70 1 On me plaint: 'they begrudge me.'
70 5 brancards: a stage-coach has no shafts. Brancards is used also for the two pieces of wood which connect the fore and after carriages of a vehicle, transl. 'body.' Daudet may mean simply 'pole.'
70 6 tenez! lit. 'hold!' An exclamation whose force varies greatly; transl. here 'just see that!'
70 8 gouvernement: 'seat of government', cf. note to 42 1.
70 9 plus rien: cf. note to 13 1.
70 10 lentisques: 'mastic trees,' small trees growing in the Mediterranean countries, producing a resin which is used in the manufacture of paints.
70 14 champoreau: a warm drink, coffee with a copious admixture of brandy, popular among the Europeans in Africa.
70 21 une cour de caravansérail: cf. note to 1 5. A caravansary is a building for the lodging of caravans. See "Le Caravansérail" in "Contes du lundi."
70 29 kousskouss: (couscous): meat cooked with flour, the national dish of the Arabs according to Daudet, "Paysages gastronomiques" in "Contes du lundi."
71 2 une place de jolie sous-préfecture: 'the square of a pretty little city,' 'the square of a pretty city about the size of a subprefecture'; cf. note to 17 14. For the construction cf. note to 1 5.
71 4 de petits soldats de plomb: 'little lead soldiers', cf. note to 1 5. The men drilling looked like lead soldiers when seen through the vitres dépolies par la buée, on account of their stiffness and the dimness of their outline in the early morning light.
71 7 ne sentait pas encore le lion: 'did not savor of lions yet', cf.cela sent le camphre 'that smells of camphor.'
71 8 Plus au sud: not negative; cf. note to 13 1.
71 13 grosse comme le poing: 'as big as your fist.'
71 14 haute de cinq doigts: cf. notes to 26 5 and 42 23. --serviette: a kind of 'portfolio' widely used in France by public officials, professors, and others, for carrying papers and books.
71 15 notaire: the position of the French notaire is more dignified than that of our 'notary', he performs some of the functions of the American lawyer.
71 20 regardait toujours Tartarin: cf. note to 11 12.
71 21 prit la mouche: transl. 'took offense.' Prendre la mouche = 'to seize the fly,' 'to seize a slight occasion for becoming angry,' 'to become vexed easily.'
71 26 leur gaine: cf. note to 29 11.
72 17 Et toute la diligence de rire: 'and the whole stage coach laughed', cf. the Latin historical infinitive, used in place of the perfect. In French this infinitive is always preceded by de and the clause is almost always introduced by et, là dessus, or a similar word.--trois cheveux de Cadet-Roussel: the popular song called Cadet-Roussel, 'Young Roussel,' was composed on the basis of a local song by a soldier in the Northern Army of the revolutionary forces about 1792. Cadet Roussel has three houses, three coats, three hats, three hairs (two for his face, one for his wig, and when he goes to see his lady he gathers the three into a braid), three dogs, and so on.
72 21 Terrible profession que la vôtre: understand (c'est une) terrible profession que la vôtre (est); cf. note to 21 19.
72 23 Bombonnel (d. 1890): undertook to free North Africa of panthers.
72 27 Té! ... connais: 'what! know him? I should say so!' For té cf. note to 13 7. Pardi is a euphemism (really a dialectal form) for pardieu; cf. parbleu, 47 6.
73 3 Tout juste! 'exactly!' cf. note to 83 5.
73 15 ce qu'il en est: 'how matters stand.' On en cf. note to 8 19.
73 20 Chassaing (Jacques, 1821-1871): hunter of lions and panthers.
73 24 qu'est-ce que c'est donc que ... ? 'what, pray, is ... ?' disdainful; cf. 55 28.
73 27 Milianah: a city in the Zakkar mountains, about seventy-five miles southwest of Algiers. A comparison of the story of Tartarin's adventures at Milianah with the pages on that city in "Lettres de mon moulin" will show how many details have been borrowed from the notes Daudet took down during his stay in Algeria.
73 30 à regarder ... s'il: 'looking (to see) if', cf. note to 10 22.
74 4 loyal: 'honest.'
