Tartarin de Tarascon
VII
Catastrophes sur catastrophes.
En arrivant devant sa maison mauresque, Tartarin s'arrêta
très étonné. Le jour tombait, la rue était déserte. Par la porte
basse en ogive que la négresse avait oublie de fermer, on entendait
des rires, des bruits de verres, des détonations de bouchons
[5]de Champagne, et dominant tout ce joli vacarme une voix de
femme qui chantait, joyeuse et claire:
Aimes-tu, Marco la Belle, La danse aux salons en fleurs....
«Tron de Diou!» fit le Tarasconnais en pâlissant, et il se
[10]précipita dans la cour.
Malheureux Tartarin! Quel spectacle l'attendait.... Sous
les arceaux du petit cloître, au milieu des flacons, des pâtisseries,
des coussins épars, des pipes, des tambourins, des guitares,
Baïa debout, sans veston bleu ni corselet, rien qu'une chemisette
[15]de gaze argentée et un grand pantalon rose tendre, chantait
Marco la Belle avec une casquette d'officier de marine sur
l'oreille.... A ses pieds, sur une natte, gavé d'amour et de
confitures, Barbassou, l'infâme capitaine Barbassou, se crevait
de rire en l'écoutant.
[20]L'apparition de Tartarin, hâve, maigri, poudreux, les yeux
flamboyants, la chéchia hérissée, interrompit tout net cette aimable
orgie turco-marseillaise. Baïa poussa un petit cri de
levrette effrayée, et se sauva dans la maison. Barbassou, lui,
ne se troubla pas, et riant de plus belle:
[25]«Hé! bé! monsieur Tartarin, qu'est-ce que vous en dites?
Vous voyez bien qu'elle savait le français!»
Tartarin de Tarascon s'avança furieux.
«Capitaine!
--Digo-li qué vengué, moun bon!» cria la Mauresque, se
[30]penchant de la galerie du premier avec un joli geste canaille.
Le pauvre homme, atterré, se laissa choir sur un tambour. Sa
Mauresque savait même le marseillais!
«Quand je vous disais de vous méfier des Algériennes!» fit
sentencieusement le capitaine Barbassou. «C'est comme votre
[5]prince monténégrin.»
Tartarin releva la tête.
«Vous savez ou est le prince?
--Oh! il n'est pas loin. Il habite pour cinq ans la belle prison
de Mustapha. Le drôle s'est laissé prendre la main dans le
[10]sac.... Du reste, ce n'est pas la première fois qu'on le met
à l'ombre. Son Altesse a déjà fait trois ans de maison centrale
quelque part ... et, tenez! je crois même que c'est à Tarascon.
--A Tarascon!...» s'écria Tartarin subitement illuminé....
«C'est donc ça qu'il ne connaissait qu'un côté de la ville....
[15]--Hé! sans doute ... Tarascon, vu de la maison centrale....
Ah! mon pauvre monsieur Tartarin, il faut joliment ouvrir l'oeil
dans ce diable de pays, sans quoi on est exposé à des choses
bien désagréables.... Ainsi votre histoire avec le muezzin....
--Quelle histoire? quel muezzin?
[20]--Té! pardi!... le muezzin d'en face qui faisait la cour
à Baïa.... L'Akbar a raconté l'affaire l'autre jour, et tout
Alger en rit encore.... C'est si drôle ce muezzin qui, du haut
de sa tour, tout en chantant ses prières, faisait sous votre nez
des déclarations à la petite, et lui donnait des rendez-vous en
[25]invoquant le nom d'Allah....
--Mais c'est donc tous des gredins dans ce pays?...»
hurla le malheureux Tarasconnais.
Barbassou eut un geste de philosophe.
«Mon cher, vous savez, les pays neufs.... C'est égal! si
[30]vous m'en croyez, vous retournerez bien vite à Tarascon.
--Retourner ... c'est facile à dire.... Et l'argent?...
Vous ne savez donc pas comme ils m'ont plumé, là-has, dans le
désert?
--Qu'à cela ne tienne!» fit le capitaine en riant.... «Le
Zouave part demain, et si vous voulez, je vous rapatrie ...
ça vous va-t-il, collègue?... Alors, très bien. Vous n'avez plus
qu'une chose à faire. Il reste encore quelques fioles de champagne,
[5]une moitié de croustade ... asseyez-vous là, et sans
rancune!...»/p>
Après la minute d'hésitation que lui commandait sa dignité,
le Tarasconnais prit bravement son parti. Il s'assit, on trinqua;
Baïa, redescendue au bruit des verres, chanta la fin de Marco
[10]la Belle, et la fête se prolongea fort avant dans la nuit./p>
Vers trois heures du matin, la tête légère et le pied lourd, le
bon Tartarin revenait d'accompagner son ami le capitaine, lorsqu'en
passant devant la mosquée, le souvenir du muezzin et
de ses farces le fit rire, et tout de suite une belle idée de vengeance
[15]lui traversa le cerveau. La porte était ouverte. Il entra,
suivit de longs couloirs tapissés de nattes, monta, monta encore,
et finit par se trouver dans un petit oratoire turc, où une lanterne
en fer découpé se balançait au plafond, brodant les murs blancs
d'ombres bizarres.
[20]Le muezzin était là, assis sur un divan, avec son gros turban,
sa pelisse blanche, sa pipe de Mostaganem, et devant un grand
verre d'absinthe fraîche, qu'il battait religieusement, en attendant
l'heure d'appeler les croyants à la prière.... A la vue
de Tartarin, il lâcha sa pipe de terreur.
[25]«Pas un mot, curé,» fit le Tarasconnais, qui avait son
idée.... «Vite, ton turban, ta pelisse!...»
Le curé turc, tout tremblant, donna son turban, sa pelisse,
tout ce qu'on voulut. Tartarin s'en affubla, et passa gravement
sur la terrasse du minaret.
[30]La mer luisait au loin. Les toits blancs étincelaient au clair de
lune. On entendait dans la brise marine quelques guitares attardées....
Le muezzin de Tarascon se recueillit un moment, puis,
levant les bras, il commença à psalmodier d'une voix suraiguë:
«La Allah il Allah.... Mahomet est un vieux farceur.,..
L'Orient, le Coran, les bachagas, les lions, les Mauresques, tout
ça ne vaut pas un viédaze!... Il n'y a plus de Teurs....
Il n'y a que des carotteurs.... Vive Tarascon!...»
[5]Et pendant qu'en un jargon bizarre, mêlé d'arabe et de provençal,
l'illustre Tartarin jetait aux quatre coins de l'horizon, sur
la ville, sur la plaine, sur la montagne, sa joyeuse malédiction
tarasconnaise, la voix claire et grave des autres muezzins lui
répondait, en s'éloignant de minaret en minaret, et les derniers
[10]croyants de la ville haute se frappaient dévotement la poitrine.
VIII
Tarascon! Tarascon!
Midi. Le Zouave chauffe, on va partir. Là-haut, sur le balcon
du café Valentin, MM. les officiers braquent la longue-vue, et
viennent, colonel en tête, par rang de grade, regarder l'heureux
petit bateau qui va en France. C'est la grande distraction de
[15]l'état-major.... En has, la rade étincelle. La culasse des
vieux canons turcs enterrés le long du quai flambe au soleil
Les passagers se pressent. Biskris et Mahonnais entassent
les bagages dans les barques.
Tartarin de Tarascon, lui, n'a pas de bagages. Le voici qui
[20]descend de la rue de la Marine, par le petit marché, plein de
bananes et de pastèques, accompagné de son ami Barbassou.
Le malheureux Tarasconnais a laissé sur la rive du Maure sa
caisse d'armes et ses illusions, et maintenant il s'apprête à
voguer vers Tarascon, les mains dans ses poches.... A peine
[25]vient-il de sauter dans la chaloupe du capitaine, qu'une bête
essoufflée dégringole du haut de la place, et se précipite vers
lui, en galopant. C'est le chameau, le chameau fidèle, qui, depuis
vingt-quatre heures, cherche son maître dans Alger.
Tartarin, en le voyant, change de couleur et feint de ne pas
le connaître; mais le chameau s'acharne. Il frétille au long du
quai. Il appelle son ami, et le regarde avec tendresse:
«Emmène-moi,» semble dire son oeil triste, «emmène-moi dans la barque,
[5]loin, bien loin de cette Arabie en carton peint, de cet Orient
ridicule, plein de locomotives et de diligences, où--dromadaire
déclassé--je ne sais plus que devenir. Tu es le dernier Turc,
je suis le dernier chameau.... Ne nous quittons plus, ô mon
Tartarin....
[10]--Est-ce que ce chameau est à vous?» demande le capitaine.
«Pas du tout!» répond Tartarin, qui frémit à l'idée d'entrer
dans Tarascon avec cette escorte ridicule; et, reniant impudemment
le compagnon de ses infortunes, il repousse du pied le sol
algérien, et donne à la barque l'élan du départ.... Le chameau flaire
[15]l'eau, allonge le cou, fait craquer ses jointures et, s'élançant
derrière la barque à corps perdu, il nage de conserve vers le
Zouave, avec son dos bombé, qui flotte comme une gourde, et
son grand col, dressé sur l'eau en éperon de trirème.
Barque et chameau viennent ensemble se ranger aux flancs
[20]du paquebot.
«A la fin, il me fait peine, ce dromadaire!» dit le capitaine
Barbassou tout ému, «j'ai envie de le prendre à mon
bord.... En arrivant à Marseille, j'en ferai hommage au
Jardin zoologique.»
[25]On hissa sur le pont, à grand renfort de palans et de
cordes, le chameau, alourdi par l'eau de mer, et le Zouave se
mit en route.
Les deux jours que dura la traversée, Tartarin les passa tout
seul dans sa cabine, non pas que la mer fût mauvaise, ni que
[30]la chechia eût trop à souffrir, mais le diable de chameau, dès
que son maître apparaissait sur le pont, avait autour de lui des
empressements ridicules.... Vous n'avez jamais vu un chameau
afficher quelqu'un comme cela!...
D'heure en heure, par les hublots de la cabine où il mettait
le nez quelquefois, Tartarin vit le bleu du ciel algérien pâlir;
puis, enfin, un matin, dans une brume d'argent, il entendit avec
bonheur chanter toutes les cloches de Marseille. On était
[5]arrivé ... le Zouave jeta l'ancre.
Notre homme, qui n'avait pas de bagages, descendit sans rien
dire, traversa Marseille en hâte, craignant toujours d'être suivi
par le chameau, et ne respira que lorsqu'il se vit installé dans
un wagon de troisième classe, filant bon train sur Tarascon....
[10]Sécurité trompeuse! A peine à deux lieues de Marseille, voilà
toutes les têtes aux portières. On crie, on s'étonne. Tartarin,
à son tour, regarde, et ... qu'aperçoit-il?... Le chameau,
monsieur, l'inévitable chameau, qui détalait sur les rails, en
pleine Crau, derrière le train, et lui tenant pied. Tartarin,
[15]consterné, se rencoigna, en fermant les yeux.
Après cette expédition désastreuse, il avait compté rentrer
chez lui incognito. Mais la présence de ce quadrupède encombrant
rendait la chose impossible. Quelle rentrée il allait
faire, bon Dieu! Pas le son, pas de lions, rien. . . Un
[20]chameau!...
«Tarascon!... Tarascon!...»
Il fallut descendre....
