54
comme cela – like that
55
taille d’athlète – athletic built
56
croquant – crunching
57
porte cochère – gateway
58
Job’s leviathan broke the spear, the dart, and the habergeon – allusion to the Bible (the Book of Job, 41:26). Here is meant the readiness to overcome any hardships and obstacles.
59
roué – a scapegrace
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beauté mâle – man’s beauty, handsomness
61
filette – a daughter or a girl
62
Beulah – from the Bible: a symbolic name of the heavenly Zion, the promised land.
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Qu’ avez-vous, mademoiselle? Vos doigts tremblent comme la feuille, et vos joues sont rouges: mais, rouges comme des cerises. – What’s happened, Miss? Your fingers are trembling like a leaf, and your cheeks are red, as red as cherries.
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ignis-fatus – “fool’s fire” (Latin), dim wandering light appearing over the swamps at night. It is believed to drive travellers from the safe paths.
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passées – old-fashioned
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Some natural tears she shed – allusion to “Paradise Lost” by John Milton (1608–1674); the original quote is “Some natural tears they dropped.”
67
Elles changent de toilettes – They change.
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Chez maman, quand il y avait du monde, je le suivais partout, au salon et à leurs chambres; souvent je regardais les femmes de chambre coiffer et habiller les dames, et c’était si amusant: comme cela on apprend. – When my mom had guests, I followed them everywhere, in the drawing room and in the bedrooms. I often watched the maids combing and dressing the ladies, and that was real fun; that’s how they learn.
69
Mais oui, mademoiselle: voilà cinq ou six heures que nous n’avons pas mangé. – Oh yes, Miss; it is really five or six hours since we had some food.
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abigails – allusion to the Bible, here: ladies’ maids
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et alors quel dommage – well, it’s a pity
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Est-ce que je ne puis pas prendre une seule de ces fleurs magnifiques, mademoiselle? Seulement pour completer ma toilette. – Oh Miss, can’t I take one of these beautiful flowers? Just to complete my toilette.
73
minois chiffoné – here: pretty
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père noble de théâtre – noble (aristocratic) head of the family, father (theater emploi)
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Tant pis! – even worse! (meaning “it serves her right”)
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Au reste – as for the rest of it
77
Who would not be the Rizzio of so divine a Mary – an allusion to the story of David Rizzio, a private secretary of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots (1542–1587)
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black Bothwell – the husband of the said Mary who mastered the murder of Rizzio
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con spirito – here: in a high-spirited way (Italian)
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Gardez-vous en bien – Look out!
81
Paynim – Muslim or pagan
82
airs – here: songs
83
Voilà, Monsieur Rochester, qui revient ! – Here is Mr. Rochester, he’s come back!
84
Mother Bunches – a person from the English folklore, a wise old countrywoman, teaching a mixture of charms and magical recipes
85
le cas – the proper case
86
the old gentleman – the devil
87
ad infinitum – eternally (Latin)
88
Queen Boadicea – a British Celtic warrior queen who led an uprising against Roman occupation.
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prête à croquer sa petite maman Anglaise – ready to eat her English mommy up
90
Midsummer – a religious holiday celebrated on the 24th of June
91
Day its fervid fires had wasted – it is a slightly changed quotation from Thomas Campbell’s “The Turkish Lady.” The original phrase was “Day her sultry fires had wasted.”
92
organ of Adhesiveness – according to Phrenology (a science of faculty psychology and theory of brain), each faculty must have a separate seat or “organ” in the brain
93
gild refined gold – it is a quotation from William Shakespeare’s “King John,” meaning “to improve something unnecessarily.”