Scène XVI
Les Mêmes, Georges, Armand, Madame de Verrières, Thérèse, puis Aubin, puis de la Porcheraie
Dutr., voyant entrer Georges avec Armand. Il n'est pas parti... Entrez ! approchez, mon ami !... mon cher Georges !...
Geor. Qu'y a-t-il, Monsieur Dutrécy?
Dutr. Attendez !... 5
Four. L'effet de mon ordonnance !...
Dutr., allant à la porte de gauche. Thérèse !... Madame !... on va me connaître.
Thér. Qu'est-ce donc, mon oncle?
Dutr. Mes enfants, le cœur d'un oncle est presque 10 celui d'un père ! je ne veux pas plus longtemps contrarier une sympathie. Georges !... je vous rends ma parole !
Tous. Comment?
Geor. et Mme. de Ver. Ah ! Monsieur Dutrécy !... 15
Arm. On me l'a changé !
Thér. et Arm. Ah î mon oncle !... {On se groupe autour de Dutrécy et on le félicite.}
Four., à part sur le devant. Il devrait se faire peindre comme ça !... un Greuze !... 20
Dutr. Je sais aussi me sacrifier quand il le faut...
Mme. de Ver. Monsieur Dutrécy, vous avez reconquis mon estime.
Moi &- Acte III. Se. xvi
Dutr. Ah ! Madame !... {Bas à Fourcinier.)
Voilà la femme qui me conviendrait... bonne...
dévouée... bien portante !... {A part) Il faudra
que j'en touche un mot à Fromental... comme
Barbiste... Madame... 5
Arm. Adieu, mon oncle !
Dutr. Quoi ?
Arm. Georges est heureux... je puis partir... Dutr. Où vas-tu?...
Arm. A New- York !... 10
Mme. de Ver. Comment?...
Geor. Non... c'est défendu.
Arm. Pourquoi ?
Geor. Ma sœur ne veut pas que son mari voyage
sans elle... 15
Mme. de Ver. Georges !
Arm. Que dis-tu?
Geor. Eh ! parbleu !... vous vous aimez !... Arm. Madame?... Ah! mon oncle !... (Il se jette
dans les bras de Dutrécy.) 20
Dutr., à part. Trop tard ! je perds une femme
délicieuse... mais il me reste une famille pour me
soigner...
Thér. Ah î mon bon oncle, soyez heureux et
jouissez du bonheur que vous avez fait. 25
Dutr. Oui, mon enfant !...
Thér. Après la cérémonie, nous partirons pour la
Suisse... tous les quatre !
Tous. Oui ! oui ! c'est charmant !
Dutr. La Suisse !...
Mme. de Ver. Ma voiture est en bas... Allons vite annoncer cette bonne nouvelle à mon père. {Ils sortent.)
Dutr., à Fourcinier. Ils m'abandonnent... après 5 ce que j'ai fait pour eux !...
Four. C'est affreux ! {Aubin paraît.)
Dutr. Aubin ! le dévouement ! la Bretagne ! Approche, mon ami; tu m'aimes, toi?...
Aubin, embarrassé. Dame !... un petit peu... 10
Dutr. Tu avais à me parler ; que veux- tu ?
Aubin, embarrassé. Je voulais demander à Monsieur... si c'était un effet de la bonté de Monsieur...
Dutr. Quoi ?
Aubin. De me renvoyer de chez Monsieur ! 15
Dutr. Comment ! tu veux me quitter?
Aubin. Je trouve une porte... {Il fait le geste de ti?-er le cordon?) Une gérance... avec cent francs de plus...
Dutr., révolté. Oh ! . 20
Aubin. Dans un quartier plus aéré... et dame ! comme l'a fort bien dit Monsieur... on n'a pas trop de soi...
Dutr., vivement. Assez !... Je ne te retiens pas !... {A part?) La Bretagne s'en va !... {Entre de la 25 Porcheraie en costume de voyage.)
Aubin, sortant. Monsieur de la Porcheraie !
Dutr. De la Porcheraie !... Je ne resterai donc pas seul !...
Moi &- Acte III. Se. xvi
La Por. Mon cher, je pars...
Dutr. Comment ?
La Por. Ma femme a positivement le droit de vivre chez moi... Alors, je ne veux plus avoir de chez moi... je vais voyager... je me défendrai par 5 la fuite.
Dutr, Et vous venez me faire vos adieux !
La Por. Non ! je viens pour le sous- seing !...
