FRANÇOIS COPPÉE
Paris, 1842--Paris, 1908
Coppée is known as a poet and writer of short stories. His work usually deals with the pathetic side of humble life. He has been accused of sentimentality and superficiality; he is, however one of the most popular and accomplished of the modern French poets, a dramatist of some merit and the author of a number of Contes relating to the life of the peuple, particularly in and about Paris.
Important works: Poésies (several collections, 1864-1890), Théâtre (best plays: Le Passant, 1869; Le Luthier de Crémone, 1876; Les Jacobites, 1885; Pour la Couronne, 1895), and several volumes of Contes (the two stories given in this collection are from his Longues et Brèves, published in 1893).
Edition: Lemerre.
LE LOUIS D'OR
169.--12. abat-jour. This compound noun is invariable in the plural because the plural idea does not really belong to the second element, which is the only part capable of inflection.
17. Zaatcha. This oasis was captured in 1849, during what may be termed the second period of the French occupation of Algeria; the first period extends from the landing of French troops in 1830 until the capture of Constantine in 1837, the second period, from 1837 to 1849, was a period of resistance, the third period extending to 1901 was one of partial insurrections; Algeria is now the most important French colony. France now possesses the colonies of St. Pierre and Miquelon, near Newfoundland; Guadaloupe, Martinique and French Guiana in the West Indies and South America; New Caledonia, New Hebrides and about 116 other islands in Oceania; Indo-China (comprising Cochin-China, Annam and Tonkin, with about 18,000,000 inhabitants); Madagascar, Reunion and other near-by islands; Djibouti, an African port on the Gulf of Aden; French Congo, French Soudan, French Guinea, French Senegal, on the western coast of Africa; Tunis, Algeria and Morocco (the latter since 1912) on the Mediterranean, with strong influence in the country lying between this territory and the Soudan. In addition the French language is spoken by the descendants of French colonists in Canada, New Orleans, the Mexican mountains, etc.
170.--3. mettant... ses souliers dans la cheminée. The French children have this custom instead of hanging up their stockings.
171.--28. quelque espoir. The final vowel of quelque is elided only in quelqu'un and quelqu'une.
172.--5. le dix-sept n'est pas sorti. The game of roulette is played on a rectangular table with a revolving wheel in the center. A ball is placed on the wheel which sends it into compartments; these compartments (of which there are two series, one on each side of the table) are numbered consecutively up to thirty-six and are arranged in three parallel lines or columns. The players or punters stake their money in various ways: on a single number or numéro, which means that if the ball rests on that number the player receives thirty-five times the amount risked; on a colonne or row of numbers, in that case if the ball remains on any number of the column the player receives three times the amount risked; on a couleur (the numbers are half red, half black), in this case he receives, if he is successful, the amount he has risked; on the douzaine, that is, on the first, second or third series of twelve numbers, in case he wins the player then receives three times the amount he has risked; other combinations may also be used and there are two compartments, and 00, which enable the bank to maintain a constant advantage.
L'ENFANT PERDU
176.--11. sous le nom de Louis XIV. Louis XIV was also known as le Roi-Soleil.
15. Conseil général de l'Eure. The old French provinces were abolished during the Revolution, and the territory was redivided into départements, of which there are at present 86 (if the territory around Belfort be not counted); each department is governed by a préfet, or prefect. These departments are subdivided into 362 arrondissements, with a sous-préfet at the head of each; these into 2899 cantons, governed by a council; and these in turn into 36,170 communes, governed by mayors. The chief magistrate of the modern Republic (declared in 1870) is the President, elected for seven years by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. These latter legislative bodies are composed respectively of 300 members elected for nine years (one third every three years), and of 597 members elected for four years. The President appoints a cabinet of ten ministers to aid him in his executive duties. When a cabinet receives only a minority of votes of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies, it resigns in a body and a new cabinet is formed. The executive power is represented throughout France by the préfets, sous-préfets and mayors. Each commune, canton and arrondissement possesses a council which cannot treat of political questions. There is also a conseil général which considers departmental affairs. A deliberative body and a representative of the executive are thus found side by side throughout the strongly centralized Republic.
