Crime and Punishment — Page 2
After eight months' imprisonment he was with twenty-one others taken out to the Semyonovsky Square to be shot.
Après huit mois d'emprisonnement, il fut emmené avec vingt et un autres sur la place Semionovsky pour être fusillé.
Writing to his brother Mihail, Dostoevsky says: "They snapped words over our heads, and they made us put on the white shirts worn by persons condemned to death.
Écrivant à son frère Mikhaïl, Dostoïevski dit : « Ils prononcèrent des paroles au-dessus de nos têtes, et ils nous firent revêtir les chemises blanches portées par les personnes condamnées à mort.
Thereupon we were bound in threes to stakes, to suffer execution.
Là-dessus, nous fûmes attachés par groupes de trois à des poteaux, pour subir l'exécution.
Being the third in the row, I concluded I had only a few minutes of life before me.
Étant le troisième dans la rangée, je conclus qu'il ne me restait que quelques minutes à vivre.
I thought of you and your dear ones and I contrived to kiss Plestcheiev and Dourov, who were next to me, and to bid them farewell.
Je pensai à vous et à vos proches et je parvins à embrasser Plestcheïev et Dourov, qui étaient à côté de moi, et à leur dire adieu.
Suddenly the troops beat a tattoo, we were unbound, brought back upon the scaffold, and informed that his Majesty had spared us our lives."
Soudain les troupes battirent le tambour, nous fûmes détachés, ramenés sur l'échafaud, et informés que Sa Majesté nous avait épargné la vie. »
The sentence was commuted to hard labour.
La peine fut commuée en travaux forcés.
One of the prisoners, Grigoryev, went mad as soon as he was untied, and never regained his sanity.
L'un des prisonniers, Grigoryev, devint fou dès qu'on le détacha, et ne retrouva jamais la raison.
The intense suffering of this experience left a lasting stamp on Dostoevsky's mind.
La souffrance intense de cette expérience laissa une empreinte durable sur l'esprit de Dostoïevski.
Though his religious temper led him in the end to accept every suffering with resignation and to regard it as a blessing in his own case, he constantly recurs to the subject in his writings.
Bien que son tempérament religieux l'ait finalement conduit à accepter toute souffrance avec résignation et à la considérer comme une bénédiction dans son propre cas, il revient constamment sur ce sujet dans ses écrits.
He describes the awful agony of the condemned man and insists on the cruelty of inflicting such torture.
Il décrit l'horrible agonie du condamné et insiste sur la cruauté d'infliger une telle torture.
Then followed four years of penal servitude, spent in the company of common criminals in Siberia, where he began the "Dead House," and some years of service in a disciplinary battalion.
Vinrent ensuite quatre ans de bagne, passés en compagnie de criminels de droit commun en Sibérie, où il commença la « Maison des morts », puis quelques années de service dans un bataillon disciplinaire.
Vocabulary
- Après
- After; following in time or order
- huit
- The number eight
- mois
- Month; a unit of time
- d'
- Contraction of 'de'; of or from
- emprisonnement
- Imprisonment; the state of being jailed
- il
- He; third-person masculine singular pronoun
- fut
- Was; simple past of 'être'
- emmené
- Led away; taken to another place
- avec
- With; in the company of
- vingt
- The number twenty
- et
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- un
- One; indefinite article or number
- autres
- Others; additional people or things
- sur
- On; upon a surface or location
- la
- The; feminine definite article
- place
- Square; public open space in a town
- pour
- For; in order to; expressing purpose
- être
- To be; fundamental French auxiliary verb
- fusillé
- Shot by firing squad; executed by gunfire
- Écrivant
- Writing; present participle of 'écrire'
- à
- To; at; preposition indicating direction or location
- son
- His or her; possessive adjective
- frère
- Brother; male sibling
- dit
- Said; simple past of 'dire'
- Ils
- They; third-person masculine plural pronoun
- prononcèrent
- Pronounced; uttered words formally or officially
- des
- Some; plural indefinite article in French
- paroles
- Words; spoken statements or lyrics
- au-dessus
- Above; at a higher level or position
- de
- Of; from; preposition indicating possession or origin
- nos
- Our; first-person plural possessive adjective
- têtes
- Heads; the upper part of the body
- nous
- We or us; first-person plural pronoun
- firent
- Made or caused; simple past of 'faire'
- revêtir
- To put on; to dress in a garment
- les
- The; plural definite article in French
- chemises
- Shirts; garments worn on the upper body
- blanches
- White; feminine plural form of 'blanc'
- portées
- Worn; carried; past participle of 'porter'
- par
- By; through; indicating agent or means
- personnes
- Persons; individuals; people
- condamnées
- Condemned; sentenced to punishment or death
- mort
- Death; the end of life
- Là-dessus
- Thereupon; after that; on that matter
- fûmes
- Were; first-person plural simple past of 'être'
- attachés
- Tied; bound; fastened to something
- groupes
- Groups; sets of people or things together
- trois
- Three; the number 3
- poteaux
- Posts; poles used for execution or support
- subir
- To undergo; to suffer or endure something
- l'
- The; elided definite article before a vowel
- exécution
- Execution; carrying out a death sentence
- Étant
- Being; present participle of 'être'
- le
- The; masculine singular definite article
- troisième
- Third; ordinal number following second
- dans
- In; inside; within a space or group
- rangée
- Row; a line of people or objects
- je
- I; first-person singular subject pronoun
- conclus
- Concluded; decided; inferred from evidence
- qu'
- That; elided conjunction before a vowel
- ne
- Not; negative particle used with 'pas' etc.
