Three invalids.-Sufferings of George and Harris.-A victim to one hundred and seven fatal maladies.-Useful prescriptions.-Cure for liver complaint in children.-We agree that we are overworked, and need rest.-A week on the rolling deep?-George suggests the River.-Montmorency lodges an objection.-Original motion carried by majority of three to one.
invalids - invalides; non valable
sufferings - souffrances; souffrance, douleur, souffrance
George - george; Georges, Jorioz
victim - victime
fatal - fatale; ; fatal
maladies - maladies; maladie
prescriptions - prescriptions; ordonnance, prescription, prescription
cure - guérir; guérissez, guérissent, cicatriser, guérison
complaint - plainte, réclamation, porter plainte
overworked - surchargés de travail; surmenage
rest - se reposer; reposent, reposez, reposons, se, reposer, débris
rolling - rouler; enroulant, roulant; (roll) rouler; enroulant, roulant
deep - profond, épais, grave, foncé, foncée, profondeurs
suggests - suggere; proposer, suggérer, suggérer
Montmorency - Montmorency
lodges - les gîtes; cabane, maison du portier, loge, rench: -neededr
objection - objection
original - originel, original, original
motion - mouvement, motion
majority - majorité
There were four of us-George, and William Samuel Harris, and myself, and Montmorency. We were sitting in my room, smoking, and talking about how bad we were-bad from a medical point of view I mean, of course.
William - william; Guillaume, William
myself - moi-meme; ; me, m'
smoking - fumant; (smoke) fumant
medical - médicale; ; médical
view - vue, vue, vision, regard, point de vue, opinion, regarder
We were all feeling seedy, and we were getting quite nervous about it. Harris said he felt such extraordinary fits of giddiness come over him at times, that he hardly knew what he was doing; and then George said that he had fits of giddiness too, and hardly knew what he was doing.
seedy - séditieux; ; louche, glauque
nervous - nerveux
such - tel, tellement, ainsi
extraordinary - extraordinaire
fits - s'adapte; en forme
giddiness - des vertiges
hardly - a peine; ; dur, durement, guere, a peine
With me, it was my liver that was out of order. I knew it was my liver that was out of order, because I had just been reading a patent liver-pill circular, in which were detailed the various symptoms by which a man could tell when his liver was out of order. I had them all.
patent - brevet; brevet
pill - pilule; pilule
circular - circulaire, rond
various - divers
symptoms - des symptômes; symptôme, symptôme
It is a most extraordinary thing, but I never read a patent medicine advertisement without being impelled to the conclusion that I am suffering from the particular disease therein dealt with in its most virulent form. The diagnosis seems in every case to correspond exactly with all the sensations that I have ever felt.
Medicine - la médecine; médicament, officinal, médecine
advertisement - la publicité; ; publicité, pub, annonce, avis
impelled - poussé; motiver, inciter, pousser, propulser, éjecter, pousser
conclusion - conclusion, fin
suffering - la souffrance; ; souffrance, douleur, souffrance
particular - particulier
disease - maladie, mal
Therein - dans
dealt - traité; marché, affaire
most virulent - le plus virulent
diagnosis - diagnostic, diagnose
Seems - semble-t-il; sembler, paraître, avoir l'air
case - cas; affaire, fouille, étui, chose, cas
correspond - correspondre (...a qqchose), correspondre (...avec qqun)
exactly - exactement
sensations - sensations; sensation, sensation
Man reading bookI remember going to the British Museum one day to read up the treatment for some slight ailment of which I had a touch-hay fever, I fancy it was. I got down the book, and read all I came to read; and then, in an unthinking moment, I idly turned the leaves, and began to indolently study diseases, generally.
bookI - livreI
British - Britannique, anglais britannique
treatment - traitement
Slight - insignifiant, léger
ailment - maladie
touch - toucher, émouvoir, toucher, contact
Hay - foin; foin
fever - de la fievre; ; fievre
fancy - fantaisie; imaginer, songer
indolently - avec indolence
diseases - les maladies; maladie, mal
generally - en général
I forget which was the first distemper I plunged into-some fearful, devastating scourge, I know-and, before I had glanced half down the list of "premonitory symptoms," it was borne in upon me that I had fairly got it.
plunged - plongé; plonger
fearful - effrayant, redoutable, peureux, craintif, terrible, affreux
devastating - dévastateur; dévaster
scourge - fléau, écourgée, fouet, fouetter
glanced - a glissé; jeter un coup d’oil, coup d'oil
premonitory - prémonitoire
borne - porté; supporter
upon - sur, a
fairly - équitable; ; justement, assez
I sat for awhile, frozen with horror; and then, in the listlessness of despair, I again turned over the pages. I came to typhoid fever-read the symptoms-discovered that I had typhoid fever, must have had it for months without knowing it-wondered what else I had got; turned up St. Vitus's Dance-found, as I expected, that I had that too,-began to get interested in my case, and determined to sift it to the bottom, and so started alphabetically-read up ague, and learnt that I was sickening for it, and that the acute stage would commence in about another fortnight. Bright's disease, I was relieved to find, I had only in a modified form, and, so far as that was concerned, I might live for years.
awhile - pendant ce temps; ; un moment, un peu, un instant
frozen - gelé; geler
horror - l'horreur; ; horreur, effroi, dégout, aversion
despair - le désespoir; ; désespérer, désespoir
turned over - retourné
typhoid - la typhoide; typhus
discovered - découvert; découvrir, découvrir
wondered - s'est demandé; merveille, étonner
expected - attendue; attendre, s'attendre a, attendre
determined - déterminé; déterminer, déterminer
sift - passer, tamiser, éparpiller, disséminer
bottom - fond, bas, dessous, arriere-train, cul
alphabetically - par ordre alphabétique
ague - ague; ; fievre
sickening - écourant; ; a s’en rendre malade
acute - aigu, aiguë
stage - scene; ; étape, phase, scene, caleche, platine, mettre en scene
commence - commencer
fortnight - quinze jours, deux semaines, quinzaine
bright - lumineux; éclatant, lumineux, clair
relieved - soulagé; soulager, relayer, faire ses besoins, se soulager
modified - modifié; modifier, modifier
concerned - préoccupé; inquiétude, souci, soin, souci, préoccupation
Cholera I had, with severe complications; and diphtheria I seemed to have been born with. I plodded conscientiously through the twenty-six letters, and the only malady I could conclude I had not got was housemaid's knee.
cholera - le choléra; ; choléra
severe - sévere; ; grave, sévere
complications - des complications; complication, complication
diphtheria - la diphtérie; ; diphtérie
seemed - semblait; sembler, paraître, avoir l'air
plodded - plodded; marcher lourdement/péniblement
conscientiously - consciencieusement
malady - maladie
conclude - conclure
housemaid - femme de ménage
I felt rather hurt about this at first; it seemed somehow to be a sort of slight. Why hadn't I got housemaid's knee? Why this invidious reservation? After a while, however, less grasping feelings prevailed. I reflected that I had every other known malady in the pharmacology, and I grew less selfish, and determined to do without housemaid's knee.
hurt - faire mal, blesser, blessé
somehow - d'une maniere ou d'une autre
sort - tri; assortir, tri, esrece, assortis, sorte, esrece
invidious - invraisemblable
reservation - réservation, réserve, terrelein central
grasping - saisir; saisir, agripper, comprendre, saisir
feelings - sentiments
prevailed - a prévalu; dominer, prévaloir, l'emporter, prédominer
reflected - réfléchie; refléter, réfléchir, refléter, réfléchir, refléter
pharmacology - la pharmacologie; ; pharmacologie
Selfish - égoiste; ; égoiste
do without - s'en passer
Gout, in its most malignant stage, it would appear, had seized me without my being aware of it; and zymosis I had evidently been suffering with from boyhood. There were no more diseases after zymosis, so I concluded there was nothing else the matter with me.
gout - la goutte
malignant - maligne; ; malin, malveillant
appear - apparaître, sembler
seized - saisi; saisir, saisir
aware - conscient; ; attentif, vigilant, en éveil, en alerte
zymosis - zymosis
evidently - évidemment, de toute évidence, manifestement
concluded - conclu; conclure
matter - matiere; ; matiere, affaire, question, cause, substance
I sat and pondered. I thought what an interesting case I must be from a medical point of view, what an acquisition I should be to a class! Students would have no need to "walk the hospitals," if they had me. I was a hospital in myself. All they need do would be to walk round me, and, after that, take their diploma.
pondered - réfléchi; songer, réfléchir, interroger
acquisition - l'acquisition; ; acquisition
walk round - faire le tour
diploma - diplôme
Then I wondered how long I had to live. I tried to examine myself. I felt my pulse. I could not at first feel any pulse at all. Then, all of a sudden, it seemed to start off. I pulled out my watch and timed it. I made it a hundred and forty-seven to the minute. I tried to feel my heart. I could not feel my heart. It had stopped beating. I have since been induced to come to the opinion that it must have been there all the time, and must have been beating, but I cannot account for it.
examine - examiner
pulse - l'impulsion; pouls
sudden - soudain, soudaine, subit
start off - commencer
pulled - tiré; tirer, tirer, retirer, tirer un coup, influence
heart - cour; coeur
beating - battre; ; battage, battement; (beat) battre; ; battage
Since - depuis lors; ; depuis, depuis que, puisque, vu que
induced - induite; induire
account - compte; supputation, demande, compte
I patted myself all over my front, from what I call my waist up to my head, and I went a bit round each side, and a little way up the back. But I could not feel or hear anything. I tried to look at my tongue. I stuck it out as far as ever it would go, and I shut one eye, and tried to examine it with the other. I could only see the tip, and the only thing that I could gain from that was to feel more certain than before that I had scarlet fever.
patted - tapoté; petite tape
waist - taille, ceinture
bit - bit; mordis, mordit, mordîmes, mordirent, bit; (bite); mordre
round - ronde; cyclo, ronde, arrondissent, arrondis, arrondir
side - côté; parti, côté, flanc
tongue - langue, languette
stuck - coincé; enfoncer
shut - fermé; fermer
tip - pourboire; pronostic, indication, pourboire, terminaison
gain - gain; gagner, produit
Certain - certain, quelconque
scarlet fever - la scarlatine
Man with walking stickI had walked into that reading-room a happy, healthy man. I crawled out a decrepit wreck.
reading-room - (reading-room) salle de lecture
crawled - rampé; ramper
decrepit - décrépit
wreck - épave, carcasse, accident, bousiller, ruiner
I went to my medical man. He is an old chum of mine, and feels my pulse, and looks at my tongue, and talks about the weather, all for nothing, when I fancy I'm ill; so I thought I would do him a good turn by going to him now. "What a doctor wants," I said, "is practice.
chum - chum; copain/copine
mine - la mienne; mienne, miniere
ill - malade, écouré, écourée
He shall have me. He will get more practice out of me than out of seventeen hundred of your ordinary, commonplace patients, with only one or two diseases each." So I went straight up and saw him, and he said:
shall - doit; ; rench: '''''shall''' followed by the infinitive is translated using the future tense''
ordinary - piece, ordinaire, quelconque
commonplace - ordinaire, banal, lieu commun
patients - patients; patient, patient, patiente, malade
straight up - directement
"Well, What's the matter with you?"
What's the matter with you? - C'est quoi ton probleme ?
"I will not take up your time, dear boy, with telling you what is the matter with me. Life is brief, and you might pass away before I had finished. But I will tell you what is not the matter with me. I have not got housemaid's knee. Why I have not got housemaid's knee, I cannot tell you; but the fact remains that I have not got it. Everything else, however, I have got."
brief - bref, court
pass away - passer
remains - reste; reste, rester, demeurer, rester
And I told him how I came to discover it all.
discover - découvrir
Then he opened me and looked down me, and clutched hold of my wrist, and then he hit me over the chest when I wasn't expecting it-a cowardly thing to do, I call it-and immediately afterwards butted me with the side of his head. After that, he sat down and wrote out a prescription, and folded it up and gave it me, and I put it in my pocket and went out.
clutched - serré; se raccrocher (a)
hold - tenir; stopper, tiens, tiennent, tenons, tenir
wrist - poignet
hit - frappé; frapper, battement, battre, succes
chest - poitrine; sein, poitrine, commode, coffre
wasn - n'était
cowardly - lâche, veule, bas, lâchement
immediately - immédiatement, tout de suite, aussitôt
prescription - ordonnance, prescription, prescription extinctive
folded - plié; plier
Pocket - poche, empocher, de poche
I did not open it. I took it to the nearest chemist's, and handed it in. The man read it, and then handed it back.
chemist - chimiste
He said he didn't keep it.
"You are a chemist?"
"I am a chemist. If I was a co-operative stores and family hotel combined, I might be able to oblige you. Being only a chemist hampers me."
operative - opérationnel; ; opératif, opératoire
stores - magasins; entrepôt, stock, stocker, stocker, conserver
combined - combinés; combiner
oblige - imposer, obliger, etre redevable a
hampers - des paniers; entraver
I read the prescription. It ran:
"1 lb. beefsteak, with
lb - lb; livre
beefsteak - beefsteak; ; bifteck
1 pt. bitter beer
Pt - Pt
Bitter - amere; amer, saumâtre
every 6 hours.
1 ten-mile walk every morning.
1 bed at 11 sharp every night.
sharp - pointu; ; affilé, coupant, affuté, tranchant
And don't stuff up your head with things you don't understand."
stuff - trucs; ; truc, substance (1), checkmachin (2), checktruc (2)
I followed the directions, with the happy result-speaking for myself-that my life was preserved, and is still going on.
directions - des directions; direction, direction
preserved - préservée; confiture, conserve, réserve naturelle
In the present instance, going back to the liver-pill circular, I had the symptoms, beyond all mistake, the chief among them being "a general disinclination to work of any kind."
instance - instance
beyond - au-dela; ; au-dela, par-dela
chief - chef
among - parmi
general - général, communal, en chef, universal, d'ensemble, général
disinclination - la réticence; réticence
What I suffer in that way no tongue can tell. From my earliest infancy I have been a martyr to it. As a boy, the disease hardly ever left me for a day. They did not know, then, that it was my liver. medical science was in a far less advanced state than now, and they used to put it down to laziness.
suffer - souffrir, souffrir de, pâtir de, endurer, supporter, subir
martyr - martyr, martyre, chahîd, chahid
hardly ever - presque jamais
medical science - la science médicale
advanced - avancé; élever, avancer, avancer, avancée, progression, progres
state - l'État
laziness - la paresse; ; paresse, flemme
"Why, you skulking little devil, you," they would say, "get up and do something for your living, can't you?"-not knowing, of course, that I was ill.
skulking - de rôder; (skulk); se cacher
devil - Diable, Satan, type
And they didn't give me pills; they gave me clumps on the side of the head. And, strange as it may appear, those clumps on the head often cured me-for the time being. I have known one clump on the head have more effect upon my liver, and make me feel more anxious to go straight away then and there, and do what was wanted to be done, without further loss of time, than a whole box of pills does now.
pills - pilules; pilule
clumps - des touffes; amas, touffe, massif
strange - étrange, anormal, inconnu, étranger
those - ceux-ci; ; ces, celles-la, ceux-la
cured - guérie; clébard, corniaud, roquet, clebs, chien, roquet
effect - effet, effet, effets, effectuer
anxious - anxieux, désireux
straight - droit, rectiligne, comme il faut, pur, pure, hétéro, tout droit
further - encourager, ultérieur, plus loin, de plus; (furth); encourager
loss of time - perte de temps
You know, it often is so-those simple, old-fashioned remedies are sometimes more efficacious than all the dispensary stuff.
simple - simple, simple
old-fashioned - (old-fashioned) vieux jeu
remedies - des remedes; remede, recours, remede, remédier
efficacious - efficace
Dispensary - dispensaire
We sat there for half-an-hour, describing to each other our maladies. I explained to George and William Harris how I felt when I got up in the morning, and William Harris told us how he felt when he went to bed; and George stood on the hearth-rug, and gave us a clever and powerful piece of acting, illustrative of how he felt in the night.
hearth - âtre, foyer, foyers
rug - tapis, couverture
clever - habile, agile, adroit, adroite, talentueux, malin, intelligent
powerful - puissant
acting - en tant qu'acteur; ; intérimaire, par intérim; (act); acte, loi
illustrative - illustratif
George fancies he is ill; but there's never anything really the matter with him, you know.
fancies - des fantaisies; envie, caprice
At this point, Mrs. Poppets knocked at the door to know if we were ready for supper. We smiled sadly at one another, and said we supposed we had better try to swallow a bit. Harris said a little something in one's stomach often kept the disease in check; and Mrs. Poppets brought the tray in, and we drew up to the table, and toyed with a little steak and onions, and some rhubarb tart.
knocked at - frappé
supper - dîner; souper
smiled - souriait; sourire, sourire
sadly - tristement; ; malheureusement
supposed - supposé; supposer, imaginer, supposer
swallow - avaler; avalons, empiffrer, avaler, hirondelle, avalez
stomach - l'estomac; ; estomac, ventre, bedon (pot belly), digérer
tray - plateau; plateau
toyed - jouée; jouet, jouer (avec), amuser
steak - bifteck, steak
rhubarb - rhubarbe; rhubarbe
tart - tarte; agaçant, tarte, astringent, acide, aigre
I must have been very weak at the time; because I know, after the first half-hour or so, I seemed to take no interest whatever in my food-an unusual thing for me-and I didn't want any cheese.
weak - faible, débile
whatever - quoi qu'il en soit; ; quel que soit, n'importe quel
unusual - inhabituel, insolite, inusuel
This duty done, we refilled our glasses, lit our pipes, and resumed the discussion upon our state of health. What it was that was actually the matter with us, we none of us could be sure of; but the unanimous opinion was that it-whatever it was-had been brought on by overwork.
Duty - le devoir; ; devoir, obligation, service, travail, taxe
refilled - rechargé; recharge
pipes - des tuyaux; cornemuse, conduit, tuyau, barre verticale, tube
resumed - reprise; reprendre
discussion - discussion
state of health - état de santé
actually - en fait, effectivement
none - aucun; ne nulle
unanimous - a l'unanimité
overwork - le surmenage; surmenage
"What we want is rest," said Harris.
"Rest and a complete change," said George. "The overstrain upon our brains has produced a general depression throughout the system. change of scene, and absence of the necessity for thought, will restore the mental equilibrium."
overstrain - éreinter
brains - cerveau; cerveau, qualifierejorative or when used as food
produced - produit; produire, produits-p
depression - la dépression; ; dépression, dépression
throughout - tout au long de l'année; ; tout au long de, durant
system - systeme; ; systeme
change of scene - Changement de décor
absence - absence, manque, absence du fer
necessity - nécessité, besoin
restore - restaurer, rétablir, rendre, restituer
mental - mentale; affectif, mental
equilibrium - l'équilibre; ; équilibre
George has a cousin, who is usually described in the charge-sheet as a medical student, so that he naturally has a somewhat family-physicianary way of putting things.
charge - frais, charge, chef d’accusation, chef d’inculpation, meuble
sheet - feuille, plaque, écoute
naturally - naturellement
somewhat - en quelque sorte; ; assez, quelque peu
physicianary - médecin
I agreed with George, and suggested that we should seek out some retired and old-world spot, far from the madding crowd, and dream away a sunny week among its drowsy lanes-some half-forgotten nook, hidden away by the fairies, out of reach of the noisy world-some quaint-perched eyrie on the cliffs of Time, from whence the surging waves of the nineteenth century would sound far-off and faint.
suggested - suggéré; proposer, suggérer, suggérer
seek - chercher
retired - a la retraite; prendre sa retraite
spot - spot; ; tache, bouton, peu, endroit, zone, détecter, trouver
madding - la folie; fou, folle, fol
crowd - foule; acculer, foule, amas, marée humaine
dream away - le reve s'envole
sunny - ensoleillé
drowsy - ensommeillé, somnolent, soporifique, stupide
lanes - voies; chemin, qualifier
nook - le livre; ; coin, angle, recoin
hidden - caché; (se) cacher
fairies - des fées; fée, tapette, folle
reach - atteindre; atteindre, parviens, allonge, parvenir, préhension
noisy - bruyante; ; bruyant, tonitruant
quaint - pittoresque; singulier, intéressant, curieux
perched - perché; perchoir
eyrie - eyrie; ; nid d'aigle, aire
cliffs - falaises; falaise
whence - pourquoi; ; d'ou
surging - en hausse; enflant; (surge); montée, poussée, vague, afflux
waves - des vagues; vague
nineteenth - dix-neuvieme; ; dix-neuvieme (''before the noun''); (''in names of monarchs and popes'') dix-neuf (''after the name'') (''abbreviation'' XIX)
faint - évanouissement; s'évanouir, défailles, défaillez, défaillir
Harris said he thought it would be humpy. He said he knew the sort of place I meant; where everybody went to bed at eight o'clock, and you couldn't get a Referee for love or money, and had to walk ten miles to get your baccy.
Humpy - humpy
Referee - arbitre, arbitrer
baccy - baccy
"No," said Harris, "if you want rest and change, you can't beat a sea trip."
beat - battre
I objected to the sea trip strongly. A sea trip does you good when you are going to have a couple of months of it, but, for a week, it is wicked.
objected to - a laquelle vous vous opposez
strongly - fort, fortement
couple - couple, paire, époux, quelques, deux ou trois.., couple, coupler
wicked - méchante; chicaneur, torve; (wick) méchante; chicaneur, torve
You start on Monday with the idea implanted in your bosom that you are going to enjoy yourself. You wave an airy adieu to the boys on shore, light your biggest pipe, and swagger about the deck as if you were Captain Cook, Sir Francis Drake, and Christopher Columbus all rolled into one. On Tuesday, you wish you hadn't come.
implanted - implanté; implant, implant
bosom - poitrine; ; sein, intime
wave - vague; brandir, vague, onde, flottge
airy - aéré
adieu - adieu, farewell
on shore - sur le rivage
pipe - cornemuse, conduit, tuyau, barre verticale, tube, pipe
swagger - swagger; se pavaner
deck - Le pont
captain - capitaine, capitaine de vaisseau, agir en capitaine, piloter
Francis - francis; François, Francis
drake - drake; canard mâle
Christopher - christopher; Christophe
Columbus - columbus; Colomb, Christophe Colomb
rolled - roulé; rouleau
wish - souhait, souhaiter, espérer
On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, you wish you were dead. On Saturday, you are able to swallow a little beef tea, and to sit up on deck, and answer with a wan, sweet smile when kind-hearted people ask you how you feel now. On Sunday, you begin to walk about again, and take solid food. And on Monday morning, as, with your bag and umbrella in your hand, you stand by the gunwale, waiting to step ashore, you begin to thoroughly like it.
dead - morts; ; mort, milieu, cour, profondeurs
beef tea - thé au boeuf
sit up - s'asseoir
deck - pont; pont
wan - wan; pâle, blafard
sweet - doux; ; doucement, friandise, bonbon, sucreries
smile - sourire
hearted - cour; coeur
solid - solide, massif, plein, continu, solide
gunwale - le plat-bord; ; plat-bord
step - étape; marche
ashore - a terre; a terre
thoroughly - a fond; ; absolument, completement
I remember my brother-in-law going for a short sea trip once, for the benefit of his health. He took a return berth from London to Liverpool; and when he got to Liverpool, the only thing he was anxious about was to sell that return ticket.
law - loi; loi
benefit - avantages; ; avantage, bénéfice, subvention, profiter
berth - couchette, marge de manouvre
Liverpool - liverpool; Liverpool, Liverpool
return ticket - billet de retour
It was offered round the town at a tremendous reduction, so I am told; and was eventually sold for eighteenpence to a bilious-looking youth who had just been advised by his medical men to go to the sea-side, and take exercise.
offered - proposé; offrir, proposer
tremendous - formidable
reduction - réduction
eighteenpence - dix-huit pence
bilious - bilieux, insuffisant hépatique, bilieux, bilieuse, biliaire
youth - la jeunesse; ; jeunesse, jeune, jeune homme, les jeunes
advised - conseillé; conseiller, conseiller, renseigner
sea-side - (sea-side) côté mer
"Sea-side!" said my brother-in-law, pressing the ticket affectionately into his hand; "why, you'll have enough to last you a lifetime; and as for exercise! why, you'll get more exercise, sitting down on that ship, than you would turning somersaults on dry land."
pressing - pressant; pressant; (pres) pressant; pressant
affectionately - affectueusement
Last - derniere; dernier, durer, dernierere, durez, passé, durent
lifetime - a vie; ; durée de vie (objects), vie (persons), éternité
sitting down - assis
ship - navire; manipuler, navire, expédier, vaisseau
somersaults - des sauts périlleux; salto, saut périlleux, galipette
dry - sec, anhydre, sécher, tfaire sécher
He himself-my brother-in-law-came back by train. He said the North-Western Railway was healthy enough for him.
Western - occidentale; ; occidental, western
Railway - chemins de fer; ; chemin de fer, réseau ferroviaire, voie ferrée
Another fellow I knew went for a week's voyage round the coast, and, before they started, the steward came to him to ask whether he would pay for each meal as he had it, or arrange beforehand for the whole series.
fellow - un camarade; ensemble, mâle
Voyage - voyage
coast - côte; cordonlittoral, borde
steward - steward; ; intendant
whether - si, que, soit, si oui ou non
arrange - arranger
beforehand - a l'avance
series - suite, série
The steward recommended the latter course, as it would come so much cheaper. He said they would do him for the whole week at two pounds five. He said for breakfast there would be fish, followed by a grill. Lunch was at one, and consisted of four courses. Dinner at six-soup, fish, entree, joint, poultry, salad, sweets, cheese, and dessert. And a light meat supper at ten.
recommended - recommandé; recommander, adviser, fr
grill - grill; grille, rôtisserie, papillons, gril
consisted - consisté; consister (en)
entree - entrée
joint - conjoint, commun, articulation, rotule, jointure, assemblage
poultry - de la volaille; ; volaille, volailles, basse-cour
sweets - des sucreries; doucement, friandise, bonbon, sucreries-p
dessert - dessert
My friend thought he would close on the two-pound-five job (he is a hearty eater), and did so.
hearty - cordial, copieux
eater - mangeur
Lunch came just as they were off Sheerness. He didn't feel so hungry as he thought he should, and so contented himself with a bit of boiled beef, and some strawberries and cream. He pondered a good deal during the afternoon, and at one time it seemed to him that he had been eating nothing but boiled beef for weeks, and at other times it seemed that he must have been living on strawberries and cream for years.
Sheerness - la tondance
contented - satisfait; satisfait
boiled - bouillie; bouillir
beef - bouf; ; bouf
strawberries - des fraises; fraise, fraisier
deal - accord; dispenser, distribuer
Neither the beef nor the strawberries and cream seemed happy, either-seemed discontented like.
neither - ni l'un ni l'autre; ; aucun des deux, ni X ni Y, non plus
nor - ni; ; NON-OU
discontented - mécontents; mécontentement, frrotestation
At six, they came and told him dinner was ready. The announcement aroused no enthusiasm within him, but he felt that there was some of that two-pound-five to be worked off, and he held on to ropes and things and went down. A pleasant odour of onions and hot ham, mingled with fried fish and greens, greeted him at the bottom of the ladder; and then the steward came up with an oily smile, and said:
announcement - annoncement, annonce
aroused - excité; émoustiller, exciter
enthusiasm - l'enthousiasme; ; enthousiasme, passion
within - a l'intérieur; dedans, avant, d'ici
held on - tenu
ropes - des cordes; corde
pleasant - agréable, plaisant
odour - odeur; odeur
Ham - le jambon; jambon
mingled - mélangés; mélanger
fried - frites; faire frire
greeted - salué; saluer, accueillir
ladder - l'échelle; ; échelle
oily - huileux, onctueux
"What can I get you, sir?"
Man feeling ill"Get me out of this," was the feeble reply.
feeble - faible
reply - répondre, réponse
And they ran him up quick, and propped him up, over to leeward, and left him.
propped - étayé; support
For the next four days he lived a simple and blameless life on thin captain's biscuits (I mean that the biscuits were thin, not the captain) and soda-water; but, towards Saturday, he got uppish, and went in for weak tea and dry toast, and on Monday he was gorging himself on chicken broth. He left the ship on Tuesday, and as it steamed away from the landing-stage he gazed after it regretfully.
blameless - irréprochable
biscuits - des biscuits; biscuit, biscuit, biscuit
soda-water - (soda-water) de l'eau gazeuse
towards - vers; vers, envers, pour, pres de
uppish - uppish
toast - toast; toast, rôtir
gorging - gorger; gorge
chicken broth - du bouillon de poulet
steamed - a la vapeur; vapeur d'eau, vapeur, vapeur, vapeur, cuisiner
landing-stage - (landing-stage) le débarcadere
gazed - regardé; fixer
regretfully - a regret
"There she goes," he said, "there she goes, with two pounds'worth of food on board that belongs to me, and that I haven't had."
worth - valeur; valeur
board - conseil d'administration; planche
belongs - appartient; appartenir a
He said that if they had given him another day he thought he could have put it straight.
So I set my face against the sea trip. Not, as I explained, upon my own account. I was never queer. But I was afraid for George. George said he should be all right, and would rather like it, but he would advise Harris and me not to think of it, as he felt sure we should both be ill.
set - set; ; Seth
against - contre, face a, pour
queer - pédé; ; étrange, bizarre
advise - conseiller, renseigner
Harris said that, to himself, it was always a mystery how people managed to get sick at sea-said he thought people must do it on purpose, from affectation-said he had often wished to be, but had never been able.
mystery - mystere; ; mystere
managed - gérée; gérer, ménager, diriger, manier, parvenir, réussir
on purpose - a dessein
affectation - affectation
wished - souhaité; souhait, souhaiter, espérer, souhaiter
Then he told us anecdotes of how he had gone across the Channel when it was so rough that the passengers had to be tied into their berths, and he and the captain were the only two living souls on board who were not ill. Sometimes it was he and the second mate who were not ill; but it was generally he and one other man. If not he and another man, then it was he by himself.
anecdotes - des anecdotes; anecdote
Channel - canal; tube, tuyau, canal
rough - rude, rugueux, brut, approximatif, difficile, brutal, ébaucher
passengers - des passagers; passager
be tied - etre attaché
berths - places d'amarrage; couchette, marge de manouvre
souls - âmes; âme
mate - compagnon; appareiller
It is a curious fact, but nobody ever is sea-sick-on land. At sea, you come across plenty of people very bad indeed, whole boat-loads of them; but I never met a man yet, on land, who had ever known at all what it was to be sea-sick. Where the thousands upon thousands of bad sailors that swarm in every ship hide themselves when they are on land is a mystery.
Curious - vous etes curieux; curieux, intéressant, singulier
plenty - l'abondance; ; abondance
indeed - certainement, vraiment, en effet, bien sur, certes
loads - des charges; charge, chargement
Sailors - marins; matelot, matelote, femme matelot, femme-matelot, marin
swarm - essaim (flying insects), grouillement (crawling insects), nuée
hide - cacher; planquer, peau, fourrure, cacher
themselves - eux-memes; ; se, eux-memes, elles-memes
If most men were like a fellow I saw on the Yarmouth boat one day, I could account for the seeming enigma easily enough. It was just off Southend Pier, I recollect, and he was leaning out through one of the port-holes in a very dangerous position. I went up to him to try and save him.
seeming - en apparence; paraissant; (seem); sembler, paraître, avoir l'air
enigma - énigme
easily - facilement
pier - quai; ; jetée, ponton, pile, pilier
recollect - se souvenir; se ressaisir
leaning out - se pencher
port - port; connexion
holes - trous; trou
position - position, poste
save - sauver, sauvegarder, épargner, préserver, protéger
"Hi! come further in," I said, shaking him by the shoulder. "You'll be overboard."
shaking - tremblant; (shake); secouer, agiter, se serrer la main, secousse
overboard - a la mer
"Oh my! I wish I was," was the only answer I could get; and there I had to leave him.
Three weeks afterwards, I met him in the coffee-room of a Bath hotel, talking about his voyages, and explaining, with enthusiasm, how he loved the sea.
voyages - voyages; voyage
"Good sailor!" he replied in answer to a mild young man's envious query; "well, I did feel a little queer once, I confess. It was off Cape Horn. The vessel was wrecked the next morning."
sailor - marin; ; matelot, matelote, femme matelot, femme-matelot
replied - a répondu; répondre, réponse, réponse
mild - doux, douce, léger
envious - envieux
query - demande; ; question, requete
confess - avouer, confesser
Cape - le cap; cap
horn - corne, cor, klaxon, cuivres
vessel - navire; ; vaisseau, vase
wrecked - épave; épave, carcasse, accident, bousiller, ruiner, ruiner
"Weren't you a little shaky by Southend Pier one day, and wanted to be thrown overboard?"
weren - n'était
shaky - tremblant; ; instable
thrown - jeté; jeter, lancer
"Southend Pier!" he replied, with a puzzled expression.
puzzled - perplexe; mystere, énigme, puzzle, casse-tete, jeu de patience
expression - expression
"Yes; going down to Yarmouth, last Friday three weeks."
"Oh, ah-yes," he answered, brightening up; "I remember now. I did have a headache that afternoon. It was the pickles, you know. They were the most disgraceful pickles I ever tasted in a respectable boat. Did you have any?"
headache - maux de tete; ; mal de tete, casse-tete
pickles - des cornichons; marinade(s)
most disgraceful - le plus honteux
tasted - dégustée; gout, saveur, gout, avant-gout, gouter, avoir un gout
respectable - respectable, convenable
For myself, I have discovered an excellent preventive against sea-sickness, in balancing myself.
excellent - excellent
preventive - préventif
sickness - maladie
balancing - l'équilibrage; contrepoids, équilibre, solde, solde, balancier
You stand in the centre of the deck, and, as the ship heaves and pitches, you move your body about, so as to keep it always straight. When the front of the ship rises, you lean forward, till the deck almost touches your nose; and when its back end gets up, you lean backwards. This is all very well for an hour or two; but you can't balance yourself for a week.
heaves - les soulevements; hisser
pitches - les lanceurs; dresser
rises - s'éleve; augmenter, monter, lever
lean - maigre; maigre, adossons, adossent, appuyer, adossez
forward - avant; acheminent, acheminer, avanten, acheminons
almost - presque, quasiment
touches - touches; toucher, toucher, émouvoir, toucher, toucher, contact
gets up - se leve
backwards - a l'envers; arriéré, arriéré, arriéré, en arriere, a reculons
balance - l'équilibre; ; contrepoids, équilibre, solde, balancier, apurer
"let's go up the river."
let's go - On y va
He said we should have fresh air, exercise and quiet; the constant change of scene would occupy our minds (including what there was of Harris's); and the hard work would give us a good appetite, and make us sleep well.
fresh - frais; frais
constant - constant, constante
scene - scene; ; scene, scene de ménage
occupy - occuper, habiter
minds - les esprits; esprit, t+raison, t+intelligence, mémoire
appetite - l'appétit; ; appétit
Harris said he didn't think George ought to do anything that would have a tendency to make him sleepier than he always was, as it might be dangerous. He said he didn't very well understand how George was going to sleep any more than he did now, seeing that there were only twenty-four hours in each day, summer and winter alike; but thought that if he did sleep any more, he might just as well be dead, and so save his board and lodging.
tendency - tendance
sleepier - plus somnolent; somnolent, ensommeillé, ensuqué, endormi
alike - comme; ; semblable, pareil, analogue, pareillement
board and lodging - le logement et la nourriture
Harris said, however, that the river would suit him to a "T." I don't know what a "T" is (except a sixpenny one, which includes bread-and-butter and cake ad lib., and is cheap at the price, if you haven't had any dinner). It seems to suit everybody, however, which is greatly to its credit.
suit - complet, costume, tailleur, combinaison, costard, enseigne
Except - sauf; ; faire une exception
sixpenny - six penny
ad - publicité; ; ap. J.-C, apr. J.-C
lib - libérer
greatly - grandement
credit - crédit, mérite, reconnaissance, attribution, générique
It suited me to a "T" too, and Harris and I both said it was a good idea of George's; and we said it in a tone that seemed to somehow imply that we were surprised that George should have come out so sensible.
suited - adapté; complet, costume, tailleur, combinaison, costard
tone - ton; tonalité, ton, tonale
imply - impliquer, insinuer, sous-entendre
surprised - surpris; surprise, surprise, surprendre, étonner, surprendre
sensible - sensible, sensé, raisonnable
MontmorencyThe only one who was not struck with the suggestion was Montmorency. He never did care for the river, did Montmorency.
struck - frappé; biffer, rayer, barrer, frapper, battre, frapper
suggestion - suggestion, proposition
care - soins; s'occuper, soin, souci
"It's all very well for you fellows," he says; "you like it, but I don't. There's nothing for me to do. Scenery is not in my line, and I don't smoke. If I see a rat, you won't stop; and if I go to sleep, you get fooling about with the boat, and slop me overboard. If you ask me, I call the whole thing bally foolishness."
fellows - des camarades; homme, type
scenery - décor naturel, paysage, décor
smoke - la fumée; fumons, griller, fumer, fument, fumée, fumez
rat - rat; rat
fooling about - a faire des betises
slop - de l'eau; renverser, déborder
bally - bally
foolishness - la betise; ; folie, sottise, déraison
We were three to one, however, and the motion was carried.
Plans discussed.-Pleasures of "camping-out," on fine nights.-Ditto, wet nights.-Compromise decided on.-Montmorency, first impressions of.-Fears lest he is too good for this world, fears subsequently dismissed as groundless.-Meeting adjourns.
pleasures - plaisirs; plaisir, plaisir, volupté, désir
camping - le camping; ; camping, campisme; (camp) le camping; ; camping
Ditto - idem, dito
wet - humide; ; mouillé, mouillé, mouiller, se mouiller
compromise - compromis, concession, compromettre
impressions - impressions; impression
fears - des craintes; peur
dismissed - licencié; renvoyer, limoger, licencier, démettre, renvoyer
groundless - sans fondement; ; infondé
adjourns - ajourne-t-elle; ajourner, ajourner, ajourner, mouvoir
We pulled out the maps, and discussed plans.
We arranged to start on the following Saturday from Kingston. Harris and I would go down in the morning, and take the boat up to Chertsey, and George, who would not be able to get away from the City till the afternoon (George goes to sleep at a bank from ten to four each day, except Saturdays, when they wake him up and put him outside at two), would meet us there.
arranged - arrangé; arranger, organiser
Should we "camp out" or sleep at inns?
Camp - le camp; campez, camper, campent, campons
Inns - les auberges; auberge
George and I were for camping out. We said it would be so wild and free, so patriarchal like.
wild - sauvage; pétulant, grose, sauvage
patriarchal - patriarcale
Slowly the golden memory of the dead sun fades from the hearts of the cold, sad clouds. Silent, like sorrowing children, the birds have ceased their song, and only the moorhen's plaintive cry and the harsh croak of the corncrake stirs the awed hush around the couch of waters, where the dying day breathes out her last.
slowly - lentement
memory - mémoire, souvenir
fades - s'estompe; mode, lubie
hearts - des cours; coeur
clouds - nuages; s'obscurcir
silent - silencieux
sorrowing - chagrin; (sorrow); peine, chagrin
ceased - cessé; cesser, s'arreter, cesser de + ''infinitive''
moorhen - poule d'eau
cry - pleurer, crier, hurler, gueuler, pleur, cri
harsh - sévere; ; sévere, rude, cruel, dur, checkdure
croak - coassement, coasser, croasser, crever, clamser, buter
corncrake - râle des genets; ; râle des genets, roi des cailles, roi caille
stirs - s'agite; brasser, agiter
awed - impressionné; crainte, révérence, admiration
Hush - chut !; silence
couch - canapé; canapé, divan
dying - teignant, mourant; (dye) teignant, mourant
breathes - respire; respirer, inspirer, expirer, respirer
From the dim woods on either bank, Night's ghostly army, the grey shadows, creep out with noiseless tread to chase away the lingering rear-guard of the light, and pass, with noiseless, unseen feet, above the waving river-grass, and through the sighing rushes; and Night, upon her sombre throne, folds her black wings above the darkening world, and, from her phantom palace, lit by the pale stars, reigns in stillness.
dim - dim; faible, vague
woods - bois; (de) bois
either - chaque, non plus, ou, soit, soit , ou
ghostly - fantomatique
army - l'armée; ; armée
shadows - ombres; ombre, ombre, prendre en filature, t+filer
creep - rampant; ; ramper, rampement, fatigue, fluage, reptation
noiseless - sans bruit; ; silencieux
tread - la bande de roulement; piétiner, escabeau
chase away - chasser
Lingering - s'attarder; qui s'attardent; (linger); s'installer, stagner
rear - arriere; verso, élever
guard - garde, garde, protection, gardien, arriere, défense, garder
pass - passer; doubler, passe, dépasser, passez, passons, passage
unseen - invisible
waving - en faisant signe de la main; (wave) en faisant signe de la main
grass - l'herbe; ; herbe, pelouse, gazon, beuh, balance, moucharder
sighing - soupirer; soupirer
rushes - des joncs; se précipiter, emmener d''urgence
sombre - sombre
throne - trône
folds - plis; plier
wings - des ailes; aile, aile, aile, aile, aile, aile, ailier
darkening - l'assombrissement; obscurcir, assombrir, obscurcir, foncer
phantom - fantôme
Palace - le palais; ; palais
the pale - les pâles
Reigns - reigns; regne, regne, régner
stillness - l'immobilité; ; calme, immobilité
Then we run our little boat into some quiet nook, and the tent is pitched, and the frugal supper cooked and eaten.
tent - tente; tente
pitched - lancé; dresser
frugal - frugal
Then the big pipes are filled and lighted, and the pleasant chat goes round in musical undertone; while, in the pauses of our talk, the river, playing round the boat, prattles strange old tales and secrets, sings low the old child's song that it has sung so many thousand years-will sing so many thousand years to come, before its voice grows harsh and old-a song that we, who have learnt to love its changing face, who have so often nestled on its yielding bosom, think, somehow, we understand, though we could not tell you in mere words the story that we listen to.
chat - chat; causerie, bavarder
goes round - fait le tour
musical - musical, musicale, musicien, musicienne, comédie musicale
undertone - sous-entendu, nuance
pauses - des pauses; pauser, pause
prattles - des bavardages; bavarder
tales - contes; conte, récit
secrets - secrets; secret, secret
low - faible; inférieure
voice - voix; voix
nestled - niché; se pelotonner, se nicher, se pelotonner
yielding - rendant; (yield) rendant
though - mais; ; néanmoins, cependant, malgré, bien que
mere - simple; simple
"How about when it rained?"
You can never rouse Harris. There is no poetry about Harris-no wild yearning for the unattainable. Harris never "weeps, he knows not why." If Harris's eyes fill with tears, you can bet it is because Harris has been eating raw onions, or has put too much Worcester over his chop.
rouse - rouse; ameutez, ameutent, évocation, irriter, ameutons
poetry - de la poésie; ; poésie
yearning - désir; (yearn) désir
unattainable - inaccessible; ; inatteignable
weeps - pleure; pleurer
Tears - des larmes; larme
bet - parier; paria, pariai, pari, parié, parions, pariez
raw - cru, brut, nu
chop - chop; hacher
MermaidIf you were to stand at night by the sea-shore with Harris, and say:
sea-shore - (sea-shore) le rivage de la mer
"Hark! do you not hear? Is it but the mermaids singing deep below the waving waters; or sad spirits, chanting dirges for white corpses, held by seaweed?" Harris would take you by the arm, and say:
Hark - hark
mermaids - des sirenes; sirene
spirits - les esprits; esprit, esprit, esprit, moral, élan, esprit
chanting - chanter; psalmodier
dirges - dirges; chant funebre
corpses - des cadavres; cadavre, corps, corps sans vie
held - détenus; (main)tenir
seaweed - des algues; ; algues
"I know what it is, old man; you've got a chill. Now, you come along with me. I know a place round the corner here, where you can get a drop of the finest Scotch whisky you ever tasted-put you right in less than no time."
chill - refroidissement; froid
along - le long de, accompagné, rench: t-needed r
round the corner - au coin de la rue
drop - chute; goutte, tomber
Scotch - du scotch; ; Écossais, scotch
whisky - du whisky; whisky
Harris always does know a place round the corner where you can get something brilliant in the drinking line. I believe that if you met Harris up in Paradise (supposing such a thing likely), he would immediately greet you with:
corner - coin, rencogner, piéger, acculer, négocier un prix de gros
brilliant - brillante; ; brillant, perle
paradise - le paradis; ; paradis, cieux
supposing - supposer; supposant; (suppose); supposer, imaginer
Likely - probable
greet - saluer; saluer, saluons, saluez, saluent
"So glad you've come, old fellow; I've found a nice place round the corner here, where you can get some really first-class nectar."
Glad - heureux; heureuse
first-class - (first-class) premiere classe
nectar - nectar
In the present instance, however, as regarded the camping out, his practical view of the matter came as a very timely hint. Camping out in rainy weather is not pleasant.
regarded - considérée; considérer
practical - pratique
timely - en temps utile; ; opportun, au bon moment
hint - indice; ; indication, soupçon, faire allusion
rainy - pluvieux
It is evening. You are wet through, and there is a good two inches of water in the boat, and all the things are damp. You find a place on the banks that is not quite so puddly as other places you have seen, and you land and lug out the tent, and two of you proceed to fix it.
inches - pouces; pouce
damp - humide, moite, mouillé, humidité, grisou, amortir
quite so - tout a fait
puddly - boudiné
lug - lug; rudiment
proceed - avancer, procéder
Fix - réparer, fixer, préparer, truquer, tricher, réparation, dose
It is soaked and heavy, and it flops about, and tumbles down on you, and clings round your head and makes you mad. The rain is pouring steadily down all the time. It is difficult enough to fix a tent in dry weather: in wet, the task becomes herculean.
soaked - trempé; tremper, faire tremper, immerger, éponger
heavy - lourd; emporté, lourd
flops - flops; (s'')affaler
tumbles - des dégringolades; culbute, dégringoler, culbuter
clings - s'accroche; s''accrocher (a)
mad - fou, folle, fol, fâché, en colere
pouring - versant; (pour) versant
steadily - régulierement
task - tâche; tâche, tâche
Instead of helping you, it seems to you that the other man is simply playing the fool. Just as you get your side beautifully fixed, he gives it a hoist from his end, and spoils it all.
instead - a la place; ; a la place, au lieu de
Simply - tout simplement; ; simplement
fool - idiot; ; dinde, fou, bouffon, mat, duper, tromper
beautifully - magnifique
fixed - fixé; réparer, fixer, préparer, truquer, tricher, réparation
Hoist - treuil; ; hisser
spoils - le gâchis; gâter, gâcher, gâter, gâter, tourner, dévoiler
"Here! what are you up to?" you call out.
call out - appeler
"What are you up to?" he retorts; "leggo, can't you?"
retorts - des répliques; rétorquer
"Don't pull it; you've got it all wrong, you stupid ass!" you shout.
pull - tirer, retirer, tirer un coup, influence
stupid - stupide, bete
ass - cul; aliboron, ane, âne
shout - crier; cri, jacasser, crient, criez, crions
"No, I haven't," he yells back; "let go your side!"
yells - crie; hurlement
"I tell you you've got it all wrong!" you roar, wishing that you could get at him; and you give your ropes a lug that pulls all his pegs out.
roar - rugir, hurler, s'esclaffer, rire aux éclats
wishing - souhaitant; désirant; (wish); souhait, souhaiter, espérer
pulls - tirettes; tirer, tirer, retirer, tirer un coup, influence
pegs - chevilles; cheville, porte-manteau, patere, cheviller, épingler
"There you are! what did I tell you?"
Meanwhile the third man, who has been baling out the boat, and who has spilled the water down his sleeve, and has been cursing away to himself steadily for the last ten minutes, wants to know what the thundering blazes you're playing at, and why the blarmed tent isn't up yet.
Meanwhile - pendant ce temps
third - troisieme; ; troisieme, trois, tiers, tierce
baling - la mise en balles; (bal) la mise en balles
spilled - déversé; déverser, répandre, renverser, déversement
sleeve - manche, chemise (inner), gaine (outer), manchon
cursing - maudissant; (curs) maudissant
thundering - le tonnerre; tonitruant, tonitruante; (thunder); tonnerre
blazes - blazes; feu, embrasement
blarmed - blarmé
At last, somehow or other, it does get up, and you land the things. It is hopeless attempting to make a wood fire, so you light the methylated spirit stove, and crowd round that.
somehow or other - d'une maniere ou d'une autre
hopeless - sans espoir; ; désespéré
attempting - tenter; tenter, essayer, tentative, attentat
wood - du bois; (de) bois
spirit stove - poele a alcool
crowd round - tour de foule
Rainwater is the chief article of diet at supper. The bread is two-thirds rainwater, the beefsteak-pie is exceedingly rich in it, and the jam, and the butter, and the salt, and the coffee have all combined with it to make soup.
Rainwater - l'eau de pluie; ; eaux de pluie
thirds - tiers; troisieme, trois, troisieme, tiers, tiers, tierce
pie - tarte; tarte, saccager, pâte, pâté, pâté
exceedingly - excessivement; ; extremement, énormément
jam - de la confiture; marmelade, coincer, confiture
After supper, you find your tobacco is damp, and you cannot smoke. Luckily you have a bottle of the stuff that cheers and inebriates, if taken in proper quantity, and this restores to you sufficient interest in life to induce you to go to bed.
tobacco - le tabac; ; tabac
luckily - heureusement
Cheers - a votre santé, a plus, salut, ciao
inebriates - des ivrognes; ivrogne, saouler, souler, souler, enivrer
proper - appropriée; ; approprié, convenable, exact, juste, propre
quantity - quantité
restores - les restaurations; restaurer, rétablir, rétablir, rendre
sufficient - suffisante; ; suffisant
induce - induire
There you dream that an elephant has suddenly sat down on your chest, and that the volcano has exploded and thrown you down to the bottom of the sea-the elephant still sleeping peacefully on your bosom.
dream - reve; ; reve, songe, voeu
suddenly - soudain; ; soudainement, tout d'un coup
volcano - volcan
exploded - explosé; exploser, détoner, exploser, sauter
peacefully - pacifiquement
You wake up and grasp the idea that something terrible really has happened. Your first impression is that the end of the world has come; and then you think that this cannot be, and that it is thieves and murderers, or else fire, and this opinion you express in the usual method. No help comes, however, and all you know is that thousands of people are kicking you, and you are being smothered.
grasp - saisir, agripper, comprendre
impression - impression
thieves - voleurs; voleur, voleuse
murderers - meurtriers; meurtrier, meurtriere, assassin, assassine
express - express; express, exprimons, exprimez, exprimer, expriment
usual - habituel/habituelle
method - méthode; méthode, modalité
kicking - coups de pied; donner un coup de pied (a, dans)
smothered - étouffé; étouffer
Somebody else seems in trouble, too. You can hear his faint cries coming from underneath your bed. Determining, at all events, to sell your life dearly, you struggle frantically, hitting out right and left with arms and legs, and yelling lustily the while, and at last something gives way, and you find your head in the fresh air.
trouble - des problemes; ; peine, mal, probleme, emmerde, checksouci
cries - pleure; pleurer, crier, hurler, crier, gueuler, pleur, cri, cri
underneath - dessous, en dessous, du dessous, d'en dessous
determining - déterminant; déterminer, déterminer
at all events - a tous les événements
Dearly - cherement
Struggle - lutte, lutter, s'efforcer, combattre
frantically - frénétiquement
hitting - de frappes; frapper, heurter
yelling - hurlant; (yell) hurlant
lustily - luxurieux
gives way - cede le passage
Two feet off, you dimly observe a half-dressed ruffian, waiting to kill you, and you are preparing for a life-and-death struggle with him, when it begins to dawn upon you that it's Jim.
dimly - faiblement, obscurément, vaguement, confusément
observe - observer, remarquer, respecter, garder
ruffian - ruffian; ; rufian, voyou, brute
kill - tuer; tuent, tuons, tuer, dézinguer, tuez
Death - mort, déces, camarde, la mort, l'arcane sans nom
dawn - l'aube; ; se lever, naître, aube, lever du soleil, aurore
"Oh, it's you, is it?" he says, recognising you at the same moment.
"Yes," you answer, rubbing your eyes; "what's happened?"
rubbing - le frottement; frottage, froissement, lessivage
"Bally tent's blown down, I think," he says. "Where's Bill?"
blown down - soufflé
Then you both raise up your voices and shout for "Bill!" and the ground beneath you heaves and rocks, and the muffled voice that you heard before replies from out the ruin:
raise - augmenter; levent, arborent, entonner, levez, élever, levons
voices - voix; voix
ground - sol, foncierere, terre, terrain; (grind) sol, foncierere, terre
beneath - dessous
rocks - des rochers; rocher, roc
muffled - étouffé; assourdir
replies - des réponses; répondre, réponse, réponse
ruin - la ruine; ruine, ruine, ruine, ruiner, abîmer, foutre en l'air
"Get off my head, can't you?"
And Bill struggles out, a muddy, trampled wreck, and in an unnecessarily aggressive mood-he being under the evident belief that the whole thing has been done on purpose.
struggles - des luttes; lutte, lutter, s'efforcer, combattre
Muddy - morne
trampled - piétiné; fouler, piétiner
unnecessarily - inutilement
aggressive - agressif
mood - l'humeur; humeur, changeant, ambiance, diapason
evident - évidentes; ; évident
belief - croyance, conviction, foi
purpose - objectif; dgssein, dessein, dgssein, finalité, but
In the morning you are all three speechless, owing to having caught severe colds in the night; you also feel very quarrelsome, and you swear at each other in hoarse whispers during the whole of breakfast time.
speechless - sans voix
owing to - en raison de
caught - pris; prise, touche, loquet, loqueteau, verrou, hic, couille
quarrelsome - querelleur
swear - jurer; jurer, blasphémer, jurez, jurons, jurent
hoarse - rauque; rauque, rugueux
whispers - chuchotements; chuchotement, chuchoter, susurrer, murmurer
We therefore decided that we would sleep out on fine nights; and hotel it, and inn it, and pub. it, like respectable folks, when it was wet, or when we felt inclined for a change.
therefore - par conséquent, en conséquence, donc, pour ça
Inn - l'auberge; ; auberge
pub - estaminet
folks - des gens; populaire, peuple
Montmorency hailed this compromise with much approval. He does not revel in romantic solitude. Give him something noisy; and if a trifle low, so much the jollier. To look at Montmorency you would imagine that he was an angel sent upon the earth, for some reason withheld from mankind, in the shape of a small fox-terrier.
hailed - salué; grele
approval - agrément, approbation
revel - révélation; se délecter (de)
romantic - romantique, romantique
solitude - la solitude; ; solitude
trifle - bagatelle, broutille, babiole, bricole
jollier - jollier; jovial
angel - ange; ange
earth - terre, terrier, relier a la terre, tmettre a la terre, enterrer
withheld - retenu; retenir
mankind - l'humanité; ; humanité, genre humain, hommes
shape - forme, forme
fox - renard, goupil, rench: t-needed r, roublard, retors, bombe
terrier - terrier; (fox-)terrier; (terry) terrier; (fox-)terrier
There is a sort of Oh-what-a-wicked-world-this-is-and-how-I-wish-I-could-do-something-to-make-it-better-and-nobler expression about Montmorency that has been known to bring the tears into the eyes of pious old ladies and gentlemen.
nobler - plus noble; noble, aristocrate, noble, aristocratique
pious - pieux
ladies - mesdames; dame, madame, lady, dame, madame, lady, dame, madame
gentlemen - messieurs; gentilhomme, monsieur, messieurs-p
When first he came to live at my expense, I never thought I should be able to get him to stop long. I used to sit down and look at him, as he sat on the rug and looked up at me, and think: "Oh, that dog will never live. He will be snatched up to the bright skies in a chariot, that is what will happen to him."
expense - dépenses; ; dépense
snatched up - arraché
skies - skies; ciel
chariot - chariot; ; char (de guerre), charriot
To hang about a stable, and collect a gang of the most disreputable dogs to be found in the town, and lead them out to march round the slums to fight other disreputable dogs, is Montmorency's idea of "life;" and so, as I before observed, he gave to the suggestion of inns, and pubs., and hotels his most emphatic approbation.
hang about - s'accrocher
stable - étable, écurie, stable, ferme
collect - collecter; recueillir, recuellir, recueillez, encaisser
gang - gang; tierce, bande
disreputable - peu recommandable
lead - du plomb
slums - bidonvilles; (de) bidonville
fight - combattre; combattons, rixe, combattre, combattez, combattent
observed - observée; observer, remarquer, respecter, observer, garder
emphatic - emphatique
approbation - approbation
Having thus settled the sleeping arrangements to the satisfaction of all four of us, the only thing left to discuss was what we should take with us; and this we had begun to argue, when Harris said he'd had enough oratory for one night, and proposed that we should go out and have a smile, saying that he had found a place, round by the square, where you could really get a drop of Irish worth drinking.
thus - donc; ainsi, tellement, pour cette raison, également
settled - réglée; (s'')installer
arrangements - des arrangements; arrangement, disposition, composition
satisfaction - satisfaction, satisfaction
argue - argumenter; ; affirmer, débattre, se disputer, se quereller
oratory - L'art oratoire
proposed - proposée; proposer, demander en mariage
square - carré, équerre, place, case, carreau, rench: perpendiculaire a
Irish - irlandais; irlandais, gaélique irlandais, Irlandais, Irlandaise
Whisky glassGeorge said he felt thirsty (I never knew George when he didn't); and, as I had a presentiment that a little whisky, warm, with a slice of lemon, would do my complaint good, the debate was, by common assent, adjourned to the following night; and the assembly put on its hats and went out.
had a presentiment - avait un pressentiment
slice - tranche, tronçon, trancher, couper en tranches, émincer
lemon - citron, citronnier, chiotte
debate - débat, discussion, débattre
assent - l'assentiment; ; assentir, assentiment
adjourned - ajourné; ajourner, ajourner, ajourner, mouvoir
assembly - l'assemblée; ; groupe, bloc, assemblage, assemblée
Arrangements settled.-Harris's method of doing work.-How the elderly, family-man puts up a picture.-George makes a sensible, remark.-Delights of early morning bathing.-Provisions for getting upset.
elderly - personnes âgées; ; vieux, ancien, âgé
remark - remarque; remarquent, remarquez, remarque, remarquons
delights - des délices; plaisir, délice, joie, enchanter, ravir
Provisions - dispositions; provision, provision, provisionner
upset - fâché, dérangé, perturbé, bouleversé, remué, énerver
So, on the following evening, we again assembled, to discuss and arrange our plans. Harris said:
assembled - assemblés; assembler, rassembler, rassembler
arrange - arranger, organiser
"Now, the first thing to settle is what to take with us. Now, you get a bit of paper and write down, J., and you get the grocery catalogue, George, and somebody give me a bit of pencil, and then I'll make out a list."
settle - régler; décréter
write down - écrire
Grocery - l'épicerie; ; épicerie
catalogue - catalogue, inventaire, cataloguer, inventorier
That's Harris all over-so ready to take the burden of everything himself, and put it on the backs of other people.
burden - charge; accablement, alourdissons, alourdir, alourdissez
He always reminds me of my poor Uncle Podger. You never saw such a commotion up and down a house, in all your life, as when my Uncle Podger undertook to do a job. A picture would have come home from the frame-maker's, and be standing in the dining-room, waiting to be put up; and Aunt Podger would ask what was to be done with it, and Uncle Podger would say:
reminds - rappelle; rappeler
undertook - a entrepris; entreprendre
frame - encadrer, cadre, armature, ossature, image, manche, frame, trame
Maker - le fabricant; ; faiseur, fabricant, créateur
dining - dîner; vacarme
"Oh, you leave that to me. Don't you, any of you, worry yourselves about that. I'll do all that."
worry - s'inquiéter; ; inquiéter, harceler, souci, angoisse
And then he would take off his coat, and begin. He would send the girl out for sixpen'orth of nails, and then one of the boys after her to tell her what size to get; and, from that, he would gradually work down, and start the whole house.
nails - clous; ongle
size - taille; ampleur, pointure
gradually - progressivement
Candle"Now you go and get me my hammer, Will," he would shout; "and you bring me the rule, Tom; and I shall want the step-ladder, and I had better have a kitchen-chair, too; and, Jim! you run round to Mr. Goggles, and tell him, 'Pa's kind regards, and hopes his leg's better; and will he lend him his spirit-level?
candle - bougie, chandelle
hammer - marteau, chien, malléus, marteler; (ham); marteau, chien
Mr - monsieur
Pa - papa, pépé
regards - regards; considérer
lend - preter; preter, pretons, conférer, pretent, emprunter
spirit-level - (spirit-level) un niveau a bulles
And don't you go, Maria, because I shall want somebody to hold me the light; and when the girl comes back, she must go out again for a bit of picture-cord; and Tom!-where's Tom?-Tom, you come here; I shall want you to hand me up the picture."
cord - corde, cordon
And then he would lift up the picture, and Drop it, and it would come out of the frame, and he would try to save the glass, and cut himself; and then he would spring round the room, looking for his handkerchief.
lift - l'ascenseur; élevons, élevez, ascenseur, lever, ennoblir
Drop it - Le laisser tomber
handkerchief - mouchoir
He could not find his handkerchief, because it was in the pocket of the coat he had taken off, and he did not know where he had put the coat, and all the house had to leave off looking for his tools, and start looking for his coat; while he would dance round and hinder them.
taken off - enlevé
tools - des outils; outil, outil, mouton, façonner
hinder - entraver; gener, embarrasser; (hind) entraver; gener
Nails etc."Doesn't anybody in the whole house know where my coat is? I never came across such a set in all my life-upon my word I didn't. Six of you!-and you can't find a coat that I put down not five minutes ago! Well, of all the-"
etc - etc
Anybody - quelqu'un; ; n’importe qui (1), checkn’importe qui (2
Then he'd get up, and find that he had been sitting on it, and would call out:
"Oh, you can give it up! I've found it myself now. Might just as well ask the cat to find anything as expect you people to find it."
expect - s'attendre a; ; attendre, s'attendre a
And, when half an hour had been spent in tying up his finger, and a new glass had been got, and the tools, and the ladder, and the chair, and the candle had been brought, he would have another go, the whole family, including the girl and the charwoman, standing round in a semi-circle, ready to help.
tying up - l'attachement
finger - doigt; ; pointer, tripoter, doigter
charwoman - charwoman; ; femme de ménage, femme de journée
semi - semi
circle - cercle, disque, yeux cernés, cerne, cercler, entourer, encercler
Two people would have to hold the chair, and a third would help him up on it, and hold him there, and a fourth would hand him a nail, and a fifth would pass him up the hammer, and he would take hold of the nail, and drop it.
nail - clou; clou, ongle, enclouer, clouer, caboche
take hold - s'installer
"There!" he would say, in an injured tone, "now the nail's gone."
injured - blessé; blesser, blesser
And we would all have to go down on our knees and grovel for it, while he would stand on the chair, and grunt, and want to know if he was to be kept there all the evening.
grovel - ramper; ; s'abaisser, larbiner
grunt - grognement, bidasse, troufion, grogner
The nail would be found at last, but by that time he would have lost the hammer.
