xplained to themselves,' _faire
expliquer une lecon_ = 'to have a lesson explained.' The same
constructions are used with _laisser_; cf. _29_ 25, _49_ 14-15, _60_ 13.

_7_ 26 _dire_: 'to say,' 'relate impressively,' 'sing', cf. _24_ 21
--_Robert_ le _Diable_: 'Robert the Devil,' a famous opera by Meyerbeer,
text by Scribe (1832). The story, widespread throughout Europe during the
Middle Ages and later, is concerned with the struggle of a pious mother to
rescue her son from the devil. She is successful Robert saves Rome from
the Saracens and ends his life as a hermit.

_7_ 28 _Pour moi_: 'as for me,' 'as far as I am concerned'--_quand je
vivrais cent ans_: 'even if I should live for a hundred years', note this
meaning of _quand_ with the conditional.

_7_ 29 _s'approchant du_: note _de_ used with _s'approcher, se
rapprocher_, _20_ 25.

_7_ 33 _A peine avait-il_: cf. note to _5_ 32.

_8_ 1 _il allait se passer_: 'there was going to happen'; cf. note to _4_
23.--_quelque chose de grand_: 'something great'; note the _de_ Cf.
_quelque chose d'informe_ _35_ 21, _quelque chose de noir_ _45_ 18.

_8_ 6 _bis_: Latin, 'twice,' indicating that a thing is to be repeated.

_8_ 9 _A vous, Tartarin:_ 'your turn, Tartarin!'

_8_ 13 _en bon Meridional:_ 'like a true Southerner'; cf. note to _5_ 20.

_8_ 18 _de plus belle:_ 'louder than ever'; supply a feminine noun
_(maniere, facon_) after _belle;_ of _45_ 15.

_8_ 19 _la chose en restait la:_ 'the thing stopped there'; the so called
redundant _en;_ of _16_ 19-20, _17_ 16, _18_ 32, _28_ 26, _90 30 Cf. the
redundant _y_ (note to _9 7) _En_ and _y_ in these cases cannot easily be
translated, but the student should train himself to recognize their force.

_8_ 25 _clignait de l'oeil:_ cf. _battre des mains_ 'to clap one's hands.'

_8_ 26 _dire d'un ... air:_ 'to say with an ... air'--_Je viens de:_
_venir de faire quelque chose_ = 'to have just done somethmg.' In this
passage the expression has both the figurative and the literal meaning: 'I
come (have come) from the Bezuquets', where I have just sung.'

_9_ 3 _diable d'homme:_ cf. note to _1_ 12.

_9_ 4 _prendre:_ 'to captivate.'

_9_ 7 _lapin:_ lit. 'rabbit'; familiarly, as here, 'a game one.'--_s'y
connaissait en lapins:_ _se connaitre a_ or _en_ = 'to be an expert in.'
_Y_ in this passage is redundant: it replaces _a_ + _eux_ (cf. note to
_2_29), which is repeated in _en lapins_, cf. _10_ 30, and the redundant
_en_ (note