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This story was first published in Paris, in 1885, by Paul Ollendorff, whose editiot 1} gives the text of the present volume. It was republished in 1888, by W. R. Jenkins, | New York,
Page. 1.-simple histoire. The ‘simple story ’ in the sense pri of giving in a simple way the history of the Colombes, So Mrs, Inch- t ! bald’s Simple Story is rendered into Fr. under the title Simple Histoire,
Page. 1. line 1. Colombe du Moustiers. The names of noble il families were usually qualitied by the naines of their chief estate. Hence {| de in French and von in (terman became particles that presuppose a É noble origin, or at least the possession of a family estate. Frequently } the name of the estate is that by which alone they are known. So in 2, 6, we have the family of the Colombes spoken of as ‘* du Moustiers.”
Page 1, line 2.—habitait, depuis un siècle. In English, not ‘dwelt in ” (simple tense), but ‘‘ had dwelt in” (perfect tense). The dl simple tense is required in French with depuis and à! y a when the | action or state is continued in the time spoken of. See IT., 215, 1, note. Cf. ‘Qui durait....depuis vingt ans,” 2, 4; ‘‘ Ils habitaient depuis bientôt dix ans,” 3, 23 ; ‘* Depuis dix ans qu’ils vivaient ensemble,” 7, 1. 4 The same peculiarity is found as well in the present tense,—‘‘qui 1 retouche....depuis quelque temps,” 55, 27.
Page 1, line 2.—facon de vieux couvent. Note that the French never use un(e) after such words as façon, sorte, espèce. So we say : Quelle sorte d'homme est cet ouvrier? What kind of (a) man is that workman? Cf. ‘son rôle de frère aîné,”” 3, 20.
Page 1, line 3.—qu'il n’en restait d'autre apparence que. . Note this impersonal use of à (—Eng. ‘there”),—‘that there was no other sign of it left (t.e. of its convent-like appearance) than’. Cf. ‘“ des jours...qu'il leur restait,” 14, 7 ; ‘‘il faut attendre qu’il passe une voiture,” 15, 27. It will be remarked from these instances that many veros not usually impersonal may on occasion assume an impersonal construction. IL, 192. The omission of the negative (pas) is likewise peculiar. Pas or point is frequently omitted when autre....que follows ; —Je n'ai (pas) d'autre livre que celui-ci, TI have no other book than this. When autre is understood, pas (point, must be omitted :—7/ ne fait que pleurer (—Il ne fait autre chose que pleurer), He does nothing but laugh. 116}
Page 1, line 4. —surmonté d'un toit. Almost every past participle used adjectively in French takes de with its complement. (Eng., ‘by,’ ‘with.’) Cf. ‘ornée d’un ruban,” 2, 4; ‘‘coiffée d’un oiseau, ” 13, 12. |
*References such as II. 232 are to Part II. of Lessons in French. The illustrative
sentences, other than those of the text, are in almost every instance taken f-om the me 1 dictionaries of M. Littré and the Académie. a:
M Pom pee SRE Te Et
Page 1, line 5.-écusson. The exact significance of this coat-of. arms it is hard to give. Still from its general character it seems plain that the building was originally a monastry (couvent d'hommes), governed by a mitred abbot—one having the powers of a bishop.
Page 1, line 8.—peut-être. ..étaient-ils, Peut-être, aussi, ainsi, au (du) moins, à peine, toujours, etc., introducing the sentence usually throw the pronoun subject after the verb ; if the subject is a noun, as here, a pronoun subject in addition may be added after the verb. Cf, ‘ Ainsi il lui arrivait,” 4, 26 ; ‘‘ Aussi devenaient-ils,” 15, 17.
Page 1, line 8.—gentilshommes. ‘Gentlemen’ in its original sense of ‘ men of high birth,’ a noun used purely as an adjective, with, therefore no partitive sign. Of. I! est plus roi qu'esclave, He is more a king than a slave. Cf. ‘ ayant été soldat,” 2, 3 ; ‘on m'avait appelée voleuse,”” 18, 26. The passage may be rendered, ‘had a distant touch of gentility.”
Page 1, line 11. — Au demeurant. Literally, ‘as to the remaining,’ i.e., ‘as for the rest,’ ‘however.’ It is a colloquial equivalent for du reste.
Page 1, line 11. —en bourgeois demi-paysans. Note en=" as. Cf. ‘en excellente mère,” 3, 1 ; ‘en exilés,” 3, 8 The term bourgeois in French denotes a member of the middle class, above the paysan and below the gentilhomme (cf. 1, 8).
