The Odyssey: Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original — Page 6
Even as of late Aegisthus, beyond that which was ordained, took to him the wedded wife of the son of Atreus, and killed her lord on his return, and that with sheer doom before his eyes, since we had warned him by the embassy of Hermes the keen-sighted, the slayer of Argos, that he should neither kill the man, nor woo his wife.
Car récemment encore Égisthe, au-delà de ce qui avait été ordonné, s'empara de la femme légitime du fils d'Atrée, et tua son seigneur à son retour, et cela avec une ruine certaine devant les yeux, puisque nous l'avions averti par l'ambassade d'Hermès à la vue perçante, le meurtrier d'Argos, qu'il ne devait ni tuer l'homme, ni courtiser sa femme.
For the son of Atreus shall be avenged at the hand of Orestes, so soon as he shall come to man's estate and long for his own country.
Car le fils d'Atrée sera vengé par la main d'Oreste, dès qu'il sera parvenu à l'âge d'homme et qu'il aspirera à revoir sa propre patrie.
So spake Hermes, yet he prevailed not on the heart of Aegisthus, for all his good will; but now hath he paid one price for all.'
Ainsi parla Hermès, mais il ne put rien sur le cœur d'Égisthe, malgré toute sa bonne volonté ; mais maintenant il a payé le prix de tout à la fois.'
And the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him, saying: 'O father, our father Cronides, throned in the highest; that man assuredly lies in a death that is his due; so perish likewise all who work such deeds!
Et la déesse aux yeux pers, Athéna, lui répondit en ces termes : 'Ô père, notre père Cronide, trônant au plus haut des cieux ; cet homme gît assurément dans une mort qui lui est due ; puissent périr de même tous ceux qui commettent de tels actes !
But my heart is rent for wise Odysseus, the hapless one, who far from his friends this long while suffereth affliction in a sea-girt isle, where is the navel of the sea, a woodland isle, and therein a goddess hath her habitation, the daughter of the wizard Atlas, who knows the depths of every sea, and himself upholds the tall pillars which keep earth and sky asunder.
Mais mon cœur se déchire pour le sage Ulysse, le malheureux, qui loin de ses amis souffre depuis si longtemps sur une île ceinte par les mers, là où est le nombril de la mer, une île boisée, et là une déesse a sa demeure, la fille de l'enchanteur Atlas, qui connaît les profondeurs de chaque mer, et qui lui-même soutient les hautes colonnes qui maintiennent la terre et le ciel séparés.
His daughter it is that holds the hapless man in sorrow: and ever with soft and guileful tales she is wooing him to forgetfulness of Ithaca.
C'est sa fille qui retient le malheureux dans la tristesse : et sans cesse, par de douces et trompeuses paroles, elle le séduit pour lui faire oublier Ithaque.
Vocabulary
- Car
- Conjunction meaning 'because' or 'for'
- récemment
- Recently; not long ago
- encore
- Still, yet, or again
- au-delà
- Beyond, further than a certain limit
- de
- Preposition meaning 'of' or 'from'
- ce
- Demonstrative pronoun or adjective meaning 'this'
- qui
- Relative pronoun meaning 'who' or 'which'
- avait
- Third-person singular imperfect of 'avoir' (to have)
- été
- Past participle of 'être' (to be)
- ordonné
- Ordered, commanded; past participle of ordonner
- s'empara
- Seized, took hold of; past tense of s'emparer
- la
- Definite feminine article meaning 'the'
- femme
- Woman or wife
- légitime
- Legitimate, lawful, rightful
- du
- Contraction of 'de le' meaning 'of the'
- fils
- Son, male offspring
- et
- Coordinating conjunction meaning 'and'
- tua
- Killed; third-person singular past tense of tuer
- son
- Possessive adjective meaning 'his,' 'her,' or 'its'
- seigneur
- Lord, master, nobleman
- à
- Preposition meaning 'to,' 'at,' or 'in'
- retour
- Return, coming back
- cela
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'that,' referring to something
- avec
- Preposition meaning 'with'
- une
- Indefinite feminine article meaning 'a' or 'an'
- ruine
- Ruin, destruction, downfall
- certaine
- Certain, sure, definite (feminine form)
- devant
- In front of, before
- les
- Definite plural article meaning 'the'
- yeux
- Eyes (plural of œil)
- puisque
- Since, given that, seeing that
- nous
- First-person plural pronoun meaning 'we' or 'us'
- l'avions
- We had (imperfect of avoir with object pronoun)
- averti
- Warned, alerted; past participle of avertir
- par
- Preposition meaning 'by' or 'through'
- l'ambassade
- The embassy, the diplomatic mission or message
- vue
- Sight, vision, eyesight
- perçante
- Piercing, sharp, keen (feminine form)
- le
- Definite masculine article or object pronoun meaning 'the'
- meurtrier
- Murderer, killer
- qu'il
- Contraction of 'que il' meaning 'that he'
- ni
- Nor, neither; used in negative correlatives
- tuer
- To kill
- l'homme
- The man; mankind
