mal portés, 'ill vvorn,' i.e. ' out of shape

,, 4. en l'absence : note this exceptional use of ew before the definite article ; cf. en l'air, en l'an, en l'honneur.

,, 6. lui .. sur les talons, 'overhis heels.' Note that jiarts of the body take tlie def. article rather thau the possess. adj. — e.g. il ouvrit les yeux, ' his eyes ' — and wheu, to l^revent ambiguity, the jiossessor must be expressed, the pers. pron. is inserted, usually in the dative, as hère ; e.g. je me lave les mains, ' I wash niy hauds.'

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2. 7. ne . . qu'en pantoufles, 'never wore lii.sshocs (otherwise)

thau as slippers,' i.e. ' with the lieels trodden down,' ' sliiJ-shoe like.'

,, 10. c'était : omit tlie ce in Englisli. It is used after ce qui, ce que, to recapitulate the clause introduced by them.

,, 18. aussi était-il: see note, p. 1 1. 16 ; and mark axissi, ' and .so,' ' accordingly. '

,, 22. les surveillants de ronde, ' the usliers ou patrol-duty ' ; say 'ou their rounds.'

,, 23. laissait punir . ., lit. 'let punish liis schoolfellows,' i.e. 'let his schoolfellows be punished.' Note the coustructiou.

,, 21. ce qui : hère ' a thing which,' or ' wliich.'

3. 2. il n'était . . dont il ne s'ingéniât, ' there was uo kind

ol' dcvilisli contrivance lie did not hit upou. ' Note (1) il n était instead of il n'y avait pas de, (2) the subjunctive in a relat. clause dep. on a uegat.

,, 16. que sais-je encore? ' what more do I know ? ' idiomatic for ' and more besides ' or ' and that was uot ail ! '

,, 18. se couvrait de nuages, ' was clouding over.'

,, 20. qu'il accumiilait . . depuis neuf ans : the Fr. présent with depuis = Engl. continuons perfect ; e.g.je souffre dejJuis trois mois, ' I liave been sutfering for three months ' ; so the imperf. = Engl. continuons pluperf.

,, 23. en effet: used to introduce a fact or event confirming what lias preceded.

4. 4. quand il eut fini . . M. Choppart voulut : note that iu

temiioral clauses the Engl. ])luperf. corresponds to the Fr. (a) past anterior wheu the main verb is past def. (preterite), (b) pluperf. wlien the main verb is imperf. ; e.g. (a) quand il eut bu son café il sortit, ' when lie had had his breakfast he went ont' (on a particular occasion), {b) tous les matins quand il avait fini son café il lisait son journal, 'every morning when he had finish ed his breakfast he used to read his paper. ' Observe in each case the auxiliary verb {eut, avait) is the same tense as the main verb. Note that the preterite voulut often lias, as hère, the force of ' tried.' ,, 14. croyant reconnaître: note that Avheu croire and the verb dépendent on it hâve the same subjeet, the dépendent verb is simply iu the iniin. iustead of being in a 5'"e-clause ; cf. je crois que tu peux fccire cela and je crois pouvoir faire cela, 'I think I can,' etc.

Notes 75

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