Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World — Page 4
Six of the crew, of whom I was one, having let down the boat into the sea, made a shift to get clear of the ship and the rock.
Six membres de l'équipage, dont je faisais partie, ayant mis la chaloupe à la mer, firent en sorte de s'éloigner du navire et du rocher.
We rowed, by my computation, about three leagues, till we were able to work no longer, being already spent with labour while we were in the ship.
Nous ramâmes, selon mon estimation, environ trois lieues, jusqu'à ce que nous ne fussions plus en mesure de travailler, étant déjà épuisés par les efforts que nous avions fournis à bord du navire.
We therefore trusted ourselves to the mercy of the waves, and in about half an hour the boat was overset by a sudden flurry from the north.
Nous nous abandonnâmes donc à la merci des vagues, et au bout d'une demi-heure environ, la chaloupe fut renversée par une bourrasque soudaine venant du nord.
What became of my companions in the boat, as well as of those who escaped on the rock, or were left in the vessel, I cannot tell; but conclude they were all lost.
Ce que devinrent mes compagnons dans la chaloupe, ainsi que ceux qui s'étaient réfugiés sur le rocher, ou ceux qui étaient restés à bord du navire, je ne saurais le dire ; mais je conclus qu'ils périrent tous.
For my own part, I swam as fortune directed me, and was pushed forward by wind and tide.
Pour ma part, je nageai au gré du hasard, et fus poussé en avant par le vent et la marée.
I often let my legs drop, and could feel no bottom; but when I was almost gone, and able to struggle no longer, I found myself within my depth; and by this time the storm was much abated.
Je laissai souvent tomber mes jambes, sans pouvoir toucher le fond ; mais lorsque j'étais presque à bout de forces et incapable de lutter davantage, je me retrouvai dans un endroit où j'avais pied ; et à ce moment-là, la tempête s'était considérablement apaisée.
The declivity was so small, that I walked near a mile before I got to the shore, which I conjectured was about eight o'clock in the evening.
La pente était si faible que je marchai près d'un mille avant d'atteindre le rivage, ce qui, selon mes estimations, se produisit vers huit heures du soir.
I then advanced forward near half a mile, but could not discover any sign of houses or inhabitants; at least I was in so weak a condition, that I did not observe them.
Je m'avançai ensuite sur près d'un demi-mille, mais ne pus découvrir aucun signe de maisons ou d'habitants ; du moins étais-je dans un état de faiblesse tel que je ne les remarquai pas.
Vocabulary
- membres
- Members of a group or organization
- équipage
- Crew of a ship or aircraft
- dont
- Of which, whose; relative pronoun
- faisais
- Was doing, was making; imperfect of 'faire'
- partie
- Part; 'faire partie de' means to belong to
- ayant
- Having; present participle of 'avoir'
- mis
- Put, placed; past participle of 'mettre'
- chaloupe
- A small rowing or sailing ship's boat
- mer
- The sea or ocean
- firent
- Did, made; passé simple of 'faire', third plural
- sorte
- Kind, sort; 'en sorte de' means so as to
- s'éloigner
- To move away, to distance oneself
- navire
- A ship or large vessel
- rocher
- A rock or large stone formation
- ramâmes
- Rowed; passé simple of 'ramer', first plural
- selon
- According to; preposition expressing reference
- estimation
- An estimate or approximate calculation
- environ
- About, approximately; adverb of approximation
- lieues
- Leagues; old unit of distance roughly 4 km
- fussions
- Were; imperfect subjunctive of 'être', first plural
- mesure
- Measure; 'en mesure de' means able to
- travailler
- To work or labor
- étant
- Being; present participle of 'être'
- déjà
- Already; adverb indicating prior occurrence
- épuisés
- Exhausted, completely drained of energy
- efforts
- Efforts, exertions made to accomplish something
- fournis
- Provided, supplied; past participle of 'fournir'
- bord
- Board, side; 'à bord' means on board ship
- abandonnâmes
- Abandoned; passé simple of 'abandonner', first plural
- donc
