A Modest Proposal: For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick — Page 1
A Modest Proposal
Une modeste proposition
For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick.
Pour empêcher les enfants des pauvres gens d'Irlande d'être un fardeau pour leurs parents ou leur pays, et pour les rendre utiles au public.
by Dr. Jonathan Swift
par le Dr Jonathan Swift
1729
1729
It is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town, or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabbin-doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms.
C'est un spectacle mélancolique pour ceux qui parcourent cette grande ville, ou qui voyagent dans le pays, que de voir les rues, les routes et les portes des chaumières encombrées de mendiantes, suivies de trois, quatre ou six enfants, tous en haillons, importunant chaque passant pour obtenir l'aumône.
These mothers, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in stroling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants who, as they grow up, either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country, to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes.
Ces mères, au lieu de pouvoir travailler pour gagner honnêtement leur vie, sont contraintes de consacrer tout leur temps à errer pour mendier de quoi nourrir leurs pauvres nourrissons qui, en grandissant, deviennent soit des voleurs faute de travail, soit quittent leur chère patrie pour aller combattre pour le Prétendant en Espagne, ou se vendent à la Barbade.
I think it is agreed by all parties, that this prodigious number of children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, and frequently of their fathers, is in the present deplorable state of the kingdom, a very great additional grievance; and therefore whoever could find out a fair, cheap and easy method of making these children sound and useful members of the commonwealth, would deserve so well of the publick, as to have his statue set up for a preserver of the nation.
Je crois qu'il est admis par tous que ce nombre prodigieux d'enfants dans les bras, sur le dos ou aux talons de leurs mères, et fréquemment de leurs pères, constitue, dans l'état déplorable actuel du royaume, un grief supplémentaire très lourd ; et donc quiconque pourrait trouver un moyen juste, bon marché et aisé de faire de ces enfants des membres sains et utiles de la communauté mériterait si bien du public que l'on élèverait sa statue en tant que sauveur de la nation.
Vocabulary
- modeste
- mɔdɛst — Modest, humble, not extravagant or boastful.
- proposition
- pʁɔpozisjɔ̃ — A proposal or suggestion put forward for consideration.
- empêcher
- ɑ̃pɛʃe — To prevent or stop something from happening.
- enfants
- ɑ̃fɑ̃ — Children, young people not yet adults.
- pauvres
- povʁ — Poor, lacking sufficient money or resources.
- gens
- ʒɑ̃ — People, a group of persons in general.
- Irlande
- iʁlɑ̃d — Ireland, the island nation in northwest Europe.
- fardeau
- faʁdo — A burden or heavy load, literal or figurative.
- parents
- paʁɑ̃ — Parents, a person's mother and father.
- pays
- pei — Country or homeland; a nation or region.
- rendre
- ʁɑ̃dʁ — To render or make something become a certain way.
- utiles
- ytil — Useful, serving a practical purpose or function.
- public
- pyblik — The public; people in general or the community.
- spectacle
- spɛktakl — A sight or scene, often striking or noteworthy.
- mélancolique
- melɑ̃kɔlik — Melancholic, causing or expressing deep sadness.
- ceux
- sø — Those, a demonstrative pronoun referring to people.
- parcourent
- paʁkuʁ — They travel through or roam across a place.
- ville
- vil — A town or city, an urban settlement.
- voyagent
- vwajaʒ — They travel or journey through a place.
- voir
- vwaʁ — To see; the infinitive of the verb of sight.
- rues
- ʁy — Streets, paved public roads in a town or city.
- routes
- ʁut — Roads or routes connecting different places.
- portes
- pɔʁt — Doors or gates; entrances to buildings or enclosures.
- chaumières
- ʃomjɛʁ — Thatched cottages, small humble rural dwellings.
- encombrées
- ɑ̃kɔ̃bʁe — Cluttered or crowded, filled to excess with people.
- mendiantes
- mɑ̃djɑ̃t — Female beggars who ask for charity in public.
- suivies
- sɥivi — Followed, accompanied by others walking behind.
- haillons
- ajɔ̃ — Rags, worn-out tattered pieces of clothing.
- importunant
- ɛ̃pɔʁtynɑ̃ — Pestering or bothering someone persistently for something.
- chaque
- ʃak — Each or every; referring to individual members of a group.
- passant
- pasɑ̃ — A passerby, someone walking past in the street.
- obtenir
- ɔbtəniʁ — To obtain or get something through effort or request.
- aumône
- omone — Alms or charity given to the poor as donation.
- mères
- mɛʁ — Mothers, women who have given birth to children.
- lieu
- ljø — Place or location; used in 'au lieu de' (instead of).
