On the Method of Zadig: Essay #1 from "Science and Hebrew Tradition" — Page 8
In all these cases, it is only the relation to time which alters--the process of divination beyond the limits of possible direct knowledge remains the same.
Dans tous ces cas, c'est uniquement le rapport au temps qui change -- le processus de divination au-delà des limites de la connaissance directe possible reste le même.
No doubt it was their instinctive recognition of the analogy between Zadig's results and those obtained by authorised inspiration which inspired the Babylonian magi with the desire to burn the philosopher.
Sans doute est-ce leur reconnaissance instinctive de l'analogie entre les résultats de Zadig et ceux obtenus par l'inspiration autorisée qui inspira aux mages babyloniens le désir de brûler le philosophe.
Zadig admitted that he had never either seen or heard of the horse of the king or of the spaniel of the queen; and yet he ventured to assert in the most positive manner that animals answering to their description did actually exist and ran about the plains of Babylon.
Zadig admit qu'il n'avait jamais ni vu ni entendu parler du cheval du roi ni de l'épagneul de la reine ; et pourtant il osa affirmer de la manière la plus catégorique que des animaux répondant à leur description existaient bel et bien et couraient dans les plaines de Babylone.
If his method was good for the divination of the course of events ten hours old, why should it not be good for those of ten years or ten centuries past; nay, might it not extend ten thousand years and justify the impious in meddling with the traditions of Oannes and the fish, and all the sacred foundations of Babylonian cosmogony?
Si sa méthode était bonne pour la divination du cours d'événements vieux de dix heures, pourquoi ne serait-elle pas bonne pour ceux vieux de dix ans ou de dix siècles ; bien plus, ne pourrait-elle pas s'étendre à dix mille ans et justifier les impies à se mêler des traditions d'Oannes et du poisson, et de tous les fondements sacrés de la cosmogonie babylonienne ?
But this was not the worst.
Mais ce n'était pas le pire.
There was another consideration which obviously dictated to the more thoughtful of the magi the propriety of burning Zadig out of hand.
Il y avait une autre considération qui dictait manifestement aux plus réfléchis des mages la nécessité de brûler Zadig sur-le-champ.
His defence was worse than his offence.
Sa défense était pire que son offense.
It showed that his mode of divination was fraught with danger to magianism in general.
Elle montrait que son mode de divination était lourd de danger pour le magisme en général.
Vocabulary
- Dans
- dɑ̃ — Preposition meaning 'in' or 'inside' something
- tous
- tu — All, every; referring to all members of a group
- ces
- se — Demonstrative adjective meaning 'these' or 'those'
- cas
- kɑ — Case, instance, or situation being considered
- c'
- s — Contraction of 'ce' meaning 'it' or 'this'
- est
- ɛ — Third-person singular of 'être'; means 'is'
- uniquement
- ynikmɑ̃ — Only, solely, exclusively; restricting to one thing
- le
- lə — Definite masculine singular article meaning 'the'
- rapport
- rapɔr — Relationship, connection, or link between things
- au
- o — Contraction of 'à le'; meaning 'to the' or 'at the'
- temps
- tɑ̃ — Time; the dimension in which events occur
- qui
- ki — Relative pronoun meaning 'who' or 'which'
- change
- ʃɑ̃ʒ — Changes, alters; undergoes transformation over time
- processus
- prɔsesys — Process, a series of steps or operations
- de
- də — Preposition meaning 'of' or 'from'
- divination
- divinasjɔ̃ — Art of foretelling future events by supernatural means
- au-delà
- o dəla — Beyond, on the other side of a limit
- des
- de — Plural indefinite article or contraction of 'de les'
- limites
