A Tale of Two Cities — Page 2
Even the Cock-lane ghost had been laid only a round dozen of years, after rapping out its messages, as the spirits of this very year last past (supernaturally deficient in originality) rapped out theirs.
Le fantôme de Cock-lane lui-même n'avait été exorcisé que depuis une douzaine d'années, après avoir frappé ses messages, tout comme les esprits de cette année écoulée (supernaturellement dépourvus d'originalité) avaient frappé les leurs.
Mere messages in the earthly order of events had lately come to the English Crown and People, from a congress of British subjects in America: which, strange to relate, have proved more important to the human race than any communications yet received through any of the chickens of the Cock-lane brood.
De simples messages dans l'ordre terrestre des événements étaient récemment parvenus à la Couronne et au Peuple anglais, de la part d'un congrès de sujets britanniques en Amérique : lesquels, chose étrange à dire, se sont révélés plus importants pour le genre humain que toutes les communications reçues jusqu'alors par l'entremise de quelque poulet que ce soit de la couvée de Cock-lane.
France, less favoured on the whole as to matters spiritual than her sister of the shield and trident, rolled with exceeding smoothness down hill, making paper money and spending it.
La France, moins favorisée dans l'ensemble en matière spirituelle que sa sœur au bouclier et au trident, dévalait la pente avec une aisance extrême, fabriquant du papier-monnaie et le dépensant.
Under the guidance of her Christian pastors, she entertained herself, besides, with such humane achievements as sentencing a youth to have his hands cut off, his tongue torn out with pincers, and his body burned alive, because he had not kneeled down in the rain to do honour to a dirty procession of monks which passed within his view, at a distance of some fifty or sixty yards.
Sous la conduite de ses pasteurs chrétiens, elle se divertissait, en outre, par de tels exploits humanitaires que de condamner un jeune homme à avoir les mains coupées, la langue arrachée avec des tenailles, et le corps brûlé vif, parce qu'il ne s'était pas agenouillé sous la pluie pour rendre honneur à une sale procession de moines qui était passée à sa vue, à une distance d'une cinquantaine ou soixantaine de yards.
It is likely enough that, rooted in the woods of France and Norway, there were growing trees, when that sufferer was put to death, already marked by the Woodman, Fate, to come down and be sawn into boards, to make a certain movable framework with a sack and a knife in it, terrible in history.
Il est bien probable que, enracinés dans les forêts de France et de Norvège, il y avait des arbres en train de pousser, lorsque ce supplicié fut mis à mort, déjà marqués par le Bûcheron, le Destin, pour être abattus et sciés en planches, afin de constituer un certain cadre mobile muni d'un sac et d'un couteau, terrible dans l'histoire.
Vocabulary
- fantôme
- fahn-tohm — A ghost or phantom; a supernatural apparition.
- lui-même
- lwee-mem — Himself; reflexive pronoun emphasizing identity.
- exorcisé
- eg-zor-see-zay — Driven out by exorcism; expelled a ghost or spirit.
- depuis
- duh-pwee — Preposition meaning 'since' or 'for' a period of time.
- douzaine
- doo-zen — A dozen; a group or quantity of twelve.
- frappé
- frah-pay — Struck or knocked; past participle of 'frapper'.
- esprits
- es-pree — Spirits or minds; supernatural or intellectual entities.
- écoulée
- ay-koo-lay — Elapsed or passed; referring to time that has gone by.
- supernaturellement
- soo-pehr-nah-too-rel-mahn — Supernaturally; in a manner beyond natural explanation.
- dépourvus
- day-poor-voo — Devoid or lacking; without a particular quality or thing.
- originalité
- oh-ree-zhee-nah-lee-tay — Originality; the quality of being novel or inventive.
- ordre
- or-druh — Order; an organized arrangement or authoritative command.
- terrestre
- teh-res-truh — Terrestrial; relating to the earth or worldly matters.
- événements
- ay-ven-mahn — Events; notable occurrences or happenings in the world.
- récemment
- ray-sah-mahn — Recently; not long ago, in the near past.
- parvenus
- par-vuh-noo — Reached or arrived; attained a destination or result.
- Couronne
- koo-ron — The Crown; the monarchy or royal authority of a state.
- Peuple
- puh-pluh — The people; the general population of a nation.
- congrès
- kon-greh — A congress; a formal assembly of representatives or delegates.
- sujets
- soo-zheh — Subjects; citizens under authority of a sovereign ruler.
- britanniques
- bree-tah-neek — British; relating to Great Britain or its citizens.
- lesquels
- lay-kel — Which (plural); relative pronoun replacing a masculine noun.
- étrange
- ay-trahnj — Strange or odd; unusual, surprising, or difficult to explain.
- révélés
- ray-vay-lay — Revealed or proven; shown to be true or important.
- genre
- zhahn-ruh — Kind, type, or genre; also used in 'genre humain' (mankind).
- communications
- ko-myoo-nee-kah-syohn — Communications; exchanges of information between parties.
- reçues
- ruh-soo — Received; past participle (feminine plural) of 'recevoir'.
- entremise
- ahn-truh-meez — Mediation or intermediary; acting as a go-between for others.
- poulet
- poo-leh — Chicken; a common domestic bird raised for food.
- soit
- swah — Subjunctive of 'être'; be, or whether (in 'que ce soit').
