NOTES
Reading edition · Edition 2
The notes refer to the page and line number in the following format: Page# Line#
Dedication: Gonzague-Privat (Louis de): painter, art critic and novelist, born at Montpellier in 1843. Daudet wrote a preface for his "Joie perdue" (1893).
1 1 Tarascon: a very old city (population 9,000) on the east bank of the Rhone, opposite Beaucaire (cf. note to 13 28), about fifty miles northwest of Marseilles. To Daudet the choice of proper names was always a matter for careful consideration. Tarascon was not the home of the original Tartarin (see Introduction, p xxvi), but, as Daudet explains in "Trente Ans de Paris," p 142, "a pseudonym picked up on the road from Paris to Marseilles because when rounded out by the southern accent it vibrated sonorously and triumphed at the conductor's call of stations like the war-cry of an Apache Indian." On the Tarasque cf. note to 3 25.
1 3 je m'en souviens: 'I remember it.' Se souvenir de quelque chose, hence s'en souvenir (en replacing de + a pronoun); cf. changer de chanson, en changer 7 5, revenir de là-bas, en revenir 16 12.
1 4 habitait: 'was living in.' Be careful to give the imperfect its progressive force wherever possible.
1 6: devant: adverb, 'in front'; cf. derrière in this sentence, dessus 24 1, 46 12, depuis 56 32, autour 79 15.
1_ 8: Savoyards: boys and men from Savoy, southeastern France, are seen throughout the country exercising such trades as those of bootblacks, chimney-sweeps, charcoal-venders; cf. note to 74 27.--Savoyards ... tête ... leurs boîtes: cf. note to 29 11.
1 12: coquin de sort: a characteristic Southern oath, lit. 'rascal of (a) fate' translate 'heavens and earth!' cf. monstre de sort 63 27, coquin de bon sort 68 21. For the construction cf. coquin de lièvre 4 24, diable d'homme 9 3. The genitive (de + noun) in these expressions replaces a noun in apposition. Cf. Engl. "rascal of a man," Latin scelus viri; "the city New York," "the city of New York."
1 17: rien que: 'nothing but'; i.e. il n'y avait rien que. Cf. 37 10, and notes to 13 1, 4 23.--plantes exotiques: a few lines farther on, our author explains that these exotic plants were, of course, not of full natural size. The baobab in its native African home is only 40-70 feet in height, but its trunk is sometimes 30 feet in diameter. In 17 20-21 we are given to understand that Tartarin's baobab, the most admired of his botanical rarities, is perhaps after all nothing but a turnip, and we are led to suspect that some of the others are not what they pretend to be. If we are gifted with even a small portion of the imagination possessed by Tartarin and his fellow-townsmen, we can understand how a turnip may after a while come really to be a baobab; if we have not sufficient imagination to admit this possibility, we shall not be able to appreciate the story of the life and adventures of Tartarin de Tarascon.
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2 3: bien entendu: 'of course'; lit. 'well (heard) understood.'
2 6:pot de réséda: 'mignonette pot.' Pot de fleurs = 'flower pot' Logically we should expect, and in a dealer's catalogue we find, pot à fleurs, cf. une tasse à café 'a coffee cup,' une tasse de café 'a cup of coffee.' Daudet in speaking of this same mignonette pot uses pot à réséda in "Tartarin sur les Alpes," p. 358.--c'est égal: 'all the same'.
2 7: déjà: lit. 'already'; 'anyhow,' 'nevertheless'.
2 8: s'en retournaient: cf. s'en aller 17 4, s'en revenir 53 11.
2 11: mirifique: a mock-heroic synonym for merveilleux.--bien autre: bien in its common intensive use, 'quite.' Bien frequently adds to a passage a shade of meaning which can be rendered in English only by a complete remodeling of the sentence, e.g. je veux bien 'I have no objection,' 'I consent.' When autre is preceded by bien or tout, it usually carries the idea of superiority.
2 14: ouvrant de plain-pied sur le baobab: 'opening on a level with the baobab'; there was no step. Plain='flat.'
2 19: catalans: Catalonia is in northeastern Spain. --couteaux-revolvers: 'pistol dirks,' pistols with dirks set in their butts, ordaggers with pistols in their hilts.--couteaux-poignards: 'dagger-knives' an ancient form of one-edged dagger, having a long and heavy blade.--krish (criss, kriss) malais: 'Malay creeses,' daggers with sinuous edges, famous for deadliness.
2 21: est-ce que je sais! lit. 'do I know!' transl. 'and what not.'
2 23: glaives: 'swords.' Glaive (cf. Engl. "glaive"), from Latin gladius, is a poetic word for épée.
2 24 vous donner la chair de poule: 'make your flesh creep' With the French chair de poule 'hen flesh' cf. Engl "goose flesh".
2 28 bonhomme a noun used adjectively, transl. 'kindly'.
2 29 n'y touchez pas Toucher à quelque chose, hence y toucher, 'to touch it,' y,' replacing à + a pronoun, cf. à Shang Hai and y 16 10, and notes to 6 14, 7 6, 9 7, 24 7.
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3 4 chasse à l'ours: 'bear hunting,' but chasse au faucon 'hunting with the falcon,' 'hawking.'
3 12 brave: cf. un brave homme 'a good, kindly man,' un homme brave 'a brave man'.
3 13 bonasse: bon + the pejorative suffix _asse, 'guileless'.
3 27 Il y a beau jour: '(that was) a long time ago'.
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4 3 tremblement: 'whole lot,' 'noisy throng,' colloquial.
4 8 A cinq lieues: 'within a radius of fîve leagues', cf. 48 26.
4 14 Rhône 'Rhone,' the great river of southeastern France, in the heart of Provence--diablement: 'deucedly' Diable and Dieu are used very freely in French.
4 19 Camargue a vast marshy delta at the mouth of the Rhone See Daudet's "En Camargue," in "Lettres de mon moulin".
4 24 coquin de lièvre: cf. note to 1 12--échappe ... aux: note the use of à with échapper, cf. 88 22, and s'arracher à 10 14 --septembrisades on September 25, 1792, mobs broke into the Paris prisons and massacred many political prisoners, hence septembrisade 'massacre'.
4 31 enragés 'stubborn enthusiasts'.
4 32 deuil: faire son deuil d'une chose = 'to go into mourning about a thing,' 'to give it up for lost'.
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5 3 me direz-vous: 'you [reader] will say to me [author]'.
5 19 met dans: 'hits'.
5 23 il se fait: 'there is carried on.' Impersonal il; cf. note to 4 23. Note the reflexive used for the passive; cf. cela se fait= 'that is done,' lit. 'that does itself,' ce qui se consomme 6 13 = 'what is consumed,' la forte s'ouvre 18 6 = 'the door opens itself,' 'is opened,' 'opens,' cela se sait 6 18 = 'that is known,' cela se peut = 'that is possible'; cf. also s'animer 'to animate oneself,' 'to become (be) animated,' se décourager 'to become (be) discouraged.'
5 27 leur en achète: acheter des casquettes aux chapeliers; hence leur en achète, leur replacing à eux.
5 29 il partait: 'he used to set out.'
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6 3 birman: 'Burman.' Burma is in southeastern Asia.--ces: cf. note to 16 13.
6 chapter heading Nan! dialectal form of non! See 8 13-14.
6 13 Ce qui ... de romances: lit. 'what ... of ballads'; transl. 'the number of ballads that ...' Note that romance = 'ballad,' roman = 'novel,' 'romance.' See Engl. dict. for etymology.
6 14 c'est à n'y pas croire: 'it passes belief,' lit. 'it is enough to not believe it'; cf. note to 2 2. Croire à, y croire, cf. note to 2 29.
6 24 si j'étais-t-invisible: the non-etymological t is inserted to avoid hiatus, the s of étais being unpronounced: cf. Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre. This error is common in the speech of the uneducated classes. --n'me: the e of ne is omitted as in conversational French.
