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 7
Thus the squire will learn to be a good landlord, and grow popular among his tenants, the mother will have eight shillings neat profit, and be fit for work till she produces another child.
Ainsi le hobereau apprendra à être un bon propriétaire, et deviendra populaire parmi ses fermiers, la mère aura huit shillings de bénéfice net, et sera en état de travailler jusqu'à ce qu'elle produise un autre enfant.
Those who are more thrifty (as I must confess the times require) may flay the carcass; the skin of which, artificially dressed, will make admirable gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen.
Ceux qui sont plus économes (comme je dois avouer que les temps l'exigent) pourront écorcher la carcasse ; la peau de celle-ci, habilement apprêtée, fera d'admirables gants pour les dames, et des bottes d'été pour les beaux messieurs.
As to our City of Dublin, shambles may be appointed for this purpose, in the most convenient parts of it, and butchers we may be assured will not be wanting; although I rather recommend buying the children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs.
Quant à notre ville de Dublin, des abattoirs pourront être désignés à cet effet dans les quartiers les plus commodes, et nous pouvons être assurés que les bouchers ne manqueront pas ; bien que je recommande plutôt d'acheter les enfants vivants, et de les accommoder tout chauds après l'abattage, comme nous le faisons avec les cochons de lait.
A very worthy person, a true lover of his country, and whose virtues I highly esteem, was lately pleased in discoursing on this matter, to offer a refinement upon my scheme.
Une personne très estimable, un véritable amoureux de sa patrie, et dont j'estime hautement les vertus, a récemment eu la bonté, en discourant sur ce sujet, de proposer un perfectionnement à mon projet.
He said, that many gentlemen of this kingdom, having of late destroyed their deer, he conceived that the want of venison might be well supplied by the bodies of young lads and maidens, not exceeding fourteen years of age, nor under twelve; so great a number of both sexes in every county being now ready to starve for want of work and service: and these to be disposed of by their parents if alive, or otherwise by their nearest relations.
Il dit que de nombreux gentilshommes de ce royaume ayant récemment détruit leurs cerfs, il estimait que le manque de venaison pourrait être bien compensé par les corps de jeunes garçons et de jeunes filles, n'ayant pas plus de quatorze ans, ni moins de douze ; un si grand nombre des deux sexes dans chaque comté étant maintenant prêt à mourir de faim faute de travail et de service : et ceux-ci devant être cédés par leurs parents s'ils sont en vie, ou sinon par leurs plus proches parents.
Vocabulary
- Ainsi
- So, thus; used to introduce a conclusion or result.
- hobereau
- Small-time country squire or minor rural nobleman.
- apprendra
- Will learn; future tense of apprendre.
- propriétaire
- Owner, landlord; person who owns property or land.
- deviendra
- Will become; future tense of devenir.
- populaire
- Popular; well-liked or favored among a group.
- parmi
- Among; preposition indicating being within a group.
- fermiers
- Farmers, tenant farmers; people who work agricultural land.
- shillings
- Shillings; former British currency unit worth 12 pence.
- bénéfice
- Profit, benefit; financial gain from an activity.
- net
- Net, clear; after all deductions have been made.
- état
- State, condition; the situation or ability to act.
- jusqu'
- Until, up to; preposition indicating a limit in time.
- produise
- Produces; subjunctive form of produire, to produce.
- Ceux
- Those; demonstrative pronoun referring to masculine plural nouns.
- économes
- Thrifty, frugal; careful and sparing with resources.
- dois
- Must, owe; first-person singular of devoir.
- avouer
- To admit, confess; to acknowledge something truthfully.
- exigent
- Require, demand; third-person plural of exiger.
- pourront
- Will be able; future tense of pouvoir, third plural.
- écorcher
- To skin, flay; to remove the skin from an animal.
- carcasse
- Carcass; the dead body or remains of an animal.
- peau
- Skin, hide; the outer covering of a body.
- celle-
- That one; feminine singular demonstrative pronoun (partial form).
- habilement
- Skillfully, cleverly; done with great skill or dexterity.
