LINE

6. imm. rendu, i.e. 'rendu immobile.'

7. i.e. un quart d'heure à vivre.'

9. loyer, 'reward.' Now only means 'rent' of a house, etc.

13. à peine . . . que (in l. 14), 'No sooner . . . than . . .'

14. âme here = 'vie.' Of course the real order should be, 'la colère lui revient avec l'âme.'

avecque = 'avec.' It is written in three syllables to make the line of the right length. So'encor' for 'encore,' etc.

16. repli. A snake draws or 'folds' himself back before springing forward.

18. voilà donc, 'so that is .

20. vous. See xiv. 13.

21. de deux c., 'at' or 'with two strokes.'

23. insecte; a curious epithet for a snake. se réunir, 'to put itself together again.'

24. y, 'in doing so.'

26. envers qui. Remember that with a preposition 'qui' can only refer to persons.

28. qui ne meure; the relative 'qui' is followed by the subjunctive, because it is preceded by a negative and exclusive phrase.

XXXVII.-LE LOUP ET L'AGNEAU.

'Might is right.'

1. meilleur does not mean the best really, but the most successful as a rule.

2. tout à l'heure, 'directly,' 'at once.' In modern French it means 'by and by,' or 'a moment ago,' 'just now.'

9. de, 'for.'

10. que... ne se m. p., 3d sing. imperative.

13. vas for 'vais' is bad grammar; but the lamb was too young to

have had much of an education.

me, with 'désaltérant.'

15. elle, i.e. votre majesté.

LINE

17. ne goes with 'aucune,' and makes it negative-'in no way.'

18. tu la tr.; emphatic-you do . . .'

19. l'an passé, 'last year'; lit. 'the past year.'

20. si, here not 'if,' but 'since.'

23. en, 'any,' i.e. 'de frères.'

les tiens, 'your people.'

29. sans..

'without more ado'; lit. 'without further form of trial.'

XXXVIII.-LE LOUP, LA CHÈVRE ET LE CHEVREAU.
'Assurance doubly sure.'

1. bique, a familiar term for 'chèvre,' 'nanny-goat.'
4. biquet = chevreau.

5. gardez-vous de . . ., 'take care not to. . .' Cp. xiv. 5. sur votre vie, 'on your life,' i.e. on pain of losing your life.' 6. que. ... ne. Take these two words together and translate 'unless' or 'until.'

die, an obsolete form for 'dise,' present subjunctive of 'dire.' 7. enseigne mot du guet; thus used, both these phrases are old-fashioned.

rarement en us., i.e. 'not often to be found' (if at all).

23. ce langage, 'these words'; 'langage,' as a rule, means the words used, 'langue' the language in which they are spoken.

24. s'en retourna. 'En' is used here like in 's'en aller,' 's'en venir,' etc., and it need not be translated.

chez soi would be in modern French 'chez lui,'' soi' being kept for general statements, e.g., 'chacun pour soi,' etc.

28. mieux, with 'valoir,' forms an idiomatic use.

mieux,' 'are better'; lit. are better worth.'

XXXIX.-L'ANE ET LE PETIT CHIEN.

'Let the cobbler stick to his last.'

Trans. valent

1. talent, 'natural disposition.' This use of forcer' is like our use of the word in such phrases as 'forced gaiety.'

3. Remember that 'quoi que' in two words = 'whatever'; 'quoique' in one word = although '-with the subjunctive in both cases.

LINE

4. ne saurait. See xxix. 12.

galant, a 'gentleman'; the nearest equivalent in this case.

5. peu.

'some few. The phrase is usually negative; 'few' (if any); here it is rather positive. This line is a reminiscence of Virgil 'Pauci quos æquus amavit Jupiter . . .'-Æn. vi. 129. 6. d'agréer, 'of pleasing,' of making themselves agreeable. In this sense 'agréer' takes the dative; with the acc. it means 'to kindly accept a thing.'

7. leur is governed by 'laisser,' not by 'faut.'

8. et ne pas ... Repeat 'faut'; 'And we must not..

12. mignon is used of anything or anybody delicate and dainty and attractive.

13. de pair à comp., 'on equal terms,' 'on terms of companionship'; lit. (as) from equal to companion.

14. A French servant talking of her 'master' or 'mistress' says, 'monsieur,' 'madame.'

16. donner la p., 'to give a paw,' is one of the most elementary tricks a dog learns.

21. en joie, 'in festive mood,' 'in jovial humour.'

s'en vient = vient, he comes up.' Cp. 's'en retourna,' xxxviii. 24. 22. corne, 'hoof'; the proper term for 'hoof' is 'sabot.'

