L'HISTOIRE LA PLUS DROLE.

18 7. =que je vous donne telle quelle=: _which I'll tell you just as it is_.

18 10. =moblot=: _soldier of the mobile_. The _mobile_ is the reserve force of the French army, called under arms in case of war, and then only to replace on garrison duty the regular soldiers who have gone to the front. The _moblots_ go to battle only as a last extremity, when regular troops no longer exist.

18 16. =vieux jeu=: _of the old school_.

19 7. =cela me serrait le coeur=: _the thought of that made my heart ache_.

19 11. =pension=: _boarding school_; the word also signifies _a boarding house_.

19 20. =jouaient aux billes=: _were playing (at) marbles_.

19 24. =un échappé des contes d'Hoffmann=: _as if he had escaped from one of Hoffmann's stories_. Hoffmann, a German writer of fantastic stories, was born Jan. 24, 1776; died June 25, 1822.

19 27. =gaillard ayant fait campagne=: _robust, independent-looking fellow, who had been through the war_.

20 19-20. =me les sciait à mi-cuisse=: _sawed into the middle of my thighs_.

21 6. =je l'ai pas mal oublié=: _I have forgotten most of it_.

LA CHARGE DES MORTS.

22 4. =tourné=: _flanked_.

26 1. =s'ébranla=: _got under way_.

26 15. =emballés=: _running away, on a mad gallop_.

26 29. =débâcle=: _rout, confusion_.

27 8. =tintant le glas=: _sounding the death knell_.

LE PETIT HOMME ROUGE.

29 8. =torrent=: _flood, swarm_; both the living and the dead are here meant.

29 17. =Tuileries=: in ancient times the site of brick yards or a tile manufactory; later the very center of Paris and occupied by the magnificent palace, home of the French monarchy, which was burned during the Commune directly after the war of 1870-71. The ground is now laid out as a park.

30 13. =Suisse=: the Swiss yeomen were, on account of their sturdy character and reliability, entrusted with royal guard duty from early monarchical times; hence the word _Suisse_ has come to mean _royal guards_.

30 14. =maréchaux=: the royal title of _maréchal_, now extinct in the French army, was the highest office in the gift of the king.

30 19. =en culs de bouteilles=: _rounded like bottle ends_.

32 6. =escaliers en vis=: _winding stairway_.

32 7-8. =et qui s'arrêtaient devant des baies d'anciennes portes murées=: _and which stopped before the walled-up opening of old doors_.

32 24-25. =des chausses à trousses=: _balloon breeches_.

32 25. =casaque tailladée=: _slashed loose coat_.

32 25-26. =coiffé d'un chaperon à oreillère et à queue pendante=: _his head covered with a hood and earlaps, with a tassel hanging from it_.

33 19. =je suis étrangère=: Marie Antoinette, consort of Louis XVI, was of Austrian blood.

LA BATAILLE DE FROESCHWILLER.

35 2. =qui vient de fournir une longue traite=: _who has just ridden a long distance_.

35 14. =il piqua des deux=: i.e. _des deux éperons_; _he dug both spurs into his horse_.

35 14. =à fond de train=: _at the top of his speed_.

36 6. =qui relevaient de son commandement=: _who were under him_.

36 11. =fichées=: _placées, mises_.

37 5-6. =contreforts=: _spurs of a mountain range_.

38 13-14. =au fur et à mesure=: _according as_.

39 26. =hoquets d'agonie=: _dying gasps_.

39 28. =nom de nom=: an abbreviated and softened form of an oath.

39 30. =navrant=: _painful_.

40 13. =du jarret=: _muscle_. The _jarret_ is the sinew connecting the thigh and the calf of the leg.

40 23. =turcos=: a corps of the army.

43 31. =échangent une accolade=: _embrace each other_.

45 15. =Dame!= _Well!_ The derivation of _dame_ is the Latin vocative _Domine_, _O Lord_; quite remote from an English expression of similar consonance. It is a choice exclamation, essentially Parisian, and used by all people of education; ladies use the term as the Englishwoman uses "Gracious!"

45 15. =soit=: the subjunctive here well expresses the doubt in the trooper's mind. The idea of doubt or possibility is the basis of all subjunctive.

LE MAUVAIS ZOUAVE.

46 8-9. =bonhomme=: _the fellow; un homme bon_ is _a good man_.

46 16. =trois petits blondins couleur d'épis brûlés=: _three little tow-headed children_.

46 21. =A qui en as-tu?= _With whom are you vexed?_ The same construction in his answer: "_j'en ai à cinq ou six drôles_," _I can't stand five or six rascals_.

47 1. After the war of 1870-71, the inhabitants of the conquered provinces had the privilege of _opter_, or choosing between the French and German as their future nationality; this "choice" was made under certain vexatious restrictions, and those who chose to remain French, as the blacksmith in this story, had a disagreeable lot.

47 3. =Qu'est-ce qu'on leur a donc fait boire?= _What on earth have they made them drink?_

47 13-14. =vous rapetissez tout à la taille de vos marmots=: _you narrow down everything to the size of your children_.

47 20-21. =latte de chasseur=: _his regimental sword_.

47 29. =descendu=: _brought down_, i.e. _killed_.

47 32. =chopes=: _large glasses_, "schooners."

49 6. =la chechia=: _the cap_.

49 28. =chevet=: _the head of the bed_.

50 10-11. =l'étui de fer-blanc où tient la feuille de route=: _the tin case which contains his military papers_.

UN MARIAGE.

51 5-6. =au beau milieu d'une affluence=: _right in the midst of a crowd_, etc.

51 22. =s'il en fut=: _as could be_; the bridal procession was of the utmost simplicity.

52 8. =caraco de mérinos noir=: _a black wool jacket_.

