Coniston — Volume 01 — Page 2
The hills seem to leap up against the sky as I describe that region where Cynthia Ware was born, and the very old country names help to summon up the picture.
Les collines semblent s'élancer vers le ciel tandis que je décris la région où Cynthia Ware est née, et les très vieux noms de campagne aident à faire surgir l'image.
Coniston Mountain, called by some the Blue Mountain, clad in Hercynian forests, ten good miles in length, north and south, with its notch road that winds over the saddle behind the withers of it.
Le mont Coniston, appelé par certains la Montagne Bleue, revêtu de forêts hercyniennes, long de dix bonnes miles du nord au sud, avec sa route encaissée qui serpente par-dessus le col derrière son garrot.
Coniston Water, that oozes out from under the loam in a hundred places, on the eastern slope, gathers into a rushing stream to cleave the very granite, flows southward around the south end of Coniston Mountain, and having turned the mills at Brampton, idles through meadows westward in its own green valley until it comes to Harwich, where it works again and tumbles into a river.
La rivière Coniston, qui sourd de sous le terreau en cent endroits sur le versant oriental, se rassemble en un torrent impétueux pour fendre le granit même, coule vers le sud autour de l'extrémité méridionale du mont Coniston, et après avoir fait tourner les moulins de Brampton, se promène paresseusement à travers les prairies vers l'ouest dans sa propre vallée verdoyante jusqu'à Harwich, où elle se remet au travail et se jette dans une rivière.
Brampton and Harwich are rivals, but Coniston Water gives of its power impartially to each.
Brampton et Harwich sont rivales, mais la rivière Coniston distribue sa puissance à chacune sans partialité.
From the little farm clearings on the western slope of Coniston Mountain you can sweep the broad valley of a certain broad river where grew (and grow still) the giant pines that gave many a mast to King George's navy as tribute for the land.
Depuis les petites clairières cultivées sur le versant occidental du mont Coniston, on peut embrasser du regard la large vallée d'une certaine grande rivière où poussaient (et poussent encore) les pins géants qui fournirent maints mâts à la marine du roi George en tribut pour la terre.
And beyond that river rises beautiful Farewell Mountain of many colors, now sapphire, now amethyst, its crest rimmed about at evening with saffron flame; and, beyond Farewell, the emerald billows of the western peaks catching the level light.
Et au-delà de cette rivière s'élève le beau mont Farewell aux multiples couleurs, tantôt saphir, tantôt améthyste, sa crête bordée au crépuscule d'une flamme safranée ; et, au-delà de Farewell, les vagues d'émeraude des sommets occidentaux captant la lumière rasante.
Vocabulary
- collines
- Hills, elevated landforms smaller than mountains
- semblent
- Seem or appear to be something
- élancer
- To dart, spring, or thrust upward swiftly
- vers
- Toward, in the direction of something
- ciel
- Sky or heaven above the earth
- tandis
- While, whereas; used in 'tandis que'
- décris
- Describe, give a detailed account of something
- région
- Region, geographic area or administrative district
- née
- Born; feminine past participle of 'naître'
- vieux
- Old, ancient; masculine adjective for age
- noms
- Names, designations given to places or people
- campagne
- Countryside, rural landscape outside cities
- aident
- Help, assist; third person plural of 'aider'
- surgir
- To emerge, spring up, or suddenly appear
- image
- Image, picture, or mental representation
- mont
- Mount, mountain; used in geographic names
- appelé
- Called, named; past participle of 'appeler'
- certains
- Some, certain; indefinite plural adjective or pronoun
- Montagne
- Mountain, large natural elevation of earth
- Bleue
- Blue; feminine adjective describing color
- revêtu
- Covered or clothed with something; past participle
- forêts
- Forests, large areas densely covered with trees
- long
- Long; adjective describing extended length or distance
- nord
- North; cardinal geographic direction
- sud
- South; cardinal geographic direction
- route
- Road, route, path for traveling
- encaissée
- Sunken, deeply set between steep banks
- serpente
- Winds, snakes, meanders along a winding path
- dessus
- Over, above; adverb or preposition of position
- col
