contains an english and a french translation of the poem le jeune homme et le vieillard alongside one another to help you fully understand each line of the poem, a short background and some notes are also included in english with key words translated into french for exam purposes
Le jeune homme et le vieillard (the young man and the old man)
« De grâce, apprenez-moi comment l'on fait fortune, "Please teach me how to make a fortune,
Demandait à son père un jeune ambitieux. a young ambitious young man asked his father.
- Il est, dit le vieillard, un chemin glorieux : - It is, said the old man, a glorious path:
C'est de se rendre utile à la cause commune, It is to make oneself useful to the common cause
De prodiguer ses jours, ses veilles, ses talents, To lavish one's days, one's vigils, one's talents,
Au service de la patrie. In the service of the country.
- Oh ! trop pénible est cette vie ; - Oh ! too painful is this life;
Je veux des moyens moins brillants. I want less brilliant means.
- Il en est de plus sûrs, l'intrigue... ; - There are more sure, the plot …
- Elle est trop vile - It is too vile;
Sans vice et sans travail je voudrais m'enrichir. Without vice and without work I would like to enrich
k myself.
- Eh bien ! sois un simple imbécile, - Well ! just be a fool,
J'en ai vu beaucoup réussir. » I've seen a lot of them succeed.
Jeune Homme speaking Vieillard speaking Narrateur speaking
- This poem is a conversation between a young man and his father (‘old man’) the son wishes to become
rich without working or ‘falling into any kind of sin’, the father sarcastically remarks that he ‘has seen
many of them succeed’ telling us that he knows the son will fail in being rich because of his laziness.
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