War and Peace — Page 3
The little princess went round the table with quick, short, swaying steps, her workbag on her arm, and gaily spreading out her dress sat down on a sofa near the silver samovar, as if all she was doing was a pleasure to herself and to all around her.
La petite princesse fit le tour de la table à petits pas rapides et ondulants, son sac à ouvrage au bras, et, étalant gaiement sa robe, s'assit sur un canapé près du samovar en argent, comme si tout ce qu'elle faisait était un plaisir pour elle-même et pour tous ceux qui l'entouraient.
"I have brought my work," said she in French, displaying her bag and addressing all present.
« J'ai apporté mon ouvrage », dit-elle en français, montrant son sac et s'adressant à tous les présents.
"Mind, Annette, I hope you have not played a wicked trick on me," she added, turning to her hostess.
« Attention, Annette, j'espère que vous ne m'avez pas joué un mauvais tour », ajouta-t-elle en se tournant vers son hôtesse.
"You wrote that it was to be quite a small reception, and just see how badly I am dressed."
« Vous m'avez écrit que ce devait être une toute petite réception, et voyez comme je suis mal habillée. »
And she spread out her arms to show her short-waisted, lace-trimmed, dainty gray dress, girdled with a broad ribbon just below the breast.
Et elle écarta les bras pour montrer sa ravissante robe grise à taille courte, garnie de dentelle, ceinte d'un large ruban juste sous la poitrine.
"Soyez tranquille, Lise, you will always be prettier than anyone else," replied Anna Pávlovna.
« Soyez tranquille, Lise, vous serez toujours plus jolie que toutes les autres », répondit Anna Pavlovna.
"You know," said the princess in the same tone of voice and still in French, turning to a general, "my husband is deserting me?
« Vous savez », dit la princesse du même ton de voix et toujours en français, se tournant vers un général, « mon mari m'abandonne ?
He is going to get himself killed.
Il va se faire tuer.
Tell me what this wretched war is for?" she added, addressing Prince Vasíli, and without waiting for an answer she turned to speak to his daughter, the beautiful Hélène.
Dites-moi à quoi sert cette maudite guerre ? » ajouta-t-elle en s'adressant au prince Vassili, et sans attendre de réponse elle se tourna pour parler à sa fille, la belle Hélène.
"What a delightful woman this little princess is!" said Prince Vasíli to Anna Pávlovna.
« Quelle femme charmante que cette petite princesse ! » dit le prince Vassili à Anna Pavlovna.
One of the next arrivals was a stout, heavily built young man with close-cropped hair, spectacles, the light-colored breeches fashionable at that time, a very high ruffle, and a brown dress coat.
L'un des arrivants suivants était un jeune homme corpulent, de forte carrure, aux cheveux coupés ras, portant des lunettes, une culotte de couleur claire alors à la mode, un jabot très haut et un habit marron.
Vocabulary
- petite
- puh-teet — Small or little, feminine adjective
- princesse
- pran-sess — A female member of a royal family
- fit
- fee — Past tense of 'faire'; did or made
- tour
- toor — A turn, round, or circuit of something
- table
- tah-bluh — A piece of furniture with a flat top
- petits
- puh-tee — Small or little, masculine plural adjective
- pas
- pah — Steps or footsteps taken while walking
- rapides
- rah-peed — Fast or quick, plural adjective
- ondulants
- on-doo-lahn — Undulating or swaying in a wavy motion
- sac
- sahk — A bag or pouch carried by hand
- ouvrage
- oo-vrahj — A piece of needlework or handiwork
- bras
- brah — The arm of the human body
- étalant
- ay-tah-lahn — Spreading out or displaying something openly
- gaiement
- gay-mahn — Cheerfully or in a joyful manner
- robe
- rohb — A dress or gown worn by women
- assit
- ah-see — Past tense of 's'asseoir'; sat down
- canapé
- kah-nah-pay — A sofa or couch for sitting and reclining
- près
- pray — Preposition meaning 'near' or 'close to'
- samovar
- sah-moh-vahr — A Russian heated metal urn for making tea
- argent
- ahr-zhahn — Silver metal or money in French
- comme
- kohm — Conjunction or preposition meaning 'as' or 'like'
- tout
- too — Adjective or pronoun meaning 'all' or 'everything'
- faisait
- fuh-zay — Imperfect tense of 'faire'; was doing or making
- était
- ay-tay — Imperfect tense of 'être'; was or were
- plaisir
- play-zeer — Pleasure or enjoyment derived from an activity
- elle-même
- el-mem — Reflexive pronoun meaning 'herself'
- tous
- too — Masculine plural adjective meaning 'all' or 'every'
- ceux
- suh — Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'those' or 'the ones'
- entouraient
- ahn-too-ray — Imperfect of 'entourer'; were surrounding or encircling
- apporté
- ah-por-tay — Past participle of 'apporter'; brought something along
- dit-elle
- dee-tel — She said, inverted verb-subject form
- français
- frahn-say — The French language or relating to France
- montrant
- mohn-trahn — Present participle of 'montrer'; showing or pointing out
- adressant
- ah-dreh-sahn — Present participle of 'adresser'; addressing or directing speech
- présents
- pray-zahn — Those present; people in attendance at an event
- Attention
- ah-tahn-syohn — Watch out or pay attention, an exclamation
- espère
- es-pair — First-person singular present of 'espérer'; hope
- joué
- zhoo-ay — Past participle of 'jouer'; played or tricked
- mauvais
- moh-vay — Bad or wicked, masculine adjective
- ajouta-t-elle
- ah-zhoo-tah-tel — She added, inverted form with euphonic 't'
- tournant
