‹ L'auberge, et autres contesChapitre 39 sur 63 · sans tarder d'une minute, without delaying · texte numérisé non relu

sans tarder d'une minute, without delaying

(the realization of his plan) by one minute.

109. 9. avec son casque à pointe (see note to "La Mère Sauvage," p. 44), 1. 14, helmet with a point, pointed helmet. This pointed helmet is the part of the uniform by which German soldiers differ most in their appearance from the French soldier. The latter wears the képi, a kind of cap which fits close to the head and has a fîat circular top, inclined toward the front, with a fîat horizontal vizor.

109. 15. Ils en feraient une bouillie, une pâtée. . ., they would make him into a broth, crush him into a jelly.

Page Line

109. 19. des enragés sans loi ni discipline, lunatics without law or discipline. (See note to p. 106, 1.29.) The francs-tireurs were frequently volunteers who organized themselves just as they pleased, obeying no law but their own will; they were a terror to their enemies.

109. 21. histoire de rire . . . (idiomatic and colloquial), the thing (for them would be) to laugh. Translate: just for the sake of having a good time in seeing his (frightened) face.

Page 1