NOTES
Reading edition
ACTE PREMIER
SCÈNE PREMIÈRE
1: chemin de fer de Lyon: the short name for the great railroad company of which the full name is Chemin de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée.
2: salles d'attente: fifty years ago (this play was written in 1860) the passengers were never admitted to the platforms except through the waiting rooms, at the entrance to which tickets had to be shown.—Au fond: at the back of the stage; what is, in technical stage parlance, called «center.» Thus these directions would be exactly as follows: Center: waiting-room gate; Right of Center: ticket-office window; Left of Center: seats; Right (i.e. right side of stage): woman in charge of a candy stall; Left (of stage): book stall.
3: marchande: feminine. The French companies very often give the right to sell flowers, or candy, or books, to the wives or widows oftheir employees.
4: commissionnaires: properly those employees who may carry parcels, etc., outside the station, to which the nearest approach in America is the so-called «parcels porter» of certain companies. The man who handles the baggage in the station only, our «baggage porter,» is the facteur.
5: bien: often ironical, but here merely emphasizing c'est, and to be translated only by a voice stress on «is.»
6: Des carrossiers, etc.: as an employee, however subordinate, in some company or other (which is not specified in the play), Majorin sneers at «trade»; the «office,» bureau, looks down on the «store,» magasin, a frame of mind still frequently to be met with in France. Traveling, which was far more expensive half a century ago, was considered the privilege of the wealthy aristocracy. Hence the point: A tradesman aping the nobility! A mere carriage maker enjoying a lordly income! A carriage maker keeping a carriage!—a humorous climax. Observe the meanness of Majorin: he professes to be a friend of Perrichon's, borrows money from him at the most inconvenient time, and yet behind his back sneers at him from the fancied vantage ground of «not being in trade» himself.
7: de garde: during the Second Empire (the reign of Napoleon III, 1852-1870) a National Guard was instituted, to which every citizen must belong. These National Guardsmen were called upon at certain times for drill or duty in the city. As these calls were imperative, all other obligations had to give way to them. Hence an unscrupulous fellow who wanted a day off would often allege such a call.
8: faire l'important: be so superior! literally, «play the important man,» a frequent use of faire.
9: ça fait pitié: sickening sight! lit., «that moves one to disgust,» a shade of meaning sometimes taken by pitié which should be noted.
10: toujours: observe the three meanings of this word: 1. always; 2. still; and 3. anyhow. Tr., Still no Perrichon!—On dirait, etc.: He might be doing it on purpose! This use of the conditional of dire to express «one would say,» «it seems as though,» is very frequent andshouldbe clearly understood.
11: l'employé: i.e. the official who stands outside the ticket window, to see that passengers get the right tickets and change, etc. This manis referred to again at the end of Sc. 6.
12: Il sort par la gauche: get into the way of translating by the corresponding technical English: Exit left.
ACTE I, SCÈNE II
1: Dieu! que j'ai chaud: the student must not make the mistake of thinking that Dieu! and Diable! are anywhere near as strong in French as in English. Tr., My! but I'm hot! Carefully preserve the lack of refinement in the speech of both Mr. and Mrs. Perrichon.
2: Tiens: see List of Exclamations.
3: premières: the long expression un billet de première classe is shortened to une première classe, and indeed to: une première. Most European trams have first, second, and third class carriages, except the expresses.
4: rapides… Alpes: Mr. Perrichon's grandiloquence must be carefully brought out in translation.
5: son café: the small cup of black coffee after a meal, to the habit of which many people in France are slaves.
6: quand… compte: when you've got your figures straight… supply «you feel more comfortable.»
7: Nous sommes neuf: Mr. Perrichon comically counts the persons with the baggage, and the porter in the same vein replies, O.K.! lit., «Take (it) away!» the regular phrase used in the French baggage rooms, when a trunk has been duly weighed, by the man at the scales to the porter who has brought it and who will wheel it away.
ACTE I, SCÈNE III
1: un ahuri: this use of ahuri as a noun is a vulgarity of speech. fr., He acts crazylike. Lit., «one whose hair stands on end like a wild boar's mane (hure) with amazement.»
