the singular, this termination in a, mistaken for the nominative singular, caused the opinion that they were all feminine, and gave this gender to our nouns, arme, feuille, lèvre, voile (de vaisseau). The same mistake could not occur in the word velum, a veil, which is often met with in the singular.

Page 61 line 13--Je me fais cet effort: I do myself this violence. Se donner un effort, to sprain oneself.

61

61

20-Si vanté So much spoken of.

Lat. the

21-De ce faste imposant: With this imposing dis-
play. Les fastes, records, annals.
Fasti, the consular records.

24-Sa fourbe: His treachery.
5-Et m'amenez Zaïre: And bring Zaïre here. The
personal pronouns, objects of verbs in the im-
perative affirmative, must, as a rule, follow
the verb, as: Amenez-moi votre ami. Yet
when two imperative affirmatives follow each
other, and are joined by et or ou, we may put
the personal pronoun before the second verb:-
Polissez le sans cesse et le repolissez.

-BOILEAU.

16-Demêleront: Will unravel.
17-Et des plis de son cœur: Of the innermost
recesses of her heart. Les plis d'une robe, the
folds of a dress; cela ne fait pas un pli, there
is not the least difficulty; sous ce pli (of letters),
enclosed; une plie (fish), a plaice.
19-Je vais tenter: I will try. Tenter means also "
tempt."

SCENE VI.

to

24-L'emporte sur mes soins: Outweighs my love. L'emporter sur, to prevail, to surpass, to carry the day :

Dieu des Juifs, tu l'emportes.-RACINE.

S'emporter, to fly in a passion.

26-J'en atteste le ciel : I take heaven to witness.
23-Les traits: Its shafts. Les traits du visage, the
features; un cheval de trait, a draught-horse;
d'un trait, at one draught.

ACT V.

SCENE I.

Page 67 line 1-On l'a fait avertir: A message has been sent to

her.

4-Rends-moi compte de tout: Report me everything. Homophonous words: Le compte, the account; un comte, an earl; un conte, a tale.

SCENE II.

9-Qui pourra me soustraire? Who can release me? Soustraire, lit. to subtract. Lat. sub and trahere.

14-Dans mes mains parvenue: Which has reached Parvenir à, to succeed in. Un

my hands.

parvenu, an upstart.

SCENE III.

10-Puis-je m'engager, moi, etc.: Can I expose me, etc. As personal pronouns, objects, must, as a rule, precede, in French, the verb, Voltaire had to repeat the pronoun in its disjunctive form in order to re-establish the broken connection between m' and les chrétiens. He spoke to me and to my brother, must be translated Il m'a parlé à moi et à mon frère, and not: Il m'a parlé et à mon frère.

Au

4-A travers ses bontés : Through his kindness. A travers demands a direct complement. travers must be followed by de.

27-Ne sait ce qu'elle doit: Does not know what his duty is.

La

29-Et veille sur mon frère: And watch over my
brother. Veiller means also to sit up.
veille, the eve; une veilleuse, a night-lamp.
3-Le culte: The creed, religion, worship.
5-Mais dussé-je, etc. But were I here condemned

to suffer death.
put on dussé-je
Puissé-je, may I.

SCENE VI.

The acute accent has been

for the sake of euphony.

2-On n'a jamais senti: Never has any living being

felt.

Page 71 line 7-A ses yeux doit se rendre: Is to see her this night.

SCENE VII.

12-Où porté-je . . . : See page 70, note 2.

13-Couple is masculine when implying assemblage, union, as : Un couple bien assorti, a wellmatched couple. It is feminine when it means two, as: Une couple d'œufs frais, a couple of new-laid eggs.

SCENE VIII.

8-Eh! que prétendez-vous :

intend to do?

And what do you

17-Le crime veille: Crime is awake.

21-Aurait fait mon destin: Would have settled my

fate.

SCENE X.

19-Avez-vous ordonné son supplice?

Have you

given the necessary orders for his execution? 14-Et d'un père expiré ...: This is bad French. We cannot any more say un père expiré " than "" un père dormi."

66

19-D'avoir brûlé pour toi: For having loved you.
8- Pour assouvir ta rage: To satisfy your fury.
Lat. assopire. Assouvir is a doublet of assou-
pir, but much more energetic.

13-Tes tourments sont-ils prêts? Are your instru-
ments of torture ready?

17-A la plus digne femme: To the worthiest woman. Une femme digne, a dignified woman.

Londres: Imprimerie de RANKEN ET CIE., St. Mary-le-Strand, W.C.

no. 3

Hachette's French Classics

ESTHER

TRAGÉDIE EN TROIS ACTES

PAR

JRACINE

With Grammatical and Explanatory Notes

BY

ANTONIN ROCHE,

Directeur de "L' Educational Institute" de Londres; Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur.

NEW EDITION

LIBRAIRIE HACHETTE ET Cie LONDON: 18 KING WILLIAM STREET, CHARING CROSS. PARIS: 79 BOULEVARD SAINT-GERMAIN. BOSTON: CARL SCHOENHOF.

1891.

All Rights Reserved.

GENERAL NOTES.

THE notes and explanations will be found at the end of each play. They are arranged in accordance with the acts and scenes, with references to the lines in each page, not reckoning the names of the dramatis personæ, the running title, or the stage directions.

In the seventeenth century the two letters ai preceding the consonants s and in the infinitives, present and imperfect tenses, and conditional mood of some verbs, used invariably to be written oi, as

The Editors have preferred pointing this out in a note

to altering the text.