20. nous sommes donc autorisé. The author is speaking for himself alone, hence the participle is in the singular.
178.--7. zéro. The French use the Centigrade thermometer with zero at 32° Fahrenheit; 1 4/5° F. = 1° C.
179.--28. un air de famille avec les Auvergnats. An allusion to the custom in Auvergne of wearing the beard in this fashion.
180.--32. chaussons de lisière et de la brosserie. List-shoes and brushes are manufactured in French prisons.
181.--13. qui s'en faisait deux fois autant par la vertu de l'anse du panier. Compare the phrase, faire danser l'anse du panier, said of a cook who makes a profit on the supplies of the Household.
24. son Allemande. Gouvernante is to be understood.
182.--7. joueur comme les cartes. Compare the phrase in another of Coppée's stories (les Vices du Capitaine), joueur comme feu Bésigue, where the game (bezique) is spoken of as though it were a person.
11. trop heureux de devenir. Notice the difference between this phrase and trop heureux pour devenir.
31. Dauphin. When the province of Dauphiné was added to French territory, the last ruler of Dauphiné, Humbert III, ceded the province on condition that the title of Dauphin be given to the eldest son of the French king; the province became a part of French territory in 1349.
183.--10. le trois pour cent. The reference is to government bonds.
16. quatre bureaux de tabac. Tobacco is a government monopoly in France, hence the management of the shops is sometimes turned over to friends of politicians.
18. Deux Décembre. The date (December 2, 1851) on which Louis Napoleon executed his coup d'état, by which he was elected President for ten years. There was a Parisian uprising against this act, but he put this down and in the following year he became Emperor with the title of Napoleon III (1808-1873).
19. P'pa, et le p'tit Noël... y mettra-ti' tet' chose. For Papa, etc. ...y mettra-t-il quelque chose. See also note to p. 77, l. 32.
184.--1. blond albinos. Modified adjectives of color are usually invariable.
185.--20. conquêtes de 89. The French Revolution began in 1789.
27. l'air d'un marié du samedi. The working people are often married on Saturday.
29. République parlementaire. A Republic has been proclaimed three times in France: the first lasted from 1792 until Napoleon I became Emperor in 1804; the second extended from the fall of King Louis Philippe in 1848 until the coup d'état of 1851; the third and present Republic was proclaimed on September 4, 1870 (the allusion in the text is to the last).
186.--14. au château. That is, au château du Louvre, the former residence of the French kings.
23. Port' siou p'ait. (Ouvrez la) porte s'il vous plaît.
187.--12. sur les fortifications. The reference is to the walls around Paris, formerly used as fortifications; the type of the quarter is described in the text.
191.--19. ayez pas peur. The popular omission of ne has already been noted (note to p. 64, l. 19), as well as the other popular phrases which follow.
192.--14. j'ai été faire. The use of être for aller when followed by an infinitive is inelegant, though the construction is sometimes used by good writers.
195.--24. médaille. The reference is to the military medal, conferred for meritorious military service (instituted in 1852).
THÉOPHILE GAUTIER
Tarbes, 1811--Paris, 1872
Born in Gascony, Gautier was educated, partly in his native town, partly at the Lycée Charlemagne in Paris. Here he became a friend of Gérard de Nerval, who was of such influence on the later decadent school. He was a friend of the Romanticist, Victor Hugo, and the typical red waistcoat which he wore at the first presentation of Hernani has become almost historic. In 1830 he published a volume of verse, and two years later Albertus in the extreme Romantic style. A novelist and poet, he traveled extensively and embodied his experiences and impressions in many works on travel and art criticism. His work is characterized by a remarkable esthetic appreciation, an almost flawless, ornate style, and a strong tendency toward the fantastic. Faguet says of him: "He knew all the resources of the French language and style." He stands above all for form (cf. his poem, L'Art).
