Spoon River Anthology — Page 11

English → Fr Full Text Level 4/10

And then, suppose;

Et puis, supposez ;

You are a woman well endowed,

Vous êtes une femme bien dotée,

And the only man with whom the law and morality

Et le seul homme avec lequel la loi et la morale

Permit you to have the marital relation

Vous permettent d'avoir la relation conjugale

Is the very man that fills you with disgust

Est précisément l'homme qui vous remplit de dégoût

Every time you think of it while you think of it

Chaque fois que vous y pensez, tandis que vous y pensez

Every time you see him?

Chaque fois que vous le voyez ?

That's why I drove him away from home

C'est pourquoi je l'ai chassé de chez moi

To live with his dog in a dingy room

Pour vivre avec son chien dans une chambre sordide

Back of his office.

Derrière son bureau.

Reuben Pantier

Well, Emily Sparks, your prayers were not wasted,

Eh bien, Emily Sparks, vos prières n'ont pas été vaines,

Your love was not all in vain.

Votre amour n'a pas été entièrement inutile.

I owe whatever I was in life

Je dois tout ce que j'ai été dans la vie

To your hope that would not give me up,

À votre espoir qui n'a pas voulu m'abandonner,

To your love that saw me still as good.

À votre amour qui me voyait encore comme quelqu'un de bien.

Dear Emily Sparks, let me tell you the story.

Chère Emily Sparks, laissez-moi vous raconter l'histoire.

I pass the effect of my father and mother;

Je laisse de côté l'influence de mon père et de ma mère ;

The milliner's daughter made me trouble

La fille de la modiste m'a causé des ennuis

And out I went in the world,

Et je suis parti dans le monde,

Where I passed through every peril known

Où j'ai traversé tous les périls connus

Of wine and women and joy of life.

Du vin, des femmes et de la joie de vivre.

One night, in a room in the Rue de Rivoli,

Une nuit, dans une chambre de la Rue de Rivoli,

I was drinking wine with a black-eyed cocotte,

Je buvais du vin avec une cocotte aux yeux noirs,

And the tears swam into my eyes.

Et les larmes me sont montées aux yeux.

She though they were amorous tears and smiled

Elle crut que c'étaient des larmes amoureuses et sourit

For thought of her conquest over me.

En pensant à sa conquête sur moi.

But my soul was three thousand miles away,

Mais mon âme était à trois mille lieues de là,

In the days when you taught me in Spoon River.

Aux jours où vous m'enseigniez à Spoon River.

And just because you no more could love me,

Et précisément parce que vous ne pouviez plus m'aimer,

Nor pray for me, nor write me letters,

Ni prier pour moi, ni m'écrire des lettres,

The eternal silence of you spoke instead.

Votre éternel silence a parlé à votre place.

