parents, 'relatives,' not parents

1. 24. abandonnée et manquie. Notice that these two participles do not stand on exactly the same footing; manquée means 'which has failed,' almost as if the verb were conjugated wither*. Such variations in the use of the participles occur in all languages {E.B. 215 a). In Latin, for example, many participles of deponents have a passive sense. It is not, of course, an exact parallel to the French usage. Perhaps we may render 'my friendless, wasted existence.'

1. 26. avait cru devoir. Devoir is an infinitive (E.B. 192), not a noun meaning duty. A free translation of lines 25 — 27 is, 'Thus the wise advice, which the good admiral had thought himself bound to give me,

io6 LA CANNE DE JONC.

had been inseparably associated (completely impregnated) with feelings peculiarly his own, which appealed to me more strongly than his words.' Notice where the metaphors are changed in the above rendering.