- toor-nahn — Present participle of 'tourner'; turning toward someone
- vers
- vair — Preposition meaning 'toward' or 'in the direction of'
- hôtesse
- oh-tess — A female host or hostess welcoming guests
- écrit
- ay-kree — Past participle of 'écrire'; written a message
- devait
- duh-vay — Imperfect of 'devoir'; was supposed to or must
- être
- eh-truh — Infinitive of 'to be,' core auxiliary verb
- toute
- toot — Feminine form of 'tout'; entire or all
- réception
- ray-sep-syohn — A formal social gathering or welcoming party
- voyez
- vwah-yay — Second-person plural imperative of 'voir'; look or see
- mal
- mahl — Badly or poorly, adverb indicating poor quality
- habillée
- ah-bee-yay — Past participle of 'habiller'; dressed or clothed
- écarta
- ay-kar-tah — Past tense of 'écarter'; spread apart or opened
- montrer
- mohn-tray — Infinitive of 'montrer'; to show or display something
- ravissante
- rah-vee-sahnt — Ravishing or strikingly beautiful, feminine adjective
- grise
- greez — Gray in color, feminine adjective
- taille
- tie — Waist or size of a person or garment
- courte
- koort — Short in length, feminine adjective
- garnie
- gar-nee — Trimmed or adorned with decorative embellishment
- dentelle
- dahn-tel — Lace fabric used as a decorative trimming
- ceinte
- sant — Past participle of 'ceindre'; belted or encircled
- large
- larzh — Wide or broad, describing size or width
- ruban
- roo-bahn — A ribbon used for tying or decorating clothing
- juste
- zhoost — Just or right below something, precise position
- sous
- soo — Preposition meaning 'under' or 'beneath'
- poitrine
- pwah-treen — The chest or breast area of the body
- Soyez
- swah-yay — Imperative plural of 'être'; be or remain calm
- tranquille
- trahn-keel — Calm, quiet, or at ease without worry
- serez
- suh-ray — Second-person plural future of 'être'; will be
- toujours
- too-zhoor — Always or still, indicating continuity over time
- plus
- ploo — More, used in comparisons to indicate greater degree
- jolie
- zhoh-lee — Pretty or attractive, feminine adjective
- toutes
- toot — Feminine plural of 'tout'; all or every one
- autres
- oh-truh — Others or the rest, plural adjective or pronoun
- répondit
- ray-pon-dee — Past tense of 'répondre'; replied or answered someone
- savez
- sah-vay — Second-person plural present of 'savoir'; know
- dit
- dee — Past tense of 'dire'; said or stated
- même
- mem — Same or even, used for emphasis or comparison
- ton
- tohn — Tone or manner of speaking; also 'your' informal
- voix
- vwah — Voice or the sound produced by speaking
- général
- zhay-nay-rahl — A high-ranking military officer or commander
- mari
- mah-ree — A husband, a woman's male spouse
- abandonne
- ah-bahn-dohn — Third-person singular of 'abandonner'; abandons or leaves
- faire
- fair — Infinitive meaning 'to do' or 'to make'
- tuer
- too-ay — Infinitive meaning 'to kill' or cause death
- Dites-moi
- deet-mwah — Tell me, imperative form of 'dire' with pronoun
- quoi
- kwah — Interrogative pronoun meaning 'what'
- sert
- sair — Third-person singular of 'servir'; serves or is useful
- cette
- set — Feminine demonstrative adjective meaning 'this' or 'that'
- maudite
- moh-deet — Cursed or damned, feminine adjective of condemnation
- guerre
- gair — War or armed conflict between nations or groups
- prince
- prans — A male member or son of a royal family
- sans
- sahn — Preposition meaning 'without'
- attendre
- ah-tahn-druh — Infinitive meaning 'to wait' or 'to await'
- réponse
- ray-pohns — A reply or answer to a question or remark
- tourna
- toor-nah — Past tense of 'tourner'; turned toward someone
- parler
- par-lay — Infinitive meaning 'to speak' or 'to talk'
- fille
- fee-yuh — A girl or daughter of someone
- belle
- bel — Beautiful or lovely, feminine adjective
- Quelle
- kel — Feminine interrogative or exclamatory adjective meaning 'what'
- femme
- fahm — A woman or wife in French
- charmante
- shar-mahnt — Charming or delightful, feminine adjective describing a person
- arrivants
- ah-ree-vahn — Arrivals or people arriving at a gathering
- suivants
- swee-vahn — Following or next, plural adjective describing sequence
- jeune
- zhuhn — Young or youthful, adjective describing age
- homme
- ohm — A man or adult male person
- corpulent
- kor-poo-lahn — Stout or heavily built, describing a large body
- forte
- fort — Strong or sturdy, feminine adjective describing build
- carrure
- kah-roor — Shoulder breadth or build, describing body structure
- cheveux
- shuh-vuh — Hair on a person's head
- coupés
- koo-pay — Past participle of 'couper'; cut, as in cropped hair
- ras
- rah — Close-cropped or very short, describing hair length
- portant
- por-tahn — Present participle of 'porter'; wearing or carrying something
- lunettes
- loo-net — Eyeglasses worn to correct or protect vision
- culotte
- koo-lot — Breeches or knee-length trousers worn historically
- couleur
- koo-luhr — Color or hue of an object or fabric
- claire
- klair — Light or pale in color, feminine adjective
- alors
- ah-lor — Then or at that time; also 'so' or 'well'
- mode
- mohd — Fashion or prevailing style of dress or behavior
- jabot
- zhah-boh — A frill or ruffle on the front of a shirt
- très
- tray — Very, an adverb intensifying adjectives or adverbs
- haut
- oh — High or tall, masculine adjective describing elevation
- habit
- ah-bee — A formal coat or dress coat worn historically
- marron
- mah-rohn — Brown color, also a chestnut or dark reddish brown
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