Heart of Darkness — Page 1
Heart of Darkness
Au cœur des ténèbres
by Joseph Conrad
par Joseph Conrad
Contents
Table des matières
I
I
II
II
III
III
I
I
The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest.
Le Nellie, un yawl de croisière, pivota sur son ancre sans un frémissement des voiles, et s'immobilisa.
The flood had made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide.
La marée montante avait atteint son plein, le vent était presque calme, et comme nous descendions le fleuve, il ne nous restait qu'à nous arrêter et attendre le changement de marée.
The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway.
L'estuaire de la Tamise s'étendait devant nous comme le début d'une voie d'eau sans fin.
In the offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished sprits.
Au large, la mer et le ciel se soudaient l'un à l'autre sans jointure, et dans cet espace lumineux les voiles brunies des barges qui remontaient avec la marée semblaient immobiles en grappes rouges de toile aux pointes acérées, avec des reflets de livards vernis.
A haze rested on the low shores that ran out to sea in vanishing flatness.
Une brume reposait sur les rives basses qui s'avançaient vers la mer en s'aplatissant jusqu'à disparaître.
The air was dark above Gravesend, and farther back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth.
L'air était sombre au-dessus de Gravesend, et plus loin encore semblait se condenser en une obscurité lugubre, planant immobile au-dessus de la plus grande et de la plus vaste ville de la terre.
The Director of Companies was our captain and our host.
Le Directeur de Compagnies était notre capitaine et notre hôte.
We four affectionately watched his back as he stood in the bows looking to seaward.
Nous quatre regardions affectueusement son dos tandis qu'il se tenait à la proue, les yeux tournés vers le large.
On the whole river there was nothing that looked half so nautical.
Sur tout le fleuve, il n'y avait rien qui fût à moitié aussi marin.
He resembled a pilot, which to a seaman is trustworthiness personified.
Il ressemblait à un pilote, ce qui pour un marin est la confiance faite homme.
It was difficult to realize his work was not out there in the luminous estuary, but behind him, within the brooding gloom.
Il était difficile de se rappeler que son travail n'était pas là-bas dans l'estuaire lumineux, mais derrière lui, au sein de l'obscurité maussade.
Between us there was, as I have already said somewhere, the bond of the sea.
Entre nous existait, comme je l'ai déjà dit quelque part, le lien de la mer.
Vocabulary
- cœur
- kœr — Heart; center or core of something
- ténèbres
- te-nɛbr — Darkness, shadows; deep gloom or obscurity
- matières
- ma-tjɛr — Subjects or materials; used in 'table des matières' meaning contents
- yawl
- jol — A type of two-masted sailing vessel
- croisière
- krwa-zjɛr — Cruise; a leisurely journey by boat or ship
- pivota
- pi-vɔ-ta — Pivoted, rotated around a fixed central point
- ancre
- ɑ̃kr — Anchor; heavy device used to moor a boat
- frémissement
- fre-mis-mɑ̃ — Trembling, quivering; slight shudder or vibration
- voiles
- vwal — Sails; fabric panels that catch wind on a boat
- immobilisa
- i-mɔ-bi-li-za — Came to a standstill; stopped moving completely
- marée
- ma-re — Tide; regular rise and fall of sea level
- montante
- mɔ̃-tɑ̃t — Rising, incoming; describes a rising tide
- atteint
- a-tɛ̃ — Reached, attained; past participle of 'atteindre'
- plein
- plɛ̃ — Full, complete; at its highest or fullest point
- vent
- vɑ̃ — Wind; moving air, important for sailing
- presque
- prɛsk — Almost, nearly; indicating something close to complete
- calme
- kalm — Calm, quiet; peaceful and without agitation
- descendions
- de-sɑ̃-djɔ̃ — Were going down; imperfect of 'descendre'
- fleuve
- flœv — Large river flowing into the sea
- restait
- rɛs-tɛ — Remained, was left; imperfect of 'rester'
- arrêter
- a-rɛ-te — To stop, to halt; to bring to a standstill
- attendre
- a-tɑ̃dr — To wait, to await; to remain until something happens
- changement
- ʃɑ̃ʒ-mɑ̃ — Change, shift; an alteration or transformation
- estuaire
- ɛs-tɥɛr — Estuary; wide mouth of a river meeting the sea
- Tamise
- ta-miz — The Thames; major river flowing through London
- étendait
- e-tɑ̃-dɛ — Stretched out, spread; imperfect of 'étendre'
- devant
- də-vɑ̃ — In front of, before; indicating position ahead
- début
- de-by — Beginning, start; the opening or commencement of something
- voie
- vwa — Way, path, route; a road or passage
- eau
- o — Water; the clear liquid essential for life
- fin
- fɛ̃ — End; conclusion or termination of something
- large
- larʒ — Wide, broad; having great extent from side to side
- mer
- mɛr — Sea, ocean; large body of salt water
- ciel
