je ne saurais : more emphatic than /e ne puis. Observe

the omission ol pas.

11. pardonner: xïoXe. pardonner quelque chose, \xX pardonner à

quelqu'un.

quelques raisons que . . : quelque, thus followed by que ( = ' whatever '), agrées with its noun ; but when it stands before an adjective not immediately followed by a noun or before an adverb, in the sensé of 'however,' it remains invariable ; e. g. —

quelque grands que soient ses talents, ' however great his talents may be. ' Note that in both cases the subjunctive is required. tu m'en puisses donner, for tu puisses m'en donner, a construction very fréquent in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Cf. p. 3 1. 2 ; p. 4 1. 2 ; p. 7 1. 23 ; p. 22 1. 21 ; p. 24 11. II and 19, etc.