2: la Mairie: the (town-) Hall, or Mayor's official residence. There is a Mayor and a Mairie for each of the twenty arrondissements or wards into which Paris is divided for municipal purposes.
3: Je bénis le hasard: What a fortunate coincidence! Lit., «I bless chance (which has made me meet you).»—Ces dames: is the third person of politeness, used even when you are speaking to the parties; use the second person in English: You are leaving the city, ladies?
ACTE I, SCÈNE IV
1: très-bien: very gentlemanly.
2: Après ça: after all.
ACTE I, SCÈNE V
1: les jambes… corps: I'm dog-tired. Lit., «my legs are being telescoped into my body,» a very unrefined expression.
2: Tu n'en finis pas: You are so slow! Lit., «you do not make an end of the job.»
3: Voyons: see List of Exclamations.
ACTE I, SCÈNE VI
1: table: the long counter on which baggage is laid in many French stations, previous to weighing.
2: y: after it. Lit., «there,» i.e. where my baggage is.
3: Il ne… ça: That's not what I mean; lit., «the question is not about that.»
4: le constater: establish that point.
5: Allons donc: see List of Exclamations.
6: aussi: Majorin was in the wrong, too, when he made so indiscreet a request. But then, why on earth do YOU come…
7: cinq… an: a hint that he does not expect Perrichon to charge him any interest at all, since only «usurers» would charge five per cent.
8: a de l'ordre: is thrifty.—Il faut ça: a very necessary thing. Lit., «it takes that» (for good management).
9: ça: very contemptuous when used of a person, as in English: And it goes to Switzerland!
10: la balustrade: a railing in front of the ticket window, to keep passengers in single line.
ACTE I, SCÈNE VII
1: entends: note that this verb means: 1. to hear; 2. to understand; 3. to mean.
2: Sauf votre respect: Beg pardon, major, but… Lit., «the respect due to you being preserved.» Cf. the Irish expression, «saving your presence.»
3: autant vaudrait: idiomatic inversion = il vaudrait autant. Tr. you might as well.
4: on: the reluctance of the Major to mention his sweetheart by name must be preserved: anybody.
5: Allons, c'est bien: That'll do! See List of Exclamations. Observe the Major's impatience to get a letter, in spite of his running away.
ACTE I, SCÈNE VIII
1: bulletin: in France the receipt for baggage is a slip of paper. Note the humor of the following exclamation: I'm checked!
2: Ce n'est pas malheureux: Time you were! Lit., «It is no misfortune that you should be!» She is cross and sarcastic.
3: va pour: an idiomatic expression, meaning «let it go at.» Here: We'll make it.—The French sou, or five-centimes piece, is our cent, ofwhich twenty make one franc. French money can easily be read into Americanmoney by multiplying by two and then dividing by ten. E.g. Perrichon' stickets cost him 172.05 francs; 172.05 X 2 by inspection = 344.1; divide by 10 by moving the decimal point: $34.41.
4: impression; see acte I, scène II.
5: je l'aurai laissé: I must have left it in the baggage room. The future past is idiomatically used to suggest explanation. Lit., I shall (find on investigation that I) have left it, etc.
6: Adieu… nations: note the humor of Mr. Perrichon's grandiloquent farewell to France, when so far he is only leaving Paris, and is only just going across the border anyhow.—The bell heard at this point is the hand-bell which, in many European stations is rung just previous to the departure of a train. The locomotives have no bells, only whistles.
7: sa: of course, Mr. Perrichon's.
ACTE I, SCÈNE IX
1: nous faire aimer: to win her affection. Lit., «to make (her) love us.»—chacun de notre côté: each one for himself.
2: votre affaire: the very thing. Lit., «your business,» «the thing you want.»
3: la Saône: (pronounced Sône) flows into the river Rhône at Lyons.
4: bêtises: nonsense, i.e. anything he would not like his daughter toread. Note the polite salutations between the customer and vender in French.
5: C'est égal: All the same. Lit., «It is an equal (i.e. indifferent) matter,» or «never mind (about the rest), still I should like to,» etc.
6: Tableau: Business, i.e. a certain amount of dumb show goes on,travelers bustle in, etc., before the curtain drops.
ACTE DEUXIÈME
SCÈNE PREMIÈRE
1: Montanvert: on the slopes of Mont Blanc, in French Switzerland, and close to the famous glacier known as the Mer de Glace.
