182devait:'was to', cf.269,3210,3926 See note to210.
184était en train de démontrer:'was in the act of demonstrating'; Transl. simply 'was demonstrating'--amateur'admirer,' 'lover' The distinction 'amateur,' 'professional,' is French as well as English, but in French the wordamateuralso means 'lover'--not, however, the lover of a person Tartarin was demonstrating to some 'lovers (of arms)'.
185fusil à aiguille:'needle gun,' invented in 1836, and used in the Prussian army in 1841 The cartridge in this gun is exploded by a slender needle, or pin, which is driven into it.
1811foire de Beaucaire:cf.1328 The Beaucaire fair (July 1-28), instituted in the Middle Ages, is still famous but has in recent years lost much of its importance.
1813place du château:the square in front of the castle.
1814un tas de:'a large number of', lit 'a pile of'.
1816de mémoire d'homme:'within the memory of man', Latinhominum Memoria.
1817s'était vue:'had been seen', cf. note to523--comme:connect withfièrementin translation.
1824entre ses mains:'in his hands'.
1825à deux pas:'only a step or two away', cf.à dix mille lieues de Tarascon(22) 'ten thousand leagues away from Tarascon,'à combien de pas(248) 'how many paces away'.
1827premier sujet:'star,' in the company of players.
1831encore!'too!'
1832n'en pouvait supporter:onencf. note to819.
1833lui monta au visage:'mounted to his face', cf.1225,458.
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191D'un geste:'with a gesture', cf. note to5120.
195Hé bé...:Provençal foreh bien!'Well, but....'
198emboîtant le pas:a military expression, 'marching in lock step'.
1914kabyle:cf. note to4017 The Kabyle woman's dress, which reaches not quite to the ankles, is loose and held in at the waist, her feet and arms are bare, she wears bracelets and anklets.
1919pensionnaires: 'boarders,' here referring to the animals.
1920jeta un froid:'threw cold water,' 'chilled the enthusiasm'.
1927se trouva:'was', cf. note to1322.
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207perruque:'wig,' here applied to the lion's mane (crinière,116).
2010soit que ... soit que:'either because ('be it that') or because'--donne de l'humeur.'made ill-tempered'Humeurusually means 'ill humor' in French.
2013en leur bâillant an nez à tous:cf. note to1225A tousis in apposition withleur, hence the dative case, cf.171-2. Whentousis a pronoun thesis sounded, cf.below,119.
2026Ça, oui, c'est une chasse:'that, now, that's a hunt worth while!'
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2110-12Et autrement ... au moins:'I say, you surely have heard the news--That depends What is it? Tartarin's departure, perhaps?'Et autrementandau moinscannot be translated literally See the paragraph following in the text.
2115mouain:=moinsmisspelled to indicate a pronuntiation as two syllables instead of one.
2116à faire trembler:cf. note to22.
2119ce que c'est que la vanité:the construction will be clear if a secondestis supplied aftervanité, 'what vanity is', cf. note to7221.
2122fit:=ditThere are many examples of this usage in this book.
2123je ne dis pas:'I don't say (that I shan't),' 'I won't commit Myself'
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2212fit ... effroyable:'gave Tartarin-Quixote a terrible grilling'.
2216éléphantiasis:'elephantiasis,' a disease of the skin which makes it thick, hard, and fissured like an elephant's hide.
2221feu Cambyse:'the late Cambyses'feuis frequently used, but only with humorous intent, in speaking of persons long since dead. For the story of the expedition (525 B.C.) sent by Cambyses, king of Persia, to plunder the temple of Jupiter Ammon in the desert of Libya, see Herodotus III Cambyses himself did not perish in this expedition as Daudet erroneously states.
2227que diable!'hang it all!'
2230Mungo-Park(1771-1806, no hyphen in English) Scotch explorer of the Niger--Caillé(René, 1799-1838} a Frenchman, the first European to return alive from Timbuktu.
