The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde — Page 5
Street after street and all the folks asleep—street after street, all lighted up as if for a procession and all as empty as a church—till at last I got into that state of mind when a man listens and listens and begins to long for the sight of a policeman.
Rue après rue et tous les gens endormis — rue après rue, tout illuminé comme pour une procession et tout aussi vide qu'une église — jusqu'à ce qu'enfin je tombai dans cet état d'esprit où un homme écoute et écoute encore et commence à aspirer à la vue d'un agent de police.
All at once, I saw two figures: one a little man who was stumping along eastward at a good walk, and the other a girl of maybe eight or ten who was running as hard as she was able down a cross street.
Tout à coup, je vis deux silhouettes : l'une était un petit homme qui marchait d'un bon pas vers l'est, et l'autre une fillette d'environ huit ou dix ans qui courait de toutes ses forces dans une rue transversale.
Well, sir, the two ran into one another naturally enough at the corner; and then came the horrible part of the thing; for the man trampled calmly over the child's body and left her screaming on the ground.
Eh bien, monsieur, les deux se heurtèrent tout naturellement au coin de la rue ; et vint alors la partie horrible de l'affaire ; car l'homme piétina calmement le corps de l'enfant et la laissa en train de crier sur le sol.
It sounds nothing to hear, but it was hellish to see.
Cela ne semble rien à entendre, mais c'était horrible à voir.
It wasn't like a man; it was like some damned Juggernaut.
Ce n'était pas comme un homme ; c'était comme quelque maudit Juggernaut.
I gave a few halloa, took to my heels, collared my gentleman, and brought him back to where there was already quite a group about the screaming child.
Je poussai quelques cris, pris mes jambes à mon cou, empoignai mon bonhomme par le collet et le ramenai là où il y avait déjà tout un attroupement autour de l'enfant qui criait.
He was perfectly cool and made no resistance, but gave me one look, so ugly that it brought out the sweat on me like running.
Il était parfaitement calme et n'opposa aucune résistance, mais il me lança un regard si affreux qu'il me fit suer à grosses gouttes comme si j'avais couru.
The people who had turned out were the girl's own family; and pretty soon, the doctor, for whom she had been sent, put in his appearance.
Les gens qui étaient sortis étaient la propre famille de la fillette ; et bientôt, le médecin, qu'on était allé chercher pour elle, fit son apparition.
Vocabulary
- Rue
- Street; a road in a town or city
- après
- After; following in time or order
- rue
- Street; a road in a town or city
- et
- And; conjunction joining words or phrases
- tous
- All; every one of a group
- les
- The; definite article for plural nouns
- gens
- People; persons in general
- endormis
- Asleep; in a state of sleep
- tout
- Everything; all; completely
- illuminé
- Illuminated; lit up brightly
- comme
- Like; as; in the manner of
- pour
- For; in order to; intended for
- une
- A; an; indefinite article feminine singular
- procession
- Procession; an organized ceremonial parade or march
- aussi
- Also; too; as well; equally
- vide
- Empty; containing nothing; vacant
- qu'
- That; than; contraction of que before vowel
- église
- Church; a Christian place of worship
- jusqu'
- Until; up to; as far as
- à
- To; at; in; a preposition of direction
- ce
- This; that; demonstrative pronoun or adjective
- enfin
- Finally; at last; after a long time
- je
- I; first-person singular subject pronoun
- tombai
- Fell; past tense of tomber, to fall
- dans
- In; inside; within a space or state
- cet
- This; demonstrative adjective before masculine vowel
- état
- State; condition; a particular mental or physical situation
- d'
- Of; from; contraction of de before vowel
- esprit
- Mind; spirit; mental state or disposition
- où
- Where; when; a relative or interrogative adverb
- un
- A; an; indefinite article masculine singular
- homme
- Man; an adult male human being
- écoute
- Listens; pays attention to sounds or speech
- encore
- Still; yet; again; even now
- commence
- Begins; starts doing something
- aspirer
- To aspire; to inhale; to long for something
- la
- The; definite article for feminine singular nouns
- vue
- View; sight; the ability or act of seeing
- agent
- Agent; officer; a law enforcement representative
- de
- Of; from; a very common French preposition
- police
- Police; the law enforcement authority
- Tout
- All; everything; completely
- coup
- Blow; strike; tout à coup means suddenly
- vis
- Saw; past tense of voir, to see
- deux
- Two; the number 2
- silhouettes
- Silhouettes; dark outlines of figures against light
- l'
- The; contraction of le or la before vowel
- était
- Was; third-person singular imperfect of être
- petit
- Small; little; of less than average size
- qui
- Who; which; that; a relative pronoun
- marchait
- Was walking; imperfect tense of marcher
- bon
- Good; at a good pace; well
- pas
- Step; pace; also used in negation
- vers
- Toward; in the direction of
- est
- East; the direction of sunrise
- autre
- Other; another; different one
