The Brothers Karamazov — Page 6

English → Fr Chapter II. Level 8/10

In the end, when four years later, Mitya, losing patience, came a second time to our little town to settle up once for all with his father, it turned out to his amazement that he had nothing, that it was difficult to get an account even, that he had received the whole value of his property in sums of money from Fyodor Pavlovitch, and was perhaps even in debt to him, that by various agreements into which he had, of his own desire, entered at various previous dates, he had no right to expect anything more, and so on, and so on.

À la fin, quand quatre ans plus tard, Mitya, perdant patience, vint une seconde fois dans notre petite ville pour régler définitivement ses comptes avec son père, il s'avéra à son grand étonnement qu'il n'avait rien, qu'il était difficile d'obtenir même un relevé de compte, qu'il avait reçu la valeur totale de ses biens en sommes d'argent de Fiodor Pavlovitch, et qu'il lui était peut-être même redevable, que par divers accords dans lesquels il était entré, de son propre gré, à diverses dates antérieures, il n'avait pas le droit d'attendre quoi que ce soit de plus, et ainsi de suite, et ainsi de suite.

The young man was overwhelmed, suspected deceit and cheating, and was almost beside himself.

Le jeune homme était accablé, soupçonnait la tromperie et la fraude, et était presque hors de lui.

And, indeed, this circumstance led to the catastrophe, the account of which forms the subject of my first introductory story, or rather the external side of it.

Et, en effet, cette circonstance conduisit à la catastrophe dont le récit fait l'objet de ma première histoire introductive, ou plutôt de son aspect extérieur.

But before I pass to that story I must say a little of Fyodor Pavlovitch's other two sons, and of their origin.

Mais avant de passer à cette histoire, je dois dire quelques mots des deux autres fils de Fiodor Pavlovitch, et de leur origine.

