Dracula — Page 12
The road was rugged, but still we seemed to fly over it with a feverish haste.
La route était accidentée, mais nous semblions néanmoins la parcourir avec une hâte fébrile.
I could not understand then what the haste meant, but the driver was evidently bent on losing no time in reaching Borgo Prund.
Je ne pouvais pas comprendre alors ce que signifiait cette hâte, mais le conducteur était manifestement décidé à ne pas perdre de temps pour atteindre Borgo Prund.
I was told that this road is in summertime excellent, but that it had not yet been put in order after the winter snows.
On m'avait dit que cette route est excellente en été, mais qu'elle n'avait pas encore été remise en état après les neiges de l'hiver.
In this respect it is different from the general run of roads in the Carpathians, for it is an old tradition that they are not to be kept in too good order.
À cet égard, elle diffère de la plupart des routes des Carpates, car il est de vieille tradition qu'elles ne doivent pas être maintenues en trop bon état.
Of old the Hospadars would not repair them, lest the Turk should think that they were preparing to bring in foreign troops, and so hasten the war which was always really at loading point.
Jadis, les Hospadars refusaient de les réparer, de peur que les Turcs ne pensent qu'ils se préparaient à faire venir des troupes étrangères, et n'accélèrent ainsi la guerre qui était toujours véritablement sur le point d'éclater.
Beyond the green swelling hills of the Mittel Land rose mighty slopes of forest up to the lofty steeps of the Carpathians themselves.
Au-delà des collines verdoyantes et ondulantes du Mittel Land s'élevaient de puissants versants forestiers jusqu'aux hauteurs escarpées des Carpates elles-mêmes.
Right and left of us they towered, with the afternoon sun falling full upon them and bringing out all the glorious colours of this beautiful range, deep blue and purple in the shadows of the peaks, green and brown where grass and rock mingled, and an endless perspective of jagged rock and pointed crags, till these were themselves lost in the distance, where the snowy peaks rose grandly.
À droite et à gauche, ils se dressaient majestueusement, le soleil de l'après-midi tombant de plein fouet sur eux et faisant ressortir toutes les glorieuses couleurs de cette magnifique chaîne, bleu profond et violet dans les ombres des sommets, vert et brun là où l'herbe et la roche se mêlaient, et une perspective sans fin de rochers déchiquetés et de crêtes pointues, jusqu'à ce que celles-ci se perdent elles-mêmes dans le lointain, où les sommets enneigés s'élevaient majestueusement.
Here and there seemed mighty rifts in the mountains, through which, as the sun began to sink, we saw now and again the white gleam of falling water.
Çà et là apparaissaient de profondes failles dans les montagnes, à travers lesquelles, tandis que le soleil commençait à décliner, nous apercevions de temps à autre le blanc scintillement d'une cascade.
