comice &gricole, ‘agricultural society

of comice is used i

for voting ;

in the text

‘Well, I come on he adverb and not

‘but it has been such hot the difference in tense in the

ne N es

états, : Your master must be much

Croyez-vous . -. renommé ?

Caboussat will be re-elected ?” The subjunctive is used after verbs of « believing”? in the interrogative,

8 Je n’en doute Pas, ‘I do not doubt it. Compare the

phrases ÿ en doute, ‘I doubt it,” and je m’en suis douté, ‘I suspected it,”

‘Do you think M.

Norss, a

| Vrai?..…..… paraît pas, ‘Indeod ? You don't look like

it” (ie. you don’t show it).

un malin ...... avoué, ‘a 8ly dog, M. Chatfinet, a retired lawyer.” Malin (L. malignus) has often the sense of ‘ malicious,’ ‘evil,’ ‘malignant’ etc., but very often of ‘clever,” ‘sly,’ etc., as here. Chagfinet (chat Jin) is a significant name applied to the retired lawyer. Avoué most closely corresponds to ‘solicitor’ with us, and avocat to ‘barrister.” Ancien signifies ‘ former,’ ‘retired,’ etc., while vieux signifies ‘ old” in Years.

Depuis un m“is...... Paysans. ‘For a month he has done nothing but chat with the farmers” In France Paysan is about the equivalent of farmer in Canada : sometimes cultivateur is used ; and fermier if ‘tenant farmer’ is meant. For tense see note to line 23, page 2.

il à été, ‘he was” So, too, in the next line, est revenu, ‘came back.” The use of this tense, for the past definite, has become Very common, particularly in familiar discourse.

une cinquantaine de, ‘about fifty.” Note the important group of nouns of quantity resembling this word, such as dizaine, douzaine, Quinzaine, vingtaine, etc., ‘ubout ten,’ ‘about twelve”* (dozen), ‘about fifteen ? (fortnight), ‘about twenty,’ etc.

s’enlèvent tout seuls, ‘rise of themselves.” Compare note to ‘stage directions, page 1.

c’est très fort ! ‘that is very clever !”

Quel diplomate... Machut ! : What a diplomat old

Machut is !?

vouloir de here signifies ‘to accept.’ Étampes, chef-lieu d'arrondissement, in the département of Seine-et-Oise, 56 kilometers (ahout 35 miles) south-west of Paris. Ithasa ESpoulatica of about 8000 people. Itisa much more importent place than Arpajon, It has a college, court, public library, hospital, etc. Its manufactories are in woollens, leather, 80ap, iron, machinery, etc. Its flour-mills are large. Étampes possesses very

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