Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave — Page 10
what longings after freedom took possession of his breast, and how his misery augmented, in proportion as he grew reflective and intelligent,—thus demonstrating that a happy slave is an extinct man!
quels désirs de liberté s'emparèrent de son cœur, et comment sa misère s'accrut, à mesure qu'il devenait plus réfléchi et plus intelligent, — démontrant ainsi qu'un esclave heureux est un homme éteint !
how he thought, reasoned, felt, under the lash of the driver, with the chains upon his limbs!
comment il pensa, raisonna, ressentit, sous le fouet du conducteur, les chaînes aux membres !
what perils he encountered in his endeavors to escape from his horrible doom!
quels périls il affronta dans ses efforts pour échapper à son horrible sort !
and how signal have been his deliverance and preservation in the midst of a nation of pitiless enemies!
et combien remarquables ont été sa délivrance et sa préservation au sein d'une nation d'ennemis impitoyables !
This Narrative contains many affecting incidents, many passages of great eloquence and power; but I think the most thrilling one of them all is the description _Douglass_ gives of his feelings, as he stood soliloquizing respecting his fate, and the chances of his one day being a freeman, on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay—viewing the receding vessels as they flew with their white wings before the breeze, and apostrophizing them as animated by the living spirit of freedom.
Ce Récit contient de nombreux incidents émouvants, de nombreux passages d'une grande éloquence et d'une grande puissance ; mais je crois que le plus saisissant de tous est la description que _Douglass_ donne de ses sentiments, alors qu'il se tenait à soliloquiser sur son destin, et sur les chances qu'il avait de devenir un jour homme libre, sur les rives de la baie de Chesapeake — regardant les navires s'éloigner tandis qu'ils volaient avec leurs ailes blanches devant la brise, et les apostrophant comme animés par l'esprit vivant de la liberté.
Who can read that passage, and be insensible to its pathos and sublimity?
Qui peut lire ce passage et rester insensible à son pathétique et à sa sublimité ?
Compressed into it is a whole Alexandrian library of thought, feeling, and sentiment—all that can, all that need be urged, in the form of expostulation, entreaty, rebuke, against that crime of crimes,—making man the property of his fellow-man!
S'y trouve condensée toute une bibliothèque alexandrine de pensées, d'émotions et de sentiments — tout ce que l'on peut, tout ce qu'il faut avancer, sous forme de remontrance, de supplication, de réprimande, contre ce crime des crimes, — faire de l'homme la propriété de son semblable !
Vocabulary
- quels
- which, what (masculine plural interrogative adjective)
- désirs
- desires, wishes, longings
- de
- of, from (common preposition/article)
- liberté
- freedom, liberty
- s'emparèrent
- seized, took hold of (reflexive past tense)
- son
- his, her, its (possessive adjective)
- cœur
- heart
- et
- and (conjunction)
- comment
- how (interrogative adverb)
- sa
- his, her, its (feminine possessive adjective)
- misère
- misery, poverty, wretchedness
- s'accrut
- grew, increased (reflexive simple past)
- à
- to, at, in (preposition)
- mesure
- measure; à mesure que: as, proportionally as
- qu'il
- that he (conjunction + pronoun contraction)
- devenait
- was becoming (imperfect tense of devenir)
- plus
- more (comparative adverb)
- réfléchi
- thoughtful, reflective, considered
- intelligent
- intelligent, clever, smart
- démontrant
- demonstrating, proving (present participle)
- ainsi
- thus, so, in this way
- qu'un
- that a (conjunction + article contraction)
- esclave
- slave, enslaved person
- heureux
- happy, fortunate, content
- est
- is (third person singular of être)
- un
- a, an, one (masculine indefinite article)
- homme
- man, human being
- éteint
- extinguished, dulled, switched off
- il
- he, it (masculine third person pronoun)
- pensa
- thought (simple past of penser)
- raisonna
- reasoned, argued (simple past of raisonner)
- ressentit
- felt, experienced emotionally (simple past)
- sous
- under, beneath (preposition)
- le
- the (masculine definite article)
- fouet
- whip
- du
- of the (masculine contracted article)
- conducteur
- driver, overseer, conductor
- les
- the (plural definite article)
- chaînes
- chains, shackles
- aux
- to the, at the (plural contraction)
- membres
- limbs, members (of the body)
- périls
- perils, dangers, risks
- affronta
- faced, confronted (simple past of affronter)
- dans
- in, inside (preposition)
