אחרי הארוחה הדלקנו מדורה קטנה וישבנו לידה בשקט.

אחרי means after. When it is followed by a noun, it means after X.

So:

• אחרי הארוחה = after the meal

This is a very common way to start a sentence with a time expression in Hebrew. Hebrew often puts this kind of phrase first, just like English can say After the meal, ....

Hebrew marks definiteness with ה־.

• הארוחה = the meal
• מדורה קטנה = a small campfire / bonfire

So the meal is being treated as a specific one already known in the context, while the fire is being introduced as something new and indefinite.

If the sentence meant the small campfire, it would be:

• המדורה הקטנה

Because את is normally used before a definite direct object, not an indefinite one.

Here we have:

• הדלקנו מדורה קטנה = we lit a small campfire

Since מדורה קטנה is indefinite, there is no את.

Compare:

• הדלקנו מדורה = we lit a campfire
• הדלקנו את המדורה = we lit the campfire

That is a very important Hebrew pattern.

הדלקנו is the past tense, first person plural form of להדליק.

So it means:

• we lit
• or in other contexts, we turned on

Breakdown:

• dictionary form: להדליק = to light / to turn on
• past 3rd person masculine singular: הדליק = he lit
• past 1st person plural: הדלקנו = we lit

The ending ־נו is the key part that tells you the subject is we.

Because the verb already tells you the subject.

In Hebrew past tense, the ending often makes the subject clear:

• הדלקנו = we lit
• ישבנו = we sat

So אנחנו is usually omitted unless you want emphasis or contrast.

For example:

• אנחנו הדלקנו, לא הם = We lit it, not they

But in a normal sentence, leaving out אנחנו is completely natural.

Because adjectives in Hebrew must agree with the noun in gender and number.

מדורה is a feminine singular noun, so the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• מדורה קטנה = a small campfire

Compare:

• masculine singular: קטן
• feminine singular: קטנה

So:

• ספר קטן = a small book
• מדורה קטנה = a small campfire

Because that is the normal position in Hebrew.

Hebrew usually says:

• noun + adjective

So:

• מדורה קטנה = literally campfire small

This is standard Hebrew word order for descriptive adjectives.

The same thing happens in many other phrases:

• בית גדול = a big house
• ילדה נחמדה = a nice girl

לידה means beside it / next to it here.

It is made from the preposition ליד = next to / beside, plus a pronoun suffix:

• ליד = next to
• לידה = next to her / it

Hebrew often attaches pronouns directly to prepositions, instead of using a separate word.

Compare:

• לידו = next to him / it
• לידה = next to her / it
• לידם = next to them

Since the word it refers to here is מדורה, the natural English translation is beside it.

Because Hebrew nouns have grammatical gender.

מדורה is a feminine noun, so when Hebrew refers back to it, the attached pronoun is feminine too:

• מדורה → לידה

In English, we usually say it for things. In Hebrew, the pronoun must match the noun’s grammatical gender, even when the thing is not actually female.

So here:

• לידה literally matches a feminine noun
• but in natural English it is beside it

Literally, בשקט is in quiet / in silence.

It is made of:

• ב־ = in
• שקט = quiet / silence

In this sentence, it works like an adverb:

• וישבנו לידה בשקט = and we sat beside it quietly / in silence

This is a very common Hebrew way to express manner: ב־ + noun.

It simply means and.

So the sentence links two actions:

• הדלקנו מדורה קטנה = we lit a small campfire
• וישבנו לידה בשקט = and sat beside it quietly

This kind of chaining is very common in Hebrew narrative style: one action happened, and then another action happened.

Yes, Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, though some versions sound more natural than others.

The original order:

• וישבנו לידה בשקט

is very natural and smooth.

You could also hear:

• וישבנו בשקט לידה

That would still be understandable, but the original order feels more straightforward here: first where they sat, then how they sat.

So the sentence’s word order is normal and idiomatic, even if small variations are possible.