2231Livingstone(David, 1813-1873) celebrated Scotch missionary and traveler--Duveyrier(1840-1892) French geographer, and explorer of the northwestern Sahara.
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233à partir de ce jour-là:'from that day on'--ne ... plus que:cf. note to423.
2310faire son tour de ville:cf. note to1221.
2311pas accéléré:'quick time',pas redoublé, 'double quick',pas gymnastique, 'run.'
2313selon la mode antique:there is no evidence that ancient runners carried pebbles in their mouths Daudet is perhaps thinking of the well known story about Demosthenes Modern runners carry something, not usually pebbles, in their mouths to induce themselves to hold the mouth shut and breathe through the nose, and also to keep the mouth moist by inciting the flow of saliva.
2316jusqu'à des dix et onze heures:'even as late as ten and eleven o'clock'Desandet(instead ofou, 'or) lend emphasis to the Expression.
2327ne battait plus que d'une aile:'was almost dead', lit 'could no longer flap more than one wing' (like a wounded bird), cf. note to423.
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241mouches cantharides:'Spanish flies' These insects, which are found in southern Europe, are used (crushed) as the chief element in blistering plasters--dessusadverb, 'on top of it', cf. note to16.
243Il fallait voir:'you should have seen', cf.694.
244se l'arrachait:forsecf. note to72Seis dative, cf.424.
246se faire expliquer:cf. note to725.
247comment on s'y prenait:'how you go at it' On y cf. note to229.
248à combien de pas:cf. note to1825.
2411Jules Gerard(1817-1864) calledle Tueur de lions, an officer of spahis (cf. note to438) and celebrated lion hunter.
2412Aussi:cf. note to532.
2416que=quandcf. note to51.
2421disait:cf. note to726.
2422laurier-rose:'oleander', all parts of this shrub are poisonous.
2423pluies de sauterelles:particularly in Africa and Asia migratory locusts collect in countless numbers, forming a cloud so dense as to obscure the sun, and consume every green thing, cf.8125 and note to8620 See the pages on "Les Sauterelles" in "Lettres de mon moulin," where Daudet describes an invasion of these terrible insects.
2429balle explosible:a bullet which explodes on striking an object.
2430pfft!the sound of the bullet passing through the air.
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252garçonnets:'urchins,' diminutive ofgarçon, cf. note to3327.
253grand'peur:cf.grand'mère, grand'peine, etc The Latin adjectives of two terminations (grandis, e) had regularly in French one form (grand) for masculine and feminine Anewas added in the feminine through the influence of other feminine adjectives (bonne, frombona), but the old form is retained, with the addition of the apostrophe, in certain phrases Pronounce as ifgrand'were masculine.
25chapter headingpas deon the absence ofnecf. note to131.
259Toujours est-il que:'at any rate' On the inversion aftertoujours(still ') cf. note to532.
2511peut-être ... se figurait-ilthe same inversion as that referred to in the preceding note. Compare in the next sentencePeut être qu(e) il s'imaginait.
2518le:'it,' that is,victime,omit in translation cf.5913,843.
2522fit fureur:'was all the rage', ofcette piece (de theâtre) fait fureur'this play is all the rage'.
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262ne faisait plus foi:'was no longer regarded as unimpeachable'
265faisait deux doigts de cour a:'courted a little' (two finger Breadths).
266langue du cru:'local dialect,' 'vernacular'Crumeans 'growth,' 'that which grows in a certain district',croître= 'grow'Vin du cru='local wine',donner une oeuvre de son cru= 'to produce a work of one's own imagination', cf.dame du cru6029,jurons du cru654.
269devait:cf. note to182.
2610on le chargeait toujours:cf.1112.
2612l'allusion:like Master Gervais's gun, Tartarin never went off,partir= 'to depart,' 'to go off' (of a gun).
2613En un tour de main:'in a turning of the hand,' 'like a flash'.
2616Le fusil de maître Gervais--Toujours on le charge, toujours on le charge--Le fusil de maître Gervais--Toujours on le charge, il ne part jamais.