Important works: Poésies (1830), Albertus (1832), Mademoiselle de Maupin (1835), Fortunio (1838), Les Grotesques (1844), Avatar and Jettatura (1857), Émaux et Camées (1858), Le Roman de la Momie (1858), Le Capitaine Fracasse (1863), besides descriptions of his travels.
Edition: Charpentier, in 34 vols.
LA MILLE ET DEUXIÈME NUIT
The title is borrowed from the Mille et Une Nuits, translated into French by Galland (1704).
201.--1. favorite. This peculiar feminine form is due to analogy with petite (in the masculine petit and favori end with the same sound, hence by analogy they have the same sound in the feminine).
13. ne sachant que faire. Pas may be omitted: (1) in certain fixed phrases (n'importe, etc.); (2) after qui or que expressing a regret or a desire (qui de nous n'a ses défauts?); (3) before the interrogative pronouns que, quel, quoi (je n'ai que faire de vos dons, ne sachant que faire, etc.); (4) with ni (il ne boit ni ne mange); (5) with ne... que, meaning "only," or when another negative follows (point, rien, etc.); (6) with certain verbs followed by an infinitive (pouvoir, savoir, etc.); (7) with si when expressing a reservation in the sense of à moins que; (8) in certain subordinate clauses (je n'y vais jamais qu'il ne m'arrive quelque accident,. c'est vrai qu'il ne s'est jamais marié, mais ce n'est pas qu'il ne l'ait voulu, etc.). This list does not embrace the pleonastic uses of ne. Notice further in regard to this phrase (ne sachant que faire) that, although the indirect question usually becomes in French a relative clause (il ne sait pas ce qu'il fait), with the infinitive the old Latin construction is preserved (with avoir, pouvoir and savoir, when negative). Ne (alone) to express negation is a survival of the usage in Old French where ne (without pas) could be used generally.
216.--27. Ibnn-Ben-Omaz. There seems to have been no celebrated poet of this name. Gautier's knowledge of Arabiç was apparently limited (a number of his errors have been indicated under the proper words in the vocabulary). Omar Khayyam (eleventh and twelfth centuries) is naturally suggested; Ibn al-Khattab Omar, the second Caliph, who succeeded Abu-Bekr in 634 and who took part in writing the Koran, is also suggested. Omaz is not an Arabic name.
218.--22. l'escarboucle magique, ou l'aigrette de plume de héron. That is, she was neither a fairy nor of royal blood; the carbuncle was formerly a magic stone and was credited with the power to emit light; in regard to the héron, possibly Gautier had in mind the ibis, the sacred bird of Egypt.
219.--29. la princesse... n'enverrait... que je refuserais. For si la princesse envoyait... je refuserais.
220.--23. vous l'a fait préférer. Notice that in this construction the object of the infinitive precedes faire.
221.--1. c'est tout au plus si je pourrais. In conditional clauses the conditional is not allowed after si; this clause is declarative, the meaning is: "at the utmost I could do no more than."
HONORÉ DE BALZAC
Tours, 1799--Paris, 1850
Because of his father's circumstances Balzac was at an early age placed in a law office; this work was especially irksome to him, and he soon went over to literature. For a long time he suffered hardships from want of money, which seems to have strongly colored much of his work. In 1850 he married a wealthy Polish lady, Madame Hanska, but he never was able to enjoy the life of ease to which he had been looking forward for many years; his death occurred a few months after his marriage. Balzac's chief work is to be found in his Comédie Humaine, a collection of stones filling some forty volumes. It is divided into: (1) Scènes de la Vie Privée, (2) Scènes de la Vie de Province, (3) Scènes de la Vie Parisienne, (4) Scènes de la Vie Politique, (5) Scènes de la Vie Militaire, (6) Scènes de la Vie de Campagne, (7) Études Philosophiques, (8) Études Analytiques. These novels are often connected by the reappearance of certain characters, and especially by the analysis of character which is always intimately connected with Balzac's name. Of a robust, exuberant and vulgar nature, his style is poor; he lacked an artistic sense and he was without poetic genius. He was unable to depict a gentleman or a lady; but he excelled in the analysis of character, especially among the middle and lower classes, and in the descriptions of their surroundings; it is thus that he stands at the head of the Realists.
