PAGE LINE 6. 5. qui celui qui. 9. regaillardir, 'I wish you could put some life into it.' The word is not formed from 're' and 'gaillard,' but from 're' and an obsolete verb 'agaillardir.' Cp. 'ramener, ralentir,' etc. 12. tout à fait joli. M. Jourdain's taste in lyrical poetry is like that of Alceste in the Misanthrope, and that of the poet Malherbe, whom Chapelain found one day singing an old ballad :-' D'où venez-vous Jeanne, Jeanne d'où venez?' 'I had rather,' said Malherbe, 'have written that than all the works of Ronsard.' 25. Que n'est. Notice the use of 'ne' after a comparative used affirmatively. 27. Le plus joli du monde, ‘exquisitely pretty.' The phrase is equivalent to a strong superlative. 32. comme vous faites; cp. 2, 20. 7. 8. qui me montre, 'Who teaches me.' 'Me' is dative, and 'montrer' is used absolutely. Cp. Mal. Imag. II. iv.-Votre maître de musique est allé aux champs et voilà une personne qu'il envoie à sa place pour vous montrer.' j'ai arrêté, 'I have engaged, bespoken.' Cp. M. de Pourceaugnac, I. v.—' Avez-vous arrêté un logis?' 14. Il n'y a rien qui soit si utile . . . In the royal patent granted by Charles IX. in 1570 to establish an Academy of Music, the following sentence occurs:'Là où la musique est désordonnée, là volontiers les mœurs sont dépravez et où elle est bien ordonnée, là sont les hommes bien moriginez.' 16. Il n'y a rien qui soit si nécessaire. . . Cp. 'Un baladin nommé Fauchéri, qui n'étoit point assis avec les autres, vint dire par dessus les épaules que les royaumes se ruinoient faute de la danse. (Aventures du baron de Feneste, by Agrippa d'Aubigné, 1620). Vestris, the great dancer, used to say quite seriously: "There are only three great men in Europe-the king of Prussia, Voltaire, and myself.' 20. ne saurait = ne peut.' The use of the conditional in an assertion generally conveys a certain idea of apology or reservation. PAGE LINE = In 7. 23. pour n'apprendre pas . 'parce que l'on n'apprend pas,' a somewhat irregular construction. such clauses the subject of the infinitive should be the same as that of the principal verb. Cp. 55, 14, Elle me touche assez pour m'en charger moimême,' i.e. 'pour que je m'en charge.' 8. force = 27. bévues, ‘blunders.' The prefix 'bé' has a 'pejorative' English 'mis-.' 'Bévue' always implies a certain degree of culpability, méprise' does not; 'erreur' is the general term. 6 politiques, 'statesmen,' 'public men.' During the religious wars in France the word was applied to the party which wished to set aside sectarian questions and confine themselves to political reform. 28. faute de, 'for want of.' The full phrase was 'à faute de. Here the word 'faute' bears its first etymological meaning of 'want,' 'absence.' 3. aux affaires; 'à' is here used for 'dans,' a not unfrequent use in the seventeenth century. Cp. Femmes Sav. IV. iii. 'Nous saurons toutes deux imiter notre mère, Vous aux productions d'esprit et de lumière, Moi dans celles, ma vœur, qui sont de la matière.' On the other hand, dans' and 'en' were occasionally used for 'à.' Indeed, the use of prepositions was not so strictly defined as it is at present, e.g. 'à' is used for 'avec' (Cp. 'De notre sang au leur font d'horribles mélanges-Corn. Cid. IV. iii.) ; for 'par' ('Qu'on se laisse aisément persuader aux personnes qu'on aime'-B. G., 55, 2); for 'pour' (La place m'est heureuse à vous y rencontrer'-Ec. des Femmes, IV. iv.); for ' sur ('Point de soldat au port, point aux murs de la ville'); for 'envers' ('Ces titres aux Chrétiens sont ce des impostures'-Corn. Polyeucte, III. ii.) 5. Un tel, so and so.' A common expression. In the plural the article is dropped, e.g. 