2624lui glisser dans la main:'slipping in (i.e. out of) his hand'.
2627il fait bon:'it's a pleasant thing'.
2630sa même vie:'the same life as before '--comme si de rien n'était'as if it was (all) about nothing,' 'as if it all amounted to Nothing'.
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274portait toute sa barbe:'wore a full beard'.
2714s'adresser:cf. note to523--fouchtrastransl. rascals'Fouchtrais an inelegant exclamation, originally peculiar to the inhabitants of Auvergne (south central France), hence, used as a noun it means a person from Auvergne Many bootblacks come from Auvergne, so the word is not inappropriately applied to the little Savoyard bootblacks.
2716tenait bon:'stood its ground firmly', adverbial use of the adjective cf.sentir bonand the corresponding English 'to smell good'.
2726ganté ... oreilles:'with black gloves on, (his coat) buttoned up to his ears' Withboutonnécf.sanglé920.
2727fit:cf. note to2122.
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288il lui prit la main:'he took his hand', cf. note to1225.
2812Bompard:the personages of "Tartarin de Tarascon" appear in other novels of Daudet. For Bompard see particularly "Numa Roumestan."
2813CAISSE D'ARMES:'WEAPON-CHEST.'
2818toute une cargaison:'a whole cargo', cf.332-3.
2819pemmican:'pemmican', dried meat, pulverized or shredded, and mixed with melted fat, for Arctic rather than tropical use.
2820tente-abri:a light, easily-handled tent, used particularly by troops in the field.Abri, masculine, = 'shelter.'
2821à la:here = 'in a.'
2824vinaigre des quatre-voleurs:'thieves' vinegar,' a kind of aromatic vinegar, formerly used as a disinfectant. The name is derived from the fact that this concoction was popularly supposed to have rendered immune from contagion certain thieves who were pillaging the city of Toulouse during a severe plague (1720).
2826ce qu'il en faisait:onencf. note to819.--ce n'était pas pour lui:'it wasn't for him,' i.e. it wasn't for Tartarin-Quixote.
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2910grelots ... sonnettes:thegrelotis sounded by a ball inside, as in a sleigh bell.Sonnetteis a broader term, used for any small bell.Une clocheis a large bell; cf.3125.
2911Arles:an ancient city on the Rhone, nine miles south of Tarascon. Its women, of a marked Greek type, are famed for their beauty, which is enhanced by a very picturesque head-dress (coiffe). --venues en croupe de leur galant:'riding behind their sweethearts.' Note thatleur galantis singular; cf.ses deux fusils dans leur gaine7125; cf. also note to9215, andSavoyards ... la tête ... leurs18. We say 'arms bare to the elbow', cf.1914-15.
2918Mésopotamie:'Mesopotamia,' that part of Asia which lies between the Tigris and the Euphrates.
2922traçant ... sillons glorieux:'leaving, as it were, glorious furrows in their wake.' Note the force ofcomme; cf.3119,349.
2925laissant voir:'permitting to be seen'; cf. note to725.
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303il se fit:cf. note to523.
3012avait cru de son devoir ... de:'had thought it his duty ... to.'
3014en toile blanche:enis used to denote the material of which a thing is made.Dealso may be used:une table d'acajou, but we finddes commodes en acajou827; cf.un sac de cuir514,une serviette en cuir7114.
3016chechia:the cap worn by the natives of Algeria; as used by the Algerian sharpshooters of the French army it is somewhat like a fez (note to3325), but less close.
3017d'une longueur: for the suppression cf. note to1521.
3022venaient là bien à propos: 'came in quite opportunely.'
3026à quoi s'en tenir sur: 'what to expect from 'Enis redundant.
3029son ... chez lui: 'his ... home';mon chez moi= 'my home.'
3030ne se voyait pas: 'was not seen,' ' did not appear', cf. note to523.
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315vieil Africain de 1830: 'African veteran of 30', cf. note to4017.
