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Bleak House — Page 4

English → Fr Preface Level 9/10

Lewes (quite mistaken, as he soon found, in supposing the thing to have been abandoned by all authorities) published some ingenious letters to me at the time when that event was chronicled, arguing that spontaneous combustion could not possibly be.

Lewes (qui se trompait complètement, comme il le découvrit bientôt, en supposant que la chose avait été abandonnée par toutes les autorités) me publia quelques lettres ingénieuses à l'époque où cet événement fut relaté, soutenant que la combustion spontanée ne pouvait en aucun cas exister.

I have no need to observe that I do not wilfully or negligently mislead my readers and that before I wrote that description I took pains to investigate the subject.

Je n'ai pas besoin de faire remarquer que je n'induis pas mes lecteurs en erreur de manière délibérée ou négligente, et qu'avant d'écrire cette description, je me suis donné la peine d'étudier le sujet.

There are about thirty cases on record, of which the most famous, that of the Countess Cornelia de Baudi Cesenate, was minutely investigated and described by Giuseppe Bianchini, a prebendary of Verona, otherwise distinguished in letters, who published an account of it at Verona in 1731, which he afterwards republished at Rome.

Il existe environ trente cas répertoriés, dont le plus célèbre, celui de la comtesse Cornelia de Baudi Cesenate, fut minutieusement étudié et décrit par Giuseppe Bianchini, un prébendier de Vérone, par ailleurs distingué dans les lettres, qui en publia un récit à Vérone en 1731, qu'il republia par la suite à Rome.

The appearances, beyond all rational doubt, observed in that case are the appearances observed in Mr. Krook's case.

Les manifestations observées dans ce cas, au-delà de tout doute raisonnable, sont les mêmes que celles observées dans le cas de M. Krook.

The next most famous instance happened at Rheims six years earlier, and the historian in that case is Le Cat, one of the most renowned surgeons produced by France.

Le cas suivant le plus célèbre se produisit à Reims six ans plus tôt, et l'historien de ce cas est Le Cat, l'un des chirurgiens les plus renommés qu'ait produits la France.

The subject was a woman, whose husband was ignorantly convicted of having murdered her; but on solemn appeal to a higher court, he was acquitted because it was shown upon the evidence that she had died the death of which this name of spontaneous combustion is given.

La victime était une femme, dont le mari fut condamné par ignorance pour l'avoir assassinée ; mais, à la suite d'un appel solennel devant une juridiction supérieure, il fut acquitté car les preuves démontrèrent qu'elle était morte de ce qu'on appelle la combustion spontanée.

I do not think it necessary to add to these notable facts, and that general reference to the authorities which will be found at page 30, vol. ii.

Je ne juge pas nécessaire d'ajouter quoi que ce soit à ces faits remarquables, ni à cette référence générale aux autorités qui se trouvera à la page 30, vol. ii.

Vocabulary

qui
who, which, that (relative pronoun)
se
oneself, himself, herself, itself (reflexive pronoun)
trompait
was mistaken, was deceiving (imperfect tense)
complètement
completely, entirely, totally
comme
like, as, since (conjunction or preposition)
il
he, it (masculine singular pronoun)
le
the, him, it (masculine singular article/pronoun)
découvrit
discovered (simple past tense)
bientôt
soon, shortly, before long
en
in, on, by, some of it (preposition/pronoun)
supposant
supposing, assuming (present participle)
que
that, which, what (conjunction/relative pronoun)
la
the, her, it (feminine singular article/pronoun)
chose
thing, matter, affair
avait
had (imperfect tense of avoir)
été
been (past participle of être)
abandonnée
abandoned, deserted, forsaken (feminine adjective)
par
by, through, per (preposition)
toutes
all, every (feminine plural of tout)
les
the (plural article)
autorités
authorities, powers, officials
me
me, to me (personal pronoun)
publia
published (simple past tense)
quelques
some, a few, several
lettres
letters, characters (plural noun)
ingénieuses
ingenious, clever, witty (feminine plural)
époque
epoch, period, time, era
where, when (relative adverb)
cet
this, that (masculine singular before vowel)
événement
event, occurrence, incident
fut
was (simple past tense of être)
relaté
related, narrated, recounted
soutenant
maintaining, supporting, claiming (present participle)
spontanée
spontaneous, voluntary (feminine adjective)
ne
not, no (negative particle)
pouvait
could, was able to (imperfect tense)
aucun
no, not any, none (indefinite adjective)
cas
case, instance, circumstance
exister
to exist, to be present
Je
I (first person singular pronoun)
ai
have (present tense of avoir)
pas
not, no, step (negative adverb/noun)
besoin
need, necessity, requirement
de
of, from, about (preposition)
faire
to do, to make, to perform
remarquer
to notice, to observe, to remark
mes
my (plural possessive adjective)
lecteurs
readers, viewers (masculine plural)
erreur
error, mistake, wrong
manière
manner, way, mode, fashion
délibérée
deliberate, intentional (feminine adjective)
négligente
negligent, careless, neglectful (feminine)
ou
or (conjunction)
qu
that (abbreviated form of que)
avant
before, in front of (preposition/adverb)
écrire
to write, to compose
cette
this, that (feminine singular demonstrative)
description
description, depiction, account
suis
am (present tense of être)
donné
given, devoted (past participle)
peine
pain, sorrow, effort, trouble
étudier
to study, to examine, to investigate
sujet
subject, topic, person, individual
Il
It (masculine singular subject pronoun)
existe
exists, there is (present tense)
environ
about, approximately, around (adverb)
trente
thirty (number)
dont
of which, whose, among which
plus
more, most (adverb/adjective)
célèbre
famous, celebrated, renowned
celui
that one, the one (masculine demonstrative)
comtesse
countess, noblewoman (feminine noun)
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