O stupeur! à peine la chechia du héros apparut-elle dans
l'ouverture de la portière, un grand cri: «Vive Tartarin!» fit
[25]trembler les voûtes vitrées de la gare.--«Vive Tartarin! vive
le tueur de lions!» Et des fanfares, des choeurs d'orphéons
éclatèrent.... Tartarin se sentit mourir; il croyait à une
mystification. Mais non! tout Tarascon était là, chapeaux en
l'air, et sympathique. Voilà le brave commandant Bravida,
[30]l'armurier Costecalde, le président, le pharmacien, et tout le
noble corps des chasseurs de casquettes qui se presse autour de
son chef, et le porte en triomphe tout le long des escaliers....
Singuliers effets du mirage! la peau du lion aveugle, envoyée
à Bravida, était cause de tout ce bruit. Avec cette modeste
fourrure, exposée au cercle, les Tarasconnais, et derrière eux
tout le Midi, s'étaient monté la tête. Le Sémaphore avait parlé.
[5]On avait inventé un drame. Ce n'était plus un lion que Tartarin
avait tué, c'étaient dix lions, vingt lions, une marmelade de lions!
Aussi Tartarin, débarquant à Marseille, y était déjà illustre sans
le savoir, et un télégramme enthousiaste I'avait devancé de deux
heures dans sa ville natale.
[10]Mais ce qui mit le comble à la joie populaire, ce fut quand
on vit un animal fantastique, couvert de poussière et de sueur,
apparaître derrière le héros, et descendre à cloche-pied l'escalier
de la gare. Tarascon crut un instant sa Tarasque revenue.
Tartarin rassura ses compatriotes.
[15]«C'est mon chameau,» dit-il.
Et déjà sous l'influence du soleil tarasconnais, ce beau soleil
qui fait mentir ingénument, il ajouta, en caressant la bosse du
dromadaire:
«C'est une noble bête!... Elle m'a vu tuer tous mes lions.»
[20]Là-dessus, il prit familièrement le bras du commandant, rouge
de bonheur; et, suivi de son chameau, entouré des chasseurs
de casquettes, acclamé par tout le peuple, il se dirigea paisiblement
vers la maison du baobab, et, tout en marchant, il commença
le récit de ses grandes chasses:
[25]«Figurez-vous, disait-il, qu'un certain soir, en plein Sahara....»
END OF THE TEXT
NOTES
The notes refer to the page and line number in the following format:
Page# Line#
1 1 Tarascon: a very old city (population 9,000) on the east bank of the Rhone, opposite Beaucaire (cf. note to 13 28), about fifty miles northwest of Marseilles. To Daudet the choice of proper names was always a matter for careful consideration. Tarascon was not the home of the original Tartarin (see Introduction, p xxvi), but, as Daudet explains in "Trente Ans de Paris," p 142, "a pseudonym picked up on the road from Paris to Marseilles because when rounded out by the southern accent it vibrated sonorously and triumphed at the conductor's call of stations like the war-cry of an Apache Indian." On the Tarasque cf. note to 3 25.
1 2 il y a ... de cela: 'that was ... ago,' lit. 'there are ... from that.'
1 3 je m'en souviens: 'I remember it.' Se souvenir de quelque chose, hence s'en souvenir (en replacing de + a pronoun); cf. changer de chanson, en changer 7 5, revenir de là-bas, en revenir 16 12.
1 4 habitait: 'was living in.' Be careful to give the imperfect its progressive force wherever possible.
1 5 le chemin d'Avignon: 'the Avignon road.' Note that an English noun used adjectively is usually replaced in French by de + noun, the student should be careful to translate une robe de soie 'a silk dress' and not 'a dress of silk'; cf. de petits soldats de plomb (71 4) 'little lead soldiers,' l'eau de mer (93 26) 'the sea water', 52 25, 79 23. For une voix de femme (89 5) we cannot say 'a woman voice,' but must say 'the voice of a woman,' 'woman' not being a possible noun-adjective here; still voix de femme is a noun-phrase modified by une; cf. une cour de caravansérail (70 21) 'the court of a caravansary,' un coin de méchante route (70 28) 'the corner of a wretched road'--Avignon: city on the Rhone, above Tarascon; famous as the residence of the Popes from 1309 to 1377.
1 6: devant: adverb, 'in front'; cf. derrière in this sentence, dessus 24 1, 46 12, depuis 56 32, autour 79 15.
1_ 8: Savoyards: boys and men from Savoy, southeastern France, are seen throughout the country exercising such trades as those of bootblacks, chimney-sweeps, charcoal-venders; cf. note to 74 27.--Savoyards ... tête ... leurs boîtes: cf. note to 29 11.
1 10: Du dehors ... rien: 'seen from the outside the house seemed nothing at all,' 'was in no way remarkable'.
1 12: coquin de sort: a characteristic Southern oath, lit. 'rascal of (a) fate' translate 'heavens and earth!' cf. monstre de sort 63 27, coquin de bon sort 68 21. For the construction cf. coquin de lièvre 4 24, diable d'homme 9 3. The genitive (de + noun) in these expressions replaces a noun in apposition. Cf. Engl. "rascal of a man," Latin scelus viri; "the city New York," "the city of New York."
1 16: du pays. i.e. 'native' to that part of Europe; cf. au pays 64 27, du cru 26 6.
1 17: rien que: 'nothing but'; i.e. il n'y avait rien que. Cf. 37 10, and notes to 13 1, 4 23.--plantes exotiques: a few lines farther on, our author explains that these exotic plants were, of course, not of full natural size. The baobab in its native African home is only 40-70 feet in height, but its trunk is sometimes 30 feet in diameter. In 17 20-21 we are given to understand that Tartarin's baobab, the most admired of his botanical rarities, is perhaps after all nothing but a turnip, and we are led to suspect that some of the others are not what they pretend to be. If we are gifted with even a small portion of the imagination possessed by Tartarin and his fellow-townsmen, we can understand how a turnip may after a while come really to be a baobab; if we have not sufficient imagination to admit this possibility, we shall not be able to appreciate the story of the life and adventures of Tartarin de Tarascon.
2 3: bien entendu: 'of course'; lit. 'well (heard) understood.'
2 5: arbos gigantea: Latin, = arbre géant 'giant tree.'--tenait à l'aise dans: 'easily found room in.'
2 6:pot de réséda: 'mignonette pot.' Pot de fleurs = 'flower pot' Logically we should expect, and in a dealer's catalogue we find, pot à fleurs, cf. une tasse à café 'a coffee cup,' une tasse de café 'a cup of coffee.' Daudet in speaking of this same mignonette pot uses pot à réséda in "Tartarin sur les Alpes," p. 358.--c'est égal: 'all the same'.
2 7: déjà: lit. 'already'; 'anyhow,' 'nevertheless'.
2 8: s'en retournaient: cf. s'en aller 17 4, s'en revenir 53 11.
2 10: je dus éprouver: 'I must have experienced.' Devoir is difficult to translate because the corresponding English auxiliaries (must, ought) are defective. The following are the most usual translations: je dois aller I must go, I ought to go, I should go, I have to go, I am to go. je devais aller I had to go, I was to go (cf. 18 2) I should have gone, I must have gone (cf. 16 26). je dus aller I had to go (cf. 67 7), I must have gone (cf. 40 4). je devrai aller I shall have to go je devrais aller I should go, I ought to go, I should have to go. j'ai dû aller I had to go, I have had to go, I must have gone Cf. notes to 43 20, 29.
2 11: mirifique: a mock-heroic synonym for merveilleux.--bien autre: bien in its common intensive use, 'quite.' Bien frequently adds to a passage a shade of meaning which can be rendered in English only by a complete remodeling of the sentence, e.g. je veux bien 'I have no objection,' 'I consent.' When autre is preceded by bien or tout, it usually carries the idea of superiority.
2 14: ouvrant de plain-pied sur le baobab: 'opening on a level with the baobab'; there was no step. Plain='flat.'
2 18: carabines: 'rifles.' carabine is the French word for "rifle", fusil is the general term (gun) and is applied particularly to the shotgun The English word "rifle" is sometimes used in French for a rifle having a long barrel. With carabine cf. English "carbine," a short-barreled rifle. Translate here 'carbines, rifles.'
2 19: catalans: Catalonia is in northeastern Spain. --couteaux-revolvers: 'pistol dirks,' pistols with dirks set in their butts, ordaggers with pistols in their hilts.--couteaux-poignards: 'dagger-knives' an ancient form of one-edged dagger, having a long and heavy blade.--krish (criss, kriss) malais: 'Malay creeses,' daggers with sinuous edges, famous for deadliness.
2 20: flèches caraïbes: 'Carib arrows.' The Caribs are the most war-like tribe of northern South America, the home of the famous curare poison and other arrow-poisons.--casse-tête: any kind of war-club that can be wielded by one hand; transl. 'war-clubs' (cf. 59 29); indeclinable.
2 21: est-ce que je sais! lit. 'do I know!' transl. 'and what not.'
2 23: glaives: 'swords.' Glaive (cf. Engl. "glaive"), from Latin gladius, is a poetic word for épée.
2 24 vous donner la chair de poule: 'make your flesh creep' With the French chair de poule 'hen flesh' cf. Engl "goose flesh".
2 26 yataganerie. the yatagan, 'yataghan,' is the saber of the Turks and the Arabs, from this word Daudet coined yataganerie on the analogy of épicerie, papeterie, etc, transl. 'paraphernalia of war'.
2 28 bonhomme a noun used adjectively, transl. 'kindly'.
2 29 n'y touchez pas Toucher à quelque chose, hence y toucher, 'to touch it,' y,' replacing à + a pronoun, cf. à Shang Hai and y 16 10, and notes to 6 14, 7 6, 9 7, 24 7.
3 4 chasse à l'ours: 'bear hunting,' but chasse au faucon 'hunting with the falcon,' 'hawking.'
3 10 tout en lisant: 'while reading' En with the present participle is reinforced by tout.
3 12 brave: cf. un brave homme 'a good, kindly man,' un homme brave 'a brave man'.
3 13 bonasse: bon + the pejorative suffix _asse, 'guileless'.
3 19 midi: midday,' 'noon,' 'South', Latin media dies.
3 22 Vous saurez: 'you must know'.
3 25 Tarasque: a monster which, according to the legend, devastated the country about Tarascon until it was slain by Saint Martha, sister of Lazarus, who, in company with the three Marys, had come to Provence after the death of Christ At irregular intervals there is a festival in Tarascon to celebrate the destruction of the Tarasque. Martha is the patron saint of Tarascon See "Port-Tarascon," I, iv (pp 73 ff)--faisait les cent coups. 'was playing the hundred tricks,' 'raged.'
3 27 Il y a beau jour: '(that was) a long time ago'.
4 3 tremblement: 'whole lot,' 'noisy throng,' colloquial.
4 6 Si ... que + subjunctive = 'however ', cf. 67 12-13, 78 18-19 --bête: a pun on the word bête, which means as a noun 'animal,' as an adjective 'foolish'--vous pensez bien: 'you can readily imagine', cf. 7 10, 9 7, 12 3, 23 7, 56 17.
4 8 A cinq lieues: 'within a radius of fîve leagues', cf. 48 26.
4 9-10 le moindre: 'the least'--le plus petit: 'the smallest'.