"Where's the hammer? What did I do with the hammer? Great heavens! Seven of you, gaping round there, and you don't know what I did with the hammer!"
heavens - les cieux; ciel, ciel, paradis, au-dela, cieux-p, paradis
gaping - béante; (gap) béante
We would find the hammer for him, and then he would have lost sight of the mark he had made on the wall, where the nail was to go in, and each of us had to get up on the chair, beside him, and see if we could find it; and we would each discover it in a different place, and he would call us all fools, one after another, and tell us to get down.
sight - vue, quelque chose a voir, truc a voir, mire, viseur
mark - marque; ; Marc
beside - a côté; ; aupres
fools - des imbéciles; dinde, fou, bouffon, mat, fou, duper, tromper
And he would take the rule, and re-measure, and find that he wanted half thirty-one and three-eighths inches from the corner, and would try to do it in his head, and go mad.
measure - mesure, mesure, mesurer
eighths - huitiemes; huitieme, huitieme, huitieme
go mad - devenir fou
And we would all try to do it in our heads, and all arrive at different results, and sneer at one another. And in the general row, the original number would be forgotten, and Uncle Podger would have to measure it again.
sneer - ricaner
Row - rangée; tintamarre, canoter, ramer, rangée
He would use a bit of string this time, and at the critical moment, when the old fool was leaning over the chair at an angle of forty-five, and trying to reach a point three inches beyond what was possible for him to reach, the string would slip, and down he would slide on to the piano, a really fine musical effect being produced by the suddenness with which his head and body struck all the notes at the same time.
string - corde, suite, série, chaîne de caracteres, cordes, cannabis
critical - critique
leaning - penchant, adossant; (lean) penchant, adossant
slip - glisser; fiche, glisser, lapsus, patiner
slide on - glisser
suddenness - soudaineté
And Aunt Maria would say that she would not allow the children to stand round and hear such language.
allow - laisser, accorder, permettre
At last, Uncle Podger would get the spot fixed again, and put the point of the nail on it with his left hand, and take the hammer in his right hand. And, with the first blow, he would smash his thumb, and drop the hammer, with a yell, on somebody's toes.
nail on - le clou
blow - souffler; souffler, soufflons, soufflent, soufflez, coup
smash - smash, fracasser, percuter, écraser
thumb - pouce, feuilleter
yell - crier; hurlent, hurler, jacasser, hurlez, hurlons
toes - orteils; orteil, doigt de pied, doigt de pied
Aunt Maria would mildly observe that, next time Uncle Podger was going to hammer a nail into the wall, she hoped he'd let her know in time, so that she could make arrangements to go and spend a week with her mother while it was being done.
mildly - légerement
make arrangements - prendre des dispositions
"Oh! you women, you make such a fuss over everything," Uncle Podger would reply, picking himself up. "Why, I like doing a little job of this sort."
fuss - l'agitation; ; agitation, histoires, s’agiter, s’empresser
picking - le prélevement; (pic) le prélevement
Uncle Podger admiring his work
admiring - admiratif; admirer
And then he would have another try, and, at the second blow, the nail would go clean through the plaster, and half the hammer after it, and Uncle Podger be precipitated against the wall with force nearly sufficient to flatten his nose.
plaster - le plâtre; ; onguent, plâtre, enduit, enduire, plâtrer
precipitated - précipité; précipité
force - force; forcez, contrainte, forçons, contraindre, forcent
nearly - presque
flatten - aplatir
Then we had to find the rule and the string again, and a new hole was made; and, about midnight, the picture would be up-very crooked and insecure, the wall for yards round looking as if it had been smoothed down with a rake, and everybody dead beat and wretched-except Uncle Podger.
hole - trou; réduit, trou, fosse
crooked - tortu; (crook) tortu
insecure - peu sur de lui
smoothed - lissé; lisse, doux, facile, lisse, sophistiqué, naturel, souple
rake - râteau; râteler, râteau
beat - battre; abats, battement, battirent, battent, abattîmes
wretched - misérable
"There you are," he would say, stepping heavily off the chair on to the charwoman's corns, and surveying the mess he had made with evident pride. "Why, some people would have had a man in to do a little thing like that!"
stepping - en marche; pas
heavily - lourdement
corns - des cors; grain
mess - le désordre; purée, fouillis, bouillie
pride - l'orgueil; ; orgueil, fierté, fierté
Harris will be just that sort of man when he grows up, I know, and I told him so. I said I could not permit him to take so much labour upon himself. I said:
grows up - grandit
permit - permis; permettre, permets, permettons, permettez, permis
labour - le travail; ; effort, travail, labeur, besogne, travailleurs
"No; you get the paper, and the pencil, and the catalogue, and George write down, and I'll do the work."
The first list we made out had to be discarded. It was clear that the upper reaches of the Thames would not allow of the navigation of a boat sufficiently large to take the things we had set down as indispensable; so we tore the list up, and looked at one another!
discarded - jeté; rejeter, écarter, défausser
clear - clair, transparent, libre, dégagé, sans ambiguité, s'éclaircir
Reaches - atteintes; arriver/parvenir a
Thames - la tamise; Tamise
allow of - permettre de
navigation - navigation
sufficiently - suffisamment
set down - mis en place
indispensable - indispensable
tore - a la déchirure
"You know we are on a wrong track altogether. We must not think of the things we could do with, but only of the things that we can't do without."
track - piste; ; trace, marque, sillon, empreinte, sentier, chemin
altogether - tout a fait; ; completement, en meme temps, quoi qu'il en soit
George comes out really quite sensible at times. You'd be surprised. I call that downright wisdom, not merely as regards the present case, but with reference to our trip up the river of life, generally. How many people, on that voyage, load up the boat till it is ever in danger of swamping with a store of foolish things which they think essential to the pleasure and comfort of the trip, but which are really only useless lumber.
downright - franchement; ; vraiment, carrément
wisdom - la sagesse; ; sagesse
merely - simplement, uniquement, seulement
reference - référence, recommandation, faire référence a, référencer
load up - charger
danger - danger, péril
swamping - l'envahissement; marécage, marais, submerger
store - magasin; ; entrepôt, stock, stocker, conserver
foolish - sot, stupide, bete, idiot
essential - indispensable, essentiel, fondamental
pleasure - plaisir, volupté, désir
comfort - le confort; ; confort, consoler
useless - inutile, inutilisable, bon a rien
lumber - bois d'ouvre; ; bois de charpente
How they pile the poor little craft mast-high with fine clothes and big houses; with useless servants, and a host of swell friends that do not care twopence for them, and that they do not care three ha'pence for; with expensive entertainments that nobody enjoys, with formalities and fashions, with pretence and ostentation, and with-oh, heaviest, maddest lumber of all!
pile - pile; tapée, pilotis, foule, amas
craft - l'artisanat; ; ruse, métier, nef
mast - mât; mât
servants - serviteurs; serviteur, domestique, servante, domestique, fr
Host - l'hôte; hote, hôte
swell - gonfler; gonfler, déferlement, se tuméfier
Twopence - deux pence
ha - HA
entertainments - divertissements; divertissement
formalities - des formalités; formalité, formalité
fashions - de la mode; mode, vogue, façon, façonner
pretence - prétention
ostentation - l'ostentation; ; ostentation, spectacle
heaviest - le plus lourd; lourd
maddest - le plus fou; fou, folle, fol
the dread of what will my neighbour think, with luxuries that only cloy, with pleasures that bore, with empty show that, like the criminal's iron crown of yore, makes to bleed and swoon the aching head that wears it!
dread - peur; ; redouter, craindre, crainte
luxuries - le luxe; luxe, luxe, luxe, luxe
cloy - cloy
bore - l'alésage; rencontrer, naquis, ennuyer, acabit, lasser
empty - vide, vider, cadavre
criminal - criminel, criminel, criminelle
iron - le fer; ; fer, repasser
crown - couronne; couronner, couronne
yore - autrefois; ; jadis, antan
bleed - saigner, purger, prélever, fond perdu
swoon - se pâmer; s'évanouir
aching - douloureux; endolori; (ache) douloureux; endolori
It is lumber, man-all lumber! Throw it overboard. It makes the boat so heavy to pull, you nearly faint at the oars.
throw - lancer; jetent, jetez, jetons, mise bas
oars - rames; rame, aviron
It makes it so cumbersome and dangerous to manage, you never know a moment's freedom from anxiety and care, never gain a moment's rest for dreamy laziness-no time to watch the windy shadows skimming lightly o'er the shallows, or the glittering sunbeams flitting in and out among the ripples, or the great trees by the margin looking down at their own image, or the woods all green and golden, or the lilies white and yellow, or the sombre-waving rushes, or the sedges, or the orchis, or the blue forget-me-nots.
cumbersome - encombrant
manage - gérer, ménager, diriger, manier, parvenir, réussir, accomplir
freedom - la liberté; ; liberté
anxiety - l'anxiété; ; anxiété, inquiétude, angoisse
dreamy - reveuse
windy - éventé
skimming - écrémage; écrémant; (skim); dépasser doucement, effleurer
lightly - légerement; ; légerement
shallows - les hauts-fonds; peu profond, superficiel, peu profond
glittering - scintillant; ; étincelant; (glitter); étincellement, paillette
sunbeams - rayons de soleil; rayon de soleil
flitting - flottement; (flit); voltiger, voleter, papillonner, virevolter
ripples - ondulations; ondulation
margin - marge
image - image
lilies - des lys; lys
orchis - orchis
nots - pas
Throw the lumber over, man! Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need-a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog, and a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear, and a little more than enough to drink; for thirst is a dangerous thing.
packed - emballé; paquet, sac
thirst - soif, avoir soif, désirer
You will find the boat easier to pull then, and it will not be so liable to upset, and it will not matter so much if it does upset; good, plain merchandise will stand water. You will have time to think as well as to work. Time to drink in life's sunshine-time to listen to the Ćolian music that the wind of God draws from the human heart-strings around us-time to-
liable - responsable
plain - simple; unie, net, plaine
merchandise - la marchandise; denrée, marchandise
sunshine - soleil, lumiere du soleil
Ćolian - Aolien
wind - vent; emmailloter, détortiller, langer, enrouler, vent
God - dieu; idolâtrer, déifier
human - humain
strings - cordes; corde, corde, suite, série, chaîne de caracteres, corde
I beg your pardon, really. I quite forgot.
beg - mendier; implorer, mendier, prier
Pardon - pardon, grâce, pardonner, gracier, désolé, excusez-moi
Well, we left the list to George, and he began it.
Tent"We won't take a tent," suggested George; "we will have a boat with a cover. It is ever so much simpler, and more comfortable."
cover - couverture
ever so much - jamais autant
simpler - plus simple; (simple); simple, simple
comfortable - confortable
It seemed a good thought, and we adopted it. I do not know whether you have ever seen the thing I mean.
adopted - adoptée; adopter, adopter
You fix iron hoops up over the boat, and stretch a huge canvas over them, and fasten it down all round, from stem to stern, and it converts the boat into a sort of little house, and it is beautifully cosy, though a trifle stuffy; but there, everything has its drawbacks, as the man said when his mother-in-law died, and they came down upon him for the funeral expenses.
hoops - des cerceaux; cerceau
stretch - étendre, s'étendre, s'étirer, étirement
huge - énorme
canvas - toile; canevas
fasten - attacher, fixer
stern - sévere; poupe
converts - convertis; convertir, convertir, convertir, convertir
cosy - douillet, douillette, peinard
stuffy - mal aéré, étouffant, bouché, fâché, en rogne
drawbacks - des inconvénients; inconvénient, désavantage, drawback
funeral expenses - les frais d'obseques
George said that in that case we must take a rug each, a lamp, some soap, a brush and comb (between us), a toothbrush (each), a basin, some tooth-powder, some shaving tackle (sounds like a French exercise, doesn't it?), and a couple of big-towels for bathing. I notice that people always make gigantic arrangements for bathing when they are going anywhere near the water, but that they don't bathe much when they are there.
soap - du savon; savon
comb - peigne; peigne, peignent, peigner, peignons, peignez
toothbrush - brosse a dents; ; brosse a dents
basin - bassin; cuvette, bassine, lavabo, bassin, bassin
powder - poudre, réduire en poudre, pulvériser, poudrer, pulvériser
tackle - tacle, combattre, affronter, tacler, plaquer
French - français; français, tlangue française, français, t+Français
towels - serviettes; serviette
notice - remarquer, notification, préavis, s'apercevoir
gigantic - gigantesque, colossal
anywhere - n'importe ou; ; n'importe ou, ou que ce soit, nulle part
bathe - prendre un bain, se baigner, faire prendre un bain, baignade
Sea-side sceneIt is the same when you go to the sea-side. I always determine-when thinking over the matter in London-that I'll get up early every morning, and go and have a dip before breakfast, and I religiously pack up a pair of drawers and a bath towel. I always get red bathing drawers.
sceneIt - sceneIt
determine - déterminer
dip - trempette; immersion
religiously - religieusement
pack up - emballer
drawers - tiroirs; tiroir
bath towel - serviette de bain
I rather fancy myself in red drawers. They suit my complexion so. But when I get to the sea I don't feel somehow that I want that early morning bathe nearly so much as I did when I was in town.
complexion - le teint; ; teint, complexion
On the contrary, I feel more that I want to stop in bed till the last moment, and then come down and have my breakfast. Once or twice virtue has triumphed, and I have got out at six and half-dressed myself, and have taken my drawers and towel, and stumbled dismally off. But I haven't enjoyed it.
contrary - contraire, contraire, contrepied
virtue - la vertu; ; vertu
triumphed - triomphé; triomphe
towel - serviette
stumbled - en état de choc; chute, faux pas, bourde, trébucher
dismally - grise
They seem to keep a specially cutting east wind, waiting for me, when I go to bathe in the early morning; and they pick out all the three-cornered stones, and put them on the top, and they sharpen up the rocks and cover the points over with a bit of sand so that I can't see them, and they take the sea and put it two miles out, so that I have to huddle myself up in my arms and hop, shivering, through six inches of water. And when I do get to the sea, it is rough and quite insulting.
Seem - sembler, paraître, avoir l'air
specially - particulierement, spécialement
pick out - choisir
cornered - coincé; coin, coin, coin, rencogner, piéger, acculer
stones - des pierres; pierre, t+roche, pierre, t+caillou, t+roc, t+roche
top - haut; ; dessus, sommet, couvercle, hune, premiere demi-manche
sharpen - affiler, affuter, aiguiser
cover - couvercle, couverture, couvert, couvrir, reprendre, parcourir
of sand - de sable
huddle myself up - me blottir
hop - hop; sauter a cloche-pied
shivering - des frissons; (shiver) des frissons
insulting - insultant; insulter, insulte
One huge wave catches me up and chucks me in a sitting posture, as hard as ever it can, down on to a rock which has been put there for me. And, before I've said "Oh! Ugh!" and found out what has gone, the wave comes back and carries me out to mid-ocean. I begin to strike out frantically for the shore, and wonder if I shall ever see home and friends again, and wish I'd been kinder to my little sister when a boy (when I was a boy, I mean).
catches - captures; prise, touche, loquet, loqueteau, verrou, hic
chucks - mandrins; balancer
posture - la posture; ; posture
Rock - le rocher; bercer, balancer, rupestre, rupestre, rocher, roc
Ugh - ugh; ; beurk
mid - moyenne; mi-, au milieu de, en plein
Ocean - l'océan; ; océan
strike out - faire un strike out
shore - rivage; riverain, parages, bord, rive, borde
wonder - merveille, se demander, conjecturer
see home - voir la maison
Just when I have given up all hope, a wave retires and leaves me sprawling like a star-fish on the sand, and I get up and look back and find that I've been swimming for my life in two feet of water. I hop back and dress, and crawl home, where I have to pretend I liked it.
retires - prend sa retraite; prendre sa retraite
sprawling - tentaculaire; s'affaler, s'étaler, s'étendre, étalement, fr
sand - sable; sableuxse, sable
crawl - ramper; ramper
pretend - prétendre, prétendre a, feindre, faire semblant
In the present instance, we all talked as if we were going to have a long swim every morning.
George said it was so pleasant to wake up in the boat in the fresh morning, and plunge into the limpid river. Harris said there was nothing like a swim before breakfast to give you an appetite. He said it always gave him an appetite. George said that if it was going to make Harris eat more than Harris ordinarily ate, then he should protest against Harris having a bath at all.
plunge - plonger; plonger
limpid - limpide
protest - protester, protestation, manifestation
He said there would be quite enough hard work in towing sufficient food for Harris up against stream, as it was.
towing - remorquant; (tow) remorquant
stream - flux; ; ruisseau, ru, rupt, filet, flot, courant
I urged upon George, however, how much pleasanter it would be to have Harris clean and fresh about the boat, even if we did have to take a few more hundredweight of provisions; and he got to see it in my light, and withdrew his opposition to Harris's bath.
urged - pressé; pulsion, pousser, inciter, inciter, provoquer, insister
pleasanter - plus agréable; agréable, plaisant
hundredweight - poids cent; ; quintal
withdrew - s'est retiré; (se) retirer
opposition - l'opposition; ; opposition
Agreed, finally, that we should take three bath towels, so as not to keep each other waiting.
finally - enfin, définitivement
bath towels - des serviettes de bain
For clothes, George said two suits of flannel would be sufficient, as we could wash them ourselves, in the river, when they got dirty.
suits - des combinaisons; complet, costume, tailleur, combinaison
flannel - flanelle
ourselves - nous-memes; nous-meme
got dirty - Tu t'es sali
We asked him if he had ever tried washing flannels in the river, and he replied: "No, not exactly himself like; but he knew some fellows who had, and it was easy enough;" and Harris and I were weak enough to fancy he knew what he was talking about, and that three respectable young men, without position or influence, and with no experience in washing, could really clean their own shirts and trousers in the river Thames with a bit of soap.
flannels - des flanelles; flanelle
influence - influence, influencer, influer
Experience - expérience, éprouver, vivre
We were to learn in the days to come, when it was too late, that George was a miserable impostor, who could evidently have known nothing whatever about the matter. If you had seen these clothes after-but, as the shilling shockers say, we anticipate.
miserable - misérable
impostor - imposteur, imposteuse
shilling shockers - des choqueurs
anticipate - anticiper, prévoir
George impressed upon us to take a change of under-things and plenty of socks, in case we got upset and wanted a change; also plenty of handkerchiefs, as they would do to wipe things, and a pair of leather boots as well as our boating shoes, as we should want them if we got upset.
impressed - impressionné; impressionner
socks - chaussettes; chaussettes
handkerchiefs - des mouchoirs; mouchoir
wipe - essuyer; essuyez, essuyent, essuyons, essuyer
leather - cuir, de cuir
The food question.-Objections to paraffine oil as an atmosphere.-Advantages of cheese as a travelling companion.-A married woman deserts her home.-Further provision for getting upset.-I pack.-Cussedness of tooth-brushes.-George and Harris pack.-Awful behaviour of Montmorency.-We retire to rest.
objections - objections; objection, objection, objection
paraffine - paraffine
oil - huile; huile
atmosphere - atmosphere; ; atmosphere, ambience, ambiance
advantages - avantages; avantage, avantage, avantage, avantage, avantager
companion - compagnon, compagne
deserts - déserts; abandonner
provision - disposition; ; provision, provisionner
pack - pack; emballer, emballons, emballent, emballez, ballot
Cussedness - la maltraitance
brushes - brosses; brosse, brossage, accrochage, brosser, brosser
awful - terrible, épouvantable, horrible
behaviour - manieres
retire - prendre sa retraite; retirent, retirez, se retirer, retirer
Then we discussed the food question. George said:
"Begin with breakfast." (George is so practical.) "Now for breakfast we shall want a frying-pan"-(Harris said it was indigestible; but we merely urged him not to be an ass, and George went on)-"a tea-pot and a kettle, and a methylated spirit stove."
frying-pan - (frying-pan) poele a frire
indigestible - indigeste
pot - l'herbe; pot
kettle - bouilloire; chaudron
spirit - l'esprit; ; esprit, moral, élan, spiritueux
stove - poele; fourneau, poele, cuisiniere; (stave); douve, fuseau
"No oil," said George, with a significant look; and Harris and I agreed.
significant - significative; ; significatif
We had taken up an oil-stove once, but "never again." It had been like living in an oil-shop that week. It oozed. I never saw such a thing as paraffine oil is to ooze. We kept it in the nose of the boat, and, from there, it oozed down to the rudder, impregnating the whole boat and everything in it on its way, and it oozed over the river, and saturated the scenery and spoilt the atmosphere.
taken up - pris en charge
never again - plus jamais
oozed - a suinté; suinter
rudder - le gouvernail; ; gouvernail
impregnating - fécondant; rendre enceinte, mettre enceinte, enceinter
saturated - saturé; saturer
spoilt - gâté, pourri, gâté; (spoil); gâter, gâcher, tourner, dévoiler
Sometimes a westerly oily wind blew, and at other times an easterly oily wind, and sometimes it blew a northerly oily wind, and maybe a southerly oily wind; but whether it came from the Arctic snows, or was raised in the waste of the desert sands, it came alike to us laden with the fragrance of paraffine oil.
blew - soufflé; coup
easterly - vers l'est
northerly - au nord; ; aquilon
southerly - au sud; du sud
Arctic - l'arctique; arctique, arctique, Arctique
raised - soulevée; (sou)lever
waste - déchets; déchets, pelée, gaspiller, gâcher
desert - désert; désertez, quitter, désertons, désertent, déserter
sands - sables; sable
laden - laden; ; chargé, chargée; (lade) laden; ; chargé, chargée
fragrance - parfum, fragrance
And that oil oozed up and ruined the sunset; and as for the moonbeams, they positively reeked of paraffine.
ruined - ruiné; ruine, ruine, ruine, ruiner, abîmer, foutre en l'air
sunset - coucher de soleil, crépuscule
positively - positivement
reeked - empesté; puanteur
We tried to get away from it at Marlow. We left the boat by the bridge, and took a walk through the town to escape it, but it followed us. The whole town was full of oil. We passed through the church-yard, and it seemed as if the people had been buried in oil. The high street stunk of oil; we wondered how people could live in it. And we walked miles upon miles out Birmingham way; but it was no use, the country was steeped in oil.
Bridge - le pont; carpette
escape - échapper, s'échapper, éviter, échapper (a quelqu'un), évasion
passed through - a traversé
church - église, culte, misse
buried - enterré; enterrer
high street - la rue principale
stunk - puait; puer, empester, puanteur, tapage
steeped - trempé; escarpé, raide
At the end of that trip we met together at midnight in a lonely field, under a blasted oak, and took an awful oath (we had been swearing for a whole week about the thing in an ordinary, middle-class way, but this was a swell affair)-an awful oath never to take paraffine oil with us in a boat again-except, of course, in case of sickness.
lonely - solitaire; ; seul, désert, abandonné
field - champ, campo, terrain, corps, rubrique, attraper
blasted - blasté; souffle
oak - chene; ; chene, chenes
oath - serment, juron, jurer
swearing - jurant; (swear) jurant
Middle - au milieu; ; milieu, moyen, central
affair - affaire; ; aventure, liaison
Therefore, in the present instance, we confined ourselves to methylated spirit. Even that is bad enough. You get methylated pie and methylated cake. But methylated spirit is more wholesome when taken into the system in large quantities than paraffine oil.
confined - confiné; confiner, limite
wholesome - salubre, sain, vertueux
quantities - quantités; quantité, quantité
For other breakfast things, George suggested eggs and bacon, which were easy to cook, cold meat, tea, bread and butter, and jam. For lunch, he said, we could have biscuits, cold meat, bread and butter, and jam-but no cheese. Cheese, like oil, makes too much of itself. It wants the whole boat to itself.
bacon - bacon; ; lard, lardon
cold meat - de la viande froide
itself - elle-meme; ; se, soi-meme
It goes through the hamper, and gives a cheesy flavour to everything else there. You can't tell whether you are eating apple-pie or German sausage, or strawberries and cream. It all seems cheese. There is too much odour about cheese.
hamper - panier; entraver
cheesy - ringardes; ; fromageux, kitsch, ringard
flavour - gout; arôme, aromatisent, aromatisons, aromatisez
apple-pie - (apple-pie) une tarte aux pommes
German - Allemand, Allemande, Germain, Germaine
sausage - saucisse, saucisson
"Oh, with pleasure, dear boy," I replied, "with pleasure."
I called for the cheeses, and took them away in a cab. It was a ramshackle affair, dragged along by a knock-kneed, broken-winded somnambulist, which his owner, in a moment of enthusiasm, during conversation, referred to as a horse. I put the cheeses on the top, and we started off at a shamble that would have done credit to the swiftest steam-roller ever built, and all went merry as a funeral bell, until we turned the corner.
cab - cab; fiacre
ramshackle - délabré
dragged - traîné; tirer, entraîner
knock - coup, frapper
winded - essoufflé
somnambulist - somnambule
swiftest - le plus rapide; rapide, martinet, dévidoir
Steam - vapeur d'eau, vapeur, vapeur
roller - rouleau, rollier
merry - joyeux; gai, heureuse, jovial
funeral - funérailles, obseques
bell - cloche; sonnette, cloche
There, the wind carried a whiff from the cheeses full on to our steed. It woke him up, and, with a snort of terror, he dashed off at three miles an hour. The wind still blew in his direction, and before we reached the end of the street he was laying himself out at the rate of nearly four miles an hour, leaving the cripples and stout old ladies simply nowhere.
whiff - whiff; ; souffle, bouffée, effluve
steed - steed; ; coursier
snort - reniflement, renifler, sniffer
terror - la terreur; ; terreur, effroi, terrorisme
dashed - en pointillés; tiret, trait, ta, sprint, soupçon, se précipiter
direction - direction, direction
reached - atteint; arriver/parvenir a
laying - pose; (lay) pose
rate - taux; taxer, évaluer, tarifaire, dividende, taux, rang
cripples - des infirmes; estropié, infirme, estropier, bridé
stout - stout; solide
nowhere - nulle part
It took two porters as well as the driver to hold him in at the station; and I do not think they would have done it, even then, had not one of the men had the presence of mind to put a handkerchief over his nose, and to light a bit of brown paper.
porters - les porteurs; porteur/-euse
presence - présence
mind - l'esprit; ; esprit, raison, intelligence, mémoire
I took my ticket, and marched proudly up the platform, with my cheeses, the people falling back respectfully on either side. The train was crowded, and I had to get into a carriage where there were already seven other people. One crusty old gentleman objected, but I got in, notwithstanding; and, putting my cheeses upon the rack, squeezed down with a pleasant smile, and said it was a warm day.
proudly - fierement; ; fierement
platform - plate-forme; ; scene, podium, quai, plateforme
falling back - en recul
respectfully - respectueusement
crowded - encombré; foule
carriage - transport; ; rench: t-needed r, carrosse, port, chariot
gentleman - gentilhomme, monsieur, messieurs
notwithstanding - nonobstant
rack - rack; bâti
squeezed - pressé; presser, comprimer, tasser, serrer
A few moments passed, and then the old gentleman began to fidget.
passed - passé; passer (devant), dépasser
fidget - se trémousser; ; gigoter, remuer, gigoteur
"Very close in here," he said.
close in - se rapprocher
"Quite oppressive," said the man next him.
oppressive - oppressif
And then they both began sniffing, and, at the third sniff, they caught it right on the chest, and rose up without another word and went out. And then a stout lady got up, and said it was disgraceful that a respectable married woman should be harried about in this way, and gathered up a bag and eight parcels and went.
sniffing - renifler; (sniff); renifler, sniffer
rose - Rose; (rise); Rose
lady - dame, madame, lady
disgraceful - honteux
harried - harcelés; harceler, tourmenter
gathered - rassemblés; rassembler, ramasser, recueillir, ramasser
parcels - colis; colis, paquet, parcelle, empaqueter, emballer, envelopper
The remaining four passengers sat on for a while, until a solemn-looking man in the corner, who, from his dress and general appearance, seemed to belong to the undertaker class, said it put him in mind of dead baby; and the other three passengers tried to get out of the door at the same time, and hurt themselves.
remaining - restant; reste, rester, demeurer, rester
solemn - solennel
appearance - l'apparence; ; apparition, apparence, apparence, comparution
belong - appartiennent; appartenons, faire partie de, appartiens
undertaker - croque-mort, directeur de funérailles
I smiled at the black gentleman, and said I thought we were going to have the carriage to ourselves; and he laughed pleasantly, and said that some people made such a fuss over a little thing. But even he grew strangely depressed after we had started, and so, when we reached Crewe, I asked him to come and have a drink.
pleasantly - agréablement
strangely - étrangement
depressed - déprimé; appuyer
He accepted, and we forced our way into the buffet, where we yelled, and stamped, and waved our umbrellas for a quarter of an hour; and then a young lady came, and asked us if we wanted anything.
accepted - acceptée; accepter, accepter (de), prendre sur soi
forced - forcée; force
buffet - buffet; bar, buffet
yelled - hurlé; hurlement
stamped - estampillé; affranchi; (stamp); cachet, tampon, timbre
waved - salué; vague
"What's yours?" I said, turning to my friend.
"I'll have half-a-crown's worth of brandy, neat, if you please, miss," he responded.
brandy - du brandy; ; cognac, brandy, eau-de-vie
neat - soigné; parure
responded - a répondu; répondre, répondre, répondre, répondre
And he went off quietly after he had drunk it and got into another carriage, which I thought mean.
quietly - paisablement, tranquillement, quietement
From Crewe I had the compartment to myself, though the train was crowded. As we drew up at the different stations, the people, seeing my empty carriage, would rush for it. "Here y'are, Maria; come along, plenty of room." "All right, Tom; we'll get in here," they would shout. And they would run along, carrying heavy bags, and fight round the door to get in first.
compartment - compartiment, terrasse
rush - rush; ruée, affluence, gazer, galoper, bousculer
And one would open the door and mount the steps, and stagger back into the arms of the man behind him; and they would all come and have a sniff, and then droop off and squeeze into other carriages, or pay the difference and go first.
mount - monter; montent, montez, montons
steps - étapes; pas
stagger - tituber; tituber; (stag); cerf, bouf
sniff - sniff; ; renifler, sniffer
droop - tomber, s'affaisser, bec
squeeze - de la compression; ; presser, comprimer, tasser, serrer
carriages - les wagons; rench: -neededr, carrosse, port, chariot
From Euston, I took the cheeses down to my friend's house. When his wife came into the room she smelt round for an instant. Then she said:
smelt - l'éperlan; fondre; (smell); odeur, parfum, gout, odorat, sentir
instant - instantanée; moment
"What is it? Tell me the worst."
"It's cheeses. Tom bought them in Liverpool, and asked me to bring them up with me."
And I added that I hoped she understood that it had nothing to do with me; and she said that she was sure of that, but that she would speak to Tom about it when he came back.
My friend was detained in Liverpool longer than he expected; and, three days later, as he hadn't returned home, his wife called on me. She said:
detained - détenu; détenir, arreter
returned home - est rentré chez lui
"What did Tom say about those cheeses?"
I replied that he had directed they were to be kept in a moist place, and that nobody was to touch them.
directed - dirigée; direct, mettre en scene, ordonner
moist - humide; moite, humide
"Nobody's likely to touch them. Had he smelt them?"
I thought he had, and added that he seemed greatly attached to them.
attached - attachée; attacher
"You think he would be upset," she queried, "if I gave a man a sovereign to take them away and bury them?"
queried - interrogé; question, requete
sovereign - souveraine; ; souverain, souverain
bury - enterrer; enterrez, enterrer, enterrent, enterrons
I answered that I thought he would never smile again.
An idea struck her. She said:
"Do you mind keeping them for him? Let me send them round to you."
"Madam," I replied, "for myself I like the smell of cheese, and the journey the other day with them from Liverpool I shall ever look back upon as a happy ending to a pleasant holiday. But, in this world, we must consider others. The lady under whose roof I have the honour of residing is a widow, and, for all I know, possibly an orphan too.
madam - madame, mere maquerelle, tenanciere
smell - odeur, parfum, gout, odorat, sentir, humer
Consider - envisager; ; considérer, examiner, réfléchir, songer
whose - a qui, de qui, dont, duquel (de + lequel), duquel
roof - toit; toit
honour - l'honneur; honorer
residing - en résidence; habiter, résider, demeurer, résider
widow - veuve
Possibly - peut-etre; ; possiblement, peut-etre
orphan - orphelin, orpheline
She has a strong, I may say an eloquent, objection to being what she terms 'put upon.' The presence of your husband's cheeses in her house she would, I instinctively feel, regard as a 'put upon'; and it shall never be said that I put upon the widow and the orphan."
eloquent - éloquent
terms - conditions; peine, mandat, période
regard - regard; considérer, regard, égard, estime
"Very well, then," said my friend's wife, rising, "all I have to say is, that I shall take the children and go to an hotel until those cheeses are eaten. I decline to live any longer in the same house with them."
decline - déclin, déclin
She kept her word, leaving the place in charge of the charwoman, who, when asked if she could stand the smell, replied, "What smell?" and who, when taken close to the cheeses and told to sniff hard, said she could detect a faint odour of melons. It was argued from this that little injury could result to the woman from the atmosphere, and she was left.
detect - détecter; détectez, détectent, dénicher, détectons, détecter
melons - des melons; melon
argued - argumenté; affirmer, débattre, se disputer, se quereller
injury - blessure
The hotel bill came to fifteen guineas; and my friend, after reckoning everything up, found that the cheeses had cost him eight-and-sixpence a pound. He said he dearly loved a bit of cheese, but it was beyond his means; so he determined to get rid of them. He threw them into the canal; but had to fish them out again, as the bargemen complained.
guineas - guinées; Guinée
reckoning everything up - de tout compter
sixpence - six pence; sixpence
rid - rid; débarrasser
threw - jeté; jeter, lancer
Canal - canal
complained - s'est plaint; se plaindre, porter plainte
They said it made them feel quite faint. And, after that, he took them one dark night and left them in the parish mortuary. But the coroner discovered them, and made a fearful fuss.
parish - paroisse; paroisse
mortuary - morgue; morgue
coroner - médecin légiste, coroner
He said it was a plot to deprive him of his living by waking up the corpses.
plot - intrigue, lopin, diagramme, graphique, complot, comploter
deprive - priver
waking up - se réveiller
My friend got rid of them, at last, by taking them down to a sea-side town, and burying them on the beach. It gained the place quite a reputation. Visitors said they had never noticed before how strong the air was, and weak-chested and consumptive people used to throng there for years afterwards.
burying - l'enfouissement; enterrer
Gained - gagné; gagner
reputation - réputation, renommée (more slang)
noticed - remarqué; remarquer, notification, préavis, préavis, remarquer
chested - poitrine
consumptive - consommateur; ; tuberculeux, tuberculeuse
throng - essaim, foule
Fond as I am of cheese, therefore, I hold that George was right in declining to take any.
fond - fond; tendre, amoureux
declining - en déclin; déclin, déclin, déclin
"We shan't want any tea," said George (Harris's face fell at this); "but we'll have a good round, square, slap-up meal at seven-dinner, tea, and supper combined."
shan - Shan
slap - gifle; ; claque, gifler
Harris grew more cheerful. George suggested meat and fruit pies, cold meat, tomatoes, fruit, and green stuff. For drink, we took some wonderful sticky concoction of Harris's, which you mixed with water and called lemonade, plenty of tea, and a bottle of whisky, in case, as George said, we got upset.
more cheerful - plus joyeux
pies - tartes; tarte
green stuff - le truc vert
sticky - collant, gluant
mixed - mixte; mélanger
lemonade - citronnade, limonade
It seemed to me that George harped too much on the getting-upset idea. It seemed to me the wrong spirit to go about the trip in.
harped - harpé; harpe
But I'm glad we took the whisky.
We didn't take beer or wine. They are a mistake up the river. They make you feel sleepy and heavy. A glass in the evening when you are doing a mouch round the town and looking at the girls is all right enough; but don't drink when the sun is blazing down on your head, and you've got hard work to do.
sleepy - somnolent, ensommeillé, ensuqué, endormi
mouch - mouch
blazing - flamboyant; feu, embrasement
We made a list of the things to be taken, and a pretty lengthy one it was, before we parted that evening. The next day, which was Friday, we got them all together, and met in the evening to pack. We got a big Gladstone for the clothes, and a couple of hampers for the victuals and the cooking utensils. We moved the table up against the window, piled everything in a heap in the middle of the floor, and sat round and looked at it.
lengthy - longue; ; long, longuet
utensils - ustensiles; ustensile, ustensile de cuisine
piled - empilés; pile, tas
heap - tas, pile, monceau
I said I'd pack.
I rather pride myself on my packing. Packing is one of those many things that I feel I know more about than any other person living. (It surprises me myself, sometimes, how many of these subjects there are.) I impressed the fact upon George and Harris, and told them that they had better leave the whole matter entirely to me. They fell into the suggestion with a readiness that had something uncanny about it.
packing - colisage, empaquetage, emballant, emballage; (pack) colisage
surprises - des surprises; surprise, surprise, surprendre, étonner
entirely - entierement; ; entierement, entierement (1)
readiness - l'état de préparation; ; préparation
uncanny - déroutant, déroutante, étrange, troublant
George put on a pipe and spread himself over the easy-chair, and Harris cocked his legs on the table and lit a cigar.
spread - se propager; ; étaler, écarter, disperser, répandre, éparpiller
cocked - armé; oiseau mâle, coq
cigar - cigare
This was hardly what I intended. What I had meant, of course, was, that I should boss the job, and that Harris and George should potter about under my directions, I pushing them aside every now and then with, "Oh, you-!" "Here, let me do it." "There you are, simple enough!
intended - prévu; ; planifié, voulu; (intend); avoir l'intention
boss - patron; dabe, patron, entreprenneur
Potter - potter; potier/-iere
pushing - poussant; pousser
aside - a part; ; a côté, en passant, aparté
-really teaching them, as you might say. Their taking it in the way they did irritated me. There is nothing does irritate me more than seeing other people sitting about doing nothing when I'm working.
irritated - irritée; agacer (displeasure)
I lived with a man once who used to make me mad that way. He would loll on the sofa and watch me doing things by the hour together, following me round the room with his eyes, wherever I went. He said it did him real good to look on at me, messing about. He said it made him feel that life was not an idle dream to be gaped and yawned through, but a noble task, full of duty and stern work.
sofa - canapé, sofa
wherever - ou
messing about - a faire des betises
idle - au ralenti; fainéant
gaped - béante; espace, vide, trou
yawned - bâillé; bâiller, béer, bâillement
noble - noble, aristocrate, aristocratique
He said he often wondered now how he could have gone on before he met me, never having anybody to look at while they worked.
Now, I'm not like that. I can't sit still and see another man slaving and working. I want to get up and superintend, and walk round with my hands in my pockets, and tell him what to do. It is my energetic nature. I can't help it.
slaving - l'esclavage; esclave, t+serf, t+serve, esclave
superintend - surintendant; ; surveiller, diriger
pockets - poches; poche, empocher, de poche
energetic - énergique, énergétique
nature - nature
I can't help it - Je ne peux pas m'en empecher
However, I did not say anything, but started the packing. It seemed a longer job than I had thought it was going to be; but I got the bag finished at last, and I sat on it and strapped it.
strapped - sanglé; sangle, courroie, laniere, bandouliere
"Ain't you going to put the boots in?" said Harris.
ain - Ain
And I looked round, and found I had forgotten them. That's just like Harris. He couldn't have said a word until I'd got the bag shut and strapped, of course. And George laughed-one of those irritating, senseless, chuckle-headed, crack-jawed laughs of his. They do make me so wild.
irritating - irritant; agacer (displeasure)
chuckle - glousser; glousser
crack - crack; croustiller, fissure, craquement, fracas, craquer
jawed - mâchoire; mâchoire
I opened the bag and packed the boots in; and then, just as I was going to close it, a horrible idea occurred to me. Had I packed my tooth-brush? I don't know how it is, but I never do know whether I've packed my tooth-brush.
horrible - horrible, affreux, épouvantable
occurred - s'est produite; produire
brush - brosse, brossage, accrochage, brosser, se brosser, peindre
My tooth-brush is a thing that haunts me when I'm travelling, and makes my life a misery. I dream that I haven't packed it, and wake up in a cold perspiration, and get out of bed and hunt for it.
haunts - hunts; hanter, hanter, demeurer, point de rencontre
misery - la misere; ; misere
perspiration - la transpiration; ; transpiration
hunt - chasser, chercher, chasse
And, in the morning, I pack it before I have used it, and have to unpack again to get it, and it is always the last thing I turn out of the bag; and then I repack and forget it, and have to rush upstairs for it at the last moment and carry it to the railway station, wrapped up in my pocket-handkerchief.
unpack - déballer
repack - repack
railway station - la gare ferroviaire
wrapped up - emballé
BootOf course I had to turn every mortal thing out now, and, of course, I could not find it. I rummaged the things up into much the same state that they must have been before the world was created, and when chaos reigned.
mortal - mortel, mortel, mortelle
rummaged - fouillé; fouiller, fouiller, fouiller
state - l'état; ; état, Etat, déclarer, indiquer
chaos - le chaos; ; chaos; (chao) le chaos; ; chaos
reigned - régnait; regne, regne, régner
Of course, I found George's and Harris's eighteen times over, but I couldn't find my own. I put the things back one by one, and held everything up and shook it. Then I found it inside a boot. I repacked once more.
shook - secoué; (shake); secouer, agiter, se serrer la main, secousse
inside - a l'intérieur; ; intérieur, dedans, au-dedans, la-dedans
When I had finished, George asked if the soap was in. I said I didn't care a hang whether the soap was in or whether it wasn't; and I slammed the bag to and strapped it, and found that I had packed my tobacco-pouch in it, and had to re-open it. It got shut up finally at 10.
hang - pendre; pendre, planement
slammed - claquée; claquer
tobacco-pouch - (tobacco-pouch) un sachet de tabac
p.m., and then there remained the hampers to do. Harris said that we should be wanting to start in less than twelve hours'time, and thought that he and George had better do the rest; and I agreed and sat down, and they had a go.
remained - est restée; reste, rester, demeurer, rester
They began in a light-hearted spirit, evidently intending to show me how to do it. I made no comment; I only waited. When George is hanged, Harris will be the worst packer in this world; and I looked at the piles of plates and cups, and kettles, and bottles and jars, and pies, and stoves, and cakes, and tomatoes, &c., and felt that the thing would soon become exciting.
light-hearted - (light-hearted) le cour léger
intending - l'intention; avoir l'intention, envisager, concevoir, prévoir
comment - commentaire; commentons, commentez, commentent, commentaire
hanged - pendu
packer - packer; ; emballeur, emballeuse
piles - piles; pile, tas
plates - plaques; assiette
kettles - bouilloires; bouilloire
jars - bocaux; pot
stoves - poeles; cuisiniere, poele
It did. They started with breaking a cup. That was the first thing they did. They did that just to show you what they could do, and to get you interested.
Then Harris packed the strawberry jam on top of a tomato and squashed it, and they had to pick out the tomato with a teaspoon.
strawberry - fraise, fraisier
squashed - écrasé; entasser, écraser
pick - pioche, passeartout, choix, écran, prendre, cueillir, choisir
teaspoon - cuillere a café; ; cuillere a café, petite cuillere
And then it was George's turn, and he trod on the butter. I didn't say anything, but I came over and sat on the edge of the table and watched them.
trod - trod; (tread) trod
edge - bord, côté, arete, carre
It irritated them more than anything I could have said. I felt that. It made them nervous and excited, and they stepped on things, and put things behind them, and then couldn't find them when they wanted them; and they packed the pies at the bottom, and put heavy things on top, and smashed the pies in.
stepped - en escalier; steppe
smashed - écrasé; smash, fracasser, percuter, écraser
They upset salt over everything, and as for the butter! I never saw two men do more with one-and-twopence worth of butter in my whole life than they did. After George had got it off his slipper, they tried to put it in the kettle. It wouldn't go in, and what was in wouldn't come out. They did scrape it out at last, and put it down on a chair, and Harris sat on it, and it stuck to him, and they went looking for it all over the room.
slipper - chausson, pantoufle
scrape - gratter, racler, effleurer
stuck to - collé
"I'll take my oath I put it down on that chair," said George, staring at the empty seat.
seat - siege; ; place, siege, assise, séant, fond
"I saw you do it myself, not a minute ago," said Harris.
Then they started round the room again looking for it; and then they met again in the centre, and stared at one another.
met again - rencontré a nouveau
"Most extraordinary thing I ever heard of," said George.
"So mysterious!" said Harris.
mysterious - mystérieux
Then George got round at the back of Harris and saw it.
"Why, here it is all the time," he exclaimed, indignantly.
exclaimed - s'est exclamé; exclamer
indignantly - avec indignation
"Where?" cried Harris, spinning round.
cried - pleuré; pleurer, crier, hurler, crier, gueuler, pleur, cri, cri
spinning round - qui tournent en rond
"stand still, can't you!" roared George, flying after him.
stand still - rester immobile
roared - a rugi; rugir, hurler, s'esclaffer, rire aux éclats
And they got it off, and packed it in the teapot.
teapot - théiere; ; théiere
Montmorency was in it all, of course. Montmorency's ambition in life, is to get in the way and be sworn at. If he can squirm in anywhere where he particularly is not wanted, and be a perfect nuisance, and make people mad, and have things thrown at his head, then he feels his day has not been wasted.
Ambition - l'ambition; ; ambition, ambition (1-5)
sworn - assermenté; jurer
squirm - gigoter, remuer, se tortiller
particularly - en particulier
nuisance - embetement, nuisance
wasted - gaspillé; gaspiller
To get somebody to stumble over him, and Curse him steadily for an hour, is his highest aim and object; and, when he has succeeded in accomplishing this, his conceit becomes quite unbearable.
stumble - chute, faux pas, bourde, trébucher
Curse him - Le maudire
aim - objectif; visez, dgssein, mire, visons, but, peiner, visent
succeeded - a réussi; succéder, réussir, avoir du succes
accomplishing - accomplir; accomplir, accomplir, accomplir
conceit - la vanité; ; vanité, orgueil, concept
unbearable - insupportable
He came and sat down on things, just when they were wanted to be packed; and he laboured under the fixed belief that, whenever Harris or George reached out their hand for anything, it was his cold, damp nose that they wanted. He put his leg into the jam, and he worried the teaspoons, and he pretended that the lemons were rats, and got into the hamper and killed three of them before Harris could land him with the frying-pan.
laboured - laborieux; effort, travail, labeur, besogne, travailleurs-p
whenever - chaque fois que
worried - inquiet; inquiéter
teaspoons - cuilleres a café; cuillere a café, petite cuillere
pretended - prétendu; prétendre, prétendre a, feindre, faire semblant
lemons - des citrons; citron, citronnier, chiotte, qualifier
rats - les rats; rat
killed - tué; tuer
frying - la friture; (fry) la friture
pan - pan; poele, marmite
Harris said I encouraged him. I didn't encourage him. A dog like that don't want any encouragement. It's the natural, original sin that is born in him that makes him do things like that.
encouraged - encouragé; encourager, encourager
encouragement - d'encouragement; ; encouragement
original sin - le péché originel
The packing was done at 12.50; and Harris sat on the big hamper, and said he hoped nothing would be found broken. George said that if anything was broken it was broken, which reflection seemed to comfort him. He also said he was ready for bed. We were all ready for bed. Harris was to sleep with us that night, and we went upstairs.
reflection - réflexion, reflet, eaning 4
We tossed for beds, and Harris had to sleep with me. He said:
tossed - ballotté; jet, au pile ou face, tirage au sort, pile ou face
"Do you prefer the inside or the outside, J.?"
I said I generally preferred to sleep inside a bed.
Harris said it was old.
"What time shall I wake you fellows?"
"No-six," because I wanted to write some letters.
Harris and I had a bit of a row over it, but at last split the difference, and said half-past six.
split - divisé, fissure, division, fragment, morceau, grand écart
"Wake us at 6.30, George," we said.
George made no answer, and we found, on going over, that he had been asleep for some time; so we placed the bath where he could tumble into it on getting out in the morning, and went to bed ourselves.
asleep - endormi
tumble - culbute, dégringoler, culbuter
Luggage with dog on top
luggage - bagages; ; bagage
Mrs. P. arouses us.-George, the sluggard.-The "weather forecast" swindle.-Our luggage.-Depravity of the small boy.-The people gather round us.-We drive off in great style, and arrive at Waterloo.-Innocence of South Western Officials concerning such worldly things as trains.-We are afloat, afloat in an open boat.
arouses - suscite; émoustiller, exciter
sluggard - paresseux; ; fainéant, fainéante, flemmard, flemmarde
forecast - prévisions; ; prévoir, prévision, prévision météorologique
swindle - escroquer, entourlouper, escroquerie
gather - rassembler, ramasser, recueillir, déduire
Waterloo - Waterloo
innocence - l'innocence; ; innocence, candeur
officials - fonctionnaires; officiel, officiel, cadre, fonctionnaire
concerning - concernant; inquiétude, souci, soin, souci, préoccupation
worldly - laique
afloat - a flot; ; a flot
Mrs. PoppetsIt was Mrs. Poppets that woke me up next morning.
"Do you know that it's nearly nine o'clock, sir?"
"Nine o'what?" I cried, starting up.
"Nine o'clock," she replied, through the keyhole. "I thought you was a-oversleeping yourselves."
keyhole - trou de serrure; ; trou de la serrure
oversleeping - dormir trop longtemps; trop dormir
I woke Harris, and told him. He said:
"I thought you wanted to get up at six?"
"So I did," I answered; "why didn't you wake me?"
"How could I wake you, when you didn't wake me?" he retorted. "Now we shan't get on the water till after twelve. I wonder you take the trouble to get up at all."
retorted - a rétorqué; rétorquer
take the trouble - prendre la peine
"Um," I replied, "lucky for you that I do. If I hadn't woke you, you'd have lain there for the whole fortnight."
lucky - chanceux, heureux, veinard, fortuné
lain - lain; mensonge
George snoringWe snarled at one another in this strain for the next few minutes, when we were interrupted by a defiant snore from George. It reminded us, for the first time since our being called, of his existence. There he lay-the man who had wanted to know what time he should wake us-on his back, with his mouth wide open, and his knees stuck up.
snoringWe - ronflementNous
snarled - grogné; gronder (en montrant les dents)
strain - souche; accablement
interrupted - interrompu; interrompre, couper
snore - ronfler, ronflement
reminded - rappelée; rappeler
being called - etre appelé
existence - l'existence; ; existence
lay - laique; pondre, pose
wide - large
stuck up - coincé
I don't know why it should be, I am sure; but the sight of another man asleep in bed when I am up, maddens me. It seems to me so shocking to see the precious hours of a man's life-the priceless moments that will never come back to him again-being wasted in mere brutish sleep.
shocking - choquant; choc
precious - précieux
priceless - inestimable
There was George, throwing away in hideous sloth the inestimable gift of time; his valuable life, every second of which he would have to account for hereafter, passing away from him, unused. He might have been up stuffing himself with eggs and bacon, irritating the dog, or flirting with the slavey, instead of sprawling there, sunk in soul-clogging oblivion.
throwing away - a jeter
hideous - hideux, strident, atroce, répugnant
sloth - paresse, paresseux, ai
inestimable - inestimable
gift - présent, cadeau, don, talent, donner
valuable - de valeur; ; précieux, valeur
passing away - qui s'éteint
unused - inutilisé
stuffing - rembourrage, farce; (stuff); truc, substance (1)
flirting with - flirter avec
slavey - slavey
sunk - coulé; enfoncés, enfoncé, enfoncées, enfoncée
soul - âme; âme
clogging - le colmatage; sabot, bouchon, boucher
oblivion - l'oubli; ; oubli, néant
It was a terrible thought. Harris and I appeared to be struck by it at the same instant. We determined to save him, and, in this noble resolve, our own dispute was forgotten. We flew across and slung the clothes off him, and Harris landed him one with a slipper, and I shouted in his ear, and he awoke.
appeared - est apparu; apparaître, paraître, apparaître, sembler, paraître
resolve - résoudre; résolvons, résolvent, résolvez
dispute - dispute, litige, discuter, argumenter, évaluer, contester
slung - en bandouliere; écharpe
shouted - crié; cri
awoke - s'est réveillé; (se) réveiller; (s'')éveiller
"Wasermarrer?" he observed, sitting up.
sitting up - assis
"Get up, you fat-headed chunk!" roared Harris. "It's quarter to ten."
chunk - chunk; ; piece, morceau, bloc, fragment
"What!" he shrieked, jumping out of bed into the bath; "Who the thunder put this thing here?"
shrieked - a crié; hurlement, crier
jumping out - en train de sauter
thunder - le tonnerre; ; tonnerre, tonitruer
We told him he must have been a fool not to see the bath.
We finished dressing, and, when it came to the extras, we remembered that we had packed the tooth-brushes and the brush and comb (that tooth-brush of mine will be the death of me, I know), and we had to go downstairs, and fish them out of the bag. And when we had done that George wanted the shaving tackle.
go downstairs - descendre en bas
We told him that he would have to go without shaving that morning, as we weren't going to unpack that bag again for him, nor for anyone like him.
"Don't be absurd. How can I go into the City like this?"
absurd - absurde
It was certainly rather rough on the City, but what cared we for human suffering? As Harris said, in his common, vulgar way, the City would have to lump it.
Certainly - certainement, surement, sans nul doute, sans aucun doute
vulgar - vulgaire, obscene
lump - lump; ; masse, tas, protubérance, renflement
Two dogs and umbrellaWe went downstairs to breakfast. Montmorency had invited two other dogs to come and see him off, and they were whiling away the time by fighting on the doorstep. We calmed them with an umbrella, and sat down to chops and cold beef.
umbrellaWe - parapluieWe
went downstairs - est descendu en bas
invited - invités; inviter (a)
fighting - combattre; combat, bagarre; (fight) combattre; combat, bagarre
doorstep - le pas de la porte; ; seuil
calmed - calmé; calme, tranquille, calme, calme plat, calme, calmer
chops - côtelettes; couper, hacher
"The great thing is to make a good breakfast," and he started with a couple of chops, saying that he would take these while they were hot, as the beef could wait.
George got hold of the paper, and read us out the boating fatalities, and the weather forecast, which latter prophesied "rain, cold, wet to fine" (whatever more than usually ghastly thing in weather that may be), "occasional local thunder-storms, east wind, with general depression over the Midland Counties (London and Channel). Bar. falling."
fatalities - des déces; accident mortel
prophesied - prophétisé; prophétiser, prophétiser, prophétiser
ghastly - épouvantable, effrayant, affreux, horrible
occasional - occasionnel
storms - tempetes; orage, tempete
Counties - comtés; comté, comté
bar - bar; barrent, barrons, barrer, barrez, tringle
I do think that, of all the silly, irritating tomfoolishness by which we are plagued, this "weather-forecast" fraud is about the most aggravating. It "forecasts" precisely what happened yesterday or a the day before, and precisely the opposite of what is going to happen to-day.
silly - stupide; ; sot, insensé, idiot, bete
tomfoolishness - la folie des grandeurs
plagued - en proie a des difficultés; peste, peste, fléau, plaie
fraud - fraude, imposteur, charlatan, fraudeur
forecasts - prévisions; prévoir, prévision, prévision
precisely - précisément
I remember a holiday of mine being completely ruined one late autumn by our paying attention to the weather report of the local newspaper. "heavy showers, with thunderstorms, may be expected to-day," it would say on Monday, and so we would give up our picnic, and stop indoors all day, waiting for the rain.
completely - completement; ; completement
late autumn - la fin de l'automne
attention - attention, attention, attentions, garde a vous
heavy showers - de fortes averses
thunderstorms - des orages; orage
picnic - pique-nique, piquenique, picnic, jeu d’enfant
indoors - a l'intérieur; intérieur, salle
And people would pass the house, going off in wagonettes and coaches as jolly and merry as could be, the sun shining out, and not a cloud to be seen.
coaches - entraîneurs; coche, voiture, entraineur, entraineuse, autocar
jolly - jovial; jovial
shining - brillant; briller, éclairer
cloud - nuage; ; s'obscurcir
"Ah!" we said, as we stood looking out at them through the window, "won't they come home soaked!"
