Cranford — Page 10
He must have been upwards of sixty at the time of the first visit I paid to Cranford after I had left it as a residence.
Il devait avoir plus de soixante ans lors de la première visite que je fis à Cranford après l'avoir quitté comme lieu de résidence.
But he had a wiry, well-trained, elastic figure, a stiff military throw-back of his head, and a springing step, which made him appear much younger than he was.
Mais il avait une silhouette nerveuse, bien entraînée et élastique, un port de tête raide et militaire, et un pas alerte, qui le faisaient paraître bien plus jeune qu'il ne l'était.
His eldest daughter looked almost as old as himself, and betrayed the fact that his real was more than his apparent age.
Sa fille aînée semblait presque aussi âgée que lui, et trahissait le fait que son âge réel dépassait son âge apparent.
Miss Brown must have been forty; she had a sickly, pained, careworn expression on her face, and looked as if the gaiety of youth had long faded out of sight.
Miss Brown devait avoir quarante ans ; elle avait sur le visage une expression maladive, souffrante et soucieuse, et semblait comme si la gaieté de la jeunesse s'était depuis longtemps effacée.
Even when young she must have been plain and hard-featured.
Même jeune, elle devait avoir été ordinaire et aux traits durs.
Miss Jessie Brown was ten years younger than her sister, and twenty shades prettier.
Miss Jessie Brown avait dix ans de moins que sa sœur, et était vingt fois plus jolie.
Her face was round and dimpled.
Son visage était rond et creusé de fossettes.
Miss Jenkyns once said, in a passion against Captain Brown (the cause of which I will tell you presently), "that she thought it was time for Miss Jessie to leave off her dimples, and not always to be trying to look like a child."
Miss Jenkyns dit un jour, dans un accès de colère contre le capitaine Brown (dont je vous expliquerai bientôt la cause), « qu'elle pensait qu'il était temps pour Miss Jessie de renoncer à ses fossettes, et de ne pas toujours chercher à ressembler à une enfant. »
It was true there was something childlike in her face; and there will be, I think, till she dies, though she should live to a hundred.
Il est vrai qu'il y avait quelque chose d'enfantin dans son visage ; et il y en aura, je crois, jusqu'à sa mort, même si elle devait vivre jusqu'à cent ans.
Her eyes were large blue wondering eyes, looking straight at you; her nose was unformed and snub, and her lips were red and dewy; she wore her hair, too, in little rows of curls, which heightened this appearance.
Ses yeux étaient de grands yeux bleus étonnés, vous regardant droit dans les yeux ; son nez était informe et retroussé, et ses lèvres étaient rouges et fraîches ; elle portait également ses cheveux en petites rangées de boucles, ce qui renforçait cette apparence.
Vocabulary
- devait
- Past imperfect of 'devoir'; he must have, was supposed to
- avoir
- To have; also used as auxiliary verb
- plus
- More; also used in negation meaning 'no more'
- soixante
- The number sixty
- ans
- Years, as in years of age
- lors
- At the time of; used in 'lors de'
- première
- First; feminine form of premier
- visite
- A visit to a place or person
- fis
- Simple past of 'faire'; I made or did
- après
- After; following in time or order
- quitté
- Past participle of 'quitter'; left or departed from
- comme
- As, like; used for comparison or manner
- lieu
- Place, location, spot
- résidence
- Residence; place where someone lives
- Mais
- But; conjunction indicating contrast
- avait
- Had; third person singular imperfect of 'avoir'
- silhouette
- Silhouette; overall shape or outline of a body
- nerveuse
- Nervous, tense, or wiry; feminine adjective
- bien
- Well, very; common adverb of manner or degree
- entraînée
- Trained, conditioned; feminine past participle
- élastique
- Elastic, springy, flexible in movement
- port
- Bearing, posture; the way one carries oneself
- tête
- Head; the uppermost part of the body
- raide
- Stiff, rigid, upright in posture
- militaire
- Military; relating to the army or soldiers
- pas
- Step; also used in negation with 'ne'
- alerte
- Alert, lively, brisk in movement
- faisaient
- Made, caused; imperfect plural of 'faire'
- paraître
- To appear, seem, look a certain way
- jeune
- Young; adjective describing youth
- était
- Was; third person singular imperfect of 'être'
- fille
- Daughter; also means girl
- aînée
- Eldest, oldest; feminine adjective for birth order
