LA DERNIERE CLASSE

Page 77. — 1. Très en retard pour aller, very late going. — 2. manquer, "cut," stay away from. — 3. faisaient l'exercice, were drilling. — 4. du monde arrêté, some people (who had) stopped. — 5. grillage aux affiches, bulletin-board covered with a wire grating. — 6. en train, in the act. — 7. il se faisait ; comp. I., 1, note 29. Why imperfect here? — 8. Ce is here in apposition with the previous sentence, which is the real subject of fut; omit in Eng. — 9. l'ancien maire, the former mayor. — 10. de, in. — 11. misérables, wretches. — 12. en refers to what had been said about

French above ; omit in Eng. — 13. comme . . . courir, how angry I tvas with myself now on account of the time lost . . . in running, etc. — 14. Sarre or Saar, a tributary of the Moselle. — 15. tout à l'heure, just now, a moment ago. — 16. qui me feraient, which would give ; in Eng., which it woula give, etc., Eng. impersonal for French personal construction. — 17. y anticipates à cette école. — 18. Their fatherland "was going away," because they would henceforth be under German instead of under French rule. — ig. là, there, i.e., at this point ; en redundant. — 20. à me balancer; comp, I., 6, note 43. — 21. tu dois être, you are going to be. — 22. Voici ce que c'est, this is how it is. — 23. sont en droit, are in the right, i.e., have the right. — 24. n'ont pas assez tenu, have not been anxious enough. — 25. est-ce . . . congé, did I hesitate to give you a holiday. — 26. tant que ; comp. I., 6, note 7. — 27. "S'il tient sa langue, il tient la clef qui de ses chaînes le délivre."

— F. Mistral. — 28. non plus is here emphatic; omit in Eng. Note disjunctive lui. — 29. nous . . . la tête ; comp. I., 3, note 24. — 30. en belle (lettre) ronde, in a fine round hand. — 31. comme, as it were. — 32. il fallait voir; comp. IL, 1, note 31. — 33. bâtons, straight Unes ; lit., sticks.

— 34. fixant, fixing (his eyes on)-, i.e., looking steadily at. — 35. était, impf. for Eng. pluperf. to denote what still exists. — 36. toute pareille, just the same ; i.e., before him also. For toute, comp. I., 1, note 33. — 37. devait ; comp. dois, note 21. — 38. en train; see note 6. — 39. Angelus, the bell for noonday prayers; it is also rung morning and evening. — 40. appuyant, bearing down. — 41. faisait; why imperfect ?

Page 83. — 1. gardent la droite, keep to the right. — 2. Bruce, a celebrated Scotch traveller; born 1730, died 1794. His explorations in the Upper Nile region were made between 1768 and 1773. — 3- Méroë, according to ancient writers, a city and island in Ethiopia. — 4. gauche means both left and awkward. — 5. Hermopolis, a city in Lower Egypt. — 6. Hérodote, "the father of history; ' born 484 B.C., died about 408 B.C. — 7. canal Saint-Georges, St. George's Channel. — 8. la Manche, the English Channel. — 9. le Nil, the Nile. — 10. Caire, Cairo; note the article. — 11. Karnak, a village on the ruins of ancient Thebes. — 12. plus en avant, farther on. — 13. de son mieux; comp. I., 5, note 33. — 14. il crut y trouver; I., 6, note 27. — 15. d'assaut, by stor?n. — 16. de revenir là-dessus, to take that back, — 17. il faillit tomber, he failed to fall ; i.e., he came mar falling. — 18. à quoi servent, what is the use of? — 19. lui

reprochait, reproached him with. For the construction comp. I., 7, note 20.

