Recommended for vous Posted by Tim Hildreth on Aug 14, 2018 in Culture, Grammar, Vocabulary
Back at the end of mai (May) / début juin (start of June) I shared a couple of contes (stories, short tales) that I found online. I shared them both because they had some good vocabulary and because I was fascinated by the morality they (attempted) to share. Both tales reflected both a simpler and a more simplistic view of la bonne conduite (good/proper behavior) for boys and girls of a certain time.
In digging deeper into the original source text, I found two more contes que je voudrais partager avec vous (tales that I would like to share with you). This week we’ll look at some more advice pour les garçons (for the boys).
Le conseil* / The recommendation
| If you want to be liked by everyone, my son, | |
| Don’t ever repeat what you hear said / what you over hear, | |
| And don’t speak about what you see people do to each other. | |
| People flee from a child who repeats what he’s heard/who tattles | |
| And as soon as one sees them, they quiet down; | |
| Even their parents are wary, and he is left (alone) by all. |
This story comes from Project Gutenberg, a source of free digital books. You can learn more and find French stories and more on your own here.* I’ve translated conseil as recommendation, but it can also mean advice, and also council (both in the figurative sense and literal).
Photo credit [CC0] by Kat Jayne from Pexels
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About the Author: Tim Hildreth
Since my first trip to France at 16, I have been a passionate francophile. I love the language, food, music, art, people, and more that make France and la Francophonie in general such an amazing part of our global community. Having lived in France and studied the language and culture for over 35 years, it is my great pleasure to be able to share a little bit of my deep love with you through this blog.