Scène VI
13 4— A-t-on jamais parlé de : Has one ever hearl
of .,. .
13 22 — Autant que de cela. Hère Orgon is supposed to snap his flngers, or make some other gesture indicative of contempt, to point ont how little he would be moved.
Page 14 toi* i— Il faisait de grands élancements : He burst out in pious raptures.
14 10— De vous faire pitié : To excite your compassion.
14 13 — Chez moi me le fit retirer : Prompted me to takt him into my house.
14 17— -Lui font les yeux doux : Look sweet upon her.
14 25 — Que je croi : Now, à ce que je crois, I do believe. In Old Fr. the ist pers. sing. près. Indic. had . no s, none having existed in the Latin conjugations; je croi, je voi, credo, video. In Modem Fr. that person takes s in ail conjurations except the first : je parle. This additional s, which is contrary to etymology, was introduced in the fourteenth centurv.
14 28— Libertinage. Libertin, in Molière's time, meant freethinking, freethinker.
14 29— Entiché : Tainted with ; en and tache, a stâin.
15 5 — Il est. Used as U y a, there is or there are.
15 8 — Qu'on doit suivre à la trace : In whose footsteps one must walk. ,
15 12— Vous les voulez traiter d'un semblable langage : You will speak of them in the same way.
15 17 — La fausse monnoie : Spurious coin. Avez- vous de la monnaie? hâve yoù ariy coin.
15 23 — Pour la vouloir outrer : Because they exaggerate
it. Outrer, from outre, Lat. ultra,
16 2 — Aussi ne vois-je rien. After such expressions as,
aussi, ainsi, tel, &c, it is more élégant to place
the subject after the verb.
16 3 — Plâtré : Literally, plastered over ; hence false.
Compare " whitened sepulchres." 16 4— Francs charlatans : Thorough humbugs. Dévots
de place, affected b|got9 always ready ta show;
off. Valets de place were servants who on
market-days went to the public place to try
and attract attention and get somebody to hire
them ; hence dévots de place, people who
parade their dévotion publicly.
16 6— A leur gré : At their pleasure. Gré, Lat. gratum. 16 II — Clins d'yeux: Eye-play. Clin, verb cligner, to
wink, to move the eye ; Lat. clino.
16 19— Fier : Hère, savage, fierce ; a meaning doser to
that of its etymology (Lat. férus, wild) than the
usual meaning, proud.
16 22— Savoir bon gré : To take kindly ; savoir mauvais
gré, to take ill.
16 38 — A chez eux peu d'appui : Finds very little support
in them, has very little weight with them.
17 4— Acharnement : Fury, from acharner, to give to
dogs, birds of prey, &c, a taste for flesh—a
and chair, Lat. caro — hence, eager after prey, ravenous.
Page 17 lifu 18— Pour être votre gendre a parole, de vous : Has received from you a solemn promise that he should be your son-in-law. Compas "a prisoner on parole." Low Lat., parabole from the Greek.
17 20— Vous aviez pris jour : You had appointed, fixed, a day.
17 34 — Auriez-vous means more than avez-vous, which
would be a simple question ; the coaditional hère expresses doubt and astonishment at the same time : can it be that you hâve ... ? I can hardly believe that you hâve.
18 4 — Selon, for, c'est selon, that dépends.
18 8 — Que lui reporter : What answer must I carry back to him. Faut-il is frequently understood after que, the indeterminate relative pronoun. Ex, Que dire ? Que faire ?
18 15 — La tiendrez- vous? Will you keep it (your promise) ? Usually tenir sa parole, sa promesse ; but compare ïaX.fidem servare.
18 16— Une disgrâce : A disappointmenU
ACT II
