140 n'occupe. _Pas_ is omitted after _si_ whenever the affirmative idea is predominant. Tr.: "unless."
149 tes peuples. Cf. l. 19, and N. to l. 56.
155 This interview is a departure from the Book of Esther, where Mordecai, in accordance with Eastern custom, can do no more than "walk before the court of the women's house" (ii. II).
s'ose avancer is an elegant order for _ose s'avancer_. The peculiarity is that _oser_ is here used as though it were one of the two auxiliaries _avoir and _être_, which alone must separate the oblique conjunctives from their governing verb. Cf. ll. 231, 471. We shall find several other such pseudo-auxiliaries.
160 enfin must be variously translated. It can have the force of: 1. "at length;" 2. "too," at the end of an enumeration; 3. "in short;" 4. "still," or, "after all;" 5. "in the end."
164 c'est fait de . . . = _actum est de_. . . . See also App. V, ii. D.
166 Devoir means 1. "to owe;" 2. "to have to," "must" expressing either physical necessity (e.g., "You must be tired") or moral obligation; 3. "to be [about] to;" e.g., "I am to be queen of the May."
170 race d'Amalécite, in apposition to _Aman_, is infinitely more contemptuous than the equally metrical _de race amalécite_. Tr. "of the brood of Amalek." Cf. Book of Esther, iii. 1, where Haman is stated to be descended from Agag, king of the Amalekites.
171 crèdit:--"personal influence," which Haman has used as a weapon to strike down his foes.
173 prévenir means: 1. "to forestall," 2. "to give notice" (l. 203), "to warn," i.e., to forestall the mishap; 3. "to prejudice," i.e., to forestall impartial judgment, as here.
174 en horreur à. Cf. _odio esse alicui_, and _en proie à (l. 1177). See App. V, i.
176 pris. Cf. _prendre jour avec quelqu'un_ = "to make an appointment."
182 les restes, very strong when applied to persons.
189 Note the agreement of the adverb.--_Le feu de_ = "the fire that inspired . . ."
194 affecte = "claims." The word is very skillfully chosen. It conveys, without the slightest disrespect, Esther's sense of the arbitrary character of this law.
203 _sans [que je puisse] le prévenir_. The queen may not even inform the king of her desire to speak with him.
209 sang, a frequent metonymy for _race_, as in English.