Page Line 27, 9. Marot, Clément (1497-1544). Translate: The simplicity and directness which have ever since been characteristic of all but a few of the best French authors date to a great extent from Marot. Perhaps the famous line, Un doux nenny avec un doux sourire (supposed to have been addressed to the Queen of Navarre), best expresses Marot's poetical powers, showing as it does grace of language, tender and elegant sentiment, and suppleness, ease, and fluency of style. (Saintsbury.) 11. Les filles et les femmes, young maidens and young women. 12. Vous dydis, I say to you. Di was the regular spelling of the first person till the fifteenth century; all verbs which had no s in the root had none in the first person singular of the present indicative: Je prend, je voi, je reçoi. M. Littré remarks that the introduction of the s in the first person was regrettable and irrational, since it confounded the first person with the second person, thes being characteristic of the second person, and not of the first, in Latin and in Greek, as well as in Sanskrit. Translate: "C'est donc un vrai méfait grammatical que d'avoir ainsi brouillé les signes primordiaux de personnes, signes que nous avait apportés la tradition de la plus haute antiquité." (Littré: Histoire de la langue française.) 14. Dance, old form of danse. 15. Cadance, old form of cadence. 16. Tabourins, old form of tambourins; has also been a separate word meaning a small drum. 16. Hautbois, oboes; also spelt hautboys. 19. Hormis, except. Originally this word was properly written hors mis, and the participle mis agreed with the noun. Ex.: Hors mise la propriété. 20. Jésus-Dieu! (see notes on p. 25, 1. 3, and on p. 17, 1. 8). 22. Il faut laisser, use the passive voice in translating this phrase into English. 27. Démêlèrent, caught these words. 28. Etouffements, spasmodic sobs. 29. C'est une folie, un enfantillage, it is foolish, it is childish. 31. Je n'en ai pas été maîtresse, I could not control my emo tions. 33. C'est bien mal à moi, it is very wrong of me. 28, 4. En le poussant, in dismissing him. 5. Bel écuyer! fair cavalier. 10. A la fois, at the same time. Do not confound this phrase, which means both together, at once, with en même temps, meaning simultaneously. 12. Donnaient, looked. (In this sense vue is understood after Page Line 28, 20. Sest abattu sous la porte, stumbled under the gateway. 21. Relevé de la main, was up again (literally, raised with the hand). 21. Tenez! look! or see! An exclamation easily understood in connection with the words entretien, conversation; s'entretenir, to converse. 25. En se taisant ou en parlant bas, silently or speaking very low. 30. La porte, the gate. 30. Opposée à, opposite. We also say en face de. 32. Vaste robe de soie, large silk dressing-gown. 29, 3. N'eût rien de rêveur dans le caractère, was not naturally dreamy. 27, 8. Un vent d'infortune, an ill wind, or a wind laden with misfortunes. 9. Les désordres, the misconduct. Compare the adjective désordonné, disorderly. 14. Du côté du bois, in the direction of the wood. 15. La marche d'une troupe de chevaux, the steps of a number of horses. 15. Vint à augmenter, increased just then. The present tense of venir à is less used than je viens de to express an immediate past, and the past definite je vins de is not thus idiomatically used ; je vins à rather lays stress upon the change than upon the immediate past, which je viens de exclusively means. 18. Feux, lights. 19. Après avoir serpenté dans les ogives des escaliers et rôdé, after he had seen them through the staircase windows moved from floor to floor, across the courtyards, and in the stables. 29. Inconstant chevalier, fickle lover. 29. La bonhomie, simplicity. This word, which really means kindness of heart joined with simplicity of manners, is also used to express an excessive and credulous simplicity, a want of shrewdness. Bonhomme has the same double meaning. 30. Infidélité, fickleness, inconstancy. 31. T'offusque, stands in thy way. Offusquer has the twofold meaning of "darkening" and "offending." Translate and compare : "Les nuées offusquent le soleil. Il est jaloux, tout l'offusque." It is used figuratively: translate: "Je me délivrais peu à peu de beaucoup d'erreurs qui peuvent offusquer notre lumière naturelle." (Descartes.) 32. 7. Ah! que ne l'ai-je fait dans Paris? ah! would I had stood in thy way in Paris (an allusion to the assassination of Henri IV. in his carriage in a street in Paris by Ravaillac). Page Line 3. Le fit sauter sur son épée, made him hastily seize his sword. 5. Navré de douleur, filled with deep sorrow. Navré is also used alone; its real meaning is "wounded." Translate and compare: "On passe sa vie à espérer et on meurt en espérant. Adieu! Monsieur, vous m'avez instruit, mais j'ai le cœur navré." (Voltaire.) "Cette manière de s'aimer jusqu'aux dents avec ses amis me paraît si cruelle que j'aime cent fois mieux me présenter nu et être navié." J. J. Rousseau.) 10. Forcé de (see note on p. 16, 1. 21). 