Sense and Sensibility — Page 2
And what possible claim could the Miss Dashwoods, who were related to him only by half blood, which she considered as no relationship at all, have on his generosity to so large an amount.
Et quel droit possible les demoiselles Dashwood, qui n'étaient liées à lui que par un demi-sang, ce qu'elle ne considérait pas comme un lien de parenté du tout, pouvaient-elles avoir sur sa générosité pour une somme aussi importante.
It was very well known that no affection was ever supposed to exist between the children of any man by different marriages; and why was he to ruin himself, and their poor little Harry, by giving away all his money to his half sisters?
Il était de notoriété publique qu'on ne supposait jamais qu'aucune affection existât entre les enfants d'un même homme issus de mariages différents ; et pourquoi devrait-il se ruiner, ainsi que leur pauvre petit Harry, en donnant tout son argent à ses demi-sœurs ?
"It was my father's last request to me," replied her husband, "that I should assist his widow and daughters."
« C'était la dernière volonté de mon père envers moi, » répondit son mari, « que je devrais venir en aide à sa veuve et à ses filles. »
"He did not know what he was talking of, I dare say; ten to one but he was light-headed at the time.
« Il ne savait pas de quoi il parlait, j'ose dire ; il y a fort à parier qu'il avait la tête légère à ce moment-là.
Had he been in his right senses, he could not have thought of such a thing as begging you to give away half your fortune from your own child."
S'il avait eu toute sa raison, il n'aurait pas pu envisager une chose telle que vous supplier de donner la moitié de votre fortune au détriment de votre propre enfant. »
"He did not stipulate for any particular sum, my dear Fanny; he only requested me, in general terms, to assist them, and make their situation more comfortable than it was in his power to do.
« Il n'a pas stipulé de somme particulière, ma chère Fanny ; il m'a seulement demandé, en termes généraux, de les aider et de rendre leur situation plus confortable qu'il n'était en son pouvoir de le faire.
Perhaps it would have been as well if he had left it wholly to myself.
Peut-être aurait-il aussi bien fait de s'en remettre entièrement à moi.
He could hardly suppose I should neglect them.
Il pouvait difficilement supposer que je les négligerais.
But as he required the promise, I could not do less than give it; at least I thought so at the time.
Mais comme il exigeait la promesse, je ne pouvais faire moins que de la donner ; du moins le pensais-je à l'époque.
The promise, therefore, was given, and must be performed.
La promesse a donc été faite, et doit être tenue.
Vocabulary
- quel
- kel — Interrogative adjective meaning 'what' or 'which'.
- droit
- drwah — Right or entitlement; also means 'straight' or 'law'.
- demoiselles
- duh-mwah-zel — Young unmarried women or misses.
- étaient
- ay-tay — Third person plural imperfect of 'être', meaning 'were'.
- liées
- lyay — Feminine plural past participle of 'lier', meaning 'connected' or 'tied'.
- demi
- duh-mee — Adjective meaning 'half', used in compound words.
- sang
- sahn — Noun meaning 'blood'; used in kinship expressions.
- considérait
- kon-see-day-ray — Imperfect tense of 'considérer', meaning 'considered'.
- lien
- lyahn — Bond, tie, or connection between people.
- parenté
- pah-rahn-tay — Kinship or family relationship between individuals.
- pouvaient
- poo-vay — Third person plural imperfect of 'pouvoir', meaning 'could'.
- générosité
- zhay-nay-roh-see-tay — Noun meaning 'generosity' or 'liberality'.
- somme
- som — Sum or amount of money.
- notoriété
- noh-toh-ryay-tay — Public knowledge or notoriety; state of being widely known.
- publique
- poo-bleek — Feminine adjective meaning 'public' or 'open to all'.
- supposait
- soo-poh-zay — Imperfect tense of 'supposer', meaning 'supposed' or 'assumed'.
- jamais
- zhah-may — Adverb meaning 'never' or 'ever' in negation.
- aucune
- oh-koon — Feminine negative adjective meaning 'no' or 'none'.
- affection
- ah-fek-syon — Fondness, love, or emotional attachment between people.
- existât
- eg-zees-tah — Imperfect subjunctive of 'exister', meaning 'existed'.
- même
- mem — Adjective or adverb meaning 'same', 'even', or 'itself'.
- issus
- ee-soo — Past participle of 'issir', meaning 'born of' or 'descended from'.
- mariages
- mah-ryahzh — Plural noun meaning 'marriages' or 'weddings'.
- devrait
- duh-vray — Conditional of 'devoir', meaning 'should' or 'ought to'.
- ruiner
- rwee-nay — To ruin or bankrupt oneself financially.
- ainsi
- an-see — Adverb meaning 'thus', 'so', or 'in this way'.
