Diary of Marie Bashkirtseff

Nearly every day I practise four hours of piano. Princess Galitzine is always at our house; rarely a day passes without her, and in the evenings we go out together.

Presque tous les jours je fais quatre heures de piano. La princesse Galitzine est toujours chez nous; il se passe rarement un jour sans elle, le soir nous sortons ensemble.

Auda is to come tomorrow to fit my riding habit; the glove maker too.

Auda doit venir chez moi demain pour arranger l'amazone, la gantiere aussi.

In the evening, in the carriage, everyone was ready to sit down but Dina was dawdling, so I said:

Le soir en voiture, on etait pret a s'asseoir mais Dina lambinait alors je lui dis:

— Come along, Mme Cadyow, hurry up!

-- Allons Mme Cadyow, arrivez !

This name stays with me, and it makes me laugh so; it has a magical effect. I have only to pronounce it, merely to think it, and I laugh like a madwoman.

Ce nom ne me quitte pas, et il me fait tellement rire; c'est d'un effet magique. Je n'ai qu'a le prononcer, le penser seulement et je ris comme une folle.

— Which madame? Oh! come now, which madame? What? said Dina in a sly tone, looking me in the eyes.

-- Quelle madame ? Oh ! allons, quelle madame ? Quoi ? dit Dina d'un ton malin et me regardant dans les yeux.

— Nothing at all, go away, you're annoying me!

-- Rien du tout, va-t-en, tu m'ennuies !

What a rascal — she even looked it up in Bouillet, but who suggested A. to her? She is not as stupid as I thought.1

Quelle canaille, elle a meme tire du Bouillet, mais qui lui suggested A. ? Elle n'est pas aussi bete que je le croyais.

Papa kept saying silly things; he was recounting his old loves — how comical old lovers are! Everything should wither at the same time. But Papa is still strong and young for sixty-four.

Papa disait tout le temps des betises, il racontait ses amours, comme les vieux amoureux sont droles ! Tout devrait se faner en meme temps. Mais papa est encore fort et jeune pour soixante-quatre ans.

Notes

"Suggested" in English in the original.