sa petite figure de papier mâché: i.e. pale, betraying
great weakness of health.
8. vous : hère used in an indefinite sensé, as ' you ' is sometimes
used in English in the place of ' one.'
,, n. qu'il m'a dit : popular for iria-t-il dit.
pas vrai ? short for ri est-ce pas vrai ? Cf. pas for ?i est-ce pas ? below, 1. 17.
,, 13. tu l'avaleras : /' is hère emphatic.
, , 26. faut vous dire : popular for il faut vous dire que mon
mari . .
,, 30. est-ce que je sais? transi. ' and what not ? '
., 31. la fête du 14: i.e. the anniversary of the capture of the Bastille by the people of Paris on July 14, 1789. Cf. note, p. 38 1. 6 on la Bastille.
c'était à la suite de, ' it was following on.'
17. 2. son imbécile de père : for this use of de cf. un fripon
d 'enfant ; un saint homme de chat (La Fontaine's Fables, vii. 16).
5. m'a-t-il assez agacée? this is not a real question, but an
exclamatory remark put interrogatively, in order to be more emphatic and to arrest attention.
6. faut toujours que . . : transi, 'but, as for men, they must
always,' etc. Faut is elliptical for il faut in popular speech. Cf. p. 16 1. 26, p. 17 1. 19, and p. 49 1. 18 faudra for il fatidra.
ça : a familiar contraction for cela. Cela is used in a popular way when speaking of persons, and should be translated by a personal pronoun. Hcre translate 'they.' Ex. — comme cela dort, ces jeunes gens !
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17. 7. leur joujou, quoi ! an elliptical phrase, expressing the idea
' that is their plaything,' or ' it is, as one may say, their plaything.'
,1 16. au 32 : elliptical for au nujndro 32.
la rue des Vinaigriers is a small cross-street, south of the Gare de l'Est, leading from the Boulevard de Magenta to the Quai de Valmy.
,, 18. un puits d'air: their rooms probably overlooked a court of very small dimensions, in which the air would naturally become stagnant for want of outlet.
„ 19. un mot : i.e. a short note of recommandation.
de mes amis : transi. ' who is a friend of mine. '
,, 21. même que . . : a vulgarism for j'avais même, etc., ' I even had. ' Que is hère used for the sake of emphasis.
,, 25. vas-y : note the euphonie s before y and en in the 2nd pers.
sing. imperative of verbs of the first conjugation. , , 26. j'ai pas : hère ne is incorrectly suppressed ; the phrase should
run je ri ai pas, etc. Ne is sometimes omitted in this way
by good writers, but usually in interrogative sentences or in
poetry.
les mères, c'est fort, ' mothers are strong, brave. '
18. n. mais, une fois dans la rue . . : transi, 'but no sooner
was I in the street . . than,' etc. ,, 12. va te promener: a popular expression. Transi, 'ail my
courage failed me. ' See promener in Vocab. ,, 17. autant is used to express comparison. Tant expresses an idea of indefinite quantity. Tant may only be used instead of autant in a sentence in which the comparison is accompanied by a négation. Ex. —
ce diamant vaut autant que ce rubis, il a tant d'amis qu'il ne manquera jamais de rien, rien ne m'a tant fâché que cette nouvelle. voyez-vous bien is hère used as a sort of exclamation to attract attention. Transi, 'yousee. ' , , 18. tout en faisant : tout, followed by en and a présent participle, - is generally used to express an idea of simultaneity. It may sometimes be omitted in English, sometimes translated ' whilst,' ' in.'
,, 23. ton papa is in apposition to le, which is renlly redundant. ,, 27. tu voudras bien de . ., ' you won't mind taking.'