And we chuckled to think how wet they were going to get, and came back and stirred the fire, and got our books, and arranged our specimens of seaweed and cockle shells. By twelve o'clock, with the sun pouring into the room, the heat became quite oppressive, and we wondered when those heavy showers and occasional thunderstorms were going to begin.
chuckled - ricané; glousser
stirred - remué; brasser, agiter
specimens - spécimens; spécimen, exemple, exemple
cockle - la coque; coque
shells - coquilles; coquille, coquillage, coquille, carapace, coque
heat - chaleur; chaleur, ardeur, chauffer
"Ah! they'll come in the afternoon, you'll find," we said to each other. "Oh, won't those people get wet. What a lark!"
lark - alouette; alouette
At one o'clock, the landlady would come in to ask if we weren't going out, as it seemed such a lovely day.
landlady - propriétaire
lovely - charmant, beau, cher, irritant, amene, délicieux
"No, no," we replied, with a knowing chuckle, "not we. We don't mean to get wet-no, no."
And when the afternoon was nearly gone, and still there was no sign of rain, we tried to cheer ourselves up with the idea that it would come down all at once, just as the people had started for home, and were out of the reach of any shelter, and that they would thus get more drenched than ever. But not a drop ever fell, and it finished a grand day, and a lovely night after it.
sign - signe; signent, signez, placard, caractériser, signe
cheer - applaudir; jubiler
shelter - l'abri; ; abri, refuge, abriter
drenched - trempé; tremper
grand - grand; grandiose
The next morning we would read that it was going to be a "warm, fine to set-fair day; much heat;" and we would dress ourselves in flimsy things, and go out, and, half-an-hour after we had started, it would commence to rain hard, and a bitterly cold wind would spring up, and both would keep on steadily for the whole day, and we would come home with colds and rheumatism all over us, and go to bed.
fair - équitable; blond, exposition, foire, marché, kermesse, juste
flimsy - frele, fragile, faible, papier calque
bitterly - amerement; ; amerement
spring up - le printemps
rheumatism - les rhumatismes; ; rhumatisme
The weather is a thing that is beyond me altogether. I never can understand it. The barometer is useless: it is as misleading as the newspaper forecast.
barometer - barometre; ; barometre
misleading - trompeuse; égarer, égarer, mésinformer, égarer
There was one hanging up in a hotel at Oxford at which I was staying last spring, and, when I got there, it was pointing to "set fair." It was simply pouring with rain outside, and had been all day; and I couldn't quite make matters out. I tapped the barometer, and it jumped up and pointed to "very dry.
hanging up - raccrocher
Oxford - oxford; Oxford
matters - questions; matiere, matiere, matiere, affaire, question, cause
tapped - taraudé; petit coup
jumped up - a sauté
The Boots stopped as he was passing, and said he expected it meant to-morrow. I fancied that maybe it was thinking of the week before last, but Boots said, No, he thought not.
passing - en passant; ; passager, éminent, rapide, extremement
morrow - lendemain, matin
fancied - aimée; envie, caprice
I tapped it again the next morning, and it went up still higher, and the rain came down faster than ever. On Wednesday I went and hit it again, and the pointer went round towards "set fair," "very dry," and "much heat," until it was stopped by the peg, and couldn't go any further. It tried its best, but the instrument was built so that it couldn't prophesy fine weather any harder than it did without breaking itself. It evidently wanted to go on, and prognosticate drought, and water famine, and sunstroke, and simooms, and such things, but the peg prevented it, and it had to be content with pointing to the mere commonplace "very dry.
Pointer - pointeur; aiguille, baguette, aiguille, braque, chien d'arret
peg - piquet; ; cheville, porte-manteau, patere, cheviller, épingler
instrument - instrument, acte
prophesy - prophétie; ; prophétiser
did without - a fait sans
prognosticate - pronostiquer, présager
drought - la sécheresse; ; sécheresse
famine - la famine; ; famine
sunstroke - l'insolation; ; insolation
simooms - simooms; simoun
prevented - empeché; empecher
content with - dont vous etes satisfait
Meanwhile, the rain came down in a steady torrent, and the lower part of the town was under water, owing to the river having overflowed.
steady - stable; ; lisse, régulier
torrent - torrent; torrent
lower part - la partie inférieure
owing - owing; devoir, devoir
overflowed - débordé; débordement, déborder, déborder, fr
Boots said it was evident that we were going to have a prolonged spell of grand weather some time, and read out a poem which was printed over the top of the oracle, about
prolonged - prolongée; prolonger
read out - lire
poem - poeme; ; poeme
printed - imprimée; imprimer, imprimé, empreinte, estampe
Oracle - oracle
"Long foretold, long last;
foretold - prédit; prédire
Short notice, soon past."
The fine weather never came that summer. I expect that machine must have been referring to the following spring.
Then there are those new style of barometers, the long straight ones. I never can make head or tail of those. There is one side for 10 a.m. yesterday, and one side for 10 a.m. to-day; but you can't always get there as early as ten, you know. It rises or falls for rain and fine, with much or less wind, and one end is "Nly" and the other "Ely" (what's Ely got to do with it?
barometers - barometres; barometre
head or tail - tete ou queue
, and if you tap it, it doesn't tell you anything. And you've got to correct it to sea-level, and reduce it to Fahrenheit, and even then I don't know the answer.
tap - robinet; robinet, forer, toucher, rencontrer
sea-level - (sea-level) le niveau de la mer
reduce - réduire, diminuer, checkréduire
Fahrenheit - Fahrenheit
But who wants to be foretold the weather? It is bad enough when it comes, without our having the misery of knowing about it beforehand. The prophet we like is the old man who, on the particularly gloomy-looking morning of some day when we particularly want it to be fine, looks round the horizon with a particularly knowing eye, and says:
prophet - prophete; ; prophete, prophétesse, devin
gloomy - morose; ; lugubre, sombre, terne, maussade
some day - un jour
horizon - horizon
"Oh no, sir, I think it will clear up all right. It will break all right enough, sir."
clear up - s'éclaircir
"Ah, he knows", we say, as we wish him good-morning, and start off; "wonderful how these old fellows can tell!"
And we feel an affection for that man which is not at all lessened by the circumstances of its not clearing up, but continuing to rain steadily all day.
lessened - diminuée; amoindrir, atténuer, diminuer, réduire
circumstances - circonstances; circonstance
clearing up - qui s'éclaircissent
continuing - en continuant; continuer, continuer
"Ah, well," we feel, "he did his best."
For the man that prophesies us bad weather, on the contrary, we entertain only bitter and revengeful thoughts.
prophesies - prophéties; prophétiser, prophétiser, prophétiser
entertain - divertir
revengeful - vengeur
thoughts - réflexions; idée, pensée, pensée
"Going to clear up, d'ye think?" we shout, cheerily, as we pass.
ye - ou; lequel
cheerily - heureuse
"Well, no, sir; I'm afraid it's settled down for the day," he replies, shaking his head.
I'm afraid - J'ai peur
"Stupid old fool!" we mutter, "what's he know about it?" And, if his portent proves correct, we come back feeling still more angry against him, and with a vague notion that, somehow or other, he has had something to do with it.
mutter - marmonner; barbotez, murmurer, barbotent, barboter
proves - prouve; prouver
vague - vague
notion - notion
It was too bright and sunny on this especial morning for George's blood-curdling readings about "Bar. falling," "atmospheric disturbance, passing in an oblique line over Southern Europe," and "pressure increasing," to very much upset us: and so, finding that he could not make us wretched, and was only wasting his time, he sneaked the cigarette that I had carefully rolled up for myself, and went.
especial - particulier
curdling - caillé; (curdle); cailler
readings - lectures; lecture
atmospheric - atmosphérique
disturbance - perturbation; ; trouble, tapage
southern - méridionale; ; méridional, sud, austral, sudiste
pressure - pression
increasing - en augmentation; augmentant; (increase); augmenter, croître
wasting - le gaspillage; (wast) le gaspillage
sneaked - en cachette; resquilleur, faucher, piquer, resquiller, cacher
cigarette - cigarette
carefully - attentivement; ; soigneusement
rolled up - enroulé
Then Harris and I, having finished up the few things left on the table, carted out our luggage on to the doorstep, and waited for a cab.
carted - charrié; charrette
There seemed a good deal of luggage, when we put it all together.
There was the Gladstone and the small hand-bag, and the two hampers, and a large roll of rugs, and some four or five overcoats and macintoshes, and a few umbrellas, and then there was a melon by itself in a bag, because it was too bulky to go in anywhere, and a couple of pounds of grapes in another bag, and a Japanese paper umbrella, and a frying pan, which, being too long to pack, we had wrapped round with brown paper.
roll - rouler; petit pain, enroulez, roulons, enroulent, roulez
rugs - tapis; tapis, couverture
overcoats - les manteaux; pardessus, manteau
melon - melon; melon
bulky - gros, corpulent (''of a person''), volumineux, encombrant
grapes - le raisin; raisin
Japanese - japonais, Japonais, Japonaise, Nippon, Nippone
wrapped - enveloppé; enrouler (autour de)
It did look a lot, and Harris and I began to feel rather ashamed of it, though why we should be, I can't see. No cab came by, but the street boys did, and got interested in the show, apparently, and stopped.
ashamed - honteux
apparently - apparemment, évidemment, en apparence
Biggs's boy was the first to come round. Biggs is our greengrocer, and his chief talent lies in securing the services of the most abandoned and unprincipled errand-boys that civilisation has as yet produced. If anything more than usually villainous in the boy-line crops up in our neighbourhood, we know that it is Biggs's latest. I was told that, at the time of the Great Coram Street murder, it was promptly concluded by our street that Biggs's boy (for that period) was at the bottom of it, and had he not been able, in reply to the severe cross-examination to which he was subjected by No.
greengrocer - marchand de légumes; ; marchand de fruits et légumes, primeur
talent - talent
lies - mensonges; mensonge
securing - sécurisation; sur, sur, sur, sur, sur, sur, sécuriser
services - services; (de) service
abandoned - abandonnée; abandonner
unprincipled - sans principes
errand - course, commission
as yet - a ce jour
villainous - infâme
crops - les cultures; récolte, produits agricoles
neighbourhood - quartier
murder - meurtre, homicide, assassinat, occire
promptly - rapidement
Cross - croix, signe de croix, direct du bras arriere, transversal
examination - l'examen; ; examen
19, when he called there for orders the morning after the crime (assisted by No. 21, who happened to be on the step at the time), to prove a complete alibi, it would have gone hard with him. I didn't know Biggs's boy at that time, but, from what I have seen of them since, I should not have attached much importance to that alibi myself.
crime - délit (max 10 years imprisonment according to law) crime (15 years and more) (nothing strictly between 10 and 15)
assisted - assistée; assister, aider, passe décisive
Prove - prouver; éprouvent, éprouvons, éprouvez, prouvent, prouver
alibi - alibi
importance - importance
Biggs's boy, as I have said, came round the corner. He was evidently in a great hurry when he first dawned upon the vision, but, on catching sight of Harris and me, and Montmorency, and the things, he eased up and stared. Harris and I frowned at him. This might have wounded a more sensitive nature, but Biggs's boys are not, as a rule, touchy. He came to a dead stop, a yard from our step, and, leaning up against the railings, and selecting a straw to chew, fixed us with his eye.
hurry - se dépecher; ; précipitation, hâte
dawned - s'est levé; se lever, naître, aube, lever du soleil, aube, aube
vision - vision, vue, aspiration, apparition
catching - de capture; attrapant; (catch); prise, touche, loquet
eased up - allégé
frowned - froncé les sourcils; froncer les sourcils
more sensitive - plus sensible
touchy - sensible; ; irascible, susceptible
railings - les garde-corps
selecting - sélectionnant; sélect, choisir, sélectionner
straw - paille, fétu, jaune paille
chew - mâcher, mordiller, mastiquer
He evidently meant to see this thing out.
In another moment, the grocer's boy passed on the opposite side of the street. Biggs's boy hailed him:
grocer - épicier, épiciere
opposite side - du côté opposé
"Hi! ground floor o'42's a-moving."
ground floor - le rez-de-chaussée
The grocer's boy came across, and took up a position on the other side of the step. Then the young gentleman from the boot-shop stopped, and joined Biggs's boy; while the empty-can superintendent from "The Blue Posts" took up an independent position on the curb.
Superintendent - le directeur de l'école; ; surintendant, superintendant
independent - indépendant
curb - de la bordure; ; restreindre, endiguer
"They ain't a-going to starve, are they?" said the gentleman from the boot-shop.
starve - mourir de faim, crever de faim, crever la dalle, affamer
"Ah! you'd want to take a thing or two with you," retorted "The Blue Posts," "if you was a-going to cross the Atlantic in a small boat."
Atlantic - atlantique
"They ain't a-going to cross the Atlantic," struck in Biggs's boy; "they're a-going to find Stanley."
By this time, quite a small crowd had collected, and people were asking each other what was the matter. One party (the young and giddy portion of the crowd) held that it was a wedding, and pointed out Harris as the bridegroom; while the elder and more thoughtful among the populace inclined to the idea that it was a funeral, and that I was probably the corpse's brother.
collected - collectés; (se) rassembler
giddy - étourdi, étourdissant, étourdi
portion - part, portion
wedding - mariage; (wed); marier, épouser
bridegroom - l'époux; ; jeune marié, futur marié, futur époux
more thoughtful - plus réfléchi
populace - population; ; bas peuple, plebe
corpse - cadavre, corps, corps sans vie
At last, an empty cab turned up (it is a street where, as a rule, and when they are not wanted, empty cabs pass at the rate of three a minute, and hang about, and get in your way), and packing ourselves and our belongings into it, and shooting out a couple of Montmorency's friends, who had evidently sworn never to forsake him, we drove away amidst the cheers of the crowd, Biggs's boy shying a carrot after us for luck.
cabs - cabs; taxi
shooting - le tir; ; tir, fusillade; (shoot) le tir; ; tir, fusillade
forsake - abandonner, renoncer
drove away - est parti en voiture
amidst - au milieu
shying - timide; timide, timide, gené, prudent, embarrassé
luck - la chance; ; chance, veine
We got to Waterloo at eleven, and asked where the eleven-five started from. Of course nobody knew; nobody at Waterloo ever does know where a train is going to start from, or where a train when it does start is going to, or anything about it. The porter who took our things thought it would go from number two platform, while another porter, with whom he discussed the question, had heard a rumour that it would go from number one.
porter - porter; porteur; (port) porter; porteur
whom - que, qui
rumour - rumeur; bruit
The station-master, on the other hand, was convinced it would start from the local.
Master - maître; patron, maîtriser, maître, maitre, maîtrisent
Convinced - convaincu; convaincre, persuader
To put an end to the matter, we went upstairs, and asked the traffic superintendent, and he told us that he had just met a man, who said he had seen it at number three platform. We went to number three platform, but the authorities there said that they rather thought that train was the Southampton express, or else the Windsor loop. But they were sure it wasn't the Kingston train, though why they were sure it wasn't they couldn't say.
authorities - autorités; autorité, autorité, autorité
loop - boucle, circuit fermé
Then our porter said he thought that must be it on the high-level platform; said he thought he knew the train. So we went to the high-level platform, and saw the engine-driver, and asked him if he was going to Kingston. He said he couldn't say for certain of course, but that he rather thought he was. Anyhow, if he wasn't the 11.
level - plat, a ras, au meme niveau, constant, niveau, profondeur
engine-driver - (engine-driver) conducteur de moteur
anyhow - d'une maniere ou d'une autre; ; de toute maniere
for Kingston, he said he was pretty confident he was the 9.32 for Virginia Water, or the 10 a.m. express for the Isle of Wight, or somewhere in that direction, and we should all know when we got there. We slipped half-a-crown into his hand, and begged him to be the 11.5 for Kingston.
confident - assuré, confiant
Virginia - la virginie; Virginie, Virginie
Isle - l'île; île
somewhere - quelque part
slipped - a glissé; glisser
begged - supplié; mendier
"Nobody will ever know, on this line," we said, "what you are, or where you're going. You know the way, you slip off quietly and go to Kingston."
slip off - glisser
"Well, I don't know, gents," replied the noble fellow, "but I suppose some train's got to go to Kingston; and I'll do it. Gimme the half-crown."
suppose - supposer, imaginer
I'll do it - Je vais le faire
Gimme - Donnez-moi
Thus we got to Kingston by the London and South-Western Railway.
We learnt, afterwards, that the train we had come by was really the Exeter mail, and that they had spent hours at Waterloo, looking for it, and nobody knew what had become of it.
mail - courrier; postal
Our boat was waiting for us at Kingston just below bridge, and to it we wended our way, and round it we stored our luggage, and into it we stepped.
stored - stockée; entrepôt, stock, stocker, stocker, conserver
stepped - en escalier; pas
"Are you all right, sir?" said the man.
"Right it is," we answered; and with Harris at the sculls and I at the tiller-lines, and Montmorency, unhappy and deeply suspicious, in the prow, out we shot on to the waters which, for a fortnight, were to be our home.
sculls - les godillots; aviron
tiller - timon; barre
unhappy - malheureux, triste, mécontent
deeply - profondément
suspicious - suspect, méfiant, soupçonneux, suspicieux
prow - proue; proue
shot - tir; tirai, tiré, tirâmes, tirerent, tira
Kingston.-Instructive remarks on early English history.-Instructive observations on carved oak and life in general.-Sad case of Stivvings, junior.-Musings on antiquity.-I forget that I am steering.-Interesting result.-Hampton Court Maze.-Harris as a guide.
instructive - instructif
remarks - remarques; remarque
observations - observations; observation, observation, remarque
junior - junior, jeune
musings - des réflexions; songeur, pensif, pensée
antiquity - l'antiquité; ; Antiquité
steering - la direction; ; direction; (steer) la direction; ; direction
Court - la cour; ; cour, tribunal, court de tennis, court, courtiser
maze - labyrinthe; ; dédale
Guide - guide; conduire, guider, guident, diriger, guidez, mener
It was a glorious morning, late spring or early summer, as you care to take it, when the dainty sheen of grass and leaf is blushing to a deeper green; and the year seems like a fair young maid, trembling with strange, wakening pulses on the brink of womanhood.
glorious - glorieux, splendide
dainty - délicate; ; délicat, mignon
sheen - l'éclat; lustre, brillant
leaf - feuille, rallonge, battant, ouvrant, vantail, feuiller
blushing - rougir; (blush) rougir
deeper - plus profond; profond, épais, profond, grave, foncé, foncée
maid - femme de ménage; ; demoiselle, jeune fille, bonne
wakening - réveil; (waken) réveil
pulses - impulsions; pouls
brink - au bord du gouffre; ; bord, lisiere
womanhood - la féminité; ; féminité
I mused on Kingston, or "Kyningestun," as it was once called in the days when Saxon "kinges" were crowned there. Great Cćsar crossed the river there, and the Roman legions camped upon its sloping uplands. Cćsar, like, in later years, Elizabeth, seems to have stopped everywhere: only he was more respectable than good Queen Bess; he didn't put up at the public-houses.
mused - a réfléchi; muse, Muse
Saxon - saxon; Saxon, Saxonne, saxon
crowned - couronné; couronne
crossed - croisé; crosse
legions - légions; légion
camped - campé; camp(ement)
sloping - en pente; renverser, déborder
Elizabeth - elizabeth; Élisabeth
everywhere - partout
more respectable - plus respectable
Queen - la reine; ; reine, dame, folle, chatte, promouvoir, mener a dame
public - public, public
She was nuts on public-houses, was England's Virgin Queen. There's scarcely a pub. of any attractions within ten miles of London that she does not seem to have looked in at, or stopped at, or slept at, some time or other. I wonder now, supposing Harris, say, turned over a new leaf, and became a great and good man, and got to be Prime Minister, and died, if they would put up signs over the public-houses that he had patronised: "Harris had a glass of bitter in this house;" "Harris had two of Scotch cold here in the summer of '88;" "Harris was chucked from here in December, 1886.
nuts - des noix; noix(literally walnut = noix but often used generically)
Virgin - vierge
scarcely - a peine; ; a peine, guere
attractions - des attractions; attraction, attirance
looked in - regardé
prime - premier; premier
minister - ministre; ministériel, ministre
signs over - Les signes sont terminés
chucked - jeté; balancer
No, there would be too many of them! It would be the houses that he had never entered that would become famous. "Only house in South London that Harris never had a drink in!" The people would flock to it to see what could have been the matter with it.
entered - a pénétré; entrer, rench: -neededr, taper, saisir
flock - troupeau; troupeau
How poor weak-minded King Edwy must have hated Kyningestun! The coronation feast had been too much for him. Maybe boar's head stuffed with sugar-plums did not agree with him (it wouldn't with me, I know), and he had had enough of sack and mead; so he slipped from the noisy revel to steal a quiet moonlight hour with his beloved Elgiva.
minded - mentales; esprit, t+raison, t+intelligence, mémoire
king - roi; dame, roi
coronation - couronnement
feast - la fete; délibéré
boar - sanglier; ; verrat
stuffed - empaillé; truc, truc, substance (1), frachin (2), fr
plums - des prunes; prune
sack - sac; ficher, résilier
steal - voler, vol
moonlight - le clair de lune; ; clair de lune, travailler au noir
beloved - bien-aimé, chéri, amant, amante; (belove); bien-aimé, chéri
Perhaps, from the casement, standing hand-in-hand, they were watching the calm moonlight on the river, while from the distant halls the boisterous revelry floated in broken bursts of faint-heard din and tumult.
Perhaps - peut-etre; ; peut-etre, possiblement
Calm - calme, tranquille, calme plat, calmer, apaiser
distant - distante; ; distant, lointain, éloigné
halls - salles; couloir, corridor, salle, salon, manoir, foyer
boisterous - bruyante; ; bruyant, tapageur, turbulent
floated - flotté; flotter, flotter, flotter, flotter, flotter, flotter
bursts - éclatements; éclater, faire éclater, rompre, briser, éclatement
din - din; vacarme
tumult - tumultes; ; barouf, baroufe, bagarre
Then brutal Odo and St. Dunstan force their rude way into the quiet room, and hurl coarse insults at the sweet-faced Queen, and drag poor Edwy back to the loud clamour of the drunken brawl.
brutal - brutal
rude - grossier; ; impoli, malpoli
hurl - hurler; ; projeter, débecter, débecqueter
coarse - grossier, brut, vulgaire
insults - des insultes; insulter, insulte
drag - draguer; transbahuter, traîner
loud - bruyante; fort
clamour - clameur; jacasser, clameur
drunken - ivre
brawl - bagarre; bagarre
Years later, to the crash of battle-music, Saxon kings and Saxon revelry were buried side by side, and Kingston's greatness passed away for a time, to rise once more when Hampton Court became the palace of the Tudors and the Stuarts, and the royal barges strained at their moorings on the river's bank, and bright-cloaked gallants swaggered down the water-steps to cry: "What Ferry, ho! Gadzooks, gramercy."
crash - crash; fracas
battle - bataille; bataille, combat
Kings - les rois; roi
greatness - la grandeur; ; grandeur
rise - hausse; remonte, élévation, débout, surcroît
Stuarts - les stuart; Stuart
Royal - royal, royale, trochure, cacatois
barges - barges; chaland
strained - tendu; tendre fortement
moorings - amarres; amarrage
cloaked - occulté; pelisse, pelerine
gallants - galants; brave
swaggered - swaggered; se pavaner
ferry - bac, ferry, transbordeur
Gadzooks - gadzooks
gramercy - gramercy
Many of the old houses, round about, speak very plainly of those days when Kingston was a royal borough, and nobles and courtiers lived there, near their King, and the long road to the palace gates was gay all day with clanking steel and prancing palfreys, and rustling silks and velvets, and fair faces. The large and spacious houses, with their oriel, latticed windows, their huge fireplaces, and their gabled roofs, breathe of the days of hose and doublet, of pearl-embroidered stomachers, and complicated oaths.
round about - en rond
plainly - en toute clarté; ; simplement, clairement
hose - tuyau
borough - arrondissement
nobles - nobles; (noble); noble, aristocrate, aristocratique
courtiers - courtisans; courtisan
gates - portes; porte, barriere
gay - gay; gai
clanking - cliquetis; (clank) cliquetis
steel - l'acier; acier
prancing - se pavaner; (prance); se cabrer, parader
palfreys - palfreys; palefroi
rustling - bruissement; (rustle); bruissement, froufrou, froufrouter
silks - des soies; soie, soie
velvets - velours; velours, duvet (on skin), velours (on antlers), velours
spacious - spacieux, ample, grand, logeable
latticed - en treillis; treillis, quadrillage, grille, lattis, réseau
fireplaces - les cheminées; âtre, foyer, cheminée
gabled - a pignon; pignon
roofs - les toits; toit
breathe - respirer, inspirer, expirer, reprendre son souffle
doublet - doublet
pearl - perle, joyau, perlure, parisienne, sédanoise
embroidered - brodée; broder, broder
stomachers - estomacs; piece d'estomac
complicated - compliqué; compliquer
oaths - serments; serment, juron, jurer
They were upraised in the days "when men knew how to build." The hard red bricks have only grown more firmly set with time, and their oak stairs do not creak and grunt when you try to go down them quietly.
bricks - briques; brique, brique, soutien, rouge brique, brique
stairs - escaliers; marche, escalier, volée
creak - grincement; ; craquement, craquer
Speaking of oak staircases reminds me that there is a magnificent carved oak staircase in one of the houses in Kingston. It is a shop now, in the market-place, but it was evidently once the mansion of some great personage. A friend of mine, who lives at Kingston, went in there to buy a hat one day, and, in a thoughtless moment, put his hand in his pocket and paid for it then and there.
staircases - des escaliers; escalier
magnificent - magnifique
mansion - manoir, demeure
personage - personnage
thoughtless - inattentionné, irréfléchi
The shopman (he knows my friend) was naturally a little staggered at first; but, quickly recovering himself, and feeling that something ought to be done to encourage this sort of thing, asked our hero if he would like to see some fine old carved oak. My friend said he would, and the shopman, thereupon, took him through the shop, and up the staircase of the house.
shopman - commerçant
staggered - en décalé; tituber
recovering - en cours de rétablissement; recouvrer (la santé)
encourage - encourager
hero - héros, protagoniste
thereupon - a ce sujet; ; sur ce, la-dessus
staircase - escalier
The balusters were a superb piece of workmanship, and the wall all the way up was oak-panelled, with carving that would have done credit to a palace.
balusters - les balustres; balustre
superb - superbe
panelled - lambrissée; panneau, table ronde, case, vignette, panneau, , g
carving - la sculpture; ; gravure, sculpture, découpage
From the stairs, they went into the drawing-room, which was a large, bright room, decorated with a somewhat startling though cheerful paper of a blue ground. There was nothing, however, remarkable about the apartment, and my friend wondered why he had been brought there. The proprietor went up to the paper, and tapped it. It gave forth a wooden sound.
decorated - décoré; décorer, orner, décorer
cheerful - joyeux, content, de bonne humeur
remarkable - remarquable
Proprietor - propriétaire
forth - avant; en avant
wooden - en bois, boisé, raide
"Oak," he explained. "All carved oak, right up to the ceiling, just the same as you saw on the staircase."
ceiling - plafond; plafond; (ceil) plafond; plafond
"But, great Cćsar! man," expostulated my friend; "you don't mean to say you have covered over carved oak with blue wall-paper?"
covered - couverts; couvercle, couverture, couverture, couvert
"Yes," was the reply: "it was expensive work. Had to match-board it all over first, of course. But the room looks cheerful now. It was awful gloomy before."
match - match; s'entremettre, match, allumette, concorder
I can't say I altogether blame the man (which is doubtless a great relief to his mind). From his point of view, which would be that of the average householder, desiring to take life as lightly as possible, and not that of the old-curiosity-shop maniac, there is reason on his side.
blame - blâme; blâme, gronder, blâment, blâmons, blâmez, blâmer
doubtless - sans doute; ; sans aucun doute, sans nul doute, indubitablement
relief - secours; allégement, relief, soulagement
average - moyenne; moyenne
householder - maître de maison
desiring - désirant; désirer, désirer, désir, désir, désir
curiosity - curiosité, curiosité
maniac - maniaque, cinglé, cinglée
Carved oak is very pleasant to look at, and to have a little of, but it is no doubt somewhat depressing to live in, for those whose fancy does not lie that way. It would be like living in a church.
doubt - des doutes; ; douter, doute
depressing - déprimant; appuyer
lie - mentir; mentir, mensonge, mentez, gésir, gis, mentons
No, what was sad in his case was that he, who didn't care for carved oak, should have his drawing-room panelled with it, while people who do care for it have to pay enormous prices to get it. It seems to be the rule of this world. Each person has what he doesn't want, and other people have what he does want.
enormous - énorme
Married men have wives, and don't seem to want them; and young single fellows cry out that they can't get them. Poor people who can hardly keep themselves have eight hearty children. Rich old couples, with no one to leave their money to, die childless.
single - seul, célibataire f, célibataire, simple
couples - couples; couple, paire, époux-p, paire, quelques
childless - sans enfant; ; sans enfants
Then there are girls with lovers. The girls that have lovers never want them. They say they would rather be without them, that they bother them, and why don't they go and make love to Miss Smith and Miss Brown, who are plain and elderly, and haven't got any lovers? They themselves don't want lovers. They never mean to marry.
make love - faire l'amour
Smith - smith; ; Lefevre, Lefébure, Lefebvre
marry - se marier; marions, marient, épousez, mariez, se marier
It does not do to dwell on these things; it makes one so sad.
dwell - s'attarder; ; résider, s'appesantir sur
There was a boy at our school, we used to call him Sandford and Merton. His real name was Stivvings. He was the most extraordinary lad I ever came across. I believe he really liked study. He used to get into awful rows for sitting up in bed and reading Greek; and as for French irregular verbs there was simply no keeping him away from them.
lad - lad; ; garçon, gars, jeune homme, palefrenier
rows - rangées; rang(ée)
Greek - grec, grec, grecque, grecques
irregular - irréguliere; ; irrégulier, irrégulier
verbs - verbes; verbe
He was full of weird and unnatural notions about being a credit to his parents and an honour to the school; and he yearned to win prizes, and grow up and be a clever man, and had all those sorts of weak-minded ideas. I never knew such a strange creature, yet harmless, Mind you, as the babe unborn.
weird - bizarre, étrange, bizarre
unnatural - contre nature
notions - notions; notion
yearned - désiré; aspirer a
prizes - des prix; forcer, ouvrir de force
sorts - sortes; sorte
creature - créature, etre
harmless - inoffensif
Mind you - Vous voulez bien
unborn - a naître; ; (unbear) a naître
Well, that boy used to get ill about twice a week, so that he couldn't go to school. There never was such a boy to get ill as that Sandford and Merton. If there was any known disease going within ten miles of him, he had it, and had it badly.
badly - mal, mauvaisement
He would take bronchitis in the dog-days, and have hay-fever at Christmas. After a six weeks'period of drought, he would be stricken down with rheumatic fever; and he would go out in a November fog and come home with a sunstroke.
bronchitis - bronchite
hay-fever - (hay-fever) le rhume des foins
Christmas - Noël
rheumatic - rhumatismale; ; rhumatismal
Fog - le brouillard; masquer, brume, brouillard
They put him under laughing-gas one year, poor lad, and drew all his teeth, and gave him a false set, because he suffered so terribly with toothache; and then it turned to neuralgia and ear-ache. He was never without a cold, except once for nine weeks while he had scarlet fever; and he always had chilblains.
suffered - souffert; souffrir, souffrir, souffrir de, pâtir de, endurer
Terribly - terriblement
toothache - mal aux dents, mal de dents
neuralgia - névralgie
scarlet - écarlate
chilblains - des engelures; engelure
During the great cholera scare of 1871, our neighbourhood was singularly free from it. There was only one reputed case in the whole parish: that case was young Stivvings.
scare - peur; effaroucher
singularly - singulierement
reputed - réputé; réputation
He had to stop in bed when he was ill, and eat chicken and custards and hot-house grapes; and he would lie there and sob, because they wouldn't let him do Latin exercises, and took his German grammar away from him.
custards - des flans; creme anglaise, creme pâtissiere, custard
sob - sanglot; ; fdp
Latin - latine
Grammar - grammaire
And we other boys, who would have sacrificed ten terms of our school-life for the sake of being ill for a day, and had no desire whatever to give our parents any excuse for being stuck-up about us, couldn't catch so much as a stiff neck. We fooled about in draughts, and it did us good, and freshened us up; and we took things to make us sick, and they made us fat, and gave us an appetite. Nothing we could think of seemed to make us ill until the holidays began.
sacrificed - sacrifié; sacrifier, sacrifier, sacrifice, offrande, sacrifice
sake - du saké; dans l''intéret de qqn
desire - désirer, désir
Excuse - pardon; ; excuser, pardonner, justifier, prétexte, excuse
catch - attraper; ; prise, touche, loquet, loqueteau, verrou, hic
stiff neck - un torticolis
fooled about - berné
Then, on the breaking-up day, we caught colds, and whooping cough, and all kinds of disorders, which lasted till the term recommenced; when, in spite of everything we could manSuvre to the contrary, we would get suddenly well again, and be better than ever.
breaking-up - (breaking-up) de se séparer
whooping - la coqueluche; (whoop) la coqueluche
cough - tousser, toux
disorders - des troubles; désordre, trouble, trouble, désordre
lasted - a duré; dernier
term - terme; ajournement, listing
recommenced - repris; recommencer
spite - dépit; rancune
Such is life; and we are but as grass that is cut down, and put into the oven and baked.
Such is life - Telle est la vie
cut down - réduit
oven - four
baked - cuit; cuire
To go back to the carved-oak question, they must have had very fair notions of the artistic and the beautiful, our great-great-grandfathers. Why, all our art treasures of to-day are only the dug-up commonplaces of three or four hundred years ago. I wonder if there is real intrinsic beauty in the old soup-plates, beer-mugs, and candle-snuffers that we prize so now, or if it is only the halo of age glowing around them that gives them their charms in our eyes.
artistic - artistique
art treasures - des trésors d'art
dug-up - (dug-up) déterré
commonplaces - des lieux communs; ordinaire, banal, lieu commun
four hundred - quatre cents
intrinsic - intrinseque
beauty - la beauté; ; beauté
mugs - mugs; mug, tasse
prize - prix; prix, houp, récompense
halo - halo, auréole, nimbe
glowing - rayonnante; briller, luire, irradier, briller, lueur, lueur
charms - des breloques; charme
The "old blue" that we hang about our walls as ornaments were the common every-day household utensils of a few centuries ago; and the pink shepherds and the yellow shepherdesses that we hand round now for all our friends to gush over, and pretend they understand, were the unvalued mantel-ornaments that the mother of the eighteenth century would have given the baby to suck when he cried.
ornaments - ornements; ornement, ornement musical
household - foyer, ménage, maisonnée, domestique
shepherds - bergers; berger, bergere, pasteur, pâtre, qualifier
shepherdesses - bergeres; bergere, qualifier
hand round - le tour de main
gush - jaillissement, jaillir
unvalued - non évaluée
eighteenth - dix-huitieme; ; dix-huitieme (''before the noun''); (''in names of monarchs and popes'') dix-huit (''after the name'') (''abbreviation'' XVIII)
suck - aspirer; ; sucer, téter, etre chiant, etre nul
Will it be the same in the future? Will the prized treasures of to-day always be the cheap trifles of the day before? Will rows of our willow-pattern dinner-plates be ranged above the chimneypieces of the great in the years 2000 and odd?
prized - prisé; forcer, ouvrir de force
treasures - des trésors; trésor, trésor, trésor, garder précieusement
trifles - des broutilles; bagatelle, broutille, babiole, bricole
willow - le saule; ; saule
pattern - modele; ; modele, motif, régularité, tendance, schéma, patron
ranged - rangé; chaîne (de montagnes), cuisiniere, sélection, gamme
odd - rench: t-needed r, bizarre, étrange, impair, a peu pres
Will the white cups with the gold rim and the beautiful gold flower inside (species unknown), that our Sarah Janes now break in sheer light-heartedness of spirit, be carefully mended, and stood upon a bracket, and dusted only by the lady of the house?
gold - l'or; or
rim - jante; jante
unknown - inconnu, inconnue, inconnu
Janes - janes; Jeanne
break in - s'installer
sheer - transparent; pur
heartedness - cour
mended - réparé; réparer, raccommoder, rapiécer, s'améliorer
bracket - de l'étrier; parenthese
dusted - dépoussiéré; poussiere, épousseter, pulvériser
China dogThat china dog that ornaments the bedroom of my furnished lodgings. It is a white dog. Its eyes blue. Its nose is a delicate red, with spots. Its head is painfully erect, its expression is amiability carried to verge of imbecility. I do not admire it myself.
China - la chine; Chine
furnished - meublé; meubler, fournir, livrer
lodgings - logements; logement, hébergement, verse
delicate - délicate; ; délicat, délicat (1, 2)
spots - taches; tache, bouton, peu, endroit, zone, détecter, trouver
painfully - douloureusement
erect - en érection; fonder, érigeons, érigent, érigez, arborer, ériger
amiability - l'amabilité
verge - verge; bord
imbecility - l'imbécillité; ; imbécilité
admire - admirer
Considered as a work of art, I may say it irritates me. Thoughtless friends jeer at it, and even my landlady herself has no admiration for it, and excuses its presence by the circumstance that her aunt gave it to her.
considered - envisagée; considérer, examiner, réfléchir, songer, songer
irritates - irrite; agacer (displeasure)
jeer - jeer; huer
admiration - l'admiration; ; admiration
excuses - des excuses; excuser, pardonner, excuser, excuser, justifier
circumstance - circonstances; ; circonstance
But in 200 years'time it is more than probable that that dog will be dug up from somewhere or other, minus its legs, and with its tail broken, and will be sold for old china, and put in a glass cabinet. And people will pass it round, and admire it. They will be struck by the wonderful depth of the colour on the nose, and speculate as to how beautiful the bit of the tail that is lost no doubt was.
probable - probable
dug - creusée, creusâmes, creusé, creusa, creuserent; (dig) creusée
minus - moins, strictement négatif, strictement négative
tail - queue; queue
be sold - etre vendue
glass cabinet - armoire a glace
depth - profondeur, épaisseur
speculate - spéculer
We, in this age, do not see the beauty of that dog. We are too familiar with it. It is like the sunset and the stars: we are not awed by their loveliness because they are common to our eyes. So it is with that china dog. In 2288 people will gush over it. The making of such dogs will have become a lost art.
familiar - familier, esprit familier
loveliness - la beauté; ; beauté, charme
Our descendants will wonder how we did it, and say how clever we were. We shall be referred to lovingly as "those grand old artists that flourished in the nineteenth century, and produced those china dogs."
descendants - descendants; descendant, descendante, descendant
lovingly - avec amour
flourished - a prospéré; fleurir, fleurir, fleurir, brandir, gesticulation
At this point Harris threw away the sculls, got up and left his seat, and sat on his back, and stuck his legs in the air. Montmorency howled, and turned a somersault, and the top hamper jumped up, and all the things came out.
threw away - jeté
howled - hurlé; hurlement, hurler
somersault - salto, saut périlleux, galipette
jumped - a sauté; (faire) sauter
I was somewhat surprised, but I did not lose my temper. I said, pleasantly enough:
temper - caractere, tempérament, humeur, état d'esprit, recuit
"Hulloa! what's that for?"
Hulloa - hulloa
"What's that for? Why-"
No, on second thoughts, I will not repeat what Harris said. I may have been to blame, I admit it; but nothing excuses violence of language and coarseness of expression, especially in a man who has been carefully brought up, as I know Harris has been. I was thinking of other things, and forgot, as any one might easily understand, that I was steering, and the consequence was that we had got mixed up a good deal with the tow-path.
admit - admettre, avouer, reconnaître
violence - la violence; ; violence
coarseness - crudité
especially - spécialement, particulierement, surtout, en particulier
consequence - conséquence
got mixed up - se sont mélangés
tow - remorquer; remorquer, traîner, remorquent, tirage, remorquez
path - chemin; sentier
It was difficult to say, for the moment, which was us and which was the Middlesex bank of the river; but we found out after a while, and separated ourselves.
separated - séparée; séparé, séparée, séparé, séparée, séparer, séparer
Harris, however, said he had done enough for a bit, and proposed that I should take a turn; so, as we were in, I got out and took the tow-line, and ran the boat on past Hampton Court. What a dear old wall that is that runs along by the river there! I never pass it without feeling better for the sight of it. Such a mellow, bright, sweet old wall; what a charming picture it would make, with the lichen creeping here, and the moss growing there, a shy young vine peeping over the top at this spot, to see what is going on upon the busy river, and the sober old ivy clustering a little farther down! There are fifty shades and tints and hues in every ten yards of that old wall. If I could only draw, and knew how to paint, I could make a lovely sketch of that old wall, I'm sure.
mellow - moelleux
charming - charmant; (charm); charmant
lichen - lichen
creeping - rampant; ramper, rampement, fatigue, fluage, reptation
moss - mousse
Shy - timide, gené, prudent, embarrassé
vine - vigne; ; grimpante
peeping - de l'espionnage; regarder qqch a la dérobée
sober - sobre, cuver
ivy - le lierre; ; lierre
clustering - la mise en grappe; groupe, grappe, régime, amas
shades - nuances; alose
tints - teintes; nuance, teinte
hues - teintes; teinte
sketch - croquis; ; croquer, esquisser, esquisse, ébauche, sketch
I've often thought I should like to live at Hampton Court. It looks so peaceful and so quiet, and it is such a dear old place to ramble round in the early morning before many people are about.
peaceful - paisible
ramble - flâner, se balader, divaguer, radoter
But, there, I don't suppose I should really care for it when it came to actual practice. It would be so ghastly dull and depressing in the evening, when your lamp cast uncanny shadows on the panelled walls, and the echo of distant feet rang through the cold stone corridors, and now drew nearer, and now died away, and all was death-like silence, save the beating of one's own heart.
actual - réel, effectif, checkeffectif, checkprésent
dull - émoussé, ennuyeux, barbant, mat, terne, sot, obtus
cast - casting; ; jeter, diriger, lancer, additionner, sommer, muer
Echo - echo; ; écho
stone - pierre, roche, caillou, roc
corridors - couloirs; couloir, corridor, corridor, couloir, couloir aérien
silence - le silence; ; silence
We are creatures of the sun, we men and women. We love light and life. That is why we crowd into the towns and cities, and the country grows more and more deserted every year. In the sunlight-in the daytime, when Nature is alive and busy all around us, we like the open hill-sides and the deep woods well enough: but in the night, when our Mother Earth has gone to sleep, and left us waking, oh! the world seems so lonesome, and we get frightened, like children in a silent house.
creatures - créatures; créature, etre
more deserted - plus déserte
sunlight - la lumiere du soleil; ; lumiere du soleil
daytime - journée, jour
alive - en vie, vivant
Hill - hill; ; colline, côte
sides - côtés; côté
lonesome - solitaire
get frightened - etre effrayé
Then we sit and sob, and long for the gas-lit streets, and the sound of human voices, and the answering throb of human life. We feel so helpless and so little in the great stillness, when the dark trees rustle in the night-wind. There are so many ghosts about, and their silent sighs make us feel so sad. Let us gather together in the great cities, and light huge bonfires of a million gas-jets, and shout and sing together, and feel brave.
long for - longtemps
throb - palpitant; ; battre, palpiter, vibrer, résonner, battement
helpless - sans défense, désemparé
rustle - bruissement, froufrou, froufrouter
ghosts - fantômes; fantôme, t+spectre, t+esprit, t+revenant
sighs - soupirs; soupirer
bonfires - des feux de joie; feu de joie, bucher
jets - jets; (de) jais
Brave - courageux
People at Hampton MazeHarris asked me if I'd ever been in the maze at Hampton Court. He said he went in once to show somebody else the way.
He had studied it up in a map, and it was so simple that it seemed foolish-hardly worth the twopence charged for admission. Harris said he thought that map must have been got up as a practical joke, because it wasn't a bit like the real thing, and only misleading. It was a country cousin that Harris took in. He said:
charged - chargé; frais-p, charge, chef d’accusation, chef d’inculpation
admission - l'admission; ; admission
practical joke - Une blague
took in - pris
"We'll just go in here, so that you can say you've been, but it's very simple. It's absurd to call it a maze. You keep on taking the first turning to the right. We'll just walk round for ten minutes, and then go and get some lunch."
They met some people soon after they had got inside, who said they had been there for three-quarters of an hour, and had had about enough of it. Harris told them they could follow him, if they liked; he was just going in, and then should turn round and come out again. They said it was very kind of him, and fell behind, and followed.
turn round - faire demi-tour
fell behind - a pris du retard
They picked up various other people who wanted to get it over, as they went along, until they had absorbed all the persons in the maze. People who had given up all hopes of ever getting either in or out, or of ever seeing their home and friends again, plucked up courage at the sight of Harris and his party, and joined the procession, blessing him.
picked - choisi; pioche, passe-partout, choix, écran, prendre, cueillir
absorbed - absorbé; absorber, absorber, éponger, absorber, absorber
plucked up courage - du courage
procession - procession, cortege, kyrielle
blessing - la bénédiction; ; bénédiction, grâce, troupeau, harde
Harris said he should judge there must have been twenty people, following him, in all; and one woman with a baby, who had been there all the morning, insisted on taking his arm, for fear of losing him.
judge - juge; juge, juger
insisted - insisté; insister
fear - peur; angoisse, craignent, crainte, crains, craignons
Harris kept on turning to the right, but it seemed a long way, and his cousin said he supposed it was a very big maze.
"Oh, one of the largest in Europe," said Harris.
"Yes, it must be," replied the cousin, "because we've walked a good two miles already."
Harris began to think it rather strange himself, but he held on until, at last, they passed the half of a penny bun on the ground that Harris's cousin swore he had noticed there seven minutes ago. Harris said: "Oh, impossible!" but the woman with the baby said, "Not at all," as she herself had taken it from the child, and thrown it down there, just before she met Harris.
penny - penny
bun - bun; chignon
swore - juré; jurer
impossible - impossible, insupportable
She also added that she wished she never had met Harris, and expressed an opinion that he was an impostor. That made Harris mad, and he produced his map, and explained his theory.
expressed - exprimée; exprimer
theory - théorie
"The map may be all right enough," said one of the party, "if you know whereabouts in it we are now."
whereabouts - ou se trouve-t-il; ; jusque la
Harris didn't know, and suggested that the best thing to do would be to go back to the entrance, and begin again. For the beginning again part of it there was not much enthusiasm; but with regard to the advisability of going back to the entrance there was complete unanimity, and so they turned, and trailed after Harris again, in the opposite direction. About ten minutes more passed, and then they found themselves in the centre.
entrance - entrée; cochere
advisability - l'opportunité
unanimity - l'unanimité; ; unanimité
trailed - suivi; pister, suivre, traîner, piste, traces-p, piste, sentier
opposite direction - dans la direction opposée
Harris thought at first of pretending that that was what he had been aiming at; but the crowd looked dangerous, and he decided to treat it as an accident.
pretending - faire semblant; prétendre, prétendre a, feindre, faire semblant
aiming at - visant
treat - négocier, traiter, régaler, guérir, soigner
accident - accident
Anyhow, they had got something to start from then. They did know where they were, and the map was once more consulted, and the thing seemed simpler than ever, and off they started for the third time.
consulted - consultée; concerter
And three minutes later they were back in the centre again.
After that, they simply couldn't get anywhere else. Whatever way they turned brought them back to the middle. It became so regular at length, that some of the people stopped there, and waited for the others to take a walk round, and come back to them. Harris drew out his map again, after a while, but the sight of it only infuriated the mob, and they told him to go and curl his hair with it.
regular - réguliere; ; régulier, habitué, habituée, habitués, habituées
at length - longuement
infuriated - exaspéré; enrager
mob - mob; cohue
curl - boucle, rotationnel, boucler
Harris said that he couldn't help feeling that, to a certain extent, he had become unpopular.
extent - mesure, étendue
unpopular - impopulaire
They all got crazy at last, and sang out for the keeper, and the man came and climbed up the ladder outside, and shouted out directions to them. But all their heads were, by this time, in such a confused whirl that they were incapable of grasping anything, and so the man told them to stop where they were, and he would come to them. They huddled together, and waited; and he climbed down, and came in.
crazy - fou, insensé, avoir une araignée au plafond, chtarbé
keeper - gardien, gardienne, perle, conservateur, conservatrice
climbed up - grimpé
confused - confus; rendre perplexe, confondre, confondre
whirl - tourbillon; ; tourbillonner
incapable - incapable
huddled - blottis; foule dense et désordonnée, se blottir, se blottir
climbed down - descendu
He was a young keeper, as luck would have it, and new to the business; and when he got in, he couldn't find them, and he wandered about, trying to get to them, and then he got lost.
wandered - erré; errer, vaguer, divaguer
got lost - Vous vous etes perdu
They caught sight of him, every now and then, rushing about the other side of the hedge, and he would see them, and rush to get to them, and they would wait there for about five minutes, and then he would reappear again in exactly the same spot, and ask them where they had been.
rushing - se précipiter; (rush) se précipiter
hedge - couverture; haie
reappear - reparaître, réapparaître
They had to wait till one of the old keepers came back from his dinner before they got out.
keepers - les gardiens; gardien, gardienne, perle, conservateur
Harris said he thought it was a very fine maze, so far as he was a judge; and we agreed that we would try to get George to go into it, on our way back.
The river in its Sunday garb.-Dress on the river.-A chance for the men.-Absence of taste in Harris.-George's blazer.-A day with the fashion-plate young lady.-Mrs. Thomas's tomb.-The man who loves not graves and coffins and skulls.-Harris mad.-His views on George and Banks and lemonade.-He performs tricks.
garb - vetements
chance - chance; hasard, chance
taste - gout; ; gout, saveur, avant-gout, gouter, avoir un gout
blazer - blazer
fashion - la mode; ; mode, vogue, façon, façonner
plate - assiette; plaque, assiette, écriteau
tomb - tombe, tombeau
graves - tombes; tombe
coffins - cercueils; cercueil
skulls - des crânes; crâne
views - vues; vue, vue, vue, vue, q
performs - exécute; exécuter, performer, jouer (''actor'')
tricks - des astuces; tour, tour, astuce, truc, rench: -neededr, pli
It was while passing through Moulsey Lock that Harris told me about his maze experience. It took us some time to pass through, as we were the only boat, and it is a big lock. I don't think I ever remember to have seen Moulsey Lock, before, with only one boat in it. It is, I suppose, Boulter's not even excepted, the busiest lock on the river.
passing through - en passant
lock - serrure; clôturer, cerrure, arret, serrure, obturer, pene
pass through - passer a travers
excepted - exemptée; faire une exception
On a fine Sunday it presents this appearance nearly all day long, while, up the stream, and down the stream, lie, waiting their turn, outside the gates, long lines of still more boats; and boats are drawing near and passing away, so that the sunny river, from the Palace up to Hampton Church, is dotted and decked with yellow, and blue, and orange, and white, and red, and pink.
dotted - en pointillés; point
decked - en pontée; pont
All the inhabitants of Hampton and Moulsey dress themselves up in boating costume, and come and mouch round the lock with their dogs, and flirt, and smoke, and watch the boats; and, altogether, what with the caps and jackets of the men, the pretty coloured dresses of the women, the excited dogs, the moving boats, the white sails, the pleasant landscape, and the sparkling water, it is one of the gayest sights I know of near this dull old London town.
inhabitants - habitants; habitant, habitante, résident, résidente
costume - costume, déguisement
flirt - flirt, draguer, flirter
caps - des casquettes; casquette
sails - voiles; voile
landscape - paysage, paysage
sparkling - étincelante; ; pétillant
gayest - le plus gay; homosexuel/-elle, gay
sights - vues; vue, quelque chose a voir, truc a voir, mire, viseur
The river affords a good opportunity for dress. For once in a way, we men are able to show our taste in colours, and I think we come out very natty, if you ask me. I always like a little red in my things-red and black.
affords - permet; permettre
opportunity - occasion, opportunité, occasion favorable, chance
natty - natty
You know my hair is a sort of golden brown, rather a pretty shade I've been told, and a dark red matches it beautifully; and then I always think a light-blue necktie goes so well with it, and a pair of those Russian-leather shoes and a red silk handkerchief round the waist-a handkerchief looks so much better than a belt.
shade - ombre, store, nuance, ton, esprit, ombrager, faire de l'ombre
matches - des correspondances; allumette
light-blue - (light-blue) bleu clair
necktie - cravate
Russian - russe, ruthénien, langue russe, langue de Tolstoi
silk - soie
belt - ceinture, courroie, région
Harris always keeps to shades or mixtures of orange or yellow, but I don't think he is at all wise in this. His complexion is too dark for yellows. Yellows don't suit him: there can be no question about it.
shades - nuances; ombre, store, nuance, ton, nuance, esprit, ombre
mixtures - des mélanges; mélange, mélange, mixture
wise - sage; sensé, genre, raisonnable
I want him to take to blue as a background, with white or cream for relief; but, there! the less taste a person has in dress, the more obstinate he always seems to be. It is a great pity, because he will never be a success as it is, while there are one or two colours in which he might not really look so bad, with his hat on.
background - arriere-plan, trame, fond
more obstinate - plus obstiné
pity - compassion, pitié, dommage, honte, plaindre, avoir pitié de
George has bought some new things for this trip, and I'm rather vexed about them. The blazer is loud. I should not like George to know that I thought so, but there really is no other word for it. He brought it home and showed it to us on Thursday evening. We asked him what colour he called it, and he said he didn't know. He didn't think there was a name for the colour. The man had told him it was an Oriental design. George put it on, and asked us what we thought of it.
vexed - contrarié; ennuyer, énerver, vexer ''informal'', tourmenter
Harris said that, as an object to hang over a flower-bed in early spring to frighten the birds away, he should respect it; but that, considered as an article of dress for any human being, except a Margate nigger, it made him ill. George got quite huffy; but, as Harris said, if he didn't want his opinion, why did he ask for it?
object to - s'y opposer
hang over - Une gueule de bois
frighten - effrayer, redouter, terrifier
respect - respect, respecter
Margate - margate
nigger - negre; ; negre, négresse, négro
huffy - huffy; ; vexé, susceptible
What troubles Harris and myself, with regard to it, is that we are afraid it will attract attention to the boat.
troubles - des problemes; peine, mal, probleme, emmerde, peine, fr
attract attention - attirer l'attention
Young ladyGirls, also, don't look half bad in a boat, if prettily dressed. Nothing is more fetching, to my thinking, than a tasteful boating costume. But a "boating costume," it would be as well if all ladies would understand, ought to be a costume that can be worn in a boat, and not merely under a glass-case.
prettily - joliment
fetching - fetching; aller chercher
tasteful - de bon gout
glass-case - (glass-case) un boîtier en verre
It utterly spoils an excursion if you have folk in the boat who are thinking all the time a good deal more of their dress than of the trip. It was my misfortune once to go for a water picnic with two ladies of this kind. We did have a lively time!
utterly - tout a fait
excursion - excursion, randonnée
folk - folklorique; ; populaire, peuple
misfortune - malchance, mésaventure, malheur
lively - fringant, spirituel
They were both beautifully got up-all lace and silky stuff, and flowers, and ribbons, and dainty shoes, and light gloves. But they were dressed for a photographic studio, not for a river picnic. They were the "boating costumes" of a French fashion-plate. It was ridiculous, fooling about in them anywhere near real earth, air, and water.
lace - dentelle; dentelle, pointue
silky - soyeux
ribbons - rubans; ruban, ruban, ruban
gloves - gants; gant
photographic - photographique
studio - studio, atelier
costumes - des costumes; costume, costume, déguisement, costume
ridiculous - ridicule
fooling - se moquer; trompeur; (fool); dinde, fou, bouffon, mat, duper
The first thing was that they thought the boat was not clean. We dusted all the seats for them, and then assured them that it was, but they didn't believe us. One of them rubbed the cushion with the forefinger of her glove, and showed the result to the other, and they both sighed, and sat down, with the air of early Christian martyrs trying to make themselves comfortable up against the stake.
seats - sieges; place, siege, assise, séant, siege, fond, siege, siege
assured - assurée; assurée, assurerent, assura, assurai
rubbed - frotté; friction, hic, frotter, frotter, frotter, polir
cushion - coussin, amortir
forefinger - l'index; ; index
glove - gant
sighed - soupiré; soupirer
Christian - chrétien; chrétien, chrétienne, Christian, chrétien
martyrs - martyrs; martyr, martyre, chahîd, chahid, martyr, martyr
stake - enjeu; ; pieu, pal, tuteur, jalon
You are liable to occasionally splash a little when sculling, and it appeared that a drop of water ruined those costumes. The mark never came out, and a stain was left on the dress for ever.
Occasionally - occasionnellement
splash - splash; ; plouf, bruit, éclaboussure, éclabousser, asperger
sculling - la godille; (scul) la godille
drop of water - une goutte d'eau
stain - tache, souillure, colorant, tacher, entacher, colorer
for ever - pour toujours
I was stroke. I did my best. I feathered some two feet high, and I paused at the end of each stroke to let the blades drip before returning them, and I picked out a smooth bit of water to drop them into again each time. (Bow said, after a while, that he did not feel himself a sufficiently accomplished oarsman to pull with me, but that he would sit still, if I would allow him, and study my stroke.
stroke - accident vasculaire cérébral; caresser
feathered - a plumes; plume, fanon, mettre en drapeau, emplumer, fr
paused - en pause; pauser, pause
blades - lames; lame, lame
drip - goutte a goutte; (é)goutter, dégouliner
picked out - choisi
smooth - lisse, doux, facile, sophistiqué, naturel, souple, régulier
bow - l'arc; arc
accomplished - accompli; accomplir, accomplir, accomplir
oarsman - rameur
He said it interested him.) But, notwithstanding all this, and try as I would, I could not help an occasional flicker of water from going over those dresses.
flicker - scintillement; flottge
The girls did not complain, but they huddled up close together, and set their lips firm, and every time a drop touched them, they visibly shrank and shuddered. It was a noble sight to see them suffering thus in silence, but it unnerved me altogether. I am too sensitive. I got wild and fitful in my rowing, and splashed more and more, the harder I tried not to.
complain - se plaindre, porter plainte
huddled up - blottis
lips - levres; levre, levre
firm - ferme; social, robuste, maison de commerce, ferme, solide
touched - touché; toucher, toucher, émouvoir, toucher, toucher, contact
visibly - visiblement
shrank - s'est rétréci; se réduire, rétrécir, se resserrer, rétrécir
shuddered - a tremblé; tremblement, frisson, frisson, frissonner, trembler
unnerved - décontenancé; troubler
sensitive - sensible
fitful - irréguliere; ; irrégulier, sporadique
rowing - aviron; (row) aviron
splashed - éclaboussé; plouf, bruit, éclaboussure, éclabousser, asperger
I gave it up at last; I said I'd row bow. Bow thought the arrangement would be better too, and we changed places. The ladies gave an involuntary sigh of relief when they saw me go, and quite brightened up for a moment. Poor girls! they had better have put up with me. The man they had got now was a jolly, light-hearted, thick-headed sort of a chap, with about as much sensitiveness in him as there might be in a Newfoundland puppy.
arrangement - arrangement, disposition, composition, préparatifs, accord
involuntary - involontaire
sigh - soupir; soupir
thick - épais, gros, dense, opaque, incompréhensible, lourd
chap - chap; fissure
sensitiveness - sensibilité
Newfoundland - terre-neuve; Terre-Neuve, chien de Terre-Neuve, terre-neuve
puppy - chiot, raton
You might look daggers at him for an hour and he would not notice it, and it would not trouble him if he did. He set a good, rollicking, dashing stroke that sent the spray playing all over the boat like a fountain, and made the whole crowd sit up straight in no time. When he spread more than pint of water over one of those dresses, he would give a pleasant little laugh, and say:
daggers - poignards; poignard
rollicking - pétulant; (rollick) pétulant
dashing - fringant; tiret, trait, ta, sprint, soupçon, se précipiter
spray - pulvériser; embrun
fountain - fontaine
pint - chopine, chopine de lait, pinte, sérieux
"I beg your pardon, I'm sure;" and offer them his handkerchief to wipe it off with.
