LINE

12. Notice the inversion. Take the words: 'La province n'est souvent conquise de' (more correctly it should be 'par') 'nul' (better aucun') 'd'eux.'

13. quart

=

'quatrième,' an archaic use. Side by side with the more modern forms: 'premier, deuxième, troisième, quatrième, cinquième neuvième, dixième,' there are older forms generally (except 'second') confined to particular uses or phrases -'prime, second, tiers, quart, quint. none, dîme.' accorde net, i.e. 'cuts short the dispute.' The adjective is used like an adverb: cp. parler haut, chanter juste, aller vite, etc. 14. en, 'by.'

IX.-L'ANE VÊTU DE LA PEAU DU LION.

1. Mind the inversion.

3. bien qu'an., 'although a creature

vertu, here in its original but unusual sense of 'courage,' 'manliness.'

5. échappé, 'protruding,' 'sticking out'—escaping, as it were, from the covering he put over it.

6. la fourbe. Notice that 'fourbe,' if feminine =

'deceit,' 'imposdeceiver,' 'impostor.' Cp. 'trompette,'

7. Martin, 'Toby.' The full phrase is Martin - bâton' (lit. the stick of Martin, the farm-servant), which may be translated "Toby-tickle-tail.' The name of the owner (Martin) is here given to the stick itself.

8. la ruse et la malice. Take the two together-' the sly trick.' 10. chassât, subjunctive after the idea of surprise contained in the preceding line ('s'étonnaient de voir' = 'voyaient avec étonnement').

moulin, the donkey's place of business.

11. force gens, 'plenty of folk.' 'Gens' is the genitive case governed by force,' which is a noun (just as the English word 'plenty '). In old French the preposition 'de' was not needed to mark the genitive. Cp. 'Dieu merci.'

12. cet apologue, rather the moral or application of the fable.

rendu. The verb 'to make,' followed by an adjective, is translated in French by 'rendre,' not 'faire.

13. cavalier. This use of the word springs from the idea that a horseman is more showy' and dashing than a person who goes on foot.

14. vaillance, 'bravery,' partly in the old English sense of the word -magnificence of dress.

X.-LA GRENOUILLE QUI SE VEUT FAIRE AUSSI GROSSE QUE LE

4. se travaille, 'strains,' 'strives'; lit. 'works herself up.' 6. bien, 'carefully.'

7. dites-moi. Notice that with the imperative affirmative the pronoun governed follows the verb; but do not tell me' would be ne me dites pas.'

n'y suis-je point. A common but vague use of 'y.' 'Haven't I
got to it yet?' 'Am I not right yet?' i.e. am I big enough?'
Cp. 'y êtes-vous?' 'Have you got
the place?' (in a book);
'j'y suis,' I've got it (of a sudden discovery); 'Monsieur n'y
est pas,' 'Master is not at home.'

8. Nenni, an old-fashioned word.

voici .

'Nay,' 'not a bit of it.

voilà... Translate by 'now' 'now' emphatically used. 'Donc' merely gives a stress. 'Well, am I right now? Not at all. Am I right now?' etc. Notice that 'voici' and 'voilà' govern an accusative, which is peculiar. The reason is this: voilà' is formed of two words, the imperative 'vois,' 'see,' and the adverb 'là,' 'there'; 'me voilà' then means see me there' and so too of 'voici,' with the difference that 'ci' means 'here.'

10. si bien, 'so much.' There is a touch of sarcasm in the phrase. 12. The bourgeois' class in old French society correspond to the middle and 'lower middle' classes of English society-the commercial and trading classes generally.

14. The 'marquis' was the typical dandy or 'masher' of the day, and a favourite butt-of Molière in particular.

XI. LE GEAI PARÉ DES PLUMES DU PAON.

'O imitatorum servum pecus!'

2. puis, 'then.' 'Puis' is generally used instead of 'alors' to express succession.

se, dative. Notice the order of the pronouns. What would their position be if 'lui' were used instead of 'se'?

3. tout fler. Tout' is here an adverb, and when thus modifying an adj. may be rendered 'quite.' 'Se panada;' see xxxiii. 14. 4. être. Notice the infin. after verbs of thinking, etc., when the subject of both verbs is practically the same. We should turn thinking that he was

5. bafoué. . . All these words mean much the same thing.

LINE

'Bafouer' means originally to pout one's lips' at some one; 'berner,' to toss in a blanket; 'jouer,' to make game of.

7. Messieurs les Paons, 'Messrs. Peacock and Co.' Notice the use of the article. The French word 'Messieurs' has been borrowed by us as the plural of 'Mister.'

à deux pieds, 'with two feet,' 'two-footed,' i.e. human beings; (though jays are not quadrupeds). Notice this use of 'à' in descriptions. Cp. liii. 2, 'le héron au long bec.'

11. d'autrui. This is a peculiar word. It is really the genitive case of'autre,' so that de' should not be needed.

12. on nomme. Here as frequently turn 'on' with the active by a passive verb in English-' who are called . . .'

plagiaire, 'plagiarist,' is an opprobrious term for a writer who borrows and uses the actual work or the ideas of another with

out acknowledgment. The word was originally applied at Rome to people who stole and then concealed the slaves of others.

13. ennui, annoyance,' 'worry.' 'Ennui' was used with a stronger meaning then than it bears now.

14. Ce ne sont

'That's no business of mine.' 'Ce' is singular and 'sont' is plural. How is this? 'Ce' is not really the subject; the subject is the pronoun or noun following the verb 'être.' But it is only in the third person plural that the verb agrees with its real subject in this way-e.g., we say 'c'est moi, c'est toi, c'est nous' (the real subjects are 'moi, toi, nous'), but ce sont eux.' Translate 'là' by putting an emphasis on the demonstrative.