- courtiser
- To court, to woo, to flatter someone romantically
- sa
- Possessive adjective meaning 'his,' 'her' (feminine)
- sera
- Will be; future tense of être
- vengé
- Avenged, revenged; past participle of venger
- main
- Hand
- dès
- As soon as, from the moment of
- parvenu
- Having reached, arrived at; past participle of parvenir
- l'âge
- The age, the period of life
- d'homme
- Of a man; manhood
- aspirera
- Will aspire, long, or yearn for something
- revoir
- To see again, to revisit
- propre
- Own (one's own); also clean
- patrie
- Homeland, native country, fatherland
- Ainsi
- Thus, so, in this way
- parla
- Spoke; third-person singular past tense of parler
- mais
- But, however, yet
- il
- Third-person singular masculine pronoun meaning 'he' or 'it'
- put
- Could, was able to; past tense of pouvoir
- rien
- Nothing, not anything
- sur
- On, upon, over
- cœur
- Heart
- malgré
- Despite, in spite of
- toute
- All, every, whole (feminine singular form)
- bonne
- Good (feminine form of bon)
- volonté
- Will, willingness, determination
- maintenant
- Now, at this moment
- a
- Has; third-person singular present of avoir
- payé
- Paid; past participle of payer
- prix
- Price, cost, prize
- tout
- All, everything, completely
- fois
- Time, occurrence, instance
- Et
- And; coordinating conjunction
- déesse
- Goddess, female deity
- aux
- Contraction of 'à les' meaning 'to the' (plural)
- lui
- Him, her; indirect object pronoun
- répondit
- Replied, answered; past tense of répondre
- en
- In, on, while; preposition or pronoun
- ces
- These, those; plural demonstrative adjective
- termes
- Terms, words, expressions
- Ô
- O, oh; exclamation of address or invocation
- père
- Father
- notre
- Our; first-person plural possessive adjective
- trônant
- Enthroned, reigning; present participle of trôner
- au
- Contraction of 'à le' meaning 'at the' or 'to the'
- plus
- More, most; used in comparatives and superlatives
- haut
- High, tall, upper
- des
- Of the (plural); indefinite plural article
- cieux
- Heavens, skies (plural of ciel)
- cet
- This (masculine demonstrative adjective before a vowel)
- homme
- Man
- gît
- Lies (down); third-person singular of gésir
- assurément
- Assuredly, certainly, without doubt
- dans
- In, inside, within
- mort
- Death; dead
- est
- Is; third-person singular present of être
- due
- Due, owed (feminine form of dû)
- puissent
- May they; subjunctive of pouvoir expressing a wish
- périr
- To perish, to die, to be destroyed
- même
- Same, even, itself
- tous
- All, everyone (masculine plural)
- ceux
- Those, the ones (masculine plural pronoun)
- commettent
- Commit; third-person plural present of commettre
- tels
- Such, like this (masculine plural)
- actes
- Acts, deeds, actions
- Mais
- But, however
- mon
- My (masculine possessive adjective)
- se
- Reflexive pronoun meaning 'himself,' 'herself,' 'itself'
- déchire
- Tears, rends, aches; present tense of déchirer
- pour
- For, in order to
- sage
- Wise, prudent, sensible
- malheureux
- Unhappy, unfortunate, wretched
- loin
- Far, far away, at a distance
- ses
- His, her, its (plural possessive adjective)
- amis
- Friends (plural of ami)
- souffre
- Suffers; third-person singular present of souffrir
- depuis
- Since, for (a duration of time)
- si
- So, such, if
- longtemps
- A long time, for long
- île
- Island
- ceinte
- Surrounded, encircled (feminine past participle of ceindre)
- mers
- Seas (plural of mer)
- là
- There, over there
- où
- Where, in which
- nombril
- Navel, bellybutton; here metaphorically 'navel of the sea'
- mer
- Sea, ocean
- boisée
- Wooded, forested (feminine adjective)
- demeure
- Dwells, resides; also a dwelling place
- fille
- Girl, daughter
- l'enchanteur
- The enchanter, the magician
- connaît
- Knows; third-person singular present of connaître
- profondeurs
- Depths, deep parts
- chaque
- Each, every
- lui-même
- Himself, itself (emphatic reflexive pronoun)
- soutient
- Supports, holds up; third-person singular of soutenir
- hautes
- High, tall (feminine plural adjective)
- colonnes
- Columns, pillars
- maintiennent
- Maintain, keep apart; third-person plural of maintenir
- terre
- Earth, ground, land
- ciel
- Sky, heaven
- séparés
- Separated, apart (plural past participle of séparer)
- C'est
- It is, this is; contraction of 'ce est'
- retient
- Holds back, keeps; third-person singular of retenir
- tristesse
- Sadness, sorrow, grief
- sans
- Without
- cesse
- Ceasing, stopping; also 'sans cesse' means constantly
- douces
- Sweet, soft, gentle (feminine plural adjective)
- trompeuses
- Deceptive, misleading, false (feminine plural)
- paroles
- Words, speech, lyrics
- elle
- She, her; third-person feminine singular pronoun
- séduit
- Seduces, charms; third-person singular of séduire
- faire
- To do, to make
- oublier
- To forget
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