Dutr. Ah ! oui... le sous-seing !... signons toujours... 10
Four. Plus tard... quand la rue sera percée... (// sort.)
La Por. C'est un faiseur !...
Dutr. Un homme sans bonne foi !
La Por. Voilà l'heure du chemin de fer, je m'en 15 vais.
Dutr. Nous nous écrirons...
La Por. Oh ! à quoi bon ? nous n'avons rien à nous dire !
Dutr. Mais nous ne nous reverrons plus ! 20
La Por. Eh bien ! est-ce que cela vous fait quelque chose?
Dutr. Dame î et à vous ?
La Por. Moi !... ça ne me fait rien. {Il sort.)
Dutr., seul. Ah ! les hommes ! les hommes ! je 25 finirai par ne plus aimer que moi !
Notes
Page 2. Personnages. In ail the plays of Labiche the names of the personages carry comic suggestions of their characters. Hère Dutrécy is meant to suggest Destutt de Tracy (i 754-1 836), "the last eminent représentative of the sensualistic school which Condillac founded in France," and a man whose teachings exercised a very great influence on the youth of France in the early part of the century. La Porcheraie suggests almost too obviously porcherie (pig-sty), and so indicates also a man given to selfish ease. Fourcinier is, I think, a play on four cinïère (mortuary furnace), for the agitation for crémation had then just begun, and the thought would chime with the unspiritual dust-and-ashes of the doctor's nature. Fromental has also, through froment (grain), a flavor of earth. As for the two lovers of the play, Armand is Labiche's favorite name for this character, and Bernier is the berneur through whom Dutrécy's selfishness loses its hoped-for reward at last. The Parisian valets hâve the conventional stage names of their class, but the Breton Aubin recalls the quaint names peculiar to Brittany, and also suggests aube and so "wide awake." Thérèse is colorless in name as in character, but Madame de Verrières (hand-glass, etc.), herself the victim of an ill-assorted match, may suggest a reflection of the life that Dutrécy was preparing for Thérèse. de nos jours, i.e. 1864, in the hey-day of the Second Empire (1852-1870).
Act i. Se. i -»6 Notes
Page 3, line 2. calorifère, any central heating apparatus, furnace. 4. seize degrés, i.e. of the Centigrade thermometer, equal to 68° Fahrenheit. 5. le compte, the correct figtire. 7. visible, i.e. ready for callers. 10. ça for cela,
when used for a person is either familiar, as hère, or contemptuous. Say : We did not know that he had one. 12. en pension, at boarding school.
Page 4, line 4. Monsieur. French servants of the higher class, when addressing superiors, used, and though less universally, still use, Monsieur in speaking to, as well as in speaking of, their masters and their guests. 6. Quel, What sort of a person. 10. droite, i.e. of the spectator. 11. par-là,
in there. 12. hydrothérapie. The would-be wise Cyprien means hydropathie, " water-cure," more in vogue in 1864 th an now, and so a natural butt of comedy. In line 18 Cyprien defines this to him strange word as " réservoir of a shower bath." 15. fond de la Bretagne, depths ofBrittany, équivalent to our " from way up-country," or " from the back-woods." From racial and other causes Brittany is perhaps the most primitive région of France. Hence this shrewd Parisian valet finds Aubin's ignorance natural, and Germain laughs (1. 16) at his long hair, which has been a traditional attribute of the Bretons from the earliest times. Cp. also p. 7, 1. 19. The Bretons hâve also a réputation for trustworthiness and devout catholicity.
Page 5, line 4. entend, etc. He under stands life. . . . He knozvs how to get himself taken care of he does. The celui-là is redundant and emphatic. Cp. /«, p. n,l. 3. 8. cheveux, etc., as one says of a horse, if he turns a hair. 14. servi les
chevaux, rubbed down horses. 18. pataud, tout, "stupid fel-
low." Properly " large-pawed puppy." 24. De la Porcheraie. Usage differs in France as to when de should be used in proper names. Editorially I follow Sainte-Beuve's rule : On dit : Monsieur de un tel, ou bien on ne met ni Monsieur ni la
[us]
Notes 8e- Act I. Se. ii, iii
particule. . . . Entendez donc quand ils parlent : mon ami de un tel, on dirait quHls ont peur que ce de ne se perde (Nouveaux lundis, xiii, p. 3). In dialogue Labiche usually follows this rule, e.g. p. 34, 1. 26, and p. 40, 1. 17. In stage directions and in lists of speakers ne uses the de, and this inconsistency is preserved in the présent édition. à la cantonade, fro m behind the scènes. Also " to one behind the scènes."
