Scène i

Page %tine 3— Bru: Daughter-in-law. Etym., Germ. Braut % Anglo-Sax. bryd 9 EngL bride; the synonym of bru is belle-fille, more commonly used.

3 4—- Façons (pi) : Affectations, ceremonious acts of politeness. Faire des façons, to stand on ceremony.

3 7— Ce ménage-ci : Those goings-on. Ménage, house» keeping, ail that is necessary for housckeeping, management Low Lat. masnaticum, man* sionaticum.

3 9— Oui : Yes indeed, is an answer to the inquiring looks of those présent wondering what they cao hâve done to merit the displeasure of Mme.

Pernelle.

3 11— Ne . . • rien: Nothing. Lat rem, a thing ; Old Fr. la riens, the thing. Un homme de rien, a worthless man, a man of no importance ; ne savoir rien de rien, titera/fy, to know nothing of anything, to be very ignorant ; si peu que rien, next to nothing ; un rien, tout lui mit peur, a mère nothing, everything frightens him; je n'ai que des riens à vous mander (Mme. de

Sévigné), I hâve only trifles to write to you about.

Plage 3 &«* il— Parle haut : Speaks loud, with présomption and arrogance. Il aie verbe haut, he speaks presumptuously.

3 12— La cour du roi Pétaud. Le roi Pétaud is said to

be the kiog whom the beggars elected for themselves in the Middle Ages ; as the court of such aking would not be very orderly, "pétaudière" is used for a disorderly assembly, where everybody commands and no one obeys — abeargardcn.

4 z — Mie : Abbreriation of amie, friend.

4 i — Fille suivante : A servant girl, an attendant

4 2 — Forte en gueule : Loud and talkative, too ready with the tongue. Gueule is used for the moûts of camivorous animais, fishes, ftc. ; hence, applied to a human being it becomes an insuit.

4 5— Un sot, en trois lettres. Mme. Pernelle spécifies the number of letters contained in the word so that her grandson mav not mistake that un- * complimentary epithet for any of its homonyms, * saut, a leap ; sceau, a seal ; seau, a pail— Lat. saltus ; sigiïïum ; siUUus (sitella).

4 6— Grand'mère. Notice that in Old Fr. grand, like the Latin grandis, had the same form for the masc. and fem., hence grand faim, grand soif, &c, was'perfectly correct ; this obvions explanâtion escaped the notice of the grammaiian% of the I7th century, Vaugelas amongst otbers. To explain the apparent anomaly, grand mère, &c , instead of grande mère, &&». they said that the e had been eut off for the sake of euphony, and that an apostrophe must be introduced to mark the. suppression ; in the^i3th century grand, mortel, cruel, vert, were of 1 both genders, as grandis, mortalis, crudelis, viridis are in Latin.

4 8 — Garnement. Old Fr. gamiment, ftom garnir, to furnish, to dress ; hence the idea of protectionbon- ou mauvais garnement, good or bad protector, good or bad fellow ; used only in a bad sensé now, a worthless fellow.

4 II— Sa sœur. Mme. Pernelle intentionally addresses • Mariane in that usual way, because Mariane tries to put in a word of defence of her brother ; " sa sœur " implies the idea " No wonder you défend him ; you are his sister, and hence no betterthanheis." u . . 4 i2— Vous n'y touches pais You prétend to be very