NOTES
Reading edition
The full-face figures refer to the pages; the ordinary figures refer to the lines.
PROSPER MÉRIMÉE
Paris, 1803-Cannes, 1870
Mérimée was at first identified with the Romantic movement, but his hatred of exaggeration and his cynicism caused him to turn to a simpler manner. His clear, concise narrative style and his objective manner of treatment, combined with a grasp of human character, pathos, delicate analysis, satire and an ability to portray local color and to omit non-essentials may be said to be his chief characteristics. His test work is seen in the short stories and in the nouvelles.
Important works (the dates refer to the year of publication): Théâtre de Clara Gazul (1825), La Jacquerie (1828), Chronique du Règne de Charles IX (1829), Nouvelles (including: Tamango, Colomba, Vénus d'Ille, and other shorter stories; from 1830 to 1841), Carmen (1847), Lokis (1869), Dernières Nouvelles (1873); besides works on travel, history, archeology, literature and translations (especially from the Russian). L'Enlèvement de la Redoute was written in 1829 (for La Revue Française) and Le Coup de Pistolet in 1856 (for Le Moniteur).
Edition: Calmann Lévy.
Criticism: Advanced students should consult Lanson, Histoire de la littérature française (Hachette, Paris); others may consult Wright's History of French Literature (Oxford Press). Bibliographies may be found in both of these works, further details can be found in the special bibliographies published by Lanson and by Thieme.
L'ENLÈVEMENT DE LA REDOUTE
1.--1. un militaire de mes amis. Compare un de mes amis, a friend of mine; un mien ami also occurs in popular style. Mérimée refers to Henri Beyle (Stendhal), French novelist and soldier under Napoleon, by whom this story was related to him (1783-1843).
8. après avoir lu. Note the use of the perfect infinitive, not the present, after après.
9. général B * * *. General Berthier, Major-General of Napoleon's army which invaded Russia; he became Prince and Marshal of France (1753-1815).--il changea de manières. De is used after changer when the object is changed for another of the same kind (if the object is preceded by a modifier, such as a possessive pronoun, changer alone is used).
15. sa croix. The cross of the Legion of Honor; the cross is not usually worn, but in its stead a small bow of ribbon.
21. école de Fontainebleau. The reference is not to the present military school (artillery and engineers) at Fontainebleau, which was founded in 1871, but to the school which was moved from there to Saint-Cyr in 1806, and which corresponds to the school at West Point in the United States.
2.--5. Cheverino. «Le 5 septembre un combat se livra pour la possession d'une redoute russe sur le tertre de Chévardino, et fit perdre aux Français 4 ou 5000 hommes, aux Russes 7 ou 8000. Il annonçait du moins que les Russes avaient pris position et se disposaient, pour sauver leur capitale, à livrer bataille.» Lavisse et Rambaud, Histoire générale du IVe siècle à nos jours, vol. IX, p. 787. The battle of Borodino, known also as the battle of the Moscova, was fought two days later, September 7, 1812, and Napoleon arrived at Moscow on September 14. On account of the other references in the text to Napoleon the following note may be found convenient.--Born in Corsica in 1769, he first distinguished himself by driving the English from Toulon (1793). He became General-in-Chief of the Army of Italy, and won the celebrated battles of Arcola (1796), Rivoli (1797), etc.; became First Consul in 1799 and Emperor in 1804; victor in the battles of Austerlitz (1805), Iéna (1806), Eylau (1807), Friedland (1807), Wagram (1809), he became the ruler of western Europe. He led the Grande-Armée into Russia in 1812-1813, and never recovered from this disastrous campaign. Europe rose against him; he was deposed in 1814 and sent to the Island of Elba, whence he escaped to France in 1815 and ruled, during the Hundred Days, until he was finally defeated at Waterloo, June 18, 1815. Banished to Saint Helena, he died there in 1821.
12. auprès duquel. Auprès de expresses a relation nearer than that expressed by près de.
14. il en coûtera bon. En is often added to coûter when the latter is used impersonally.
3.--5. la fatigue l'avait emporté. In this idiom the pronoun refers to an unexpressed noun (prix, choix, etc.).
25. aussitôt que l'ordre...eut été donné. The past anterior is a literary tense; it is used to express completed action after certain temporal conjunctions and à peine...que, also with encore, plus tôt, sitôt, when they are negative and followed by que and when the period of time is mentioned (il eut bientôt fait son devoir); in all these cases the pluperfect is used if the action is repeated. The past anterior is not used in conversation.
30. éprouvasse. The imperfect subjunctive is a literary tense and is to be avoided in conversation; it may be so avoided by using the present subjunctive and thus violating the rule for the sequence of tenses or by using a circumlocution (particularly obnoxious to a Frenchman's ear are all the forms of this tense in the first conjugation, except the third person singular).
4.--4. madame de B * * *. Possibly Mérimée was thinking cf his friend Madame la comtesse de Beaulaincourt, with whom he corresponded. The Revue des Deux Mondes (August 15, 1879) published a collection of eleven letters written to her by Mérimée (see also Filon, Mérimée et ses Amis, 2e éd., Paris, 1909). More probably he refers to Madame de Boigne, who lived in the street mentioned; he used to read his stories in her Salon.
7. en voir de grises. For the use of a feminine adjective referring to no expressed noun compare: j'ai échappé belle, I had a narrow escape; il se remit à courir de plus belle, he began to run harder than ever, etc. The feminine adjective in such phrases cannot always be explained by saying that manière, occasion, chose, etc., have been omitted. Similar phrases occur in Italian, Spanish, Old French and Romanian. Meyer-Lübke, Grammaire des langues romanes, vol. III, § 88, suggests res, causa, or a similar substantive as omitted in the primitive Latin construction. In certain French phrases the reference seems to be to balle, an expression borrowed from play--donner la balle belle, then la donner (or bailler) belle à quelqu'un, to impose on anyone.
30. ajouta-t-il. The letter t which occurs in such interrogative forms is not introduced for the sake of euphony, nor is it a survival of the Latin t of the third person. It arose by analogy with such forms as est-il, sont-ils, donnent-ils, where the letter forms a part of the verb.
6.--7. au travers de. Au travers should always be followed by de, à travers should never be followed by de; the meaning is the same in each case.
18. que je l'entendis prononcer. Although the second verb has an object, the object of entendre need not be in the indirect form; with faire in this construction the object of faire must be Indirect.
7.--1. je n'ai presque plus. Notice that presque is placed between plus (pas, rien, etc.) and the verb.
26. le général C * * * va vous faire soutenir. Vous is the object of soutenir, but in this construction the pronoun object of the second verb is regularly placed in front of faire. General Compans was in command of two regiments at the assault of the Redoubt, he was one of Napoleon's distinguished generals; he was made a prisoner at Waterloo and afterwards became a peer when the Bourbons were restored (1767-1845).
