Vas, a common error for vais

p. 1:5—17] NOTES 121

Pag'e 12. — I. Nous labourons . . . . ,we are ploughing witk a vengeance, so as to do ottr Mardi sowing. — Les mars, the seeds that are sown in March.

2. Pluie en février; the common form of the proverb is: Pluie en fe'vrier vaut un fumier, an allusion to the fertilizing qualities of spring rain. There seems to be no way of keeping the play on words which follows. The blunder is very forced.