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7 3 on se réunit: see next note.--on se les chante: 'they sing them (the ballads) to one another.' Note se = '(to) one another.' Nous, vous, se, are used as reflexive or reciprocal objects, direct or indirect ('ourselves' or 'each other,' 'to ourselves' or 'to each other' etc.), cf. 9 21, 16 29, 93 8. Se is used as a reciprocal pronoun several times in this paragraph.
7 4 depuis ... chantent 'in all the time that they have been singing them to one another.' Chantent is present tense with depuis.
7 6 n'y touche: cf. note to 2 29.
7 22 Nîmes: Daudet's birthplace, an ancient city with remarkable Roman remains, eighteen miles west of Tarascon.
7 26 dire: 'to say,' 'relate impressively,' 'sing', cf. 24 21 --Robert le Diable: 'Robert the Devil,' a famous opera by Meyerbeer, text by Scribe (1832). The story, widespread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and later, is concerned with the struggle of a pious mother to rescue her son from the devil. She is successful Robert saves Rome from the Saracens and ends his life as a hermit.
7 28 Pour moi: 'as for me,' 'as far as I am concerned'--quand je vivrais cent ans: 'even if I should live for a hundred years', note this meaning of quand with the conditional.
7 29 s'approchant du: note the de used with s'approcher, se rapprocher, 20 25.
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8 1 il allait se passer: 'there was going to happen'; cf. note to 4 23.--quelque chose de grand: 'something great'; note the de Cf. quelque chose d'informe 35 21, quelque chose de noir 45 18.
8 9 A vous, Tartarin: 'your turn, Tartarin!'
8 19 la chose en restait là: 'the thing stopped there'; the so called redundant en; of 16 19-20, 17 16, 18 32, 28 26, 90 30 Cf. the redundant y (note to 9 7) En and y in these cases cannot easily be translated, but the student should train himself to recognize their force.
8 26 dire d'un ... air: 'to say with an ... air'--Je viens de: venir de faire quelque chose = 'to have just done somethmg.' In this passage the expression has both the figurative and the literal meaning: 'I come (have come) from the Bézuquets', where I have just sung.'
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9 3 diable d'homme: cf. note to 1 12.
9 4 prendre: 'to captivate.'
9 17 lord Seymour: Henry Seymour (1805-1859), an eccentric, extravagant English lord who spent most of his life in Paris. He was well known to the Parisian populace.
9 18 Roi des halles tarasconnaises: 'King of the Tarascon Market-Place.' François de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort (1616-1669), fearless, presumptuous, coarse, was the idol of the rabble, by whom he was surnamed Roi des Halles (the great market of Paris).
9 21 se montrant ... ils se disaient: cf. note to 7 2.
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10 4 pampas: 'pampas,' vast plains in Argentina, extending from the Atlantic to the Andes.
10 7 A la longue, il y aurait eu (conditional anterior of il y a) de quoi: 'in the end there would have been wherewith,' 'if this existence were continued long, it would have been enough.'
10 13 lectures romanesques: 'romantic readings.' The French for Engl. 'lecture' is conférence, causerie. Romanesque = 'romantic.' The French romantique is used in speaking of the Romantic School literary history, and of landscapes.--don Quichotte: hero of the celebrated novel "Don Quixote," by Cervantes (1547-1616, cf. note to 39 24). Don Quixote, a Spanish gentleman, has his head turned as a result of excessive reading of romances, and, attended by his fat, vulgar squire, Sancho Panza, scours Spain, righting wrongs and rescuing fair damsels, in the fashion of the knights of old. Don Quixote was ever tireless and fearless, while Sancho Panza disliked hard knocks and preferred a slothful life of ease and plenty to the glorious career of privations which was the lot of the knight errant. Tartarin de Tarascon combined the qualities of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza; hence a terrible internal conflict of which we shall read in chapter vi. This disconcerting complexity of character, which is not confined to a Southerner if we may believe the epigraph of this work (En France tout le monde est un peu de Tarascon), is again elucidated in "La Défense de Tarascon" (in "Contes du lundi") and in "Tartarin sur les Alpes," ch. ii, p 35, where the adventurous spirit of warren rabbits (lapins de garenne) clashes with the domesticity of cabbage-garden rabbits (lapins de choux).
10 14 s'arracher aux: cf. note to 4 24.
10 24 que de fois: 'how many times.'
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11 9 avait beau les appeler: 'called them in vain'; cf. 28 16, 46 8. Beau is ironical in this expression; cf. Engl. "a fine fellow," "a pretty mess."
11 12 les attendait toujours: 'continued to wait for them'; note this force of toujours; cf. 26 11, 71 20.
11 14 chevalier du Temple: 'Knight Templar.' The order of the knights of the Temple (i.e. the temple of Solomon) was organized in 1118 for the purpose of protecting pilgrims on the way to the Holy Land.
11 17 de pied en cap (Lat caput) 'from head to foot', of Engl. 'armed cap a pic' Cap = 'head' is obsolete except in this expression and in a few technical terms.
11 24 entre drap et flanelle: transl. 'under his coat'--Par exemple lit 'for example', a common exclamation of which the translation varies with the context, here, 'I assure you!'
11 29 à l'anglaise (supply mode 'manner'): 'in the English manner,' i.e. calmly, cf. à la mode indienne 12 33.
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12 3 vous pensez: cf. note to 4 6.
12 22 par le plus long: supply chemin.
12 27 jamais, au grand jamais: 'never, NEVER'.
12 28 eut la chance: 'had the good luck' Engl 'chance' = French Occasion.
12 32 prenant le vent: 'sniffing the air,' used of hunting dogs, as a nautical expression = 'sailing near the wind'.
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13 1 Plus de doutes: 'no more doubt', cf.,1 17 With plus, pas, jamais, rien, and other words of this type ne is omitted when the verb is omitted, but cf. 71 8, 88 3.
13 3 se ramassait sur lui-même. 'gathered himself,' 'crouched'.
13 9 la sienne 'his' (ballad), see 6 17.
13 22 se trouvait-il: 'did it happen' Se trouver = 'to find oneself, itself,' 'to happen,' 'to be'.
13 27 Provençal: a native of Provence Provence = Latin provincia, 'the province,' comprising that part of Gaul which was first conquered and organized, later Gallia Narbonensis Properly, Provence is today the southeastern part of France, but the terms Provence, Provençal, are frequently used to designate all of southern France (south of the Loire), the Midi--se paie: 'treats himself to', cf. je me paie un bon dîner 'I treat myself to a good dinner'--C'est au plus s'il: 'at the most he,' 'scarcely did he'.
1328 Beaucaire: a city on the Rhone, opposite Tarascon, to which it is joined by a long suspension bridge. cf. note to 18 11.
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14 4 C'est que: 'the fact is that'.
14 6 Père d'Église 'Church Father' Paul was an Apostle, not a Church Father. The Church Fathers were the early disseminators and expounders of the Christian faith who continued the work of the apostles--Il l'eût dit vrai = il l'aurait dit vrai. Vrai is used adverbially, 'truly'.
14 11 manquait de prise 'had no hold'.
14 14 brave homme de corps 'jolly old body'.
14 19 mauvais ménage faire faire mauvais ménage is said of a husband and wife who do not get along well together.
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15 2 genouillères 'knee caps,' flannel or knitted coverings for the knees, to prevent or ease rheumatism.
15 3 casquettes à oreillettes 'caps with ear laps'.
15 9 moiré 'shimmering,' like watered silks cf.Engl 'mohair,' 'moire'.
15 13 avait failli partir 'had failed to départ', i.e. 'almost departed'
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16 11 c'était tout comme colloquial, 'it was just the same'.
