The Odyssey: Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original — Page 2
Now Neptune had gone off to the Ethiopians, who are at the world's end, and lie in two halves, the one looking West and the other East.1 He had gone there to accept a hecatomb of sheep and oxen, and was enjoying himself at his festival; but the other gods met in the house of Olympian Jove, and the sire of gods and men spoke first.
Or Neptune s'en était allé chez les Éthiopiens, qui sont au bout du monde et se divisent en deux groupes, l'un regardant vers l'Ouest et l'autre vers l'Est. Il s'y était rendu pour recevoir une hécatombe de moutons et de bœufs, et se réjouissait à leur fête ; mais les autres dieux se réunirent dans la demeure de Jupiter l'Olympien, et le père des dieux et des hommes prit la parole en premier.
At that moment he was thinking of Aegisthus, who had been killed by Agamemnon's son Orestes; so he said to the other gods:
En ce moment, il pensait à Égisthe, qui avait été tué par Oreste, le fils d'Agamemnon ; aussi dit-il aux autres dieux :
"See now, how men lay blame upon us gods for what is after all nothing but their own folly.
« Voyez donc comment les hommes nous reprochent, à nous les dieux, ce qui n'est en fin de compte que leur propre folie.
Look at Aegisthus; he must needs make love to Agamemnon's wife unrighteously and then kill Agamemnon, though he knew it would be the death of him; for I sent Mercury to warn him not to do either of these things, inasmuch as Orestes would be sure to take his revenge when he grew up and wanted to return home.
Regardez Égisthe ; il a voulu séduire injustement la femme d'Agamemnon et tuer ensuite Agamemnon, bien qu'il sût que cela lui coûterait la vie ; car j'avais envoyé Mercure pour l'avertir de ne faire ni l'un ni l'autre, étant donné qu'Oreste ne manquerait pas de se venger quand il serait grand et désirerait rentrer chez lui.
Mercury told him this in all good will but he would not listen, and now he has paid for everything in full.
Mercure le lui dit en toute bienveillance, mais il ne voulut pas écouter, et maintenant il a tout payé en entier.
Vocabulary
- Or
- Conjunction meaning 'now' or 'but' in narrative
- s'
- Reflexive pronoun 'himself/herself/itself'
- en
- Preposition meaning 'in' or 'to'
- était
- Past tense of 'être'; was or were
- allé
- Past participle of 'aller'; gone
- chez
- Preposition meaning 'at the home of'
- les
- Definite plural article meaning 'the'
- qui
- Relative pronoun meaning 'who' or 'which'
- sont
- Third person plural of 'être'; are
- au
- Contraction of 'à le' meaning 'at the'
- bout
- End or tip of something
- du
- Contraction of 'de le' meaning 'of the'
- monde
- World or people in general
- et
- Conjunction meaning 'and'
- se
- Reflexive pronoun meaning 'themselves'
- divisent
- Third person plural of 'diviser'; divide themselves
- deux
- The number two
- groupes
- Groups or clusters of people or things
- l'
- Definite article 'le/la' before vowel
- un
- Indefinite article or number meaning 'one'
- regardant
- Present participle of 'regarder'; looking toward
- vers
- Preposition meaning 'toward' or 'towards'
- Ouest
- The cardinal direction west
- autre
- Adjective meaning 'other' or 'another'
- Est
- The cardinal direction east
- Il
- Third person singular masculine pronoun 'he'
- y
- Adverbial pronoun meaning 'there'
- rendu
- Past participle of 'rendre'; gone or arrived
- pour
- Preposition meaning 'for' or 'in order to'
- recevoir
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to receive'
- une
- Feminine indefinite article meaning 'a/an'
- de
- Preposition meaning 'of' or 'from'
- moutons
- Plural noun meaning 'sheep'
- bœufs
- Plural noun meaning 'oxen' or 'bulls'
- réjouissait
- Imperfect tense of 'réjouir'; was rejoicing
- à
- Preposition meaning 'at,' 'to,' or 'in'
- leur
- Possessive pronoun meaning 'their'
- fête
- Celebration, party, or festival
- mais
- Conjunction meaning 'but'
- autres
- Plural form of 'autre'; others
- dieux
- Plural noun meaning 'gods'
- réunirent
- Simple past of 'réunir'; gathered or assembled
