Part 25 (1/2)
13. on lui avait donne un modele de batons, 'they had set him some pot-hooks and hangers to copy.'
16. grand Dieu! see note, p. 12 l. 22.
22. a pleines mains, 'tightly in his hand.' Cf.- _donner a pleines mains_, 'to give generously.'
Page 50.
6. je serais venu a bout de lui apprendre . ., 'I should have managed to teach him . .'
11. rhetoricien, 'sixth-form boy.'
16. a l'uvre, 'at their tricks.'
17. me serrait le cur, 'depressed me.'
Page 51. (chapter vi. full=vii)
2. a mon intention: see note, p. 43 l. 14.
8. metayers: a _metayer_ is a farmer who gives the owner of the land a certain part of the produce of his _metairie_ or 'farm,' keeping the rest for himself.
14. Pion: a term of contempt given by schoolboys to a _maitre d'etude_ or 'usher.'
25. ah! mon Dieu! see note, p. 8 l. 14.
Page 52.
9. donnait sur: cf.- _la salle a manger donne sur le jardin_, 'the dining-room looks out on to the garden.'
14. aux enfants trouves, 'at the Foundling Hospital.'
20. l'abbe Germane: see note, p. 4 l. 23.
25. d'une voix breve et ca.s.sante, 'in a curt, gruff voice.'
Page 53.
2. un Mirabeau en soutane, 'a regular Mirabeau in a ca.s.sock.'
Mirabeau (1749-1791) was the greatest orator of the French Revolution, a man of fearless temperament and a bold, impetuous disposition. He would have enjoyed no small share of manly beauty had he not, when a little child, been sorely disfigured for life by the smallpox.
28. Condillac: a celebrated French philosopher, born at Gren.o.ble, 1715.
He died in 1780.
30. bibliotheque, 'library'; _librairie_, 'bookseller's shop _or_ trade.'
So _bibliothecaire_, 'librarian'; _libraire_, 'bookseller.'
Page 54.
1. tenir, 'to keep in stock.'
5. diable d'homme, 'terrible man.' Note-