Page 6, line 2. cascade, shower bath. 3. neuf heures et demie. Though this hour marks a lazy man, it should be noted that the upper classes in Paris rise later than with us. C'est juste, Of course or Naturally, that is, it is his usual time. Cp. p. 65, 1. 26, and p. 74, 1. 7. 5. inutile, unnecessary, not "useless." Cp. p. 57, 1. 5, and p. 74, 1. 1, etc. 6. nouveau Paris. In 1864 the transformation of Paris begun by Napoléon III. and Baron Haussmann, whom he had made prefect of the Seine for that purpose in 1853, was about completed. The area of the city had been doubled by annexation in 1859, many monumental buildings had been erected, and, more than ail, a whole System of avenues or broad boulevards had been pushed with reckless disregard of cost through the most thickly settled parts, as well as the suburbs of the city. The spéculative restlessness produced by this great outlay and the conséquent shifting of real-estate values has left its impress deep in French literature. It furnishes the background not only to this comedy, but to Sardou's " Maison neuve," to About's " L'Homme à l'oreille cassée," to Zola's " La Curée," and to many other dramas and taies. 7. bureau, desk, not " bureau." See dictionary. 12. Est-ce qu'il aurait, Can it be that he has. 19. faire du dégât, do some damage. The phrase has
a little flavor of the farm.
Page 7, line 5. tout est là, thafs the whole thing, i.e. to get the skin red. 7. Dame, properly "By Our Lady," i.e. the Virgin Mary, when used as an expletive suggests the country catholic, though Dutrécy uses it, p. 115, 1. 23. Itmeans hère, [119]
Act I. Se. iii, iv ->3 Notes
however, no more than No ! and must always be rendered with référence to the context. Cp. p. 37, 1. 24. 9. sous, cents. Properly sou, like livre and louis, is a coin not minted since the French Révolution. As now used the sou is a universal name for the 5 -centime pièce, livre is used for franc in speaking of income, and louis is an aristocratie désignation of the 20-franc pièce, once called also " Napoléon." Hère the five sous had been given as the customary fee by the coachman to the servant calling him from his remise or carriage-house. Aubin shows his unsophisticated honesty by turning them over to his master. A voiture de remise is superior to a fiacre or voiture de place (cab), from which it is distinguished by the red color of its number. 16. splendide, munificent, not " splendid."
Ironical. 17. ami. This word implies a sort of patriarchal
condescension. Dutrécy would never hâve used it to Cyprien. 19. cheveux. See p. 4, 1. 15. Observe the Arcadian economy of Aubin's answer. 23. a de l'ordre, is economical. But see dictionary. 27. ai la coquetterie de, am proud as a lover
of, or "love to coquet with." Colloquial. cave, wine-cellar. 29. rentre, cornes ont, not " re-enters."
Page 8, line 3. tu iras à ma place. This is the first of his many grotesque expressions of egoism that are, as the French say : plus vrai que la nature. 9. se presse, hurries.
12. un cos. Destourmel, 1846, of the Destourmel vintage of 1846, a famous vineyard and year for wine. COS.,-*'.*. côtes, "hill-sides." 14. mâcon généreux, sound claret, so-called from Maçon, an ancient wine-shipping city on the Saône. 15. me réussit moins, doesn't agrée with me so well. 17. sans, etc., without letting anyone notice it, y ou understand. 25. du
58, i.e. of the vintage of 1858, and so then six years old, well matured, but un peu plus vert than the wine of 1846. 27. un vin d'invités, a wine for company.
Page 9, line 12. drôle, a bit funny, i.e. it would be annoying. Colloquial. Cp. p. 6, 1. 12, and note. 16. matin, early.
Notes &- Act i. se. iv
19. Votre loge, your box. In the Opéra of Paris and many other continental théâtres boxes extend, sometimes in several tiers, around the whole auditorium. They are leased for the season for one or more nights weekly, and give opportunity for informai social intercourse among the leaders of society. Allusions to this custom are constant in French fiction and drama. The ballet at the Opéra is the largest in Europe, and probably the best trained. Many, like Dutrécy, go rather to see than to hear. Indeed, to poke fun at the singing at the Opéra was rather "good forai" in Paris. On the Opéra under the Second Empire, see Adolphus, " Some Memories of Paris," pp. 226-264. 22. se développer les danseuses, i.e. the évolutions ofthe dancers.
