LES MERS ONT LEURS ELEPHANTS

114 1 Pinnipéde, derived from the Latin pinna, fi, and pes, foot. 114 11 otaries, derived from the Greek, means literally having

ears. Fur seals and sea-lions have external ears; other seals and walruses do not.

115 8 s’il est for s’il y a.

115 11 The Antilles, or West Indies, are a group of islands lying south and east of Florida. The chief islands of the group are Cuba, Jamaica, Hayti, and Porto Rico.

115 19 de leviers; verbs requiring de to complete their meaning (here s’aider de) take no article with the noun they govern.

115 23 achéverait, the conditional here is idiomatic; 2.e., if a balloon looked thus, it would be just finishing its inflation.

116 12 Basse-Californie, the peninsula of Lower California is a mountainous, barren extension of California. It belongs to Mexico.

116 13 The Mexican government has at last taken action to preserve this herd, and maintains a patrol of the island by a small cruiser.

116 34 Notably the killer whale or grampus.

117 10 mirent du temps 4, took considerable time to.

117 18 4 coup sar, to a certainty.

117 19 le plus clair de, their main task in life, or their favorite occupation. See note to p. 60, |. 12.

117 22 4 voix haute, aloud.

117 26 Géorgie du Sud, South Georgia is a barren, desolate island in the South Atlantic near the edge of the Antarctic Ocean. It is a whaling depot and a possession of Great Britain.

118 3 prennent conscience de, take cognizance of.

118 14 telle que la rendait l’instantané, as the snapshot recorded it.

118 16 imprimant 4 son corps, etc., curving his body in an arc [of a circle].

118 21 Je suppose que etc., the idea is that he laughed heartily enough to purify a pint of blood.

119 19 far niente, an Italian expression meaning fo do nothing.

121 6 ils auraient etc., they would be so much the more mistaken. 122 1 The dinosaurs (a Greek derivative meaning “‘ terrible

lizard ”’) were a Mesozoic order of reptiles existing on all the continents in the Jurassic and Cretaceous epochs. The earlier forms were carnivorous, but in later epochs gigantic herbivores appeared, some of them nearly eighty feet in length. Many complete skeletons have been found, some of them being discovered in the United States. The famous expeditions sent out by the American Museum of Natural History, under the command of Roy Chapman Andrews, penetrated the deserts of Mongolia and actually discovered fossilized eggs of dinosaurs with the unhatched embryo clearly discernible.

122 s La Guyane; Guiana is an extensive area in the northeastern portion of South America, fronting the Atlantic Ocean and lying between the Amazon and the Orinoco rivers. There are three different states of Guiana, ruled by Great Britain, France, and Holland respectively.

122 9 il m’arriva d’en tuer un, J was lucky enough to kill one.

122 10 de onze métres; no elision occurs before onze and onziéme.

122 16 j’attends . . . cite; cite is subjunctive depending on attends, a verb of awaiting or expectation.

122 23 son, its own.

122 27 ce n’est que la nuit, it 7s only at night.

122 28 si vous avez etc., if you are a light sleeper.

123 1 4 son intention, especially for him.

123 10 un vent en tourbillon, a wind that was blowing a whirling gale.

124 5 s’est laissé glisser, /et himself glide.

124 15 bien ses vingt etc., full twenty kilos.

125 20 De telles circonstances, Some such circumstances.

125 23 personne . . . redire, nobody would find anything to object to.

125 29 maintenant, present participle of maintenir.

125 29 tout emphasizes juste, only just or nothing but.

The exercises are designed to furnish material for easy French composition. They are based on the subject matter of the stories themselves. The constructions and idioms employed are to be found in the story on which the exercise is based, or in a story which precedes. The vocabulary of the exercises is not so closely restricted. There are certain everyday words which any pupil of even one year’s training may fairly be expected to know. Such words are freely used. Many others of the English words are either identical in form with their French equivalents, or so closely resemble them that they may be readily identified in the vocabulary. These also are employed when needed. A few useful words and hints in regard to construction are given as additional aid. The pupil should write the exercises carefully, and then test them by reading his work as French. If he cannot translate and explain it to his satisfaction, something is wrong which requires search and correction. The exercises have been framed to secure coherent and continuous narrative, and it is hoped that they will be found to possess some intrinsic interest.

Idioms

These are idioms occurring in the text. They should be memorized.

1. it is mere play for him to: c’est un jeu pour lui que de. 2. that is not a thing which: ce n’est pas la une chose que. 8. lightly, carelessly: a la légére. 4. know how to: savoir (with inf.). 5. progress, go on: se poursuivre. 6, it is a

question of, the main thing is to: il s’agit de. 1. three meters high: haut de trois métres. 8. take account of, reckon with: compter avec. 9. without food or water: sans fourrage ni eau. 10. fo have quickly completed. . . : avoir vite fait de (with inf.). 11. put to death: mettre a mort. 12. follow a trade: exercer un métier. 18. dumber yard: entrepdt de bois de construction. 14. do it of his own accord: le faire de soi-méme.

Elephants are huge animals of the greatest strength. There are two species of them, and the one which lives in Asia is the only one which can be trained to work. They do not raise + elephants as [the] other domestic animals are raised ; but when it is necessary to have more in a herd, it is a question of capturing wild ones. Elephants are procured by driving wild elephants into a great corral,’ called a keddah. These wild elephants quickly become tame and learn to follow a definite trade. Many elephants are trained to carry and pile heavy logs in the great lumber yards of Burma. Sometimes one tackles * a log too heavy tor him. Then another one comes [up] and they help each other. They finally succeed in carrying it to the pile. They learn quickly, for they have great intelligence. I should like to see an elephant work. It must‘ be a fine sight to see them carry a huge log with their tusks and trunk, and lay it on the pile.

1 élever. 2 Penceinte. 3 s’adresser a. 4 devoir.

UN ROI QUI PERD SES DOMAINES Idioms

1. owing to, thanks to: grace a. 2. we do not have to (need to): nous n’avons pas a (with inf.). 38. while running: en courant. 4. om an average: en moyenne. 5. ridicule, sneer at: faire fide. 6. he is none the worse for: il ne s’en porte guére plus mal pour. 7. sleep the sleep of the just: dormir du sommeil du juste. 8. put to flight: mettre en fuite. 9. take a nap: faire la sieste. 10. in a terrible hurry (lit., without asking for his change): sans demander son reste. 11. safe and sound: sain et sauf. 12. I am bound to, I am

firmly resolved to: je tiens a (with inf.). 18. unlike (in behavior) : a l’encontre de.

It is a very difficult thing to defend one’s self against lions. They charge up on a hunter with the most startling swiftness. Nevertheless some lions have in their character both nobility and gratitude. Here is the story of Androcles,! which Seneca,” a Roman ® writer, tells us.

Androcles was a fugitive slave * who had run away from his master in Rome. He was pursued unceasingly,® until he was forced ° to take refuge in a cavern in the desert. To his horror, he saw a huge lion in the back 7 of the cavern. He was afraid, but he soon saw that the lion was sick.§ On examining him, he discovered a large thorn ® in his foot. He pulled out !° the thorn and bathed " the paw, and the lion was soon strong again and showed him the utmost gratitude, bringing him meat when he killed an animal. Several years later Androcles was captured and sent to Rome, where the Emperor ” condemned him to be killed by a lion in the arena. When he was thrown ® in, the ferocious lion ran [up] to him and purred.“ It was his lion, who had also been captured. The Emperor freed '° Androcles and gave him the lion. For many years afterwards Androcles and the lion walked !° together !’ in the streets of Rome.

1Androclés. *Sénéque. romain. ‘l’esclave. sans cesse. Scontraindre (past participle: contraint) 4; jusqu’a ce qu’il fat contraint. 7le fond. %souffrant. °l’épine. '°arracher. " laver. 12|)’Empereur. jeter. “ronronner. 1! libérer. 1®se promener. 17 ensemble.

LE TYRAN DE LA JUNGLE

Idioms

1. take to, take after, attack: s’en prendre 4. 2. be on the decline, be past one’s prime: étre sur l'autre pente. 3. make itself felt, be noticeable: se faire sentir. 4. acquire a taste for: prendre gotit a. 5. /ave at one’s mercy: tenir a sa merci. 6. they finally came to believe: ils finirent par croire. J. get caught in it (by it): s’y faire prendre. 8, retrace one’s steps,

turn and go back: rebrousser chemin (lit., brush up the road again). 9. allow one’s self to be frightened away: se laisser intimider. 10. give tongue (as a hound in cry): donner de la voix. 11. cryout(in pain or fright): crier ouf.

The tiger is nothing but an enormous cat. He is a very dangerous cat, too; though we must admit that he is a very beautiful cat. He is the only cat that wants! to kill for the mere? pleasure of killing. Even when he has just killed and eaten a man or an animal, he will kill another with the same ferocity as if he were hungry. ‘Tigers soon learn to acquire a taste for human flesh, and then they will eat no other. Such a tiger is called a ‘“‘man-eater,’’ and the natives believe that he is the Devil himself. English officers in India often hunt the tiger, and his magnificent yellow * and black skin is the greatest prize the chase can offer. Sometimes they hunt him mounted on elephants which dash ¢ into parts of the jungle where the tiger may ® be hidden,® and then they kill him with their rifles as he runs. But usually a platform is built in a tree, near which a goat 7 or a buffalo ® is tethered ® to a stake.!° The tiger comes in the night to seize the poor animal, and is shot down" from the tree. Then the natives rejoice that one tiger more is dead.

1Use subjunctive. ?seul. jaune. ‘se précipiter. peut.

6 se cacher. 7 Ja chévre. 8 le buffle. ® attacher. 10 le pieu. U abattre.

Idioms

1. settle the fate of: régler le sort (or compte) de (a). 2. take an exaggerated view of things, “see big”: voir grand et gros. 3. nine times out of ten: neuf foissurdix. 4. deal with: avoir affaire avec. 5. no longer (or instead of) keeping up the conversation: renoncant a suivre la conversation. 6. playa trick on: jouer un tour a. 7. along the path (river): le long de la sente (de la riviére). 8. he has scarcely anything but: il n’a guére que. 9. for my part: quant a moi.

The jaguar and the cougar, who is also called “puma” and

‘mountain lion,” are the largest cats which inhabit America. Of these two, the jaguar is the more dangerous and the more ferocious. Both he and the cougar pass much of their time in trees, lying along! a branch, from which they leap down 2 upon their victim. The American Indians have a strange saying,’ that the cougar follows the steps of a man only to protect * him against other wild beasts. It seems that this has been confirmed by a naturalist whom one must believe. This man, with an Indian guide, had established his camp in a South American forest. For several nights they had seen a cougar near the camp. ‘The naturalist was going to kill it; but the Indian said that the cougar would protect them from the jaguars, of which there were many in the region.

One night they were aroused * from sleep by terrible cat-calls,® and saw a surprising combat. Two great cats, one tawny, the other with beautiful spots on his smooth fur, were rolling * on the ground. The naturalist seized his gun ; but he did not want to fire,® for fear he might kill the wrong animal.’ So he let 1° them fight it out." In the morning the body of the jaguar was found ; the cougar had gone away. He had really saved their lives.

Tcouché le long de. *sauter en bas. le dicton curieux. ‘protéger. éveiller. ‘le miaulement. ‘serouler. ‘tirer. ° Say “might kill the animal which it was not needful” (to kill). !°laisser. U Say “fight to the end.”

Idioms

1. legend has it (tells): la légende veut que (with subj.). 2. fins included, fins and all: arétes y comprises. 3. eight centimeters long: long de huit centimétres. 4. repeating rifle: fusil 4 tir rapide. 5. serve (avail) only: ne faire que (inf.). 6. just like (in behavior): AVinstar de. 7. put out of the fight, “ but out of commission”: mettre hors de combat. 8. not to hesitate at, to make nothing of: ne pas se géner pour (inf.). 9. lay hands on, “ grab”: faire patte basse sur.

I am glad I never saw a cave bear. Grizzlies are big enough forme. Ihave seen one grizzly in a forest, at a distance of only thirty feet. He was trying to dig up ‘a squirrel * behind a rock when I lit *a little fire, not knowing he was there. He smelled 4 the smoke * [of it] and came out from behind the rock to see what was going on.®° Happily he did not charge me. I took his photograph in a second, and then we both went away — in different directions. Most bears, grizzlies included, sleep all winter in a cave or ina hole under a fallen tree. Sometimes a grizzly will wake up during the winter, and come out of his hole. Then woe’ to the hunter he may meet, for he will no doubt attack him at once. A few years ago there was still living in western Canada a poor fellow who was visiting his trapping lines * in the forest one winter day, when he was attacked by a huge grizzly. With one blow of his paw he tore away ® all the skin from the man’s head and wounded him with his great hooked claws. After that they called the poor man Johnny-the- Bear.!” Bear cubs are amusing little creatures but if they get into a house they will break everything they can lay their paws on.

1 dénicher. ? Pécureuil. 3 allumer. 4sentir. °la fumée. 5 se passer. 7 malheur. 8 la ligne de trappes. ° arracher. 10 Jeannot-l’Ours.

LE MONSTRE AU NEZ CORNU

Idioms

1. it needs only that (or nothing more) to: il n’en faut pas plus pour. 2. to pit against one another: mettre en présence. 3. come to blows: en venir aux coups. 4. give batile: (se) livrer de combat. 5. at close range, point blank: a bout portant. 6. feel insulted (challenged): se sentir provoque. 7. huge though they are: si gros qu’ils soient. 8. to charge upon: se précipiter sur. 9. fo beat a retreat: battre en retraite. 10. awake with a start: se réveiller en sursaut. 11. excite, disturb: mettre en émoi. 12. to have patience: s’armer de patience. 18. to play dead: faire le mort. 14. go off and die: s’en aller mourir.

The rhinoceros, as certain explorers tell us, is the most dangerous animal a mancanhunt. Others say the lion is; and still others say the tiger is more dangerous than either. The rhinoceros is dangerous because he is so stupid. He is very nearsighted, and is compelled to rely on his extremely keen sense of smell in order to discover his enemies. As soon as a smell that he doesn’t like reaches him, he charges the smell, and if he happens to! kill a man or two on the way, he’s not disturbed about it. Enormous as he is, one is occasionally killed in Africa by a single native armed with a spear. This is a deed of the utmost bravery. The natives are very fond 2 of rhinoceros flesh, and from the hide of the animal they make formidable whips.°

1 venir a. 2 friand de. 3 le fouet,

Idioms

1. flourish (i.e. live in health): se plaire. 2. they claim to have seen: ils auraient apercu. 3. far away, from (at) a distance: de loin. 4. succeed in: réussir a. 5. succeed in (after long effort or experiment): arriver a. 6. however that may be: quoi quilen soit. 7. several hours in advance: avec une avance de plusieurs heures. 8. éo feel a thing coming: sentir venir. 9. some of them have been seen: on ena vu.

Camels are essentially animals of the desert. If a camel were perfectly comfortable,' with an abundance to eat and drink, he would hardly know what to do.? Sun blazing’ upon sand; heat ; thirst ; in the midst of these he flourishes. Perhaps when he is standing idly 4 in the shadow ® of the palms of his native oasis, he is wishing that he was marching in the desert with a few bales on his back. He has been employed for transport by man for centuries. But now he seems to be going to obtain a little rest, for even the Arabs of the deserts of Syria and Arabia are using automobiles. On routes where they formerly robbed and killed travelers on camels, they now appear suddenly in swift automobiles, soon overtake ® the traveler’s car, rob’ him, and

flee away over the hot sand. Now the guides send parties of tourists, who wish to see the ruins of Palmyra ® or Persepolis, by auto and protect them by armored ” cars.

létre bien. en faire. 3 brilant sur. 4 oisif. 5 ombre. Satteindre. ‘dépouiller. &%Palmyre. ° Persépolis. 1° armé.

LE CHEVAL ET SES ANCETRES Idioms

1. side by side with: cote a cOte avec. 2. link bylink: de chainon en chainon. 3. we are compelled (it is necessary) in this matter to: on en est réduit a (inf.). 4. run wild, get free: prendre la clé des champs.

The horse is, undoubtedly, the most useful animal that has ever been domesticated by man. Thousands of years ago, our forefathers hunted him in order to eat him. They never thought ! of taming him; but they probably admired his fine form, for they painted his outlines ? on the walls of their caves. Just when the horse was first tamed and trained to work for man, is unknown.

When we study the life history of the horse, we are surprised to learn that he has lived on the earth so long. His first ancestor, which could not have been bigger than a cat, has not yet been discovered. To think that the giant Percheron is descended 3 from a little creature no larger than a cat and having five toes! The five-toed horse certainly existed, and will probably be found in the fossil state somewhere in central Asia.

lsonger a (inf.). 2Ja silhouette. 3 descendre. UN CHEVAL «CAMOUFLE » EN TIGRE Idioms

1. to amuse one’s self by: s’amuser 4 (with inf.). 2. to be doing exactly what one seems to be doing: avoir tout lair de (with inf.), et en avoir aussi la chanson (lit., to have both the tune and the words). 8. never in my life: jamais de ma vie. 4. that is exactly what has happened: c’est bien ce qui s’est produit.

5. avail one’s self of, employ: se servir de. 6. while there is still time: pendant qu’il en est encore temps.

The zebra was formerly found in great herds on the vast plains of Africa. There the beautiful animals roamed ! free and fearless,” in the company of gnus and antelopes. A strange friendship seemed to exist between these creatures. Now the herds of zebras have been greatly diminished, but their friendship with the antelopes and gnus still remains. Lions are very fond of them, but in different fashion from the antelopes. There is a saying in French, ‘Swift as a zebra.”’ It is difficult to understand that, as the zebra is not very swift, but wary. He passes the time [in] wandering * about the plains, eating grass. Then he goes to a water hole ®* to drink. They say that he is much perplexed ;° for he doesn’t know whether he is a black animal with white stripes, or a white animal with black stripes. Let us hope he will one day be able to solve ’? the problem to his satisfaction.®

lerrer. *without fear. ‘%avisé,timide. ‘4aerrer. trou d’eau. ‘®embarrassé. ‘résoudre. selon ses désirs.

Idioms

1. its head is all jaws: la téte est tout en machoires. 2. do without: sepasserde. 3. onthe contrary: parcontre. 4. it makes little difference to them to (inf.): peu leur importe de (inf.). 5. at the rate of: 4 la vitesse de. 6. favor, be advantageous: sy préter.

Why they should ever have called the huge, ungainly ! hippopotamus the “ river horse,” I can’t imagine. The horse is intelligent, graceful, swift, useful. If the race of hippopotami should continue to live for a thousand years, it will never be anything else than stupid, destructive,” clumsy *and slow.4 The hippopotamus spends most of his life in the water. He is always destructive to all the crops ® of the natives ; and in the large lakes of Africa he is especially dangerous. He will often rise ® up

from under the water and crush” with his great tusks ® a boat full of natives. Some of them are killed in his enormous jaws. The natives make traps by digging deep holes for them to fall into.’ In this way they obtain the flesh of the hippos, of which they are excessively fond. Would you not wish that such an animal should become extinct ? ©

tmaladroit. ?destructif, *pesant. ‘lourd. 5 la récolte. ® monter de dessous l’eau. 7 écraser. 8 Je croc. 9 Say, “where they may fall.” 1° dispdraitre.

MEFIEZ-VOUS DE CES PETITS COCHONS

Idioms

1. just a minute! (parenthetical) pour le moment! 2. fo be in process of, be engaged in: étre en train de (with inf.). 3. in a minute: tout a Vheure. 4. to finish with: en finir avec. 5. if one may judge by: sil’onen juge par. 6. in this connection: & ce propos. 7. I was just making a start as (or at): j’en étais encore a mes débuts. 8. nothing like 1t, not a bit of it! il n’en fut rien!

