Heart of Darkness — Page 11
I would look for hours at South America, or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration.
Je regardais pendant des heures l'Amérique du Sud, ou l'Afrique, ou l'Australie, et je me perdais dans toutes les splendeurs de l'exploration.
At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map (but they all look that) I would put my finger on it and say, 'When I grow up I will go there.'
À cette époque, il y avait de nombreux espaces vides sur la terre, et quand j'en voyais un qui semblait particulièrement attrayant sur une carte (mais ils ont tous cet air-là), je posais mon doigt dessus et je disais : « Quand je serai grand, j'irai là-bas. »
The North Pole was one of these places, I remember.
Le pôle Nord était l'un de ces endroits, je m'en souviens.
Well, I haven't been there yet, and shall not try now.
Eh bien, je n'y suis pas encore allé, et je n'essaierai plus maintenant.
The glamour's off.
Le charme est rompu.
Other places were scattered about the hemispheres.
D'autres endroits étaient dispersés à travers les hémisphères.
I have been in some of them, and... well, we won't talk about that.
J'en ai visité quelques-uns, et… eh bien, nous n'en parlerons pas.
But there was one yet—the biggest, the most blank, so to speak—that I had a hankering after.
Mais il y en avait encore un — le plus grand, le plus vide, pour ainsi dire — dont j'avais la nostalgie.
"True, by this time it was not a blank space any more.
« Il est vrai qu'à cette époque ce n'était plus un espace vide.
It had got filled since my boyhood with rivers and lakes and names.
Il s'était rempli depuis mon enfance de rivières, de lacs et de noms.
It had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery—a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over.
Il avait cessé d'être un espace vide de mystère délicieux — une tache blanche sur laquelle un garçon pouvait rêver glorieusement.
It had become a place of darkness.
Il était devenu un lieu de ténèbres.
But there was in it one river especially, a mighty big river, that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land.
Mais il y avait en lui un fleuve en particulier, un fleuve immensément grand, que l'on pouvait voir sur la carte, ressemblant à un immense serpent déroulé, avec sa tête dans la mer, son corps au repos se courbant au loin sur un vaste pays, et sa queue perdue dans les profondeurs des terres.
Vocabulary
- regardais
- Imperfect tense of 'regarder': was looking at
- pendant
- Preposition meaning 'during' or 'for' a duration
- heures
- Plural noun meaning 'hours'
- Amérique
- Proper noun referring to the continent America
- Sud
- Noun meaning 'south', used in geographic names
- Afrique
- Proper noun referring to the continent Africa
- Australie
- Proper noun referring to the country Australia
- perdais
- Imperfect of 'perdre': was losing or getting lost
- toutes
- Feminine plural of 'tout', meaning 'all'
- splendeurs
- Plural noun meaning 'splendors' or magnificent glories
- exploration
- Noun meaning 'exploration', discovering unknown places
- époque
- Noun meaning 'era', 'time', or 'period in history'
- nombreux
- Adjective meaning 'numerous' or 'many'
- espaces
- Plural noun meaning 'spaces' or open areas
- vides
- Adjective meaning 'empty' or 'blank'
- terre
- Noun meaning 'earth', 'land', or 'ground'
- voyais
- Imperfect of 'voir': was seeing or used to see
- semblait
- Imperfect of 'sembler': seemed or appeared to be
- particulièrement
- Adverb meaning 'particularly' or 'especially'
- attrayant
- Adjective meaning 'attractive' or 'appealing'
- carte
- Noun meaning 'map' or 'card'
- tous
- Masculine plural of 'tout', meaning 'all'
- air-là
- Noun phrase meaning 'that look' or 'that air'
- posais
- Imperfect of 'poser': was placing or used to place
- doigt
- Noun meaning 'finger'