Page 10, Une 5. percer, eut through or open up. 6. Passy, a suburb annexed to Paris in 1860, and from its élévation and proximity to the Bois de Boulogne, désirable for résidence. 9. arpents. Properly the arpent was 100 sq. perches, or fiveeighths of an acre. It has not bé'en a légal measure since the Révolution, but is popularly used for a quarter-hectare. Cp. sous, p. 7,1. 9. 13. écus. The ècu or shield was a pre-revolutionary coin of six livres, the petit- êcu was of three livres. Now the word is often used of the 5-franc pièce, or in the plural for money generally. Translate hère 100,000 dollars. emancher, takeholdof. Commercial and colloquial. 16. brisées, prop-
erly " branches broken by a hunter to mark the haunts of game," but rare except in this phrase. To go sur les brisées of anyone is to hunt the game that another has tracked, and so " to take an unfair advantage " of him. Translate hunt in my tracks. 25. convenances, propriety. 27. phrases, fine words. affaires, business.
Page 11, 1. 3. la. Cp. p. 5, 1. 5. 9. cercle, club. For its character, see note to p. 52, 1. 5. 13. livres de rentes. Cp. note to p. 7, 1. 9. 17. A la bonne heure, Why, really, Hesitating. This phrase is capable of almost infinité shading,
Act i. Se iv -*8 Notes
which must be caught from the context. 24. portez-vous acquéreur, go in as buyer, or bidder at an auction. Cp. surenchérir, 1. 29.
Page 12, line 1. Eh bien, etc., Well, now tha? 's talking sensé. Hère à la bonne heure expresses relief and satisfaction. Cp. p. il, 1. 17. 13. C'est juste, To be sure. Cp. p. 6,1. 3. touchezlà, your hand on it. 20. esprits justes, reasonable or sensible men, i.e. from the egoistical point of view. 22. coupé de diligence, the forward and highest-priced compartment of a stagecoach. 24. Toulouse, a principal city of Southern France.
Page 13, line 3. pour le pays, i.e. for a countrywoman. 7. homme fort, strong-minded tnan. dans le vrai, on the right track. 20. par exemple, Oh, corne now. Expostulatory. Seldom " for example." 24. en rose, in rose color.
Page 14, line 5. truffé, stuffed with truffles, a délicate mushroom. 7. salmis de bécasse, woodeock ragoût. 9. en branche, large-stalked. 12. Chevet, since several générations the most noted shop for delicacies in Paris. It adjoins the Palais-Royal. 15. de l'année, this year. 24. gentil, polite. Ironical. 25. à l'heure, punctually. 28. décrocher, to pick up, literally " unhook," alluding rather to the hooks of the Paris scavengers {chiffonniers) than to angling.
Page 15, line 1. tient à, is characteristic of. 3. m'en suis offert, trealed myself to. 5. ennuyeux, especially because his large feet would stretch them. 18. les marins, colloquial construction, as for sailors, one, etc. 21. éloignant, for fear of catching the fever, but alleging trouble with his eyeglass. 28. irai jusqu'au bout, stay with him to the last.
Page 16, line 21. regrette, because he fears Dutrécy will not think it becoming to seem cheerful; a delicious touch. 24. Havane, Havana. 25. régie, government monopoly, which controls the sale of ail tobacco in France as in many other parts of the continent.
Notes e^- Act I. Se v,vi
Page 17, line 7. ne vous en allez pas. He will not trust him out of his sight. 11. sensible, sympathetic. 12. mauvais bien, bad pièce of property. 13. impôts et pas de revenu cannot be taken literally, for the land-tax of France {contribution foncière) which yields some $35,000,000 annually was and is assessed on net revenue. City gardens are indirectly taxed, however, in the increased rental value of adjoining houses.
Page 18, line 5. Pléthore, etc. Overloading, caused by a too hearty diet. 7. coup d'œil, insight, i.e. accurate
diagnosis. 19. celle, i.e. visite. 21. Barbiste, anti-imperialist, so-called from Armand Barbes (1809-1870), an uncompromising republican agitator implicated in many political conspiracies from 1834 till his imprisonment, 1 849-1 854, after which he passed into half-voluntary exile that he might be the more free to pursue his political aims. In 1864 the radical opponents of Napoléon were commonly known as " Barbistes," for the supporters of the Empire did not like to give them so popular a name as " republican." Labiche, with almost ail the literary men of France, sympathized more or less openly with Barbes and his aims, but men of Dutrécy's stamp shrank from them. Our author touches politics rarely and lightly, but when he does it is on the side of enlightened liberty. 23. sortie de collège, graduation from school, not " collège." The Parisian public high schools or lycées that figure most in literature and literary history are the Collège Charlemagne, the Collège Condorcet and the Lycées Louis le Grand, Henri IV. and Saint- Louis. This collège, however, was Sainte-Barbe, for which see p. 24, 1. 10.