Page 1, line 12.—grandes fêtes. In France the many church festivals, as the Méfe-Dieu, Corpus Oristi ; Pâques, Easter ; Noël, Christmas.
Page 1, line 13.—robe de noce....en quelque étoffe. Render en by ‘of.’ The Academy does not mention this use of en (—de) before names of materials, though it is very common. Cf. ‘une montre en or,” 48, 13= ‘une montre d’or,” a gold watch ; ‘‘un beau cadre en or,” 65, 8=cadre d’or,” 67, 34; ‘‘ la commode en vieux chêne,” 13, 10.
Page 1, line 15.—allaient au collège. Remark the force of the imperfect, ‘ used to go.” II. 218. Note the use of the article ; cf. aller au marché, à l’église, à l’école, to go to market, church, school.
Page 1, line 19.—chapcau noir haut de forme. This use of de after adjectives of form, ete., regular ; cf. une armée forte de vingt mille hommes, an army twenty th sand strong.
Page 1, line 20.—le dimanche. Note the general force given by the article, —‘ Sundays.” Cf. in the same line, ‘“ l’hiver ” ; ‘on rentrait le soir,” 9, 19.
Page 1, line 20.—ils portaient. Note here and elsewhere the sense of habit given by the imperfect tense,—‘* they used to wear.”
Page 2, line 1.—se faisaient la barbe.=—se rasaient, ‘shaved.” Se (in direct object) + la with a part of the body =the possessive adjeotive. Cf. note to 21, 29.
Page 2, line 2.—tous les huit jours. Note the use of huit
at-ofplain erned
ainsi, sucally an, AS verb.
iginal with, ore à Dpelée touch
ning,’ or du
=‘ an.’ rgeois n and
jours and quinze jours for ‘ week” and ‘fortnight.” The French use fous (écutes) les equivalent to English ‘every, {ous les six mois, every six months. Render, ‘ at the end of every week.”
Page 2, line 4. —ornée d’un ruban rouge. The red ribbon of the Legion of Honor. ‘This order of civil and military decoration was established by Napoleon in 1804 in place of the orders of chivalry abolished at the Revolution. There are various degrees from the simple knight (chevalier) to the Grand Master. The decorations are granted for service in war, especially for some heroic deed, for service of the state in a civii capacity, and for illustrious attainments in arts, letters, and sciences.
Page 2, line 7.—ils tenaieit pour l’Empire. Z'nir, to hold, is very often used in the sense of ‘ to side with’, ‘to be of the same opinion,’ ‘in the party of.” So, Z! « tenu pour le roi, He sided with the king ; Nous tenons pour Platon, We agree with Plato ; 1 tient pour la nouvelle philosophie, He follows the new philosophy. Render, ‘They were Imperialists,” or ‘‘ partizans of the Empire. The ‘* Empire ” was that established by Napoleon Bonaparte.
Page 2, line 9.—les Cent-Jours. The days between the arrival
in Paris of Napoleon from Elba (March 20, 1815) till his abdication,
after his defeat at Waterloo, in favor of his son (June 22, 1815).
Page 2, line 10. —Annibal, Scipion, Cornélie, Gracques. These classical names were a relic of the flood of imitations of Roman history that filled the history of France at the time of the Revolution. For instance, Napoleon’s first title as ruler of France was ‘‘ Consul.”
Page 2, line 15.— vigne coula. The verb couler means ordinarily “to flow,” as in Ce ruisseau coule lentement, This brook flows slowly ; Les pleurs coulaient des yeux de tout le monde, Tears flowed from the eyes of everybody. In agriculture, however, it has a special meaning when speaking of grapes, figs, melons, ete. Then couler refers to the blossoms falling without forming fruit. ‘The pollen, owing to bad weather, is not distributed, and consequently the blossoms remain sterile. Hence render this passage, ‘ the vintage failed.”
Page 2, line 16.—trois Aéaux. That is the parents provided a dot (dowry) for Cornélie when she married, which cost them dear.
Page 2, line i9.—était bien notée, ‘‘ was well reputed.”
Page 2, line 19.—le député. The local government of France begins with the commune (cf. 2, 28). ‘There are in all (1891) 36,144 communes, which vary in size and population from a majority that have less than 1,500 inhabitants to a few that have over 20,000. After the commune comes the canton, which contains usually 18 communes, and is the seat of à justice of the peace. Then the arrondissement, of which there are in all France 362. Finallr a varying number of arrondissements constitute a département, of which there are 87. The French Chambre des Députés, which corresponds to the English House of Commous, is composed of 584 deputies, of which each arrondissement elects one, or—if its populatioà is over 100,000—two,