- pouvoir
- puvwaʁ — To be able to; expressing capability or possibility.
- travailler
- tʁavaje — To work, to perform labor or an occupation.
- gagner
- ɡaɲe — To earn or win; to obtain money or victory.
- honnêtement
- ɔnɛtmɑ̃ — Honestly, in an upright and truthful manner.
- vie
- vi — Life, the state of being alive or one's existence.
- contraintes
- kɔ̃tʁɛ̃t — Forced or compelled to do something against preference.
- consacrer
- kɔ̃sakʁe — To devote or dedicate time or resources to something.
- temps
- tɑ̃ — Time, the ongoing sequence of events and duration.
- errer
- eʁe — To wander or roam without a fixed destination.
- mendier
- mɑ̃dje — To beg, to ask for money or food from strangers.
- nourrir
- nuʁiʁ — To feed or nourish, to provide food for sustenance.
- nourrissons
- nuʁisɔ̃ — Infants or nursing babies, very young children.
- grandissant
- ɡʁɑ̃disɑ̃ — Growing up, becoming older and developing over time.
- deviennent
- dəvjɛn — They become; third-person plural of 'devenir'.
- soit
- swa — Either...or; used to present alternatives or options.
- voleurs
- vɔlœʁ — Thieves, people who steal from others.
- faute
- fot — Fault, lack, or absence of something necessary.
- travail
- tʁavaj — Work or labor, employment or physical effort.
- quittent
- kit — They leave or abandon a place or situation.
- chère
- ʃɛʁ — Dear or beloved; also expensive; term of endearment.
- patrie
- patʁi — Homeland or fatherland, one's native country.
- aller
- ale — To go; fundamental verb of movement in French.
- combattre
- kɔ̃batʁ — To fight or combat, to engage in battle or struggle.
- Prétendant
- pʁetɑ̃dɑ̃ — A pretender, one who claims a throne or title.
- Espagne
- ɛspaɲ — Spain, a country in southwestern Europe.
- vendent
- vɑ̃d — They sell; third-person plural of 'vendre'.
- crois
- kʁwa — I believe or think; first person of 'croire'.
- admis
- admi — Admitted or acknowledged, accepted as true or valid.
- nombre
- nɔ̃bʁ — Number or quantity, a count of things or people.
- prodigieux
- pʁɔdiʒjø — Prodigious, extraordinarily large or impressive in scale.
- bras
- bʁa — Arms, the upper limbs of the human body.
- dos
- do — Back, the rear part of the human body.
- talons
- talɔ̃ — Heels, the back part of a person's feet.
- fréquemment
- fʁekamɑ̃ — Frequently, often or on many regular occasions.
- pères
- pɛʁ — Fathers, male parents of children.
- constitue
- kɔ̃stitɥ — Constitutes or forms, makes up a whole or part.
- état
- eta — State or condition; also refers to a governing state.
- déplorable
- deplɔʁabl — Deplorable, extremely bad and worthy of strong condemnation.
- actuel
- aktyɛl — Current or present, relating to the current time.
- royaume
- ʁwajom — A kingdom, a country ruled by a king or queen.
- grief
- ɡʁijɛf — A grievance or cause of distress and complaint.
- supplémentaire
- syplementɛʁ — Additional or supplementary, beyond what already exists.
- lourd
- luʁ — Heavy or burdensome, having great weight or difficulty.
- donc
- dɔ̃k — Therefore or so; a logical conclusion connector.
- quiconque
- kikɔ̃k — Whoever or anyone who; an indefinite relative pronoun.
- pourrait
- puʁɛ — Could, conditional form of 'pouvoir' expressing possibility.
- trouver
- tʁuve — To find or discover something previously unknown or lost.
- moyen
- mwajɛ̃ — A means or way to achieve a particular end.
- juste
- ʒyst — Just, fair, or correct; fitting and appropriate.
- marché
- maʁʃe — Market; also used in 'bon marché' meaning cheap.
- aisé
- eze — Easy or effortless; also can mean well-off financially.
- membres
- mɑ̃bʁ — Members of a group or limbs of the human body.
- sains
- sɛ̃ — Healthy or sound, in good physical or moral condition.
- communauté
- kɔmynote — A community, a group sharing common place or interests.
- mériterait
- meʁitʁɛ — Would deserve or merit something as a just reward.
- élèverait
- elɛvʁɛ — Would erect or raise up; conditional of 'élever'.
- statue
- staty — A statue, a sculpted figure honoring a person.
- tant
- tɑ̃ — So much or as; used in comparisons and expressions.
- sauveur
- sovœʁ — A savior, one who rescues or delivers others from danger.
- nation
- nasjɔ̃ — A nation, a country or large group of people united.
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