Page 19, line 4. sans façon, no ceremony. 9. regardezmoi, ht me show you. Cp. p. 28, 1. 14. 17. bouchées doubles, i.e. eating hastily. 23. Auteuil, suburb of Paris, adjoining Passy. See p. 10, 1. 6. 28. terrains, building lots, hère, prennent une valeur, are rising in price. CI23]
Act I. Se. vi, vii -«8 Notes
Page 20, line 21. toujours, ail the same. Colloquial hère. 23. quinquina, quinine, which would make it bitter. Of course, this was a false pretense.
Page 21, line 1. bosquet, etc. In 1864, with houses building ail around, Passy was anything but that. The speech is meant to ridicule the usual exaggeration of land-agents. 4. abattoir central, central slaughter-house, the présence of which would lower greatly the price of land. 7. société, stock-company. sérieuse, genuine. 8. actions, shares.
11. rue des Dames. The only street of this name in Paris was and is near the Batignolles, in a rather unsavory neighborhood. Possibly the incongruity may be intended.
Page 22, line 1. Ville, City, i.e. the business center, where he hoped to learn more about the abattoir. 6. y, at home.
13. arrière-petit-cousin, fourth cousin. The compound is intentionally comic, arrière -petit being properly used only with père and fils or fille, as our " great-grand " (father, son, etc.).
14. secrétaire-général, i.e. of some revolutionary committee. 17. n'y êtes pas, don't know what it is about, are not " in it." Colloquial. 24. VOUS ai fait, hâve given out that y ou were.
Page 23, line 15. Range ça, Clear the table (said to Aubin). 16. D'abord, etc., Anyhow, if it must be done, etc. 20. condisciple, schoolmate.
Page 24, line 2. prévenue . . . tenue de malade, prevented (from making visits), detained by a sick person. 10. Sainte-Barbe. The Collège Sainte-Barbe is the oldest school in France, having been continuously conducted since 1460. It is a private institution adjoining the law-school of the university. The banquet was a sort of class-dinner. 25. distingué, been attracted by, a euphemous expression for the preliminary stage of courtship.
Page 25, line 2. faire sortir, etc., i.e. take her home on holidays. 4. un garçon, /, an unmarried man. He exag- [124]
Notes Act I. Se. vii, viii
gerated propriety to excuse indifférence. 9. mon dieu. In this séries where Dieu means " God," it is spelled with D; where it is équivalent to "Dear me!" " Of course," and the like, it seems more révèrent to use d. 16. intéressé pour un tiers, has a third share in the profits of the bank. That the parents should arrange their son' s marriage with the guardian of his intended, and that on a financial basis, was quite in accord with French manners then, and, to a rather less degree, is still. Observe how Fromental appeals hère and elsewhere to Dutrécy's supposed Barbist sympathies.
Page 26, line 23. publications, of the marriage-notice or banns. For the French law on this subject, see Encyc. Brit. xv. 568, or Hachette's Almanach (1896), p. 512, sqq. 25. mairies, mayors' offices, of which there is one in each Parisian élection district. Civil marriage is compulsory in France, and is usually followed on the succeeding day by a religious ceremony. 28. nous occuper d'un appartement, i.e. think about renting a suite of rooms or "jlat" Only the quite wealthy in Paris occupy entire houses {hôtels).
Page 27, line 3. à notre porte, near us, and so pleasingly removed from Dutrécy. The rue de Province is affected by the wealthy banking class. 5. passe les nuits, will work at night to get it done in time. 6. corbeille, wedding gift of the bridegroom to the bride, usually supposed to be of the value of one-tenth of the dot. 11. connais rien à, know nothing about. She is welcome to the compliment, but not to the service. 13. Ouf, panting, as one who has walked rapidly. 20. distribué, That is, to them ail, to him none, so that his promise to be prêt (1. 24) is a delightful touch.
Page 28, line 4. anéanti, crushed, " settled." Colloquial. 5. grille d'honneur, main carriage entrance, closed by an ornamental open-work iron gâte (grille). 8. passions un petit écrit, exchange a little written agreement. conditions,
Act I. Se. viii -*S Notes
Le, of their sharing the property obtained under false pretences. n. géomètre, surveyor. 12. levé le plan àe,plotted, taken the plan of. Surveyor1 s term. 15. façade, street frontage,
hère. 16. 325 mètres, about 1100 ft. 18. hôtels,
detached houses or villas, not "hôtels." But see dictionary and p. 26, 1. 28. 23. Qu'est ce que ça me fait, What do I care, or What business is that of mine. y, at home. See p. 22, 1.6.
