The Death of Ivan Il'ich: Bilingual Edition (English – French)

By Leo Tolstoi

Instead of memorizing vocabulary words, work your way through an actual well-written novel. Even novices can follow along as each individual English paragraph is paired with the corresponding French paragraph. It won't be an easy project, but you'll learn a lot.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Jun 13, 2018

Leo Tolstoi

Leo Tolstoy grew up in Russia, raised by a elderly aunt and educated by French tutors while studying at Kazen University before giving up on his education and volunteering for military duty. When writing his greatest works, War and Peace and Anna Karenina, Tolstoy drew upon his diaries for material. At eighty-two, while away from home, he suffered from declining health and died in Astapovo, Riazan in 1910.

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I

I

In the large building devoted to judicial business, during the interruption of the session in which the Meluisky affair was under consideration, the members of the Court and the Procurator had assembled in the cabinet of Ivan Egorovich Shebek, and were discussing the celebrated Krasovsky affair. Theodor Vasilevich, waxing warm, proved that there was no jurisdiction. Ivan Egorovich stuck to his opinion likewise.

Au Palais de Justice, pendant la suspension de l’audience consacrée à l’affaire Melvinsky, les juges et le procureur s’étaient réunis dans le cabinet d’Ivan Egorovitch Schebek, et la conversation vint à tomber sur la fameuse affaire Krassovsky. Fedor Vassilievitch s’animait en soutenant l’incompétence; Ivan Egorovitch soutenait l’opinion contraire.

Peter Ivanovich, taking no part at first in the dispute, was simply glancing through the newspapers.

Piotr Ivanovitch qui, depuis le commencement, n’avait pas pris part à la discussion, parcourait un journal qu’on venait d’apporter.

«Gentlemen!» said he, «Ivan Il'ich is dead.»

«Impossible!»

«Read for yourselves, then, here it is,» said he to Theodor Vasilevich, showing him the new number of the «Gazette,» fresh and moist from the press.

Within a black border was printed:

— Messieurs!

dit-il, Ivan Ilitch est mort.

— Pas possible!

— Voilà, lisez, dit-il à Fedor Vassilievitch en lui tendant le numéro du journal tout fraîchement sorti de l’imprimerie.

Il lut l’avis suivant encadré de noir:

«Praskov'ya Thedorovna Golovina, with heart-felt regret, informs her relations and acquaintances of the death of her beloved husband and member of the High Court, Ivan Il'ich Golovin, which took place on the 4th of February of the current year. The funeral will take place at one o'clock in the afternoon.»

«Prascovie Fedorovna Golovine a la douleur d’annoncer à ses parents et amis la mort de son époux bien-aimé Ivan Ilitch Golovine, conseiller à la Cour d’appel, décédé le 4 février 1882. La levée du corps aura lieu vendredi, à une heure de l’après-midi.»

Ivan Il'ich was a colleague of the gentlemen assembled there, and they all loved him. He had been ailing now for some weeks, and his malady was said to be incurable.

Ivan Ilitch était le collègue des messieurs présents; et tous l’aimaient. Il était malade depuis plusieurs semaines déjà, et l’on disait sa maladie incurable;

His place had been left vacant, but the general impression was that, in case of his death, Aleksyeev might be nominated his successor, and either Vinnikov or Shtabel would take the place of Aleksyeev. Thus, on hearing of the death of Ivan Il'ich, the first thought of every one of the gentlemen assembled in that cabinet was: How would this death affect the members of the tribunal or their acquaintances in the way of change of position and promotion?

toutefois sa place lui était restée, mais on savait qu’à sa mort, Alexiev le remplacerait et que la place de ce dernier serait donnée à Vinnikov ou à Schtabel. Aussi, en apprenant la mort d’Ivan Ilitch, tous ceux qui étaient réunis là se demandèrent d’abord quelle influence aurait cette mort sur les permutations ou les nominations d’eux-mêmes et de leurs amis.

«Now I shall certainly get Shtabel's place or Vinnikov's,» Theodor Vasilevich thought to himself. «It was promised to me a long time ago, and this promotion would mean an increment of 800 roubles, besides office fees.»

«Je suis à peu près certain d’avoir la place de Schtabel ou celle de Vinnikov», pensait Fedor Vassilievitch, «il y a longtemps qu’on me l'a promise, et cette promotion augmentera mon traitement de 800 roubles, sans compter les indemnités de bureau.»

«I must petition now for the transfer of my brother-in-law from Kaluga,» thought Peter Ivanovich. «The wife will be very glad.

«C’est le moment de faire nommer chez nous mon beau-frère de Kalouga», pensait Piotr Ivanovitch.

Now she will not be able to say that I never do anything for her relations.»

