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Tartarin de Tarascon

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59 7 Allons: plain imperative, not the exclamation cf. 58 6.

59 15 l'espérer: for this le cf. note to 25 18.

59 16 du reste: 'besides.'

59 29 casse-tête à pointes: 'war club with spikes', cf. note to 2 20.

59 32 le haut de la ville: = la ville haute (37 27).

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60 5 cour intérieure: Oriental houses are built in the form of a hollow square, the house surrounding the courtyard on all sides.

60 8 plus forte: 'stouter.'

60 9 ne fit que traverser: 'did no more than pass through,' 'merely passed through.'

60 13 sous les ramages ... fleurs: 'under the figures of her flowered dress'--laissant deviner: cf. note to 7 23.

60 14 friande à point: 'dainty to the point of perfection.'

60 15 ronde de partout: 'round all over'--narghile: 'nargile,' a Turkish pipe in which the smoke is drawn through water, a hookah.

60 16 toute: 'entirely.'

60 chapter heading Sidi: among the Mohammedans a title of respect, when addressed to a foreigner, about equivalent to Mr--ben: Arabic, 'son of' 'Tartarin son of Tartarin.'

60 24 à la veillée: 'at the gossiping hour' Veillée = a sitting up at night for work or pleasure, especially to tell stories.

60 28 voici ... déjà: 'already several years ago,' 'several years have already passed since then.'

60 29 dame du cru: 'native girl', cf. note to 26 6.

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61 2 n'est autre que: 'is no other than.'

61 4 Qu'est-ce que vous voulez: 'what can you expect?' lit. 'what do you wish?' Cf. 75 18.

61 7 durant: cf. note to 53 5.

61 9 Annibal à Capoue: 'Hannibal at Capua.' After the battle of Cannae (216 B.C.) in which the Roman army was overwhelmed, Hannibal, the Carthaginian general, instead of following up his success, retired for the winter into Capua, where his army was demoralized by the enervating influences of the luxury loving city. Livy makes this to have been the cause of Hannibal's failure--a view now generally discredited.

61 15 confitures au musc: 'preserves perfumed with musk.'

61 19 se faisait des mines: 'made grimaces to herself.'

61 23 avait tout le temps de: 'had plenty of time to.'

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62 2 la ville européenne: the part of the city inhabited by Europeans, as distinguished from la ville haute 37 27, the Moorish quarter.

62 9 on ne peut plus satisfait: 'perfectly satisfied', lit. 'one cannot (be) more satisfied.'

62 12 il suffisait d'un regard: 'a glance was enough', cf. il suffit d'un képi (77 15) 'a military cap is enough.'

62 14 Circe. 'Circe,' the enchantress, who by means of a potion transformed the companions of Ulysses into swine (Odyssey x).

62 21 se trouvaient être: 'proved to be', cf. note to 13 22.

62 24 tous: pronoun, for pronunciation cf. note to 20 13.

62 26 lui gagnaient son argent: 'won his money from him.'

62 29 le Prophète: Mohammed It is common in European literature to represent Mohammedans as paying to Mohammed the same sort of worship as Catholics pay to the highest saints. Cf. note to 83 8.

62 31 leur ... et: 'their white housetop which', lit. 'their terrace ... which acted as roof to the house and' Terrasse is any artificial level place for spending time outdoors, whether a terrace or a flat roof such as characterizes Oriental architecture, cf. the less familiar meanings of terrace in English.

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63 1 en s'échelonnant: 'in tiers', cf. 4 13.

63 4 s'égrenait ... ciel: 'was diffused gently note by note through the sky.' Égrener = 'to strip' grain from the head, grapes from the bunch--minaret: the tower of a mosque. See next note.

63 5 muezzin: an officer of a Mohammedan mosque who calls the faithful to prayer by crying from the top of the minaret. Since the minaret is high and from the top the muezzin has a view of the roofs of the houses where the Mohammedan women spend a great deal of the time, blind men are sought for this office--découpant ... dans: 'his white shadow standing out against.'

63 6 chantant la gloire d'Allah: cf. note to 92 1.

63 12 une sainte Thérèse d'Orient: 'an oriental St Theresa' St-Theresa (1515-1582) was one of Spain's greatest mystic poets.

63 chapter heading On ... Tarascon. 'our Tarascon correspondent writes us.'

63 17 Par: cf. note to 10 22.

63 18 tout seulet: 'in solitary ease' Seulet, fem seulette, diminutive of seul (cf. note to 33 27) The masculine is rarely used.

63 19 en spartene: 'of esparto cloth,' woven from esparto, a Spanish grass much used in the manufacture of mats, baskets, hats, ropes, etc.

63 20 cédrats: 'cedrats,' an especially fragrant citron (not melon).

63 21 balin-balan: Provençal, 'swaying.'

63 22 s'en allait: cf. note to 17 4.

63 27 Hé! monstre de sort: cf. note to 1 12--on dirait monsieur Tartarin: transl. 'if that doesn't look like Mr Tartarin!'

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64 2 sur la porte de. = sur la terrasse de transl. 'in front of.' Tables are spread on the sidewalk in front of French restaurants and cafes in fine weather.

64 4 He! adieu: cf. note to 13 7.

64 6 le voilà parti à rire: 'he burst out laughing.'

64 9 Qué: Provençal for quel.

64 11 Marco: a Provençal feminine noun, hence o instead of a Marca.

64 15 D'où sortez-vous donc: 'where under the sun do you come from?' (that you are so credulous)./p>

64 18 qui s'allongeait: cf. note to 55 7.

64 20 Mettons: 'let's say.'

64 21 voyez-vous: 'see here.'

64 24 sa moue: cf. 3 11-14, 39 10.

64 27 faire dire: cf. note to 7 25--au pays: 'at home' Pays = native) 'country,' 'province,' or 'district.' La France (la Provence, Tarascon) est mon pays. Cf. note to 1 16.

64 28 collègue: = Provençal coulego 'colleague,' 'comrade.'

64 30 quelques pipes: 'a few pipefuls'--vous fera du bien: 'will do you good', contrast ferez bien without du, line 22.

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65 4 jurons du cru: 'oaths of his native land', cf. note to 26 6.

65 5 là-has: 'over there' in Provence.

65 11 lui sauta aux yeux: cf. note to 12 25.

65 14 n'a ... depuis: 'has not been heard from for', lit. 'has not given of his news since.'

65 15 Qu'est devenu: 'what has become of?' lit. 'what has become?' Cf. note to 93 7.

65 23 Tombouctou: 'Timbuktu,' the most famous city of central Africa, a French possession since 1893, in Tartarin's time only three Europeans had ever reached it, and one of these was killed two days after he left the city.

65 24 garde: subjunctive.

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66 6 Le temps d'inspecter ... et l'intrépide: transl. 'only a moment to inspect ... and the bold.'

66 7 écrire deux mots: = écrire un mot 'to write a line.'

66 10 la route de Blidah: 'the Blidah road.' Blidah is a city about twenty five miles southwest of Algiers. On de cf. note to 1 5.

66 12 babouches: Turkish slippers, made of colored leather, without heels--défroque: 'cast offs', properly, the possessions which a monk leaves behind at his death, then, by extension, what is abandoned disdainfully.

66 13 trèfles: 'trefoils,' an ornamental foliation consisting of three divisions, or foils (architectural term).

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67 2 gros bleu: = bleu foncé, 'dark blue.'

67 4 moxas: 'blisters.' The word moxa (originally Japanese) in English or French means a wad of cottony substance laid on any part of the body and set on fire for the purpose of counter irritation, its use is now out of date. In French the word may also mean the burn thus produced on the skin.

67 5 rotonde: properly, 'rotunda,' a round building surmounted by a cupola; then, also, the 'back compartment' of a stage coach.

67 7 dut se contenter de: 'had to content himself with'; cf. 80 14, 88 14. See note to 2 10.