- Mountain pass, gap between two peaks
- derrière
- Behind, at the back of something
- rivière
- River, stream flowing through the land
- sourd
- Springs up, seeps; also means 'deaf' as adjective
- sous
- Under, beneath; common preposition of position
- terreau
- Topsoil, compost-rich earth layer
- endroits
- Places, spots, locations
- versant
- Slope, hillside of a mountain or hill
- oriental
- Eastern, oriented toward the east
- rassemble
- Gathers, assembles, comes together
- torrent
- Torrent, fast-flowing rushing stream
- impétueux
- Impetuous, rushing, violently forceful
- fendre
- To split, cleave, or crack through something
- granit
- Granite, hard igneous rock
- même
- Same, even, itself; versatile intensifying word
- coule
- Flows, runs; third person singular of 'couler'
- autour
- Around, surrounding something
- extrémité
- Extremity, tip, far end of something
- méridionale
- Southern; feminine adjective relating to the south
- après
- After, following in time or order
- tourner
- To turn, rotate, or spin
- moulins
- Mills, buildings with grinding or milling machinery
- promène
- Strolls, meanders; third person of 'promener'
- paresseusement
- Lazily, sluggishly, without energy or haste
- travers
- Across, through; used in 'à travers'
- prairies
- Meadows, grasslands, open grassy areas
- ouest
- West; cardinal geographic direction
- propre
- Own, clean; adjective meaning belonging to oneself
- vallée
- Valley, low area between hills or mountains
- verdoyante
- Green, verdant, lushly covered with vegetation
- jusqu'
- Until, up to; preposition before vowel sound
- remet
- Puts back, hands over; from 'remettre'
- travail
- Work, labor, effort applied to a task
- jette
- Throws, casts; third person of 'jeter'
- rivales
- Rivals, competitors; feminine plural noun
- distribue
- Distributes, shares out among several recipients
- puissance
- Power, strength, force or energy
- chacune
- Each one, every one; feminine indefinite pronoun
- sans
- Without; preposition indicating absence
- partialité
- Partiality, bias, unfair favoritism toward one side
- Depuis
- Since, from; preposition of time or place
- clairières
- Clearings, open spaces within a forest
- cultivées
- Cultivated, farmed; feminine plural past participle
- occidental
- Western; adjective relating to the west
- embrasser
- To embrace or take in with one's gaze
- regard
- Gaze, look, glance directed at something
- large
- Wide, broad; adjective of horizontal extent
- certaine
- A certain, particular; indefinite feminine adjective
- poussaient
- Were growing, used to grow; imperfect of 'pousser'
- poussent
- Grow, push up; third person plural of 'pousser'
- encore
- Still, yet, again; adverb of continuity
- pins
- Pine trees, evergreen coniferous trees
- géants
- Giants, enormous things; masculine plural noun/adjective
- fournirent
- Provided, supplied; simple past of 'fournir'
- maints
- Many, numerous; archaic indefinite plural adjective
- mâts
- Masts, tall poles on sailing ships
- marine
- Navy, naval; relating to the sea or fleet
- roi
- King; male monarch ruling a country
- tribut
- Tribute, payment rendered to a superior power
- terre
- Earth, land, ground, soil
- delà
- Beyond; used in 'au-delà' meaning further than
- élève
- Rises, stands up; third person of 's'élever'
- beau
- Beautiful, handsome; masculine singular adjective
- multiples
- Multiple, many, varied; plural adjective
- couleurs
- Colors, hues, shades of visual appearance
- tantôt
- Sometimes, now...now; indicating alternating qualities
- saphir
- Sapphire; deep blue precious gemstone or color
- améthyste
- Amethyst; violet-purple gemstone or its color
- crête
- Crest, ridge, summit line of a mountain
- bordée
- Bordered, edged, lined along a boundary
- crépuscule
- Twilight, dusk, the fading light of evening
- flamme
- Flame, fire; tongue of burning light
- safranée
- Saffron-colored, golden-yellow like saffron spice
- vagues
- Waves; undulating movements of water or color
- émeraude
- Emerald; bright green gemstone or its color
- sommets
- Summits, peaks, highest points of mountains
- occidentaux
- Western; masculine plural adjective of direction
- captant
- Capturing, catching; present participle of 'capter'
- lumière
- Light, illumination from the sun or another source
- rasante
- Grazing, low-angled, skimming close to a surface
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