Important works: To the Comédie Humaine (1829-1850) above mentioned should be added the Contes Drolatiques (in which he imitates the style and the language of the sixteenth century) and several volumes of Contes. In the Comédie Humaine the following volumes should be especially mentioned: Le Père Goriot, Le Colonel Chabert, Le Lys dans la Vallée, Ursule Mirouet, Eugénie Grandet, Le Curé de Tours, Illusions Perdues, César Birotteau, Les Paysans, Le Curé de Village. Un Drame au Bord de la Mer (written in 1834) is taken from the Études Philosophiques (published in 1835)
Edltlon: Calmann Lévy, in 24 vols. and in 45 vols. (his works have been published in several other editions).
UN DRAME AU BORD DE LA MER
222.--7. conceptions premières. Numerals precede their nouns; when premier follows its noun, as here, the idea conveyed is "conceptions which form the basis of other conceptions."
12. durant. According to Littré, this preposition differs from pendant in that it means "during the entire time," whereas pendant may mean "at a certain point during the time": durant la campagne les ennemis se sont enfermés dans leurs places, and c'est pendant la campagne que s'est livrée la bataille dont vous parlez.
227.--27. sans mot dire. Note the position of mot in this phrase; cf. sans rien dire.
229.--4. faquir. The fakirs or ascetic Mohammedan monks comprise various classes and orders; Balzac apparently has in mind those known as yogis, who assume and maintain for a long time various unnatural postures, their belief being that this will effect a union of the human soul with the Supreme Being, whereby further migration will be avoided (this is known as the yoga system of philosophy).
6. si le voulait la mer. Notice the inversion.
230.--24. mon cher oncle. A detailed account of Balzac's family can be found in E. Biré, Honoré de Balzac.
232.--28. bestiaux. This word is now used as the plural of bétail; it is, however, etymologically not the plural of bétail, but of the adjective bestial; the latter singular form is not now used as a substantive in the literary language, although it occurs in works of the seventeenth century and is still used in Normandy, meaning "all the cattle" (cf. Nyrop, Grammaire historique de la langue française, vol. II, sec. 292, 2, remark).
235.--22. anachorètes. Anchorites differ from hermits in that they live in the most absolute solitude and subject themselves to the greatest privations.
237.--4. il ne se serait pas sacré comme ça, que la frayeur ...That is, quand même il ne se serait pas sacré comme ça, la frayeur... (the principal clause expresses a concession, and the que clause the conclusion).
11. qu'est. A popular error already noted (see note to p. 92, l. 29).
18. qué qui te dit. For qu'est-ce qu'il te dit; qu'elle répond (l. 19), an example of the superfluous que used by the uneducated; qu'a dit (l. 21) = qu'elle dit = dit-elle.
31. défunt ma mère. Défunt, as also the adjective feu, does not agree with its noun when the latter follows.
238.--5. qu'a écouté. For qu'elle a écouté. 22. plus du temps. For plus que le temps.
239.--20. fallait des espèces. Popular omission of il.
26. mette. The dialects often other examples of the survival of Old French words; métal is the modern word for "metal," it is sometimes used in slang for "money."
240.--27. des cent écus, des cent francs. For des centaines d'écus, des centaines de francs.
241.--3. la fille au cadet. Popular for la fille du cadet, another example of the survival of an Old French construction among the common people.
10. qu'avait. For qui avait.
27. pour. Incorrect use of pour without an object; the other popular phrases have already been noted.
