mette. The dialects often other examples of the survival of
Old French words; _metal_ is the modern word for "mldquo;metal," it is
sometimes used in slang for "mldquo;money."

240.--27. des cent ecus, des cent francs. For _des
centaines d'ecus, des centaines de francs_.

241.--3. la fille au cadet. Popular for la _fille du
cadet_, another example of the survival of an Old French construction
among the common people.

10. qu'avait. For _qui avait_.

27. pour. Incorrect use of _pour_ without an object; the other
popular phrases have already been noted.

243.--18. malin. The feminine of this adjective, maligne,
is only apparently irregular; the Latin etyma are _malignum_ and
_malignam_ (French words, except those used in address, are derived
from the Latin accusative), these give regularly _malin_ and _maligne_,
because final Latin vowels fall except _a_ which becomes _e_ and final
_gn_ is reduced to _n_, whereas _gn_ between vowels gives the modern
French sound.

30. il pleurait du sang. Compare the English phrase "tldquo;to sweat
blood."

244.--18. il savait plus. Popular omission of _ne_.

ALFRED DE MUSSET Paris, 1810--Paris, 1857

De Musset at an early age became a member of the cenacle or inner circle
of the Romantic writers, with whom he is intimately connected. In 1829
he published a volume of verse of great merit; this and the _Spectacle
dans un Fauteuil_ made him famous at once. He had an extremely
excitable, poetic temperament and a weak will, which rendered him
incapable of entering any useful employment, such as a position in the
French Embassy at Madrid, or writing regularly for periodicals, both of
these positions having been offered him. He was elected to the French
Academy in 1852 and did little work thereafter. His best work was done
in verse and in the drama, but his short stories are of extraordinary
merit. His poems (especially the _Nuits_) possess preeminently the
lyric quality, genuineness, originality and passion; his dramas, having
usually some proverb as a title, show great delicacy, grace, ingenuity
and wit; his short stories are exquisite. His style, in contrast to that
of Gautier, shows little care for form, and in many respects he may be
compared with the English poet Byron.

Important works: _Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie_ (1829), _Spectacle dans
un Fauteuil_ (1829), _Rolla_ (1833), _Nuits_ (1835 ff.); _Lettre a
Lamartine_ (1836), _Confessions d'un Enfant du Siecle_ (1836), _Poe