LE COUP DE PISTOLET
8.--19. je ne sais quel. Note the omission of pas in this phrase which stands for quelque; note also the omission of pas after savait in the next sentence (see also note to p. 201, 1. 13).
9.--18. personne... n'eût fait. The imperfect and the pluperfect subjunctive sometimes occur in conditional sentences contrary to fact, but only in literary style.
22. lui demandait-on s'il s'était battu, il répondait... que oui. Si is avoided in the first clause by means of inversion, otherwise two successive clauses introduced by si would occur; que is used before oui because oui substitutes a clause (il s'était battu); notice that no elision occurs before oui.
31. tous. When tous is used without a following noun, s is Pronounced.
12.--14. celui-là. The meaning here is "still another" or "a third."
25. précipitamment. This is not an exception to the rule that -ment is added to the feminine form of the adjective to form the adverb; adjectives having only two terminations in Latin, that is, those that had the same form for the masculine and feminine (grandis, etc.) had the same form for both the masculine and feminine in Old French; précipitant is both masculine and feminine in Old French and becomes with the addition of -ment précipitamment by assimilation (see also note to p.87, l. 17).
13.--4. il la fit partager à toute la compagnie. Compagnie is the direct object of fit.
14.--1. R... Mérimée uses both this form of abbreviation and the form which occurs on p. 1, l .9 (cf. also p. 17, l. 26). 16.--7. de n'avoir pas. Pas is usually placed before the infinitive.
18.--12. dépit... des pires. Mérimée tries to reproduce a Russian pun by means of a play on these words. He gives the following note: «Il y a, dans le russe un jeu de mots impossible à traduire: sdelatsa pianitseiou s'goria, t. c. samym gorkim pia nitseiou.»
20.--24. il y a bien quatre ans que je n'ai touché. Note that while pas is omitted in this phrase it is used below (p. 21, l. 27) in voilà cinq ans que je n'en ai pas eu; compare also: il y a cinq ans que je me mariai (p. 22, l. 18), where there is no negative idea.
21.--10. prendre son verre d'eau-de-vie avant la soupe. Mérimée gives the following note: «C'est l'usage en Russie de prendre de l'eau-de-vie un peu avant le diner.»
22.--6. serait-ce vous. The conditional here expresses uncertainty; it should be rendered in English by "could" not by "would."
24.--14. reviens-nous. Note the use of the indirect object (instead of à nous) with a verb of motion.
GUY DE MAUPASSANT
Miromesnil (Seine-Supérieure), 1850-Paris, 1893
De Maupassant was a godson and disciple of Flaubert, thus his name is closely connected with the Naturalistic School, which goes back to Madame Bovary, Flaubert's masterpiece. The leading writers of this school are: Flaubert, the de Goncourt brothers, Daudet (only in portions of his work), Zola and Maupassant. Maupassant is known as a writer of short stories and as a novelist. His work is at times pessimistic and morbid, in this respect he represents the worst side of the Naturalists; he had, however, a remarkable power of observation and the "saving gift of irony," and was a master of style, the chief characteristics of which are strength and simplicity. In the artistic composition of the short story he is probably unsurpassed. Important works: Des Vers (1880), Une Vie (1883), Bel Ami (1885), Mont Oriol (1881), Pierre et Jean (1888), Fort comme la Mort (1889), and especially several collections of Contes.
Edition: Havard, 9 vols.; Ollendorff, 8 vols.
LA MAIN
27.--20. qu'entourent partout de hautes montagnes. Note the inversion in the relative clause.
28. ce terrible préjugé corse. Compare Mérimée's Colomba.
28.--10. on prétendit que c'était. Prétendre, "to maintain," has the construction of a verb of saying, prétendre, "to require" or "to insist on," takes the subjunctive.
29.--6. qui fumait. Note the relative clause where in English the participle would be used.
11. cette pays, cette rivage. Illustrations of the frequent mistakes in gender made by the English.
17. j'avé ...bôcoup. Illustrations of the errors made by the English in pronouncing French vowels; avais is pronounced avè and eau in beaucoup should not be drawled; this latter remark applies generally to French vowels. Nô (l. 24) represents the failure to nasalize; c'été (for c'était, l. 24) illustrates the error mentioned in regard to avais; une drap japonaise (p. 30, l. 2), wrong gender; ma (p. 30, l. 17) for mon; c'été, vené, avé (11. 17, 18), illustrate mistakes already mentioned; arraché la peau, that is, la peau avait été arrachée; une caillou coupante, wrong gender; aoh, represents the English tendency to diphthongize simple vowels; très bonne pour moi, cette = c'est une très bonne chose pour moi; je été (l. 30) for j'étais or j'ai été.
UNE VENDETTA
37.--13. revenir, retourner. These words are not synonymous.
39.--5. pour la lui entrer dedans. Entrer is here transitive; it is used intransitively in the preceding paragraph.
26. dès qu'elle apercevait. The imperfect is used to express the repetition of the action; this and the following paragraphs offer good material for a study of the use of tenses.
L'AVENTURE DE WALTER SCHNAFFS
41.--1. l'année d'invasion. The reference is to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. This war was largely brought on through The instrumentality of Bismarck, who went so far as to falsify French telegrams; it resulted in the defeat of France and the loss of the Alsace-Lorraine territory. The French Emperor, Napoleon III, was overthrown and the present Republic was established.
9. il aimait se lever tard. Aimer, except in poetry or unless used colloquially as in this instance, is usually followed by the infinitive with à; sometimes it is followed by the simple infinitive,. in this case it is usually in the conditional or it is accompanied by certain adverbs (mieux, autant, bien, assez, etc.); it may even be followed by the infinitive with de when the infinitive gives the cause (je vous aime d'avoir fait cela).
46.--21. des petites bêtes. In familiar style, or when the words form really only one idea, partition is expressed by de and the article even when an adjective precedes the noun.
47.--16. on aperçut l'ennemi. Apercevoir refers especially to the sense of sight, s'apercevoir de to a mental process (il s'aperçut de son erreur).
48.--4. cessèrent. Note the plural verb though the singular subjects are not connected by et.
17. mangeaille, -aille is a derogatory suffix; the force of the various French suffixes, to which little or no attention is paid in the ordinary French grammars, may be seen in the Dictionnaire général, vol. l, pp. 43 ff. and pp. 48 ff.; also in Ayer, Grammaire comparée de la langue française (4th edition), pp. 300 ff.
49.--25. mon colonel. The possessive pronoun is used by French soldiers in addressing superior officers.
