The Souls of Black Folk — Page 10
The holocaust of war, the terrors of the Ku-Klux Klan, the lies of carpet-baggers, the disorganization of industry, and the contradictory advice of friends and foes, left the bewildered serf with no new watchword beyond the old cry for freedom.
L'holocauste de la guerre, les terreurs du Ku-Klux Klan, les mensonges des carpet-baggers, la désorganisation de l'industrie, et les conseils contradictoires des amis et des ennemis, laissèrent le serf déconcerté sans autre mot d'ordre que le vieux cri pour la liberté.
As the time flew, however, he began to grasp a new idea.
Au fil du temps, cependant, il commença à saisir une nouvelle idée.
The ideal of liberty demanded for its attainment powerful means, and these the Fifteenth Amendment gave him.
L'idéal de la liberté exigeait, pour être atteint, des moyens puissants, et c'est ce que lui donna le Quinzième Amendement.
The ballot, which before he had looked upon as a visible sign of freedom, he now regarded as the chief means of gaining and perfecting the liberty with which war had partially endowed him.
Le bulletin de vote, qu'il avait auparavant considéré comme un signe visible de liberté, il le regardait désormais comme le principal moyen d'acquérir et de parfaire la liberté dont la guerre l'avait partiellement doté.
And why not?
Et pourquoi pas ?
Had not votes made war and emancipated millions?
Les votes n'avaient-ils pas fait la guerre et émancipé des millions d'hommes ?
Had not votes enfranchised the freedmen?
Les votes n'avaient-ils pas affranchi les hommes libérés ?
Was anything impossible to a power that had done all this?
Quelque chose était-il impossible à un pouvoir qui avait accompli tout cela ?
A million black men started with renewed zeal to vote themselves into the kingdom.
Un million d'hommes noirs se lancèrent avec un zèle renouvelé pour accéder par le vote au royaume.
So the decade flew away, the revolution of 1876 came, and left the half-free serf weary, wondering, but still inspired.
Ainsi la décennie s'envola, la révolution de 1876 arriva, et laissa le serf à demi libre, las, perplexe, mais toujours inspiré.
Slowly but steadily, in the following years, a new vision began gradually to replace the dream of political power,—a powerful movement, the rise of another ideal to guide the unguided, another pillar of fire by night after a clouded day.
Lentement mais sûrement, dans les années suivantes, une nouvelle vision commença peu à peu à remplacer le rêve du pouvoir politique — un puissant mouvement, l'essor d'un autre idéal pour guider ceux qui n'avaient pas de guide, une autre colonne de feu dans la nuit après un jour nuageux.
It was the ideal of "book-learning"; the curiosity, born of compulsory ignorance, to know and test the power of the cabalistic letters of the white man, the longing to know.
C'était l'idéal de « l'instruction livresque » ; la curiosité, née de l'ignorance forcée, de connaître et d'éprouver le pouvoir des lettres cabalistiques de l'homme blanc, le désir ardent de savoir.