74 11 A quoi bon ... ? 'what (was) the good of ... ?' Latin cui bono?
74 16 train de derrière: 'hind quarters,' train de devant = 'fore quarters,' of an animal; properly applied only to an animal harnessed to a vehicle.
74 17 Qu'est-ce ... plus? colloquial construction; transl. 'what under the sun (donc) did they mean by telling me there were none left?'
74 26 promenaient: note the active use of this verb, cf. monter 41 28.
Savoyard ... marmotte: the 'marmot' is a rodent inhabiting the Alps, related to the American woodchuck and prairie dog. Savoyards traveling through France with marmots remind one of our Italian organ-grinders with their monkeys. Cf. note to 1 8.
74 28 Le sang ... tour: 'the Tarasconian's blood boiled', lit. 'made only one turn.'
75 2 Au zouge de paix: '(take him) to the justice of the peace' (juge de paix).
75 3 nuit: he was blind.
75 12 Sitôt votre lettre reçue: 'as soon as I received your letter,' = aussitôt que votre lettre fut reçue.
75 14 ventre à terre: 'at full speed'; so fast that the horses' bodies (almost) touched the ground.
75 16 donc: render by emphasis on auxiliary: 'what have you done?'
75 18 Que voulez-vous? cf. note to 61 4.--De voir: cf. note to 31 20.
76 3 Ce qui me va: 'what suits (pleases) me', cf. ça vous va-t-il? (91 3) 'does that suit you?'--en matière de conclusion = en manière de conclusion 'to bring the affair to a conclusion,' 'by way of conclusion.'
76 4 n'en déplaise à mons Bombonnel: 'may it not displease Mr.Bombonnel,' 'with Mr Bombonnel's leave.' Mons (the o is nasalized and the s is pronounced) is used contemptuously for Monsieur.
76 7 battre la plaine: 'beat the plain' (to rouse game); cf. note to 10 5--Chéliff: most important river in Algeria, over 370 miles long.
76 8 Auriez-vous: cf. note to 15 chapter heading.
76 24 tuyas: any trees closely related to the arbor-vitae or American white cedar, here 'sandarac trees.'--caroubiers: cf. note to 33 19.
76 27 Liban: 'Lebanon,' in Syria, formerly famous for its cedar forests with their far-reaching odors and its many streams, see the Song of Solomon, iv, 8, 11, 15.
77 1 brodées au fil d'argent: 'embroidered with silver thread.'
77 2 un faux air de: cf. note to 56 27.
77 12 tout son monde: 'all its servants'; cf. note to 54 7.
77 14 pas n'est besoin: for il n'est pas besoin 'there is no need.'
77 15 Il suffit d'un képi: cf. note to 62 12.
77 17 la toque de Gessler: 'Gessler's cap.' Gessler is the Austrian governor of Swltzerland who figures in the story of William Tell. The Swiss were forced to salute his cap, which was placed on a pole.
77 18 allait son train: 'went on its way.' Train = 'gait.'
77 23 bureau arabe: 'Arab office,' the French bureau for the Administration of affairs concerning the natives.--au bon frais: strengthened form of au frais 'in the fresh air.'
77 25 crut à un coup de main: 'thought it was an uprising'; cf. 94 27. Coup de main = 'surprise,' 'sudden attack.'--fit baisser: cf. note to 7 25.
77 26 mit ... en état de siège: 'proclaimed martial law in the city.'
78 2 se sauva ... jambes: 'ran away into the Zakkar as fast as he could.' For the Zakkar (a part of the Little Atlas) see note to 73 27.
78 4 ombre trouée: 'broken shade'; the light found its way in places through the foliage of the tree.
78 8 précisément: 'quite opportunely', cf. note to 83 5.
78 15 Comment voulez-vous ... ? 'how do you suppose ... ?'
78 18 Si maigre ... paraisse: cf. note to 4 6.
78 21 Demandez plutôt: cf. 44 1.
78 23 mouci: for monsieur.
78 31 coup d'oeil: 'looks'; cf. note to 54 12.--ne feraient pas très bien: 'would not do very well.'
79 1 Tant que vous en voudrez: 'as many as you like', note the future.
