Part 23 (1/2)
5. force poignees de main, 'a good deal of hand-shaking.'
What part of speech is _force_?
16. plus de toit . . plus do foyer: see note, p. 13 l. 9.
_Foyer_='hearth,' and in some phrases is used for 'home.'
18. misere: _not_ 'misery.'
20. a lui tout seul, 'all by himself.'
24. se mettre au courant de, 'to post himself up in.'
26. de la propre main de M. Viot, 'in M. Viot's own hand-writing.'
Page 37.
5. appointements, 'salaries.' _Traitement_ is generally used for the salary of civil servants and professional men.
17. ou bien, 'or else.'
Page 38.
3. un original, 'an eccentric fellow.'
21. parbleu! c'est bien le cas de dire . . 'by Jove! one may indeed say . .'
25. en rit: _rire_ and _sourire_ with _a_ imply greeting, with _de_ derision.
28. pour avoir seulement quelques pouces de plus, 'to have been so much as a few inches taller.'
30. ca ne fait rien, 'never mind,' 'no matter.'
31. pour pa.s.ser sous la meme toise, 'to be measured by the same standard.' _Toise_, 'fathom,' an old length measure about 6 ft. 5 in., used for measuring the height of conscripts.
Page 39.
3. Je paye un punch d'adieu, 'I'll pay for a farewell gla.s.s of punch.' _Punch_, from an Indian word meaning 'five,'
so called from its five ingredients, viz. spirit, water, lemon, sugar and spice. It is also called 'contradiction,' because it is composed of spirit to make it strong, water to make it weak, lemon juice to make it sour, and sugar to make it sweet.
4. je veux que vous en soyez: cf. _etes-vous des notres?_ 'are you one of our party?' or 'won't you join us?'
14. le ban et l'arriere-ban des habitues, 'the whole body of the frequenters.' The _ban_ in the Middle Ages=the immediate va.s.sals of the king, i.e. those under his _banner_; the _arriere-ban_=the reserve force, composed of older citizens, who did not take up arms except in moments of peril.
17. a dire vrai, 'to tell the truth.' Cf. _a tout prendre_, 'upon the whole'; _a bien regarder_, 'on close consideration.'
28. en somme, vous etes bien tombe, 'on the whole you have fallen on your feet.'
29. absinthe: a plant having a somewhat strong smell and bitter taste. It is used for medicinal purposes, and also for the preparation of the liqueur known as 'absinthe.'
30. a la boite: cf. _baraque_, p. 25 l. 9.