"Oh, it's of no consequence," the poor girls would murmur in reply, and covertly draw rugs and coats over themselves, and try and protect themselves with their lace parasols.
murmur - murmure, rumeur, souffle, murmurer
covertly - secretement
protect - protéger
parasols - des parasols; ombrelle, parasol
At lunch they had a very bad time of it. People wanted them to sit on the grass, and the grass was dusty; and the tree-trunks, against which they were invited to lean, did not appear to have been brushed for weeks; so they spread their handkerchiefs on the ground and sat on those, bolt upright.
dusty - poussiéreux
trunks - troncs d'arbre; tronc, malle, coffre, trompe
brushed - brossé; brosse, brossage, accrochage, brosser, brosser
bolt upright - a la verticale
Somebody, in walking about with a plate of beef-steak pie, tripped up over a root, and sent the pie flying. None of it went over them, fortunately, but the accident suggested a fresh danger to them, and agitated them; and, whenever anybody moved about, after that, with anything in his hand that could fall and make a mess, they watched that person with growing anxiety until he sat down again.
root - racine; enraciner, enracinez, enracinons, enracinent, rave
fortunately - heureusement, par bonheur, par chance
"now then, you girls," said our friend bow to them, cheerily, after it was all over, "come along, you've got to wash up!"
now then - maintenant alors
bow to - s'incliner devant
wash up - se laver
They didn't understand him at first. When they grasped the idea, they said they feared they did not know how to wash up.
grasped - saisi; saisir, agripper, comprendre, saisir
feared - craint; peur
"Oh, I'll soon show you," he cried; "it's rare fun! You lie down on your-I mean you lean over the bank, you know, and sloush the things about in the water."
rare - rares; rare
The elder sister said that she was afraid that they hadn't got on dresses suited to the work.
suited - adapté; suite, suite, suite, suite, suite
"Oh, they'll be all right," said he light-heartedly; "tuck 'em up."
heartedly - de bon cour
tuck - tuck; rempli
And he made them do it, too. He told them that that sort of thing was half the fun of a picnic. They said it was very interesting.
Now I come to think it over, was that young man as dense-headed as we thought? or was he-no, impossible! there was such a simple, child-like expression about him!
dense - dense, obscur, bouché
Harris wanted to get out at Hampton Church, to go and see Mrs. Thomas's tomb.
"Who is Mrs. Thomas?" I asked.
"How should I know?" replied Harris. "She's a lady that's got a funny tomb, and I want to see it."
I objected. I don't know whether it is that I am built wrong, but I never did seem to hanker after tombstones myself. I know that the proper thing to do, when you get to a village or town, is to rush off to the churchyard, and enjoy the graves; but it is a recreation that I always deny myself.
tombstones - pierres tombales; pierre tombale
recreation - récréation; pacification
deny - refuser
I take no interest in creeping round dim and chilly churches behind wheezy old men, and reading epitaphs. Not even the sight of a bit of cracked brass let into a stone affords me what I call real happiness.
chilly - frisquet
churches - églises; église, église, culte, t+misse
wheezy - sifflante; ; asthmatique
old men - des vieux hommes
epitaphs - épitaphes; épitaphe
cracked - fissuré; (se) feler
brass - laiton; laiton, airain
Happiness - le bonheur; ; bonheur
I shock respectable sextons by the imperturbability I am able to assume before exciting inscriptions, and by my lack of enthusiasm for the local family history, while my ill-concealed anxiety to get outside wounds their feelings.
shock - choc; choquons, offusquer, choquez, choquer, secouer
sextons - sextons; sacristain, sacriste
imperturbability - l'imperturbabilité; ; imperturbabilité
assume - supposer, présupposer, présumer, assumer, adopter, prendre
inscriptions - inscriptions; inscription, légende, dédicace
lack - manque; manque
concealed - dissimulée; dissimuler, cacher
It was a lovely landscape. It was idyllic, poetical, and it inspired me. I felt good and noble. I felt I didn't want to be sinful and wicked any more. I would come and live here, and never do any more wrong, and lead a blameless, beautiful life, and have silver hair when I got old, and all that sort of thing.
idyllic - idyllique
poetical - poétique
inspired - inspirée; inspirer, inspirer, inspirer
sinful - péché; ; coupable, peccamineux
lead - plomb; guider, plomb, conduire, mener
silver - l'argent; argent
In that moment I forgave all my friends and relations for their wickedness and cussedness, and I blessed them. They did not know that I blessed them. They went their abandoned way all unconscious of what I, far away in that peaceful village, was doing for them; but I did it, and I wished that I could let them know that I had done it, because I wanted to make them happy.
forgave - pardonné; pardonner
relations - relations; relation, relation, parent, parente
wickedness - méchanceté, perversité, iniquité, mauvaise action
blessed - bienheureux, béni; (bless); bienheureux, béni
unconscious - inconscient, subconscient
I was going on thinking away all these grand, tender thoughts, when my reverie was broken in upon by a shrill piping voice crying out:
tender - l'appel d'offres; doux, adjudication, affectieux
reverie - reverie; reverie
broken in - cassé
shrill - strident, criard
piping - tuyauterie; (pip) tuyauterie
crying - pleurer; ; pleur; (cry); pleurer, crier, hurler, gueuler, pleur
"All right, sur, I'm a-coming, I'm a-coming. It's all right, sur; don't you be in a hurry."
I looked up, and saw an old bald-headed man hobbling across the churchyard towards me, carrying a huge bunch of keys in his hand that shook and jingled at every step.
bald - chauve, lisse
hobbling - l'entrave; entrave, abot
bunch of keys - un trousseau de clés
I motioned him away with silent dignity, but he still advanced, screeching out the while:
motioned - proposé; mouvement, mouvement, motion
dignity - dignité, forme, rang
screeching - des cris; crissement, striduler
"I'm a-coming, sur, I'm a-coming. I'm a little lame. I ain't as spry as I used to be. This way, sur."
lame - boiteux; boiteux
spry - spry; ; actif, vif, alerte, vigilant
"Go away, you miserable old man," I said.
"I've come as soon as I could, sur," he replied. "My missis never see you till just this minute. You follow me, sur."
missis - missis
this minute - a cette minute
"Go away," I repeated; "leave me before I get over the wall, and slay you."
slay - tuer; tuer, dézinguer
He seemed surprised.
"Don't you want to see the tombs?" he said.
tombs - tombes; tombe, tombeau
"No," I answered, "I don't. I want to stop here, leaning up against this gritty old wall. Go away, and don't disturb me. I am chock full of beautiful and noble thoughts, and I want to stop like it, because it feels nice and good. Don't you come fooling about, making me mad, chivying away all my better feelings with this silly tombstone nonsense of yours. Go away, and get somebody to bury you cheap, and I'll pay half the expense."
against this - contre ça
gritty - granuleux; ; graveleux, résolu, déterminé
disturb - déranger, perturber, gener
chock - caler
tombstone - pierre tombale
nonsense - des absurdités; ; betise, absurdité, sottise (s)
He was bewildered for a moment. He rubbed his eyes, and looked hard at me. I seemed human enough on the outside: he couldn't make it out.
bewildered - déconcertés; abasourdir, confondre, déconcerter, dérouter
"Yuise a stranger in these parts? You don't live here?"
Stranger - étranger; (strang) étranger
Graves"No," I said, "I don't. You wouldn't if I did."
"Well then," he said, "you want to see the tombs-graves-folks been buried, you know-coffins!"
"You are an untruther," I replied, getting roused; "I do not want to see tombs-not your tombs. Why should I? We have graves of our own, our family has. Why my uncle Podger has a tomb in Kensal Green Cemetery, that is the pride of all that country-side; and my grandfather's vault at Bow is capable of accommodating eight visitors, while my great-aunt Susan has a brick grave in Finchley Churchyard, with a headstone with a coffee-pot sort of thing in bas-relief upon it, and a six-inch best white stone coping all the way round, that cost pounds.
untruther - untruther
roused - réveillé; réveiller
cemetery - cimetiere; cimetiere, cimetere
vault - chambre forte; voute, dôme
capable - capable
accommodating - accommodante; héberger, accommoder, s'accommoder
brick - brique, soutien, rouge brique, en brique, briquer
grave - tombe; tombe
headstone - pierre tombale
bas - bas; (BA) bas
inch - pouce; pouce
coping - l'adaptation; arete; (cop) l'adaptation; arete
When I want graves, it is to those places that I go and revel. I do not want other folk's. When you yourself are buried, I will come and see yours. That is all I can do for you."
He burst into tears. He said that one of the tombs had a bit of stone upon the top of it that had been said by some to be probably part of the remains of the figure of a man, and that another had some words, carved upon it, that nobody had ever been able to decipher.
burst - l'éclatement; ; éclater, faire éclater, rompre, briser
figure - figure, forme, personnage, figure, personnalité, chiffre
decipher - déchiffrer
I still remained obdurate, and, in broken-hearted tones, he said:
obdurate - obstiné; ; opiniâtre, tetu, dur comme un roc
tones - tons; ton
"Well, won't you come and see the memorial window?"
memorial - mémorial, mémoriel
I would not even see that, so he fired his last shot. He drew near, and whispered hoarsely:
whispered - chuchoté; chuchotement, chuchoter, susurrer, murmurer
hoarsely - rauque; ; sechement
"I've got a couple of skulls down in the crypt," he said; "come and see those. Oh, Do come and see the skulls! You are a young man out for a holiday, and you want to enjoy yourself. Come and see the skulls!"
crypt - crypte
Do come - Venir
Then I turned and fled, and as I sped I heard him calling to me:
fled - fui; s'enfuir, prendre la fuite, fuir, échapper
sped - sped; vitesse
"Oh, come and see the skulls; come back and see the skulls!"
Harris, however, revels in tombs, and graves, and epitaphs, and monumental inscriptions, and the thought of not seeing Mrs. Thomas's grave made him crazy. He said he had looked forward to seeing Mrs. Thomas's grave from the first moment that the trip was proposed-said he wouldn't have joined if it hadn't been for the idea of seeing Mrs. Thomas's tomb.
revels - des réjouissances; se délecter (de)
I reminded him of George, and how we had to get the boat up to Shepperton by five o'clock to meet him, and then he went for George. Why was George to fool about all day, and leave us to lug this lumbering old top-heavy barge up and down the river by ourselves to meet him? Why couldn't George come and do some work? Why couldn't he have got the day off, and come down with us? Bank be blowed! What good was he at the bank?
fool about - de la folie
lumbering - bucheron; (lumber); bois de charpente
Barge - barge; ; chaland
day off - jour de congé
blowed - soufflé; coup
"I never see him doing any work there," continued Harris, "whenever I go in. He sits behind a bit of glass all day, trying to look as if he was doing something. What's the good of a man behind a bit of glass? I have to work for my living. Why can't he work. What use is he there, and what's the good of their banks? They take your money, and then, when you draw a cheque, they send it back smeared all over with 'No effects,''Refer to drawer.
continued - suite; continuer, continuer
cheque - cheque; ; cheque
smeared - étalé; badigeonner, couvrir, diffamer, trace, traînée
effects - effets; effet, effet, effet, effets-p, effectuer
refer - référent, référons, référer, référez
drawer - tiroir; souscripteur, tiroir
What's the good of that? That's the sort of trick they served me twice last week. I'm not going to stand it much longer. I shall withdraw my account. If he was here, we could go and see that tomb. I don't believe he's at the bank at all. He's larking about somewhere, that's what he's doing, leaving us to do all the work. I'm going to get out, and have a drink."
trick - tour, astuce, truc, rench: t-needed r, pli, levée, quart, duper
served - servi; service, servir, servir, servir, signifier, purger
withdraw - se retirer; dégarnir, claustrer
larking - l'alouette; alouette
I pointed out to him that we were miles away from a pub.; and then he went on about the river, and what was the good of the river, and was everyone who came on the river to die of thirst?
It is always best to let Harris have his head when he gets like this. Then he pumps himself out, and is quiet afterwards.
pumps - pompes; pompe
I reminded him that there was concentrated lemonade in the hamper, and a gallon-jar of water in the nose of the boat, and that the two only wanted mixing to make a cool and refreshing beverage.
concentrated - concentré; concentrer, concentrer, concentrer
gallon - gallon
jar - bocal; jarre
mixing - mélange; mélanger
refreshing - rafraîchissant; revigorer, rafraîchir
beverage - boisson, breuvage
Then he flew off about lemonade, and "such-like Sunday-school slops," as he termed them, ginger-beer, raspberry syrup, &c., &c. He said they all produced dyspepsia, and ruined body and soul alike, and were the cause of half the crime in England.
sunday-school - (sunday-school) l'école du dimanche
slops - des déchets; renverser, déborder
termed - appelé; peine, mandat, période
ginger - gingembre; gingembre
raspberry - framboise; framboise
syrup - sirop
cause - cause, raison, causer
He said he must drink something, however, and climbed upon the seat, and leant over to get the bottle. It was right at the bottom of the hamper, and seemed difficult to find, and he had to lean over further and further, and, in trying to steer at the same time, from a topsy-turvy point of view, he pulled the wrong line, and sent the boat into the bank, and the shock upset him, and he dived down right into the hamper, and stood there on his head, holding on to the sides of the boat like grim death, his legs sticking up into the air.
leant - leant; pencher
steer - diriger; diriger, piloter
dived - plongé; plonger
holding on - en s'accrochant
grim - sinistre; sinistre
sticking up - qui s'accrochent
He dared not move for fear of going over, and had to stay there till I could get hold of his legs, and haul him back, and that made him madder than ever.
dared - osé; oser
move for - pourquoi déménager
haul - de l'eau de pluie; ; haler, trainer, butin, magot
madder - plus en colere; (mad); fou, folle, fol, fâché, en colere
Blackmailing.-The proper course to pursue.-Selfish boorishness of river-side landowner.-"Notice" boards.-Unchristianlike feelings of Harris.-How Harris sings a comic song.-A high-class party.-Shameful conduct of two abandoned young men.-Some useless information.-George buys a banjo.
blackmailing - chantage; chantage, faire du chantage, faire chanter
pursue - poursuivre, rechercher
landowner - propriétaire foncier; ; propriétaire terrien
boards - des planches; planche
comic - comique, cocasse, comédien, bande dessinée, BD
high-class - (high-class) de grande classe
shameful - honteux, scandaleux
conduct - comportement, conduite, se comporter, conduire, mener
banjo - banjo
We stopped under the willows by Kempton Park, and lunched. It is a pretty little spot there: a pleasant grass plateau, running along by the water's edge, and overhung by willows. We had just commenced the third course-the bread and jam-when a gentleman in shirt-sleeves and a short pipe came along, and wanted to know if we knew that we were trespassing.
willows - des saules; saule
plateau - plateau, stagner, plafonner, se stabiliser, atteindre un plateau
overhung - en surplomb; surplomber, surplomb
commenced - commencé; commencer
sleeves - manches; manche, chemise (inner), gaine (outer), manchon
trespassing - l'intrusion; s''introduire sans permission
We said we hadn't given the matter sufficient consideration as yet to enable us to arrive at a definite conclusion on that point, but that, if he assured us on his word as a gentleman that we were trespassing, we would, without further hesitation, believe it.
consideration - considération, checkraison, checkmotif, checkrécompense
enable - autoriser, permettre, activer
definite - définitif
hesitation - hésitation
He gave us the required assurance, and we thanked him, but he still hung about, and seemed to be dissatisfied, so we asked him if there was anything further that we could do for him; and Harris, who is of a chummy disposition, offered him a bit of bread and jam.
required - nécessaires; exiger, demander, avoir besoin de, requérir
assurance - l'assurance; ; assurance, culot, assurance
hung about - accroché
dissatisfied - insatisfait; mécontenter
disposition - disposition, tempérament
I fancy he must have belonged to some society sworn to abstain from bread and jam; for he declined it quite gruffly, as if he were vexed at being tempted with it, and he added that it was his duty to turn us off.
belonged - a appartenu; appartenir a
Society - la société; ; société
abstain - s'abstenir
declined - refusé; déclin, déclin, déclin
gruffly - avec rudesse
tempted - tentés; tenter, attirer
Harris said that if it was a duty it ought to be done, and asked the man what was his idea with regard to the best means for accomplishing it. Harris is what you would call a well-made man of about number one size, and looks hard and bony, and the man measured him up and down, and said he would go and consult his master, and then come back and chuck us both into the river.
one size - une taille unique
bony - osseux
measured - mesurée; mesure, mesure, mesure, mesurer
consult - consulter
chuck - mandrin; mandrin, serrage, caresser
Of course, we never saw him any more, and, of course, all he really wanted was a shilling. There are a certain number of riverside roughs who make quite an income, during the summer, by slouching about the banks and blackmailing weak-minded noodles in this way. They represent themselves as sent by the proprietor.
shilling - shilling; shilling; (shill); homme de paille, prete-nom
riverside - au bord de la riviere; ; berge, rive
roughs - des roughs; rude, rugueux, brut, approximatif, difficile, brut
income - revenus; ; revenu, recette
slouching - avachie; empoté
noodles - nouilles; nouille(s)
represent - représenter; constituer, représentez, représentons
The proper course to pursue is to offer your name and address, and leave the owner, if he really has anything to do with the matter, to summon you, and prove what damage you have done to his land by sitting down on a bit of it. But the majority of people are so intensely lazy and timid, that they prefer to encourage the imposition by giving in to it rather than put an end to it by the exertion of a little firmness.
summon - convoquer; appeler, convoquer, convoquez, convoquons
damage - dommages; ; dégât, dommage, endommager, abîmer
intensely - intensément
lazy - paresseux, fainéant
timid - timide, craintif
exertion - l'effort; ; effort, dépense
firmness - la fermeté; ; fermeté
Where it is really the owners that are to blame, they ought to be shown up. The selfishness of the riparian proprietor grows with every year. If these men had their way they would close the river Thames altogether. They actually do this along the minor tributary streams and in the backwaters. They drive posts into the bed of the stream, and draw chains across from bank to bank, and nail huge notice-boards on every tree.
owners - propriétaires; propriétaire
shown up - s'est montré
selfishness - l'égoisme; ; égocentrisme, égoisme
riparian - riverains; ; rivulaire
minor - mineur, mineur
tributary - affluent
streams - flux; ruisseau, ru, rupt, filet, flot, courant, torrent
backwaters - les marigots; patelin, trou perdu, lâcher prise, abandonner
chains - chaînes; chaîne, chaîne, chaîne, chaîne, enchaîner, enchaîner
The sight of those notice-boards rouses every evil instinct in my nature. I feel I want to tear each one down, and hammer it over the head of the man who put it up, until I have killed him, and then I would bury him, and put the board up over the grave as a tombstone.
rouses - rouses; réveiller
evil - le mal; mauvais, torve
instinct - l'instinct; ; instinct
tear - déchirure; déchirer, fissure, larme, pleur
I mentioned these feelings of mine to Harris, and he said he had them worse than that. He said he not only felt he wanted to kill the man who caused the board to be put up, but that he should like to slaughter the whole of his family and all his friends and relations, and then burn down his house. This seemed to me to be going too far, and I said so to Harris; but he answered:
mentioned - mentionnée; mentionner
caused - causée; cause, raison, cause, causer
slaughter - l'abattage; ; abattage, carnage, tuerie, massacre, massacrer
burn down - bruler
"Not a bit of it. Serve 'em all jolly well right, and I'd go and sing comic songs on the ruins."
serve - service, servir, signifier, purger
ruins - des ruines; ruine, ruine, ruine, ruiner, abîmer
I was vexed to hear Harris go on in this blood-thirsty strain. We never ought to allow our instincts of justice to degenerate into mere vindictiveness. It was a long while before I could get Harris to take a more Christian view of the subject, but I succeeded at last, and he promised me that he would spare the friends and relations at all events, and would not sing comic songs on the ruins.
instincts - instincts; instinct
justice - justice, équité, conseiller
degenerate - dégradé, dégénéré, dépravé, dégénérer
vindictiveness - la vindicte; ; revanchisme
promised - promis; vou, promesse, promesse, promettre
spare - de rechange; épargner, loisirs, économiser
You have never heard Harris sing a comic song, or you would understand the service I had rendered to mankind. It is one of Harris's fixed ideas that he can sing a comic song; the fixed idea, on the contrary, among those of Harris's friends who have heard him try, is that he can't and never will be able to, and that he ought not to be allowed to try.
service - service; messe
rendered - rendu; rendre
allowed - autorisé; laisser, accorder, accorder, permettre, laisser
When Harris is at a party, and is asked to sing, he replies: "Well, I can only sing a comic song, you know;" and he says it in a tone that implies that his singing of that, however, is a thing that you ought to hear once, and then die.
that implies - que cela implique
"Oh, that is nice," says the hostess. "Do sing one, Mr. Harris;" and Harris gets up, and makes for the piano, with the beaming cheeriness of a generous-minded man who is just about to give somebody something.
hostess - hôtesse, maîtresse de maison, hôtesse de l'air
beaming - la téléportation; (beam); madrier, poutre, merrain, perche
cheeriness - enjouement
generous - généreux
"Now, silence, please, everybody" says the hostess, turning round; "Mr. Harris is going to sing a comic song!"
turning round - faire demi-tour
"Oh, how jolly!" they murmur; and they hurry in from the conservatory, and come up from the stairs, and go and fetch each other from all over the house, and crowd into the drawing-room, and sit round, all smirking in anticipation.
conservatory - jardin d'hiver; serre
fetch - chercher; apporter, aveignez, amener, aveignent, apportons
smirking - sourire en coin; sourire en coin, ricanerie, ricaner
Then Harris begins.
Well, you don't look for much of a voice in a comic song. You don't expect correct phrasing or vocalization. You don't mind if a man does find out, when in the middle of a note, that he is too high, and comes down with a jerk. You Don't bother about time.
vocalization - vocalisation
comes down with - descend avec
jerk - con; par secousse, soubresaut
Don't bother - Pas la peine
You don't mind a man being two bars in front of the accompaniment, and easing up in the middle of a line to argue it out with the pianist, and then starting the verse afresh. But you do expect the words.
bars - bars; barre, tablette
accompaniment - l'accompagnement; ; accompagnement
easing - l'assouplissement; facilité, repos, abaisser, abréger
pianist - pianiste
verse - vers; strophe
afresh - nouveau; a nouveau
HarrisHarris (standing up in front of piano and addressing the expectant mob): "I'm afraid it's a very old thing, you know. I expect you all know it, you know. But it's the only thing I know. It's the Judge's song out of Pinafore-no, I don't mean Pinafore-I mean-you know what I mean-the other thing, you know. You must all join in the chorus, you know."
expectant - en attente; ; expectatif
pinafore - chasuble; ; tablier
join in - participer
chorus - chour; ; chour antique, chour, chorale, refrain
[Murmurs of delight and anxiety to join in the chorus. Brilliant performance of prelude to the Judge's song in "Trial by Jury" by nervous Pianist. Moment arrives for Harris to join in. Harris takes no notice of it. Nervous pianist commences prelude over again, and Harris, commencing singing at the same time, dashes off the first two lines of the First Lord's song out of "Pinafore." Nervous pianist tries to push on with prelude, gives it up, and tries to follow Harris with accompaniment to Judge's song out of "Trial by Jury," finds that doesn't answer, and tries to recollect what he is doing, and where he is, feels his mind giving way, and stops short.
murmurs - murmures; murmure, rumeur, souffle, rumeur, murmure, murmurer
delight - plaisir, délice, joie, enchanter, ravir
performance - exécution, performance, représentation, prestation
Prelude - prélude
trial - proces; manipulation
jury - jury; jury
commences - commence; commencer
commencing - débutant; commencer
dashes - tirets; tiret, trait, ta, sprint, soupçon, se précipiter
Lord - châtelain, seigneur, monsieur
push - pousser; poussons, poussez, poussent, buter, acculer
giving way - céder le passage
Harris (with kindly encouragement): "It's all right. You're doing it very well, indeed-go on."
kindly - avec bienveillance
Nervous Pianist: "I'm afraid there's a mistake somewhere. What are you singing?"
Harris (promptly): "Why the Judge's song out of Trial by Jury. Don't you know it?"
Some Friend of Harris's (from the back of the room): "No, you're not, you chuckle-head, you're singing the Admiral's song from Pinafore."
admiral - amiral
[Long argument between Harris and Harris's friend as to what Harris is really singing. Friend finally suggests that It doesn't matter what Harris is singing so long as Harris gets on and sings it, and Harris, with an evident sense of injustice rankling inside him, requests pianist to begin again.
It doesn't matter - Ça n'a pas d'importance
gets on - monte
sense - sens, acception, sentir
injustice - l'injustice; ; injustice
rankling - le classement; (rankle) le classement
requests - demandes; demander, demander, prier, requete, demande, requete
Pianist, thereupon, starts prelude to the Admiral's song, and Harris, seizing what he considers to be a favourable opening in the music, begins.]
seizing - la saisie; emparant; (seize); saisir, emparer
considers - considere; considérer, examiner, réfléchir, songer, songer
favourable - favorable
"'When I was young and called to the Bar.'"
[General roar of laughter, taken by Harris as a compliment. Pianist, thinking of his wife and family, gives up the unequal contest and retires; his place being taken by a stronger-nerved man.
laughter - rires; ; rire
compliment - compliment, complimenter, faire un compliment
gives up - abandonne
contest - concours, compétition
nerved - nervé; nerf, nervure, toupet, culot, cran, nerf
The New Pianist (cheerily): "Now then, old man, you start off, and I'll follow. We won't bother about any prelude."
Harris (upon whom the explanation of matters has slowly dawned-laughing): "By Jove! I beg your pardon. Of course-I've been mixing up the two songs. It was Jenkins confused me, you know. Now then.
explanation - explication
Jove - jove; Jupin
mixing up - se mélanger
[Singing; his voice appearing to come from the cellar, and suggesting the first low warnings of an approaching earthquake.
appearing - apparaissant; apparaître, paraître, apparaître, sembler
cellar - cave; cave
suggesting - suggérer; proposer, suggérer, suggérer
warnings - des avertissements; avertissement, avertissement, attention
approaching - en approche; (s'')approcher (de)
earthquake - tremblement de terre, séisme
"'When I was young I served a term
As office-boy to an attorney's firm.'
attorney - juriste, avocat, avocate, mandataire
(Aside to pianist): "It is too low, old man; we'll have that over again, if you don't mind."
[Sings first two lines over again, in a high falsetto this time. Great surprise on the part of the audience. Nervous old lady near the fire begins to cry, and has to be led out.]
falsetto - falsetto; ; fausset
surprise - surprise, surprendre, étonner
audience - assistance, public, auditoire, lectorat, audience
led - dirigé; ; DEL, LED; (lead) dirigé; ; DEL, LED
"'I swept the windows and I swept the door,
swept - balayé; balayer, balayer, balayage
No-no, I cleaned the windows of the big front door. And I polished up the floor-no, dash it-I beg your pardon-funny thing, I can't think of that line. And I-and I-Oh, well, we'll get on to the chorus, and chance it (sings):
polished - polie; polonais, polonais
Dash - dash; ; tiret, trait, ta, sprint, soupçon, se précipiter
"'And I diddle-diddle-diddle-diddle-diddle-diddle-de,
till now I am the ruler of the Queen's navee.'
till now - jusqu'a maintenant
ruler - regle, latte, dirigeant, chef
Now then, chorus-it is the last two lines repeated, you know.
"And he diddle-diddle-diddle-diddle-diddle-diddle-dee'd,
Till now he is the ruler of the Queen's navee."
And Harris never sees what an ass he is making of himself, and how he is annoying a lot of people who never did him any harm. He honestly imagines that he has given them a treat, and says he will sing another comic song after supper.
annoying - ennuyeux; gener, ennuyer, embeter, agacer, asticoter
harm - le mal; ; mal, tort, dommage, nuire a, faire du mal a
honestly - honnetement; ; honnetement, franchement
Speaking of comic songs and parties, reminds me of a rather curious incident at which I once assisted; which, as it throws much light upon the inner mental working of human nature in general, ought, I think, to be recorded in these pages.
incident - incident, checkfait-divers, checkaccident
throws - jets; jeter, lancer
recorded in - enregistré
We were a fashionable and highly cultured party. We had on our best clothes, and we talked pretty, and were very happy-all except two young fellows, students, just returned from Germany, commonplace young men, who seemed restless and uncomfortable, as if they found the proceedings slow.
fashionable - a la mode; ; a la mode, en vogue, fashionable
highly - hautement; ; extremement
Germany - l'allemagne; Allemagne
restless - inquiet, agité, checkimpatient
uncomfortable - inconfortable
proceedings - procédures; acte
The truth was, we were too clever for them. Our brilliant but polished conversation, and our high-class tastes, were beyond them. They were out of place, among us. They never ought to have been there at all. Everybody agreed upon that, later on.
truth - la vérité; ; vérité
tastes - gouts; gout, saveur, gout, avant-gout, gouter, avoir un gout
We played morceaux from the old German masters. We discussed philosophy and ethics. We flirted with graceful dignity. We were even humorous-in a high-class way.
masters - maîtres; maître/-tresse
Philosophy - philosophie
flirted - flirté; flirt, draguer, flirter
graceful - gracieux
humorous - humoristique
Somebody recited a French poem after supper, and we said it was beautiful; and then a lady sang a sentimental ballad in Spanish, and it made one or two of us weep-it was so pathetic.
recited - récité; réciter
ballad - ballade
Spanish - espagnol, espagnol, castillan
weep - pleurer; pleurez, pleurons, pleurer, pleurent
pathetic - pathétique
And then those two young men got up, and asked us if we had ever heard Herr Slossenn Boschen (who had just arrived, and was then down in the supper-room) sing his great German comic song.
None of us had heard it, that we could remember.
The young men said it was the funniest song that had ever been written, and that, if we liked, they would get Herr Slossenn Boschen, whom they knew very well, to sing it. They said it was so funny that, when Herr Slossenn Boschen had sung it once before the German Emperor, he (the German Emperor) had had to be carried off to bed.
the German Emperor - l'empereur allemand
carried off - emportés
off to bed - au lit
They said nobody could sing it like Herr Slossenn Boschen; he was so intensely serious all through it that you might fancy he was reciting a tragedy, and that, of course, made it all the funnier. They said he never once suggested by his tone or manner that he was singing anything funny-that would spoil it. It was his air of seriousness, almost of pathos, that made it so irresistibly amusing.
reciting - réciter; réciter
tragedy - tragédie
never once - jamais une seule fois
manner - maniere; ; maniere, façon, mode
spoil - gâter, gâcher, tourner, dévoiler, révéler
seriousness - sérieux; ; sériosité, gravité
pathos - pathos; ; pathétique
irresistibly - irrésistiblement
amusing - amusant; amuser
We said we yearned to hear it, that we wanted a good laugh; and they went downstairs, and fetched Herr Slossenn Boschen.
fetched - fouillé; aller chercher
He appeared to be quite pleased to sing it, for he came up at once, and sat down to the piano without another word.
"Oh, it will amuse you. You will laugh," whispered the two young men, as they passed through the room, and took up an unobtrusive position behind the Professor's back.
amuse - amuser
unobtrusive - discret
professor - professeur, professeure, prof, professeuse
Herr Slossenn Boschen accompanied himself. The prelude did not suggest a comic song exactly. It was a weird, soulful air. It quite made one's flesh creep; but we murmured to one another that it was the German method, and prepared to enjoy it.
accompanied - accompagné; accompagner, accompagner
suggest - proposer, suggérer
soulful - une âme
flesh - de la chair; ; chair, peau, chair, viande, corps, pulpe
murmured - murmuré; murmure, rumeur, souffle, rumeur, murmure, murmurer
I don't understand German myself. I learned it at school, but forgot every word of it two years after I had left, and have felt much better ever since. Still, I did not want the people there to guess my ignorance; so I hit upon what I thought to be rather a good idea. I kept my eye on the two young students, and followed them.
I don't understand - Je ne comprends pas
ignorance - l'ignorance; ; ignorance
hit upon - sur lequel on a frappé
When they tittered, I tittered; when they roared, I roared; and I also threw in a little snigger all by myself now and then, as if I had seen a bit of humour that had escaped the others. I considered this particularly artful on my part.
tittered - titré; rire sottement
threw in - jeté dedans
snigger - ricanement, ricaner
humour - l'humour; ; humour, humeur, disposition, humeur, amadouer
escaped - s'est échappé; échapper, s'échapper, éviter, tirer
artful - artistique, artificieux
I noticed, as the song progressed, that a good many other people seemed to have their eye fixed on the two young men, as well as myself. These other people also tittered when the young men tittered, and roared when the young men roared; and, as the two young men tittered and roared and exploded with laughter pretty continuously all through the song, it went exceedingly well.
progressed - a progressé; progres
continuously - en continu
And yet that German Professor did not seem happy. At first, when we began to laugh, the expression of his face was one of intense surprise, as if laughter were the very last thing he had expected to be greeted with. We thought this very funny: we said his earnest manner was half the humour. The slightest hint on his part that he knew how funny he was would have completely ruined it all. As we continued to laugh, his surprise gave way to an air of annoyance and indignation, and he scowled fiercely round upon us all (except upon the two young men who, being behind him, he could not see).
intense - intense
earnest - sérieux; sérieux; (earn) sérieux; sérieux
slightest - le moins du monde; insignifiant, léger
gave way - a cédé le passage
annoyance - l'agacement; ; ennui, nuisance, irritation, checkagacement
indignation - l'indignation; ; indignation
scowled - s'est renfrogné; froncer les sourcils
fiercely - férocement; ; âprement, farouchement
That sent us into convulsions. We told each other that it would be the death of us, this thing. The words alone, we said, were enough to send us into fits, but added to his mock seriousness-oh, it was too much!
convulsions - des convulsions; convulsion
alone - seul
Mock - se moquer; ; imitation, succédané, moquerie, examen blanc
In the last verse, he surpassed himself. He glowered round upon us with a look of such concentrated ferocity that, but for our being forewarned as to the German method of comic singing, we should have been nervous; and he threw such a wailing note of agony into the weird music that, if we had not known it was a funny song, we might have wept.
surpassed - surpassé; surpasser, dépasser, excéder
glowered - éblouie; lancer des regards noirs a
ferocity - férocité; ; acharnement
forewarned - prévenu; précautionner
wailing - gémissements; (wail) gémissements
agony - l'agonie; ; agonie, angoisse
wept - pleuré; pleurer
He finished amid a perfect shriek of laughter. We said it was the funniest thing we had ever heard in all our lives. We said how strange it was that, in the face of things like these, there should be a popular notion that the Germans hadn't any sense of humour. And we asked the Professor why he didn't translate the song into English, so that the common people could understand it, and hear what a real comic song was like.
amid - amid; au milieu de, parmi, entre
shriek - cri; ; hurlement, crier
Germans - les allemands; Allemand, Allemande, Allemand, Allemande
translate - traduire, translater
Then Herr Slossenn Boschen got up, and went on awful. He swore at us in German (which I should judge to be a singularly effective language for that purpose), and he danced, and shook his fists, and called us all the English he knew. He said he had never been so insulted in all his life.
effective - efficace, décisif, en vigueur
fists - poings; poing
insulted - insulté; insulter, insulte
It appeared that the song was not a comic song at all. It was about a young girl who lived in the Hartz Mountains, and who had given up her life to save her lover's soul; and he died, and met her spirit in the air; and then, in the last verse, he jilted her spirit, and went on with another spirit-I'm not quite sure of the details, but it was something very sad, I know.
lover - amante, amant, maîtresse
jilted - plaqué; plaquer, quitter, abandonner
Herr Boschen said he had sung it once before the German Emperor, and he (the German Emperor) had sobbed like a little child. He (Herr Boschen) said it was generally acknowledged to be one of the most tragic and pathetic songs in the German language.
Emperor - l'empereur; ; empereur
sobbed - sangloté; fdp-p
acknowledged - reconnu; reconnaître, accuser réception, certifier
most tragic - le plus tragique
It was a trying situation for us-very trying. There seemed to be no answer. We looked around for the two young men who had done this thing, but they had left the house in an unostentatious manner immediately after the end of the song.
unostentatious - sans ostentation
That was the end of that party. I never saw a party break up so quietly, and with so little fuss. We never said good-night even to one another. We came downstairs one at a time, walking softly, and keeping the shady side. We asked the servant for our hats and coats in whispers, and opened the door for ourselves, and slipped out, and got round the corner quickly, avoiding each other as much as possible.
softly - en douceur; ; doucement
shady side - côté ombragé
servant - serviteur, domestique, servante, checkserviteur
avoiding - en évitant; éviter, éviter, fuir
I have never taken much interest in German songs since then.
We reached Sunbury Lock at half-past three. The river is sweetly pretty just there before you come to the gates, and the backwater is charming; but don't attempt to row up it.
sweetly - avec douceur; ; doucement
Backwater - les marigots; ; patelin, trou perdu, lâcher prise, abandonner
attempt - tenter, essayer, tentative, attentat
I tried to do so once. I was sculling, and asked the fellows who were steering if they thought it could be done, and they said, oh, yes, they thought so, if I pulled hard. We were just under the little foot-bridge that crosses it between the two weirs, when they said this, and I bent down over the sculls, and set myself up, and pulled.
crosses - croisements; croix, croix, croix, croix, signe de croix
weirs - les barrages; seuil, écrille, bordigue
bent - plié; courba, courbai, courbés, courbé, cambrai
I pulled splendidly. I got well into a steady rhythmical swing. I put my arms, and my legs, and my back into it. I set myself a good, quick, dashing stroke, and worked in really grand style. My two friends said it was a pleasure to watch me. At the end of five minutes, I thought we ought to be pretty near the weir, and I looked up.
splendidly - magnifiquement
rhythmical - rythmique
swing - swing; ; osciller, se balancer, swinguer, pendre, changer
weir - weir; ; seuil, écrille, bordigue
We were under the bridge, in exactly the same spot that we were when I began, and there were those two idiots, injuring themselves by violent laughing. I had been grinding away like mad to keep that boat stuck still under that bridge. I let other people pull up backwaters against strong streams now.
Idiots - idiots; idiot, idiote
injuring - blesser; blesser, blesser
violent - violent, vif
grinding - broyage; (grind); broyage
pull up - tirer vers le haut
We sculled up to Walton, a rather large place for a riverside town. As with all riverside places, only the tiniest corner of it comes down to the water, so that from the boat you might fancy it was a village of some half-dozen houses, all told. Windsor and Abingdon are the only towns between London and Oxford that you can really see anything of from the stream.
sculled - en godille; aviron
tiniest - le plus petit; minuscule
dozen - douzaine, dizaine
all told - tout compris
All the others hide round corners, and merely peep at the river down one street: my thanks to them for being so considerate, and leaving the river-banks to woods and fields and water-works.
corners - coins; coin, coin, coin, rencogner, piéger, acculer
peep - peep; gazouiller, pépier
considerate - attentionné
fields - champs; champ, t+campo, champ, terrain, champ, champ, corps
Even Reading, though it does its best to spoil and sully and make hideous as much of the river as it can reach, is good-natured enough to keep its ugly face a good deal out of sight.
sully - sully; ; salir, souiller
good-natured - (good-natured) de bonne nature
ugly - laid, moche, vilain
Cćsar, of course, had a little place at Walton-a camp, or an entrenchment, or something of that sort. Cćsar was a regular up-river man. Also Queen Elizabeth, she was there, too. You can never get away from that woman, go where you will. Cromwell and Bradshaw (not the guide man, but the King Charles's head man) likewise sojourned here. They must have been quite a pleasant little party, altogether.
little place - petit endroit
entrenchment - l'enracinement
Charles - charles; Charles
likewise - de meme
sojourned - séjourné; séjour, séjourner
There is an iron "scold's bridle" in Walton Church. They used these things in ancient days for curbing women's tongues. They have given up the attempt now. I suppose iron was getting scarce, and nothing else would be strong enough.
scold - chipie, furie, mégere, gronder, réprimander
bridle - bride, brider, refréner, etre susceptible
ancient - ancienne; antique
curbing - les bordures; bridant; (curb); restreindre, endiguer
tongues - langues; langue, languette
scarce - rare
There are also tombs of note in the church, and I was afraid I should never get Harris past them; but he didn't seem to think of them, and we went on. Above the bridge the river winds tremendously. This makes it look picturesque; but it irritates you from a towing or sculling point of view, and causes argument between the man who is pulling and the man who is steering.
winds - vents; vent
tremendously - énormément
picturesque - pittoresque
causes - causes; cause, raison, cause, causer
pulling - tirant; (pull); tirer, retirer, tirer un coup, influence
You pass Oatlands Park on the right bank here. It is a famous old place. Henry VIII. stole it from some one or the other, I forget whom now, and lived in it. There is a grotto in the park which you can see for a fee, and which is supposed to be very wonderful; but I cannot see much in it myself.
Stole - volé; volâmes, volai, vola, volerent; (steal); voler, vol
grotto - grotte
fee - frais; ; honoraires, tarif
The late Duchess of York, who lived at Oatlands, was very fond of dogs, and kept an immense number. She had a special graveyard made, in which to bury them when they died, and there they lie, about fifty of them, with a tombstone over each, and an epitaph inscribed thereon.
Duchess - la duchesse; ; duchesse
York - york; York, Yorck, Yorque
immense number - un nombre immense
graveyard - cimetiere; ; cimetiere
epitaph - épitaphe
inscribed - inscrit; graver
thereon - sur ce point; ; jusque-la
Well, I dare say they deserve it quite as much as the average Christian does.
dare - oser; aventurer
deserve - mériter
At "Corway Stakes"-the first bend above Walton Bridge-was fought a battle between Cćsar and Cassivelaunus. Cassivelaunus had prepared the river for Cćsar, by planting it full of stakes (and had, no doubt, put up a notice-board). But Cćsar crossed in spite of this. You couldn't choke Cćsar off that river. He is the sort of man we want round the backwaters now.
stakes - enjeux; pieu, pal, tuteur, jalon, piquet, piquet, poteau
bend - plier; ; courber, tordre, tourner
fought - combattu; (se) battre
crossed - croisé; croix, croix, croix, croix, signe de croix
choke - l'étranglement; étouffer, étouffez, suffoquer, laminer
Halliford and Shepperton are both pretty little spots where they touch the river; but there is nothing remarkable about either of them. There is a tomb in Shepperton churchyard, however, with a poem on it, and I was nervous lest Harris should want to get out and fool round it.
I saw him fix a longing eye on the landing-stage as we drew near it, so I managed, by an adroit movement, to jerk his cap into the water, and in the excitement of recovering that, and his indignation at my clumsiness, he forgot all about his beloved graves.
adroit - adroit; adroit
movement - mouvement
cap - cap; bonnet, calotte, casquette, toque, képi
excitement - l'excitation; ; excitation
clumsiness - maladresse, inélégance
At Weybridge, the Wey (a pretty little stream, navigable for small boats up to Guildford, and one which I have always been making up my mind to explore, and never have), the Bourne, and the Basingstoke Canal all enter the Thames together. The lock is just opposite the town, and the first thing that we saw, when we came in view of it, was George's blazer on one of the lock gates, closer inspection showing that George was inside it.
Wey - wey
navigable - navigable
making up - Vous inventez
explore - explorer
bourne - bourne
enter - entrer, rench: t-needed r, taper, saisir
inspection - l'inspection; ; inspection, rench: t-needed r
Montmorency set up a furious barking, I shrieked, Harris roared; George waved his hat, and yelled back. The lock-keeper rushed out with a drag, under the impression that somebody had fallen into the lock, and appeared annoyed at finding that no one had.
furious - furieux, furieux
barking - aboiement; aboiement
rushed - précipité; se précipiter, emmener d''urgence
annoyed - agacé; gener, ennuyer, embeter, agacer, asticoter
George had rather a curious oilskin-covered parcel in his hand. It was round and flat at one end, with a long straight handle sticking out of it.
oilskin - peau d'huile; ; ciré
parcel - colis, paquet, parcelle, empaqueter, emballer, envelopper
handle - poignée; crosse, manions, poignée, traiter, manient, maniez
sticking out - qui dépassent
"What's that?" said Harris-"a frying-pan?"
"No," said George, with a strange, wild look glittering in his eyes; "they are all the rage this season; everybody has got them up the river. It's a banjo."
rage - rage, furie, fureur, courroux, rager, faire rage
season - saison; saison
"I never knew you played the banjo!" cried Harris and I, in one breath.
breath - respiration, souffle, haleine
"Not exactly," replied George: "but it's very easy, they tell me; and I've got the instruction book!"
instruction - l'instruction; ; instruction
George and the banjo
George is introduced to work.-Heathenish instincts of tow-lines.-Ungrateful conduct of a double-sculling skiff.-Towers and towed.-A use discovered for lovers.-Strange disappearance of an elderly lady.-Much haste, less speed.-Being towed by girls: exciting sensation.-The missing lock or the haunted river.-Music.-Saved!
heathenish - paien
ungrateful - ingrat
double - double, double, sosie, doublon, doubler
skiff - skiff
towers - tours; tour
towed - remorqué; remorquer
disappearance - disparition
haste - hâte
less speed - moins de vitesse
sensation - sensation
haunted - hanté; hanter, hanter, demeurer, point de rencontre
saved - sauvée; sauver, sauvegarder, épargner, préserver, protéger
We made George work, now we had got him. He did not want to work, of course; that goes without saying. He had had a hard time in the City, so he explained. Harris, who is callous in his nature, and not prone to pity, said:
callous - endurci, sans-cour, insensible
prone - prone; ; couché sur le ventre, enclin, prédisposé
"Ah! and now you are going to have a hard time on the river for a change; change is good for everyone. Out you get!"
He could not in conscience-not even George's conscience-object, though he did suggest that, perhaps, it would be better for him to stop in the boat, and get tea ready, while Harris and I towed, because getting tea was such a worrying work, and Harris and I looked tired. The only reply we made to this, however, was to pass him over the tow-line, and he took it, and stepped out.
conscience - conscience
worrying - inquiétant; lancinant; (worry); inquiéter, harceler, souci
stepped out - sorti
Dog wrapped in tow-lineThere is something very strange and unaccountable about a tow-line. You roll it up with as much patience and care as you would take to fold up a new pair of trousers, and five minutes afterwards, when you pick it up, it is one ghastly, soul-revolting tangle.
unaccountable - sans avoir a rendre de comptes
roll it - le rouler
patience - la patience; ; patience
fold up - se replier
revolting - révoltant; révolter
tangle - enchevetrement; chaos
That is my opinion of tow-lines in general. Of course, there may be honourable exceptions; I do not say that there are not. There may be tow-lines that are a credit to their profession-conscientious, respectable tow-lines-tow-lines that do not imagine they are crochet-work, and try to knit themselves up into antimacassars the instant they are left to themselves.
honourable - honorable
exceptions - exceptions; exception, exception
profession - profession, métier, corps de métier
conscientious - consciencieux
crochet - au crochet; ; crochet
knit - tricot; ; tricoter, souder, unir, se souder
antimacassars - antimacassars; antimacassar, tetiere
I say there may be such tow-lines; I sincerely hope there are. But I have not met with them.
sincerely - sincerement
This tow-line I had taken in myself just before we had got to the lock. I would not let Harris touch it, because he is careless. I had looped it round slowly and cautiously, and tied it up in the middle, and folded it in two, and laid it down gently at the bottom of the boat. Harris had lifted it up scientifically, and had put it into George's hand.
careless - négligent, étourdi, distrait
looped - en boucle; boucle, boucle, circuit fermé, boucle, boucle
cautiously - avec prudence; ; précautionneusement
tied - attachée; attacher
laid - posé; poser
lifted - soulevée; soulever
scientifically - scientifiquement
George had taken it firmly, and held it away from him, and had begun to unravel it as if he were taking the swaddling clothes off a new-born infant; and, before he had unwound a dozen yards, the thing was more like a badly-made door-mat than anything else.
unravel - se défaire; ; dénouer, démeler, résoudre
swaddling - l'emmaillotage; emmailloter, langer
new-born - (new-born) nouveau-né
infant - nourrisson, enfant en bas âge, poupon
unwound - déroulé; dérouler, débobiner, démeler, décompresser, défaire
mat - mat; mate
It is always the same, and the same sort of thing always goes on in connection with it. The man on the bank, who is trying to disentangle it, thinks all the fault lies with the man who rolled it up; and when a man up the river thinks a thing, he says it.
connection - connexion, liaison, lien, rapport, complicité, correspondance
disentangle - démeler; ; démeler
fault - défaut, faute, faille
"What have you been trying to do with it, make a fishing-net of it? You've made a nice mess you have; why couldn't you wind it up properly, you silly dummy?" he grunts from time to time as he struggles wildly with it, and lays it out flat on the tow-path, and runs round and round it, trying to find the end.
net - net; réseau, filet
A nice mess - une belle pagaille
properly - proprement, correctement, convenablement
dummy - muet, idiot, idiote, imbécile, mannequin, mort
grunts - grognements; grognement, bidasse, troufion, grogner
wildly - sauvage; ; sauvagement
lays - les mensonges; poser
On the other hand, the man who wound it up thinks the whole cause of the muddle rests with the man who is trying to unwind it.
wound - blessons, blessent, blessez, blessure, blesser
muddle - brouiller les pistes; ; confondre, mélanger, embrouiller
rests - se repose; repos
unwind - se détendre; ; dérouler, débobiner, démeler, décompresser
"It was all right when you took it!" he exclaims indignantly. "Why don't you think what you are doing? You go about things in such a slap-dash style. You'd get a scaffolding pole entangled you would!"
exclaims - s'exclame; exclamer
scaffolding - l'échafaudage; échafaud; (scaffold); échafaudage, échafaud
pole - pôle; pôle, poteau, pieu, Gaule, pole
entangled - enchevetrés; intriquer, empetrer, tortiller
And they feel so angry with one another that they would like to hang each other with the thing. Ten minutes go by, and the first man gives a yell and goes mad, and dances on the rope, and tries to pull it straight by seizing hold of the first piece that comes to his hand and hauling at it. Of course, this only gets it into a tighter tangle than ever. Then the second man climbs out of the boat and comes to help him, and they get in each other's way, and hinder one another.
rope - corde; funiculaire, corde
hauling - le transport; haler, trainer, butin, magot
tighter - plus serré; serré, tendu, tendu, ivre, bien, qualifier
They both get hold of the same bit of line, and pull at it in opposite directions, and wonder where it is caught. In the end, they do get it clear, and then turn round and find that the boat has drifted off, and is making straight for the weir.
is caught - est attrapé
drifted - a la dérive; dérive, dériver, errer, dévier
This really happened once to my own knowledge. It was up by Boveney, one rather windy morning. We were pulling down stream, and, as we came round the bend, we noticed a couple of men on the bank. They were looking at each other with as bewildered and helplessly miserable expression as I have ever witnessed on any human countenance before or since, and they held a long tow-line between them.
knowledge - connaissance, science, connaissances, savoir
pulling down - a tirer vers le bas
witnessed - témoins; témoignage, témoin, témoin, preuve, témoigner
countenance - visage, approuver
It was clear that something had happened, so we eased up and asked them what was the matter.
eased - assoupli; facilité, repos, abaisser, abréger, amoindrir
"Why, our boat's gone off!" they replied in an indignant tone. "We just got out to disentangle the tow-line, and when we looked round, it was gone!"
gone off - s'est éteint
indignant - indigné
And they seemed hurt at what they evidently regarded as a mean and ungrateful act on the part of the boat.
act on - agir
We found the truant for them half a mile further down, held by some rushes, and we brought it back to them. I bet they did not give that boat another chance for a week.
I shall never forget the picture of those two men walking up and down the bank with a tow-line, looking for their boat.
One sees a good many funny incidents up the river in connection with towing. One of the most common is the sight of a couple of towers, walking briskly along, deep in an animated discussion, while the man in the boat, a hundred yards behind them, is vainly shrieking to them to stop, and making frantic signs of distress with a scull.
Incidents - incidents; incident, incident, frait-divers, fr
briskly - rapidement; ; vivement
animated - animée; animé, animer
vainly - vainement
shrieking - des cris; (shriek); hurlement, crier
frantic - éperdu, paniqué, frénétique
signs - des signes; signe
distress - la détresse; ; détresse
scull - la godille; aviron
Something has gone wrong; the rudder has come off, or the boat-hook has slipped overboard, or his hat has dropped into the water and is floating rapidly down stream.
gone wrong - a mal tourné
come off - se détacher
Hook - crochet, agrafe, hook, accrocher
dropped - a déposé; goutte
floating - flottant; flottant; (float); flotter, flotteur, taloche, char
rapidly - rapidement
He calls to them to stop, quite gently and politely at first.
politely - poliment
Hat in the water"Hi! stop a minute, will you?" he shouts cheerily. "I've dropped my hat over-board."
shouts - crie; cri
Then: "Hi! Tom-Dick! can't you hear?" not quite so affably this time.
Then: "Hi! confound you, you dunder-headed idiots! Hi! stop! Oh you-!"
confound you - vous déconcerter
dunder - téton
After that he springs up, and dances about, and roars himself red in the face, and curses everything he knows. And the small boys on the bank stop and jeer at him, and pitch stones at him as he is pulled along past them, at the rate of four miles an hour, and can't get out.
roars - rugit; rugir, hurler, s'esclaffer, rire aux éclats
curses - des malédictions; maudire
pitch - de l'emplacement; dresser
Much of this sort of trouble would be saved if those who are towing would keep remembering that they are towing, and give a pretty frequent look round to see how their man is getting on. It is best to let one person tow. When two are doing it, they get chattering, and forget, and the boat itself, offering, as it does, but little resistance, is of no real service in reminding them of the fact.
frequent - fréquents; fréquenter
look round - regarder autour
getting on - en train de monter
chattering - bavardage; (chatter) bavardage
offering - offre, offrande; (offer); offre, offrande
resistance - résistance
reminding - rappel; rappeler
As an example of how utterly oblivious a pair of towers can be to their work, George told us, later on in the evening, when we were discussing the subject after supper, of a very curious instance.
oblivious - inconscient
Two people towing, boat adrift
adrift - a la dérive; ; a la dérive
He and three other men, so he said, were sculling a very heavily laden boat up from Maidenhead one evening, and a little above Cookham lock they noticed a fellow and a girl, walking along the towpath, both deep in an apparently interesting and absorbing conversation. They were carrying a boat-hook between them, and, attached to the boat-hook was a tow-line, which trailed behind them, its end in the water. No boat was near, no boat was in sight. There must have been a boat attached to that tow-line at some time or other, that was certain; but what had become of it, what ghastly fate had overtaken it, and those who had been left in it, was buried in mystery.
heavily laden - lourdement chargé
maidenhead - maidenhead; ; virginité
towpath - chemin de halage; ; halage
absorbing - absorbant; absorber, absorber, éponger, absorber, absorber
fate - le destin; ; destin, destinée, sort
overtaken - dépassé; dépasser, doubler, surprendre
Whatever the accident may have been, however, it had in no way disturbed the young lady and gentleman, who were towing. They had the boat-hook and they had the line, and that seemed to be all that they thought necessary to their work.
disturbed - perturbé; déranger, perturber, gener, perturber, déranger
necessary - nécessaire
George was about to call out and wake them up, but, at that moment, a bright idea flashed across him, and he didn't. He got the hitcher instead, and reached over, and drew in the end of the tow-line; and they made a loop in it, and put it over their mast, and then they tidied up the sculls, and went and sat down in the stern, and lit their pipes.
flashed - flashé; éclair, lueur
hitcher - hitcher
tidied up - rangé
And that young man and young woman towed those four hulking chaps and a heavy boat up to Marlow.
hulking - imposant; carcasse
chaps - les chaps; type
George said he never saw so much thoughtful sadness concentrated into one glance before, as when, at the lock, that young couple grasped the idea that, for the last two miles, they had been towing the wrong boat. George fancied that, if it had not been for the restraining influence of the sweet woman at his side, the young man might have given way to violent language.
thoughtful - réfléchie; ; réfléchi, attentionné
sadness - tristesse, malheur
glance - regard; ; jeter un coup d’oil
restraining - de contention; (se) contenir/retenir
given way - donné
The maiden was the first to recover from her surprise, and, when she did, she clasped her hands, and said, wildly:
maiden - jeune fille, jeune femme, demoiselle, pucelle, vierge
recover from - se remettre
clasped - serré; fermoir, serrer
"Oh, Henry, then where is auntie?"
auntie - tante; ; tantine, tata, tatie
"Did they ever recover the old lady?" asked Harris.
recover - récupérer; captons, capter, recouvrent, recouvrer, recouvrons
George replied he did not know.
Another example of the dangerous want of sympathy between tower and towed was witnessed by George and myself once up near Walton. It was where the tow-path shelves gently down into the water, and we were camping on the opposite bank, noticing things in general. By-and-by a small boat came in sight, towed through the water at a tremendous pace by a powerful barge horse, on which sat a very small boy.
sympathy - compassion, sympathie, condoléance
tower - tour; tour
shelves - étageres; rayon, étagere, tablard, étagere, rayonnage
noticing - remarquer; remarquer, notification, préavis, préavis, remarquer
by-and-by - (by-and-by) par et par
pace - rythme; pas
Scattered about the boat, in dreamy and reposeful attitudes, lay five fellows, the man who was steering having a particularly restful appearance.
scattered - dispersé; disperser, se disperser, éparpiller, parsemer
reposeful - reposant
attitudes - attitudes; posture, état d'esprit, attitude
restful - reposant
"I should like to see him pull the wrong line," murmured George, as they passed. And at that precise moment the man did it, and the boat rushed up the bank with a noise like the ripping up of forty thousand linen sheets. Two men, a hamper, and three oars immediately left the boat on the larboard side, and reclined on the bank, and one and a half moments afterwards, two other men disembarked from the starboard, and sat down among boat-hooks and sails and carpet-bags and bottles.
precise - précis, préciser
noise - bruit, vacarme, brouhaha, boucan
ripping - déchirer; (se) déchirer
linen - le linge; ; toile, lin, linge, linge
sheets - feuilles; feuille, plaque, feuille, écoute
larboard - a tribord
disembarked - débarqué; débarquer, débarquer
starboard - a tribord; ; tribord
hooks - des crochets; crochet, agrafe, hook, crochet, accrocher, ferrer
carpet - tapis, moquette, tapisser
The last man went on twenty yards further, and then got out on his head.
This seemed to sort of lighten the boat, and it went on much easier, the small boy shouting at the top of his voice, and urging his steed into a gallop. The fellows sat up and stared at one another. It was some seconds before they realised what had happened to them, but, when they did, they began to shout lustily for the boy to stop.
lighten - alléger
shouting at - en criant
urging - l'exhortation; exhortant; (urge); pulsion, pousser, inciter
gallop - galop, galoper
He, however, was too much occupied with the horse to hear them, and we watched them, flying after him, until the distance hid them from view.
occupied with - occupés par
distance - distance, éloigner, checks'éloigner
hid - caché; (hide) caché
Of all experiences in connection with towing, the most exciting is being towed by girls. It is a sensation that nobody ought to miss. It takes three girls to tow always; two hold the rope, and the other one runs round and round, and giggles. They generally begin by getting themselves tied up. They get the line round their legs, and have to sit down on the path and undo each other, and then they twist it round their necks, and are nearly strangled. They fix it straight, however, at last, and start off at a run, pulling the boat along at quite a dangerous pace.
experiences - expériences; expérience, expérience, expérience, expérience
most exciting - le plus excitant
giggles - rires; glousser, gloussement
undo - annuler; défaisons, défont, défais
twist - twist, torsion, entortiller, tordre
necks - cou; cou
strangled - étranglé; étrangler
At the end of a hundred yards they are naturally breathless, and suddenly stop, and all sit down on the grass and laugh, and your boat drifts out to mid-stream and turns round, before you know what has happened, or can get hold of a scull. Then they stand up, and are surprised.
drifts - dérives; dérive, dériver, errer, dévier
"Oh, look!" they say; "he's gone right out into the middle."
