Endnotes
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This is quite untranslatable—it being a play upon the words pécheur (with a grave over the first e), a sinner, and pêcheur (with an accent circumflex over the first e), a fisherman. It is in very bad taste. —Trans. ↩
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In most other editions, this chapter and the next are usually combined into one chapter, entitled “D’Artagnan Calls de Wardes to Account.” ↩
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Dumas is mistaken. The events in the following chapters occurred in 1661. ↩
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The verses in this chapter have been rewritten to give the flavor of them rather than the meaning. A more literal translation would look like this:
“Guiche is the furnisher
Of the maids of honor.”and—
“He has stocked the birdcage;
Montalais and—”It would be more accurate, though, to say “baited” rather than “stocked” in the second couplet. ↩
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The Latin translates to “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ↩
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“Ad majorem Dei gloriam” was the motto of the Jesuits. It translates to “For the greater glory of God.” ↩
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“In the presence of these men?” ↩
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“By this sign you shall conquer.” ↩
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“It rained all night long; the games will be held tomorrow.” ↩
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“Lord, I am not worthy.” ↩
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“To err is human.” ↩
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Potatoes were not grown in France at that time. La Siecle insists that the error is theirs, and that Dumas meant “tomatoes.” ↩
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“In your house.” ↩
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This alternate translation of the verse is closer to the original meaning.
“Oh! you who sadly are wandering alone,
Come, come, and laugh with us.” -
Marie de Mancini was a former love of the king’s. He had to abandon her for the political advantages which the marriage to the Spanish Infanta, Maria Theresa, afforded. See Chapter XIII. ↩
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“A sun not eclipsed by many suns.” Louis’s device was the sun. ↩
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“To what heights may he not aspire?” Fouquet’s motto. ↩
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“A creature rare on earth.” ↩
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“With an eye always to the climax.” ↩
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“He is patient because he is eternal” is how the Latin translates. It is from St. Augustine. This motto was sometimes applied to the Papacy, but not to the Jesuits. ↩
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It is possible that the preceding conversation is an obscure allegorical allusion to the Fronde, or perhaps an intimation that the Duc was the father of Mordaunt, from Twenty Years After, but a definite interpretation still eludes modern scholars. ↩
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The dictates of such a service would require Raoul to spend the rest of his life outside of France, hence Athos’s and Grimaud’s extreme reactions. ↩
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Dumas here, and later in the chapter, uses the name Roncherat. Roncherolles is the actual name of the man. ↩
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In some editions, “in spite of Milady” reads “in spite of malady.” ↩
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“Pie” in this case refers to magpies, the prey for the falcons. ↩
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Anne of Austria did not die until 1666, and Dumas sets the current year as 1665. ↩
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Madame de Montespan would oust Louise from the king’s affections by 1667. ↩
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De Guiche would not return to court until 1671. ↩
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Madame did die of poison in 1670, shortly after returning from the mission described later. The Chevalier de Lorraine had actually been ordered out of France in 1662. ↩
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This particular campaign did not actually occur until 1673. ↩
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Jean-Paul Oliva was the actual general of the Jesuits from 1664–1681. ↩
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In earlier editions, the last line reads, “Of the four valiant men whose history we have related, there now no longer remained but one single body; God had resumed the souls.” Dumas made the revision in later editions. ↩