A Tale of Two Cities — Page 9
In the meantime, his son, whose head was garnished with tenderer spikes, and whose young eyes stood close by one another, as his father's did, kept the required watch upon his mother.
Entre-temps, son fils, dont la tête était ornée de pointes plus tendres, et dont les jeunes yeux se tenaient l'un près de l'autre, comme ceux de son père, montait la garde requise auprès de sa mère.
He greatly disturbed that poor woman at intervals, by darting out of his sleeping closet, where he made his toilet, with a suppressed cry of "You are going to flop, mother. --Halloa, father!" and, after raising this fictitious alarm, darting in again with an undutiful grin.
Il perturbait grandement cette pauvre femme par intermittence, en surgissant de son réduit où il dormait et faisait sa toilette, avec un cri étouffé de « Tu vas t'effondrer, maman. — Holà, papa ! » et, après avoir lancé cette fausse alerte, en rentrant de nouveau avec un sourire irrespectueux.
Mr. Cruncher's temper was not at all improved when he came to his breakfast.
L'humeur de M. Cruncher ne s'était nullement améliorée lorsqu'il arriva à son petit-déjeuner.
He resented Mrs. Cruncher's saying grace with particular animosity.
Il ressentait une animosité toute particulière envers la façon dont Mme Cruncher disait le bénédicité.
"Now, Aggerawayter! What are you up to? At it again?"
« Allons, Enquiquineuse ! Qu'est-ce que vous faites là ? Encore à ça ? »
His wife explained that she had merely "asked a blessing."
Sa femme expliqua qu'elle avait simplement « demandé une bénédiction ».
"Don't do it!" said Mr. Crunches looking about, as if he rather expected to see the loaf disappear under the efficacy of his wife's petitions.
« Ne faites pas ça ! » dit M. Cruncher en regardant autour de lui, comme s'il s'attendait à voir le pain disparaître sous l'effet des prières de sa femme.
"I ain't a going to be blest out of house and home. I won't have my wittles blest off my table. Keep still!"
« Je ne vais pas me laisser bénir hors de ma maison. Je ne veux pas que ma nourriture soit bénie sur ma table. Tenez-vous tranquille ! »
Exceedingly red-eyed and grim, as if he had been up all night at a party which had taken anything but a convivial turn, Jerry Cruncher worried his breakfast rather than ate it, growling over it like any four-footed inmate of a menagerie.
Les yeux extrêmement rouges et l'air renfrogné, comme s'il avait passé toute la nuit à une fête qui avait tout sauf été conviviale, Jerry Cruncher tourmentait son petit-déjeuner plutôt qu'il ne le mangeait, grognant dessus comme n'importe quel pensionnaire à quatre pattes d'une ménagerie.
Towards nine o'clock he smoothed his ruffled aspect, and, presenting as respectable and business-like an exterior as he could overlay his natural self with, issued forth to the occupation of the day.
Vers neuf heures, il lissa son apparence ébouriffée et, arborant une mine aussi respectable et professionnelle qu'il pouvait en revêtir par-dessus sa nature véritable, sortit pour vaquer aux occupations de la journée.
Vocabulary
- Entre-temps
- Meanwhile; in the intervening time period
- son
- His, her, or its (possessive adjective)
- fils
- Son; male offspring of a parent
- dont
- Whose, of which, from which (relative pronoun)
- tête
- Head; the uppermost part of the body
- était
- Was; third-person singular imperfect of être
- ornée
- Adorned, decorated with embellishments
- pointes
- Tips, points, spikes; sharp projecting ends
- plus
- More; comparative adverb indicating greater degree
- tendres
- Tender, soft, gentle in texture or feeling
- jeunes
- Young; adjective describing youth or immaturity
- yeux
- Eyes; plural of œil
- tenaient
- Held, kept themselves; imperfect of tenir
- près
- Near, close to in proximity
- autre
- Other, another; indicating a different one
- comme
- Like, as; comparison or manner conjunction
- ceux
- Those; masculine plural demonstrative pronoun
- père
- Father; male parent of a child
- montait
- Was mounting, going up; imperfect of monter
- garde
- Guard, watch; keeping protective vigilance
- requise
- Required, necessary, demanded by circumstances
- auprès
- Close to, beside, near (someone or something)
- mère
- Mother; female parent of a child
- perturbait
- Was disturbing, unsettling; imperfect of perturber
- grandement
- Greatly, considerably; to a large extent
- cette
- This, that (feminine singular demonstrative adjective)
- pauvre
- Poor, unfortunate; evoking pity or sympathy
- femme
- Woman, wife; adult female person
- intermittence
- Intermittence; occurring at irregular intervals
- surgissant
- Springing up, bursting out suddenly
- réduit
- Small room, cubbyhole; cramped living space
- où
- Where; relative or interrogative adverb of place
- dormait
- Was sleeping; third-person imperfect of dormir
- faisait
- Was doing, making; imperfect of faire
- toilette
- Getting washed and dressed; personal grooming routine
- cri
- Cry, shout; a vocal exclamation or sound
- étouffé
- Muffled, stifled; suppressed so barely audible
- vas
- Go, are going; second-person of aller
- effondrer
- To collapse, fall apart physically or emotionally
- maman
- Mom, mum; informal word for mother
- Holà
- Hey, whoa; exclamation to attract attention
- papa
- Dad, daddy; informal word for father
- après
- After; preposition indicating sequence in time
- avoir
- To have; infinitive of the auxiliary verb
- lancé
- Launched, thrown, issued; past participle of lancer
- fausse
- False, fake; incorrect or deceptive (feminine)
- alerte
- Alert, alarm; warning signal of danger
- rentrant
- Returning, going back; present participle of rentrer
- nouveau
- New, again; fresh or another instance
- sourire
- Smile; facial expression of amusement or pleasure
- irrespectueux
- Disrespectful, lacking proper regard or deference
- humeur
- Mood, temper; emotional state of a person
- M.
