THE STORY OF LEFEVRE. It was some time in the summer of that year in which Dendermond 2 was taken by the allies, which was about seven years before my father came into the country, and about as many after the time that my uncle Toby and Trim had privately decamped from my father's house in town, in order to lay some of the finest sieges to some of the finest fortified cities in Europe, when my uncle Toby was one evening getting his supper, with Trim sitting behind him at a small sideboard. The landlord of a little inn in the village came into the parlour with an empty vial in his hand to beg a glass or two of sack: ""Tis for a poor gentleman, I think of the army," said the landlord, "who has been taken ill5 at my house four days ago, and has never held up his head since, or had a desire to taste anything, till just now, that he has a fancy for a glass of sack and a thinR toast-'I think,' says he, taking his hand from his forehead, it would comfort me.' "If I could neither beg, borrow, nor buy such a thing," added the landlord, "I would almost steal it for the poor gentleman, he is so ill. I hope in God 10 he will still mend," continued he; "we are all of us concerned for him." ""11 "Thou art a good-natured soul, I will answer for thee," cried my uncle Toby ; "and thou shalt drink the poor gentleman's health in 12 a glass of sack thyself, and take a couple 13 of bottles, with my service, 14 and tell him he is 1 No article (whether definite, or indefinite) is used, in French, before the head of a chapter (indicating the nature of the subject) or the title of a book. 2 Dendermonde (in Belgium).Proper names of towns are, as a rule, masculine in French. 3 afin de faire avec éclat le siége de quelques-unes des plus belles places fortes de (page 31, note 14) Europe. Put a full stop here, and leave out 'when.' 4 ип pauvre monsieur, un officier, ce que je crois. 5 has fallen ill;' and see page 8 petite. 9 'that.' 12 Use health' in the dative (prop. d); and leave out 'in.' 13 See page 3, note 1. 14 my compliments.' heartily welcome to them,1 and to a dozen more, if they will do him good." 66 Though I am persuaded," said my uncle Toby, as the landlord shut the door, "he is a very compassionate fellow, Trim, yet I cannot help entertaining a high opinion of his guest too; there must be something more than common in him, that in so short a time should win3 so much upon the affections of his host." "And of his whole family,' added the corporal, "for they are all concerned for him." Step after him," said my uncle Toby, "do,5 Trim, and ask if he knows his name.' "4 "I have quite forgot it, truly," said the landlord, coming back into the parlour with the corporal, "but I can ask his son again." "Has he a son with him then?" said my uncle Toby. "A boy," replied the landlord, "of about eleven or twelve years of age, but the poor creature has tasted almost as little as his father; he does nothing but7 mourn and lament for him night and day; he has not stirred from the bed-side these two days.”8 9 My uncle Toby laid down his knife and fork, and thrust his plate from before him, as the landlord gave him the account; and Trim, without being ordered, took away without saying one word, and in a few minutes after brought him his pipe 10 and tobacco. "Stay in the room a little," said my uncle Toby. "Trim!" said my uncle Toby after he had lighted 11 his pipe and smoked about a dozen whiffs. Trim came in front of his master, and made his bow; my uncle Toby smoked on,12 and said no more. "Corporal!" said my uncle Toby. The corporal made his bow. My uncle Toby proceeded no farther, but finished his pipe. "Trim!" said my uncle Toby, "I have a project in my head, as it is a bad night, of wrapping myself up warm in my roquelaure,1 and paying a visit to this poor gentleman."" Your honour's roquelaure," replied the corporal, "has not once been had on 2 since the night before your honour received your wound, when we mounted guard in the trenches before the gate of St. Nicholas; and, besides, it is so cold and rainy a night, that what with the roquelaure, and what with the weather, 'twill be enough to5 give your honour your death, and bring on your honour's torment in your groin."-" I fear so," replied my uncle Toby ; "but I am not at rest in my mind,6 Trim, since the account the landlord has given me. I wish I had not known so much of this affair," added my uncle Toby, "or that I had known more of it. How shall we manage it?""Leave it, an please your honour, to me," quoth the corporal; "I'll take my hat and stick, and go to the house and reconnoitre,10 and act accordingly; and I will bring your honour a full account in an hour.""Thou shalt go, Trim," said my uncle Toby, "and here's a shilling for thee to drink with his servant."