The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete — Page 5
The Mystery unfolded—Another Recognition, which, it is to be hoped, the Reader could not foresee
Le Mystère dévoilé—Une autre Reconnaissance que, il faut l'espérer, le Lecteur n'avait pu prévoir
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE. A retrospective Link, necessary for the Concatenation of these Memoirs
CHAPITRE SOIXANTE-CINQ. Un lien rétrospectif, nécessaire à l'enchaînement de ces Mémoires
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX. The History draws near a Period
CHAPITRE SOIXANTE-SIX. L'Histoire approche de sa fin
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN. The Longest and the Last
CHAPITRE SOIXANTE-SEPT. Le plus long et le dernier
ILLUSTRATIONS
ILLUSTRATIONS
Titlepage of Part One
Page de titre de la Première Partie
Frontispiece of Part One
Frontispice de la Première Partie
He Opened the Repository
Il ouvrit le coffre
Titlepage of Part Two
Page de titre de la Deuxième Partie
Frontispiece of Part Two
Frontispice de la Deuxième Partie
You Are the Count de Melvil
Vous êtes le Comte de Melvil
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom, Smollett's third novel, was given to the world in 1753.
Les Aventures de Ferdinand comte Fathom, troisième roman de Smollett, furent offertes au monde en 1753.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, writing to her daughter, the Countess of Bute, over a year later [January 1st, 1755], remarked that "my friend Smollett . . has certainly a talent for invention, though I think it flags a little in his last work."
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, écrivant à sa fille, la comtesse de Bute, plus d'un an plus tard [le 1er janvier 1755], fit remarquer que « mon ami Smollett… possède certes un talent pour l'invention, bien que je trouve qu'il faiblit quelque peu dans son dernier ouvrage ».
Lady Mary was both right and wrong.
Lady Mary avait à la fois raison et tort.
The inventive power which we commonly think of as Smollett's was the ability to work over his own experience into realistic fiction.
La puissance inventive que l'on associe communément à Smollett était sa capacité à transformer ses propres expériences en fiction réaliste.
Of this, Ferdinand Count Fathom shows comparatively little.
À cet égard, Ferdinand comte Fathom en fait preuve de manière relativement limitée.
It shows relatively little, too, of Smollett's vigorous personality, which in his earlier works was present to give life and interest to almost every chapter, were it to describe a street brawl, a ludicrous situation, a whimsical character, or with venomous prejudice to gibbet some enemy.
Il révèle également peu de la personnalité vigoureuse de Smollett, qui dans ses œuvres antérieures était présente pour donner vie et intérêt à presque chaque chapitre, qu'il s'agisse de décrire une bagarre de rue, une situation ridicule, un personnage fantasque, ou de clouer au pilori quelque ennemi avec un préjugé venimeux.
Vocabulary
- Mystère
- A secret or unexplained phenomenon; mystery
- dévoilé
- Revealed or uncovered, past participle of dévoiler
- autre
- Another or other; different from the one mentioned
- Reconnaissance
- Recognition, gratitude, or acknowledgment of something
- faut
- From falloir; expresses necessity, meaning 'must/need'
- espérer
- To hope or wish for something in the future
- Lecteur
- A person who reads; reader of a text
- avait
- Third-person singular imperfect of avoir; 'had'
- pu
- Past participle of pouvoir; 'was able to/could'
- prévoir
- To foresee or anticipate future events or situations
- CHAPITRE
- A division of a book; chapter
- SOIXANTE
- The number sixty in French
- CINQ
- The number five in French
- lien
- A connection, bond, or link between things
- rétrospectif
- Looking back at past events; retrospective in nature
- nécessaire
- Required or essential; something that must exist
- enchaînement
- A series of linked events or logical sequence
- Mémoires
- Written personal recollections or autobiographical accounts
- SIX
- The number six in French
- Histoire
- History or a story; narrative of past events
- approche
- Draws near; to come close to something
- fin
- The end or conclusion of something
- SEPT
- The number seven in French
- plus
- More; used for comparisons or greater quantity
- long
- Extended in length or duration; lengthy
- dernier
- Last or final in a sequence or series
- ILLUSTRATIONS
- Images or drawings included in a publication
- Page
- A single side of a leaf in a book
- titre
- A title or heading of a work or chapter
- Première
- First; feminine form of premier in French
- Partie
- A section or part of a larger work
- Frontispice
- An illustration facing a book's title page
- ouvrit
