On the Method of Zadig: Essay #1 from "Science and Hebrew Tradition" — Page 14
At the present day, it would probably be impossible to find any sane advocate of this opinion; and the fact is rather surprising, that among the people from whom the circle-squarers, perpetual-motioners, flat-earthed men and the like, are recruited, to say nothing of table-turners and spirit-rappers, somebody has not perceived the easy avenue to nonsensical notoriety open to any one who will take up the good old doctrine, that fossils are all _lusus naturae._
De nos jours, il serait probablement impossible de trouver un seul défenseur sensé de cette opinion ; et le fait est plutôt surprenant que, parmi les gens dont sont recrutés les quadrateurs de cercle, les partisans du mouvement perpétuel, les tenants de la terre plate et autres, sans parler des tourneurs de tables et des évocateurs d'esprits, personne n'ait perçu la voie facile vers une notoriété absurde, ouverte à quiconque voudrait embrasser la bonne vieille doctrine selon laquelle tous les fossiles sont des _lusus naturae_.
The position would be impregnable, inasmuch as it is quite impossible to prove the contrary.
La position serait imprenable, dans la mesure où il est tout à fait impossible d'en prouver le contraire.
If a man choose to maintain that a fossil oyster shell, in spite of its correspondence, down to every minutest particular, with that of an oyster fresh taken out of the sea, was never tenanted by a living oyster, but is a mineral concretion, there is no demonstrating his error.
Si un homme choisit de soutenir qu'une coquille d'huître fossile, malgré sa correspondance, jusque dans les moindres détails, avec celle d'une huître fraîchement tirée de la mer, n'a jamais été habitée par une huître vivante, mais est une concrétion minérale, il n'existe aucun moyen de démontrer son erreur.
All that can be done is to show him that, by a parity of reasoning, he is bound to admit that a heap of oyster shells outside a fishmonger's door may also be "sports of nature," and that a mutton bone in a dust-bin may have had the like origin.
Tout ce que l'on peut faire, c'est lui montrer que, par un raisonnement analogue, il est contraint d'admettre qu'un tas de coquilles d'huîtres devant la porte d'un poissonnier pourrait également être des « caprices de la nature », et qu'un os de mouton dans une poubelle pourrait avoir eu une origine semblable.
And when you cannot prove that people are wrong, but only that they are absurd, the best course is to let them alone.
Et lorsque l'on ne peut pas prouver que des gens ont tort, mais seulement qu'ils sont absurdes, le meilleur parti est de les laisser tranquilles.
Vocabulary
- nos
- Possessive adjective meaning 'our' in French.
- jours
- Noun meaning 'days'; commonly used in expressions.
- serait
- Conditional form of 'être'; meaning 'would be'.
- probablement
- Adverb meaning 'probably' or 'most likely'.
- impossible
- Adjective meaning 'not possible' or 'unable to occur'.
- trouver
- Verb meaning 'to find' or 'to locate'.
- seul
- Adjective meaning 'alone', 'single', or 'only'.
- défenseur
- Noun meaning 'defender' or 'advocate' of something.
- sensé
- Adjective meaning 'sensible' or 'reasonable' in judgment.
- opinion
- Noun meaning 'opinion' or 'view' on a matter.
- fait
- Noun meaning 'fact' or 'deed'; established truth.
- plutôt
- Adverb meaning 'rather' or 'somewhat'; expressing preference.
- surprenant
- Adjective meaning 'surprising' or 'astonishing'.
- parmi
- Preposition meaning 'among' or 'amongst' a group.
- gens
- Noun meaning 'people' or 'persons' in general.
- dont
- Relative pronoun meaning 'whose', 'of which', or 'from'.
- recrutés
- Past participle of 'recruter'; meaning 'recruited' or 'enlisted'.
- cercle
- Noun meaning 'circle'; a perfectly round geometric shape.
- partisans
- Noun meaning 'partisans' or 'advocates' of a cause.
