Chapter One: In The Year 1817

 

Louis XVIII, younger brother of Louis XVI, was King of France from 1814 to 1824 (except, of course, the Hundred Days where Napoleon tried to take back what he had built up, then destroyed, then built up, then destroyed again). Before taking the throne, he released a manifesto wherein he promised to allow the results of the Revolution to influence his Bourbon regime.

 

Antoine Bruguiére de Sorsum (1773-1823) served as an author and secretary to Jéróme Bonaparte, when Bonaparte was King of Westphalia from 1807-1813. He translated works by Lord Byron and Shakespeare, as well as others.

 

A fleur-de-lis (French for lily flower) was an emblem of the sovereignty French crown, rumored to reach as far back as 500 AD. In the late 14th century, Louis VII is believed to have been the first to use azure semé of fleurs-de-lis on his shield. The fleur-de-lis on a white background was the French national flag until the French Revolution, when the tricolor replaced it. In 1814, the fleur-de-lis got back together with the flag; in 1830 (under Charles X), the two broke up again. Talk about toxic exes. Fun fact from Wikipedia: "In a very strange turn of events after the end of the Second French Empire, where a flag apparently influenced the course of history, Henri, comte de Chambord, was offered the throne as King of France, but he agreed only if France gave up the tricolor and brought back the white flag with fleurs-de-lis.[38] His condition was rejected and France became a republic."

 

Jean-Baptiste Lynch was a Count of the First French Empire--empire of Napoleon I, 1804-1814. He was a hater of the French Revolution (bad vibes, bro), and sold out Napoleon when he surrendered the town he was keeping mayoral watch over to the British. Big fan of Bourbon Restoration, as a peer of France under Louis XVIII (a big deal--peers of France were the highest-ranking members of French nobility). Hugo was right about his long nose--look up a picture of him. Not cute.

 

Esquimaux mitres translates to "Eskimo bones." Not sure what it means.

 

Reminder that Napoleon's second exile was at St. Helena, a remote island off the coast of Africa in the middle of the Atlantic. 

 

Alas, Hugo with the name dropping. Here we go:

• Pelligrini: the only singing Pelligrini I can find is a Pellegrini, an Italian soprano castrato singer that passed in 1746.

• Mademoiselle Bigttini: a French dancer of Italian origin that made her career at the Paris Opéra

• Potier: French general, active during the Napoleonic wars; member of the Bourbon Restoration King's Chamber

• Odry: comic actor that performed with Poter at the Théâtre des Variétés

• Madame Saqui: tightrope walker; would walk while fireworks exploded in her midst; walked a rope to celebrate the birth of Napoleon's heir

• Forioso: considered the master of tightrope walking; walked a rope for Napoleon's birthday in 1807

• Delalot: politician that fought ultra-royalist politics. Not sure what it means that he "was a personage." Aren't we all?

• Pleignier, Tolleron, and Carbonneau: executed in 1816 for a conspiracy against the throne; Tolleron's right hand was cut off prior

• Prince de Talleyrand: because of him, "Talleyrand" has become a 'byword' for crafty, cynical diplomacy--he was useful, but would betray any cause if he felt it the more practical decision.

• Abbe Louis: supporter of the Bourbon Restoration and was minister of finance from 1814-15

 

The Prussians and Austrians were in France because they had just finished driving Napoleon back out in the Hundred Days following his return from his first exile.

 

At the outbreak of the French Revolution, on 14 July 1790, Abbe Louis supported Talleyrand (a bishop at the time) to have mass at the altar in the Champ de Mars--the first "Federation Day" celebration AKA Bastille Day. One year and three days later, a massacre took place on the Champ de Mars.

 

The ceremony of the Champ de Mai occurred to celebrate Napoleon's return from his Elba-n exile. Napoleon chose the honey bee and the eagle as important symbols of his power; the bees in his home, as his emblem, and the French Imperial Eagle as a standard by his army during the Napoleonic Wars.

 

The French frigate Méduse was a warship that sailed in the Napoleonic Wars, captained by novice Viscount Hugues de Chaumareix. In 1816, however, she hit a coast, and the majority of her 400 passengers were evacuated. The remnants/leftovers/lesser-thans were forced to improvise a raft that was towed by the frigate's launches (a large boat carried by a sailing vessel).  It didn't take long before the launches abandoned the improvised rafts to the open ocean. The sailors on these rafts soon resorted to violence, propelled by wine drunkenness and hopelessness. There were rebellions, tossing the injured overboard, and cannibalism--and I thought I made bad decisions after a little too much wine. Thirteen days later, the raft was found with only fifteen men left alive. Song of the Day: Survivor, Destiny's Child.