243.--18. malin. The feminine of this adjective, maligne, is only apparently irregular; the Latin etyma are malignum and malignam (French words, except those used in address, are derived from the Latin accusative), these give regularly malin and maligne, because final Latin vowels fall except a which becomes e and final gn is reduced to n, whereas gn between vowels gives the modern French sound.
30. il pleurait du sang. Compare the English phrase "to sweat blood."
244.--18. il savait plus. Popular omission of ne.
ALFRED DE MUSSET
Paris, 1810--Paris, 1857
De Musset at an early age became a member of the cénacle or inner circle of the Romantic writers, with whom he is intimately connected. In 1829 he published a volume of verse of great merit; this and the Spectacle dans un Fauteuil made him famous at once. He had an extremely excitable, poetic temperament and a weak will, which rendered him incapable of entering any useful employment, such as a position in the French Embassy at Madrid, or writing regularly for periodicals, both of these positions having been offered him. He was elected to the French Academy in 1852 and did little work thereafter. His best work was done in verse and in the drama, but his short stories are of extraordinary merit. His poems (especially the Nuits) possess preëminently the lyric quality, genuineness, originality and passion; his dramas, having usually some proverb as a title, show great delicacy, grace, ingenuity and wit; his short stories are exquisite. His style, in contrast to that of Gautier, shows little care for form, and in many respects he may be compared with the English poet Byron.
Important works: Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie (1829), Spectacle dans un Fauteuil (1829), Rolla (1833), Nuits (1835 ff.); Lettre à Lamartine (1836), Confessions d'un Enfant du Siècle (1836), Poésies Nouvelles (1840), Comédies et Proverbes (1850-1851, about fifteen), besides several Nouvelles and Contes (1837-1854), such as: Emmeline, Frédéric et Bernerette, Fils du Titien, Margot, Le Merle Blanc, Croisilles (published in 1841), etc.
Edition: Charpentier, in 9 vols.; Lemerre, in 10 vols.
CROISILLES
250.--29. et quand je l'aurais. The apodosis (qu'est-ce que je ferais) is omitted and only the protasis is expressed.
251.--13. que penserait-on de vous. Distinguish between penser à, to think of, and penser de, to have an opinion of.
252.--29. fermes royales. The old monarchy, which existed in France before 1789, used to farm out the taxes to private individuals or to a company, on condition that a certain sum should be turned over to the Government, anything above this sum being the profit of the fermier.
257.--9. de la sorte. Preservation of the old demonstrative use of illam; the French article is the weakened Latin demonstrative.
259.--1. à peine... que. Notice that que, not quand, is used after à peine; the inversion with à peine has already been mentioned (note to p. 136, l. 4).
260.--10. n'avoir pas diné. Both parts of the negative are usually placed before the infinitive.
17. Monsieur aime-t-il. The third person is generally used by French servants in addressing their masters.
263.--24. un Turc. De Musset has in mind the Turkish custom of sending sélams (see this word in the vocabulary).
266.--4. Mademoiselle. Cher, chère in the salutation of a French letter expresses much greater intimacy than the corresponding English word; it is omitted in formal letters.
268.--10. si on lui. Si on and not si l'on is used when the letter l immediately follows.
269.--18. plus d'une. Notice that, while the subject contains a plural idea, the verb is singular because of the influence of un.
270.--16. profondément. Not an exception to the rule that French adverbs are derived by adding -ment to the feminine adjective; adverbs of this type go back to past participles ending in -ée, the final e having been lost (aveuglément, commodément, conformément, etc.), or are formed on analogy with adverbs that are so derived (see Darmesteter, Historical French Grammar, p. 382).
277.--26. grand'chose. See note to p. 87, l. 17 (cf. also grand 'peine, l. 8).
279.--7. épouser... marier. Distinguish words.
VOCABULARY
ABBREVIATIONS
The following abbreviations have been used in the vocabulary.