dans le vide, ' upon nothing,' 'barrenly

chaufife sur place, ' gets up the steam without moving.'

,. 13. le maréchal de noblesse: this is the title given to the présidents of the assemblies of the nobihty. Every Russian government, every district has its own assembly, and thèse assemblies elect their own présidents. The government (goubernia) corresponds to the French département, and the district [oniêzd) to the French arrondissement or the German Kreis.

,, 18. à tour de rôle, 'inturn,' ' alternately. '

, , 19. veille may be used of the day as well as the night before.

,, 21. Kant, the founder of the ' critical" philosophy, was born at Konigsberg in 1724, and died in 1804. His principal works, the influence of which is even now widely felt, are the Kritik der reinen Vcrnunft or Critique of Pure Reason (1781), the Kritik der praktischen, Vernunft or Critique of Practical Reason (1788), and the Kritik der Urtheilskraft or Critique of t/ie Power of Judgment (1790).

,, 23. lecture, 'reading,' 'perusal.' The English ' lecture ' should be translated by leçon, conférence ; and, in the sensé of ' réprimanda by sermon or semonce. Note —

il a beaucoup de lecture, ' he is well read.'

l'ouvrage est en lecture, ' the work is engaged,' ' is out.'

7. i6. où écrivent des gens de si grande valeur : account for

the inversion.

,, 17. au demeurant, ' after ail,' ' notwithstanding,' ' at bottom.* Demeuraiit, 'remainder,' is only used in this expression. Cf. Marot's description of his servant in his Requête au Roi pour avoir été dérobé —

Gourmand, ivrogne et assuré menteur, Pipeur, larron, jureur, blasphémateur, Sentant la hart de cent pas à la ronde ; Au demeurant le meilleur fils du monde.

,, 18. sensible, 'sensitive,' 'feeling,' ' impressible. ' The English ' sensible ' should generally be rendered by sensé, raisonnable. Notice, however, ' to be sensible of, ' être sensible à ; avoir le sentiment de.

,, 19. la parole ayant été donnée à l'homme . . : cf. M. de TalIeyraud'E^saying : La parole a été donnée à l'homme pour déguiser sa pensée.

,, 24. en train, ' in high spirits,' ' enjoying themselves. '

92 Cœurs russes

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7. 26. génie : one of the few nouns in e preceded by a vowel which

are masculine. Cf. un amphibie, un incendie, le parapluie, le foie.

,, 27. un grand fonds d'insouciance : both fonds and fond corne from Latin fundus, and both were spelt with an s in Old French.

8. 4. Descartes, the celebrated philosopher and mathematician,

was born at La Haye in Touraine, and died in Stockholm in 1650. He is generally looked upon as the father of modem philosophy. His chief work is his Discours de la Méthode (1637). Rejecting ail the notions he had previously acquired, he resolved to accept no belief the truth of which could net stand the test of reason. Discarding, therefore, one thing after another, he found there was one about which it was impossible for him to entertain any reasonable doubt, and that was his own existence as a thinking being. Hence the famous phrase, ' Cogito, ergo sum ' {je pense, donc je suis), the basis on which he reared the whole fabric of his philosophical System.

,, 5. Rousseau (Jean-Jacques), one of the greatest writers of the eighteenth century, was boni in 1712, and died in 1778, the same year as Voltaire. His principal works are Julie ou la Nouvelle Héloïse, Le Contrat Social, Emile ou de f Éducation , and his Co?ifessions, which appeared four years after his death. Most of the doctrines he advocated were carried oui in the French Révolution, but great as was the political importance of his writings, his literary influence was quite as considérable, and the leaders of the Romantic school were one and ail largely inspired by him.

,, 7. Lilliput : in Gulliver s Travels (1726), Swift's most famous work

,, 10. aimer, lit. ' to measure by the ell,' from aune, fem. (Lat. ulnam), 'ell.' Aune, masc, ' alder-tree, ' cornes from Lat. alnum.

, , 12. tenez, ' look hère. '

,, 15. je me défle : (/^^/■= ' to defy,'j^t/^tfr=' to distrust.' Cf. — battre, ' to beat ' ; se battre, ' to fight.' douter, ' to doubt ' ; se douter, ' to surmise. ' plaindre, ' to pity ' ; se plaindre, ' to complain." ruer, ' to kick ' ; se ruer, ' to rush,' etc.

,, 16. je tiens avec Shakespeare qu'il y a . . Cf. Hamlct, I. V. 166 : —

There are more thinys in he.iveii and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt cf in your philosophy.

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8. i8. n'en peut éclaircir : account for the use of rie and the place

olen, already explained in the notes.

,, 2 2. communément: for the acute accent cf. af^?^^//;«f«/, «-(?»?modément, obscurément, précisément, etc.

