Heart of Darkness — Page 7
Imagine him here—the very end of the world, a sea the colour of lead, a sky the colour of smoke, a kind of ship about as rigid as a concertina—and going up this river with stores, or orders, or what you like.
Imaginez-le ici — au bout du monde, une mer couleur de plomb, un ciel couleur de fumée, une sorte de navire à peu près aussi rigide qu'un accordéon — remontant ce fleuve avec des provisions, des ordres, ou ce que vous voudrez.
Sand-banks, marshes, forests, savages,—precious little to eat fit for a civilized man, nothing but Thames water to drink.
Des bancs de sable, des marais, des forêts, des sauvages — bien peu de choses à manger qui conviennent à un homme civilisé, rien à boire sinon l'eau de la Tamise.
No Falernian wine here, no going ashore.
Pas de vin falerne ici, pas moyen de débarquer.
Here and there a military camp lost in a wilderness, like a needle in a bundle of hay—cold, fog, tempests, disease, exile, and death—death skulking in the air, in the water, in the bush.
Çà et là un camp militaire perdu dans une contrée sauvage, comme une aiguille dans une botte de foin — le froid, le brouillard, les tempêtes, la maladie, l'exil et la mort — la mort qui rôde dans l'air, dans l'eau, dans les broussailles.
They must have been dying like flies here.
Ils devaient mourir ici comme des mouches.
Oh, yes—he did it.
Oh, oui — il l'a fait.
Did it very well, too, no doubt, and without thinking much about it either, except afterwards to brag of what he had gone through in his time, perhaps.
Et fort bien, sans aucun doute, sans trop y réfléchir non plus, sauf peut-être pour se vanter ensuite de ce qu'il avait enduré en son temps.
They were men enough to face the darkness.
Ils étaient assez virils pour affronter les ténèbres.
And perhaps he was cheered by keeping his eye on a chance of promotion to the fleet at Ravenna by and by, if he had good friends in Rome and survived the awful climate.
Et peut-être se réconfortait-il en gardant les yeux fixés sur une éventuelle promotion dans la flotte de Ravenne, s'il avait de bons amis à Rome et survivait à l'effroyable climat.
Or think of a decent young citizen in a toga—perhaps too much dice, you know—coming out here in the train of some prefect, or tax-gatherer, or trader even, to mend his fortunes.
Ou pensez à un honnête jeune citoyen en toge — trop porté sur les dés, peut-être, vous savez — venant ici dans le sillage de quelque préfet, ou percepteur, voire d'un marchand, pour redresser sa fortune.
Vocabulary
- ici
- ee-see — Here, in this place
- au
- oh — At the, to the (masculine contraction)
- bout
- boo — End, tip, or extremity of something
- du
- dü — Of the, some (masculine contraction)
- monde
- mohnd — World, or group of people
- une
- ün — A, an (feminine indefinite article)
- mer
- mair — Sea, large body of saltwater
- couleur
- koo-lur — Color, hue of something visible
- de
- duh — Of, from (preposition)
- plomb
- plohn — Lead, heavy grey metallic element
- un
- uhn — A, an (masculine indefinite article)
- ciel
- syel — Sky, the atmosphere above earth
- fumée
- fü-may — Smoke, vaporous gas from fire
- sorte
- sort — Sort, kind, or type of thing
- navire
- nah-veer — Ship, large seafaring vessel
- à
- ah — To, at, in (preposition)
- peu
- puh — Little, few, not much
- près
- pray — Near, close to something
- aussi
- oh-see — Also, too, as well
- rigide
- ree-zheed — Rigid, stiff, inflexible in structure
- qu'
- kuh — That, than (elided conjunction)
- accordéon
- ah-kor-day-ohn — Accordion, a bellowed musical instrument
- remontant
- ruh-mohn-tahn — Going back up, ascending a river
- ce
- suh — This, that (demonstrative pronoun/adjective)
- fleuve
- fluhv — River flowing into the sea
- avec
- ah-vek — With, accompanied by
- des
- day — Some, of the (plural article)
- provisions
- proh-vee-zyohn — Supplies, food stored for later use
- ordres
- or-druh — Orders, commands given to someone
- ou
- oo — Or, either one or another
- que
- kuh — That, what, which (conjunction)
- vous
- voo — You (formal or plural pronoun)
- voudrez
- voo-dray — Will want, future tense of vouloir
- Des
- day — Some, of the (plural article)
- bancs
- bahn — Sandbanks, benches, or school of fish
- sable
- sah-bluh — Sand, fine granular material
- marais
- mah-ray — Marsh, swampy wetland area
- forêts
- foh-ray — Forests, large areas of trees
- sauvages
- soh-vazh — Wild, savage, untamed and uncivilized
- bien
- byahn — Well, good, very (adverb/adjective)
- choses
- shohz — Things, objects or matters in general
- manger
- mahn-zhay — To eat food
- qui
- kee — Who, which, that (relative pronoun)
- conviennent
- kohn-vyen — Suit, are appropriate or fitting for
- homme
- ohm — Man, adult male human being
- civilisé
- see-vee-lee-zay — Civilized, cultured and socially developed
- rien
- ryahn — Nothing, not anything at all
- boire
- bwahr — To drink a liquid
- sinon
- see-nohn — Otherwise, except, or else
- l'
- luh/lah — The (elided definite article before vowel)
- eau
- oh — Water, a liquid essential for life
- la
- lah — The (feminine definite article)
- Tamise
- tah-meez — The Thames, river flowing through London
- Pas
- pah — Not, no (negation particle)
