Jane Eyre: An Autobiography — Page 3
They were those which treat of the haunts of sea-fowl; of "the solitary rocks and promontories" by them only inhabited; of the coast of Norway, studded with isles from its southern extremity, the Lindeness, or Naze, to the North Cape—
C'étaient ceux qui traitent des repaires des oiseaux de mer ; des « rochers solitaires et des promontoires » habités par eux seuls ; de la côte de Norvège, parsemée d'îles depuis son extrémité méridionale, le Lindeness, ou Naze, jusqu'au Cap Nord—
"Where the Northern Ocean, in vast whirls, Boils round the naked, melancholy isles Of farthest Thule; and the Atlantic surge Pours in among the stormy Hebrides."
« Où l'Océan du Nord, en vastes tourbillons, Bouillonne autour des îles nues et mélancoliques De la très lointaine Thulé ; et le déferlement de l'Atlantique Se déverse parmi les orageuses Hébrides. »
Nor could I pass unnoticed the suggestion of the bleak shores of Lapland, Siberia, Spitzbergen, Nova Zembla, Iceland, Greenland, with "the vast sweep of the Arctic Zone, and those forlorn regions of dreary space,—that reservoir of frost and snow, where firm fields of ice, the accumulation of centuries of winters, glazed in Alpine heights above heights, surround the pole, and concentre the multiplied rigours of extreme cold."
Je ne pouvais pas non plus laisser passer sans y prêter attention l'évocation des rivages désolés de Laponie, de Sibérie, du Spitzberg, de la Nouvelle-Zemble, d'Islande, du Groenland, avec « la vaste étendue de la Zone arctique, et ces régions abandonnées d'un espace lugubre,— ce réservoir de gel et de neige, où de solides étendues de glace, accumulation de siècles d'hivers, vernissées en hauteurs alpines au-dessus des hauteurs, entourent le pôle, et concentrent les rigueurs multipliées du froid extrême. »
Of these death-white realms I formed an idea of my own: shadowy, like all the half-comprehended notions that float dim through children's brains, but strangely impressive.
De ces royaumes d'un blanc de mort, je me formai une idée qui m'était propre : vague, comme toutes les notions à demi comprises qui flottent, indistinctes, dans les cerveaux des enfants, mais étrangement saisissante.
The words in these introductory pages connected themselves with the succeeding vignettes, and gave significance to the rock standing up alone in a sea of billow and spray; to the broken boat stranded on a desolate coast; to the cold and ghastly moon glancing through bars of cloud at a wreck just sinking.
Les mots de ces pages introductives se liaient aux vignettes qui suivaient, et donnaient leur sens au rocher se dressant seul dans une mer de vagues et d'écume ; à l'embarcation brisée échouée sur une côte désolée ; à la lune froide et blafarde jetant un regard à travers les barreaux des nuages sur une épave en train de sombrer.
I cannot tell what sentiment haunted the quite solitary churchyard, with its inscribed headstone; its gate, its two trees, its low horizon, girdled by a broken wall, and its newly-risen crescent, attesting the hour of eventide.
Je ne saurais dire quel sentiment hantait ce cimetière tout à fait solitaire, avec sa pierre tombale gravée d'inscriptions ; son portail, ses deux arbres, son horizon bas, ceint d'un mur en ruine, et son croissant fraîchement levé, attestant l'heure du soir.
Vocabulary
- étaient
- Past tense of 'être'; they were.
- ceux
- Demonstrative pronoun; those, the ones.
- traitent
- Present tense of 'traiter'; deal with, treat a subject.
- repaires
- Noun (plural); dens, lairs, haunts of animals.
- oiseaux
- Noun (plural); birds.
- mer
- Noun (feminine); sea.
- rochers
- Noun (plural); rocks, large stones.
- solitaires
- Adjective (plural); solitary, isolated, alone.
- promontoires
- Noun (plural); promontories, headlands jutting into the sea.
- habités
- Past participle of 'habiter'; inhabited, lived in.
- seuls
- Adjective (plural); alone, only, solely.
- côte
- Noun (feminine); coast, shoreline.