 

Théodore Géricault painted The Raft of Medusa, an iconic piece of French Romanticism.

 

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If you’re interested in reading more about the Medusa, here's an autobiographical account.

 

Colonel Selves was an officer in Napoleon's army that converted to Islam, and changed his name to Soliman Pasha.

 

The palace of Thermes are the ruins of Roman baths, located in Paris. It is now the Musée national du Moyen Âge - Thermes et hôtel de Cluny. Near the beginning of the Revolution, the hotel was seized by the state and served many roles for the next thirty years, including a dissection room and printing press.

 

A cooper is a maker or repairer of casks and barrels.

 

In 1765, Messier used the Hôtel de Cluny as his observatory; six years later, he was appointed Astronomer of the Navy.

 

The Duchesse de Duras was published in 1832, originally anonymously. It explores issues of racial and sexual equality. 

 

"N's scratched off from the Louvre" is referring to the Bourbon Monarchy erasing Napoleon's heavy usage of the imperial Ns around the Louvre when he named it after himself.

 

The Bridge of Austerlitz was dedicated to one of Napoleon's most famous successful battles, the Battle of Austerlitz. It connected Faubourg Saint-Antoine on the right bank to the Jardin des Plantes on the left.

 

Horace was a Roman poet. Not sure what the significance of annotating with the corner of your fingernail is, but if I know Hugo, then it's a bit tongue-in-cheek, innit?

 

Mathurin Bruneau was one of the false Dauphins of France who tried to pass himself off as Louis XVII. From son of a cobbler to son of a bitch--and from alive to dead, because he was caught and sentenced.

 

The French Academy was a 40-person council, whose sole purpose was to "purify and protect" French literary tastes. Fun fact- Victor Hugo was a member of it. A refined man <3

 

Paul Louis Courier was a political writer with a particular dislike towards nobility. According to Wikipedia, "He would never take the name "de Méré", to which he was entitled, lest he should be thought a nobleman." Hello, foreshadowing.

 

François-René de Chateaubriand was a Royalist writer, politician, diplomat, and historian who founded Romanticism in French literature. He also served as Hugo's hero. I am not sure why Marchangy was his dupe, other than the fact that Marchangy's works didn't go very far. Charles-Victor Prévot, vicomte d'Arlincourt was a "rival" of Victor Hugo. He wrote so that he could gain a reputation as great as that of Chateaubriand. Unfortunately, however, to put it simply: women loved him, critics hated him. 

 

Claire d'Albe, published in 1799, was a bestseller novel written by Sophie Cottin (popular author of five Romantic novels).

 

Malek-Adel is the Muslim hero of Cottin's Mathilde.

 

The Institut de France is a French academic society, established by the French government in 1795. Weird time to start a group, right?

 

The Duc d'Angouleme was the oldest son of Charles X and the last of the senior Bourbon monarchs. He was King of France for twenty minutes…unsurpassed example of men with commitment issues.

 

The Yellow Dwarf is a fairytale--spoiler alert, there's no happy ending.

 

The Cafe Lemblin is a famous Parisian café that was, from 1815, a center of Bonapartist community.

 

Duke or Duchess of Berry was a title for peers of France. The last holder of the name was the youngest son of Charles X, who was assassinated by Louis Pierre Louvel.

 

Madame de Stael was a French and Swiss political theorist that criticized Napoleon, and, in turn, was exiled. In her case, however, any press is good press, and her intellect and bravery made her famous across Europe.

 

Mademoiselle Mars was a successful actress.

 

Le Constitutionnel, founded in the Hundred Days, was a French political and literary newspaper that began as The Independent. The quality, unfortunately, did not stay strong, and it closed down in 1914.

 

La Minerve was a French-Canadian newspaper founded in 1826, so I'm not sure if this is actually what Hugo is referring to.

 

Chateaubriant was the town where Hugo's parents met.

 

Jacques-Louis David was an influential French painter that was a friend of Robespierre. Later, he aligned himself with Napoleon. The dude exiled himself, which is pretty metal, I guess. He painted the Death of Marat, an incredibly important part of the Revolution.

