libérai. See note to page 14, line

17. je m'en moque comme de l'an quarante. Translate: / donH care a snap of my finger for U; more Hterally, "I care as much about it as about the year forty.'' Many explanations of the expression Van quarante are given. According to Hatzfeld, Darmesteter, and Thomas (Dictionnaire général), it is a corruption of VAlcoran, "the Koran."

19. Me trouveriez-vous . . ., par hasard? The conditional denoting probability, conjecture, or possibility in questions and exclamations is used freely throughout this text. It should be translated by "do you, by any chance . . .?," "is it possible that?," "I wonder whether," "can" or "could," "may" or "might," as the case demanda. Me, here, means in me,

55. — 1. Quand même, . . . quand. Both qmnd and quand mêmCf with the conditional, mean euen if, or what if.