4 14 Rhône 'Rhone,' the great river of southeastern France, in the heart of Provence--diablement: 'deucedly' Diable and Dieu are used very freely in French.
4 16 du poil et de la plume 'of fur and feathers'--est très mal noté 'has a black mark against its name', noter= 'to note,' 'to mark,' 'to make a note of'.
4 19 Camargue a vast marshy delta at the mouth of the Rhone See Daudet's "En Camargue," in "Lettres de mon moulin".
4 23 il ne reste plus ... que: 'there remains nothing now, but' Il is impersonal, cf. 5 23, 8 1, 58 28 Ne plus = 'no longer,' ne que = 'only,' the same ne serving for both plus and que, cf. line 30, 23 3, 27-28, ne ... guère que 5 26, 1 17.
4 24 coquin de lièvre: cf. note to 1 12--échappe ... aux: note the use of à with échapper, cf. 88 22, and s'arracher à 10 14 --septembrisades on September 25, 1792, mobs broke into the Paris prisons and massacred many political prisoners, hence septembrisade 'massacre'.
4 27 le Rapide: le (train) rapide 'the express train'.
4 30 A l'heure qu'il est même: 'even at the present time'.
4 31 enragés 'stubborn enthusiasts'.
4 32 deuil: faire son deuil d'une chose = 'to go into mourning about a thing,' 'to give it up for lost'.
5 3 me direz-vous: 'you [reader] will say to me [author]'.
5 7 en pleine campagne: 'into the open country', cf. 2 2, 41 13.
5 11 boeuf en daube: 'stewed beef', properly, stewed with vegetables and then baked slowly Dauber = braiser--saucissot: italicized because a dialectal form, = saucisson 'sausage'.
>5 17 du 5 etc: 'number 5' etc, sizes of shot.
5 19 met dans: 'hits'.
5 20 en triomphateur: 'like a conqueror,' 'in triumph'; cf. en bon Méridional 8 13.
5 23 il se fait: 'there is carried on.' Impersonal il; cf. note to 4 23. Note the reflexive used for the passive; cf. cela se fait= 'that is done,' lit. 'that does itself,' ce qui se consomme 6 13 = 'what is consumed,' la forte s'ouvre 18 6 = 'the door opens itself,' 'is opened,' 'opens,' cela se sait 6 18 = 'that is known,' cela se peut = 'that is possible'; cf. also s'animer 'to animate oneself,' 'to become (be) animated,' se décourager 'to become (be) discouraged.'
5 26 ne guère que: 'scarcely any one besides '; cf. note to 4 23.
5 27 leur en achète: acheter des casquettes aux chapeliers; hence leur en achète, leur replacing à eux.
5 29 il partait: 'he used to set out.'
5 32 Aussi: aussi at the beginning of a sentence or phrase is usually to be rendered 'and so,' 'therefore.' With this aussi (as with some other adverbs) the word-order is verb--pronoun; hence reconnaissent-ils. Cf. 24 12, 41 20; à peine 7 33, 40 14; en vain 10 10; toujours 25 9. Note the order with aussi comme ...! 18 17.
6 1 qu'il: que replaces comme; cf. note to 5 1.
6 3 birman: 'Burman.' Burma is in southeastern Asia.--ces: cf. note to 16 13.
6 6 de trois à quatre: 'from three to four (o'clock).'
6 10 qui rendait: 'dispensing,' see note to 55 7.--Nemrod doublé de Salomon: 'a Nimrod and a Solomon at the same time.' Doubler 'to line'; un manteau doublé de fourrure 'a fur-lined coat.' For Nimrod, "a mighty hunter before the Lord," see Genesis x, 8-9; for Solomon as unerring judge, I Kings iii, 28.
6 chapter heading Nan! dialectal form of non! See 8 13-14.
6 13 Ce qui ... de romances: lit. 'what ... of ballads'; transl. 'the number of ballads that ...' Note that romance = 'ballad,' roman = 'novel,' 'romance.' See Engl. dict. for etymology.
6 14 c'est à n'y pas croire: 'it passes belief,' lit. 'it is enough to not believe it'; cf. note to 2 2. Croire à, y croire, cf. note to 2 29.
6 18 cela se sait: cf. note to 5 23.
6 23 receveur de l'enregistrement: 'recorder ' (of deeds and various transactions).
6 24 si j'étais-t-invisible: the non-etymological t is inserted to avoid hiatus, the s of étais being unpronounced: cf. Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre. This error is common in the speech of the uneducated classes. --n'me: the e of ne is omitted as in conversational French.
7 3 on se réunit: see next note.--on se les chante: 'they sing them (the ballads) to one another.' Note se = '(to) one another.' Nous, vous, se, are used as reflexive or reciprocal objects, direct or indirect ('ourselves' or 'each other,' 'to ourselves' or 'to each other' etc.), cf. 9 21, 16 29, 93 8. Se is used as a reciprocal pronoun several times in this paragraph.
7 4 depuis ... chantent 'in all the time that they have been singing them to one another.' Chantent is present tense with depuis.
7 5 en changer: cf. note to 1 3.
7 6 n'y touche: cf. note to 2 29.
7 18 les lui faire chanter: 'to make him sing them'; faire chanter à Tartarin, lui faire chanter, = 'to make T. sing,' 'to make him sing --Revenu ... salon: 'early (in life) surfeited with salon successes' Revenu = 'returned,' 'satiated,' 'tired of.'
7 21 cercle: 'club.' The English word "club" is used in French in reference to sporting and political clubs.
7 22 Nîmes: Daudet's birthplace, an ancient city with remarkable Roman remains, eighteen miles west of Tarascon.
7 25 après s'être bien fait prier: 'after having been begged a long time'; cf. je me fais prier, je me suis fait prier. An active infinitive after faire is to be translated passively: faire bâtir une maison = 'to cause (some one) to build a house,' 'to have a house built'; cf. 31 9, 64 27, 77 25, 81 7. Se faire prier = 'to have oneself begged,' se faire comprendre (40 26) = 'to make himself understood.' Se faire expliquer (24 6-7) = 'to have explained to themselves,' faire expliquer une leçon = 'to have a lesson explained.' The same constructions are used with laisser; cf. 29 25, 49 14-15, 60 13.
7 26 dire: 'to say,' 'relate impressively,' 'sing', cf. 24 21 --Robert le Diable: 'Robert the Devil,' a famous opera by Meyerbeer, text by Scribe (1832). The story, widespread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and later, is concerned with the struggle of a pious mother to rescue her son from the devil. She is successful Robert saves Rome from the Saracens and ends his life as a hermit.
7 28 Pour moi: 'as for me,' 'as far as I am concerned'--quand je vivrais cent ans: 'even if I should live for a hundred years', note this meaning of quand with the conditional.
7 29 s'approchant du: note the de used with s'approcher, se rapprocher, 20 25.
7 33 A peine avait-il: cf. note to 5 32.
8 1 il allait se passer: 'there was going to happen'; cf. note to 4 23.--quelque chose de grand: 'something great'; note the de Cf. quelque chose d'informe 35 21, quelque chose de noir 45 18.
8 6 bis: Latin, 'twice,' indicating that a thing is to be repeated.
8 9 A vous, Tartarin: 'your turn, Tartarin!'
8 13 en bon Méridional: 'like a true Southerner'; cf. note to 5 20.
8 18 de plus belle: 'louder than ever'; supply a feminine noun (manière, façon) after belle; of 45 15.
8 19 la chose en restait là: 'the thing stopped there'; the so called redundant en; of 16 19-20, 17 16, 18 32, 28 26, 90 30 Cf. the redundant y (note to 9 7) En and y in these cases cannot easily be translated, but the student should train himself to recognize their force.
8 25 clignait de l'oeil: cf. battre des mains 'to clap one's hands.'
8 26 dire d'un ... air: 'to say with an ... air'--Je viens de: venir de faire quelque chose = 'to have just done somethmg.' In this passage the expression has both the figurative and the literal meaning: 'I come (have come) from the Bézuquets', where I have just sung.'
9 3 diable d'homme: cf. note to 1 12.
9 4 prendre: 'to captivate.'
9 7 lapin: lit. 'rabbit'; familiarly, as here, 'a game one.'--s'y connaissait en lapins: se connaître à or en = 'to be an expert in.' Y in this passage is redundant: it replaces à + eux (cf. note to 2 29), which is repeated in en lapins, cf. 10 30, and the redundant en (note to 8 19).
9 14 cheval de trompette: 'trumpeter's horse,' 'war-horse.' Trompette = 'trumpet,' 'trumpeter.'
9 16 gros sous: 'ten-centime pieces,' 'two-cent pieces. A five-centime piece (one cent) is called un petit sou.
9 17 lord Seymour: Henry Seymour (1805-1859), an eccentric, extravagant English lord who spent most of his life in Paris. He was well known to the Parisian populace.
9 18 Roi des halles tarasconnaises: 'King of the Tarascon Market-Place.' François de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort (1616-1669), fearless, presumptuous, coarse, was the idol of the rabble, by whom he was surnamed Roi des Halles (the great market of Paris).
9 20 bien sanglé ... futaine: 'in his tight-fitting fustian shooting-jacket. Sangler= 'to bind with a girth,' 'to strap'; cf. un officier sanglé 'an officer with a tight-fitting coat on.'
9 21 se montrant ... ils se disaient: cf. note to 7 2.
10 4 pampas: 'pampas,' vast plains in Argentina, extending from the Atlantic to the Andes.
10 5 faire ... casquette: faire une battue = to beat (battre) the woods or bushes for game. Transl. 'to go a-cap-hunting.'
10 7 A la longue, il y aurait eu (conditional anterior of il y a) de quoi: 'in the end there would have been wherewith,' 'if this existence were continued long, it would have been enough.'
10 10 en vain s'entourait-il: cf. note to 5 32.
10 13 lectures romanesques: 'romantic readings.' The French for Engl. 'lecture' is conférence, causerie. Romanesque = 'romantic.' The French romantique is used in speaking of the Romantic School literary history, and of landscapes.--don Quichotte: hero of the celebrated novel "Don Quixote," by Cervantes (1547-1616, cf. note to 39 24). Don Quixote, a Spanish gentleman, has his head turned as a result of excessive reading of romances, and, attended by his fat, vulgar squire, Sancho Panza, scours Spain, righting wrongs and rescuing fair damsels, in the fashion of the knights of old. Don Quixote was ever tireless and fearless, while Sancho Panza disliked hard knocks and preferred a slothful life of ease and plenty to the glorious career of privations which was the lot of the knight errant. Tartarin de Tarascon combined the qualities of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza; hence a terrible internal conflict of which we shall read in chapter vi. This disconcerting complexity of character, which is not confined to a Southerner if we may believe the epigraph of this work (En France tout le monde est un peu de Tarascon), is again elucidated in "La Défense de Tarascon" (in "Contes du lundi") and in "Tartarin sur les Alpes," ch. ii, p 35, where the adventurous spirit of warren rabbits (lapins de garenne) clashes with the domesticity of cabbage-garden rabbits (lapins de choux).
10 14 s'arracher aux: cf. note to 4 24.
10 22 par les lourdes après-midi d'été: 'during the sultry summer afternoons.' Note the use of par in statements relating to the weather; cf. 32 1, 63 17.--à lire: 'engaged in reading'; cf. à mener 68 32, and 73 30.
10 24 que de fois: 'how many times.'
10 27 foulard de tête: 'kerchief round his head.'