12. Grille, outer gate. This word really means railings, but is also used for "railed gates." Do not mistake une grille for its masculine form un gril, a gridiron. There are likewise two verbs griller, reproducing the respective meanings of the two nouns. 22. Atterré, astounded. This participle seems excessive, for it literally means "thrown to the ground," or, figuratively, "utterly conquered, overpowered." Translate and compare: "Apiès un moment de lutte, il l'atterra sous lui." 29. Bercé, rocked. Ce dernier coup du sort Luttant contre la mort. -VOLTAIRE. This word is, like berceau, cradle, used figuratively. Translate and compare : Tout dormait: vos amis, bercés par l'espérance, -M. J. CHÉNIER. "Nous demandons des sourires au berceau et des pleurs à la tombe." (Châteaubriand.) 31. Il poursuivait, he went on. 32. Un coup de pistolet partit, a pistol was fired. phrase tirer un coup de pistolet, to fire a pistol. 33. Se fait, is done (see note on p. 13, 1. 32). Cf. the 34. A la portière, out of the window. Note that the door or window of a carriage or railway compartment is called neither une porte nor une croisée, but une portière. 31, 6 Il parait, he parried. Parer has many meanings in French. Note the more usual: (a) properly it means "to prepare or "arrange" things so that they may show to the best advantage: "Les fruitières parent leur marchandise en mettant les plus beaux fruits au dessus du panier;" (b) then to adorn and embellish (an extension of the first sense, ef. parure) : Tantôt à vous parer vous excitiez nos mains. Et ce n'est qu'en fuyant qu'on pare de tels coups. (d) to protect, to shelter (hence parapluie, parapet, 31, 7. Portait, dealt. 9. Etourdi d'Henri, rash Henry. The meaning of étourdi as a noun is well expressed by "L'étourdi ne calcule rien.” (Littré.) Compare and translate: Entre les pattes d'un lion, Un rat sortit de terre assez à l'étourdie. LA FONTAINE: Fables, ii. 11. The verb étourdir has a different meaning, to stun, to deafen, etc. 9. Qui faites de ces escapades, who play these pranks. Though very usual, this is only a secondary and figurative meaning of this word, which really means, according to the best authors, an escape from a place contrary to duty, hence an act contrary to propriety or commonsense; it is cognate with escape, scamp, échapper, etc. 10. Laissez-le, leave him alone. 12. De le quitter, to let him alone. Note that the distinction between laisser and quitter, applied to persons, consists in viewing the action of laisser as setting free or forsaking the person left, whereas quitter expresses the departure or abstention of the person leaving. Translate and compare : Ariane, ma sœur, de quel amour blessée, Vous mourûtes aux bords où vous fûtes laissée ! "Mon Dieu! me quitterez-vous ?" (Pascal.) "Il est 14. Et comment diable êtes-vous ici? how is it that you are here? Diable is by no means equivalent to its English rendering, and should not be translated. 20. Je pense bien, I suppose. Bien is generally added to verbs to strengthen their meaning. 22. Si vous aviez voulu, if you had consented. Note that the conditional of vouloir is the only tense used to express a wish; the real meaning of the verb is a manifestation of the will by a word or an act; hence vouloir often means to try, to attempt. 23. Très-haut, aloud. Page Line 31, 25. Il n'est plus temps, it is too late. 25. M'avait appris, had informed me of. 26. Cet enlèvement, your arrest (literally, carrying off). 32. Il m'est permis; use the passive in English. 32, 5. Les jeunes gens en tutelle, us young men under guar dians. 6. Prenez-garde à vous, beware (literally, take care of yourself). Do not confound this phrase with prenez soin de vous, take care of yourself. (See note upon the use of a and de on p. 16, 1. 21.) 8. Malgré eux, against their will. Malgré is equivalent to avec le mauvais gré de (in Old French no preposition was needed with the objective case of nouns); it often means "in spite of." The verb maugréer, from maugré, old form of malgré, properly expresses a loud grumbling. Ex.: "Nous maugréions contre la pluie qui nous empêchait de sortir." (Littré.) 10. Par des sentiers détournés, in avoiding the main path (literally, by out-of-the-way paths). 13. En avant, ahead, or in advance. 15. A y coller sa botte, to stay his boot against it (a strained use of coller, to stick, to glue, to adhere strongly, etc.). 15. La jalousie, the shutter. In order to understand this word, translate: "Ces petites grilles de bois nommées jalousies tenaient lieu de vîtres." (Voltaire.) "Nous avons la clef de la jalousie." (Beaumarchais.) 16. Rez-de-chaussée, ground floor. 17. Herse, portcullis. 19. Plus de minuit, past midnight. 20. Tout autre que le maître de la maison n'eût jamais su, no one but the master of the house ever could have. 23. Se détachait à peine, was scarcely visible. 28. La croisée, the casement. 33, 2. Attendre, expecting. 8. A voulu qu'un prince souverain fût mon père ? has given me a sovereign prince for my father? II. On lui ôte son cœur en naissant, she is from her birth forbidden to choose whom she would love. 13. Peut, may. 21. Mon père fut renversé, my father was dethroned. Trans |