Vocabulary
- route
- root — A road or path for travel
- était
- eh-teh — Past tense of 'être'; was
- accidentée
- ak-see-dahn-tay — Uneven, rough, or bumpy terrain
- mais
- meh — Conjunction meaning 'but'
- semblions
- sahm-blee-ohn — Imperfect tense of 'sembler'; we seemed
- néanmoins
- nay-ahn-mwahn — Adverb meaning 'nevertheless' or 'nonetheless'
- parcourir
- par-koo-reer — To travel through or cover a distance
- hâte
- aht — Haste or urgency in doing something
- fébrile
- fay-breel — Feverish, agitated, or intensely nervous
- pouvais
- poo-veh — Imperfect tense of 'pouvoir'; I could
- comprendre
- kohm-prahn-druh — To understand or grasp a meaning
- alors
- ah-lor — Adverb meaning 'then' or 'at that time'
- signifiait
- see-nyee-fyeh — Imperfect of 'signifier'; meant or signified
- conducteur
- kohn-dook-tur — A driver or operator of a vehicle
- manifestement
- mah-nee-fest-mahn — Adverb meaning 'obviously' or 'evidently'
- décidé
- day-see-day — Determined or resolved to do something
- perdre
- pehr-druh — To lose or waste something
- temps
- tahn — Time or weather
- atteindre
- ah-tan-druh — To reach or attain a destination or goal
- On
- ohn — Indefinite pronoun meaning 'one' or 'they'
- avait
- ah-veh — Third-person singular imperfect of 'avoir'; had
- dit
- dee — Past participle of 'dire'; said or told
- excellente
- ek-seh-lahnt — Feminine adjective meaning 'excellent' or 'very good'
- été
- ay-tay — Summer season of the year
- encore
- ahn-kor — Adverb meaning 'yet', 'still', or 'again'
- remise
- ruh-meez — Restored or returned to a previous condition
- état
- ay-tah — State or condition of something
- après
- ah-preh — Preposition meaning 'after'
- neiges
- nezh — Plural of 'neige'; snows or snowfalls
- hiver
- ee-vehr — The winter season of the year
- égard
- ay-gar — Regard or respect; used in 'à cet égard'
- diffère
- dee-fehr — Third-person singular of 'différer'; differs from
- plupart
- ploo-par — Most or the majority of something
- routes
- root — Plural of 'route'; roads or paths
- car
- kar — Conjunction meaning 'because' or 'for'
- vieille
- vyay — Feminine adjective meaning 'old' or 'ancient'
- tradition
- trah-dee-syohn — A custom or practice passed down over time
- doivent
- dwahv — Third-person plural of 'devoir'; must or have to
- être
- eh-truh — Infinitive verb meaning 'to be'
- maintenues
- man-tuh-noo — Past participle plural of 'maintenir'; kept or maintained
- trop
- troh — Adverb meaning 'too' or 'too much'
- bon
- bohn — Adjective meaning 'good'
- Jadis
- zhah-dee — Adverb meaning 'formerly' or 'in times past'
- refusaient
- ruh-foo-zeh — Imperfect of 'refuser'; they refused or declined
- réparer
- ray-pah-ray — To repair or fix something broken
- peur
- pur — Fear or fright
- pensent
- pahns — Third-person plural of 'penser'; they think
- préparaient
- pray-pah-reh — Imperfect of 'préparer'; they were preparing
- faire
- Infinitive meaning 'to do' or 'to make'
- venir
- vuh-neer — Infinitive meaning 'to come'
- troupes
- troop — Plural of 'troupe'; troops or military forces
- étrangères
- ay-trahn-zhehr — Feminine plural adjective meaning 'foreign'
- accélèrent
- ak-say-lehr — Third-person plural of 'accélérer'; they speed up
- ainsi
- an-see — Adverb meaning 'thus' or 'in this way'
- guerre
- gehr — War or armed conflict between groups
- toujours
- too-zhoor — Adverb meaning 'always' or 'still'
- véritablement
- vay-ree-tab-luh-mahn — Adverb meaning 'truly' or 'really'
- point
- pwahn — Point or moment; used in 'sur le point de'
- éclater
- ay-klah-tay — To burst out or break out suddenly
- Au-delà
- oh-duh-lah — Adverb or preposition meaning 'beyond'
- collines
- ko-leen — Plural of 'colline'; hills or small elevations
- verdoyantes
- vehr-dwah-yahnt — Feminine plural adjective meaning 'verdant' or 'green'
- ondulantes
- ohn-doo-lahnt — Undulating or gently rolling in shape
- élevaient
