Bleak House — Page 4
Well may the court be dim, with wasting candles here and there; well may the fog hang heavy in it, as if it would never get out; well may the stained-glass windows lose their colour and admit no light of day into the place; well may the uninitiated from the streets, who peep in through the glass panes in the door, be deterred from entrance by its owlish aspect and by the drawl, languidly echoing to the roof from the padded dais where the Lord High Chancellor looks into the lantern that has no light in it and where the attendant wigs are all stuck in a fog-bank!
Il n'est que trop normal que la salle d'audience soit plongée dans la pénombre, avec ses bougies qui se consument çà et là ; il n'est que trop normal que le brouillard y pèse lourdement, comme s'il ne devait jamais s'en échapper ; il n'est que trop normal que les vitraux y perdent leurs couleurs et ne laissent filtrer aucune lumière du jour ; il n'est que trop normal que les profanes venus de la rue, qui regardent à travers les vitres de la porte, soient rebutés par son aspect de hibou et par la voix traînante qui résonne paresseusement jusqu'au plafond depuis l'estrade rembourrée où le Lord Grand Chancelier scrute la lanterne qui ne dispense aucune lumière, et où les perruques des assistants sont toutes enlisées dans un banc de brouillard !
This is the Court of Chancery, which has its decaying houses and its blighted lands in every shire, which has its worn-out lunatic in every madhouse and its dead in every churchyard, which has its ruined suitor with his slipshod heels and threadbare dress borrowing and begging through the round of every man's acquaintance, which gives to monied might the means abundantly of wearying out the right, which so exhausts finances, patience, courage, hope, so overthrows the brain and breaks the heart, that there is not an honourable man among its practitioners who would not give—who does not often give—the warning, "Suffer any wrong that can be done you rather than come here!
Voici la Cour de la Chancellerie, qui possède ses maisons en ruine et ses terres dévastées dans chaque comté, qui compte son fou épuisé dans chaque asile et ses morts dans chaque cimetière, qui a son plaideur ruiné aux talons éculés et aux habits râpés, empruntant et mendiant auprès de toutes les relations qu'il peut avoir, qui offre à la puissance de l'argent les moyens de lasser abondamment le bon droit, qui épuise à ce point les finances, la patience, le courage et l'espoir, qui renverse à ce point la raison et brise le cœur, qu'il n'est pas un homme honorable parmi ses praticiens qui ne donnerait pas — qui ne donne pas souvent — cet avertissement : « Subissez tous les torts qu'on peut vous faire plutôt que de venir ici !
Vocabulary
- trop
- Adverb meaning 'too' or 'too much'.
- normal
- Adjective meaning ordinary, expected, or standard.
- salle
- Noun meaning a room or hall in a building.
- audience
- Noun meaning a court hearing or formal session.
- soit
- Subjunctive form of 'être'; means 'be' or 'may be'.
- plongée
- Past participle meaning plunged or immersed into something.
- pénombre
- Noun meaning dim light, semi-darkness, or half-shadow.
- bougies
- Plural noun meaning candles used for providing light.
- consument
- Third person plural of 'consumer'; meaning to burn or consume.
- çà
- Adverb used in the expression 'çà et là' meaning here.
- brouillard
- Noun meaning fog or mist obscuring visibility.
- pèse
- Third person singular of 'peser'; meaning weighs or bears down.
- lourdement
- Adverb meaning heavily or with great weight.
- devait
- Imperfect of 'devoir'; meaning 'had to' or 'was supposed to'.
- jamais
- Adverb meaning 'never' or 'ever'.
- échapper
- Verb meaning to escape or get away from something.
- vitraux
- Plural noun meaning stained glass windows in a building.
- perdent
- Third person plural of 'perdre'; meaning lose or forfeit.
- couleurs
- Plural noun meaning colors or hues.
- laissent
- Third person plural of 'laisser'; meaning let or allow.
- filtrer
- Verb meaning to filter or pass through gradually.
- aucune
- Negative adjective meaning 'no' or 'not any'.
- lumière
- Noun meaning light, whether natural or artificial.
- jour
- Noun meaning day or daylight.
- profanes
- Noun or adjective meaning laypeople or outsiders, not initiated.
- venus
- Past participle of 'venir'; meaning come or having arrived.
- rue
- Noun meaning a street or road in a town.
- regardent
- Third person plural of 'regarder'; meaning look at or watch.
- travers
- Noun used in 'à travers' meaning through or across.
- vitres
- Plural noun meaning glass panes or windowpanes.
- porte
- Noun meaning door; or third person singular of 'porter'.
- soient
- Subjunctive plural of 'être'; meaning 'may be' or 'are'.
- rebutés
- Past participle of 'rebuter'; meaning put off or repelled.
- aspect
- Noun meaning appearance or look of something or someone.
- hibou
- Noun meaning owl, a nocturnal bird of prey.
- voix
- Noun meaning voice or vocal sound.