«I never thought he would get over it, I must say,» said Peter Ivanovich aloud; «it is a great pity.»

«What was really the matter with him?»

«The doctors can't exactly decide. Or, rather, they have decided, but all their opinions differ.

«Ma femme en sera contente et ne pourra plus dire que je ne fais jamais rien pour les siens.»

— J’étais sûr qu’il ne s’en relèverait pas, — dit à haute voix Piotr Ivanovitch.— C’est bien dommage.

— Mais quelle était sa maladie, au juste?

— Les médecins n’ont jamais su la définir, c’est-à-dire qu’ils ont bien émis leur opinion, mais chacun d’eux avait la sienne.

When I saw him last it seemed to me that he was getting better.»

«So I thought, and I have not seen him for some time. He was quite collected.»

«What were his circumstances?»

«It appears his wife has precious little. There's some trifle, I believe.»

«One ought to call. They live a frightful distance off.»

Quand je l’ai vu pour la dernière fois, je croyais qu’il pourrait s’en tirer.

— Et moi qui ne suis pas allé le voir depuis les fêtes. J’en avais toujours l’intention.

— Avait-il de la fortune?

— Je crois que sa femme avait quelque chose, mais très peu.

— Oui, il va falloir y aller. Ils demeurent si loin!

— C’est-à-dire loin de chez vous...

«Far away from you, no doubt, very far.»

«Well, you cannot expect me to live in the suburbs,» said Peter Ivanovich, smiling at Shebek. And they began talking of how great the distances were in the city, and then resumed the session.

Independently of the potential permutations and transfers likely to result in official circles from this death, the mere fact of the death itself of a close acquaintance excited, as usual, in all who heard it, a feeling of satisfaction that the hearers survived.

De chez vous tout est loin.

— Il ne peut pas me pardonner de demeurer de l’autre côté de la rivière, dit Piotr Ivanovitch en regardant Schebek avec un sourire. Et il se mit à parler de l’éloignement de toutes choses dans les grandes villes. Ils retournèrent à l’audience.

Outre les réflexions que suggérait à chacun cette mort et les changements possibles de service qui allaient en résulter, le fait même de la mort d’un excellent camarade éveillait en eux, comme il arrive toujours, un sentiment de joie.

«Ah! he has died, and here am I alive,» was what everyone thought or felt. Moreover, the close acquaintances, including the so-called friends of Ivan Il'ich, on this occasion involuntarily reflected that now they would have to fulfil the very tiresome obligations of propriety, and attend the Panikhida besides waiting upon the widow with their condolences.

Chacun pensait: Il est mort, et moi pas! Quant aux intimes, ceux qu’on appelle des amis, ils pensaient involontairement qu’ils auraient à s’acquitter d’un ennuyeux devoir de convenance: aller d’abord au service funéraire, ensuite faire une visite de condoléance à la veuve.

The nearest neighbours were Theodor Vasilevich and Peter Ivanovich.

Fedor Vassilievitch et Piotr Ivanovitch étaient les amis les plus intimes d’Ivan Ilitch.

Peter Ivanovich was a member of the College of Jurisprudence, and considered himself under obligations to Ivan Il'ich.

After communicating to his wife at dinner the news of the death of Ivan Il'ich, and of the idea and the possibility of transferring his own brother-in-law into their circle, Ivan Ivanovich sighed sincerely, put on his frock-coat, and went to the house of Ivan Il'ich.

Piotr Ivanovitch avait été son camarade à l’école de droit et se considérait comme son obligé.

Apres avoir annoncé à sa femme, pendant le dîner, la nouvelle de la mort d’Ivan Ilitch et lui avoir communiqué ses considérations sur les probabilités de la nomination de son beau-frère dans leur district, Piotr Ivanovitch, sans se reposer, endossa son habit et se rendit au domicile d’Ivan Ilitch.

At the entrance to the quarters of Ivan Il'ich stood a carriage and two coachmen. Below, in the antechamber, near the coat-stand, leaning against the wall, was the glazed lid of the coffin, adorned with tassels and galloon, and furbished up with powder to look like new.

Une voiture de maître et deux voitures de place stationnaient près du perron. Dans le vestibule, près du porte-manteau, on avait adossé au mur le couvercle en brocart du cercueil, garni de glands et de franges d’argent passés au blanc d’Espagne.

Two ladies in black were taking off their furs. One was the sister of Ivan Il'ich, whom he knew, the other was a stranger. Peter Ivanovich's colleague, Schwarz, was coming downstairs, and from the top step saw the new arrival; he stopped short, and winked at him, as much as to say: «Ivan Il'ich has made a mess of it; what have we got to do with it?»