- pauvre
- pohvruh — Adjective meaning 'poor', 'unfortunate', or 'pitiful'.
- donnant
- doh-nahn — Present participle of 'donner', meaning 'giving'.
- argent
- ar-zhahn — Noun meaning 'money' or 'silver'.
- sœurs
- suhr — Plural noun meaning 'sisters'.
- dernière
- dair-nyair — Feminine adjective meaning 'last' or 'final'.
- volonté
- voh-lon-tay — Will, wish, or intention of a person.
- envers
- ahn-vair — Preposition meaning 'toward' or 'with regard to'.
- répondit
- ray-pon-dee — Third person singular passé simple of 'répondre', meaning 'replied'.
- mari
- mah-ree — Noun meaning 'husband'.
- devrais
- duh-vray — Conditional of 'devoir', meaning 'I should' or 'I ought to'.
- aide
- ed — Noun or verb form meaning 'help' or 'assistance'.
- veuve
- vuhv — Noun meaning 'widow'; a woman whose husband has died.
- filles
- feey — Plural noun meaning 'girls' or 'daughters'.
- savait
- sah-vay — Third person singular imperfect of 'savoir', meaning 'knew'.
- parlait
- par-lay — Third person singular imperfect of 'parler', meaning 'was speaking'.
- ose
- ohz — First/third person singular of 'oser', meaning 'dare'.
- y
- ee — Pronoun meaning 'there' or replacing a location phrase.
- fort
- for — Adverb meaning 'very' or 'strongly'; adjective meaning 'strong'.
- parier
- pah-ryay — Infinitive verb meaning 'to bet' or 'to wager'.
- tête
- tet — Noun meaning 'head'; 'avoir la tête légère' means lightheaded.
- légère
- lay-zhair — Feminine adjective meaning 'light', 'slight', or 'frivolous'.
- raison
- ray-zon — Noun meaning 'reason'; 'avoir raison' means 'to be right'.
- aurait
- oh-ray — Third person singular conditional of 'avoir', meaning 'would have'.
- envisager
- ahn-vee-zah-zhay — To consider, contemplate, or envisage a possibility.
- telle
- tel — Feminine demonstrative adjective meaning 'such' or 'like that'.
- supplier
- soo-plyay — To beg, implore, or entreat someone earnestly.
- moitié
- mwah-tyay — Noun meaning 'half' of something.
- fortune
- for-toon — Noun meaning 'fortune' or 'wealth'.
- détriment
- day-tree-mahn — Noun meaning 'detriment', 'harm', or 'disadvantage'.
- propre
- propr — Adjective meaning 'own', 'proper', or 'clean'.
- stipulé
- stee-poo-lay — Past participle of 'stipuler', meaning 'stipulated' or 'specified'.
- particulière
- par-tee-koo-lyair — Feminine adjective meaning 'particular', 'specific', or 'special'.
- chère
- shair — Feminine adjective meaning 'dear' or 'beloved'.
- seulement
- suhl-mahn — Adverb meaning 'only', 'merely', or 'just'.
- termes
- tairm — Plural noun meaning 'terms', 'words', or 'conditions'.
- généraux
- zhay-nay-roh — Plural adjective meaning 'general' or 'broad'.
- aider
- ay-day — Infinitive verb meaning 'to help' or 'to assist'.
- rendre
- rahn-druh — Infinitive verb meaning 'to render', 'to make', or 'to give back'.
- remettre
- ruh-metr — To hand over, entrust, or leave something entirely to someone.
- entièrement
- ahn-tyair-mahn — Adverb meaning 'entirely', 'completely', or 'wholly'.
- difficilement
- dee-fee-seel-mahn — Adverb meaning 'with difficulty' or 'hardly'.
- supposer
- soo-poh-zay — Infinitive verb meaning 'to suppose' or 'to assume'.
- négligerais
- nay-glee-zhuh-ray — Conditional of 'négliger', meaning 'I would neglect'.
- exigeait
- eg-zee-zhay — Imperfect of 'exiger', meaning 'required' or 'demanded'.
- promesse
- proh-mes — Noun meaning 'promise' or 'pledge'.
- moins
- mwahn — Adverb meaning 'less' or 'fewer'.
- pensais
- pahn-say — First person singular imperfect of 'penser', meaning 'I thought'.
- époque
- ay-pok — Noun meaning 'era', 'time', or 'period'.
- donc
- donk — Conjunction or adverb meaning 'therefore', 'so', or 'thus'.
- doit
- dwah — Third person singular of 'devoir', meaning 'must' or 'owes'.
- tenue
- tuh-noo — Feminine past participle of 'tenir', meaning 'kept' or 'held'.
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