- dans
- Preposition meaning 'in' or 'inside'
- la
- Feminine definite article meaning 'the'
- demeure
- Dwelling, residence, or abode
- le
- Masculine definite article meaning 'the'
- père
- Noun meaning 'father'
- des
- Contraction of 'de les' meaning 'of the'
- hommes
- Plural noun meaning 'men' or 'humans'
- prit
- Simple past of 'prendre'; took
- parole
- Word or speech; 'prendre la parole' means to speak
- premier
- Adjective meaning 'first'
- En
- Preposition meaning 'in' or 'while'
- ce
- Demonstrative adjective meaning 'this' or 'that'
- moment
- A point or period in time
- il
- Third person singular masculine pronoun 'he'
- pensait
- Imperfect tense of 'penser'; was thinking about
- avait
- Imperfect tense of 'avoir'; had
- été
- Past participle of 'être'; been
- tué
- Past participle of 'tuer'; killed
- par
- Preposition meaning 'by' or 'through'
- fils
- Noun meaning 'son'
- d'
- Preposition 'de' elided before vowel; of/from
- aussi
- Adverb meaning 'also,' 'too,' or 'so'
- dit
- Simple past of 'dire'; said
- aux
- Contraction of 'à les' meaning 'to the'
- Voyez
- Imperative of 'voir'; look or see (plural)
- donc
- Adverb meaning 'therefore,' 'so,' or 'then'
- comment
- Adverb meaning 'how'
- nous
- First person plural pronoun meaning 'we' or 'us'
- reprochent
- Third person plural of 'reprocher'; blame or reproach us
- n'
- Negation particle 'ne' elided before vowel
- est
- Third person singular of 'être'; is
- fin
- Noun meaning 'end'; also adjective meaning 'fine'
- compte
- Account or reckoning; 'au bout du compte' means after all
- que
- Conjunction meaning 'that' or 'than'
- propre
- Adjective meaning 'own' or 'clean'
- folie
- Noun meaning 'madness' or 'folly'
- Regardez
- Imperative of 'regarder'; look or watch (plural)
- a
- Third person singular of 'avoir'; has
- voulu
- Past participle of 'vouloir'; wanted
- séduire
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to seduce' or 'to lure'
- injustement
- Adverb meaning 'unjustly' or 'unfairly'
- femme
- Noun meaning 'woman' or 'wife'
- tuer
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to kill'
- ensuite
- Adverb meaning 'then,' 'afterwards,' or 'next'
- bien
- Adverb meaning 'well' or 'very'; also 'although'
- qu'
- Conjunction 'que' elided before vowel; that
- sût
- Imperfect subjunctive of 'savoir'; knew
- cela
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'that' or 'this'
- lui
- Personal pronoun meaning 'him,' 'her,' or 'to him'
- coûterait
- Conditional of 'coûter'; would cost
- vie
- Noun meaning 'life'
- car
- Conjunction meaning 'because' or 'for'
- j'
- First person singular pronoun 'je' before vowel
- avais
- Imperfect tense of 'avoir'; had (first person)
- envoyé
- Past participle of 'envoyer'; sent
- avertir
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to warn' or 'to notify'
- ne
- Negation particle used with 'pas' or alone
- faire
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to do' or 'to make'
- ni
- Conjunction meaning 'neither' or 'nor'
- étant
- Present participle of 'être'; being
- donné
- Past participle of 'donner'; given
- manquerait
- Conditional of 'manquer'; would fail or would not fail
- pas
- Negation word used with 'ne'; not
- venger
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to avenge'
- quand
- Conjunction or adverb meaning 'when'
- serait
- Conditional of 'être'; would be
- grand
- Adjective meaning 'great,' 'big,' or 'tall'
- désirerait
- Conditional of 'désirer'; would desire or wish
- rentrer
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to return home'
- toute
- Feminine form of 'tout'; all or every
- bienveillance
- Noun meaning 'goodwill' or 'benevolence'
- voulut
- Simple past of 'vouloir'; wanted or refused
- écouter
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to listen' or 'to heed'
- maintenant
- Adverb meaning 'now'
- tout
- Adjective or pronoun meaning 'all' or 'everything'
- payé
- Past participle of 'payer'; paid or paid for
- entier
- Adjective meaning 'entire,' 'whole,' or 'complete'
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