10 30 Qu'ils y viennent maintenant! 'now just let'em come!' Y is redundant; cf. note to 9 7.
11 6 Touareg: cf. note to 40 17.--des Abruzzes: 'of the Abruzzi,' a mountainous district of central Italy, noted for its brigands.
11 9 avait beau les appeler: 'called them in vain'; cf. 28 16, 46 8. Beau is ironical in this expression; cf. Engl. "a fine fellow," "a pretty mess."
11 10 Pécaïré (Latin peccator = pécheur 'sinner'): sometimes Gallicized by Daudet under the form péchère. A very common Provençal exclamation, usually denoting pity or resignation. Transl. 'alas,' 'dear me.'
11 12 les attendait toujours: 'continued to wait for them'; note this force of toujours; cf. 26 11, 71 20.
11 14 chevalier du Temple: 'Knight Templar.' The order of the knights of the Temple (i.e. the temple of Solomon) was organized in 1118 for the purpose of protecting pilgrims on the way to the Holy Land.
11 15 tigre chinois the Chinese soldiers used to be called tigres de guerre (Littre, Suppl).
11 17 de pied en cap (Lat caput) 'from head to foot', of Engl. 'armed cap a pic' Cap = 'head' is obsolete except in this expression and in a few technical terms.
11 20 Branle-bas de combat! 'clear decks for action!' Le branle is the word formerly used for the seaman's hammock (now usually le hamac), branle bas = 'down with the hammocks,' get them out of the way.
11 24 entre drap et flanelle: transl. 'under his coat'--Par exemple lit 'for example', a common exclamation of which the translation varies with the context, here, 'I assure you!'
11 27 se fendait, tirait: 'lunged,' 'thrust,' fencing expressions.
11 29 à l'anglaise (supply mode 'manner'): 'in the English manner,' i.e. calmly, cf. à la mode indienne 12 33.
12 3 vous pensez: cf. note to 4 6.
12 6 fermait la porte à double tour: 'double locked the gate', lit. 'with a double turn of the key' In the old lock a single turn of the key drove the bolt into the socket, a second turn drove it farther.
12 15 chaussée: 'highway,' the middle of a road or street, usually paved and arched, cf. 88 27.
12 21 cours: 'public promenade' "There is all round Tarascon a promenade (cours) lined with trees, which is called in the local dictionary le Tour de ville Every Sunday afternoon the Tarasconians, slaves to habit despite their imagination, make their circuit of the town (font leur tour de ville)" "Tartarin sur les Alpes," ch 11, p 42, cf. 23 10-11.
12 22 par le plus long: supply chemin.
12 25 coupe-gorge (plural and singular alike) 'haunts of cutthroats' Coupe jarret = 'cut throat' (jarret = 'ham string')--lui tomber sur le dos 'fall upon his back', cf. 18 33, 20 13, 28 8, 31 6, 65 11.
12 27 jamais, au grand jamais: 'never, NEVER'.
12 28 eut la chance: 'had the good luck' Engl 'chance' = French Occasion.
12 31 planté sur place: 'rooted to the spot', of en resta planté 44 11.
12 32 prenant le vent: 'sniffing the air,' used of hunting dogs, as a nautical expression = 'sailing near the wind'.
13 1 Plus de doutes: 'no more doubt', cf.,1 17 With plus, pas, jamais, rien, and other words of this type ne is omitted when the verb is omitted, but cf. 71 8, 88 3.
13 3 se ramassait sur lui-même. 'gathered himself,' 'crouched'.
13 7 Té! vé! dialectal for tiens, vois, used as exclamations, 'Well, well!'--adieu: in Southern France occasionally (as here and 64 4) a greeting ('hello'), though ordinarily, as in Northern France, a parting salutation ('good-by'). The Southerner prefixes an exclamation which Daudet writes sometimes et as here and sometimes hé, ('hey') as in 64 4.
13 9 la sienne 'his' (ballad), see 6 17.
13 13 de long en large: 'up and down'.
13 18 faire son bezigue: 'to play his game of bezique,' a game of Cards.
13 21 diable au vert: 'far away corners of the globe' The castle of Vauvert in the suburbs of Paris belonged to King Louis IX. Some Carthusian monks who desired to gain possession of it pretended that it was haunted by evil spirits, and it was abandoned to them, hence the expression diable Vauvert (Vauvert is a genitive, 'the demon of Vauvert'), which was later corrupted to diable au vert. The castle was far from the center of the city, perhaps it is for this reason that aller au diable vauvert, au diable au vert, means 'to go a long distance'. I have not seen an article on this locution which appeared in the Revue du Midi, 1911.--comment diantre: 'how the deuce', diantre is a euphemism for diable.
13 22 se trouvait-il: 'did it happen' Se trouver = 'to find oneself, itself,' 'to happen,' 'to be'.
13 26 Marseille: 'Marseilles,' the greatest seaport in France and the metropolis of the south, only sixty miles from Tarascon.
13 27 Provençal: a native of Provence Provence = Latin provincia, 'the province,' comprising that part of Gaul which was first conquered and organized, later Gallia Narbonensis Properly, Provence is today the southeastern part of France, but the terms Provence, Provençal, are frequently used to designate all of southern France (south of the Loire), the Midi--se paie: 'treats himself to', cf. je me paie un bon dîner 'I treat myself to a good dinner'--C'est au plus s'il: 'at the most he,' 'scarcely did he'.
1328 Beaucaire: a city on the Rhone, opposite Tarascon, to which it is joined by a long suspension bridge. cf. note to 18 11.
13 30 diable de pont: cf. note to 1 12.
14 4 C'est que: 'the fact is that'.
14 5 Je sens deux hommes en moi: see Romans vii, Galatians v, 17. One of the distinctive features of the religion of St Paul was its insistence upon an internal conflict between the higher and lower impulses of man. Daudet is probably thinking of the expression of this doctrine in one of Racine's canticles (III) where th words Je trouve deux hommes en moi appear.
14 6 Père d'Église 'Church Father' Paul was an Apostle, not a Church Father. The Church Fathers were the early disseminators and expounders of the Christian faith who continued the work of the apostles--Il l'eût dit vrai = il l'aurait dit vrai. Vrai is used adverbially, 'truly'.
14 10 hidalgo Spanish, 'nobleman', Latin filius de aliquo 'son of somebody '--prétexte de corps 'apology for a body'.
14 11 manquait de prise 'had no hold'.
14 14 brave homme de corps 'jolly old body'.
14 16 le corps ... pattes Tartarin's Quixotic mind dwelt in the 'fat bellied,' 'short legged' body of a Sancho Panza.
14 19 mauvais ménage faire faire mauvais ménage is said of a husband and wife who do not get along well together.
14 21 Lucien 'Lucian,' the famous Greek satirist of the second century A.D., author of brilliant "Dialogues of the Gods" and "Dialogues of the Dead" --Saint-Évremond (1613-1703) man of the world, Epicurean, skeptic, an unsparing satirist.
14 32 rifles a deux coups = fusils rayés à doubles canons 50 7, 'double barreled rifles'.
15 2 genouillères 'knee caps,' flannel or knitted coverings for the knees, to prevent or ease rheumatism.
15 3 casquettes à oreillettes 'caps with ear laps'.
15 6 sonnant la bonne 'ringing for the maid' Note this use of sonner
15 9 moiré 'shimmering,' like watered silks cf.Engl 'mohair,' 'moire'.
15 chapter heading Shang-Hai 'Shanghai,' a seaport in China--haut commerce 14 5, cf. haute finance 'high finance' transl. Simply. 'commerce'--Tartares (Tatares) 'Tartars' ('Tatars'), a generic term for certain Mongolian tribes The Manchu Tatars were till recently rulers of China--serait-il ? 'is it possible that he be ?' Note the use of the conditional to express conjecture or possibility, the future is used in similar constructions il aura manque le train 'he has probably missed the train 'cf. auriez vous l'intention (76 8) 'is it possible that you intend?'
15 13 avait failli partir 'had failed to départ', i.e. 'almost departed'
15 21 vous apparaissait d'une hauteur! 'was a wonderful thing indeed!' Vous is the common ethical dative, to be omitted in translation, cf.the Shakespearean "Knock me that door!" and "There's perfection for you!' "--D'une hauteur! suppression for emphasis far more frequent in French than in English, cf. 30 17, 49 25 Note the play on the words haut, Hauteur 14 5 n'entendait ... oreille-là. i.e. "didn't see it in that light".
16 7 Parions que si, parions que non 'I'll bet (lit 'let us bet') he will, I'll bet he won't' Si is used for oui in contradictions Que is not to be translated, cf. je crois que oui (non) 'I think so (not)'.
16 10 Avoir failli aller cf. 15 13.
16 11 c'était tout comme colloquial, 'it was just the same'.
16 12 en revenait = revenait de là bas, 'was returning from there'.
16 13 tous ces messieurs 'everybody' English has no construction corresponding to this use of ce It is used deferentially, especially by servants Madame prie ces messieurs de l'attendre 'Mrs X will see you in a moment, cf. 6 3, 53 7.
16 19 en arrivait à dire redundant en (cf. note to 8 19), 'came to the point of saying'.
16 26 il devait bien savoir 'he must have known perfectly well'.
16 29 s'entendre 'come to an understanding', lit 'hear each other','understand each other' cf. notes to 2 3, 7 2.
16 32 Toulouse an important city in southwestern France.
17 1 son mensonge à lui à lui repeats the idea expressed by son thus emphasizing it, cf. 20 13.
17 4 allez-vous-en dans le Midi 'go (away) into the South' The force of s'en in s'en aller is sometimes vague, and in colloquial speech s'en aller often is almost equivalent to the simple aller, e.g. je m'en vais vous dire 'I am going to tell you', cf. 55 10, 63 22, 2 8, 53 11.
17 8 butte Montmartre a hill (butte) in Paris.
17 9 Maison carrée ('Square House') de Nîmes one of the most beautiful Roman remains in France It was a Roman temple and is very small a mere nothing in comparison with Notre Dame--bijou d'étagère 'cabinet gem' The étagère is used for displaying small articles of value, see "étagère" and "whatnot" in Engl. Dict.
17 10 Notre-Dame the celebrated cathedral in Paris.
17 14 Tout au plus une sous-préfecture 'at the very most a subprefecture' Arles (cf. 29 11) with a population of 29,000, is an example of a subprefecture Both Athens and Sparta were decidedly larger than this, cf. note to 80 13 The French départements (compare our 'States') are divided into arrondissements (compare our 'counties') A prefect (préfet) presides over a département, and a subprefect (sous préfet) over an arrondissement Sous préfecture is synonymous with arrondissement, or, as here, is used for the city in which the subprefect has his offices. An arrondissement is divided into cantons and a canton into communes.
17 chapter heading Atlas: a mountain range in northwestern Africa.
17 25 séculaire: 'lasting for centuries'(Lat sæculum), 'everlasting' not 'secular' See Engl dict.
18 2 devait: 'was to', cf. 26 9, 32 10, 39 26 See note to 2 10.
18 4 était en train de démontrer: 'was in the act of demonstrating'; Transl. simply 'was demonstrating'--amateur 'admirer,' 'lover' The distinction 'amateur,' 'professional,' is French as well as English, but in French the word amateur also means 'lover'--not, however, the lover of a person Tartarin was demonstrating to some 'lovers (of arms)'.
