Meusien, In a more spécial sensé, pertaining to the

S74 L£ MARIAGE DE QÉRABD

Département of the Meuse, in N. E. France, ad joining the German f rontier (Qerman Lorraine, of. p. 7, 1. 14), and repreeenting a portion of the ancient piovinoe of French Lorraine — to which in alarger sensé the word may be applied. It is oocupied chiefly by the broken and picturesque région of the Aigonne (Forêt de l'Argonne), and is traTersed by the River Hense (from which it takes ito name), an important stream of N. £. France, of Belginm, and of HoUand (where it is knoMrn as the Bfaas), emptying into the North Sea. Next to the Kiine the Meuse is the most historié river of Europe, oonsidered under the aspect of the past scènes enacted along its course or in the territory through which it passes.

163. 10. Moutonnières, t.- e., proeaic, commonplace; lit., imitative, routine (from the idea of sheep foUowing blindly a leader in a given path).

13. Albatros. One of the largest of sea-birds, noted for its powers of flight and the ease with which it surmounts vmid and storm without apparent effort.

10. A verre pleurant, î. e., with dripping overflowing glass—one of our young poet's fanoif ul terms. 154. 1. Rabelaisiens. Cf. p. 24, 1. 6, n.

3. Foin de=interjection marquant qu'on ne fait aucun cas de quelque chose. Out (or away) with I

16. Le bon bUlet qu'a La Châtre, i. e., how ridiculous! the idéal The expression has passed into a proverb designating, in a given case, the worthlessness of a promise. It is said to hâve arisen from the expérience of one La Châtre, a French courtier, who on leaving his sweetheart for the army required of her by note a promise of fidelity, which she was soon to violate in the expression just quoted. The identity of the La Châtre in question is not established, although he was

NOTEâ 275

Page. Llne.

probably a member of the noble family of La Châtre, of which some members were prominent in the 17th-and 18th centuries.

155r 8. Ertdymion, In Greek mythology, a beautiful youth renowned for the perpétuai sleep in which he spent his life. He was beloved by Selene, the goddess of the moon, who, according to the legend, descended to kiss hîm while he lay asleep in a cave on the slopes of Mt. Latmus, in Caria (S. W. Asia Minor). Later Selene (or Luna) became identifîed with Artemis (Diana), who takes her place in the above legend, as we see indicated in the text.

17. Dulcinée. Dulcinea del Toboso, famous as the lady beloved by Don Quixote in Cervantes' romance. She was a plain-featured ; common peasant girl whom the Don had scarcely seen. But his active imagination iavested her with the highest attri- butes of beauty and grâce; and in the name of her potent charms he sallied forth on his remarkable career of burlesque adventure in behalf of the wroDged and oppressed.

156. 3. Yeux d'agate, lit. , agate-eyes; î. e, , cold, light (steel) gray eyes — probably from association of idea with the characteristio variety of agate having a white background crossed by bluish or grayish streaks.