- apprêtée
- Prepared, dressed, treated; past participle of apprêter.
- admirables
- Admirable, wonderful; deserving great praise or admiration.
- gants
- Gloves; hand coverings worn for protection or fashion.
- dames
- Ladies; polite or formal term for women.
- bottes
- Boots; footwear covering the foot and lower leg.
- messieurs
- Gentlemen; plural polite form of address for men.
- Quant
- As for; used in quant à, regarding a topic.
- abattoirs
- Slaughterhouses; facilities where animals are killed for food.
- désignés
- Designated, appointed; officially selected for a specific purpose.
- effet
- Effect, purpose; result or intended outcome of something.
- quartiers
- Districts, neighborhoods; sections or areas of a city.
- commodes
- Convenient, suitable; easy to use or well-situated.
- assurés
- Assured, certain; confident that something is the case.
- bouchers
- Butchers; tradespeople who cut and sell meat.
- manqueront
- Will fail, will lack; future tense of manquer.
- recommande
- Recommends; advises or suggests something favorably.
- plutôt
- Rather, instead; indicates preference or approximation.
- vivants
- Living, alive; present participle/adjective of vivre.
- accommoder
- To prepare, cook; to adapt or make ready for use.
- abattage
- Slaughter, felling; the killing of animals or cutting of trees.
- cochons
- Pigs; common farm animals raised for pork meat.
- estimable
- Estimable, respectable; worthy of high regard or esteem.
- véritable
- True, genuine, real; not false or imitation.
- amoureux
- Lover, in love with; deeply devoted to someone or something.
- patrie
- Homeland, native country; the land of one's birth.
- dont
- Whose, of which; relative pronoun replacing de + noun.
- estime
- Esteem; to hold in high regard or respect.
- hautement
- Highly, greatly; adverb indicating a very great degree.
- vertus
- Virtues; moral qualities considered good or admirable.
- récemment
- Recently; not long ago, in the near past.
- bonté
- Kindness, goodness; the quality of being kind or benevolent.
- discourant
- Discoursing, speaking at length; present participle of discourir.
- sujet
- Subject, topic; the matter being discussed or considered.
- proposer
- To propose, suggest; to put forward an idea or plan.
- perfectionnement
- Improvement, refinement; the act of making something more perfect.
- projet
- Project, plan; a proposed scheme or undertaking.
- nombreux
- Numerous, many; existing in large numbers.
- gentilshommes
- Gentlemen, noblemen; men of noble birth or high social rank.
- royaume
- Kingdom; a country ruled by a king or queen.
- ayant
- Having; present participle of avoir, used in constructions.
- détruit
- Destroyed; past participle of détruire, to destroy.
- cerfs
- Deer, stags; large wild animals hunted for game.
- estimait
- Estimated, believed; imperfect tense of estimer.
- manque
- Lack, shortage; an absence or deficiency of something.
- venaison
- Venison; meat from a deer or other hunted game animal.
- pourrait
- Could, might; conditional tense of pouvoir, third singular.
- compensé
- Compensated, offset; made up for a deficiency or loss.
- corps
- Bodies; plural of corps, the physical frame of a person.
- ni
- Nor, neither; conjunction used in double negation.
- sexes
- Sexes; the two biological categories of male and female.
- chaque
- Each, every; adjective indicating every individual in a group.
- comté
- County; an administrative division of a country or region.
- étant
- Being; present participle of être, used in constructions.
- prêt
- Ready; prepared or in a suitable state to act.
- mourir
- To die; to cease to live, to pass away.
- faim
- Hunger; the sensation of needing or craving food.
- faute
- Fault, lack, for want of; indicating an absence causing a problem.
- ceux-
- Those; masculine plural demonstrative pronoun, partial form.
- devant
- In front of, before; preposition indicating position ahead.
- cédés
- Ceded, handed over; past participle of céder, to yield.
- sinon
- Otherwise, if not; conjunction indicating a contrary condition.
- proches
- Close relatives, near ones; people close in relation or proximity.
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