Bleak House — Page 6
A sallow prisoner has come up, in custody, for the half-dozenth time to make a personal application "to purge himself of his contempt," which, being a solitary surviving executor who has fallen into a state of conglomeration about accounts of which it is not pretended that he had ever any knowledge, he is not at all likely ever to do.
Un prisonnier au teint blême a comparu, sous garde, pour la sixième fois environ, afin de présenter une requête personnelle « pour se purger de son outrage au tribunal », ce qu'il n'est guère susceptible d'accomplir jamais, étant le seul exécuteur testamentaire survivant et s'étant retrouvé dans un état de confusion totale au sujet de comptes dont on ne prétend pas qu'il ait jamais eu la moindre connaissance.
In the meantime his prospects in life are ended.
En attendant, ses perspectives d'avenir sont anéanties.
Another ruined suitor, who periodically appears from Shropshire and breaks out into efforts to address the Chancellor at the close of the day's business and who can by no means be made to understand that the Chancellor is legally ignorant of his existence after making it desolate for a quarter of a century, plants himself in a good place and keeps an eye on the judge, ready to call out "My Lord!" in a voice of sonorous complaint on the instant of his rising.
Un autre plaideur ruiné, qui surgit périodiquement du Shropshire et tente avec véhémence d'interpeller le Chancelier à la clôture des audiences du jour, et qu'on ne saurait en aucune façon amener à comprendre que le Chancelier ignore légalement son existence après l'avoir rendue désolée pendant un quart de siècle, se poste à un bon endroit et surveille le juge du regard, prêt à crier « Monseigneur ! » d'une voix de plainte retentissante dès l'instant où celui-ci se lève.
A few lawyers' clerks and others who know this suitor by sight linger on the chance of his furnishing some fun and enlivening the dismal weather a little.
Quelques clercs d'avocats et d'autres personnes qui connaissent ce plaideur de vue s'attardent dans l'espoir qu'il leur procurera quelque distraction et égaiera un peu ce temps maussade.
Jarndyce and Jarndyce drones on.
Jarndyce contre Jarndyce ronronne interminablement.
This scarecrow of a suit has, in course of time, become so complicated that no man alive knows what it means.
Ce procès-épouvantail est devenu, avec le temps, si compliqué qu'aucun homme vivant ne sait ce qu'il signifie.
The parties to it understand it least, but it has been observed that no two Chancery lawyers can talk about it for five minutes without coming to a total disagreement as to all the premises.
Les parties au procès sont celles qui le comprennent le moins, mais il a été observé qu'il n'est pas deux avocats de la Chancellerie capables d'en parler pendant cinq minutes sans parvenir à un désaccord total sur toutes les prémisses.
Vocabulary
- prisonnier
- A person confined in prison; a prisoner
- teint
- Complexion or color of a person's skin
- blême
- Pale, wan, or sickly in appearance
- comparu
- Past participle of 'comparaître'; appeared before court
- garde
- Guard; custody or watch over someone
- sixième
- Ordinal number meaning 'sixth'
- fois
- Time or instance; 'la sixième fois' means sixth time
- environ
- Approximately or about a given number
- afin
- Used in 'afin de/que' meaning 'in order to'
- présenter
- To present, submit, or introduce something formally
- requête
- A formal petition or legal request
- personnelle
- Adjective meaning personal or individual
- purger
- To purge or serve out a sentence or contempt
- outrage
- Contempt or outrage, especially in legal context
- tribunal
- A court or tribunal that administers justice
- guère
- Hardly, scarcely; used in negative constructions
- susceptible
- Likely to do something; prone or liable to
- accomplir
- To accomplish, fulfill, or carry out a task
- jamais
- Never (in negative) or ever (in positive context)
- étant
- Present participle of 'être'; being
- seul
- Alone, only, or sole; the only one
- exécuteur
- Executor; person who carries out a will or order
- testamentaire
- Relating to a will or testament
- survivant
- A survivor; one who remains alive
- retrouvé
- Past participle of 'retrouver'; found oneself, rediscovered
- état
- State or condition of a person or thing
- confusion
- A state of disorder or bewilderment
- totale
- Adjective meaning complete or total
- sujet
- Subject or topic; concerning something
- comptes
- Accounts, especially financial records or reports
- dont
- Relative pronoun meaning 'of which', 'whose', 'about which'
- prétend
- Claims or alleges; to assert without proof
- ait
- Subjunctive form of 'avoir'; has (subjunctive)
