faisait exécuter. See note to p

20. Il en fut de même du..., idiomatic, ' It was the same with . . . . '

24. les actes, ' the deeds,' 'documents,' ' l'egisters.' The construction of faire with a verbal noun has been explained. See note to p. 3, 1. 16. This construction is really elliptical ; pouvait lui faire retirer stands for pouvait faire {quelqu'un) retirer à lui..., ' could cause (someone) to take back from him....' Cf. Je ferai {le maréclml) ferrer mon cheval, ' I sliall cause (the smith) to shoe my horse,' that is, 'I shall hâve my horse shod. ' Of course, in the first example, lui being an objective pronoun must come before the verb.

30. C'était un homme. He, she, or they, when subject of ' to be,' are expressed by ce before a noun, il before an adjective or a noun used ad.jectively. Cf. :

C'est uri soldat {nonn) | «He is a soldier.' Il est soldat (adjective), j

Page 14.

8. Auriez-vous. This use of the conditional is idiomatic. Translate, ' Surely you hâve not ...,' or ' You don't mean to say you hâve . . . . '

17. l'on eût dit. The use of on as a pronoun is coraparatively modem. In old French it was a noun, and was spelt l'om, ' the man' (Lat. homo). This accounts for the article which we frequently find before it. For the subjuiictive, see note top. 2, 1. 2.

23. ils le feront pendre. See note to p. 13, 1. 24. Whenever in this elliptical construction the name of the age7it is left out, the infinitive must be translated by an English passive : ' They will cause (the executioner) to hang him '= ' They will hâve him hanged.' In the same way, the sentence, Je l'ai entendu chanter, may mean : (a) 'I heard him sing,' (b) ' I heard (someone) sing it,' i.e. ' I heard it sung.'

32. que va devenir, lit. ' what will father become.' The word used in English as the indirect object of ' to become ' is used in French as the subject of devenir.

Page 15.

11. tout ce que j'ai de sang. This is what is called in Latin grammar the partitive genitive. Cf. :

A . , o ^ uhatnews?

Quoi de nouveau^. }

èaeU^v rov âprov, | . ^ eat bread. ' manger du pam, f Compare also :

' And deck it like the queen's For richness, and me also like the queen In ail I hâve of rich. ' 27. suivie, etc. Notice the awkwardness of this répétition.

Page 17.

25. tiré au-dessus de la barre, lit. ' drawn above the cross-bar.' Casks are stayed by a bar placed inside, across the centre. The wine drawn ' above the bar,' that is, from the upper portion of the cask, is naturally mnch clearer and bettcr than that which is drawn below.

Page 18.

6. varlet must not be confused with valet (though an alternative form of the same word). Varlet is a synonyni of ' page,' i.e. the first stage of the feudal hierarchy. A young man of gentle birth began by being a ' page ' or xiarlet ; then he became an écuyer, or 'squire,' in attendance on a kuight, and finally he became himself a chevalier, or ' knight.'

7. lui faire donner. See note to p. 14, 1. 23. 14. vous autres. See note to p. 10, 1. 17.

21. le père gardien would be, in modem French, le père supérieur.

24. mon révérend, 'your révérence.' The French frequently use the possessive adjective before titles. Cf. mon général, mon .seigneur (Euglish ' my lord '), mon ami, etc.