23. la lui p. au m. Cp. xiii. 5; 'lui' refers to 'maître,' 'la' to

'corne.'

25. de, 'with.'

27. Martin Bâton.

See ix. 7. The phrase seems here to be used

not of the stick but of the servant wielding it.

1. Bertrand

...

XL.-LE SINGE ET LE CHAT.

'The cat's-paw.'

Raton. In English more suitable names for a

monkey and a cat would perhaps be 'Jacky' and 'Tommy.'

3. plat, lit 'dish,' 'a nice pair.'

4. y, i.e. at mischief they feared no rivals.

quel que. Remember the difference between 'quelque,' 'some,' and 'quel que,' 'whoever.'

5. trouvait-on = si l'on trouvait.

6. de gâté; take after 'quelquechose.' See xxiii. 20.

9. maîtres fripons, 'masters in villainy.'

10. rôtir is neuter.

12. y, i.e. en les escroquant.

LINE

15. un c. de maître, 'a master-stroke.'

16. tire-moi. 'Moi' is the ethic dative, like 'vous' in xiv. 13. Transl. 'pray,' 'prithee.'

18. verraient b. j., 'would see fine sport,' 'would have a lively time of it.'

19. aussitôt fait q. d., 'no sooner said than done'; lit. 'as soon done as said.'

23. puis trois, i.e. 'puis en escroque trois.'

26. ce dit-on, 'so they say,' 'so the story goes.' Cp. 'ce semble'; these phrases are both somewhat old-fashioned.

27. aussi should be 'non plus,' as the phrase is negative.

30. A person who is employed by others to do disagreeable or dishonourable work for them is often called a 'cat's-paw.'

XLI.-LE BERGER ET SON TROUPEAU.

1. toujours; so placed for emphasis; 'shall I always miss . . .?' 3. me; ethic dative. See xiv. 13.

4. j'aurai beau. See xxix. 22.

plus de. Why not 'plus que'?

5. me, 'from me.' 'Me' is dative after 'ravir,' which should be turned by the passive in English.

Robin, as a name for a sheep, was borrowed from Rabelais.

6. par here = 'through.'

8. jusques. The 's' is added, as otherwise the mute 'e' would be cut off before 'au,' and there would be a syllable too little.

10. il me sentait, he 'felt,' he 'knew' I was coming.

11. le need not be translated.

12. Guillot, diminutive of Guillaume = William.

eut fini. For the tense see xxxv. 8.

or. funèbre, i.e. the first eleven verses of this fable.

13. et rendu, i.e. et eut rendu.

15. jusqu'au, 'down to.'

16. ferme, adj. used as an adverb.

18. Foi de.. See xxvi. 13.

19. non plus, an emphatic negative.

terme here = 'a post'; lit. a 'landmark.'

22. en, 'for it,' i.e. the fulfilment of their resolution.

sur sa tête sur sa vie.

LINE

23. fit fête. 'Faire fête à . .' is to give a warm welcome to some one, to treat him well; here it may be rendered, 'showed them how pleased he was with them.'

24. devant que. We should say 'avant que' of time; 'nuit' and 'jour' are often used like adj. of 'dark' and 'light,' with reference to the time of day.

25. Why 'nouvel' and not 'nouveau'?

27. en, 'of one.'

28. de méchants. Why 'de' and not 'des'? 'Méchant,' like several other adjectives, has a different meaning according to its position before or after the noun; e.g., 'de méchants soldats' feeble (paltry) soldiers'; 'des soldats méchants' would mean 'wicked soldiers.'

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3. celui-ci. . ; a neat way of expressing his confiding simplicity. 4. passé maître, 'past master.' A man was said to be 'passé m.' when, his apprenticeship being over, he was received as a master of his craft.

en fait de . . .,

7. en eurent pris,

'in the matter of,' 'as regards.'

'had drunk'; lit. 'had taken of it,' referring to water, the idea of which is contained in 'se désaltérer.'

...

9. ce n'est pas . The real subject is 'boire,' introduced by 'de,' which need not be translated. 'Drinking is not everything.'

14. machine here = 'contrivance,' 'scheme.'

17. il est bon, 'that's capital.' Here ‘il' = 'cela.' Cp. the phrase, 'il est vrai.'

22. vous lui f.

'Vous' is the ethic dative (cp. xxxvi. 20), and need not be translated.

24. par excellence, i.e. if Heaven had made the goat as pre-eminent among animals by his sound judgment as he is by his beard.

26. à la légère. For this adverbial phrase cp. xvi. 6.

27. or, and now.' This conjunction comes from the Latin word hora' = 'hour'; the noun 'or' comes from Lat. 'aurum' 'gold.'

31. consid. la f., 'keep the end in view.'

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