- limit — Limits, boundaries, extents of what is possible
- la
- la — Definite feminine singular article meaning 'the'
- connaissance
- kɔnɛsɑ̃s — Knowledge, understanding, awareness of something
- directe
- dirɛkt — Direct; immediate, without intermediary or inference
- possible
- pɔsibl — Possible; able to be done or achieved
- reste
- rɛst — Remains, stays; continues to be the same
- même
- mɛm — Same; identical or unchanged in nature
- Sans
- sɑ̃ — Preposition meaning 'without'; lacking something
- doute
- dut — Doubt; uncertainty; 'sans doute' means 'no doubt'
- est-ce
- ɛs — Inverted form of 'c'est'; used in questions
- leur
- lœr — Their; possessive adjective referring to a group
- reconnaissance
- rəkɔnɛsɑ̃s — Recognition; acknowledgment of something previously known
- instinctive
- ɛ̃stɛ̃ktiv — Instinctive; done naturally without conscious reasoning
- l'
- l — Elided definite article 'le' or 'la' before vowel
- analogie
- analɔʒi — Analogy; similarity or correspondence between two things
- entre
- ɑ̃tr — Between; in the space or relationship separating two things
- les
- le — Definite plural article meaning 'the'
- résultats
- rezylta — Results, outcomes, conclusions of an investigation
- et
- e — Conjunction meaning 'and'; connects two elements
- ceux
- sø — Pronoun meaning 'those' or 'the ones'
- obtenus
- ɔbtəny — Obtained, achieved; past participle of 'obtenir'
- par
- par — Preposition meaning 'by' or 'through'
- inspiration
- ɛ̃spirasjɔ̃ — Inspiration; divine or creative influence on someone
- autorisée
- otɔrize — Authorized, officially permitted or sanctioned
- inspira
- ɛ̃spira — Inspired; past tense of 'inspirer', to inspire
- aux
- o — Contraction of 'à les'; meaning 'to the' plural
- mages
- maʒ — Mages, wise men, sorcerers or diviners
- désir
- dezir — Desire, wish, strong longing for something
- brûler
- bryle — To burn; to set on fire or destroy with flames
- philosophe
- filɔzɔf — Philosopher; one who pursues wisdom and reasoning
- admit
- admit — Admitted; acknowledged or confessed a fact
- qu'
- k — Conjunction 'que' elided before vowel; meaning 'that'
- il
- il — He; third-person masculine singular pronoun
- n'
- n — Negation particle 'ne' elided before vowel
- avait
- avɛ — Had; imperfect tense of 'avoir', to have
- jamais
- ʒamɛ — Never; at no time, or ever in a negative context
- ni
- ni — Neither, nor; used to connect negative alternatives
- vu
- vy — Seen; past participle of 'voir', to see
- entendu
- ɑ̃tɑ̃dy — Heard; past participle of 'entendre', to hear
- parler
- parle — To speak, to talk; basic verb of communication
- du
- dy — Contraction of 'de le'; meaning 'of the'
- cheval
- ʃəval — Horse; a large domesticated riding animal
- roi
- rwa — King; male monarch of a kingdom
- épagneul
- epanjœl — Spaniel; a type of long-eared dog breed
- reine
- rɛn — Queen; female monarch or king's consort
- pourtant
- purtɑ̃ — Yet, however, nevertheless; introduces a contrast
- osa
- oza — Dared; past tense of 'oser', to dare
- affirmer
- afirme — To affirm, assert, or state something confidently
- manière
- manjɛr — Manner, way, style of doing something
- plus
- ply — More; comparative adverb indicating greater degree
- catégorique
- kategɔrik — Categorical; absolute, unambiguous, and unqualified
- que
- kə — That; conjunction or comparative particle
- animaux
- animo — Animals; living creatures other than humans
- répondant
- repɔ̃dɑ̃ — Corresponding, matching, responding to a description
- à
- a — Preposition meaning 'to', 'at', or 'in'
- description
- dɛskripsj ɔ̃ — Description; detailed account of characteristics
- existaient
- ɛgzistɛ — Existed; imperfect tense of 'exister', to exist
- bel
- bɛl — Fine, beautiful; variant of 'beau' before vowel
- bien
- bjɛ̃ — Well, indeed; adverb confirming or emphasizing fact