Lady pinning up frockThey pull on pretty steadily for a bit, after this, and then it all at once occurs to one of them that she will pin up her frock, and they ease up for the purpose, and the boat runs aground.
pinning - brochage; (pin) brochage
frockThey - frockIls
pull on - tirer
occurs - se produit; produire
pin up - pin up
ease up - se calmer
aground - échoué; échoué
You jump up, and push it off, and you shout to them not to stop.
jump up - sauter
"Yes. What's the matter?" they shout back.
What's the matter? - Qu'est-ce qu'il y a ?
"Don't stop," you roar.
"Don't stop-go on-go on!"
"Go back, Emily, and see what it is they want," says one; and Emily comes back, and asks what it is.
"What do you want?" she says; "anything happened?"
"No," you reply, "it's all right; only go on, you know-don't stop."
"Why, we can't steer, if you keep stopping. You must keep some way on the boat."
"Keep some what?"
"Some way-you must keep the boat moving."
"Oh, all right, I'll tell 'em. Are we doing it all right?"
"Oh, yes, very nicely, indeed, only don't stop."
nicely - joliment; ; agréablement
"It doesn't seem difficult at all. I thought it was so hard."
"Oh, no, it's simple enough. You want to keep on steady at it, that's all."
"I see. Give me out my red shawl, it's under the cushion."
shawl - châle
You find the shawl, and hand it out, and by this time another one has come back and thinks she will have hers too, and they take Mary's on chance, and Mary does not want it, so they bring it back and have a pocket-comb instead. It is about twenty minutes before they get off again, and, at the next corner, they see a cow, and you have to leave the boat to chivy the cow out of their way.
Mary - marie; Marie, Marie
chivy - chivy
There is never a dull moment in the boat while girls are towing it.
George got the line right after a while, and towed us steadily on to Penton Hook. There we discussed the important question of camping. We had decided to sleep on board that night, and we had either to lay up just about there, or go on past Staines.
sleep on - dormir
It seemed early to think about shutting up then, however, with the sun still in the heavens, and we settled to push straight on for Runnymead, three and a half miles further, a quiet wooded part of the river, and where there is good shelter.
shutting - la fermeture; fermer
straight on - directement
wooded - boisé; (de) bois
We all wished, however, afterward that we had stopped at Penton Hook. Three or four miles up stream is a trifle, early in the morning, but it is a weary pull at the end of a long day. You take no interest in the scenery during these last few miles. You do not chat and laugh.
afterward - apres
weary - fatigué; ; las, lasser
Every half-mile you cover seems like two. You can hardly believe you are only where you are, and you are convinced that the map must be wrong; and, when you have trudged along for what seems to you at least ten miles, and still the lock is not in sight, you begin to seriously fear that somebody must have sneaked it, and run off with it.
trudged - trudged; marcher, crapahuter
seriously - sérieusement, gravement, sérieux
I remember being terribly upset once up the river (in a figurative sense, I mean). I was out with a young lady-cousin on my mother's side-and we were pulling down to Goring. It was rather late, and we were anxious to get in-at least she was anxious to get in. It was half-past six when we reached Benson's lock, and dusk was drawing on, and she began to get excited then.
figurative - au sens figuré
Goring - goring; ; coup de corne; (gor) goring; ; coup de corne
dusk - crépuscule
get excited - s'exciter
She said she must be in to supper. I said it was a thing I felt I wanted to be in at, too; and I drew out a map I had with me to see exactly how far it was. I saw it was just a mile and a half to the next lock-Wallingford-and five on from there to Cleeve.
"Oh, it's all right!" I said. "We'll be through the next lock before seven, and then there is only one more;" and I settled down and pulled steadily away.
We passed the bridge, and soon after that I asked if she saw the lock. She said no, she did not see any lock; and I said, "Oh!" and pulled on. Another five minutes went by, and then I asked her to look again.
"No," she said; "I can't see any signs of a lock."
"You-you are sure you know a lock, when you do see one?" I asked hesitatingly, not wishing to offend her.
hesitatingly - avec hésitation
offend - offenser, déplaire, blesser, checkblesser, checkinsulter
The question did offend her, however, and she suggested that I had better look for myself; so I laid down the sculls, and took a view. The river stretched out straight before us in the twilight for about a mile; not a ghost of a lock was to be seen.
laid down - mis en place
stretched - étiré; étendre, s'étendre, s'étirer, étirement
twilight - demi-jour, crépuscule, entre chien et loup, pénombre, brumes
ghost - fantôme, spectre, esprit, revenant
"You don't think we have lost our way, do you?" asked my companion.
I did not see how that was possible; though, as I suggested, we might have somehow got into the weir stream, and be making for the falls.
This idea did not comfort her in the least, and she began to cry. She said we should both be drowned, and that it was a judgment on her for coming out with me.
be drowned - etre noyé
judgment - jugement, sentence, verdict, jugement dernier
It seemed an excessive punishment, I thought; but my cousin thought not, and hoped it would all soon be over.
excessive - excessif
punishment - punition, châtiment
I tried to reassure her, and to make light of the whole affair. I said that the fact evidently was that I was not rowing as fast as I fancied I was, but that we should soon reach the lock now; and I pulled on for another mile.
reassure - tranquilliser, rassurer, réassurer
Then I began to get nervous myself. I looked again at the map. There was Wallingford lock, clearly marked, a mile and a half below Benson's. It was a good, reliable map; and, besides, I recollected the lock myself. I had been through it twice. Where were we? What had happened to us? I began to think it must be all a dream, and that I was really asleep in bed, and should wake up in a minute, and be told it was past ten.
Clearly - en clair; ; clairement
marked - marqué; Marc, Marc, Marc
reliable - fiable, sur
besides - d'ailleurs; aupres
recollected - rappelée; se souvenir de
I asked my cousin if she thought it could be a dream, and she replied that she was just about to ask me the same question; and then we both wondered if we were both asleep, and if so, who was the real one that was dreaming, and who was the one that was only a dream; it got quite interesting.
dreaming - en train de rever; revant; (dream); reve, songe, voeu
I still went on pulling, however, and still no lock came in sight, and the river grew more and more gloomy and mysterious under the gathering shadows of night, and things seemed to be getting weird and uncanny.
more gloomy - plus sombre
gathering - rassemblement; cueillant, amassant, ramassage
I thought of hobgoblins and banshees, and will-o'-the-wisps, and those wicked girls who sit up all night on rocks, and lure people into whirl-pools and things; and I wished I had been a better man, and knew more hymns; and in the middle of these reflections I heard the blessed strains of "He's got 'em on," played, badly, on a concertina, and knew that we were saved.
hobgoblins - les hobgobelins; lutin
banshees - les banshees; banshee, banshie
wisps - des feux follets; brin, fétu, touffe
lure - leurre; attrait
hymns - des hymnes; hymne
reflections - réflexions; réflexion, reflet, reflet, qualifiereaning 4
strains - les souches; tendre fortement
concertina - concertina; ; accordéon
I do not admire the tones of a concertina, as a rule; but, oh! how beautiful the music seemed to us both then-far, far more beautiful than the voice of Orpheus or the lute of Apollo, or anything of that sort could have sounded. Heavenly melody, in our then state of mind, would only have still further harrowed us.
more beautiful - plus belle
Orpheus - orphée; Orphée
lute - lut
Apollo - apollo; apollon
heavenly - paradisiaque; ; céleste
melody - mélodie
A soul-moving harmony, correctly performed, we should have taken as a spirit-warning, and have given up all hope. But about the strains of "He's got 'em on," jerked spasmodically, and with involuntary variations, out of a wheezy accordion, there was something singularly human and reassuring.
harmony - l'harmonie; ; harmonie
correctly - correctement
performed - réalisée; exécuter, performer, jouer (''actor'')
warning - l'avertissement; ; avertissement, attention; (warn); avertir
jerked - secoué; secousse
spasmodically - spasmodiquement
variations - variations; variation, variante, déclinaison, variante
accordion - l'accordéon; ; accordéon
reassuring - rassurant; tranquilliser, rassurer, réassurer
The sweet sounds drew nearer, and soon the boat from which they were worked lay alongside us.
alongside - a côté; ; a côté, a côté de, le long de
It contained a party of provincial 'Arrys and 'Arriets, out for a moonlight sail. (There was not any moon, but that was not their fault.) I never saw more attractive, lovable people in all my life. I hailed them, and asked if they could tell me the way to Wallingford lock; and I explained that I had been looking for it for the last two hours.
contained - contenu; contenir, contenir, contenir, contenir
provincial - provinciale; ; provincial
sail - naviguer; voile, cingler
moon - lune
more attractive - plus attrayante
lovable - aimable, adorable
"Wallingford lock!" they answered. "Lor'love you, sir, that's been done away with for over a year. There ain't no Wallingford lock now, sir. You're close to Cleeve now. Blow me tight if 'ere ain't a gentleman been looking for Wallingford lock, Bill!"
ere - ici
tight - serré, tendu, ivre, bien
I had never thought of that. I wanted to fall upon all their necks and bless them; but the stream was running too strong just there to allow of this, so I had to content myself with mere cold-sounding words of gratitude.
bless - bénir; bénir, bénis, bénissez, bénissent, bénissons
content - contenu; satisfait, contentement
gratitude - la gratitude; ; gratitude
We thanked them over and over again, and we said it was a lovely night, and we wished them a pleasant trip, and, I think, I invited them all to come and spend a week with me, and my cousin said her mother would be so pleased to see them. And we sang the soldiers'chorus out of Faust, and got home in time for supper, after all.
soldiers - soldats; soldat, mouillette
People in rowing boat
rowing boat - Un bateau a rames
Our first night.-Under canvas.-An appeal for help.-Contrariness of tea-kettles, how to overcome.-Supper.-How to feel virtuous.-Wanted! a comfortably-appointed, well-drained desert island, neighbourhood of South Pacific Ocean preferred.-Funny thing that happened to George's father.-a restless night.
first night - premiere nuit
appeal - appel; manifeste, vocation, pourvoi
contrariness - la contrariété
overcome - vaincre, surmonter, envahir
virtuous - vertueux
comfortably - confortablement; agréablement
appointed - nommés; fixer, gloss
drained - drainé; drain, bonde, hémorragie, gouffre, drain, drainer
Pacific - pacifique
Harris and I began to think that Bell Weir lock must have been done away with after the same manner. George had towed us up to Staines, and we had taken the boat from there, and it seemed that we were dragging fifty tons after us, and were walking forty miles. It was half-past seven when we were through, and we all got in, and sculled up close to the left bank, looking out for a spot to haul up in.
dragging - traînant; tirer, entraîner
tons - tonnes; tonne
We had originally intended to go on to Magna Charta Island, a sweetly pretty part of the river, where it winds through a soft, green valley, and to camp in one of the many picturesque inlets to be found round that tiny shore. But, somehow, we did not feel that we yearned for the picturesque nearly so much now as we had earlier in the day. A bit of water between a coal-barge and a gas-works would have quite satisfied us for that night.
originally - a l'origine
Charta - charta
soft - souple; moelleux, alcoolsans, mou, doux
Valley - la vallée; ; vallée, val
inlets - les entrées; crique
tiny - minuscule
coal - charbon, houille, tisons, checkhouille
satisfied - satisfaits; satisfaire
We did not want scenery. We wanted to have our supper and go to bed. However, we did pull up to the point-"Picnic Point," it is called-and dropped into a very pleasant nook under a great elm-tree, to the spreading roots of which we fastened the boat.
elm-tree - (elm-tree) L'orme
roots - des racines; racine
fastened - fixé; attacher, fixer
Then we thought we were going to have supper (we had dispensed with tea, so as to save time), but George said no; that we had better get the canvas up first, before it got quite dark, and while we could see what we were doing. Then, he said, all our work would be done, and we could sit down to eat with an easy mind.
dispensed - distribué; émettre, distribuer, partager, dispenser, doser
That canvas wanted more putting up than I think any of us had bargained for. It looked so simple in the abstract. You took five iron arches, like gigantic croquet hoops, and fitted them up over the boat, and then stretched the canvas over them, and fastened it down: it would take quite ten minutes, we thought.
bargained - négocié; accord, affaire, bonne affaire, marchander, s'accorder
abstract - résumé, abstrait, abstrait, abstraire, distiller, se retirer
arches - arcs; voute, arche
croquet - le croquet; ; croquet
fitted - adapté; en forme
That was an under-estimate.
estimate - estimation, devis, estimer
We took up the hoops, and began to drop them into the sockets placed for them. You would not imagine this to be dangerous work; but, looking back now, the wonder to me is that any of us are alive to tell the tale. They were not hoops, they were demons.
sockets - des prises; prise, douille, orbite (for the eye), cavité
Tale - conte; conte, récit
demons - démons; démon, diable
First they would not fit into their sockets at all, and we had to jump on them, and kick them, and hammer at them with the boat-hook; and, when they were in, it turned out that they were the wrong hoops for those particular sockets, and they had to come out again.
fit - s'adapter; adapter
jump - sauter; sautent, sautiller, sauter, sautons, félure
kick - coup de pied; bottons, bottent, escabeau, bottez, botter
But they would not come out, until two of us had gone and struggled with them for five minutes, when they would jump up suddenly, and try and throw us into the water and drown us.
struggled with - avec lequel vous avez lutté
drown - se noyer; ; noyer, checksubmerger
They had hinges in the middle, and, when we were not looking, they nipped us with these hinges in delicate parts of the body; and, while we were wrestling with one side of the hoop, and endeavouring to persuade it to do its duty, the other side would come behind us in a cowardly manner, and hit us over the head.
hinges - charnieres; gond, charniere, dépendre
nipped - nippé; pincer, donner un coup de dent
wrestling - la lutte; ; lutte, catch; (wrestle); lutter
Hoop - cerceau; cerceau
endeavouring - s'efforcer; s''efforcer (de)
persuade - persuader
We got them fixed at last, and then all that was to be done was to arrange the covering over them. George unrolled it, and fastened one end over the nose of the boat. Harris stood in the middle to take it from George and roll it on to me, and I kept by the stern to receive it. It was a long time coming down to me. George did his part all right, but it was new work to Harris, and he bungled it.
covering - la couverture; bâchant, couvrant; (cover); couvercle
unrolled - déroulé; (se) dérouler
receive - recevoir
bungled - bousculé; rater, foirer
How he managed it I do not know, he could not explain himself; but by some mysterious process or other he succeeded, after ten minutes of superhuman effort, in getting himself completely rolled up in it. He was so firmly wrapped round and tucked in and folded over, that he could not get out.
process - processus; procédé, processus
effort - l'effort; ; effort
tucked - tucked; rempli
He, of course, made frantic struggles for freedom-the birthright of every Englishman,-and, in doing so (I learned this afterwards), knocked over George; and then George, swearing at Harris, began to struggle too, and got himself entangled and rolled up.
Englishman - Anglais
knocked over - renversé
Watching and waitingI knew nothing about all this at the time. I did not understand the business at all myself. I had been told to stand where I was, and wait till the canvas came to me, and Montmorency and I stood there and waited, both as good as gold. We could see the canvas being violently jerked and tossed about, pretty considerably; but we supposed this was part of the method, and did not interfere.
waitingI - l'attenteI
violently - violemment
Considerably - considérablement, largement
interfere - meler
We also heard much smothered language coming from underneath it, and we guessed that they were finding the job rather troublesome, and concluded that we would wait until things had got a little simpler before we joined in.
troublesome - genants
We waited some time, but matters seemed to get only more and more involved, until, at last, George's head came wriggling out over the side of the boat, and spoke up.
Involved - impliqué; nécessiter, impliquer
wriggling - se tortiller; (wriggle); remuer, se tortiller
"Give us a hand here, can't you, you cuckoo; standing there like a stuffed mummy, when you see we are both being suffocated, you dummy!"
cuckoo - coucou, coucoulement, coucouler
mummy - maman; maman
suffocated - étouffé; suffoquer, suffoquer, étouffer
I never could withstand an appeal for help, so I went and undid them; not before it was time, either, for Harris was nearly black in the face.
withstand - résister
undid - défait; défaire
not before - pas avant
It took us half an hour's hard labour, after that, before it was properly up, and then we cleared the decks, and got out supper. We put the kettle on to boil, up in the nose of the boat, and went down to the stern and pretended to take no notice of it, but set to work to get the other things out.
cleared - autorisé; clair, transparent, clair, libre, dégagé, clair
decks - ponts; pont
boil - l'ébullition; bouillez, bous, bouillent, bouillons, bouillir
That is the only way to get a kettle to boil up the river. If it sees that you are waiting for it and are anxious, it will never even sing. You have to go away and begin your meal, as if you were not going to have any tea at all. You must not even look round at it. Then you will soon hear it sputtering away, mad to be made into tea.
boil up - bouillir
sputtering - des crachotements; (sputter); postillonner, pulvériser, revetir
It is a good plan, too, if you are in a great hurry, to talk very loudly to each other about how you don't need any tea, and are not going to have any. You get near the kettle, so that it can overhear you, and then you shout out, "I don't want any tea; do you, George?" to which George shouts back, "Oh, no, I don't like tea; we'll have lemonade instead-tea's so indigestible." Upon which the kettle boils over, and puts the stove out.
loudly - bruyamment; ; fort, a voix haute, a haute voix
boils - des furoncles; bouillir
We adopted this harmless bit of trickery, and the result was that, by the time everything else was ready, the tea was waiting. Then we lit the lantern, and squatted down to supper.
trickery - la tromperie; ; tricherie, magouillage
lantern - lanterne
squatted - s'est accroupi; s''accroupir
We wanted that supper.
For five-and-thirty minutes not a sound was heard throughout the length and breadth of that boat, save the clank of cutlery and crockery, and the steady grinding of four sets of molars. At the end of five-and-thirty minutes, Harris said, "Ah!" and took his left leg out from under him and put his right one there instead.
Length - longueur, durée
cutlery - couverts, couverts de table, services
crockery - vaisselle
sets - des ensembles; Seth
molars - molaires; molaire
Five minutes afterwards, George said, "Ah!" too, and threw his plate out on the bank; and, three minutes later than that, Montmorency gave the first sign of contentment he had exhibited since we had started, and rolled over on his side, and spread his legs out; and then I said, "Ah!" and bent my head back, and bumped it against one of the hoops, but I did not mind it. I did not even swear.
contentment - le contentement; ; contentement
exhibited - exposée; exposer, exposition, piece a conviction
bumped - surélevée; bourrade, boum, bosse, saillie, bosse, bosse, ballon
How good one feels when one is full-how satisfied with ourselves and with the world! People who have tried it, tell me that a clear conscience makes you very happy and contented; but a full stomach does the business quite as well, and is cheaper, and more easily obtained. One feels so forgiving and generous after a substantial and well-digested meal-so noble-minded, so kindly-hearted.
obtained - obtenu; obtenir, se procurer, réussir, avoir succes, avoir
forgiving - pardonner; pardonner
substantial - substantielle; ; substantiel
digested - digéré; digérer
It is very strange, this domination of our intellect by our digestive organs. We cannot work, we cannot think, unless our stomach wills so. It dictates to us our emotions, our passions. After eggs and bacon, it says, "Work!" After beefsteak and porter, it says, "Sleep!" After a cup of tea (two spoonsful for each cup, and don't let it stand more than three minutes), it says to the brain, "Now, rise, and show your strength.
domination - domination
organs - organes; organe, organe, orgue
Unless - a moins que; ; a moins que, sauf si
dictates - dicte; dicter
emotions - des émotions; émotion
passions - passions; passion, Passion
spoonsful - cuilleres
brain - cerveau, or when used as food, tete, processeur
strength - la force; ; force, vigueur, effectif, point fort
Be eloquent, and deep, and tender; see, with a clear eye, into Nature and into life; spread your white wings of quivering thought, and soar, a god-like spirit, over the whirling world beneath you, up through long lanes of flaming stars to the gates of eternity!"
quivering - tremblant; frémir
soar - s'envoler; ; planer, monter, s'élever, grimper en fleche
whirling - tourbillonnant; (whirl); tourbillonner
flaming - flammes; ; enflammé, flambant; (flame); flamme, polémique
eternity - l'éternité; ; éternité
After hot muffins, it says, "Be dull and soulless, like a beast of the field-a brainless animal, with listless eye, unlit by any ray of fancy, or of hope, or fear, or love, or life." And after brandy, taken in sufficient quantity, it says, "Now, come, fool, grin and tumble, that your fellow-men may laugh-drivel in folly, and splutter in senseless sounds, and show what a helpless ninny is poor man whose wit and will are drowned, like kittens, side by side, in half an inch of alcohol.
muffins - muffins; muffin, muffin
beast - bete; ; bete, bete sauvage
brainless - sans cervelle
listless - sans voix; ; apathique, indolent
unlit - non éclairé
ray - rayon; émission
grin - sourire; rictus
fellow-men - (fellow-men) camarades
drivel - du radotage
folly - folie, sottise, folie
splutter - balbutiement
poor man - pauvre homme
wit - wit; esprit
are drowned - sont noyés
kittens - des chatons; chaton, blaireautin
alcohol - l'alcool; ; alcool, boisson alcoolisée, boisson alcoolique
We are but the veriest, sorriest slaves of our stomach. Reach not after morality and righteousness, my friends; watch vigilantly your stomach, and diet it with care and judgment. Then virtue and contentment will come and reign within your heart, unsought by any effort of your own; and you will be a good citizen, a loving husband, and a tender father-a noble, pious man.
slaves - esclaves; esclave, t+serf, t+serve, esclave
morality - moralité
righteousness - la justice; ; justice
vigilantly - avec vigilance
reign - regne; ; regne, régner
unsought - non sollicité
citizen - citoyen, citoyenne, habitant
Before our supper, Harris and George and I were quarrelsome and snappy and ill-tempered; after our supper, we sat and beamed on one another, and we beamed upon the dog, too. We loved each other, we loved everybody. Harris, in moving about, trod on George's corn.
snappy - rapide; ; fissa
tempered - tempéré; caractere, tempérament, humeur, état d'esprit, recuit
beamed - téléporté; madrier, poutre, merrain, perche, limon, timon, age
corn - mais; mais
Had this happened before supper, George would have expressed wishes and desires concerning Harris's fate in this world and the next that would have made a thoughtful man shudder.
wishes - souhaits; souhait, souhaiter, espérer, souhaiter
desires - désirs; désirer, désirer, désir, désir, désir
shudder - frémir; ; tremblement, frisson, frissonner, trembler
As it was, he said: "Steady, old man; 'ware wheat."
wheat - du blé; ; blé, rench: t-needed r
And Harris, instead of merely observing, in his most unpleasant tones, that a fellow could hardly help treading on some bit of George's foot, if he had to move about at all within ten yards of where George was sitting, suggesting that George never ought to come into an ordinary sized boat with feet that length, and advising him to hang them over the side, as he would have done before supper, now said: "Oh, I'm so sorry, old chap; I hope I haven't hurt you.
observing - l'observation; observer, remarquer, respecter, observer, garder
most unpleasant - le plus désagréable
treading - le piétinement; (tread) le piétinement
sized - dimensionné; taille, dimension(s)
advising - conseiller; conseiller, conseiller, renseigner
Smoking pipesAnd George said: "Not at all;" that it was his fault; and Harris said no, it was his.
It was quite pretty to hear them.
We lit our pipes, and sat, looking out on the quiet night, and talked.
on the quiet - sur le calme
George said why could not we be always like this-away from the world, with its sin and temptation, leading sober, peaceful lives, and doing good. I said it was the sort of thing I had often longed for myself; and we discussed the possibility of our going away, we four, to some handy, well-fitted desert island, and living there in the woods.
sin - péché; péché, mal
temptation - la tentation; ; tentation
leading - dirigeante; (lead) dirigeante
longed for - désiré
possibility - possibilité
going away - Vous partez
handy - pratique; adhésif, maniable, opportun
Harris said that the danger about desert islands, as far as he had heard, was that they were so damp: but George said no, not if properly drained.
And then we got on to drains, and that put George in mind of a Very funny thing that happened to his father once. He said his father was travelling with another fellow through Wales, and, one night, they stopped at a little inn, where there were some other fellows, and they joined the other fellows, and spent the evening with them.
drains - les drains; drain, bonde, hémorragie, gouffre, drain, drainer
Very funny - Tres drôle
Wales - pays de galles; pays de Galles
They had a very jolly evening, and sat up late, and, by the time they came to go to bed, they (this was when George's father was a very young man) were slightly jolly, too. They (George's father and George's father's friend) were to sleep in the same room, but in different beds. They took the candle, and went up. The candle lurched up against the wall when they got into the room, and went out, and they had to undress and grope into bed in the dark.
slightly - légerement; ; finement, délicatement, légerement
lurched - s'est déplacé; faire une embardée, vaciller
undress - se déshabiller; ; déshabiller
grope - se frotter; ; tâter, tâtonner, tripoter, peloter
This they did; but, instead of getting into separate beds, as they thought they were doing, they both climbed into the same one without knowing it-one getting in with his head at the top, and the other crawling in from the opposite side of the compass, and lying with his feet on the pillow.
separate - séparés; ; séparé, séparée, séparer
crawling - a quatre pattes; (crawl) a quatre pattes
compass - boussole; compas, boussole
lying - gisant, sis, mentant; (lie) gisant, sis, mentant
pillow - oreiller, tetiere
There was silence for a moment, and then George's father said:
"What's the matter, Tom?" replied Joe's voice from the other end of the bed.
"Why, there's a man in my bed," said George's father; "here's his feet on my pillow."
"Well, it's an extraordinary thing, Tom," answered the other; "but I'm blest if there isn't a man in my bed, too!"
blest - béni; (bless) béni
"What are you going to do?" asked George's father.
"Well, I'm going to chuck him out," replied Joe.
"So am I," said George's father, valiantly.
valiantly - vaillamment
There was a brief struggle, followed by two heavy bumps on the floor, and then a rather doleful voice said:
bumps - bosses; bourrade, boum, bosse, saillie, bosse, bosse, ballon
"I say, Tom!"
"How have you got on?"
"Well, to tell you the truth, my man's chucked me out."
"So's mine! I say, I don't think much of this inn, do you?"
"What was the name of that inn?" said Harris.
"The Pig and Whistle," said George. "Why?"
whistle - sifflet, siffler, sifflement, sifflements
"Ah, no, then it isn't the same," replied Harris.
"What do you mean?" queried George.
"Why it's so curious," murmured Harris, "but precisely that very same thing happened to my father once at a country inn. I've often heard him tell the tale. I thought it might have been the same inn."
I did get to sleep for a few hours, and then some part of the boat which seemed to have grown up in the night-for it certainly was not there when we started, and it had disappeared by the morning-kept digging into my spine. I slept through it for a while, dreaming that I had swallowed a sovereign, and that they were cutting a hole in my back with a gimlet, so as to try and get it out. I thought it very unkind of them, and I told them I would owe them the money, and they should have it at the end of the month.
disappeared - a disparu; disparaître
digging - creusant; (dig) creusant
spine - la colonne vertébrale; ; colonne vertébrale, échine, dos, épine
swallowed - avalé; avaler
gimlet - vrille, gimlet, vriller
unkind - pas aimable; déplaisant
But they would not hear of that, and said it would be much better if they had it then, because otherwise the interest would accumulate so. I got quite cross with them after a bit, and told them what I thought of them, and then they gave the gimlet such an excruciating wrench that I woke up.
hear of - entendu parler
otherwise - autrement
accumulate - accumuler
excruciating - atroce; torturer
wrench - clé a molette; déménager, clef, clé
The boat seemed stuffy, and my head ached; so I thought I would step out into the cool night-air. I slipped on what clothes I could find about-some of my own, and some of George's and Harris's-and crept under the canvas on to the bank.
ached - a souffert; douleur
step out - sortir
crept - rampé; ramper, rampement, fatigue, fluage, reptation
It was a glorious night. The moon had sunk, and left the quiet earth alone with the stars. It seemed as if, in the silence and the hush, while we her children slept, they were talking with her, their sister-conversing of mighty mysteries in voices too vast and deep for childish human ears to catch the sound.
conversing - en train de converser; converser
mighty - puissant
mysteries - mysteres; mystere
vast - vaste; ; vaste
childish - enfantin, puéril, gamin
They awe us, these strange stars, so cold, so clear. We are as children whose small feet have strayed into some dim-lit temple of the god they have been taught to worship but know not; and, standing where the echoing dome spans the long vista of the shadowy light, glance up, half hoping, half afraid to see some awful vision hovering there.
awe - la stupeur; ; crainte, révérence, admiration
strayed - égaré; s''écarter de
Temple - le temple; tempe, temple
worship - culte, adoration, vénération, vénérer, adorer
echoing - l'écho; écho
dome - dôme
spans - travées; travée, portée
vista - vista; ; vue, point de vue
shadowy - ombrageux; ; sombre
hovering - en vol stationnaire; éventiller, faire du sur-place, hésiter
And yet it seems so full of comfort and of strength, the night. In its great presence, our small sorrows creep away, ashamed. The day has been so full of fret and care, and our hearts have been so full of evil and of bitter thoughts, and the world has seemed so hard and wrong to us.
sorrows - chagrins; peine, chagrin
fret - fret; (se) tracasser (pour)
Then Night, like some great loving mother, gently lays her hand upon our fevered head, and turns our little tear-stained faces up to hers, and smiles; and, though she does not speak, we know what she would say, and lay our hot flushed cheek against her bosom, and the pain is gone.
fevered - fébrile; fievre
stained - taché; tache, souillure, colorant, tacher, entacher, colorer
smiles - sourires; sourire, sourire
flushed - rincé; rougeur
cheek - joue, fesse, culot, toupet, potence de bringuebale
pain - douleur; mal, diuleur, douleur
Only those who have worn the crown of suffering can look upon that wondrous light; and they, when they return, may not speak of it, or tell the mystery they know.
wondrous - merveilleux
Once upon a time, through a strange country, there rode some goodly knights, and their path lay by a deep wood, where tangled briars grew very thick and strong, and tore the flesh of them that lost their way therein. And the leaves of the trees that grew in the wood were very dark and thick, so that no ray of light came through the branches to lighten the gloom and sadness.
goodly - bien
Knights - chevaliers; chevalier
lay by - mettre en place
tangled - enchevetrés; désordre, enchevetrement
lost their way - ont perdu leur chemin
ray of light - un rayon de lumiere
branches - branches; branche, t+rameau, branche, affluent, filiale
gloom - obscurité, pénombre, grisaille, morosité, noirceur
And, as they passed by that dark wood, one knight of those that rode, missing his comrades, wandered far away, and returned to them no more; and they, sorely grieving, rode on without him, mourning him as one dead.
Knight - chevalier; chevalier
comrades - camarades; camaradef, camarade, camarade, camarade
sorely - douloureusement
grieving - le deuil; avoir du chagrin
mourning - le deuil; ; deuil; (mourn); déplorer, porter le deuil
Now, when they reached the fair castle towards which they had been journeying, they stayed there many days, and made merry; and one night, as they sat in cheerful ease around the logs that burned in the great hall, and drank a loving measure, there came the comrade they had lost, and greeted them.
castle - château, château-fort, roquer
ease - l'aisance; ; facilité, repos, abaisser, abréger, amoindrir
logs - journaux; rondin, buche
burned - brulé; bruler
hall - couloir, corridor, salle, salon, manoir, foyer
comrade - camarade f, camarade
His clothes were ragged, like a beggar's, and many sad wounds were on his sweet flesh, but upon his face there shone a great radiance of deep joy.
ragged - dépenaillé, loqueteuxse; (rag) dépenaillé, loqueteuxse
beggar - gueux, mendiant, mendiante, queteux
shone - briller; briller, éclairer
joy - joie; joie
And they questioned him, asking him what had befallen him: and he told them how in the dark wood he had lost his way, and had wandered many days and nights, till, torn and bleeding, he had lain him down to die.
lost his way - a perdu son chemin
torn - déchiré; larme
bleeding - des saignements; ; saignant, saignement
Then, when he was nigh unto death, lo!
nigh - nuit; ; proche, pres
unto - unto
through the savage gloom there came to him a stately maiden, and took him by the hand and led him on through devious paths, unknown to any man, until upon the darkness of the wood there dawned a light such as the light of day was unto but as a little lamp unto the sun; and, in that wondrous light, our way-worn knight saw as in a dream a vision, and so glorious, so fair the vision seemed, that of his bleeding wounds he thought no more, but stood as one entranced, whose joy is deep as is the sea, whereof no man can tell the depth.
savage - barbare, féroce, sauvage
stately - majestueux; ; imposant
devious - rusé, roublard, sournois
paths - chemins; sentier
darkness - l'obscurité; ; obscurité, ténebres
entranced - envouté; entrée
whereof - de quoi s'agit-il; ; dont
And the vision faded, and the knight, kneeling upon the ground, thanked the good saint who into that sad wood had strayed his steps, so he had seen the vision that lay there hid.
faded - fanée; (s'')affaiblir, diminuer
kneeling - a genoux; (kneel)
saint - Saint
And the name of the dark forest was Sorrow; but of the vision that the good knight saw therein we may not speak nor tell.
forest - foret; ; foret, brousse, sylve, bois; (fore) foret; ; foret
sorrow - peine, chagrin
How George, once upon a time, got up early in the morning.-George, Harris, and Montmorency do not like the look of the cold water.-Heroism and determination on the part of J.-George and his shirt: story with a moral.-Harris as cook.-Historical retrospect, specially inserted for the use of schools.
heroism - l'héroisme; ; héroisme
determination - détermination
moral - moral, moral, moralité, morale
historical - historique
retrospect - rétrospective; ; rétrospection, coup d'oil rétrospectif
inserted - inséré; insérer, introduire, insinuer, in texte, illustration
I woke at six the next morning; and found George awake too. We both turned round, and tried to go to sleep again, but we could not. Had there been any particular reason why we should not have gone to sleep again, but have got up and dressed then and there, we should have dropped off while we were looking at our watches, and have slept till ten.
awake - éveillé; (se) réveiller; (s'')éveiller
As there was no earthly necessity for our getting up under another two hours at the very least, and our getting up at that time was an utter absurdity, it was only in keeping with the natural cussedness of things in general that we should both feel that lying down for five minutes more would be death to us.
earthly - terrestre
getting up - se lever
utter - l'utérus; émettre
George said that the same kind of thing, only worse, had happened to him some eighteen months ago, when he was lodging by himself in the house of a certain Mrs. Gippings. He said his watch went wrong one evening, and stopped at a quarter-past eight.
lodging - l'hébergement; ; logement, hébergement, verse; (lodge); cabane
He did not know this at the time because, for some reason or other, he forgot to wind it up when he went to bed (an unusual occurrence with him), and hung it up over his pillow without ever looking at the thing.
Occurrence - occurrence
hung - accroché; suspendre, etre accroché
It was in the winter when this happened, very near the shortest day, and a week of fog into the bargain, so the fact that it was still very dark when George woke in the morning was no guide to him as to the time. He reached up, and hauled down his watch. It was a quarter-past eight.
into the bargain - dans la négociation
hauled - transporté; haler, trainer, butin, magot
"Angels and ministers of grace defend us!" exclaimed George; "and here have I got to be in the City by nine. Why didn't somebody call me? Oh, this is a shame!" And he flung the watch down, and sprang out of bed, and had a cold bath, and washed himself, and dressed himself, and shaved himself in cold water because there was not time to wait for the hot, and then rushed and had another look at the watch.
angels - anges; ange
ministers - ministres; ministre
grace - bénédicité, grâces, grâce, miséricorde
defend - défendre
shame - la honte; honte, vergogne
flung - jeté; lancer
shaved - rasé; (se) raser
Whether the shaking it had received in being thrown down on the bed had started it, or how it was, George could not say, but certain it was that from a quarter-past eight it had begun to go, and now pointed to twenty minutes to nine.
received - reçu; recevoir, recevoir, recevoir, recevoir
thrown down - jeté a terre
George snatched it up, and rushed downstairs. In the sitting-room, all was dark and silent: there was no fire, no breakfast. George said it was a wicked shame of Mrs. G., and he made up his mind to tell her what he thought of her when he came home in the evening. Then he dashed on his great-coat and hat, and, seizing his umbrella, made for the front door.
snatched - arraché; empoigner, happer, saisir, arracher, enlever
sitting-room - (sitting-room) le salon
The door was not even unbolted. George anathematized Mrs. G. for a lazy old woman, and thought it was very strange that people could not get up at a decent, respectable time, unlocked and unbolted the door, and ran out.
unbolted - déboulonné; déverrouiller
decent - integre, décent, substantiel
unlocked - déverrouillé; déverrouiller, déverrouiller, débloquer
He ran hard for a quarter of a mile, and at the end of that distance it began to be borne in upon him as a strange and curious thing that there were so few people about, and that there were no shops open. It was certainly a very dark and foggy morning, but still it seemed an unusual course to stop all business on that account. He had to go to business: why should other people stop in bed merely because it was dark and foggy!
foggy - brumeux, embrumé, engourdi
on that account - sur ce compte
At length he reached Holborn. Not a shutter was down! not a bus was about! There were three men in sight, one of whom was a policeman; a market-cart full of cabbages, and a dilapidated looking cab. George pulled out his watch and looked at it: it was five minutes to nine!
shutter - volet, contrevent, obturateur
cart - chariot; chariot, charrette
cabbages - choux; chou
dilapidated - délabré; délabrer, dilapider
He stood still and counted his pulse. He stooped down and felt his legs. Then, with his watch still in his hand, he went up to the policeman, and asked him if he knew what the time was.
counted - compté; comte
stooped - vouté; se baisser
George and the policeman"What's the time?" said the man, eyeing George up and down with evident suspicion; "why, if you listen you will hear it strike."
suspicion - suspicion, soupçon
strike - greve; ; biffer, rayer, barrer, frapper, battre, faire greve
George listened, and a neighbouring clock immediately obliged.
obliged - obligée; imposer, obliger, rendre service
"But it's only gone three!" said George in an injured tone, when it had finished.
"Well, and how many did you want it to go?" replied the constable.
constable - gendarme; ; constable, connétable
"Why, nine," said George, showing his watch.
"Do you know where you live?" said the guardian of public order, severely.
guardian - gardien, tuteur, tutrice, curateur, curatrice
severely - séverement
George thought, and gave the address.
"Oh! that's where it is, is it?" replied the man; "well, you Take my advice and go there quietly, and take that watch of yours with you; and don't let's have any more of it."
Take my advice - Suivre mon conseil
And George went home again, musing as he walked along, and let himself in.
musing - muser; ; songeur, pensif, pensée; (mus) muser; ; songeur
At first, when he got in, he determined to undress and go to bed again; but when he thought of the redressing and re-washing, and the having of another bath, he determined he would not, but would sit up and go to sleep in the easy-chair.
redressing - réparation; redresser
But he could not get to sleep: he never felt more wakeful in his life; so he lit the lamp and got out the chess-board, and played himself a game of chess. But even that did not enliven him: it seemed slow somehow; so he gave chess up and tried to read. He did not seem able to take any sort of interest in reading either, so he put on his coat again and went out for a walk.
wakeful - éveillé
game of chess - jeu d'échecs
enliven - animer; vivifier
It was horribly lonesome and dismal, and all the policemen he met regarded him with undisguised suspicion, and turned their lanterns on him and followed him about, and this had such an effect upon him at last that he began to feel as if he really had done something, and he got to slinking down the by-streets and hiding in dark doorways when he heard the regulation flip-flop approaching.
horribly - horriblement
dismal - lamentable, misérable, morne, lugubre, déprimant
undisguised - non déguisé
lanterns - lanternes; lanterne, lanterne
hiding - se cacher; (hid) se cacher
doorways - les portes; embrasure de la porte
regulation - reglement; ; reglement, réglementation, régulation
flip - flip; lancer (en l''air), retourner
Flop - un flop; fruit sec, avatar
Of course, this conduct made the force only more distrustful of him than ever, and they would come and rout him out and ask him what he was doing there; and when he answered, "Nothing," he had merely come out for a stroll (it was then four o'clock in the morning), they looked as though they did not believe him, and two plain-clothes constables came home with him to see if he really did live where he had said he did.
more distrustful - plus méfiants
rout - déroute; mettre en déroute
stroll - promenade, flânerie, balade, promener
plain-clothes - (plain-clothes) des vetements simples
constables - les gendarmes; agent/-e de police, gendarme
They saw him go in with his key, and then they took up a position opposite and watched the house.
He thought he would light the fire when he got inside, and make himself some breakfast, just to pass away the time; but he did not seem able to handle anything from a scuttleful of coals to a teaspoon without dropping it or falling over it, and making such a noise that he was in mortal fear that it would wake Mrs. G.
scuttleful - scuttleful
coals - charbons; charbon, houille, tisons-p, charbon, fr
dropping - de la chute; ; crotte, fiente; (drop) de la chute; ; crotte
mortal fear - peur mortelle
up, and that she would think it was burglars and open the window and call "Police!" and then these two detectives would rush in and handcuff him, and march him off to the police-court.
burglars - des cambrioleurs; cambrioleur, cambrioleuse
Detectives - détectives; détective, détectivef, enqueteur, enqueteuse
handcuff - menottes; ; menotte, menotter
He was in a morbidly nervous state by this time, and he pictured the trial, and his trying to explain the circumstances to the jury, and nobody believing him, and his being sentenced to twenty years'penal servitude, and his mother dying of a broken heart. So he gave up trying to get breakfast, and wrapped himself up in his overcoat and sat in the easy-chair till Mrs. G came down at half-past seven.
morbidly - morbide
penal servitude - la servitude pénale
overcoat - pardessus, manteau
He said he had never got up too early since that morning: it had been such a warning to him.
We had been sitting huddled up in our rugs while George had been telling me this true story, and on his finishing it I set to work to wake up Harris with a scull.
The third prod did it: and he turned over on the other side, and said he would be down in a minute, and that he would have his lace-up boots. We soon let him know where he was, however, by the aid of the hitcher, and he sat up suddenly, sending Montmorency, who had been sleeping the sleep of the just right on the middle of his chest, sprawling across the boat.
prod - prod; pousser
aid - l'aide; aider, aide, assister, secourir
lace-up - (lace-up) des lacets
Then we pulled up the canvas, and all four of us poked our heads out over the off-side, and looked down at the water and shivered. The idea, overnight, had been that we should get up early in the morning, fling off our rugs and shawls, and, throwing back the canvas, spring into the river with a joyous shout, and revel in a long delicious swim.
poked - poké; enfoncer (dans)
shivered - frissonné; frissonner
overnight - pendant la nuit; ; du jour au lendemain, nocturne, nuitée
fling - flirt; brandir
shawls - châles; châle
throwing back - en jetant en arriere
joyous - joyeux
Somehow, now the morning had come, the notion seemed less tempting. The water looked damp and chilly: the wind felt cold.
tempting - tentant; (tempt); tenter, attirer
"Well, who's going to be first in?" said Harris at last.
There was no rush for precedence. George settled the matter so far as he was concerned by retiring into the boat and pulling on his socks. Montmorency gave vent to an involuntary howl, as if merely thinking of the thing had given him the horrors; and Harris said it would be so difficult to get into the boat again, and went back and sorted out his trousers.
precedence - la préséance; ; préséance
retiring - a la retraite; prendre sa retraite
pulling on - en tirant dessus
vent - évent; évent
howl - hurlement, hurler
horrors - des horreurs; horreur, effroi, dégout, aversion
sorted out - réglé
I did not altogether like to give in, though I did not relish the plunge. There might be snags about, or weeds, I thought. I meant to compromise matters by going down to the edge and just throwing the water over myself; so I took a towel and crept out on the bank and wormed my way along on to the branch of a tree that dipped down into the water.
give in - céder
relish - relish, savourer, parfumer
snags - des accrocs; obstacle
weeds - les mauvaises herbes; (weed) les mauvaises herbes
throwing - jetant; (throw) jetant
wormed - vermifugé; ver, vermine, scarabée, ver, vis sans fin, dragon
branch - branche, rameau, affluent, filiale, succursale
dipped - trempé; tremper
In the ThamesIt was bitterly cold. The wind cut like a knife. I thought I would not throw the water over myself after all. I would go back into the boat and dress; and I turned to do so; and, as I turned, the silly branch gave way, and I and the towel went in together with a tremendous splash, and I was out mid-stream with a gallon of Thames water inside me before I knew what had happened.
knife - couteau, frapper d'un coup de couteau
"By Jove! old J.'s gone in," I heard Harris say, as I came blowing to the surface. "I didn't think he'd have the pluck to do it. Did you?"
blowing - souffler; coup
surface - surface, faire surface
pluck - tirer, pincer, plumer, voler, abats, persévérance, (du) cour
"Is it all right?" sung out George.
"Lovely," I spluttered back. "You are duffers not to come in. I wouldn't have missed this for worlds. Why won't you try it? It only wants a little determination."
duffers - des duffers; tocard
But I could not persuade them.
persuade - persuader, convaincre
Rather an amusing thing happened while dressing that morning. I was very cold when I got back into the boat, and, in my hurry to get my shirt on, I accidentally jerked it into the water. It made me awfully wild, especially as George burst out laughing.
accidentally - accidentellement
awfully - terriblement
I could not see anything to laugh at, and I told George so, and he only laughed the more. I never saw a man laugh so much. I quite lost my temper with him at last, and I pointed out to him what a drivelling maniac of an imbecile idiot he was; but he only roared the louder. And then, just as I was landing the shirt, I noticed that it was not my shirt at all, but George's, which I had mistaken for mine; whereupon the humour of the thing struck me for the first time, and I began to laugh. And the more I looked from George's wet shirt to George, roaring with laughter, the more I was amused, and I laughed so much that I had to let the shirt fall back into the water again.
drivelling - la conduite; (drivel) la conduite
imbecile - imbécile; imbécile
idiot - idiot, idiote
louder - plus fort; fort
amused - amusé; amuser
fall back - se replier
"Ar'n't you-you-going to get it out?" said George, between his shrieks.
shrieks - des cris; hurlement, crier
I could not answer him at all for a while, I was laughing so, but, at last, between my peals I managed to jerk out:
peals - peaux; carillon
"It isn't my shirt-it's yours!"
I never saw a man's face change from lively to severe so suddenly in all my life before.
"What!" he yelled, springing up. "You silly cuckoo! Why can't you be more careful what you're doing? Why the deuce don't you go and dress on the bank? You're not fit to be in a boat, you're not. Gimme the hitcher."
more careful - plus prudent
deuce - deux
I tried to make him see the fun of the thing, but he could not. George is very dense at seeing a joke sometimes.
joke - plaisanterie, blague, joke, raté
Harris proposed that we should have scrambled eggs for breakfast. He said he would cook them. It seemed, from his account, that he was very good at doing scrambled eggs. He often did them at picnics and when out on yachts. He was quite famous for them. People who had once tasted his scrambled eggs, so we gathered from his conversation, never cared for any other food afterwards, but pined away and died when they could not get them.
scrambled eggs - des oufs brouillés
picnics - des pique-niques; pique-nique, piquenique, picnic, jeu d’enfant
yachts - yachts; yacht, yacht
cared for - pris en charge
pined - piné; épingle
It made our mouths water to hear him talk about the things, and we handed him out the stove and the frying-pan and all the eggs that had not smashed and gone over everything in the hamper, and begged him to begin.
He had some trouble in breaking the eggs-or rather not so much trouble in breaking them exactly as in getting them into the frying-pan when broken, and keeping them off his trousers, and preventing them from running up his sleeve; but he fixed some half-a-dozen into the pan at last, and then squatted down by the side of the stove and chivied them about with a fork.
preventing - empechant; empecher
running up - en cours d'exécution
fork - fourchette; fourchette, ramification
It seemed harassing work, so far as George and I could judge. Whenever he went near the pan he burned himself, and then he would drop everything and dance round the stove, flicking his fingers about and cursing the things. Indeed, every time George and I looked round at him he was sure to be performing this feat. We thought at first that it was a necessary part of the culinary arrangements.
harassing - harcelement; (harass); harceler
flicking - le flicage; pichenette, chiquenaude, défiler
fingers - doigts; pointer, tripoter, doigter, doigter
performing - en cours d'exécution; effectuant; (perform); exécuter
feat - feat; fait
culinary - culinaire
We did not know what scrambled eggs were, and we fancied that it must be some Red Indian or Sandwich Islands sort of dish that required dances and incantations for its proper cooking. Montmorency went and put his nose over it once, and the fat spluttered up and scalded him, and then he began dancing and cursing.
scrambled - brouillés; ruer
Indian - indien; indien, amérindien, indien, Indien, Indienne
incantations - incantations; incantation, incantation
scalded - ébouillantée; ébouillanter
Altogether it was one of the most interesting and exciting operations I have ever witnessed. George and I were both quite sorry when it was over.
most interesting - le plus intéressant
operations - des opérations; opération, fonctionnement, exploitation
The result was not altogether the success that Harris had anticipated. There seemed so little to show for the business. Six eggs had gone into the frying-pan, and all that came out was a teaspoonful of burnt and unappetizing looking mess.
anticipated - anticipée; anticiper, prévoir
gone into - dans laquelle il est entré
teaspoonful - cuillerée a café; petite cuiller
burnt - brulé; ; brulé; (burn) brulé; ; brulé
unappetizing - peu appétissant
Harris said it was the fault of the frying-pan, and thought it would have gone better if we had had a fish-kettle and a gas-stove; and we decided not to attempt the dish again until we had those aids to housekeeping by us.
gas-stove - (gas-stove) cuisiniere a gaz
Aids - le sida; ; SIDA; (aid) le sida; ; SIDA
housekeeping - l'entretien ménager; ; ménage; (housekeep) l'entretien ménager; ; ménage
The sun had got more powerful by the time we had finished breakfast, and the wind had dropped, and it was as lovely a morning as one could desire.
Little was in sight to remind us of the nineteenth century; and, as we looked out upon the river in the morning sunlight, we could almost fancy that the centuries between us and that ever-to-be-famous June morning of 1215 had been drawn aside, and that we, English yeomen's sons in homespun cloth, with dirk at belt, were waiting there to witness the writing of that stupendous page of history, the meaning whereof was to be translated to the common people some four hundred and odd years later by one Oliver Cromwell, who had deeply studied it.
remind - rappeler
Yeomen - yeomen; franc-tenancier, valet
cloth - tissu, étoffe, tenue
Dirk - dirk; dirk
witness - témoin
stupendous - stupéfiante
translated - traduit; traduire, translater
Oliver - oliver; Olivier, (olive) oliver; Olivier
It is a fine summer morning-sunny, soft, and still. But through the air there runs a thrill of coming stir. King John has slept at Duncroft Hall, and all the day before the little town of Staines has echoed to the clang of armed men, and the clatter of great horses over its rough stones, and the shouts of captains, and the grim oaths and surly jests of bearded bowmen, billmen, pikemen, and strange-speaking foreign spearmen.
thrill - l'excitation; exciter
stir - remuer; affecter
echoed - en écho; écho
clang - clang; ; rench: (''of crane'') glapissement g; (''of goose'') criaillement g
clatter - claquer, craquer, claquement, craquement, vacarme
captains - les capitaines; capitaine, capitaine de vaisseau, capitaine
surly - hargneux; ; grognon, grincheux, impoli, menaçant, rude
jests - jests; plaisanterie
bearded - barbu; barbe
pikemen - piquiers; piquier
foreign - étrangers; ; étranger, étrangere
spearmen - les lanciers; lancier, piquier
Gay-cloaked companies of knights and squires have ridden in, all travel-stained and dusty.
squires - écuyers; (squire) écuyers
And all the evening long the timid townsmen's doors have had to be quick opened to let in rough groups of soldiers, for whom there must be found both board and lodging, and the best of both, or woe betide the house and all within; for the sword is judge and jury, plaintiff and executioner, in these tempestuous times, and pays for what it takes by sparing those from whom it takes it, if it pleases it to do so.
townsmen - des citadins; citadin
let in - laissé entrer
woe - tristesse, douleur, misere, malheur, hélas
sword - l'épée; ; épée, glaive, épéiste
plaintiff - demandeur, plaignant, plaignante
executioner - exécuteur des hautes ouvres, bourreau
tempestuous - tempétueux
sparing - épargnant; se passer de
Round the camp-fire in the market-place gather still more of the Barons'troops, and eat and drink deep, and bellow forth roystering drinking songs, and gamble and quarrel as the evening grows and deepens into night. The firelight sheds quaint shadows on their piled-up arms and on their uncouth forms. The children of the town steal round to watch them, wondering; and brawny country wenches, laughing, draw near to bandy ale-house jest and jibe with the swaggering troopers, so unlike the village swains, who, now despised, stand apart behind, with vacant grins upon their broad, peering faces.
barons - barons; baron
troops - troupes; troupe-p
bellow - souffler; ; mugir, beugler
gamble - jouer; ; pari, jeu de hasard, parier, hasarder
quarrel - querelle; bagarrer, noise, querelle, algarade, dispute
deepens - s'approfondit; approfondir, intensifier, intensifier
firelight - la lumiere du feu
sheds - hangars; remise
piled-up - (piled-up) empilés
uncouth - grossier; ; rustre
wondering - se demander; (wonder); merveille, se demander, conjecturer
brawny - musclé; ; baleze, balaise
wenches - les femmes; jeune fille, jeune femme, fille, servante
draw near - s'approcher
bandy - bandy; arqué
ale - biere anglaise, ale
jest - jest; plaisanter
jibe - jibe; moquerie
swaggering - en train de plastronner; (swagger) en train de plastronner
troopers - des troupes; troupier
unlike - contrairement a; différent
despised - méprisé; mépriser, dédaigner
apart - a part; ; séparé, séparément, a part, en morceaux, en pieces
vacant - vacant; ; vide, niais
grins - grins; avoir un grand sourire
broad - large; large
peering - peering; pair
And out from the fields around, glitter the faint lights of more distant camps, as here some great lord's followers lie mustered, and there false John's French mercenaries hover like crouching wolves without the town.
glitter - paillettes; ; étincellement, paillette, briller
camps - camps; camp(ement)
followers - des adeptes; disciple, follower, poursuivant, fr
mustered - rassemblés; rassembler
mercenaries - mercenaires; mercenaire, mercenaire
hover - survol; ; éventiller, faire du surlace, hésiter
crouching - accroupi; s''accroupir
wolves - loups; loup, tombeur, loup, dévorer, engloutir
And so, with sentinel in each dark street, and twinkling watch-fires on each height around, the night has worn away, and over this fair valley of old Thame has broken the morning of the great day that is to close so big with the fate of ages yet unborn.
sentinel - factionnaire, sentinelle, regarder
twinkling - scintillant; (twinkle); briller, cligner, virevolter
height - hauteur, taille
great day - Un grand jour
Ever since grey dawn, in the lower of the two islands, just above where we are standing, there has been great clamour, and the sound of many workmen. The great pavilion brought there yester eve is being raised, and carpenters are busy nailing tiers of seats, while 'prentices from London town are there with many-coloured stuffs and silks and cloth of gold and silver.
lower - plus bas; abaisser, en privé, rabattre, baissent
workmen - des ouvriers; ouvrier
pavilion - pavillon
yester - hier
eve - veille
carpenters - charpentiers; menuisier, menuisiere, charpentier, charpentiere
nailing - clouage; (nail) clouage
tiers - niveaux; rangée
stuffs - trucs; truc, truc, substance (1), frachin (2), fr
And now, lo! down upon the road that winds along the river's bank from Staines there come towards us, laughing and talking together in deep guttural bass, a half-a-score of stalwart halbert-men-Barons'men, these-and halt at a hundred yards or so above us, on the other bank, and lean upon their arms, and wait.
guttural - guttural
bass - basse; perche
score - nombre de point oints, score, note, vingtaine
stalwart - robuste, courageux, vaillant, pilier
halbert - halbert
halt - halte; s'arreter, stop, stopper
And so, from hour to hour, march up along the road ever fresh groups and bands of armed men, their casques and breastplates flashing back the long low lines of morning sunlight, until, as far as eye can reach, the way seems thick with glittering steel and prancing steeds.
breastplates - des cuirasses; cuirasse, poitrail, plastron, poitrail
steeds - steeds; coursier
And shouting horsemen are galloping from group to group, and little banners are fluttering lazily in the warm breeze, and every now and then there is a deeper stir as the ranks make way on either side, and some great Baron on his war-horse, with his guard of squires around him, passes along to take his station at the head of his serfs and vassals.
horsemen - cavaliers; cavalier, cavalier
galloping - au galop; galop, galoper
banners - bannieres; banniere
fluttering - flottement; faséyer, voleter, voltiger, battement
lazily - paresseusement
breeze - brise; brise
ranks - rangs; rang
Baron - baron
war - guerre, bataille, entrer en guerre, tfaire la guerre
passes - passe; passer (devant), dépasser
serfs - serfs; serf
vassals - vassaux; vassal, vassal, vassal, vassaliser, vassaliser
And up the slope of Cooper's Hill, just opposite, are gathered the wondering rustics and curious townsfolk, who have run from Staines, and none are quite sure what the bustle is about, but each one has a different version of the great event that they have come to see; and some say that much good to all the people will come from this day's work; but the old men shake their heads, for they have heard such tales before.
slope - pente, inclinaison
townsfolk - les habitants de la ville
bustle - l'agitation; ; affairement, branlebas, remue-ménage, agitation
version - version
shake - secouer, agiter, se serrer la main, secousse
And all the river down to Staines is dotted with small craft and boats and tiny coracles-which last are growing out of favour now, and are used only by the poorer folk.
coracles - coracles; coracle
favour - favorable; faveur, complaisance, favoriser
Over the rapids, where in after years trim Bell Weir lock will stand, they have been forced or dragged by their sturdy rowers, and now are crowding up as near as they dare come to the great covered barges, which lie in readiness to bear King John to where the fateful Charter waits his signing.
rapids - rapides; rapide, rapides-p
trim - de l'habillage; ; tailler, compenser, compensation
sturdy - solide, costaud, robuste
rowers - rameurs; rameur
crowding - l'encombrement; foule
bear - ours; endurer, naîs, produire, ours, souffrir, subir
fateful - fatidique
charter - charte, affretter (2)
signing - signant; (sign) signant
It is noon, and we and all the people have been waiting patient for many an hour, and the rumour has run round that slippery John has again escaped from the Barons'grasp, and has stolen away from Duncroft Hall with his mercenaries at his heels, and will soon be doing other work than signing charters for his people's liberty.
noon - midi; midi
patient - patient, patient, patiente, malade
slippery - glissant
stolen away - volé
heels - talons; talon
charters - des chartes; charte, charte, affretter (2)
liberty - liberté
Not so! This time the grip upon him has been one of iron, and he has slid and wriggled in vain.
grip - poignée; ballot, grippe, saisir, agripper, préhension
of iron - de fer
slid - glissée; (slide); glisser, déraper, toboggan, glissoire
wriggled - s'est tortillé; remuer, se tortiller
in vain - en vain
Far down the road a little cloud of dust has risen, and draws nearer and grows larger, and the pattering of many hoofs grows louder, and in and out between the scattered groups of drawn-up men, there pushes on its way a brilliant cavalcade of gay-dressed lords and knights. And front and rear, and either flank, there ride the yeomen of the Barons, and in the midst King John.
dust - la poussiere; ; poussiere, épousseter, pulvériser
risen - ressuscité; augmenter, monter, lever
pattering - le patinage; crépiter
hoofs - sabots; sabot
pushes - poussées; pousser
cavalcade - cavalcade
lords - seigneurs; châtelain, seigneur, monsieur
flank - flanc, flanchet
midst - centre, milieu
He rides to where the barges lie in readiness, and the great Barons step forth from their ranks to meet him. He greets them with a smile and laugh, and pleasant honeyed words, as though it were some feast in his honour to which he had been invited. But as he rises to dismount, he casts one hurried glance from his own French mercenaries drawn up in the rear to the grim ranks of the Barons'men that hem him in.
greets - salue; saluer, accueillir
hem - l'ourlet; ourlet
honeyed - mielleux; miel
dismount - démonter, descendre
casts - les plâtres; jeter, diriger, jeter, lancer, additionner, sommer
hurried - pressé; précipitation, hâte, dépecher
Is it too late? One fierce blow at the unsuspecting horseman at his side, one cry to his French troops, one desperate charge upon the unready lines before him, and these rebellious Barons might rue the day they dared to thwart his plans!
fierce - féroce
blow at - souffler
unsuspecting - sans méfiance
horseman - cavalier
desperate - désespérée; ; désespéré
unready - pas pret
rebellious - rebelle
rue - rue
thwart - contrecarrer, contrarier, banc
A bolder hand might have turned the game even at that point. Had it been a Richard there! the cup of liberty might have been dashed from England's lips, and the taste of freedom held back for a hundred years.
bolder - plus audacieux; hardi, audacieux
Richard - richard; Richard
held back - retenu
But the heart of King John sinks before the stern faces of the English fighting men, and the arm of King John drops back on to his rein, and he dismounts and takes his seat in the foremost barge. And the Barons follow in, with each mailed hand upon the sword-hilt, and the word is given to let go.
sinks - coule; couler, s'enfoncer, couler, évier, lavabo
drops - gouttes; goutte
rein - rein; frein
dismounts - démonte; démonter, démonter, descendre
foremost - avant tout
mailed - envoyé par courrier; courrier
hilt - hilt; ; poignée
Slowly the heavy, bright-decked barges leave the shore of Runningmede. Slowly against the swift current they work their ponderous way, till, with a low grumble, they grate against the bank of the little island that from this day will bear the name of Magna Charta Island.
swift - rapide, martinet, dévidoir
current - courant, présent, actuel
ponderous - lourd; ; pesant, maladroit, béotien, grossier
grumble - grondement, gargouillement, grognement, gronder, gargouiller
grate - grilles; grille, crisser, grincer, râper
And King John has stepped upon the shore, and we wait in breathless silence till a great shout cleaves the air, and the great cornerstone in England's temple of liberty has, now we know, been firmly laid.
cleaves - clivage; fendre
cornerstone - pierre angulaire, pierre d'angle, premiere pierre
Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn.-Disadvantages of living in same house with pair of lovers.-A trying time for the English nation.-A night search for the picturesque.-Homeless and houseless.-Harris prepares to die.-An angel comes along.-Effect of sudden joy on Harris.-A little supper.-Lunch.-High price for mustard.-A fearful battle.-Maidenhead.-Sailing.-Three fishers.-We are cursed.
disadvantages - les inconvénients; désavantage, désavantage
nation - nation; peuple, nation
search - recherche, chercher, fouiller
homeless - sans-abri; ; SDF (sans domicile fixe), itinérant
houseless - sans logement
mustard - la moutarde; ; moutarde
sailing - cingler; (sail) cingler
fishers - pecheurs; Pecheur
cursed - maudis, maudite, maudites, maudits, maudit; (curs) maudis
I was sitting on the bank, conjuring up this scene to myself, when George remarked that when I was quite rested, perhaps I would not mind helping to wash up; and, thus recalled from the days of the glorious past to the prosaic present, with all its misery and sin, I slid down into the boat and cleaned out the frying-pan with a stick of wood and a tuft of grass, polishing it up finally with George's wet shirt.
conjuring up - de la conjuration
remarked - remarqué; remarque
rested - reposé; repos
recalled - rappelée; rappeler, souvenir
stick - bâton; bâton, canne, stick
tuft - touffe
polishing - le polissage; égrisage, polissant
We went over to Magna Charta Island, and had a look at the stone which stands in the cottage there and on which the great Charter is said to have been signed; though, as to whether it really was signed there, or, as some say, on the other bank at "Runningmede," I decline to commit myself. As far as my own personal opinion goes, however, I am inclined to give weight to the popular island theory.
cottage - chalet; ; cottage
signed - signé; signe
commit - s'engager; ; confier, commettre, remettre, consigner, commit
weight - poids, lest, poids, graisse, alourdir, lester, appesantir
Certainly, had I been one of the Barons, at the time, I should have strongly urged upon my comrades the advisability of our getting such a slippery customer as King John on to the island, where there was less chance of surprises and tricks.