- Mr.; abbreviation for Monsieur (title of address)
- nullement
- Not at all, in no way whatsoever
- améliorée
- Improved, made better; past participle of améliorer
- lorsqu'
- When, at the time that (conjunction, elided)
- arriva
- Arrived; third-person past simple of arriver
- petit-déjeuner
- Breakfast; the first meal of the day
- ressentait
- Was feeling, experiencing; imperfect of ressentir
- animosité
- Animosity, hostility; strong ill will toward someone
- toute
- All, entire, every (feminine singular adjective)
- particulière
- Particular, specific, special; distinct from others
- envers
- Toward, with regard to (preposition of attitude)
- façon
- Way, manner; how something is done
- Mme
- Mrs., Ms.; abbreviation for Madame (title)
- disait
- Was saying; third-person imperfect of dire
- bénédicité
- Grace before meals; blessing said before eating
- Allons
- Come on, let's go; expression of impatience
- Enquiquineuse
- Nuisance, pest; annoying woman who bothers others
- faites
- Do, make; second-person plural of faire
- là
- There; adverb indicating a place or situation
- Encore
- Again, still, yet; indicating repetition
- ça
- That, it; informal demonstrative pronoun
- expliqua
- Explained; third-person past simple of expliquer
- avait
- Had; third-person singular imperfect of avoir
- simplement
- Simply, merely; in a straightforward manner
- demandé
- Asked, requested; past participle of demander
- bénédiction
- Blessing; a prayer or invocation of divine favor
- dit
- Said; third-person past simple of dire
- regardant
- Looking, watching; present participle of regarder
- autour
- Around, about; surrounding in a circular manner
- lui
- Him, her, it; indirect object pronoun
- attendait
- Was waiting, expecting; imperfect of attendre
- voir
- To see; infinitive of the vision verb
- pain
- Bread; staple baked food made from flour
- disparaître
- To disappear, vanish; cease to be visible
- sous
- Under, beneath; preposition indicating lower position
- effet
- Effect, result; consequence of a cause
- prières
- Prayers; spoken requests addressed to God
- vais
- Am going; first-person singular of aller
- laisser
- To let, allow, leave; permitting an action
- bénir
- To bless; to invoke divine favor upon something
- hors
- Outside, beyond; preposition indicating exclusion
- maison
- House, home; building where one lives
- veux
- Want; first-person singular of vouloir
- nourriture
- Food, nourishment; sustenance eaten to survive
- soit
- Be; third-person singular subjunctive of être
- bénie
- Blessed; past participle of bénir (feminine)
- table
- Table; flat-surfaced furniture for eating or working
- Tenez-vous
- Hold yourself, keep yourself; imperative of tenir
- tranquille
- Quiet, calm, still; free from agitation
- extrêmement
- Extremely, very greatly; to an extreme degree
- rouges
- Red; plural adjective describing a red color
- air
- Air, look, expression; outward appearance of someone
- renfrogné
- Scowling, sullen; having an angry facial expression
- passé
- Past, spent; having gone through a period
- nuit
- Night; the dark period between sunset and sunrise
- fête
- Party, celebration, festival; a festive gathering
- tout
- All, everything, completely; total or entire
- sauf
- Except, save for; excluding from a group
- été
- Been; past participle of être; also summer
- conviviale
- Convivial, sociable; warm and friendly in atmosphere
- tourmentait
- Was tormenting, distressing; imperfect of tourmenter
- plutôt
- Rather, quite, instead; expressing preference or degree
- mangeait
- Was eating; third-person singular imperfect of manger
- grognant
- Growling, grumbling; present participle of grogner
- dessus
- Over it, on top; adverb indicating upper position
- importe
- Matters; from importer, used in n'importe quel
- quel
- Which, what; interrogative or exclamatory adjective
- pensionnaire
- Boarder, resident; one who lives in a place
- quatre
- Four; the cardinal number 4
- pattes
- Paws, legs; animal feet or limbs
- ménagerie
- Menagerie; collection of wild animals kept captive
- Vers
- Around, toward; preposition of approximate time
- neuf
- Nine; the cardinal number 9
- heures
- Hours, o'clock; units of time measurement
- lissa
- Smoothed, slicked; past simple of lisser
- apparence
- Appearance, look; outward visible aspect of someone
- ébouriffée
- Disheveled, tousled; hair or appearance in disorder
- arborant
- Sporting, displaying; present participle of arborer
- mine
- Look, expression; outward facial appearance
- aussi
- Also, too, as; adverb of addition or comparison
- respectable
- Respectable, decent; worthy of esteem and regard
- professionnelle
- Professional; relating to one's occupation or trade
- pouvait
- Could, was able to; imperfect of pouvoir
- revêtir
- To put on, adopt; to don clothing or appearance
- par-dessus
- Over, on top of; above and covering something
- nature
- Nature, character; innate qualities of a person
- véritable
- True, genuine, real; not false or imitation
- sortit
- Went out, left; third-person past simple of sortir
- vaquer
- To attend to, go about; engage in daily tasks
- occupations
- Occupations, tasks; activities one is engaged in
- journée
- Day; the full course of a single day
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