Page 29, line 5. Cri du cœur. Ironical. Dutrécy's first thought is fear of catching the fever. 9. Saint-Nazaire, the harbor of Nantes, where the docks of Mexican, West Indian, and South American steamers of the Compagnie générale transatlantique are situated. 12. cigares de planteur, Le. the choicest made for the planters' own consumption. See p. 16,
1. 24. 14. Chut. He would like to do with them as with the wine in Scène 3. 23. congé, furlough, leave of absence.
Page 30, line 3. Comme, How thoroughly. Involuntarily sympathetic. 7. rendis les epaulettes. This was équivalent to resigning. So when an officer is to be degraded his epaulettes are publicly torn off. 20. Parbleu, Really. Iron-
ical. 26. pente, downward path. 27. illustra Don Quichotte, made Don Quixote illustrions. Don Quixote, in Cervantes' novel of that name, is a type of magnanimous but visionary idealism, as incompréhensible as it was repellent to thèse materialists.
Page 31, line 1. reponds de lui, warrant he wouldn't.
2. circonstances suprêmes, occasions of suprême importance. 5. tout notre univers. This and what folio ws was almost exactly the teaching of De Tracy. See p. 2, note. 17. digestive et peu savante, that helps digestion and demands Utile thought, i.e. light, popular, and not classical music. 19. de la maison, one of the family, i.e. not worthy of the indulgent care that he gives to the gratification of the sensés. 21. jeter à la porte, tum out ofdoors.
Notes 8*- Act I. Se. viii
Page 32, Une 3. gouverner, alluding to the saying, "The king reigns but does not govern." 11. On n'a pas, etc.
AU one's self is not enough to care for one's self Observe Aubin's slight modification of this maxim (1. 13), and bis practical application of it to the wine of Scène 3. 19. blindé et
Cuirassé, case?nated and armored. Some school dictionaries render blindé, " iron-plated " ; it is rather u bomb-proof," or as above. 20. nous autres, marins, we sailors (as distinct from other people). 28. Dieu, etc. This has always been the teaching of the Christian pessimists.
Page 33, line 8. Cherbourg, port on the English Channel opposite the Isle of Wight. The allusion is doubtless to some event récent in 1864, but now forgotten. il. Oui . . ., etc., Yes . . . it may work at sea (but would never do ashore). 22. Incas. Marmontel's so-called " History of the Incas " (1777), to which La Porcheraie alludes, was always a favorite book with men of his stamp. The legend of the virtues of the " state of nature " has its origin in Rousseau and Diderot, who were abetted by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's " Paul and Virginia " and by Raynal's so-called " Philosophie History of the Indies." The voyager Bourgainville relates a somewhat similar expérience at Otaheiti (Tahati). 25. cacique, a name frequently given to a tribal chief by the authors cited above.
Page 34, line 1 . La Chaumière indienne, title of a romance (1790) by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, a book not quite so sentimental as his other masterpiece, " Paul and Virginia." 7. Société immobilière, Real-Estate Association. capital social, capital stock. 9. direz, may say. 10. apologue, fable with
amoral, il. frères. Observe how Dutrécy betrays his insincerity in 1. 19. The egoistical philosophers of the eighteenth century, especially Destutt de Tracy, abound in such glittering generalities of which the true significance is illustrated by the "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity " of the Reign of Terror. 12. conclure, corne to his peroration. An allusion to the de- [127]
Act I. Se. viii-xi -^g Notes
clamatory character of his remarks. 15. hôtels, Le. on the plan. Cp. p. 28, 1. 18. 21. lâche, letsgo, drops. 22. forêt, for est land. 25. 3 p. 100, trois pro- cent ', three per-cents, i.e
government bonds, or rather stock, for the Consolidated loan of the Empire was, like the English Consols, in the form of an unlimited annuity recorded in what is called the " Grand livre." 26. La Porcheraie. Cp. p. 5, 1. 24. 27. règle, ruler for the plan. 28. Sans rancune, Don't take it ill or lay it up against me. On, often used in colloquy for a definite person, and then best translated by a passive construction.
