1 Literary Mines # 3 Françoise Sagan, Bonjour tristesse, 1954 2

Literary Mines # 3
Françoise Sagan, Bonjour tristesse, 1954
À six heures, mon père vint m’ouvrir.
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•  At six o’clock / at 6 PM
•  my father came to unlock the door and let me in
/to open the door for me
Je me levai machinalement quand il entra dans la pièce.
•  I stood up (/got to my feet) (rose to my feet)
•  mechanically /almost as a reflex
•  as he entered the room / as he came into the room
•  when he walked in
Literary Mines # 3
Françoise Sagan, Bonjour tristesse, 1954
Il me regarda sans rien dire
et je lui souris, aussi machinalement.
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He looked at me
without saying anything / keeping quiet / in silence
and I smiled at him
(/still /as) mechanically (/again)
- Veux-tu que nous parlions ? demanda-t-il.
•  ‘Would you like [us] to talk?’
/ ‘Do you want [us] to have a (little) talk?’
•  he asked
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Literary Mines # 3
Françoise Sagan, Bonjour tristesse, 1954
-  De quoi ? Dis-je. Tu as horreur de ça et moi aussi.
Ce genre d’explications qui ne mènent à rien...
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•  ‘About what?’ / ‘What about?’ I said
•  ‘You hate it and so do I’
•  ‘[We both can’t stand] those explanations leading nowhere’
-  C’est vrai. Il semblait soulagé.
‘[so very] True’ / ‘You’re right’. He seemed relieved
True enough
Il faut que tu sois gentille avec Anne, patiente.
‘You’ve got to be nice to Anne, [and] patient [too] [/as well]’
Literary Mines # 3
Françoise Sagan, Bonjour tristesse, 1954
Ce terme me surprit :
•  I was taken aback by what I was hearing:
/ This term came as a surprise (to me):
moi, patiente avec Anne...
•  so [it is] I [who] should be patient with Anne…
/ why should I be patient with Anne?
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Literary Mines # 3
Françoise Sagan, Bonjour tristesse, 1954
Il renversait le problème.
He was turning things around.
He was taking things the wrong end
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Au fond, il considérait Anne comme une femme qu’il imposait à sa fille.
•  Basically (/Deep down)
•  he saw Anne as a woman her daughter had to accept
he was forcing onto his daughter
Plus que le contraire.
More than the other way round.
Literary Mines # 3
Françoise Sagan, Bonjour tristesse, 1954
-  J’ai été désagréable, dis-je.
‘I’ve been nasty (/unkind /inconsiderate)
Je vais m’excuser auprès d’Anne.
I’m going to (/I’ll) apologize to Anne’
-  Es-tu ... euh... es-tu heureuse ?
•  ‘Are you…are you happy?’
/ ‘Are you…erm....happy?’
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Literary Mines # 3
Françoise Sagan, Bonjour tristesse, 1954
-  Mais oui, dis-je légèrement.
•  ‘Of course I am,’ / For sure / ‘course I am
•  I said, sounding casual (/I said in a casual manner).
- J’exagère beaucoup, tu sais.
Anne et moi, nous nous entendons bien, en somme.
Avec des concessions mutuelles…
•  ‘I overdo it (/I do exaggerate), you know.
•  Anne and I, we actually get along well (/just fine) [, in the end]
•  With mutual concessions, of course…
•  Both granting the other the occasional concession…
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