67 10 Il y avait de tout un peu: = il y avait un peu de tout. Il y avait de tout has about the same meaning--trappiste: 'Trappist' (monk). The abbey of La Trappe, from which this austere order takes its name, was founded in 1140 in the department of the Orne (northwestern France).

67 12 Orléansville: a city on the Sheliff, a hundred and thirty miles southwest of Algiers.--si charmante ... que fût la compagnie: 'however charming the company was.' Cf. note to 4 6.

67 13 n'était pas en train de: 'was not in the mood for.' Cf. je ne suis pas en train de travailler 'I don't feel like working,' je suis en train de travailler (cf. 18 4) 'I am (busy) working.'

67 15 brassière: the 'arm-strap' of the carriage; more commonly, the strap by which a knapsack or similar article is held.

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68 8 les flancs ... qui se plaignaient: cf. note to 55 1.

68 10 vieille fée: read "Les Fées de France" in "Contes du lundi."

68 18 Joncquières (usually spelled Jonquières), Bellegarde: small towns across the river from Tarascon, on the road to Nîmes.

68 19 remis: more colloquial than reconnu.

68 20 du corps que vous avez pris: 'of the flesh you have taken on.'

68 21 coquin de bon sort: cf. note to 1 12.

68 24 Mais enfin: 'But, tell me.'

68 27 gré: a noun, 'liking,' used almost exclusively in prepositional phrases (de bon gré 'willingly,' à son gré 'to his liking,' and the like; cf. malgré) and in savoir gré à quelqu'un 'to be grateful to a person': je lui sais gré de m'avoir aidé. Latin gratum 'that which is pleasing.'

68 31 réactionnaires: 'reactionary.' This word means little to an American, but France has constantly been talking, more or less seriously, of reactions to previously existing states of affairs, as from republic to monarchy.

68 32 à mener: cf. à lire 10 22--une vie de galère: 'the life of (such as one leads on) a galley,' 'a galley-slave's life', cf. note to 1 5.

68 33 chemins de fer algériens: there were no railroads in Algeria when Daudet visited it in 1861, but between this year and 1872, when "Tartarin" appeared, several hundred miles of tracks had been constructed.

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69 2 que je le regrette: 'how I long for it.' Regretter = 'to regret,' 'to regret the loss or the absence of' a thing, hence 'to long for' a thing. For the anticipatory le cf. note to 32 5.

69 4 il fallait me voir: cf. note to 24 3.

69 5 vernissées a neuf: 'varnished so that they shone like new.'

69 8 sur l'air de: 'to the tune of.'--Lagadigadeou (pronounce dèou): the refrain of Desanat's version of Tarascon's most popular song may be translated as follows: Lagadigadeou, la Tarasque--La Tarasque du Château--Un air de lagadeou--Qui résonne (resounds) à tout rompre (cf. note to 2 2) avec son tapage. Notre-Dame du Château is a place of pilgrimage near Tarascon. Lagadigadeou is meanmgless. For the Tarasque cf. note to 3 25. For this song as a Provençal carter's song, see F.Gras, "The Terror," ch xxxiii.

69 9 que: cf. note to 5 1.

69 10 jetant d'un tour de bras: 'throwing with a swing'; of à tour de bras 'with all one's might'; cf. note to 51 20.

69 12 allume: exclamation serving to encourage horses: 'quick, now!'

69 15 détaler: the opposite of étaler (cf. note to 37 22), = 'to bring in goods exposed for sale,' 'to shut up shop,' and figuratively, in familiar discourse, 'to dash away,' 'scurry along'; cf. 94 13.--grande route royale: 'king's highway.'

69 17 bornes kilométriques: 'milestones' or rather 'kilometer-stones.' --ses petits tas ... espacés: 'its little heaps of stones at regular intervals'; broken stone for repairing the road.

69 21 maires: 'mayors,' presiding officers of communes (cf. note to 17 14).

69 22 préfet ... evêque: Nîmes is the chief city of the department (cf. note to 17 14) of the Gard, and therefore the seat of the prefect. It is also the seat of a bishop.

69 23 mazet: Provençal diminutive of mas; = 'little country house.'--collégiens: 'schoolboys.' The French collège (also the lycée) carries students from the beginning of their studies through a course which corresponds roughly to that completed in the second year of the American college.

69 24 tout frais rasés du matin: 'all (adverb, = quite) freshly shaved that morning.'

69 25 vous ... casquettes: transl. 'all of you gentlemen, the caphunters.'

69 27 la vôtre: i.e. votre romance, cf. pages 6-7.

69 30 Bédouins: nomadic Arabs in northern Africa and Arabia.

69 32 tout cela: cf. note to 55 28.

69 33 auquel ... rien: cf. je ne comprends rien à tout cela 'I don't understand any of that.'

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70 1 On me plaint: 'they begrudge me.'

70 5 brancards: a stage-coach has no shafts. Brancards is used also for the two pieces of wood which connect the fore and after carriages of a vehicle, transl. 'body.' Daudet may mean simply 'pole.'

70 6 tenez! lit. 'hold!' An exclamation whose force varies greatly; transl. here 'just see that!'

70 8 gouvernement: 'seat of government', cf. note to 42 1.

70 9 plus rien: cf. note to 13 1.

70 10 lentisques: 'mastic trees,' small trees growing in the Mediterranean countries, producing a resin which is used in the manufacture of paints.

70 14 champoreau: a warm drink, coffee with a copious admixture of brandy, popular among the Europeans in Africa.

70 21 une cour de caravansérail: cf. note to 1 5. A caravansary is a building for the lodging of caravans. See "Le Caravansérail" in "Contes du lundi."

70 29 kousskouss: (couscous): meat cooked with flour, the national dish of the Arabs according to Daudet, "Paysages gastronomiques" in "Contes du lundi."

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71 2 une place de jolie sous-préfecture: 'the square of a pretty little city,' 'the square of a pretty city about the size of a subprefecture'; cf. note to 17 14. For the construction cf. note to 1 5.

71 4 de petits soldats de plomb: 'little lead soldiers', cf. note to 1 5. The men drilling looked like lead soldiers when seen through the vitres dépolies par la buée, on account of their stiffness and the dimness of their outline in the early morning light.

71 7 ne sentait pas encore le lion: 'did not savor of lions yet', cf.cela sent le camphre 'that smells of camphor.'

71 8 Plus au sud: not negative; cf. note to 13 1.

71 13 grosse comme le poing: 'as big as your fist.'

71 14 haute de cinq doigts: cf. notes to 26 5 and 42 23. --serviette: a kind of 'portfolio' widely used in France by public officials, professors, and others, for carrying papers and books.

71 15 notaire: the position of the French notaire is more dignified than that of our 'notary', he performs some of the functions of the American lawyer.

71 20 regardait toujours Tartarin: cf. note to 11 12.

71 21 prit la mouche: transl. 'took offense.' Prendre la mouche = 'to seize the fly,' 'to seize a slight occasion for becoming angry,' 'to become vexed easily.'

71 26 leur gaine: cf. note to 29 11.

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72 17 Et toute la diligence de rire: 'and the whole stage coach laughed', cf. the Latin historical infinitive, used in place of the perfect. In French this infinitive is always preceded by de and the clause is almost always introduced by et, là dessus, or a similar word.--trois cheveux de Cadet-Roussel: the popular song called Cadet-Roussel, 'Young Roussel,' was composed on the basis of a local song by a soldier in the Northern Army of the revolutionary forces about 1792. Cadet Roussel has three houses, three coats, three hats, three hairs (two for his face, one for his wig, and when he goes to see his lady he gathers the three into a braid), three dogs, and so on.

72 21 Terrible profession que la vôtre: understand (c'est une) terrible profession que la vôtre (est); cf. note to 21 19.

72 23 Bombonnel (d. 1890): undertook to free North Africa of panthers.

72 27 Té! ... connais: 'what! know him? I should say so!' For cf. note to 13 7. Pardi is a euphemism (really a dialectal form) for pardieu; cf. parbleu, 47 6.

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73 3 Tout juste! 'exactly!' cf. note to 83 5.