79 3 à quelques kilomètres: cf. note to 18 25.
79 11 pendus à: 'hanging from.'
79 15 une mesure à blé: 'a wheat measure', une mesure de blé 'a measure (full) of wheat.' Cf. 2 6.--des Kabyles qui s'éventrent autour: 'Kabyles slashing each other with knives (lit. cutting each other open) around it'; cf. notes to 55 7 (qui), 7 2 (se), 1 6 (autour).
79 16 une joie: = une joie! ...; cf. un Teur! ... 32 4, and note to 15 21.
79 17 se noyer: 'get drowned,' not 'drown himself.'
79 20 Par exemple: 'as luck would have it'; cf. note to 11 24.
79 23 tête de bédouin: 'Bedouin-like head'; cf. note to 1 5. This is a good example of Daudet's skill in finding striking simularities: the Bédouin (cf. note to 69 30) has a long, narrow head.
79 27 Toujours la folie orientale! 'his craze about things oriental was still with him!'
79 30 tout en haut = tout à fait en haut, cf. note to 47 11.
80 1 jambes à noeuds: 'knotty legs.'
80 8 étoupe: aptly characterizes the hair of a camel's hump.
80 10 Va te promener! cf. note to 48 11.
80 13 six cent mille dents: each Arab had 150 teeth! Which goes to show that Daudet himself was born not far from Tarascon. But it is to be remembered that six cent mille is sometimes used merely to indicate a very large number, like English "thousands of."
80 14 dut: cf. note to 67 7.
80 19 devant: devant for avant, auparavant, is obsolete except in certain locutions such as comme devant.
80 25 douar: 'douar,' an Arab village, composed of tents arranged with more or less regularity.--plaine du Cheliff: the broad part of the Sheliff basin is in the half desert plateau between the Great Atlas and the Little Atlas. The picture which follows is interesting, it is overdrawn, however, since Algeria never was, and certainly is not today, as bad as Daudet paints it.
80 27 se compliquent d': 'are complicated by (the addition of).'
80 28 Zouzou: military slang for zouave.
81 1 le sergent La Ramée, le brigadier Pitou: popular names for the French soldier, the English "Tommy Atkins."
81 3 su: 'known how,' 'been able.'
81 5 bachagas: 'bashagas' (Turkish for 'head agas' or 'heads of agas,' cf. note to 82 5), native chiefs of districts.--se mouchent ... Légion d'honneur: 'gravely use their insignia of the Legion of Honor as handkerchiefs.' Like much in "Tartarin de Tarascon," this detail was extracted from the memorandum books which Daudet carried during his Algerian travels, again in "Un Décoré du 15 août" ("Contes du lundi") he declares that he repeatedly saw the grand cordon used for the purpose here mentioned. The Legion of Honor was established by Napoleon (then first consul) in 1802. The insignia are a wide red ribbon from which is suspended a five-pointed cross.
81 7 font bâtonner: cf. note to 7 25.
81 8 cadis: 'cadis,' judges under Mohammedan law.
81 9 tartufes du Coran et de la loi: 'hypocritical respecters of Religion and Law.' Tartufe is the hypocrite in Moliere's play of that name, the word is now used as a common noun to designate a person who pretends to be devout. The Coran (Koran) is the Holy Book of the Mohammedans, containing the revelations of Mohammed.--quinze août: 'August 15,' Napoleon's birthday, now superseded by July 14, the national holiday. as the day on which the decorations of the Legion of Honor are distributed. Read "Un Décoré du quinze août," referred to in note to 81 5
81 12 kousskouss au sucre: 'sweetened couscous'--caïds 'caids,' Mohammedan military chiefs.
81 13 un général Yusuf quelconque. 'some General Yusuf or other' Joseph Vantini (1810-1866), of Italian birth, was a French officer who played an active part in the conquest of Algeria Yusuf (in French spelling, Yousouf) is the Arabic form of the name Joseph.
81 19 maquis: ordinarily used only of the Corsican 'maquis', extensive areas overgrown with an almost impenetrable tangle of brushwood--le grenier de la France: the words of the enthusiastic promoters of Algerian colonization Algeria's famous grain producing region does not extend farther inland than one hundred miles, and does not include the part which Tartarin was now traversing.
