The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde — Page 8
I took the liberty of pointing out to my gentleman that the whole business looked apocryphal, and that a man does not, in real life, walk into a cellar door at four in the morning and come out with another man's cheque for close upon a hundred pounds.
Je pris la liberté de faire remarquer à mon gentleman que toute cette affaire semblait apocryphe, et qu'un homme ne entre pas, dans la vie réelle, par une porte de cave à quatre heures du matin pour en ressortir avec le chèque d'un autre homme d'un montant proche de cent livres.
But he was quite easy and sneering.
Mais il était parfaitement désinvolte et narquois.
'Set your mind at rest,' says he, 'I will stay with you till the banks open and cash the cheque myself.'
« Rassurez-vous », dit-il, « je resterai avec vous jusqu'à l'ouverture des banques et j'encaisserai moi-même le chèque. »
So we all set off, the doctor, and the child's father, and our friend and myself, and passed the rest of the night in my chambers; and next day, when we had breakfasted, went in a body to the bank.
Nous partîmes donc tous ensemble, le médecin, le père de l'enfant, notre ami et moi-même, et passâmes le reste de la nuit dans mes appartements ; et le lendemain, après avoir déjeuné, nous nous rendîmes en groupe à la banque.
I gave in the cheque myself, and said I had every reason to believe it was a forgery.
Je remis moi-même le chèque et déclarai avoir toutes les raisons de croire qu'il s'agissait d'un faux.
Not a bit of it.
Pas du tout.
The cheque was genuine."
Le chèque était authentique. »
"Tut-tut!" said Mr. Utterson.
« Allons, allons ! » dit M. Utterson.
"I see you feel as I do," said Mr. Enfield.
« Je vois que vous ressentez la même chose que moi », dit M. Enfield.
"Yes, it's a bad story.
« Oui, c'est une mauvaise histoire.
For my man was a fellow that nobody could have to do with, a really damnable man; and the person that drew the cheque is the very pink of the proprieties, celebrated too, and (what makes it worse) one of your fellows who do what they call good.
Car mon homme était quelqu'un avec qui personne ne voulait avoir affaire, un homme vraiment détestable ; et la personne qui a signé le chèque est le modèle même des convenances, célèbre de surcroît, et (ce qui aggrave les choses) l'un de ces gens qui font ce qu'ils appellent le bien.
Blackmail, I suppose; an honest man paying through the nose for some of the capers of his youth.
Du chantage, je suppose ; un honnête homme payant les pots cassés pour quelques fredaines de sa jeunesse.
Black Mail House is what I call the place with the door, in consequence.
C'est pourquoi j'appelle l'endroit avec la porte la Maison du Chantage.
Vocabulary
- pris
- pree — Past tense of 'prendre'; took or took hold of
- liberté
- lee-behr-tay — Freedom or liberty; the state of being free
- faire
- fair — To do or to make; a very common verb
- remarquer
- ruh-mar-kay — To remark, notice, or point something out
- gentleman
- jen-tul-man — An English loanword referring to a well-mannered man
- toute
- toot — Adjective meaning 'all', 'whole', or 'entire' (feminine)
- affaire
- ah-fair — A matter, affair, or business situation
- semblait
- sahm-bleh — Imperfect tense of 'sembler'; seemed or appeared to be
- apocryphe
- ah-poh-kreef — Apocryphal; of doubtful authenticity or truth
- homme
- om — A man or human being
- entre
- ahn-truh — Enters, or preposition meaning 'between'
- vie
- vee — Life; one's existence or way of living
- réelle
- ray-el — Real, actual, or genuine (feminine adjective)
- porte
- port — A door or gate; an entrance to a building
- cave
- kahv — A cellar or basement of a building
- heures
- ur — Hours or o'clock; units of time
- matin
- ma-tan — Morning; the early part of the day
- ressortir
- ruh-sor-teer — To go back out or exit again from somewhere
- chèque
- shek — A cheque or bank check used for payment
- autre
- oh-truh — Adjective or pronoun meaning 'other' or 'another'
- montant
- mohn-tahn — An amount or sum of money involved in a transaction
- proche
- prosh — Near, close to, or approaching a value or place
- livres
- leevr — Pounds (currency) or books, depending on context
- était
- ay-teh — Imperfect tense of 'être'; was or used to be
- parfaitement
- par-fet-mahn — Perfectly or completely; used to express total agreement
- désinvolte
- day-zan-volt — Casual, offhand, or nonchalant in manner or attitude
- narquois
- nar-kwah — Mocking, sly, or sardonic in expression or tone
- Rassurez
- rah-sew-ray — Imperative of 'rassurer'; to reassure or set at ease
- dit
- dee — Past tense of 'dire'; said or told someone something
- resterai
- res-tuh-ray — Future tense of 'rester'; will stay or remain
- jusqu'
- zhews-kuh — Preposition meaning 'until' or 'up to' (elided form)
