BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Octave FeuiLterwas bom at Saint- Lo in iSa. He ia the author of maiiy popular romanceî, comédies, ■proverbes' and 'vaudevilles,' and bia works are inarked by clelicacy of sentiment, and at times by an eKquisIte cbarm of expreMioti . Hi'î famous 'Roman d'un jeune bomrae pauvre' bas been tran.slated into many Unguaffes, and 'L^ BeJle au bois dormant ' bas enjoyed a long poputarity ou tlie Frencb stage.

'Charybdk etScvi,!.*,' by Octave Feu'Uet.appeared in the first December number (1S87) of tbe 'Revue des Deux Mondes.' As an amusing rendering of au old ' p overbe,' 'à propos' of one of the ' vexert' questions of the ilai, it îsa charming 'jeu d'esprit,' in which the studeut uiay fiiid a plessant and profitable hour with its glfted author.

Page 3 — 'Charybde et Scylla:' Allusion to tbe welI-Scnowu proverb, drawn from the fate of sailors, who sometinies escaped from tbe dangerous whirl-

KCfol, Charybdis, on tbe coast of Sicily. onlv to e wreckedon Ihe rocItB opposite, called Scylla. 3 — ' Est-ce qn'Odette' etc. — hère witt its original meauing of surprise: — ' Has she not returued yet f ■ 4 — 'Comme elle n'est dehors que' — ironical: 'as

she has been out only since noon.' 4 — ' Quelle vie:' ' what kind of a life. '

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Pa^e4— 'Louvre.'— The palace of the I<ouvre is in many respects the most importaut public building in the French Capital. It was founded in the reign of Francis I. and wa» not completed until the middle of the présent century. The name is aaid to hâve beeii derived from 'Louvcrie,' a wolf resort, the site heing that of the hnnting château of Philippe Auguatus in the thirteeotS centUTy. The gai aries.of the Louvre contain many of ;he finest worksof modem and ancient ert, and, perhaps, the finest Renaissance collection in Europe.

4 — 'The Bon Marché, the largeat and most saccessful ol' lue ureat Parisian houses, of which Zola's " Au bonheur des dames" was only a type, grew grkdiially out of the little shop which once occupied a vciy small part of the vast space now covered by ihe buildiuys of the great establishment into which it has developed, under the wise caie of tbe two who began life there as small shopkeepets. Ten years ago M. Aristide Boucicault dîed, but tbe B<)ii Marche contiiiued to be conducted by the surviving proprielor. according to the wise and gênerons plans that had been perlected dnring his lifetime, by which the employés, according to ilion and the length of their services, the profits of the establishment. Abont Ihree hundred of thèse employés, who bave gradually been associated with the proprietor, make np tlie "Société civile " of the Bon Marché.' — T.ie Nation, Jan. lï, i8S8.

Mme. Boucicault, who became the prop.'ieior al the death of her husband. died in December, 1887, leaving the whole vast establishment known as the Bon Marché, valned a! $12,003,000, to the 'Société civile.' The legacies to Ihe three tbousand and more employés of the establishment amount to more than

-■ Printemps:' A resort for pleasnre and amusement. -■ Depuis que vous avez cessé de Ini faire cet honneur-là:' ' Since you hâve ceased to do her that

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CHARYBDE El SCYLLA. 3:

Page 4 — ' Depuis que vous êtes mis en têle' — might be Iraus lated by our colloquial: 'sinceyom hâve lakcu it into jour head.'

4 — ' Le premier temps:' ' thc early dajs.' 4 — 'Elle court dans Paris;' 'She runs around ' 01 ' at>oiit 'Paris. '

S—' En l'air:' lit, in ttie air, i. e., ahnless. S — ' Devant elle on faire semblant:' ' in her présence 01 feigneil to do ao-'

5 — 'Cequi n'était pas agréable.' etc 'which was no agreeable' — 'ce qui ' having for antécédent pre ceding clause.

5 — 'Et à quiU faute? ' etc.: ' whose fault is it? 'etc.

6 — ' Sans aucune lecture,' i. e., 'unread' or ' uuin-

formed.' 6—' Mal assortis; ' ' badly m l'.ed " — ^better, ' un:on-

-' Promener sa femme dans les musées ou n'importeoù?' 'taking his vn(e 10 thc muséums or

anywhere else?'

-'Le bon esprit:' 'good sensé.'

-'A son gré:' lit., 'at Ms will' c 'according to his inclination '

.r 'pleasur or ■ ideas.

8— 'Il faut . . qu'elle r

recogniie' or 'see.

9 — ' Moule ofBciel:' 'régulation mould.' 9 — 'Je suis pour qu'une mère achève,' etc.; 'Ihold'

or 'think' 'that a mother should perfect the

moral éducation,' etc.

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gaucher:' saïd, as of an arCist, 'sketching'

-■Quelle mine votre fille aurait faite:' lit., ' What

kind of a face j'Our dangiiier would hâve made.'

—■Je crains que vous ne vous abusiez,' etc.: after words

expressing fear ne is useil. coatrary to English

. construction, eupressing affirmation; thushere,

' I fear that you are mistakeu,' etc. See B., p.

136; Sec. 250.

—'Courir les magasins.' See B., Part II., p. 26.

' to be in a fair way to

-' A l'improviste: ' ' uuexpectediy.' -'Je n'y tiens plus! ' ' I can uot staud it any longei^h -'Brevet de capacité;' 'Constatiou d'une certaine aptitude chez un individu. ' — Littré. ' Certificate of standing.'

n 1533. completed ia 1841; ■e of tlie Seine.

[2 — ^'Conrs' i. e., 'd'étude.'