Anna Karenina — Page 3
The liberal party said that marriage is an institution quite out of date, and that it needs reconstruction; and family life certainly afforded Stepan Arkadyevitch little gratification, and forced him into lying and hypocrisy, which was so repulsive to his nature.
Le parti libéral disait que le mariage est une institution tout à fait dépassée, et qu'il a besoin d'être reconstruit ; et la vie de famille n'offrait certes que peu de satisfactions à Stépane Arkadiévitch, et le contraignait au mensonge et à l'hypocrisie, qui répugnaient tant à sa nature.
The liberal party said, or rather allowed it to be understood, that religion is only a curb to keep in check the barbarous classes of the people; and Stepan Arkadyevitch could not get through even a short service without his legs aching from standing up, and could never make out what was the object of all the terrible and high-flown language about another world when life might be so very amusing in this world.
Le parti libéral disait, ou plutôt laissait entendre, que la religion n'est qu'un frein destiné à contenir les classes barbares du peuple ; et Stépane Arkadiévitch ne pouvait traverser même un bref office sans que ses jambes le fassent souffrir d'être resté debout, et ne parvenait jamais à comprendre quel était le but de tout ce langage terrible et grandiloquent sur un autre monde, alors que la vie pouvait être si agréable dans celui-ci.
And with all this, Stepan Arkadyevitch, who liked a joke, was fond of puzzling a plain man by saying that if he prided himself on his origin, he ought not to stop at Rurik and disown the first founder of his family—the monkey.
Et avec tout cela, Stépane Arkadiévitch, qui aimait plaisanter, se plaisait à déconcerter un homme simple en disant que si celui-ci tirait vanité de son origine, il ne devrait pas s'arrêter à Rurik et renier le premier ancêtre de sa famille — le singe.
And so Liberalism had become a habit of Stepan Arkadyevitch's, and he liked his newspaper, as he did his cigar after dinner, for the slight fog it diffused in his brain.
Et ainsi le libéralisme était devenu une habitude chez Stépane Arkadiévitch, et il aimait son journal comme il aimait son cigare après le dîner, pour le léger brouillard qu'il répandait dans son esprit.
Vocabulary
- parti
- par-tee — Political party or side taken in a debate
- libéral
- lee-bay-ral — Liberal; favoring individual freedoms and progressive ideas
- disait
- dee-zeh — Was saying; imperfect tense of 'dire'
- mariage
- ma-ree-ahzh — Marriage; legal union between two people
- institution
- an-stee-too-syohn — Established organization or social practice in society
- tout
- too — All, entirely; used as intensifier or adjective
- dépassée
- day-pa-say — Outdated, obsolete; no longer relevant or useful
- besoin
- buh-zwahn — Need; necessity for something to be done
- reconstruit
- ruh-kon-strwee — Rebuilt, reconstructed; built again from the beginning
- vie
- vee — Life; existence or way of living
- famille
- fa-mee-yuh — Family; group of related people living together
- offrait
- of-reh — Was offering; imperfect tense of 'offrir'
- certes
- sert — Certainly, admittedly; used to concede a point
- peu
- puh — Few, little; indicating small quantity or degree
- satisfactions
- sa-tees-fak-syohn — Satisfactions; feelings of fulfillment or pleasure
- contraignait
- kon-treh-nyeh — Was forcing, constraining; imperfect of 'contraindre'
- mensonge
- mahn-sonzh — Lie, falsehood; an untrue statement deliberately made
- hypocrisie
- ee-po-kree-zee — Hypocrisy; pretending to have virtues one lacks
- répugnaient
- ray-poo-nyeh — Were repugnant to; disgusted or revolted someone deeply
- tant
- tahn — So much, so many; indicating a high degree
- nature
- na-toor — Nature; innate character or disposition of a person
- plutôt
- ploo-toh — Rather, instead; used to suggest a preference
- laissait
- leh-seh — Was leaving, was letting; imperfect of 'laisser'
- entendre
- ahn-tahn-druh — To hear, understand; also used in 'laisser entendre'
- religion
- ruh-lee-zhohn — Religion; system of faith and worship practices
- frein
- frahn — Brake, restraint; something that holds back or limits
- destiné
- des-tee-nay — Destined, intended; meant for a specific purpose
