A Tale of Two Cities — Page 1
The Period
L'Époque
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
C'était le meilleur des temps, c'était le pire des temps, c'était l'âge de la sagesse, c'était l'âge de la folie, c'était l'époque de la foi, c'était l'époque de l'incrédulité, c'était la saison de la Lumière, c'était la saison des Ténèbres, c'était le printemps de l'espoir, c'était l'hiver du désespoir, nous avions tout devant nous, nous n'avions rien devant nous, nous allions tous directement au Paradis, nous allions tous directement dans l'autre sens -- bref, cette période ressemblait tellement à la période actuelle que certaines de ses autorités les plus bruyantes insistaient pour qu'elle fût reçue, en bien ou en mal, au superlatif seulement.
There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne of France.
Il y avait un roi au menton proéminent et une reine au visage ordinaire sur le trône d'Angleterre ; il y avait un roi au menton proéminent et une reine au beau visage sur le trône de France.
In both countries it was clearer than crystal to the lords of the State preserves of loaves and fishes, that things in general were settled for ever.
Dans les deux pays, il était plus clair que le cristal pour les seigneurs des réserves d'État de pains et de poissons que les choses en général étaient réglées pour toujours.
It was the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five.
C'était l'an de grâce mil sept cent soixante-quinze.
Spiritual revelations were conceded to England at that favoured period, as at this.
Des révélations spirituelles étaient accordées à l'Angleterre en cette période favorisée, comme en celle-ci.
Mrs. Southcott had recently attained her five-and-twentieth blessed birthday, of whom a prophetic private in the Life Guards had heralded the sublime appearance by announcing that arrangements were made for the swallowing up of London and Westminster.
Mme Southcott venait d'atteindre son vingt-cinquième anniversaire béni, dont un simple soldat prophétique des Life Guards avait annoncé la sublime apparition en déclarant que des dispositions avaient été prises pour engloutir Londres et Westminster.
Vocabulary
- Époque
- ay-pok — A period or era in history
- était
- ay-teh — Past tense of 'être'; was or were
- meilleur
- meh-yuhr — Best; superior to all others
- temps
- tahn — Time; weather; period or era
- pire
- peer — Worst; more bad than anything else
- âge
- ahzh — Age; a period of time or life stage
- sagesse
- sah-zhes — Wisdom; good judgment and deep knowledge
- folie
- foh-lee — Madness; foolishness or irrational behavior
- époque
- ay-pok — Era or period of time in history
- foi
- fwah — Faith; strong belief or trust in something
- incrédulité
- an-kray-doo-lee-tay — Incredulity; state of disbelief or skepticism
- saison
- say-zon — Season; one of four periods of the year
- Lumière
- loo-myehr — Light; brightness or illumination
- Ténèbres
- tay-nehbr — Darkness; deep shadow or gloom
- printemps
- pran-tahn — Spring; the season after winter
- espoir
- es-pwahr — Hope; feeling of optimistic expectation
- hiver
- ee-vehr — Winter; the coldest season of the year
- désespoir
- day-zes-pwahr — Despair; complete loss of hope
- avions
- ah-vyon — We had; imperfect tense of 'avoir'
- tout
- too — Everything; all or every thing
- devant
- duh-vahn — In front of; before or ahead of something
- rien
- ryen — Nothing; not anything at all
- allions
- ah-lyon — We were going; imperfect of 'aller'
- tous
- too — All; every one of a group
- directement
- dee-rekt-mahn — Directly; in a straight or immediate manner
- Paradis
- pah-rah-dee — Paradise; heaven or a place of perfect happiness
- autre
- ohtr — Other; different or additional thing or person
- sens
- sahn — Direction; meaning or sense of something
- bref
- bref — Brief; in short, to sum up quickly
- période
- pay-ryod — Period; a span or stretch of time
- ressemblait
- ruh-sahm-bleh — Resembled; looked like or was similar to
- tellement
- tel-mahn — So much; to such a great degree
- actuelle
- ak-tyuel — Current; existing or happening at this time
- certaines
- sehr-ten — Certain; some specific ones among a group
- autorités
- oh-toh-ree-tay — Authorities; people or bodies holding official power
