A Tale of Two Cities — Page 4
Daring burglaries by armed men, and highway robberies, took place in the capital itself every night;
Des cambriolages audacieux commis par des hommes armés, et des vols de grand chemin, avaient lieu dans la capitale même chaque nuit ;
families were publicly cautioned not to go out of town without removing their furniture to upholsterers' warehouses for security;
les familles étaient publiquement avisées de ne pas quitter la ville sans avoir déposé leurs meubles dans les entrepôts des tapissiers pour les mettre en sûreté ;
the highwayman in the dark was a City tradesman in the light, and, being recognised and challenged by his fellow-tradesman whom he stopped in his character of "the Captain," gallantly shot him through the head and rode away;
le voleur de grand chemin dans l'obscurité était un commerçant de la Cité à la lumière du jour, et, ayant été reconnu et interpellé par son confrère commerçant qu'il avait arrêté en sa qualité de « Capitaine », lui tira galamment une balle dans la tête et s'enfuit à cheval ;
the mail was waylaid by seven robbers, and the guard shot three dead, and then got shot dead himself by the other four, "in consequence of the failure of his ammunition:" after which the mail was robbed in peace;
la malle-poste fut attaquée par sept brigands, et le garde en abattit trois, puis fut lui-même abattu par les quatre autres, « faute de munitions » : après quoi la malle-poste fut dévalisée en toute tranquillité ;
that magnificent potentate, the Lord Mayor of London, was made to stand and deliver on Turnham Green, by one highwayman, who despoiled the illustrious creature in sight of all his retinue;
ce magnifique potentat, le lord-maire de Londres, fut contraint de s'arrêter et de se laisser dévaliser sur Turnham Green par un seul brigand, qui dépouilla l'illustre personnage sous les yeux de toute sa suite ;
prisoners in London gaols fought battles with their turnkeys, and the majesty of the law fired blunderbusses in among them, loaded with rounds of shot and ball;
les prisonniers des geôles de Londres se battirent avec leurs geôliers, et la majesté de la loi fit tirer des espingoles parmi eux, chargées de chevrotines et de balles ;
thieves snipped off diamond crosses from the necks of noble lords at Court drawing-rooms;
des voleurs arrachèrent des croix de diamants du cou de nobles seigneurs lors des réceptions à la Cour ;
musketeers went into St. Giles's, to search for contraband goods, and the mob fired on the musketeers, and the musketeers fired on the mob, and nobody thought any of these occurrences much out of the common way.
des mousquetaires pénétrèrent dans le quartier de Saint-Gilles pour y chercher des marchandises de contrebande, et la populace tira sur les mousquetaires, et les mousquetaires tirèrent sur la populace, et personne ne considérait aucun de ces événements comme sortant vraiment de l'ordinaire.
Vocabulary
- cambriolages
- Burglaries; acts of breaking into buildings to steal
- audacieux
- Audacious; bold and daring in a reckless way
- commis
- Committed; perpetrated (past participle of commettre)
- armés
- Armed; carrying or equipped with weapons
- vols
- Thefts; acts of stealing someone's property
- chemin
- Road; a path or route for traveling
- lieu
- Place; location where something occurs
- capitale
- Capital; the principal city of a country
- même
- Even; itself; used for emphasis or inclusion
- chaque
- Each; every individual one of a group
- publiquement
- Publicly; in a manner visible or open to all
- avisées
- Advised; formally notified or warned about something
- quitter
- To leave; to depart from a place or situation
- sans
- Without; lacking or not having something
- déposé
- Deposited; placed something somewhere for safekeeping
- meubles
- Furniture; movable household items and furnishings
- entrepôts
- Warehouses; buildings for storing goods and merchandise
- tapissiers
- Upholsterers; craftsmen who work with fabric furnishings
- sûreté
- Safety; the state of being protected from danger
- voleur
- Thief; a person who steals from others
- obscurité
- Darkness; the absence of light in a space
- commerçant
- Merchant; a person who buys and sells goods
- Cité
- City; historic urban district or central part of town
- lumière
- Light; the natural agent that illuminates the world
- ayant
- Having; present participle of avoir used in clauses
