From the book
The Gods Are Athirst
Anatole France · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Meaning
Related words and phrases.
A liard is a small monetary unit; the edition notes its relation of three deniers and a quarter-sou. Combalot fears losing the old units under reform. Julie’s pas un rouge liard is an emphatic expression of having no money, with rouge recalling copper; it is not an exact inventory or a modern price conversion. The two contexts join technical reckoning to ordinary speech.
Places to read
- Chapter XVI, paragraph 17FrenchIl n’y aura plus de liards ni de deniers: there will be no more liards or deniers. Combalot combines changes in money and measures in his anxious report.
- Chapter XVIII, paragraph 39Frenchpas un rouge liard: not a red liard. Julie describes utter destitution.