Spoon River Anthology — Page 13

English → Fr Full Text Level 4/10

Daisy Fraser

Did you ever hear of Editor Whedon

Avez-vous jamais entendu dire que le rédacteur Whedon

Giving to the public treasury any of the money he received

Ait versé au trésor public une partie de l'argent qu'il reçut

For supporting candidates for office?

Pour avoir soutenu des candidats à des fonctions publiques ?

Or for writing up the canning factory

Ou pour avoir vanté la conserverie

To get people to invest?

Afin d'inciter les gens à y investir ?

Or for suppressing the facts about the bank,

Ou pour avoir dissimulé les faits concernant la banque,

When it was rotten and ready to break?

Lorsqu'elle était pourrie et sur le point de faire faillite ?

Did you ever hear of the Circuit Judge

Avez-vous jamais entendu dire que le juge de circuit

Helping anyone except the "Q" railroad,

Ait aidé quiconque hormis la compagnie de chemin de fer « Q »,

Or the bankers? Or did Rev. Peet or Rev. Sibley

Ou les banquiers ? Ou bien le révérend Peet ou le révérend Sibley

Give any part of their salary, earned by keeping still,

Ont-ils donné une partie de leur salaire, gagné en se taisant,

Or speaking out as the leaders wished them to do,

Ou en parlant comme les dirigeants le souhaitaient,

To the building of the water works?

Pour la construction des installations hydrauliques ?

But I—Daisy Fraser who always passed

Mais moi — Daisy Fraser qui passais toujours

Along the street through rows of nods and smiles,

Dans la rue sous des rangées de hochements de tête et de sourires,

And coughs and words such as "there she goes."

Et de toussotements et de mots tels que « la voilà qui passe. »

Never was taken before Justice Arnett

Je ne fus jamais amenée devant le juge Arnett

Without contributing ten dollars and costs

Sans contribuer dix dollars et les frais

To the school fund of Spoon River!

Au fonds scolaire de Spoon River !

Benjamin Fraser

Their spirits beat upon mine

Leurs esprits battaient contre le mien

Like the wings of a thousand butterflies.

Comme les ailes de mille papillons.

I closed my eyes and felt their spirits vibrating.

Je fermai les yeux et sentis leurs esprits vibrer.

I closed my eyes, yet I knew when their lashes

Je fermai les yeux, et pourtant je savais quand leurs cils

Fringed their cheeks from downcast eyes,

Frangeaient leurs joues sous leurs yeux baissés,

And when they turned their heads;

Et quand elles tournaient la tête ;

And when their garments clung to them,

Et quand leurs vêtements se collaient à elles,

Or fell from them, in exquisite draperies.

Ou en tombaient, en draperies exquises.

Their spirits watched my ecstasy

Leurs esprits contemplaient mon extase

With wide looks of starry unconcern.

D'un regard vaste d'indifférence étoilée.

Vocabulary

Avez-vous: Do you have? Second person plural present of avoir.
jamais: Never; at no time in the past or future.
entendu: Heard; past participle of entendre, to hear.
dire: To say or tell something to another person.
que: That; which; what; common conjunction and relative pronoun.
le: The; masculine singular definite article in French.
rédacteur: A writer, editor, or author of written documents.
Ait: May have; subjunctive form of avoir in third person.
versé: Poured; paid or transferred money or funds.
au: To the; contraction of à and le.
trésor: Treasure; public treasury or state's financial reserves.
public: Public; relating to the people or general population.
une: A, an; feminine singular indefinite article in French.
partie: A part, portion, or game; section of something.
de: Of, from; indicates possession or origin relationship.
argent: Money, silver; currency or financial resources.
il: He, it; masculine singular personal pronoun.
reçut: Received; past tense of recevoir, to receive.
Pour: For; in order to; expressing purpose or direction.
avoir: To have; auxiliary and main verb in French.
soutenu: Supported, sustained; past participle of soutenir.
des: Some, any; plural indefinite or partitive article.
candidats: Candidates; people running for political office.
fonctions: Functions, positions; roles or official duties.
publiques: Public; relating to government or state administration.
Ou: Or; conjunction presenting an alternative option.
pour: For; in order to; expressing purpose or reason.
vanté: Praised, boasted; past participle of vanter.
la: The; feminine singular definite article in French.
conserverie: Canning factory; place where food is preserved.
Afin: In order to, so that; expressing purpose or intention.
inciter: To incite, encourage; to prompt someone to action.
les: The; plural definite article for masculine or feminine.
gens: People, folks; plural noun referring to persons.
investir: To invest; to put money into financial ventures.
dissimulé: Hidden, concealed; past participle of dissimuler.
faits: Facts; events or things that actually happened.
concernant: Concerning, regarding; preposition introducing a topic.
banque: Bank; financial institution for money management.
Lorsqu: When; shortened form of lorsque before a vowel.
elle: She, it; feminine singular personal pronoun.
était: Was; past tense of être, to be.
pourrie: Rotten, corrupt; adjective describing decay or corruption.
et: And; basic conjunction joining words or clauses.
sur: On, upon, over; preposition indicating position.
point: Point; about to happen or near occurrence.
faire: To make, do; common verb with many meanings.
faillite: Bankruptcy; legal status of financial insolvency.
juge: Judge; person who presides over legal proceedings.
circuit: Circuit; judicial district or tour of jurisdiction.
aidé: Helped, aided; past participle of aider.
quiconque: Anyone, whoever; indefinite pronoun referring to persons.
hormis: Except, save; preposition excluding from consideration.
compagnie: Company; business firm or association of persons.
chemin: Path, way, road; route or direction of travel.
fer: Iron; metal or railroad in compound terms.
banquiers: Bankers; people who work in banking or finance.
bien: Well, good; adverb or noun indicating goodness.
révérend: Reverend; title of respect for clergy members.
Ont-ils: Have they; inverted question form of avoir.
donné: Gave, given; past participle of donner.
leur: Their, them; third person plural object pronoun.
salaire: Salary, wages; payment for work or employment.
gagné: Earned, won; past participle of gagner.
en: In, by; preposition or pronoun with multiple uses.
se: Oneself; reflexive pronoun for all persons.
taisant: Being silent, keeping quiet; present participle of taire.
parlant: Speaking; present participle of parler.
comme: Like, as; conjunction or preposition of comparison.
dirigeants: Leaders, managers; people who lead organizations.
souhaitaient: Wished, desired; past tense of souhaiter.
construction: Construction, building; process of building structures.
installations: Installations, facilities; fixed equipment or systems.

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