- moindre
- The slightest or least; smallest amount
- connaissance
- Knowledge or awareness of something
- attendant
- 'En attendant' means 'in the meantime' or 'while waiting'
- perspectives
- Prospects or outlooks for the future
- avenir
- The future; what lies ahead
- anéanties
- Destroyed, annihilated, or utterly ruined
- plaideur
- A litigant; person engaged in a lawsuit
- ruiné
- Ruined financially or otherwise destroyed
- surgit
- Springs up or appears suddenly from somewhere
- périodiquement
- Periodically; occurring at regular intervals
- tente
- Tries or attempts to do something
- véhémence
- Vehemence; intense forcefulness of expression or action
- interpeller
- To challenge or address someone forcefully and directly
- Chancelier
- Chancellor; high-ranking official presiding over court
- clôture
- Closure or end of proceedings or session
- audiences
- Court hearings or formal sessions
- saurait
- Conditional of 'savoir'; would know how to
- aucune
- No, none, or not any (feminine form)
- façon
- A manner, way, or fashion of doing something
- amener
- To bring someone or lead to a result
- comprendre
- To understand or comprehend something
- ignore
- Is unaware of; does not know or ignores
- légalement
- Legally; in accordance with the law
- existence
- The fact or state of existing; being
- après
- Preposition meaning 'after' or 'following'
- rendue
- Past participle of 'rendre'; made or rendered
- désolée
- Desolate, devastated, or very sorry
- pendant
- During or for a period of time
- quart
- Quarter; one fourth of a whole
- siècle
- A century; a period of one hundred years
- poste
- Post or position; also mail or postal service
- endroit
- A place or location
- surveille
- Watches over or monitors someone or something
- juge
- A judge who presides over legal proceedings
- regard
- Gaze or look; an act of looking at something
- prêt
- Ready or prepared to do something
- crier
- To shout or cry out loudly
- Monseigneur
- My Lord; honorific title for high-ranking person
- voix
- Voice; the sound produced by a person speaking
- plainte
- A complaint or a lamenting, mournful sound
- retentissante
- Resounding or loud; echoing powerfully through space
- dès
- From, as soon as; indicating immediate start
- instant
- Moment or instant; a very brief period of time
- où
- Where or when; relative adverb of place or time
- celui-
- Part of 'celui-ci'; this one (masculine demonstrative)
- ci
- Here; used with demonstratives like 'celui-ci' (this one)
- lève
- Rises or lifts; third person singular of 'lever'
- Quelques
- A few or some; a small number of things
- clercs
- Clerks or legal assistants in a court setting
- avocats
- Lawyers or attorneys who plead in court
- connaissent
- Know (someone); are familiar with a person
- vue
- Sight or view; having seen or knowing by sight
- attardent
- Linger or stay behind; delay their departure
- espoir
- Hope; expectation of something desired happening
- procurera
- Will provide or obtain something for someone
- quelque
- Some or a little; an unspecified small amount
- distraction
- Entertainment or diversion from routine or boredom
- égaiera
- Will brighten up or cheer up a situation
- maussade
- Gloomy, sullen, or dull in mood or atmosphere
- contre
- Against; in opposition to someone or something
- ronronne
- Purrs or drones on monotonously like an engine
- interminablement
- Endlessly or interminably; without stopping or concluding
- procès-
- Part of compound 'procès'; trial or lawsuit
- épouvantail
- Scarecrow; something frightening used as a deterrent
- devenu
- Past participle of 'devenir'; become or grown into
- compliqué
- Complicated or complex; difficult to understand
- aucun
- No, none, not any (masculine); no one
- vivant
- Living or alive; a living person
- sait
- Knows; third-person singular of 'savoir'
- signifie
- Means or signifies; indicates a particular meaning
- parties
- Parties involved in a lawsuit or agreement
- procès
- Trial or lawsuit; a legal proceeding in court
- celles
- Demonstrative pronoun feminine plural; those ones
- comprennent
- Understand; third-person plural of 'comprendre'
- moins
- Less or fewer; a smaller amount or degree
- observé
- Observed or noticed; watched carefully
- Chancellerie
- Chancery; the court or office of a chancellor
- capables
- Capable or able; having the ability to do something
- sans
- Preposition meaning 'without'
- parvenir
- To succeed in reaching or achieving something
- désaccord
- Disagreement or discord between parties
- total
- Total or complete; absolute in every respect
- prémisses
- Premises; propositions from which conclusions are drawn
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