Avait pris à part. Had taken to one sîde

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

^OTÈd â51

^age. Line.

" La Tentation de Saint Antoine au Désert " oocu* pies a Gonspicuous place. St. Anthony (251-356) is prominent in Church legend, his memory during the middle âges having been held in particularlj hîgh esteem inasmuch as he is rekoned as the founder of monasticism in the East. He spent his life 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

1 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. This thème has become

a leading one in connection with the saînt'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 from the fair temptress, his face f uU of horror and

' ' his hands extended before him to avert the péril.

Hence in the text the scaDdalized gesture of the young priest at the nonchalance of Mlle Hélène

^. suggests to the quickwitted and caustic girl a

^, striking comparison from a legend which strongly

impressed the popular imagination.

, \i 46. 10, Enfant terrible=enfant ({iii fait de Vembarras en répétant mal à propos tout ce qu'il a entendu dire, ou en disant tout ce qu'il pense. He is the smali boy of comedy, particularly troublesome in the love affairs of his grown up sister or brother.

^' 25. Évaltonnée (obs. or prov.)=gt4» a un ton dégagé et

émancipé,

çj 47. 10. Un m^Lugréant, Grumbling.

13. Saint'Louis=le lycée Saint-Louis, One of the largest of the secondary schools of Paris.

^{^ 48. 10. Le Benjamin (pron. Bifl-jà-mifi). The article hère

A^ dénotes familiarity, and is thus used in common

parlance before the given name, although hardly

252 LE MABIAOE DE GÉBABD

P»K«. Llm.

flo hj well educated people. Cf. similar Italîan usage. In Brittany the article is also used bef ore sumames instead. Benjamin may be hère the actual given name of the child in question. Tet in some parts of France, especially in Lorraine, it does not necessarily mean a child of that name but serves as a kind of pet name for the youngest of the family (cf. the sons of Jacob in Old Testament history).