Anna Karenina — Chapter 5 in French
By Leo Tolstoy
Stépan Arkadiévitch avait fait de bonnes études, grâce à ses capacités naturelles, mais il était paresseux et léger, c’est pourquoi il sortit l’un des derniers de l’école. Mais malgré sa vie toujours frivole, ses titres médiocres et son âge peu avancé, il occupait la situation très honorifique et bien appointée de chef d’une des chancelleries de Moscou. Stepan Arkadyevitch had done well at school, by reason of his excellent natural gifts, but he was lazy and mischievous, and consequently had been at the foot of his class; but, in spite of his irregular habits, his low rank in the Service, and his youth, he, nevertheless, held an important salaried position as nachalnik, or president of one of the courts in Moscow. Il avait obtenu cette place par l’intervention du mari de sa sœur Anna, Alexis Alexandrovitch Karénine, qui occupait un poste très important au ministère duquel dépendait cette chancellerie. This place he had secured through the good offices of his sister Anna's husband, Alekseï Aleksandrovitch Karenin, who occupied one of the most influential positions in the ministry of which he was a member. Mais s’il n’avait pas obtenu cette place par l’entremise de Karénine, alors par d’autres relations, par ses frères, sœurs, cousins, oncles ou tantes, Stépan Oblonskï l’eût obtenue, ou, à défaut de celle-ci, une analogue, d’un revenu de 6.000 roubles, traitement qui lui était nécessaire, puisque ses affaires, malgré la fortune assez importante de sa femme, étaient peu prospères. But even if Karenin had not been able to get this place for his brother-in-law, a hundred other people—brothers, sisters, cousins, second cousins, uncles, aunts—would have got it for Stiva Oblonsky, or some place as good, together with the six thousand rubles' salary which he needed for his establishment, his affairs being somewhat out of order in spite of his wife's considerable fortune.
La moitié de Moscou et de Pétersbourg avait des liens de parenté ou d’amitié avec Stépan Arkadiévitch. Il était né parmi ces gens qui étaient ou devinrent les puissants de ce monde. Half the people of Moscow and St. Petersburg were relatives or friends of Stepan Arkadyevitch; he was born into the society of the rich and powerful of this world. Un tiers des hommes d’État, âgés, amis de son père, l’avaient connu au berceau, l’autre tiers le tutoyait, et le troisième était composé de ses meilleurs amis. A third of the older officials attached to the court and in government employ had been friends of his father, and had known him from the time when he wore petticoats; a second third addressed him familiarly in the second person singular; the others were "hail fellows well met." Ainsi les dispensateurs des biens de ce monde, des places, des concessions, des sinécures et autres, étaient de ses amis et ne pouvaient négliger un des leurs. He had, therefore, as his friends, all those whose function it is to dispense earthly blessings in the shape of places, leases, concessions, and the like, and who could not neglect their own. Oblonskï n’avait donc aucun effort à faire pour obtenir une place avantageuse. And so Oblonsky had no special difficulty in obtaining an excellent place. Il n’avait qu’à ne pas la refuser, à ne pas exciter de jalousies, de querelles, ni d’offenses, ce qui lui était facile en raison de sa bonté naturelle. All he had to do was not to shirk, not to be jealous, not to be quarrelsome, not to be thin-skinned, and he never gave way to these faults, because of his natural good temper. Il eût trouvé plaisante l’idée qu’on pût lui refuser une place dont les appointements lui étaient nécessaires, d’autant plus qu’il n’exigeait rien d’extraordinaire. It would have seemed ridiculous to him if he had been told that he could not have any salaried place that he wanted, because it did not seem to him that he demanded anything extraordinary. Il ne demandait qu’à bénéficier des mêmes faveurs que ses camarades et il ne s’en trouvait pas plus indigne que les autres. He asked only for what his companions were obtaining, and he felt that he was as capable as any of them of performing the duties of such a position.
Non seulement Stépan Arkadiévitch était aimé de tous ceux qui connaissaient son humeur bon enfant et sa parfaite affabilité, mais il y avait dans toute sa personne, dans son visage agréable et ouvert, dans ses yeux brillants, ses sourcils et ses cheveux noirs, ses joues blanches et roses, il y avait quelque chose qui incitait à la joie et à la gaîté ceux qui se trouvaient avec lui. « Ah ! Stepan Arkadyevitch was liked by every one for his good and amiable character and his unimpeachable honesty. There was moreover something in his brilliant and attractive personality, in his bright, sparkling eyes, his black brows, his hair, his vivid coloring, which exercised a strong physical influence as of friendliness and gayety on those who came in touch with him.
c’est lui ! » disait-on presque toujours avec un sourire joyeux quand on le rencontrait. people would generally say, with a smile of pleasure. Bien que parfois cette rencontre n’eût pas un résultat spécialement gai, on n’en éprouvait pas moins de plaisir à le rencontrer de nouveau, le lendemain. Even if it happened that the results of meeting him were not particularly gratifying, nevertheless people were just as glad to meet him the second day and the third.