Bique—The usual meanivg of this word is she-goat
and not ing this les from le more
es deux ine lines
and five ind sera liomatic ar more j'ai per-
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) be sure
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to think
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er mean:
she-goat
Fo cs use it he. and elsewhere m the sense of orse.
81. Allongeait ses hanches—Stretched out his body, or, stretched himself along. Hanches means literally hips, haunches.
Est un peu gris—Is a little tipsy. In the same line for # aura trouvé, see note to p. 74.
Grand'rue—Main street. For the use of the apostrophe see note to p. 61. Grande rue, used several times in this volume, is more frequently found than grand'rue.
Schnaps.—The German word Schnapps translated eau-de-vie at the bottom of the page, is really applied to any kind of ardent spirits.
82. Regardez-moi ce traîneau—Just look at that sled, will you? For the use of not see note to p. 20.
Si—Yes. See note to p. 65.
83, Exerciee—Drill.
84, Arche! ... Une... deusse.—Arche is for marche. The deux is lengthened out to deusse, as if made feminine to give more body to the words of command, Oue, two!
En trompette—Curied up.
85, Le général Hoche. —One of the most celebrated generals of the Republic, born in 1768, died 1797. He drove the Austrians from the lines of Wissembourg, raised the siege of Landau, and brought about the evacuation of Alsace as, will be seen by the letter of Uncle Jacob at the close of this volume.
86. Prenez garde de vous casser le cou-—Take care not to break your necks. Notice the use of prendre garde de, or se garder de, which means to guard against, and hence generally requires the insertion of a negative in the English translation. Notice also that cou is in the singular. .
Comme des bienheureux—Like good fellows.
Patins—Runners ; this is evidently the sense here, although this meaning is not found in the dictionaries. Patin now usually means skate ; formerly it meant a sort of shoe with a thick sole, which women wore to look taller ; also the English patten. Patin is also still used in various parts of France for certain kinds of thick winter shoes. It has also several other technical meanings, which may all be deduced from the primitive patte, a paw, that is, a support.
87, Pourvu qi'ils restent--I only hope they will remain. Notice this very idiomatic use of pourvu que.
A la bonne heure—Very good. See note to p. 19.
88, Tu jouais à la drogue, tu remuais les dés nour la bonne chance, tu battais la diane—You used to play at split-peg, you used to shake the dice for good luck, you used to beat the morning drum. Drogue is a game at cards played mostly by soldiers ; the loser has to put and keep on his nose for a certain time a forked stick or split veg, called drogue.
89. ÆTopstock.—A celebrated German poet, whose fame was at its height about the period of this story; he died in 1808.
91, Trois lignes d'épaisseur—-A quarter of an inck in thickness. Zigne meant the twelfth part of a French inch.
Larges pattes—Broad clasps.
92, Tile-Live.—--The usual French form of the name of the Roman historian Livy, Titus Livius.
93, Anno 1793.—I am not sure what special book of predictions the mole-catcher is reading from. It is probably one of the numerous translations or arrangements of Nostradamus, . or Notredame, à celebrated French astrologer who died in 1566. His ‘‘ Centuries” were often quoted as predicting events, especially in the latter part of the last century and in the beginning of this. His almanacs, published from 1550 till his death, served as a model for similar publications, which still continue, full of obscure predictions, and which have done much to keep up superstitious beliefs in several parts of Europe. 4
94. Mayence.—Mayence on the Rhine, German Mainz, was taken by the French under Custine in 1792, and retaken by the Prussians the next year.
96, Ça veut dire leurs éçus, leurs florins, et leur monnaie de toute espèce—That means their crowns, their florins, and their coins of all kinds. Æcu means literally shield : it was used tà designate coins of various values from sixty cents upwards ; it was also used in the plural for money in general. Florin, a gold or silver coin of various values. Notice that monnaie does not mean money.
97, J'en eus la chair de poule—It made my flesh creep, or my blood run cold. Chair de poule is, literally translated, goose-flesh.
99. Le tour des yeux et le menton dessinés en urêtes—The bones around her eyes and her chin standing out sharp. Arête means primitively and usually fish-bone, whence various figurative meanings--among others, sharp-edge, as here.
100. Brunswick.—The Duke of Brunswick was commanderin-chief of the allied armies of Austria and Prussia.