 

Arnault was a French playwright that was loyal to Napoleon and exiled with him.

 

Lazare Carnot was a French mathematician, physicist, and politician in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. His title the Organizer of Victory originated from the fact that the French Revolutionary Army was created because of his organization skills. He was exiled a regicide.

 

Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult--prime minister three times, receiver of Marshal General of France once.

 

Regicide is the "deliberate killing of a monarch, or a person responsible for the killing of a person of royalty."

 

The Pont Neuf is the oldest-standing bridge over the Seine in Paris.

 

Henry VI was King of England from 1422-1461, and arguably King of France from 1422-1453.

 

I don't know who Bacot is. The closest thing I can find is Edmond Bacot, a French 19th century artist that drew a portrait of Hugo. Sounded all fine and dandy until I realized he was born in 1814…

 

Simon Canuel was general in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was a general under Napoleon until he got bored and switched to the Bourbons. He was arrested as part of the Conspiracy of the Bord de l'Eau, but, with absence of proof, was set free.

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The Conspiracy of the Bord de l'Eau was a conspiracy "to arrest the minsters at Saint Cloud, after the council, and to take them to Vincennes. They intended to force the King to change his cabinet…A letter from Gen. Donnadieu, found in the papers of M. de Chateaubriand and sold to the police, seemed to prove that [he] was not ignorant of the plot."

 

Decazes was a Royalist statesman whose loyalty to the Bourbons led to his appointment as Minister of Police. Accused of being an accomplice to the assassination of the Duc of Berry.

 

Talma was an influential and trailblazing actor that was friends with Jacques-Louis David.

 

Lafon was also a French actor.

 

Charles-Marie de Feletez wrote a novel called Le Solitaire.

 

Hoffmann was a German Romantic author that composed fantasy and Gothic novels, songs, and art. 

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Charles Nodier was a an author that introduced gothic stories to Romanticism. Therese Aubert is a short story that looks into the Reign of Terror.

 

A lyceum is currently defined as "a hall for public lectures or discussions" or "an association providing public lectures, concerts, and entertainments."

 

The Duc d'Orleans is most likely Ferdinand Philippe, the son of Louis Philippe and heir to the King of France.

 

A hussar is a soldier in a light cavalry regiment that had adopted a dress uniform modeled on that of the Hungarian hussars.

 

A dragoon is a member of any of several cavalry regiments in the British army--not quite certain on why that's a "serious inconvenience."

Les Invalides is the National Residence of the Invalids, a complex of governmental buildings dedicated to the military history of France, as well as rehousing and convalescing veterans; Napoleon Bonaparte was buried here in 1840.

 

M. de Trinquelague was a French politician.

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M. Clausel de Montals was bishop of Chartres from 1824 to 1852.

 

M. Clausel de Coussergues was a member of Parliament for Aveyron.

 

M de Salaberry was a French Canadian military officer and statesman that served in various campaigns for the British Army.

 

Picard was a playwright, actor, novelist, poet, and music director. He became head of the Odeon Theatre (one of France's six national theatres) in 1816, and was elected to the French Academy in 1807.

 

Moliére (died 1673) was a playwright, actor, and poet, and, according to Wikipeida, is "widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and universal literature." In Les Précieuses Ridicules, he mocks the Academy.

 

The Two Philiberts was a comedy first staged at the Odéon.

 

Cugnet de Montarlot was a freedom activist and heir to the French Revolution. He was arrested twice for conspiring against the monarchy (bad@$$).

 

Fabvier was a French member of parliament. He was named captain in the French Imperial Guard under Napoleon, and did a whole lot of very interesting things in France, Greece, and other European countries. If you're interested, you can always head to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Nicolas_Fabvier to learn more.

 

Bavoux was a law professor and judge who was pro-Restoration in the beginning, then began to use his lectures to criticize the government.

 

Pelicier = ???

 

Loyson was a French poet, journalist, and writer that fell into disgrace during the Hundred Days. Not sure what the whole paw thing is, though.

 

Cardinal Fesch was a French cardinal + about twenty other titles. Him and the rest of Napoleon's Imperial House were banished from France in 1815--obviously not without putting up a fight.

 

It is not totally clear who specifically M. de Pins, Archbishop of Amasie, is, but it does seem as if the Pins (that's the correct grammar, I'm sure), were a wealthy royal family. Archbishop Pins ran Fesch's archdiocese after Fesch neglected to return to Rome after the Restoration.

