The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde — Page 6
Well, the child was not much the worse, more frightened, according to the sawbones; and there you might have supposed would be an end to it.
Eh bien, l'enfant n'était pas très mal en point, plutôt effrayée, selon le médecin ; et là, vous auriez pu supposer que c'en était fini de l'affaire.
But there was one curious circumstance.
Mais il y avait une circonstance curieuse.
I had taken a loathing to my gentleman at first sight.
J'avais conçu une aversion pour mon individu dès le premier regard.
So had the child's family, which was only natural.
La famille de l'enfant aussi, ce qui était bien naturel.
But the doctor's case was what struck me.
Mais c'est le cas du médecin qui me frappa.
He was the usual cut and dry apothecary, of no particular age and colour, with a strong Edinburgh accent and about as emotional as a bagpipe.
C'était l'apothicaire ordinaire et sans relief, sans âge ni couleur particuliers, avec un fort accent d'Édimbourg et à peu près aussi émotif qu'une cornemuse.
Well, sir, he was like the rest of us; every time he looked at my prisoner, I saw that sawbones turn sick and white with the desire to kill him.
Eh bien, monsieur, il était comme nous tous ; chaque fois qu'il regardait mon prisonnier, je voyais ce médecin devenir malade et blême sous l'effet du désir de le tuer.
I knew what was in his mind, just as he knew what was in mine; and killing being out of the question, we did the next best.
Je savais ce qu'il avait en tête, tout comme il savait ce que j'avais dans la mienne ; et le meurtre étant hors de question, nous fîmes ce qu'il y avait de mieux après.
We told the man we could and would make such a scandal out of this as should make his name stink from one end of London to the other.
Nous dîmes à l'homme que nous pouvions et allions faire de cette affaire un tel scandale que son nom serait en puanteur d'un bout de Londres à l'autre.
If he had any friends or any credit, we undertook that he should lose them.
S'il avait des amis ou quelque crédit, nous nous engageâmes à ce qu'il les perdît.
And all the time, as we were pitching it in red hot, we were keeping the women off him as best we could for they were as wild as harpies.
Et pendant tout ce temps, tandis que nous lui servions tout cela avec une ardeur brûlante, nous écartions les femmes de lui du mieux que nous pouvions, car elles étaient aussi déchaînées que des harpies.
Vocabulary
- Eh
- Interjection expressing surprise or seeking agreement
- bien
- Well; expressing agreement or transition in speech
- l'
- Contracted definite article before vowel sound
- enfant
- Child; a young human being
- n'
- Contracted negative particle used before verb
- était
- Was; third-person singular imperfect of être
- pas
- Not; negation particle used with ne
- très
- Very; adverb intensifying adjectives or adverbs
- mal
- Bad; poorly; indicating something negative or unwell
- en
- In; preposition indicating state or location
- point
- Point; state or condition of something
- plutôt
- Rather; somewhat; indicating preference or approximation
- effrayée
- Frightened; scared; feminine past participle of effrayer
- selon
- According to; in the opinion of someone
- le
- The; masculine singular definite article
- médecin
- Doctor; physician; medical professional
- et
- And; coordinating conjunction linking words or clauses
- là
- There; indicating a place or moment in time
- vous
- You; second-person plural or formal pronoun
- auriez
- Would have; second-person plural conditional of avoir
- pu
- Been able to; past participle of pouvoir
- supposer
- To suppose; to assume something is the case
- que
- That; conjunction introducing a subordinate clause
- c'
- Contracted form of ce before a vowel
- fini
- Finished; done; past participle of finir
- de
- Of; from; preposition indicating possession or origin
- affaire
- Matter; affair; business or situation to be dealt with
- Mais
- But; coordinating conjunction indicating contrast
- il
- He; it; third-person masculine singular pronoun
- y
- There; pronoun replacing a location or thing
- avait
- Had; there was; third-person singular imperfect of avoir
- une
- A; feminine singular indefinite article
- circonstance
- Circumstance; a condition or fact surrounding an event
- curieuse
- Curious; strange; unusual or noteworthy
- J'
- I; first-person singular subject pronoun contracted
- avais
- Had; first-person singular imperfect of avoir
- conçu
- Conceived; formed in mind; past participle of concevoir
- aversion
- Aversion; strong dislike or repugnance toward something
- pour
- For; preposition indicating purpose or direction
- mon
- My; first-person singular masculine possessive adjective
- individu
- Individual; person; often used with slightly negative connotation
- dès
- From; as early as; preposition indicating starting point
- premier
- First; initial; masculine adjective indicating order
- regard
- Look; glance; the act of looking at someone
- La
- The; feminine singular definite article
- famille
- Family; a group of related individuals
- aussi
- Also; too; likewise; adverb adding to previous statement
- ce
- This; it; demonstrative pronoun or adjective
- qui
- Who; which; relative pronoun introducing a clause
- naturel
- Natural; normal; expected given the circumstances
- est
- Is; third-person singular present of être
- cas
- Case; situation; instance of something occurring
- du
- Of the; contracted masculine singular preposition plus article
- me