- bruyantes
- brwee-yahnt — Noisy; making a lot of loud sound
- insistaient
- an-sees-teh — Were insisting; demanding persistently and firmly
- fût
- foo — Subjunctive past of 'être'; were or be
- reçue
- ruh-syoo — Received; accepted or taken in (feminine form)
- bien
- byan — Good; well or in a positive manner
- mal
- mal — Bad; evil or poorly done thing
- superlatif
- soo-pehr-lah-teef — Superlative; grammatical form expressing highest degree
- seulement
- suhl-mahn — Only; merely or exclusively, nothing more
- avait
- ah-veh — Had; third person singular imperfect of 'avoir'
- roi
- rwah — King; male monarch ruling a kingdom
- menton
- mahn-ton — Chin; the lower front part of the face
- proéminent
- proh-ay-mee-nahn — Prominent; jutting out noticeably from a surface
- reine
- ren — Queen; female monarch or king's wife
- visage
- vee-zahzh — Face; the front part of a person's head
- ordinaire
- or-dee-nehr — Ordinary; plain, common, or unremarkable in appearance
- trône
- trohn — Throne; royal seat of a monarch
- Angleterre
- ahng-luh-tehr — England; country in the United Kingdom
- beau
- boh — Beautiful; handsome or attractive in appearance
- France
- frahns — France; country in Western Europe
- pays
- pay-ee — Country; a nation or land with its people
- clair
- klehr — Clear; bright, transparent, or easy to understand
- cristal
- krees-tal — Crystal; clear transparent mineral or glass
- seigneurs
- seh-nyuhr — Lords; noblemen holding land or authority
- réserves
- ray-zehrv — Reserves; stocks kept back for future use
- État
- ay-tah — State; the government or political authority of a nation
- pains
- pan — Breads; loaves or portions of baked bread
- poissons
- pwah-son — Fish; aquatic animals or fish as food
- choses
- shohz — Things; objects or matters in general
- général
- zhay-nay-ral — General; broad, overall, or not specific
- étaient
- ay-teh — Were; third person plural imperfect of 'être'
- réglées
- ray-glay — Regulated; settled, managed, or put in order
- toujours
- too-zhoor — Always; still, or at all times
- an
- ahn — Year; a period of twelve months
- grâce
- grahs — Grace; elegance, favor, or divine blessing
- mil
- meel — One thousand; used in dates and counts
- soixante
- swah-sahnt — Sixty; the number 60
- révélations
- ray-vay-lah-syon — Revelations; surprising or divine disclosures of truth
- spirituelles
- spee-ree-tyuel — Spiritual; relating to the soul or divine matters
- accordées
- ah-kor-day — Granted; given or bestowed upon someone officially
- favorisée
- fah-voh-ree-zay — Favored; treated with special privilege or preference
- celle
- sel — This one; demonstrative pronoun for feminine nouns
- Mme
- mah-dam — Abbreviation for Madame; title for a woman
- venait
- vuh-neh — Was coming; imperfect tense of 'venir'
- atteindre
- ah-tandr — To reach; to arrive at or achieve something
- cinquième
- sank-yem — Fifth; ordinal number meaning number five in order
- anniversaire
- ah-nee-vehr-sehr — Anniversary or birthday; yearly commemorative date
- béni
- bay-nee — Blessed; consecrated or favored by divine grace
- dont
- don — Whose; of which, a relative pronoun
- simple
- sampL — Simple; plain, ordinary, or uncomplicated
- soldat
- sol-dah — Soldier; a person serving in the military
- prophétique
- proh-fay-teek — Prophetic; relating to or resembling a prophecy
- annoncé
- ah-non-say — Announced; declared or made publicly known
- sublime
- soo-bleem — Sublime; of awe-inspiring greatness or beauty
- apparition
- ah-pah-ree-syon — Apparition; ghostly or sudden unexpected appearance
- déclarant
- day-klah-rahn — Declaring; stating or announcing something officially
- dispositions
- dees-poh-zee-syon — Arrangements; preparations made for a particular purpose
- avaient
- ah-veh — Had; third person plural imperfect of 'avoir'
- été
- ay-tay — Been; past participle of 'être'
- prises
- preez — Taken; past participle of 'prendre' (feminine plural)
- engloutir
- ahn-gloo-teer — To engulf; to swallow up or submerge completely
- Londres
- londr — London; capital city of England and the UK
- Westminster
- west-meen-stehr — Westminster; central London district, seat of government
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