Vocabulary

À: a — Preposition meaning 'at,' 'to,' or 'in.'
la: la — Definite article 'the' for feminine nouns.
fin: fan — End or conclusion of something.
quand: kan — Conjunction or adverb meaning 'when.'
quatre: katr — The number four.
ans: an — Years, referring to units of time.
plus: plu — More; used in comparisons or negations.
tard: tar — Late; referring to a later time.
perdant: per-dan — Losing; present participle of 'perdre.'
patience: pa-syanss — Ability to wait calmly; tolerance.
vint: van — Past tense of 'venir': came.
une: un — Indefinite article 'a' for feminine nouns.
seconde: suh-gond — Second; a unit of time or ordinal.
fois: fwa — Time, as in an occurrence or instance.
dans: dan — Preposition meaning 'in' or 'inside.'
notre: notr — Possessive adjective meaning 'our.'
petite: puh-teet — Small or little; feminine form of 'petit.'
ville: veel — City or town.
pour: poor — Preposition meaning 'for' or 'in order to.'
régler: ray-glay — To settle, resolve, or regulate something.
définitivement: day-fee-nee-teev-man — Definitively; in a final and conclusive manner.
ses: say — Possessive adjective meaning 'his,' 'her,' or 'its.'
comptes: cont — Accounts; financial records or reckonings.
avec: a-vek — Preposition meaning 'with.'
son: son — Possessive adjective meaning 'his,' 'her,' or 'its.'
père: pair — Father; male parent.
il: eel — Third-person singular masculine pronoun: 'he.'
s': s — Reflexive pronoun 'se' elided before a vowel.
avéra: a-vay-ra — Past tense of 's'avérer': turned out, proved.
à: a — Preposition meaning 'at,' 'to,' or 'in.'
grand: gran — Great or big; used in expressions of degree.
étonnement: ay-ton-man — Astonishment; a feeling of great surprise.
qu': k — Conjunction 'que' elided before a vowel: 'that.'
n': n — Negation particle 'ne' elided before a vowel.
avait: a-veh — Imperfect tense of 'avoir': had.
rien: ryan — Nothing; used in negation.
était: ay-teh — Imperfect tense of 'être': was.
difficile: dee-fee-seel — Difficult; hard to do or achieve.
d': d — Preposition 'de' elided before a vowel.
obtenir: ob-tuh-neer — To obtain or get something.
même: mem — Even; same; used for emphasis.
un: un — Indefinite article 'a' for masculine nouns.
relevé: ruh-luh-vay — Statement or summary, especially of an account.
de: duh — Preposition meaning 'of,' 'from,' or 'about.'
compte: cont — Account; financial or numerical record.
reçu: ruh-su — Receipt; a written acknowledgment of payment.
valeur: va-lur — Value; worth of something.
totale: to-tal — Total; complete, entire amount.
biens: byan — Goods or property; material possessions.
en: an — Preposition meaning 'in,' 'as,' or 'by.'
sommes: som — Sums; amounts of money.
argent: ar-jan — Money; also the metal silver.
et: ay — Conjunction meaning 'and.'
lui: lwee — Third-person pronoun: 'him' or 'to him.'
peut-: puh — Part of 'peut-être': maybe, perhaps.
être: etr — To be; also used in 'peut-être' (perhaps).
redevable: ruh-duh-vabl — Indebted; owing something to someone.
que: kuh — Conjunction meaning 'that,' or relative pronoun 'that/which.'
par: par — Preposition meaning 'by,' 'through,' or 'per.'
divers: dee-vair — Various; several different things or kinds.
accords: a-kor — Agreements or arrangements made between parties.
lesquels: lay-kel — Relative pronoun meaning 'which' (masculine plural).
entré: an-tray — Entered; past participle of 'entrer.'
propre: propr — Own; also means clean or proper.
gré: gray — Will, consent, or liking; used in expressions.
diverses: dee-vairz — Various; several different (feminine plural form).
dates: dat — Dates; specific points or periods in time.
antérieures: an-tay-ryur — Earlier or prior; preceding in time (feminine plural).
pas: pa — Negation particle; also means 'step.'
le: luh — Definite article 'the' for masculine nouns.
droit: drwa — Right; entitlement or legal right.
attendre: a-tandr — To wait or to expect something.
quoi: kwa — What; used as pronoun or exclamation.
ce: suh — Demonstrative pronoun or adjective: 'this' or 'that.'
soit: swa — Subjunctive of 'être': be; used in expressions.
ainsi: an-see — Thus; so; in this way.
suite: sweet — Continuation; sequence; used in 'ainsi de suite.'
Le: luh — Definite article 'the' for masculine nouns.
jeune: zhun — Young; referring to a young person.
homme: om — Man; adult male person.
accablé: a-ka-blay — Overwhelmed; weighed down by something heavy.
soupçonnait: soop-so-neh — Suspected; imperfect tense of 'soupçonner.'
tromperie: tromp-ree — Deception; act of cheating or misleading.
fraude: frohd — Fraud; deliberate deception for unfair gain.
presque: presk — Almost; nearly but not quite.
hors: or — Outside of; beyond; used in expressions.
Et: ay — Conjunction meaning 'and.'
effet: ay-feh — Effect; result; used in 'en effet' (indeed).
cette: set — Demonstrative adjective: 'this' or 'that' (feminine).
circonstance: seer-kon-stanss — Circumstance; a fact or condition surrounding an event.
conduisit: kon-dwee-zee — Led or drove; simple past of 'conduire.'
catastrophe: ka-ta-strof — Catastrophe; a sudden, terrible disaster or event.
dont: don — Relative pronoun meaning 'of which,' 'whose.'
récit: ray-see — Story, account, or narrative of events.
fait: feh — Makes or does; also a noun meaning 'fact.'
l': l — Definite article 'le' or 'la' elided.
objet: ob-zheh — Object; subject or purpose of something.
ma: ma — Possessive adjective meaning 'my' (feminine).
première: pruh-myair — First; feminine form of 'premier.'
histoire: ees-twar — History or story; a narrative account.
introductive: an-tro-duk-teev — Introductory; serving as an introduction (feminine).
ou: oo — Conjunction meaning 'or.'
plutôt: plu-toh — Rather; more precisely or preferably.
aspect: as-pek — Aspect; a particular part or feature of something.
extérieur: ex-tay-ryur — Exterior; outer part or outward appearance.
Mais: meh — Conjunction meaning 'but.'
avant: a-van — Before; prior to something in time or order.
passer: pa-say — To pass, move on, or proceed to something.
je: zhuh — First-person singular pronoun: 'I.'
dois: dwa — Must; first-person of 'devoir' expressing obligation.
dire: deer — To say or to tell.
quelques: kel-kuh — A few; some (used with plural nouns).
mots: moh — Words; units of spoken or written language.
des: day — Plural indefinite article: 'some'; also 'de les.'
deux: duh — The number two.
autres: ohtr — Others; other people or things.
fils: feess — Son or sons; male offspring.
leur: lur — Their; possessive adjective for plural subjects.
origine: o-ree-zheen — Origin; the beginning or source of something.

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