TOMBOUCTOU
63.--12. bonjou. The letter r is as difficult for Tombouctou as it is for the negroes in the Southern States. Tombouctou's language is like the Pidgin-English used in the Orient, he pays no attention to syntax, but puts his verbs in the first conjugation and in the> infinitive, that is, he knows only one form of the verb (aimé, cherché; reconné, etc.); the mistakes will be easily seen (Bézi, p. 53, l. 18, is for Bézières; Empéeu, p. 54, l. 7, is for Empereur; gives and capules, p. 57, l. 11, are for grives and crapules; povisions, p. 58, l. 3, for provisions, etc.); gadé, pésonne = garder, personne (p. 60, l. 5); pati, p. 60, l. 21, is for parti, one verb which he does not put in the first conjugation; moi fait mangé colonel, that is, he was the colonel's cook; Algéie, for Algérie.
EN MER
64.--13. faut couper. Popular omission of the subject pronoun.
19. coupe pas. An example of the popular omission of ne.--je vas, for je vais; the first person is formed on analogy with the second and third (vas, va).
66.--13. iau. Dialectic for eau.
19. drait. Dialectic (Norman) for droit; this peculiarity may be seen in Canadian French, which is partly Norman in origin; the Latin i and ë became in Old French ei, this sound developed in Modern French into oi, but the Norman dialect retained the Old French sound (represented here by ai).
23. aiguë. Note the diaeresis, which indicates that u is pronounced in this word.
67.--3. à c't'-heure. For à cette heure, a popular phrase for maintenant; this also illustrates the popular tendency to slur over syllables and to omit completely the pronunciation of mute e.
11. j'pourrions t'y point. For ne pourrais-je point? The uneducated often use the first person plural with je; t'y (sometimes written ti and il) represents the interrogative particle also used by the uneducated, it arose by analogy with the sound of the final syllable in such phrases as est-il?, sont-ils?
68.--17. il était regardant à son bien. Compare the English construction: "he was looking after his property"; this use of the French present participle is incorrect.
LES PRISONNIERS
70.--21. tous, boulangers, épiciers, etc. The French are fond of ridiculing these classes of tradespeople, particularly the épiciers, the notaires and the pharmaciens; such soldiers would be far from the martial type.
72.--5. sept~huit. For sept ou huit; v'là, for voilà, illustrates the popular tendency to slur over syllables.
13. oufrez. For ouvrez; the Germans in speaking a foreign language confuse voiced and unvoiced consonants, that is, b, d, g, j, v, become p, t, c, ch, f, and vice versa; these errors will be easily detected (ché = j'ai; manché = mangé, etc.).
73.--6. Un brave homme. Compare un homme brave; adjectives having secondary meanings precede their nouns when they have the figurative meaning and follow when the literal meaning occurs.
7. fous nous ferez à mancher. That is, vous nous ferez manger or vous nous donnerez à manger.
74.--6. c'est les loups. Popular for ce sont les loups. 12. ché. For je.
77.--11. entre eux. Note that there is no elision with entre except in compound verbs (entr'ouvrir, etc.).
32. qué qui font. For qu'est-ce qu'ils font (il and ils are often pronounced i even by the well educated).
78.--14. pi is for puis, t'as, for tu as; the other errors have already been noted.
80.--25. Potdevin. Note de Maupassant's choice of names (cf. Maloison, etc.).
83.--21. médaille militaire. See note to p. 195, l. 24.
LE BAPTÊME
85.--3. les femmes, c'est jamais prêt. A further example of the popular omission of ne and of the use of a singular verb instead of the agreement of the verb with the real subject.
5. qui avait appelé le premier. Le premier is in apposition to qui.
7. all' viendront point. All' represents the vulgar pronunciation of elles with the tendency to omit completely the mute e; the omission of ne has already been noted.
27. sage-femme. Compare femme sage, and notice the importance of the correct position of the adjective.
86.--29. le sel symbolique. Used in the Catholic christening ceremony.
87.--10. m'sieu. A further example of the slurring over of syllables by the uneducated (qu' for que, m' for me, vot' for votre, Etc.).
12. dans les estomacs. That is, dans l'estomac, the plural may be by analogy with les entrailles.
17. grand'mères. Etymologically the apostrophe is an error. The adjective grand had no distinct feminine form in Latin (grandem) nor in Old French (grant), consequently no e has been omitted; the feminine form of Modern French (grande) is due to analogy with feminine adjectives where e represents a Latin a (bonne, from bona, etc.), the form grand' is merely a preservation of the Old French form; cf. grand'rue, main street, grand merci, I thank you kindly (where the apostrophe is not written), also such adverbs as prudemment, précipitamment, etc. (see also note to p. 12, l. 25).
TOINE
90.--2. Toine-ma-Fine. A further illustration of de Maupassant's choice of proper names. 24. bé, pé. Bé is for boire, pé for Père, illustrating the dialectic omission of r and the Norman pronunciation of oi (see note to p. 66, l. 19).
91.--7. arrondissement. See note to p. 176, l. 15. 32. qu'al'est. For parce qu'elle est (see note to p. 85, l. 7).
92.--1. i for il (see note to p. 77, l. 32).
29. c'qu'arrivera. For ce qui arrivera, notice the incorrect use of que as subject (no elision would occur with qui).
93.--4. la mé. The article may be used in familiar or disrespectful address (for la mère).
94.--23. té. For toi (see note to p. 66, l. 19); compare also mé for moi (l. 25); c'est-il, incorrect for est-ce que (see also note top. 67, l. 11).
95.--1. pu. For plus.
6. guètez. For guettez; in the same sentence both y and i represent il (see note to p. 77, l. 32).
96.--16. li. For lui.
23. a. For elle (see note to p. 85, l. 7).
28. pourqué. For pourquoi; pisque (l. 29) for puisque.
97.--6. qué que tu veux. For qu'est-ce que tu veux.
32. quasiment t'une lourdeur. t' here shows that a liaison has been made. The question of liaison is difficult for a foreigner, some book on pronunciation (such as Geddes, French Pronunciation, Oxford Press) should be consulted.
98.--1. on entendit entrer. Notice that the indefinite subject of the infinitive is omitted.
18. un lapin qui bat du tambour. An allusion to the drumming of rabbits.
23. il dut couver, il dut renoncer. The past definite of certain verbs expresses accomplishment, "he had to do it and he did it"; devait would not express the accomplishment of the action.
100.--31. qué. For quel.
101.--3. combien qu'i en a. For combien qu'il y en a, that is, combien y a-t-il?
5. cette famille nouvelle. When nouveau is placed after the noun, it means "recently appeared," not "other"; nouveau should also be distinguished from neuf, which means "unused" and follows its noun.
11. son enveloppe. The use of son before a feminine noun beginning with a vowel arose by analogy with bon: bon ami, bonne amie, therefore son ami, son amie.