Page 35, line 1. entendu, i.e. p. 29, 1. 16. 5. à l'heure de la Bourse, while the stock exchange is in session, i.e. from 12 to 3 P.M. 6. libertin, social heretic, not " libertine." In the
religious controversy of the seventeenth century the word often means " dangerous heretic," usually in matters of social ethics. In this sensé it entered the "philosophie" vocabulary of the eighteenth century and so, although obsolète with this meaning in 1864, it is not inappropriate to La Porcheraie. In his ironical reply Armand plays on another shade of meaning. See dictionary. 10. lèvres, i.e. to say the same thing. 15. ne. Observe and omit in translating. 19. pas mal, fairly good looking or quite nice. Colloquial hère.
Page 36, line il. bonheur. Armand thinks he, having just corne from America, is the jeune homme charmant. 13. aime. Armand means " love," but Dutrécy understands " like." See p. 40, 1. 20. 15. caisses, trunks. Cp. the English use of "box." 17. la maison est lourde, ifs a hard place (as servant) .
Page 37, line 14. embrasser, embrace, or even "kiss." The French are much more démonstrative than we in this regard. Cp. p. 41, 1. 1. 21. frotte. Note the pun. The
second case alludes to the waxed floors. 22. monter des malles and tomber malade is intended for a play on words. 24. dame. Cp. p. 7, 1. 7.
Notes 8*~ Act I. Se. xi, xii— Act II. Se. i, ii
Page 38, line 8. pour quinze jours, i.e. only for a fortnight.
Page 39, line i. fille. Note that the article is omitted in proverbs, and compare our " Silence gives consent." 16. n'attend personne, don't wait for anybody.
Page 40, line 5. heureuse, lucky, not "happy." 14. lui faire part de, tell him about. 17. traîner, lie around. Colloquial. He feared friends might see and expect to share them.
Page 41, line 5. tutoyer. Note hère the mingling of girlish coquetry and real intimacy. The French use tu to animais and children, and may use it to near relatives, very intimate friends, and the deity. Its use to servants is almost obsolète. 29. m'oublies. Armand supposed Georges a stranger to the Fromentals, and in his delight at meeting Henriette had forgotten to introduce (présenter) him.
Page 42, line 13. témoin, at the wedding. He signs the register with the bridegroom. Translate " best man." 18. cartons, band-boxes, dressmakers' boxes.
Page 43, line 4. trouvé, succeeded in placing. See p. 34, 1. 15. 5. Par exemple, Really though. This is a hit at the narrow dimensions of Parisian apartments, which had begun to be felt almost immediately in nouveau Paris, owing to the increase in rents and taxes. Cp. p. 6, 1. 6.
Page 45, line 3. lui. Emphatic nominative.
Page 46, line 5. abandonne, etc., turn over to him some part (intérêt) in my share of the profits of the bank. 23. maison. Fromental with the pride of wealth thinks of Georges as the son of Où&firm rather than of the family.
Page 47, line 8. Voilà les voyages, That s what cornes of travelling.
Page 48, line 22. 8000 francs was, in 1864, a generous salary, and in addition Fromental offers him six per cent of the annual profits of the bank.
Act IL Se. iii-v -^8 Notes
Page 50, line 9. bon dieu, good gracions. 12. Par exemple, Oh, corne nozv ! Expostulating. Madame de Verrières has a féminine sympathy with a lover, which her father neither shares nor understands. 14. à is lacking in the French
text.
Page 51, line 9. au devant de, to nteet.
Page 52, line 3. superbes, stuck up to think that I came to see them. Colloquial hère. 5. cercle, club. Cp. p. n, 1. 9, and since gambling was his purpose there, probably the Cercle de la rue Royale, which figures very frequently in the novels and dramas of high-life during this period. Other noted sporting clubs were the Union and the Impérial, now the Cercle des Champs-Elysées. The Cercle de la rue Royale, after a shameful notoriety, died of its own dishonor. On Parisian clublife one may consult with profit " Living Paris, by ALB." (London, 1886.) 13. Barbistes, pun on Barbes and Sainte-Barbe.
Page 53, line 12. Un fusil qui rate, One gun has missed fire, i.e. We must try another tack. 13. Àh ça ! By the way.
15. Dame, Oh ! or Why ! Nothing stronger. Cp. p. 7, line 7. 19. Liban, from Lebanon in central Syria. 20. rapporter bon an mal an, bring in as annual income on an average. 22. propriété de rapport, productive property. 23. agrément, pleasure. 27. Bonne idée, happy thought, namely to allude to the land tax as he does in his next speeches.
