Veau rose, ' rose-water
1. 33. prévenue, ' forestalled.' A slightly différent use of the Word occurs p. 68, 1. 2.
Page 68. 1. 25. %i.ne statue colossale. Huge statues were common in ancient times, but the placing of one in a temple of Ormuzd is a licence. Herodotus says of the Persians, ' They hâve no images of the gods, no temples, nor altars, and consider the use of them a sign of folly. This comes, I think, from their not believing the gods to hâve the same nature with men, as the Greeks imagine.' — Hist. i. 131.
1. 31. jusquiaine, /., ' henbane,' a narcotic plant used in medicine.
ciguë, /., ' water-hemlock.' It is said to hâve been the poison administered to Socrates.
Page 69. 1. 20. grand écuyer, ' Master of tho Horse.' 1. 21. eut beau. Avoir beau with an infînitive is an idiom formed apparently on the analogy of avoir beau champ, ' to hâve a clear course.' Cf. Memnon, p. 87, 1. 15, ' j'aurai beau être tenté,'
and Voyages de Scarmenlado, p. 115, 1. 9, ' J'eus beau imaginer.' It implies that the utmost efforts will be in vain. Cf. the English : ' it is ail very fine,' and ' do vvhat I may.'
1. 37. se troubla. Note that the ordinary meaning of trouble is ' confusion, disorder '.
Page 70. 1. 9. parti, m., ' a faction,' must be distinguished from partie, f.
Page 71. 1. 24. peu de crédit. See note on p. 47, 1. 15, For the situation compare the relations of Louis XI and Coitier, his physician :
Moi, que dans ses fureurs il chasse avec dédain, Moi, que dans ses tourments il rappelle soudain.
Delà VIGNE, Louis XI, i. 4.
' Le dit médecin,' says Commines, ' luy estoit si très rude que l'on ne diroit point a ung varlet les oultrageuses et rudes parolles qu'il luy disoit ; et si le craignoit tant le dit seigneur qu'il n'eust osé l'envoyer hors d'avec luy.'
Page 72. 1. 12. incessamment = sans délai.
1. 36. astrologie judiciaire, what is now called astrology, i.e. the pretended pi-ediction of the future from the stars. Astrology, in its older meaning, included astronomy.
Page 73. L 25. courir quatre lances: courir or rompre une lance was the phrase used to dénote the encounter of the mounted knights in a tournament.
Page 75. 1. 4. une passe, i. e. une passe d'armes, rencontre de deux jouteurs dans la lice.
1. 20. de même (for the omission of the article cf. ' tout de même' and 'do même nature', p. 94, 1. 24). This phrase is employed in heraldry to avoid repeating a description. Note the use of or as a sort of invariable adjective of colour, like ' une robe nias, un ruban eau de Nil.'
1. 25. voUe, /., ' volt ' : a turn of the horse to avoid the lance.
Page 76. 1.8. passer sur rjuelc/u'un: terme d'escrime ; avancer sur lui en portant le pied gauche devant le pied droit pour gagner le fort de l'épée de l'adversaire et le désarmer. —
LiTTKÉ.
1. 12. chacun à leur loge. According to the grammars, as chacun follows the direct object, the construction sliould be à sa l(jge ; the Academy gives : ' il faut remettre ces livres, chacun à sa place.' But tho form employed by Voltaire is recognizod in the tolérances of lîKJO. Thoso tolérances, howevor, are takcn no account of in France,
Page 78. 1.10. r/p? /»«i!V7T.s = intelligence, savoir. Cf. ' nien of light and leading.'