- Me; first-person singular object pronoun
- frappa
- Struck; hit; past historic of frapper indicating impact
- apothicaire
- Apothecary; old-fashioned word for a pharmacist
- ordinaire
- Ordinary; common; unremarkable in appearance or character
- sans
- Without; preposition indicating absence of something
- relief
- Relief; distinction; notable quality or outstanding feature
- âge
- Age; the number of years a person has lived
- ni
- Nor; neither; conjunction used in negative constructions
- couleur
- Color; hue; the visual property of an object
- particuliers
- Particular; specific; noteworthy or distinguishing characteristics
- avec
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- fort
- Strong; strong; here meaning a strong or thick accent
- accent
- Accent; distinctive manner of pronunciation from a region
- à
- To; at; preposition indicating direction or location
- peu
- Little; few; indicating a small quantity or degree
- près
- Near; close; used in à peu près meaning approximately
- émotif
- Emotional; easily moved; prone to showing feelings
- qu'
- Than; that; contracted form of que before vowel
- cornemuse
- Bagpipe; Scottish wind instrument associated with Scotland
- monsieur
- Mister; sir; polite address for an adult male
- comme
- Like; as; conjunction or preposition of comparison
- nous
- We; us; first-person plural pronoun
- tous
- All; everyone; masculine plural pronoun or adjective
- chaque
- Each; every; adjective indicating all individual instances
- fois
- Time; occasion; instance of something happening
- regardait
- Was looking at; imperfect of regarder
- prisonnier
- Prisoner; a person held captive or under arrest
- je
- I; first-person singular subject pronoun
- voyais
- Was seeing; first-person singular imperfect of voir
- devenir
- To become; to turn into something different
- malade
- Sick; ill; unwell in health
- blême
- Pale; pallid; unnaturally white from shock or illness
- sous
- Under; beneath; preposition indicating position below
- effet
- Effect; result; consequence of a cause
- désir
- Desire; strong wish or longing for something
- tuer
- To kill; to cause the death of someone
- Je
- I; first-person singular subject pronoun
- savais
- Knew; first-person singular imperfect of savoir
- tête
- Head; the uppermost part of the human body
- tout
- Everything; all; completely; pronoun or adverb
- savait
- Knew; third-person singular imperfect of savoir
- j'
- I; contracted first-person singular subject pronoun
- dans
- In; inside; preposition indicating location within something
- mienne
- Mine; feminine possessive pronoun referring to own possession
- meurtre
- Murder; the unlawful killing of another person
- étant
- Being; present participle of être
- hors
- Outside; beyond; out of the range of something
- question
- Question; query; matter under consideration or discussion
- fîmes
- Did; we did; first-person plural past historic of faire
- mieux
- Better; comparative adverb indicating improvement
- après
- After; afterward; preposition indicating sequence in time
- Nous
- We; first-person plural subject pronoun
- dîmes
- Said; told; first-person plural past historic of dire
- homme
- Man; adult male human being
- pouvions
- Could; we were able to; imperfect of pouvoir
- allions
- Were going to; first-person plural imperfect of aller
- faire
- To do; to make; very common versatile French verb
- cette
- This; feminine singular demonstrative adjective
- tel
- Such; of this kind; adjective indicating similarity or degree
- scandale
- Scandal; a disgraceful or shocking public event
- son
- His; her; its; third-person singular possessive adjective
- nom
- Name; the word by which a person is known
- serait
- Would be; third-person singular conditional of être
- puanteur
- Stench; a strong unpleasant smell; figurative disgrace
- bout
- End; tip; extremity of something
- autre
- Other; another; different person or thing
- S'
- Himself; herself; contracted reflexive pronoun before vowel
- des
- Some; of the; plural indefinite or partitive article
- amis
- Friends; people with whom one has a bond
- ou
- Or; conjunction presenting an alternative choice
- quelque
- Some; a few; adjective indicating an unspecified amount
- crédit
- Credit; influence; reputation or standing with others
- engageâmes
- We committed; we pledged; past historic of engager
- les
- The; plural definite article for masculine or feminine
- perdît
- Would lose; third-person singular past subjunctive of perdre
- Et
- And; coordinating conjunction linking clauses or words
- pendant
- During; for; preposition indicating duration of time
- temps
- Time; weather; period or duration of an event
- tandis
- While; whereas; conjunction indicating simultaneous contrast
- lui
- Him; her; third-person singular indirect object pronoun
- servions
- Were serving; first-person plural imperfect of servir
- cela
- That; this; demonstrative pronoun referring to something
- ardeur
- Ardor; passion; intense enthusiasm or burning zeal
- brûlante
- Burning; blazing; intensely hot or passionate
- écartions
- Were pushing away; imperfect of écarter meaning to distance
- femmes
- Women; wives; adult female human beings
- car
- Because; for; conjunction giving a reason or cause
- elles
- They; third-person feminine plural subject pronoun
- étaient
- Were; third-person plural imperfect of être
- déchaînées
- Unleashed; frenzied; out of control with rage
- harpies
- Harpies; fierce aggressive women; mythological winged monsters
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →