le fin bout, 'thctip

,, i6. des figures de connaissance, ' old acquaintances. '

,, 19. au droit de, 'just opposite."

,, 29, patin patan : imitative, to give an idea of the noise made

by the hoofs, the pitapat of the donkey, the clatter of

footsteps.

,, 31. à la muette, ' silently , ' ' noiselessly. ' .,4 /rt, in such sentences,

is elliptical for à la niafiière, façon, mode. Cf. s'habiller à

l'anglaise, souliers à la poulai?ie, coiffure à la Titus. Cf.

also à la longue [allée), ' in the long run. ' See note p. 5,

52. 25. et encore . ., 'and even then,' i.e. même avec cela il serait

difficile de s' apercevoir qu'elle est aveugle. amaurose, goutte sereine : ' amaurosis,' an affection of the

eye, Amaiirose is now the learned name ; goutte sereine is

tlie old médical name, now become popular. Cf. Milton on

bis own blindness {Par. Lost, Bk. iii. ) —

So thick a drop serene has quenched thèse orbs. prétendent les hommes de l'art, ' such is the name

doctors give it. '

53. 16. j'avais pris feu pour tout de bon, ' my heart was in it

for good,' ' was wholly in the sport.*

LE CLOCHER DE SAINT- PASTOUR

54. I. à coup sûr (i.e. c'est une assertion gît' on peut lancer sans crainte de manquer le but), ' it may safely be said,' ' for sure,' ' to be sure. ' Distinguish between sur, ' on, ' ' upon, ' sur, sure, ' sour,' and sûr, sûre, ' secure,' ' sure.' ,, II. arénières, also sablonnières, sablières.

,, 14. telle quelle, ' such as it was.' Familiar, and somewhat contemptuous. Tel quel, telle quelle, is an elliptical locution replacing tel que, telle que, used comparatively. Thus hère it stands for telle qu'elle était, which would nave been in the older language telle quelle elle était. Cf. Lat. talem qualem. 65. I. dîmer (doublet of décimer), ' to levy tithes.' ,, 3. office {sf), not to be confounded with office [s m).

5. relevant le pas, ' with a lordly gait ' (lit. picking up his feet weli from the ground, like a proud horse).

Notes 125

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66. 6. disposé à bien faire, i.e. à bien boire et à bien manger,

, , 7. au château, * at the squire's. '

à la borde, 'at the farra-house.' Cp. note p. 38, I. 21. ,, 13. l'un. Le. le curé.

,, 15. à tu et à toi, ' thou-ing,' i.e. on a footing of familiarity. , , 22. quercinois, ' of Quercy, ' formerly a province of France, now comprised in the departmeut of the Lot and part of that of Tarn-et-Garonne.

son verbe haut, ' his loud, peremptory voice. ,, 26- la vigrne du Seigrneur, 'the Lord's vineyard,' i.e. his

parishioners.

, , 28. Réahnont : a small town in the Tarn departnient. , , 29. Lauzertois : tlie nanie of a tract of country in the same departnient.

voulue, * appointed. '

66. 2. selon le vent (Ht. ' as the wind blew this or that quartcr,'

i.e. life or death), ' as circumstances required.'

3. sur les deux oreilles (figuratively, otherwise a somewhat difficult opération), transi, 'soundly.'

,, 10. tranquille comme Baptiste, 'unconcerned,' ' unruffled,' ' irapassive. ' Baptiste is the name sometimes given to the clowns in those burlesque scènes which are exhibited at the door of booths and shows to entice the public to walk in, and in which Baptiste calnily takes ail things as a niatter of course.

,, 13. aussi, ' and as a conséquence, '

comme un coq en pâte : in allusion to puUets that are being fattened, and which are given abuudance of food ; say ' in clover. '

, . 15. gouvernante, ' housekeeper. '

., 20. droite sur ses aplombs, i.e. t/'û!/A7W(5.

, , 27. vaillante, ' energetic. '

67. 4- tout flambant neufs, i.e. ' blazing forth in their newness,'

' brand new. '

6. avaient fait peau neuve (lit. 'had donned a new skin'), 'had been renovated. ' As applied to persons, it means to amend, and also to discard one's old clothes to don new ones,

, , 9. roman, ' romanesque. ' A term of architecture applied to the styles which prevailed from the fîfth to the twelfth century.

,, 17. le coup de grrâce (lit. ' stroke of mercy,' the blow given to kill outright, and rid one of one's sufferings), ' the deathblow. '

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