- Past historic of ouvrir; 'he opened' something
- coffre
- A chest, trunk, or strongbox for storage
- Deuxième
- Second in order; the ordinal form of deux
- êtes
- Second-person plural of être; 'you are'
- Comte
- A nobleman holding the title of count
- INTRODUCTION
- An opening section presenting the main work
- Aventures
- Exciting or risky experiences; adventures undertaken
- comte
- A nobleman holding the rank of count
- troisième
- Third in a sequence; ordinal form of trois
- roman
- A novel; a long work of prose fiction
- furent
- Past historic plural of être; 'they were'
- offertes
- Offered or presented; feminine plural past participle
- monde
- The world or people in general; society
- écrivant
- Writing; present participle of écrire
- fille
- A daughter or girl; female child or offspring
- comtesse
- A noblewoman holding the rank of countess
- an
- A year; a unit of time lasting twelve months
- tard
- Late; at a later time than expected
- janvier
- The first month of the year; January
- fit
- Past historic of faire; 'he/she made or did'
- remarquer
- To notice or point out something to someone
- ami
- A friend; someone with whom one has affection
- possède
- Possesses or owns; third-person singular of posséder
- certes
- Certainly or admittedly; used to concede a point
- talent
- A natural ability or skill in a domain
- invention
- Creative imagination or the act of inventing something
- bien
- Well; used as adverb or to emphasize a point
- trouve
- Find or think; first-person singular of trouver
- faiblit
- Weakens or falters; third-person singular of faiblir
- quelque
- Some or a certain amount; used before nouns
- peu
- A little; indicating a small degree or amount
- ouvrage
- A work, piece of writing, or crafted creation
- fois
- Time or instance; used in expressions like 'une fois'
- raison
- Reason or correctness; avoir raison means 'to be right'
- tort
- Wrong; avoir tort means 'to be wrong or mistaken'
- puissance
- Power, strength, or capability of a great degree
- inventive
- Inventive; creative and resourceful in producing ideas
- on
- Indefinite pronoun meaning 'one,' 'we,' or 'people'
- associe
- Associates or links; third-person singular of associer
- communément
- Commonly or generally; in the usual or typical way
- était
- Third-person singular imperfect of être; 'was'
- capacité
- Ability or capacity to do or contain something
- transformer
- To change or convert something into a different form
- propres
- Own; used to emphasize personal ownership or nature
- expériences
- Experiences or experiments undergone or conducted
- fiction
- Invented narrative or imaginative literary storytelling
- réaliste
- Realistic; depicting things as they actually are
- égard
- Regard or respect; used in phrase à cet égard
- fait
- Does or makes; also past participle of faire
- preuve
- Proof or evidence; faire preuve means 'to show/demonstrate'
- manière
- Manner, way, or style of doing something
- relativement
- Relatively or comparatively; in relation to something else
- limitée
- Limited or restricted; constrained in scope or extent
- révèle
- Reveals or discloses; third-person singular of révéler
- également
- Also or equally; in the same manner or degree
- personnalité
- Personality; the distinctive character of a person
- vigoureuse
- Vigorous or energetic; strong and forceful in nature
- œuvres
- Works; artistic or literary productions by an author
- antérieures
- Earlier or previous; coming before in time or order
- présente
- Presents or shows; third-person singular of présenter
- donner
- To give; to provide something to someone
- vie
- Life; the state of being alive or living
- intérêt
- Interest; the quality of attracting attention or curiosity
- presque
- Almost or nearly; very close to but not quite
- chaque
- Each or every; referring to individual items in a group
- chapitre
- A chapter; a division within a book or text
- agisse
- Subjunctive of agir; s'agisse de means 'whether it be'
- décrire
- To describe or depict in words or detail
- bagarre
- A fight or brawl; a physical altercation between people
- rue
- A street; a public road in a town or city
- situation
- A circumstance or set of conditions someone faces
- ridicule
- Absurd or laughable; deserving of mockery or scorn
- personnage
- A character in a story or notable public figure
- fantasque
- Whimsical or capricious; behaving in an unpredictable way
- clouer
- To nail or pin down; fix firmly in place
- pilori
- A pillory; public punishment device for shaming someone
- ennemi
- An enemy; a person who is hostile or opposed
- préjugé
- A prejudice or bias; preconceived unfair opinion
- venimeux
- Venomous or spiteful; full of malice or poison
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