- contenir
- kon-tuh-neer — To contain, restrain; to hold something back
- classes
- klas — Classes; social or economic groups within society
- barbares
- bar-bar — Barbarians; uncivilized or primitive people or groups
- peuple
- puh-pluh — People, populace; the common people of a nation
- pouvait
- poo-veh — Could, was able to; imperfect of 'pouvoir'
- traverser
- tra-ver-say — To cross, to get through; to pass from side to side
- même
- mehm — Even, same; used for emphasis or comparison
- bref
- bref — Brief, short; lasting only a short time
- office
- o-fees — Religious service or ceremony; formal church observance
- sans
- sahn — Without; preposition indicating absence of something
- jambes
- zhamb — Legs; lower limbs of the human body
- fassent
- fas — Make, cause; subjunctive of 'faire' third plural
- souffrir
- soo-freer — To suffer; to experience pain or discomfort
- resté
- res-tay — Stayed, remained; past participle of 'rester'
- debout
- duh-boo — Standing up; in an upright position on one's feet
- parvenait
- par-vuh-neh — Managed to, reached; imperfect of 'parvenir'
- jamais
- zha-meh — Never; at no time, used in negation
- comprendre
- kom-prahn-druh — To understand; to grasp the meaning of something
- quel
- kel — What, which; interrogative or exclamative adjective
- but
- boo — Goal, purpose; the intended aim of an action
- langage
- lahn-gazh — Language, speech; manner or style of speaking
- terrible
- teh-ree-bluh — Terrible, dreadful; causing fear or strong discomfort
- grandiloquent
- grahn-dee-lo-kahn — Grandiloquent; using pompous or inflated language
- autre
- oh-truh — Other, another; different from the one mentioned
- monde
- mohnd — World; the earth or a particular realm of existence
- alors
- a-lor — Then, so; used to indicate time or consequence
- si
- see — So, if; used for emphasis or condition
- agréable
- a-gray-ah-bluh — Pleasant, agreeable; producing a good or nice feeling
- celui
- suh-lwee — This one, that one; masculine demonstrative pronoun
- ci
- see — Here; used with demonstratives to indicate proximity
- cela
- suh-lah — That; demonstrative pronoun referring to something mentioned
- aimait
- eh-meh — Loved, liked; imperfect tense of 'aimer'
- plaisanter
- play-zahn-tay — To joke, to jest; to say something in fun
- plaisait
- play-zeh — Pleased, delighted; imperfect of 'plaire'
- déconcerter
- day-kon-ser-tay — To disconcert, unsettle; to confuse or disturb someone
- homme
- om — Man; adult male human being
- simple
- sam-pluh — Simple, plain; not complex or elaborate
- disant
- dee-zahn — Saying; present participle of 'dire'
- tirait
- tee-reh — Was drawing, pulling; imperfect of 'tirer'
- vanité
- va-nee-tay — Vanity; excessive pride in one's appearance or achievements
- origine
- o-ree-zheen — Origin; the point or source from which something comes
- devrait
- duh-vreh — Should, ought to; conditional of 'devoir'
- arrêter
- a-reh-tay — To stop; to cease movement or activity
- renier
- ruh-nyay — To disown, renounce; to reject or deny one's origins
- premier
- pruh-myay — First; earliest in order or importance
- ancêtre
- ahn-seh-truh — Ancestor; a person from whom one is descended
- singe
- sanzh — Monkey, ape; primate animal; used humorously here
- ainsi
- an-see — Thus, so; in this manner or way
- libéralisme
- lee-bay-ra-lees-muh — Liberalism; political philosophy favoring freedom and equality
- devenu
- duh-vuh-noo — Become; past participle of 'devenir'
- habitude
- a-bee-tood — Habit; a regular practice done almost automatically
- chez
- shay — At the home or place of someone
- journal
- zhoor-nal — Newspaper; daily publication reporting current events
- comme
- kom — Like, as; used for comparison or manner
- cigare
- see-gar — Cigar; a rolled tobacco product for smoking
- après
- a-preh — After; following in time or order
- dîner
- dee-nay — Dinner; the main evening meal of the day
- léger
- lay-zhay — Light, mild; not heavy or not intense
- brouillard
- broo-yar — Fog, mist; thick cloud of tiny water droplets
- répandait
- ray-pahn-deh — Was spreading; imperfect of 'répandre'
- esprit
- es-pree — Mind, spirit, wit; intellect or clever humor
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