il y a deux ans. two years ago. Remember this idiom

18-19. cou très court, stingy , because when one puts one’s hands in the pockets of the trousers, the shoulders are elevated and thereby shorten the neck. Keeping the hands this way on one’s money may thus become a habit.

22. coutures. Pontbichet is here punning. His gloves have the virtue of being seamless, but if an object is not stitched it certainly can have no seams; couture means both “ seam ” and “ stitching.”

25-26. si je réveillais, how about my waking up, etc. This method of asking questions is quite common in spoken French.

NOTES