— 20. Memnon, a statue said to have been erected at Tnebes, and to have sung at sunrise. — 21. Tantale, Tantalus. — 22. Voilà bien l'homme, thafs just like a man; lit., that is, indeed, man. — 23. comment s'y serait-il pris, how would he have gone about it? comp. I., 6, note 40. — 24. Qu'il faut peu de chose, how little is ?ieeded. — 25. deux fois douce, doubly sweet. — 26. n'ayant rien de mieux à faire, having nothing (of) better to do. — 27. qu'allait-il devenir; comp. I., 7, note 59. — 28. il s'agit; comp. I., 7, note 28. — 2g. ne pas mourir tout entier, non omnis moriar : Horace, Odes, iii. 30. — 30. Mœris, a lake in Lower Egypt. — 31. venait de voir, had just seen. — 32. de leur vie, in their lives ; note sing, for Eng. plur. — 33. eût ; comp. I., 3, note 32 ; seuls is here treated as a superlative. — 34. absorbant; note uninflected participle. — 35. de; lit., by; omit in Eng.

— 36. firent part de, communicated. — 37. See Byron's " Childe Harold's Pilgrimage," I., 13. — 38. de; omit in Eng. — 3g. l'Inde, India, — 40. dessin sur bois, woodcut. — 41. Chandernagor, a city in India. — 42. le Gange, the Ganges. — 43. à; comp. I., 2, note 4. — 44. Comp. I., 1, note 17.

Page 98. — 1. Christophe Colomb, Christopher Columbus. — 2. Gênes, Ge?wa. — 3. Comp. I., 2, note 21. — 4. Une douleur de goutte, a twinge of the gout. — 5. il ne faut pas, you must not. — 6. riant aux éclats, bursting into a loud laugh, — 7. après? what next? — 8. personne, not one of you,

9. Est-ce que cela se peut ? is that possible ? reflexive use of pouvoir. —

10. haussant les épaules, shrugging his shoulders. — 11. autant qu'il y a de lieues, as many leagues as there are. — 12. Où veux-tu en venir ? what are you driving at? — 13. ait perdu, has wasted; comp. I., 3, note 33. — 14. rien . . . d'inutile ; comp. I., 5, note 55. — 15. pourquoi . . . ait, why will you insist that there are. — 16. bouche béante, with open mouth. — 17. bien, precisely. — 18. appartenait, belongs ; the impf. denotes what is customary. — 19. Ptolémée, Claudius Ptolemœus or Ptolemy, a celebrated geographer and astronomer who flourished at Alexandria about the middle of the second century of our era. — 20. ce qui ne veut pas dire, which does not mean. — 21. Il y tient, he sticks to it. — 22. Marco Polo, a celebrated traveller who died in 1323 in Venice. — 23. la Bonne Vierge, the Virgin Mary. — 24. ne . . . pas moins, nevertheless. — 25. Martin Behaim, a celebrated traveller and geographer, born in Nuremberg about

1459, died in Lisbon in 1506 or 1507. — 26. de, by; omit in Eng. — 27. il traita C. de visionnaire; comp. I., 7, note 21. — 28. pour cela, on that account. — 29. Comp. II., 1, note 11. — 30. devait rendre, would make. — 31. faire, bear. — 32. fifordonner, sent word ; lit., caused C. to be ordered ; comp. I., 2, note 52. — 33. mit à la voile, set sail. — 34. venait de s'accomplir; comp. IL, 6, note 31. — 35. limites here means horizon as seen from the shore. — 36. de; comp. IL, 6, note 38. — 37. au; comp. L, 2, note 4. — 38. crut pouvoir, comp. I., 6, note 27. — 39. de croire découvrir, to thi7ik of discovering. — 40. non plus ; comp. I., 7, note 43. — 41. à l'oreille ; comp. I., 7, note 18. — 42. voyait . . . approcher l'instant, saw the moment approaching. — 43. je savais . . . terre, I knew that I should not meet with atiy land. — 44. au-devant de, to meet ; lit., in front of. — 45. avec inégalité, in gusts. — 46. acheva de prouver, proved conclusively ; lit., finished proving.— 47. de, for. — 48. vous direz . . . ne pas avoir acheté ; comp. je savais ne pas rencontrer, note 43. — 49. Sur; comp. L, 3, note 20. — 50. pour . . . homme, for the discovery of which, almost a whole lifetime had been necessary.