316lui serra la main: cf. note to1225.
317express Paris-Marseille: 'express from Paris to Marseilles.'
319fit fermer les grilles: cf. note to725.
3113On s'inscrivait:inscrire= 'to inscribe,' 'to enter,' as on a register;s'inscrire= 'to enter one's name.'
3115Socrate: ' Socrates,' famous Athenian philosopher(470-400 B.C.), convicted of impiety and of corrupting the youth, was condemned to drink the poisonous hemlock. He conversed calmly with his friends until the end. See Plato's "Apology," "Crito," and " Phaedo."
3116ciguë. the diaeresis is written over theeto show that theuis pronounced, [sigy]; contrast the pronunciation offigue.
3119comme: cf. note to2922.
3120D'entendre: 'as a result of hearing,' 'on hearing.'
3123hommes d'équipe: 'station hands' Anéquipeis a gang of men engaged on a particular piece of work.
3125cloche: the large bell which announced the approach of the train. On words for 'bell' cf. note to2910.
3131monta dans un wagon: 'got into a car'Monteris always followed bydanswhen used in this sense, cf.entrer dans une maison'to enter a house' cf. note to949.
3132pensèrent mourir=faillirent mourir(cf.1513): 'almost died.'
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3211er=premier.--par: cf. note to1022.
323déboucher: used of rivers ('empty into'), streets ('terminate at'), armies ('debouch'). Here used for comic effect; transl. 'debouch.'--la Canebière:the principal Street of Marseilles, of which the inhabitants are very proud.
325s'il en manque ... des Teurs:des Teursis anticipated byen; cf.3619,3832,692.
3210le Zouave. the corps of French infantry in Algeria called 'zouaves' was organized in 1831. It was at first composed almost entirely of natives (hence the well-known costume which is still worn), but is now made up exclusively of Frenchmen.--devait:cf. note to182.
3214pour la première fois: cf.1326-27.
3216Sinbad le Marin'Sindbad the Sailor,' the hero of a well-known series of stories in the "Arabian Nights" (Mille et une nuits)
3217comme il y en a: 'such as there are', cf.498.
3219à perte de vue: 'as far as the eye could reach'.
3221tunisiens: Tunis was independent when "Tartarin" was written, and has the flag of an independent state to this day. Note that this fragmentary list names only the flags less often seen.
3222arrivant sur: 'projecting over'.
3223Au-dessous(adv, cf.16)les naïades ... saintes vierges: just below the bowsprit is a figure head representing the naïad (water nymph), the goddess, or the madonna, whose name is inscribed on both sides of the bow.Les saintes viergesare images of the Virgin, which are particularized by specific attitudes, attributes, or localities Read "La Diligence de Beaucaire," in " Lettres de mon moulin".
3229mousses:le mousse='cabin boy,'la mousse='moss,' 'foam'
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332tout un peuple: cf. note to2818.
334bogheys: borrowed from the English 'buggy'Paquebot(3210) is from Engl. 'packet-boat,' andredingote(346) is from Engl 'riding coat'
338bric-à-brac: this word means 'bric-a-brac' (odds and ends), 'a dealer in bric-a-brac,' or his store, 'curiosity shop,' as here.
339coulevrines: 'culverins,' an obsolete form of cannon.
3311Jean Bart(1651-1702): a famous sailor and privateer, of low birth, ennobled by Louis XIV.Duguay-Trouin(1673-1736) privateer and naval commander.
3318saumons: 'salmon' (fish), in metallurgy 'pigs' (here, of lead) A pig is an oblong mass of cast metal, especially iron or lead.
3319caroubes: 'carob beans,' the sweet pulpy pods, dried, of thecaroubier(7624), a tree of the countries bordering the Medditerranean, the "husks" of Luke xv, 16, and sometimes sold as a dainty at American fruit stands--colzascolza, or rape, is a sort of turnip with no thick root, raised for the oil of its seeds and for pasturage.