2: Ces messieurs; see acte I, scène III, note 3.
3: opérations: a military metaphor kept up in his next speech.
4: wagon: (pronounced vagon), is only used of railroad cars, or even of«compartments,» i.e. divisions of coaches, on the European plan, eachcompartment to carry from six to ten passengers (according to the «class»), seated facing each other.
5: prévenances… petits soins: the former anticipate a person's needs or desires, the latter are «attentions» in general.
6: Dijon: a station a little more than halfway between Paris and Lyons, some four or five hours' journey from the latter.
7: la mécanique: the spring. It does not appear whether Armand held down a shade that would fly up, or held up a shade that would come down.—a dû: note the use of the indicative of devoir to express necessary sequence: it «must have.»
8: vous vous… nourrir: You got your board out of them.
9: Chamouny: the nearest village to Mont Blanc, about 3500 feet above the sea level.—le Perrichon: the use of the article is humorous: old man Perrichon.—de s'écrier: the narrative infinitive of the Latin, giving greater vividness to the story.
10: gentilhomme: «nobleman,» not «gentleman.» 'Twas nobly done!
11: Merci: in answer to any offer, is very generally No, thank you.
12: Châlon (sur-Saône): about halfway between Dijon and Lyons.
13: le: i.e. sérieux.
14: vont tout seuls: a play on the expression aller tout seul, used oftoys, etc., that are worked by machinery, and need no drawing with a string, and also of undertakings that are easy and require little or no effort. Daniel's tug-boats need no pushing by him.
15: j'ai associé… personne: i.e. he is, as it were, a silent partner, a sort of «amateur banker.» An amateur in music, painting, etc., practices his art as a hobby, for his personal satisfaction, and not as a profession.
16: Il n'y a… blondes: fair complexions are getting very scarce.
17: Comme… aimons: Just the shade we dote on, and not «How we love them!»
18: c'est qu'il est: this c'est que, often omitted in English, introducesa reason or explanation; in this case, for his exclamation of alarm.
19: Ferney: four or five miles northwest of Geneva, and for twenty years the residence of the great French writer, Voltaire.—Lausanne: some thirty-three miles northeast of Geneva.
20. Je ne tiens pas en place: I can't sit still.—J'ai envie de: I have half a mind to.
ACTE II, SCÈNE II
1: c'est tout coeur, tout feu: _he is so warm-hearted, so impulsive!—ça ne sait pas vivre: he doesn't know what's what! Lit., «he doesn't understand life,» what is important in life (e.g. coffee after meals) and what is not. Ça still patronizing, if not contemptuous, acte I, scène VI, note 9.
2: ça ne lui a pas réussi: he didn't make a success of it, i.e. it made him feel sick.
3: en plein soleil: in the blazing sun. Cf. en plein air, en pleine mer, «in the open air,» «in mid ocean.»
4: nous avons: supply: as a precedent. The allusion is to the well-known story of the race won by the slow tortoise against the swift hare.
5: si haut: at such an elevation, with possibly a play on the word haut, which also means «loud.»
6: la belle écriture: the excellent penmanship (of special advantage in business) and the inane remark of Mr. Malaquais, show him up as an uncultivated tradesman.—Rentier: after his name is the technical term for a business man who has retired and lives on his income. Tr., no profession.
ACTE II, SCÈNE III
1: n'y sont pour rien: have nothing to do with it.
2: tu l'auras piquée: for this use of the future past, see acte I, scène VIII, note 5.
3: disparaissait: the imperfect for greater vividness, instead of theconditional past. Cf. in English, «Another step and he was (= would havebeen) a dead man.»
4: A mon tour: supply, to thank Armand. A = «(It has come round) to.»
5: Comment donc: see List of Exclamations.
6: vous ferez reconduire le cheval: the horse is to be led down to Chamouny: Perrichon will not ride it. The whole party will drive down.
7: j'ai trop serré: supply: sa main.
ACTE II, SCÈNE IV
1: Que voulez-vous: very frequent in conversation to express helpless resignation to the inevitable. The meaning is: «What do you wish me to do in the matter?» or «What was I to do?» or «How can I help it?» The translation must vary with the context.