- mouvement
- Noun meaning 'movement' or 'motion'; physical or social.
- perpétuel
- Adjective meaning 'perpetual' or 'never-ending'; continuous.
- tenants
- Noun meaning 'proponents' or 'upholders' of a belief.
- terre
- Noun meaning 'earth', 'ground', or 'land'.
- plate
- Adjective meaning 'flat' or 'level'; without elevation.
- autres
- Adjective or pronoun meaning 'other' or 'others'.
- sans
- Preposition meaning 'without'; indicating absence of something.
- parler
- Verb meaning 'to speak' or 'to talk'.
- tables
- Noun meaning 'tables'; flat-surfaced furniture pieces.
- esprits
- Noun meaning 'spirits', 'minds', or 'ghosts'.
- personne
- Pronoun meaning 'nobody' or noun meaning 'person'.
- ait
- Subjunctive form of 'avoir'; meaning 'has' or 'have'.
- perçu
- Past participle of 'percevoir'; meaning 'perceived' or 'noticed'.
- voie
- Noun meaning 'way', 'path', or 'route'.
- facile
- Adjective meaning 'easy' or 'simple' to do.
- vers
- Preposition meaning 'toward' or 'towards' a destination.
- notoriété
- Noun meaning 'notoriety' or 'fame', often negative connotation.
- absurde
- Adjective meaning 'absurd' or 'ridiculous'; contrary to reason.
- ouverte
- Adjective meaning 'open' or 'available'; accessible to all.
- quiconque
- Pronoun meaning 'whoever' or 'anyone who'.
- voudrait
- Conditional form of 'vouloir'; meaning 'would want'.
- embrasser
- Verb meaning 'to embrace', 'to kiss', or 'to adopt'.
- bonne
- Adjective meaning 'good' (feminine form of 'bon').
- vieille
- Adjective meaning 'old' (feminine form of 'vieux').
- doctrine
- Noun meaning 'doctrine' or 'set of beliefs taught.
- selon
- Preposition meaning 'according to' or 'depending on'.
- laquelle
- Relative pronoun meaning 'which' or 'whom' (feminine).
- tous
- Adjective or pronoun meaning 'all' or 'every'.
- fossiles
- Noun meaning 'fossils'; preserved remains of ancient organisms.
- position
- Noun meaning 'position', 'stance', or 'location'.
- imprenable
- Adjective meaning 'impregnable' or 'unassailable'; cannot be taken.
- mesure
- Noun meaning 'measure' or 'extent'; degree of something.
- où
- Relative adverb meaning 'where' or 'in which'.
- tout
- Adjective or pronoun meaning 'all', 'every', or 'whole'.
- prouver
- Verb meaning 'to prove' or 'to demonstrate' something.
- contraire
- Adjective or noun meaning 'contrary' or 'opposite'.
- Si
- Conjunction meaning 'if', introducing a conditional clause.
- homme
- Noun meaning 'man' or 'human being'.
- choisit
- Verb meaning 'chooses'; third-person singular of 'choisir'.
- soutenir
- Verb meaning 'to maintain', 'to support', or 'to argue'.
- coquille
- Noun meaning 'shell', typically of a mollusk or egg.
- huître
- Noun meaning 'oyster'; a bivalve marine mollusk.
- fossile
- Noun or adjective meaning 'fossil'; preserved ancient remain.
- malgré
- Preposition meaning 'despite' or 'in spite of'.
- correspondance
- Noun meaning 'correspondence' or 'similarity'; matching relationship.
- jusque
- Preposition meaning 'up to', 'until', or 'even to'.
- moindres
- Adjective meaning 'smallest' or 'slightest'; least significant.
- détails
- Noun meaning 'details'; small specific pieces of information.
- avec
- Preposition meaning 'with'; indicating accompaniment or means.
- celle
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'the one' (feminine singular).
- fraîchement
- Adverb meaning 'freshly' or 'recently'; just done or obtained.