There are the ruins of an old priory in the grounds of Ankerwyke House, which is close to Picnic Point, and it was round about the grounds of this old priory that Henry VIII. is said to have waited for and met Anne Boleyn.
Priory - le prieuré; ; prieuré
He also used to meet her at Hever Castle in Kent, and also somewhere near St. Albans. It must have been difficult for the people of England in those days to have found a spot where these thoughtless young folk were not spooning.
been difficult - a été difficile
spooning - cuillere; cuillere
Have you ever been in a house where there are a couple courting? It is most trying.
courting - courtiser; briguant; (court); cour, tribunal, court de tennis
You think you will go and sit in the drawing-room, and you march off there. As you open the door, you hear a noise as if somebody had suddenly recollected something, and, when you get in, Emily is over by the window, full of interest in the opposite side of the road, and your friend, John Edward, is at the other end of the room with his whole soul held in thrall by photographs of other people's relatives.
Edward - edward; Édouard
thrall - serve
relatives - parents; relatif, parent, géniteur, génitrice
"Oh!" you say, pausing at the door, "I didn't know anybody was here."
pausing - une pause; (pause); pauser, pause
"Oh! didn't you?" says Emily, coldly, in a tone which implies that she does not believe you.
coldly - froidement
implies - implique; impliquer, impliquer, insinuer, sous-entendre
You hang about for a bit, then you say:
"It's very dark. Why don't you light the gas?"
John Edward says, "Oh!" he hadn't noticed it; and Emily says that papa does not like the gas lit in the afternoon.
papa - papa; papa
You tell them one or two items of news, and give them your views and opinions on the Irish question; but this does not appear to interest them. All they remark on any subject is, "Oh!" "Is it?" "Did he?" "Yes," and "You don't say so!
items - articles; article, truc, point
You don't say so - Vous ne le dites pas
And, after ten minutes of such style of conversation, you edge up to the door, and slip out, and are surprised to find that the door immediately closes behind you, and shuts itself, without your having touched it.
shuts - ferme; fermer
Half an hour later, you think you will try a pipe in the conservatory. The only chair in the place is occupied by Emily; and John Edward, if the language of clothes can be relied upon, has evidently been sitting on the floor. They do not speak, but they give you a look that says all that can be said in a civilised community; and you back out promptly and shut the door behind you.
occupied - occupée; occuper, occuper, occuper, occuper, habiter, occuper
relied - s'est appuyé; compter sur
civilised - civilisé; civiliser, civiliser
community - communauté
You are afraid to poke your nose into any room in the house now; so, after walking up and down the stairs for a while, you go and sit in your own bedroom. This becomes uninteresting, however, after a time, and so you put on your hat and stroll out into the garden.
poke - poke; stocker
You walk down the path, and as you pass the summer-house you glance in, and there are those two young idiots, huddled up into one corner of it; and they see you, and are evidently under the idea that, for some wicked purpose of your own, you are following them about.
walk down - descendre
summer-house - (summer-house) maison d'été
"Why don't they have a special room for this sort of thing, and make people keep to it?" you mutter; and you rush back to the hall and get your umbrella and go out.
It must have been much like this when that foolish boy Henry VIII. was courting his little Anne. People in Buckinghamshire would have come upon them unexpectedly when they were mooning round Windsor and Wraysbury, and have exclaimed, "Oh! you here!" and Henry would have blushed and said, "Yes; he'd just come over to see a man;" and Anne would have said, "Oh, I'm so glad to see you! Isn't it funny?
unexpectedly - de maniere inattendue; ; surprenamment
mooning - mooning; lune
blushed - rougi; rougeur
I've just met Mr. Henry VIII. in the lane, and he's going the same way I am."
lane - chemin
Then those people would have gone away and said to themselves: "Oh! we'd better get out of here while this billing and cooing is on. We'll go down to Kent."
gone away - est parti
cooing - roucouler; (coo) roucouler
And they would go to Kent, and the first thing they would see in Kent, when they got there, would be Henry and Anne fooling round Hever Castle.
"Oh, drat this!" they would have said. "Here, let's go away. I can't stand any more of it. Let's go to St. Albans-nice quiet place, St. Albans."
Drat - drat; ; jurer
And when they reached St. Albans, there would be that wretched couple, kissing under the Abbey walls. Then these folks would go and be pirates until the marriage was over.
kissing - s'embrasser; (s'')embrasser
Abbey - l'abbaye; ; abbaye
pirates - pirates; pirate, corsaire, boucanier, pirate, pirater, pirater
marriage - mariage, noces
From Picnic Point to Old Windsor Lock is a delightful bit of the river. A shady road, dotted here and there with dainty little cottages, runs by the bank up to the "Bells of Ouseley," a picturesque inn, as most up-river inns are, and a place where a very good glass of ale may be drunk-so Harris says; and on a matter of this kind you can take Harris's word.
delightful - délicieux
shady - ombragé, louche
cottages - chalets; cottage
bells - cloches; cloche
Old Windsor is a famous spot in its way. Edward the Confessor had a palace here, and here the great Earl Godwin was proved guilty by the justice of that age of having encompassed the death of the King's brother. Earl Godwin broke a piece of bread and held it in his hand.
confessor - confesseur
earl - earl; ; comte
proved - prouvé; prouver
guilty - coupable, coupable
encompassed - englobé; encercler, entourer, englober, inclure, comprendre
"If I am guilty," said the Earl, "may this bread choke me when I eat it!"
Then he put the bread into his mouth and swallowed it, and it choked him, and he died.
choked - étouffé; suffoquer, étouffer
After you pass Old Windsor, the river is somewhat uninteresting, and does not become itself again until you are nearing Boveney. George and I towed up past the Home Park, which stretches along the right bank from Albert to Victoria Bridge; and as we were passing Datchet, George asked me if I remembered our first trip up the river, and when we landed at Datchet at ten o'clock at night, and wanted to go to bed.
stretches - étirements; étendre, s'étendre, s'étirer, étirement
Albert - albert; Albert
Victoria - victoria; Victoria, Victoire
I answered that I did remember it. It will be some time before I forget it.
It was the Saturday before the August bank holiday. We were tired and hungry, we same three, and when we got to Datchet we took out the hamper, the two bags, and the rugs and coats, and such like things, and started off to look for diggings.
bank holiday - un jour férié
We passed a very pretty little hotel, with clematis and creeper over the porch; but there was no honeysuckle about it, and, for some reason or other, I had got my mind fixed on honeysuckle, and I said:
clematis - la clématite; ; clématite
creeper - liane; ; plante grimpante
porch - porche, véranda, portique
honeysuckle - chevrefeuille; ; chevrefeuille
"Oh, don't let's go in there! Let's go on a bit further, and see if there isn't one with honeysuckle over it."
So we went on till we came to another hotel. That was a very nice hotel, too, and it had honey-suckle on it, round at the side; but Harris did not like the look of a man who was leaning against the front door. He said he didn't look a nice man at all, and he wore ugly boots: so we went on further. We went a goodish way without coming across any more hotels, and then we met a man, and asked him to direct us to a few.
honey - chérie; ; miel
suckle - allaiter, téter
goodish - bon
coming across - a traverser
Direct - direct, mettre en scene, ordonner
"Why, you are coming away from them. You must turn right round and go back, and then you will come to the Stag."
turn right - tourner a droite
stag - cerf, bouf
"Oh, we had been there, and didn't like it-no honeysuckle over it."
"Well, then," he said, "there's the Manor House, just opposite. Have you tried that?"
Manor - manoir, maison-forte, seigneurie
Harris replied that we did not want to go there-didn't like the looks of a man who was stopping there-Harris did not like the colour of his hair, didn't like his boots, either.
"Well, I don't know what you'll do, I'm sure," said our informant; "because they are the only two inns in the place."
informant - informateur, informatrice
"No other inns!" exclaimed Harris.
"None," replied the man.
"What on earth are we to do?" cried Harris.
Then George spoke up. He said Harris and I could get an hotel built for us, if we liked, and have some people made to put in. For his part, he was going back to the Stag.
The greatest minds never realise their ideals in any matter; and Harris and I sighed over the hollowness of all earthly desires, and followed George.
realise - comprendre
ideals - idéaux; idéal, idéal, parfait, idéal, idéal, idéal
hollowness - le vide
We took our traps into the Stag, and laid them down in the hall.
traps - des pieges; piege
The landlord came up and said:
landlord - propriétaire, patron
"Good evening, gentlemen."
"Oh, good evening," said George; "we want three beds, please."
"Very sorry, sir," said the landlord; "but I'm afraid we can't manage it."
manage it - le gérer
"Oh, well, never mind," said George, "two will do. Two of us can sleep in one bed, can't we?" he continued, turning to Harris and me.
Harris said, "Oh, yes;" he thought George and I could sleep in one bed very easily.
"Very sorry, sir," again repeated the landlord: "but we really haven't got a bed vacant in the whole house. In fact, we are putting two, and even three gentlemen in one bed, as it is."
This staggered us for a bit.
But Harris, who is an old traveller, rose to the occasion, and, laughing cheerily, said:
Occasion - occasion
"Oh, well, we can't help it. We must rough it. You must give us a shake-down in the billiard-room."
billiard - billard
"Very sorry, sir. Three gentlemen sleeping on the billiard-table already, and two in the coffee-room. Can't possibly take you in to-night."
sleeping on - en train de dormir
We picked up our things, and went over to the Manor House. It was a pretty little place. I said I thought I should like it better than the other house; and Harris said, "Oh, yes," it would be all right, and we needn't look at the man with the red hair; besides, the poor fellow couldn't help having red hair.
needn - n'a pas besoin
Harris spoke quite kindly and sensibly about it.
sensibly - raisonnablement
The people at the Manor House did not wait to hear us talk. The landlady met us on the doorstep with the greeting that we were the fourteenth party she had turned away within the last hour and a half. As for our meek suggestions of stables, billiard-room, or coal-cellars, she laughed them all to scorn: all these nooks had been snatched up long ago.
greeting - l'accueil; ; salutation, salut; (greet) l'accueil; ; salutation
Fourteenth - quatorzieme; ; quatorzieme (''before the noun''); (''in names of monarchs and popes'') quatorze (''after the name'') (''abbreviation'' XIV)
meek - doux; ; humble, modeste, soumis, faible
suggestions - suggestions; suggestion, proposition
cellars - caves; cave
scorn - mépriser, dédaigner, mépris, dédain
nooks - recoins; coin, angle, recoin
Did she know of any place in the whole village where we could get shelter for the night?
"Well, if we didn't mind roughing it-she did not recommend it, mind-but there was a little beershop half a mile down the Eton road-"
roughing - la brutalité; rude, rugueux, brut, approximatif, difficile
recommend - recommander, adviser, checkconseiller, checkrecommander
beershop - beershop
Eton - Eton
We waited to hear no more; we caught up the hamper and the bags, and the coats and rugs, and parcels, and ran. The distance seemed more like a mile than half a mile, but we reached the place at last, and rushed, panting, into the bar.
panting - haletant; (pant) haletant
The people at the beershop were rude. They merely laughed at us. There were only three beds in the whole house, and they had seven single gentlemen and two married couples sleeping there already. A kind-hearted bargeman, however, who happened to be in the tap-room, thought we might try the grocer's, next door to the Stag, and we went back.
laughed at - dont on se moque
bargeman - bargeman
The grocer's was full. An old woman we met in the shop then kindly took us along with her for a quarter of a mile, to a lady friend of hers, who occasionally let rooms to gentlemen.
let rooms - laisser des chambres
This old woman walked very slowly, and we were twenty minutes getting to her lady friend's. She enlivened the journey by describing to us, as we trailed along, the various pains she had in her back.
enlivened - animée; animer
pains - douleurs; douleur
Her lady friend's rooms were let. From there we were recommended to No. 27. No. 27 was full, and sent us to No. 32, and 32 was full.
Then we went back into the high road, and Harris sat down on the hamper and said he would go no further. He said it seemed a quiet spot, and he would like to die there. He requested George and me to kiss his mother for him, and to tell all his relations that he forgave them and died happy.
requested - demandée; demander, demander, prier, requete, demande, requete
kiss - baiser; baisent, biser, baisons, baisez, bécot, bise
At that moment an angel came by in the disguise of a small boy (and I cannot think of any more effective disguise an angel could have assumed), with a can of beer in one hand, and in the other something at the end of a string, which he let down on to every flat stone he came across, and then pulled up again, this producing a peculiarly unattractive sound, suggestive of suffering.
disguise - déguisement, déguiser
assumed - supposé; supposer, présupposer, présumer, assumer, adopter
let down - déçu
producing - produisant; produire, produits-p
peculiarly - de façon particuliere
unattractive - peu attrayante
suggestive - suggestif
We asked this heavenly messenger (as we discovered him afterwards to be) if he knew of any lonely house, whose occupants were few and feeble (old ladies or paralysed gentlemen preferred), who could be easily frightened into giving up their beds for the night to three desperate men; or, if not this, could he recommend us to an empty pigstye, or a disused limekiln, or anything of that sort.
messenger - messager, coursier
occupants - occupants; occupant, occupant, habitant
paralysed - paralysé; paralyser
frightened - effrayé; effrayer, redouter, terrifier
pigstye - porcherie
He did not know of any such place-at least, not one handy; but he said that, if we liked to come with him, his mother had a room to spare, and could put us up for the night.
We fell upon his neck there in the moonlight and blessed him, and it would have made a very beautiful picture if the boy himself had not been so over-powered by our emotion as to be unable to sustain himself under it, and sunk to the ground, letting us all down on top of him.
neck - cou; cou, kiki
powered - alimenté; pouvoir, puissance, pouvoir, puissance, électricité
emotion - l'émotion; ; émotion
unable - incapable; inapte, inhabile
sustain - soutenir; ; maintenir, subvenir
under it - en dessous
Harris was so overcome with joy that he fainted, and had to seize the boy's beer-can and half empty it before he could recover consciousness, and then he started off at a run, and left George and me to bring on the luggage.
fainted - s'est évanoui; faible, léger
seize - saisir, emparer
consciousness - la conscience; ; conscience
It was a little four-roomed cottage where the boy lived, and his mother-good soul!-gave us hot bacon for supper, and we ate it all-five pounds-and a jam tart afterwards, and two pots of tea, and then we went to bed. There were two beds in the room; one was a 2ft. 6in.
pots - des casseroles; pot
truckle bed, and George and I slept in that, and kept in by tying ourselves together with a sheet; and the other was the little boy's bed, and Harris had that all to himself, and we found him, in the morning, with two feet of bare leg sticking out at the bottom, and George and I used it to hang the towels on while we bathed.
truckle - truckle
tying - la mise en place d'un lien; attacher
bare - a nu; dénudé, dégarnir, nu
sticking - coller; (stick) coller
We were not so uppish about what sort of hotel we would have, next time we went to Datchet.
To return to our present trip: nothing exciting happened, and we tugged steadily on to a little below Monkey Island, where we drew up and lunched. We tackled the cold beef for lunch, and then we found that we had forgotten to bring any mustard.
tugged - tiré; tirer, tirer, remorquer, tirement
monkey - singe, guenon
tackled - abordé; tacle, combattre, affronter, tacler, plaquer
I don't think I ever in my life, before or since, felt I wanted mustard as badly as I felt I wanted it then. I don't care for mustard as a rule, and it is very seldom that I take it at all, but I would have given worlds for it then.
seldom - rarement
I don't know how many worlds there may be in the universe, but anyone who had brought me a spoonful of mustard at that precise moment could have had them all. I grow reckless like that when I want a thing and can't get it.
universe - univers
spoonful - cuillerée
reckless - irresponsable, insouciant, téméraire, branque
Harris said he would have given worlds for mustard too. It would have been a good thing for anybody who had come up to that spot with a can of mustard, then: he would have been set up in worlds for the rest of his life.
But there! I daresay both Harris and I would have tried to back out of the bargain after we had got the mustard. One makes these extravagant offers in moments of excitement, but, of course, when one comes to think of it, one sees how absurdly out of proportion they are with the value of the required article. I heard a man, going up a mountain in Switzerland, once say he would give worlds for a glass of beer, and, when he came to a little shanty where they kept it, he kicked up a most fearful row because they charged him five francs for a bottle of Bass.
daresay - oserait-on dire
bargain - marché; ; accord, affaire, bonne affaire, marchander
offers - offres; offrir, proposer
proportion - proportion
value - valeur, valeur, évaluer, valoriser
Switzerland - la suisse; Suisse
shanty - bicoque; baraque
kicked - botté; donner un coup de pied (a, dans)
most fearful - les plus craintifs
francs - francs; franc, franc
He said it was a scandalous imposition, and he wrote to the Times about it.
scandalous - scandaleux
It cast a gloom over the boat, there being no mustard. We ate our beef in silence. Existence seemed hollow and uninteresting. We thought of the happy days of childhood, and sighed. We brightened up a bit, however, over the apple-tart, and, when George drew out a tin of pine-apple from the bottom of the hamper, and rolled it into the middle of the boat, we felt that life was worth living after all.
hollow - creux; cavez, caver, cavent, cavons
childhood - l'enfance; ; enfance
tin - l'étain; étain, conserve, boîte de conserve, moule, gamelle
pine - pin; pin
We are very fond of pine-apple, all three of us. We looked at the picture on the tin; we thought of the juice. We smiled at one another, and Harris got a spoon ready.
spoon - cuillere; cuiller, cuillere
Then we looked for the knife to open the tin with. We turned out everything in the hamper. We turned out the bags. We pulled up the boards at the bottom of the boat. We took everything out on to the bank and shook it. There was no tin-opener to be found.
looked for - cherché
Then Harris tried to open the tin with a pocket-knife, and broke the knife and cut himself badly; and George tried a pair of scissors, and the scissors flew up, and nearly put his eye out.
pocket-knife - (pocket-knife) couteau de poche
scissors - ciseaux; ciseau, couper aux ciseaux
While they were dressing their wounds, I tried to make a hole in the thing with the spiky end of the hitcher, and the hitcher slipped and jerked me out between the boat and the bank into two feet of muddy water, and the tin rolled over, uninjured, and broke a teacup.
uninjured - indemne
teacup - tasse a thé; ; tasse a thé
Then we all got mad. We took that tin out on the bank, and Harris went up into a field and got a big sharp stone, and I went back into the boat and brought out the mast, and George held the tin and Harris held the sharp end of his stone against the top of it, and I took the mast and poised it high up in the air, and gathered up all my strength and brought it down.
brought out - sorti
poised - en place; assurance, aisance, sang-froid, aplomb, poise
It was George's straw hat that saved his life that day. He keeps that hat now (what is left of it), and, of a winter's evening, when the pipes are lit and the boys are telling stretchers about the dangers they have passed through, George brings it down and shows it round, and the stirring tale is told anew, with fresh exaggerations every time.
straw hat - chapeau de paille
stretchers - des brancards; civiere, brancard, châssis, panneresse
dangers - dangers; danger, péril, danger, danger, qualifier
stirring - l'agitation; ; passionnant
anew - a nouveau; ; a nouveau, derechef
exaggerations - des exagérations; exagération
Harris got off with merely a flesh wound.
flesh wound - Une blessure superficielle
After that, I took the tin off myself, and hammered at it with the mast till I was worn out and sick at heart, whereupon Harris took it in hand.
hammered - martelée; marteau, chien, malléus, t+marteau, marteler, marteler
at heart - au cour
Flattened tinWe Beat it out flat; we beat it back square; we battered it into every form known to geometry-but we could not make a hole in it. Then George went at it, and knocked it into a shape, so strange, so weird, so unearthly in its wild hideousness, that he got frightened and threw away the mast. Then we all three sat round it on the grass and looked at it.
flattened - aplatie; aplatir
Beat it - Le battre
battered - battu; battre
geometry - géométrie
knocked - frappé; coup, frapper
unearthly - non terrestre; inquiétant
There was one great dent across the top that had the appearance of a mocking grin, and it drove us furious, so that Harris rushed at the thing, and caught it up, and flung it far into the middle of the river, and as it sank we hurled our curses at it, and we got into the boat and rowed away from the spot, and never paused till we reached Maidenhead.
Dent - dent; bosse
mocking - se moquer; (moc) se moquer
sank - a coulé; couler, s'enfoncer, couler, évier, lavabo
hurled - lancé; projeter, débecter, débecqueter
rowed - a l'aviron; rang(ée)
Maidenhead itself is too snobby to be pleasant. It is the haunt of the river swell and his overdressed female companion. It is the town of showy hotels, patronised chiefly by dudes and ballet girls.
snobby - snob
haunt - hanter, demeurer, point de rencontre
female - femelle, femelle
showy - voyante; ; tape-a-l’oil
chiefly - principalement; ; surtout
dudes - les mecs; munition non explosée
ballet - ballet
It is the witch's kitchen from which go forth those demons of the river-steam-launches. The London Journal duke always has his "little place" at Maidenhead; and the heroine of the three-volume novel always dines there when she goes out on the spree with somebody else's husband.
witch - sorciere; sorciere, ensorceleurse, sorcierere
launches - lancements; lancer
journal - journal; revue
Duke - duke; ; duc
heroine - l'héroine; ; héroine
volume - volume, tome
novel - roman; roman, nouveau
dines - dîne; dîner
spree - de l'argent; ; frénésie
We went through Maidenhead quickly, and then eased up, and took leisurely that grand reach beyond Boulter's and Cookham locks. Clieveden Woods still wore their dainty dress of spring, and rose up, from the water's edge, in one long harmony of blended shades of fairy green. In its unbroken loveliness this is, perhaps, the sweetest stretch of all the river, and lingeringly we slowly drew our little boat away from its deep peace.
leisurely - tranquillement
locks - des serrures; serrure
blended - mélangé; mélange, mélanger, meler, mixer
fairy - fée, tapette, folle
unbroken - ininterrompue
sweetest - le plus doux; doucement, friandise, bonbon, sucreries-p
lingeringly - de façon prolongée
peace - la paix; ; paix, tranquillité
We pulled up in the backwater, just below Cookham, and had tea; and, when we were through the lock, it was evening. A stiffish breeze had sprung up-in our favour, for a wonder; for, as a rule on the river, the wind is always dead against you whatever way you go. It is against you in the morning, when you start for a day's trip, and you pull a long distance, thinking how easy it will be to come back with the sail.
stiffish - raide
start for - pour commencer
long distance - longue distance
Then, after tea, the wind veers round, and you have to pull hard in its teeth all the way home.
veers - les vecteurs; virer
When you forget to take the sail at all, then the wind is consistently in your favour both ways. But there! this world is only a probation, and man was born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.
consistently - de maniere cohérente
probation - probation; ; période d'essai, liberté conditionnelle
sparks - des étincelles; étincelle
upward - a la hausse
This evening, however, they had evidently made a mistake, and had put the wind round at our back instead of in our face. We kept very quiet about it, and got the sail up quickly before they found it out, and then we spread ourselves about the boat in thoughtful attitudes, and the sail bellied out, and strained, and grumbled at the mast, and the boat flew.
bellied - ventre; ventre
grumbled - grommelé; grondement, gargouillement, grondement, grognement
steered - piloté; bouvillon
There is no more thrilling sensation I know of than sailing. It comes as near to flying as man has got to yet-except in dreams. The wings of the rushing wind seem to be bearing you onward, you know not where. You are no longer the slow, plodding, puny thing of clay, creeping tortuously upon the ground; you are a part of Nature! Your heart is throbbing against hers!
thrilling - passionnante; exciter
dreams - reves; reve, t+songe, reve, t+songe, t+voeu, t+souhait, t+vou
bearing - naissant, coussinet; (bear) naissant, coussinet
onward - plus loin; ; en avant
plodding - en se creusant la tete; (plod) en se creusant la tete
puny - chétif, frele
clay - l'argile; ; argile, terre battue
tortuously - tortueusement
throbbing - des palpitations; (throb); battre, palpiter, vibrer, résonner
Her glorious arms are round you, raising you up against her heart! Your spirit is at one with hers; your limbs grow light! The voices of the air are singing to you. The earth seems far away and little; and the clouds, so close above your head, are brothers, and you stretch your arms to them.
limbs - membres; membre
We had the river to ourselves, except that, far in the distance, we could see a fishing-punt, moored in mid-stream, on which three fishermen sat; and we skimmed over the water, and passed the wooded banks, and no one spoke.
punt - punt; bac
moored - amarré; lande
fishermen - pecheurs; pecheur, pecheuse
skimmed - écrémé; dépasser doucement, effleurer, frôler, raser, faire
I was steering.
As we drew nearer, we could see that the three men fishing seemed old and solemn-looking men. They sat on three chairs in the punt, and watched intently their lines. And the red sunset threw a mystic light upon the waters, and tinged with fire the towering woods, and made a golden glory of the piled-up clouds. It was an hour of deep enchantment, of ecstatic hope and longing.
intently - attentivement
mystic - mystique, mystique
tinged - teinté; teinte, touche, nuance, teinte, teindre
towering - imposant; tour
glory - gloire
enchantment - l'enchantement; ; enchantement, ensorcellement
ecstatic - extatique
The little sail stood out against the purple sky, the gloaming lay around us, wrapping the world in rainbow shadows; and, behind us, crept the night.
sky - ciel; ciel, nue
gloaming - l'obscurité; crepecrépuscule
wrapping - l'emballage; (wrap) l'emballage
rainbow - arc-en-ciel, iridescent, checkmulticolore, polychromer
We seemed like knights of some old legend, sailing across some mystic lake into the unknown realm of twilight, unto the great land of the sunset.
legend - légende, légende
lake - lac; marin, lac
realm - domaine, royaume
We did not go into the realm of twilight; we went slap into that punt, where those three old men were fishing. We did not know what had happened at first, because the sail shut out the view, but from the nature of the language that rose up upon the evening air, we gathered that we had come into the neighbourhood of human beings, and that they were vexed and discontented.
beings - etres; etre, créature, existence, etre
Harris let the sail down, and then we saw what had happened.
We had knocked those three old gentlemen off their chairs into a general heap at the bottom of the boat, and they were now slowly and painfully sorting themselves out from each other, and picking fish off themselves; and as they worked, they cursed us-not with a common cursory curse, but with long, carefully-thought-out, comprehensive curses, that embraced the whole of our career, and went away into the distant future, and included all our relations, and covered everything connected with us-good, substantial curses.
sorting - le triage; ; classement
cursory - superficielle; ; rapide, superficiel
curse - malédiction; maudire, maudisent, maudisons, blasphémer
comprehensive - complet, exhaustif
embraced - embrassée; étreindre, embrasser, embrasser, accolade
went away - est parti
connected - connecté; accoupler, connecter, brancher
Harris told them they ought to be grateful for a little excitement, sitting there fishing all day, and he also said that he was shocked and grieved to hear men their age give way to temper so.
grateful - reconnaissant
shocked - choqué; choc
grieved - en deuil; avoir du chagrin
give way - céder le passage
But it did not do any good.
George said he would steer, after that. He said a mind like mine ought not to be expected to give itself away in steering boats-better let a mere commonplace human being see after that boat, before we jolly well all got drowned; and he took the lines, and brought us up to Marlow.
drowned - noyé; noyer
And at Marlow we left the boat by the bridge, and went and put up for the night at the "Crown."
Marlow.-Bisham Abbey.-The Medmenham Monks.-Montmorency thinks he will murder an old Tom cat.-But eventually decides that he will let it live.-Shameful conduct of a fox terrier at the civil service Stores.-Our departure from Marlow.-An imposing procession.-The steam launch, useful receipts for annoying and hindering it.-We decline to drink the river.-A peaceful dog.-Strange disappearance of Harris and a pie.
monks - moines; moine
civil service - la fonction publique
departure - départ, déviation
imposing - imposant; imposer, imposer
steam - de la vapeur
launch - lancement; lancent, pistonner, lancez, lançons, lancer
receipts - des recettes; réception, reçu
hindering - entraver; gener, entraver
Marlow is one of the pleasantest river centres I know of.
pleasantest - le plus agréable; agréable, plaisant
It is a bustling, lively little town; not very picturesque on the whole, it is true, but there are many quaint nooks and corners to be found in it, nevertheless-standing arches in the shattered bridge of Time, over which our fancy travels back to the days when Marlow Manor owned Saxon Algar for its lord, ere conquering William seized it to give to Queen Matilda, ere it passed to the Earls of Warwick or to worldly-wise Lord Paget, the councillor of four successive sovereigns.
bustling - en pleine effervescence; ; animé
nevertheless - néanmoins, toutefois, pourtant, malgré tout
shattered - brisé; fracasser, réduire en miettes, mettre en pieces, briser
conquering - a la conquete; conquérir
Matilda - matilda; Mathilde
earls - les comtes; comte
councillor - conseiller, conseillere, French: conseiller municipal
successive - successifs
sovereigns - souverains; souverain, souverain, souverain, souverain
There is lovely country round about it, too, if, after boating, you are fond of a walk, while the river itself is at its best here. Down to Cookham, past the Quarry Woods and the meadows, is a lovely reach. Dear old Quarry Woods! with your narrow, climbing paths, and little winding glades, how scented to this hour you seem with memories of sunny summer days!
quarry - carriere; carriere
meadows - prairies; pré
narrow - étroite; pressé, étroit
winding - bobinage; (wind) bobinage
glades - sous-bois; clairiere
scented - parfumée; odeur, odorat, odeur, sentir
memories - des souvenirs; mémoire, souvenir, mémoire
How haunted are your shadowy vistas with the ghosts of laughing faces! how from your whispering leaves there softly fall the voices of long ago!
vistas - des panoramas; vue, point de vue
whispering - chuchotement; (whisper); chuchotement, chuchoter, susurrer
Bisham AbbeyFrom Marlow up to Sonning is even fairer yet. Grand old Bisham Abbey, whose stone walls have rung to the shouts of the Knights Templars, and which, at one time, was the home of Anne of Cleves and at another of Queen Elizabeth, is passed on the right bank just half a mile above Marlow Bridge.
fairer - plus équitable; blond
rung - s'est arreté; marche; (ring) s'est arreté; marche
Templars - les templiers; templier
Bisham Abbey is rich in melodramatic properties. It contains a tapestry bed-chamber, and a secret room hid high up in the thick walls. The ghost of the Lady Holy, who beat her little boy to death, still walks there at night, trying to wash its ghostly hands clean in a ghostly basin.
melodramatic - mélodramatique
properties - propriétés; propriété, propriété, propriété, propriété
contains - contient; contenir, contenir, contenir, contenir
tapestry - tapisserie, rench: t-needed r
chamber - chambre, piece, salle
secret - secret
holy - saint, sacré, bénit, saint, checksainte
Warwick, the king-maker, rests there, careless now about such trivial things as earthly kings and earthly kingdoms; and Salisbury, who did good service at Poitiers. Just before you come to the abbey, and right on the river's bank, is Bisham Church, and, perhaps, if any tombs are worth inspecting, they are the tombs and monuments in Bisham Church.
trivial - insignifiante; ; trivial, anodin, banal
kingdoms - royaumes; royaume, regne
monuments - monuments; monument, mémorial
It was while floating in his boat under the Bisham beeches that Shelley, who was then living at Marlow (you can see his house now, in West street), composed The Revolt of Islam.
Beeches - hetes; hetre
composed - composé; composer, composer, composer, composer
revolt - révolter, révolte
Islam - l'islam; Islam
By Hurley Weir, a little higher up, I have often thought that I could stay a month without having sufficient time to drink in all the beauty of the scene. The village of Hurley, five minutes'walk from the lock, is as old a little spot as there is on the river, dating, as it does, to quote the quaint phraseology of those dim days, "from the times of King Sebert and King Offa.
quote - citation, guillemet, devis, cotation, citer, deviser, coter
phraseology - la phraséologie; ; phraséologie
Just past the weir (going up) is Danes'Field, where the invading Danes once encamped, during their march to Gloucestershire; and a little further still, nestling by a sweet corner of the stream, is what is left of Medmenham Abbey.
Danes - les danois; Danois, Danoise
invading - l'envahissement; envahir, envahir, envahir
nestling - l'oisillon; (nestle); se pelotonner, se nicher
The famous Medmenham monks, or "Hell Fire Club," as they were commonly called, and of whom the notorious Wilkes was a member, were a fraternity whose motto was "Do as you please," and that invitation still stands over the ruined doorway of the abbey.
hell - l'enfer; enfer
commonly - communément; ; fréquemment
notorious - notoire
Fraternity - fraternité
motto - devise
invitation - invitation
doorway - l'embrasure de la porte; ; embrasure de la porte
Many years before this bogus abbey, with its congregation of irreverent jesters, was founded, there stood upon this same spot a monastery of a sterner kind, whose monks were of a somewhat different type to the revellers that were to follow them, five hundred years afterwards.
bogus - bidon, nul, hors d'usage, fichu, ''colloquial'': foutu
congregation - la congrégation; ; rassemblement, assemblée des fideles
irreverent - irrévérencieux
jesters - bouffons; plaisantin
monastery - monastere; ; monastere
sterner - plus sévere; sévere
five hundred - cinq cents
The Cistercian monks, whose abbey stood there in the thirteenth century, wore no clothes but rough tunics and cowls, and ate no flesh, nor fish, nor eggs. They lay upon straw, and they rose at midnight to mass. They spent the day in labour, reading, and prayer; and over all their lives there fell a silence as of death, for no one spoke.
Cistercian - cisterciens; ; cistercien
thirteenth - treizieme; ; treizieme (''before the noun''); (''in names of monarchs and popes'') treize (''after the name'') (''abbreviation'' XIII)
tunics - tuniques; tunique
cowls - les capuchons; froc
mass - masse; masse, foule, amas
prayer - oraison, priere
A grim fraternity, passing grim lives in that sweet spot, that God had made so bright! Strange that Nature's voices all around them-the soft singing of the waters, the whisperings of the river grass, the music of the rushing wind-should not have taught them a truer meaning of life than this.
whisperings - chuchotements; chuchotement
They listened there, through the long days, in silence, waiting for a voice from heaven; and all day long and through the solemn night it spoke to them in myriad tones, and they heard it not.
Heaven - le paradis; ; ciel, paradis, au-dela, cieux
myriad - myriade, nombreux
We got up tolerably early on the Monday morning at Marlow, and went for a bathe before breakfast; and, coming back, Montmorency made an awful ass of himself. The only subject on which Montmorency and I have any serious difference of opinion is cats. I like cats; Montmorency does not.
tolerably - de maniere tolérable
serious - sérieux
CatWhen I meet a cat, I say, "Poor Pussy!" and stop down and tickle the side of its head; and the cat sticks up its tail in a rigid, cast-iron manner, arches its back, and wipes its nose up against my trousers; and all is gentleness and peace. When Montmorency meets a cat, the whole street knows about it; and there is enough bad language wasted in ten seconds to last an ordinarily respectable man all his life, with care.
Pussy - la chatte; chaton
stop down - s'arreter
tickle - chatouiller
sticks up - des bâtons
rigid - rigide
cast-iron - (cast-iron) de la fonte
wipes - lingettes; essuyer
gentleness - la douceur; ; rench:
I do not blame the dog (contenting myself, as a rule, with merely clouting his head or throwing stones at him), because I take it that it is his nature. Fox-terriers are born with about four times as much original sin in them as other dogs are, and it will take years and years of patient effort on the part of us Christians to bring about any appreciable reformation in the rowdiness of the fox-terrier nature.
contenting - content; satisfait
clouting - cloutage; coup
terriers - terriers; (fox-)terrier
Christians - les chrétiens; chrétien, chrétienne, Christian, chrétien
bring about - provoquer
appreciable - appréciable
reformation - la réforme; ; réformation, Réforme, réforme protestante
I remember being in the lobby of the Haymarket Stores one day, and all round about me were dogs, waiting for the return of their owners, who were shopping inside. There were a mastiff, and one or two collies, and a St.
lobby - lobby; hall
mastiff - mastiff; ; dogue
collies - collies; colley
Bernard, a few retrievers and Newfoundlands, a boar-hound, a French poodle, with plenty of hair round its head, but mangy about the middle; a bull-dog, a few Lowther Arcade sort of animals, about the size of rats, and a couple of Yorkshire tykes.
Newfoundlands - terre-neuve; Terre-Neuve, chien de Terre-Neuve, terre-neuve
hound - chien de chasse; chien (de chasse)
Poodle - caniche
mangy - galeux
Bull - le taureau; taureau
Arcade - arcade, galerie marchande, salle d'arcade
Yorkshire - Yorkshire
tykes - les enfants; bâtard
There they sat, patient, good, and thoughtful. A solemn peacefulness seemed to reign in that lobby. An air of calmness and resignation-of gentle sadness pervaded the room.
calmness - le calme; ; calme
resignation - démission, résignation
gentle - gentil, doux
pervaded - imprégné; saturer, pénétrer, envahir
Then a sweet young lady entered, leading a meek-looking little fox-terrier, and left him, chained up there, between the bull-dog and the poodle. He sat and looked about him for a minute. Then he cast up his eyes to the ceiling, and seemed, judging from his expression, to be thinking of his mother. Then he yawned. Then he looked round at the other dogs, all silent, grave, and dignified.
chained up - enchaîné
judging - juger; juger
dignified - digne; honorer
He looked at the bull-dog, sleeping dreamlessly on his right. He looked at the poodle, erect and haughty, on his left. Then, without a word of warning, without the shadow of a provocation, he bit that poodle's near fore-leg, and a yelp of agony rang through the quiet shades of that lobby.
dreamlessly - sans reve
haughty - hautain, suffisant
shadow - l'ombre; ; ombre, prendre en filature, filer
provocation - provocation
yelp - yelp; glapissement
The result of his first experiment seemed highly satisfactory to him, and he determined to go on and make things lively all round. He sprang over the poodle and vigorously attacked a collie, and the collie woke up, and immediately commenced a fierce and noisy contest with the poodle.
experiment - expérience, expérimenter
satisfactory to - satisfaisant pour
vigorously - vigoureusement
attacked - attaqué; attaque, attaque, attaquer, attaquer, apostropher
collie - collie; ; colley
Then Foxey came back to his own place, and caught the bull-dog by the ear, and tried to throw him away; and the bull-dog, a curiously impartial animal, went for everything he could reach, including the hall-porter, which gave that dear little terrier the opportunity to enjoy an uninterrupted fight of his own with an equally willing Yorkshire tyke.
curiously - curieusement
impartial - impartiale
equally - également
Tyke - tyke; bâtard
Anyone who knows canine nature need hardly, be told that, by this time, all the other dogs in the place were fighting as if their hearths and homes depended on the fray. The big dogs fought each other indiscriminately; and the little dogs fought among themselves, and filled up their spare time by biting the legs of the big dogs.
canine - canine; ; canin
hearths - foyers; âtre, foyer, foyer, foyers-p
depended on - dépendant
fray - s'effilocher; rixe
indiscriminately - sans discernement
among themselves - entre eux
filled up - rempli
spare time - du temps libre
The whole lobby was a perfect pandemonium, and the din was terrific. A crowd assembled outside in the Haymarket, and asked if it was a vestry meeting; or, if not, who was being murdered, and why? Men came with poles and ropes, and tried to separate the dogs, and the police were sent for.
Pandemonium - pandémonium; ; chaos, charivari, tumulte, chahut
terrific - formidable, fantastique
vestry - la sacristie; ; sacristie
murdered - assassiné; meurtre, homicide, meurtre, assassinat, occire
poles - poteaux; pôle
And in the midst of the riot that sweet young lady returned, and snatched up that sweet little dog of hers (he had laid the tyke up for a month, and had on the expression, now, of a new-born lamb) into her arms, and kissed him, and asked him if he was killed, and what those great nasty brutes of dogs had been doing to him; and he nestled up against her, and gazed up into her face with a look that seemed to say: "Oh, I'm so glad you've come to take me away from this disgraceful scene!
riot - émeute
lamb - agneau, agnelle, mettre bas
kissed - embrassée; (s'')embrasser
brutes - brutes; bete, brutal
She said that the people at the Stores had no right to allow great savage things like those other dogs to be put with respectable people's dogs, and that she had a great mind to summon somebody.
Such is the nature of fox-terriers; and, therefore, I do not blame Montmorency for his tendency to row with cats; but he wished he had not given way to it that morning.
We were, as I have said, returning from a dip, and half-way up the High Street a cat darted out from one of the houses in front of us, and began to trot across the road. Montmorency gave a cry of joy-the cry of a stern warrior who sees his enemy given over to his hands-the sort of cry Cromwell might have uttered when the Scots came down the hill-and flew after his prey.
darted - dardé; dard, fleche
trot - trot; trotter
warrior - guerrier, guerriere
enemy - l'ennemi; ; ennemi, ennemie
uttered - prononcée; complet, total
the Scots - les Ecossais
prey - la proie; ; butin, prise, proie
His victim was a large black Tom. I never saw a larger cat, nor a more disreputable-looking cat. It had lost half its tail, one of its ears, and a fairly appreciable proportion of its nose. It was a long, sinewy-looking animal. It had a calm, contented air about it.
Montmorency went for that poor cat at the rate of twenty miles an hour; but the cat did not hurry up-did not seem to have grasped the idea that its life was in danger. It trotted quietly on until its would-be assassin was within a yard of it, and then it turned round and sat down in the middle of the road, and looked at Montmorency with a gentle, inquiring expression, that said:
trotted - trotté; trotter
assassin - assassin, assassine
inquiring - en quete de renseignements; enqueter, renseigner
"Yes! You want me?"
Montmorency does not lack pluck; but there was something about the look of that cat that might have chilled the heart of the boldest dog. He stopped abruptly, and looked back at Tom.
chilled - réfrigéré; froid
boldest - le plus audacieux; hardi, audacieux
abruptly - brusquement; ; abruptement, tout d'un coup, précipitamment
Neither spoke; but the conversation that one could imagine was clearly as follows:-
The Cat: "Can I do anything for you?"
Montmorency: "No-no, thanks."
The Cat: "Don't you mind speaking, if you really want anything, you know."
Montmorency (backing down the High Street): "Oh, no-not at all-certainly-don't you trouble. I-I am afraid I've made a mistake. I thought I knew you. Sorry I disturbed you."
The Cat: "Not at all-quite a pleasure. Sure you don't want anything, now?"
Montmorency (still backing): "Not at all, thanks-not at all-very kind of you. Good morning."
The Cat: "Good-morning."
Then the cat rose, and continued his trot; and Montmorency, fitting what he calls his tail carefully into its groove, came back to us, and took up an unimportant position in the rear.
fitting - l'appareillage; ; approprié, conforme, convenable, coupleur
groove - rainure, sillon, routine, groove, puits
To this day, if you say the word "Cats!" to Montmorency, he will visibly shrink and look up piteously at you, as if to say:
shrink - rétrécissement; ; se réduire, rétrécir, se resserrer
piteously - piteusement
We did our marketing after breakfast, and revictualled the boat for three days. George said we ought to take vegetables-that it was unhealthy not to eat vegetables. He said they were easy enough to cook, and that he would see to that; so we got ten pounds of potatoes, a bushel of peas, and a few cabbages.
unhealthy - malsain, mauvais pour la santé
see to - a voir
bushel - boisseau
peas - pois; (pea) pois
We got a beefsteak pie, a couple of gooseberry tarts, and a leg of mutton from the hotel; and fruit, and cakes, and bread and butter, and jam, and bacon and eggs, and other things we foraged round about the town for.
gooseberry - groseille a maquereau; ; groseille a maquereau
Tarts - tartelettes; sur
mutton - du mouton; ; mouton
foraged - fourragere; fourrage, fourrager, fourrager, fouiller
Our departure from Marlow I regard as one of our greatest successes. It was dignified and impressive, without being ostentatious. We had insisted at all the shops we had been to that the things should be sent with us then and there. None of your "Yes, sir, I will send them off at once: the boy will be down there before you are, sir!
impressive - impressionnante
ostentatious - ostentatoire
and then fooling about on the landing-stage, and going back to the shop twice to have a row about them, for us. We waited while the basket was packed, and took the boy with us.
basket - panier
We went to a good many shops, adopting this principle at each one; and the consequence was that, by the time we had finished, we had as fine a collection of boys with baskets following us around as heart could desire; and our final march down the middle of the High Street, to the river, must have been as imposing a spectacle as Marlow had seen for many a long day.
adopting - l'adoption; adopter, adopter
principle - principe
collection - collection, ramassage
baskets - paniers; panier
spectacle - spectacle
many a - beaucoup d'a
The order of the procession was as follows:-
Montmorency, carrying a stick.
Two disreputable-looking curs, friends of Montmorency's.
curs - curseur; (cur); clébard, corniaud, roquet, clebs, chien
George, carrying coats and rugs, and smoking a short pipe.
Harris, trying to walk with easy grace,
while carrying a bulged-out Gladstone bag in one hand
bulged - bombé; bombement, bosse, protubérance, bomber, déformer
and a bottle of lime-juice in the other.
lime - chaux; calcaire, chaux
Greengrocer's boy and baker's boy,
Baker - baker; boulanger, boulangere
Boots from the hotel, carrying hamper.
Confectioner's boy, with basket.
confectioner - confiseur, confiseuse
Grocer's boy, with basket.
haired - cheveux
Cheesemonger's boy, with basket.
Odd man carrying a bag.
Bosom companion of odd man, with his hands in his pockets,
smoking a short clay.
short clay - l'argile courte
Fruiterer's boy, with basket.
Myself, carrying three hats and a pair of boots,
and trying to look as if I didn't know it.
Six small boys, and four stray dogs.
stray - égaré; écartez, écartent, écartons, écarter
When we got down to the landing-stage, the boatman said:
boatman - passeur, batelier
"Let me see, sir; was yours a steam-launch or a house-boat?"
The bring of the provisionsOn our informing him it was a double-sculling skiff, he seemed surprised.
informing - informer; informer, avertir (de)
We had a good deal of trouble with steam launches that morning. It was just before the Henley week, and they were going up in large numbers; some by themselves, some towing houseboats. I do hate steam launches: I suppose every rowing man does. I never see a steam launch but I feel I should like to lure it to a lonely part of the river, and there, in the silence and the solitude, strangle it.
strangle - étrangler
There is a blatant bumptiousness about a steam launch that has the knack of rousing every evil instinct in my nature, and I yearn for the good old days, when you could go about and tell people what you thought of them with a hatchet and a bow and arrows.
blatant - flagrant, clair
bumptiousness - la bousculade
knack - knack; ; chic
rousing - l'enthousiasme; réveiller
yearn for - désirer
hatchet - hachette
arrows - fleches; fleche
The expression on the face of the man who, with his hands in his pockets, stands by the stern, smoking a cigar, is sufficient to excuse a breach of the peace by itself; and the lordly whistle for you to get out of the way would, I am confident, ensure a verdict of "justifiable homicide" from any jury of river men.
stands by - se trouve
breach - infraction, violation, breche, brouille
ensure - assurer
verdict - verdict
justifiable - justifiable
homicide - homicide (''murder''), meurtre (''murder'')
They used to have to whistle for us to get out of their way. If I may do so, without appearing boastful, I think I can honestly say that our one small boat, during that week, caused more annoyance and delay and aggravation to the steam launches that we came across than all the other craft on the river put together.
boastful - vantard, fanfaron
delay - délai; ajourner, décélération, surseoir, retard, retarder
aggravation - aggravation; ; circonstances aggravantes
"Steam launch, coming!" one of us would cry out, on sighting the enemy in the distance; and, in an instant, everything was got ready to receive her. I would take the lines, and Harris and George would sit down beside me, all of us with our backs to the launch, and the boat would drift out quietly into mid-stream.
got ready - Vous etes prets
drift - dérive, dériver, errer, dévier
On would come the launch, whistling, and on we would go, drifting. At about a hundred yards off, she would start whistling like mad, and the people would come and lean over the side, and roar at us; but we never heard them! Harris would be telling us an anecdote about his mother, and George and I would not have missed a word of it for worlds.
whistling - siffler; (whistle); sifflet, siffler, sifflement, sifflements
drifting - a la dérive; dérive, dériver, errer, dévier
roar at - rugir
anecdote - anecdote
Then that launch would give one final shriek of a whistle that would nearly burst the boiler, and she would reverse her engines, and blow off steam, and swing round and get aground; everyone on board of it would rush to the bow and yell at us, and the people on the bank would stand and shout to us, and all the other passing boats would stop and join in, till the whole river for miles up and down was in a state of frantic commotion.
boiler - chaudron
reverse - inverser; verso, inverse
engines - moteurs; moteur, moteur
blow off - s'en aller
for miles - sur des kilometres
And then Harris would break off in the most interesting part of his narrative, and look up with mild surprise, and say to George:
break off - se détacher
narrative - narratif, récit
"Why, George, bless me, if here isn't a steam launch!"
And George would answer:
"Well, do you know, I thought I heard something!"
Upon which we would get nervous and confused, and not know how to get the boat out of the way, and the people in the launch would crowd round and instruct us:
instruct - instruire, enseigner, apprendre
"Pull your right-you, you idiot! back with your left. No, not you-the other one-leave the lines alone, can't you-now, both together. NOT that way. Oh, you-!"
Then they would lower a boat and come to our assistance; and, after quarter of an hour's effort, would get us clean out of their way, so that they could go on; and we would thank them so much, and ask them to give us a tow. But they never would.
assistance - l'assistance; ; assistance
quarter of an hour's - d'un quart d'heure
Another good way we discovered of irritating the aristocratic type of steam launch, was to mistake them for a beanfeast, and ask them if they were Messrs. Cubit's lot or the Bermondsey Good Templars, and could they lend us a saucepan.
aristocratic - aristocratique
beanfeast - un festin de haricots
Cubit - cubit; ; coudée
saucepan - casserole
Old ladies, not accustomed to the river, are always intensely nervous of steam launches. I remember going up once from Staines to Windsor-a stretch of water peculiarly rich in these mechanical monstrosities-with a party containing three ladies of this description. It was very exciting.
accustomed - habitué; accoutumer
mechanical - mécanique, machinal
monstrosities - des monstruosités; monstruosité, monstruosité
containing - contenant; contenir, contenir, contenir, contenir
At the first glimpse of every steam launch that came in view, they insisted on landing and sitting down on the bank until it was out of sight again. They said they were very sorry, but that they owed it to their families not to be fool-hardy.
Glimpse - aperçu, entrevoir
owed - du; devoir, devoir
hardy - robuste, rustique
We found ourselves short of water at Hambledon Lock; so we took our jar and went up to the lock-keeper's house to beg for some.
beg for - mendier
George was our spokesman. He put on a winning smile, and said:
spokesman - porte-parole; ; portearole
"Oh, please could you spare us a little water?"
"Certainly," replied the old gentleman; "take as much as you want, and leave the rest."
"Thank you so much," murmured George, looking about him. "Where-where do you keep it?"
"It's always in the same place my boy," was the stolid reply: "just behind you."
stolid - solide; ; impassible
"I don't see it," said George, turning round.
"Why, bless us, where's your eyes?" was the man's comment, as he twisted George round and pointed up and down the stream. "There's enough of it to see, ain't there?"
twisted - tordu; twist, torsion, entortiller, tordre
"Oh!" exclaimed George, grasping the idea; "but we can't drink the river, you know!"
"No; but you can drink some of it," replied the old fellow. "It's what I've drunk for the last fifteen years."
George told him that his appearance, after the course, did not seem a sufficiently good advertisement for the brand; and that he would prefer it out of a pump.
brand - tison, marque, style, flétrir, marquer, graver, cataloguer
pump - pompe; pompe, pompons, pompez, pompent, pomper
We got some from a cottage a little higher up. I daresay that was only river water, if we had known. But we did not know, so it was all right. What the eye does not see, the stomach does not get upset over.
We tried river water once, later on in the season, but it was not a success. We were coming down stream, and had pulled up to have tea in a backwater near Windsor. Our jar was empty, and it was a case of going without our tea or taking water from the river. Harris was for chancing it.
have tea - prendre du thé
chancing - chancing; hasard
He said it must be all right if we boiled the water. He said that the various germs of poison present in the water would be killed by the boiling. So we filled our kettle with Thames backwater, and boiled it; and very careful we were to see that it did boil.
germs - germes; germe, germe, germe
poison - poison, empoisonner
boiling - en ébullition; ; ébullition, bouillonnement
careful - prudent, soigneux, attentif
We had made the tea, and were just settling down comfortably to drink it, when George, with his cup half-way to his lips, paused and exclaimed:
settling down - s'installer
"What's what?" asked Harris and I.
"Why that!" said George, looking westward.
The dogHarris and I followed his gaze, and saw, coming down towards us on the sluggish current, a dog. It was one of the quietest and peacefullest dogs I have ever seen. I never met a dog who seemed more contented-more easy in its mind. It was floating dreamily on its back, with its four legs stuck up straight into the air.
gaze - regard; ; fixer
sluggish - léthargique; ; poussif, faiblard, rétamé
dreamily - reveusement
It was what I should call a full-bodied dog, with a well-developed chest. On he came, serene, dignified, and calm, until he was abreast of our boat, and there, among the rushes, he eased up, and settled down cosily for the evening.
developed - développé; se développer, se développer, développer, développer
serene - serein; serein, enjoué
abreast - dans le meme sens; ; côte a côte, au courant
George said he didn't want any tea, and emptied his cup into the water. Harris did not feel thirsty, either, and followed suit. I had drunk half mine, but I wished I had not.
emptied - vidée; vide, vider, cadavre
I asked George if he thought I was likely to have typhoid.
He said: "Oh, no;" he thought I had a very good chance indeed of escaping it. Anyhow, I should know in about a fortnight, whether I had or had not.
escaping - s'échapper; échapper, s'échapper, éviter, tirer
We went up the backwater to Wargrave. It is a short cut, leading out of the right-hand bank about half a mile above Marsh Lock, and is well worth taking, being a pretty, shady little piece of stream, besides saving nearly half a mile of distance.
Marsh - le marais; ; marais
saving - sauver; ; économie, épargne; (save); sauver, sauvegarder
Half-way up the backwater, we got out and lunched; and it was during this lunch that George and I received rather a trying shock.
Harris received a shock, too; but I do not think Harris's shock could have been anything like so bad as the shock that George and I had over the business.
You see, it was in this way: we were sitting in a meadow, about ten yards from the water's edge, and we had just settled down comfortably to feed. Harris had the beefsteak pie between his knees, and was carving it, and George and I were waiting with our plates ready.
meadow - prairie; ; pré
feed - l'alimentation; nourrir, alimentent, alimentez, alimentons
"Have you got a spoon there?" says Harris; "I want a spoon to help the gravy with."
gravy - du jus de viande; ; jus de viande, sauce au jus
The hamper was close behind us, and George and I both turned round to reach one out. We were not five seconds getting it. When we looked round again, Harris and the pie were gone!
It was a wide, open field. There was not a tree or a bit of hedge for hundreds of yards. He could not have tumbled into the river, because we were on the water side of him, and he would have had to climb over us to do it.
tumbled - culbuté; culbute, dégringoler, culbuter
George and I gazed all about. Then we gazed at each other.
gazed at - regardé
"Has he been snatched up to heaven?" I queried.
"They'd hardly have taken the pie too," said George.
There seemed weight in this objection, and we discarded the heavenly theory.
"I suppose the truth of the matter is," suggested George, descending to the commonplace and practicable, "that there has been an earthquake."
descending - descendant; descendre, descendre, descendre
practicable - praticable
And then he added, with a touch of sadness in his voice: "I wish he hadn't been carving that pie."
