Car Gilberte allait tous les jours la saluer ; elle demandait à Gilberte des nouvelles de « son amour de mère » ; et il me semblait que si je l’avais connue, j’avais été pour Gilberte quelqu’un de tout autre, quelqu’un qui connaissait les relations de ses parents. MP
For Gilberte went up every day to speak to her; she used to ask Gilberte for news of her “dearest mother” and it struck me that, if I had known her, I should have been for Gilberte some one wholly different, some one who knew people in her parents’ world. CK
For Gilberte went up to greet her every day; she used to ask Gilberte for news of her “adorable mother"; and it struck me that, if I had known her, I should have been for Gilberte someone wholly different, some one who knew people in her parents’ world. KILM
For Gilberte went up to greet her every day; she asked Gilberte for news of “her love of a mother;" and it seemed to me that, had I known her, I would have been someone quite different for Gilberte, someone who knew her parents’ friends. DAVIS
Et déjà Gilberte courait à toute vitesse dans ma direction, étincelante et rouge sous un bonnet carré de fourrure, animée par le froid, le retard et le désir du jeu ; MP
And now Gilberte was running at full speed towards me, sparkling and rosy beneath a cap trimmed with fur, enlivened by the cold, by being late, by her anxiety for a game; CK
And now Gilberte was running at full speed towards me, sparkling and rosy beneath a cap trimmed with fur, enlivened by the cold, her lateness, and the desire for a game; KILM
And already Gilberte was running as fast as possible in my direction, sparkling and red under a square fur hat, animated by the cold, the lateness, and her desire to play; DAVIS
Car, moi qui ne pensais plus qu’à ne jamais rester un jour sans voir Gilberte (au point qu’une fois ma grand’mère n’étant pas rentrée pour l’heure du dîner, je ne pus m’empêcher de me dire tout de suite que si elle avait été écrasée par une voiture, je ne pourrais pas aller de quelque temps aux Champs-Élysées ;
on n’aime plus personne dès qu’on aime), pourtant ces moments où j’étais auprès d’elle et que depuis la veille j’avais si impatiemment
[ 245 ] attendus, pour lesquels j’avais tremblé, auxquels j’aurais sacrifié tout le reste, n’étaient nullement des moments heureux ;MP
For, although I no longer thought, now, of anything save not to let a single day pass without seeing Gilberte (so much so that once, when my grandmother had not come home by dinner-time, I could not resist the instinctive reflection that, if she had been run over in the street and killed, I should not for some time be allowed to play in the Champs-Elysées; when one is in love one has no love left for anyone), yet those moments which I spent in her company, for which I had waited with so much impatience all night and morning, for which I had quivered with excitement, to which I would have sacrificed everything else in the world, were by no means happy moments; CK
For, although I now no longer thought of anything save not to let a single day pass without seeing Gilberte (so much so that once, when my grandmother had not come home by dinner-time, I could not resist the instinctive reflection that if she had been run over in the street and killed, I should not for some time be allowed to play in the Champs-Elysées; when one is in love one has no love left for anyone), yet those moments which I spent in her company, for which I had waited with so impatiently all night and morning, for which I had quivered with excitement, to which I would have sacrificed everything else in the world, were by no means happy moments; KILM
For, although I no longer thought, now, of anything else but of not allowing a single day to pass without seeing Gilberte (so much so that once, when my grandmother had not returned by dinnertime, I could not help saying to myself immediately that if she had been run over by a carriage, I would not be able to go to the Champs-Elysées for a long time; we no longer love anyone else when we are in love), yet those moments when I was with her and which since the day before I had been awaiting so impatiently, for which I had trembled, for which I would have sacrificed everything else, were in no way happy moments; DAVIS
Mais à l’époque où j’aimais Gilberte, je croyais encore que l’Amour existait réellement en dehors de nous ; que, en permettant tout au plus que nous écartions les obstacles, il offrait ses bonheurs dans un ordre auquel on n’était pas libre de rien changer ; il me semblait que si j’avais, de mon chef, substitué à la douceur de l’aveu la simulation de l’indifférence, je ne me serais pas seulement privé d’une des joies dont j’avais le plus rêvé, mais que je me serais fabriqué à ma guise un amour factice et sans valeur, sans communication avec le vrai, dont j’aurais renoncé à suivre les chemins mystérieux et préexistants. MP
But at the period when I was in love with Gilberte, I still believed that Love did really exist, apart from ourselves; that, allowing us, at the most, to surmount the obstacles in our way, it offered us its blessings in an order in which we were not free to make the least alteration; it seemed to me that if I had, on my own initiative, substituted for the sweetness of a confession a pretence of indifference, I should not only have been depriving myself of one of the joys of which I had most often dreamed, I should have been fabricating, of my own free will, a love that was artificial and without value, that bore no relation to the truth, whose mysterious and foreordained ways I should thus have been declining to follow. CK
But at the period when I was in love with Gilberte, I still believed that Love did really exist outside ourselves; that, allowing us, at the most, to surmount the obstacles in our way, it offered its blessings in an order in which we were not free to make the least alteration; it seemed to me that if I had, on my own initiative, substituted for the sweetness of avowal a pretence of indifference, I should not only have been depriving myself of one of the joys for which I most longed, but fabricating, quite arbitrarily, a love that was artificial and valueless, that bore no relation to the true one, whose mysterious and foreordained ways I should thus have ceased to follow. KILM