Vocabulary
- holocauste
- oh-loh-kohst — Holocaust; mass destruction or slaughter of people
- guerre
- gair — War; armed conflict between nations or groups
- terreurs
- teh-ruhr — Terrors; extreme fears or acts of violence
- mensonges
- mahn-sonzh — Lies; false statements intended to deceive others
- désorganisation
- day-zor-ga-nee-za-syohn — Disorganization; lack of order or proper structure
- industrie
- an-düs-tree — Industry; economic sector involving production or manufacturing
- conseils
- kohn-say — Advice, counsel; recommendations given to guide someone
- contradictoires
- kohn-tra-deek-twar — Contradictory; statements or ideas that conflict with each other
- amis
- ah-mee — Friends; people one has a close bond with
- ennemis
- en-mee — Enemies; those who are hostile or opposed to one
- laissèrent
- leh-sair — Left, allowed; past tense of laisser, to leave
- serf
- sair — Serf; feudal laborer bound to the land
- déconcerté
- day-kohn-sair-tay — Disconcerted, bewildered; thrown into confusion or uncertainty
- sans
- sahn — Without; preposition indicating absence of something
- autre
- oh-truh — Other, another; referring to a different thing
- mot
- moh — Word; a single unit of language or speech
- ordre
- or-druh — Order; a command or organized arrangement of things
- vieux
- vyuh — Old; describing something or someone of advanced age
- cri
- kree — Cry, shout; a loud vocal expression of emotion
- liberté
- lee-bair-tay — Liberty, freedom; the state of being free
- fil
- feel — Thread, course; used in 'au fil du temps' meaning over time
- temps
- tahn — Time; the ongoing progression of events or moments
- cependant
- suh-pahn-dahn — However, nevertheless; conjunction indicating contrast
- commença
- koh-mahn-sah — Began, started; past tense of commencer
- saisir
- say-zeer — To grasp, seize; to understand or physically grab something
- nouvelle
- noo-vel — New; describing something recently introduced or discovered
- idée
- ee-day — Idea; a thought, concept, or mental impression
- idéal
- ee-day-al — Ideal; a standard of perfection or ultimate goal
- exigeait
- eg-zee-zhay — Required, demanded; imperfect tense of exiger
- être
- eh-truh — To be; fundamental linking verb in French
- atteint
- ah-tan — Reached, achieved; past participle of atteindre
- moyens
- mwa-yan — Means, resources; ways or tools to achieve something
- puissants
- pwee-sahn — Powerful, mighty; having great strength or influence
- donna
- doh-nah — Gave; simple past tense of donner
- Quinzième
- kan-zyem — Fifteenth; ordinal number referring to position fifteen
- Amendement
- ah-mahnd-mahn — Amendment; a formal change or addition to a law
- bulletin
- bül-tan — Ballot, bulletin; a card used for voting
- vote
- voht — Vote; an expression of choice in an election
- auparavant
- oh-pa-ra-vahn — Previously, before; referring to an earlier time
- considéré
- kohn-see-day-ray — Considered, regarded; past participle of considérer
- signe
- seen-yuh — Sign; a mark or symbol conveying a particular meaning
- visible
- vee-zee-bluh — Visible; able to be seen or perceived by the eye
- regardait
- ruh-gar-day — Looked at, regarded; imperfect of regarder
- désormais
- day-zor-may — Henceforth, from now on; indicating a change going forward
- principal
- pran-see-pal — Principal, main; most important or primary element
- moyen
- mwa-yan — Means, way; method or resource to achieve a goal
- acquérir
- ah-kay-reer — To acquire, obtain; to gain possession of something
- parfaire
- par-fair — To perfect, complete; to bring to full development
- dont
- dohn — Of which, whose; relative pronoun indicating possession
- partiellement
- par-syel-mahn — Partially; in part, not wholly or completely
- doté
- doh-tay — Endowed, provided; given or equipped with something
- pourquoi
- poor-kwa — Why; used to ask for a reason or explanation
- votes
- voht — Votes; expressions of choice cast in elections
- fait
- fay — Done, made; past participle of faire
- émancipé
- ay-mahn-see-pay — Emancipated; freed from bondage or legal restrictions
- millions
- meel-yohn — Millions; the number one thousand thousands
- hommes
- ohm — Men; adult male human beings
- affranchi
- ah-frahn-shee — Freed, enfranchised; liberated from slavery or servitude
- libérés
- lee-bay-ray — Freed, liberated; released from captivity or oppression
- Quelque
- kel-kuh — Some, any; indefinite adjective indicating an unspecified amount