2: vous cultivez le précipice: you go in for precipices, i.e. you workthem into your schemes, make them help you.
3: vous céder la place; disappear. Lit., «yield the position to you.»
4: vous retrouverez: the force of re- is «on your return.»
5: Voilà… coeur: That was genuine! i.e. straight from the heart.
6: aussi: at the beginning of a clause, aussi means «and consequently,»although the translation may vary («so,» «then,» etc.).
7: faire la demande: offers in marriage are very generally, in France, made by a third party.
8: Mon ami: it is difficult to translate some of these effusions. Dear old fellow! might do duty here.
9: Soyez tranquille: Don't be afraid. Unlike restez tranquille, whichmeans «sit still.»—Chez lui: obviously not «at his house,» but in him. I'll twang the string of gratitude in his heart.
ACTE II, SCÈNE V
1: Mais… sauvé: Why, to be sure he saved my life! Observe the cleverly graded symptoms of Perrichon's growing coolness towards Armand.
2: d'une modestie: so modest!
3: Dites donc: see List of Exclamations.
4: enfin: shows that Daniel is alive to Mr. Perrichon's change of feeling towards Armand. Tr., after all, or, as a matter of fact.
5: gentil: the absurdity of so weak a word in the circumstances makes him repeat it in amazement.
6: Par exemple: see List of Exclamations.
7: ça: for quant à ça! = as for that!
8: une tasse de thé: Daniel sneers at this handsome reward for saving a life.
9: mauvais pas: the technical name for several «dangerous places» in the Alps.
10: a beau dire: may say what she pleases. This idiom should be clearlyunderstood. It always means «to do a thing in vain,» to have «a fine time»doing it, but without achieving any result.—ça ne tient pas à, it is notthe fault of… Lit, «It does not depend upon,» «result from.»
11. on s'en retire parfaitement: it is easy to get out again. Observe the ingenuity with which Perrichon uses a form that leaves out all reference to help received from others.
12. Je le crois bien: I should think so!—ce que ça vaut: a very fairprice. Lit., «what it is worth.»
13. Je ne pars pas: Daniel sees the chance he spoke of, see acte I, scène IX.
14. être des nôtres: join our party. Note the change from «Armand» to «Mister Desroches.»
15. il paraît: it appears, or I am told. His own accident is actuallyfading into unreality. In the next sentence he shows the sameunconsciousness.
16. rêver: a poetical word. His affectations reappear: he is feeling better.
ACTE II, SCÈNE VI
1: article 716 du Code civil: the 716th paragraph of the French Code of Civil Law reads: «Treasure-trove belongs one-half to the finder, and one-half to the owner of the ground on which it is found.»
ACTE II, SCÈNE VII
1: plus vrai que nature: an expression, not infrequent in French, for which we have no ready equivalent. It means: «He is a truer example (of ideal ingratitude) than nature (usually) affords.» If that does not beat all!
2: ne vous gênez pas: Do as you please. Lit., «Do not put yourself out (for us).»
3: r, e, re; just as we might say: «S, e, e: see.»
ACTE II, SCÈNE VIII
1: sortir: i.e. from their room.
2: Faîtes-moi servir: observe the great politeness that characterizes the Major throughout. He begs the innkeeper to «have a cherry-brandy served him,» not to bring it himself.
3: tout: before en and the present participle, merely emphasizes the fact that the two actions are simultaneous.
4: Vous n'auriez pas: You do not happen to have? This idiomatic use of the conditional present implies that a less favorable answer is expected than if the indicative had been used.
5: Aussi: see acte II, scène IV, note 6.
6: Clichy: the Clichy prison in Paris was the place of confinement for insolvent debtors (like the Marshalsea in London) until 1867, when imprisonment for debt was abolished in France.
7: garçon; the Major thinks an unmarried man is likely to lend a more sympathetic ear to his love affairs.
8: Ne vous gênez pas: Don't mind me! Cf. acte II, scène VII, note 2.
9: voyez-vous: this, like the colloquial, «don't you know,» is not a real question, and therefore does not require a question-mark.
10: du tout: = Pas du tout!
11: pour moi: on my side.