- So, therefore; logical consequence conjunction
- merci
- Mercy; 'à la merci de' means at the mercy of
- vagues
- Waves on the sea or water surface
- bout
- End, tip; 'au bout de' means after a period
- demi-heure
- Half an hour, thirty minutes
- fut
- Was; passé simple of 'être', third singular
- renversée
- Overturned, capsized, knocked over
- bourrasque
- A sudden violent gust of wind or squall
- soudaine
- Sudden, unexpected; feminine adjective
- venant
- Coming from; present participle of 'venir'
- nord
- North; cardinal direction
- devinrent
- Became; passé simple of 'devenir', third plural
- compagnons
- Companions, fellow travelers or crew members
- ainsi
- Thus, so, in this way; adverb
- ceux
- Those; masculine plural demonstrative pronoun
- réfugiés
- Taken refuge, sheltered; past participle of 'se réfugier'
- restés
- Stayed, remained; past participle of 'rester'
- saurais
- Would know; conditional of 'savoir', first singular
- dire
- To say or tell something
- conclus
- Concluded; passé simple of 'conclure', first singular
- périrent
- Perished, died; passé simple of 'périr', third plural
- tous
- All, every one; masculine plural pronoun or adjective
- part
- Part, share; 'pour ma part' means for my part
- nageai
- Swam; passé simple of 'nager', first singular
- gré
- Will; 'au gré de' means at the mercy of
- hasard
- Chance, luck, random circumstance
- fus
- Was; passé simple of 'être', first singular
- poussé
- Pushed, driven; past participle of 'pousser'
- vent
- Wind; moving air outdoors
- marée
- Tide; rise and fall of sea level
- laissai
- Let, left; passé simple of 'laisser', first singular
- souvent
- Often, frequently; adverb of frequency
- tomber
- To fall down or drop
- jambes
- Legs; lower limbs of the human body
- sans
- Without; preposition indicating absence
- pouvoir
- To be able to, can; modal verb
- toucher
- To touch or reach something physically
- fond
- Bottom, floor; deepest part of water
- lorsque
- When; conjunction introducing temporal clause
- presque
- Almost, nearly; adverb of approximation
- forces
- Strengths, physical energy or power
- incapable
- Unable, incapable of doing something
- lutter
- To struggle, fight, or resist
- davantage
- More, any further; adverb of degree
- retrouvai
- Found myself; passé simple of 'se retrouver'
- endroit
- A place or specific spot
- où
- Where; relative or interrogative adverb of place
- pied
- Foot; 'avoir pied' means to touch the bottom
- moment-là
- That moment, at that particular time
- tempête
- A storm with strong winds and rain
- considérablement
- Considerably, significantly, to a great degree
- apaisée
- Calmed, soothed, subsided; past participle of 'apaiser'
- pente
- Slope, incline of terrain or surface
- faible
- Weak, slight, gentle; adjective
- marchai
- Walked; passé simple of 'marcher', first singular
- près
- Nearly, close to; preposition or adverb
- mille
- A mile; unit of distance measurement
- atteindre
- To reach or arrive at a destination
- rivage
- Shore, bank, coastline of sea or river
- estimations
- Estimates, approximate calculations or guesses
- produisit
- Occurred, happened; passé simple of 'se produire'
- vers
- Toward, around; preposition of direction or time
- heures
- Hours or o'clock; unit of time
- soir
- Evening, the later part of the day
- avançai
- Advanced, moved forward; passé simple of 'avancer'
- ensuite
- Then, afterwards, next; adverb of sequence
- demi-mille
- Half a mile; approximately 800 meters
- pus
- Could; passé simple of 'pouvoir', first singular
- découvrir
- To discover or find something new
- aucun
- No, none, not any; negative adjective
- signe
- Sign, indication of presence or existence
- maisons
- Houses, residential buildings
- habitants
- Inhabitants, residents of a place
- moins
- Less, at least; adverb of degree
- étais-je
- Was I; inverted form of 'j'étais' for emphasis
- état
- State, condition of a person or thing
- faiblesse
- Weakness, feebleness, lack of strength
- tel
- Such, so great; adjective of degree or quality
- remarquai
- Noticed, observed; passé simple of 'remarquer'
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