- chose
- shohz — Thing; an object, matter, or abstract concept
- impossible
- an-poh-see-bluh — Impossible; not able to occur or be done
- pouvoir
- poo-vwar — Power, ability; to be able to do something
- accompli
- ah-kohm-plee — Accomplished, achieved; past participle of accomplir
- tout
- too — All, everything; encompassing the whole of something
- cela
- suh-lah — That, this; demonstrative pronoun referring to something
- million
- meel-yohn — Million; the number 1,000,000
- noirs
- nwar — Black people; adjective used as noun referring to Black individuals
- lancèrent
- lahn-sair — Launched, threw themselves; past tense of lancer
- zèle
- zel — Zeal, fervor; enthusiastic devotion toward a goal
- renouvelé
- ruh-noo-vuh-lay — Renewed; restored or revived with fresh energy
- accéder
- ak-say-day — To access, attain; to gain entry or reach a goal
- royaume
- rwa-yohm — Kingdom; a territory ruled by a king or queen
- Ainsi
- an-see — Thus, so, in this way; adverb of manner
- décennie
- day-sen-ee — Decade; a period of ten years
- envola
- ahn-voh-lah — Flew away, vanished; past tense of s'envoler
- révolution
- ray-voh-lü-syohn — Revolution; a fundamental political or social upheaval
- arriva
- ah-ree-vah — Arrived, came; past tense of arriver
- laissa
- leh-sah — Left, let; past tense of laisser
- demi
- duh-mee — Half; indicating one of two equal parts
- libre
- lee-bruh — Free; not bound or constrained by external forces
- las
- lah — Weary, tired; feeling exhaustion from prolonged effort
- perplexe
- pair-pleks — Perplexed, puzzled; confused and uncertain about something
- toujours
- too-zhoor — Always, still; indicating continuity or persistence
- inspiré
- an-spee-ray — Inspired; filled with motivation or creative enthusiasm
- Lentement
- lahnt-mahn — Slowly; in a slow, unhurried manner
- sûrement
- sür-mahn — Surely, certainly; with confidence and steadiness
- années
- ah-nay — Years; plural of année, a twelve-month period
- suivantes
- swee-vahnt — Following, subsequent; coming after in sequence
- vision
- vee-zyohn — Vision; the ability to see or a mental image
- peu
- puh — Little, few; a small amount or degree
- remplacer
- rahm-plah-say — To replace; to take the place of something else
- rêve
- rev — Dream; thoughts and images during sleep or aspirations
- politique
- poh-lee-teek — Political, politics; related to governance and public affairs
- puissant
- pwee-sahn — Powerful, mighty; having great force or influence
- mouvement
- moov-mahn — Movement; a group working toward a common goal
- essor
- eh-sor — Rise, surge; rapid growth or development of something
- guider
- gee-day — To guide; to lead or direct someone along a path
- ceux
- suh — Those; demonstrative pronoun referring to a group of people
- guide
- geed — Guide; a person or thing that shows the way
- colonne
- koh-lohn — Column; a tall pillar or vertical formation
- feu
- fuh — Fire; the rapid oxidation producing heat and light
- nuit
- nwee — Night; the period of darkness between dusk and dawn
- après
- ah-pray — After; following in time, order, or position
- jour
- zhoor — Day; the period of light between sunrise and sunset
- nuageux
- nü-ah-zhuh — Cloudy; covered or filled with clouds
- instruction
- an-strük-syohn — Instruction, education; teaching knowledge or skills
- livresque
- lee-vresk — Bookish; relating to or derived from books and learning
- curiosité
- kü-ryoh-zee-tay — Curiosity; eager desire to know or learn about something
- née
- nay — Born; past participle of naître, to be born
- ignorance
- een-yoh-rahns — Ignorance; lack of knowledge or awareness about something
- forcée
- for-say — Forced; compelled against one's will
- connaître
- koh-neh-truh — To know; to be familiar with a person or thing
- éprouver
- ay-proo-vay — To feel, experience; to undergo or test something
- lettres
- leh-truh — Letters; written characters or written communication
- cabalistiques
- kah-bah-lees-teek — Cabalistic, mysterious; relating to secret or cryptic meanings
- homme
- ohm — Man; an adult male human being
- blanc
- blahn — White; the color white, or a white person
- désir
- day-zeer — Desire, wish; a strong feeling of wanting something
- ardent
- ar-dahn — Ardent, fervent; showing intense passion or enthusiasm
- savoir
- sah-vwar — To know; to possess knowledge or information about something
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