- "I shall get it all out of him," said the corporal, shutting the door. ד My uncle Toby filled 12 his second pipe, and had it not been that he now and then wandered from the point, with considering whether it was not full as well to have the curtain of the tenaille a straight line as a crooked one, he might be said to have thought of nothing else but poor Lefevre and his boy the whole time he smoked it.1 It was not till my uncle Toby had knocked the ashes out of his third pipe, that corporal Trim returned from the inn, and gave him the following account :— "I despaired at first," said the corporal, " of being able to bring back your honour any kind of intelligence concerning the poor sick lieutenant."—" Is he in the army then?"5 said my uncle Toby.-" He is," said the corporal." And in what regiment?" said my uncle Toby.— "I'll tell your honour," replied the corporal, "everything straightforward, as I learnt it."7"Then, Trim, I'll fill another pipe," said my uncle Toby, "and not interrupt 1 et sauf de temps en temps quelques excursions pour considérer s'il n'était pas tout aussi bien d'avoir la courtine de la tenaille (mil. terms) en ligne droite qu'en ligne courbe, on peut dire que tant qu'elle dura, il ne pensa qu'au pauvre Lefèvre et à (page 49, note 8) son fils. 2 It was only when.' 3 to knock out,' faire tomber; see page 27, note 15. 4 renseignements, in this sense. 5 C'est (page 72, note 13) donc un militaire or, Il est donc militaire (page 76, note 8)? or, Il est donc dans le militaire (or, au service-d l'armée)?-Notice that il is used instead of ce (page 72, note 13) when the noun is used as a kind of adjective, without any article preceding (page 76, note 8). The fact is, that the use of ce seems to call for the use of an article (le or un), and the employment of il, elle, &c., to call for the suppression of either article. The difference between these two cases, namely, ce with an article, and il, &c., without any, will be better understood by means of examples. First case:-Who is that gentleman I see over there?' He (i. e., that gentleman, as yet unknown to you in any capacity) is a physician,' c'est un médecin; He is the physician to the hospitals in the town,' c'est le médecin des hôpitaux de la ville. Second case :-'What is your brother doing now?'-' He (i. e., the gentleman already known to you in the capacity of brother of mine) is a physician,' il est médecin; il est médecin des hôpitaux, &c. (no articles, and il instead of ce). 6 Simply, Oui. This elliptical kind of answer, 'He is,' is entirely opposed to the genius of the French language. 7 tout raconter à votre Honneur (or, à monsieur) au fur et à mesure, dans l'ordre où je l'ai appris. 8 and I will not,' &c. See page 80, note 2. We might add the following to that note:-At least, in the second case (viz. from negation to affirmation) the use of the pronoun before the second verb is indispensable, but, in the first (from affirmation to negation), taste alone must be our guide. See again, for other rules on this use of a personal pronoun before a second verb, page 23, note 9 page 30, note 15, page 31, note 3, ar page 56, note 3. thee till thou hast done; so sit down at thy ease, Trim, in the window seat,1 and begin thy story again." The corporal made his old bow, which generally spoke," as plain as a bow could speak it : "Your honour is good ;"3 and having done that, he sat down, as he was ordered, and began the story to my uncle Toby over again in pretty near the same words.4 "I despaired at first," said the corporal, "of being able to bring back any intelligence to your honour about the lieutenant and his son; for, when I asked where his servant was, from whom I made myself sure of knowing everything which was proper to be asked..."-"That's a right distinction, Trim," said my uncle Toby.-"I was answered, an please your honour, that he had no servant with him; that he had come to the inn with hired horses, which, upon finding himself unable to proceed (to join, I suppose, the regiment), he had dismissed the morning after he came.6_ If I get better, my dear,' said he, as he gave his purse to his son to pay the man, we can hire horses from hence.'-' But, alas! the poor gentleman will never get from hence,' said the landlady to me, ' for I heard the death-watch all night long; and when he dies,9 the youth, his son, will certainly die with him, for he is broken-hearted already.' "I was hearing this account," continued the corporal, "when the youth came into the kitchen, to order the thin toast the landlord spoke of. But I will do it for my father myself,' said the youth.-' Pray, let me save you the trouble, young 10 gentleman,' said I, taking up the fork for the purpose, and offering him my chair to sit down upon by the fire whilst I did it.11 I believe, sir,' said he, very pose), he had dismissed them the morning after (le lendemain matin de) his arrival.' 7 Use the future. 8 l'horloge de la mort; a popular name for an insect that makes, when gnawing wood, a ticking noise, superstitiously imagined to prognosticate death. 9 See page 52, note 2. |