Et sur un pré, and upon a meadow, through a meadow; un pré, m. is any pasture ground. Do not confound it with prêt, page 83, No. VI. Se porter sur le pré, se trouver sur le pré, to repair to, to meet on the spot agreed upon for a duel. Semé de fleurs, sown with flowers, blooming. Une fleur, f. a flower. See page 67, No. V. Semer, r. a. 1. to sow. Couloient dans une paix profonde, flowed in a profound peace, in tranquillity. La paix, f. peace, tranquillity, reconciliation. As an interjection, paix là! paix donc! it means, "silence!" The other word in aix, faix, load, weight, burden, and its derivatives, are m. Couler, r. n. 1. to flow. Dès leur source, from their very source, immediately from the spring. source, f. source, spring, fountain; fig. cause, principle. La même pente, the same declivity. words in ente, except le trente du mois, pente, like all the the thirtieth day of the month, are f. It signifies generally a declivity, an inclination, and also the valance of a bed; the cloth tacked to a shelf that holds books. les rassemble, collects them, brings them together. rassembler, r. a. 1. to gather together, to collect. Be careful not to confound it in pronunciation with ressembler, to resemble, to be like; il ressemble à mon frère, il rassemble des matériaux pour un ouvrage qu'il ne fera pas, j'en suis sûr ; he is like my brother, he collects materials for a work which I am sure he never will write. Et leurs vœux sont d'aller ensemble, and their wishes are to go together, and they wish to go together; un vou, (pronounce veu) m. a vow, in the pl. wishes. In this sense it is construed either with faire or former. The latter is more solemn; the former more familiar. je fais les vœux les plus sincères pour votre bonheur, I most sincerely wish you happy; vous formez des vœux inutiles, you indulge in useless wishes. ensemble, adv. together; as a subst. m. it denotes a whole, the aggregate of all the parts which form a whole: le tout ensemble, gives the same idea more intensively. s'abimer dans le sein des mers, to lose themselves, to be lost in the bosom of the seas; abimer, or abymer, r. a. and n. 1. to precipitate into an abyss, to fall into an abyss; s'a bimer, ref. to precipitate one's self, to be lost into an abyss; fig. to plunge into, to give one's self up to; le sein, m. like all the words in ein, the bosom, breast, heart, womb. There are several expressions exactly of the same sound, but differently spelt, and of different signification. "Cinq Capucins bien sains, tous les cinq ceints, et portant dans leur sein le seing du Saint Pere, s'intéressoient sincérement aux succès de Sa Sainteté.” la mer, f. (the r is heard,) the sea. Poëtically, it is employed here in the pl. Chercher quelqu'un par mer et par terre, to look for a person everywhere. C'est la mer à boire, the thing cannot be done, it would require an eternity to accomplish it; porter de l'eau à la mer, to carry coals to Newcastle. Observe that all the words in er are m. except la mer, the sea, and la cuiller, the spoon, in which the r is pronounced. faut-il que le destin barbare must it that a barbarous fate? why must a cruel fate? We had il faut construed with a subst. page 87, No. VI. When it is followed by que, this conj. always governs the subj. il faut que vous le fassiez adjourd'hui, it must that you may do it to-day; you must do it to day; il faut qu'il revienne demain, he must come again to-morrow. Le destin, m. fate, destiny, fatality. In poëtry it is indifferently employed in the sing, and pl. les destins. In the sense of destiny, the f. destinée, is preferable; barbare, adj. cruel, barbarous, unpolished; but the subst. is a barbarian, a rude uncivilized person. s'oppose aux plus tendres amours? opposes itself to the most tender attachment. Opposer, r. a. 1. to oppose; s'opposer, ref. to oppose one's self, to be against, to be contrary to. Amour, m. love, is also m. in the pl. when it signifies the graces, in the expression, "the sports, smiles, and Graces," les jeux, les ris, et les amours, but it is f. in the pl. when it means a love engagement, or the object of one's attachment. Il est avec ses amours; ce sont de nouvelles amours. ces ruisseaux trouvent dans leur cours, these brooks find in their course, meet with; le cours, m. like all the words in ours. But it also means the public walk in a town; le cours de Marseille est très agréable. Il demeure au cours, he lives near the public walk: (the s is always heard.) In mercantile transactions, le cours du marché, is the market price; le cours des intérêts, the time during which interests are due, or accumulating on money; le cours du change, the rate of premium or loss on foreign bills of exchange; the course of exchange. In speaking of a merchant whose bills are readily negociated upon Change, the French say, son papier a cours; son papier n'a plus cours, denotes that he has lost his credit. C'est une monnoie que a cours ici, it is a coin which circulates