- vin
- vahn — Wine, alcoholic drink from grapes
- pas
- pah — Not, step (negation or noun)
- moyen
- mwah-yahn — Means, way, or method to do something
- débarquer
- day-bar-kay — To disembark, get off a ship
- et
- ay — And (conjunction)
- là
- lah — There, in that place
- camp
- kahn — Camp, temporary military or outdoor settlement
- militaire
- mee-lee-tair — Military, relating to armed forces
- perdu
- pair-dü — Lost, misplaced or isolated somewhere
- dans
- dahn — In, inside, within (preposition)
- contrée
- kohn-tray — Region, land, or countryside territory
- sauvage
- soh-vazh — Wild, untamed, uncivilized place or person
- comme
- kohm — Like, as, similar to
- aiguille
- ay-gwee — Needle, thin sharp pointed instrument
- botte
- bot — Boot, bundle, or bunch of something
- foin
- fwahn — Hay, dried grass used as fodder
- le
- luh — The (masculine definite article)
- froid
- frwah — Cold, low temperature or chilly feeling
- brouillard
- broo-yar — Fog, thick mist reducing visibility
- les
- lay — The (plural definite article)
- tempêtes
- tahm-pet — Storms, violent weather with strong winds
- maladie
- mah-lah-dee — Illness, disease, sickness affecting someone
- exil
- eg-zeel — Exile, forced removal from one's homeland
- mort
- mor — Death, the end of life
- rôde
- rohd — Roams, prowls, wanders around stealthily
- air
- air — Air, atmosphere, or general appearance
- broussailles
- broo-sye — Undergrowth, brambles, tangled wild vegetation
- Ils
- eel — They (masculine plural subject pronoun)
- devaient
- duh-vay — Had to, were supposed to (imperfect)
- mourir
- moo-reer — To die, cease to be alive
- mouches
- moosh — Flies, small buzzing insects
- oui
- wee — Yes, affirmative answer
- il
- eel — He, it (masculine singular pronoun)
- a
- ah — Has (third person singular of avoir)
- fait
- fay — Done, made (past participle of faire)
- Et
- ay — And (conjunction)
- fort
- for — Strong, loud, very (adjective/adverb)
- sans
- sahn — Without, lacking something
- aucun
- oh-kuhn — No, none, not any (adjective)
- doute
- doot — Doubt, uncertainty about something
- trop
- troh — Too much, excessively
- y
- ee — There, to it (pronoun/adverb)
- réfléchir
- ray-flay-sheer — To reflect, think carefully about something
- non
- nohn — No, not (negation)
- plus
- plü — More, no longer, anymore
- sauf
- sohf — Except, unless, safe (preposition/adjective)
- peut-être
- puh-teh-truh — Perhaps, maybe, possibly
- pour
- poor — For, in order to (preposition)
- se
- suh — Oneself, reflexive pronoun third person
- vanter
- vahn-tay — To boast, brag about one's achievements
- ensuite
- ahn-sweet — Then, afterwards, next in sequence
- avait
- ah-vay — Had (third person singular imperfect avoir)
- enduré
- ahn-dü-ray — Endured, suffered through hardship patiently
- en
- ahn — In, on, while (preposition/pronoun)
- son
- sohn — His, her, its (possessive adjective)
- temps
- tahn — Time, weather, period of duration
- étaient
- ay-tay — Were (third person plural imperfect être)
- assez
- ah-say — Enough, sufficiently, rather
- virils
- vee-reel — Virile, manly, strong and courageous
- affronter
- ah-frohn-tay — To confront, face something difficult directly
- ténèbres
- tay-neh-bruh — Darkness, gloom, deep shadow
- gardant
- gar-dahn — Keeping, maintaining, guarding something
- yeux
- yuh — Eyes, organs of sight (plural)
- fixés
- feek-say — Fixed, set steadily on something
- sur
- sür — On, upon, over (preposition)
- éventuelle
- ay-vahn-tü-el — Possible, potential, eventual outcome
- promotion
- proh-moh-syohn — Promotion, advancement to a higher position
- flotte
- flot — Fleet, a group of ships or vessels
- s'
- suh — Oneself, reflexive elided pronoun
- bons
- bohn — Good, kind (masculine plural adjective)
- amis
- ah-mee — Friends, close companions
- survivait
- sür-vee-vay — Survived, was surviving (imperfect tense)
- effroyable
- ef-rwah-yah-bluh — Dreadful, frightful, terrible and appalling
- climat
- klee-mah — Climate, prevailing weather conditions of region
- Ou
- oo — Or (conjunction)
- pensez
- pahn-say — Think, consider (second person plural imperative)
- honnête
- oh-net — Honest, upright, morally decent person
- jeune
- zhun — Young, youthful in age
- citoyen
- see-twah-yahn — Citizen, member of a state or nation
- porté
- por-tay — Carried, worn (past participle of porter)
- dés
- day — Dice, small cubes used in games
- savez
- sah-vay — Know (second person plural of savoir)
- venant
- vuh-nahn — Coming, arriving from somewhere
- sillage
- see-yazh — Wake, trail left behind a moving ship
- quelque
- kel-kuh — Some, a certain, a few
- préfet
- pray-fay — Prefect, high-ranking Roman or French administrator
- percepteur
- pair-sep-tur — Tax collector, official who collects taxes
- voire
- vwahr — Indeed, even, or rather (emphasis word)
- d'
- duh — Of, from (elided preposition before vowel)
- marchand
- mar-shahn — Merchant, trader who buys and sells goods
- redresser
- ruh-dreh-say — To straighten, restore, set right again
- sa
- sah — His, her, its (feminine possessive adjective)
- fortune
- for-tün — Fortune, wealth, fate or financial standing
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