With a sigh, we turned our eyes once more towards the spot where Harris and the pie had last been seen on earth; and there, as our blood froze in our veins and our hair stood up on end, we saw Harris's head-and nothing but his head-sticking bolt upright among the tall grass, the face very red, and bearing upon it an expression of great indignation!
froze - gelé; geler
veins - veines; veine
bolt - boulon; verrouiller, boulon, pene
upright - debout; ; integre, montant
George was the first to recover.
"Speak!" he cried, "and tell us whether you are alive or dead-and where is the rest of you?"
"Oh, don't be a stupid ass!" said Harris's head. "I believe you did it on purpose."
"Did what?" exclaimed George and I.
"Why, put me to sit here-darn silly trick! Here, catch hold of the pie."
darn - repriser
catch hold of - de s'en emparer
Rescuing the pieAnd out of the middle of the earth, as it seemed to us, rose the pie-very much mixed up and damaged; and, after it, scrambled Harris-tumbled, grubby, and wet.
rescuing - le sauvetage; délivrer, secourir, sauver, délivrer, fr
damaged - endommagé; dégât, dommage, dégât, dommage, endommager, abîmer
grubby - grubby; ; crasseux, véreux
He had been sitting, without knowing it, on the very verge of a small gully, the long grass hiding it from view; and in leaning a little back he had shot over, pie and all.
gully - ravin; rigole
He said he had never felt so surprised in all his life, as when he first felt himself going, without being able to conjecture in the slightest what had happened. He thought at first that the end of the world had come.
conjecture - conjecture, conjecturer
Harris believes to this day that George and I planned it all beforehand. Thus does unjust suspicion follow even the most blameless for, as the poet says, "Who shall escape calumny?"
unjust - injuste
most blameless - le plus irréprochable
poet - poete; ; poete
calumny - calomnie
Wargrave.-Waxworks.-Sonning.-Our stew.-Montmorency is sarcastic.-Fight between Montmorency and the tea-kettle.-George's banjo studies.-Meet with discouragement.-Difficulties in the way of the musical amateur.-Learning to play the bagpipes.-Harris feels sad after supper.-George and I go for a walk.-Return hungry and wet.-There is a strangeness about Harris.-Harris and the swans, a remarkable story.-Harris has a troubled night.
Waxworks - les cires; personnage en cire
stew - ragout; ragout, ragout
sarcastic - sarcastique
tea-kettle - (tea-kettle) Bouilloire
discouragement - découragement
difficulties - des difficultés; difficulté, difficulté
amateur - amateur, amatrice, amateuse
strangeness - l'étrangeté; ; étrangeté
swans - des cygnes; cygne
troubled - troublé; peine, mal, probleme, emmerde, peine, fr
We caught a breeze, after lunch, which took us gently up past Wargrave and Shiplake. Mellowed in the drowsy sunlight of a summer's afternoon, Wargrave, nestling where the river bends, makes a sweet old picture as you pass it, and one that lingers long upon the retina of memory.
mellowed - adouci; moelleux
bends - courbes; courber, tordre, courber
lingers - persiste; s'installer, stagner, s'incruster, s'éteindre
retina - rétine
The "George and Dragon" at Wargrave boasts a sign, painted on the one side by Leslie, R.A., and on the other by Hodgson of that ilk. Leslie has depicted the fight; Hodgson has imagined the scene, "After the Fight"-George, the work done, enjoying his pint of beer.
Dragon - le dragon; dragon
boasts - des fanfaronnades; se vanter (de)
ilk - ilk
depicted - représenté; représenter, décrire
Day, the author of Sandford and Merton, lived and-more credit to the place still-was killed at Wargrave. In the church is a memorial to Mrs. Sarah Hill, who bequeathed 1 pound annually, to be divided at Easter, between two boys and two girls who "have never been undutiful to their parents; who have never been known to swear or to tell untruths, to steal, or to break windows.
author - auteur, auteure, autrice, écrire, créer
bequeathed - légué; léguer, transmettre, transmettre, passer, donner, offrir
annually - annuellement
divided - divisé; diviser, fendre, partager, diviser
at Easter - a Pâques
undutiful - non consciencieux
untruths - des contrevérités; mensonge, menterie, contrevérité
Fancy giving up all that for five shillings a year! It is not worth it.
shillings - shillings; shilling
It is rumoured in the town that once, many years ago, a boy appeared who really never had done these things-or at all events, which was all that was required or could be expected, had never been known to do them-and thus won the crown of glory. He was exhibited for three weeks afterwards in the Town Hall, under a glass case.
rumoured - rumeur; rumeur
What has become of the money since no one knows. They say it is always handed over to the nearest wax-works show.
wax - la cire; cirons, cirez, cire, cirer, cirent
Shiplake is a pretty village, but it cannot be seen from the river, being upon the hill. Tennyson was married in Shiplake Church.
The river up to Sonning winds in and out through many islands, and is very placid, hushed, and lonely.
placid - placide
hushed - étouffé; silence
Few folk, except at twilight, a pair or two of rustic lovers, walk along its banks. 'Arry and Lord Fitznoodle have been left behind at Henley, and dismal, dirty Reading is not yet reached. It is a part of the river in which to dream of bygone days, and vanished forms and faces, and things that might have been, but are not, confound them.
bygone - révolu; ; d'autrefois, passé, évenement passé
vanished - disparue; disparaître, s'évanouir, s'annuler
We got out at Sonning, and went for a walk round the village. It is the most fairy-like little nook on the whole river. It is more like a stage village than one built of bricks and mortar. Every house is smothered in roses, and now, in early June, they were bursting forth in clouds of dainty splendour. If you stop at Sonning, put up at the "Bull," behind the church.
mortar - mortier
roses - des roses; Rose
bursting - l'éclatement; éclater, faire éclater, rompre, briser
splendour - splendeur
It is a veritable picture of an old country inn, with green, square courtyard in front, where, on seats beneath the trees, the old men group of an evening to drink their ale and gossip over village politics; with low, quaint rooms and latticed windows, and awkward stairs and winding passages.
veritable - véritable
courtyard - cour
gossip - des ragots; ; commere, commérage, ragot, cancan
awkward - maladroit, gauche, embarrassant, inconvenant
passages - passages; passage
We roamed about sweet Sonning for an hour or so, and then, it being too late to push on past Reading, we decided to go back to one of the Shiplake islands, and put up there for the night. It was still early when we got settled, and George said that, as we had plenty of time, it would be a splendid opportunity to try a good, slap-up supper.
roamed - a erré; errer
splendid - splendide, fameux
He said he would show us what could be done up the river in the way of cooking, and suggested that, with the vegetables and the remains of the cold beef and general odds and ends, we should make an Irish stew.
done up - fait
odds - des cotes; rench: -neededr, bizarre, étrange, impair
It seemed a fascinating idea. George gathered wood and made a fire, and Harris and I started to peel the potatoes. I should never have thought that peeling potatoes was such an undertaking. The job turned out to be the biggest thing of its kind that I had ever been in. We began cheerfully, one might almost say skittishly, but our light-heartedness was gone by the time the first potato was finished.
fascinating - fascinant; fasciner, fasciner, fasciner
peel - peler; pelent, pelage, coque, peler, pelons, pelez
undertaking - l'entreprise; ; entreprise; (undertake); entreprendre
cheerfully - réjouie
skittishly - avec nervosité
gone by - passé
The more we peeled, the more peel there seemed to be left on; by the time we had got all the peel off and all the eyes out, there was no potato left-at least none worth speaking of. George came and had a look at it-it was about the size of a pea-nut. He said:
peeled - pelé; peler
peel off - se décoller
pea - pois; pois
Nut - noix; écrou, maternel
"Oh, that won't do! You're wasting them. You must scrape them."
So we scraped them, and that was harder work than peeling. They are such an extraordinary shape, potatoes-all bumps and warts and hollows. We worked steadily for five-and-twenty minutes, and did four potatoes. Then we struck. We said we should require the rest of the evening for scraping ourselves.
scraped - grattée; gratter, racler, effleurer
warts - verrues; verrue
hollows - creux; creux
require - exiger, demander, avoir besoin de, requérir, nécessiter
scraping - grattant; (scrap) grattant
I never saw such a thing as potato-scraping for making a fellow in a mess. It seemed difficult to believe that the potato-scrapings in which Harris and I stood, half smothered, could have come off four potatoes. It shows you what can be done with economy and care.
economy - l'économie; ; économie
George said it was absurd to have only four potatoes in an Irish stew, so we washed half-a-dozen or so more, and put them in without peeling. We also put in a cabbage and about half a peck of peas. George stirred it all up, and then he said that there seemed to be a lot of room to spare, so we overhauled both the hampers, and picked out all the odds and ends and the remnants, and added them to the stew.
cabbage - choux; chou
peck - picorer; picotin
overhauled - révisé; révision, remise a neuf, rénover
remnants - des vestiges; reste, reste
There were half a pork pie and a bit of cold boiled bacon left, and we put them in. Then George found half a tin of potted salmon, and he emptied that into the pot.
pork - porc, cochon
potted - en pot; pot
salmon - saumon
He said that was the advantage of Irish stew: you got rid of such a lot of things. I fished out a couple of eggs that had got cracked, and put those in. George said they would thicken the gravy.
advantage - avantage, avantager, favoriser
thicken - épaissir, lier, s'épaissir, se densifier
We had a discussion as to whether the rat should go in or not. Harris said that he thought it would be all right, mixed up with the other things, and that every little helped; but George stood up for precedent. He said he had never heard of water-rats in Irish stew, and he would rather be on the safe side, and not try experiments.
precedent - précédent, décision de principe
safe - sur; ; en sécurité, o longer in danger, sans danger, sur, sauf
experiments - des expériences; expérience, expérimenter
"If you never try a new thing, how can you tell what it's like? It's men such as you that hamper the world's progress. Think of the man who first tried German sausage!"
progress - progres; progressent, progresser, progressons, progrés
It was a great success, that Irish stew. I don't think I ever enjoyed a meal more. There was something so fresh and piquant about it. One's palate gets so tired of the old hackneyed things: here was a dish with a new flavour, with a taste like nothing else on earth.
piquant - piquant
palate - le palais; ; palais, (de la bouche, au sens du gout)
hackneyed - éculé; voiture de louage, taxi
And it was nourishing, too. As George said, there was good stuff in it. The peas and potatoes might have been a bit softer, but we all had good teeth, so that did not matter much: and as for the gravy, it was a poem-a little too rich, perhaps, for a weak stomach, but nutritious.
nourishing - nourrissant; nourrir
softer - plus doux; mou
nutritious - nutritif
We finished up with tea and cherry tart. Montmorency had a fight with the kettle during tea-time, and came off a poor second.
cherry - cerise
Throughout the trip, he had manifested great curiosity concerning the kettle. He would sit and watch it, as it boiled, with a puzzled expression, and would try and rouse it every now and then by growling at it. When it began to splutter and steam, he regarded it as a challenge, and would want to fight it, only, at that precise moment, some one would always dash up and bear off his prey before he could get at it.
manifested - manifesté; manifeste, manifeste, bordereau, profession de foi
growling - grognement; (growl); feulement, grognement, borborygme
challenge - défi, chalenge, défier
To-day he determined he would be beforehand. At the first sound the kettle made, he rose, growling, and advanced towards it in a threatening attitude. It was only a little kettle, but it was full of pluck, and it up and spit at him.
threatening - menaçante; ; menaçant; (threaten); menacer
attitude - posture, état d'esprit, attitude
spit at - cracher dessus
Montmorency and the kettle"Ah! would ye!" growled Montmorency, showing his teeth; "I'll teach ye to cheek a hard-working, respectable dog; ye miserable, long-nosed, dirty-looking scoundrel, ye. Come on!"
growled - a grogné; feulement, grognement, borborygme, gargouillement
scoundrel - canaille; ; scélérat, scélérate, gredin, gredine
And he rushed at that poor little kettle, and seized it by the spout.
spout - le bec verseur; ; bec verseur, jet, souffle, jaillir, palabrer
Then, across the evening stillness, broke a blood-curdling yelp, and Montmorency left the boat, and did a constitutional three times round the island at the rate of thirty-five miles an hour, stopping every now and then to bury his nose in a bit of cool mud.
constitutional - constitutionnel, constitutionnelle
mud - de la boue; boue, bourbe, vase
From that day Montmorency regarded the kettle with a mixture of awe, suspicion, and hate. Whenever he saw it he would growl and back at a rapid rate, with his tail shut down, and the moment it was put upon the stove he would promptly climb out of the boat, and sit on the bank, till the whole tea business was over.
mixture - mélange, mixture
growl - feulement, grognement, borborygme, gargouillement, grincement
rapid - rapide, rapides
George got out his banjo after supper, and wanted to play it, but Harris objected: he said he had got a headache, and did not feel strong enough to stand it. George thought the music might do him good-said music often soothed the nerves and took away a headache; and he twanged two or three notes, just to show Harris what it was like.
soothed - apaisé; apaiser, apaiser, calmer, soulager
nerves - des nerfs; nerf, nervure, toupet, culot, cran, nerf
took away - a emporté
Harris said he would rather have the headache.
George has never learned to play the banjo to this day. He has had too much all-round discouragement to meet. He tried on two or three evenings, while we were up the river, to get a little practice, but it was never a success. Harris's language used to be enough to unnerve any man; added to which, Montmorency would sit and howl steadily, right through the performance. It was not giving the man a fair chance.
tried on - essayé
unnerve - déconcerter; ; affaiblir, énerver
"What's he want to howl like that for when I'm playing?" George would exclaim indignantly, while taking aim at him with a boot.
exclaim - s'exclamer; ; exclamer
aim at - viser
"What do you want to play like that for when he is howling?" Harris would retort, catching the boot. "You let him alone. He can't help howling. He's got a musical ear, and your playing makes him howl."
howling - hurler; (howl); hurlement, hurler
retort - réplique; rétorquer
So George determined to postpone study of the banjo until he reached home. But he did not get much opportunity even there. Mrs. P. used to come up and say she was very sorry-for herself, she liked to hear him-but the lady upstairs was in a very delicate state, and the doctor was afraid it might injure the child.
postpone - repousser, remettre, reporter, différer
injure - blesser
Then George tried taking it out with him late at night, and practising round the square. But the inhabitants complained to the police about it, and a watch was set for him one night, and he was captured. The evidence against him was very clear, and he was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
captured - capturé; capture, prisonnier, saisir, capturer, enregistrer
evidence - des preuves; ; preuve, prouver, démontrer
bound - lié; entrain; (bind); lier, attacher, nouer, connecter, coupler
He seemed to lose heart in the business after that.
He did make one or two feeble efforts to take up the work again when the six months had elapsed, but there was always the same coldness-the same want of sympathy on the part of the world to fight against; and, after awhile, he despaired altogether, and advertised the instrument for sale at a great sacrifice-"owner having no further use for same"-and took to learning card tricks instead.
efforts - efforts; effort
elapsed - s'est écoulé; passer
coldness - froideur, froid
despaired - désespéré; désespérer, désespérer, désespoir
advertised - annoncé; annoncer, afficher, publier
sale - vente; écouler
sacrifice - sacrifier, sacrifice, offrande
It must be disheartening work learning a musical instrument. You would think that Society, for its own sake, would do all it could to assist a man to acquire the art of playing a musical instrument. But it doesn't!
disheartening - décourageant; décourager
musical instrument - instrument de musique
assist - assister, aider, passe décisive
acquire - acquérir
I knew a young fellow once, who was studying to play the bagpipes, and you would be surprised at the amount of opposition he had to contend with. Why, not even from the members of his own family did he receive what you could call active encouragement. His father was dead against the business from the beginning, and spoke quite unfeelingly on the subject.
amount - montant, quantité, monter, correspondre
active - active; ; actif
unfeelingly - de maniere insensible
My friend used to get up early in the morning to practise, but he had to give that plan up, because of his sister. She was somewhat religiously inclined, and she said it seemed such an awful thing to begin the day like that.
So he sat up at night instead, and played after the family had gone to bed, but that did not do, as it got the house such a bad name. People, going home late, would stop outside to listen, and then put it about all over the town, the next morning, that a fearful murder had been committed at Mr.
committed - engagé; confier, commettre, remettre, consigner, commettre
Jefferson's the night before; and would describe how they had heard the victim's shrieks and the brutal oaths and curses of the murderer, followed by the prayer for mercy, and the last dying gurgle of the corpse.
murderer - meurtrier, meurtriere, assassin, assassine
mercy - la pitié; ; miséricorde, pitié
gurgle - gargouiller, gargouillis
So they let him practise in the day-time, in the back-kitchen with all the doors shut; but his more successful passages could generally be heard in the sitting-room, in spite of these precautions, and would affect his mother almost to tears.
more successful - plus réussie
precautions - des précautions; précaution
affect - affecter; affectez, influer, concernent, affectons
She said it put her in mind of her poor father (he had been swallowed by a shark, poor man, while bathing off the coast of New Guinea-where the connection came in, she could not explain).
Shark - requin; requin
guinea - Guinée
Then they knocked up a little place for him at the bottom of the garden, about quarter of a mile from the house, and made him take the machine down there when he wanted to work it; and sometimes a visitor would come to the house who knew nothing of the matter, and they would forget to tell him all about it, and caution him, and he would go out for a stroll round the garden and suddenly get within earshot of those bagpipes, without being prepared for it, or knowing what it was.
knocked up - en cloque
machine down - La machine est en panne
caution - prudence; ; admonition, checkavertissement, checkmise en garde
earshot - a portée de voix; ; portée de voix
If he were a man of strong mind, it only gave him fits; but a person of mere average intellect it usually sent mad.
There is, it must be confessed, something very sad about the early efforts of an amateur in bagpipes. I have felt that myself when listening to my young friend. They appear to be a trying instrument to perform upon. You have to get enough breath for the whole tune before you start-at least, so I gathered from watching Jefferson.
confessed - avoué; avouer, confesser, confesser
perform - exécuter, performer, jouer (''actor''), danser (''dancer'')
tune - l'accord; ; mélodie, air, tube, accorder, syntoniser
He would begin magnificently with a wild, full, come-to-the-battle sort of a note, that quite roused you. But he would get more and more piano as he went on, and the last verse generally collapsed in the middle with a splutter and a hiss.
magnificently - magnifiquement
collapsed - effondré; s'effondrer, s'effondrer, effondrement
hiss - sifflement, siffler
You want to be in good health to play the bagpipes.
Young Jefferson only learnt to play one tune on those bagpipes; but I never heard any complaints about the insufficiency of his repertoire-none whatever. This tune was "The Campbells are Coming, Hooray-Hooray!" so he said, though his father always held that it was "The Blue Bells of Scotland." Nobody seemed quite sure what it was exactly, but they all agreed that it sounded Scotch.
complaints - plaintes; plainte, réclamation, plainte, porter plainte
insufficiency - l'insuffisance; ; insuffisance, déficience
repertoire - répertoire, répertoire
Hooray - hourra !; hourra& nbsp; !
Scotland - l'ecosse; Écosse
Strangers were allowed three guesses, and most of them guessed a different tune each time.
Harris was disagreeable after supper,-I think it must have been the stew that had upset him: he is not used to high living,-so George and I left him in the boat, and settled to go for a mouch round Henley. He said he should have a glass of whisky and a pipe, and fix things up for the night. We were to shout when we returned, and he would row over from the island and fetch us.
disagreeable - incompatible, désagréable
"Don't go to sleep, old man," we said as we started.
"Not much fear of that while this stew's on," he grunted, as he pulled back to the island.
grunted - grogné; grognement, bidasse, troufion, grogner
Henley was getting ready for the regatta, and was full of bustle. We met a goodish number of men we knew about the town, and in their pleasant company the time slipped by somewhat quickly; so that it was nearly eleven o'clock before we set off on our four-mile walk home-as we had learned to call our little craft by this time.
regatta - régate
It was a dismal night, coldish, with a thin rain falling; and as we trudged through the dark, silent fields, talking low to each other, and wondering if we were going right or not, we thought of the cosy boat, with the bright light streaming through the tight-drawn canvas; of Harris and Montmorency, and the whisky, and wished that we were there.
coldish - froid
streaming - streaming; (stream); ruisseau, ru, rupt, filet, flot, courant
We conjured up the picture of ourselves inside, tired and a little hungry; of the gloomy river and the shapeless trees; and, like a giant glow-worm underneath them, our dear old boat, so snug and warm and cheerful. We could see ourselves at supper there, pecking away at cold meat, and passing each other chunks of bread; we could hear the cheery clatter of our knives, the laughing voices, filling all the space, and overflowing through the opening out into the night.
conjured up - imaginé
giant - géant
glow - l'éclat; ; briller, luire, irradier, lueur, éclat
worm - ver, vermine, scarabée, vis sans fin, dragon, remords, ramper
snug - serré; ; confortable, douillet
pecking - picorer; (pec) picorer
chunks - morceaux; piece, morceau, bloc, fragment, fragment
cheery - heureuse
knives - couteaux; couteau, couteau, couteau
overflowing - débordant; (overflow); débordement, déborder, checktransborder
And we hurried on to realise the vision.
We struck the tow-path at length, and that made us happy; because prior to this we had not been sure whether we were walking towards the river or away from it, and when you are tired and want to go to bed uncertainties like that worry you. We passed Skiplake as the clock was striking the quarter to twelve; and then George said, thoughtfully:
Prior - avant; antérieur
uncertainties - incertitudes; incertitude
striking - frappant; ; éclatant; (strike); biffer, rayer, barrer, frapper
thoughtfully - de maniere réfléchie
"You don't happen to remember which of the islands it was, do you?"
"No," I replied, beginning to grow thoughtful too, "I don't. How many are there?"
"Only four," answered George. "It will be all right, if he's awake."
"And if not?" I queried; but we dismissed that train of thought.
We shouted when we came opposite the first island, but there was no response; so we went to the second, and tried there, and obtained the same result.
response - réponse
"Oh! I remember now," said George; "it was the third one."
And we ran on hopefully to the third one, and hallooed.
hopefully - avec un peu de chance
The case was becoming serious. it was now past midnight. The hotels at Skiplake and Henley would be crammed; and we could not go round, knocking up cottagers and householders in the middle of the night, to know if they let apartments!
crammed - entassés; bourrer, ficher, foutre, emmancher, fourrer, gaver
go round - faire le tour
knocking up - en train de frapper
George suggested walking back to Henley and assaulting a policeman, and so getting a night's lodging in the station-house. But then there was the thought, "Suppose he only hits us back and refuses to lock us up!"
assaulting - agresser; assaut, agression, attaquer, agresser
station-house - (station-house) de la gare
hits - des succes; frapper, heurter
refuses - refuse; refuser de
We could not pass the whole night fighting policemen. Besides, we did not want to overdo the thing and get six months.
overdo - exagéré; ; en faire trop, trop cuire
We despairingly tried what seemed in the darkness to be the fourth island, but met with no better success. The rain was coming down fast now, and evidently meant to last. We were wet to the skin, and cold and miserable. We began to wonder whether there were only four islands or more, or whether we were near the islands at all, or whether we were anywhere within a mile of where we ought to be, or in the wrong part of the river altogether; everything looked so strange and different in the darkness.
despairingly - désespérément
skin - la peau; ; peau, apparence, écorcher, égratigner, dépouiller
We began to understand the sufferings of the Babes in the Wood.
Just when we had given up all hope-yes, I know that is always the time that things do happen in novels and tales; but I can't help it. I resolved, when I began to write this book, that I would be strictly truthful in all things; and so I will be, even if I have to employ hackneyed phrases for the purpose.
novels - romans; roman
resolved - résolu; prendre la résolution de
strictly - strictement
truthful - véridique; ; sincere
employ - employer, embaucher, recruter
It was just when we had given up all hope, and I must therefore say so. Just when we had given up all hope, then, I suddenly caught sight, a little way below us, of a strange, weird sort of glimmer flickering among the trees on the opposite bank.
glimmer - l'éclat; ; lueur, émettre une lueur
flickering - clignotement; vaciller
For an instant I thought of ghosts: it was such a shadowy, mysterious light. The next moment it flashed across me that it was our boat, and I sent up such a yell across the water that made the night seem to shake in its bed.
There was an unaccountable strangeness about Harris. It was something more than mere ordinary tiredness. He pulled the boat against a part of the bank from which it was quite impossible for us to get into it, and immediately went to sleep. It took us an immense amount of screaming and roaring to wake him up again and put some sense into him; but we succeeded at last, and got safely on board.
tiredness - la fatigue; ; fatigue
immense - immense
screaming - des cris; cri, crier
safely - prudemment, en toute sécurité
Harris had a sad expression on him, so we noticed, when we got into the boat. He gave you the idea of a man who had been through trouble. We asked him if anything had happened, and he said-
It seemed we had moored close to a swan's nest, and, soon after George and I had gone, the female swan came back, and kicked up a row about it. Harris had chivied her off, and she had gone away, and fetched up her old man. Harris said he had had quite a fight with these two swans; but courage and skill had prevailed in the end, and he had defeated them.
swan - cygne; cygne
nest - nid; nid, patelin
courage - bravoure, courage, cour, vaillance
defeated - vaincu; battre, vaincre
Half-an-hour afterwards they returned with eighteen other swans! It must have been a fearful battle, so far as we could understand Harris's account of it. The swans had tried to drag him and Montmorency out of the boat and drown them; and he had defended himself like a hero for four hours, and had killed the lot, and they had all paddled away to die.
defended - défendue; défendre
paddled - pagayé; barboter
"How many swans did you say there were?" asked George.
"Thirty-two," replied Harris, sleepily.
sleepily - en dormant
"You said eighteen just now," said George.
"No, I didn't," grunted Harris; "I said twelve. Think I can't count?"
count - compter; compter, comptent, comptez, comptons, comte
What were the real facts about these swans we never found out. We questioned Harris on the subject in the morning, and he said, "What swans?" and seemed to think that George and I had been dreaming.
Oh, how delightful it was to be safe in the boat, after our trials and fears! We ate a hearty supper, George and I, and we should have had some toddy after it, if we could have found the whisky, but we could not. We examined Harris as to what he had done with it; but he did not seem to know what we meant by "whisky," or what we were talking about at all. Montmorency looked as if he knew something, but said nothing.
trials - des essais; proces
toddy - le toddy; ; grog
examined - examinés; examiner, examiner
I slept well that night, and should have slept better if it had not been for Harris. I have a vague recollection of having been woke up at least a dozen times during the night by Harris wandering about the boat with the lantern, looking for his clothes. He seemed to be worrying about his clothes all night.
recollection - mémoire
wandering - l'errance; ; errement, errance, divagation; (wander); errer
Twice he routed up George and myself to see if we were lying on his trousers. George got quite wild the second time.
routed - acheminé; mettre en déroute
"What the thunder do you want your trousers for, in the middle of the night?" he asked indignantly. "Why don't you lie down, and go to sleep?"
I found him in trouble, the next time I awoke, because he could not find his socks; and my last hazy remembrance is of being rolled over on my side, and of hearing Harris muttering something about its being an extraordinary thing where his umbrella could have got to.
hazy - brumeux, flou, trouble, vague
muttering - marmonner; ; grommellement; (mutter) marmonner; ; grommellement
Household duties.-Love of work.-The old river hand, what he does and what he tells you he has done.-Scepticism of the new generation.-Early boating recollections.-Rafting.-George does the thing in style.-The old boatman, his method.-So calm, so full of peace.-The beginner.-Punting.-A sad accident.-Pleasures of friendship.-Sailing, my first experience.-Possible reason why we were not drowned.
duties - fonctions; devoir, obligation, service, travail, taxe
scepticism - scepticisme
generation - génération, création, génération, generation
Rafting - le rafting; ; rafting, radelage; (raft) le rafting; ; rafting
beginner - débutant, débutante
Punting - punting; bac
friendship - l'amitié; ; amitié
Woman at houseworkWe woke late the next morning, and, at Harris's earnest desire, partook of a plain breakfast, with "non dainties.
houseworkWe - travaux ménagersNous
partook - ont participé; participer
non - non
dainties - des gourmandises; délicat, mignon
" Then we cleaned up, and put everything straight (a continual labour, which was beginning to afford me a pretty clear insight into a question that had often posed me-namely, how a woman with the work of only one house on her hands manages to pass away her time), and, at about ten, set out on what we had determined should be a good day's journey.
cleaned up - nettoyé
continual - continuelle
afford - se permettre; ; offrir
insight - de la perspicacité; ; introspection, perspicacité, aperçu
posed - posée; pose
namely - a savoir; ; nommément, c'est-a-dire, a savoir
manages - gere; gérer, ménager, diriger, manier, parvenir, réussir
We agreed that we would pull this morning, as a change from towing; and Harris thought the best arrangement would be that George and I should scull, and he steer. I did not chime in with this idea at all; I said I thought Harris would have been showing a more proper spirit if he had suggested that he and George should work, and let me rest a bit.
chime - carillon; carillon
more proper - plus correct
It seemed to me that I was doing more than my fair share of the work on this trip, and I was beginning to feel strongly on the subject.
It always does seem to me that I am doing more work than I should do. It is not that I object to the work, mind you; I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. I love to keep it by me: the idea of getting rid of it nearly breaks my heart.
fascinates - fascine; fasciner, fasciner, fasciner
You cannot give me too much work; to accumulate work has almost become a passion with me: my study is so full of it now, that there is hardly an inch of room for any more. I shall have to throw out a wing soon.
passion - passion
throw out - jeter
Wing - aile, ailier, improviser
And I am careful of my work, too. Why, some of the work that I have by me now has been in my possession for years and years, and there isn't a finger-mark on it. I take a great pride in my work; I take it down now and then and dust it. No man keeps his work in a better state of preservation than I do.
possession - bien, possession, propriété, possessions
preservation - préservation
But, though I crave for work, I still like to be fair. I do not ask for more than my proper share.
crave - envie; ; souhaiter, désirer, implorer
But I get it without asking for it-at least, so it appears to me-and this worries me.
Appears - apparaît; apparaître, paraître, apparaître, sembler, paraître
worries - des inquiétudes; inquiéter
George says he does not think I need trouble myself on the subject. He thinks it is only my over-scrupulous nature that makes me fear I am having more than my due; and that, as a matter of fact, I don't have half as much as I ought. But I expect he only says this to comfort me.
scrupulous - scrupuleux
due - due; ; du
In a boat, I have always noticed that it is the fixed idea of each member of the crew that he is doing everything. Harris's notion was, that it was he alone who had been working, and that both George and I had been imposing upon him.
crew - l'équipage; équipage
George, on the other hand, ridiculed the idea of Harris's having done anything more than eat and sleep, and had a cast-iron opinion that it was he-George himself-who had done all the labour worth speaking of.
ridiculed - ridiculisé; tourner en ridicule
He said he had never been out with such a couple of lazily skulks as Harris and I.
skulks - des moufettes; se cacher
That amused Harris.
"Fancy old George talking about work!" he laughed; "why, about half-an-hour of it would kill him. Have you ever seen George work?" he added, turning to me.
I agreed with Harris that I never had-most certainly not since we had started on this trip.
"Well, I don't see how you can know much about it, one way or the other," George retorted on Harris; "for I'm blest if you haven't been asleep half the time. Have you ever seen Harris fully awake, except at meal-time?" asked George, addressing me.
fully - pleinement; ; entierement, completement
Truth compelled me to support George. Harris had been very little good in the boat, so far as helping was concerned, from the beginning.
compelled - contraint; contraindre, forcer, obliger, contraindre
support - soutien; soutenez, appuyez, appuyons, appuyent, soutiens
"Well, hang it all, I've done more than old J., anyhow," rejoined Harris.
"Well, you couldn't very well have done less," added George.
"I suppose J. thinks he is the passenger," continued Harris.
passenger - passager
And that was their gratitude to me for having brought them and their wretched old boat all the way up from Kingston, and for having superintended and managed everything for them, and taken care of them, and slaved for them. It is the way of the world.
superintended - surintendants; surveiller, diriger
everything for - tout pour
slaved - asservi; esclave, t+serf, t+serve, esclave
We settled the present difficulty by arranging that Harris and George should scull up past Reading, and that I should tow the boat on from there. Pulling a heavy boat against a strong stream has few attractions for me now. There was a time, long ago, when I used to clamour for the hard work: now I like to give the youngsters a chance.
difficulty - difficulté
arranging - l'organisation; arranger, organiser
youngsters - les jeunes; ado, enfant
I notice that most of the old river hands are similarly retiring, whenever there is any stiff pulling to be done. You can always tell the old river hand by the way in which he stretches himself out upon the cushions at the bottom of the boat, and encourages the rowers by telling them anecdotes about the marvellous feats he performed last season.
similarly - de la meme maniere
stiff - rigide, raide, macchabée
cushions - coussins; coussin, amortir
encourages - encourage; encourager, encourager
marvellous - merveilleux
feats - des exploits; exploit
"Call what you're doing hard work!" he drawls, between his contented whiffs, addressing the two perspiring novices, who have been grinding away steadily up stream for the last hour and a half; "why, Jim Biffles and Jack and I, last season, pulled up from Marlow to Goring in one afternoon-never stopped once. Do you remember that, Jack?"
whiffs - whiffs; souffle, bouffée, effluve
perspiring - transpirer; transpirer
Jack - Jeannot, Jacques, Jacob, Jack
Jack, who has made himself a bed up in the prow of all the rugs and coats he can collect, and who has been lying there asleep for the last two hours, partially wakes up on being thus appealed to, and recollects all about the matter, and also remembers that there was an unusually strong stream against them all the way-likewise a stiff wind.
partially - partiellement, en partie
wakes up - se réveille
appealed - a fait l'objet d'un appel; en appeler (a), supplier
recollects - se souvient; se souvenir de
unusually - de façon inhabituelle
"About thirty-four miles, I suppose, it must have been," adds the first speaker, reaching down another cushion to put under his head.
speaker - l'orateur; ; parleur, parleuse
reaching - atteindre; arriver/parvenir a
put under - mis en dessous
"No-no; don't exaggerate, Tom," murmurs Jack, reprovingly; "thirty-three at the outside."
exaggerate - exagérer, outrer
reprovingly - de maniere réprobatrice
And Jack and Tom, quite exhausted by this conversational effort, drop off to sleep once more. And the two simple-minded youngsters at the sculls feel quite proud of being allowed to row such wonderful oarsmen as Jack and Tom, and strain away harder than ever.
exhausted - épuisé; épuiser, épuiser, épuiser, échappement
conversational - conversationnel
proud - fiers; ; fier, orgueilleux
When I was a young man, I used to listen to these tales from my elders, and take them in, and swallow them, and digest every word of them, and then come up for more; but the new generation do not seem to have the simple faith of the old times. We-George, Harris, and myself-took a "raw 'un" up with us once last season, and we plied him with the customary stretchers about the wonderful things we had done all the way up.
elders - les aînés; aîné
digest - digérer; digérer, digerer, digerez, digerons
Faith - la foi; ; foi, rench:, confiance
un - un; ; ONU
plied - plié; exercer (un métier)
customary - coutumier, habituel, d'usage
And that young man mocked at them all, and wanted us to repeat the feats then and there, and to bet us ten to one that we didn't.
mocked - moqué; imitation, succédané, moquerie, examen blanc, imiter
We got to chatting about our rowing experiences this morning, and to recounting stories of our first efforts in the art of oarsmanship. My own earliest boating recollection is of five of us contributing threepence each and taking out a curiously constructed craft on the Regent's Park lake, drying ourselves subsequently, in the park-keeper's lodge.
chatting - le bavardage; bavarder
recounting - le récit; raconter
oarsmanship - l'aviron
contributing - contribuant; contribuer
threepence - trois pence
taking out - a retirer
constructed - construit; construction, construction, construire, construire
Regent - régent, régente
Lodge - cabane, maison du portier, loge, rench: t-needed r, loger
After that, having acquired a taste for the water, I did a good deal of rafting in various suburban brickfields-an exercise providing more interest and excitement than might be imagined, especially when you are in the middle of the pond and the proprietor of the materials of which the raft is constructed suddenly appears on the bank, with a big stick in his hand.
acquired - acquis; acquérir, acquérir, acquérir
Suburban - banlieue; ; suburbain, banlieusard
providing - en fournissant; fournir, procurer, pourvoir
pond - étang; étang, mare
materials - matériaux; matériel, matériau, matiere, matériel, matériel
raft - radeau; radeau, train de bois
Your first sensation on seeing this gentleman is that, somehow or other, you don't feel equal to company and conversation, and that, if you could do so without appearing rude, you would rather avoid meeting him; and your object is, therefore, to get off on the opposite side of the pond to which he is, and to go home quietly and quickly, pretending not to see him.
Equal - l'égalité; ; égal, égaler a, égal, égale
avoid - éviter, fuir
He, on the contrary is yearning to take you by the hand, and talk to you.
It appears that he knows your father, and is intimately acquainted with yourself, but this does not draw you towards him. He says he'll teach you to take his boards and make a raft of them; but, seeing that you know how to do this pretty well already, the offer, though doubtless kindly meant, seems a superfluous one on his part, and you are reluctant to put him to any trouble by accepting it.
intimately - intimement
superfluous - superflue; ; superflu
reluctant - a contrecour
accepting - acceptant; accepter, accepter (de), prendre sur soi
His anxiety to meet you, however, is proof against all your coolness, and the energetic manner in which he dodges up and down the pond so as to be on the spot to greet you when you land is really quite flattering.
Proof - la preuve; ; preuve, épreuve
coolness - de la fraîcheur; ; frais
dodges - esquive; éviter, contourner, esquiver, esquiver, éluder
flattering - flatteur; flatter
If he be of a stout and short-winded build, you can easily avoid his advances; but, when he is of the youthful and long-legged type, a meeting is inevitable. The interview is, however, extremely brief, most of the conversation being on his part, your remarks being mostly of an exclamatory and mono-syllabic order, and as soon as you can tear yourself away you do so.
advances - des avancées; élever, avancer, avancer, avancée, progression
youthful - juvénile, jeune
inevitable - inévitable, inévitable
extremely - extremement; ; extremement, vachement
mostly - surtout, majoritairement
exclamatory - exclamatif
mono - mono; mono(phonique)
syllabic - syllabique
I devoted some three months to rafting, and, being then as proficient as there was any need to be at that branch of the art, I determined to go in for rowing proper, and joined one of the Lea boating clubs.
devoted - dévouée; consacrer, vouer
proficient - compétent
lea - vestibule
Being out in a boat on the river Lea, especially on Saturday afternoons, soon makes you smart at handling a craft, and spry at escaping being run down by roughs or swamped by barges; and it also affords plenty of opportunity for acquiring the most prompt and graceful method of lying down flat at the bottom of the boat so as to avoid being chucked out into the river by passing tow-lines.
smart - intelligent; rusé, bath, fringant, roublard, maligne
handling - maniement, manipulation, maniant
run down - écrasé
swamped - submergé; marécage, marais, submerger
acquiring - l'acquisition; acquérir, acquérir, acquérir
prompt - rapide; ; ponctuel, indicateur, invite de commande, inciter
by passing - en passant
But it does not give you style. It was not till I came to the Thames that I got style. My style of rowing is very much admired now. People say it is so quaint.
not till - pas avant
admired - admiré; admirer
George never went near the water until he was sixteen. Then he and eight other gentlemen of about the same age went down in a body to Kew one Saturday, with the idea of hiring a boat there, and pulling to Richmond and back; one of their number, a shock-headed youth, named Joskins, who had once or twice taken out a boat on the Serpentine, told them it was jolly fun, boating!
hiring - l'embauche; (hire) l'embauche
Richmond - richmond; Richmond
Serpentine - tors
The tide was running out pretty rapidly when they reached the landing-stage, and there was a stiff breeze blowing across the river, but this did not trouble them at all, and they proceeded to select their boat.
tide - marée; marées, reflux, marée
proceeded - a procédé; avancer, procéder, procéder
select - sélect, choisir, sélectionner
There was an eight-oared racing outrigger drawn up on the stage; that was the one that took their fancy. They said they'd have that one, please. The boatman was away, and only his boy was in charge. The boy tried to damp their ardour for the outrigger, and showed them two or three very comfortable-looking boats of the family-party build, but those would not do at all; the outrigger was the boat they thought they would look best in.
oared - oaré; rame, aviron
racing - la course; ; course; (race) la course; ; course
outrigger - outrigger; ; tangon, bôme, balancier, pirogue a balancier
ardour - l'ardeur; ivresse
So the boy launched it, and they took off their coats and prepared to take their seats. The boy suggested that George, who, even in those days, was always the heavy man of any party, should be number four. George said he should be happy to be number four, and promptly stepped into bow's place, and sat down with his back to the stern. They got him into his proper position at last, and then the others followed.
launched - lancé; lancer
A particularly nervous boy was appointed cox, and the steering principle explained to him by Joskins. Joskins himself took stroke. He told the others that it was simple enough; all they had to do was to follow him.
They said they were ready, and the boy on the landing stage took a boat-hook and shoved him off.
shoved - poussé; enfoncer, pousser
What then followed George is unable to describe in detail. He has a confused recollection of having, immediately on starting, received a violent blow in the small of the back from the butt-end of number five's scull, at the same time that his own seat seemed to disappear from under him by magic, and leave him sitting on the boards.
describe in detail - décrire en détail
butt - de fesses; crosse
disappear - disparaître
magic - la magie; ; magie, magique, sorcelerie, checkensorcelé
He also noticed, as a curious circumstance, that number two was at the same instant lying on his back at the bottom of the boat, with his legs in the air, apparently in a fit.
They passed under Kew Bridge, broadside, at the rate of eight miles an hour. Joskins being the only one who was rowing. George, on recovering his seat, tried to help him, but, on dipping his oar into the water, it immediately, to his intense surprise, disappeared under the boat, and nearly took him with it.
broadside - le front de taille; ; bordée, flanc, bordée
dipping - trempage; tremper
oar - rame, aviron
And then "cox" threw both rudder lines over-board, and burst into tears.
How they got back George never knew, but it took them just forty minutes. A dense crowd watched the entertainment from Kew Bridge with much interest, and everybody shouted out to them different directions. Three times they managed to get the boat back through the arch, and three times they were carried under it again, and every time "cox" looked up and saw the bridge above him he broke out into renewed sobs.
entertainment - divertissement
arch - arch; dôme
broke out - a éclaté
renewed - renouvelée; renouveler
sobs - sanglots; fdp-p
George said he little thought that afternoon that he should ever come to really like boating.
Harris is more accustomed to sea rowing than to river work, and says that, as an exercise, he prefers it. I don't. I remember taking a small boat out at Eastbourne last summer: I used to do a good deal of sea rowing years ago, and I thought I should be all right; but I found I had forgotten the art entirely. When one scull was deep down underneath the water, the other would be flourishing wildly about in the air.
flourishing - l'épanouissement; fleurir, fleurir, fleurir, brandir
To get a grip of the water with both at the same time I had to stand up. The parade was crowded with nobility and gentry, and I had to pull past them in this ridiculous fashion. I landed half-way down the beach, and secured the services of an old boatman to take me back.
parade - défilé; parader, parade
nobility - la noblesse; ; noblesse
gentry - gentry
secured - sécurisé; sur, sur, sur, sur, sur, sur, sécuriser
I like to watch an old boatman rowing, especially one who has been hired by the hour. There is something so beautifully calm and restful about his method. It is so free from that fretful haste, that vehement striving, that is every day becoming more and more the bane of nineteenth-century life. He is not for ever straining himself to pass all the other boats.
hired - embauché; louer
fretful - irritable, agité, fébrile
striving - en quete d'une solution; (strive) en quete d'une solution
bane - bane
straining - la tension; (strain) la tension
If another boat overtakes him and passes him it does not annoy him; as a matter of fact, they all do overtake him and pass him-all those that are going his way. This would trouble and irritate some people; the sublime equanimity of the hired boatman under the ordeal affords us a beautiful lesson against ambition and uppishness.
overtakes - les dépassements; dépasser, doubler, surprendre
annoy - gener, ennuyer, embeter, agacer
irritate - irriter; ; agacer (displeasure)
sublime - sublime; auguste
equanimity - l'équanimité; ; équanimité
ordeal - épreuve, calvaire, ordalie
uppishness - l'arrogance
Plain practical rowing of the get-the-boat-along order is not a very difficult art to acquire, but it takes a good deal of practice before a man feels comfortable, when rowing past girls. It is the "time" that worries a youngster. "It's jolly funny," he says, as for the twentieth time within five minutes he disentangles his sculls from yours; "I can get on all right when I'm by myself!"
youngster - jeune; ; ado, enfant
twentieth - vingtieme; ; vingtieme, vingtieme
disentangles - démeler; (se) démeler
To see two novices try to keep time with one another is very amusing. Bow finds it impossible to keep pace with stroke, because stroke rows in such an extraordinary fashion.
Stroke is intensely indignant at this, and explains that what he has been endeavouring to do for the last ten minutes is to adapt his method to bow's limited capacity. Bow, in turn, then becomes insulted, and requests stroke not to trouble his head about him (bow), but to devote his mind to setting a sensible stroke.
adapt - adapter, s'adapter, adapté
limited - limitée; ; limité; (limit) limitée; ; limité
capacity - capacité
devote - dévote; ; consacrer, vouer
setting - de l'environnement; ; réglage, configuration
Two novices in a boat
"Or, shall I take stroke?" he adds, with the evident idea that that would at once put the whole matter right.
They splash along for another hundred yards with still moderate success, and then the whole secret of their trouble bursts upon stroke like a flash of inspiration.
moderate - modéré, modéré, moderer, modérer
flash - flash; clignoter, flash
inspiration - l'inspiration; ; inspiration
"I tell you what it is: you've got my sculls," he cries, turning to bow; "pass yours over."
"Well, do you know, I've been wondering how it was I couldn't get on with these," answers bow, quite brightening up, and most willingly assisting in the exchange. "Now we shall be all right."
willingly - volontairement; ; volontiers
assisting - l'assistance; assister, aider, passe décisive
Exchange - l'échange; échangent, échangeons, échanger, échangez, échange
But they are not-not even then. Stroke has to stretch his arms nearly out of their sockets to reach his sculls now; while bow's pair, at each recovery, hit him a violent blow in the chest. So they change back again, and come to the conclusion that the man has given them the wrong set altogether; and over their mutual abuse of this man they become quite friendly and sympathetic.
recovery - récupération, rétablissement, recouvrement, guérison
mutual - mutuelle; ; mutuel
abuse - abus; défaut, abuser, insulter, tourmenter, abusons
sympathetic - sympathique
George said he had often longed to take to punting for a change. Punting is not as easy as it looks. As in rowing, you soon learn how to get along and handle the craft, but it takes long practice before you can do this with dignity and without getting the water all up your sleeve.
One young man I knew had a very sad accident happen to him the first time he went punting. He had been getting on so well that he had grown quite cheeky over the business, and was walking up and down the punt, working his pole with a careless grace that was quite fascinating to watch. Up he would march to the head of the punt, plant his pole, and then run along right to the other end, just like an old punter. Oh! it was grand.
cheeky - effronté, impertinent, insolent
punter - punter; ; parieur, parieuse
Man and poleAnd it would all have gone on being grand if he had not unfortunately, while looking round to enjoy the scenery, taken just one step more than there was any necessity for, and walked off the punt altogether. The pole was firmly fixed in the mud, and he was left clinging to it while the punt drifted away.
unfortunately - malheureusement, malencontreusement
clinging to - s'accrocher
It was an undignified position for him. A rude boy on the bank immediately yelled out to a lagging chum to "hurry up and see a real monkey on a stick."
lagging - a la traîne; (lag); rester en arriere, etre en retard
I could not go to his assistance, because, as ill-luck would have it, we had not taken the proper precaution to bring out a spare pole with us. I could only sit and look at him. His expression as the pole slowly sank with him I shall never forget; there was so much thought in it.
precaution - précaution
bring out - sortir
I watched him gently let down into the water, and saw him scramble out, sad and wet. I could not help laughing, he looked such a ridiculous figure. I continued to chuckle to myself about it for some time, and then it was suddenly forced in upon me that really I had got very little to laugh at when I came to think of it. Here was I, alone in a punt, without a pole, drifting helplessly down mid-stream-possibly towards a weir.
scramble - brouiller, faire de l'escalade, bousculade, interception
I began to feel very indignant with my friend for having stepped overboard and gone off in that way. He might, at all events, have left me the pole.
I drifted on for about a quarter of a mile, and then I came in sight of a fishing-punt moored in mid-stream, in which sat two old fishermen. They saw me bearing down upon them, and they called out to me to Keep out of their way.
bearing down - en cours de réalisation
Keep out - Garder dehors
"I can't," I shouted back.
"But you don't try," they answered.
I explained the matter to them when I got nearer, and they caught me and lent me a pole. The weir was just fifty yards below. I am glad they happened to be there.
lent - preté, pretés, preta, pretâmes, pretai, pretées; (lend) preté
The first time I went punting was in company with three other fellows; they were going to show me how to do it. We could not all start together, so I said I would go down first and get out the punt, and then I could potter about and practice a bit until they came.
I could not get a punt out that afternoon, they were all engaged; so I had nothing else to do but to sit down on the bank, watching the river, and waiting for my friends.
engaged - engagé; attirer l'attention, engager, engager, embrayer
I had not been sitting there long before my attention became attracted to a man in a punt who, I noticed with some surprise, wore a jacket and cap exactly like mine. He was evidently a novice at punting, and his performance was most interesting.
attracted - attiré; attirer, attirer
You never knew what was going to happen when he put the pole in; he evidently did not know himself. Sometimes he shot up stream and sometimes he shot down stream, and at other times he simply spun round and came up the other side of the pole. And with every result he seemed equally surprised and annoyed.
shot down - abattu
spun round - tourner en rond
The people about the river began to get quite absorbed in him after a while, and to make bets with one another as to what would be the outcome of his next push.
absorbed in - absorbée
bets - paris; parier (sur)
outcome - issue, résultat, dénouement
In the course of time my friends arrived on the opposite bank, and they stopped and watched him too. His back was towards them, and they only saw his jacket and cap. From this they immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was I, their beloved companion, who was making an exhibition of himself, and their delight knew no bounds. They commenced to chaff him unmercifully.
exhibition - exposition
chaff - des paillettes; ; balle, bale
unmercifully - sans pitié
I did not grasp their mistake at first, and I thought, "How rude of them to go on like that, with a perfect stranger, too!" But before I could call out and reprove them, the explanation of the matter occurred to me, and I withdrew behind a tree.
perfect stranger - un parfait inconnu
reprove - réprouver; reprocher, gronder
Oh, how they enjoyed themselves, ridiculing that young man! For five good minutes they stood there, shouting ribaldry at him, deriding him, mocking him, jeering at him. They peppered him with stale jokes, they even made a few new ones and threw at him.
ridiculing - ridiculiser; tourner en ridicule
ribaldry - ribaldry; ; grivoiserie, paillardises
deriding - la dérision; bafouer, railler
jeering - des railleries; (jeer) des railleries
stale - périmé; rassis
jokes - blagues; plaisanterie, blague, joke, plaisanterie, blague, raté
They hurled at him all the private family jokes belonging to our set, and which must have been perfectly unintelligible to him. And then, unable to stand their brutal jibes any longer, he turned round on them, and they saw his face!
private - personnel, personnelle, privé, privé, privée
belonging - appartenant; (belong) appartenant
perfectly - parfaitement
unintelligible - inintelligible
jibes - des railleries; moquerie
I was glad to notice that they had sufficient decency left in them to look very foolish. They explained to him that they had thought he was some one they knew. They said they hoped he would not deem them capable of so insulting any one except a personal friend of their own.
decency - la décence; ; décence
deem - estimer, croire, considérer
BathingOf course their having mistaken him for a friend excused it. I remember Harris telling me once of a bathing experience he had at Boulogne. He was swimming about there near the beach, when he felt himself suddenly seized by the neck from behind, and forcibly plunged under water.
excused - excusé; excuser, pardonner, excuser, excuser, justifier
forcibly - de force
He struggled violently, but whoever had got hold of him seemed to be a perfect Hercules in strength, and all his efforts to escape were unavailing. He had given up kicking, and was trying to turn his thoughts upon solemn things, when his captor released him.
struggled - en difficulté; lutte, lutter, s'efforcer, combattre
Whoever - quiconque, qui que ce soit qui
Hercules - hercule; Hercule, Hercule
unavailing - sans succes
released - libéré; libérer
He regained his feet, and looked round for his would-be murderer. The assassin was standing close by him, laughing heartily, but the moment he caught sight of Harris's face, as it emerged from the water, he started back and seemed quite concerned.
regained - retrouvée; reconquérir, reprendre
heartily - chaleureusement
emerged - a émergé; émerger, émerger, sortir, émerger
"I really beg your pardon," he stammered confusedly, "but I took you for a friend of mine!"
stammered - balbutié; balbutier, bégayer, bégaiement
confusedly - confusément
Harris thought it was lucky for him the man had not mistaken him for a relation, or he would probably have been drowned outright.
relation - relation, relation, parent, parente
been drowned - a été noyé
outright - carrément; ; completement, ouvertement, immédiatement
Sailing is a thing that wants knowledge and practice too-though, as a boy, I did not think so. I had an idea it came natural to a body, like rounders and touch. I knew another boy who held this view likewise, and so, one windy day, we thought we would try the sport. We were stopping down at Yarmouth, and we decided we would go for a trip up the Yare. We hired a sailing boat at the yard by the bridge, and started off.
stopping down - s'arreter
Yare - yare
sailing boat - bateau a voile
"It's rather a rough day," said the man to us, as we put off: "better take in a reef and luff sharp when you get round the bend."
reef - récif; écueil, récif
Luff - le guindant
We said we would make a point of it, and left him with a cheery "Good-morning," wondering to ourselves how you "luffed," and where we were to get a "reef" from, and what we were to do with it when we had got it.
We rowed until we were out of sight of the town, and then, with a wide stretch of water in front of us, and the wind blowing a perfect hurricane across it, we felt that the time had come to commence operations.
hurricane - ouragan; ouragan
Hector-I think that was his name-went on pulling while I unrolled the sail. It seemed a complicated job, but I accomplished it at length, and then came the question, which was the top end?
By a sort of natural instinct, we, of course, eventually decided that the bottom was the top, and set to work to fix it upside-down. But it was a long time before we could get it up, either that way or any other way. The impression on the mind of the sail seemed to be that we were playing at funerals, and that I was the corpse and itself was the winding-sheet.
funerals - funérailles; funérailles-p, obseques-p
When it found that this was not the idea, it hit me over the head with the boom, and refused to do anything.
boom - boom; forte hausse
refused - refusé; refuser de
"Wet it," said Hector; "drop it over and get it wet."
He said people in ships always wetted the sails before they put them up. So I wetted it; but that only made matters worse than they were before. A dry sail clinging to your legs and wrapping itself round your head is not pleasant, but, when the sail is sopping wet, it becomes quite vexing.
ships - navires; navire
wetted - mouillé; mouillé, mouillé, mouiller, mouiller, se mouiller
clinging - s'accrocher; s''accrocher (a)
vexing - contrariant; vexant; (vex); ennuyer, énerver
We did get the thing up at last, the two of us together. We fixed it, not exactly upside down-more sideways like-and we tied it up to the mast with the painter, which we cut off for the purpose.
painter - peintre, peintre en bâtiments
That the boat did not upset I simply state as a fact. Why it did not upset I am unable to offer any reason. I have often thought about the matter since, but I have never succeeded in arriving at any satisfactory explanation of the phenomenon.
satisfactory - satisfaisante; ; satisfaisant
phenomenon - phénomene; ; phénomene
Possibly the result may have been brought about by the natural obstinacy of all things in this world. The boat may possibly have come to the conclusion, judging from a cursory view of our behaviour, that we had come out for a morning's suicide, and had thereupon determined to disappoint us. That is the only suggestion I can offer.
brought about - provoquée
obstinacy - l'obstination; ; entetement, obstination
suicide - le suicide; ; suicide, suicidé, suicidée, suicidant, suicidante
disappoint - décevoir, désappointer
By clinging like grim death to the gunwale, we just managed to keep inside the boat, but it was exhausting work. Hector said that pirates and other seafaring people generally lashed the rudder to something or other, and hauled in the main top-jib, during severe squalls, and thought we ought to try to do something of the kind; but I was for letting her have her head to the wind.
exhausting - épuisant; épuiser, épuiser, épuiser, échappement
seafaring - la mer
lashed - fouetté; cil
jib - fleche; foc
squalls - des bourrasques; grain, hurler, brailler
As my advice was by far the easiest to follow, we ended by adopting it, and contrived to embrace the gunwale and give her her head.
contrived - artificiel; combiner, inventer
Embrace - étreindre, embrasser, accolade, embrassement, embrassade
The boat travelled up stream for about a mile at a pace I have never sailed at since, and don't want to again. Then, at a bend, she heeled over till half her sail was under water. Then she righted herself by a miracle and flew for a long low bank of soft mud.
Sailed - navigué; voile
heeled - a talons; talon
miracle - miracle
That mud-bank saved us. The boat ploughed its way into the middle of it and then stuck. Finding that we were once more able to move according to our ideas, instead of being pitched and thrown about like peas in a bladder, we crept forward, and cut down the sail.
ploughed - labouré; charrue, araire, labourer, labourer, labourer, pilonner
according - selon; entente, accorder
bladder - vésicule, vessie, cubi
We had had enough sailing. We did not want to overdo the thing and get a surfeit of it. We had had a sail-a good all-round exciting, interesting sail-and now we thought we would have a row, just for a change like.
We took the sculls and tried to push the boat off the mud, and, in doing so, we broke one of the sculls. After that we proceeded with great caution, but they were a wretched old pair, and the second one cracked almost easier than the first, and left us helpless.
The mud stretched out for about a hundred yards in front of us, and behind us was the water. The only thing to be done was to sit and wait until someone came by.
It was not the sort of day to attract people out on the river, and it was three hours before a soul came in sight. It was an old fisherman who, with immense difficulty, at last rescued us, and we were towed back in an ignominious fashion to the boat-yard.
attract - attirer
fisherman - pecheur; ; pecheur, pecheuse
rescued - sauvée; délivrer, secourir, sauver, délivrer, fr
ignominious - ignominieux
What between tipping the man who had brought us home, and paying for the broken sculls, and for having been out four hours and a half, it cost us a pretty considerable number of weeks'pocket-money, that sail. But we learned experience, and they say that is always cheap at any price.
tipping - le pourboire; (tip) le pourboire
considerable - considérable
Reading.-We are towed by steam launch.-Irritating behaviour of small boats.-How they get in the way of steam launches.-George and Harris again shirk their work.-Rather a hackneyed story.-Streatley and Goring.
shirk - shirk; se dérober a
We came in sight of Reading about eleven. The river is dirty and dismal here. One does not linger in the neighbourhood of Reading.
linger - s'attarder; ; s'installer, stagner, s'incruster, s'éteindre
in the neighbourhood - dans le quartier
The town itself is a famous old place, dating from the dim days of King Ethelred, when the Danes anchored their warships in the Kennet, and started from Reading to ravage all the land of Wessex; and here Ethelred and his brother Alfred fought and defeated them, Ethelred doing the praying and Alfred the fighting.
anchored - ancré; ancre
warships - navires de guerre; navire de guerre
ravage - ravager
praying - priant; (pray) priant
In later years, Reading seems to have been regarded as a handy place to run down to, when matters were becoming unpleasant in London. Parliament generally rushed off to Reading whenever there was a plague on at Westminster; and, in 1625, the Law followed suit, and all the courts were held at Reading. It must have been worth while having a mere ordinary plague now and then in London to get rid of both the lawyers and the Parliament.
unpleasant - déplaisant, pénible, désagréable
Parliament - le parlement; ; parlement, pain d'épices
plague - peste, fléau, plaie, calamité, affliger
Courts - les tribunaux; cour, cour, cour, cour, cour, cour, tribunal
lawyers - des avocats; juriste, homme de loi, femme de loi, avocat
During the Parliamentary struggle, Reading was besieged by the Earl of Essex, and, a quarter of a century later, the Prince of Orange routed King James's troops there.
parliamentary - parlementaire
besieged - assiégé; assiéger, assaillir
prince - prince
routed - acheminé; chemin, itinéraire
James - james; Jacques, Jacques, Jacques
Henry I. lies buried at Reading, in the Benedictine abbey founded by him there, the ruins of which may still be seen; and, in this same abbey, great John of Gaunt was married to the Lady Blanche.