- dessus
- Adverb meaning 'on it' or 'above it'
- disais
- Imperfect of 'dire': was saying or used to say
- serai
- Future tense of 'être': will be
- grand
- Adjective meaning 'big', 'tall', or 'grown up'
- irai
- Future tense of 'aller': will go
- là-bas
- Adverb meaning 'over there' or 'in that place'
- pôle
- Noun meaning 'pole', as in geographic or magnetic pole
- Nord
- Noun meaning 'north', used in geographic references
- endroits
- Plural noun meaning 'places' or 'spots'
- souviens
- Present of 'se souvenir': remember or recall
- encore
- Adverb meaning 'yet', 'still', or 'again'
- allé
- Past participle of 'aller': gone
- essaierai
- Future of 'essayer': will try or attempt
- maintenant
- Adverb meaning 'now' or 'at this moment'
- charme
- Noun meaning 'charm' or 'enchantment'
- rompu
- Past participle of 'rompre': broken or shattered
- dispersés
- Past participle of 'disperser': scattered or spread out
- travers
- Noun used in phrase 'à travers' meaning 'across'
- hémisphères
- Plural noun meaning 'hemispheres' of the globe
- visité
- Past participle of 'visiter': visited a place
- quelques-uns
- Pronoun meaning 'some of them' or 'a few'
- parlerons
- Future of 'parler': will speak or talk about
- vide
- Noun or adjective meaning 'void', 'emptiness', or 'empty'
- ainsi
- Adverb meaning 'thus', 'so', or 'in this way'
- dire
- Infinitive meaning 'to say' or 'to tell'
- dont
- Relative pronoun meaning 'of which', 'whose', 'about which'
- nostalgie
- Noun meaning 'nostalgia' or longing for the past
- vrai
- Adjective meaning 'true' or 'real'
- espace
- Noun meaning 'space', 'area', or 'room'
- rempli
- Past participle of 'remplir': filled or filled up
- depuis
- Preposition meaning 'since' or 'for' a period of time
- enfance
- Noun meaning 'childhood' or early years of life
- rivières
- Plural noun meaning 'rivers' or inland waterways
- lacs
- Plural noun meaning 'lakes' or bodies of fresh water
- noms
- Plural noun meaning 'names'
- cessé
- Past participle of 'cesser': stopped or ceased
- mystère
- Noun meaning 'mystery' or something unknown and intriguing
- délicieux
- Adjective meaning 'delicious', 'delightful', or 'wonderful'
- tache
- Noun meaning 'spot', 'stain', or 'patch'
- blanche
- Feminine adjective meaning 'white'
- laquelle
- Relative pronoun meaning 'which' referring to feminine noun
- garçon
- Noun meaning 'boy' or young male person
- pouvait
- Imperfect of 'pouvoir': could or was able to
- rêver
- Infinitive meaning 'to dream'
- glorieusement
- Adverb meaning 'gloriously' or in a magnificent manner
- devenu
- Past participle of 'devenir': become or turned into
- lieu
- Noun meaning 'place' or 'location'
- ténèbres
- Plural noun meaning 'darkness' or 'gloom'
- fleuve
- Noun meaning 'river' flowing into the sea
- particulier
- Adjective meaning 'particular', 'specific', or 'special'
- immensément
- Adverb meaning 'immensely' or to a vast degree
- voir
- Infinitive meaning 'to see'
- ressemblant
- Present participle of 'ressembler': resembling or looking like
- immense
- Adjective meaning 'immense', 'vast', or 'enormous'
- serpent
- Noun meaning 'snake' or 'serpent'
- déroulé
- Past participle of 'dérouler': unrolled or uncoiled
- tête
- Noun meaning 'head'
- mer
- Noun meaning 'sea' or ocean
- corps
- Noun meaning 'body'
- repos
- Noun meaning 'rest' or state of repose
- courbant
- Present participle of 'courber': curving or bending
- loin
- Adverb meaning 'far' or 'far away'
- vaste
- Adjective meaning 'vast', 'wide', or 'extensive'
- pays
- Noun meaning 'country' or 'land'
- queue
- Noun meaning 'tail' or end of something
- perdue
- Feminine past participle of 'perdre': lost
- profondeurs
- Plural noun meaning 'depths' or deep areas
- terres
- Plural noun meaning 'lands' or territories
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