Avait pris à part, Had taken to one side

9. Le Saint Antoine des marionnettes. Référence to the popular puppet plays, in the répertoire of which

NOTES ièi

Pag». LliM.

" La Tentation de Saint Antoine au Désert " oocupies a conspicuous place. St. Anthony (251-356) is prominent in Church legend, his memory during the middle âges having been held in particularly high esteem inasmuch as he is rekoned as the founder of monasticism in the East. He spent his lif e as a hermit in the Libyan désert. He is celébrated for his **Temptations," visions which, in* spite of the extrême austerity of his hermit life, the Evil One is said to hâve taken malicious pleasure in presenting before his horrified eyes, consisting of apparitions of more than comely f emales clad in less than scanty raiment. Thîs thème has become a leading one in connection with the saint's expériences and has been a favorite subject in art, which has depicted him, on such trying occasions, in a characteristio pose, — the act of recoiling f rom the fair temptress, his face f ull of horror and his hands extended before him to avert the péril. Hence in the text the scandalîzed gesture of the young priest at the nonchalance of Mlle Hélène suggests to the quickwitted and caustic girl a striking comparison f rom a legehd which strongly impressed the popular imagination.