A Tale of Two Cities — Page 3
It is likely enough that in the rough outhouses of some tillers of the heavy lands adjacent to Paris, there were sheltered from the weather that very day, rude carts, bespattered with rustic mire, snuffed about by pigs, and roosted in by poultry, which the Farmer, Death, had already set apart to be his tumbrils of the Revolution.
Il est bien probable que dans les granges grossières de quelques laboureurs des terres lourdes aux abords de Paris, se trouvaient abritées des intempéries ce jour-là même, de rudes charrettes, éclaboussées de boue rustique, flairées par les cochons et servant de perchoir à la volaille, que le Fermier, la Mort, avait déjà mises de côté pour en faire ses tombereaux de la Révolution.
But that Woodman and that Farmer, though they work unceasingly, work silently, and no one heard them as they went about with muffled tread: the rather, forasmuch as to entertain any suspicion that they were awake, was to be atheistical and traitorous.
Mais ce Bûcheron et ce Fermier, bien qu'ils travaillent sans relâche, travaillent en silence, et personne ne les entendait tandis qu'ils allaient et venaient à pas feutrés : d'autant plus que nourrir le moindre soupçon qu'ils étaient à l'œuvre, c'était se montrer athée et traître.
In England, there was scarcely an amount of order and protection to justify much national boasting.
En Angleterre, il n'existait guère assez d'ordre et de protection pour justifier beaucoup de vantardise nationale.
Vocabulary
- bien
- byɛ̃ — Indicates degree or affirmation: well, quite, very
- probable
- prɔ-babl — Likely to happen or be true
- granges
- grɑ̃ʒ — Farm buildings used for storing grain or hay
- grossières
- grɔ-syɛr — Rough, crude, or coarse in nature or appearance
- quelques
- kɛl-kuh — Indefinite adjective meaning a few, some
- laboureurs
- la-boo-rœr — Agricultural workers who plow and till the land
- terres
- tɛr — Plots of earth, land, or soil used for farming
- lourdes
- loord — Heavy, dense, or burdensome in weight or quality
- abords
- a-bɔr — Surrounding area or immediate vicinity of a place
- abritées
- a-bree-teh — Sheltered or protected from outside elements
- intempéries
- ɛ̃-tɑ̃-peh-ree — Harsh weather conditions such as rain or wind
- jour-là
- ʒoor-la — Refers to a specific day previously mentioned: that day
- même
- mɛm — Emphasizes identity or similarity: same, even, itself
- rudes
- ryd — Rough, harsh, or austere in character or texture
- charrettes
- ʃa-rɛt — Simple two-wheeled carts used for transporting loads
- éclaboussées
- eh-kla-boo-seh — Splashed or spattered with liquid such as mud
- boue
- boo — Wet, sticky dirt or mud found on the ground
- rustique
- rys-teek — Relating to rural life; simple and rough in style
- flairées
- flɛ-reh — Sniffed or detected by smell, as animals do
- cochons
- kɔ-ʃɔ̃ — Domestic pigs kept on farms for food
- perchoir
- pɛr-ʃwar — Roosting bar or perch used by birds to rest
- volaille
- vɔ-laj — Collective term for domestic poultry such as chickens
- Fermier
- fɛr-myeh — Person who owns or manages an agricultural farm
- Mort
- mɔr — Death; the state of being deceased
- déjà
- deh-ʒa — Indicates something has already occurred: already, yet
- côté
- koh-teh — Side or direction; also used in mettre de côté: set aside
- tombereaux
- tɔ̃-broh — Tipping carts used to transport and dump heavy loads
- Révolution
- reh-vɔ-ly-syɔ̃ — Radical political and social upheaval transforming a society
- Bûcheron
- byʃ-rɔ̃ — Person who chops and cuts wood in forests
- relâche
- ruh-laʃ — Pause or break in activity; sans relâche means ceaselessly
- silence
- see-lɑ̃s — Complete absence of sound or noise
- personne
- pɛr-sɔn — Nobody when used with ne; also means a person
- tandis
- tɑ̃-dee — Used in tandis que meaning while or whereas
- feutrés
- fœ-treh — Muffled or softened in sound, like padded footsteps
- d'autant
- doh-tɑ̃ — Used in d'autant plus/moins: all the more/less so
- nourrir
- noo-reer — To feed, nourish, or sustain a living being
- moindre
- mwɛ̃dr — Smallest or least in degree; slightest
- soupçon
- soop-sɔ̃ — A feeling of suspicion or a tiny trace of something
- l'œuvre
- lœvr — The work or task being carried out; one's output
- montrer
- mɔ̃-treh — To show or demonstrate something to someone
- athée
- a-teh — Person who does not believe in any god
- traître
- trɛtr — Person who betrays their country or a trusted group
- Angleterre
- ɑ̃-gluh-tɛr — The country of England in northwestern Europe
- guère
- gɛr — Negative adverb meaning hardly, scarcely, or not much
- assez
- a-seh — Enough or sufficiently; also means rather or quite
- d'ordre
- dɔrdr — Of order; referring to organization, rule, or structure
- protection
- prɔ-tɛk-syɔ̃ — Action of keeping someone or something safe from harm
- justifier
- ʒys-tee-fyeh — To justify or provide valid reason for something
- beaucoup
- boh-koo — A large amount or degree: much, many, a lot
- vantardise
- vɑ̃-tar-deez — Boastfulness; habit of bragging about oneself or one's nation
- nationale
- na-syɔ-nal — Relating to an entire nation or country as a whole
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