il m'a chargé, he requested me

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2. nous avons eu la main heureuse, we hâve been lucky in our choice.

23. sHl a V encolure cUun, if he looks like a ; lit. encolure, neck and shoulders (of a horse); neck (of a coat); fig. look, air, appearance.

25. Vulcain, the Roman god of fire, whose workshop was on Mount Etna, where the Cyclops assisted him in forging thunderbolts for Jove. Venus was his wife, but her amour with Mars gave Vulcan the unenviable notoriety alluded to here.

27. gare au marteau, beware of the hammer. An allusion to Vulcan’s (and indirectly to M. Derblay’s) profession.