- traînante
- Adjective meaning drawling, dragging, or slow in manner.
- résonne
- Third person singular of 'résonner'; meaning echoes or resounds.
- paresseusement
- Adverb meaning lazily or sluggishly.
- plafond
- Noun meaning ceiling of a room or building.
- depuis
- Preposition meaning 'since' or 'from' a point in time.
- estrade
- Noun meaning a raised platform or dais in a room.
- rembourrée
- Adjective meaning padded or upholstered with soft material.
- Grand
- Adjective meaning great, large, or high-ranking.
- Chancelier
- Noun meaning Chancellor, a high government or legal official.
- scrute
- Third person singular of 'scruter'; meaning scrutinizes or examines closely.
- lanterne
- Noun meaning lantern or lamp providing light.
- dispense
- Third person singular of 'dispenser'; meaning dispenses or distributes.
- perruques
- Plural noun meaning wigs worn on the head.
- assistants
- Plural noun meaning assistants or those present at an event.
- enlisées
- Past participle meaning bogged down or stuck in something.
- banc
- Noun meaning bench or seat, often in a courtroom.
- Voici
- Presentative adverb meaning 'here is' or 'behold'.
- Cour
- Noun meaning court, either legal or royal.
- Chancellerie
- Noun meaning Chancery, the office of a Chancellor.
- possède
- Third person singular of 'posséder'; meaning owns or possesses.
- maisons
- Plural noun meaning houses or homes.
- ruine
- Noun meaning ruin or state of decay and destruction.
- terres
- Plural noun meaning lands or territories.
- dévastées
- Past participle meaning devastated or laid waste.
- chaque
- Adjective meaning 'each' or 'every'.
- comté
- Noun meaning county, an administrative territorial division.
- compte
- Third person singular of 'compter'; meaning counts or has.
- fou
- Adjective or noun meaning mad, crazy, or a madman.
- épuisé
- Adjective meaning exhausted, drained, or worn out.
- asile
- Noun meaning asylum or institution for the mentally ill.
- morts
- Plural noun or adjective meaning dead people or deaths.
- cimetière
- Noun meaning cemetery or graveyard where the dead are buried.
- plaideur
- Noun meaning litigant, a person involved in a lawsuit.
- ruiné
- Past participle meaning ruined or financially destroyed.
- talons
- Plural noun meaning heels of a foot or shoe.
- éculés
- Adjective meaning worn down at the heel, shabby or threadbare.
- habits
- Plural noun meaning clothes or garments worn by a person.
- râpés
- Adjective meaning threadbare or worn out from use.
- empruntant
- Present participle of 'emprunter'; meaning borrowing money or things.
- mendiant
- Noun or adjective meaning beggar or someone who begs.
- auprès
- Preposition meaning 'near,' 'with,' or 'among' someone.
- relations
- Plural noun meaning connections, acquaintances, or relationships.
- offre
- Third person singular of 'offrir'; meaning offers or provides.
- puissance
- Noun meaning power, strength, or might.
- argent
- Noun meaning money or the metal silver.
- moyens
- Plural noun meaning means, resources, or ways to do something.
- lasser
- Verb meaning to tire, weary, or exhaust someone's patience.
- abondamment
- Adverb meaning abundantly or in great quantity.
- bon
- Adjective meaning good, right, or valid.
- droit
- Noun meaning right or law; adjective meaning straight.
- épuise
- Third person singular of 'épuiser'; meaning exhausts or depletes.
- point
- Noun meaning point or extent; also used in negation.
- finances
- Plural noun meaning finances or financial resources.
- patience
- Noun meaning patience or the ability to endure calmly.
- courage
- Noun meaning courage or bravery in facing difficulty.
- espoir
- Noun meaning hope or expectation of something good.
- renverse
- Third person singular of 'renverser'; meaning overturns or upsets.
- raison
- Noun meaning reason, sanity, or rational thinking.
- brise
- Third person singular of 'briser'; meaning breaks or shatters.
- cœur
- Noun meaning heart, either physical or emotional.
- homme
- Noun meaning man or human being.
- honorable
- Adjective meaning honorable, respectable, or worthy of esteem.
- parmi
- Preposition meaning 'among' or 'in the midst of'.
- praticiens
- Plural noun meaning practitioners or professionals in a field.
- donnerait
- Conditional of 'donner'; meaning 'would give'.
- donne
- Third person singular of 'donner'; meaning gives or provides.
- souvent
- Adverb meaning often or frequently.
- avertissement
- Noun meaning warning or notice given to someone.
- Subissez
- Imperative of 'subir'; meaning endure or undergo something.
- tous
- Adjective or pronoun meaning 'all' or 'everyone'.
- torts
- Plural noun meaning wrongs or injustices done to someone.
- plutôt
- Adverb meaning 'rather' or 'instead'.
- venir
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to come'.
- ici
- Adverb meaning 'here' indicating a specific place.
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