81 25 sauterelles enragées cf. note to 24 23.--mangent jusqu'aux rideaux 'eat the very curtains', cf. 85 17.
81 26 en train de boire 'drinking', cf. note to 18 4.
81 30 tout entier à 'engrossed in'.
81 31 allait droit devant lui 'went straight ahead'.
82 1 Smyrne: 'Smyrna,' important seaport in Asiatic Turkey, on the Aegean Sea, famous for its rugs and silks--lampes-modérateur more precisely lampes à modérateur, 'moderator lamps' A moderator is an instrument for governing the movement of machines, here, "a mechanical contrivance by which the passage of the oil from the reservoir to the burner is regulated or moderated to a uniform flow " (Oxford Dict).
82 3 dans les tribus: 'in the (camps of the) tribes'.
82 5 agas: 'agas' The aga was formerly a great military chief in Turkey, now the title is merely one of respect given to village magnates.
82 6 narghilés etc i.e. articles of the Orient and of the Occident.
82 8 sequins: 'sequins,' an old gold coin of variable value, usually worth about $2 25, formerly issued by the Venetian republic (zecchino) and largely used in the Levant.
82 9 pendules à sujets, style Louis-Philippe 'clocks adorned with figures in the Louis Philippe style' Louis Philippe was king of France from 1830 to 1848.
82 10 diffas: 'diffas,' among the Arabs of Africa receptions and feasts offered to men of rank The fantasia is an Arab equestrian Exhibition.
82 11 goums 'goums,' armed contingents supplied by Algerian tribes for the French army, and commanded by French officers.
82 15 Pont-Neuf: this 'New Bridge' is the oldest of the many which span the Seine in Paris. It was completed in 1604 by Henry IV, and figures in many legends of old Paris. C'est vieux comme le Pont-Neuf has become a proverb.
82 20 faisant frrt! 'saying sst! (scat!).'
82 23 vers les six heures: = vers six heures. Cf. note to 23 16.
83 3 Plus de doute: cf. note to 13 1.
83 5 tout juste: = précisément 78 8, cf. 73 3.
83 8 ex-voto: (sing. and pl. alike), 'ex-votos,' 'votive offerings'; an offering made in fulfillment of a vow. Latin ex voto; cf. Horace, Odes, I, v. The worship of saints in Mohammedan countries (where it ranks as a superstition rather than as orthodox religion) is mainly confined to the saint's tomb, or reputed tomb.
83 12 s'y refusa: = se refusa à cela (cf. note to 2 29); 'refused to consent.'--tenait à: 'insisted upon.' Tenir à faire quelque chose = 'to desire strongly to do a thing,' 'to be determined to do a thing'; tenir à quelque chose = 'to care greatly for a thing.'
83 31 pas de velours: 'velvet steps,' 'soft steps.'
84 1 qu'on égorge: 'having their throats cut.'
84 3 Tartarin l'était: 'Tartarin was' (it, that is, ému); cf. note to chose = 'to 25 18.
84 7 en train: cf. note to 67 13.
84 9 encore: cf. note to 18 31.
84 10 tint bon: 'held his ground'; cf. note to 27 16.
84 14 se replie ... marabout: 'retreats as fast as he can to the marabout.' For à toutes jambes cf. 78 2.
84 17 hydres: the Hydra of classical mythology was a water serpent with many heads, each of which, when cut off, was replaced immediately by two new ones.
84 18 A moi: 'help!'
84 23 filer: here, 'scamper off.' Filer = 'to spin' (yarn), 'to uncoil,' and colloquially 'to take to one's heels,' 'to race'; cf. 88 27, 94 9.
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.
86 1 Mahom: the most usual form of the name 'Mohammed' during the Middle Ages; retained, for effect, in the oath par Mahom.--l'échappa belle: 'had a narrow escape'; cf. note to 8 18.
86 3 si ... n'avait envoyé: note the omission of pas after the conjunction si; cf. note to 36 16.
86 7 l'homme à la plaque: 'the man with the badge,' the rural policeman.