Schwarz's face, with its English whiskers, and his long, lean figure in its frock-coat, had, as usual, an air of refined solemnity, and this solemnity, always diametrically opposed to the humorous character of Schwarz, had here a peculiar piquancy. So, at any rate, thought Peter Ivanovich.

Deux dames en noir se débarrassaient de leurs pelisses. L’une d’elles était la sœur d’Ivan Ilitch, qu’il connaissait; l’autre lui était inconnue. Un collègue de Piotr Ivanovitch, Schwartz, descendait. Ayant aperçu, du haut de l’escalier, le nouveau visiteur, il s’arrêta et cligna de l’œil, comme s’il voulait dire; «Ivan Ilitch n’a pas été malin; ce n’est pas comme nous autres!»

La figure de Schwartz, avec ses favoris à l’anglaise, et sa maigre personne, en habit, conservaient toujours une grâce solennelle; et cette gravité, qui contrastait avec son caractère jovial, avait en l’occurrence quelque chose de particulièrement amusant. Ainsi pensa Piotr Ivanovitch.

Peter Ivanovich let the ladies go on before him, and slowly ascended the staircase behind them. Schwarz did not descend, but remained at the top. Peter Ivanovich understood why: he wanted to arrange with him where they were to meet to-day. The ladies went up the staircase to the widow, but Schwarz, with his strong lips in a serious pose, and a waggish look, indicated by a movement of the brows that the room where the corpse lay was to the right.

Il laissa passer les dames devant lui et gravit lentement l’escalier derrière elles. Schwartz ne descendit pas et l’attendit en haut. Piotr Ivanovitch comprit pourquoi. Il voulait évidemment s’entendre avec lui pour la partie de cartes du soir. Les dames entrèrent chez la veuve. Schwartz, les lèvres sévèrement pincées, mais le regard enjoué, indiqua d’un mouvement de sourcils, à droite, la chambre du défunt.

Peter Ivanovich, as was always the case with him, entered with a feeling of uncertainty as to what he ought to do there. One thing he was quite certain of— one should never fail to cross oneself on such occasions. As to whether it was also necessary to genuflect, he was not quite sure, so he adopted a middle course: on entering the room he proceeded to cross himself, and just made a slight pretence of genuflecting.

Piotr Ivanovitch entra, ne sachant trop, comme il arrive toujours en pareil cas, ce qu’il devait faire. Cependant il était sûr d’une chose, c’est qu’en pareil cas un signe de croix ne fait jamais mal. Mais devait-il saluer ou non, il n’en était pas certain. Il choisit donc un moyen intermédiaire: il entra dans la chambre mortuaire, fit le signe de la croix, et s’inclina légèrement comme s’il saluait.

As much as this pantomime with his hands and head allowed him to do so, he glanced round the room.

Autant que le lui permirent les mouvements de sa tête et de ses mains, il examina en même temps la pièce.

Two young men, one of them a gymnasiast, both apparently relatives, were coming out of the room, crossing themselves. An old woman was standing there immovably, and a lady, with pointedly arched brows, was saying something to her in a whisper. A d'yachek in a cassock, alert and emphatic, was reading something aloud, with an expression excluding all contradiction; the muzhik-waiter, Gerasim, passing in front of Peter Ivanovich with light steps, was strewing something on the floor. No sooner had he noticed this than Peter Ivanovich was sensible of the faint odour of a corpse.

Deux jeunes gens, dont un collégien, probablement les neveux du mort, sortaient de la chambre en faisant le signe de la croix. Une vieille femme se tenait debout, immobile. Une dame, les sourcils étrangement soulevés, lui disait quelque chose à voix basse. Le chantre, vêtu d’une redingote, l’air résolu et diligent, lisait à haute voix, d’un ton qui ne souffrait pas d’objection. Le sommelier Guerassim répandait quelque chose sur le parquet, en marchant à pas légers devant Piotr Ivanovitch. En le regardant faire, Piotr Ivanovitch sentit aussitôt une faible odeur de cadavre en décomposition.

Last time he had called upon Ivan Il'ich, Peter Ivanovich had seen this muzhik in the cabinet; he served as a nurse, and Ivan Il'ich was particularly fond of him.

Lors de la dernière visite qu’il avait faite à Ivan Ilitch, il avait remarqué dans son cabinet ce sommelier qui remplissait près de lui l’office de garde-malade; et Ivan Ilitch l’affectionnait particulièrement.

Peter Ivanovich kept on crossing him- self, and slightly genuflecting in a central position, between the coffin, the d'yachek, and the images on the wall in the corner. Presently, when this action of crossing himself seemed to him to have lasted quite long enough, he stopped short, and began to look at the corpse.

Piotr Ivanovitch continuait à se signer et à s’incliner vaguement; son salut pouvait s’adresser aussi bien au mort qu’au sacristain, ou aux icones