← The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People

The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People — Page 4

English → Fr FIRST ACT SCENE Level 7/10

The Divorce Court was specially invented for people whose memories are so curiously constituted.

Le tribunal du divorce a été spécialement inventé pour les gens dont les mémoires sont si curieusement constituées.

ALGERNON.

Oh! there is no use speculating on that subject.

Oh ! il est inutile de spéculer sur ce sujet.

Divorces are made in Heaven—[Jack puts out his hand to take a sandwich.

Les divorces sont faits au Paradis — [Jack tend la main pour prendre un sandwich.

Algernon at once interferes.]

Algernon intervient aussitôt.]

Please don't touch the cucumber sandwiches.

Veuillez ne pas toucher aux sandwichs au concombre.

They are ordered specially for Aunt Augusta.

Ils ont été commandés spécialement pour Tante Augusta.

[Takes one and eats it.]

[En prend un et le mange.]

JACK.

Well, you have been eating them all the time.

Eh bien, vous n'avez pas arrêté d'en manger tout ce temps.

ALGERNON.

That is quite a different matter.

C'est une tout autre affaire.

She is my aunt.

C'est ma tante.

[Takes plate from below.]

[Prend l'assiette d'en bas.]

Have some bread and butter.

Prenez donc du pain et du beurre.

The bread and butter is for Gwendolen.

Le pain et le beurre sont pour Gwendolen.

Gwendolen is devoted to bread and butter.

Gwendolen raffole du pain et du beurre.

JACK.

[Advancing to table and helping himself.] And very good bread and butter it is too.

[S'avançant vers la table et se servant.] Et c'est vraiment du très bon pain et beurre.

ALGERNON.

Well, my dear fellow, you need not eat as if you were going to eat it all.

Eh bien, mon cher ami, vous n'avez pas besoin de manger comme si vous alliez tout manger.

You behave as if you were married to her already.

Vous vous comportez comme si vous étiez déjà marié avec elle.

You are not married to her already, and I don't think you ever will be.

Vous n'êtes pas encore marié avec elle, et je ne pense pas que vous le serez jamais.

JACK.

Why on earth do you say that?

Mais pourquoi diable dites-vous cela ?

ALGERNON.

Well, in the first place girls never marry the men they flirt with.

Eh bien, en premier lieu, les jeunes filles n'épousent jamais les hommes avec qui elles flirtent.

Girls don't think it right.

Les jeunes filles ne trouvent pas cela convenable.

JACK.

Oh, that is nonsense!

Oh, c'est absurde !

ALGERNON.

It isn't.

Pas du tout.

It is a great truth.

C'est une grande vérité.

It accounts for the extraordinary number of bachelors that one sees all over the place.

Cela explique le nombre extraordinaire de célibataires que l'on voit partout.

In the second place, I don't give my consent.

En second lieu, je ne donne pas mon consentement.

JACK.

Your consent!

Votre consentement !

ALGERNON.

My dear fellow, Gwendolen is my first cousin.

Mon cher ami, Gwendolen est ma cousine germaine.

Vocabulary

tribunal: A court of law or judicial body.
divorce: Legal dissolution of a marriage.
été: Past participle of 'être', meaning 'been'.
spécialement: Especially or specifically, for a particular purpose.
inventé: Past participle of 'inventer', meaning 'invented'.
gens: People or persons in general.
dont: Relative pronoun meaning 'whose', 'of which', or 'from which'.
mémoires: Memories or memoirs; records of past experiences.
curieusement: Curiously or strangely, in an odd manner.
constituées: Constituted or made up; formed in a particular way.
inutile: Useless or pointless; serving no purpose.
spéculer: To speculate or theorize about something uncertain.
sujet: Subject or topic of discussion.
divorces: Plural of 'divorce'; legal marriage dissolutions.
Paradis: Paradise or heaven; a perfect blissful place.
tend: Third person singular of 'tendre', meaning 'reaches out'.
main: The hand, a part of the body.
prendre: To take or to grab something.
intervient: Third person singular of 'intervenir', meaning 'intervenes'.
aussitôt: Immediately or right away, without delay.
Veuillez: Polite imperative of 'vouloir', meaning 'please' or 'kindly'.
toucher: To touch or make contact with something.
concombre: Cucumber, a green vegetable used in sandwiches.
commandés: Past participle of 'commander', meaning 'ordered'.
Tante: Aunt; a female relative, parent's sister.
En: Pronoun meaning 'some of it' or 'some of them'.
mange: Third person singular of 'manger', meaning 'eats'.
arrêté: Past participle of 'arrêter', meaning 'stopped'.
manger: To eat; the act of consuming food.
tout: All or every; used as adjective, pronoun, or adverb.
temps: Time or weather; a fundamental concept.
autre: Other or another; a different thing or person.
affaire: Matter, affair, or business; a situation or concern.
tante: Aunt; a female relative, parent's sister.
l'assiette: The plate; a dish used for serving food.
bas: Low, down; indicates a lower position.
Prenez: Imperative plural of 'prendre', meaning 'take' (polite).
donc: Therefore or so; used to indicate consequence.
pain: Bread; a staple baked food.
beurre: Butter; a dairy spread used on bread.
raffole: Third person singular of 'raffoler', meaning 'is crazy about'.
S'avançant: Present participle of 's'avancer', meaning 'moving forward'.
vers: Towards; a preposition indicating direction.
servant: Present participle of 'servir', meaning 'serving oneself'.
vraiment: Really or truly; used for emphasis.
cher: Dear or expensive; term of affection or high cost.
ami: Friend; a person one has a close relationship with.
besoin: Need; a necessity or requirement.
comme: As or like; used for comparison or manner.
comportez: Second person plural of 'se comporter', meaning 'behave'.
déjà: Already; something that has happened before now.
marié: Married; in a state of legal matrimony.
encore: Still, yet, or again; indicating continuation or repetition.
pense: First person singular of 'penser', meaning 'think'.
jamais: Never or ever; indicating absence at any time.
pourquoi: Why; used to ask for a reason or explanation.
diable: Devil; used in exclamations for emphasis or surprise.
cela: That; a demonstrative pronoun referring to something distant.
premier: First; the ordinal number indicating the initial position.
lieu: Place or location; also used in 'in the first place'.
jeunes: Young; describing people of a young age.
filles: Girls or daughters; young female persons.
n'épousent: Negated form of 'épousent', meaning 'do not marry'.
hommes: Men; adult male human beings.
flirtent: Third person plural of 'flirter', meaning 'flirt with'.
trouvent: Third person plural of 'trouver', meaning 'find' or 'consider'.
convenable: Appropriate, suitable, or proper for a situation.
absurde: Absurd or ridiculous; completely unreasonable or illogical.
vérité: Truth; a fact or reality that is genuine.
Cela: That; demonstrative pronoun referring to something mentioned.
explique: Third person singular of 'expliquer', meaning 'explains'.
nombre: Number or quantity of something counted.
extraordinaire: Extraordinary; remarkably unusual or exceptional.
célibataires: Single or unmarried people; bachelors or spinsters.
voit: Third person singular of 'voir', meaning 'sees'.
partout: Everywhere; in every place or location.
second: Second; the ordinal number after first.
donne: Third person singular of 'donner', meaning 'gives'.
consentement: Consent or agreement; permission given for something.
cousine: Female cousin; a relative child of one's aunt or uncle.
germaine: First cousin; sharing both sets of grandparents.

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