- fillette
- Little girl; a young female child
- environ
- About; approximately; roughly that amount
- huit
- Eight; the number 8
- ou
- Or; a conjunction indicating alternatives
- dix
- Ten; the number 10
- ans
- Years; units of time, often of age
- courait
- Was running; imperfect tense of courir
- toutes
- All; every; feminine plural form of tout
- ses
- His; her; its; possessive adjective plural
- forces
- Strength; forces; power or energy available
- transversale
- Cross street; a street running perpendicularly
- Eh
- Hey; well; an exclamation to attract attention
- bien
- Well; good; an affirmative or filler word
- monsieur
- Mister; sir; a polite address for a man
- se
- Himself; herself; reflexive pronoun, third person
- heurtèrent
- Collided; bumped into each other violently
- naturellement
- Naturally; of course; as expected
- au
- At the; to the; contraction of à le
- coin
- Corner; the point where two streets meet
- vint
- Came; past historic of venir, to come
- alors
- Then; so; at that moment
- partie
- Part; portion; also a game or match
- horrible
- Horrible; dreadful; causing horror or disgust
- affaire
- Affair; matter; business; an incident or event
- car
- Because; for; a conjunction giving reason
- piétina
- Trampled; stamped upon; trod over repeatedly
- calmement
- Calmly; in a calm and composed manner
- le
- The; definite article for masculine singular nouns
- corps
- Body; the physical form of a person
- enfant
- Child; a young human being
- laissa
- Left; allowed; past historic of laisser
- en
- In; on; while; a versatile French preposition
- train
- Train; en train de means in the process of
- crier
- To scream; to shout; to cry out loudly
- sur
- On; upon; on top of a surface
- sol
- Ground; floor; the surface underfoot
- Cela
- That; it; a demonstrative pronoun referring back
- ne
- Not; part of French negation with pas
- semble
- Seems; appears; third-person of sembler
- rien
- Nothing; not anything; used in negation
- entendre
- To hear; to listen; to understand
- mais
- But; however; a contrastive conjunction
- c'
- It is; contraction of ce before est
- voir
- To see; to observe; to look at something
- Ce
- This; it; demonstrative pronoun or adjective
- n'
- Not; contraction of ne before a vowel
- quelque
- Some; a certain; quelque chose means something
- maudit
- Cursed; damned; wretched; accursed
- Je
- I; first-person singular subject pronoun
- poussai
- Pushed; let out; past historic of pousser
- quelques
- Some; a few; a small number of
- cris
- Cries; shouts; loud exclamations of alarm
- pris
- Took; grabbed; past participle of prendre
- mes
- My; possessive adjective first-person plural
- jambes
- Legs; the lower limbs of the body
- mon
- My; possessive adjective first-person masculine singular
- cou
- Neck; prendre ses jambes à son cou means to flee
- empoignai
- Grabbed; seized; past historic of empoigner
- bonhomme
- Fellow; chap; an informal term for a man
- par
- By; through; per; a common preposition
- collet
- Collar; the neckband of a garment; scruff
- ramenai
- Brought back; led back; past historic of ramener
- là
- There; over there; at that place
- il
- He; it; third-person masculine singular pronoun
- y
- There; it; a pronoun replacing a place
- avait
- Had; there was; imperfect of avoir
- déjà
- Already; by this time; previously
- attroupement
- Crowd; gathering; a group assembled around something
- autour
- Around; surrounding; on all sides of
- criait
- Was screaming; imperfect tense of crier
- Il
- He; it; third-person masculine singular pronoun
- parfaitement
- Perfectly; absolutely; in a perfect manner
- calme
- Calm; composed; not agitated or excited
- opposa
- Opposed; offered; past historic of opposer
- aucune
- No; none; not any; negative adjective feminine
- résistance
- Resistance; opposition; refusal to comply
- me
- Me; myself; first-person singular object pronoun
- lança
- Threw; gave; past historic of lancer
- regard
- Look; gaze; a directed expression of the eyes
- si
- So; such; if; used for intensity or condition
- affreux
- Dreadful; horrible; causing fear or disgust
- fit
- Made; caused; past historic of faire
- suer
- To sweat; to perspire from heat or fear
- grosses
- Big; large; fat; feminine plural of gros
- gouttes
- Drops; small amounts of liquid falling
- j'
- I; contraction of je before a vowel
- avais
- Had; first-person singular imperfect of avoir
- couru
- Run; past participle of courir, to run
- Les
- The; definite article for plural nouns
- étaient
- Were; third-person plural imperfect of être
- sortis
- Gone out; came out; past participle of sortir
- propre
- Own; proper; one's very own
- famille
- Family; a group of related individuals
- bientôt
- Soon; before long; in a short time
- médecin
- Doctor; physician; a medical professional
- on
- One; we; they; an indefinite subject pronoun
- allé
- Gone; past participle of aller, to go
- chercher
- To look for; to fetch; to seek out
- elle
- She; her; third-person feminine singular pronoun
- son
- His; her; its; possessive adjective singular
- apparition
- Appearance; apparition; the act of appearing suddenly
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