EIGHTEENTH SCENE.

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60. 5. régaler, 'entertain.'

6. éclat, “publicity,' scandal.'
9. J'ai beau, 'all my resistance is of no avail.' 'Avoir

beau’ is an elliptic phrase ; such a word as 'champ?
must be supplied. It then means to have 'a fair field,
a good opportunity, but to fail. Cp. the English
idiom, “It is all very fine your talking' (vouz avez

beau parler). 10. fatiguez, you wear out.' To conquer by constant

importunity. So fatigare in Latin. 13. ont traîné, ‘have brought in their train.' 14. cadeaux. The distinction between cadeaux' and

‘présents' is now lost. 16. V. gagnez; either--1. 'You win over' (cp. gagner un

homme = to bribe a man), or 2. “You overcome, you

conquer.' 20. v. y devriez être, 'you ought to have reached

that point already,' i.e. marriage. 22. à quoi tient-il... What is there to prevent ?' Cp.

the idiom—'Il ne tient qu'à vous' = it only depends

upon you.' 30. ne conclut rien . ‘forms no necessary precedent

for every one else. * Tous les autres,' i.e. “hommes' or 'maris.

With a person for subject conclure' = to come to a conclusion ; with a thing for subject it means to prove, to form a precedent. Cp. Cette impuissance ne conclut autre chose que la faiblesse de

notre raison.'—Pascal. 61. 2. sans v. déplaire-parenthetic. 'If you will excuse

my saying so.' 3. que v. ne v. ...incommodiez, 'without inconvenience

to yourself.' For‘que... ne' with the subj. see 4, 17. Notice the awkward effect produced by the repetition

of 'que' six times in the sentence. 9. ne faites point tant valoir, do not make so much of

Cp. 'se faire valoir' to make the most of oneself.

NINETEENTH SCENE.

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61. 18. la troisième, i.e. révérence. See Act II. i. (the end). 19. sait son monde, 'knows the ways of society.' The

force of the possessive seems to be that the subject

has been mastered, made one's own. 20. Madame Cp. with this clumsy attempt at elo

quence Harpagon's speech to Marianne (Av. III.
ix.)--'Et je maintiens et garantis que vous êtes un
astre, mais un astre, le plus bel astre qui soit dans

le pays des astres.'
26. mon bien, ‘my good fortune.'

m'eût ... Notice that que,' employed to avoid re

peating ‘si,' is followed by the subjunctive, though

the latter governs the indicative.
30. homme d'esprit, 'a man of culture'-of brains.

un bon bourgeois, “a worthy tradesman.' 62. 8. Galant homme tout à fait, 'the cream of fashion.'

17. Gardez-V.-en bien! 'Take good care that you don't.' 18. vilain à v., 'That would be bad form on your part.'

'à vous,' a kind of possessive dative. 19. galant homme, here- gentleman.' 20. qui lui eussiez fait ; subjunctive by a kind of attrac

tion. We should expect 'qui lui aviez fait.' 29. grâces. Notice the play upon the word. Here it

'thanks ;' in l. 32 = 'favour,' kindness ;' in l. 34

= 'grace,' 'graciousness.' 32. C'est bien de la grâce 'He is very gracious

towards me.' M. J. :'Madame, it is you who are

grace itself.'

ACT IV. FIRST SCENE.

65. 4. de v. faire, 'when he does.'

7. ordonné, arranged.'
9. incongruités de bonne chère, "sins against good

feeding, and blunders against good taste.' Ср.

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a

• brutalité de sens commun'--Mal. Im. III. iii. "Chère' comes from the Greek kápa, the Latin cara (sixth century). The filiation of meanings is interesting

head, face, welcome, entertainment. 65. 13. toutes les pièces, 'every dish,' 'every item.' 14. donnerait. Notice the conditional in the subordinate

clause, where modern use would prefer the indicative. For this symmetry of tenses, common in the seventeenth century, cp. 'Je reviendrai voir sur le soir en quel état elle sera.'—Méd. M. Lui, II. iv.

tomber d'accord de ..., ' acknowledge.' 15. bons morceaux, 'tit-bits.'

de v. parler, i.e. il ne manquerait pas de v. parler.