18 5 fusil à aiguille: 'needle gun,' invented in 1836, and used in the Prussian army in 1841 The cartridge in this gun is exploded by a slender needle, or pin, which is driven into it.
18 11 foire de Beaucaire: cf. 13 28 The Beaucaire fair (July 1-28), instituted in the Middle Ages, is still famous but has in recent years lost much of its importance.
18 13 place du château: the square in front of the castle.
18 14 un tas de: 'a large number of', lit 'a pile of'.
18 16 de mémoire d'homme: 'within the memory of man', Latin hominum Memoria.
18 17 s'était vue: 'had been seen', cf. note to 5 23--comme: connect with fièrement in translation.
18 24 entre ses mains: 'in his hands'.
18 25 à deux pas: 'only a step or two away', cf. à dix mille lieues de Tarascon (2 2) 'ten thousand leagues away from Tarascon,' à combien de pas (24 8) 'how many paces away'.
18 27 premier sujet: 'star,' in the company of players.
18 32 n'en pouvait supporter: on en cf. note to 8 19.
18 33 lui monta au visage: 'mounted to his face', cf. 12 25, 45 8.
19 1 D'un geste: 'with a gesture', cf. note to 51 20.
19 5 Hé bé...: Provençal for eh bien! 'Well, but....'
19 8 emboîtant le pas: a military expression, 'marching in lock step'.
19 14 kabyle: cf. note to 40 17 The Kabyle woman's dress, which reaches not quite to the ankles, is loose and held in at the waist, her feet and arms are bare, she wears bracelets and anklets.
19 19 pensionnaires: 'boarders,' here referring to the animals.
19 20 jeta un froid: 'threw cold water,' 'chilled the enthusiasm'.
19 27 se trouva: 'was', cf. note to 13 22.
20 7 perruque: 'wig,' here applied to the lion's mane (crinière, 1 16).
20 10 soit que ... soit que: 'either because ('be it that') or because'--donne de l'humeur. 'made ill-tempered' Humeur usually means 'ill humor' in French.
20 13 en leur bâillant an nez à tous: cf. note to 12 25 A tous is in apposition with leur, hence the dative case, cf. 17 1-2. When tous is a pronoun the s is sounded, cf.below, 1 19.
20 26 Ça, oui, c'est une chasse: 'that, now, that's a hunt worth while!'
21 10-12 Et autrement ... au moins: 'I say, you surely have heard the news--That depends What is it? Tartarin's departure, perhaps?' Et autrement and au moins cannot be translated literally See the paragraph following in the text.
21 15 mouain: = moins misspelled to indicate a pronuntiation as two syllables instead of one.
21 16 à faire trembler: cf. note to 2 2.
21 19 ce que c'est que la vanité: the construction will be clear if a second est is supplied after vanité, 'what vanity is', cf. note to 72 21.
21 22 fit: = dit There are many examples of this usage in this book.
21 23 je ne dis pas: 'I don't say (that I shan't),' 'I won't commit Myself'
22 12 fit ... effroyable: 'gave Tartarin-Quixote a terrible grilling'.
22 16 éléphantiasis: 'elephantiasis,' a disease of the skin which makes it thick, hard, and fissured like an elephant's hide.
22 21 feu Cambyse: 'the late Cambyses' feu is frequently used, but only with humorous intent, in speaking of persons long since dead. For the story of the expedition (525 B.C.) sent by Cambyses, king of Persia, to plunder the temple of Jupiter Ammon in the desert of Libya, see Herodotus III Cambyses himself did not perish in this expedition as Daudet erroneously states.
22 27 que diable! 'hang it all!'
22 30 Mungo-Park (1771-1806, no hyphen in English) Scotch explorer of the Niger--Caillé (René, 1799-1838} a Frenchman, the first European to return alive from Timbuktu.
22 31 Livingstone (David, 1813-1873) celebrated Scotch missionary and traveler--Duveyrier(1840-1892) French geographer, and explorer of the northwestern Sahara.
23 3 à partir de ce jour-là: 'from that day on'--ne ... plus que: cf. note to 4 23.
23 10 faire son tour de ville: cf. note to 12 21.
23 11 pas accéléré: 'quick time', pas redoublé, 'double quick', pas gymnastique, 'run.'
23 13 selon la mode antique: there is no evidence that ancient runners carried pebbles in their mouths Daudet is perhaps thinking of the well known story about Demosthenes Modern runners carry something, not usually pebbles, in their mouths to induce themselves to hold the mouth shut and breathe through the nose, and also to keep the mouth moist by inciting the flow of saliva.
23 16 jusqu'à des dix et onze heures: 'even as late as ten and eleven o'clock' Des and et (instead of ou, 'or) lend emphasis to the Expression.
23 27 ne battait plus que d'une aile: 'was almost dead', lit 'could no longer flap more than one wing' (like a wounded bird), cf. note to 4 23.
24 1 mouches cantharides: 'Spanish flies' These insects, which are found in southern Europe, are used (crushed) as the chief element in blistering plasters--dessus adverb, 'on top of it', cf. note to 1 6.
24 3 Il fallait voir: 'you should have seen', cf. 69 4.
24 4 se l'arrachait: for se cf. note to 7 2 Se is dative, cf. 4 24.
24 6 se faire expliquer: cf. note to 7 25.
24 7 comment on s'y prenait: 'how you go at it' On y cf. note to 2 29.
24 8 à combien de pas: cf. note to 18 25.
24 11 Jules Gerard (1817-1864) called le Tueur de lions, an officer of spahis (cf. note to 43 8) and celebrated lion hunter.
24 12 Aussi: cf. note to 5 32.
24 16 que = quand cf. note to 5 1.
24 21 disait: cf. note to 7 26.
24 22 laurier-rose: 'oleander', all parts of this shrub are poisonous.
24 23 pluies de sauterelles: particularly in Africa and Asia migratory locusts collect in countless numbers, forming a cloud so dense as to obscure the sun, and consume every green thing, cf. 81 25 and note to 86 20 See the pages on "Les Sauterelles" in "Lettres de mon moulin," where Daudet describes an invasion of these terrible insects.
24 29 balle explosible: a bullet which explodes on striking an object.
24 30 pfft! the sound of the bullet passing through the air.
25 2 garçonnets: 'urchins,' diminutive of garçon, cf. note to 33 27.
25 3 grand'peur: cf. grand'mère, grand'peine, etc The Latin adjectives of two terminations (grandis, e) had regularly in French one form (grand) for masculine and feminine An e was added in the feminine through the influence of other feminine adjectives (bonne, from bona), but the old form is retained, with the addition of the apostrophe, in certain phrases Pronounce as if grand' were masculine.
25 chapter heading pas de on the absence of ne cf. note to 13 1.
25 9 Toujours est-il que: 'at any rate' On the inversion after toujours (still ') cf. note to 5 32.
25 11 peut-être ... se figurait-il the same inversion as that referred to in the preceding note. Compare in the next sentence Peut être qu(e) il s'imaginait.
25 18 le: 'it,' that is, victime, omit in translation cf. 59 13, 84 3.
25 22 fit fureur: 'was all the rage', of cette piece (de theâtre) fait fureur 'this play is all the rage'.
26 2 ne faisait plus foi: 'was no longer regarded as unimpeachable'
26 5 faisait deux doigts de cour a: 'courted a little' (two finger Breadths).
26 6 langue du cru: 'local dialect,' 'vernacular' Cru means 'growth,' 'that which grows in a certain district', croître = 'grow' Vin du cru ='local wine', donner une oeuvre de son cru = 'to produce a work of one's own imagination', cf. dame du cru 60 29, jurons du cru 65 4.
26 9 devait: cf. note to 18 2.
26 10 on le chargeait toujours: cf. 11 12.
26 12 l'allusion: like Master Gervais's gun, Tartarin never went off, partir = 'to depart,' 'to go off' (of a gun).
26 13 En un tour de main: 'in a turning of the hand,' 'like a flash'.
26 16 Le fusil de maître Gervais--Toujours on le charge, toujours on le charge--Le fusil de maître Gervais--Toujours on le charge, il ne part jamais.
26 24 lui glisser dans la main: 'slipping in (i.e. out of) his hand'.
26 27 il fait bon: 'it's a pleasant thing'.
26 30 sa même vie: 'the same life as before '--comme si de rien n'était 'as if it was (all) about nothing,' 'as if it all amounted to Nothing'.
27 4 portait toute sa barbe: 'wore a full beard'.
27 14 s'adresser: cf. note to 5 23--fouchtras transl. rascals'Fouchtra is an inelegant exclamation, originally peculiar to the inhabitants of Auvergne (south central France), hence, used as a noun it means a person from Auvergne Many bootblacks come from Auvergne, so the word is not inappropriately applied to the little Savoyard bootblacks.
27 16 tenait bon: 'stood its ground firmly', adverbial use of the adjective cf. sentir bon and the corresponding English 'to smell good'.
27 26 ganté ... oreilles: 'with black gloves on, (his coat) buttoned up to his ears' With boutonné cf. sanglé 9 20.
27 27 fit: cf. note to 21 22.
28 8 il lui prit la main: 'he took his hand', cf. note to 12 25.
28 12 Bompard: the personages of "Tartarin de Tarascon" appear in other novels of Daudet. For Bompard see particularly "Numa Roumestan."
28 13 CAISSE D'ARMES: 'WEAPON-CHEST.'
28 18 toute une cargaison: 'a whole cargo', cf. 33 2-3.
28 19 pemmican: 'pemmican', dried meat, pulverized or shredded, and mixed with melted fat, for Arctic rather than tropical use.
28 20 tente-abri: a light, easily-handled tent, used particularly by troops in the field. Abri, masculine, = 'shelter.'
28 21 à la: here = 'in a.'
28 24 vinaigre des quatre-voleurs: 'thieves' vinegar,' a kind of aromatic vinegar, formerly used as a disinfectant. The name is derived from the fact that this concoction was popularly supposed to have rendered immune from contagion certain thieves who were pillaging the city of Toulouse during a severe plague (1720).
28 26 ce qu'il en faisait: on en cf. note to 8 19.--ce n'était pas pour lui: 'it wasn't for him,' i.e. it wasn't for Tartarin-Quixote.
29 10 grelots ... sonnettes: the grelot is sounded by a ball inside, as in a sleigh bell. Sonnette is a broader term, used for any small bell. Une cloche is a large bell; cf. 31 25.
29 11 Arles: an ancient city on the Rhone, nine miles south of Tarascon. Its women, of a marked Greek type, are famed for their beauty, which is enhanced by a very picturesque head-dress (coiffe). --venues en croupe de leur galant: 'riding behind their sweethearts.' Note that leur galant is singular; cf. ses deux fusils dans leur gaine 71 25; cf. also note to 92 15, and Savoyards ... la tête ... leurs 1 8. We say 'arms bare to the elbow', cf. 19 14-15.
29 18 Mésopotamie: 'Mesopotamia,' that part of Asia which lies between the Tigris and the Euphrates.
29 22 traçant ... sillons glorieux: 'leaving, as it were, glorious furrows in their wake.' Note the force of comme; cf. 31 19, 34 9.
29 25 laissant voir: 'permitting to be seen'; cf. note to 7 25.
30 3 il se fit: cf. note to 5 23.
30 12 avait cru de son devoir ... de: 'had thought it his duty ... to.'