,, 25. m'est avis: a familiar expression, in which the pronoun subject is left out. Cf. 'methinks. '

,, 26. peu importe: notice hère again the omission of the pronoun subject, and cf. mieux vaut. Should the order be reversed, the use of il vvould become necessary : il importe peu, il vaut mieux.

,, 27. Procuste : Procrustes was a brigand of Attica, who used to stretch his victinis on an iron bed, cutting off the extremity of their legs when they went beyond, and lengthening them by means of ropes when they were too short to reach the end of the bed. Theseus punished him by inflicting the same torture upon him.

9. 2. tout ce que Dieu a remué d'inquiets : this construction

of ce que with the préposition de and a noun or an adjective is very terse. Cf. Corneille's Le Cid —

Paraissez, Navarrois, Maures et Castillans, Et tout ce que l'Espagne a produit de vaillants.

,, 3. la Mer de glace stretches from the North Pôle to the northern coasts of Europe, Asia, and America.

,, 4. le Caucase: the chief summit of this chain of mountains, Elbruz, is over 18,500 feet high. After defending their independence most stubbornly against the attacks of Russia, the Caucasian tribes, having lost their leader Schamyl, were finally subdued in 1859.

l'Altaï : on the borders of Siberia and Mongolia. Thèse mountains, the principal summit of which, Byeluka, is 11,000 feet high, are very rich in minerais, iron, copper, silver, and even gold.

,, 6. à en juger par . . : the préposition à with the infinitive is often used instead of a présent participle with en, chiefîy to express means, manner, employment, supposition. Cf. — à V entendre , ' according to his account. ' à bien prendre les choses, ' if you consider the matter in the right light.'

,, 8. Pamir : in Central Asia. This plateau, formed by the meeting of the Himalayan and Thian Shan mountain Systems, has an élévation of at least 13,000 feet.

de Mongolie : Mongolia, sitnated between China proper and Asiatic Russia, belongs to the Chinese Empire.

94 Cœurs russes

Page UNE 9. lo, Gog et Magog are mentioned in Ezekiel xxxviii. and xxxix. , who predicts their destruction by the Jews. They are generally understood to stand for the various heathen nations of Asia.

Hérodote : Herodotus, the father of history, was born at Hahcarnassus, in Asia Minor, about 484 B.C. His work, written in the lonic dialect and divided into nine books, each of which bears the name of a muse, chiefiy relates the great struggle between the Greeks and Persians.

les Scythes : it is not exactly known even now who the Scythians were. The name has been applied to ail the tribes wandering over the vast région to the north of the Black and the Caspian Seas, and to the east of the latter.

,, 15. près de mille ans: notice that frès de should be used instead oi presque before a numéral.

,, 16. s'aviser, ' to bethink one's self; also ' to présume,' ' to dare.' Note qu il >ie s'en avise pas, ' he had better not try.'

,, 17. quatre-vingts millions: account for the s at the end of quaire-vi/t^/s.

,, 18. Ivan Ivanovitch : just as a Frenchman might say 'Jacques Bonhomme. '

,, 19. je n'en sais pas plus long, ' that 's ail I know." Cf. i/ en

sait long, • he knows a good deal,' ' he knows what is what."

vous voilà bien avancé : cf. nous n'en étions pas plus avancés, ' \ve were none the wiser for it. '

,, 25. sans un trait particulier qui les différencie : state the mood and account for it.

,, 28. jusqu'aux germes : cf. il n'est pas jusqu'à son frtre qui ne

le blâme, ' his ver}' brother blâmes him.'

10. 2. au travers des forêts ; au travers de is more emphatic than à travers. It is a common mistake to use the latter with de, which can never follow it.

,, 5. un compas, 'a pair of compassés' ; une boussole, 'a compass. ■

,, 9. l'an dernier : see note, p. i 1. i. As a rule, année should be used instead of an with an adjective. Chief exceptions : Van dernier, I an prochain, le nouvel an (New Year's Day).

,, 1 1. à un kilomètre plus loin : notice the use of the préposition à to dénote distance, and cf. Bath est à douze milles de Bristol,

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10. 12. le pauvre homme : for a highly comical effect produced by

tlic répétition of this expression see Molière's Tartufe, Act i. se. s. Cf. —

un -pauvre écrivain, ' a writer without talent.' un écrivain pauvre, ' a needy writer. '

il fallait voir, ' you should hâve seen. '

,, 15. je crois bien ! ' I should think so ! '

,, 16. affolés, 'deranged.' This is the word for ' defective ' in speaking of the magnetic needle.

,, 19. chaos : do not sound the h or s.

, , 26. qui ont déteint . . , ' which hâve left their mark . . '

,, 27. erre depuis longtemps: account for the présent tense, and cf. il y a dix ans que je le connais, ' I hâve known him for ten years.'