Dracula — Page 11
I shall never forget the last glimpse which I had of the inn-yard and its crowd of picturesque figures, all crossing themselves, as they stood round the wide archway, with its background of rich foliage of oleander and orange trees in green tubs clustered in the centre of the yard.
Je n'oublierai jamais le dernier aperçu que j'eus de la cour de l'auberge et de sa foule de personnages pittoresques, tous se signant, tandis qu'ils se tenaient autour de la large arche, avec en arrière-plan le riche feuillage des lauriers-roses et des orangers dans des bacs verts regroupés au centre de la cour.
Then our driver, whose wide linen drawers covered the whole front of the box-seat--"gotza" they call them--cracked his big whip over his four small horses, which ran abreast, and we set off on our journey.
Puis notre cocher, dont le large pantalon de lin couvrait toute la partie avant du siège de cocher — ils les appellent « gotza » — fit claquer son grand fouet au-dessus de ses quatre petits chevaux, qui couraient de front, et nous partîmes pour notre voyage.
I soon lost sight and recollection of ghostly fears in the beauty of the scene as we drove along, although had I known the language, or rather languages, which my fellow-passengers were speaking, I might not have been able to throw them off so easily.
Je perdis bientôt de vue et le souvenir de mes craintes fantomatiques dans la beauté du paysage tandis que nous roulions, bien que si j'avais connu la langue, ou plutôt les langues, que parlaient mes compagnons de voyage, je n'aurais peut-être pas pu m'en débarrasser aussi facilement.
Before us lay a green sloping land full of forests and woods, with here and there steep hills, crowned with clumps of trees or with farmhouses, the blank gable end to the road.
Devant nous s'étendait une terre verdoyante et vallonnée, pleine de forêts et de bois, avec çà et là des collines escarpées, couronnées de bouquets d'arbres ou de fermes, leur pignon aveugle tourné vers la route.
There was everywhere a bewildering mass of fruit blossom--apple, plum, pear, cherry; and as we drove by I could see the green grass under the trees spangled with the fallen petals.
Il y avait partout une masse éblouissante de fleurs fruitières — pommier, prunier, poirier, cerisier ; et tandis que nous passions, je pouvais voir l'herbe verte sous les arbres constellée de pétales tombés.
In and out amongst these green hills of what they call here the "Mittel Land" ran the road, losing itself as it swept round the grassy curve, or was shut out by the straggling ends of pine woods, which here and there ran down the hillsides like tongues of flame.
La route serpentait parmi ces collines verdoyantes de ce qu'ils appellent ici le « Mittel Land », se perdant au détour des courbes herbeuses, ou disparaissant derrière les lisières éparses des bois de pins, qui çà et là descendaient les flancs des collines comme des langues de feu.
Vocabulary
- oublierai
- Future tense of 'oublier'; will forget
- jamais
- Never; used in negation or meaning 'ever'
- dernier
- Last, final, most recent
- aperçu
- Glimpse or brief view of something
- eus
- Past historic of 'avoir'; had
- cour
- Courtyard or court of a building
- auberge
- Inn or small lodging establishment
- foule
- Crowd or large group of people
- personnages
- Characters or notable individuals in a scene
- pittoresques
- Picturesque, visually charming or quaint
- signant
- Present participle of 'signer'; making the sign of the cross
- tandis
- Used in 'tandis que' meaning 'while' or 'whereas'
- tenaient
- Imperfect of 'tenir'; were holding or standing
- autour
- Around, surrounding something or someone
- large
- Wide, broad in size or extent
- arche
- Arch, a curved architectural structure
- arrière-plan
- Background of a scene or image
- riche
- Rich, abundant, or luxuriant
- feuillage
- Foliage, the leaves of plants collectively
- lauriers-roses
- Oleander plants with pink flowers
- orangers
- Orange trees bearing citrus fruit
- bacs
- Tubs, containers, or large planters
- regroupés
- Grouped together, clustered in one place
- Puis
- Then, next in a sequence of events
- cocher
- Coachman, driver of a horse-drawn vehicle
- dont
- Relative pronoun meaning 'whose,' 'of which'
- pantalon
- Trousers or pants worn on the legs
- lin
- Linen fabric made from flax plant
- couvrait
