grippe-sous, skinflints; lit., "penny-grabbers

16. fesse-Mathieu, usurers, According to Hatzfeld, Darmesteter, and Thomas (Dictionnaire générai), fesse^maihieu is a compound of fesse ifiom fesser, "to whip," etc., figuratively, as here, "to outdo," "get the better of ") and Mathieu, "Matthew." Saint Matthew is supposed to have practîsed usury before his conversion (M. Levi's édition of MoUère's U Avare),

24. n s'en manque d'une bagatelle, comme qui dirait, There^s a trifle lacking — something like; Ut., "as who would say."

4!S. — 2. n a bien fallu en passer par là, We were obliged to submit to that,

4. à Clichy, in Clichy, formerly a debtor's prison in Paris. Imprisonment for debt was abolished in France in 1867.

6. que vous lui en faites voir de grises à ce pauvre homme, thai you are worrying the poor man terrtbly; lit., "that you are causing him (that poor man) to see gray (things)," i.e., unpleasant things.

8. C'est bien fait, ça lui apprendra. Serves him right; that uriU teach him (a lesson).

NOTES

16. contrat. Compare note to page 8, line 30. The annuity of twenty-five thousand francs was in Antoinette's name.

43. — 5. Tiens, toi, je t'adore! Note Gaston's use of the second person singular nnder the stress of émotion.

17. Vous ne lui ferez pas mauvais visage? You wiU nat look hlack (or cross) cU himf

26. Si fait, Yes, indeed. Si is used instead of oui in answer to a négative question or statement.

44. — 6. Bois, the Bois de Boulogne, a large wooded park just outside Paris.

21. vous ave2( joué ces drôles-là sous jambe, you ecLsUy bested ihose rogues, The expression jouer sous jambe (lit., "to play under the leg'') is taken from tennis or battledore and shuttlecock. The idea is that the player is so confident of def eating his opponent that he riaks making fancy plays under his leg.

45. — 9. que. Omit in translating. Compare Je crois que oui, *'l think so."

21. mourra dans la gentilhommerie finale, wiU ding to his omtocratic notions untU he dies. Gentilhommerie is a depreciatoiy word meaning "nobihty."

25. portier, one who looks after the street door; now usually called coTicier^c. Translate: janitor.

46. — 1. J'ai assez fait le gros dos et la patte de velours. Translate: Fve heen too easy-going and too kind. Faire le gros dos means, literally, "to round the back" (said of a cat). Faire la patte de velours means, literally, "to make the velvet paw," lîke a cat when it sheathes its claws.

6. Monsieur m'a fait demander? You sent for me, sirf The third person is the usual f orm of address by servants to superiors.

12. au premier étage, on the second floor. The ground floor is called rezrderchaussée; Ut., "on a level with the causeway." French houses frequently have an enJtresolf a suite of low rooms between the ground floor and the second floor. In that case, the premier étage is the third floor.

47. — 2. mon illustre aletd, my iUustrious ancestoTf the famous Vatel (see note to page 7, line 6). AÛul generally means "grandfat^er."

NOTES

9. Le potage aux lavioleSi etc., ItcMan ravioli soup and harley 80up à la Marie Stuart. Ravioli are little cases of thin noodle dough, containing meat chopped fine and highly seasoned. Marie Stuart was Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1567). A ia-d la mode, ^'in the fashion or style." 12. soupe grasse, meat soup.