73 15 ce qu'il en est: 'how matters stand.' On en cf. note to 8 19.

73 20 Chassaing (Jacques, 1821-1871): hunter of lions and panthers.

73 24 qu'est-ce que c'est donc que ... ? 'what, pray, is ... ?' disdainful; cf. 55 28.

73 27 Milianah: a city in the Zakkar mountains, about seventy-five miles southwest of Algiers. A comparison of the story of Tartarin's adventures at Milianah with the pages on that city in "Lettres de mon moulin" will show how many details have been borrowed from the notes Daudet took down during his stay in Algeria.

73 30 à regarder ... s'il: 'looking (to see) if', cf. note to 10 22.

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74 4 loyal: 'honest.'

74 11 A quoi bon ... ? 'what (was) the good of ... ?' Latin cui bono?

74 16 train de derrière: 'hind quarters,' train de devant = 'fore quarters,' of an animal; properly applied only to an animal harnessed to a vehicle.

74 17 Qu'est-ce ... plus? colloquial construction; transl. 'what under the sun (donc) did they mean by telling me there were none left?'

74 26 promenaient: note the active use of this verb, cf. monter 41 28.

Savoyard ... marmotte: the 'marmot' is a rodent inhabiting the Alps, related to the American woodchuck and prairie dog. Savoyards traveling through France with marmots remind one of our Italian organ-grinders with their monkeys. Cf. note to 1 8.

74 28 Le sang ... tour: 'the Tarasconian's blood boiled', lit. 'made only one turn.'

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75 2 Au zouge de paix: '(take him) to the justice of the peace' (juge de paix).

75 3 nuit: he was blind.

75 12 Sitôt votre lettre reçue: 'as soon as I received your letter,' = aussitôt que votre lettre fut reçue.

75 14 ventre à terre: 'at full speed'; so fast that the horses' bodies (almost) touched the ground.

75 16 donc: render by emphasis on auxiliary: 'what have you done?'

75 18 Que voulez-vous? cf. note to 61 4.--De voir: cf. note to 31 20.

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76 3 Ce qui me va: 'what suits (pleases) me', cf. ça vous va-t-il? (91 3) 'does that suit you?'--en matière de conclusion = en manière de conclusion 'to bring the affair to a conclusion,' 'by way of conclusion.'

76 4 n'en déplaise à mons Bombonnel: 'may it not displease Mr.Bombonnel,' 'with Mr Bombonnel's leave.' Mons (the o is nasalized and the s is pronounced) is used contemptuously for Monsieur.

76 7 battre la plaine: 'beat the plain' (to rouse game); cf. note to 10 5--Chéliff: most important river in Algeria, over 370 miles long.

76 8 Auriez-vous: cf. note to 15 chapter heading.

76 24 tuyas: any trees closely related to the arbor-vitae or American white cedar, here 'sandarac trees.'--caroubiers: cf. note to 33 19.

76 27 Liban: 'Lebanon,' in Syria, formerly famous for its cedar forests with their far-reaching odors and its many streams, see the Song of Solomon, iv, 8, 11, 15.

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77 1 brodées au fil d'argent: 'embroidered with silver thread.'

77 2 un faux air de: cf. note to 56 27.

77 12 tout son monde: 'all its servants'; cf. note to 54 7.

77 14 pas n'est besoin: for il n'est pas besoin 'there is no need.'

77 15 Il suffit d'un képi: cf. note to 62 12.

77 17 la toque de Gessler: 'Gessler's cap.' Gessler is the Austrian governor of Swltzerland who figures in the story of William Tell. The Swiss were forced to salute his cap, which was placed on a pole.

77 18 allait son train: 'went on its way.' Train = 'gait.'

77 23 bureau arabe: 'Arab office,' the French bureau for the Administration of affairs concerning the natives.--au bon frais: strengthened form of au frais 'in the fresh air.'

77 25 crut à un coup de main: 'thought it was an uprising'; cf. 94 27. Coup de main = 'surprise,' 'sudden attack.'--fit baisser: cf. note to 7 25.

77 26 mit ... en état de siège: 'proclaimed martial law in the city.'

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78 2 se sauva ... jambes: 'ran away into the Zakkar as fast as he could.' For the Zakkar (a part of the Little Atlas) see note to 73 27.

78 4 ombre trouée: 'broken shade'; the light found its way in places through the foliage of the tree.

78 8 précisément: 'quite opportunely', cf. note to 83 5.

78 15 Comment voulez-vous ... ? 'how do you suppose ... ?'

78 18 Si maigre ... paraisse: cf. note to 4 6.

78 21 Demandez plutôt: cf. 44 1.

78 23 mouci: for monsieur.

78 31 coup d'oeil: 'looks'; cf. note to 54 12.--ne feraient pas très bien: 'would not do very well.'

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79 1 Tant que vous en voudrez: 'as many as you like', note the future.

79 3 à quelques kilomètres: cf. note to 18 25.

79 11 pendus à: 'hanging from.'

79 15 une mesure à blé: 'a wheat measure', une mesure de blé 'a measure (full) of wheat.' Cf. 2 6.--des Kabyles qui s'éventrent autour: 'Kabyles slashing each other with knives (lit. cutting each other open) around it'; cf. notes to 55 7 (qui), 7 2 (se), 1 6 (autour).

79 16 une joie: = une joie! ...; cf. un Teur! ... 32 4, and note to 15 21.

79 17 se noyer: 'get drowned,' not 'drown himself.'

79 20 Par exemple: 'as luck would have it'; cf. note to 11 24.

79 23 tête de bédouin: 'Bedouin-like head'; cf. note to 1 5. This is a good example of Daudet's skill in finding striking simularities: the Bédouin (cf. note to 69 30) has a long, narrow head.

79 27 Toujours la folie orientale! 'his craze about things oriental was still with him!'

79 30 tout en haut = tout à fait en haut, cf. note to 47 11.

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80 1 jambes à noeuds: 'knotty legs.'

80 8 étoupe: aptly characterizes the hair of a camel's hump.

80 10 Va te promener! cf. note to 48 11.

80 13 six cent mille dents: each Arab had 150 teeth! Which goes to show that Daudet himself was born not far from Tarascon. But it is to be remembered that six cent mille is sometimes used merely to indicate a very large number, like English "thousands of."

80 14 dut: cf. note to 67 7.

80 19 devant: devant for avant, auparavant, is obsolete except in certain locutions such as comme devant.

80 25 douar: 'douar,' an Arab village, composed of tents arranged with more or less regularity.--plaine du Cheliff: the broad part of the Sheliff basin is in the half desert plateau between the Great Atlas and the Little Atlas. The picture which follows is interesting, it is overdrawn, however, since Algeria never was, and certainly is not today, as bad as Daudet paints it.

80 27 se compliquent d': 'are complicated by (the addition of).'

80 28 Zouzou: military slang for zouave.

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81 1 le sergent La Ramée, le brigadier Pitou: popular names for the French soldier, the English "Tommy Atkins."

81 3 su: 'known how,' 'been able.'

81 5 bachagas: 'bashagas' (Turkish for 'head agas' or 'heads of agas,' cf. note to 82 5), native chiefs of districts.--se mouchent ... Légion d'honneur: 'gravely use their insignia of the Legion of Honor as handkerchiefs.' Like much in "Tartarin de Tarascon," this detail was extracted from the memorandum books which Daudet carried during his Algerian travels, again in "Un Décoré du 15 août" ("Contes du lundi") he declares that he repeatedly saw the grand cordon used for the purpose here mentioned. The Legion of Honor was established by Napoleon (then first consul) in 1802. The insignia are a wide red ribbon from which is suspended a five-pointed cross.

81 7 font bâtonner: cf. note to 7 25.

81 8 cadis: 'cadis,' judges under Mohammedan law.