- Imperfect of 'couvrir'; was covering something
- partie
- Part, portion or section of something
- avant
- Front, forward; before in time or space
- siège
- Seat, especially a driver's seat
- appellent
- Third person plural of 'appeler'; they call
- fit
- Past historic of 'faire'; did, made
- claquer
- To crack, snap, or make a sharp noise
- fouet
- Whip used to drive horses forward
- au-dessus
- Above, over something in position
- chevaux
- Horses; plural of 'cheval'
- couraient
- Imperfect of 'courir'; were running
- front
- Abreast, side by side at the same level
- partîmes
- Past historic of 'partir'; we departed, left
- voyage
- Journey, trip, or travel to a destination
- perdis
- Past historic of 'perdre'; I lost something
- bientôt
- Soon, in a short while
- vue
- View, sight, or sense of vision
- souvenir
- Memory, recollection of a past experience
- craintes
- Fears, worries, or apprehensions
- fantomatiques
- Ghostly, phantomlike in appearance or feeling
- beauté
- Beauty, the quality of being attractive
- paysage
- Landscape, the scenery of a natural area
- roulions
- Imperfect of 'rouler'; we were rolling, traveling
- connu
- Past participle of 'connaître'; known, familiar with
- langue
- Language or tongue; means of communication
- plutôt
- Rather, or more precisely, preferably
- langues
- Languages; plural of 'langue'
- parlaient
- Imperfect of 'parler'; they were speaking
- compagnons
- Companions, travel companions, fellow travelers
- aurais
- Conditional of 'avoir'; I would have
- peut-être
- Perhaps, maybe, possibly
- pu
- Past participle of 'pouvoir'; been able to
- débarrasser
- To get rid of, free oneself from something
- facilement
- Easily, without difficulty or effort
- Devant
- In front of, ahead in direction or position
- étendait
- Imperfect of 'étendre'; was stretching, spreading out
- terre
- Land, earth, ground, or soil
- verdoyante
- Lush and green, covered with vegetation
- vallonnée
- Hilly, gently undulating with valleys and hills
- pleine
- Full of, filled with; feminine form of 'plein'
- forêts
- Forests; plural of 'forêt'
- bois
- Woods, a small forested area
- çà
- Here; used in 'çà et là' meaning 'here and there'
- collines
- Hills; plural of 'colline'
- escarpées
- Steep, having a sharp slope or incline
- couronnées
- Crowned, topped with something at the summit
- bouquets
- Clusters, clumps or bunches of trees or flowers
- arbres
- Trees; plural of 'arbre'
- fermes
- Farmhouses, rural agricultural buildings
- pignon
- Gable end of a house or building
- aveugle
- Blind; here, windowless side of a building
- tourné
- Turned, facing toward a certain direction
- vers
- Toward, in the direction of something
- route
- Road, route, or path for traveling
- partout
- Everywhere, in all places
- masse
- Mass, large quantity of something
- éblouissante
- Dazzling, blindingly brilliant or impressive
- fleurs
- Flowers; plural of 'fleur'
- fruitières
- Fruit-bearing trees or plants
- pommier
- Apple tree bearing apples
- prunier
- Plum tree bearing plum fruit
- poirier
- Pear tree bearing pear fruit
- cerisier
- Cherry tree bearing cherries
- passions
- Imperfect of 'passer'; we were passing by
- pouvais
- Imperfect of 'pouvoir'; I was able to, could
- voir
- To see, to perceive visually
- herbe
- Grass or herb growing on the ground
- sous
- Under, beneath something in position
- constellée
- Studded with, dotted all over with something
- pétales
- Petals of a flower that have fallen
- tombés
- Fallen; past participle of 'tomber'
- serpentait
- Imperfect of 'serpenter'; wound, snaked through landscape
- parmi
- Among, amid, in the middle of a group
- verdoyantes
- Green and lush; feminine plural adjective
- perdant
- Present participle of 'perdre'; losing, disappearing
- détour
- Detour, a winding or roundabout way
- courbes
- Curves, bends in a road or path
- herbeuses
- Grassy, covered with grass; feminine plural
- disparaissant
- Present participle of 'disparaître'; disappearing from view
- derrière
- Behind, at the back of something
- lisières
- Edges or fringes of a forest or field
- éparses
- Scattered, sparse, spread out unevenly
- pins
- Pine trees; plural of 'pin'
- descendaient
- Imperfect of 'descendre'; were coming down, descending
- flancs
- Slopes or sides of a hill or mountain
- feu
- Fire, flame; burning combustion
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