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Crime and Punishment — Page 4

English → Fr Preface Level 8/10

In the words of a Russian critic, who seeks to explain the feeling inspired by Dostoevsky: "He was one of ourselves, a man of our blood and our bone, but one who has suffered and has seen so much more deeply than we have his insight impresses us as wisdom... that wisdom of the heart which we seek that we may learn from it how to live.

Pour reprendre les mots d'un critique russe, qui cherche à expliquer le sentiment qu'inspire Dostoïevski : « Il était l'un des nôtres, un homme de notre sang et de notre chair, mais quelqu'un qui a souffert et qui a vu tellement plus profondément que nous que sa perspicacité nous apparaît comme de la sagesse... cette sagesse du cœur que nous recherchons afin de pouvoir apprendre d'elle comment vivre.

All his other gifts came to him from nature, this he won for himself and through it he became great.

Tous ses autres dons lui vinrent de la nature, celui-ci il le conquit pour lui-même et c'est grâce à lui qu'il devint grand. »

Vocabulary

Pour
Preposition meaning 'for' or 'in order to'.
reprendre
To take back, resume, or repeat something.
mots
Words; units of language used in communication.
critique
A critic; someone who analyzes and evaluates works.
russe
Russian; relating to Russia or its people.
cherche
Seeks or tries to find or explain something.
expliquer
To explain or clarify something to someone.
sentiment
A feeling or emotional impression about something.
inspire
To inspire; to evoke a feeling or idea.
était
Was; past imperfect form of the verb 'être'.
nôtres
Ours; possessive pronoun referring to our group.
homme
Man; an adult male human being.
sang
Blood; the fluid circulating in the body.
chair
Flesh; the soft tissue of a human body.
mais
Conjunction meaning 'but', indicating contrast.
quelqu'
Someone; indefinite pronoun referring to a person.
souffert
Suffered; past participle of 'souffrir', to suffer.
vu
Seen; past participle of 'voir', to see.
tellement
So much; to such a great degree or extent.
plus
More; indicating a greater degree or quantity.
profondément
Deeply; in a profound or intense manner.
perspicacité
Perceptiveness; the ability to understand situations clearly.
apparaît
Appears; to become visible or seem to be.
comme
As or like; used for comparison or similarity.
sagesse
Wisdom; deep knowledge, insight, and good judgment.
cette
This; demonstrative adjective indicating a specific thing.
cœur
Heart; the organ or center of emotion.
recherchons
We seek or research; first-person plural present tense.
afin
In order to; expresses purpose, used with 'de'.
pouvoir
To be able to; modal verb expressing ability.
apprendre
To learn or to teach something to someone.
comment
How; used to ask or explain the manner.
vivre
To live; to exist or experience life.
Tous
All; every one of a group of things.
autres
Other; referring to additional or different things.
dons
Gifts or talents; natural abilities or endowments.
vinrent
Came; simple past of 'venir', third-person plural.
nature
Nature; the natural world or innate character.
celui-ci
This one; demonstrative pronoun referring to nearby item.
conquit
Conquered or won; simple past of 'conquérir'.
pour
For; preposition indicating purpose or benefit.
lui-même
Himself; reflexive emphatic pronoun for self-reference.
grâce
Grace or thanks to; elegance or gratitude.
devint
Became; simple past of 'devenir', to become.
grand
Great or tall; of large size or importance.
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