Thread: Please check the translation of this little story.

Один первой церкови Фёдора была церковей Святего Албан, мученника. В времене Фёдора колдуны ещё находилась в деревнах регионов, может быть, даже сейчас они - там. Это было источником трудности для Фёдора. В временах трудности, Фёдор отдыхал в его сада. Дом попа была большым здением противоположенным дома дворянина деревна. Дом попа имел внутренний сад с низкой стеной, и внешний сад с живой изгоргдь. Фёдору нравилось работать в саду, сам сажать дерева, на пример.

One of Fyodor's first churches was the church of St. Alban the martyr. In Fyodor's time witches still were found in country areas, maybe even now they are there. This was a source of difficulty for Fyodor. In times of difficulty, Fyodor relaxed in his garden. The house of the priest was a big building opposite the house of the nobleman of the village. The priest's house had an inner garden with a low wall, and an outer garden with a hedge. Fyodor liked to work in the garden, to plant trees himself, for example.

Originally Posted by Martin Miles

Один первой церкови Фёдора была церковей Святего Албан, мученника. Первой церковью, доверенной Фёдору на попечение (we don't say this way "первой цековью Фёдора была..." at any rate in such cases.), была церковь св. мученика Албана. времене Фёдора колдуны ещё находилась в деревнах регионов, может быть, даже сейчас они - там. Во времена Фёдора ведьмы ещё жили в деревнях; может быть, даже сейчас они там. Это (what exactly? Witches?) было источником трудности для Фёдора. И эти ведьмы были для Фёдора источником проблем. В временах трудности, (not enough context. You mean the times when he had to fight against the witches or in general always when he faced difficulties or just when his heart was heavy or something else? Maybe if I had been experienced enough in English to know what usually "times of difficulty" means, I could have translated that sentence, but I'm not, so I can't translate) Фёдор отдыхал в его сада. Дом попа была большым здением противоположенным дома дворянина деревна. Фёдор жил в большом строении (better доме especially if that was a building that he alone lived in), что стояло напротив дома старосты (I think for some reason you meant starosta for nobleman, didn't you? Maybe you should look up the word староста (and starosta) in a explanatory dictionary. The word "дворянин" doesn't fit definitely) Дом попа имел внутренний сад с низкой стеной, и внешний сад с живой изгоргдь. Этот дом имел внутренний сад, окруженный низкой оградой (I don't know what about English, but in Russian "wall" in literal sense means something made of stone, bricks, concrete etc.), и внешний сад, имевший живую изгородь. Фёдору нравилось работать в саду, например, самому (note the ending - the dative case) сажать деревья. (I think it's better to give at least two examples)

One of Fyodor's first churches was the church of St. Alban the martyr. In Fyodor's time witches still were found in country areas, maybe even now they are there. This was a source of difficulty for Fyodor. In times of difficulty, Fyodor relaxed in his garden. The house of the priest was a big building opposite the house of the nobleman of the village. The priest's house had an inner garden with a low wall, and an outer garden with a hedge. Fyodor liked to work in the garden, to plant trees himself, for example.

declination of цЕрковь (Always on E)
церковь
церкви
церкви
церковь
церковью
церкви

of сад
сад
сАда
садУ
сад
сАдом
сАде

the word сам is also declinable
сам
самогО
самомУ
самого
самИм
самОм

Dboryanin probably means courtier in English which as you say is not what I meant. Why is vedimi better than kolduna?

Can you describe what was the occupation of the nobleman or so?
Ведьмы (witches)are women, And колдунЫ are men. This is what quite certain. In the rest they are similar.

Thanks for the explanation. The nobleman was a landowner, like Levin in Tolstoi's Anna Karenina. And the wall of the inner garden of the house I was describing is/was made of stone, but I think in Russian villages you tend not to use stone so much (the word for wood and village have the same root in Russian, for example). The simple word, аристократ, rather than староста should do for nobleman. There is more I would like to say, but I am about to leave the house. It is night here and the sky is cloudy, not starry.

The nobleman was owner of the village, right? If so i think the sentence should be like this Фёдор жил в доме, что (= который a bit bookish) стоял напротив дома помещика, которому принадлежала эта деревня.
Этот дом имел внутренний сад, окруженный низкой каменной оградой. (низкая [каменная] стена is something very strange to me in that context)

Thanks kib. Since serfdom was still in force in Russian at the time of the story, I imagine that the village should belong to the nobleman. And since the story is set in Russia, the low stone wall, as interesting feature as it is, should become a hegde, or fence.