Moby Dick; Or, The Whale — Page 6
—"There Leviathan, Hugest of living creatures, in the deep Stretched like a promontory sleeps or swims, And seems a moving land; and at his gills Draws in, and at his breath spouts out a sea." —_Ibid_.
—« Là, le Léviathan, le plus grand des êtres vivants, dans les profondeurs Étendu comme un promontoire dort ou nage, Et semble une terre mouvante ; et à ses ouïes Aspire, et à son souffle rejette une mer. » —_Ibid_.
"The mighty whales which swim in a sea of water, and have a sea of oil swimming in them." —_Fuller's Profane and Holy State_.
« Les puissantes baleines qui nagent dans une mer d'eau, et qui ont une mer d'huile qui nage en elles. » —_Fuller's Profane and Holy State_.
"So close behind some promontory lie The huge Leviathan to attend their prey, And give no chance, but swallow in the fry, Which through their gaping jaws mistake the way." —_Dryden's Annus Mirabilis_.
« Si près derrière quelque promontoire se dissimule L'énorme Léviathan pour guetter sa proie, Ne laissant aucune chance, englouissant le fretin, Qui par leurs gueules béantes se fourvoie. » —_Dryden's Annus Mirabilis_.
"While the whale is floating at the stern of the ship, they cut off his head, and tow it with a boat as near the shore as it will come; but it will be aground in twelve or thirteen feet water." —_Thomas Edge's Ten Voyages to Spitzbergen, in Purchas_.
« Tandis que la baleine flotte à la poupe du navire, ils lui coupent la tête et la remorquent avec un canot aussi près du rivage que possible ; mais elle s'échouera par douze ou treize pieds d'eau. » —_Les Dix Voyages de Thomas Edge au Spitzberg, dans Purchas_.
"In their way they saw many whales sporting in the ocean, and in wantonness fuzzing up the water through their pipes and vents, which nature has placed on their shoulders." —_Sir T. Herbert's Voyages into Asia and Africa. Harris Coll_.
« En chemin, ils virent de nombreuses baleines se jouant dans l'océan, et par caprice faisant jaillir l'eau par leurs évents et souffles, que la nature a placés sur leurs épaules. » —_Voyages de Sir T. Herbert en Asie et en Afrique. Harris Coll_.
"Here they saw such huge troops of whales, that they were forced to proceed with a great deal of caution for fear they should run their ship upon them." —_Schouten's Sixth Circumnavigation_.
« Ils y virent de si immenses troupes de baleines qu'ils furent contraints d'avancer avec une grande prudence, de peur d'échouer leur navire sur elles. » —_Sixième Circumnavigation de Schouten_.
"We set sail from the Elbe, wind N.E. in the ship called The Jonas-in-the-Whale.... Some say the whale can't open his mouth, but that is a fable....
« Nous avons appareillé de l'Elbe, vent N.E., à bord du navire appelé Le Jonas-dans-la-Baleine… Certains disent que la baleine ne peut pas ouvrir la bouche, mais c'est une fable…
Vocabulary
- Là
- la — There; indicating a place or position
- le
- luh — The; masculine definite article in French
- Léviathan
- lay-vya-tahn — Leviathan; enormous biblical sea monster
- plus
- plü — More; used in comparisons or negations
- grand
- grahn — Large, great, or tall in size
- des
- day — Of the; plural indefinite article or partitive
- êtres
- eh-truh — Beings; living creatures or entities
- vivants
- vee-vahn — Living; alive, currently existing creatures
- dans
- dahn — In, inside; preposition indicating location
- les
- lay — The; plural definite article in French
- profondeurs
- pro-fohn-dur — Depths; deep parts of ocean or space
- Étendu
- ay-tahn-dü — Stretched out, extended, lying spread wide
- comme
- kohm — Like, as; used to make comparisons
- un
- uhn — A, an; masculine indefinite article
- promontoire
- pro-mohn-twar — Promontory; high land jutting into sea
- dort
- dor — Sleeps; third person singular of dormir
- ou