16 12 en revenait = revenait de là bas, 'was returning from there'.
16 13 tous ces messieurs 'everybody' English has no construction corresponding to this use of ce It is used deferentially, especially by servants Madame prie ces messieurs de l'attendre 'Mrs X will see you in a moment, cf. 6 3, 53 7.
16 29 s'entendre 'come to an understanding', lit 'hear each other','understand each other' cf. notes to 2 3, 7 2.
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17 1 son mensonge à lui à lui repeats the idea expressed by son thus emphasizing it, cf. 20 13.
17 4 allez-vous-en dans le Midi 'go (away) into the South' The force of s'en in s'en aller is sometimes vague, and in colloquial speech s'en aller often is almost equivalent to the simple aller, e.g. je m'en vais vous dire 'I am going to tell you', cf. 55 10, 63 22, 2 8, 53 11.
17 9 Maison carrée ('Square House') de Nîmes one of the most beautiful Roman remains in France It was a Roman temple and is very small a mere nothing in comparison with Notre Dame--bijou d'étagère 'cabinet gem' The étagère is used for displaying small articles of value, see "étagère" and "whatnot" in Engl. Dict.
17 14 Tout au plus une sous-préfecture 'at the very most a subprefecture' Arles (cf. 29 11) with a population of 29,000, is an example of a subprefecture Both Athens and Sparta were decidedly larger than this, cf. note to 80 13 The French départements (compare our 'States') are divided into arrondissements (compare our 'counties') A prefect (préfet) presides over a département, and a subprefect (sous préfet) over an arrondissement Sous préfecture is synonymous with arrondissement, or, as here, is used for the city in which the subprefect has his offices. An arrondissement is divided into cantons and a canton into communes.
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18 2 devait: 'was to', cf. 26 9, 32 10, 39 26 See note to 2 10.
18 4 était en train de démontrer: 'was in the act of demonstrating'; Transl. simply 'was demonstrating'--amateur 'admirer,' 'lover' The distinction 'amateur,' 'professional,' is French as well as English, but in French the word amateur also means 'lover'--not, however, the lover of a person Tartarin was demonstrating to some 'lovers (of arms)'.
18 13 place du château: the square in front of the castle.
18 14 un tas de: 'a large number of', lit 'a pile of'.
18 17 s'était vue: 'had been seen', cf. note to 5 23--comme: connect with fièrement in translation.
18 27 premier sujet: 'star,' in the company of players.
18 32 n'en pouvait supporter: on en cf. note to 8 19.
18 33 lui monta au visage: 'mounted to his face', cf. 12 25, 45 8.
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19 1 D'un geste: 'with a gesture', cf. note to 51 20.
19 8 emboîtant le pas: a military expression, 'marching in lock step'.
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20 13 en leur bâillant an nez à tous: cf. note to 12 25 A tous is in apposition with leur, hence the dative case, cf. 17 1-2. When tous is a pronoun the s is sounded, cf.below, 1 19.
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21 16 à faire trembler: cf. note to 2 2.
21 19 ce que c'est que la vanité: the construction will be clear if a second est is supplied after vanité, 'what vanity is', cf. note to 72 21.
21 23 je ne dis pas: 'I don't say (that I shan't),' 'I won't commit Myself'
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22 31 Livingstone (David, 1813-1873) celebrated Scotch missionary and traveler--Duveyrier(1840-1892) French geographer, and explorer of the northwestern Sahara.
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23 3 à partir de ce jour-là: 'from that day on'--ne ... plus que: cf. note to 4 23.
23 11 pas accéléré: 'quick time', pas redoublé, 'double quick', pas gymnastique, 'run.'
23 13 selon la mode antique: there is no evidence that ancient runners carried pebbles in their mouths Daudet is perhaps thinking of the well known story about Demosthenes Modern runners carry something, not usually pebbles, in their mouths to induce themselves to hold the mouth shut and breathe through the nose, and also to keep the mouth moist by inciting the flow of saliva.
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24 1 mouches cantharides: 'Spanish flies' These insects, which are found in southern Europe, are used (crushed) as the chief element in blistering plasters--dessus adverb, 'on top of it', cf. note to 1 6.
24 3 Il fallait voir: 'you should have seen', cf. 69 4.
24 4 se l'arrachait: for se cf. note to 7 2 Se is dative, cf. 4 24.
24 7 comment on s'y prenait: 'how you go at it' On y cf. note to 2 29.
24 8 à combien de pas: cf. note to 18 25.
24 12 Aussi: cf. note to 5 32.
24 22 laurier-rose: 'oleander', all parts of this shrub are poisonous.
24 23 pluies de sauterelles: particularly in Africa and Asia migratory locusts collect in countless numbers, forming a cloud so dense as to obscure the sun, and consume every green thing, cf. 81 25 and note to 86 20 See the pages on "Les Sauterelles" in "Lettres de mon moulin," where Daudet describes an invasion of these terrible insects.
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25 2 garçonnets: 'urchins,' diminutive of garçon, cf. note to 33 27.
25 3 grand'peur: cf. grand'mère, grand'peine, etc The Latin adjectives of two terminations (grandis, e) had regularly in French one form (grand) for masculine and feminine An e was added in the feminine through the influence of other feminine adjectives (bonne, from bona), but the old form is retained, with the addition of the apostrophe, in certain phrases Pronounce as if grand' were masculine.
25 9 Toujours est-il que: 'at any rate' On the inversion after toujours (still ') cf. note to 5 32.
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26 2 ne faisait plus foi: 'was no longer regarded as unimpeachable'
26 6 langue du cru: 'local dialect,' 'vernacular' Cru means 'growth,' 'that which grows in a certain district', croître = 'grow' Vin du cru ='local wine', donner une oeuvre de son cru = 'to produce a work of one's own imagination', cf. dame du cru 60 29, jurons du cru 65 4.
26 9 devait: cf. note to 18 2.
26 12 l'allusion: like Master Gervais's gun, Tartarin never went off, partir = 'to depart,' 'to go off' (of a gun).
26 13 En un tour de main: 'in a turning of the hand,' 'like a flash'.
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27 4 portait toute sa barbe: 'wore a full beard'.
27 27 fit: cf. note to 21 22.
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28 13 CAISSE D'ARMES: 'WEAPON-CHEST.'
28 19 pemmican: 'pemmican', dried meat, pulverized or shredded, and mixed with melted fat, for Arctic rather than tropical use.
28 21 à la: here = 'in a.'
28 24 vinaigre des quatre-voleurs: 'thieves' vinegar,' a kind of aromatic vinegar, formerly used as a disinfectant. The name is derived from the fact that this concoction was popularly supposed to have rendered immune from contagion certain thieves who were pillaging the city of Toulouse during a severe plague (1720).
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29 11 Arles: an ancient city on the Rhone, nine miles south of Tarascon. Its women, of a marked Greek type, are famed for their beauty, which is enhanced by a very picturesque head-dress (coiffe). --venues en croupe de leur galant: 'riding behind their sweethearts.' Note that leur galant is singular; cf. ses deux fusils dans leur gaine 71 25; cf. also note to 92 15, and Savoyards ... la tête ... leurs 1 8. We say 'arms bare to the elbow', cf. 19 14-15.
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30 3 il se fit: cf. note to 5 23.
30 14 en toile blanche: en is used to denote the material of which a thing is made. De also may be used: une table d'acajou, but we find des commodes en acajou 82 7; cf. un sac de cuir 51 4, une serviette en cuir 71 14.
30 17 d'une longueur: for the suppression cf. note to 15 21.
30 29 son ... chez lui: 'his ... home'; mon chez moi = 'my home.'
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31 6 lui serra la main: cf. note to 12 25.
31 7 express Paris-Marseille: 'express from Paris to Marseilles.'
31 9 fit fermer les grilles: cf. note to 7 25.
