Leçon 7 -- Text

A classroom, a professor, some students.

1.

Now we are going to do the portrait of the young man of the story, Robert.

He's an American, a solid boy.

You mean (want to say) that he is going to be fat?

But no, not at all. He is solid, robust, husky, but he isn't fat at all.

He doesn't have a stomach: in fact, Robert is rather thin.

He is one meter 70 centimeters tall. (He measures 1 m. 70) --- 1 m. 70 = 5' 7"

And he weighs exactly 70 kilograms. -- 70 kilograms = 154 lbs.

He is taller than Mireille. Mireille is (makes) one meter 63 centimeters,

One meter 64, perhaps, not more. -- 1 m. 63 = 5' 4"

Robert is taller than she, or if you prefer, she is less tall than he, she is shorter than he.

2.

He is very athletic: he does some water skiing, some surfing, some polo,

Some football (American, of course), some basketball, some volleyball, some handball,

Some hockey, some roller skating.

That's all?

Yes, it's necessary to leave him a little time for working.

Or for taking a nap.

3.

Let's return to our physical portrait. He isn't very tall. He is thin, but solid.

He has rather wide and rather square shoulders.

4.

Is she going to have a long or short neck? (the neck long or short) Thin or thick?

She's going to have a rather long and thin neck. (the neck rather long and thin)

Is she going to have a thin or a thick waist? She has a thin waist.

And the fingers? Is she going to have short and thick fingers, or long and thin (fine).

She has long and thin fingers. And she also has long and thin legs.

The face, now. Is she going to have an oval, elongated, round ... square face?

Oval? Good. Let's say that she's going to have an oval face.

5.

Is she going to be blond, brunette (dark-haired) , red-headed, or brown-haired (chestnut brown)?

Let's see ... she's going to be blond.

Too bad. Because, me, I prefer the brunettes.

Too bad (tough) for you. Mireille is blond and is going to stay blond.

Now, is she going to have long or short hair? What do you prefer?

Long. ...Very well. I'm in agreement. She's going to have blond and long hair.

6.

And the eyes? Is she going to have black eyes? Chestnut eyes? Gray eyes?

Or green? Or rather blue eyes? ... Blue eyes.

Good. It's agreed. She's going to have blue eyes, both. She's going to have two blue eyes.

There is the physical portrait of Mireille. She is rather short.

She looks fragile, but her health is excellent, and she's very athletic.

She is thin. She has an oval face, blond hair, and blue eyes.

7.

Now, let's do the character portrait of Mireille.

In terms of character, she is lively and has a quick mind.

She is intelligent, very reasonable, very sociable ... a bit of a tease, perhaps,

But she is not at all mean. She has a very good disposition.