- ses
- his, her, its (plural possessive adjective)
- efforts
- efforts, attempts, exertions
- pour
- for, in order to (preposition)
- échapper
- to escape, to flee, to avoid
- horrible
- horrible, dreadful, terrifying
- sort
- fate, lot, destiny
- combien
- how much, how many (interrogative adverb)
- remarquables
- remarkable, noteworthy, outstanding
- ont
- have (third person plural of avoir)
- été
- been (past participle of être)
- délivrance
- deliverance, rescue, liberation
- préservation
- preservation, protection, safeguarding
- au
- at the, in the (masculine contraction)
- sein
- bosom, midst; au sein de: in the midst of
- d'une
- of a (feminine contracted article)
- nation
- nation, country, people
- d'ennemis
- of enemies (contracted plural)
- impitoyables
- merciless, pitiless, ruthless
- Ce
- this, that (demonstrative adjective/pronoun)
- Récit
- narrative, account, story
- contient
- contains, holds (third person singular)
- nombreux
- numerous, many, plentiful
- incidents
- incidents, events, occurrences
- émouvants
- moving, touching, emotionally stirring
- passages
- passages, excerpts, sections of text
- grande
- great, large (feminine adjective)
- éloquence
- eloquence, persuasive and expressive speech
- puissance
- power, strength, might
- mais
- but (conjunction)
- je
- I (first person singular pronoun)
- crois
- believe, think (first person singular of croire)
- que
- that, which, whom (conjunction/pronoun)
- saisissant
- most striking, gripping, compelling
- tous
- all, every (masculine plural pronoun/adjective)
- la
- the (feminine definite article)
- description
- description, depiction, account
- donne
- gives, provides (third person singular of donner)
- sentiments
- feelings, sentiments, emotions
- alors
- then, at that time (adverb)
- se
- himself, herself, oneself (reflexive pronoun)
- tenait
- stood, held, kept (imperfect of tenir)
- soliloquiser
- to soliloquize, to speak aloud to oneself
- sur
- on, upon, about (preposition)
- destin
- destiny, fate
- chances
- chances, odds, opportunities
- avait
- had (third person singular imperfect of avoir)
- devenir
- to become
- jour
- day; un jour: one day, someday
- libre
- free, unrestrained, at liberty
- rives
- banks, shores (of a river or bay)
- baie
- bay (body of water)
- regardant
- watching, looking at (present participle)
- navires
- ships, vessels
- s'éloigner
- to move away, to sail off, to recede
- tandis
- while, whereas (used in tandis que)
- qu'ils
- that they (conjunction + pronoun contraction)
- volaient
- were flying, were soaring (imperfect of voler)
- avec
- with (preposition)
- leurs
- their (plural possessive adjective)
- ailes
- wings
- blanches
- white (feminine plural adjective)
- devant
- in front of, before (preposition/adverb)
- brise
- breeze, light wind
- apostrophant
- addressing, apostrophizing (present participle)
- comme
- as, like, how (conjunction/preposition)
- animés
- animated, enlivened, brought to life
- par
- by, through, per (preposition)
- l'esprit
- the spirit, the mind, the wit
- vivant
- living, alive (adjective/present participle)
- Qui
- who, which (interrogative/relative pronoun)
- peut
- can, is able to (third person singular of pouvoir)
- lire
- to read
- ce
- this, that (demonstrative adjective/pronoun)
- passage
- passage, section, excerpt of text
- rester
- to stay, to remain
- insensible
- insensible, unfeeling, unmoved
- pathétique
- pathetic, moving, deeply emotional
- sublimité
- sublimity, loftiness, grandeur
- S'y
- there reflexively; s'y trouver: to be found there
- trouve
- finds, is found (third person singular of trouver)
- condensée
- condensed, concentrated, compressed (feminine adjective)
- toute
- all, entire, whole (feminine singular)
- bibliothèque
- library, bookcase, collection of books
- pensées
- thoughts, reflections, ideas
- d'émotions
- of emotions, of feelings (contracted plural)
- tout
- all, everything, every (adjective/pronoun)
- l'on
- one, we (formal indefinite pronoun with article)
- faut
- must, need (impersonal il faut: one must)
- avancer
- to advance, to put forward, to progress
- forme
- form, shape, manner
- remontrance
- remonstrance, reproach, formal objection
- supplication
- supplication, earnest plea, entreaty
- réprimande
- reprimand, rebuke, scolding
- contre
- against, contrary to (preposition)
- crime
- crime, offense, wrongdoing
- des
- of the, some (plural contracted article)
- crimes
- crimes, offenses (plural)
- faire
- to make, to do
- propriété
- property, ownership, possession
- semblable
- fellow human being, one's likeness or kind
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