81 9 tartufes du Coran et de la loi: 'hypocritical respecters of Religion and Law.' Tartufe is the hypocrite in Moliere's play of that name, the word is now used as a common noun to designate a person who pretends to be devout. The Coran (Koran) is the Holy Book of the Mohammedans, containing the revelations of Mohammed.--quinze août: 'August 15,' Napoleon's birthday, now superseded by July 14, the national holiday. as the day on which the decorations of the Legion of Honor are distributed. Read "Un Décoré du quinze août," referred to in note to 81 5

81 12 kousskouss au sucre: 'sweetened couscous'--caïds 'caids,' Mohammedan military chiefs.

81 13 un général Yusuf quelconque. 'some General Yusuf or other' Joseph Vantini (1810-1866), of Italian birth, was a French officer who played an active part in the conquest of Algeria Yusuf (in French spelling, Yousouf) is the Arabic form of the name Joseph.

81 19 maquis: ordinarily used only of the Corsican 'maquis', extensive areas overgrown with an almost impenetrable tangle of brushwood--le grenier de la France: the words of the enthusiastic promoters of Algerian colonization Algeria's famous grain producing region does not extend farther inland than one hundred miles, and does not include the part which Tartarin was now traversing.

81 25 sauterelles enragées cf. note to 24 23.--mangent jusqu'aux rideaux 'eat the very curtains', cf. 85 17.

81 26 en train de boire 'drinking', cf. note to 18 4.

81 30 tout entier à 'engrossed in'.

81 31 allait droit devant lui 'went straight ahead'.

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82 1 Smyrne: 'Smyrna,' important seaport in Asiatic Turkey, on the Aegean Sea, famous for its rugs and silks--lampes-modérateur more precisely lampes à modérateur, 'moderator lamps' A moderator is an instrument for governing the movement of machines, here, "a mechanical contrivance by which the passage of the oil from the reservoir to the burner is regulated or moderated to a uniform flow " (Oxford Dict).

82 3 dans les tribus: 'in the (camps of the) tribes'.

82 5 agas: 'agas' The aga was formerly a great military chief in Turkey, now the title is merely one of respect given to village magnates.

82 6 narghilés etc i.e. articles of the Orient and of the Occident.

82 8 sequins: 'sequins,' an old gold coin of variable value, usually worth about $2 25, formerly issued by the Venetian republic (zecchino) and largely used in the Levant.

82 9 pendules à sujets, style Louis-Philippe 'clocks adorned with figures in the Louis Philippe style' Louis Philippe was king of France from 1830 to 1848.

82 10 diffas: 'diffas,' among the Arabs of Africa receptions and feasts offered to men of rank The fantasia is an Arab equestrian Exhibition.

82 11 goums 'goums,' armed contingents supplied by Algerian tribes for the French army, and commanded by French officers.

82 15 Pont-Neuf: this 'New Bridge' is the oldest of the many which span the Seine in Paris. It was completed in 1604 by Henry IV, and figures in many legends of old Paris. C'est vieux comme le Pont-Neuf has become a proverb.

82 20 faisant frrt! 'saying sst! (scat!).'

82 23 vers les six heures: = vers six heures. Cf. note to 23 16.

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83 3 Plus de doute: cf. note to 13 1.

83 5 tout juste: = précisément 78 8, cf. 73 3.

83 8 ex-voto: (sing. and pl. alike), 'ex-votos,' 'votive offerings'; an offering made in fulfillment of a vow. Latin ex voto; cf. Horace, Odes, I, v. The worship of saints in Mohammedan countries (where it ranks as a superstition rather than as orthodox religion) is mainly confined to the saint's tomb, or reputed tomb.

83 12 s'y refusa: = se refusa à cela (cf. note to 2 29); 'refused to consent.'--tenait à: 'insisted upon.' Tenir à faire quelque chose = 'to desire strongly to do a thing,' 'to be determined to do a thing'; tenir à quelque chose = 'to care greatly for a thing.'

83 16 Ceci fait: 'this done.'

83 31 pas de velours: 'velvet steps,' 'soft steps.'

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84 1 qu'on égorge: 'having their throats cut.'

84 3 Tartarin l'était: 'Tartarin was' (it, that is, ému); cf. note to chose = 'to 25 18.

84 7 en train: cf. note to 67 13.

84 9 encore: cf. note to 18 31.

84 10 tint bon: 'held his ground'; cf. note to 27 16.

84 14 se replie ... marabout: 'retreats as fast as he can to the marabout.' For à toutes jambes cf. 78 2.

84 17 hydres: the Hydra of classical mythology was a water serpent with many heads, each of which, when cut off, was replaced immediately by two new ones.

84 18 A moi: 'help!'

84 23 filer: here, 'scamper off.' Filer = 'to spin' (yarn), 'to uncoil,' and colloquially 'to take to one's heels,' 'to race'; cf. 88 27, 94 9.

Return to page 84

85 2 au petit jour: 'at early dawn'; au grand jour 'in full daylight.'--qu'il: cf. note to 5 1.

85 6 chameau à bosse simple: 'one-humped camel,' dromadaire 93 6.

85 9 le Christ: pronounced [krist]; always with the article (the Anointed).

85 10 Gethsémani: in the words douta, pleurer, Daudet refers to Christ's moral and physical recoil at Gethsemane. A Frenchman is not offended as we are by the flippancy of this reference to one of the supreme moments of Christ's life. Cf. De Vigny's "Le Mont des Oliviers."

85 13 d'en face: 'in front of him'; cf. 90 20.

85 17 jusqu'aux pantoufles: made 'even the slippers' shake; of 81 25.

85 19 Seul: while all trembled, Tartarin 'alone' did not.

Return to page 85

86 1 Mahom: the most usual form of the name 'Mohammed' during the Middle Ages; retained, for effect, in the oath par Mahom.--l'échappa belle: 'had a narrow escape'; cf. note to 8 18.

86 3 si ... n'avait envoyé: note the omission of pas after the conjunction si; cf. note to 36 16.

86 7 l'homme à la plaque: 'the man with the badge,' the rural policeman.

86 14 processive: (of procès, 'lawsuit'), 'litigious.'--avocassière: 'pettifogging'; avocat = 'lawyer,' avocasser = 'to practice law' (always in a depreciatory sense, cf. bonasse 3 13).

86 15 la judiciaire ... se tripote: 'the dubious (lit. 'squinting') judicial system which is cooked up', cf. note to 5 23.

86 16 la bohème des gens de loi: 'the legal Bohemia.' Gypsies were supposed to have come from Bohemia; consequently any persons who lead an irregular life are called Bohemians. Thus, for example, the Latin Quarter of Paris, inhabited largely by artists and students, is called the "Bohemian Quarter."

86 18 sauterelles: cf. note to 24 23.

86 19 papier timbré: 'stamped paper.' A government revenue stamp, either printed on the paper (papier timbré) or affixed, must accompany French legal and commercial documents. Timbre-poste, masculine, = 'postage stamp.'

86 20 tiges de ses bottes: the locusts, sauterelles (1 18), eat a Plant jusqu'à la tige; Daudet is punning here on the two meanings of tige, 'stalk' of a plant, 'leg' of a boot.--déchiqueté ... maïs: 'stripped like a stalk of corn,' of whose foliage the locusts leave nothing but midribs and hanging fibers.

86 27 silo: a pit for storing grain. Since Goffart's work on the ensilage of green crops, published in 1877, the word has become familiar in America, our silo for green crops being usually above ground. As a punishment in the French army in Algeria, men (sometimes more of them than could lie down on the bottom of the pit) were put into a pit and kept there while filth accumulated around them.

Return to page 86

87 2 sans (compter) les frais: 'plus the costs.'

87 3 piastres: 'dollars,' the Spanish coin also called douro (note to 48 21); Frenchmen in America sometimes call the American dollar a piastre, piastre also means the Turkish piaster (4.4 American cents).

87 5 judiciaires: 'judiciary'; i.e., offered to the judges.

87 7 au détail: 'piecemeal'; cf. vendre en (au) détail 'to sell at retail'; en gros 'wholesale.'

87 10 y passèrent: 'went by the same road'; i.e., were sold.