86 14 processive: (of procès, 'lawsuit'), 'litigious.'--avocassière: 'pettifogging'; avocat = 'lawyer,' avocasser = 'to practice law' (always in a depreciatory sense, cf. bonasse 3 13).
86 15 la judiciaire ... se tripote: 'the dubious (lit. 'squinting') judicial system which is cooked up', cf. note to 5 23.
86 16 la bohème des gens de loi: 'the legal Bohemia.' Gypsies were supposed to have come from Bohemia; consequently any persons who lead an irregular life are called Bohemians. Thus, for example, the Latin Quarter of Paris, inhabited largely by artists and students, is called the "Bohemian Quarter."
86 18 sauterelles: cf. note to 24 23.
86 19 papier timbré: 'stamped paper.' A government revenue stamp, either printed on the paper (papier timbré) or affixed, must accompany French legal and commercial documents. Timbre-poste, masculine, = 'postage stamp.'
86 20 tiges de ses bottes: the locusts, sauterelles (1 18), eat a Plant jusqu'à la tige; Daudet is punning here on the two meanings of tige, 'stalk' of a plant, 'leg' of a boot.--déchiqueté ... maïs: 'stripped like a stalk of corn,' of whose foliage the locusts leave nothing but midribs and hanging fibers.
86 27 silo: a pit for storing grain. Since Goffart's work on the ensilage of green crops, published in 1877, the word has become familiar in America, our silo for green crops being usually above ground. As a punishment in the French army in Algeria, men (sometimes more of them than could lie down on the bottom of the pit) were put into a pit and kept there while filth accumulated around them.
87 2 sans (compter) les frais: 'plus the costs.'
87 3 piastres: 'dollars,' the Spanish coin also called douro (note to 48 21); Frenchmen in America sometimes call the American dollar a piastre, piastre also means the Turkish piaster (4.4 American cents).
87 5 judiciaires: 'judiciary'; i.e., offered to the judges.
87 7 au détail: 'piecemeal'; cf. vendre en (au) détail 'to sell at retail'; en gros 'wholesale.'
87 10 y passèrent: 'went by the same road'; i.e., were sold.
87 12 cochinchinoises: 'from Cochin China,' a part of Indo-China, at the south of the Siam peninsula, a French colony since its conquest in 1859-1867.
87 16 ce qu'il advint de: 'what became of.' Advenir is used only impersonally.
87 19 payer la diligence: 'pay for (his place in) the stage coach.'
87 21 d'un placement difficile: 'hard to dispose of.'
87 25 sur: the definitive edition also prints sur here; sous would seem to be the correct reading, cf. 66 13. It is possible that the reference here is to figures worked into the pavement.
87 28 par (oftener à) petites journées: 'by short stages.' Journée = a day's march,' the original meaning of Engl. journey.
87 30 s'était ... inexplicable: 'had conceived an inexplicable fancy for his master.' Se prendre d'amitié pour quelqu'un = 'to take a liking; to a person.'
87 32 ne ... semelle: 'never more than a foot behind him,' lit. 'not leaving him by (the length of) the sole of a shoe.' For de cf. note to 42 25.
88 2 à toute épreuve = à l'épreuve de tout 'proof against anything.'
88 3 d'autant que (for d'autant plus que): 'so much the more that,' 'especially because.'--rien: 'nothing '; cf. note to 13 1. Il ne se nourrissait avec rien would mean 'he did not nourish himself with anything,' the introduction of ne bringing the negation to bear upon the verb.
88 7 il lui en voulut de: cf. note to 36 10.
88 8 oie bridée: 'bridled goose' and figuratively 'ninny.' A feather is sometimes passed through the nostrils of a goose or a gosling (oison bridé) to prevent it from escaping through hedges. The ridiculous appearance which the fowl presents gives use to the figurative meaning.Cf. Rabelais's judge Bridoie and Beaumarchais's Brid'oison. --le prit en grippe: 'took a dislike to him'; grippe formerly meant 'whim,' 'fancy.'
88 16 huit grands jours: 'a whole week.' Huit jours = 'a week,' quinze jours = 'a fortnight.'