ACTE II, SCÈNE IX
1: la Beauce: one of the old districts of France, between the river Loire and Paris, a very flat and well-to-do, rather than intellectualregion.—Étampes: a small commercial center for grain and vegetable produce, south of Paris.
2: C'est donc… lettres: Armand can be facetious too.
3: souvent… attribue: Mrs. Perrichon first repeats mechanically, then realizes that there is point to Armand's speech.
4: jouer… la comédie du hasard: keep up this fiction of mere chance.
5: quel bonheur: How delightful! girlish «gush,» but indicative of her real feelings towards Armand.
6: comme tu es coiffée: How untidy your hair is!—Tiens-toi droite! Don't stoop! Mrs. Perrichon is suddenly alive to her daughter'spersonal appearance; Henriette, who knows nothing of Armand's offer, cannottell why.
ACTE II, SCÈNE X
1: Le récit de Théramène: a famous piece of classical narrative in Racine's tragedy Phèdre, where Théramène relates the death of his master Hippolyte. Similar humor in English would make Perrichon say possibly, «Tocross or not to cross, that was the question!» when Daniel would contributeas an aside: «Hamlet's soliloquy!»
2: crevasses… de glace: the ridiculous rhyme, crevasse… de glace, is very funny in the French.
3: monsieur: this gentleman, i.e. Daniel.
4: Mon ami: she says this impatiently here because she wants him to get on with his story; lower down, in pure admiration.
5: à la face… à tous: into the light of the sun, the giver of all life! The delightful magniloquence of the peroration must be preserved at any cost. Notre père à tous, lit., «the father of us all.»
6: c'est juste: That's so. Juste here = «correct,» «true.»
7: Quoi donc: Wrote what?
8: un dévergondage grammatical: a piece of grammatical impertinence.
9: Combien tient-on… voiture: _How many is there room for in your carriage? Tient-on = sont tenus, «can be held, seated.»
10: Ah: this is the Oh! of indignation = «Fie!»
11: la corde: is here the rope marking the «infield» or «inside track» of a race-course, and therefore = «the better position.» I knew Ishould get the inside track again!
ACTE TROISIÈME
SCÈNE PREMIÈRE
1: appartement: i.e. door leading to the rest of the flat.
2: Grenoble: a beautiful city in southeastern France, about sixty miles southeast of Lyons, and consequently not much out of the way on the return trip from Chamouny.
3: mettra le pot au feu: will boil a piece of beef. Boiled beef is a standard middle-class dish in France. It is very economical, since the boiled meat (bouilli) is eaten and the water it has been boiled in(bouillon) makes soup.
4: barbue: brill, a European flat-fish.—Bien fraîche: nice and fresh.Mr. Perrichon's culinary details are characteristic of his bourgeoisie: no «gentleman» in France meddles with such things.
5: par exemple: see List of Exclamations. The meaning here is: «I have everything in good shape… but, for an instance of a thing I have not got straight, there is this morning's call from a gentleman I donot know, and who did not leave his card.»
ACTE III, SCÈNE II
1: les Darinel: Note that proper names do aot take the mark of the plural in French. See acte IV, scène III.
2: Ah: This is an exclamation of joy: Ah! not the usual «Oh!» Henriette hereby shows her sympathies again, while Perrichon's are evidencedby his comments and silence respectively after the names of each of the young men.
3: Allons donc: as usual means «nonsense.» Tr., You, sir? No, sir!… which Mr. Perrichon resents: What does he mean by «No, sir!» What a fool this idiot is! Bête repeats the same idea as animal comically enough, bête meaning an «animal» primarily.
ACTE III, SCÈNE III
1: Il ne manquerait plus que ça: I should think not, indeed! Lit., «There would be lacking nothing but that (for the height ofabsurdity, etc.).»
2: un petit air pincé: a little look of conscious superiority. Pincé because of the «pinched lips» of a person who does not wish to speak what heknows. «Perrichon accuses Armand of betraying in his face an ever presentconsciousness of the service he has rendered although Armand never méntionsit.
ACTE III, SCÈNE IV
1: Du tout: see acte II, scène VIII, note 10.
2: te voilà éclairée: Now you know. Lit., «You are enlightened.»
3: permets, chère amie: excuse me, my dear.—abdiquer: i.e. forege his paternal rights.