- sjɛl — Sky, heaven; the expanse above the earth
- soudaient
- su-dɛ — Were welding, fusing; joining seamlessly together
- jointure
- ʒwɛ̃-tyr — Joint, junction; a place where two things meet
- espace
- ɛs-pas — Space, area; an open or unoccupied expanse
- lumineux
- ly-mi-nø — Luminous, bright; emitting or filled with light
- brunies
- bry-ni — Darkened, browned; having taken on a brown color
- barges
- barʒ — Barges; flat-bottomed boats used for carrying cargo
- remontaient
- rə-mɔ̃-tɛ — Were going back up; sailing upstream, imperfect tense
- semblaient
- sɑ̃-blɛ — Seemed, appeared; imperfect of 'sembler'
- immobiles
- i-mɔ-bil — Motionless, still; not moving at all
- grappes
- grap — Clusters, bunches; grouped together like grapes
- toile
- twal — Canvas, cloth; fabric used for sails or paintings
- pointes
- pwɛ̃t — Points, tips; sharp or tapered ends of something
- acérées
- a-se-re — Sharp, keen; having a very sharp, pointed edge
- reflets
- rə-flɛ — Reflections, glints; light reflected off a surface
- livards
- li-var — Sprit-sails; a type of sail rigged with a spritsail
- vernis
- vɛr-ni — Varnished, lacquered; coated with a shiny finish
- brume
- brym — Mist, haze; light fog reducing visibility
- reposait
- rə-po-zɛ — Was resting, lying; imperfect of 'reposer'
- rives
- riv — Banks, shores; the edges alongside a river
- basses
- bas — Low; having little height, close to the ground
- avançaient
- a-vɑ̃-sɛ — Were advancing, moving forward; imperfect of 'avancer'
- aplatissant
- a-pla-ti-sɑ̃ — Flattening, leveling out; making progressively more flat
- disparaître
- dis-pa-rɛtr — To disappear, to vanish; to cease to be visible
- air
- ɛr — Air, atmosphere; the invisible gaseous substance around us
- sombre
- sɔ̃br — Dark, gloomy; dim and lacking brightness or cheer
- dessus
- də-sy — Above, over; on top or positioned higher up
- loin
- lwɛ̃ — Far, distant; at a great distance from here
- encore
- ɑ̃-kɔr — Still, yet, again; indicating continuation or repetition
- semblait
- sɑ̃-blɛ — Seemed, appeared; third-person singular imperfect of 'sembler'
- condenser
- kɔ̃-dɑ̃-se — To condense, to concentrate; to gather into denser form
- obscurité
- ɔps-ky-ri-te — Darkness, obscurity; absence of light or clarity
- lugubre
- ly-gybr — Lugubrious, mournful; excessively gloomy or dismal
- planant
- pla-nɑ̃ — Hovering, gliding; floating above without moving away
- vaste
- vast — Vast, immense; of very great extent or size
- ville
- vil — City, town; a large urban settlement
- terre
- tɛr — Earth, land, ground; solid surface or soil
- Directeur
- di-rɛk-tœr — Director, manager; person in charge of a company
- Compagnies
- kɔ̃-pa-ɲi — Companies; plural of 'compagnie', business organizations
- capitaine
- ka-pi-tɛn — Captain; the commander of a ship or vessel
- hôte
- ot — Host; person who welcomes and entertains guests
- regardions
- rə-gar-djɔ̃ — Were watching, looking at; imperfect of 'regarder'
- affectueusement
- a-fɛk-tɥøz-mɑ̃ — Affectionately; in a warm and fond manner
- dos
- do — Back; the rear part of the body or object
- tandis
- tɑ̃-di — While, whereas; used in 'tandis que' for contrast
- tenait
- tə-nɛ — Was holding, standing; imperfect of 'tenir'
- proue
- pru — Prow, bow; the front part of a ship
- yeux
- jø — Eyes; plural of 'œil', the organs of sight
- tournés
- tur-ne — Turned, directed; past participle of 'tourner'
- rien
- rjɛ̃ — Nothing; used with 'ne' to indicate negation
- fût
- fy — Were, would be; imperfect subjunctive of 'être'
- moitié
- mwa-tje — Half; one of two equal parts of a whole
- marin
- ma-rɛ̃ — Sailor, seaman; a person who works at sea
- ressemblait
- rə-sɑ̃-blɛ — Resembled, looked like; imperfect of 'ressembler'
- pilote
- pi-lɔt — Pilot; a person who guides ships or aircraft
- confiance
- kɔ̃-fjɑ̃s — Trust, confidence; firm belief in reliability of someone
- difficile
- di-fi-sil — Difficult, hard; not easy to do or understand
- rappeler
- ra-pə-le — To recall, remember; to call back to mind
- travail
- tra-vaj — Work, labor; an activity requiring effort or skill
- bas
- ba — Below, down, low; at a lower position or level
- derrière
- dɛ-rjɛr — Behind, at the back; in a position to the rear
- sein
- sɛ̃ — Bosom, breast; interior or heart of something
- maussade
- mo-sad — Gloomy, sullen; dull, dreary, or ill-tempered
- Entre
- ɑ̃tr — Between, among; in the space separating two things
- existait
- ɛg-zis-tɛ — Existed; was in existence, imperfect of 'exister'
- déjà
- de-ʒa — Already; indicating something has happened before now
- quelque
- kɛlk — Some, a few; indicating an unspecified small amount
- part
- par — Part, place; somewhere, as in 'quelque part'
- lien
- ljɛ̃ — Bond, link, tie; a connection between people or things
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