 

Saint-Simon was a "French political and economic theorist and businessman whose thought played a substantial role in influencing politics, economics, sociology and the philosophy of science" (apparently Wikipedia doesn't use the Oxford comma?). He was the founder of an eponymous ideology--Saint-Simonianism--that gave merit to the needs of the working class. Unfortunately, he wasn't always taken very seriously.

 

The first Fourier Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier, a French mathematician and physicist that did a bunch of stuff--namely, Napoleon's scientific advisor in Egypt. Charles Fourier wrote numerous works, and was, as a hobby, a Utopian socialist (similar to Saint-Simon).

 

Charles Hubert Millevoye was a French poet.

 

Lord Byron's full name is George Gordon Byron, 7th Baron Byron.

 

David d'Angers was a sculptor/musketeer/starving artist.

 

Abbe Carron was a French religious founder of several charitable institutions and works of piety.

 

Felicite-Robert was a French Catholic priest, philosopher, and political theorist that rose to prominence as an intellectual during restoration France. He championed the causes of liberal and social Catholicism.

 

M. de Vaublanc was a French royalist politician, writer, and artist that served as Minister of the Interior from 1815-1816. Doesn't seem like Hugo liked him very much.

 

The Faubourg Saint-Germain is a historic district in Paris. Throughout the 18th century, it became a favorite among French high nobility, and le Faubourg is now used to describe French nobility. During Restoration France, it was home to the Ultra-Royalist party.

 

The Pavillon de Marsan is part of the Louvre (Palace, not Museum).

 

M. Delaveau was an Ultra-Royalist--shocker.

 

Dupuytren was chief surgeon at the Hôtel-Dieu and was an alleged atheist. Recamier, on the other hand, was a Catholic, and Cuvier was a devout Lutheran (and racist) that commented and hypothesized on evolutionary theories. He also discovered that African and Indian elephants are different species.

 

A mastodon is "a large extinct elephant-like mammal…having teeth of a relatively primitive form and number." Verdict unclear on what Moses has to do with them :/

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François de Neufchâteau was President of the National Assembly from 1791 to 1792 and held many other reputable positions in French government; after his retirement, he dedicated his time to the study of agriculture.

 

Parmentier was Inspector-General of the armed forces' health service, and was a notable advocate for potatoes as a source of nutrition. Know by few, hero to many.

 

The Abbé Grégoire was a member of the National Convention that sought the abolition of the monarchy.

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M. Royer-Collard was champion of the cause for…getting rid of the neologism (defined below) "baser." He really believed in its erasure, threatening to see himself out of the Academy if its use was not abandoned. I wish I believed in anything as much as he believed in word-marginalization.

 

The Pont de Jena is one of four bridges built in Paris under Napoleon's reign. Blücher was a Prussian army general that hated this bridge--most likely because it was named after Napoleon's great victory over Prussians in 1806--and made the brave, semi-resolute decision to blow up the bridge. He was convinced out of this decision, however, and would later lead troops into the Battle of Waterloo…but more on that, later.

 

The Comte d'Artois was Louis XVIII's brother and arch-royalist…oh, and also Charles X.

 

"Sapristi!" means something along the lines of "Good heavens!"

 

Two days before Waterloo, in an effort to avoid battling the combined Allied forces, Napoleon attacked the Prussians at Ligny and the English at Quatre-Bras. Quatre-Bras was a loss, and Ligny was barely a win.

 

When Hugo said "History neglects nearly all these particulars…" he was, unfortunately for us, absolutely right.

 

Notable Quotes:
"The Parisians stared indifferently at this useless thing."

"It is of the physiognomy of the years that the physiognomy of the centuries is composed."

 

Definitions that elude me:

• Bivouac: a temporary camp

• Redivivus: come back to life; reborn

• Madras: a strong, fine-textured cotton fabric, typically patterned with colorful stripes or checks

• Locution: a word or phrase, especially with regard to style or idiom

• Neologism: a newly coined word or expression

• Seditious: inciting or causing people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch

• Turpitude: depravity; wickedness

• Pell-mell: in a confused, rushed, or disorderly manner

• Farce: a comic dramatic work using buffoonery and horseplay and typically including crude characterization and ludicrously improbably situations

 

Chapter Two: A Double Quartette

 

"Burn for him the perfumes of Araby! …Oscar advances. Oscar, I shall behold him!" are two lines from an anonymous popular song that ends with the singer worrying that her lover will not stay faithful. Oscar also happens to be the name of a character in Poems of Ossian by James Macpherson. I can't quite figure out what Hugo means by "Arthurs did not yet exist."

