Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus — Page 15
In the morning, however, as soon as it was light, I went upon deck and found all the sailors busy on one side of the vessel, apparently talking to someone in the sea.
Le matin, cependant, dès qu'il fit jour, je montai sur le pont et trouvai tous les matelots occupés d'un côté du navire, apparemment en train de parler à quelqu'un dans la mer.
It was, in fact, a sledge, like that we had seen before, which had drifted towards us in the night on a large fragment of ice.
C'était, en effet, un traîneau, semblable à celui que nous avions vu auparavant, qui avait dérivé vers nous dans la nuit sur un grand fragment de glace.
Only one dog remained alive; but there was a human being within it whom the sailors were persuading to enter the vessel.
Un seul chien était encore en vie ; mais il y avait à l'intérieur un être humain que les matelots cherchaient à persuader de monter à bord du navire.
He was not, as the other traveller seemed to be, a savage inhabitant of some undiscovered island, but a European.
Il n'était pas, comme l'autre voyageur semblait l'être, un habitant sauvage de quelque île inconnue, mais un Européen.
When I appeared on deck the master said, "Here is our captain, and he will not allow you to perish on the open sea."
Quand je parus sur le pont, le maître dit : « Voici notre capitaine, et il ne vous laissera pas périr en pleine mer. »
On perceiving me, the stranger addressed me in English, although with a foreign accent.
En m'apercevant, l'étranger s'adressa à moi en anglais, bien qu'avec un accent étranger.
"Before I come on board your vessel," said he, "will you have the kindness to inform me whither you are bound?"
« Avant de monter à bord de votre navire, dit-il, auriez-vous la bonté de m'informer où vous vous dirigez ? »
You may conceive my astonishment on hearing such a question addressed to me from a man on the brink of destruction and to whom I should have supposed that my vessel would have been a resource which he would not have exchanged for the most precious wealth the earth can afford.
Vous pouvez imaginer mon étonnement en entendant une telle question m'être posée par un homme au bord de sa perte et pour qui j'aurais supposé que mon navire eût été une ressource qu'il n'aurait pas échangée contre les richesses les plus précieuses que la terre puisse offrir.
I replied, however, that we were on a voyage of discovery towards the northern pole.
Je répondis cependant que nous étions en voyage de découverte vers le pôle nord.
Upon hearing this he appeared satisfied and consented to come on board.
En entendant cela, il parut satisfait et consentit à monter à bord.
Good God!
Grand Dieu !
Vocabulary
- matin
- The morning; early part of the day
- cependant
- However; nevertheless; used to introduce contrast
- dès
- As soon as; from; indicating immediacy of time
- fit
- Past historic of 'faire'; he made or did
- jour
- Day; daylight; a unit of time
- montai
- Past historic of 'monter'; I climbed or went up
- pont
- Bridge; also the deck of a ship
- trouvai
- Past historic of 'trouver'; I found or discovered
- tous
- All; every one; masculine plural form of 'tout'
- matelots
- Sailors; seamen; crew members of a ship
- occupés
- Busy; occupied; engaged in an activity
- côté
- Side; edge; one part or face of something
- navire
- Ship; large vessel for sea travel
- apparemment
- Apparently; seemingly; based on outward appearance
- train
- In 'en train de': in the process of doing
- parler
- To speak; to talk to someone
- quelqu'
- Contracted form of 'quelqu'un' meaning 'someone'
- mer
- The sea; large body of salt water
- effet
- In 'en effet': indeed; in fact; actually
- traîneau
- Sled; sledge; vehicle pulled across snow or ice
- semblable
- Similar; resembling; like something else
- celui
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'the one' or 'that one'
- vu
- Past participle of 'voir'; seen
- auparavant
- Before; previously; earlier in time
- dérivé
- Drifted; moved off course carried by current
- vers
- Toward; in the direction of
- nuit
- Night; the dark period after sunset
- grand
- Large; great; big in size or importance
