Journey to the End of the Night (66 page)

[15] p. 41
Hôtel Paritz
. A combination of Paris and Ritz.

[16] p. 42
Boston 1677
. This is typical of Celine's cavalier treatment of history. He was well aware that the
Mayflower
landed neither in Boston nor in 1677.

[17] p. 45
Madelon, viens
, "Madelon, come." An allusion to the words "
Quand Madelon
vient nous servir ŕ boire ...
" ("When Madelon comes and serves us drinks ..."), from the popular First World War song.

[18] p. 57
Carnot
. Lazare Carnot (1753-1823). Statesman and general. Member of the Convention and of the Committee of Public Safety under the French Revolution. Surnamed

"Organizer of Victory" for his work in organizing and directing the Revolutionary armies.

[19] p. 57
Dumouriez
.. Charles-François Dumouriez (1739-1823). Went over to the Revolution and in collaboration with Kellermann won the battle of Valmy against the Prussians in 1792. In the following year he was defeated at Neerwinden and denounced to the National Assembly as a traitor. Whereupon he deserted to the Austrians.

[20] p. 57
Goethe
. Goethe was indeed present at the battle of Valmy, and Céline's quotation is reasonably accurate.

[21] p. 57
Barrès
. Maurice Barrès (1862-1923). Writer and politician. Extreme French nationalist, obsessed by the German menace.

[22] p. 57
Elsa the Horsewoman. Elsa la Cavalière
, the title of a novel by Pierre MacOrlan (1882-1970). A slight anachronism because the novel did not appear until 1921.

[23] p. 59
Madame Herote
. From
érotique
?"erotic."

[24] p. 59
Impasse des Bérésinas
. This street figures prominently in
Death on the
Installment Plan
and is no doubt the Passage Choiseul, where Céline grew up.

[25] p. 61
Pont d'Auteuil
. Céline's geography is as free and easy as his history, though he knew Paris like the back of his hand. Both extremities of the wide end of the wedge are slightly displaced, the one linguistically, the other geographically. Pont d'Auteuil should be Porte d'Auteuil, which is far away, and Porte des Ternes should be Porte Maillot, which isn't far at all. Then you get the eastern edge of the Bois de Boulogne, hence the trees.

[26] p. 63
Pétain
. Philippe Pétain (1856-1961), general. Took part in the battle of the Marne. Commanded victorious French troops at Verdun. Made commander-in-chief of the French armies in 1916 and created a marshal of France in 1918. After French defeat in World War II became premier of unoccupied France. Tried and sentenced to death in 1945. Sentence commuted to life imprisonment by de Gaulle.

[27] p. 63
Variétés
. Theatre des Variétés, a theater in Montmartre devoted chiefly to operettas and light comedies. Several of Offenbach's operas were performed there.

[28] p. 65
Pont de Grenelle
. The bridge with the Métro on it is not the Pont de Grenelle but the next one in a northwesterly direction, the Pont de Bir-Hakeim, then called the Pont de Passy.

[29] p. 66
Claude Lorrain
. Claude Gellée, known as le Lorrain (1600-82). French landscape painter who spent most of his life in Rome.

[30] p. 70
Val-de-Grâce
. A former abbey, converted into a military hospital in 1795.

[31] p. 74
Père Birouette
. From
hiroute
, a familiar term for the male sex organ.

[32] p. 75
Sergeant Branledore
. From
branler
, to masturbate. [33] p. 77
Vaudesquin
. Probably fictitious.

[34] p. 77
Dupré
. Ernest Dupré (1862-1921). An eminent specialist in neurology and psychiatry.

[35] p. 77
Margeton
. Probably fictitious.

[36] p. 86
Puta
. From
pute, putain
, meaning "whore."

[37] p. 88
Voireuse
. From
foireux
, argot for "coward."

[38] p. 95
Bragueton
. From
braguette
, meaning "fly" (of trousers).

[39] p. 95
Pilett
. Transmogrification of Gillette.

[40] p. 101
Frémizon
. From
frémir
, to quiver, quake, shake (with passion).

[41] p. 102
Mangin
. Charles Mangin (1866-1925). General Mangin owes his fame largely to his prowess in the First World War, but he began his career in Africa and Indochina.