here; donner cours à quelque chose, to give currency, to set a thing a-going, to promote its circulation, to make it known. It is in this sense that La Bruyère says, figuratively, Les manières polies donnent cours au mérite. un roc affreux qui les sépare, a frightful rock which separates them; un roc, like all the words in oc, is m. a rock. The French have two other words for a rock; une roche, f. and un rocher, m. But roche, f. is rather an insulated rock; and rocher, a very high, steep, sharp-pointed rock; un cœur de roche, a heart of flint. Un homme de la vieille roche, a gentleman of the old school; séparer, r. a. 1. to part, to separate. dans son triste abandon, in its sad deserted state; triste, adj. mournful, sad, dull, dark, gloomy; abandon, s. m. a forsaken state. But in speaking of the style of an author, it denotes ease, carelessness, facility, negligence. Son style a cet heureux abandon qui est toujours sûr de plaire. Laisser à l'abandon, to neglect, to leave to the care of servants what we should ourselves attend to. se déchainoit, impf. of the r. ref. 1. se déchainer, to inveigh, to be irritated, to rage, as if let loose from a chain. It is also used in the passive voice: tous les vents étoient déchainés contre nous. contra sa rive, against its banks. La rive, f. the bank of a river. All the words in ive are f. except un convive, a guest, a table-companion. et tous les échos du vallon, and all the echoes of the valley. Etre l'écho de quelqu'un, to repeat all that another person says, to have no opinion of one's own. Un vallon, m. a small valley, a dale; une vallée, f. a valley. répondoient, 8d pers. pl. imperf. ind. r. a. and n. 4. répondre, to answer. Be careful to mark the accent upon the e both in writing and in pronunciation; repondre, without the accent, from pondre, to lay eggs, might mean to lay again; la poule noire a pondu heir, et elle a repondu aujourd'hui. However, it is better to say, elle a pondu de nouveau, or elle a encore pondu adjourd'hui. à sa voix plaintive, answered to its plaintive voice, repeated its plaintive cries; la voix, f. the voice, sound, cry, note, vote, approbation; plaintif, ive, adj. complaining. un passant, page 68, No. V. brusquement, adv. roughly, bluntly. sur cette molle arène, on this soft sand. Arène, f. is used only in poëtry for sand or gravel. It is also the place where the gladiators used to fight. The amphitheatre at Nismes is still called les arènes, by the inhabitants. Mou (mol, m. before a vowel) molle, adj. soft. effeminate, without energy. pourquoi ne pas murmurer doucement sur cette molle arène? would be the construction in prose. Murmurer, r. n. 1. to murmur, to grumble; actively, to mutter; doucement, adv. gently, softly, slowly, comfortably, quietly;- je me porte tout doucement, I am tolerably well in health; aller doucement en besogne, to proceed carefully, prudently. ton bruit m'importune et me gêne, thy noise molests and incommodes me. importuner, r. a. 1. to molest, to be troublesome; géner, r. a. 1. to incommode, to constrain, to restrain. n'entends tu pas? doest thou not hear? entendre, r. a. 4. to hear, to understand; bord, page 40, No. III.; côteau, m. a hill, the whole declivity of a hill, the side of a hill covered with vines. Gémir, r. n. 2. to groan, to sigh, to coo like a turtle. La moitié, f. the half; être de moitié, to go halves, to share equally with another in a transaction; se mettre de moitié, to take an equal share, to enter into partnership for a particular concern; à moitié, adv. half, in part; moitié, adv. balf; ce pain est moitié seigle, moitié froment, this loaf is half rye, half wheat. Poursuis la route, pursue thy way. Poursuivre, to pursue, to go on with, from suivre, to follow, and has the same irregularities; la route, f. the road, the way; la grande route, the highway. All the words in oute are f. except un doute, a doubt, scruple, suspicion. Un voyageur, m. a traveller, a wanderer. Recollect what we stated concerning the words in eur, page 67, No. V. Demander, r. a. 1. to ask, to beg, to crave. Some one is asking for you; on vous demande. Les Dieux, m. pl. the gods; le cœur, m. the heart, courage, sentiment, mind; perde, 3d pers. sing. pres. subj. of perdre, r. a. and n. 4. to lose, to ruin; jamais, adv. of time, never, ever; à jamais, pour jamais, for ever; au grand jamais, never, never; aimer, r. a. 1. to love, to like. But be careful that you never translate "how do you like?" comment aimez vous? You must say, comment trouvez vous? How do you like my new gown? comment trouvez vous ma robe neuve ? The German piece of poëtry which we select to-day for the vehicle of our instructions, was written by Aloys Blumauer, a Bookseller at Vienna, where he died in 1798. It is called DIE BEIDEN MENSCHENGRÖSSEN. Das Verdienst webt beide, doch verschieden Eine hüllet sich in eitel Licht, Wo die and're sanfte Farben bricht. Wie die Sonne glänzt und strahlt die eine, Wie ein Bergstrom über Felsenstücke |