 

The Jungfrau is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. It directly translates to "young woman," and is described as "snow-white and unattainable."

 

Reminder that the French Directory (also called the Directorate) was the governing body of the First French Republic (from 1795 to 1799, when Napoleon overthrew it). She was born in 1796, which puts her at 21 years old at this point in the book. 

 

The Latin Quarter in Paris is where the majority of the students in Paris lived (and still do!).

 

A grisette is a sexy working-class woman that seeks financial independence, regardless of if it means she will be poor--because at least she will enjoy herself.

 

Vaudeville is a type of entertainment that features light poetry or song with no deep philosophical meaning or moral intention.

 

Notable quotes:

"…more emancipated into the tumult of life than Fantine the Blonde, who was still in her first illusions."

"…where so many adventurers twine and untwine…"

"His youth, which was packing up for departure long before its time, beat a retreat in good order, bursting with laughter, and no one saw anything but fire."

 

Definitions that elude me:

• Coquetry: flirtatious behavior or a flirtatious manner

• Eclogue: a short poem, especially a pastoral dialogue

• Colloquy: a conversation

 

Chapter Three: Four and Four

 

Fécamp is a commune in Northern France.

 

Saint-Cloud is a commune in the suburbs of Paris, and was the locus of Napoleon's coup d'état to overthrow the Directorate.

 

Diogenes was a Greek philosopher, and one of the founders of Cynic philosophy. He possessed a certain anecdotal facetiousness, and his likeness has been painted on many--most often, a depiction of him holding a lantern or candle up to illuminate the citizens of Athens, claiming he was searching for an honest man.

 

Byronism is an obvious reference to Lord Byron's particular qualities--namely, his romanticism, melancholy, and melodrama.

 

M. Delvincourt and M. Blondeau. = ???

 

Galatea ("she who is milk white") refers to an ivory statue by Pygmalion, a king and sculptor in Greek mythology. Galatea is also an object of desire in works by Ovid and Theocritus.

 

Erigone is another reference to Greek mythology. Her masks may be referring to a sculpture of Erigone by Claude Gaulle--the feet of the sculpture are adorned with smiling satyr masks (you can see it here https://www.anticstore.art/72035P).

 

In Greek mythology, Venus was jealous of Psyche because of her beauty.

 

Barberousse and Diana don't seem to be anywhere on the web…

 

Notable quotes:

"…that merry obstacle, a shower…"

"Nothing was sacred to him; he smoked."

"Style is the form of the ideal; rhythm is its movement."

"…that equilibrium of outline which is quite distance from equilibrium of proportion…"

 

Definitions that elude me:

• Quincunx: a geometric pattern of five things in a square or rectangle with one at each corner and one in the middle

• Matutinal: of or occurring in the morning

• Nankeen: a yellowish cotton cloth

• Reticence: the quality of being reticent; reserve

• Reticent: not revealing one's thoughts or feelings readily

• Euphony: the quality of being pleasing to the ear, especially through a harmonious combination of words

 

Chapter Four: Tholomyes is so Merry that he sings a Spanish Ditty

 

The Embarkation for Cythera is a painting by Jean-Antoine Watteau. It is a work that represents love in a period of dissipation.

 

Lancret was a French painter that often depicted light comedy, right after the period of dissipation referred to in the Embarkation for Cythera.

 

Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer that was a contributor to the Encyclopédie during the Age of Enlightenment; primarily known for his plays.

 

Honoré d'Urfé was a French novelist.

 

Turcaret was a comedic play by Alain-Rene Lesage about a couple--the husband disloyal--with poor decision-making skills.

 

Priapus is a minor fertility god in Greek mythology.

 

Jean-Baptiste Greuze was a French painter who specialized in portraits, genre scenes, and history painting.

 

Beaujon was a park in the Russian mountains where a roller coaster was installed in 1817.

 

Notable quotes:
"Notaries' clerks are gods."