- couvée
- koo-vay — A brood; eggs or chicks hatched by a bird at once.
- favorisée
- fah-voh-ree-zay — Favored; privileged or given preferential treatment.
- ensemble
- ahn-sahn-bluh — Together; as a whole, all at once, or collectively.
- matière
- Matter or subject; material substance or topic of discussion.
- spirituelle
- spee-ree-too-el — Spiritual; relating to the spirit or supernatural realm.
- sœur
- suhr — Sister; a female sibling or female member of a group.
- bouclier
- boo-klee-ay — A shield; a protective device carried in battle.
- trident
- tree-dahn — A trident; a three-pronged spear used as a weapon.
- dévalait
- day-vah-leh — Was rushing down; imperfect of 'dévaler', to go downhill.
- pente
- pahnt — A slope or incline; a surface angled downward.
- aisance
- ay-zahns — Ease or fluency; comfortable and effortless manner.
- extrême
- eks-trem — Extreme; the greatest possible degree of something.
- fabriquant
- fah-bree-kahn — Manufacturing or producing; making goods in large quantities.
- papier-monnaie
- pah-pyay-mo-neh — Paper money; currency printed on paper by a government.
- dépensant
- day-pahn-sahn — Spending; present participle of 'dépenser', to spend money.
- conduite
- kon-dweet — Leadership or conduct; guidance or behavior of a person.
- pasteurs
- pas-tuhr — Pastors or shepherds; religious leaders of a congregation.
- chrétiens
- kray-tyahn — Christians; people who follow the religion of Christianity.
- divertissait
- dee-vehr-tee-seh — Was entertaining or amusing itself; imperfect of 'divertir'.
- outre
- oo-truh — Beyond; in addition to, or besides something already mentioned.
- exploits
- eks-plwah — Exploits or feats; notable or daring acts or achievements.
- humanitaires
- oo-mah-nee-tehr — Humanitarian; concerned with promoting human welfare.
- condamner
- kon-dah-nay — To condemn; to sentence someone to a punishment.
- coupées
- koo-pay — Cut off; severed, past participle (feminine plural) of 'couper'.
- langue
- lahng — Language or tongue; spoken communication or body organ.
- arrachée
- ah-rah-shay — Torn out; forcibly removed, past participle of 'arracher'.
- tenailles
- tuh-ny — Pincers or tongs; a gripping tool used for torture.
- brûlé
- broo-lay — Burned; past participle of 'brûler', to burn something.
- vif
- veef — Alive or lively; quick, alive, or vivid in character.
- agenouillé
- ah-zhuh-noo-yay — Knelt down; past participle of 's'agenouiller', to kneel.
- pluie
- plwee — Rain; water falling from clouds in drops.
- rendre
- rahn-druh — To render or to give; to return or to pay homage.
- honneur
- o-nuhr — Honor; great respect or high regard given to someone.
- sale
- sal — Dirty or filthy; unclean or morally reprehensible.
- procession
- pro-seh-syohn — A procession; a ceremonial group moving in an orderly line.
- moines
- mwan — Monks; men who live in a religious community or monastery.
- vue
- voo — Seen or view; past participle of 'voir' or a scenic view.
- cinquantaine
- san-kahn-ten — About fifty; an approximate quantity of around fifty.
- soixantaine
- swah-sahn-ten — About sixty; an approximate quantity of around sixty.
- probable
- pro-bah-bluh — Probable; likely to be true or to happen soon.
- enracinés
- ahn-rah-see-nay — Rooted; firmly established or embedded in the ground.
- forêts
- fo-reh — Forests; large areas of land covered with trees.
- train
- tran — Process; in 'en train de', meaning currently in the process.
- pousser
- poo-say — To grow or to push; to develop or move something forward.
- lorsque
- lor-skuh — When; conjunction introducing a temporal clause.
- supplicié
- soo-plee-syay — Tortured person; one subjected to severe corporal punishment.
- fut
- foo — Third person singular simple past of 'être'; he/she was.
- mis
- mee — Put or placed; past participle of 'mettre'.
- mort
- mor — Death; the end of life, or dead as an adjective.
- déjà
- day-zhah — Already; at a previous time or sooner than expected.
- marqués
- mar-kay — Marked; designated or identified with a distinguishing sign.
- Bûcheron
- boosh-rohn — Woodcutter or lumberjack; a person who fells trees.
- Destin
- des-tan — Destiny or fate; a predetermined course of events.
- abattus
- ah-bah-too — Felled or knocked down; past participle of 'abattre'.
- sciés
- syay — Sawed; cut with a saw, past participle of 'scier'.
- planches
- plahnsh — Planks or boards; flat pieces of sawn timber.
- afin
- ah-fan — In order to; used in 'afin de' to express purpose.
- constituer
- kon-stee-too-ay — To constitute or form; to make up or establish something.
- cadre
- kah-druh — Frame or framework; a structure or organizational setting.
- mobile
- mo-beel — Mobile or movable; capable of being moved or transported.
- muni
- moo-nee — Equipped or fitted; provided with a necessary item.
- sac
- sak — Bag or sack; a container made of flexible material.
- couteau
- koo-toh — A knife; a bladed tool used for cutting.
- terrible
- teh-ree-bluh — Terrible or dreadful; causing great fear or distress.
- histoire
- ees-twar — History or story; a narrative of past or imagined events.
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