Vocabulary

puis: Means 'then' or 'and then', indicating sequence.
supposez: Imperative form of 'supposer'; means 'suppose' or 'imagine'.
femme: Noun meaning 'woman' or 'wife'.
bien: Adverb meaning 'well' or adjective meaning 'good'.
dotée: Adjective meaning 'endowed' or 'gifted with assets'.
seul: Adjective meaning 'only' or 'alone', sole.
homme: Noun meaning 'man' or 'human being'.
lequel: Relative pronoun meaning 'which' or 'whom' (masculine).
loi: Noun meaning 'law', a rule established by authority.
morale: Noun meaning 'morality' or adjective meaning 'moral'.
permettent: Third person plural of 'permettre'; means 'allow' or 'permit'.
relation: Noun meaning 'relationship' or 'connection' between people.
conjugale: Adjective meaning 'conjugal', relating to marriage or spouses.
précisément: Adverb meaning 'precisely' or 'exactly'.
remplit: Third person singular of 'remplir'; means 'fills'.
dégoût: Noun meaning 'disgust' or strong feeling of repulsion.
Chaque: Adjective meaning 'each' or 'every'.
fois: Noun meaning 'time' in the sense of an occurrence.
y: Pronoun meaning 'there' or referring to a previously mentioned place.
pensez: Second person plural of 'penser'; means 'think' about something.
tandis: Part of 'tandis que', meaning 'while' or 'whereas'.
voyez: Second person plural of 'voir'; means 'see' or 'look'.
pourquoi: Adverb meaning 'why', used to ask for a reason.
chassé: Past participle of 'chasser'; means 'chased away' or 'expelled'.
chez: Preposition meaning 'at the home of' someone.
vivre: Infinitive meaning 'to live', to exist or reside.
chien: Noun meaning 'dog', a common domestic animal.
chambre: Noun meaning 'room', especially a bedroom.
sordide: Adjective meaning 'sordid', filthy, or morally degraded.
Derrière: Preposition meaning 'behind' or 'at the back of'.
bureau: Noun meaning 'desk' or 'office'.
Eh: Interjection expressing surprise or seeking agreement.
vos: Possessive adjective plural meaning 'your' (formal/plural).
prières: Noun plural meaning 'prayers', requests made to a deity.
été: Past participle of 'être'; means 'been'.
vaines: Adjective feminine plural meaning 'vain', fruitless or useless.
Votre: Possessive adjective formal/plural meaning 'your'.
amour: Noun meaning 'love', deep affection for someone.
entièrement: Adverb meaning 'entirely' or 'completely'.
inutile: Adjective meaning 'useless' or 'pointless'.
dois: First person singular of 'devoir'; means 'owe' or 'must'.
tout: Adjective or pronoun meaning 'all', 'everything', or 'every'.
vie: Noun meaning 'life', the state of being alive.
votre: Possessive adjective meaning 'your' (formal or plural).
espoir: Noun meaning 'hope', expectation of something desired.
voulu: Past participle of 'vouloir'; means 'wanted' or 'wished'.
abandonner: Infinitive meaning 'to abandon' or 'to give up on'.
voyait: Third person singular imperfect of 'voir'; means 'saw' or 'used to see'.
encore: Adverb meaning 'still', 'yet', or 'again'.
comme: Conjunction or preposition meaning 'as' or 'like'.
Chère: Adjective feminine meaning 'dear', used as a term of address.
laissez: Imperative of 'laisser'; means 'let' or 'allow' (formal).
raconter: Infinitive meaning 'to tell' or 'to narrate' a story.
histoire: Noun meaning 'story' or 'history'.
laisse: First or third person singular of 'laisser'; means 'leaves out' or 'lets'.
côté: Noun meaning 'side'; 'de côté' means 'aside' or 'apart'.
influence: Noun meaning 'influence', the power to affect others.
père: Noun meaning 'father'.
mère: Noun meaning 'mother'.
fille: Noun meaning 'girl' or 'daughter'.
modiste: Noun meaning 'milliner', a maker or seller of hats.
causé: Past participle of 'causer'; means 'caused' or 'created'.
ennuis: Noun plural meaning 'troubles', problems or worries.
parti: Past participle of 'partir'; means 'left' or 'departed'.
monde: Noun meaning 'world' or 'people'.
Où: Relative or interrogative adverb meaning 'where'.
traversé: Past participle of 'traverser'; means 'crossed' or 'gone through'.
tous: Adjective or pronoun plural meaning 'all' or 'every'.
périls: Noun plural meaning 'perils' or 'dangers'.
connus: Past participle of 'connaître'; means 'known', familiar or experienced.
vin: Noun meaning 'wine', an alcoholic beverage from grapes.
femmes: Noun plural meaning 'women' or 'wives'.
joie: Noun meaning 'joy' or 'delight', a feeling of happiness.
nuit: Noun meaning 'night', the dark period after sunset.
Rue: Noun meaning 'street', a road in a town or city.
buvais: First person singular imperfect of 'boire'; means 'was drinking'.
cocotte: Noun meaning 'courtesan' or a kept woman; also a cooking pot.
yeux: Noun plural meaning 'eyes'.
noirs: Adjective plural meaning 'black' or 'dark'.
larmes: Noun plural meaning 'tears', drops of liquid from crying.
montées: Past participle feminine plural of 'monter'; means 'rose' or 'came up'.
crut: Third person singular passé simple of 'croire'; means 'believed'.
étaient: Third person plural imperfect of 'être'; means 'were'.
amoureuses: Adjective feminine plural meaning 'in love' or 'amorous'.
sourit: Third person singular of 'sourire'; means 'smiled'.
pensant: Present participle of 'penser'; means 'thinking'.
conquête: Noun meaning 'conquest', victory over someone or something.
Mais: Conjunction meaning 'but', introducing a contrast.
âme: Noun meaning 'soul' or 'spirit'.
était: Third person singular imperfect of 'être'; means 'was'.
mille: Number meaning 'thousand'; also a unit of distance (league context).
lieues: Noun plural meaning 'leagues', old units of distance measurement.
là: Adverb meaning 'there', indicating a place.
jours: Noun plural meaning 'days'.
où: Relative adverb meaning 'when' or 'where' in time/place clauses.
enseigniez: Second person plural imperfect of 'enseigner'; means 'were teaching'.
parce: Part of 'parce que', conjunction meaning 'because'.
pouviez: Second person plural imperfect of 'pouvoir'; means 'could' or 'were able'.
plus: Adverb meaning 'more' or in negation 'no longer', 'anymore'.
aimer: Infinitive meaning 'to love' or 'to like'.
Ni: Conjunction meaning 'nor', used in negative correlations.
prier: Infinitive meaning 'to pray' or 'to beg'.
ni: Conjunction meaning 'nor', paired in 'ni... ni' constructions.
écrire: Infinitive meaning 'to write'.
lettres: Noun plural meaning 'letters', written messages or alphabet characters.
éternel: Adjective meaning 'eternal', lasting forever without end.
silence: Noun meaning 'silence', complete absence of sound.
parlé: Past participle of 'parler'; means 'spoken' or 'talked'.
place: Noun meaning 'place', 'square', or 'room' in a space.

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