LE PÈRE MILON
103.--4. la guerre de 1870. See note to p. 41, l. 1.
105.--14. tretous. A dialectic survival of an Old French form (in Old French trestot, trestout, etc., are at times used for tout, etc.; the word is derived from très and tout).
28. qu'il était. The uneducated are fond of introducing que in phrases where it is unnecessary. Other dialectic peculiarities in this paragraph which have not been noted are: pu de chinquante for plus de cinquante, the Picard dialect resembles the Italian in the pronunciation of the soft c, on the other hand the French ch is pronounced in the Picard dialect as hard c (k), vache becoming vaque; itou is another instance of a dialectic survival of an Old French word (in Old French itel, "such, similarly, also," occurred, formed on analogy with icel=celui; itel and tel, icel and cel were used without difference of meaning, i is a relic of the Latin ecce originally added to the word for the sake of emphasis); li is for lui. The following errors in syntax occur in this passage: The first sentence should read, Je revenais un soir, alors qu'il était peut-être dix heures, le lendemain après que vous étiez venus (or arrivés) ici. After the phrase, Je me dis, read, Autant de fois qu'ils me prendront vingt écus, autant de fois je leur revaudrai ça. De sorte or a similar phrase should be supplied before qu'il n'entendit, also before qu'il n'a pas seulement dit.
109.--2. pu, pus. Both stand for plus, the spelling of the latter form represents the frequent pronunciation of s in plus when it stands before a pause.
8. l'Empereur premier. For Napoléon Premier.
16. où que. Que is superfluous; after chez mé (l. 17), insert de sorte or de telle façon.
27. le vieux. See note to p. 93, l. 4.
32. toute coupée. In this construction tout does not take the feminine form if the following adjective begins with a vowel (tout ancienne, etc.).
ALPHONSE DAUDET
Nîmes, 1840--Paris, 1897
Daudet has given the impressions and the experiences of his early life in the two volumes with which he established his reputation: Le Petit Chose and Lettres de Mon Moulin; in the former he describes the struggles of his boyhood, and in the latter the customs and legends of his native Provence. The books which he published later are of a different character, marked by the influence of the Naturalistic School, but unlike the other members of this school, he was endowed with a spontaneous, sympathetic nature, which enabled him to feel what he described. Thus while de Maupassant describes with the greatest art what he observes, Daudet sympathetically describes what he observes and feels. He had too much originality ever to come completely under the influence of the Naturalists. His short stories usually deal with some incident of the Franco-Prussian War (Le Siège de Berlin, La Dernière Classe, La Vision du Juge de Colmar, etc.) or with life in the Midi (Lettres de Mon Moulin). Le Curé de Cucugnan and Le Sous-Préfet aux Champs are taken from Lettres de Mon Moulin (1869), the remaining three stories of the collection are taken from Contes du Lundi (1873). His best novels are given in the following list; in these he has often been compared with Dickens and Thackeray.
Important works (besides the collections of short stories mentioned): Les Amoureuses (verse, 1858), Le Petit Chose (1868), Aventures Prodigieuses de Tartarin de Tarascon (1872), L'Arlésienne (drama, 1872), Fromont Jeune et Risler Aîné (1874), Jack (1876), Le Nabab (1877), Les Rois en Exil (1879), Numa Roumestan (1881), L'Évangéliste (1883), Sapho (1884), Tartarin sur les Alpes (1885), La Défense de Tarascon (1887), L'Immortel (1888), Port Tarascon (1890).
Edition: Flammarion, 13 vols. (illustrated); Charpentier, Dentu, Hetzel and Lemerre have each published portions of his work.
LE CURÉ DE CUCUGNAN
This story is an almost literal translation of Lou Curat de Cucugnan, a Provençal story by Roumanille, published by him under the pseudonym of Lou Cascarelet in the Armana prouvençau (Provençal Almanac) in 1867 (Daudet was in Provence during this year). This Almanac was first published in the year 1855, a little after the foundation of the Félibrige (May 21, 1854). The Félibrige was a brotherhood of modern Provençal poets, its purpose was to revive Provençal as a literary language; the word Félibrige is of unknown origin, it comes from an obscure word found by Mistral in a Provençal text; the members of the brotherhood, which later became a great literary society, were called félibres; the brotherhood was originated by Roumanille, who was followed by a more celebrated poet, Mistral, and five other poets, Aubanel, Brunet, Camille Raybaud, Mathieu and Félix Gras. In regard to the Armana prouvençau, the following quotation from an article by Mistral in Les Annales politiques et littéraires, May 13, 1906, will give an idea of the type of this Almanac: «Et sans parler ici des innombrables poésies qui s'y sont publiées, sans parler de ses Chroniques, où est continue, peut-on dire, l'histoire du Félibrige, la quantité de contes, de légendes, de sornettes, de facéties et de gaudrioles, tous recueillis dans le terroir, qui s'y sont ramassés, font de cette entreprise une collection unique. Toute la tradition, toute la raillerie, tout l'esprit de notre race se trouvent serrés là-dedans.» The dialects of France fall into two great classes: the Langue d'oïl, in the north, and the Langue d'oc, in the south (oïl is the old> northern form for oui, oc the southern form). The difference really dates from Roman colonization, which occurred on the Mediterranean some seventy-five years before Caesar conquered northern Gaul (59--5l B.C.). Provençal is one of the principal dialects of the southern group; during the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries (prior to the Albigensian crusade) it was, at least in lyric poetry, the most important literary language of France. Because of political and literary superiority, the language of Paris, or of the Île-de-France, became the general literary language of France. The dialects, however, still live on, and Provençal has, as described above, been somewhat revived as a literary language by the efforts of Mistral and the other poets of the Félibrige. Many scholars regard the characteristics of the territory embraced by the modern departments of Loire, Rhône, Isère, Ain, Savoie, the old province of Franche-Comté and a part of Switzerland as sufficient to form a third group of dialects known as Franco-Provençal. The dividing line between the Langue d'oc and the Langue d'oïl passes approximately from the mouth of the Gironde to the Alps by way of Limoges, Clermont-Ferrand and Grenoble.
111.--1. à la Chandeleur. The article in such constructions is usually explained as equal to la fête de; it should be noticed, however, that in Old French a substantive frequently occurred in the oblique without a preceding de, the construction being equal to the Latin genitive, no preposition having been used (the phrase is thus literally: "on that of Candlemas").
2. en Avignon. En is not now used with cities except in ironical imitation of Provençal style (see Brunot, Précis de grammaire historique de la langue française, sec. 496, 2) or as a poetic and archaic survival of the usage of the seventeenth century, un joyeux petit livre. The Armana prouvençau.
112.--3. quel bon vent. The verb is to be supplied (quel bon vent vous amène?).