4: mes renseignements: proper inquiries; mes, i.e. that it is my duty to make.
ACTE III, SCÈNE V
1: de garde: see acte I, scène I, note 7.
2: si ce… indiscret: if I am not in the way.
3: Ah: Oh, is it?—Allons: Very well then. He does not care to invite Majorin to a homely dish of stewed veal, so pretends to have understood him to decline.
4: (montre) à répétition: a repeating watch, i.e. one that strikes the hour, quarters, and even minutes, when a spring is pressed.
5: cravate: the high «choker» worn by the elderly half a century ago consisted of several folds of silk wrapped round the collar, and in it many small things might readily be concealed.
6: un mouvement: he shook his head while saying no, and in so doing pressed the spring.
7: méchant gabelou: nasty shark. Gabelou (from the old salt-tax, la gabelle) is now only used as the special insult to custom-house officers.—entendre parler de: to hear from.
ACTE III, SCÈNE VI
1: Allons bien: see List of Exclamations.
2: Toujours: see acte I, scène I, p. note 10.
ACTE III, SCÈNE VII
1: Second: Second edition of.
2: je suis tombé du jury: I have been drawn for jury-duty. Tomber frequently expresses the result of lot, chance, or accident.—On nous écrit de Chamouny. Tr., From, our special correspondent in Chamouny.
3: Comment… permets: I should think I would allow it! Si = «(he asks) if.»
4: les gens de coeur, etc.: noble hearts in every land.
5: Trois francs la ligne: the price Daniel had to pay to get this puff into the paper.
6: la corde: see acte II, scène X, note 11.
7: révolutionnaire: during the reign of Napoleon III the daily press was largely opposed to the Emperor, and sought to overthrow him by a revolution. Perrichon disclaims any revolutionary tendencies, but must proclaim his approval of the press in the present circumstances.—la presse a du bon: ther's much to be said for the papers! du bon, lit.,«some good qualities.»
8: papier timbré: official paper. Government stamped paper has to be used for all legal documents, summons, warrants, etc.
9: agent de la force publique: public servant.
10: vu… dressé au: on complaint lodged with.—le sieur: technical in France, and not to be translated; lit., «the man,» «one.» Note Majorin's mean behavior throughout this scene: first, he walks away instead of standing by his friend; next, he makes things out as black as he can, emphasizing his pronouncement of the gravity of the case by taking up a position behind the table like a judge on the bench.
11: j'ai été trop vif: I lost my temper.
12: Injures qualifiées: specific abuse; lit., abuse legally qualified to be used as ground for prosecution.
13: le banc de l'infamie: a stock phrase in French for the «prisoners' dock.»
14: C'est bien fait: Serves him right! In the next sentence English idiom would omit the negation.
15: Daniel: observe this delightful slip of the tongue. Perrichon has Daniel on the brain. Cf. the slip he makes in the last words of the play.
16: je tombe sur un terre-neuve: I strike a regular Newfoundland dog (for rescuing people).
17: en ville: out. Majorin tells this lie to «save his face» after Perrichon's withdrawn invitation to dinner (see acte III, scène V.)
18: c'est-à-dire que: I say that.
19: je te retrouve: now you are yourself again! Lit., «I find you again (as I have always known you).»
20: l'envoi… part: till the wedding cards are out. French people mail notices of weddings, deaths, and even births to all their friends. Such notices are called billets de faire-part, or «cards of notification.»
ACTE III, SCÈNE VIII
1: mes actions baissent: a stock-exchange metaphor.
2: ça me… peine: I hate to do it. Peine is never physical pain.
3: Nous y voilà: Now we're in for it, or Now it's coming!
4: on a beau dire: acte II, scène V, note 10.
5: brûle le pavé: a stock phrase for «driving furiously,» striking sparks from the paving-stones: is dashing round the city.
6: Aussi: see acte II, scène IV, note 6.
7: Musée de Versailles: there is, in the famous palace of Versailles (a town some fifteen miles southwest of Paris), a celebrated gallery ofhistorical paintings and portraits.—L'exposition: the annual Paris Salon, or exhibition of paintings.
8: Adieu: Farewell; very different from au revoir.