- ouverture
- oo-vehr-tewr — Opening; the act or time of opening something
- banques
- bahnk — Banks; financial institutions where money is kept
- encaisserai
- ahn-keh-suh-ray — Future tense of 'encaisser'; will cash or collect money
- même
- mem — Means 'same', 'even', or '-self' depending on context
- partîmes
- par-teem — Simple past of 'partir'; we departed or set off
- donc
- donk — Conjunction meaning 'therefore', 'so', or 'thus'
- tous
- too — Plural of 'tout'; all or everyone together
- ensemble
- ahn-sahm-bluh — Together; as a group at the same time
- médecin
- med-san — A doctor or physician who treats patients
- père
- pair — Father; a male parent
- enfant
- ahn-fahn — A child; a young person or baby
- ami
- ah-mee — A friend; someone one has a close relationship with
- passâmes
- pah-sahm — Simple past of 'passer'; we spent or passed (time)
- reste
- rest — The rest, remainder, or what is left over
- nuit
- nwee — Night; the dark hours after sunset
- appartements
- ah-par-tuh-mahn — Apartments or rooms used as a private residence
- lendemain
- lahn-duh-man — The next day or the day after a specific event
- après
- ah-preh — Preposition meaning 'after' in time or order
- avoir
- ah-vwahr — To have; also used as an auxiliary verb
- déjeuné
- day-zhuh-nay — Past participle of 'déjeuner'; having eaten lunch
- rendîmes
- rahn-deem — Simple past of 'se rendre'; we went or made our way
- groupe
- groop — A group; a number of people together
- banque
- bahnk — A bank; a financial institution for money
- remis
- ruh-mee — Past participle of 'remettre'; handed over or delivered
- déclarai
- Simple past of 'déclarer'; I declared or stated formally
- raisons
- reh-zohn — Reasons; explanations or justifications for something
- croire
- krwahr — To believe or to think something is true
- agissait
- ah-zhee-seh — Imperfect of 's'agir'; it was a matter of something
- faux
- foh — False, fake, or incorrect; not genuine
- tout
- too — All, everything, or completely; very versatile word
- authentique
- oh-tahn-teek — Authentic, genuine, or real; not fake or copied
- Allons
- ah-lohn — Imperative of 'aller'; let's go or come now
- vois
- vwah — Present tense of 'voir'; I see or you see
- ressentez
- ruh-sahn-tay — Present of 'ressentir'; you feel or experience an emotion
- chose
- shohz — A thing or something; a general object or matter
- mauvaise
- moh-vez — Bad, poor, or unpleasant (feminine adjective)
- histoire
- ees-twahr — A story, history, or matter; a narrative account
- Car
- kar — Conjunction meaning 'because' or 'for' (causal)
- quelqu'
- kel-kuh — Elided form of 'quelqu'un'; someone or somebody
- personne
- pehr-son — A person; or 'nobody' when used with negation
- voulait
- voo-leh — Imperfect of 'vouloir'; wanted or wished to do something
- vraiment
- vreh-mahn — Really, truly, or genuinely; used for emphasis
- détestable
- day-tes-tahbl — Detestable, hateful, or highly objectionable in character
- signé
- see-nyay — Past participle of 'signer'; signed a document or check
- modèle
- moh-del — A model, example, or pattern to be followed
- convenances
- kon-vuh-nahns — Proprieties or social conventions; accepted standards of behavior
- célèbre
- say-lebr — Famous or celebrated; widely known and recognized
- surcroît
- sewr-krwah — In addition; moreover, on top of everything else
- aggrave
- ah-grahv — Present of 'aggraver'; worsens or makes more serious
- choses
- shohz — Things; plural of 'chose', general objects or matters
- gens
- zhahn — People; persons in general, often informal usage
- appellent
- ah-pel — Third person plural of 'appeler'; they call or name
- bien
- byan — Well, good, or very; a versatile adverb of degree
- chantage
- shahn-tahzh — Blackmail; coercing someone with threats for money
- suppose
- sew-pohz — Present of 'supposer'; to suppose or assume something
- honnête
- oh-net — Honest, fair, or decent in character and conduct
- payant
- pay-yahn — Present participle of 'payer'; paying a sum of money
- pots
- poh — Pots; also used in 'pots cassés' meaning paying consequences
- cassés
- kah-say — Broken; past participle of 'casser', meaning broken things
- quelques
- kel-kuh — A few or some; indicating a small unspecified number
- fredaines
- fruh-den — Youthful escapades or pranks; minor misbehaviors of youth
- jeunesse
- zhuh-nes — Youth; the period or quality of being young
- pourquoi
- poor-kwah — Why; used to ask for a reason or explanation
- appelle
- ah-pel — Present of 'appeler'; calls or names something
- endroit
- ahn-drwah — A place or spot; a specific location
- Maison
- meh-zohn — A house or home; a building used as a dwelling
- Chantage
- shahn-tahzh — Blackmail; the act of coercing by threats
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