4. le grand livre et la clef. Cf. Matthew xvi, 19 and Revelation xx, 12.
11. disons-nous. Here = vous dites.
27. faites que je puisse. Faire in the imperative is followed by the subjunctive, elsewhere by the indicative (c'est ce qui fait que cela va mal), but notice that faites attention takes the indicative (faites attention qu'il est là).
114.--19. je n'ai pas entendu chanter le coq. See Matthew xvi, 34 ff.
116.--9. en l'air. En is never used before les; it is rarely used before the singular definite article, when it is so used the article is usually elided. In those cases where en is not used, dans takes its place; en was more frequently used in former times, it is now largely limited to fixed phrases. The following distinctions should also be observed: je ferai cet ouvrage en deux jours (two days will be required), je ferai cet ouvrage dans deux jours (after two days have elapsed).
117.--7. rang par rang... quand on danse. As in the dance called the farandole, where a number of people join bands and dance in a long line.
16. le meunier. The French have always ridiculed the millers; cf. the proverb: il n'y a rien de plus hardi que la chemise d'un meunier, parce qu'elle prend, tous les matins, un fripon au collier; also, il s'est fait d'évêque meunier, said when one bas fallen from a good position to a poorer one.
118.--4. le. This pronoun does not refer to histoire, but to all that has been told. This paragraph has not been added by Daudet, but occurs in the Provençal version.
LE SOUS-PRÉFET AUX CHAMPS
121.--26. de plus belle. See note to p. 4, l. 7.
LE PAPE EST MORT
123.--1. une grande ville de province. Daudet was born at Nîmes, his father was a wealthy manufacturer of silk handkerchiefs, the father lost his money and moved to Lyons when Alphonse was nine years old, it was here that the boy went to school and it is this city that is described in the story.
2. très-encombrée. The hyphen is now omitted after très.
125.--32. j'avais beau revenir. Littré explains this idiom as follows: «Avoir beau, c'est toujours avoir beau champ, beau temps, belle occasion; avoir beau faire, c'est proprement avoir tout favorable pour faire. Voilà le sens ancien et naturel. Par une ironie facile à comprendre, avoir beau a pris le sens d'avoir le champ libre, de pouvoir faire ce qu'on voudra, et, par suite, de se perdre en vains efforts.»
127.--13. Pie VII. Pius VII was imprisoned by Napoleon (l'empereur, l. 16) at Fontainebleau from 1812 to 1814; the words comediante... tragediante were used by Napoleon to the Pope and by the Pope to Napoleon.
UN RÉVEILLON DANS LE MARAIS
130.--23. vieux, vieux. The .repetition of an adjective for emphasis is much more common in Italian than in French.
132.>--3. une Diane... avec un croissant au front. A conventional manner of representing the goddess.
4. triolets. In versification this name (triolet) is given to a poem of eight lines, of which the first is repeated after the third, and both the first and second after the sixth, it is a development of the Old French rondeau; in music, as it is here used, the name is given to a group of three notes which, in a measure of 3/4 time, produces the effect of 6/8 time.
LA VISION DU JUGE DE COLMAR
134.--1. l'empereur Guillaume. William I, King of Prussia in 1861 and Emperor of Germany from 1871 to 1888; it was during his reign that the Franco-Prussian War occurred.
17. restez assis. In France the judges hold office for life (magistrature assise), while prosecuting attorneys, etc., may be removed from office by the Minister of Justice (magistrature debout); there is thus a double meaning in restez assis "remain seated" or "remain a judge (for life)"; on condition, of course, that Dollinger renounce his allegiance to France and take the oath of allegiance to Germany.
26. le même grand christ. Used in administering oaths, the person who took the oath raised his right hand toward the crucifix.
136.--4. aussi n'avancent-ils. Notice that aussi here means "therefore" and that it causes inversion (this occurs also with à peine, encore, peut-être, ici, là, etc.).
137.--5. des robes noires, des robes rouges. The former are worn by the judges in the lower courts, the latter by the judges in the courts of appeal.
6. président. The French Department of Justice is now constituted as follows. The Department has at its head a Cabinet Minister (Ministre de la Justice) and it comprises a civil and a criminal jurisdiction. In each canton is a justice of the peace, in each department a civil court, and in sixteen important cities a court of appeal. Criminals are tried in each department in a court of assize, before a jury of citizens and judges of whom the presiding judge is termed the président and the assistant judges conseillers assesseurs. Above all courts is the Court of Appeal (Cour de Cassation, in the Palais de Justice at Paris); this court is charged with looking after the strict observance of the Laws.
138.--24. monsieur le comte. Bismarck was given the higher title of Prince in 1871.
ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN
Émile Erckmann, Phalsbourg, 1822--Lunéville, 1899. Alexandre Chatrian, Soldatenthal, 1826--Villemombles, 1890
Most of the literary work of these two men was done jointly, hence their hyphenated signature. Erckmann did most of the writing, Chatrian most of the editing and adapting for the stage. Their work consisted of short stories, novels and plays, particularly with scenes laid along the Franco-German (Alsatian) frontier, where they were both born. Their stories usually deal with incidents of the French Revolution, the Empire of Napoleon l and the Franco-Prussian War; they attacked war, and their stories are generally of a fantastic or idyllic type.
Important works: Madame Thérèse (1863), Histoire d'un Conscrit de 1813 (1864), L'Ami Fritz (1864, their best known novel), Le Juif Polonais (1869, their best known play, known in English as The Bells), Les Rantzau (1882, a play), and several collections of Contes. The Montre du Doyen is from the Contes Fantastiques (1860).
Edition: Most of their work has been published by Hetzel.
LA MONTRE DU DOYEN
141.--2. bourgmestre. This title is not applied to French mayors, but to those of Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, etc.
142.--13. plus d'une demi-lieue. The use of de instead of que, "than," occurs before numerals and is a survival of the Old French construction, which employed de (than) generally after a comparative (cf. the more general use of di in this sense in Italian).
27. grand concerto. Incorrect in Italian, where grande is usually written gran before a word beginning with a consonant (except s followed by another consonant); before a vowel grand' is used (grand'impero, great empire).
29. théologiens... philosophes. A playful reference to the students of Heidelberg University.
145.--10. jusque passé minuit. Note that jusque and not jusqu'à is here used; besides a following preposition (jusque sur, etc.), certain following adverbs may have the same construction (jusqu'ici, jusque-là, jusqu'aujourd'hui, etc.).
20. ce disant. A survival of the Old French construction where ce could be used as object without a noun. In modern French ce is usually either an adjective pronoun or it is the impersonal subject of a verb or it is the antecedent of a relative; the other uses have been taken over by ceci and cela. Another similar construction is sur ce, used by sovereigns in closing letters.
148.--8. que. To avoid repetition of comme.