9: Allons donc: see List of Exclamations.
ACTE III, SCÈNE IX
1: Qu'est-ce que c'est que ça: this redundant expression implies surprise: What on earth have we here?—ça: again contemptuous. Perrichondoes not know the man, and is unfavorably impressed by a name which is, as a matter of fact, more frequently found among the peasantry than in the upper classes in France, and which is more closely connected with the gospels than with the army.
2: plus que vive: which could hardly be called complimentary. Lit., «more than sharp.»
3: un peu cruelle: because she gets people into trouble; exacting.
4: Loin de moi cette pensée: a very dignified phrase: Perish the thought!
5: ce n'est pas malheureux: and a good thing, too! Cf. acte I, scène VIII, note 2.
6: Mathieu: for the inference from the name, see acte III, scène IX.
7: moustaches: Napoleon III set the fashion, compulsory in the army, of wearing no other hair on the face than a mustache and a small chin tuft called impériale. Of course, an army man might wear none at all, but such a thing was unusual.
8: la Malmaison: a village and pretty park, close to and southwest of Paris.
9: des meubles: this implies that the Major has made it up with Anita, and is about to set up housekeeping.—J'ai bien l'honneur (de vous saluer): a courteous formula of leave-taking: I beg to bid you.
ACTE III, SCÈNE X
1: raide en affaires: mighty peremptory. Lit., «stiff, unbending in your dealings.»
2: à la cheminée: before electric bells came into general use, there was in most parlors a bell-rope hanging on each side of the fireplace, one ringing upstairs, the other ringing in the kitchen.
3: un zouave: the zouaves were originally a troop of natives from the French colony of Algeria, who speedily got a name for fearlessness. The modern zouaves are Frenchmen, but still enjoy the same reputation as dare-devils and fire-eaters. Hence Perrichon's exclamation, semi-humorous because he does not yet fully realize his perilous position.
4: un notaire gradé: a lawyer with a commission in the National Guard. A notaire is, by profession, the very opposite of a military man. In the National Guard (for which see acte I, scène I, note 7, 14.) many acivilian would have a «rank,» or grade.
5: vous comprenez: that I may be killed and must leave all my papers in order.
ACTE III, SCÈNE XI
1: c'est qu'il a… beau père: Isn't father-in-law plucky, though! C'est que introduces a reason for something that must be supplied. Here:«(All this is) because he,» «the fact is that.»—de son côté = and on the other hand.
2: au fait: after all; lit., «coming down to facts.»
3: à point nommé: always = in the nick of time, never «at the appointed place.»
ACTE III, SCÈNE XII
1: il suffit… d'heure: supply: for a great misfortune.
2: porte du garde: i.e. at the park gate where the keeper's lodge stands, there being other entrances to the park.
3: Veuillez agréer: the first words of the most usual conclusion to a letter in French: Veuilles agréer mes salutations empressées. Tr., Yours, etc.
4: Il écrit: on the envelope. Such phrases as «Immediate,» «Important,» etc., are frequently written on the outside of envelopes in Europe.
ACTE III, SCÈNE XIII
1: comme le bronze: the usual simile with calme in such contexts. Use an equivalent: «Bold as brass.»
2: le terrain: the stock phrase for any place where a duel is fought. Tr., on the field of honor. This lets the secret out, at which Daniel uttersan exclamation of pain, since the ladies were not to be told.
3: faire prévenir: send word to. Lit., «get somebody to notify.»
ACTE QUATRIÈME
SCÈNE PREMIÈRE
1: practicable: the term «practicable» is technical in English stage parlance for any part of the scenery that is real enough to be used, A «practicable» door or window can be opened and shut, etc. Here the wing of the house can be entered.
2: si vous voulez: for the rest of this sentence see Daniel's last speech in the next scene.
ACTE IV, SCÈNE II
1: avec quoi: the same play on words is possible in both languages: And what with? Contrast Mme Perrichon's question, acte III, scène XIII.
2: On leur… témoins: Witnesses get into trouble with the law.
3: Encore un (ingrat): Perrichon of course is the first.
ACTE VI, SCÈNE III
1: Ce sont… renvoient: They are actually turning him out of the house.
ACTE VI, SCÈNE IV
1: très actif: a hustler.