3320de Hollande: 'Dutch' The hard Edam cheese, made in globular molds and dyed red on the outside, is familiar to Americans.
3321Génoises: women of Genoa (Gênes], seaport in northern Italy.
3325fez: 'fez', named from the city of Fez in Morocco, where it is made a felt or cloth cap, dark red, with a tassel--a mesure: 'in proportion) as it fell ', cf. note to5818.
3327de femmes et d'enfants: they followed to pick up (glean,glaner) what fell from the carts--balayettedimmutive ofbalaicf.colline, collinette411,garçon, garçonnet252,seul,seulet6318,seulette.
3328bassin de carénage: 'dry dock'Carénage'careenage' = a place for, or the act of, careening a ship for the purpose of examining or repairng its hull or keel (carène).
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343Malte: 'Malta,' an island in the Mediterranean, between Sicily and Africa, which has belonged to England since 1814.
349comme en l'air: 'as if they were sailing in the air', cf. note to2922.
3412fort Saint-Jean, fort Saint-Nicolas: the two forts which guard the entrance to the harbor of Marseilles.
3413la Major: the old cathedral of Marseilles (Sainte Marie Majeure}.--Accoules, Saint-Victor: old churches in Marseilles.
3414mistral: (Latinmagistralis'masterly') 'mistral,' a violent north-west wind which sweeps down the Rhône valley.
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3512golfe du Lion: 'Gulf of the Lion,' off southern France.
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3610comme ... voulu:en vouloir à quelqu'unmeans 'to bear a grudge against a person.'Il en veut à Jean= 'he bears a grudge against John.' Here 'how angry they would have been with themselves!' 'how they would have reproached themselves!'
3613courage: 'energy.' The wordcourage(ordinarily = English 'courage') is often so used.Je n'ai pas le courage de travailler aujourd'hui'I haven't the energy to work (do not feel like working) to day.' Cf.501.
3615cuir: 'leather (case).'
3616ne cessait:pasis often omitted withsavoir, pouvoir, cesser, oser, bouger, cf.1832,863.
3618Imbécile, va!: 'what a fool you are!'Va! allez!andallons!(imperatives ofaller) are common exclamations, the sense varies with the context. Forallons!cf.561--Je te l'avais bien dit'I told you so.'
3619Eh bien ... l'Afrique!: 'well now, here's your Africa!' Ontésee note to137.Laanticipatesl'Afrique, cf.325.
3625Alcazar: a music-hall.Alcazarmeans in Arabic 'the palace.'
3627la Mecque: 'Mecca,' in Arabia, the birthplace of Mohammed; the Holy City to which every good Mohammedan goes in pilgrimage at least once.
3628Ravel, Gil Pérès: popular comedians in Paris at the time Daudet was writing.
3630un bon gros vivant de Marseillais:abon vivantis 'a man who lives well,' 'a jolly fellow' Ondesee note to112.
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373il se fit:cf. note to523.
377Machine en avant! machine en arrière!'Go ahead! back her!'Machine= 'engine'.
379Machine, stop!'stop her!' 'The verbstopper(borrowed from Englishstop) is regularly used of engines.Stopinmachine, stop!is an imperative taken directly from the English.
3710plus rien:cf. notes to131 and423--Rien que:cf.117.
3719Alger la blanche:'Algiers,' capital of Algeria, about 500 miles from Marseilles. For the epithetblanche, see next note.
3722Meudon:a town on the Seine between Paris and Versailles. The white houses of Algiers sloping towards the sea look like the washing of a laundress spread out on the grassy hill which at Meudon descends to the Seine.Étalagemeans a 'spreading out,' as of things for sale; then, by extension, the objects displayed. Cf. note to6915.
3726à ses côtés:'at his (Tartarin's) side'; note the pluralcôtés; cf.aux flancs du paquebot9319.
3727Casbah:the citadel, 400 feet above the sea, crowning the hill on which the Moorish quarter (la ville haute'the Upper City') is built--la rue Bab-Azoun:lower down, parallel to the shore, the most important street in Algiers.