31 16 ciguë. the diaeresis is written over the e to show that the u is pronounced, [sigy]; contrast the pronunciation of figue.
31 19 comme: cf. note to 29 22.
31 23 hommes d'équipe: 'station hands' An équipe is a gang of men engaged on a particular piece of work.
31 32 pensèrent mourir = faillirent mourir (cf. 15 13): 'almost died.'
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32 1 1er =premier.--par: cf. note to 10 22.
32 3 déboucher: used of rivers ('empty into'), streets ('terminate at'), armies ('debouch'). Here used for comic effect; transl. 'debouch.'--la Canebière: the principal Street of Marseilles, of which the inhabitants are very proud.
32 14 pour la première fois: cf. 13 26-27.
32 17 comme il y en a: 'such as there are', cf.49 8.
32 19 à perte de vue: 'as far as the eye could reach'.
32 22 arrivant sur: 'projecting over'.
32 23 Au-dessous (adv, cf.1 6) les naïades ... saintes vierges: just below the bowsprit is a figure head representing the naïad (water nymph), the goddess, or the madonna, whose name is inscribed on both sides of the bow. Les saintes vierges are images of the Virgin, which are particularized by specific attitudes, attributes, or localities Read "La Diligence de Beaucaire," in " Lettres de mon moulin".
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33 2 tout un peuple: cf. note to 28 18.
33 4 bogheys: borrowed from the English 'buggy' Paquebot (32 10) is from Engl. 'packet-boat,' and redingote (34 6) is from Engl 'riding coat'
33 9 coulevrines: 'culverins,' an obsolete form of cannon.
33 19 caroubes: 'carob beans,' the sweet pulpy pods, dried, of the caroubier (76 24), a tree of the countries bordering the Medditerranean, the "husks" of Luke xv, 16, and sometimes sold as a dainty at American fruit stands--colzas colza, or rape, is a sort of turnip with no thick root, raised for the oil of its seeds and for pasturage.
33 21 Génoises: women of Genoa (Gênes], seaport in northern Italy.
33 27 de femmes et d'enfants: they followed to pick up (glean, glaner) what fell from the carts--balayette dimmutive of balai cf. colline, collinette 4 11, garçon, garçonnet 25 2, seul,seulet 63 18, seulette.
33 28 bassin de carénage: 'dry dock' Carénage 'careenage' = a place for, or the act of, careening a ship for the purpose of examining or repairng its hull or keel (carène).
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34 3 Malte: 'Malta,' an island in the Mediterranean, between Sicily and Africa, which has belonged to England since 1814.
34 13 la Major: the old cathedral of Marseilles (Sainte Marie Majeure}.--Accoules, Saint-Victor: old churches in Marseilles.
34 14 mistral: (Latin magistralis 'masterly') 'mistral,' a violent north-west wind which sweeps down the Rhône valley.
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36 13 courage: 'energy.' The word courage (ordinarily = English 'courage') is often so used. Je n'ai pas le courage de travailler aujourd'hui 'I haven't the energy to work (do not feel like working) to day.' Cf. 50 1.
36 16 ne cessait: pas is often omitted with savoir, pouvoir, cesser, oser, bouger, cf. 18 32, 86 3.
36 18 Imbécile, va!: 'what a fool you are!' Va! allez! and allons! (imperatives of aller) are common exclamations, the sense varies with the context. For allons! cf. 56 1--Je te l'avais bien dit 'I told you so.'
36 19 Eh bien ... l'Afrique!: 'well now, here's your Africa!' On té see note to 13 7. La anticipates l'Afrique, cf. 32 5.
36 25 Alcazar: a music-hall. Alcazar means in Arabic 'the palace.'
36 27 la Mecque: 'Mecca,' in Arabia, the birthplace of Mohammed; the Holy City to which every good Mohammedan goes in pilgrimage at least once.
36 28 Ravel, Gil Pérès: popular comedians in Paris at the time Daudet was writing.
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37 3 il se fit: cf. note to 5 23.
37 9 Machine, stop! 'stop her!' 'The verb stopper (borrowed from English stop) is regularly used of engines. Stop in machine, stop! is an imperative taken directly from the English.
37 27 Casbah: the citadel, 400 feet above the sea, crowning the hill on which the Moorish quarter (la ville haute 'the Upper City') is built--la rue Bab-Azoun: lower down, parallel to the shore, the most important street in Algiers.
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38 32 longtemps: cf. note to 40 17.--en: anticipates des pirates; cf. note to 32 5.
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39 4 un brave garçon: cf. note to 3 12.
39 23 barbaresque: 'Barbary.' La Barbarie ('Barbary') = États barbaresques is a general term formerly applied to the North African states: Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli.
39 24 Michel Cervantes: in 1575 Cervantes was captured by Barbary pirates and carried to Algiers. His five years of slavery afforded him materials for "Don Quixote" and other works; cf. note to 10 13.
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40 1 Saavedra: upon his return from Algiers in 1580 Cervantes assumed the additional surname of Saavedra from one of his ancestors, always signing himself thenceforth Cervantes Saavedra.
40 4 dut tressaillir: 'must have leaped', cf. note to 2 10.
40 23 invraisemblables: lit. 'unlike the truth,' 'improbable', then 'strange,' 'outlandish', of German unwahrscheinlich.
40 28 du latin de Pourceaugnac: 'Pourceaugnac Latin,' meaningless Latin such as that which Molière introduces into some of his plays. "Monsieur de Pourceaugnac" is the name of one of Molière's farces, and there is some Latin in it; but Daudet probably had in mind "Le Médecin malgré lui," II, 6. He uses the name Pourceaugnac here because he likes the sound. Rosa, rosae, is the type-noun of the first declension in French grammars of to-day, where we have ordinarily mensa or stella. In Molière's time, as suggested by the passage of "Le Médecin malgré lui" referred to, musa, musae, was the noun commonly used.
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41 2 Heureusement qu': que is redundant, cf. 58 23.
41 3 canne de compagnon: 'stout cane.' When the young artisan (compagnon) set out on his travels (tour de France) to learn his trade, he carried a stout cane which is one of the principal attributes of compagnonnage.
41 4 dieu d'Homère: in the " Iliad" and the "Odyssey" the gods often intervene in the affairs of men.
41 12 Zanzibar: capital, since 1832, of the Mohammedan power in East Africa, and place of entry for travelers to Central Africa in the middle of the nineteenth century; hence here representing the idea of an African capital, as Constantinople that of a Turkish capital.
41 13 en plein Tarascon: cf. note to 5 7.
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42 1 Gouvernement: the building in which are the offices of the provincial government. Cf. 70 8.
42 4 en avait vu de rudes: 'had had a hard time of it', with rudes supply some such noun as choses, anticipated by en; cf. note to 32 5.
42 22 fréter: 'to charter,' a nautical term used here mock-heroically.
42 28 enfila: enfiler = 'to thread (a needle, pearls, etc.)', then, 'to thread (one's way through arcades, crowded streets, etc).'
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43 2 prit le faubourg: 'took the street which leads through the suburb.' Faubourg meant originally the portion of a city outside the walled town (bourg); then also the street leading through this district. Cf. note to 49 7.--route de Mustapha: 'Mustapha road', cf. note to 1 5. Mustapha is a suburb of Algiers, on the sea.
43 4 corricolos: corricolo is the Neapolitan word (Latin 'curriculum, 'chariot'; see curricle in Engl. dict.) for a sort of gig.--fourgons du train: 'army wagons', train = train des équipages, 'the train,' an army's equipment for the transportation of provisions and other necessities.
43 7 Alsaciens émigrants: 'emigrating Alsatians'; contrast émigrés alsaciens 'Alsatian emigrants.' After the Franco-Prussian war (1870-871), as a result of which Alsace became a German province, many Alsatians emigrated rather than submit to German domination. In 1871 about 11,000 natives of Alsace-Lorraine were granted land in Algeria. Daudet visited Algeria in 1861, before the Alsatians immigrated in large numbers.
