Middlemarch — Page 3
Here and there a cygnet is reared uneasily among the ducklings in the brown pond, and never finds the living stream in fellowship with its own oary-footed kind.
Çà et là, un cygnet est élevé avec inquiétude parmi les canetons dans l'étang brun, et ne trouve jamais le courant vivant en communion avec ses semblables aux pieds palmés.
Here and there is born a Saint Theresa, foundress of nothing, whose loving heart-beats and sobs after an unattained goodness tremble off and are dispersed among hindrances, instead of centring in some long-recognizable deed.
Çà et là naît une sainte Thérèse, fondatrice de rien, dont les battements de cœur affectueux et les sanglots aspirant à une bonté inaccomplie s'évanouissent et se dispersent parmi les obstacles, au lieu de se concentrer en quelque acte longtemps reconnaissable.
Vocabulary
- Çà
- sa — Here, used in the expression 'çà et là' (here and there)
- et
- ay — And, a basic coordinating conjunction
- là
- la — There, indicating a place or position
- un
- uhn — A, an; the masculine indefinite article
- cygnet
- seen-yeh — A young swan, baby swan
- est
- ay — Is, third person singular of être (to be)
- élevé
- ay-luh-vay — Raised, brought up, nurtured
- avec
- ah-vek — With, a preposition indicating accompaniment
- inquiétude
- an-kyeh-tood — Anxiety, worry, unease or concern
- parmi
- par-mee — Among, in the midst of a group
- les
- lay — The, plural definite article in French
- canetons
- kan-tohn — Ducklings, young ducks
- dans
- dahn — In, inside, a common preposition
- l'
- l — The, elided definite article before a vowel
- étang
- ay-tahn — A pond, small body of still water
- brun
- bruhn — Brown, a dark earthy color
- ne
- nuh — Not, part of French negation construction
- trouve
- troov — Finds, third person singular of trouver
- jamais
- zhah-may — Never, at no time, ever
- le
- luh — The, masculine singular definite article
- courant
- koo-rahn — Current, flow of water or electricity
- vivant
- vee-vahn — Living, alive, present participle of vivre
- en
- ahn — In, on, a versatile French preposition
- communion
- koh-myoo-nyohn — Communion, deep spiritual or emotional connection
- ses
- say — His, her, its, plural possessive adjective
- semblables
- sahm-blahbl — Peers, fellow creatures, those alike
- aux
- oh — To the, at the, plural contraction
- pieds
- pyay — Feet, the lower extremities of the body
- palmés
- pal-may — Webbed, having webbed feet like ducks
- naît
- nay — Is born, third person singular of naître
- une
- oon — A, an, the feminine indefinite article
- sainte
- sant — Saint, a holy or canonized woman
- fondatrice
- fohn-dah-trees — Founder, a woman who establishes something
- de
- duh — Of, from, a very common preposition
- rien
- ryahn — Nothing, not anything at all
- dont
- dohn — Whose, of which, a relative pronoun
- battements
- bat-mahn — Beats, beatings, rhythmic pulsing movements
- cœur
- kur — Heart, the vital organ or emotional center
- affectueux
- ah-fek-twuh — Affectionate, loving, showing warm tenderness
- sanglots
- sahn-gloh — Sobs, convulsive sounds of weeping
- aspirant
- as-pee-rahn — Aspiring, longing, yearning toward something
- à
- ah — To, at, a fundamental French preposition
- bonté
- bohn-tay — Goodness, kindness, benevolence
- inaccomplie
- een-ah-kohm-plee — Unfulfilled, not accomplished, unrealized
- s'
- s — Oneself, reflexive pronoun elided before vowel
- évanouissent
- ay-vah-nwees — Vanish, fade away, disappear into nothing
- se
- suh — Oneself, reflexive pronoun for third person
- dispersent
- dees-pers — Scatter, disperse, spread out in different directions
- obstacles
- obs-tahkl — Obstacles, hindrances, things blocking progress
- au
- oh — To the, at the, masculine singular contraction
- lieu
- lyuh — Place; used in 'au lieu de' meaning instead of
- concentrer
- kohn-sahn-tray — To concentrate, focus, direct toward one point
- quelque
- kel-kuh — Some, a few, an indefinite adjective
- acte
- akt — Act, action, a deed or formal gesture
- longtemps
- lohn-tahn — A long time, for a lengthy duration
- reconnaissable
- ruh-koh-nay-sahbl — Recognizable, able to be identified or known
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