"…frightened at their happiness…"

 

Definitions that elude me:

• Patrician: an aristocrat or nobleman

• Apotheosis: the highest point in the development of something; culmination or climax

• Manikin: a person who is very small, especially one not otherwise abnormal or deformed

• Anchorite: a religious recluse

• Acrimony: bitterness or ill feeling

 

Chapter Five: At Bombardas

 

The horses of Marley are two large marble sculptures of horses restrained by naked men. Hugo's comment on them: "those neighing marles wheeling on a golden cloud."

 

The Tuileries Palace was a royal and imperial Palace in France until it was the victim of arson in 1871.

 

The Place de la Concorde is one of the major public squares in France, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées.

 

No notes on who Minerva Aptera of the Piraeus is…

 

"…in Corinth the colossal bronze figure of a cat" may be a reference to the fact that cats represented liberty for ancient republics.

 

Georges Danton was the first president of the Committee of Public Safety. Unfortunately, he was guillotined after being accused of leniency towards the adversaries of the Revolution.

 

The Battle of Claudine Forks (321 BC) is a bit of a misnomer, as there was no fighting, and there were no casualties between the Romans and Samnites.

 

La Carmagnole was a song and dance that celebrated the Revolution and its fight against the monarchy in 1792. Here are the lyrics:

 

Madame Veto has promised

Madame Veto has promised

To cut everyone's throat in Paris

To cut everyone's throat in Paris

But she failed to do this,

Thanks to our cannons.

 

Refrain:

Let us dance the Carmagnole

Long live the sound

Long live the sound

Let us dance the Carmagnole

Long live the sound of the cannons.

 

Mr. Veto had promised (repeat)

To be loyal to his country; (repeat)

But he failed to be,

Let's not do quarters.

Refrain

 

Antoinette had decided (repeat)

To drop us on our asses; (repeat)

But the plan was foiled

And she fell on her face.

Refrain

 

Her husband, believing himself a conqueror, (repeat)

Knowing little our value, (repeat)

Go, Louis, big crybaby,

From the the Temple into the tower.

Refrain

 

The Swiss had promised, (repeat)

That they would fire our friends, (repeat)

But how they have jumped!

How they have all danced!

 

Refrain

 

When Antoinette sees the tower, (repeat)

She wishes to make a half turn, (repeat)

She is sick at heart

To see herself without honor.

 

Refrain

Refrain

Refrain

 

La Marseillaise was written by a French army engineer to inspire volunteers for France's war against Austria and Prussia; it was immortalized through Revolutionary volunteers marching into Paris from Versailles. In 1795, it became the French national anthem.

 

Notable quotes:

"…a merry confusion…"

"…light and dust, the two things of which glory is composed."

"…it is not so much 'an amiable rabble' as it is thought."

"The Parisian is to the Frenchman what the Athenian was to the Greek: no one sleeps more soundly than he, no one is more frankly frivolous and lazy than he, no one can better assume the air of forgetfulness; let him not be trusted nevertheless; he is ready for any sort of cool deed; but when there is glory at the end of it, he is worthy of admiration in every sort of fury."

 

Definitions that elude me:

• Idyll: an extremely happy, peaceful, or picturesque episode or scene, typically an idealized or unsustainable one

• Chlamys: a short cloak worn by men in ancient Greece

• Faubourg: a suburb, especially one in Paris

 

Chapter Six: A Chapter in which they adore Each Other

 

And a chapter in which I adore Hugo for not including deep-cut references to French entertainers and philosophers.

 

Chapter Seven: The Wisdom of Tholomyes

 

Grimod de la Reyniere was a lawyer who acquired fame under Napoleon for his "sensual and public gastronomic [the art of good eating] lifestyle" (Wikipedia).

 

Reminder that Talleyrand has become a byword for crafty, cynical diplomacy.

 

Bombance translates to feast, bamboche translates to revelry, and it seems as if Bombarda is the keeper of the inn they are staying at.

 

I'm a bit confused about the characters' view of the Marquis de Montcalm--I'm assuming royalists were not celebrated during the Restoration… What are these characters' opinions of the current state of things? If anyone has any intel on that, hit up my line…

 

This musing is more for my own bemusement, but feel free to read along, if you wish: "...with the accent of a man who had recovered his empire…" Okay, hello foreshadowing! Hello reference to the Hundred Days! I knew this website would come in handy (for myself, at least). This entire monologue is equally foreshadowing and…aft-shadowing? Or, put simply, a reference to the past, Napoleon in specific. Let's talk about someone whose appetite couldn't be stifled. Some more foreshadowing: "The sage is the man who knows how, at a given moment, to effect his own arrest."