87 12 cochinchinoises: 'from Cochin China,' a part of Indo-China, at the south of the Siam peninsula, a French colony since its conquest in 1859-1867.

87 16 ce qu'il advint de: 'what became of.' Advenir is used only impersonally.

87 19 payer la diligence: 'pay for (his place in) the stage coach.'

87 20 encore: 'after all.'

87 21 d'un placement difficile: 'hard to dispose of.'

87 25 sur: the definitive edition also prints sur here; sous would seem to be the correct reading, cf. 66 13. It is possible that the reference here is to figures worked into the pavement.

87 28 par (oftener à) petites journées: 'by short stages.' Journée = a day's march,' the original meaning of Engl. journey.

87 30 s'était ... inexplicable: 'had conceived an inexplicable fancy for his master.' Se prendre d'amitié pour quelqu'un = 'to take a liking; to a person.'

87 32 ne ... semelle: 'never more than a foot behind him,' lit. 'not leaving him by (the length of) the sole of a shoe.' For de cf. note to 42 25.

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88 2 à toute épreuve = à l'épreuve de tout 'proof against anything.'

88 3 d'autant que (for d'autant plus que): 'so much the more that,' 'especially because.'--rien: 'nothing '; cf. note to 13 1. Il ne se nourrissait avec rien would mean 'he did not nourish himself with anything,' the introduction of ne bringing the negation to bear upon the verb.

88 7 il lui en voulut de: cf. note to 36 10.

88 8 oie bridée: 'bridled goose' and figuratively 'ninny.' A feather is sometimes passed through the nostrils of a goose or a gosling (oison bridé) to prevent it from escaping through hedges. The ridiculous appearance which the fowl presents gives use to the figurative meaning.Cf. Rabelais's judge Bridoie and Beaumarchais's Brid'oison. --le prit en grippe: 'took a dislike to him'; grippe formerly meant 'whim,' 'fancy.'

88 16 huit grands jours: 'a whole week.' Huit jours = 'a week,' quinze jours = 'a fortnight.'

88 20 biskris: 'Biskran porters.' Biskra is a city in Algeria, at the edge of the Sahara. Many Biskrans settle in the coast cities, especially Algiers, where they obtain employment as porters; hence, biskri = 'porter.' The Arabic suffix -i corresponds to the English -an or -ite.

88 22 la patience lui échappa: 'he lost all patience'; cf. note to 4 24.

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89 2 Le jour tombait: we say 'night was falling'; cf. la nuit tombait 44 16, and à la tombée de la nuit 53 11.

89 4 des bruits de verres: 'clinking of glasses.'

89 6 qui chantait: 'singing'; cf. note to 55 7.

89 9 Tron de Diou: = tonnerre de Dieu (cf. note to 38 31), a strong oath; 'by the thunder of heaven!'

89 13 tambourins: 'drums.' The Provençal and Algerian tambourin is a drum higher than it is wide. Tambour 90 1 = tambourin. Cf. note to 53 15.

89 29 Digo-li ... moun bon! = dis-lui qu'il vienne, mon bon; 'just tell him to come on, old fellow'; a Provençal challenge.

89 30 du premier (scil. étage): 'of the second floor.' The first floor of a French house is called the rez-de-chaussée.

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90 2 marseillais: 'dialect of Marseilles.' Not only did she know French, but even Tartarin's own dialect. The Provençal language comprises many dialects; that of Tarascon does not differ greatly from that of Marseilles.

90 3 Quand je vous disais: 'what did I tell you about ...?'

90 9 s'est ... sac: 'let himself be caught red-handed'; cf. note to 7 25.

90 11 à l'ombre: 'in prison' (lit. 'in the shade'), slang.--maison centrale: prison to which prisoners who have been condemned to more than one year of detention are sent; transl. 'jail.'

90 12 tenez! 'hold!' 'let me see!' Cf. note to 70 6.

90 14 C'est donc ça: colloquial for c'est donc pour ça, 'that's why.'--ne ... ville: cf. 57 1-6.

90 17 sans quoi: 'otherwise,' lit. 'without which.'

90 18 votre histoire avec le muezzin: cf. the passage beginning 63 3.

90 20 d'en face: 'over there,' 'across the way'; cf. note to 85 13.

90 23 faisait des declarations (scil. d'amour): 'made love.'

90 26 c'est: cf. note to 44 7.

90 28 eut ... philosophe: 'made the gesture of a philosopher' (cf. note to 1 5); shrugged his shoulders.

90 29 si vous m'en croyez: 'if you'll take my advice.' En is redundant, cf. note to 8 19.

Return to page 90

91 1 Qu'à cela ne tienne! 'that makes no difference!'

91 3 ça vous va-t-il: cf. note to 76 3.

91 5 croustade: a sort of 'pie' with a very crisp crust--sans Rancune lit. 'without rancor', transl. 'forget your ill will.'

91 10 fort avant dans: 'far on into.'

91 11 trois heures du matin: the regular hours for the muezzin's call are daylight hours, but two calls in the night are also made for the benefit of such pious persons as may be awake.

91 12 accompagner: i.e. to his lodging.

91 14 vengeance: Tartarin's vengeance is a delightful bit of humor.

91 16 monta encore: 'ascended still higher.'

91 21 Mostaganem: a city on the Mediterranean, west of Algiers.

91 25 curé: it is amusing to hear Tartarin apply the title of the respected French parish priest to the rascally muezzin. At home Tartarin would address the priest as monsieur le curé.

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92 1 La Allah il Allah: French transliteration of the Arabic words with which the Mohammedan confession of faith, 'There is no god but God, and Mohammed is God's messenger,' begins. Both parts of this confession of faith, especially the first part, are repeated more than once in the muezzin's regular call. The first part is misquoted in various forms, as here, by Europeans who have been confused by the series of sounds. Note that Tartarin not only echoes the sound of this part, but parodies its sense in lines 3-4--farceur: 'fraud.'

92 3 viédaze: a Provençal word, used of persons, = 'a good for nothing,' of things, = 'a trifle.' Here 'isn't worth a straw.'

92 4 carotteurs: 'pikers' Jouer la carotte = to stake little (e.g. a carrot) in a game. Tirer la carotte à quelqu'un = to get a small sum out of a person by making him believe some hoax. Note the play on words in Teurs, carotteurs.

92 9 derniers: believers are few even in the upper part of the city (cf. note to 37 27).

92 15 La culasse: we should use the plural in English. Note this peculiarity of French style, cf. la face des soldats était couverte de sueur 'the soldiers' faces were covered with sweat.' Cf. note to 29 11, and 92 12.

92 16 canons turcs: cf. note to 40 17. These old cannon are set in the pavement of the quay as posts for the mooring of ships and for/similar uses.

92 24 A peine vient-il de sauter ... qu': 'scarcely has he leaped when.' A peine reenforces vient de. For the inversion cf. note to 5 32.

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93 5 en carton peint: 'of painted pasteboard,' i.e. counterfeit.

93 6 dromadaire: the word is here used correctly according to the Academy's dictionary, which makes dromadaire a name of the one humped species of camel. According to more exact usage a dromedary is a high bred camel for special speed, usually of the one humped species but not necessarily so, in this sense Tartarin's beast can hardly claim the name.

93 7 que devenir: lit. 'what to become', transl. 'what to do with myself' Cf. 65 15.

93 8 Ne nous quittons plus: 'let us part no more' Cf. note to 7 2.

93 15 s'élançant a corps perdu: 'hurling himself headlong,' desperately.

93 16 de conserve: 'in consort' (with the captain's row boat). Conserve in the sense of 'the action of preserving' survives only in this nautical expression, naviguer de conserve.--'to sail in consort' (used of ships which sail together so as to help one another).

93 18 col: = cou, used in this sense only in certain fixed expressions, ordinarily = 'collar.'--en éperon de trirème: 'like (cf. note to 5 20) the beak of a trireme.' Eperon ordinarily means 'spur.' The ancient trireme was a galley with three banks of oars.

