White nights, and other stories — Page 5
I even bethought me to send for Matrona, and was giving her some fatherly admonitions in regard to the spider's web and sluttishness in general; but she simply stared at me in amazement and went away without saying a word, so that the spider's web is comfortably hanging in its place to this day.
J'eus même l'idée d'envoyer chercher Matrona, et je lui faisais quelques admonitions paternelles au sujet de la toile d'araignée et du désordre en général ; mais elle me regarda simplement avec stupéfaction et s'en alla sans dire un mot, si bien que la toile d'araignée est encore confortablement suspendue à sa place aujourd'hui.
I only at last this morning realized what was wrong.
Ce n'est que ce matin que j'ai enfin compris ce qui n'allait pas.
Aie! Why, they are giving me the slip and making off to their summer villas!
Aïe ! Mais ils me faussent compagnie et filent vers leurs villas d'été !
Forgive the triviality of the expression, but I am in no mood for fine language ...
Pardonnez la trivialité de l'expression, mais je ne suis pas d'humeur à soigner mon langage...
for everything that had been in Petersburg had gone or was going away for the holidays;
car tout ce qui avait été à Pétersbourg était parti ou s'en allait en vacances ;
for every respectable gentleman of dignified appearance who took a cab was at once transformed, in my eyes, into a respectable head of a household who after his daily duties were over, was making his way to the bosom of his family, to the summer villa;
car tout respectable gentleman d'allure digne qui prenait un fiacre se transformait aussitôt, à mes yeux, en un respectable chef de famille qui, ses obligations quotidiennes terminées, se dirigeait vers le sein de sa famille, vers la villa d'été ;
for all the passers-by had now quite a peculiar air which seemed to say to every one they met: "We are only here for the moment, gentlemen, and in another two hours we shall be going off to the summer villa."
car tous les passants avaient désormais un air tout à fait particulier qui semblait dire à chacun qu'ils croisaient : « Nous ne sommes ici que pour un moment, messieurs, et dans deux heures nous partirons pour la villa d'été. »
Vocabulary
- eus
- uh — Past tense of 'avoir'; I had
- même
- mem — Even; same; itself
- idée
- ee-day — An idea or thought in one's mind
- envoyer
- ahn-vwah-yay — To send someone or something somewhere
- chercher
- shehr-shay — To look for; to fetch someone
- lui
- lwee — Him or her; indirect object pronoun
- faisais
- fuh-zay — Imperfect of 'faire'; I was doing/making
- quelques
- kel-kuh — A few; some (before a noun)
- admonitions
- ad-moh-nee-syohn — Gentle warnings or reprimands given to someone
- paternelles
- pah-tehr-nel — Fatherly; paternal in tone or manner
- sujet
- sü-zhay — Subject; topic being discussed or addressed
- toile
- twahl — Web; cloth; canvas material
- araignée
- ah-reh-nyay — Spider; small arachnid creature
- désordre
- day-zohr-druh — Disorder; mess; lack of organization
- général
- zhay-nay-rahl — General; overall; in a broad sense
- regarda
- ruh-gar-dah — Past tense of 'regarder'; she looked at
- simplement
- sam-pluh-mahn — Simply; merely; in a simple manner
- stupéfaction
- stü-pay-fak-syohn — Stupefaction; utter amazement or astonishment
- alla
- ah-lah — Past tense of 'aller'; she went away
- sans
- sahn — Without; preposition indicating absence
- dire
- deer — To say; to tell something to someone
- mot
- moh — Word; a single unit of language
- si
- see — So; such; if; conjunction or adverb
- encore
- ahn-kohr — Still; yet; again; even now
- confortablement
- kohn-fohr-tahb-luh-mahn — Comfortably; in a comfortable manner
- suspendue
- süs-pahn-dü — Suspended; hanging in place
- place
- plahs — Place; spot; position where something sits
- aujourd'hui
- oh-zhoor-dwee — Today; on this present day
- matin
- mah-tan — Morning; the early part of the day
- enfin
- ahn-fan — Finally; at last; in the end
- compris
- kohm-pree — Past participle of 'comprendre'; understood
- allait
- ah-lay — Imperfect of 'aller'; was going
- Aïe
- ah-yuh — Ouch; exclamation expressing surprise or pain
- faussent
- fohs — To abandon; to give someone the slip
- compagnie
- kohm-pah-nyee — Company; group of people together
- filent
- feel — To slip away; to move off quickly
- vers
- vehr — Toward; in the direction of
- villas
- veel-ah — Country houses or summer residences
- été
- ay-tay — Summer; the warm season of the year
- Pardonnez
- par-doh-nay — Forgive; pardon (imperative form)
- trivialité
- tree-vyah-lee-tay — Triviality; coarseness of an expression
- expression
- ex-preh-syohn — Expression; phrase or manner of speaking
- humeur
- ü-muhr — Mood; humor; state of mind
- soigner
- swah-nyay — To take care of; to mind carefully
- langage
- lahn-gazh — Language; way of speaking or expression
- car
- kar — Because; for; conjunction explaining reason
- tout
- too — All; everything; everyone
- parti
- par-tee — Left; gone away; departed
- vacances
- vah-kahns — Vacation; holidays; time off from work
- respectable
- reh-spek-tahb-luh — Respectable; worthy of respect and regard
- allure
- ah-lür — Bearing; gait; manner of carrying oneself
- digne
- dee-nyuh — Dignified; worthy; having dignity and respect
- prenait
- pruh-nay — Imperfect of 'prendre'; was taking
- fiacre
- fyah-kruh — Hackney carriage; horse-drawn cab for hire
- transformait
- trahns-fohr-may — Imperfect of 'transformer'; was transforming into
- aussitôt
- oh-see-toh — Immediately; right away; as soon as
- yeux
- yuh — Eyes; plural of 'œil'
- chef
- shef — Head; chief; leader of a family
- famille
- fah-mee-yuh — Family; a group of related persons
- obligations
- oh-blee-gah-syohn — Obligations; duties one is required to fulfill
- quotidiennes
- koh-tee-dyehn — Daily; occurring or done every day
- terminées
- tehr-mee-nay — Finished; completed; brought to an end
- dirigeait
- dee-ree-zhay — Imperfect of 'diriger'; was heading toward
- sein
- san — Bosom; heart; within the midst of
- villa
- veel-ah — Villa; country house or summer home
- passants
- pah-sahn — Passersby; people walking past in the street
- désormais
- day-zohr-may — Henceforth; from now on; hereafter
- air
- ehr — Air; look; appearance; manner of bearing
- particulier
- par-tee-kü-lyay — Particular; special; distinctive quality
- semblait
- sahm-blay — Imperfect of 'sembler'; seemed; appeared to
- chacun
- sha-kan — Each one; everyone individually
- croisaient
- kwah-zay — Imperfect of 'croiser'; were passing, crossing
- ici
- ee-see — Here; in this place
- moment
- moh-mahn — Moment; a brief period of time
- messieurs
- meh-syuh — Gentlemen; plural of 'monsieur'
- heures
- uhr — Hours; units of time equal to 60 minutes
- partirons
- par-tee-rohn — Future of 'partir'; we will leave
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