- Norvège
- Proper noun; Norway, Scandinavian country.
- parsemée
- Past participle of 'parsemer'; dotted, scattered with.
- îles
- Noun (plural); islands.
- depuis
- Preposition; from, since.
- extrémité
- Noun (feminine); extremity, very end, tip.
- méridionale
- Adjective (feminine); southern, relating to the south.
- jusqu'
- Preposition (elided); up to, as far as.
- Cap
- Noun (masculine); cape, headland.
- Nord
- Noun (masculine); north.
- Océan
- Noun (masculine); ocean, vast body of water.
- vastes
- Adjective (plural); vast, immense, wide.
- tourbillons
- Noun (plural); whirlpools, whirlwinds, swirling eddies.
- Bouillonne
- Third-person singular of 'bouillonner'; bubbles, boils, churns.
- autour
- Adverb/preposition; around, surrounding.
- nues
- Noun (plural); clouds (poetic/archaic term).
- mélancoliques
- Adjective (plural); melancholic, sad, gloomy.
- lointaine
- Adjective (feminine); distant, far-away, remote.
- déferlement
- Noun (masculine); breaking of waves, surge, onslaught.
- Atlantique
- Proper/adjective noun; Atlantic Ocean.
- déverse
- Third-person singular of 'se déverser'; pours out, flows into.
- parmi
- Preposition; among, amid.
- orageuses
- Adjective (feminine plural); stormy, tempestuous, turbulent.
- pouvais
- Imperfect of 'pouvoir'; was able to, could.
- laisser
- Infinitive verb; to let, to leave, to allow.
- passer
- Infinitive verb; to pass, to go by.
- sans
- Preposition; without.
- prêter
- Infinitive verb; to lend, to pay (attention).
- attention
- Noun (feminine); attention, care, heed.
- évocation
- Noun (feminine); evocation, conjuring up of images.
- rivages
- Noun (plural); shores, banks, coastlines.
- désolés
- Adjective (plural); desolate, barren, bleak.
- Islande
- Proper noun; Iceland, North Atlantic island nation.
- Groenland
- Proper noun; Greenland, world's largest island.
- vaste
- Adjective; vast, immense, extensive.
- étendue
- Noun (feminine); expanse, stretch, extent of land.
- Zone
- Noun (feminine); zone, region, area.
- arctique
- Adjective; arctic, relating to the polar north.
- régions
- Noun (plural); regions, areas, territories.
- abandonnées
- Past participle (plural feminine); abandoned, deserted, forsaken.
- espace
- Noun (masculine); space, expanse, open area.
- lugubre
- Adjective; gloomy, mournful, dismal.
- réservoir
- Noun (masculine); reservoir, storage place for liquids.
- gel
- Noun (masculine); frost, freeze, gel.
- neige
- Noun (feminine); snow.
- solides
- Adjective (plural); solid, firm, hard.
- étendues
- Noun (plural); expanses, stretches of surface.
- glace
- Noun (feminine); ice, also mirror or ice cream.
- accumulation
- Noun (feminine); accumulation, build-up, amassing.
- siècles
- Noun (plural); centuries, ages, long periods of time.
- hivers
- Noun (plural); winters.
- vernissées
- Adjective (plural feminine); glazed, varnished, shiny.
- hauteurs
- Noun (plural); heights, elevated places, summits.
- alpines
- Adjective (feminine plural); alpine, relating to high mountains.
- dessus
- Adverb/preposition; above, on top, over.
- entourent
- Third-person plural of 'entourer'; surround, encircle.
- pôle
- Noun (masculine); pole (geographic), polar region.
- concentrent
- Third-person plural of 'concentrer'; concentrate, gather together.
- rigueurs
- Noun (plural); rigors, harshness, severity of conditions.
- multipliées
- Past participle (plural feminine); multiplied, increased many times.
- froid
- Noun/adjective (masculine); cold.
- extrême
- Adjective; extreme, utmost, very great.
- royaumes
- Noun (plural); kingdoms, realms, dominions.
- blanc
- Adjective (masculine); white.
- mort
- Noun (feminine)/adjective; death, dead.