88 20 biskris: 'Biskran porters.' Biskra is a city in Algeria, at the edge of the Sahara. Many Biskrans settle in the coast cities, especially Algiers, where they obtain employment as porters; hence, biskri = 'porter.' The Arabic suffix -i corresponds to the English -an or -ite.
88 22 la patience lui échappa: 'he lost all patience'; cf. note to 4 24.
89 2 Le jour tombait: we say 'night was falling'; cf. la nuit tombait 44 16, and à la tombée de la nuit 53 11.
89 4 des bruits de verres: 'clinking of glasses.'
89 6 qui chantait: 'singing'; cf. note to 55 7.
89 9 Tron de Diou: = tonnerre de Dieu (cf. note to 38 31), a strong oath; 'by the thunder of heaven!'
89 13 tambourins: 'drums.' The Provençal and Algerian tambourin is a drum higher than it is wide. Tambour 90 1 = tambourin. Cf. note to 53 15.
89 29 Digo-li ... moun bon! = dis-lui qu'il vienne, mon bon; 'just tell him to come on, old fellow'; a Provençal challenge.
89 30 du premier (scil. étage): 'of the second floor.' The first floor of a French house is called the rez-de-chaussée.
90 2 marseillais: 'dialect of Marseilles.' Not only did she know French, but even Tartarin's own dialect. The Provençal language comprises many dialects; that of Tarascon does not differ greatly from that of Marseilles.
90 3 Quand je vous disais: 'what did I tell you about ...?'
90 9 s'est ... sac: 'let himself be caught red-handed'; cf. note to 7 25.
90 11 à l'ombre: 'in prison' (lit. 'in the shade'), slang.--maison centrale: prison to which prisoners who have been condemned to more than one year of detention are sent; transl. 'jail.'
90 12 tenez! 'hold!' 'let me see!' Cf. note to 70 6.
90 14 C'est donc ça: colloquial for c'est donc pour ça, 'that's why.'--ne ... ville: cf. 57 1-6.
90 17 sans quoi: 'otherwise,' lit. 'without which.'
90 18 votre histoire avec le muezzin: cf. the passage beginning 63 3.
90 20 d'en face: 'over there,' 'across the way'; cf. note to 85 13.
90 23 faisait des declarations (scil. d'amour): 'made love.'
90 26 c'est: cf. note to 44 7.
90 28 eut ... philosophe: 'made the gesture of a philosopher' (cf. note to 1 5); shrugged his shoulders.
90 29 si vous m'en croyez: 'if you'll take my advice.' En is redundant, cf. note to 8 19.
91 1 Qu'à cela ne tienne! 'that makes no difference!'
91 3 ça vous va-t-il: cf. note to 76 3.
91 5 croustade: a sort of 'pie' with a very crisp crust--sans Rancune lit. 'without rancor', transl. 'forget your ill will.'
91 10 fort avant dans: 'far on into.'
91 11 trois heures du matin: the regular hours for the muezzin's call are daylight hours, but two calls in the night are also made for the benefit of such pious persons as may be awake.
91 12 accompagner: i.e. to his lodging.
91 14 vengeance: Tartarin's vengeance is a delightful bit of humor.
91 16 monta encore: 'ascended still higher.'
91 21 Mostaganem: a city on the Mediterranean, west of Algiers.
91 25 curé: it is amusing to hear Tartarin apply the title of the respected French parish priest to the rascally muezzin. At home Tartarin would address the priest as monsieur le curé.
92 1 La Allah il Allah: French transliteration of the Arabic words with which the Mohammedan confession of faith, 'There is no god but God, and Mohammed is God's messenger,' begins. Both parts of this confession of faith, especially the first part, are repeated more than once in the muezzin's regular call. The first part is misquoted in various forms, as here, by Europeans who have been confused by the series of sounds. Note that Tartarin not only echoes the sound of this part, but parodies its sense in lines 3-4--farceur: 'fraud.'
92 3 viédaze: a Provençal word, used of persons, = 'a good for nothing,' of things, = 'a trifle.' Here 'isn't worth a straw.'
92 4 carotteurs: 'pikers' Jouer la carotte = to stake little (e.g. a carrot) in a game. Tirer la carotte à quelqu'un = to get a small sum out of a person by making him believe some hoax. Note the play on words in Teurs, carotteurs.