Page 54, line 1. cadastre. Government survey and appraisal of the rental value of ail landed property in France. See Encyc. Brit. ix. 515. On the cadastre the impôt (line 3) is from time to time readjusted (répartir). 4. sera aug-
menté, will hâve his taxes raised. 5. Diable, Confound it
or Deuce take it ! 7. P année, a good year for apricots. 19. bicoque, rattle-trap, " tumble-down affair," also " shanty." 26. sera cher, will co?ne high. Observe how Fourcinier manages to insinuate that his sentiment has its price. [130]
Notes &- Act IL Se. v-vii
Page 55, line 3. Cent quinze, i.e. thousand. 7. fort, shrewd, " hard-headed." 25. parle, i.e. by its snapping strings.
Page 56, line 12. y, so. With a touch of sarcasm. 13. mis, dressed. col rabattu. The turn-doivn collar was then affected by young dandies, whom Dutrécy sought to resemble now that he began to be in love.
Page 57, line 15. Comment donc, Why certainly. Said with comic alacrity.
Page 58, line 4. par-là, over there. Cp. p. 4, line 11. 6. duègne, chaperon hère, but see dictionary. 14. trottine, trips about. 26. vous voilà bien avancé, much that will help you. Ironical. 28. Papa and père are used in French
colloquy somewhat like the English " Uncle " in " Uncle Sam," "Uncle Remus," etc. nous, familiar îox you.
Page 59, line 12. mal, disease, not " evil." 18. tisane de violette, violet tea. The tisane plays a very important part in French domestic medicine. Boarding schools, especially those kept by nuns, are rather famous for thèse délicate préparations. 20. vous m'en direz tant, équivalent to YouHl tell me about it^worit you. 2.2.. l'Homme à l'oreille cassée, a novel published in 1861 by Edmond About (1828- 1885). It satirizes the Parisian building mania, and that Dutrécy should enjoy it suggests the unconscious inconsistency of his character. 23. Il fallait, You ought. 25. recherchent le monde, demand society to set them off. 28. aime son intérieur, likes home life or to stay at home.
Page 60, line 12. par exemple! du diable, really ! confound it.
Page 61, line 4. Mulhouse, now Mulhausen, a manufacturing city in upper Alsace (Elsass). 8. carte au jour de l'an. In France and elsewhere it was, and to some extent still is, the custom in good society to send cards at New- Year to those with whom one wished to maintain social relations. ne
Act II. Se. vii, viii, x-xiv ~*8 Notes
sommes pas fâchés, hâve not quarrelîed. 15. Marmotte,
a kind of mountain squirrel that hibernâtes in winter.
Page 62, line 28. jetez-lui, etc., trip him up with Armand.
Page 63, line 3. plaît aux dieux. "There's luck in odd numbers " is an ancient superstition. 8. arbre. See p. 34, 1. 5, and also p. 68, 1. 15. 12. pour la galerie, i.e. for
such magnanimous actions as appeal to the audience of the galleries. 14. Après ça, Well, anyway. 16. folâtre, wildly exciting. Ironical.
Page 64, line 15. va marcher, is going to work. Familiar.
Page 65, line 6. au pied de la lettre, literally.
Page 68, line 20. vestaire, cloak room. See p. 57, 1. 3.
Page 69, line 23. en veut, care to accept it. Contrast with le veut and with en veut in its idiomatic use, p. 74, 1. 18.
Page 70, line 9. se sauve, run away. 12. te cherche des yeux, hâve been casting my eyes about for y ou. 18. in-
scrit, i.e. on her " order of dances."
Page 71, line 3. Fausse sortie, starting to go. Sometimes also " going out and returning." 21. Aix, i.e. Aix-les-bains
in French Savoy, a famous watering-place. est-elle, isn't she. Cp. p. 72, 1. 22.
Page 72, line 12. marrons glacés, sugared chestnuts covered with caramel. 17. économies d'un mois, savings from a
mont}? s allowance. 28. mal, " mean^ " horrid," rather
than u wrong."
Page 73, line 3. maintien, deportment, a study regarded as of primary importance in fashionable girls' schools everywhere.
Page 74, line 18. en veut, lay up against. Cp. p. 69,1. 23.
Page 75, line 19. de fond en comble, utterly.
Page 77, line 20. numéro, i.e. of his cloak check.
Notes 8«- Act H- Se. xiv — Act. III. Se. i, iii
Page 78, line 14. courants d'air, drafts. His incipient love takes the form of hygienic anxiety hère, as p. 57, 1. 3.