43 8 spahis: 'spahis,' native cavalry in the French service, commanded by French officers.
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44 1 Vous avez tué? ... voyez plutôt: 'killed any? Oh, yes--some--just take a look for yourself.' With pas mal 'not badly' cf. j'ai tué pas mal de bécasses 'I killed quite a number of woodcocks.'
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45 19 Cela se baissait ... s'arrêtait net: an admirable description
45 24 En joue! feu!: 'aim! fire!' Mettre (coucher) en joue un fusil = 'to aim a gun' Mettre (coucher) en joue quelque chose = 'to aim at a thing.'
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46 8 Il eut beau s'escrimer: on avoir beau cf. note to 11 9. Escrimer = 'to fence,' s'escrimer = 'to exert oneself.'
46 9 ne s'ouvrit pas: cf. note to 5 23.
46 12 dessus: adverb, cf. note to 1 6.
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47 8 bourriquots: cf. Engl. burro, which is borrowed from the Spanish French bourrique 'she ass' comes from the Provençal bourric 'donkey' (Latin burricus a kind of small horse.)
47 18 avait ... vie: 'had two farthings' worth of life left in him', liard, an ancient coin worth a quarter of a sou (i.e. of a cent), is usually translated 'farthing.'
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48 1 réclamant ... Mustapha: 'shouting for her donkey till all the echos of Mustapha rang.' Réclamer à = 'to demand from.'
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49 1 Ah! ben! merci: 'ah, indeed! no, thank you!' Ben (pronounced like bain) is popular for bien Merci in answer to a question (e.g. "will you have some more meat?") means "no, thank you!" Contrast English 'thank you,' which usually expresses assent--pourquoi faire? cf. note to 38 21.
49 8 comme on en voit: cf. note to 32 17--rameau: a branch hung out was used formerly and is still used to a certain extent as the sign of a country inn, of the English proverb "good wine needs no bush."
49 12 O Bravida, quel souvenir! cf. 9 7.
49 13 de quoi: cf. note to 10 7.
49 14 ne se laissent pas abattre: cf. note to 7 25.
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50 8 complet: French law requires that only a certain number of passengers be carried on omnibuses. When this number is reached the omnibus is said to be complet, 'filled.'
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51 3 aux mains des: 'into the hands of the.'
51 14 en se levant: 'as she rose.'
51 17 prêt à tout: 'ready for anything.'
51 18 buffleteries: 'belts' (of a soldier's outfit), 'strappings.' Buffle, masculine, = 'buffalo' or 'buff leather.'
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52 8 se parfume: cf. note to 5 23.
52 9 quoi qu'il fasse: 'whatever he does,' i.e. despite all his efforts.
52 13 il n'y a qu'un Tarasconnais ... capable: lit. 'there is only a Tarasconian capable', transl. 'only a Tarasconian would be capable.'
52 18 ville haute: cf. note to 37 27.
52 29 cité: 'city.' This term, in English as well as in French, is applied in some cases to the oldest portion of a city, e.g. 'the City' of London, 'the City' of Paris.
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53 3 janissaires: 'janizaries,' the standing army of Turkey till 1826; a corps of most turbulent history, full of lawless arrogance toward civilians and Christians. The janizaries of Algiers became independent in 1669, and dominated the pirate commonwealth.
53 6 faire le pied de grue: 'stand and wait,' lit. to stand like a crane (i.e. on one foot.)
53 7 ces dames: cf. note to 16 13.
53 9 quitter ... bottes: shoes must be taken off (which is easy with Oriental shoes) before one enters a Mohammedan sacred place. Cf. Exodus III, 5.
53 19 poterne: 'postern,' a back door, and then, by extension, any small door.
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54 1 Il y avait ... cherchait: 'for two long weeks the luckless Tartarin had been seeking.'
54 4 Voici: 'here is (how it happened).'
54 7 de province: 'provincial' All France outside of Paris is disdainfully designated by Parisians as la province. With province do not confuse Provence (cf. note to 13 27)--Peu de monde: 'few people.'
54 8 Bullier ... Casino: Parisian dance-halls--vierges folles: 'frail sisters.' In the French version of the parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew xxv, 1-12) the foolish virgins are called vierges folles.
54 9 chicards: 'dandies'--debardeurs: men who unload wood, 'stevedores.' Conventionalized dandy and stevedore costumes were made popular as early as the thirties by the clever cartoonist Gavarni and were seen at all masked balls. The reference here is to frequenters of Parisian masked balls who have found it advisable to leave France (en déroute) and have carried their costumes with them.
54 12 Le vrai coup d'oeil: 'the real spectacle', coup d'oeil = 'glance,' and hence 'view' such as may be taken in all at once.
54 16 prêt: 'pay' of non commissioned officers and soldiers, called prêt (cf. prêter 'to lend') because advanced to them before it is due.
54 18 l'argent d'une charrue: 'the price of a plow.'
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55 8 ces saturnales: 'this saturnalia' The Roman festival of Saturn was a penod of riotous license--était venu s'égarer: 'had come straying', cf. 93 19.
55 13 M'sieu: indicates by the spelling the usual pronunciation of Monsieur.
55 17 Je ne demande pas mieux: 'I don't ask (anything) better,' 'that's exactly what I should like to know.'
55 26 Me voilà bien avancé: 'I'm much farther along,' 'I'm much the wiser' (sarcastically).
55 28 ça: = cela, 'that,' 'the thing Gregory du Montenegro,' contemptuous when used of persons, cf. 69 32.
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56 1 Allons! 'well!' cf. note to 36 18--Partagez-vous... question: the officer in disgust bids the prince and Tartarin to divide between them the twenty francs that are missing and let the matter drop.
56 2 qu'il n'en soit plus question: 'let's have no more talk about it', cf. note to 4 23.
56 13 souffla: 'prompted.' Souffler, 'to blow,' 'to breathe,' in theatrical parlance means 'to prompt.' Le souffleur is 'the prompter.'
56 14 Entre ... mort: 'between us now it's a compact for life and death!'
56 22 salade russe: 'Russian salad,' a heavy fish and vegetable salad.
56 26 rasé à la pierre ponce: 'very closely shaven.' Pumice stone has from ancient times been used by the effeminate for smoothing the skin.
56 27 lui donnait un faux air de: 'made him look like', lit. 'gave him a false air of.'
56 28 Mazarin: Giulio Mazarini (1602-1661), an Italian who became cardinal, and prime minister under Louis XIII and Louis XIV, talked French with an Italian accent. He wore the mustache and slight beard usual at that period.
56 29 les langues latines: pompously for la langue latine--à tout propos: 'apropos of everything,' 'at every opportunity'--Tacite: 'Tacitus' (54-140 A.D.), the famous latin historian.
56 31 héréditaire: transl. 'noble.'
56 32 depuis: adverb, 'since then', cf. note to 1 6.
56 33 en Altesse philosophe: 'in the role of philosophizing noble'; cf. note to 5 20.
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57 12 au Monténégro libre: Montenegrin independence was frequently menaced by Turkey during the nineteenth century. In 1862, as a result of a short but disastrous war, Montenegro had been forced to sign a humiliating treaty of peace in which she virtually acknowledged the suzerainty of Turkey. Daudet was in Africa in 1861-1862, gathering materials out of which "Tartarin" grew. It is possible that he met there the prototype of Gregory brooding over the disgrace of his country, or, at least, pretending to do so. However, the character of the prince and the information given in 56 31 ff lead us to suppose that in Gregory's mind "a free Montenegro" means a Montenegro free from the existing constitutional authorities, rather than free from Turkish domination.
57 14 qu'on secoue: 'being shaken,' cf. note to 55 7.