But during the period when I loved Gilberte, I still believed that Love really existed outside of us; that, allowing us at the very most, to remove obstacles in our way, it offered its joys in an order which we were not free to alter; it seemed to me that if I had, on my own initiative, substituted for the sweetness of confession the simiuation of indifference, I would not only have deprived myself of one of the joys of which I had dreamed most often but that I would have fabricated for myself in my own way a love that was artificial and without value, without any connection to the real one, whose mysterious and pre-existing paths I would have had to forgo following. DAVIS
Par exemple si depuis la veille je portais dans ma mémoire deux yeux de feu dans des joues pleines et brillantes, la figure de Gilberte m’offrait maintenant avec insistance quelque chose que précisément je ne m’étais pas rappelé, un certain effilement aigu du nez qui, s’associant instantanément à d’autres traits, prenait l’importance de ces caractères qui en histoire naturelle définissent une espèce, et la transmuait en une fillette du genre de celles à museau pointu. MP
If, for instance, I had retained in my memory overnight two fiery eyes above plump and rosy cheeks, Gilberte’s face would now offer me (and with emphasis) something that I distinctly had not remembered, a certain sharpening and prolongation of the nose which, instantaneously associating itself with certain others of her features, assumed the importance of those characteristics which, in natural history, are used to define a species, and transformed her into a little girl of the kind that have sharpened profiles. CK
If, for instance, I had retained in my memory overnight two fiery eyes above plump and rosy cheeks, Gilberte’s face would now offer me with overpowering insistence something that I distinctly had not remembered, a certain sharp tapering of the nose which, instantaneously associating itself with certain other features, assumed the importance of those characteristics which in natural history define a species, and transformed her into a little girl of the kind that have pointed noses. KILM
For example if, since the day before, I had been carrying in my memory two blazing eyes in full and shining cheeks, Gilberte’s face now presented me insistently with something that quite specifically I had not recalled, a certain sharp tapering of the nose, which, instantaneously associating itself with certain other features, assumed the importance of those characteristics which in natural history define a whole species, and transmuted her into a little girl of the type that have pointed snouts. DAVIS >> museau n.m. -x 1. snout n.
— car c’était chez elle que M. Swann faisait acheter son pain d’épice, et par hygiène, il en consommait beaucoup, souffrant d’un eczéma ethnique et de la constipation des Prophètes — MP
since it was to her that M. Swann used to send for his gingerbread, of which, for reasons of health (he suffered from a racial eczema, and from the constipation of the prophets), CK
since it was to her that M. Swann used to send for his gingerbread, of which, for reasons of health (he suffered from ethnic eczema, and from the constipation of the prophets), KILM
for it was to her that M. Swann sent for his spice cake, and for health reasons, he consumed a great deal of it, suffering from ethnic eczema and the Prophets' constipation --, DAVIS
J’achetai deux billes d’un sou. Je regardais avec admiration, lumineuses et captives dans une sébile isolée, les billes d’agate qui me semblaient précieuses parce qu’elles étaient souriantes et blondes comme des jeunes filles et parce qu’elles coûtaient cinquante centimes pièce. Gilberte, à qui on donnait beaucoup plus d’argent qu’à moi, me demanda laquelle je trouvais la plus belle. Elles avaient la transparence et le fondu de la vie. Je n’aurais voulu lui en faire sacrifier aucune. J’aurais aimé qu’elle pût les acheter, les délivrer toutes. Pourtant je lui en désignai une qui avait la couleur de ses yeux. Gilberte la prit, chercha son rayon doré, la caressa, paya sa rançon, mais aussitôt me remit sa captive en me disant : «
Tenez, elle est à vous, je vous la donne, gardez-la comme souvenir. »
[ 249 ] MP
I purchased two ha’penny marbles. With admiring eyes I saw, luminous and imprisoned in a bowl by themselves, the agate marbles which seemed precious to me because they were as fair and smiling as little girls, and because they cost five-pence each. Gilberte, who was given a great deal more pocket money than I ever had, asked me which I thought the prettiest. They were as transparent, as liquid-seeming as life itself. I would not have had her sacrifice a single one of them. I should have liked her to be able to buy them, to liberate them all. Still, I pointed out one that had the same colour as her eyes. Gilberte took it, turned it about until it shone with a ray of gold, fondled it, paid its ransom, but at once handed me her captive, saying: “Take it; it is for you, I give it to you, keep it to remind yourself of me.” CK (taking liberties)
I purchased two ha’penny marbles. With admiring eyes I gazed at the agate marbles, luminous and imprisoned in a bowl apart, which seemed precious to me because they were as fair and smiling as little girls, and because they cost six-pence each. Gilberte, who was given a great deal more pocket money than I ever had, asked me which I thought the prettiest. They had the transparency and mellowness of life itself. I would not have had her sacrifice a single one of them. I should have liked her to be able to buy them, to liberate them all. Still, I pointed out one that had the same colour as her eyes. Gilberte took it, turned it round until it shone with a ray of gold, fondled it, paid its ransom, but at once handed me her captive, saying: “Here, it's for you. Keep it as a souvenir.” KILM (almost right on)
I bought two one-sou marbles. I gazed with admiration at the agates, luminous and captive in their separate wooden bowl, precious in my eyes because they ere as blond and beaming as young girls, and because they cost 50 centimes apiece. Gilberte, who was given a great deal more money than I was, asked me which I thought was the most beautiful. They had the molten transparency of life itself. I did not want to make her sacrifice a single one of them. I would have liked her to be able to buy them, liberate them, all. Yet I pointed to the one which was the same color as her eyes. Gilberte took it, looked for its golden ray of light, stroked it, paid its ransom, but immediately handed her captive over to me saying: “Here, it's for you. I'm giving it to you, keep it as a souvenir.” DAVIS (right on)