93 19 viennent ensemble se ranger: 'come to draw up together,' 'draw up together', cf. 55 8.--aux flancs du: 'alongside.' Note the plural flancs, cf. à ses côtés 37 26.

93 21 A la fin: 'I tell you.'

93 22 à mon bord: 'aboard.' A bord d'un vaisseau = 'on board a ship.'

93 23 j'en ... zoologique: 'I will present him to the Zoological Garden.'

93 29 fût: subjunctive with non pas que.

93 33 afficher: 'make a show of', lit. 'to post'(affiches 'placards')

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94 1 mettait le nez: 'stuck his nose,' looked out.

94 9 un wagon de troisième classe: 'a third-class car.' In French trains there are cars of first, second, and third classes, the third being the cheapest. The cars were until recently divided into compartments from each of which a door (portière) opened upon the station platform. These doors were provided with windows--filant bon train sur: 'making rapidly for', cf. note to 84 23.

94 11 aux portières: 'at the door Windows', cf. note to 94 9.

94 13 détalait: cf. note to 69 15.

94 14 eu pleine Crau: 'in the heart of (cf. 2 2) the Crau.' The Crau is a vast, arid plain extending from the lower Rhone eastward. The stones which cover this plain are fabled to have been showered down by Jupiter to aid Hercules in his battle with the giant Albion.--lui tenant pied: 'keeping up with it.'

94 15 rencoigna: an old spelling of rencogna. The word is etymologically connected with coin; cf. English (Shakespearean) 'coign.'

94 19 Pas le sou: 'penniless'; je n'ai pas le sou = ' I haven't a cent.'

94 21 Tarascon! for the electrifying sonorousness of this call cf. note to 1 1.

94 27 il croyait à: 'he thought it was'; cf. note to 77 25.

94 29 sympathique: 'friendly'; contains also the ideas of 'sympathetic,' 'congenial,' 'responsive.'

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95 4 s'étaient monté la tête: se monter la tête = 'to become greatly excited'; transl. 'had gone wild.'

95 6 dix ... une marmelade de lions: 'ten lions, twenty lions, a mass of lions.' Mettre en marmelade = 'to smash to a jelly'; cf. 12 3.

95 8 de deux heures: cf. note to 42 25.

95 12 descendre à cloche-pied: 'hobble down.' Clocher and marcher à cloche-pied = 'to hop.'

Return to page 95


EXERCISES

I

(Based on page 5)

TRANSLATION

1. He has not found any. 2. What will he tell me? 3. They will go away every Sunday. 4. I told him what they were doing. 5. Some Tarasconians used to assemble and eat big pieces of beef. 6. This man makes (you) laugh and sing if you (use 'on') are naturally superstitious. 7. Take some if you find any. 8. The cap will be sold (use 'on') to the one who does it most often. g. Will you tell me what each one had at the end of his gun? 10. Throw it with all your might.

QUESTIONS

i. Qu'est-ce que les chasseurs font quand le gibier est rare? 2. Où s'allongent-ils? 3. Que mangent-ils? 4. Que boivent-ils? 5. Après le déjeuner que font-ils? 6. Qui est proclamé roi de la chasse? 7. Comment est-ce que le triomphateur rentre à Tarascon? 8. Qu'est-ce que les chapeliers vendent? 9. Qui leur en achète? 10. Qu'est-ce qu'il y a dans les greniers?

II

(page 10 )

TRANSLATION

1. Great men are bored the rest of the time. 2. It's enough to make you die of excitement. 3. The fact is that a heroic soul like mine will scarcely enlarge its horizon at Tarascon. 4. He will seek to tear himself from his dream. 5. In the long run all he does to forget reality will serve only to keep him in a state of anger. 6. Do not give me bad advice. 7. He did nothing to alleviate his thirst for adventures. 8. The wind blows during the heavy summer afternoons. 9. How many times he forgets himself! 10. Let him come!

QUESTIONS

1. Qui s'ennuie? 2. Quelles sont la nature et l'âme de Tartarin? 3. Que rêvait-il? 4. Que faisait-il tous les dimanches? 5. Qu'est-ce qu'il faisait le reste du temps? 6. De quoi se bourrait-il? 7. Pourquoi faisait-il cela? 8. Que faisait-il par les lourdes après-midi d'été? 9. Qu'est-ce qu'il oubliait? 10. Qui étaient-ils?

III

(page 15)

TRANSLATION

1. She is beside herself. 2. Let him ring for his maid and ask for ('demander') his chocolate. 3. That will make Tartarin laugh while stifling his cries. 4. How ('comment') does it happen that he has never left? 5. He almost left Tarascon once. 6. He offered them to her. 7. He must have his chocolate every morning. 8. However, he never offered it to him. 9. Besides, he almost received a visit from the Tartars. 10. They come more and more quickly.

QUESTIONS

1. Savez-vous tricoter? 2. Pouvez-vous voir Jeannette? 3. Que fait-elle? 4. Pourquoi est-ce que Tartarin n'a jamais quitté la ville? 5. Qu'est-ce que les frères Garcio-Camus lui out offert? 6. Avec quels pays ont-ils des relations? 7. Quel est le plus grand avantage de la maison de Garcio-Camus? 8. Que faisait-on à l'approche des Tartares? 9. Pourquoi est-ce que Tartarin n'est jamais allé à Shang-Hai? 10. Quelle est la vie qu'il lui faut?

IV

(page 20)

TRANSLATION

1. At last he will come and stand before him. 2. They are face to face. 3. They looked at each other. 4. Both were standing, Tartarin on one side, the lion on the other. 5. Up to that time he had not yawned in his face. 6. He rose with an air of supreme contempt. 7. At first he was stupefied, but after a moment he rushed toward the door. 8. Do not stir. 9. The women themselves were somewhat reassured by his resolute attitude and approached the cage. 10. Say no more.

QUESTIONS

1. Qu'est-ce que le lion de Tarascon a fait quand il est arrivé devant la cage du lion de l'Atlas? 2. Est-ce que celui-ci avait peur de celui-là? 3. Comment est-ce que le lion avait regardé les Tarasconnais? 4. Pourquoi s'est-il mis en colère? 5. Qu'a-t-il fait? 6. Qui a fui? 7. Est-ce que Tartarin a fui? 8. Qu'a-t-il fait? 9. Comment les chasseurs de casquettes ont-ils été rassurés? 10. Qu'est-ce qu'ils out entendu?

V

(page 25)

TRANSLATION

1. Did the little boy wake with a start? 2. If he is very much afraid, he will ask for the light. 3. He was put to bed in the next room. 4. He intended to go to bed early. 5. That is ('voilà') a question which I cannot answer. 6. He had been gone from Tartarin for more than three months. 7. Don't move! 8. They imagined they had gone to Algeria. 9. After three months of waiting he began to pack his trunk. 10. When these (the latter) fired a shot, those (the former) closed their eyes.

QUESTIONS

1. Pourquoi est-ce que les garçons out demandé de la lumière? 2. Pourquoi est-ce que Tartarin n'est pas parti? 3. Quelle est la question délicate? 4. Qu'est-ce que Tartarin se figurait? 5. Que s'imaginait-il? 6. Qui était la victime du mirage et qui ne l'était pas? 7 Quand et pourquoi a-t-on commencé à murmurer? 8. Comment est-ce que les Tarasconnais out fait voir qu'ils ne croyaient plus à Tartarin? 9. Qui étaient impitoyables? 10. Qu'est-ce qu'un poltron ne peut pas faire?

VI

(page 30)

TRANSLATION

1. Suddenly he appeared on the threshold of the garden-gate. 2. He thought it his duty to offer some explanation. 3. His head was bare, and he wore wide trousers of white linen. 4. There was a great movement among the crowd. 5. I beg your pardon, that is not all; you have forgotten that there was also a long blue tassel. 6. Besides, my eye-glasses bother me. 7. They obliged him to leave his pretty little home. 8. He was proud, but it was not apparent. 9. He did not turn, for at the bottom of his heart he cursed them. 10. I see that all is well.