[42] p. 102
Faidherbe
. Louis Léon César Faidherbe (1828-89). General and colonizer. Began his career in Algeria and Guadeloupe.

[43] p. 102
Galliéni
. Joseph Galliéni (1849-1916). General and administrator. Distinguished career in the colonies. It was he who requisitioned the Paris taxicabs to carry reinforcements to the battle of the Marne.

[44] p. 106
Bambola-Fon-Gono
. From
bamboula
, meaning roughly "whoopie," and "gonococcus."

[45] p. 106
Bugeaud
. Thomas Robert Bugeaud, Marquis de la Piconnerie (1784-1849). Figured prominently in the conquest of Algeria.

[46] p. 109
Marchand
. Jean-Baptiste Marchand (1836-1934). General and explorer. Took part in various expeditions in West Africa. In the course of an expedition begun in 1897

reached Fashoda on the Upper Nile, but the French government ordered him to evacuate when British troops arrived under Kitchener.

[47] p. 109
Pordurière
. A combination of
port
, meaning "seaport," and
ordures
, meaning "garbage."

[48] p. 120
Tombat
. A combination of
tomber
, meaning "to fall," and
combat
, meaning "combat."

[49] p. 120
Charleroi
. City in Belgium. Scene of a battle in 1914, ending in a French withdrawal.

[50] p. 120
Verdun
. City in eastern France. Scene of a long drawn-out, and extremely bloody battle in which the French withstood a powerful German offensive and were finally (1917) victorious.

[51] p. 122
Avenue Fachoda
. See note on Marchand above, p. 109 [note 46]. A bit of a joke. Since Fashoda represented a French humiliation, an Avenue Fachoda in France or the French colonies was unthinkable.

[52] p. 128
Lieutenant Grappa
. From the well-known Italian alcoholic spirit.

[53] p. 148
Nord-Sud Métro
. One of the earliest Métro lines, crossing Paris from north to south. Since unification of the Métro lines, known as Line 12.

[54] p. 154
San Tapeta
. From
tapette
, argot for "homosexual."

[55] p. 156
Combitta
. From
con
= the female sex organ and
bite
= the male sex organ.

[56] p. 170
Laugh Calvin
. The reason for this odd name is that Calvin Coolidge, president of the United States from 1923 to 1929, was never known to smile, much less laugh.

[57] p. 184
Chabanais
. Le Chabanais on the rue Chabanais was one of the most celebrated and luxurious of Paris brothels.

[58] p. 184
Invalides
. A group of buildings put up in 1670 by Louis XIV as a home for wounded soldiers. The tomb of Napoleon is situated in the church of Saint-Louis des Invalides, the most prominent building in the compound.

[59] p. 191
Coué method
. A method of self-healing devised by Emile Coué (1857-1926), pharmacist and psychotherapist. Very popular in the United States for a time. You repeated to yourself several times a day: "Every day in every way I'm getting better and better."

[60] p. 204
La Garenne-Rancy
. There actually is a La Garenne (La Garenne-Columbes) in the Paris suburbs, not far from where this imaginary town seems to be. The word
garenne
means "rabbit warren." Rancy suggests
rance
, meaning "rancid."

[61] p. 204
Porte Brancion
. All other indications are that La Garenne-Rancy was situated north-northwest of Paris. The Porte Brancion is on the southern rim of the city.

[62] p. 206
fortifications
. These fortifications were built between 1841 and 1844, in the reign of Louis-Philippe, to protect Paris from foreign invasion. They consisted of a circular wall thirty-nine kilometers long with ninety-four bastions. Used during the siege of Paris by the Prussians in the war of 1870, they were destroyed after the First World War.

[63] p. 206
Fortified Zone
. Propertly "le Zone Militaire de Paris," commonly referred to simply as
la Zone
, "the Zone." The strip of land between the fortifications and the suburbs, where for military reasons construction was prohibited. In late popular usage the more depressing suburbs on the outskirts of Paris.

[64] p. 206
tollhouse
. Up to the late twenties a tax was levied on certain foodstuffs entering Paris. There were toll stations (
octroi
) at all the city gates.

[65] p. 209
Dr. Frolichon
. From
folichon
= "
frolic
some." [66] p. 210
Gagat
. From
gaga
, feeble-minded. [67] p. 226
the Tower
. The Eiffel Tower.