- oo — Or; conjunction offering an alternative choice
- nage
- nahzh — Swims; third person singular of nager
- Et
- ay — And; basic coordinating conjunction
- semble
- sahm-bluh — Seems, appears; third person singular sembler
- une
- ün — A, an; feminine indefinite article
- terre
- tehr — Earth, land, ground or soil
- mouvante
- moo-vahnt — Moving, shifting; feminine adjective from mouvoir
- et
- ay — And; coordinating conjunction linking ideas
- à
- ah — At, to, in; common French preposition
- ses
- say — His, her, its; third person plural possessive
- ouïes
- wee — Gills; breathing organs of fish
- Aspire
- as-peer — Inhales, sucks in; draws air or water
- son
- sohn — His, her, its; singular possessive adjective
- souffle
- soo-fluh — Breath, puff of air or wind
- rejette
- ruh-zhet — Rejects, expels; throws back out forcefully
- mer
- mehr — Sea; large body of salt water
- Les
- lay — The; plural definite article in French
- puissantes
- pwee-sahnt — Powerful, mighty; feminine plural adjective
- baleines
- bah-lehn — Whales; large marine mammals
- qui
- kee — Who, which, that; relative pronoun
- nagent
- nahzh — Swim; third person plural of nager
- d'
- duh — Of, from; elided form of de
- eau
- oh — Water; essential liquid for life
- ont
- ohn — Have; third person plural of avoir
- huile
- weel — Oil; fatty liquid substance
- en
- ahn — In, some; preposition or pronoun
- elles
- el — They; third person feminine plural pronoun
- Si
- see — If, so; conditional conjunction or intensifier
- près
- preh — Near, close; indicating proximity in space
- derrière
- dehr-yehr — Behind, in back of; spatial preposition
- quelque
- kel-kuh — Some, a few; indefinite adjective
- se
- suh — Himself, herself, itself; reflexive pronoun
- dissimule
- dee-see-mül — Hides, conceals; third person singular dissimuler
- L'
- luh/lah — The; elided definite article before vowel
- énorme
- ay-norm — Enormous, huge; extremely large in size
- pour
- poor — For, in order to; preposition of purpose
- guetter
- geh-tay — To watch for, to lie in wait
- sa
- sah — His, her, its; feminine singular possessive
- proie
- prwah — Prey; animal hunted by a predator
- Ne
- nuh — Not; first part of French negation
- laissant
- leh-sahn — Leaving, letting; present participle of laisser
- aucune
- oh-kün — No, none, not any; feminine adjective
- chance
- shahns — Chance, luck; probability or opportunity
- englouissant
- ahn-gloo-ee-sahn — Swallowing up, engulfing; devouring completely
- fretin
- fruh-tan — Small fry; minor fish or insignificant creatures
- Qui
- kee — Who, which; relative or interrogative pronoun
- par
- par — By, through; preposition of means or agency
- leurs
- lur — Their; plural possessive adjective
- gueules
- gul — Mouths, jaws; animal's open mouth
- béantes
- bay-ahnt — Gaping, wide open; feminine plural adjective
- fourvoie
- foor-vwah — Goes astray, wanders; strays into danger
- Tandis
- tahn-dee — While, whereas; used in tandis que
- que
- kuh — That, which, than; versatile conjunction
- la
- lah — The; feminine definite article
- baleine
- bah-lehn — Whale; large marine mammal
- flotte
- flot — Floats; third person singular of flotter
- poupe
- poop — Stern; rear part of a ship
- du
- dü — Of the; masculine contracted article
- navire
- nah-veer — Ship, vessel; large seafaring boat
- ils
- eel — They; masculine third person plural pronoun
- lui
- lwee — Him, her, it; third person indirect pronoun
- coupent
- koo-pahn — Cut; third person plural of couper
- tête
- tet — Head; uppermost part of body
- remorquent
- ruh-mork — Tow; they pull behind with a rope
- avec
- ah-vek — With; preposition indicating accompaniment
- canot
- kah-no — Small boat, canoe; light watercraft
- aussi
- oh-see — Also, too, as; adverb of addition
- rivage