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389ILS:cf. pages 10-11.
3818Qués aco?Provençal forqu'est ce que c'est que cela?'what's that?'--qu'est-ce que vous avez?''what's the matter with you?'
3821pourquoi faire?'why?' 'what for?' cf.491.--boun Diou:Provençal forbon Dieu.
3831tron de ler:more properlytron de l'er, a Provençal oath =tonnerre de l'air, 'thunder of the air!' A Provençal newspaper with the nameLou Tron de l'Erappeared in Marseilles in 1877-1878.
3832longtemps:cf. note to4017.--en:anticipatesdes pirates; cf. note to325.
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394un brave garçon:cf. note to312.
398tire-vieille:'man-rope,' one of the side ropes on the gangway of a ship.Tire-vieille(tirer+vieille,' that which helps old women to mount') is often misspelledtire-veille(tirer+veille, 'pull and take care').
3917tourmentait:'tormented,' 'twisted and turned.'
3920sous le bâton de:'under the cudgel used upon.'
3923barbaresque:'Barbary.'La Barbarie('Barbary') =États barbaresquesis a general term formerly applied to the North African states: Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli.
3924Michel Cervantes:in 1575 Cervantes was captured by Barbary pirates and carried to Algiers. His five years of slavery afforded him materials for "Don Quixote" and other works; cf. note to1013.
3926devait:cf. note to182.
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401Saavedra:upon his return from Algiers in 1580 Cervantes assumed the additional surname ofSaavedrafrom one of his ancestors, always signing himself thenceforthCervantes Saavedra.
404dut tressaillir:'must have leaped', cf. note to210.
4014à peine Tartarin eut-il mis:cf. note to532.
4017Arabes ... M'zabites:the aborigines of Algeria, three quarters of the population even now, are the Berber race, including the Kabyles (1914) in the north, the Mzabites, purest Berbers of all, in the south, and the marauding Tuaregs (116) in the Sahara. The Mzabites, the heretical Puritans of Algerian Mohammedanism, are seen everywhere as honest petty traders and workers in street industries. The Arab conquest about 700 A.D. made Arabic the dominant language of all North Africa to this day--an important fact to remember--and introduced the Arabs as a permanent population along the north edge of the Sahara. The conquest by Turkish pirates about 1500 A.D., with subordination to the Sultan of Turkey till 1669, brought in very few Turks; the pirates were a mixture of various Mohammedan nations with renegades from the Christian nations. The "Moors" of to-day in Algeria are their descendants; the ancient Moors were Berbers. During the centuries of pirate rule, and earlier, negroes were brought in as slaves; Mohammedan custom favored setting them free in a few years if they became Mohammedans. The overthrow of the pirates by the French in 1830, and the French conquest during the next thirty years, caused most of the few Turks to leave the country, and started an influx of Europeans from the Mediterranean countries; Daudet notices especially the Minorcans (Mahonnaisfrom the city of Port Mahon).
4022charabia:borrowed from the Spanishalgarabía, which means properly 'Arabic,' then, by extension, any unintelligible 'jargon.' The French word is usually applied contemptuously to the dialect of Auvergne (cf. note to2714).
4023invraisemblables:lit. 'unlike the truth,' 'improbable', then 'strange,' 'outlandish', of Germanunwahrscheinlich.
4026se faire comprendre:cf. note to725.--barbares:'barbarians,' the word used by Greeks and Romans to designate uncivilized peoples. Not to be confused with barbaresque.
4028du latin de Pourceaugnac:'Pourceaugnac Latin,' meaningless Latin such as that which Molière introduces into some of his plays. "Monsieur de Pourceaugnac" is the name of one of Molière's farces, and there is some Latin in it; but Daudet probably had in mind "Le Médecin malgré lui," II, 6. He uses the namePourceaugnachere because he likes the sound.Rosa, rosae,is the type-noun of the first declension in French grammars of to-day, where we have ordinarilymensaorstella. In Molière's time, as suggested by the passage of "Le Médecin malgré lui" referred to,musa, musae, was the noun commonly used.