- me
- Me; first-person singular object pronoun
- restait
- Remained; was left; imperfect of 'rester'
- que
- That; only; conjunction or relative pronoun
- quelques
- A few; some; a small number of
- minutes
- Minutes; units of time, sixty seconds each
- vivre
- To live; to be alive
- Je
- I; first-person singular subject pronoun
- pensai
- Thought; simple past of 'penser'
- vous
- You; second-person singular formal or plural
- vos
- Your; plural or formal possessive adjective
- proches
- Loved ones; people close to someone
- parvins
- Managed; succeeded in; simple past of 'parvenir'
- embrasser
- To embrace; to hug or kiss someone
- qui
- Who; which; relative or interrogative pronoun
- étaient
- Were; imperfect tense of 'être'
- côté
- Side; beside; next to something or someone
- moi
- Me; stressed first-person singular pronoun
- leur
- Their; to them; possessive or indirect pronoun
- dire
- To say; to tell someone something
- adieu
- Farewell; a final goodbye
- Soudain
- Suddenly; unexpectedly; all at once
- troupes
- Troops; soldiers or military units
- battirent
- Beat; struck; simple past of 'battre'
- tambour
- Drum; a percussion instrument beaten rhythmically
- détachés
- Untied; detached; released from bindings
- ramenés
- Brought back; led back to a place
- échafaud
- Scaffold; platform used for executions
- informés
- Informed; told; given official information
- Sa
- His or her; possessive before singular noun
- Majesté
- Majesty; title used for a monarch
- avait
- Had; imperfect tense of 'avoir'
- épargné
- Spared; saved from harm or death
- vie
- Life; the state of being alive
- La
- The; feminine singular definite article
- peine
- Sentence; punishment; difficulty or sorrow
- commuée
- Commuted; reduced to a lesser punishment
- en
- In; into; as; preposition indicating transformation
- travaux
- Works; labor; plural of 'travail'
- forcés
- Forced; compulsory; done under compulsion
- prisonniers
- Prisoners; people held captive or imprisoned
- devint
- Became; simple past of 'devenir'
- fou
- Mad; insane; having lost one's reason
- dès
- As soon as; from the moment that
- on
- One; we; they; indefinite subject pronoun
- détacha
- Untied; released; simple past of 'détacher'
- retrouva
- Found again; regained; simple past of 'retrouver'
- jamais
- Never; ever; at no time
- raison
- Reason; sanity; rational thinking
- souffrance
- Suffering; pain; great distress or anguish
- intense
- Intense; very strong or extreme in degree
- cette
- This; feminine singular demonstrative adjective
- expérience
- Experience; an event lived through personally
- laissa
- Left; let; simple past of 'laisser'
- une
- A; an; feminine indefinite article
- empreinte
- Mark; imprint; lasting impression on something
- durable
- Lasting; enduring over a long period
- esprit
- Mind; spirit; intellect or mental faculty
- Bien
- Although; well; even though (here concessive)
- tempérament
- Temperament; natural character or disposition
- religieux
- Religious; relating to faith or spiritual belief
- ait
- Has; present subjunctive of 'avoir'
- finalement
- Finally; in the end; ultimately
- conduit
- Led; brought; past participle of 'conduire'
- accepter
- To accept; to agree or receive willingly
- toute
- All; every; entire; feminine form of 'tout'
- résignation
- Resignation; calm acceptance of hardship
- considérer
- To consider; to regard or view something
- comme
- As; like; in the manner of
- bénédiction
- Blessing; a gift or benefit from God
- propre
- Own; clean; one's own particular case
- cas
- Case; situation; particular instance or matter
- revient
- Returns to; comes back; recurs in thought
- constamment
- Constantly; repeatedly; without stopping
- ce
- This; that; demonstrative pronoun or adjective
- sujet
- Subject; topic; matter being discussed
- ses
- His or her; plural possessive adjective
- écrits
- Writings; texts; works authored by someone
- Il
- He; third-person masculine singular subject pronoun
- décrit
- Describes; present tense of 'décrire'
- horrible
- Horrible; dreadful; causing great horror
- agonie
- Agony; extreme suffering before death
- du
- Of the; contracted masculine definite article
- condamné
- Condemned man; person sentenced to death
- insiste
- Insists; emphasizes strongly a point
- cruauté
- Cruelty; willingness to cause pain or suffering
- infliger
- To inflict; to impose pain or punishment
- telle
- Such a; of this kind; feminine form
- torture
- Torture; deliberate infliction of severe pain
- Vinrent
- Came; simple past of 'venir'
- ensuite
- Then; afterwards; next in sequence
- quatre
- Four; the number 4
- ans
- Years; units of time equal to twelve months
- bagne
- Penal colony; prison camp with hard labor
- passés
- Spent; passed; past participle of 'passer'
- compagnie
- Company; the presence of others with someone
- criminels
- Criminals; people who have committed crimes
- droit
- Common law; right; straight; law
- commun
- Common; shared; ordinary or widespread
- où
- Where; in which; relative adverb of place
- commença
- Began; started; simple past of 'commencer'
- Maison
- House; home; building used as dwelling
- morts
- Dead; deceased; plural of 'mort'
- puis
- Then; afterwards; next in sequence
- années
- Years; feminine plural of 'an'
- service
- Service; duty; period of military obligation
- bataillon
- Battalion; a large military unit of soldiers
- disciplinaire
- Disciplinary; relating to military discipline
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