- ree-vahzh — Shore, bank; edge of sea or river
- possible
- poh-see-bluh — Possible; able to happen or be done
- mais
- meh — But; adversative coordinating conjunction
- elle
- el — She, it; third person feminine singular
- s'
- suh — Herself, himself; elided reflexive pronoun
- échouera
- ay-shoo-rah — Will run aground; future tense of échouer
- douze
- dooz — Twelve; cardinal number
- treize
- trehz — Thirteen; cardinal number
- pieds
- pyay — Feet; unit of measurement or body part
- Dix
- dees — Ten; cardinal number
- Voyages
- vwa-yahzh — Voyages, journeys; long trips by sea
- de
- duh — Of, from; very common French preposition
- au
- oh — At the, to the; masculine contracted preposition
- En
- In, by, while; preposition or gerund marker
- chemin
- shuh-man — Path, way, road; route taken somewhere
- virent
- veer — Saw; third person plural passé simple voir
- nombreuses
- nohm-bruhz — Numerous, many; feminine plural adjective
- jouant
- zhoo-ahn — Playing; present participle of jouer
- l'
- luh/lah — The; elided definite article before vowel
- océan
- oh-say-ahn — Ocean; vast body of salt water
- caprice
- kah-prees — Whim, caprice; sudden unpredictable impulse
- faisant
- fuh-zahn — Making, doing; present participle of faire
- jaillir
- zhah-yeer — To spurt, gush; to spring out forcefully
- évents
- ay-vahn — Blowholes; whale's nasal openings on top
- souffles
- soo-fluh — Breaths, blows; exhalations of air
- nature
- nah-tür — Nature; the natural world or essence
- a
- ah — Has; third person singular of avoir
- placés
- plah-say — Placed, positioned; past participle of placer
- sur
- sür — On, upon, over; common French preposition
- épaules
- ay-pol — Shoulders; upper body joints connecting arms
- Asie
- ah-zee — Asia; the largest continent
- Afrique
- ah-freek — Africa; the second largest continent
- Ils
- eel — They; masculine third person plural subject pronoun
- y
- ee — There, it; adverbial pronoun of place
- si
- see — So, so much; intensifying adverb
- immenses
- ee-mahns — Immense, vast; extremely large in extent
- troupes
- troop — Troops, groups; large gatherings or herds
- qu'
- kuh — That; elided form of que before vowel
- furent
- für — Were; third person plural passé simple être
- contraints
- kohn-tran — Forced, compelled; constrained to do something
- avancer
- ah-vahn-say — To advance, move forward; to proceed carefully
- grande
- grahnd — Great, large; feminine form of grand
- prudence
- prü-dahns — Prudence, caution; careful sensible behavior
- peur
- pur — Fear; anxiety about danger or harm
- échouer
- ay-shoo-ay — To run aground; to fail or strand
- leur
- lur — Their, to them; possessive or indirect pronoun
- _Sixième
- see-zyem — Sixth; ordinal number, part of a title
- Nous
- noo — We, us; first person plural pronoun
- avons
- ah-vohn — Have; first person plural of avoir
- appareillé
- ah-pah-ray-yay — Set sail, departed; weighed anchor and left
- vent
- vahn — Wind; moving air or breeze
- bord
- bor — Side, edge, board; side of a ship
- appelé
- ah-puh-lay — Called, named; past participle of appeler
- Le
- luh — The; masculine definite article
- Baleine
- bah-lehn — Whale; large marine mammal
- Certains
- sehr-tan — Some, certain; indefinite pronoun meaning some people
- disent
- deez — Say; third person plural of dire
- ne
- nuh — Not; first element of French negation
- peut
- puh — Can, is able to; third person singular pouvoir
- pas
- pah — Not; second part of French negation
- ouvrir
- oo-vreer — To open; infinitive verb to open something
- bouche
- boosh — Mouth; opening used for eating and speaking
- c'
- suh — It, this; elided demonstrative pronoun ce
- est
- eh — Is; third person singular of être
- fable
- fah-bluh — Fable, myth; fictitious story or fabrication
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