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58 4 Bon! 'that's nothing!'--vous n'êtes pas homme: 'you are not the sort of man.'
58 6 lui achetant: cf. note to 5 27--Allons: 'come now!' cf. notes to 36 18, 56 1.
58 19 que de bontés: lit. 'how many kindnesses!' transl. 'how good you are!' Cf. note to 10 24.
58 27 Cantique des Cantiques: the 'Song of Songs,' or 'Song of Solomon,' full of the Oriental phraseology of passion.
58 28 qu'il se pût voir: (= pût se voir) 'that could be seen,' 'that ever was seen', cf. notes to 4 23 (il impersonal), 5 23 (se voir, reflexive with passive force).
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59 16 du reste: 'besides.'
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60 5 cour intérieure: Oriental houses are built in the form of a hollow square, the house surrounding the courtyard on all sides.
60 9 ne fit que traverser: 'did no more than pass through,' 'merely passed through.'
60 14 friande à point: 'dainty to the point of perfection.'
60 16 toute: 'entirely.'
60 24 à la veillée: 'at the gossiping hour' Veillée = a sitting up at night for work or pleasure, especially to tell stories.
60 29 dame du cru: 'native girl', cf. note to 26 6.
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61 2 n'est autre que: 'is no other than.'
61 4 Qu'est-ce que vous voulez: 'what can you expect?' lit. 'what do you wish?' Cf. 75 18.
61 9 Annibal à Capoue: 'Hannibal at Capua.' After the battle of Cannae (216 B.C.) in which the Roman army was overwhelmed, Hannibal, the Carthaginian general, instead of following up his success, retired for the winter into Capua, where his army was demoralized by the enervating influences of the luxury loving city. Livy makes this to have been the cause of Hannibal's failure--a view now generally discredited.
61 19 se faisait des mines: 'made grimaces to herself.'
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62 2 la ville européenne: the part of the city inhabited by Europeans, as distinguished from la ville haute 37 27, the Moorish quarter.
62 14 Circe. 'Circe,' the enchantress, who by means of a potion transformed the companions of Ulysses into swine (Odyssey x).
62 24 tous: pronoun, for pronunciation cf. note to 20 13.
62 29 le Prophète: Mohammed It is common in European literature to represent Mohammedans as paying to Mohammed the same sort of worship as Catholics pay to the highest saints. Cf. note to 83 8.
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63 1 en s'échelonnant: 'in tiers', cf. 4 13.
63 4 s'égrenait ... ciel: 'was diffused gently note by note through the sky.' Égrener = 'to strip' grain from the head, grapes from the bunch--minaret: the tower of a mosque. See next note.
63 6 chantant la gloire d'Allah: cf. note to 92 1.
63 17 Par: cf. note to 10 22.
63 18 tout seulet: 'in solitary ease' Seulet, fem seulette, diminutive of seul (cf. note to 33 27) The masculine is rarely used.
63 19 en spartene: 'of esparto cloth,' woven from esparto, a Spanish grass much used in the manufacture of mats, baskets, hats, ropes, etc.
63 21 balin-balan: Provençal, 'swaying.'
63 22 s'en allait: cf. note to 17 4.
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64 2 sur la porte de. = sur la terrasse de transl. 'in front of.' Tables are spread on the sidewalk in front of French restaurants and cafes in fine weather.
64 4 He! adieu: cf. note to 13 7.
64 9 Qué: Provençal for quel.
64 18 qui s'allongeait: cf. note to 55 7.
64 21 voyez-vous: 'see here.'
64 24 sa moue: cf. 3 11-14, 39 10.
64 28 collègue: = Provençal coulego 'colleague,' 'comrade.'
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65 4 jurons du cru: 'oaths of his native land', cf. note to 26 6.
65 14 n'a ... depuis: 'has not been heard from for', lit. 'has not given of his news since.'
65 24 garde: subjunctive.
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66 7 écrire deux mots: = écrire un mot 'to write a line.'
66 12 babouches: Turkish slippers, made of colored leather, without heels--défroque: 'cast offs', properly, the possessions which a monk leaves behind at his death, then, by extension, what is abandoned disdainfully.
66 13 trèfles: 'trefoils,' an ornamental foliation consisting of three divisions, or foils (architectural term).
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67 2 gros bleu: = bleu foncé, 'dark blue.'
67 4 moxas: 'blisters.' The word moxa (originally Japanese) in English or French means a wad of cottony substance laid on any part of the body and set on fire for the purpose of counter irritation, its use is now out of date. In French the word may also mean the burn thus produced on the skin.
67 7 dut se contenter de: 'had to content himself with'; cf. 80 14, 88 14. See note to 2 10.
67 12 Orléansville: a city on the Sheliff, a hundred and thirty miles southwest of Algiers.--si charmante ... que fût la compagnie: 'however charming the company was.' Cf. note to 4 6.
67 13 n'était pas en train de: 'was not in the mood for.' Cf. je ne suis pas en train de travailler 'I don't feel like working,' je suis en train de travailler (cf. 18 4) 'I am (busy) working.'
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68 19 remis: more colloquial than reconnu.
68 21 coquin de bon sort: cf. note to 1 12.
68 24 Mais enfin: 'But, tell me.'
68 32 à mener: cf. à lire 10 22--une vie de galère: 'the life of (such as one leads on) a galley,' 'a galley-slave's life', cf. note to 1 5.
68 33 chemins de fer algériens: there were no railroads in Algeria when Daudet visited it in 1861, but between this year and 1872, when "Tartarin" appeared, several hundred miles of tracks had been constructed.
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69 2 que je le regrette: 'how I long for it.' Regretter = 'to regret,' 'to regret the loss or the absence of' a thing, hence 'to long for' a thing. For the anticipatory le cf. note to 32 5.
69 4 il fallait me voir: cf. note to 24 3.
69 8 sur l'air de: 'to the tune of.'--Lagadigadeou (pronounce dèou): the refrain of Desanat's version of Tarascon's most popular song may be translated as follows: Lagadigadeou, la Tarasque--La Tarasque du Château--Un air de lagadeou--Qui résonne (resounds) à tout rompre (cf. note to 2 2) avec son tapage. Notre-Dame du Château is a place of pilgrimage near Tarascon. Lagadigadeou is meanmgless. For the Tarasque cf. note to 3 25. For this song as a Provençal carter's song, see F.Gras, "The Terror," ch xxxiii.
69 9 que: cf. note to 5 1.
69 12 allume: exclamation serving to encourage horses: 'quick, now!'
69 17 bornes kilométriques: 'milestones' or rather 'kilometer-stones.' --ses petits tas ... espacés: 'its little heaps of stones at regular intervals'; broken stone for repairing the road.
69 22 préfet ... evêque: Nîmes is the chief city of the department (cf. note to 17 14) of the Gard, and therefore the seat of the prefect. It is also the seat of a bishop.
69 23 mazet: Provençal diminutive of mas; = 'little country house.'--collégiens: 'schoolboys.' The French collège (also the lycée) carries students from the beginning of their studies through a course which corresponds roughly to that completed in the second year of the American college.
69 24 tout frais rasés du matin: 'all (adverb, = quite) freshly shaved that morning.'
69 27 la vôtre: i.e. votre romance, cf. pages 6-7.
69 32 tout cela: cf. note to 55 28.
69 33 auquel ... rien: cf. je ne comprends rien à tout cela 'I don't understand any of that.'
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70 1 On me plaint: 'they begrudge me.'
70 6 tenez! lit. 'hold!' An exclamation whose force varies greatly; transl. here 'just see that!'
70 8 gouvernement: 'seat of government', cf. note to 42 1.
70 9 plus rien: cf. note to 13 1.
70 14 champoreau: a warm drink, coffee with a copious admixture of brandy, popular among the Europeans in Africa.