- ay-luh-veh — Imperfect of 's'élever'; they rose up high
- puissants
- pwee-sahn — Masculine plural adjective meaning 'powerful' or 'mighty'
- versants
- vehr-sahn — Slopes or sides of a mountain or hill
- forestiers
- fo-res-tyay — Masculine plural adjective meaning 'forested' or 'wooded'
- jusqu'
- zhoos-kuh — Contracted preposition meaning 'up to' or 'until'
- hauteurs
- oh-tur — Heights or elevated places
- escarpées
- es-kar-pay — Steep or sheer, used for cliffs or slopes
- elles-mêmes
- el-mem — Reflexive pronoun meaning 'themselves' (feminine)
- droite
- drwaht — Right side or direction
- gauche
- gohsh — Left side or direction
- dressaient
- dreh-seh — Imperfect of 'dresser'; they rose or stood up
- majestueusement
- mah-zhes-tyuhz-mahn — Adverb meaning 'majestically' or 'in a grand manner'
- soleil
- so-lay — The sun or sunlight
- après-midi
- ah-preh-mee-dee — The afternoon part of the day
- tombant
- tohn-bahn — Present participle of 'tomber'; falling or striking
- plein
- plan — Full or direct; used in 'en plein' meaning 'directly'
- fouet
- fweh — A whip; 'en plein fouet' means 'full force'
- faisant
- fuh-zahn — Present participle of 'faire'; doing or making
- ressortir
- ruh-sor-teer — To stand out or be highlighted prominently
- glorieuses
- glo-ryuhz — Feminine plural adjective meaning 'glorious' or 'magnificent'
- couleurs
- koo-lur — Colors or hues
- magnifique
- mah-nyee-feek — Adjective meaning 'magnificent' or 'splendid'
- chaîne
- shen — A chain or mountain range
- bleu
- bluh — The color blue
- profond
- pro-fohn — Deep or profound in depth or intensity
- violet
- vyo-leh — The color purple or violet
- ombres
- ohm-bruh — Plural of 'ombre'; shadows or shades
- sommets
- so-meh — Plural of 'sommet'; peaks or summits of mountains
- vert
- vehr — The color green
- brun
- brahn — The color brown
- où
- oo — Relative adverb meaning 'where'
- herbe
- ehrb — Grass or herb growing on the ground
- roche
- rosh — Rock or stone in a natural setting
- mêlaient
- meh-leh — Imperfect of 'mêler'; they mixed or blended together
- perspective
- pers-pek-teev — A view or visual depth extending into distance
- sans
- sahn — Preposition meaning 'without'
- fin
- fan — End or limit; 'sans fin' means 'endless'
- rochers
- ro-shay — Plural of 'rocher'; boulders or large rocks
- déchiquetés
- day-sheek-tay — Jagged or torn into irregular sharp pieces
- crêtes
- kreht — Plural of 'crête'; ridges or crests of hills
- pointues
- pwan-too — Feminine plural adjective meaning 'pointed' or 'sharp'
- celles-ci
- sel-see — Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'these ones' (feminine)
- perdent
- pehr-duh — Third-person plural of 'perdre'; they lose or disappear
- lointain
- lwan-tan — The distant background or far-off place
- enneigés
- ahn-neh-zhay — Covered in snow, used for mountains or peaks
- apparaissaient
- ah-pah-reh-seh — Imperfect of 'apparaître'; they appeared or came into view
- profondes
- pro-fohnd — Feminine plural adjective meaning 'deep'
- failles
- fah-yuh — Cracks, fissures, or gorges in mountainous terrain
- montagnes
- mohn-tah-nyuh — Plural of 'montagne'; mountains or mountain ranges
- travers
- trah-vehr — Used in 'à travers' meaning 'through' or 'across'
- lesquelles
- lay-kel — Relative pronoun meaning 'through which' (feminine plural)
- tandis
- tahn-dee — Used in 'tandis que' meaning 'while' or 'whereas'
- commençait
- ko-mahn-seh — Imperfect of 'commencer'; was beginning or starting
- décliner
- day-klee-nay — To decline, fade, or diminish gradually
- apercevions
- ah-pehr-suh-vyohn — Imperfect of 'apercevoir'; we caught sight of
- autre
- oh-truh — Adjective or pronoun meaning 'other' or 'another'
- blanc
- blahn — The color white
- scintillement
- san-tee-yuh-mahn — A sparkling, glittering, or twinkling of light
- cascade
- kas-kad — A waterfall or series of falling water
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