- semblait
- Seemed, appeared; imperfect of 'sembler'
- presque
- Almost, nearly; adverb of approximation
- aussi
- Also, too; as…as in comparisons
- âgée
- Aged, old; feminine adjective for age
- lui
- Him, her; third person singular pronoun
- trahissait
- Betrayed, revealed; imperfect of 'trahir'
- fait
- Fact; also past participle of 'faire'
- âge
- Age; number of years one has lived
- réel
- Real, actual, true
- dépassait
- Exceeded, surpassed; imperfect of 'dépasser'
- apparent
- Apparent, seeming; visible or obvious
- quarante
- The number forty
- sur
- On, upon, over; common preposition
- visage
- Face; the front of a person's head
- expression
- Expression; look conveyed on one's face
- maladive
- Sickly, unhealthy-looking; feminine adjective
- souffrante
- Suffering, in pain; feminine present participle
- soucieuse
- Worried, anxious, concerned; feminine adjective
- si
- If, so, such; conditional or intensifying word
- gaieté
- Gaiety, cheerfulness, liveliness
- jeunesse
- Youth; the period of being young
- depuis
- Since, for; indicating duration or starting point
- longtemps
- For a long time; adverb of duration
- effacée
- Erased, faded, wiped away; feminine past participle
- Même
- Even, same; used for emphasis or comparison
- été
- Been; past participle of 'être'; also summer
- ordinaire
- Ordinary, average, plain in appearance
- traits
- Features; the lines and aspects of a face
- durs
- Hard, harsh, rough; plural masculine adjective
- dix
- The number ten
- moins
- Less, fewer; used in comparison or subtraction
- sœur
- Sister; female sibling
- vingt
- The number twenty
- fois
- Times; indicating repetition or multiplication
- jolie
- Pretty, attractive; feminine adjective
- rond
- Round, circular; adjective or noun for shape
- creusé
- Hollowed, dimpled; past participle of 'creuser'
- fossettes
- Dimples; small indentations in the cheeks
- dit
- Said; third person singular past of 'dire'
- jour
- Day; a 24-hour period
- accès
- Fit, outburst; sudden episode of emotion
- colère
- Anger, rage; strong negative emotion
- contre
- Against; opposing or in contact with
- capitaine
- Captain; military or naval officer rank
- dont
- Of which, whose; relative pronoun
- expliquerai
- Will explain; first person future of 'expliquer'
- bientôt
- Soon, shortly; adverb of near future time
- cause
- Cause, reason; what makes something happen
- pensait
- Was thinking, thought; imperfect of 'penser'
- temps
- Time; also weather depending on context
- renoncer
- To renounce, give up, abandon something
- toujours
- Always, still; adverb of frequency or continuity
- chercher
- To look for, seek, search for something
- ressembler
- To resemble, look like someone or something
- enfant
- Child; a young person
- vrai
- True, real; adjective expressing truth
- y
- There; pronoun replacing a place or thing
- quelque
- Some, a certain; indefinite adjective
- chose
- Thing; a general noun for any object or matter
- enfantin
- Childlike, childish; adjective relating to childhood
- aura
- Will have; third person singular future of 'avoir'
- crois
- Believe, think; first person present of 'croire'
- jusqu'
- Until, up to; elided form of 'jusqu'à'
- mort
- Death; the end of life
- vivre
- To live; to be alive and experience life
- cent
- One hundred; the number 100
- yeux
- Eyes; the plural of 'œil'
- étaient
- Were; third person plural imperfect of 'être'
- grands
- Large, big; masculine plural adjective
- bleus
- Blue; masculine plural color adjective
- étonnés
- Astonished, wide with surprise; plural adjective
- regardant
- Looking, gazing; present participle of 'regarder'
- droit
- Straight, directly; ahead without deviation
- nez
- Nose; the facial organ for smelling
- informe
- Shapeless, formless, undefined in shape
- retroussé
- Turned up, upturned; used to describe a pug nose
- lèvres
- Lips; the fleshy edges of the mouth
- rouges
- Red; plural color adjective
- fraîches
- Fresh, rosy; feminine plural adjective
- portait
- Was wearing, carried; imperfect of 'porter'
- également
- Also, equally, likewise; adverb
- cheveux
- Hair; referring to hair on the head
- petites
- Small, little; feminine plural adjective
- rangées
- Rows, arranged in lines; feminine plural noun
- boucles
- Curls; ringlets of hair
- renforçait
- Reinforced, strengthened; imperfect of 'renforcer'
- apparence
- Appearance; the way someone or something looks
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