- fragment
- Fragment; broken piece of a larger whole
- glace
- Ice; frozen water; also means mirror or ice cream
- seul
- Alone; only; single; solitary
- chien
- Dog; domestic canine animal
- encore
- Still; again; yet; also means 'more'
- vie
- Life; existence; the state of being alive
- y
- Pronoun meaning 'there' or 'in it'
- intérieur
- Interior; inside; the inner part of something
- humain
- Human; relating to people or mankind
- cherchaient
- Imperfect of 'chercher'; they were trying or seeking
- persuader
- To persuade; to convince someone to do something
- monter
- To go up; to climb; to board a vessel
- bord
- On board; edge; side of a ship
- comme
- Like; as; in the manner of
- autre
- Other; another; different
- voyageur
- Traveler; one who makes journeys
- semblait
- Imperfect of 'sembler'; seemed; appeared to be
- habitant
- Inhabitant; resident; one who lives in a place
- sauvage
- Wild; savage; uncivilized; untamed
- quelque
- Some; a certain; used before nouns
- île
- Island; land surrounded by water
- inconnue
- Unknown; unfamiliar; not previously known
- Européen
- European; person from or native to Europe
- Quand
- When; at the time that
- parus
- Past historic of 'paraître'; I appeared
- maître
- Master; captain; person in authority or charge
- Voici
- Here is; behold; used to present something
- capitaine
- Captain; leader or commander of a ship
- laissera
- Future of 'laisser'; will leave or allow
- périr
- To perish; to die; to be destroyed
- pleine
- Full; open; used in 'en pleine mer' meaning 'open sea'
- apercevant
- Present participle of 'apercevoir'; noticing or catching sight
- étranger
- Stranger; foreigner; someone from another place
- adressa
- Past historic of 'adresser'; addressed or spoke to
- anglais
- English; the English language
- bien
- Well; good; properly; very
- accent
- Accent; manner of pronunciation characteristic of a region
- Avant
- Before; in front of; earlier in time
- auriez-vous
- Would you; conditional form of 'avoir' inverted
- bonté
- Kindness; goodness; benevolence
- informer
- To inform; to tell; to give information to someone
- où
- Where; at which place; relative adverb of place
- dirigez
- Present of 'diriger'; you are heading or directing toward
- imaginer
- To imagine; to picture mentally; to conceive
- étonnement
- Astonishment; amazement; great surprise
- entendant
- Present participle of 'entendre'; hearing; upon hearing
- telle
- Such; of that kind; used before nouns
- question
- Question; query; something asked for an answer
- posée
- Past participle of 'poser'; asked or posed (a question)
- homme
- Man; adult male human being
- perte
- Loss; ruin; destruction; the act of losing something
- aurais
- Conditional of 'avoir'; I would have
- supposé
- Past participle of 'supposer'; supposed; assumed
- eût
- Imperfect subjunctive of 'avoir'; had (subjunctive mood)
- ressource
- Resource; means; something available to help oneself
- aurait
- Conditional of 'avoir'; he/she would have
- échangée
- Past participle of 'échanger'; exchanged; traded
- contre
- Against; in exchange for; opposite to
- richesses
- Riches; wealth; great material possessions
- plus
- More; most; used in comparisons
- précieuses
- Precious; valuable; of great worth
- terre
- Earth; land; ground; the world
- puisse
- Present subjunctive of 'pouvoir'; can; may be able to
- offrir
- To offer; to give; to present something to someone
- répondis
- Past historic of 'répondre'; I replied or answered
- voyage
- Journey; trip; travel from one place to another
- découverte
- Discovery; finding something unknown for the first time
- pôle
- Pole; either of the two ends of Earth's axis
- nord
- North; one of the four cardinal directions
- cela
- That; this; used to refer to something previously mentioned
- parut
- Past historic of 'paraître'; seemed; appeared
- satisfait
- Satisfied; content; pleased with a result
- consentit
- Past historic of 'consentir'; consented; agreed to something
- Grand
- Great; large; used in exclamation 'Grand Dieu!'
- Dieu
- God; the supreme being in monotheistic religions
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