30 14 en toile blanche: en is used to denote the material of which a thing is made. De also may be used: une table d'acajou, but we find des commodes en acajou 82 7; cf. un sac de cuir 51 4, une serviette en cuir 71 14.
30 16 chechia: the cap worn by the natives of Algeria; as used by the Algerian sharpshooters of the French army it is somewhat like a fez (note to 33 25), but less close.
30 17 d'une longueur: for the suppression cf. note to 15 21.
30 22 venaient là bien à propos: 'came in quite opportunely.'
30 26 à quoi s'en tenir sur: 'what to expect from ' En is redundant.
30 29 son ... chez lui: 'his ... home'; mon chez moi = 'my home.'
30 30 ne se voyait pas: 'was not seen,' ' did not appear', cf. note to 5 23.
31 5 vieil Africain de 1830: 'African veteran of 30', cf. note to 40 17.
31 6 lui serra la main: cf. note to 12 25.
31 7 express Paris-Marseille: 'express from Paris to Marseilles.'
31 9 fit fermer les grilles: cf. note to 7 25.
31 13 On s'inscrivait: inscrire = 'to inscribe,' 'to enter,' as on a register; s'inscrire= 'to enter one's name.'
31 15 Socrate: ' Socrates,' famous Athenian philosopher(470-400 B.C.), convicted of impiety and of corrupting the youth, was condemned to drink the poisonous hemlock. He conversed calmly with his friends until the end. See Plato's "Apology," "Crito," and " Phaedo."
31 16 ciguë. the diaeresis is written over the e to show that the u is pronounced, [sigy]; contrast the pronunciation of figue.
31 19 comme: cf. note to 29 22.
31 20 D'entendre: 'as a result of hearing,' 'on hearing.'
31 23 hommes d'équipe: 'station hands' An équipe is a gang of men engaged on a particular piece of work.
31 25 cloche: the large bell which announced the approach of the train. On words for 'bell' cf. note to 29 10.
31 31 monta dans un wagon: 'got into a car' Monter is always followed by dans when used in this sense, cf. entrer dans une maison 'to enter a house' cf. note to 94 9.
31 32 pensèrent mourir = faillirent mourir (cf. 15 13): 'almost died.'
32 1 1er =premier.--par: cf. note to 10 22.
32 3 déboucher: used of rivers ('empty into'), streets ('terminate at'), armies ('debouch'). Here used for comic effect; transl. 'debouch.'--la Canebière: the principal Street of Marseilles, of which the inhabitants are very proud.
32 5 s'il en manque ... des Teurs: des Teurs is anticipated by en; cf. 36 19, 38 32, 69 2.
32 10 le Zouave. the corps of French infantry in Algeria called 'zouaves' was organized in 1831. It was at first composed almost entirely of natives (hence the well-known costume which is still worn), but is now made up exclusively of Frenchmen.--devait: cf. note to 18 2.
32 14 pour la première fois: cf. 13 26-27.
32 16 Sinbad le Marin 'Sindbad the Sailor,' the hero of a well-known series of stories in the "Arabian Nights" (Mille et une nuits)
32 17 comme il y en a: 'such as there are', cf.49 8.
32 19 à perte de vue: 'as far as the eye could reach'.
32 21 tunisiens: Tunis was independent when "Tartarin" was written, and has the flag of an independent state to this day. Note that this fragmentary list names only the flags less often seen.
32 22 arrivant sur: 'projecting over'.
32 23 Au-dessous (adv, cf.1 6) les naïades ... saintes vierges: just below the bowsprit is a figure head representing the naïad (water nymph), the goddess, or the madonna, whose name is inscribed on both sides of the bow. Les saintes vierges are images of the Virgin, which are particularized by specific attitudes, attributes, or localities Read "La Diligence de Beaucaire," in " Lettres de mon moulin".
32 29 mousses: le mousse='cabin boy,' la mousse='moss,' 'foam'
33 2 tout un peuple: cf. note to 28 18.
33 4 bogheys: borrowed from the English 'buggy' Paquebot (32 10) is from Engl. 'packet-boat,' and redingote (34 6) is from Engl 'riding coat'
33 8 bric-à-brac: this word means 'bric-a-brac' (odds and ends), 'a dealer in bric-a-brac,' or his store, 'curiosity shop,' as here.
33 9 coulevrines: 'culverins,' an obsolete form of cannon.
33 11 Jean Bart (1651-1702): a famous sailor and privateer, of low birth, ennobled by Louis XIV. Duguay-Trouin (1673-1736) privateer and naval commander.
33 18 saumons: 'salmon' (fish), in metallurgy 'pigs' (here, of lead) A pig is an oblong mass of cast metal, especially iron or lead.
33 19 caroubes: 'carob beans,' the sweet pulpy pods, dried, of the caroubier (76 24), a tree of the countries bordering the Medditerranean, the "husks" of Luke xv, 16, and sometimes sold as a dainty at American fruit stands--colzas colza, or rape, is a sort of turnip with no thick root, raised for the oil of its seeds and for pasturage.
33 20 de Hollande: 'Dutch' The hard Edam cheese, made in globular molds and dyed red on the outside, is familiar to Americans.
33 21 Génoises: women of Genoa (Gênes], seaport in northern Italy.
33 25 fez: 'fez', named from the city of Fez in Morocco, where it is made a felt or cloth cap, dark red, with a tassel--a mesure: 'in proportion) as it fell ', cf. note to 58 18.
33 27 de femmes et d'enfants: they followed to pick up (glean, glaner) what fell from the carts--balayette dimmutive of balai cf. colline, collinette 4 11, garçon, garçonnet 25 2, seul,seulet 63 18, seulette.
33 28 bassin de carénage: 'dry dock' Carénage 'careenage' = a place for, or the act of, careening a ship for the purpose of examining or repairng its hull or keel (carène).
34 3 Malte: 'Malta,' an island in the Mediterranean, between Sicily and Africa, which has belonged to England since 1814.
34 9 comme en l'air: 'as if they were sailing in the air', cf. note to 29 22.
34 12 fort Saint-Jean, fort Saint-Nicolas: the two forts which guard the entrance to the harbor of Marseilles.
34 13 la Major: the old cathedral of Marseilles (Sainte Marie Majeure}.--Accoules, Saint-Victor: old churches in Marseilles.
34 14 mistral: (Latin magistralis 'masterly') 'mistral,' a violent north-west wind which sweeps down the Rhône valley.
35 12 golfe du Lion: 'Gulf of the Lion,' off southern France.
36 10 comme ... voulu: en vouloir à quelqu'un means 'to bear a grudge against a person.' Il en veut à Jean = 'he bears a grudge against John.' Here 'how angry they would have been with themselves!' 'how they would have reproached themselves!'
36 13 courage: 'energy.' The word courage (ordinarily = English 'courage') is often so used. Je n'ai pas le courage de travailler aujourd'hui 'I haven't the energy to work (do not feel like working) to day.' Cf. 50 1.
36 16 ne cessait: pas is often omitted with savoir, pouvoir, cesser, oser, bouger, cf. 18 32, 86 3.
36 18 Imbécile, va!: 'what a fool you are!' Va! allez! and allons! (imperatives of aller) are common exclamations, the sense varies with the context. For allons! cf. 56 1--Je te l'avais bien dit 'I told you so.'
36 19 Eh bien ... l'Afrique!: 'well now, here's your Africa!' On té see note to 13 7. La anticipates l'Afrique, cf. 32 5.
36 25 Alcazar: a music-hall. Alcazar means in Arabic 'the palace.'
36 27 la Mecque: 'Mecca,' in Arabia, the birthplace of Mohammed; the Holy City to which every good Mohammedan goes in pilgrimage at least once.
36 28 Ravel, Gil Pérès: popular comedians in Paris at the time Daudet was writing.
36 30 un bon gros vivant de Marseillais: a bon vivant is 'a man who lives well,' 'a jolly fellow' On de see note to 1 12.
37 3 il se fit: cf. note to 5 23.
37 7 Machine en avant! machine en arrière! 'Go ahead! back her!' Machine = 'engine'.
37 9 Machine, stop! 'stop her!' 'The verb stopper (borrowed from English stop) is regularly used of engines. Stop in machine, stop! is an imperative taken directly from the English.
37 10 plus rien: cf. notes to 13 1 and 4 23--Rien que: cf. 1 17.
37 19 Alger la blanche: 'Algiers,' capital of Algeria, about 500 miles from Marseilles. For the epithet blanche, see next note.
37 22 Meudon: a town on the Seine between Paris and Versailles. The white houses of Algiers sloping towards the sea look like the washing of a laundress spread out on the grassy hill which at Meudon descends to the Seine. Étalage means a 'spreading out,' as of things for sale; then, by extension, the objects displayed. Cf. note to 69 15.
37 26 à ses côtés: 'at his (Tartarin's) side'; note the plural côtés; cf. aux flancs du paquebot 93 19.
37 27 Casbah: the citadel, 400 feet above the sea, crowning the hill on which the Moorish quarter (la ville haute 'the Upper City') is built--la rue Bab-Azoun: lower down, parallel to the shore, the most important street in Algiers.
38 18 Qués aco? Provençal for qu'est ce que c'est que cela? 'what's that?'--qu'est-ce que vous avez?' 'what's the matter with you?'
38 21 pourquoi faire? 'why?' 'what for?' cf. 49 1.--boun Diou: Provençal for bon Dieu.
38 31 tron de ler: more properly tron de l'er, a Provençal oath = tonnerre de l'air, 'thunder of the air!' A Provençal newspaper with the name Lou Tron de l'Er appeared in Marseilles in 1877-1878.
38 32 longtemps: cf. note to 40 17.--en: anticipates des pirates; cf. note to 32 5.
39 4 un brave garçon: cf. note to 3 12.
39 8 tire-vieille: 'man-rope,' one of the side ropes on the gangway of a ship. Tire-vieille (tirer + vieille,' that which helps old women to mount') is often misspelled tire-veille (tirer + veille, 'pull and take care').
39 17 tourmentait: 'tormented,' 'twisted and turned.'
39 20 sous le bâton de: 'under the cudgel used upon.'
39 23 barbaresque: 'Barbary.' La Barbarie ('Barbary') = États barbaresques is a general term formerly applied to the North African states: Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli.
39 24 Michel Cervantes: in 1575 Cervantes was captured by Barbary pirates and carried to Algiers. His five years of slavery afforded him materials for "Don Quixote" and other works; cf. note to 10 13.
39 26 devait: cf. note to 18 2.
40 1 Saavedra: upon his return from Algiers in 1580 Cervantes assumed the additional surname of Saavedra from one of his ancestors, always signing himself thenceforth Cervantes Saavedra.
40 4 dut tressaillir: 'must have leaped', cf. note to 2 10.
40 14 à peine Tartarin eut-il mis: cf. note to 5 32.