Good counsel,! that! I wouldn’t trust any pig, little or big. These peccaries, although small, are as savage as the wild boar himself. And they are even more dangerous, because they traverse * the jungle in large bands. When a traveler meets one of these bands in the South American forest, the nearest * tree into which he can climb‘ is none too near. The little rascals ® sometimes keep * a man up a tree two days, waiting 7 so they may tear him to pieces * when he comes down. Generally he stays up that tree! Finally the peccaries go away, and the poor man can come down, believing himself very lucky ® to have escaped these tusks sharp !° as razors.

When peccaries are captured young, they soon become very tame." They will rub against you like a cat, grunting softly ” all the while. But believe me, they are pets ™ for the jungle, and not for your city house. Their flesh is delicious," if the

hunter removes a certain gland from the middle of the spine as soon as he has killed one.

lavis. ?parcourir. * proche. ‘4 grimper. *le coquin. ° tenir. Tattendre. %See vocab.,‘‘mettre.” (This clause contains the idea of a wish, and hence should have its verb subjunctive.) % heureux. lcoupant. 1! s’apprivoiser. 2 doucement. 8 le pensionnaire. 4 delicieux.

CARICATURES D’HUMANITE Idioms

1. fo call a halt: mettre le hola. 2. contradict, deny: s’inscrire en faux contre. 3. we have still to: nous en sommes encore a (inf.).

A little weazened ! old man, with sparkling ? eyes and very long arms: a little weazened old man of an unbounded ® curiosity, with an expression of keen‘ intelligence on his face, as if he knew the secrets of the ages—that’s the chimpanzee. A ferocious old giant, with black, leathery ° face and wicked ° little black eyes, deep-set 7 beneath shaggy * brows: ? an impression of great force—that’s the gorilla. A reddish !° monster, whose face resembles the full moon, with two eyes, a flat “ nose and an expressionless ® slit 8 of a mouth: a reddish monster thinking morosely about the trees of far-away !® Borneo — that’s the orang-utan. As for !® the gibbons, picture to yourself!” dear, cunning! little Bimbo in the famous movie !* of Malay life, Chang. These four are called the “ anthropoids,”’ a word which signifies ‘ looking like men.” I had an interesting experience recently: I held on one arm a little gorilla as big as a two-year-old baby, and on the other arm at the same time I held a young chimpanzee of the same size.

lridé. ?brillant. illimité. ‘vif. ®*coriace. © méchant. 7 enfoncé. 8 épais. le sourcil. 10 Whitish is “blanchatre”’ ; bluishis “‘bleuatre” : make your own word from “‘rouge,” red." plat. 2 Make a phrase with ‘‘sans.”” ™une bouche en fente. ™d’un air morose. lointain. ‘Quanta. se figurer. ‘8rusé. 1° See vocab., ‘‘cinématographique.”’

Idioms

1. they have nothing to do (no connection) with: ils n’ont rien a voir avec. 2. a difference from: une difiérence avec; to differ from: différer de; to differ by (in): différer par. 3. at every opportunity: le cas échéant. 4. count for very little: entrer pour bien peu.

An honest-to-goodness! circus? in the South American jungle! How pretty the monkeys are! pretty and intelligent, graceful and active. The howler is there, an agreeable animal with a very disagreeable * voice. There, too, is the charming, affectionate little ouistiti. They all seem so happy; and their joy is so much more real than are their somewhat ‘ forced antics in the monkey house at the zodlogical garden. It must have been heartrending ® for M. Forbin to have killed that little monkey and to have seen the poor creature try to stanch the wound with leaves. If the actions of that monkey do not show reasoning,® there is no such thing. And yet’ some savants say that animals cannot reason. They do not want to believe that animals can have the same sort of intelligence that they have, even in less degree. But very often some animals seem to reason. It must be charming to see these little creatures play in the forests. I hope you will all see them there some day.

1 See vocab., “bel.” 2le cirque. % The compounding syllable

is dés-. 4 un peu. 5 déchirant. 6§ le raisonnement. 7 Néanmoins, 8raisonner. ° le degré,

Idioms