moyen âge. There are a number of medieval remains in the neighborhood of Ille, but no relics of antiquity.

Page 95. — 3. Gageons, I’ll wager.

7. A l’heure qu’il est, quand on a fait ..., At this time of day, ■when we have gone . . .

8. la grande affaire, c’est de ... , the main thing to do is to get. ..

12. Serrabona, sometimes called Serrabonne, is a deserted village some seven miles southwest of Ille-sur-Têt, with a church unique in France in that its aisles, instead of being connected with the nave, open on the outside and form side porticoes. Mérimée studied and probably made sketches of this church, which it was

NOTES

one of his principal objects to visit when he went to Roussillon in 1834. He writes in 1835 of heads of pillars having “ des monstres et des bonshommes dans le goût de ceux de Serrabona ...”

16. en terre can mean either in the ground, or earthen; hence the visitor’s misunderstanding.

19. il y en a de quoi faire des gros sous, there is metal enough in it to make plenty of double sous. Gros sous are large coins worth two sous, like British pennies or old American two-cent pieces.

20. Elle vous pèse. Vous is the so-called ethical dative, a pronoun of the first or second person used in popular style to indicate a close connection between the statement and the person addressed or speaking. Though common in Shakespeare and the Bible, it should be omitted in present-day English.