JE LA DEMANDE A LUI, etc. The modern construction of this
sentence would be: _Avant que je ne la lui demande, souffrez que je vous la
demande a vous._

[216] RENDRE MES GRACES. In modern usage the _mes_ is omitted in this
locution.

[217] NENNI, 'No.' An antiquated negative particle, coming from _non illud_,
as _hoc illud_ gave oil > oui (Littre).

[218] IL This second _il_ refers to _present_.

[219] NE FAITES POINT DEPENSE D'EMBARRAS, 'Don't waste your confusion,'
'keep such feelings for a more fitting occasion.'

[220] D'OU VIENT ME DITES-VOUS CELA? 'Why do you tell me that?' A strange
wording for _D'ou vient que vous me dites cela? D'ou vient,_ as used by
Marivaux, is generally synonymous with _pourquoi._

[221] VOILA OU GIT LE LIEVRE, 'That's where the secret lies.' A well-known
proverbial expression, worded also, "C'est la que git le lievre."

[222] A TIRER, 'To be allowed for.'

[223] GLOIRE, 'Rank,' 'show.'

[224] J'ENTRE EN CONFUSION DE MA MISERE, 'To whom I have been ashamed to
reveal my lowly station.'

[225] PARDI. See note 15.

[226] FAUTES D'ORTHOGRAPHE. See note 134.

[227] N'APPRETONS POINT A RIRE, 'Let us give them no occasion to
laugh at us.' _Appreter a rire_, Littre, 8 deg., also Dict. de l'Acad., 1878.

[228] HABIT D'ORDONNANCE, 'Livery.' Until 1666 the regiments in the French
army wore the livery of the colonel commanding. After that date they wore the
king's livery or uniform, though some regiments, more highly favored, wore
the actual colors of the royal livery; the uniform was in fact nothing but a
mark that the wearers belonged to the sovereign. Harlequin has played upon
this fact in a preceding scene, when he has called himself "un soldat
d'antichambre."

[229] CELA NE LAISSE PAS D'ETRE. See note 109.

[230] TANT Y A QUE, 'However that may be,' or 'Nevertheless, the truth is
that.'

[231] LA VOILA BIEN MALADE, 'She is pining with love for me.'

[232] PAR LA VENTREBLEU, _Ventrebleu_, written also _ventrebieu_, is a
euphemism for _ventre (de) Dieu_. A familiar interjection; admitted by the
Academy, 1878. For the _la_, compare a similar corruption of _palsambleu_
(_par le sang [de] Dieu_) into _par LA sambleu_, and _corbleu_ (_corps [de]
Dieu_) into _par LA corbleu_.

[233] CASAQUE. Harlequin's loose upper garment or jacket.

[234] SOUQUENILLE. A long outer garment of coarse cloth, worn especially by
grooms in the care of their horses.

[235] UN AMOUR DE MA FACON, 'A pa