But this embarrassment would have been nothing if he had known how to pick a quarrel otherwise than by striking a blow; and, if they had come to fisticuffs, his rival, a giant of a man, would have beaten him and left him discomfited.
Mais cet embarras n’eût rien été s’il eût su comment se fâcher autrement qu’en donnant un soufflet ; et, si l’on en venait aux coups de poings, son rival, homme énorme, l’eût battu et puis planté là.