- formai
- Simple past of 'former'; I formed, I created.
- idée
- Noun (feminine); idea, notion, concept.
- propre
- Adjective; own, proper, clean (context-dependent).
- vague
- Adjective/noun; vague, hazy; also wave (noun).
- notions
- Noun (plural); notions, basic ideas, concepts.
- demi
- Adjective/adverb; half, semi-.
- comprises
- Past participle (plural feminine); understood, included, grasped.
- flottent
- Third-person plural of 'flotter'; float, drift, waver.
- indistinctes
- Adjective (plural feminine); indistinct, unclear, blurry.
- cerveaux
- Noun (plural); brains, minds.
- enfants
- Noun (plural); children.
- étrangement
- Adverb; strangely, oddly, in a strange manner.
- saisissante
- Adjective (feminine); striking, gripping, startling.
- mots
- Noun (plural); words.
- pages
- Noun (plural); pages of a book.
- introductives
- Adjective (plural feminine); introductory, serving as introduction.
- liaient
- Imperfect of 'lier'; linked, connected, tied together.
- vignettes
- Noun (plural); small illustrations, vignettes, pictures.
- suivaient
- Imperfect of 'suivre'; followed, came after.
- donnaient
- Imperfect of 'donner'; gave, provided.
- sens
- Noun (masculine); meaning, sense, direction.
- rocher
- Noun (masculine); rock, boulder.
- dressant
- Present participle of 'dresser'; rising up, standing erect.
- seul
- Adjective; alone, single, only.
- vagues
- Noun (plural); waves (of the sea).
- écume
- Noun (feminine); foam, froth, sea spray.
- embarcation
- Noun (feminine); small boat, vessel, craft.
- brisée
- Past participle (feminine); broken, smashed, wrecked.
- échouée
- Past participle (feminine); stranded, run aground, beached.
- désolée
- Adjective (feminine); desolate, bleak, barren.
- lune
- Noun (feminine); moon.
- froide
- Adjective (feminine); cold, chilly.
- blafarde
- Adjective (feminine); pale, wan, pallid (especially of light).
- jetant
- Present participle of 'jeter'; throwing, casting, sending.
- regard
- Noun (masculine); gaze, look, glance.
- travers
- Noun; used in 'à travers'; through, across.
- barreaux
- Noun (plural); bars, rods (of a window or cage).
- nuages
- Noun (plural); clouds.
- épave
- Noun (feminine); wreck, shipwreck, derelict vessel.
- train
- Noun (masculine); train; also pace, process (être en train de).
- sombrer
- Infinitive verb; to sink, to founder, to go under.
- saurais
- Conditional of 'savoir'; would know, could say.
- dire
- Infinitive verb; to say, to tell.
- sentiment
- Noun (masculine); feeling, sentiment, emotion.
- hantait
- Imperfect of 'hanter'; haunted, obsessed persistently.
- cimetière
- Noun (masculine); cemetery, graveyard.
- solitaire
- Adjective; solitary, lonely, alone.
- pierre
- Noun (feminine); stone, rock.
- tombale
- Adjective (feminine); relating to a tomb (pierre tombale = gravestone).
- gravée
- Past participle (feminine); engraved, carved, inscribed.
- inscriptions
- Noun (plural); inscriptions, engravings, written texts on surfaces.
- portail
- Noun (masculine); gate, portal, large doorway.
- arbres
- Noun (plural); trees.
- horizon
- Noun (masculine); horizon, skyline.
- bas
- Adjective/adverb; low, down, at a low level.
- ceint
- Past participle of 'ceindre'; encircled, girdled, surrounded.
- mur
- Noun (masculine); wall.
- ruine
- Noun (feminine); ruin, remains of a destroyed structure.
- croissant
- Noun/adjective; crescent moon; growing, increasing.
- fraîchement
- Adverb; freshly, newly, recently.
- levé
- Past participle of 'lever'; risen, raised (e.g., the moon).
- attestant
- Present participle of 'attester'; attesting, proving, confirming.
- heure
- Noun (feminine); hour, time of day.
- soir
- Noun (masculine); evening, night.
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