1. A person who is described as “having character in the
chin” has either a chin which is more or less on a level with
their lips or - more often - a protruding/jutting chin. It is
widely believed that this is a sign of character. On the other
hand a person with a receding chin (ñðåçàííûé ïîäáîðîäîê)
often described as “having no chin” is believed to have
no character/to have a weak character. Let the reader judge
from their own experience whether such a notion is true or
false. 2. Elegant, intelligent, inventive, showing education,
good taste and manners. 3. Don’t pay any attention to him,
general/He isn’t worth your attention, general. 4. Let me deal
with him/handle him/Leave the matter in my hands. 5. Giving
an artificial smile while forcing/pumping a few tears out o f
her eyes. 6. With reproach but keeping one’s dignity. 7. The
lady inadvertently reminds Napoleon of the words the lieutenant
said just a few minutes ago, “Lady? He is a man! The
man I showed my confidence in.” Her words, “You see, I show
my confidence in you,” are uttered when the betrayed lieutenant’s
words are still too fresh in Bonaparte’s memory.
Surely the Lady should have used more caution/should not
have forgotten to take care in the presence of one of the
cleverest men in Europe. 8. Woman, woman, lovely and
treacherous, you have been trying to charm me into letting
you go with my dispatehes/Lovely traitress /Treacherous
seductress, you have been trying to trick me out of my dispatches
by using your feminine charms. 9. The mean, common
Corsican adventurer you really are shows very easily
through your glamorous facade/You try to look like a wellmannered,
polite man, but the mean, common Corsican
adventurer you really are shows up whenever you are crossed
(at every opportunity). 10. Looking at the papers with
unpleasant, satisfaction. 11. With affected/false sweetness
born of (resulting from) bitter experience/With a mixture of
artificial sweetness and genuine bitterness. 12. Like a true
Corsican I love (I have a taste for) interesting stories. 13. The
wife of the ruler should not be spoken ill of whatever her
transgressions may be (no matter whether she is blameless or
not). 14. You have been tactless. 15. You may forget yourself/
You may say something so indiscreet that I won’t be able
to forgive you/to overlook it. 16. Do you mean that you are
the sort of man who knows that his wife is unfaithful to
him/cheats on him but prefers to overlook it/to turn the
blind eye because he can’t help loving her?