149.--14. soit. The tendency, although usage varies, is to pronounce the t in this exclamation.
23. comme tu voudras. Note the tense, a polite future, where in English the present would be used; notice also, the tense on p. 148, l. 18.
153.--15. et toute la salle de rire. An example of the historical infinitive, which expresses the sudden result of a preceding action and is accompanied by a new subject.
28. plus qu'un. Notice the difference between this phrase and plus d'une (p. 142, l. 13).
161.--29. pas un d'entre eux. Note the insertion of entre; when spoken, un d'eux would not be clear; note also that entre suffers no elision (see note to p. 77, l. 11).
164.--14. après boire. An example of the present infinitive used after après (cf. il est parti après avoir bu un verre d'eau).
167.--6. à peine eus-je allumé. Note that à peine causes inversion and that it is used with the past anterior (see notes to p. 136, l. 4 and p. 3, l. 25).
168.--29. et que mon histoire vous ait intéressé. When que is used to avoid the repetition of si, the subjunctive is employed.
FRANÇOIS COPPÉE
Paris, 1842--Paris, 1908
Coppée is known as a poet and writer of short stories. His work usually deals with the pathetic side of humble life. He has been accused of sentimentality and superficiality; he is, however one of the most popular and accomplished of the modern French poets, a dramatist of some merit and the author of a number of Contes relating to the life of the peuple, particularly in and about Paris.
Important works: Poésies (several collections, 1864-1890), Théâtre (best plays: Le Passant, 1869; Le Luthier de Crémone, 1876; Les Jacobites, 1885; Pour la Couronne, 1895), and several volumes of Contes (the two stories given in this collection are from his Longues et Brèves, published in 1893).
Edition: Lemerre.
LE LOUIS D'OR
169.--12. abat-jour. This compound noun is invariable in the plural because the plural idea does not really belong to the second element, which is the only part capable of inflection.
17. Zaatcha. This oasis was captured in 1849, during what may be termed the second period of the French occupation of Algeria; the first period extends from the landing of French troops in 1830 until the capture of Constantine in 1837, the second period, from 1837 to 1849, was a period of resistance, the third period extending to 1901 was one of partial insurrections; Algeria is now the most important French colony. France now possesses the colonies of St. Pierre and Miquelon, near Newfoundland; Guadaloupe, Martinique and French Guiana in the West Indies and South America; New Caledonia, New Hebrides and about 116 other islands in Oceania; Indo-China (comprising Cochin-China, Annam and Tonkin, with about 18,000,000 inhabitants); Madagascar, Reunion and other near-by islands; Djibouti, an African port on the Gulf of Aden; French Congo, French Soudan, French Guinea, French Senegal, on the western coast of Africa; Tunis, Algeria and Morocco (the latter since 1912) on the Mediterranean, with strong influence in the country lying between this territory and the Soudan. In addition the French language is spoken by the descendants of French colonists in Canada, New Orleans, the Mexican mountains, etc.
170.--3. mettant... ses souliers dans la cheminée. The French children have this custom instead of hanging up their stockings.
171.--28. quelque espoir. The final vowel of quelque is elided only in quelqu'un and quelqu'une.
172.--5. le dix-sept n'est pas sorti. The game of roulette is played on a rectangular table with a revolving wheel in the center. A ball is placed on the wheel which sends it into compartments; these compartments (of which there are two series, one on each side of the table) are numbered consecutively up to thirty-six and are arranged in three parallel lines or columns. The players or punters stake their money in various ways: on a single number or numéro, which means that if the ball rests on that number the player receives thirty-five times the amount risked; on a colonne or row of numbers, in that case if the ball remains on any number of the column the player receives three times the amount risked; on a couleur (the numbers are half red, half black), in this case he receives, if he is successful, the amount he has risked; on the douzaine, that is, on the first, second or third series of twelve numbers, in case he wins the player then receives three times the amount he has risked; other combinations may also be used and there are two compartments, and 00, which enable the bank to maintain a constant advantage.
L'ENFANT PERDU
176.--11. sous le nom de Louis XIV. Louis XIV was also known as le Roi-Soleil.
15. Conseil général de l'Eure. The old French provinces were abolished during the Revolution, and the territory was redivided into départements, of which there are at present 86 (if the territory around Belfort be not counted); each department is governed by a préfet, or prefect. These departments are subdivided into 362 arrondissements, with a sous-préfet at the head of each; these into 2899 cantons, governed by a council; and these in turn into 36,170 communes, governed by mayors. The chief magistrate of the modern Republic (declared in 1870) is the President, elected for seven years by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. These latter legislative bodies are composed respectively of 300 members elected for nine years (one third every three years), and of 597 members elected for four years. The President appoints a cabinet of ten ministers to aid him in his executive duties. When a cabinet receives only a minority of votes of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies, it resigns in a body and a new cabinet is formed. The executive power is represented throughout France by the préfets, sous-préfets and mayors. Each commune, canton and arrondissement possesses a council which cannot treat of political questions. There is also a conseil général which considers departmental affairs. A deliberative body and a representative of the executive are thus found side by side throughout the strongly centralized Republic.
20. nous sommes donc autorisé. The author is speaking for himself alone, hence the participle is in the singular.
178.--7. zéro. The French use the Centigrade thermometer with zero at 32° Fahrenheit; 1 4/5° F. = 1° C.
179.--28. un air de famille avec les Auvergnats. An allusion to the custom in Auvergne of wearing the beard in this fashion.
180.--32. chaussons de lisière et de la brosserie. List-shoes and brushes are manufactured in French prisons.
181.--13. qui s'en faisait deux fois autant par la vertu de l'anse du panier. Compare the phrase, faire danser l'anse du panier, said of a cook who makes a profit on the supplies of the Household.
24. son Allemande. Gouvernante is to be understood.
182.--7. joueur comme les cartes. Compare the phrase in another of Coppée's stories (les Vices du Capitaine), joueur comme feu Bésigue, where the game (bezique) is spoken of as though it were a person.
11. trop heureux de devenir. Notice the difference between this phrase and trop heureux pour devenir.
31. Dauphin. When the province of Dauphiné was added to French territory, the last ruler of Dauphiné, Humbert III, ceded the province on condition that the title of Dauphin be given to the eldest son of the French king; the province became a part of French territory in 1349.
183.--10. le trois pour cent. The reference is to government bonds.
16. quatre bureaux de tabac. Tobacco is a government monopoly in France, hence the management of the shops is sometimes turned over to friends of politicians.
18. Deux Décembre. The date (December 2, 1851) on which Louis Napoleon executed his coup d'état, by which he was elected President for ten years. There was a Parisian uprising against this act, but he put this down and in the following year he became Emperor with the title of Napoleon III (1808-1873).