40 17 Arabes ... M'zabites: the aborigines of Algeria, three quarters of the population even now, are the Berber race, including the Kabyles (19 14) in the north, the Mzabites, purest Berbers of all, in the south, and the marauding Tuaregs (11 6) in the Sahara. The Mzabites, the heretical Puritans of Algerian Mohammedanism, are seen everywhere as honest petty traders and workers in street industries. The Arab conquest about 700 A.D. made Arabic the dominant language of all North Africa to this day--an important fact to remember--and introduced the Arabs as a permanent population along the north edge of the Sahara. The conquest by Turkish pirates about 1500 A.D., with subordination to the Sultan of Turkey till 1669, brought in very few Turks; the pirates were a mixture of various Mohammedan nations with renegades from the Christian nations. The "Moors" of to-day in Algeria are their descendants; the ancient Moors were Berbers. During the centuries of pirate rule, and earlier, negroes were brought in as slaves; Mohammedan custom favored setting them free in a few years if they became Mohammedans. The overthrow of the pirates by the French in 1830, and the French conquest during the next thirty years, caused most of the few Turks to leave the country, and started an influx of Europeans from the Mediterranean countries; Daudet notices especially the Minorcans (Mahonnais from the city of Port Mahon).
40 22 charabia: borrowed from the Spanish algarabía, which means properly 'Arabic,' then, by extension, any unintelligible 'jargon.' The French word is usually applied contemptuously to the dialect of Auvergne (cf. note to 27 14).
40 23 invraisemblables: lit. 'unlike the truth,' 'improbable', then 'strange,' 'outlandish', of German unwahrscheinlich.
40 26 se faire comprendre: cf. note to 7 25.--barbares: 'barbarians,' the word used by Greeks and Romans to designate uncivilized peoples. Not to be confused with barbaresque.
40 28 du latin de Pourceaugnac: 'Pourceaugnac Latin,' meaningless Latin such as that which Molière introduces into some of his plays. "Monsieur de Pourceaugnac" is the name of one of Molière's farces, and there is some Latin in it; but Daudet probably had in mind "Le Médecin malgré lui," II, 6. He uses the name Pourceaugnac here because he likes the sound. Rosa, rosae, is the type-noun of the first declension in French grammars of to-day, where we have ordinarily mensa or stella. In Molière's time, as suggested by the passage of "Le Médecin malgré lui" referred to, musa, musae, was the noun commonly used.
41 2 Heureusement qu': que is redundant, cf. 58 23.
41 3 canne de compagnon: 'stout cane.' When the young artisan (compagnon) set out on his travels (tour de France) to learn his trade, he carried a stout cane which is one of the principal attributes of compagnonnage.
41 4 dieu d'Homère: in the " Iliad" and the "Odyssey" the gods often intervene in the affairs of men.
41 11 tenant le milieu entre: 'a cross between.'
41 12 Zanzibar: capital, since 1832, of the Mohammedan power in East Africa, and place of entry for travelers to Central Africa in the middle of the nineteenth century; hence here representing the idea of an African capital, as Constantinople that of a Turkish capital.
41 13 en plein Tarascon: cf. note to 5 7.
41 15 la ligne: in the French and English armies the term la ligne, 'the line,' is applied ordinarily to the infantry of the regular army as opposed to the militia, cavalry, artillery, etc. In America the line includes all that part of the regular army whose business is actual fighting.--Offenbach: Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), born at Cologne, a naturalized Frenchman, composer of light operas.
41 24 Crusoé: the final e of English proper names terminating in -oe is ordinarily pronounced in French; cf. Edgard Poé or Poë.
41 28 monter: the active use of this verb, 'carry up', cf. promener 74 26.
42 1 Gouvernement: the building in which are the offices of the provincial government. Cf. 70 8.
42 4 en avait vu de rudes: 'had had a hard time of it', with rudes supply some such noun as choses, anticipated by en; cf. note to 32 5.
42 14 il se fit servir: cf. note to 7 25.--grande ouverte: 'wide open'; cf. 51 7.
42 15 Crescia: a wine-producing district near Algiers.
42 22 fréter: 'to charter,' a nautical term used here mock-heroically.
42 26 montait d'un bon pied: note the de with expressions of measure, haute de cinq doigts (71 14) 'five fingers high,' il est plus grand (plus âgé) de deux pouces (deux ans) 'he is two inches (two years) taller (older)'; cf. 95 8.
42 28 enfila: enfiler = 'to thread (a needle, pearls, etc.)', then, 'to thread (one's way through arcades, crowded streets, etc).'
43 2 prit le faubourg: 'took the street which leads through the suburb.' Faubourg meant originally the portion of a city outside the walled town (bourg); then also the street leading through this district. Cf. note to 49 7.--route de Mustapha: 'Mustapha road', cf. note to 1 5. Mustapha is a suburb of Algiers, on the sea.
43 4 corricolos: corricolo is the Neapolitan word (Latin 'curriculum, 'chariot'; see curricle in Engl. dict.) for a sort of gig.--fourgons du train: 'army wagons', train = train des équipages, 'the train,' an army's equipment for the transportation of provisions and other necessities.
43 5 chasseurs d'Afrique: French light cavalry serving in Algeria; transl. 'Africa cavalry.'
43 7 Alsaciens émigrants: 'emigrating Alsatians'; contrast émigrés alsaciens 'Alsatian emigrants.' After the Franco-Prussian war (1870-871), as a result of which Alsace became a German province, many Alsatians emigrated rather than submit to German domination. In 1871 about 11,000 natives of Alsace-Lorraine were granted land in Algeria. Daudet visited Algeria in 1861, before the Alsatians immigrated in large numbers.
43 8 spahis: 'spahis,' native cavalry in the French service, commanded by French officers.
43 12-13 bouchers: 'butchers.'--équarrisseurs: 'slaughterers.' Équarisseur, probably because of a falsely imputed connection with Latin equus, is ordinarily used to mean 'horse slaughterer,' 'knacker.' The root of the word is, however, Latin quadratus, French carré, and an équarisseur is properly 'one who cuts a beast into quarters,' one whose chief interest is in the by-products--hide, bones, fat, etc.
43 20 ne devaient pas être: 'ought not to be,' 'surely were not,' 'could not be', see note to 2 10.
43 29 crut devoir: 'thought he had better'; see note to 2 10.
43 31 Et autrement: cf. note to 21 10.
44 1 Vous avez tué? ... voyez plutôt: 'killed any? Oh, yes--some--just take a look for yourself.' With pas mal 'not badly' cf. j'ai tué pas mal de bécasses 'I killed quite a number of woodcocks.'
44 7 c'est des tout petits: popular for ce sont, cf. 90 26.
44 11 en resta planté: 'stood rooted (to the spot)', cf. note to 12 31 En = de cela, 'at all this', cf. note to 8 19.
44 15 se faisaient: 'were becoming', cf. note to 5 23.
44 28 Sous ... étoiles: 'in the dim starlight'--leur ombre cf. note to 29 11.
45 8 en 1ui tirant la patte: en tirant la patte au chevreau, cf. lui faisant battre le coeur 53 16.
45 13 que le lion l'entendît: colloquial omission of ne, which is regularly used with verbs of fearing, avoiding, etc, eg j'ai peur qu'il ne vienne 'I fear that he may come.'
45 15 de plus belle: cf. note to 8 18.
45 19 Cela se baissait ... s'arrêtait net: an admirable description
45 21 a n'en pas douter: 'no doubt of it!' cf. note to 2 2.
45 24 En joue! feu!: 'aim! fire!' Mettre (coucher) en joue un fusil = 'to aim a gun' Mettre (coucher) en joue quelque chose = 'to aim at a thing.'
45 29 Il en a! 'he has (caught) it!' 'he's hit!' LIT. 'he has some.'
45 30 en avait ... compte: 'had more than it wanted.'
46 7 venir a bout de: 'come to (the) end of' 'succeed'.
46 8 Il eut beau s'escrimer: on avoir beau cf. note to 11 9. Escrimer = 'to fence,' s'escrimer = 'to exert oneself.'
46 9 ne s'ouvrit pas: cf. note to 5 23.
46 11 De guerre lasse: for de guerre las 'tired of struggling.' Final s was pronounced in Old French, after it was no longer pronounced in most words it still continued to be sounded in las in the expression de guerre las because of the presence of the feminine guerre whence the erroneous spelling lasse.
46 12 dessus: adverb, cf. note to 1 6.
46 19 artichauts: the true or globe artichoke (not to be confounded with the Jerusalem artichoke) resembles a large thistle, and hence is well adapted to give the impression described in 44 26-27.
46 24 bastides, bastidons: Provençal bastido = 'country house,' 'villa', Provençal bastidoun is the diminutive, = 'little villa,' 'cottage.'
47 6 parbleu! euphemistic for pardieu, transl. 'of course!'
47 8 bourriquots: cf. Engl. burro, which is borrowed from the Spanish French bourrique 'she ass' comes from the Provençal bourric 'donkey' (Latin burricus a kind of small horse.)
47 11 tout à la pitié: 'entirely one of pity', cf. 79 30.
47 16 tout ce que ... touchant: 'the most touching thing you could imagine.'
47 18 avait ... vie: 'had two farthings' worth of life left in him', liard, an ancient coin worth a quarter of a sou (i.e. of a cent), is usually translated 'farthing.'
47 23 Noiraud: 'Blacky,' a pet name often given to animals.
47 28 en marmotte: 'with a kerchief tied over her head.' This use of the word marmotte is derived from the fact that Savoyard women who formerly traveled about the country with marmots (cf. note to 74 27) employed this form of head covering.
48 1 réclamant ... Mustapha: 'shouting for her donkey till all the echos of Mustapha rang.' Réclamer à = 'to demand from.'
48 6 tarterfle: corruption of German der Teufel 'the devil.' German was the language generally used by the Alsatian peasants before the war, though their sympathies were French (cf. note to 43 7) See "La Dernière Classe" and some of the other stories in "Contes du lundi."
48 11 Va te promener! lit. 'go take a walk!' transl. 'much good it did him!'--sa vigueur le prouvait bien 'her vigor proved it (that she was deaf) conclusively.' 'To strike like a deaf person,' frapper comme un sourd, is said of one who uses the cudgel energetically and wildly, as if he did not hear the laments of his victim.
48 17 l'on s'entendit: cf. note to 16 29.
48 21 douros: say 'dollars' or 'cash.' A duro is a Spanish coin whose par value is now five francs, before 1871, a trifle more.
48 26 a deux lieues: cf. note to 4 8.
49 1 Ah! ben! merci: 'ah, indeed! no, thank you!' Ben (pronounced like bain) is popular for bien Merci in answer to a question (e.g. "will you have some more meat?") means "no, thank you!" Contrast English 'thank you,' which usually expresses assent--pourquoi faire? cf. note to 38 21.
49 7 banlieue: distinguish banlieue, 'suburbs' in the sense now usual, the district of country surrounding a city and full of dependent villages, from faubourgs, 'suburbs' in the older sense, forming a continuous mass of houses with the main city, and un village (or une ville) de (la) banlieue from un faubourg. Cf. note to 43 2.
49 8 comme on en voit: cf. note to 32 17--rameau: a branch hung out was used formerly and is still used to a certain extent as the sign of a country inn, of the English proverb "good wine needs no bush."
49 11 Au Rendez-vous des lapins: 'The Rabbits' Headquarters.' The original expression à l'enseigne de, 'at the sign of,' became by ellipsis a plus the article, which takes the gender and number of the noun following e.g. à la Belle jardinière, aux Armes de France.
49 12 O Bravida, quel souvenir! cf. 9 7.
49 13 de quoi: cf. note to 10 7.
49 14 ne se laissent pas abattre: cf. note to 7 25.
49 24 il faisait un soleil, une poussière: faire may be used in almost any expression concerning the weather; faire chaud, du soleil, du vent, de la poussière, etc. Here, 'it was so terribly hot, so dusty.'