[68] p. 239
Joseph Bioduret Institute
. Bioduret seems to suggest the prolongation of life. The institute is clearly the Pasteur Institute. True, the Pasteur Institute is at the opposite end of Paris from La Villette. But this is just Célinian mystification. The institute is accurately located off the Rue de Vaugirard a few pages further on.

[69] p. 241
Jaunisset
. From
jaunisse
, "jaundice."

[70] p. 246
Rue de Vaugirard
. Here the institute is correctly situated.

[71] p. 248
the château
. The Louvre, which is never referred to as a château.

[72] p. 250
Caulaincourt Bridge
. From this point one would look out over the Montmartre cemetery and the "great lake of night." But only in a dream is one anywhere near the fortifications or the suburbs.

[73] p. 255
diabolo
. A mixture of
limonade
(fizz water with synthetic lemon flavoring) and some sort of syrup, usually mint or grenadine.

[74] p. 258
boules
. Boules is the same as
boccie
and something like the English bowls. Played mostly by men on provincial village squares and in Paris parks.

[75] p. 302
campaign of 1816
. In 1814, and not in 1816 as Céline whimsically says, Marshal Moncey (Adrien Jeannot de Moncey, due de Conegliano) defended the Clichy Barrier against the invading troops of the anti-Napoleonic coalition. There is a monument commemorating the event in the middle of the Place Clichy. The invading troops included Cossacks, who were long remembered with horror.

[76] p. 303
Tarapout
. The Paramount Theater.

[77] p. 305
emberesina'd
. A reference to the crossing of the Berezina River by Napoleon in 1812, in the course of his retreat from Moscow. More than twenty thousand French troops were lost.

[78] p. 306
Porte Saint-Martin
. The Theatre de la Porte Saint-Martin. A theater situated on the Boulevard Saint-Martin. One of the holy places of the Romantic drama. Burned down under the Commune in 1871. Rebuilt in 1873.

[79] p. 310
Pomone
. From Pomona, goddess of fruit trees.

[80] p. 311
Belshazzar
. The wicked king of Babylon, who saw the handwriting on the wall (Daniel 5:25).

[81] p. 315
Bourse
. The Stock Exchange.

[82] p. 316
Galeries Dufayel
. A large furniture store in Montmartre. The name was regarded as symbolic of cheap luxury.

[83] p. 317
La pérouse
. Jean-François de Galaup, Comte de la Pérouse (1741-88), French navigator. Died in the course of a voyage around the world, probably massacred by the inhabitants of the island of Vanikoro. He did not have a wooden leg. The wooden leg seems to have been borrowed from Nelson.

[84] p. 317
the Moulin
, Le Moulin de Galette. A famous dance hall built in the nineteenth century beside a windmill so-called. Immortalized by Renoir's painting of it.

[85] p. 319
"the Cid."
The leading character in Corneille's tragedy
Le Cid
(1636), inspired by the life of the Cid Campeador, an eleventh-century Spanish hero.

[86] p. 332
Sainte-Eponime
. From "eponym"?the mythical or historical person after whom a tribe, city, country, etc. is named. In this instance, "etc." means "church."

[87] p. 333
Madelon
. See above, note to p. 45. [note 17]

[88] p. 337
Cayenne
. Capital of French Guiana, a penal colony up to 1942.

[89] p. 342
La Bruyère
. Jean de La Bruyère (1645-96). Moralist. Author of
Les
Caractères
, a book of maxims and portraits of contemporary figures, which gained great popularity.

[90] p. 363
Seine-et-Oise
. At that time the immediate suburbs of Paris belonged to the Seine Department, which in turn was surrounded by a wider belt, also regarded as suburban?the Seine-et-Oise Department.

[91] p. 364
the Exposition
. The Exposition Universelle (World Exhibition) held in Paris in 1900.

[92] p. 374
bouchon
. A game once especially popular among Beton fishermen. Coins or other valuables are placed on top of a large cork. Standing at some distance from it, the contestants toss disks; the player who first overturns the cork takes the coins.

[93] p. 413
Grand-Duc de Malvoison
. This is a take-off on the fancy names often given to poor-quality wines.

[94] p. 416
Café Miseux
. Suggests
miséreux
, meaning "seedy."