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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes — Page 2

English → Fr Full Text Level 6/10

Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his.

Du sable dans un instrument délicat, ou une fissure dans l'un de ses propres objectifs de haute puissance, n'auraient pas été plus perturbateurs qu'une émotion forte dans une nature telle que la sienne.

And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory.

Et pourtant, il n'y avait pour lui qu'une seule femme, et cette femme était la défunte Irene Adler, au souvenir douteux et équivoque.

I had seen little of Holmes lately.

Je n'avais guère vu Holmes ces derniers temps.

My marriage had drifted us away from each other.

Mon mariage nous avait éloignés l'un de l'autre.

My own complete happiness, and the home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to absorb all my attention,

Mon bonheur complet, et les intérêts centrés sur le foyer qui surgissent autour de l'homme qui se trouve pour la première fois maître de son propre établissement, suffisaient à absorber toute mon attention,

while Holmes, who loathed every form of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature.

tandis que Holmes, qui détestait toute forme de société de toute son âme bohémienne, demeurait dans notre logement de Baker Street, enseveli parmi ses vieux livres, alternant de semaine en semaine entre la cocaïne et l'ambition, la somnolence de la drogue et l'énergie farouche de sa propre nature vive.

He was still, as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police.

Il était toujours, comme par le passé, profondément attiré par l'étude du crime, et occupait ses immenses facultés et ses extraordinaires pouvoirs d'observation à suivre ces indices et à élucider ces mystères qui avaient été abandonnés comme sans espoir par la police officielle.

From time to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland.

De temps à autre, j'entendais quelque vague récit de ses activités : de sa convocation à Odessa dans l'affaire du meurtre Trepoff, de son élucidation de la singulière tragédie des frères Atkinson à Trincomalee, et enfin de la mission qu'il avait accomplie avec tant de délicatesse et de succès pour la famille régnante de Hollande.

Vocabulary

du
of the, from the (contraction of de + le)
sable
sand; fine granular material on beaches
dans
in, inside, within (preposition indicating location)
un
a, an (indefinite article masculine singular)
instrument
tool, device, or musical instrument for specific purpose
délicat
delicate, fragile, requiring careful handling or attention
ou
or (conjunction presenting alternatives or choices)
une
a, an (indefinite article feminine singular)
fissure
crack, crevice, or narrow opening in surface
de
of, from (preposition indicating possession or origin)
ses
his, her, its (possessive adjective plural)
propres
own, one's own (adjective indicating personal possession)
objectifs
objectives, goals, or aims to be achieved
haute
high, tall (adjective feminine form)
puissance
power, strength, or capability; might or force
auraient
would have (conditional past tense third person plural)
pas
not (negation particle); also step or pace
été
summer; past participle of être (to be)
plus
more, plus (comparative); no longer when with ne
qu
that (relative pronoun, elided form of que)
émotion
emotion, feeling, or strong emotional response
forte
strong, powerful (adjective feminine form)
nature
nature, natural world, or character of something
telle
such, that kind of (demonstrative adjective feminine)
la
the (definite article feminine singular)
sienne
his, hers, its own (possessive pronoun feminine)
Et
and (conjunction connecting words or clauses)
pourtant
yet, however, nevertheless (adversative conjunction)
il
he, it (personal pronoun third person singular)
avait
had, was having (imperfect tense of avoir)
pour
for, in favor of (preposition indicating purpose)
lui
him, to him, her, to her (indirect object pronoun)
seule
sole, only, alone (adjective feminine form)
femme
woman, wife (noun feminine)
cette
this, that (demonstrative adjective feminine singular)
défunte
deceased, dead (adjective feminine form)
au
to the, at the (contraction of à + le)
souvenir
memory, recollection, or remembrance of past
douteux
doubtful, questionable, dubious (adjective masculine)
équivoque
ambiguous, equivocal, unclear or misleading meaning
Je
I (personal pronoun first person singular)
guère
scarcely, hardly, barely; little (adverb)
vu
seen (past participle of voir; to see)
ces
these, those (demonstrative adjective plural)
derniers
last, recent (adjective masculine plural)
temps
time, period, or weather (noun masculine)
Mon
my (possessive adjective masculine singular)
mariage
marriage, wedding (noun masculine)
nous
us, to us, we (personal pronoun plural)
éloignés
distant, remote, far away (adjective masculine plural)
autre
other, another, different (adjective or pronoun)
bonheur
happiness, joy, good fortune, luck
complet
complete, whole, full (adjective masculine singular)
les
the (definite article plural)
intérêts
interests, concerns, or financial interests (noun)
centrés
centered, focused (past participle adjective)
sur
on, upon, over (preposition indicating position)
le
the (definite article masculine singular)
foyer
home, hearth, household (noun masculine)
qui
who, which, that (relative pronoun)
surgissent
arise, emerge, spring up suddenly (verb)
autour
around, about (preposition indicating position)
homme
man, human male (noun masculine)
se
himself, herself, oneself (reflexive pronoun)
trouve
finds, is located, is found (verb)
première
first (adjective feminine form)
fois
time, occasion (noun feminine)
maître
master, teacher, expert (noun masculine)
son
his, her, its (possessive adjective singular)
propre
own, one's own (adjective singular)
établissement
establishment, institution, or household (noun)
suffisaient
sufficed, were sufficient (imperfect tense third plural)
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