49 25 d'un lourd: 'frightfully heavy', adjective used as an abstract noun, of such English usages as 'of a decided red.' On the suppression cf. note to 15 21.
50 7 fusils rayés à doubles canons: cf. note to 14 32. To rifle (rayer) a gun is to cut spiral grooves in the barrel.
50 8 complet: French law requires that only a certain number of passengers be carried on omnibuses. When this number is reached the omnibus is said to be complet, 'filled.'
50 14 Abd-el-Kader: the great leader of Algerian resistance to the French conquest. He surrendered in 1847, was carried to France as a prisoner by a breach of faith, was released in 1852 on his oath to make no more trouble, went to Damascus and lived there till his death in 1883, using his influence in favor of the French. (Note that he was alive when "Tartarin" was published.)
50 19 de toute la route: 'during the whole ride,' 'all the way.'
50 21 k'hol: 'kohl,' a powder used in the Orient from ancient times, particularly to darken the eyes, thus making them seem larger and more oblong.
50 32 Que faire? 'what was he to do?'
51 3 aux mains des: 'into the hands of the.'
51 7 s'ouvraient tout grands: 'opened wide', cf. 42 14.
51 10 à l'entrée de: 'at the beginning of.'
51 14 en se levant: 'as she rose.'
51 15 qu'il l'effleura de son haleine: lit. 'that it (le visage) touched him lightly with its breath', transl. 'that he felt her breath sweep lightly over him.'
51 17 prêt à tout: 'ready for anything.'
51 18 buffleteries: 'belts' (of a soldier's outfit), 'strappings.' Buffle, masculine, = 'buffalo' or 'buff leather.'
51 20 de: 'with', jeter de = 'to throw with', cf. 69 10.
51 28 De quelques jours encore: 'for a few days yet.'
52 7 pied de trappeur: transl. 'hunting boot.'
52 8 se parfume: cf. note to 5 23.
52 9 quoi qu'il fasse: 'whatever he does,' i.e. despite all his efforts.
52 10 Maugrabine: 'Maghrebi girl' Maghreb is the Arabic name of the western part of the north coast of Africa.
52 13 il n'y a qu'un Tarasconnais ... capable: lit. 'there is only a Tarasconian capable', transl. 'only a Tarasconian would be capable.'
52 17 se ressemblent: 'look alike', cf. note to 7 2 --ces dames: cf. note to 16 13--ne sortent guère: 'rarely leave their homes', sortir = 'to go out,' 'to leave the house.'
52 18 ville haute: cf. note to 37 27.
52 25 Teurs ... forbans: 'fierce Turks with pirate like heads', cf. note to 1 5.
52 29 cité: 'city.' This term, in English as well as in French, is applied in some cases to the oldest portion of a city, e.g. 'the City' of London, 'the City' of Paris.
53 3 janissaires: 'janizaries,' the standing army of Turkey till 1826; a corps of most turbulent history, full of lawless arrogance toward civilians and Christians. The janizaries of Algiers became independent in 1669, and dominated the pirate commonwealth.
53 5 Huit jours durant: 'for a whole week.' Durant, 'during,' is emphatic when it follows its noun, cf. 61 7.
53 6 faire le pied de grue: 'stand and wait,' lit. to stand like a crane (i.e. on one foot.)
53 7 ces dames: cf. note to 16 13.
53 9 quitter ... bottes: shoes must be taken off (which is easy with Oriental shoes) before one enters a Mohammedan sacred place. Cf. Exodus III, 5.
53 11 s'en revenait: Cf. s'en aller 17 4, s'en retourner 2 8.
53 15 tambours de basque: 'tambourines,' called 'Biscayan drums' because generally seen in the northern (Biscayan, Basque) provinces of Spain.
53 19 poterne: 'postern,' a back door, and then, by extension, any small door.
53 23 Tenons-nous bien: a phrase of warning to be on guard and ready, transl. 'ware Turks!'--Il: cf. note to 4 23.
54 1 Il y avait ... cherchait: 'for two long weeks the luckless Tartarin had been seeking.'
54 4 Voici: 'here is (how it happened).'
54 6 ni plus ni moins que l'Opéra: 'just as the Opera does.' The Opéra is the famous Opera House in Paris, where a great masked ball is given every year.
54 7 de province: 'provincial' All France outside of Paris is disdainfully designated by Parisians as la province. With province do not confuse Provence (cf. note to 13 27)--Peu de monde: 'few people.'
54 8 Bullier ... Casino: Parisian dance-halls--vierges folles: 'frail sisters.' In the French version of the parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew xxv, 1-12) the foolish virgins are called vierges folles.
54 9 chicards: 'dandies'--debardeurs: men who unload wood, 'stevedores.' Conventionalized dandy and stevedore costumes were made popular as early as the thirties by the clever cartoonist Gavarni and were seen at all masked balls. The reference here is to frequenters of Parisian masked balls who have found it advisable to leave France (en déroute) and have carried their costumes with them.
54 10 se lancent: 'are launching out,' = 'are getting started,' i.e. in a disreputable life.
54 12 Le vrai coup d'oeil: 'the real spectacle', coup d'oeil = 'glance,' and hence 'view' such as may be taken in all at once.
54 15 tapis verts: the green coverings of the gaming tables--turcos: 'Turcos,' native soldiers of the French army in Algeria.
54 16 prêt: 'pay' of non commissioned officers and soldiers, called prêt (cf. prêter 'to lend') because advanced to them before it is due.
54 18 l'argent d'une charrue: 'the price of a plow.'
54 29 la barbe de Père éternel: le Père éternel is, of course, God. The Middle Ages and the Renaissance did not scruple to represent him in sculpture and painting. Transl. 'with a long white beard.'
55 7 la garde qui monte: 'the guard coming up.' Note that a French relative clause is often to be rendered by a present participle in English e g, je l'entends qui frappe 'I hear him knocking.' Cf. 6 10, 64 18, 68 9.
55 8 ces saturnales: 'this saturnalia' The Roman festival of Saturn was a penod of riotous license--était venu s'égarer: 'had come straying', cf. 93 19.
55 10 s'en allait: for allait, cf. note to 17 4.
55 13 M'sieu: indicates by the spelling the usual pronunciation of Monsieur.
55 15 Après? 'Well, what have you to say?'
55 17 Je ne demande pas mieux: 'I don't ask (anything) better,' 'that's exactly what I should like to know.'
55 25 algarade: a word borrowed from the Spanish, the root being Arabic. It was originally a military expression meaning a raid, but now is used more or less jocularly for a wordy attack. Transl. 'dispute.'
55 26 Me voilà bien avancé: 'I'm much farther along,' 'I'm much the wiser' (sarcastically).
55 28 ça: = cela, 'that,' 'the thing Gregory du Montenegro,' contemptuous when used of persons, cf. 69 32.
55 30 préince: Tartarin's Southern pronunciation of prince.
56 1 Allons! 'well!' cf. note to 36 18--Partagez-vous... question: the officer in disgust bids the prince and Tartarin to divide between them the twenty francs that are missing and let the matter drop.
56 2 qu'il n'en soit plus question: 'let's have no more talk about it', cf. note to 4 23.
56 6 j'en fais mon affaire: 'I'll attend to this.'
56 12 Barbarin: when this work first appeared in serial form Tartarin was called "Barbarin." The name was changed when Daudet discovered that a family named Barbarin was living at Tarascon. See Introduction. The word tartarin means the sacred or Arabian baboon.
56 13 souffla: 'prompted.' Souffler, 'to blow,' 'to breathe,' in theatrical parlance means 'to prompt.' Le souffleur is 'the prompter.'
56 14 Entre ... mort: 'between us now it's a compact for life and death!'
56 17 Vous pensez: cf. note to 4 6.
56 21 terrasses: cf. note to 64 2.
56 22 salade russe: 'Russian salad,' a heavy fish and vegetable salad.
56 25 frisé au petit fer: 'with finely curled hair.' Friser au fer = 'to curl with an iron.'
56 26 rasé à la pierre ponce: 'very closely shaven.' Pumice stone has from ancient times been used by the effeminate for smoothing the skin.
56 27 lui donnait un faux air de: 'made him look like', lit. 'gave him a false air of.'
56 28 Mazarin: Giulio Mazarini (1602-1661), an Italian who became cardinal, and prime minister under Louis XIII and Louis XIV, talked French with an Italian accent. He wore the mustache and slight beard usual at that period.
56 29 les langues latines: pompously for la langue latine--à tout propos: 'apropos of everything,' 'at every opportunity'--Tacite: 'Tacitus' (54-140 A.D.), the famous latin historian.
56 30 Horace (64-8 B.C.) the Latin lyric poet--Commentaires: the histories of the wars of Julius Caesar written by himself, with supplements by his officers, bear the Latin title Commentarii, i.e. 'Notebooks.'
56 31 héréditaire: transl. 'noble.'
56 32 depuis: adverb, 'since then', cf. note to 1 6.
56 33 en Altesse philosophe: 'in the role of philosophizing noble'; cf. note to 5 20.
57 7 bon: 'good natured,' 'kindly,' not 'good.'
57 11 On but sec: 'they drank hard.' Boire sec means to drink pure wine, without the usual admixture of water.
57 12 au Monténégro libre: Montenegrin independence was frequently menaced by Turkey during the nineteenth century. In 1862, as a result of a short but disastrous war, Montenegro had been forced to sign a humiliating treaty of peace in which she virtually acknowledged the suzerainty of Turkey. Daudet was in Africa in 1861-1862, gathering materials out of which "Tartarin" grew. It is possible that he met there the prototype of Gregory brooding over the disgrace of his country, or, at least, pretending to do so. However, the character of the prince and the information given in 56 31 ff lead us to suppose that in Gregory's mind "a free Montenegro" means a Montenegro free from the existing constitutional authorities, rather than free from Turkish domination.
57 14 qu'on secoue: 'being shaken,' cf. note to 55 7.
57 18 Parlez-moi des: 'just trust'--lever ... la caille. 'start the game.' The usual expression is lever le lièvre 'to start the hare,' 'to uncover something hidden.' A loose woman is sometimes called caille ('quail'), caille coiffée, hence the substitution of caille for lièvre.
57 20 aux Platanes: = au restaurant des Platanes, cf. 56 20.
58 4 Bon! 'that's nothing!'--vous n'êtes pas homme: 'you are not the sort of man.'
58 5 on ... à bout de: 'we'll perhaps be able to dispose of', cf. note to 46 7.
58 6 lui achetant: cf. note to 5 27--Allons: 'come now!' cf. notes to 36 18, 56 1.
58 12 Écrire ... simplement: 'just write to the lady.'
58 18 à mesure: 'as you go along', cf. note to 33 25.
58 19 que de bontés: lit. 'how many kindnesses!' transl. 'how good you are!' Cf. note to 10 24.
58 23 Fort heureusement que: cf. note to 41 2.
58 26 Lamartine (Alphonse, 1790 1869) famous French poet, prose writer, and statesman. His "Voyage en Orient" is the record of his travels in 1832-1833.
58 27 Cantique des Cantiques: the 'Song of Songs,' or 'Song of Solomon,' full of the Oriental phraseology of passion.
58 28 qu'il se pût voir: (= pût se voir) 'that could be seen,' 'that ever was seen', cf. notes to 4 23 (il impersonal), 5 23 (se voir, reflexive with passive force).