The 'de' which begins the remaining clauses is

governed by 'parler. 16. pain de rive à biseau doré. 'Pain de rive' is a loaf

baked on the edge of the oven, so as not to come into contact with the other loaves, hence the slanting edges ("biseau' here = 'baisure' or ‘kissing crust)

have a delicate golden crust all round. 18. à séve veloutée, 'with a mellow body'; lit. with a

velvety sap.' armé d'un vert . . ., with a certain tart flavour, which is not too prominent.' (Verdeur, ce qu'il y a

de rude dans le vin nouveau. - Littré.) 19. gourmandé = 'lardé' (a special meaning) 'stuffed

with parsley.' 20. veau de rivière, ‘Normandy veal.' The cattle reared

in the meadows near the river Seine, in Normandy,

were famous for their flavour. 22. relevées 'made more tasty by a wonderful

gamey” flavour.' 23. opéra = anything difficult, and thence 'a master

piece.' Cp. ‘mon opéra (the ordinary meaning) fait, il s'agit d'en tirer parti ; c'était un opéra bien plus difficile.'-J. J. Rousseau, quoted by Littré, s. v. soupe à bouillon perlé, pearl broth.' 'Bouillon perlé’ is thus explained by Littré: Bouillon blanchi d'un lait d'amandes broyées avec de bon jus de mouton qu'on a mis sur le potage.'

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65. 24. soutenue, 'supported'; cantonné, 'flanked.' Notice

the heraldic terms 'soutenue,'' cantonné;' couronné.'

Une croix cantonnée de quatre étoiles’ is a cross

with a star at each corner. 25. oignons blancs, bleached onions,' -a dish famous

among 'gourmets.' 66. 6. V. êtes bien dégoûté, ‘You are very hard to please.'

Dégoûté' is used of a person who has lost his taste for something, or never possessed any:

A still commoner phrase, 'vous n'êtes pas dégoûté (an ironical litotes) prétendre à une chose qui est fort difficile

à avoir.
16. prêtons silence, let us lend our ears.'
19. Un petit doigt, (a drop,' 'a thimbleful.'

Lit. 'a
finger's breadth.'
25. Qu'en mouillant . . ., i.e. “En mouillant v. bouche,

que d'attraits il en reçoit.' 28. à longs traits, 'in deep draughts.' • Traire,' now only

used of milking, was originally used where tirer' is now employed. Hence the phrase is analogous to the

Latin ducere haustum.
67. 3. Profitons de la vie, 'let us enjoy life.'

5. l'onde noire, i.e. the river Styx.
6. nos amours; in apposition to “vin.'
15. à ... boire - ‘en buvant.'
17. Sus, sus ; 'Come, sirrah !' Sus’ here is a hortatory

interjection, like the Latin age, agedum, derived from

susum' (sursum). Cp. German ‘wohlauf.' 18. tant que, 'until' (with the subjunctive). This use of

the word lasted till the middle of the eighteenth

century. 23. galant-'galant’in English-the usual meaning for

the word in modern French (except in the phrase

* galant homme'). Cp. 5, 12. 68. 5. je le quitte, ‘I give him up.' 10. ravit. In the first case 'rayir' to charm,' delight;

in the second case = 'to carry off,' to win (Latin rapere).

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SECOND SCENE.

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68. 15. monsieur mon mari, 'my worthy husband'--ironical

politeness. 17. là-bas, i.e. in another part of the house. Mme. Jour

dain had probably seen Covielle's preparation for the ballet and installation of M. Jourdain as Mamamouchi,

and taken it for a fresh freak of her husband. 18. à faire noces, 'like a wedding feast.' The phrase has

taken its place in modern slang. Faire la noce’ is

to go on the spree'; ‘noceur = débauché. 19. festiner offrir un festin.' 21. envoyer promener-a contemptuous phrase—to send

to the right about,' 'to pack off.' 25. régale, the original spelling. The root 'gal' is found

in 'galant. 26. seulement, here pleonastic. 27. regarder à (intransitive) = 'prendre garde à,' 'faire

attention à. 69. 2. prendre, 'to use.' 8. Je n'ai que faire de ... 'I have no need of spectacles.'

An indirect question, the infinitive being interroga-
tive; cp. Latin, Quid faciam ? Non habeo quid

faciam.
13. grand'dame. See note on 57, 17.

ni beau, etc. 'It is neither decent nor honourable of

you.' Cp. 'vilain à vous' (62, 18). 16. Allez, an angry and impatient exclamation - Why,

Dorante, you are jesting' .. 0. English, 'Go

to !' 17. sottes visions 'the stupid fancies of this mad

woman. 'Extravagant’ (extra—vagari), of wandering mentally.

THIRD SCENE.

24. V. me venez faire ... For the position of the pro

noun cp. 2, 9. 28. Je ne sais ... 'I don't know what prevents me from '