Benedictine - bénédictin, bénédictine
gaunt - décharné; ; maigre, osseux, anguleux, émacié
At Reading lock we came up with a steam launch, belonging to some friends of mine, and they towed us up to within about a mile of Streatley. It is very delightful being towed up by a launch. I prefer it myself to rowing. The run would have been more delightful still, if it had not been for a lot of wretched small boats that were continually getting in the way of our launch, and, to avoid running down which, we had to be continually easing and stopping.
more delightful - plus délicieux
It is really most annoying, the manner in which these rowing boats get in the way of one's launch up the river; something ought to done to stop it.
And they are so confoundedly impertinent, too, over it. You can whistle till you nearly burst your boiler before they will trouble themselves to hurry. I would have one or two of them run down now and then, if I had my way, just to teach them all a lesson.
confoundedly - de maniere déconcertante
The river becomes very lovely from a little above Reading. The railway rather spoils it near Tilehurst, but from Mapledurham up to Streatley it is glorious. A little above Mapledurham lock you pass Hardwick House, where Charles I. played bowls. The neighbourhood of Pangbourne, where the quaint little Swan Inn stands, must be as familiar to the habitues of the Art Exhibitions as it is to its own inhabitants.
bowls - bols; boule
exhibitions - expositions; exposition
My friends'launch cast us loose just below the grotto, and then Harris wanted to make out that it was my turn to pull. This seemed to me most unreasonable. It had been arranged in the morning that I should bring the boat up to three miles above Reading. Well, here we were, ten miles above Reading! Surely it was now their turn again.
loose - en vrac; ample, desserré
most unreasonable - le plus déraisonnable
surely - surement; ; surement, assurément
I could not get either George or Harris to see the matter in its proper light, however; so, to save argument, I took the sculls. I had not been pulling for more than a minute or so, when George noticed something black floating on the water, and we drew up to it. George leant over, as we neared it, and laid hold of it. And then he drew back with a cry, and a blanched face.
It was the dead body of a woman. It lay very lightly on the water, and the face was sweet and calm. It was not a beautiful face; it was too prematurely aged-looking, too thin and drawn, to be that; but it was a gentle, lovable face, in spite of its stamp of pinch and poverty, and upon it was that look of restful peace that comes to the faces of the sick sometimes when at last the pain has left them.
dead body - un corps mort
prematurely - prématurément
Stamp - cachet, tampon, timbre, taper du pied, taper (du pied)
pinch - pincer, chiper, pincement, pincée
poverty - la pauvreté; ; pauvreté
Fortunately for us-we having no desire to be kept hanging about coroners'courts-some men on the bank had seen the body too, and now took charge of it from us.
hanging about - en train de traîner
coroners - coroners; médecin légiste, coroner
We found out the woman's story afterwards. Of course it was the old, old vulgar tragedy. She had loved and been deceived-or had deceived herself. Anyhow, she had sinned-some of us do now and then-and her family and friends, naturally shocked and indignant, had closed their doors against her.
deceived - trompé; tromper, leurrer, séduire
sinned - péché; péché, mal
Left to fight the world alone, with the millstone of her shame around her neck, she had sunk ever lower and lower. For a while she had kept both herself and the child on the twelve shillings a week that twelve hours'drudgery a day procured her, paying six shillings out of it for the child, and keeping her own body and soul together on the remainder.
millstone - pierre meuliere; ; meule, meuliere
drudgery - la pénibilité; ; corvée
procured - procuré; acquérir, obtenir, proxénétisme, procurer
remainder - reste, restant, checkreste, checkrésidu, checkinvendu
Six shillings a week does not keep body and soul together very unitedly.
unitedly - unis
They want to get away from each other when there is only such a very slight bond as that between them; and one day, I suppose, the pain and the dull monotony of it all had stood before her eyes plainer than usual, and the mocking spectre had frightened her. She had made one last appeal to friends, but, against the chill wall of their respectability, the voice of the erring outcast fell unheeded; and then she had gone to see her child-had held it in her arms and kissed it, in a weary, dull sort of way, and without betraying any particular emotion of any kind, and had left it, after putting into its hand a penny box of chocolate she had bought it, and afterwards, with her last few shillings, had taken a ticket and come down to Goring.
bond - lien; sautiller
monotony - monotonie
plainer - plus simple; simple
spectre - spectre; spectre
respectability - respectabilité
erring - errant; (err) errant
outcast - exclu; faillir
unheeded - non pris en compte
betraying - trahir; trahir, livrer, trahir, trahir
Woman in the water
It seemed that the bitterest thoughts of her life must have centred about the wooded reaches and the bright green meadows around Goring; but women strangely hug the knife that stabs them, and, perhaps, amidst the gall, there may have mingled also sunny memories of sweetest hours, spent upon those shadowed deeps over which the great trees bend their branches down so low.
bitterest - le plus amer; amer, acide
hug - embrassade, étreinte, câlin, accolade, étreindre
stabs - des coups de couteau; poignarder
gall - le fiel; fiel, bile
shadowed - ombragée; ombre, ombre, prendre en filature, t+filer
deeps - deeps; profond, épais, profond, grave, foncé, foncée
She had wandered about the woods by the river's brink all day, and then, when evening fell and the grey twilight spread its dusky robe upon the waters, she stretched her arms out to the silent river that had known her sorrow and her joy. And the old river had taken her into its gentle arms, and had laid her weary head upon its bosom, and had hushed away the pain.
dusky - crépusculaire
robe - robe de chambre; ; robe
Thus had she sinned in all things-sinned in living and in dying. God help her! and all other sinners, if any more there be.
sinners - pécheurs; pécheur, pécheresse
Goring on the left bank and Streatley on the right are both or either charming places to stay at for a few days. The reaches down to Pangbourne woo one for a sunny sail or for a moonlight row, and the country round about is full of beauty.
woo - woo; racoler
We had intended to push on to Wallingford that day, but the sweet smiling face of the river here lured us to linger for a while; and so we left our boat at the bridge, and went up into Streatley, and lunched at the "Bull," much to Montmorency's satisfaction.
smiling - souriant; (smile); sourire
lured - attiré; lur
They say that the hills on each ride of the stream here once joined and formed a barrier across what is now the Thames, and that then the river ended there above Goring in one vast lake. I am not in a position either to contradict or affirm this statement. I simply offer it.
hills - collines; colline, côte
barrier - barriere; ; barriere, limite, frontiere
contradict - contredire
It is an ancient place, Streatley, dating back, like most river-side towns and villages, to British and Saxon times. Goring is not nearly so pretty a little spot to stop at as Streatley, if you have your choice; but it is passing fair enough in its way, and is nearer the railway in case you want to slip off without paying your hotel bill.
dating back - de sortir en arriere
choice - choix, morceau de choix
Washing day.-Fish and fishers.-On the art of angling.-A conscientious fly-fisher.-A fishy story.
fisher - pecheur; ; Pecheur
fishy - poissonneux; ; petit poisson, ichthyique, suspect
Washing lineWe stayed two days at Streatley, and got our clothes washed. We had tried washing them ourselves, in the river, under George's superintendence, and it had been a failure. Indeed, it had been more than a failure, because we were worse off after we had washed our clothes than we were before. Before we had washed them, they had been very, very dirty, it is true; but they were just wearable.
superintendence - superintendance
failure - l'échec; ; échec, daube, flop, panne
wearable - portable; ; mettable
After we had washed them-well, the river between Reading and Henley was much cleaner, after we had washed our clothes in it, than it was before. All the dirt contained in the river between Reading and Henley, we collected, during that wash, and worked it into our clothes.
dirt - la saleté; ; saleté, ordure, terre, boue, salissure, tache
The washerwoman at Streatley said she felt she owed it to herself to charge us just three times the usual prices for that wash. She said it had not been like washing, it had been more in the nature of excavating.
washerwoman - lavandiere; ; blanchisseuse, lavandiere, laveuse
excavating - l'excavation; creuser
We paid the bill without a murmur.
The neighbourhood of Streatley and Goring is a great fishing centre. There is some excellent fishing to be had here. The river abounds in pike, roach, dace, gudgeon, and eels, just here; and you can sit and fish for them all day.
abounds - abondent; foisonner, abonder
Pike - pike; brochet
dace - dace; ; vandoise
gudgeon - goujon
eels - anguilles; anguille
Some people do. They never catch them. I never knew anybody catch anything, up the Thames, except minnows and dead cats, but that has nothing to do, of course, with fishing! The local fisherman's guide doesn't say a word about catching anything. All it says is the place is "a good station for fishing;" and, from what I have seen of the district, I am quite prepared to bear out this statement.
minnows - vairons; vairon, fretin, vaironner
district - district, district, checkrégion
bear out - sortir
There is no spot in the world where you can get more fishing, or where you can fish for a longer period. Some fishermen come here and fish for a day, and others stop and fish for a month. You can hang on and fish for a year, if you want to: it will be all the same.
The Angler's Guide to the Thames says that "jack and perch are also to be had about here," but there the Angler's Guide is wrong. Jack and perch may be about there. Indeed, I know for a fact that they are. You can see them there in shoals, when you are out for a walk along the banks: they come and stand half out of the water with their mouths open for biscuits.
Angler - pecheur a la ligne; ; pecheur a la ligne
perch - perche; perchoir
shoals - des bancs; banc (de poissons)
And, if you go for a bathe, they crowd round, and get in your way, and irritate you. But they are not to be "had" by a bit of worm on the end of a hook, nor anything like it-not they!
I am not a good fisherman myself. I devoted a considerable amount of attention to the subject at one time, and was getting on, as I thought, fairly well; but the old hands told me that I should never be any real good at it, and advised me to give it up.
They said that I was an extremely neat thrower, and that I seemed to have plenty of gumption for the thing, and quite enough constitutional laziness. But they were sure I should never make anything of a fisherman. I had not got sufficient imagination.
imagination - l'imagination; ; imagination
They said that as a poet, or a shilling shocker, or a reporter, or anything of that kind, I might be satisfactory, but that, to gain any position as a Thames angler, would require more play of fancy, more power of invention than I appeared to possess.
shilling shocker - un choc de shilling
reporter - reporter, rapporteur, rapporteuse, journaliste
power - pouvoir, puissance, électricité, courant, alimenter
invention - invention
possess - posséder, s'emparer de
Some people are under the impression that all that is required to make a good fisherman is the ability to tell lies easily and without blushing; but this is a mistake. Mere bald fabrication is useless; the veriest tyro can manage that. It is in the circumstantial detail, the embellishing touches of probability, the general air of scrupulous-almost of pedantic-veracity, that the experienced angler is seen.
fabrication - fabrication, fabulation
tyro - tyro
embellishing - l'embellissement; embellir, embellir
probability - probabilité
pedantic - pédant
veracity - véracité, vérité, exactitude
experienced - expérimenté; expérience, expérience, expérience, expérience
Anybody can come in and say, "Oh, I caught fifteen dozen perch yesterday evening;" or "Last Monday I landed a gudgeon, weighing eighteen pounds, and measuring three feet from the tip to the tail."
weighing - peser; ; pesée, pesage; (weigh); peser, lever l’ancre
measuring - mesurer; mesurant; (measure); mesure, mesure, mesurer
There is no art, no skill, required for that sort of thing. It shows pluck, but that is all.
No; your accomplished angler would scorn to tell a lie, that way. His method is a study in itself.
tell a lie - dire un mensonge
He comes in quietly with his hat on, appropriates the most comfortable chair, lights his pipe, and commences to puff in silence. He lets the youngsters brag away for a while, and then, during a momentary lull, he removes the pipe from his mouth, and remarks, as he knocks the ashes out against the bars:
appropriates - s'approprie; approprié, idoine, approprier
most comfortable - le plus confortable
puff - bouffée; souffle
Brag - brag, fanfaronner, se vanter
momentary - momentanée
lull - l'accalmie; ; pause, bonace, calme, apaiser, bercer, calmer
removes - enlevement; enlever
knocks - coups; coup, frapper
ashes - des cendres; cendre
"Well, I had a haul on Tuesday evening that it's not much good my telling anybody about."
"Oh! why's that?" they ask.
"Because I don't expect anybody would believe me if I did," replies the old fellow calmly, and without even a tinge of bitterness in his tone, as he refills his pipe, and requests the landlord to bring him three of Scotch, cold.
calmly - calmement; ; paisiblement
tinge - teinte, touche, nuance, teindre
bitterness - l'amertume; ; amertume
refills - des recharges; recharge
There is a pause after this, nobody feeling sufficiently sure of himself to contradict the old gentleman. So he has to go on by himself without any encouragement.
pause - pauser, pause
"No," he continues thoughtfully; "I shouldn't believe it myself if anybody told it to me, but it's a fact, for all that. I had been sitting there all the afternoon and had caught literally nothing-except a few dozen dace and a score of jack; and I was just about giving it up as a bad job when I suddenly felt a rather smart pull at the line. I thought it was another little one, and I went to jerk it up. Hang me, if I could move the rod!
continues - continue; continuer, continuer
shouldn - devrait
literally - littéralement
bad job - mauvais travail
little one - petit
rod - tige, canne a peche, verges, bite; paf; pine; queue; vit; zob
It took me half-an-hour-half-an-hour, sir!-to land that fish; and every moment I thought the line was going to snap! I reached him at last, and what do you think it was? A sturgeon! a forty pound sturgeon! taken on a line, sir! Yes, you may well look surprised-I'll have another three of Scotch, landlord, please."
snap - snap; ; claquer, claquement de doigts, photographie, photo
sturgeon - esturgeon
And then he goes on to tell of the astonishment of everybody who saw it; and what his wife said, when he got home, and of what Joe Buggles thought about it.
astonishment - l'étonnement; ; étonnement
I asked the landlord of an inn up the river once, if it did not injure him, sometimes, listening to the tales that the fishermen about there told him; and he said:
"Oh, no; not now, sir. It did used to knock me over a bit at first, but, lor love you! me and the missus we listens to 'em all day now. It's what you're used to, you know. It's what you're used to."
listens to - écoute
I knew a young man once, he was a most conscientious fellow, and, when he took to fly-fishing, he determined never to exaggerate his hauls by more than twenty-five per cent.
most conscientious - le plus consciencieux
hauls - des transports; haler, trainer, butin, magot
per - par; dans
"When I have caught forty fish," said he, "then I will tell people that I have caught fifty, and so on. But I will not lie any more than that, because it is sinful to lie."
But the twenty-five per cent. plan did not work well at all. He never was able to use it. The greatest number of fish he ever caught in one day was three, and you can't add twenty-five per cent. to three-at least, not in fish.
So he increased his percentage to thirty-three-and-a-third; but that, again, was awkward, when he had only caught one or two; so, to simplify matters, he made up his mind to just double the quantity.
increased - augmenté; augmenter, croître, augmenter, accroître, augmentation
percentage - pourcentage
simplify - simplifier
He stuck to this arrangement for a couple of months, and then he grew dissatisfied with it. Nobody believed him when he told them that he only doubled, and he, therefore, gained no credit that way whatever, while his moderation put him at a disadvantage among the other anglers.
doubled - doublé; double, double, double, double, sosie, double, doublon
moderation - modération
disadvantage - désavantage
anglers - pecheurs; pecheur a la ligne
When he had really caught three small fish, and said he had caught six, it used to make him quite jealous to hear a man, whom he knew for a fact had only caught one, going about telling people he had landed two dozen.
jealous - jaloux, jalouse, envieux, rench:
So, eventually, he made one final arrangement with himself, which he has religiously held to ever since, and that was to count each fish that he caught as ten, and to assume ten to begin with. For example, if he did not catch any fish at all, then he said he had caught ten fish-you could never catch less than ten fish by his system; that was the foundation of it.
foundation - fondation, fondement, fond de teint
Then, if by any chance he really did catch one fish, he called it twenty, while two fish would count thirty, three forty, and so on.
It is a simple and easily worked plan, and there has been some talk lately of its being made use of by the angling fraternity in general. Indeed, the Committee of the Thames Angler's Association did recommend its adoption about two years ago, but some of the older members opposed it. They said they would consider the idea if the number were doubled, and each fish counted as twenty.
lately - dernierement
committee - de la commission; ; comité, commission
Association - association
adoption - l'adoption; ; adoption
opposed - opposée; s'opposer a, opposer
If ever you have an evening to spare, up the river, I should advise you to drop into one of the little village inns, and take a seat in the tap-room. You will be nearly sure to meet one or two old rod-men, sipping their toddy there, and they will tell you enough fishy stories, in half an hour, to give you indigestion for a month.
sipping - siroter; gorgée, siroter
indigestion - une indigestion; ; indigestion
George and I-I don't know what had become of Harris; he had gone out and had a shave, early in the afternoon, and had then come back and spent full forty minutes in pipeclaying his shoes, we had not seen him since-George and I, therefore, and the dog, left to ourselves, went for a walk to Wallingford on the second evening, and, coming home, we called in at a little river-side inn, for a rest, and other things.
gone out - sorti
shave - se raser; rasent, raser, barbifier, rasez, rasons
We went into the parlour and sat down. There was an old fellow there, smoking a long clay pipe, and we naturally began chatting.
parlour - salon; salon
clay pipe - un tuyau en argile
He told us that it had been a fine day to-day, and we told him that it had been a fine day yesterday, and then we all told each other that we thought it would be a fine day to-morrow; and George said the crops seemed to be coming up nicely.
After that it came out, somehow or other, that we were strangers in the neighbourhood, and that we were going away the next morning.
The troutThen a pause ensued in the conversation, during which our eyes wandered round the room. They finally rested upon a dusty old glass-case, fixed very high up above the chimney-piece, and containing a trout. It rather fascinated me, that trout; it was such a monstrous fish. In fact, at first glance, I thought it was a cod.
ensued - s'ensuivit; résulter, découler
chimney - cheminée
trout - truite
fascinated - fasciné; fasciner, fasciner, fasciner
monstrous - monstrueux
cod - morue; aigrefin, morue
"Ah!" said the old gentleman, following the direction of my gaze, "fine fellow that, ain't he?"
"Quite uncommon," I murmured; and George asked the old man how much he thought it weighed.
weighed - pesée; peser, peser, peser, peser, lever l’ancre
"Eighteen pounds six ounces," said our friend, rising and taking down his coat. "Yes," he continued, "it wur sixteen year ago, come the third o'next month, that I landed him. I caught him just below the bridge with a minnow. They told me he wur in the river, and I said I'd have him, and so I did. You don't see many fish that size about here now, I'm thinking. Good-night, gentlemen, good-night."
ounces - onces; once
taking down - a descendre
minnow - vairon, fretin, vaironner
And out he went, and left us alone.
We could not take our eyes off the fish after that. It really was a remarkably fine fish. We were still looking at it, when the local carrier, who had just stopped at the inn, came to the door of the room with a pot of beer in his hand, and he also looked at the fish.
remarkably - remarquablement
carrier - transporteur; ; porteuse
"Good-sized trout, that," said George, turning round to him.
"Ah! you may well say that, sir," replied the man; and then, after a pull at his beer, he added, "Maybe you wasn't here, sir, when that fish was caught?"
"No," we told him. We were strangers in the neighbourhood.
"Ah!" said the carrier, "then, of course, how should you? It was nearly five years ago that I caught that trout."
"Oh! was it you who caught it, then?" said I.
"Yes, sir," replied the genial old fellow. "I caught him just below the lock-leastways, what was the lock then-one Friday afternoon; and the remarkable thing about it is that I caught him with a fly. I'd gone out pike fishing, Bless you, never thinking of a trout, and when I saw that whopper on the end of my line, blest if it didn't quite take me aback. Well, you see, he weighed twenty-six pound. Good-night, gentlemen, good-night."
genial - génial; aimable, chaleureux
leastways - au moins
Bless you - Vous bénir
whopper - un whopper; ; rench: t-needed r, énormité
aback - en colere; étonné
Five minutes afterwards, a third man came in, and described how he had caught it early one morning, with bleak; and then he left, and a stolid, solemn-looking, middle-aged individual came in, and sat down over by the window.
bleak - sombre; pelée, sombre, désagréable
individual - individu, individuel, individuel, checkindividuelle
None of us spoke for a while; but, at length, George turned to the new comer, and said:
comer - comer
"I beg your pardon, I hope you will forgive the liberty that we-perfect strangers in the neighbourhood-are taking, but my friend here and myself would be so much obliged if you would tell us how you caught that trout up there."
forgive - pardonner
"Why, who told you I caught that trout!" was the surprised query.
We said that nobody had told us so, but somehow or other we felt instinctively that it was he who had done it.
he who - Il qui
"Well, it's a most remarkable thing-most remarkable," answered the stolid stranger, laughing; "because, as a matter of fact, you are quite right. I did catch it. But fancy your guessing it like that. Dear me, it's really a most remarkable thing."
most remarkable - le plus remarquable
Dear me - Cher moi
And then he went on, and told us how it had taken him half an hour to land it, and how it had broken his rod. He said he had weighed it carefully when he reached home, and it had turned the scale at thirty-four pounds.
scale - échelle; escaladez, escalader, escaladent, gravir, bareme
He went in his turn, and when he was gone, the landlord came in to us. We told him the various histories we had heard about his trout, and he was immensely amused, and we all laughed very heartily.
immensely - immensément
"Fancy Jim Bates and Joe Muggles and Mr. Jones and old Billy Maunders all telling you that they had caught it. Ha! ha! ha! Well, that is good," said the honest old fellow, laughing heartily. "Yes, they are the sort to give it me, to put up in my parlour, if they had caught it, they are! Ha! ha! ha!"
honest - honnete; ; honnete; (hon) honnete; ; honnete
And then he told us the real history of the fish. It seemed that he had caught it himself, years ago, when he was quite a lad; not by any art or skill, but by that unaccountable luck that appears to always wait upon a boy when he plays the wag from school, and goes out fishing on a sunny afternoon, with a bit of string tied on to the end of a tree.
wait upon - attendre
wag - wag; ; frétiller, remuer, sécher, faire l’école buissonniere
He said that bringing home that trout had saved him from a whacking, and that even his school-master had said it was worth the rule-of-three and practice put together.
whacking - le fouet; convaincant; (whack); coup, clac, frapper, claquer
rule-of-three - (rule-of-three) La regle de trois
He was called out of the room at this point, and George and I again turned our gaze upon the fish.
It really was a most astonishing trout. The more we looked at it, the more we marvelled at it.
most astonishing - le plus étonnant
marvelled - émerveillé; etre
It excited George so much that he climbed up on the back of a chair to get a better view of it.
And then the chair slipped, and George clutched wildly at the trout-case to save himself, and down it came with a crash, George and the chair on top of it.
"You haven't injured the fish, have you?" I cried in alarm, rushing up.
alarm - alarme, réveille-matin, réveil, alarmer, donner/sonner l'alerte
"I hope not," said George, rising cautiously and looking about.
But he had. That trout lay shattered into a thousand fragments-I say a thousand, but they may have only been nine hundred. I did not count them.
fragments - fragments; fragment, fragmenter, fragmenter
We thought it strange and unaccountable that a stuffed trout should break up into little pieces like that.
And so it would have been strange and unaccountable, if it had been a stuffed trout, but it was not.
That trout was plaster-of-Paris.
plaster-of-Paris - (plaster-of-Paris) du plâtre de Paris
Locks.-George and I are photographed.-Wallingford.-Dorchester.-Abingdon.-A family man.-A good spot for drowning.-A difficult bit of water.-Demoralizing effect of river air.
drowning - la noyade; ; noyade; (drown); noyer, checksubmerger
demoralizing - démoralisant; démoraliser
We left Streatley early the next morning, and pulled up to Culham, and slept under the canvas, in the backwater there.
The river is not extraordinarily interesting between Streatley and Wallingford. From Cleve you get a stretch of six and a half miles without a lock. I believe this is the longest uninterrupted stretch anywhere above Teddington, and the Oxford Club make use of it for their trial eights.
extraordinarily - extraordinairement
Cleve - cleve
But however satisfactory this absence of locks may be to rowing-men, it is to be regretted by the mere pleasure-seeker.
regretted - regretté; regretter, regret
seeker - chercheur; ; demandeur
For myself, I am fond of locks. They pleasantly break the monotony of the pull.
I like sitting in the boat and slowly rising out of the cool depths up into new reaches and fresh views; or sinking down, as it were, out of the world, and then waiting, while the gloomy gates creak, and the narrow strip of day-light between them widens till the fair smiling river lies full before you, and you push your little boat out from its brief prison on to the welcoming waters once again.
depths - profondeurs; profondeur, épaisseur
sinking down - s'enfoncer
strip - de la bande; bandeau, dégarnir, dépouillons, frange, dépouillez
widens - s'élargit; s’élargir, élargir, élargir, élargir
prison - prison
They are picturesque little spots, these locks. The stout old lock-keeper, or his cheerful-looking wife, or bright-eyed daughter, are pleasant folk to have a passing chat with.  You meet other boats there, and river gossip is exchanged. The Thames would not be the fairyland it is without its flower-decked locks.
exchanged - échangé; (é)changer
fairyland - le pays des fées; ; royaume des fées, pays des fées
Talking of locks reminds me of an accident George and I very nearly had one summer's morning at Hampton Court.
It was a glorious day, and the lock was crowded; and, as is a common practice up the river, a speculative photographer was taking a picture of us all as we lay upon the rising waters.
speculative - spéculatif
photographer - photographe, photoseur
I did not catch what was going on at first, and was, therefore, extremely surprised at noticing George hurriedly smooth out his trousers, ruffle up his hair, and stick his cap on in a rakish manner at the back of his head, and then, assuming an expression of mingled affability and sadness, sit down in a graceful attitude, and try to hide his feet.
hurriedly - en toute hâte; ; a la hâte, a la sauvette, a la va-vite
ruffle up - s'ébouriffer
rakish - rakish; ; négligé, débauché
assuming - en supposant; assumant; (assume); supposer, présupposer
affability - l'affabilité; ; affabilité, liant
My first idea was that he had suddenly caught sight of some girl he knew, and I looked about to see who it was. Everybody in the lock seemed to have been suddenly struck wooden. They were all standing or sitting about in the most quaint and curious attitudes I have ever seen off a Japanese fan. All the girls were smiling. Oh, they did look so sweet! And all the fellows were frowning, and looking stern and noble.
seen off - vu
fan - fan; éventail, ventilateur
frowning - froncer les sourcils; froncer les sourcils
And then, at last, the truth flashed across me, and I wondered if I should be in time. Ours was the first boat, and it would be unkind of me to spoil the man's picture, I thought.
So I faced round quickly, and took up a position in the prow, where I leant with careless grace upon the hitcher, in an attitude suggestive of agility and strength. I arranged my hair with a curl over the forehead, and threw an air of tender wistfulness into my expression, mingled with a touch of cynicism, which I am told suits me.
agility - l'agilité; ; agilité
forehead - front
wistfulness - la nostalgie
cynicism - le cynisme; ; cynisme
As we stood, waiting for the eventful moment, I heard someone behind call out:
eventful - mouvementé
"Hi! look at your nose."
I could not turn round to see what was the matter, and whose nose it was that was to be looked at. I stole a side-glance at George's nose! It was all right-at all events, there was nothing wrong with it that could be altered. I squinted down at my own, and that seemed all that could be expected also.
side-glance - (side-glance) un regard de côté
altered - modifié; transformer, changer, altérer
squinted - louché; plisser les yeux, loucher, loucher, louvoyer
"Look at your nose, you stupid ass!" came the same voice again, louder.
And then another voice cried:
then another - puis un autre
"Push your nose out, can't you, you-you two with the dog!"
Neither George nor I dared to turn round. The man's hand was on the cap, and the picture might be taken any moment. Was it us they were calling to? What was the matter with our noses? Why were they to be pushed out!
pushed - poussé; pousser
But now the whole lock started yelling, and a stentorian voice from the back shouted:
stentorian voice - voix de stentor
"Look at your boat, sir; you in the red and black caps. It's your two corpses that will get taken in that photo, if you ain't quick."
We looked then, and saw that the nose of our boat had got fixed under the woodwork of the lock, while the in-coming water was rising all around it, and tilting it up. In another moment we should be over. Quick as thought, we each seized an oar, and a vigorous blow against the side of the lock with the butt-ends released the boat, and sent us sprawling on our backs.
woodwork - le travail du bois; ; charpenterie, checkmenuiserie
tilting - basculement; (tilt) basculement
The photographWe did not come out well in that photograph, George and I. Of course, as was to be expected, our luck ordained it, that the man should set his wretched machine in motion at the precise moment that we were both lying on our backs with a wild expression of "Where am I? and what is it?" on our faces, and our four feet waving madly in the air.
photographWe - photographWe
madly - a la folie; ; follement
Our feet were undoubtedly the leading article in that photograph. Indeed, very little else was to be seen. They filled up the foreground entirely.
Undoubtedly - sans doute
foreground - au premier plan; ; premier plan, avantlan
Behind them, you caught glimpses of the other boats, and bits of the surrounding scenery; but everything and everybody else in the lock looked so utterly insignificant and paltry compared with our feet, that all the other people felt quite ashamed of themselves, and refused to subscribe to the picture.
glimpses - des aperçus; aperçu, entrevoir
bits - bits; (petit) morceau
insignificant - insignifiante
paltry - dérisoire, misérable
subscribe - abonner, s'abonner, souscrire
The owner of one steam launch, who had bespoke six copies, rescinded the order on seeing the negative. He said he would take them if anybody could show him his launch, but nobody could. It was somewhere behind George's right foot.
copies - copies; copie, copie, copie, copie, exemplaire, copie, copier
rescinded - annulée; abroger, annuler
There was a good deal of unpleasantness over the business. The photographer thought we ought to take a dozen copies each, seeing that the photo was about nine-tenths us, but we declined. We said we had no objection to being photo'd full-length, but we preferred being taken the right way up.
tenths - dixiemes; dixieme (''before the noun''); (''in names of monarchs and popes'') dix (''after the name'') (''abbreviation'' X)
full-length - (full-length) pleine longueur
Wallingford, six miles above Streatley, is a very ancient town, and has been an active centre for the making of English history. It was a rude, mud-built town in the time of the Britons, who squatted there, until the Roman legions evicted them; and replaced their clay-baked walls by mighty fortifications, the trace of which Time has not yet succeeded in sweeping away, so well those old-world masons knew how to build.
Britons - les britanniques; Britannique, Grand-Breton
evicted - expulsé; évincer
replaced - remplacés; remplacer
fortifications - des fortifications; fortification, renforcement, fortification
trace - trace; trace, projection horizontale, décalquer
sweeping away - balayage
masons - maçons; maçon, maçonne
But Time, though he halted at Roman walls, soon crumbled Romans to dust; and on the ground, in later years, fought savage Saxons and huge Danes, until the Normans came.
halted - arreté; (s'')arreter
crumbled - en miettes; s'effondrer, effriter, émietter, crumble, qualifier
Saxons - saxons; Saxon, Saxonne, saxon
Normans - les normands; Normand, qualifieremale, normand, normand
It was a walled and fortified town up to the time of the Parliamentary War, when it suffered a long and bitter siege from Fairfax. It fell at last, and then the walls were razed.
fortified - fortifié; fortifier, renforcer, supplémenter
siege - siege; ; siege
razed - rasé; raser
From Wallingford up to Dorchester the neighbourhood of the river grows more hilly, varied, and picturesque. Dorchester stands half a mile from the river. It can be reached by paddling up the Thame, if you have a small boat; but the best way is to leave the river at Day's Lock, and take a walk across the fields. Dorchester is a delightfully peaceful old place, nestling in stillness and silence and drowsiness.
hilly - vallonné
varied - varié; varier, varier, varier
paddling - pagayer; (paddle) pagayer
delightfully - délicieusement
drowsiness - somnolence, assoupissement, torpeur
Dorchester, like Wallingford, was a city in ancient British times; it was then called Caer Doren, "the city on the water." In more recent times the Romans formed a great camp here, the fortifications surrounding which now seem like low, even hills. In Saxon days it was the capital of Wessex. It is very old, and it was very strong and great once. Now it sits aside from the stirring world, and nods and dreams.
recent - récente; ; récent
nods - hochements de tete; dodeliner, hocher, dodeliner, hochement
Round Clifton Hampden, itself a wonderfully pretty village, old-fashioned, peaceful, and dainty with flowers, the river scenery is rich and beautiful. If you stay the night on land at Clifton, you cannot do better than put up at the "Barley Mow." It is, without exception, I should say, the quaintest, most old-world inn up the river.
wonderfully - a merveille
fashioned - a la mode; mode, vogue, façon, façonner
barley - de l'orge; ; orge
mow - faucher; faucher
exception - exception
quaintest - le plus pittoresque; pittoresque
It stands on the right of the bridge, quite away from the village. Its low-pitched gables and thatched roof and latticed windows give it quite a story-book appearance, while inside it is even still more once-upon-a-timeyfied.
gables - pignons; pignon
thatched roof - Un toit de chaume
It would not be a good place for the heroine of a modern novel to stay at. The heroine of a modern novel is always "divinely tall," and she is ever "drawing herself up to her full height." At the "Barley Mow" she would bump her head against the ceiling each time she did this.
divinely - divinement
bump - bump; ; bourrade, boum, bosse, saillie, ballon, heurter
It would also be a bad house for a drunken man to put up at. There are too many surprises in the way of unexpected steps down into this room and up into that; and as for getting upstairs to his bedroom, or ever finding his bed when he got up, either operation would be an utter impossibility to him.
unexpected - inattendu
operation - l'opération; ; opération, fonctionnement, exploitation, gestion
impossibility - l'impossibilité; ; impossibilité
We were up early the next morning, as we wanted to be in Oxford by the afternoon. It is surprising how early one can get up, when camping out. One does not yearn for "just another five minutes" nearly so much, lying wrapped up in a rug on the boards of a boat, with a Gladstone bag for a pillow, as one does in a featherbed. We had finished breakfast, and were through Clifton Lock by half-past eight.
surprising - surprenant, étonnant, surprenante
yearn - désirer; soupirer
From Clifton to Culham the river banks are flat, monotonous, and uninteresting, but, after you get through Culhalm Lock-the coldest and deepest lock on the river-the landscape improves.
monotonous - monotone
deepest - le plus profond; profond, épais, profond, grave, foncé, foncée
At Abingdon, the river passes by the streets. Abingdon is a typical country town of the smaller order-quiet, eminently respectable, clean, and desperately dull. It prides itself on being old, but whether it can compare in this respect with Wallingford and Dorchester seems doubtful. A famous abbey stood here once, and within what is left of its sanctified walls they brew bitter ale nowadays.
passes by - passe par la
typical - typique, représentatif
eminently - éminemment
desperately - désespérément
prides - fiertés; orgueil, fierté, fierté, orgueil, fierté, orgueil
doubtful - douteux, douteuse
sanctified - sanctifié; consacrer, sanctifier
brew - brassage; brassent, brasser, brassons, brassez
nowadays - actuellement, de nos jours, aujourd'hui, présentement
In St. Nicholas Church, at Abingdon, there is a monument to John Blackwall and his wife Jane, who both, after leading a happy married life, died on the very same day, August 21, 1625; and in St. Helen's Church, it is recorded that W. Lee, who died in 1637, "had in his lifetime issue from his loins two hundred lacking but three.
monument - monument, mémorial
Jane - jane; Jeanne
Helen - helen; Hélene, Hélene
recorded - enregistré; rapport écrit
Lee - lee; côté sous le vent
issue from - de la question
loins - les reins; lombes-p, filet (in US), côtes premieres-p (in UK)
lacking - manquant; manquer de qqch
If you work this out you will find that Mr. W. Lee's family numbered one hundred and ninety-seven. Mr. W. Lee-five times Mayor of Abingdon-was, no doubt, a benefactor to his generation, but I hope there are not many of his kind about in this overcrowded nineteenth century.
mayor - maire, mairesse, bourgmestre
benefactor - bienfaiteur, bienfaitrice
From Abingdon to Nuneham Courteney is a lovely stretch. Nuneham Park is well worth a visit. It can be viewed on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The house contains a fine collection of pictures and curiosities, and the grounds are very beautiful.
viewed - consultés; vue, vue, vue, vue, q
curiosities - curiosités; curiosité, curiosité
The pool under Sandford lasher, just behind the lock, is a very good place to drown yourself in. The undercurrent is terribly strong, and if you once get down into it you are all right. An obelisk marks the spot where two men have already been drowned, while bathing there; and the steps of the obelisk are generally used as a diving-board by young men now who wish to see if the place really is dangerous.
lasher - lasher
undercurrent - courant sous-marin, sous-courant, courant sous-jacent
obelisk - obélisque, obele
marks - marques; Marc, Marc, Marc
diving - la plongée; ; plongement
Iffley Lock and Mill, a mile before you reach Oxford, is a favourite subject with the river-loving brethren of the brush. The real article, however, is rather disappointing, after the pictures. Few things, I have noticed, come quite up to the pictures of them, in this world.
Mill - moulin; bahut, moulons, mouds, moulez, moulin, moulent
favourite subject - sujet préféré
brethren - freres
disappointing - décevante; décevoir, désappointer
We passed through Iffley Lock at about half-past twelve, and then, having tidied up the boat and made all ready for landing, we set to work on our last mile.
tidied - rangé; ordonné
Between Iffley and Oxford is the most difficult bit of the river I know. You want to be born on that bit of water, to understand it. I have been over it a fairish number of times, but I have never been able to get the hang of it.
most difficult - le plus difficile
fairish - blond
The man who could row a straight course from Oxford to Iffley ought to be able to live comfortably, under one roof, with his wife, his mother-in-law, his elder sister, and the old servant who was in the family when he was a baby.
First the current drives you on to the right bank, and then on to the left, then it takes you out into the middle, turns you round three times, and carries you up stream again, and always ends by trying to smash you up against a college barge.
Of course, as a consequence of this, we got in the way of a good many other boats, during the mile, and they in ours, and, of course, as a consequence of that, a good deal of bad language occurred.
I don't know why it should be, but everybody is always so exceptionally irritable on the river. Little mishaps, that you would hardly notice on dry land, drive you nearly frantic with rage, when they occur on the water. When Harris or George makes an ass of himself on dry land, I smile indulgently; when they behave in a chuckle-head way on the river, I use the most blood-curdling language to them.
exceptionally - exceptionnellement
irritable - irritable
mishaps - mésaventures; mésaventure
occur - se produisent; ; produire
indulgently - avec indulgence
behave - checkcomporter
When another boat gets in my way, I feel I want to take an oar and kill all the people in it.
gets in - entre en jeu
The mildest tempered people, when on land, become violent and blood-thirsty when in a boat. I did a little boating once with a young lady. She was naturally of the sweetest and gentlest disposition imaginable, but on the river it was quite awful to hear her.
mildest - le plus doux; doux, douce, léger, doux
gentlest - le plus doux; gentil, doux, gentil
imaginable - imaginable
"Oh, drat the man!" she would exclaim, when some unfortunate sculler would get in her way; "why don't he look where he's going?"
unfortunate - malheureux; ; infortuné, malencontreux
sculler - sculpteuse
And, "Oh, bother the silly old thing!" she would say indignantly, when the sail would not go up properly. And she would catch hold of it, and shake it quite brutally.
brutally - brutalement, sauvagement
Yet, as I have said, when on shore she was kind-hearted and amiable enough.
amiable - aimable, avenant, affable
Man at the lock Man at the lockThe air of the river has a demoralising effect upon one's temper, and this it is, I suppose, which causes even barge men to be sometimes rude to one another, and to use language which, no doubt, in their calmer moments they regret.
calmer - plus calme; calme, tranquille, calme, calme plat, calme, calmer
regret - regretter, regret
Oxford.-Montmorency's idea of Heaven.-The hired up-river boat, its beauties and advantages.-The "Pride of the Thames."-The weather changes.-The river under different aspects.-Not a cheerful evening.-Yearnings for the unattainable.-The cheery chat goes round.-George performs upon the banjo.-A mournful melody.-Another wet day.-Flight.-A little supper and a toast.
beauties - des beautés; beauté, beauté, beauté
Aspects - aspects; aspect, aspect, rench: -neededr, rench: -neededr
mournful - triste; ; affligé, éploré, mélancolique, lugubre
Dog runningWe spent two very pleasant days at Oxford. There are plenty of dogs in the town of Oxford. Montmorency had eleven fights on the first day, and fourteen on the second, and evidently thought he had got to heaven.
runningWe - runningWe
fights - combats; (se) battre
Dogs fightingAmong folk too constitutionally weak, or too constitutionally lazy, whichever it may be, to relish up-stream work, it is a common practice to get a boat at Oxford, and row down.
constitutionally - constitutionnellement
whichever - quel qu'il soit; ; n'importe quel, n'importe lequel
For the energetic, however, the up-stream journey is certainly to be preferred. It does not seem good to be always going with the current. There is more satisfaction in squaring one's back, and fighting against it, and winning one's way forward in spite of it-at least, so I feel, when Harris and George are sculling and I am steering.
squaring - au carré; (square); carré, équerre, place, case, carreau
But they are not ornamental. The boat you hire up the river above Marlow is not the sort of boat in which you can flash about and give yourself airs. The hired up-river boat very soon puts a stop to any nonsense of that sort on the part of its occupants. That is its chief-one may say, its only recommendation.
ornamental - ornemental, ornemental, ornementale
hire - embaucher; embaucher, louer
recommendation - recommandation
DogThe man in the hired up-river boat is modest and retiring. He likes to keep on the shady side, underneath the trees, and to do most of his travelling early in the morning or late at night, when there are not many people about on the river to look at him.
modest - modeste; (mod); modeste
When the man in the hired up-river boat sees anyone he knows, he gets out on to the bank, and hides behind a tree.
gets out - sort
hides - des peaux; (se) cacher
I was one of a party who hired an up-river boat one summer, for a few days'trip. We had none of us ever seen the hired up-river boat before; and we did not know what it was when we did see it.
We had written for a boat-a double sculling skiff; and when we went down with our bags to the yard, and gave our names, the man said:
The Pride of the Thames"Oh, yes; you're the party that wrote for a double sculling skiff. It's all right. Jim, fetch round The Pride of the Thames."
The boy went, and re-appeared five minutes afterwards, struggling with an antediluvian chunk of wood, that looked as though it had been recently dug out of somewhere, and dug out carelessly, so as to have been unnecessarily damaged in the process.
struggling with - en difficulté
antediluvian - antédiluvien
recently - dernierement, récemment, ces derniers temps
dug out - déterré
carelessly - négligemment
My own idea, on first catching sight of the object, was that it was a Roman relic of some sort,-relic of what I do not know, possibly of a coffin.
relic - reliquat, relique
coffin - cercueil; cercueil
To settle the dispute, we appealed to the boy. We told him not to be afraid, but to speak the plain truth: Was it the fossil of a pre-Adamite whale, or was it an early Roman coffin?
fossil - fossile
pre - pré
Adamite - Adamite
whale - baleine; baleine
The boy said it was The Pride of the Thames.
We thought this a very humorous answer on the part of the boy at first, and somebody gave him twopence as a reward for his ready wit; but when he persisted in keeping up the joke, as we thought, too long, we got vexed with him.
Reward - récompense; récompenser
ready wit - pret a l'emploi
persisted - persisté; persister
"Come, come, my lad!" said our captain sharply, "don't let us have any nonsense. You take your mother's washing-tub home again, and bring us a boat."
sharply - brusquement
tub - baignoire; ; bassine, rafiot
The boat-builder himself came up then, and assured us, on his word, as a practical man, that the thing really was a boat-was, in fact, the boat, the "double sculling skiff" selected to take us on our trip down the river.
builder - constructeur, constructrice, bâtisseur, bâtisseuse
selected - sélectionné; sélect, choisir, sélectionner
We grumbled a good deal. We thought he might, at least, have had it whitewashed or tarred-had something done to it to distinguish it from a bit of a wreck; but he could not see any fault in it.
whitewashed - blanchi; lait de chaux, badigeon, blanchir, badigeonner
tarred - goudronné; goudron
distinguish - distinguer
He even seemed offended at our remarks. He said he had picked us out the best boat in all his stock, and he thought we might have been more grateful.
offended - offensée; offenser, déplaire, blesser, offenser, fr
stock - stock; provision, stockage, stock
more grateful - plus reconnaissant
He said it, The Pride of the Thames, had been in use, just as it now stood (or rather as it now hung together), for the last forty years, to his knowledge, and nobody had complained of it before, and he did not see why we should be the first to begin.
in use - en cours d'utilisation
We argued no more.
We fastened the so-called boat together with some pieces of string, got a bit of wall-paper and pasted over the shabbier places, said our prayers, and stepped on board.
so-called - (so-called) ainsi appelé
pasted over - collé
shabbier - plus brillant; râpé, usé, élimé, miteux, minable
They charged us thirty-five shillings for the loan of the remnant for six days; and we could have bought the thing out-and-out for four-and-sixpence at any sale of drift-wood round the coast.
loan - pret; crédit, preter, emprunt, emprunter
remnant - vestige; ; reste
The weather changed on the third day,-Oh! I am talking about our present trip now,-and we started from Oxford upon our homeward journey in the midst of a steady drizzle.
homeward journey - le retour a la maison
drizzle - de la bruine; ; bruiner, pleuvioter, grainasser, mouiller
But the river-chill and weary, with the ceaseless rain-drops falling on its brown and sluggish waters, with a sound as of a woman, weeping low in some dark chamber; while the woods, all dark and silent, shrouded in their mists of vapour, stand like ghosts upon the margin; silent ghosts with eyes reproachful, like the ghosts of evil actions, like the ghosts of friends neglected-is a spirit-haunted water through the land of vain regrets.
ceaseless - incessant
weeping - pleurant; (weep) pleurant
shrouded - enveloppée; linceul
mists - brumes; brume
vapour - vapeur; fumées, vapeur
reproachful - des reproches
neglected - négligé; négliger, négliger, négliger, négligence, négligence
vain - vaine; ; rench: vaniteux, frivole, vain, futile
regrets - des regrets; regretter, regret
Sunlight is the life-blood of Nature. Mother Earth looks at us with such dull, soulless eyes, when the sunlight has died away from out of her. It makes us sad to be with her then; she does not seem to know us or to care for us. She is as a widow who has lost the husband she loved, and her children touch her hand, and look up into her eyes, but gain no smile from her.
We rowed on all that day through the rain, and very melancholy work it was. We pretended, at first, that we enjoyed it. We said it was a change, and that we liked to see the river under all its different aspects. We said we could not expect to have it all sunshine, nor should we wish it. We told each other that Nature was beautiful, even in her tears.
melancholy - mélancolie
The boat in the rain
Indeed, Harris and I were quite enthusiastic about the business, for the first few hours. And we sang a song about a gipsy's life, and how delightful a gipsy's existence was!-free to storm and sunshine, and to every wind that blew!-and how he enjoyed the rain, and what a lot of good it did him; and how he laughed at people who didn't like it.
enthusiastic - enthousiaste
gipsy - Gipsy
storm - tempete; orage, tempete
George took the fun more soberly, and stuck to the umbrella.
soberly - prosaique
We hoisted the cover before we had lunch, and kept it up all the afternoon, just leaving a little space in the bow, from which one of us could paddle and keep a look-out. In this way we made nine miles, and pulled up for the night a little below Day's Lock.
hoisted - hissé; hisser
paddle - pagaie; pagaie, patauger, barbotter
I cannot honestly say that we had a merry evening. The rain poured down with quiet persistency. Everything in the boat was damp and clammy. Supper was not a success. Cold veal pie, when you don't feel hungry, is apt to cloy.
poured - versé; verser, se déverser
clammy - moite
veal - veau
apt - apt; doué
I felt I wanted whitebait and a cutlet; Harris babbled of soles and white-sauce, and passed the remains of his pie to Montmorency, who declined it, and, apparently insulted by the offer, went and sat over at the other end of the boat by himself.
Whitebait - les appâts blancs; ; blanchaille
cutlet - l'escalope; ; côtelette
babbled - babillé; marmonner, marmotter, jargonner, bavarder, papoter
soles - semelles; plante (du pied)
sauce - sauce; sauce
George requested that we would not talk about these things, at all events until he had finished his cold boiled beef without mustard.
We played penny nap after supper. We played for about an hour and a half, by the end of which time George had won fourpence-George always is lucky at cards-and Harris and I had lost exactly twopence each.
nap - sieste; sieste, petit somme
fourpence - quatre pence
We thought we would give up gambling then. As Harris said, it breeds an unhealthy excitement when carried too far. George offered to go on and give us our revenge; but Harris and I decided not to battle any further against Fate.
gambling - les jeux d'argent; ; jeu de hasard
breeds - races; se reproduire, engendrer, élever, se reproduire, race
revenge - la vengeance; ; vengeance, revanche, venger
After that, we mixed ourselves some toddy, and sat round and talked. George told us about a man he had known, who had come up the river two years ago and who had slept out in a damp boat on just such another night as that was, and it had given him rheumatic fever, and nothing was able to save him, and he had died in great agony ten days afterwards.
George said he was quite a young man, and was engaged to be married. He said it was one of the saddest things he had ever known.
And that put Harris in mind of a friend of his, who had been in the Volunteers, and who had slept out under canvas one wet night down at Aldershot, "on just such another night as this," said Harris; and he had woke up in the morning a cripple for life. Harris said he would introduce us both to the man when we got back to town; it would make our hearts bleed to see him.
volunteers - volontaires; volontaire, bénévole, volontaire
cripple - estropié, infirme, estropier, bridé
This naturally led to some pleasant chat about sciatica, fevers, chills, lung diseases, and bronchitis; and Harris said how very awkward it would be if one of us were taken seriously ill in the night, seeing how far away we were from a doctor.
sciatica - sciatique
fevers - des fievres; fievre
chills - des frissons; froid
lung - poumon
seriously ill - sérieusement malade
There seemed to be a desire for something frolicksome to follow upon this conversation, and in a weak moment I suggested that George should get out his banjo, and see if he could not give us a comic song.
frolicksome - frolicksome
I will say for George that he did not want any pressing. There was no nonsense about having left his music at home, or anything of that sort. He at once fished out his instrument, and commenced to play "Two Lovely Black Eyes."
I had always regarded "Two Lovely Black Eyes" as rather a commonplace tune until that evening. The rich vein of sadness that George extracted from it quite surprised me.
vein - veine
extracted - extraites; extrait, extrait, extrait, extraire, extraire
The desire that grew upon Harris and myself, as the mournful strains progressed, was to fall upon each other's necks and weep; but by great effort we kept back the rising tears, and listened to the wild yearnful melody in silence.
kept back - gardé en arriere
yearnful - annuel
When the chorus came we even made a desperate effort to be merry. We re-filled our glasses and joined in; Harris, in a voice trembling with emotion, leading, and George and I following a few words behind:
"Two lovely black eyes;
Oh! what a surprise!
Only for telling a man he was wrong,
There we broke down. The unutterable pathos of George's accompaniment to that "two" we were, in our then state of depression, unable to bear. Harris sobbed like a little child, and the dog howled till I thought his heart or his jaw must surely break.
broke down - est tombé en panne
unutterable - indicible
jaw - mâchoire; mâchoire
George wanted to go on with another verse. He thought that when he had got a little more into the tune, and could throw more "abandon," as it were, into the rendering, it might not seem so sad. The feeling of the majority, however, was opposed to the experiment.
abandon - abandonner; renoncer, abandonnent, abandonnons, délaisser
There being nothing else to do, we went to bed-that is, we undressed ourselves, and tossed about at the bottom of the boat for some three or four hours. After which, we managed to get some fitful slumber until five a.m., when we all got up and had breakfast.
undressed - déshabillé; déshabiller
slumber - sommeil; ; somnolence, somnoler
had breakfast - a pris son petit-déjeuner
The second day was exactly like the first. The rain continued to pour down, and we sat, wrapped up in our mackintoshes, underneath the canvas, and drifted slowly down.
pour - verser a boire, versons, verser, versez, versent
mackintoshes - mackintoshes; imperméable
One of us-I forget which one now, but I rather think it was myself-made a few feeble attempts during the course of the morning to work up the old gipsy foolishness about being children of Nature and enjoying the wet; but it did not go down well at all. That-
attempts - tentatives; tenter, essayer, tentative, attentat
work up - travailler
"I care not for the rain, not I!"
was so painfully evident, as expressing the sentiments of each of us, that to sing it seemed unnecessary.
expressing - exprimant; exprimer
sentiments - sentiments; sentiment
unnecessary - inutile
On one point we were all agreed, and that was that, come what might, we would go through with this job to the bitter end. We had come out for a fortnight's enjoyment on the river, and a fortnight's enjoyment on the river we meant to have.
enjoyment - jouissance, plaisir
If it killed us! well, that would be a sad thing for our friends and relations, but it could not be helped. We felt that to give in to the weather in a climate such as ours would be a most disastrous precedent.
climate - le climat; ; climat
most disastrous - le plus désastreux
"It's only two days more," said Harris, "and we are young and strong. We may get over it all right, after all."
At about four o'clock we began to discuss our arrangements for the evening. We were a little past Goring then, and we decided to paddle on to Pangbourne, and put up there for the night.
"Another jolly evening!" murmured George.
We sat and mused on the prospect. We should be in at Pangbourne by five. We should finish dinner at, say, half-past six. After that we could walk about the village in the pouring rain until bed-time; or we could sit in a dimly-lit bar-parlour and read the almanac.
prospect - prospect; ; perspective, prospecter
bed-time - (bed-time) L'heure du coucher
almanac - almanach
Lady in skirt"Why, the Alhambra would be almost more lively," said Harris, venturing his head outside the cover for a moment and taking a survey of the sky.
venturing - s'aventurer; (venture); s'aventurer, risquer, oser
survey - enquete; ; sondage, arpentage, reconnaissance, enquete
"With a little supper at the ---  to follow," I added, half unconsciously.
unconsciously - inconsciemment
"Yes it's almost a pity we've made up our minds to stick to this boat," answered Harris; and then there was silence for a while.
"If we hadn't made up our minds to contract our certain deaths in this bally old coffin," observed George, casting a glance of intense malevolence over the boat, "it might be worth while to mention that there's a train leaves Pangbourne, I know, soon after five, which would just land us in town in comfortable time to get a chop, and then go on to the place you mentioned afterwards."
contract - contrat; contractez, contractent, contrat, contractons
deaths - déces; mort, déces, camarde, la mort, l'arcane sans nom
casting - casting; moulage; (cast); jeter, diriger, lancer, additionner
malevolence - malveillance, hostilité
mention - mentionner
Nobody spoke. We looked at one another, and each one seemed to see his own mean and guilty thoughts reflected in the faces of the others. In silence, we dragged out and overhauled the Gladstone. We looked up the river and down the river; not a soul was in sight!
Twenty minutes later, three figures, followed by a shamed-looking dog, might have been seen creeping stealthily from the boat-house at the "Swan" towards the railway station, dressed in the following neither neat nor gaudy costume:
figures - chiffres; figure, forme, personnage, figure, personnalité
shamed - honteux; honte
stealthily - furtivement
gaudy - criardes; criard
Black leather shoes, dirty; suit of boating flannels, very dirty; brown felt hat, much battered; mackintosh, very wet; umbrella.
felt hat - chapeau en feutre
mackintosh - mackintosh; imperméable
We had deceived the boatman at Pangbourne. We had not had the face to tell him that we were running away from the rain. We had left the boat, and all it contained, in his charge, with instructions that it was to be ready for us at nine the next morning. If, we said-if anything unforeseen should happen, preventing our return, we would write to him.
running away - en train de s'enfuir
instructions - instructions; instruction, instruction
unforeseen - imprévu
We reached Paddington at seven, and drove direct to the restaurant I have before described, where we partook of a light meal, left Montmorency, together with suggestions for a supper to be ready at half-past ten, and then continued our way to Leicester Square.
light meal - un repas léger
We attracted a good deal of attention at the Alhambra. On our presenting ourselves at the paybox we were gruffly directed to go round to Castle Street, and were informed that we were half-an-hour behind our time.
informed - informé; informer, avertir (de)
We convinced the man, with some difficulty, that we were not "the world-renowned contortionists from the Himalaya Mountains," and he took our money and let us pass.
renowned - renommée; renom
contortionists - des contorsionnistes; contorsionniste
Himalaya - L'Himalaya
Inside we were a still greater success. Our fine bronzed countenances and picturesque clothes were followed round the place with admiring gaze. We were the cynosure of every eye.
bronzed - bronzé; bronze, airain, bronze, hâlé, bronzé
countenances - des visages; visage, approuver
place with - place avec
cynosure - cynosure; ; tramontane, guide, mentor, chien d'aveugle
It was a proud moment for us all.
We adjourned soon after the first ballet, and wended our way back to the restaurant, where supper was already awaiting us.
awaiting - en attente; attendre, s'attendre a, servir, guetter, attendre
I must confess to enjoying that supper. For about ten days we seemed to have been living, more or less, on nothing but cold meat, cake, and bread and jam. It had been a simple, a nutritious diet; but there had been nothing exciting about it, and the odour of Burgundy, and the smell of French sauces, and the sight of clean napkins and long loaves, knocked as a very welcome visitor at the door of our inner man.
Burgundy - bourgogne; ; bordeaux
sauces - sauces; sauce
napkins - serviettes de table; serviette
loaves - pains; pain, miche (de pain)
Then Harris, who was sitting next the window, drew aside the curtain and looked out upon the street.
curtain - rideau
It glistened darkly in the wet, the dim lamps flickered with each gust, the rain splashed steadily into the puddles and trickled down the water-spouts into the running gutters. A few soaked wayfarers hurried past, crouching beneath their dripping umbrellas, the women holding up their skirts.
glistened - a brillé; reluire
darkly - sombrement
flickered - a clignoté; vaciller
gust - rafale; rafale
puddles - des flaques d'eau; flaque, flaque d'eau, gouille
trickled - au compte-gouttes; filet, dégoulinade, verser goutte a goutte
spouts - becs; bec verseur, jet, souffle, jaillir, palabrer
gutters - les gouttieres; gouttiere, caniveau
wayfarers - des wayfarers; voyageur
dripping - goutte a goutte; dégoulinade
holding up - qui tient le coup
"Well," said Harris, reaching his hand out for his glass, "we have had a pleasant trip, and my hearty thanks for it to old Father Thames-but I think we did well to chuck it when we did. Here's to Three Men well out of a Boat!"
hand out - distribuer
And Montmorency, standing on his hind legs, before the window, peering out into the night, gave a short bark of decided concurrence with the toast.
hind - biche; biche
bark - l'écorce; écorce, coque, aboyer
Neptune drinking a toast
Neptune - neptune; Neptune, Neptune
Footnotes - notes de bas de page; note en bas de page, note de bas de page
 Or rather were. The Conservancy of late seems to have constituted itself into a society for the employment of idiots. A good many of the new lock-keepers, especially in the more crowded portions of the river, are excitable, nervous old men, quite unfitted for their post.
Conservancy - conservation
constituted - constitué; constituer
employment - l'emploi; ; emploi, travail
portions - portions; part, portion
excitable - excitable
unfitted - inadaptée; inapte, incapable, impropre, rench: -neededr
 A capital little out-of-the-way restaurant, in the neighbourhood of ---, where you can get one of the best-cooked and cheapest little French dinners or suppers that I know of, with an excellent bottle of Beaune, for three-and-six; and which I am not going to be idiot enough to advertise.
suppers - dîners; souper
advertise - faire de la publicité; ; annoncer, afficher, publier