Annotations to James Joyce's Ulysses/Proteus/043

Annotations

Un demi sétier     (French Slang) A small black coffee. The usual French term for a small black coffee is demitasse. A sétier is an obsolete unit of capacity and volume. It was used before the French Revolution to express the capacity of dry substances, such as seeds and grains, and the volume of liquids. Its value varied from place to place, but the Parisian dry sétier was equal to 151.680 litres. The liquid sétier was equivalent to about 9 litres, or to 284 millilitres, depending on the source consulted. The latter would make a demi-sétier equal to about 142 ml, which is appropriate for a small cup of coffee.

Il est Irlandais. Hollandais? Non fromage. Deux Irlandais, nous, Irlande, vous savez? Ah oui!. she thought you wanted a cheese hollandais     (French) He's Irish. Dutch? Not cheese. Two Irishmen, we, Ireland, you understand? Oh yes! She thought you wanted a Dutch cheese. Stephen recalls a conversation between Kevin Egan and a waitress in a Parisian restaurant.

slainte !     (Errata) sláinte ! is the correct spelling.

sláinte !     (Irish) health! A traditional Irish toast.

Vieille ogresse with the dents jaunes     (French) Old ogress with the yellow teeth. The words occur in Édouard Drumont's Le Testament d'un antisémite (The Last Will and Testament of an Antisemite):

Le Testament d'un antisémite

Cela rappelle la réponse de Frédérick Lemaître à la reine Victoria. Frédérick avait été jouer à Londres Le Chiffonnier de Paris; la reine l'avait fait venir dans sa loge, et la vieille ogresse aux dents jaunes avait feint l'attendrissement. - Comment, vous avez de pareilles misères à Paris? - Madame, répondit Frédérick avec sa voix tonnante et son grand geste, ce sont nos Irlandais...

This recalls the response of Frédérick Lemaître to Queen Victoria. Frédérick had been playing in London The Rag-Picker of Paris; the queen had summoned him to her box, and the old ogress with the yellow teeth had feigned tenderness. - How can there be such misery in Paris? - Madam, Frédérick replied with a booming voice and grand gesture, these are our Irish...

According to Gifford, in folklore cannibalism was believed to turn the teeth yellow.

La Patrie     (French) The Fatherland. La Patrie was a French political journal. Founded in 1841 and published daily, it was politically conservative.

froeken     (Swedish) young unmarried woman. The Swedish spelling is fröken.

bonne à tout faire     (French) maid of all work.

Moi faire, she said. Tous les messieurs not this Monsieur I said.     (Errata) Gabler emends this thus:

Moi faire, she said, tous les messieurs. Not this monsieur, I said.

In The Little Review, which published an earlier draft of this chapter in 1918, the passage is printed thus:

Moi faire, she said. Tous les messieurs. Most licentious custom.

Moi faire, she said. Tous les messieurs. Not this monsieur, I said     (French) I do, she said. All the gentlemen. Not this gentleman, I said. Stephen recalls another remark made to him by Kevin Egan in Paris.

rue de la Goutte-d'Or     (French) Street of the Drop of Gold. The Goutte d'Or: is a suburb of Paris in the 18th arrondissement, named for the ancient vineyards that once produced a golden white wine here. The Rue de la Goutte d'Or runs from the Rue Polonceau to 22 Boulevard Barbès. Gabler italicizes this phrase.

rue Gît-le-Cœur     (French) A street in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It is a narrow street, close to the Left Bank of the Seine. It runs roughly parallel to the boulevard Saint-michel. The name, which translates literally as Lies-the-Heart Street, is a corruption of Rue Gilles le Queux (Gilles the Cook Street). Gabler italicizes the name.