QUESTIONS

1. Qu'est-ce qui est arrivé vers dix heures? 2. Pourquoi est-ce qu'il s'est fait un mouvement dans la foule? 3. Quelle était l'apparence de Tartarin? 4. Où portait-il ses fusils? 5. Qu'avait-il à la ceinture? 6. Est-ce tout? 7. Pourquoi est-ce que les lunettes étaient à propos? 8. Pourquoi est-ce que Tartarin n'a pas salué? 9. Aimait-il ses compatriotes? 10. Qu'a-t-il fait après avoir quitté sa maison?

VII

(page 35)

TRANSLATION

1. My reader would like to put the crossing of a great painter at the head of this episode. 2. Show me it first on board the Zouave, then show me how it was when Tartarin felt the first pangs. 3. Put it before my eyes. 4. In three days one can make the voyage from France to Algeria. 5. I shall show it to you struggling with the waves. 6. It begins to stand erect on the hero's skull. 7. As you go farther into the open sea, the coast begins to look like something formless. 8. He is in the depths of his narrow cabin. 9. At the departure of the Zouave the sea became more rough. 10. As the boat left the port Tartarin went and leaned over the rail.

QUESTIONS

1. Voulez-vous me dire ce que c'est qu'un Teur? 2. Qu'est-ce que Daudet voudrait être? 3. Voudriez-vous savoir quelle position la chechia a prise à la sortie du port? 4. Qu'y a-t-il en tête de cet épisode? 5. Tartarin se portait-il bien pendant la traversée? 6. Quelle position la chechia a-t-elle prise au départ? 7. Quelle position a-t-elle prise dans le golfe du Lion? 8. Le flot que faisait-il? 9. De quoi le lit avait-il l'air? 10. Avez-vous jamais eu le mal de mer?

VIII

(page 40)

TRANSLATION

1. What is said is not always true. 2. Tartarin must have started with joy on debarking from the Zouave. 3. What is floating in the air îs not what you think. 4. Who are on the shore? 5. I can scarcely see what there is in the nets which the sailors are pulling in. 6. There was a Moor smoking his pipe on the quay. 7. He rose from among the stones, threw himself on Tartarin, and clung to his clothes. 8. They carried off his baggage. 9. Tartarin did not know how to make himself understood. 10. They threw outlandish names at his head.

QUESTIONS

1. Que dit-on de ce qui reste des grands hommes? 2. Pourquoi ce qui restait de Cervantes a-t-il dû tressaillir de joie? 3. Qu'y avait-il sur la berge? 4. Les sauvages étaient-ils beaux? 5. Qui se disputaient ses bagages? 6. Que faisaient les uns? 7. Que faisaient les autres? 8. Qu'est-ce que Tartarin faisait? 9. Pourquoi ne pouvait-il pas se faire comprendre? 10. Quelles langues pouvait-il parler?

IX

(page 45)

TRANSLATION

1. There were wild beasts here, but they did not wait for Tartarin. 2. He remembered that he had not brought along a kid. 3. Great lion-hunters pull the kid's foot with a string. 4. Nothing came all the same. 5. Not being afraid, Tartarin cried louder. 6. Something black stooped in front of him. 7. That is surely a lion! 8. Suddenly Tartarin became silent. 9. Nothing answered the shot. 10. He was afraid and made a leap backward.

QUESTIONS

1. Qu'y a-t-il à gauche? 2. Comment Tartarin attendait-il le lion? 3. Qu'est-ce que les grands tueurs de lions faisaient? 4. Comment est-ce que Tartarin les a imités? 5. De quoi avait-il peur? 6. Qu'est-ce que l'objet noir a fait? 7. Était-ce le lion? 8. Comment savez-vous que c'était le lion? 9. Après avoir tiré le coup de feu qu'est-ce que Tartarin a fait? 10. Pourquoi la bête n'est-elle pas revenue?

X

(page 50)

TRANSLATION

1. Signal, and then get in. 2. You would have done better not to go to the city on foot. 3. Tartarin got into the first omnibus that passed. 4. He perceived that there was a sailor at the back of the omnibus smoking cigarettes. 5. Opposite him there were some young Moorish women whose eyes he could not see. 6. The one who was sitting there thought she noticed that he was looking at her. 7. He had just spoken to the Maltese merchant with the heavy black beard at the risk of hearing him laugh. 8. From time to time he was cold. 9. What was he to do? 10. The eyes whose glance answered his were large and black.

QUESTIONS

1. Pourquoi Tartarin est-il monté dans l'omnibus? 2. Aurait-il mieux fait de ne pas monter dans l'omnibus? 3. Qu'est-ce qu'il aurait dû faire au lieu de monter dans l'omnibus? 4. Qui était dans l'omnibus? 5. Qu'est-ce que les dames mauresques venaient de faire? 6. Qu'a fait celle qui était assise en face de lui? 7. Pourquoi ne pouvait-il pas voir la figure de la dame? 8. Est-ce qu'il a vu son poignet? 9. Qu'est-ce que ses mouvements disaient? 10. Où Tartarin s'est-il fourré?

XI

(page 55)

TRANSLATION

1. He ended by turning his eye toward the table. 2. Their eyes make the gold pieces frisk. 3. The guard comes up because there are knives unsheathed and money missing. 4. One evening he strayed into the middle of this crowd. 5. The hero was thinking of the peace of his heart, when suddenly angry voices rose. 6. I am twenty francs short. 7. I ask no better. 8. He was proud to make the acquaintance of the prince whose title had dazzled him. 9. He turned toward Tartarin sneering. 10. Tartarin made a step forward without producing the slightest impression upon the officer.

QUESTIONS

1. Quel était l'effet des terribles yeux? 2. Où le héros tarasconnais est-il venu s'égarer? 3. Pourquoi y est-il venu? 4. A quoi pensait-il? 5. Qu'est-ce qui a interrompu ses pensées? 6. Qu'est-ce qui vous manque? 7. Qu'est-ce que Tartarin a fait en apprenant que c'était le prince? 8. Le titre d'altesse a-t-il produit la même impression sur les autres que sur Tartarin? 9. Qu'est-ce que l'officier a fait quand le prince a prononcé son titre? 10. Qu'a-t-il fait quand Tartarin a dit «Je connais le préince»?

XII

(page 60)

TRANSLATION

1. The negress appeared on seeing the door open. 2. He retired after having knocked twice at the postern. 3. The gentlemen were led across the narrow court. 4. The lady in question seems to me smaller. 5. As a matter of fact, the suspicion came to me that she was not the same. 6. She seemed to him so pretty through the smoke which enveloped her entirely! 7. Tartarin bowed and placed his hand on his lips. 8. Baia dropped the amber mouthpiece without saying anything. 9. The only thing you ('on') could see any more was her white neck. 10. If you looked at her, she would laugh.

QUESTIONS

1. Qu'est-ce qu'Ali a fait? 2. Qu'est-ce que la négresse a fait? 3. Pourquoi semblait-il à Tartarin que ce n'était pas la dame qu'il avait vue dans l'omnibus? 4. Ce soupçon est-il resté longtemps dans son esprit? 5. Quelle était l'apparence de la dame? 6. Qu'est-ce que Tartarin a fait en entrant? 7. Qu'est-ce que Baia a fait? 8. Qu'est-ce qu'on entendait chez les cafetiers algériens? 9. Depuis combien de temps Tartarin a-t-il quitté Alger? 10. Comment les Maures causaient-ils entre eux?

XIII

(page 65)

TRANSLATION

1. He refused to believe that, although the insinuation awakened melancholy in his great soul. 2. He found nobody who seemed ugly to him. 3. Sit down near the fountain, although you are a prey to remorse. 4. We hear from Tarascon that they have not heard from you for many months. 5. What has become of you? 6. So many of our fellow-countrymen gave some that I scarcely dare to ask them for it. 7. However, when they came to the fair they claimed to have known over there a man whose description tallied with his. 8. He was making for Paris. 9. When he had read that, Tartarin was ashamed of himself. 10. You think he is hunting lions in Africa.

