au plus si je pourrais. In conditional
clauses the conditional is not allowed after _si_; this clause is
declarative, the meaning is: "aldquo;at the utmost I could do no more than."

HONORE DE BALZAC

Tours, 1799--Paris, 1850

Because of his father's circumstances Balzac was at an early age placed
in a law office; this work was especially irksome to him, and he soon
went over to literature. For a long time he suffered hardships from want
of money, which seems to have strongly colored much of his work. In 1850
he married a wealthy Polish lady, Madame Hanska, but he never was able
to enjoy the life of ease to which he had been looking forward for many
years; his death occurred a few months after his marriage. Balzac's
chief work is to be found in his _Comedie Humaine_, a collection of
stones filling some forty volumes. It is divided into: _(1) Scenes de
la Vie Privee, (2) Scenes de la Vie de Province, (3) Scenes de la
Vie Parisienne, (4) Scenes de la Vie Politique, (5) Scenes de la Vie
Militaire, (6) Scenes de la Vie de Campagne, (7) Etudes Philosophiques,
(8) Etudes Analytiques_. These novels are often connected by the
reappearance of certain characters, and especially by the analysis of
character which is always intimately connected with Balzac's name. Of
a robust, exuberant and vulgar nature, his style is poor; he lacked an
artistic sense and he was without poetic genius. He was unable to depict
a gentleman or a lady; but he excelled in the analysis of character,
especially among the middle and lower classes, and in the descriptions
of their surroundings; it is thus that he stands at the head of the
Realists.

Important works: To the _Comedie Humaine_ (1829-1850) above mentioned
should be added the _Contes Drolatiques_ (in which he imitates the
style and the language of the sixteenth century) and several volumes
of _Contes_. In the _Comedie Humaine_ the following volumes should be
especially mentioned: _Le Pere Goriot_, _Le Colonel Chabert_, _Le Lys
dans la Vallee_, _Ursule Mirouet_, _Eugenie Grandet_, _Le Cure de Tours,
Illusions Perdues, Cesar Birotteau, Les Paysans, Le Cure de Village_.
_Un Drame au Bord de la Mer_ (written in 1834) is taken from the _Etudes
Philosophiques_ (published in 1835)

Edltlon: Calmann Levy, in 24 vols. and in 45 vols. (his works have been
published in several other editions).

UN DRAME AU BORD DE LA MER

222.--7. conceptions premieres. Numerals precede their
nouns; when _prem