'On n'a point à louer les vers de messieurs tels, A donner de l'encens à madame une telle, Et de nos francs marquis essuyer la cervelle' (Misanthr. III. viii.) 14. à cette heure = 'maintenant.' O. Fr. 'asteure,' 'asture' (Montaigne), from the Latin ad ecce-istam horam. Cp. 'alors' = ad illam horam. PAGE LINE 8. 20. essai, an attempt to represent... sion. 9. a modest expres 26. Pourquoi toujours des bergers? This passage has 29. il faut bien... qu'on donne dans la bergerie, 'We 1. l'amoureux empire, 'beneath Love's sway.' 16. jour, 'life,' the light of day. Cp. the Greek expression, τὸ φῶς ὁρᾶν = to live. 19. Franchise, 'liberty.' Hence, on the one hand, the meaning of 'independence of character, sincerity,' on the other, that of civil immunity, privilege, right. Cp. English franchise.' 10. 4. pour aimer, 'and learn to love.' 11. 7. rencontrer, interrogative infinitive. 9. Je te veux offrir; cp. for the position of the pronoun, 2, 9. 7. bien troussé, 'neatly arranged, packed together, '— a trivial and familiar expression. 8. dictons, sayings,'-usually of proverbial phrases. 'Dicton' is the medieval pronunciation of the word 'dictum;' cp. rogaton, factoton. ACT II.-FIRST SCENE. 13. 2. se trémoussent, skip or hop about ;' fig. 'to fidget,' 'be fussy' (e.g. Molière's remark on hearing La Fon PAGE LINE taine disparaged-'Nos beaux esprits ont beau se trémousser, ils n'effaceront pas le bonhomme.') The contrast between the high estimate in which the artists hold their respective professions and M. Jourdain's contemptuous ignorance, is a very happy touch. 13. 6. ajusté, 'arranged;' lit. 'to bring into harmony, agreement.' 'Tantôt' is also used 'Tantôt'. . . ‘tan 7. pour tantôt, 'for by and by.' 9. céans, 'here,' 'in the house.' 'Céans' (Lat. ecce-hac- 14. chez soi, in modern French 'chez lui.' This use of 'soi,' etymologically more correct, lasted till the seventeenth century. At present it is only used after indefinite adjectives or pronouns — ‘on,' chacun,' 'quiconque,' etc.; or with an indeterminate infinitive-e.g. ' n'aimer que soi,' 'chacun pour soi.' 15. mercredis ou... jeudis. These days were, it seems, 21. Il vous faudra . . . etc., 'You will want three voices, PAGE LINE line, with one thick string, which was pressed with the thumb, while the performer used his bow. It may be noticed that the 'marine trumpet' is perhaps the least harmonious of musical instruments, and has nothing to recommend it but its noisiness. 13. 32. à table. 14. There are frequent mentions of this custom in the memoirs of the time. 6. les menuets, plural, because equivalent to 'les pas menus,' the small, short steps. 8. ma danse. Notice the emphatic possessive. 17. La jambe droite, 'keep your leg straight.' 20. estropiés, 'crippled.' The word is used figuratively of mutilating or 'murdering' a poem or a language. Like 'trémousser' above, its derivation is purely conjectural. 25. comme. In modern French, 'comment il faut faire.' 35. une révérence en arrière, 'a bow while stepping backwards.' 15. 3. Faites un peu, 'Just show me.' SECOND SCENE. 8. donner leçon. Notice the omission of any article. In the seventeenth century the rules were far less settled than at present, and the article was frequently omitted where we should use it. Cp. such phrases as 'couper chemin,' 'prendre amitié,' etc. THIRD SCENE. 10. fleurets, a diminutive of 'fleur.' Probably so called because the button at the end of a foil resembles the bud of a flower. 15. opposite-adjective used substantivally. 18. plus quartée, 'less exposed,' a technical term. A person's shoulder is said to be 'quartée' when he is en quarte,' i.e. when the adversary's foil is threatening the left shoulder more particularly, which, therefore, should present as little surface as possible. 19. Touchez-moi, etc., 'Touch my foil from "quarte," and |