QUESTIONS

1. En quittant Barbassou où est-ce que Tartarin s'est dirigé? 2. Quel était l'effet des jurons du capitaine? 3. En arrivant à la maison qu'est-ce que Tartarin a fait? 4. Comment a-t-il appris ce qu'on pensait de lui à Tarascon? 5. Que pensait-on de lui? 6. Quel était le sort de beaucoup d'autres qui étaient partis pour chasser les lions? 7. Les marchands nègres que prétendaient-ils? 8. Qu'est-ce que Tartarin a fait après avoir lu le journal? 9. Qu'est-ce qui lui a apparu? 10. Pourquoi avait-il honte de lui-même?

XIV

(page 70)

TRANSLATION

1. Is he going to begrudge me good horses? Never! 2. Nobody treats me well any more. 3. It's beginning again! 4. Instead of biting each other they would do well to take a roundabout way across the plains and stop at a farm. 5. If they did not fight, they would be able to make up lost time. 6. After which, he swam the river. 7. If you get wet, you will catch cold. 8. At night he feared the marauders, for he had to sleep under the open sky. 9. You could not lead the life I lead. 10. He could not do anything else.

QUESTIONS

1. Qu'est-ce que la diligence avait au lieu de ses chevaux d'autrefois? 2. Comment les chevaux arabes lui brisaient-ils ses brancards? 3. Quelle sorte de routes traversait-elle? 4. Où s'arrêtait-on? 5. Qu'est-ce que le conducteur faisait faire à la diligence? 6. Après l'arrêt que faisait-on pour rattraper le temps perdu? 7. Où fallait-il que la diligence couchât? 8. Qu'est-ce que les maraudeurs faisaient? 9. Jusque quand la diligence continuera-t-elle à mener cette vie? 10. Qu'est-ce que les Arabes en feront?

XV

(page 75)

TRANSLATION

1. After a desperate struggle a man broke through the crowd. 2. Tartarin himself was rolling on the ground. 3. He shook himself and sat down all out of breath. 4. As soon as he received the letter, he put aside the Arabs with a gesture. 5. What under the sun have you done? 6. You are mistaken; you are not a laughing-stock to the women and children. 7. On the contrary, you arrive just in time to get into an ugly difficulty. 8. He tried to rescue ('arracher') the lion from the hands of the strange monks who were taming him. 9. There are hundreds of them in the convent. 10. He belonged to that convent whose ('dont') friars receive gifts which they never steal.

QUESTIONS

1. Où était le cordonnier juif? 2. Où a-t-on fait rouler Tartarin? 3. Qu'est-ce que le prince a fait? 4. Comment est-il arrivé ici? 5. Comment Tartarin a-t-il expliqué son action? 6. Qu'est-ce que le lion était pour les nègres? 7. De quel couvent faisait-il partie? 8. Qu'est-ce que les moines font dans ce couvent? 9. A quoi servent les dons reçus par les frères quêteurs? 10. Pourquoi les nègres ont-ils montré tant d'humeur?

XVI

(page 80)

TRANSLATION

1. After several strides the camel lengthened out his long knotty legs. 2. Tartarin picked himself up. 3. He felt himself grow pale, but had to resign himself. 4. Nothing could stop him any more. 5. One by one the Arabs gesticulated and laughed like madmen. 6. Tartarin clung to the hump and collapsed on it. 7. They had to give up the camel. 8. The old Orient had something fairy-like (about it), but nothing burlesque. 9. Out of consideration for Tartarin the prince wandered from plain to plain for nearly a month. 10. However bizarre their mount was, they felt that it was picturesque.

QUESTIONS

1. Qu'est-ce que le chameau a fait? 2. Qu'est-ce qui est arrivé à Tartarin et à la chechia au bout de quelques enjambées? 3. Comment Tartarin se tenait-il sur le chameau? 4. Comment les Arabes ont-ils fait voir qu'ils s'amusaient à voir courir le chameau? 5. Tartarin se tenait-il droit? 6. Pourquoi nos tueurs ont-ils renoncé an chameau? 7. Quel était l'arrangement de la caravane? 8. Où Tartarin errait-il? 9. Quel est le caractère de l'Algérie française? 10. Comment les parfums du vieil Orient se compliquent-ils?

XVII

(page 85)

TRANSLATION

1. The hero awoke at dawn and saw that his treasure was gone. 2. The next day he saw that he had been robbed for the first time. 3. He began to weep bitterly. 4. Now, it was the prince that had deserted him in the heart of Africa. 5. He was sitting there with his head in his hands; suddenly he saw the camel looking at him. 6. Tartarin was stupefied on seeing the lion come forward. 7. He was ten paces from him, and made the saint's slippers tremble. 8. Everything was there in front of him. 9. Tartarin saw the big negroes running at him. 10. He had just slain the poor tame lion.

QUESTIONS

1. De quoi Tartarin s'est-il acquis la certitude en se réveillant? 2. Dans quel état se voyait-il? 3. De quoi doutait-il? 4. Qu'est devenu le prince? 5. Dans quelle position Tartarin était-il assis? 6. Qu'a-t-il vu? 7. Qu'a-t-il fait? 8. Après le coup de fusil qu'a-t-on vu dans l'air? 9. Qu'est-ce que Tartarin a aperçu? 10. Qu'est-ce que Tartarin a tué?

XVIII

(page 90)

TRANSLATION

1. Put not your trust in princes. 2. He raised his head and asked if the captain knew where the prince was. 3. I believe that he even let himself be caught. 4. Besides, I know he saw only the most disagreeable things. 5. Your affair with the prince is known; you must keep your eyes open mighty wide. 6. From the top of the penitentiary he could see only one side of the city. 7. Do that; otherwise he will see you somewhere. 8. He courted Baia from the top of the tower. 9. All that happened ('se passe') under Tartarin's nose. 10. If you'll take my advice, you'll return to ('en') France, for that is not the first time you have been fleeced.

QUESTIONS

1. Qu'est-ce que Tartarin a fait en apprenant que sa Mauresque savait même le marseillais? 2. Qu'est-ce que Barbas-sou a dit? 3. Où était le prince? 4. Comment l'a-t-on pris? 5. Qu'avait-il fait à Tarascon? 6. Qu'est-ce que cela fait comprendre à Tartarin? 7. Que faut-il faire en Algérie, d'après le capitaine? 8. Quelle est l'histoire du muezzin? 9. Quel conseil le capitaine donne-t-il à Tartarin? 10. Pourquoi Tartarin ne pouvait-il pas suivre ce conseil?

XIX

(page 95)

TRANSLATION

1. The strangest effect of the mirage is that it makes a man lie ingenuously. 2. Tartarin had killed only one lion and had sent the skin to Bravida. 3. The telegram had reached Tarascon two hours ahead of him. 4. The camel had preceded Tartarin without knowing it, covered with dust and sweat. 5. He added that the camel had seen him kill all his lions. 6. Thereupon the camel hobbled down the station stairs. 7. That is what brought the Tarasconians' joy to the climax. 8. Tartarin calmly directed his steps toward his house, followed by his fellow-countrymen. 9. Tartarin, red with happiness, began the tale of his hunt 10. The caphunters took his arm familiarly.

QUESTIONS

1. Quelle était la cause de tout ce bruit? 2. Pourquoi le Midi s'est-il monté la tête? 3. Quel drame le Sémaphore a-t-il inventé? 4. Qu'est-ce qui était déjà arrivé quand Tartarin a débarqué à Marseille? 5. Qu'est-ce qui a mis le comble à la joie populaire? 6. Quel était sur Tartarin l'effet du soleil tarasconnais? 7. Qu'a-t-il dit? 8. Qu'a-t-il fait ensuite? 9. Comment s'est-il dirigé vers la maison du baobab? 10. Qu'a-t-il dit en commençant le récit de ses chasses?



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