19. P'pa, et le p'tit Noël... y mettra-ti' tet' chose. For Papa, etc. ...y mettra-t-il quelque chose. See also note to p. 77, l. 32.
184.--1. blond albinos. Modified adjectives of color are usually invariable.
185.--20. conquêtes de 89. The French Revolution began in 1789.
27. l'air d'un marié du samedi. The working people are often married on Saturday.
29. République parlementaire. A Republic has been proclaimed three times in France: the first lasted from 1792 until Napoleon I became Emperor in 1804; the second extended from the fall of King Louis Philippe in 1848 until the coup d'état of 1851; the third and present Republic was proclaimed on September 4, 1870 (the allusion in the text is to the last).
186.--14. au château. That is, au château du Louvre, the former residence of the French kings.
23. Port' siou p'ait. (Ouvrez la) porte s'il vous plaît.
187.--12. sur les fortifications. The reference is to the walls around Paris, formerly used as fortifications; the type of the quarter is described in the text.
191.--19. ayez pas peur. The popular omission of ne has already been noted (note to p. 64, l. 19), as well as the other popular phrases which follow.
192.--14. j'ai été faire. The use of être for aller when followed by an infinitive is inelegant, though the construction is sometimes used by good writers.
195.--24. médaille. The reference is to the military medal, conferred for meritorious military service (instituted in 1852).
THÉOPHILE GAUTIER
Tarbes, 1811--Paris, 1872
Born in Gascony, Gautier was educated, partly in his native town, partly at the Lycée Charlemagne in Paris. Here he became a friend of Gérard de Nerval, who was of such influence on the later decadent school. He was a friend of the Romanticist, Victor Hugo, and the typical red waistcoat which he wore at the first presentation of Hernani has become almost historic. In 1830 he published a volume of verse, and two years later Albertus in the extreme Romantic style. A novelist and poet, he traveled extensively and embodied his experiences and impressions in many works on travel and art criticism. His work is characterized by a remarkable esthetic appreciation, an almost flawless, ornate style, and a strong tendency toward the fantastic. Faguet says of him: "He knew all the resources of the French language and style." He stands above all for form (cf. his poem, L'Art).
Important works: Poésies (1830), Albertus (1832), Mademoiselle de Maupin (1835), Fortunio (1838), Les Grotesques (1844), Avatar and Jettatura (1857), Émaux et Camées (1858), Le Roman de la Momie (1858), Le Capitaine Fracasse (1863), besides descriptions of his travels.
Edition: Charpentier, in 34 vols.
LA MILLE ET DEUXIÈME NUIT
The title is borrowed from the Mille et Une Nuits, translated into French by Galland (1704).
201.--1. favorite. This peculiar feminine form is due to analogy with petite (in the masculine petit and favori end with the same sound, hence by analogy they have the same sound in the feminine).
13. ne sachant que faire. Pas may be omitted: (1) in certain fixed phrases (n'importe, etc.); (2) after qui or que expressing a regret or a desire (qui de nous n'a ses défauts?); (3) before the interrogative pronouns que, quel, quoi (je n'ai que faire de vos dons, ne sachant que faire, etc.); (4) with ni (il ne boit ni ne mange); (5) with ne... que, meaning "only," or when another negative follows (point, rien, etc.); (6) with certain verbs followed by an infinitive (pouvoir, savoir, etc.); (7) with si when expressing a reservation in the sense of à moins que; (8) in certain subordinate clauses (je n'y vais jamais qu'il ne m'arrive quelque accident,. c'est vrai qu'il ne s'est jamais marié, mais ce n'est pas qu'il ne l'ait voulu, etc.). This list does not embrace the pleonastic uses of ne. Notice further in regard to this phrase (ne sachant que faire) that, although the indirect question usually becomes in French a relative clause (il ne sait pas ce qu'il fait), with the infinitive the old Latin construction is preserved (with avoir, pouvoir and savoir, when negative). Ne (alone) to express negation is a survival of the usage in Old French where ne (without pas) could be used generally.
216.--27. Ibnn-Ben-Omaz. There seems to have been no celebrated poet of this name. Gautier's knowledge of Arabiç was apparently limited (a number of his errors have been indicated under the proper words in the vocabulary). Omar Khayyam (eleventh and twelfth centuries) is naturally suggested; Ibn al-Khattab Omar, the second Caliph, who succeeded Abu-Bekr in 634 and who took part in writing the Koran, is also suggested. Omaz is not an Arabic name.
218.--22. l'escarboucle magique, ou l'aigrette de plume de héron. That is, she was neither a fairy nor of royal blood; the carbuncle was formerly a magic stone and was credited with the power to emit light; in regard to the héron, possibly Gautier had in mind the ibis, the sacred bird of Egypt.
219.--29. la princesse... n'enverrait... que je refuserais. For si la princesse envoyait... je refuserais.
220.--23. vous l'a fait préférer. Notice that in this construction the object of the infinitive precedes faire.
221.--1. c'est tout au plus si je pourrais. In conditional clauses the conditional is not allowed after si; this clause is declarative, the meaning is: "at the utmost I could do no more than."
HONORÉ DE BALZAC
Tours, 1799--Paris, 1850
Because of his father's circumstances Balzac was at an early age placed in a law office; this work was especially irksome to him, and he soon went over to literature. For a long time he suffered hardships from want of money, which seems to have strongly colored much of his work. In 1850 he married a wealthy Polish lady, Madame Hanska, but he never was able to enjoy the life of ease to which he had been looking forward for many years; his death occurred a few months after his marriage. Balzac's chief work is to be found in his Comédie Humaine, a collection of stones filling some forty volumes. It is divided into: (1) Scènes de la Vie Privée, (2) Scènes de la Vie de Province, (3) Scènes de la Vie Parisienne, (4) Scènes de la Vie Politique, (5) Scènes de la Vie Militaire, (6) Scènes de la Vie de Campagne, (7) Études Philosophiques, (8) Études Analytiques. These novels are often connected by the reappearance of certain characters, and especially by the analysis of character which is always intimately connected with Balzac's name. Of a robust, exuberant and vulgar nature, his style is poor; he lacked an artistic sense and he was without poetic genius. He was unable to depict a gentleman or a lady; but he excelled in the analysis of character, especially among the middle and lower classes, and in the descriptions of their surroundings; it is thus that he stands at the head of the Realists.
Important works: To the Comédie Humaine (1829-1850) above mentioned should be added the Contes Drolatiques (in which he imitates the style and the language of the sixteenth century) and several volumes of Contes. In the Comédie Humaine the following volumes should be especially mentioned: Le Père Goriot, Le Colonel Chabert, Le Lys dans la Vallée, Ursule Mirouet, Eugénie Grandet, Le Curé de Tours, Illusions Perdues, César Birotteau, Les Paysans, Le Curé de Village. Un Drame au Bord de la Mer (written in 1834) is taken from the Études Philosophiques (published in 1835)
Edltlon: Calmann Lévy, in 24 vols. and in 45 vols. (his works have been published in several other editions).
