Tartarin de Tarascon

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.

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.

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'.

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'.

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.'

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.

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.

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.'

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.

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.'

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.

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'.

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.

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.

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'

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.

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.