2: mettait: for aurait mis. See acte II, scène III.—Mettre la main dessus: a familiar expression for «pounce down upon.»
3: Qui ça: Thank whom? Qui is accusative. Ça merely adds emphasis to the question. See acte IV, scène X.
4: c'est que: see acte III, scène XII. Here: «(I hardly think so) because…» Tr., I'm afraid…
ACTE VI, SCÈNE V
1: après: what of it?
2: plus les frais: when as here the mathematical plus is used, the final «s» is always sounded.
3: Je me plais à l'espérer: I should hope so, sir! Lit., «I fondly hope so.»
4: ils: the police of course.—M. Perrichon suddenly realizes that the police are not likely to be on hand two hours later than the appointedtime. Hence his immediate change of attitude.
5: Qu'avez-vous donc: this idiom, meaning of course «What is the matter?» must be so translated as to lead up to Perrichon's reply: What is it?—It is… it is… it is a noble thing, to my mind, toacknowledge, etc.
6: N'envenimez pas: Don't make matters worse!
7: de bonne grâce: of your own free will; lit., «with a goodgrace.»—échappées à votre improvisation: which fell from your unguardedpen; lit., «which escaped you while you were writing extempore,» withoutcareful consideration.
8: maintenant c'est la France: the ancient Duchy of Savoy had just (in 1860) been ceded to Napoleon III by the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel, in acknowledgment of help received. Perrichon responds with a cheer in the words of his bombastic farewell of the first act: any thing for a diversion. Jean makes a jokes to which there is some depth: it seems less far away if it is within the borders of your own country. Alaska seems nearer now than it did when belonging to Russia.
9: je me recommande à vous: I trust you will bear me in mind.
10: je te donne ton compte: I discharge you. His compte, i.e. «account,»«wages,» will be settled before he goes.
ACTE IV, SCÈNE VI
1: à la fin: our anyhow.
2: c'est… envahissez: it is intrusion, positive invasion!—On ne me domine pas! No, sir! You don't lord it over me, sir!
ACTE IV, SCÈNE VIII
1: l'heure de la philosophie: i.e. the time to show that superiority to fortune's caprices which is given by philosophy, or the study of wisdom.
2: passion malheureuse: the regular phrase for an «unrequited attachment.»
3: j'ai vécu plus que vous: I have seen more of life than you have.—unmonde plus avancé: a more wide-awake crowd.
4: gens d'esprit: clever people, the opposite of imbéciles.
5: Vous voyez bien: supply: «that you do yourself what you blame me for doing.»
6: votre obligé: your debtor; lit., «he is under an obligation to you.»
7: un aimable philosophe: doubtless of the author's private acquaintance, as no such epigram is on record elsewhere.
8: Aussi: see acte II, scène IV, note 6.
9: il lui pousse des plumes de paon, etc.: a crop of peacock's feathers sprouts from his coat-tails.
10: gardez-moi le secret: don't give me away.
11: du haut… protège: a humorous parody of Napoleon I's famous address to his troops in Egypt: Du haut de ces pyramides quarante sièclesvous contemplent!
ACTE IV, SCÈNE IX
1: Attrape: Stung! Lit., «Take that!» addressed to himself. Attrape! is used as an exclamation accompanying a cuff, a kick, etc. Daniel means that this speech is «a slap for him.»
2: Je vous en prie: Please don't.
ACTE VI, SCÈNE X
1: J'ai gardé la voiture de monsieur. Observe Majorin's meanness to the end, and his lame excuse for driving about at Daniel's expense.
2: comme ça: i.e. unable to «bear the burden» of gratitude.
3: le numéro, etc.: a Paris cabman delivers to his fare a paper (carte) on which are printed the number of the cab and a tariff of prices. He is engaged either à la course, i.e. at one fare (generally thirty cents) between any two points within the city limits, or à l'heure, i.e. by the hour at a rate of generally forty cents for the first hour, and so much for each additional quarter of an hour.
4: vous n'y pensez pas: that's out of the question!—Et = «And (what about)…»
5: commandant… commandé: a slip of the tongue showing that Perrichon has the Major «on the brain.» Cf. acte III, scène VII. Try to devise some equivalent pleasantry in English.