- couraient
- kurɛ — Were running; imperfect of 'courir', to run
- dans
- dɑ̃ — In, inside, within a space or time frame
- plaines
- plɛn — Plains; flat, open expanses of land
- Si
- si — If; conditional conjunction introducing hypothesis
- sa
- sa — His, her, its; feminine possessive adjective
- méthode
- metɔd — Method; systematic way of doing something
- était
- etɛ — Was; imperfect tense of 'être', to be
- bonne
- bɔn — Good; feminine form of 'bon', adequate or effective
- pour
- pur — For; preposition indicating purpose or recipient
- cours
- kur — Course, flow; progression of events over time
- d'
- d — Elided preposition 'de' before a vowel
- événements
- evɛnmɑ̃ — Events; occurrences or happenings in time
- vieux
- vjø — Old; aged, ancient, of long duration
- dix
- dis — Ten; the cardinal number 10
- heures
- œr — Hours; units of time equal to 60 minutes
- pourquoi
- purkwa — Why; asking for reason or cause of something
- ne
- nə — Negation particle used with 'pas' or other negatives
- serait-elle
- sərɛ ɛl — Would it be; conditional of 'être' inverted form
- pas
- pɑ — Not; negative particle used with 'ne'
- ans
- ɑ̃ — Years; units of time equal to twelve months
- ou
- u — Or; conjunction presenting an alternative
- siècles
- sjɛkl — Centuries; periods of one hundred years
- pourrait-elle
- purɛ ɛl — Could it; conditional of 'pouvoir' in inverted form
- s'
- s — Reflexive pronoun 'se' elided before a vowel
- étendre
- etɑ̃dr — To extend, to stretch over a wider scope
- mille
- mil — Thousand; the cardinal number 1000
- justifier
- ʒystifje — To justify; to provide valid reason for something
- impies
- ɛ̃pi — Impious ones; those who disrespect sacred matters
- se
- sə — Reflexive pronoun meaning 'oneself' or 'themselves'
- mêler
- mele — To meddle, mix into; to involve oneself in something
- traditions
- tradisjɔ̃ — Traditions; beliefs or practices passed down generations
- poisson
- pwasɔ̃ — Fish; aquatic animal; also Oannes's fish form
- fondements
- fɔ̃dmɑ̃ — Foundations; fundamental bases of a belief system
- sacrés
- sakre — Sacred, holy; considered divine or inviolable
- cosmogonie
- kɔzmɔgɔni — Cosmogony; theory or myth about origin of universe
- Mais
- mɛ — But; conjunction indicating contrast or objection
- pire
- pir — Worse, worst; comparative of 'mauvais'
- Il
- il — He or it; third-person masculine singular pronoun
- y
- i — There; adverbial pronoun referring to a place or thing
- une
- yn — Feminine indefinite article meaning 'a' or 'one'
- autre
- otr — Other, another; different from what was mentioned
- considération
- kɔ̃siderasjɔ̃ — Consideration; factor to be taken into account
- dictait
- diktɛ — Dictated, imposed; imperfect of 'dicter', to dictate
- manifestement
- manifɛstmɑ̃ — Manifestly, obviously, clearly evident to all
- réfléchis
- refleSi — Reflected, thought carefully; past of 'réfléchir'
- nécessité
- nesesite — Necessity; something indispensable or urgently required
- sur-le-champ
- syr lə ʃɑ̃ — Immediately, on the spot, without any delay
- Sa
- sa — His or her; feminine possessive adjective
- défense
- defɑ̃s — Defense; protection or justification of oneself
- son
- sɔ̃ — His, her, its; masculine possessive adjective
- offense
- ɔfɑ̃s — Offense; attack or transgression against someone
- Elle
- ɛl — She, it; third-person feminine singular pronoun
- montrait
- mɔ̃trɛ — Showed, revealed; imperfect of 'montrer', to show
- mode
- mɔd — Mode, manner, method of operating or functioning
- lourd
- lur — Heavy; burdensome, weighty, serious in implication
- danger
- dɑ̃ʒe — Danger; risk of harm or negative consequences
- en
- ɑ̃ — In, by; preposition indicating manner or state
- général
- ʒeneral — General; broad, overall, not specific to one case
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