ACT I
The scène of Act I is a spot near the ho uses of Sganarelle and M. Robert, not far from the woods in which Sganarelle is binding faggots.
Page 3. — I. la grande fatigue que d 'avoir . . .1 what an awful nuisance it is to hâve . . . / Za, hère, = quelle,
2. Aristote, Aristotle^ a Greek philosopher of the fourth century B.c. Sganarelle, a quick-witted though uneducated woodcutter, is fond of quoting from Greek and Latin writers. Needless to say that the authors quoted are quite innocent of the words of wisdom that he attributes to them.
3. qui ait servi . . . iiiédecin. This fact explains Sganarelle's knowledge of the médical terms that he misuses so liberally in later scènes of the play.
4. rudiment, Latin primer. In the second act Sganarelle lugs in a few scraps of the Latin he learned in his primer.
48 NOTES [P. 3-î
5. Peste du fou fieffé I Plague take ihe doxunright fooll Fieffé z=, lit., ' mvested with a fief \ It came to be used to strengthen insuiting epithets.
Pagre ^* — I* boc cornu, from the Italian becco comuto^ 'homed hc-goat', also 'cuckold*. Translate: blockhead,
2. morbleu ! Softened form of mordieu = i^par la) mort {dé) Dieu, Cf. the English interjection, * 'sdeath ', a corruption of * God*s death *. Translate : by heavens !; gadzooks !
3. traître, lit., 'traitor*, a vague abusive epithet much used in the plays of the seventeenth century. Translate : scoundrel; rogue.
4. mange = 'squanders' as well as 'eats\ — me, ethical dative; omM in translating.
5. de ménage =: ' thrif tily ', also ' on the f urniture ' ; a favorite pun in Molière's time. .
Page 5» — I. Vous. Note how the skilful use of pronouns indicates the change of fecling in Sganarelle: from the familiar tu he passes to nouSf and then to vous»
2« ma mie, my love; my darling, The old féminine form ma amie became m^amie^ which was corrupted to ma mie, The correct modem form is mon amie,
3. de me dérober quelque chose, 'to rob me of something', *to get something out of me', i.e. to compel me to box your ears.
Pagre 6. — i. Qu'avez-vous à voir là-dessus? IVkat business is
it 0/ y ours?; IVhat hâve y ou to do with it'f
Pagre 7. — I. vous fourrer . . . faire, and poke your nose where you hâve no business,
2. Je la yeux battre, in modem French:/<? veux la battre. In the seventeenth century the pronominal object of an infînitive gênerally stood before the modal auxiliary.