- tirée
- Past participle of 'tirer'; meaning 'pulled' or 'drawn'.
- mer
- Noun meaning 'sea' or 'ocean'; large body of water.
- jamais
- Adverb meaning 'never' or 'ever'; refers to time.
- été
- Past participle of 'être'; meaning 'been'; also 'summer'.
- habitée
- Past participle of 'habiter'; meaning 'inhabited' or 'occupied'.
- vivante
- Adjective meaning 'living' or 'alive'; currently having life.
- mais
- Conjunction meaning 'but'; introducing a contrast or objection.
- minérale
- Adjective meaning 'mineral'; relating to inorganic natural substances.
- existe
- Verb meaning 'exists'; third-person singular of 'exister'.
- aucun
- Adjective or pronoun meaning 'no', 'none', or 'not any'.
- moyen
- Noun meaning 'means', 'way', or 'method' to do something.
- démontrer
- Verb meaning 'to demonstrate' or 'to prove' conclusively.
- erreur
- Noun meaning 'error' or 'mistake'; an incorrect belief.
- Tout
- Pronoun or adjective meaning 'all', 'everything', or 'every'.
- on
- Indefinite pronoun meaning 'one', 'we', 'they', or 'people'.
- faire
- Verb meaning 'to do' or 'to make'; very common verb.
- lui
- Pronoun meaning 'him', 'her', or 'to him/her'.
- montrer
- Verb meaning 'to show' or 'to demonstrate' to someone.
- raisonnement
- Noun meaning 'reasoning' or 'argument'; logical thought process.
- analogue
- Adjective meaning 'analogous' or 'similar'; comparable in function.
- contraint
- Past participle of 'contraindre'; meaning 'forced' or 'compelled'.
- admettre
- Verb meaning 'to admit' or 'to acknowledge' something.
- tas
- Noun meaning 'pile' or 'heap' of things stacked together.
- coquilles
- Noun meaning 'shells'; plural of 'coquille'.
- huîtres
- Noun meaning 'oysters'; plural of 'huître'.
- devant
- Preposition meaning 'in front of' or 'before'.
- porte
- Noun meaning 'door' or 'gate'; entry point of a building.
- poissonnier
- Noun meaning 'fishmonger'; someone who sells fish.
- pourrait
- Conditional of 'pouvoir'; meaning 'could' or 'might'.
- également
- Adverb meaning 'equally', 'also', or 'likewise'.
- être
- Verb meaning 'to be'; fundamental auxiliary and linking verb.
- caprices
- Noun meaning 'whims', 'caprices', or 'fancies'; unpredictable impulses.
- nature
- Noun meaning 'nature'; the natural world or inherent character.
- os
- Noun meaning 'bone' or 'bones'; skeletal structure.
- mouton
- Noun meaning 'sheep' or 'mutton'; a domesticated animal.
- poubelle
- Noun meaning 'trash can' or 'garbage bin'.
- avoir
- Verb meaning 'to have'; fundamental auxiliary verb in French.
- eu
- Past participle of 'avoir'; meaning 'had'.
- origine
- Noun meaning 'origin' or 'source'; where something began.
- semblable
- Adjective meaning 'similar' or 'alike'; resembling something else.
- lorsque
- Conjunction meaning 'when'; introducing a temporal clause.
- tort
- Noun meaning 'wrong'; avoir tort means 'to be wrong'.
- seulement
- Adverb meaning 'only' or 'merely'; restricting to one thing.
- absurdes
- Adjective meaning 'absurd' or 'ridiculous'; plural form.
- meilleur
- Adjective meaning 'better' or 'best'; comparative of 'bon'.
- parti
- Noun meaning 'party', 'decision', or 'course of action'.
- laisser
- Verb meaning 'to let', 'to leave', or 'to allow'.
- tranquilles
- Adjective meaning 'calm', 'quiet', or 'undisturbed'; at peace.
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