Bleak House — Page 2
The Close of Esther's Narrative
La Fin du récit d'Esther
PREFACE
PRÉFACE
A Chancery judge once had the kindness to inform me, as one of a company of some hundred and fifty men and women not labouring under any suspicions of lunacy, that the Court of Chancery, though the shining subject of much popular prejudice (at which point I thought the judge's eye had a cast in my direction), was almost immaculate.
Un juge de la Cour de chancellerie eut un jour la bonté de m'informer, en ma qualité de membre d'une assemblée d'environ cent cinquante hommes et femmes ne souffrant d'aucun soupçon de folie, que la Cour de chancellerie, bien qu'étant le brillant objet de nombreux préjugés populaires (moment auquel je crus percevoir que l'œil du juge se tournait dans ma direction), était presque irréprochable.
There had been, he admitted, a trivial blemish or so in its rate of progress, but this was exaggerated and had been entirely owing to the "parsimony of the public," which guilty public, it appeared, had been until lately bent in the most determined manner on by no means enlarging the number of Chancery judges appointed—I believe by Richard the Second, but any other king will do as well.
Il y avait eu, admit-il, un défaut insignifiant ou à peu près dans son rythme de progression, mais celui-ci avait été exagéré et était entièrement dû à la « parcimonie du public », lequel public coupable, semblait-il, s'était jusqu'à récemment acharné de la manière la plus déterminée à ne surtout pas augmenter le nombre de juges de chancellerie nommés — par Richard II, je crois, mais n'importe quel autre roi ferait tout aussi bien l'affaire.
This seemed to me too profound a joke to be inserted in the body of this book or I should have restored it to Conversation Kenge or to Mr. Vholes, with one or other of whom I think it must have originated.
Cela me sembla une plaisanterie trop profonde pour être insérée dans le corps de ce livre, sans quoi je l'aurais restituée à Conversation Kenge ou à M. Vholes, de l'un ou l'autre desquels je pense qu'elle doit être issue.
In such mouths I might have coupled it with an apt quotation from one of Shakespeare's sonnets:
Dans de telles bouches, j'aurais pu l'associer à une citation appropriée tirée de l'un des sonnets de Shakespeare :
"My nature is subdued To what it works in, like the dyer's hand: Pity me, then, and wish I were renewed!
« Ma nature est asservie À ce en quoi elle œuvre, telle la main du teinturier : Ayez pitié de moi, donc, et souhaitez que je sois renouvelé !
Vocabulary
- Fin
- The end or conclusion of something
- récit
- A narrative or account of events
- PRÉFACE
- An introductory section at the beginning of a book
- juge
- A judge who presides over legal proceedings
- Cour
- A court, especially a judicial or royal institution
- chancellerie
- A chancery or chancellery, an administrative legal office
- eut
- Past tense of 'avoir'; had (simple past)
- bonté
- Kindness or goodness shown toward others
- informer
- To inform or notify someone about something
- qualité
- Quality, capacity, or status in a given role
- membre
- A member of a group or organization
- assemblée
- An assembly or gathering of people
- environ
- Approximately or about a certain number
- souffrant
- Suffering from or tolerating something unpleasant
- aucun
- No, none, or not any (negative adjective)
- soupçon
- A suspicion or slight hint of something
- folie
- Madness, folly, or extreme foolishness
- étant
- Present participle of 'être'; being
- brillant
- Brilliant, shining, or outstandingly clever
- objet
- An object or subject of attention
- nombreux
- Numerous or many in number
- préjugés
- Prejudices or preconceived biased opinions
- populaires
- Popular or widely held among the general public
- auquel
- Relative pronoun meaning 'at which' or 'to which'
- crus
- Simple past of 'croire'; I believed or thought
- percevoir
- To perceive or notice something with the senses
- œil
- The eye, organ of sight
- tournait
- Imperfect tense of 'tourner'; was turning
- direction
- A direction or course toward something
- presque
- Almost or nearly but not completely
- irréprochable
- Irreproachable; beyond criticism or reproach
- admit-il
- He admitted (inverted form, simple past)
- défaut
- A flaw, fault, or shortcoming
- insignifiant
- Insignificant, trivial, or of little importance
- près
- Near or close; 'à peu près' means approximately
- rythme
- Rhythm or pace of movement or progress
- progression
- Progress or advancement toward a goal
- celui-ci
- This one (masculine demonstrative pronoun)
- exagéré
- Exaggerated or overstated beyond reality
- entièrement
- Entirely or completely without exception
- dû
- Past participle of 'devoir'; owed or due to
- parcimonie
- Parsimony; extreme frugality or stinginess
- lequel
- Relative pronoun meaning 'which' or 'who' (masculine)
- coupable
- Guilty or culpable of a wrongdoing
- semblait-il
- It seemed (inverted imperfect of 'sembler')
- récemment
- Recently, not long ago in time
- acharné
- Fiercely determined or relentlessly intense
- manière
- A manner, way, or style of doing something
- déterminée
- Determined or resolute in purpose
- surtout
- Above all, especially, or most importantly
- augmenter
- To increase or raise the quantity of something
- nombre
- A number or quantity of people or things
- juges
- Judges; plural of 'juge'
- nommés
- Named or appointed to a position
- crois
- Present tense of 'croire'; I believe or think
- importe
- Matters; 'n'importe quel' means any whatsoever
- quel
- Which or what (interrogative/exclamative adjective)
- roi
- A king or male monarch
- ferait
- Conditional of 'faire'; would do or make
- affaire
- A matter, affair, or business deal
- Cela
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'that' or 'it'
- sembla
- Simple past of 'sembler'; seemed or appeared
- plaisanterie
- A joke or jest meant to amuse
- trop
- Too much or too many; excessively
- profonde
- Deep or profound in meaning or intensity
- insérée
- Inserted or included within a larger text
- corps
- Body or main part of a text or organism
- quoi
- What; pronoun used after prepositions
- aurais
- Conditional of 'avoir'; I would have
- restituée
- Restored or returned to its original place
- desquels
- Relative pronoun meaning 'from which' or 'of whom'
- doit
- Present tense of 'devoir'; must or should
- issue
- Originated from or emerged out of something
- telles
- Such or like these (feminine plural adjective)
- bouches
- Mouths; plural of 'bouche'
- associer
- To associate or connect one thing with another
- citation
- A quotation or cited passage from a text
- appropriée
- Appropriate or suitable for the context
- tirée
- Drawn or taken from a source
- sonnets
- Sonnets; short poems of fourteen lines
- nature
- Nature or one's innate character and essence
- asservie
- Enslaved or subjugated to someone or something
- œuvre
- A work, especially an artistic or literary creation
- telle
- Such or like this (feminine singular adjective)
- main
- A hand, the part of the body used to grasp
- teinturier
- A dyer who colors fabric or cloth professionally
- Ayez
- Imperative of 'avoir'; have (formal/plural command)
- pitié
- Pity or compassion felt for someone's suffering
- donc
- Therefore or so; used to draw a conclusion
- souhaitez
- Imperative of 'souhaiter'; wish or desire (formal)
- sois
- Subjunctive/imperative of 'être'; be (command form)
- renouvelé
- Renewed or refreshed, made new again
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