XII. LE CHEVAL ET L'ANE.

1. il faut se secourir l'un l'autre.

2. vient à m. See vii. 8.

5. celui-ci. When referring to things previously mentioned 'celui-ci '

the latter; celui-là' the former.'

ne .. que. See iii. 3.

'before reaching
Devant' 'before,' of place;

=

= 'before,' of time; but the old use was not so strict.

9. en, governed by 'prière'-the request for it,' i.e. de l'aider quelque peu. It need not be translated into English.

10. vous, dative.

11. fit une p., 'kicked up his heels in his face '-in contempt. 12. tant que here = 'until.' Usually means so long as.'

LINE

14. du baudet; take after 'la voiture.'

Notice the construction of 'faire' with an infinitive. If the infinitive is followed by an accusative, or direct object, as here, the pronoun governed by 'faire' is put in the dative. If the infinitive is used absolutely, or governs an indirect object, then the pronoun is put in the accusative-e.g., 'on le fit partir,' 'on le fit lire' (but, on lui fit lire un livre), 'on le fit parler à son frère,' etc.

16. par-dessus, 'besides,' 'over and above.'

encor. The 'e' at the end of 'encore' is left out for the sake of
the metre. For the same reason an 's' is sometimes added to
'jusque,' and 'que' to 'avec '-'jusques, avecque.'

XIII. LE LOUP ET LA CIGOGNE.

'One good turn deserves another.'

2. étant de frairie, 'in festive mood,' 'on banqueting intent.' The use of 'de' here is really partitive. The word 'frairie' originally meant a confraternity or guild (like the city companies in London). It gradually came to be used exclusively of feeding and luxurious banqueting.

4 pensa hurry.

Cp. ii. 7. En, 'from it,' i.e. from his excessive

5. lui dem. au gosier, 'in his throat.' When speaking of a part of the body, the dative of the pronoun and the definite article are used in French where we should use the possessive adj.-e.g. 'Je me suis cassé la jambe,' 'I have broken my leg'; ‘je lui ai pris la main,' 'I took his hand,' etc.

avant, here used adverbially.

6. ne pouvait. Notice that the second part of the negative, 'pas,' or 'point,' is omitted. This is usual with 'pouvoir,' 'savoir,' 'oser,' 'cesser,' and sometimes 'bouger.'

9. opératrice, fem. of 'opérateur,' 'the lady-surgeon.'

10. un si bon tour; the English phrase, 'such a good turn.' 'Tour' is now seldom used in a good sense.

13. commère and 'compère,' like the English gossip' (by which word they may often be rendered), were originally used of persons who were spiritually related by being godfather and godmother to the same person. Then they are used in a halfaffectionate, half-jesting way, without any idea of relationship, like 'Brer Rabbit and Brer' Fox, in Uncle Remus.

14. Ce n'est pas encor b., 'Is it not a good deal?' i.e. Aren't you lucky enough to? . . .' The wolf means that she has been very fortunate to have got her beak out of his throat when he might have killed her; to ask for more is impudent and ungrateful.

16. allez, 'go to,' 'get out,' 'off with you.'

ingrate. We do not use the adj. alone in this way instead of a noun. We must say 'an ungrateful thing,' 'a thankless creature.'

LINE

XIV. LE LABOUREUR ET SES ENFANTS.

2. Ce, 'That,' i.e. work, etc.

le fonds qui m. le m., 'the safest investment'-the fund or resource which is least likely to fail us.

3. laboureur, not 'labourer,' but 'husbandman.' 'Labourer' does not mean 'to labour,' but to ‘plough,' to 'till.'

4. fit venir, 'sent for,' lit. 'made to come.' Notice how this use of 'faire' turns a neuter verb into an active one-e.g., 'mourir,' 'to die ;' 'faire mourir,' 'to put to death.'

5. Gardez-v. de, 'take care not to .'; lit. 'keep yourself from . . . Inversion-common with a relative when the subject is longer than the verb.

6. que.

...

9. vous. What case is this? See xii. 14.

venir à bout de

lit. to come to the end of a thing,' means

to complete it successfully, 'to succeed in' doing it.

10. août. The word 'août,' lit. 'August,' is used here for the harvest, generally associated with that month.

aura fait. Notice how accurately the shades of meaning are given by the tenses.

11. creusez

...

These words are very similar in meaning. 'Dig away, rummage about, spade in hand.'

12. passe et repasse. These verbs are in the subjunctive mood, ‘où' being equivalent to a relative pron. and prepos., ‘dans laquelle' and a negative preceding.

vous.

13. Le père mort. This is an absolute case, like the ablative absolute in Latin. 'The father being dead,' 'after the father had died.' This word is in the dative, called in grammars the Ethic dative. It is a colloquial use, and need not be translated. It gives to the sentence a chatty, familiar tone. Cp. Shakespeare, Knock me on this door,' etc.

15. en... davantage, 'all the more for it.'

16. d'argent, point de caché, i.e. 'Il n'y avait point d'argent caché.' The order is changed for the sake of emphasis—' As for money. . .

XV.-LA GÉNISSE, LA CHÈVRE, ET LA BREBIS, EN SOCIÉTÉ

AVEC LE LION.
'The lion's share.'

'Jadis' (

=

autrefois) is

3. au temps jadis, 'in days of yore.' rather an old-fashioned word in prose (though common in poetry), and this expression, more fully 'au temps de jadis,' is particularly so.