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71 2 une place de jolie sous-préfecture: 'the square of a pretty little city,' 'the square of a pretty city about the size of a subprefecture'; cf. note to 17 14. For the construction cf. note to 1 5.
71 4 de petits soldats de plomb: 'little lead soldiers', cf. note to 1 5. The men drilling looked like lead soldiers when seen through the vitres dépolies par la buée, on account of their stiffness and the dimness of their outline in the early morning light.
71 8 Plus au sud: not negative; cf. note to 13 1.
71 14 haute de cinq doigts: cf. notes to 26 5 and 42 23. --serviette: a kind of 'portfolio' widely used in France by public officials, professors, and others, for carrying papers and books.
71 21 prit la mouche: transl. 'took offense.' Prendre la mouche = 'to seize the fly,' 'to seize a slight occasion for becoming angry,' 'to become vexed easily.'
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72 23 Bombonnel (d. 1890): undertook to free North Africa of panthers.
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73 3 Tout juste! 'exactly!' cf. note to 83 5.
73 24 qu'est-ce que c'est donc que ... ? 'what, pray, is ... ?' disdainful; cf. 55 28.
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74 4 loyal: 'honest.'
74 17 Qu'est-ce ... plus? colloquial construction; transl. 'what under the sun (donc) did they mean by telling me there were none left?'
Savoyard ... marmotte: the 'marmot' is a rodent inhabiting the Alps, related to the American woodchuck and prairie dog. Savoyards traveling through France with marmots remind one of our Italian organ-grinders with their monkeys. Cf. note to 1 8.
74 28 Le sang ... tour: 'the Tarasconian's blood boiled', lit. 'made only one turn.'
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75 2 Au zouge de paix: '(take him) to the justice of the peace' (juge de paix).
75 3 nuit: he was blind.
75 14 ventre à terre: 'at full speed'; so fast that the horses' bodies (almost) touched the ground.
75 18 Que voulez-vous? cf. note to 61 4.--De voir: cf. note to 31 20.
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76 3 Ce qui me va: 'what suits (pleases) me', cf. ça vous va-t-il? (91 3) 'does that suit you?'--en matière de conclusion = en manière de conclusion 'to bring the affair to a conclusion,' 'by way of conclusion.'
76 4 n'en déplaise à mons Bombonnel: 'may it not displease Mr.Bombonnel,' 'with Mr Bombonnel's leave.' Mons (the o is nasalized and the s is pronounced) is used contemptuously for Monsieur.
76 8 Auriez-vous: cf. note to 15 chapter heading.
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77 1 brodées au fil d'argent: 'embroidered with silver thread.'
77 2 un faux air de: cf. note to 56 27.
77 14 pas n'est besoin: for il n'est pas besoin 'there is no need.'
77 17 la toque de Gessler: 'Gessler's cap.' Gessler is the Austrian governor of Swltzerland who figures in the story of William Tell. The Swiss were forced to salute his cap, which was placed on a pole.
77 18 allait son train: 'went on its way.' Train = 'gait.'
77 26 mit ... en état de siège: 'proclaimed martial law in the city.'
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78 2 se sauva ... jambes: 'ran away into the Zakkar as fast as he could.' For the Zakkar (a part of the Little Atlas) see note to 73 27.
78 4 ombre trouée: 'broken shade'; the light found its way in places through the foliage of the tree.
78 18 Si maigre ... paraisse: cf. note to 4 6.
78 23 mouci: for monsieur.
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79 1 Tant que vous en voudrez: 'as many as you like', note the future.
79 3 à quelques kilomètres: cf. note to 18 25.
79 16 une joie: = une joie! ...; cf. un Teur! ... 32 4, and note to 15 21.
79 17 se noyer: 'get drowned,' not 'drown himself.'
79 23 tête de bédouin: 'Bedouin-like head'; cf. note to 1 5. This is a good example of Daudet's skill in finding striking simularities: the Bédouin (cf. note to 69 30) has a long, narrow head.
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80 1 jambes à noeuds: 'knotty legs.'
80 13 six cent mille dents: each Arab had 150 teeth! Which goes to show that Daudet himself was born not far from Tarascon. But it is to be remembered that six cent mille is sometimes used merely to indicate a very large number, like English "thousands of."
80 14 dut: cf. note to 67 7.
80 27 se compliquent d': 'are complicated by (the addition of).'
80 28 Zouzou: military slang for zouave.
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81 1 le sergent La Ramée, le brigadier Pitou: popular names for the French soldier, the English "Tommy Atkins."
81 3 su: 'known how,' 'been able.'
81 7 font bâtonner: cf. note to 7 25.
81 8 cadis: 'cadis,' judges under Mohammedan law.
81 9 tartufes du Coran et de la loi: 'hypocritical respecters of Religion and Law.' Tartufe is the hypocrite in Moliere's play of that name, the word is now used as a common noun to designate a person who pretends to be devout. The Coran (Koran) is the Holy Book of the Mohammedans, containing the revelations of Mohammed.--quinze août: 'August 15,' Napoleon's birthday, now superseded by July 14, the national holiday. as the day on which the decorations of the Legion of Honor are distributed. Read "Un Décoré du quinze août," referred to in note to 81 5
81 13 un général Yusuf quelconque. 'some General Yusuf or other' Joseph Vantini (1810-1866), of Italian birth, was a French officer who played an active part in the conquest of Algeria Yusuf (in French spelling, Yousouf) is the Arabic form of the name Joseph.
81 26 en train de boire 'drinking', cf. note to 18 4.
81 31 allait droit devant lui 'went straight ahead'.
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82 1 Smyrne: 'Smyrna,' important seaport in Asiatic Turkey, on the Aegean Sea, famous for its rugs and silks--lampes-modérateur more precisely lampes à modérateur, 'moderator lamps' A moderator is an instrument for governing the movement of machines, here, "a mechanical contrivance by which the passage of the oil from the reservoir to the burner is regulated or moderated to a uniform flow " (Oxford Dict).
82 3 dans les tribus: 'in the (camps of the) tribes'.
82 6 narghilés etc i.e. articles of the Orient and of the Occident.
82 8 sequins: 'sequins,' an old gold coin of variable value, usually worth about $2 25, formerly issued by the Venetian republic (zecchino) and largely used in the Levant.
82 9 pendules à sujets, style Louis-Philippe 'clocks adorned with figures in the Louis Philippe style' Louis Philippe was king of France from 1830 to 1848.
82 11 goums 'goums,' armed contingents supplied by Algerian tribes for the French army, and commanded by French officers.
82 23 vers les six heures: = vers six heures. Cf. note to 23 16.
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83 3 Plus de doute: cf. note to 13 1.
83 8 ex-voto: (sing. and pl. alike), 'ex-votos,' 'votive offerings'; an offering made in fulfillment of a vow. Latin ex voto; cf. Horace, Odes, I, v. The worship of saints in Mohammedan countries (where it ranks as a superstition rather than as orthodox religion) is mainly confined to the saint's tomb, or reputed tomb.
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84 1 qu'on égorge: 'having their throats cut.'
84 3 Tartarin l'était: 'Tartarin was' (it, that is, ému); cf. note to chose = 'to 25 18.
84 9 encore: cf. note to 18 31.
84 14 se replie ... marabout: 'retreats as fast as he can to the marabout.' For à toutes jambes cf. 78 2.
84 18 A moi: 'help!'
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85 2 au petit jour: 'at early dawn'; au grand jour 'in full daylight.'--qu'il: cf. note to 5 1.
85 6 chameau à bosse simple: 'one-humped camel,' dromadaire 93 6.
85 9 le Christ: pronounced [krist]; always with the article (the Anointed).
85 10 Gethsémani: in the words douta, pleurer, Daudet refers to Christ's moral and physical recoil at Gethsemane. A Frenchman is not offended as we are by the flippancy of this reference to one of the supreme moments of Christ's life. Cf. De Vigny's "Le Mont des Oliviers."