- reconnu
- Recognized; identified as known or familiar
- interpellé
- Challenged; confronted or questioned by someone
- confrère
- Colleague; a fellow member of the same profession
- arrêté
- Stopped; arrested; halted someone or something
- qualité
- Quality; capacity or title in which one acts
- Capitaine
- Captain; a military or naval officer of rank
- tira
- Shot; fired a weapon at someone (passé simple)
- galamment
- Gallantly; in a bold and chivalrous manner
- balle
- Bullet; a small projectile fired from a gun
- enfuit
- Fled; escaped quickly from a place or danger
- malle-poste
- Mail coach; a horse-drawn vehicle carrying post and passengers
- attaquée
- Attacked; assaulted or set upon violently
- brigands
- Bandits; lawless robbers who attack travelers
- garde
- Guard; a person protecting or watching over something
- abattit
- Shot down; struck down or killed (passé simple)
- puis
- Then; next; indicating sequence of events
- lui-même
- Himself; emphatic reflexive pronoun for third person
- abattu
- Struck down; killed or knocked down by force
- faute
- Lack; fault; due to the absence of something
- munitions
- Ammunition; bullets and projectiles used in firearms
- dévalisée
- Robbed; stripped of all valuables completely
- tranquillité
- Tranquility; a state of calm and peacefulness
- magnifique
- Magnificent; impressively grand or splendid in appearance
- potentat
- Potentate; a powerful ruler or person of authority
- lord-maire
- Lord Mayor; the chief elected official of a city
- contraint
- Compelled; forced to do something against one's will
- arrêter
- To stop; to halt movement or an activity
- laisser
- To let; to allow something to happen
- dévaliser
- To rob; to strip someone of all their belongings
- seul
- Alone; only; a single person or thing
- brigand
- Bandit; an armed robber who attacks travelers
- dépouilla
- Stripped; robbed someone of their possessions entirely
- illustre
- Illustrious; well-known and respected for achievements
- personnage
- Person; a notable individual or character of importance
- suite
- Retinue; a group of attendants accompanying an important person
- prisonniers
- Prisoners; people held captive or under confinement
- geôles
- Jails; places of confinement for imprisoned persons
- battirent
- Fought; battled against opponents (passé simple)
- geôliers
- Jailers; guards responsible for managing prisoners
- majesté
- Majesty; sovereign power or impressive dignity of law
- loi
- Law; a system of rules enforced by authorities
- tirer
- To fire; to shoot a weapon at someone
- espingoles
- Blunderbusses; short firearms with wide flared muzzles
- parmi
- Among; in the midst of a group
- chargées
- Loaded; filled with ammunition or a heavy load
- chevrotines
- Buckshot; small lead pellets fired from a shotgun
- balles
- Bullets; small projectiles fired from firearms
- voleurs
- Thieves; people who steal from others
- arrachèrent
- Snatched; tore away violently (passé simple)
- croix
- Cross; a cross-shaped ornament often worn as jewelry
- diamants
- Diamonds; precious gemstones of great value
- cou
- Neck; the part connecting the head to the body
- nobles
- Nobles; people of high aristocratic rank and title
- seigneurs
- Lords; men of high feudal rank and authority
- lors
- At the time of; during a particular occasion
- réceptions
- Receptions; formal social gatherings or welcoming events
- Cour
- Court; the royal or noble household and its members
- mousquetaires
- Musketeers; soldiers armed with muskets in earlier centuries
- pénétrèrent
- Entered; broke into a place forcefully (passé simple)
- quartier
- Quarter; a district or neighborhood within a city
- chercher
- To search for; to look for something or someone
- marchandises
- Goods; merchandise bought and sold in commerce
- contrebande
- Contraband; smuggled goods imported or exported illegally
- populace
- Populace; the common people of a particular area
- tirèrent
- Fired; shot at someone or something (passé simple)
- considérait
- Considered; regarded something in a particular way
- aucun
- None; not any; used in negative constructions
- événements
- Events; things that happen or take place
- sortant
- Coming out; departing from a norm or place
- vraiment
- Really; truly; used to emphasize truth or surprise
- ordinaire
- Ordinary; normal; not unusual or exceptional
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