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412Heureusement qu':queis redundant, cf.5823.
413canne de compagnon:'stout cane.' When the young artisan (compagnon) set out on his travels (tour de France) to learn his trade, he carried a stout cane which is one of the principal attributes ofcompagnonnage.
414dieu d'Homère:in the " Iliad" and the "Odyssey" the gods often intervene in the affairs of men.
4111tenant le milieu entre:'a cross between.'
4112Zanzibar:capital, since 1832, of the Mohammedan power in East Africa, and place of entry for travelers to Central Africa in the middle of the nineteenth century; hence here representing the idea of an African capital, as Constantinople that of a Turkish capital.
4113en plein Tarascon:cf. note to57.
4115la ligne:in the French and English armies the termla ligne, 'the line,' is applied ordinarily to the infantry of the regular army as opposed to the militia, cavalry, artillery, etc. In Americathe lineincludes all that part of the regular army whose business is actual fighting.--Offenbach:Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), born at Cologne, a naturalized Frenchman, composer of light operas.
4124Crusoé:the finaleof English proper names terminating in -oe is ordinarily pronounced in French; cf.Edgard PoéorPoë.
4128monter:the active use of this verb, 'carry up', cf. promener7426.
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421Gouvernement:the building in which are the offices of the provincial government. Cf.708.
424en avait vu de rudes:'had had a hard time of it', with rudes supply some such noun aschoses, anticipated byen; cf. note to325.
4214il se fit servir:cf. note to725.--grande ouverte:'wide open'; cf.517.
4215Crescia:a wine-producing district near Algiers.
4221déjeuner:verb.
4222fréter:'to charter,' a nautical term used here mock-heroically.
4226montait d'un bon pied:note thedewith expressions of measure,haute de cinq doigts(7114) 'five fingers high,'il est plus grand(plus âgé)de deux pouces(deux ans) 'he is two inches (two years) taller (older)'; cf.958.
4228enfila:enfiler= 'to thread (a needle, pearls, etc.)', then, 'to thread (one's way through arcades, crowded streets, etc).'
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432prit le faubourg:'took the street which leads through the suburb.'Faubourgmeant originally the portion of a city outside the walled town (bourg); then also the street leading through this district. Cf. note to497.--route de Mustapha:'Mustapha road', cf. note to15. Mustapha is a suburb of Algiers, on the sea.
434corricolos:corricolois the Neapolitan word (Latin 'curriculum, 'chariot'; seecurriclein Engl. dict.) for a sort of gig.--fourgons du train:'army wagons',train=train des équipages, 'the train,' an army's equipment for the transportation of provisions and other necessities.
435chasseurs d'Afrique:French light cavalry serving in Algeria; transl. 'Africa cavalry.'
437Alsaciens émigrants:'emigrating Alsatians'; contrastémigrés alsaciens'Alsatian emigrants.' After the Franco-Prussian war (1870-871), as a result of which Alsace became a German province, many Alsatians emigrated rather than submit to German domination. In 1871 about 11,000 natives of Alsace-Lorraine were granted land in Algeria. Daudet visited Algeria in 1861, before the Alsatians immigrated in large numbers.
438spahis:'spahis,' native cavalry in the French service, commanded by French officers.
4312-13bouchers:'butchers.'--équarrisseurs:'slaughterers.'Équarisseur, probably because of a falsely imputed connection with Latinequus, is ordinarily used to mean 'horse slaughterer,' 'knacker.' The root of the word is, however, Latinquadratus, Frenchcarré, and anéquarisseuris properly 'one who cuts a beast into quarters,' one whose chief interest is in the by-products--hide, bones, fat, etc.
4320ne devaient pas être:'ought not to be,' 'surely were not,' 'could not be', see note to210.
4329crut devoir:'thought he had better'; see note to210.
4331Et autrement:cf. note to2110.
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