Dracula — Page 6
" She smiled, and gave some message to an elderly man in white shirt-sleeves, who had followed her to the door.
Elle sourit et dit quelques mots à un homme âgé en manches de chemise blanche, qui l'avait suivie jusqu'à la porte.
He went, but immediately returned with a letter:--
Il s'en alla, mais revint immédiatement avec une lettre :
"My Friend.--Welcome to the Carpathians.
« Mon ami. — Bienvenue dans les Carpates.
I am anxiously expecting you.
Je vous attends avec impatience.
Sleep well to-night.
Dormez bien cette nuit.
At three to-morrow the diligence will start for Bukovina; a place on it is kept for you.
Demain à trois heures, la diligence partira pour la Bukovine ; une place vous y est réservée.
At the Borgo Pass my carriage will await you and will bring you to me.
Au col de Borgo, ma voiture vous attendra et vous conduira jusqu'à moi.
I trust that your journey from London has been a happy one, and that you will enjoy your stay in my beautiful land.
J'espère que votre voyage depuis Londres s'est bien passé et que vous apprécierez votre séjour dans mon beau pays.
"Your friend, "DRACULA."
« Votre ami, « DRACULA. »
_4 May._--I found that my landlord had got a letter from the Count, directing him to secure the best place on the coach for me;
4 mai. — J'appris que mon hôte avait reçu une lettre du Comte, lui enjoignant de me réserver la meilleure place dans la diligence ;
but on making inquiries as to details he seemed somewhat reticent, and pretended that he could not understand my German.
mais lorsque je voulus en savoir davantage, il parut quelque peu réticent et prétendit ne pas comprendre mon allemand.
This could not be true, because up to then he had understood it perfectly; at least, he answered my questions exactly as if he did.
Cela ne pouvait être vrai, car jusqu'alors il l'avait parfaitement compris ; du moins, il avait répondu à mes questions exactement comme s'il le comprenait.
He and his wife, the old lady who had received me, looked at each other in a frightened sort of way.
Lui et sa femme, la vieille dame qui m'avait accueilli, échangèrent un regard effrayé.
He mumbled out that the money had been sent in a letter, and that was all he knew.
Il marmonna que l'argent avait été envoyé dans une lettre, et que c'était tout ce qu'il savait.
When I asked him if he knew Count Dracula, and could tell me anything of his castle, both he and his wife crossed themselves, and, saying that they knew nothing at all, simply refused to speak further.
Lorsque je lui demandai s'il connaissait le comte Dracula et s'il pouvait me dire quoi que ce soit sur son château, lui et sa femme se signèrent tous les deux et, déclarant qu'ils ne savaient absolument rien, refusèrent purement et simplement de parler davantage.
Vocabulary
- sourit
- Smiled; third person singular past tense of sourire
- quelques
- Adjective meaning 'a few' or 'some'
- âgé
- Adjective meaning 'elderly' or 'aged'
- manches
- Sleeves; plural of manche
- chemise
- Noun meaning 'shirt'
- suivie
- Followed; feminine past participle of suivre
- alla
- Went; third person singular simple past of aller
- revint
- Came back; third person singular simple past of revenir
- immédiatement
- Adverb meaning 'immediately' or 'at once'
- Bienvenue
- Exclamation meaning 'welcome'
- attends
- Wait for; first person singular present of attendre
- impatience
- Noun meaning 'impatience' or eagerness
- Dormez
- Sleep; second person plural imperative of dormir
- diligence
- Noun meaning 'stagecoach', historical mode of transport
- partira
- Will leave; third person singular future of partir
- place
- Noun meaning 'seat', 'place', or 'space'
- réservée
- Reserved; feminine past participle of réserver
- col
- Noun meaning 'mountain pass' or 'collar'
- attendra
- Will wait; third person singular future of attendre
- conduira
- Will drive; third person singular future of conduire
- espère
- Hope; first person singular present of espérer
- depuis
- Preposition meaning 'since' or 'from'
- apprécierez
- Will appreciate; second person plural future of apprécier
- séjour
- Noun meaning 'stay' or 'sojourn'
- appris
- Learned; past participle of apprendre
- hôte
- Noun meaning 'host' or 'guest'
- reçu
- Received; past participle of recevoir
- Comte
- Noun meaning 'Count', a noble title
- enjoignant
- Enjoining; present participle of enjoindre, meaning to instruct
- réserver
- To reserve or book something in advance
- meilleure
- Adjective meaning 'best', feminine form of meilleur
- lorsque
- Conjunction meaning 'when' or 'at the time that'
- voulus
- Wanted; first person singular simple past of vouloir
- davantage
- Adverb meaning 'more' or 'further'
- parut
- Appeared or seemed; third person singular simple past of paraître
- quelque
- Adjective meaning 'some' or 'a little'
- réticent
- Adjective meaning 'reluctant' or 'reticent'
- prétendit
- Claimed; third person singular simple past of prétendre
- allemand
- Adjective or noun meaning 'German' language or person
- Cela
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'that' or 'this'
- car
- Conjunction meaning 'because' or 'for'
- parfaitement
- Adverb meaning 'perfectly' or 'completely'
- exactement
- Adverb meaning 'exactly' or 'precisely'
- vieille
- Adjective meaning 'old', feminine form of vieux
- dame
- Noun meaning 'lady' or 'woman'
- accueilli
- Welcomed; past participle of accueillir
- échangèrent
- Exchanged; third person plural simple past of échanger
- regard
- Noun meaning 'look' or 'glance'
- effrayé
- Adjective meaning 'frightened' or 'scared'
- marmonna
- Muttered; third person singular simple past of marmonner
- envoyé
- Sent; past participle of envoyer
- Lorsque
- Conjunction meaning 'when' at beginning of clause
- connaissait
- Knew; third person singular imperfect of connaître
- comte
- Noun meaning 'count', a noble title
- soit
- Be; third person singular present subjunctive of être
- château
- Noun meaning 'castle' or 'château'
- signèrent
- Crossed themselves; third person plural simple past of se signer
- déclarant
- Declaring; present participle of déclarer
- absolument
- Adverb meaning 'absolutely' or 'completely'
- refusèrent
- Refused; third person plural simple past of refuser
- purement
- Adverb meaning 'purely' or 'simply'
- simplement
- Adverb meaning 'simply' or 'plainly'
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