52 30. =contre-maître=: _overseer_.

52 33. =faut croire=: _I suppose_.

53 4. =on se passera bien de moi=: _they will get along all right without me_.

53 8. ="boraine de Nimy,"... "vaclette"=: _boraine de Nimy_, a kind of pipe; _vaclette_ is explained by the words which follow.

53 11. =cogna le sien contre le mien=: _clinked glasses with me_.

53 11. =le lampa tout d'une haleine=: _drank it all in one gulp_.

53 20. =du fin matin au brun soir=: _from early morning till late at night_.

53 21-22. =marteaux-pilons=: _trip hammers_; the immense hammers of the iron works.

54 1. =luron=: _a good fellow_.

54 6. =Pauvre fieu=: (_pauvre fils_) _poor fellow_.

54 8-9. =Une paille de fer rouge venait de lui crever l'oeil droit=: _a spark of red-hot iron had just put out his right eye_.

54 9. =Le fourgon de l'hôpital=: _the hospital ambulance_.

54 17. =quinquets=: _lamps_; here slang for _eyes_; "our two blinkers."

54 19. =Que l'un s'en aille=: _que_ here means _if,--if you lose one of them_.

54 31. =viveur et joueur=: _a high liver and gambler_.

54 33-34. =marchait cahin-caha, à la comme-je-te-pousse=: _got on any which way, just as luck would have it_.

55 8. =passif=: a mercantile term,--_liabilities_. The assets of a concern are its _actif_.

55 12. =sur le pavé=: _on the street, without work_.

55 13. =à tout jamais=: _forever_.

55 17-18. =qu'il n'attentât à ses jours=: _lest he might commit suicide_.

56 4. =fils d'acier et de laiton=: _steel and brass wire_. _Fil_ is _wire, thread_; _le fils_ is _the son_.

56 22. =un tronc=: _a charity box_.

56 25. =pancartes=: _notices, inscriptions_.

56 34. =dentellière de son état=: _a lace worker by trade_.

57 3. =au cliquetis de ses fuseaux=: _by the clicking of her embroidery needles_.

57 24. =demoiselle de comptoir=: _cashier_.

POUR LE RUBAN.

60. =Pour le ruban=: the ribbon worn in the buttonhole, which shows its wearer to be a member of the Legion of Honor.

60 8. =émarger=: _to receive money from the government_.

60 16. =instrus=: (_intrus_) _an intruder_.

62 23. =moellon=: _a rough stone_.

62 29. =d'antan=: (_d'autre fois_) _in former times_.

63 4. =périgourdin=: _of Périgord_, the old name of a locality in France, near Bordeaux.

63 14-15. =Ponson du Terrail=: a cheap author of penny dreadfuls and serial stories, many of which deal with antiquity and use the antiquated language of the following lines.

64 5. =hobereaux=: _country squires_.

64 6. =valetaille=: _the serving people_.

64 10. =Bayard=: the _chevalier sans peur et sans reproche_, as he is universally known in history. One of the most sympathetic figures of French history, the type of the nobleman and hero, who was equally adroit at keeping an entire hostile army at bay, alone, stationed at the entrance of the bridge, and at honoring beauty and wit. He died in 1524.

64 23. =rallié=: this word is perhaps equivalent to the term "Mug-wump."

64 25-26. =qui ne semblait pas disposer de la Grande-Chancellerie=: _who did not claim to boss the whole chancery_.

65 2. =de relevée=: _afternoon_.

PAROLE D'HONNEUR.

66 3. =fédérés=: the _communards_, that is, the revolutionary section which fought against the established government, fired the _Tuileries_ and the _Cour des Comptes_ (the Chamber of Deputies) directly after the end of the Franco-Prussian war; the _fédérés_ sought to create political disturbances immediately after the withdrawal of the Prussian troops from Paris.

66 4. =armée de Versailles=: Paris was in the hands of the Prussians; therefore the French government withdrew to Versailles and from thence directed public affairs; hence the name "Versailles army," equivalent to the government troops.

66 7. =arrondissement=: _ward_. Paris is divided into wards, each with its _maire_, its _mairie_ (city hall), and _député_ (congressman); all the _arrondissements_ are, however, united for civil government under the prefect of the department. The departments (like the counties of an American state) have likewise their _arrondissements_. There are eighty-six departments in France.

66 9. =surseoir= = _remettre: to delay, to put off_.

66 18. =les longues stations à la porte des bouchers=. During the siege of Paris the people bought _bons_, or checks, from the government, upon presentation of which their limited rations were supplied; long lines were formed in front of the dealers in food products; as the winter weather was extremely severe, this caused great physical suffering and sickness to many, especially to those of the poorer class, as the mother in the story.

67 2. =armée de la Commune=: _the armée des fédérés_; see note on p. 66, l. 3.

67 27. =Il en était là de ses funèbres réflexions=: _he was at that point with his doleful thoughts_.

68 4. =N'empêche que si=: _all the same, if,_ etc.

68 5-6. =Prends tes jambes à ton cou=: _hurry up, pick up your heels_.

68 6. =fiche-moi le camp=: _get out of here_.

68 13. =Oui da!= _Come now!_

68 17. =accroire=: _believe, swallow that_.

68 31. =en tourmentant sa moustache=: _twirling his moustache_.

70 7-8. =ne peut plus que sangloter=: _could do nothing but sob, broke down completely_. The French often uses the present of the verb in vivid narration where the English uses the past.

70 19-20. =que le temps finira par nous faire oublier=: _which time will make us gradually forget_.

70 26. =s'efforçait... à se ressaisir=: _tried to regain his composure_.

72 15. =communard=: see note on p. 66, l. 3; a soldier in the army of the commune.

ENGLISH PARAPHRASES.

FOR RETRANSLATION INTO FRENCH.