UN DRAME AU BORD DE LA MER
222.--7. conceptions premières. Numerals precede their nouns; when premier follows its noun, as here, the idea conveyed is "conceptions which form the basis of other conceptions."
12. durant. According to Littré, this preposition differs from pendant in that it means "during the entire time," whereas pendant may mean "at a certain point during the time": durant la campagne les ennemis se sont enfermés dans leurs places, and c'est pendant la campagne que s'est livrée la bataille dont vous parlez.
227.--27. sans mot dire. Note the position of mot in this phrase; cf. sans rien dire.
229.--4. faquir. The fakirs or ascetic Mohammedan monks comprise various classes and orders; Balzac apparently has in mind those known as yogis, who assume and maintain for a long time various unnatural postures, their belief being that this will effect a union of the human soul with the Supreme Being, whereby further migration will be avoided (this is known as the yoga system of philosophy).
6. si le voulait la mer. Notice the inversion.
230.--24. mon cher oncle. A detailed account of Balzac's family can be found in E. Biré, Honoré de Balzac.
232.--28. bestiaux. This word is now used as the plural of bétail; it is, however, etymologically not the plural of bétail, but of the adjective bestial; the latter singular form is not now used as a substantive in the literary language, although it occurs in works of the seventeenth century and is still used in Normandy, meaning "all the cattle" (cf. Nyrop, Grammaire historique de la langue française, vol. II, sec. 292, 2, remark).
235.--22. anachorètes. Anchorites differ from hermits in that they live in the most absolute solitude and subject themselves to the greatest privations.
237.--4. il ne se serait pas sacré comme ça, que la frayeur ...That is, quand même il ne se serait pas sacré comme ça, la frayeur... (the principal clause expresses a concession, and the que clause the conclusion).
11. qu'est. A popular error already noted (see note to p. 92, l. 29).
18. qué qui te dit. For qu'est-ce qu'il te dit; qu'elle répond (l. 19), an example of the superfluous que used by the uneducated; qu'a dit (l. 21) = qu'elle dit = dit-elle.
31. défunt ma mère. Défunt, as also the adjective feu, does not agree with its noun when the latter follows.
238.--5. qu'a écouté. For qu'elle a écouté. 22. plus du temps. For plus que le temps.
239.--20. fallait des espèces. Popular omission of il.
26. mette. The dialects often other examples of the survival of Old French words; métal is the modern word for "metal," it is sometimes used in slang for "money."
240.--27. des cent écus, des cent francs. For des centaines d'écus, des centaines de francs.
241.--3. la fille au cadet. Popular for la fille du cadet, another example of the survival of an Old French construction among the common people.
10. qu'avait. For qui avait.
27. pour. Incorrect use of pour without an object; the other popular phrases have already been noted.
243.--18. malin. The feminine of this adjective, maligne, is only apparently irregular; the Latin etyma are malignum and malignam (French words, except those used in address, are derived from the Latin accusative), these give regularly malin and maligne, because final Latin vowels fall except a which becomes e and final gn is reduced to n, whereas gn between vowels gives the modern French sound.
30. il pleurait du sang. Compare the English phrase "to sweat blood."
244.--18. il savait plus. Popular omission of ne.
ALFRED DE MUSSET
Paris, 1810--Paris, 1857
De Musset at an early age became a member of the cénacle or inner circle of the Romantic writers, with whom he is intimately connected. In 1829 he published a volume of verse of great merit; this and the Spectacle dans un Fauteuil made him famous at once. He had an extremely excitable, poetic temperament and a weak will, which rendered him incapable of entering any useful employment, such as a position in the French Embassy at Madrid, or writing regularly for periodicals, both of these positions having been offered him. He was elected to the French Academy in 1852 and did little work thereafter. His best work was done in verse and in the drama, but his short stories are of extraordinary merit. His poems (especially the Nuits) possess preëminently the lyric quality, genuineness, originality and passion; his dramas, having usually some proverb as a title, show great delicacy, grace, ingenuity and wit; his short stories are exquisite. His style, in contrast to that of Gautier, shows little care for form, and in many respects he may be compared with the English poet Byron.
Important works: Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie (1829), Spectacle dans un Fauteuil (1829), Rolla (1833), Nuits (1835 ff.); Lettre à Lamartine (1836), Confessions d'un Enfant du Siècle (1836), Poésies Nouvelles (1840), Comédies et Proverbes (1850-1851, about fifteen), besides several Nouvelles and Contes (1837-1854), such as: Emmeline, Frédéric et Bernerette, Fils du Titien, Margot, Le Merle Blanc, Croisilles (published in 1841), etc.
Edition: Charpentier, in 9 vols.; Lemerre, in 10 vols.
CROISILLES
250.--29. et quand je l'aurais. The apodosis (qu'est-ce que je ferais) is omitted and only the protasis is expressed.
251.--13. que penserait-on de vous. Distinguish between penser à, to think of, and penser de, to have an opinion of.
252.--29. fermes royales. The old monarchy, which existed in France before 1789, used to farm out the taxes to private individuals or to a company, on condition that a certain sum should be turned over to the Government, anything above this sum being the profit of the fermier.
257.--9. de la sorte. Preservation of the old demonstrative use of illam; the French article is the weakened Latin demonstrative.
259.--1. à peine... que. Notice that que, not quand, is used after à peine; the inversion with à peine has already been mentioned (note to p. 136, l. 4).
260.--10. n'avoir pas diné. Both parts of the negative are usually placed before the infinitive.
17. Monsieur aime-t-il. The third person is generally used by French servants in addressing their masters.
263.--24. un Turc. De Musset has in mind the Turkish custom of sending sélams (see this word in the vocabulary).
266.--4. Mademoiselle. Cher, chère in the salutation of a French letter expresses much greater intimacy than the corresponding English word; it is omitted in formal letters.
268.--10. si on lui. Si on and not si l'on is used when the letter l immediately follows.
269.--18. plus d'une. Notice that, while the subject contains a plural idea, the verb is singular because of the influence of un.
270.--16. profondément. Not an exception to the rule that French adverbs are derived by adding -ment to the feminine adjective; adverbs of this type go back to past participles ending in -ée, the final e having been lost (aveuglément, commodément, conformément, etc.), or are formed on analogy with adverbs that are so derived (see Darmesteter, Historical French Grammar, p. 382).
277.--26. grand'chose. See note to p. 87, l. 17 (cf. also grand 'peine, l. 8).
279.--7. épouser... marier. Distinguish words.