 

Amphiaraus was an oracle king of Argos in Greek mythology.

 

Est modus in rebus directly translates to "There are measures in things," but essentially means there is a sufficient measure in everything.

 

Gula punit Gulax translates to "Gluttony chastises the glutton."

 

A quaestor is an Ancient Roman official who had charge of public revenue and expenditure.

 

Sylla, AKA Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, was a successful Roman general that led a military coup to become dictator.

 

Origenes seems to go mainly go by Origen--maybe him and Hugo were close or something. Haha jk he died 253 AD. He was a renown early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theologian that spent most of his time in Alexandria, Egypt. At around 67, he was tortured for two years for his refusal to renounce his faith. He passed away at 69.

 

Quirites was an early name for the citizens of Ancient Rome, and historians agree that it derives from Latin for "assembly of the men."

 

Callabero is Spanish for "knight."

 

 Nun te, Bacche, canam! translates to "Now I will sing to your name, Bacchus."

 

An arroba is an old Spanish unit of weight, mass, or volume.

 

Castile is a historical region of Spain.

 

A cantaro is a clay pot that serves as a musical instrument.

 

Alicante is a Spanish port city.

 

The four largest Balearic Islands are Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera.

 

Tzar Peter is a reference to Peter the Great, a former emperor of Russia.

 

A chimera can be one of two things: 1) in Greek mythology, a fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail, or 2) a thing that is hoped or wished for but in fact is illusory or impossible to achieve.

 

Chassez translates to "hunt," but I'm not sure that's what it means in this context…

 

Casus belli is a Latin expression meaning "an act or situation provoking or justifying war."

 

The end of this chapter… exquisite.

 

Notable quotes:
"The pun is the dung of the mind which soars." (Is this paragraph pro-pun or anti-pun? Who knows…)

 

Definitions that elude me:

• Rebuse: an ornamental device associated with a person to whose name it punningly alludes

• Parricide: the killing of a parent or other near relative

• Perfidious: deceitful and untrustworthy

• Dessicate: remove the moisture from (something); cause to become completely dry

 

Chapter Eight: The Death of a Horse

 

Descartes is known for being the first modern philosopher, and laid the foundation for rationalism. His senior thesis: the absolute freedom of God's creation. "I think, therefore I am" sound familiar?

 

Spinoza's work is partly a continuation of Descartes's development of rationalism. He laid the foundation for the Age of Enlightenment.

 

Desaugiers was a French composer, dramatist, and song-writer.

 

Madeira Wine is a fortified Portuguese wine made in the Madeira Islands, ranging from dry wines that may be consumed as an apertif, to sweet wines often consumed with dessert.

 

Berquin was a French lawyer, civil servant, linguist, and Protestant reformer that was, spoiler alert, burned at the stake as a heretic.

 

Berchoux was a French poet and humorist.

 

Apuleius was a Latin prose writer and philosopher.

 

Nil sub sole novum translates to "nothing new under the sun."

 

Amor omnibus idem translates to "love is the same for everybody."

 

Aspasia is a woman famous for her involvement with Athenian statesman Pericles, in turn influencing Athenian politics. She has been mentioned by Plato, Xenophon, and Aristophanes…feminism!

 

Pericles was the most prominent Greek statesman, orator, and general of Athens during the Golden Age.

 

Manon Lescaut is an Italian four-act opera composed by Giacomo Puccini. It is the story of Manon, a young woman, who is taken by her brother to live in a convent. A local student named Des Grieux is overwhelmed by her beauty, and, you guessed it, fell in love with her at first sight.

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Elle etait de ce monde ou coucous et carrosses, Ont le meme destin; Et, rosse, elle a vecu ce que vivant les rosses, L'espace d'un matin! translates to "She belonged to that circle where cuckoos and carriages share the same fate; and a jade herself, she lived, as jades live, for the space of a morning.

 

Definitions that elude me:

• Syllogism: an instance of a form of reasoning in which a conclusion is drawn (whether validly or not) from two given or assumed premises, each of which shares a term with the conclusion, and shares a common or middle term not present in the conclusion

 

Chapter Nine: A Merry End to Mirth

And a not-so-merry end to Book Three.