92 9 derniers: believers are few even in the upper part of the city (cf. note to 37 27).
92 15 La culasse: we should use the plural in English. Note this peculiarity of French style, cf. la face des soldats était couverte de sueur 'the soldiers' faces were covered with sweat.' Cf. note to 29 11, and 92 12.
92 16 canons turcs: cf. note to 40 17. These old cannon are set in the pavement of the quay as posts for the mooring of ships and for/similar uses.
92 24 A peine vient-il de sauter ... qu': 'scarcely has he leaped when.' A peine reenforces vient de. For the inversion cf. note to 5 32.
93 5 en carton peint: 'of painted pasteboard,' i.e. counterfeit.
93 6 dromadaire: the word is here used correctly according to the Academy's dictionary, which makes dromadaire a name of the one humped species of camel. According to more exact usage a dromedary is a high bred camel for special speed, usually of the one humped species but not necessarily so, in this sense Tartarin's beast can hardly claim the name.
93 7 que devenir: lit. 'what to become', transl. 'what to do with myself' Cf. 65 15.
93 8 Ne nous quittons plus: 'let us part no more' Cf. note to 7 2.
93 15 s'élançant a corps perdu: 'hurling himself headlong,' desperately.
93 16 de conserve: 'in consort' (with the captain's row boat). Conserve in the sense of 'the action of preserving' survives only in this nautical expression, naviguer de conserve.--'to sail in consort' (used of ships which sail together so as to help one another).
93 18 col: = cou, used in this sense only in certain fixed expressions, ordinarily = 'collar.'--en éperon de trirème: 'like (cf. note to 5 20) the beak of a trireme.' Eperon ordinarily means 'spur.' The ancient trireme was a galley with three banks of oars.
93 19 viennent ensemble se ranger: 'come to draw up together,' 'draw up together', cf. 55 8.--aux flancs du: 'alongside.' Note the plural flancs, cf. à ses côtés 37 26.
93 22 à mon bord: 'aboard.' A bord d'un vaisseau = 'on board a ship.'
93 23 j'en ... zoologique: 'I will present him to the Zoological Garden.'
93 29 fût: subjunctive with non pas que.
93 33 afficher: 'make a show of', lit. 'to post'(affiches 'placards')
94 1 mettait le nez: 'stuck his nose,' looked out.
94 9 un wagon de troisième classe: 'a third-class car.' In French trains there are cars of first, second, and third classes, the third being the cheapest. The cars were until recently divided into compartments from each of which a door (portière) opened upon the station platform. These doors were provided with windows--filant bon train sur: 'making rapidly for', cf. note to 84 23.
94 11 aux portières: 'at the door Windows', cf. note to 94 9.
94 13 détalait: cf. note to 69 15.
94 14 eu pleine Crau: 'in the heart of (cf. 2 2) the Crau.' The Crau is a vast, arid plain extending from the lower Rhone eastward. The stones which cover this plain are fabled to have been showered down by Jupiter to aid Hercules in his battle with the giant Albion.--lui tenant pied: 'keeping up with it.'
94 15 rencoigna: an old spelling of rencogna. The word is etymologically connected with coin; cf. English (Shakespearean) 'coign.'
94 19 Pas le sou: 'penniless'; je n'ai pas le sou = ' I haven't a cent.'
94 21 Tarascon! for the electrifying sonorousness of this call cf. note to 1 1.
94 27 il croyait à: 'he thought it was'; cf. note to 77 25.
94 29 sympathique: 'friendly'; contains also the ideas of 'sympathetic,' 'congenial,' 'responsive.'
95 4 s'étaient monté la tête: se monter la tête = 'to become greatly excited'; transl. 'had gone wild.'
95 6 dix ... une marmelade de lions: 'ten lions, twenty lions, a mass of lions.' Mettre en marmelade = 'to smash to a jelly'; cf. 12 3.
95 8 de deux heures: cf. note to 42 25.
95 12 descendre à cloche-pied: 'hobble down.' Clocher and marcher à cloche-pied = 'to hop.'