Mirèio/Notes to Canto VIII
NOTES TO CANTO VIII.
1 "Magalouno." According to the old chivalrous romance, Count Pierre of Provence, having eloped with Magalouno, daughter of the King of Naples, fled with her over hill and vale. One day, as Magalouno was sleeping by the seaside, a bird of prey carried off a jewel that was glittering on her neck. Her lover followed the bird in a boat out to sea; but a storm arose, whereby he was driven to Egypt, where be was received and loaded with honors by the Soldan. After many romantic adventures, they met again in Provence, where Magalouno, having become an abbess, had founded a hospital, around which the town of Magalouno was afterwards built.
2 Santo Vitori, a lofty peak east of Aix. It derives its name from the victory gained by Marius over the Teutons, close by.
3 Juniper, Juniparus phœnicea.
4 Praying mantes, Orthoptera raptoria.
5 St. Gent. A young laborer of Monteux, who, at the beginning of the eleventh century, retired to the gorge of Bausset, near Vaucluse, to live as a hermit. His hermitage, and the miraculous fountain he caused to spring, tradition says, by touching the rock with his finger, are objects of many pilgrimages.
6 7 8 Helix hermiculata, Helix exepitum, and Helix algira.
9 August 15, the fête of Napoleon III.
10 The Grand Clar, an immense pond in Crau, between Baux and Arles.
11 "The fish-broth," bouibaisso, a favorite Provençal stew, made of all sorts of fish, and poured, boiling hot, upon pieces of bread.