85 13 d'en face: 'in front of him'; cf. 90 20.
85 17 jusqu'aux pantoufles: made 'even the slippers' shake; of 81 25.
85 19 Seul: while all trembled, Tartarin 'alone' did not.
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86 1 Mahom: the most usual form of the name 'Mohammed' during the Middle Ages; retained, for effect, in the oath par Mahom.--l'échappa belle: 'had a narrow escape'; cf. note to 8 18.
86 3 si ... n'avait envoyé: note the omission of pas after the conjunction si; cf. note to 36 16.
86 16 la bohème des gens de loi: 'the legal Bohemia.' Gypsies were supposed to have come from Bohemia; consequently any persons who lead an irregular life are called Bohemians. Thus, for example, the Latin Quarter of Paris, inhabited largely by artists and students, is called the "Bohemian Quarter."
86 18 sauterelles: cf. note to 24 23.
86 19 papier timbré: 'stamped paper.' A government revenue stamp, either printed on the paper (papier timbré) or affixed, must accompany French legal and commercial documents. Timbre-poste, masculine, = 'postage stamp.'
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87 2 sans (compter) les frais: 'plus the costs.'
87 3 piastres: 'dollars,' the Spanish coin also called douro (note to 48 21); Frenchmen in America sometimes call the American dollar a piastre, piastre also means the Turkish piaster (4.4 American cents).
87 7 au détail: 'piecemeal'; cf. vendre en (au) détail 'to sell at retail'; en gros 'wholesale.'
87 12 cochinchinoises: 'from Cochin China,' a part of Indo-China, at the south of the Siam peninsula, a French colony since its conquest in 1859-1867.
87 19 payer la diligence: 'pay for (his place in) the stage coach.'
87 21 d'un placement difficile: 'hard to dispose of.'
87 28 par (oftener à) petites journées: 'by short stages.' Journée = a day's march,' the original meaning of Engl. journey.
87 32 ne ... semelle: 'never more than a foot behind him,' lit. 'not leaving him by (the length of) the sole of a shoe.' For de cf. note to 42 25.
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88 2 à toute épreuve = à l'épreuve de tout 'proof against anything.'
88 3 d'autant que (for d'autant plus que): 'so much the more that,' 'especially because.'--rien: 'nothing '; cf. note to 13 1. Il ne se nourrissait avec rien would mean 'he did not nourish himself with anything,' the introduction of ne bringing the negation to bear upon the verb.
88 8 oie bridée: 'bridled goose' and figuratively 'ninny.' A feather is sometimes passed through the nostrils of a goose or a gosling (oison bridé) to prevent it from escaping through hedges. The ridiculous appearance which the fowl presents gives use to the figurative meaning.Cf. Rabelais's judge Bridoie and Beaumarchais's Brid'oison. --le prit en grippe: 'took a dislike to him'; grippe formerly meant 'whim,' 'fancy.'
88 22 la patience lui échappa: 'he lost all patience'; cf. note to 4 24.
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89 2 Le jour tombait: we say 'night was falling'; cf. la nuit tombait 44 16, and à la tombée de la nuit 53 11.
89 4 des bruits de verres: 'clinking of glasses.'
89 9 Tron de Diou: = tonnerre de Dieu (cf. note to 38 31), a strong oath; 'by the thunder of heaven!'
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90 2 marseillais: 'dialect of Marseilles.' Not only did she know French, but even Tartarin's own dialect. The Provençal language comprises many dialects; that of Tarascon does not differ greatly from that of Marseilles.
90 3 Quand je vous disais: 'what did I tell you about ...?'
90 12 tenez! 'hold!' 'let me see!' Cf. note to 70 6.
90 14 C'est donc ça: colloquial for c'est donc pour ça, 'that's why.'--ne ... ville: cf. 57 1-6.
90 18 votre histoire avec le muezzin: cf. the passage beginning 63 3.
90 23 faisait des declarations (scil. d'amour): 'made love.'
90 28 eut ... philosophe: 'made the gesture of a philosopher' (cf. note to 1 5); shrugged his shoulders.
90 29 si vous m'en croyez: 'if you'll take my advice.' En is redundant, cf. note to 8 19.
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91 1 Qu'à cela ne tienne! 'that makes no difference!'
91 3 ça vous va-t-il: cf. note to 76 3.
91 11 trois heures du matin: the regular hours for the muezzin's call are daylight hours, but two calls in the night are also made for the benefit of such pious persons as may be awake.
91 12 accompagner: i.e. to his lodging.
91 14 vengeance: Tartarin's vengeance is a delightful bit of humor.
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92 1 La Allah il Allah: French transliteration of the Arabic words with which the Mohammedan confession of faith, 'There is no god but God, and Mohammed is God's messenger,' begins. Both parts of this confession of faith, especially the first part, are repeated more than once in the muezzin's regular call. The first part is misquoted in various forms, as here, by Europeans who have been confused by the series of sounds. Note that Tartarin not only echoes the sound of this part, but parodies its sense in lines 3-4--farceur: 'fraud.'
92 3 viédaze: a Provençal word, used of persons, = 'a good for nothing,' of things, = 'a trifle.' Here 'isn't worth a straw.'
92 4 carotteurs: 'pikers' Jouer la carotte = to stake little (e.g. a carrot) in a game. Tirer la carotte à quelqu'un = to get a small sum out of a person by making him believe some hoax. Note the play on words in Teurs, carotteurs.
92 16 canons turcs: cf. note to 40 17. These old cannon are set in the pavement of the quay as posts for the mooring of ships and for/similar uses.
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93 6 dromadaire: the word is here used correctly according to the Academy's dictionary, which makes dromadaire a name of the one humped species of camel. According to more exact usage a dromedary is a high bred camel for special speed, usually of the one humped species but not necessarily so, in this sense Tartarin's beast can hardly claim the name.
93 7 que devenir: lit. 'what to become', transl. 'what to do with myself' Cf. 65 15.
93 8 Ne nous quittons plus: 'let us part no more' Cf. note to 7 2.
93 16 de conserve: 'in consort' (with the captain's row boat). Conserve in the sense of 'the action of preserving' survives only in this nautical expression, naviguer de conserve.--'to sail in consort' (used of ships which sail together so as to help one another).
93 18 col: = cou, used in this sense only in certain fixed expressions, ordinarily = 'collar.'--en éperon de trirème: 'like (cf. note to 5 20) the beak of a trireme.' Eperon ordinarily means 'spur.' The ancient trireme was a galley with three banks of oars.
93 19 viennent ensemble se ranger: 'come to draw up together,' 'draw up together', cf. 55 8.--aux flancs du: 'alongside.' Note the plural flancs, cf. à ses côtés 37 26.
93 22 à mon bord: 'aboard.' A bord d'un vaisseau = 'on board a ship.'
93 23 j'en ... zoologique: 'I will present him to the Zoological Garden.'
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94 1 mettait le nez: 'stuck his nose,' looked out.
94 13 détalait: cf. note to 69 15.
94 14 eu pleine Crau: 'in the heart of (cf. 2 2) the Crau.' The Crau is a vast, arid plain extending from the lower Rhone eastward. The stones which cover this plain are fabled to have been showered down by Jupiter to aid Hercules in his battle with the giant Albion.--lui tenant pied: 'keeping up with it.'
94 19 Pas le sou: 'penniless'; je n'ai pas le sou = ' I haven't a cent.'
94 29 sympathique: 'friendly'; contains also the ideas of 'sympathetic,' 'congenial,' 'responsive.'
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95 4 s'étaient monté la tête: se monter la tête = 'to become greatly excited'; transl. 'had gone wild.'
95 8 de deux heures: cf. note to 42 25.
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