The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments — Page 6
The public appreciation of these notes, and of the advantage of correctly-written foreign words, is, I conceive, proved by the call for the present edition.
L'appréciation du public pour ces notes, et pour l'avantage des mots étrangers correctement écrits, est, je le crois, prouvée par la demande de la présente édition.
On the subject of the mode of writing oriental words in European characters, I need say little, for the controversy has well nigh died out.
Sur le sujet du mode d'écriture des mots orientaux en caractères européens, je n'ai guère besoin de m'étendre, car la controverse a presque complètement disparu.
The present generation does not regard antiquated blunders as "the familiar names of childhood," but rather strives to attain accuracy in all things; and those few who still cling to "Mahomet" or "Mahomed" should consistently exhume the forgotten "Mahound" of the Crusades.
La génération actuelle ne considère pas les erreurs désuètes comme « les noms familiers de l'enfance », mais s'efforce plutôt d'atteindre l'exactitude en toutes choses ; et ceux qui s'accrochent encore à « Mahomet » ou « Mahomed » devraient, par souci de cohérence, exhumer le « Mahound » oublié des Croisades.
The translator's views respecting the origin and literary history of "The Thousand and One Nights" will be found fully expressed in the Review at the end of the third volume.
Les opinions du traducteur concernant l'origine et l'histoire littéraire des « Mille et Une Nuits » se trouvent pleinement exprimées dans la Revue à la fin du troisième volume.
In his original preface, he stated, "The remarks which I here submit to the reader, being written when only one-third of the work to which they principally relate is printed, must unavoidably be more defective than they would be if reserved until a later period.
Dans sa préface originale, il déclarait : « Les remarques que je soumets ici au lecteur, ayant été rédigées alors qu'un tiers seulement de l'ouvrage auquel elles se rapportent principalement est imprimé, seront inévitablement plus incomplètes qu'elles ne le seraient si elles étaient réservées à une période ultérieure.
During the progress of the publication I may be enabled to form clearer and more complete views of the several subjects which might with propriety be fully discussed at the head of my translation, and I think it better, therefore, to append at the close of the work many observations which I originally intended to prefix to the first volume."
Au fil de la publication, je pourrai peut-être former des vues plus claires et plus complètes sur les différents sujets qu'il conviendrait de traiter pleinement en tête de ma traduction, et je juge donc préférable d'ajouter à la fin de l'ouvrage de nombreuses observations que j'avais initialement prévu de placer en préambule du premier volume. »
Vocabulary
- appréciation
- Recognition or favorable judgment of something's value
- public
- The general audience or community of people
- notes
- Written remarks or annotations in a text
- avantage
- A beneficial or favorable condition over others
- étrangers
- Foreign; belonging to another country or language
- correctement
- In a correct or accurate manner
- écrits
- Written; past participle of 'écrire' (to write)
- crois
- First person singular of 'croire' (to believe)
- prouvée
- Demonstrated or established as true; proven
- demande
- A request or demand; consumer demand for something
- présente
- Current or present; this particular edition
- édition
- A published version or issue of a book
- sujet
- A topic or subject under discussion
- mode
- A manner, method, or way of doing something
- écriture
- Writing; the act or system of written expression
- orientaux
- Plural of 'oriental'; relating to Eastern cultures
- caractères
- Characters or letters of a writing system
- européens
- Relating to or originating from Europe
- guère
- Hardly, scarcely; used in negative constructions
- besoin
- A need or necessity for something
- étendre
- To extend, elaborate, or spread out on a topic
- car
- Conjunction meaning 'because' or 'for'
- controverse
- A prolonged public dispute or debate
- presque
- Almost or nearly; very close to being so
- complètement
- Entirely, thoroughly, or in a complete manner
- disparu
- Vanished or disappeared; no longer present
- génération
- A group of people born in the same era
- actuelle
- Current or present; existing at this time
- considère
- Regards or views something in a particular way
- erreurs
- Mistakes or inaccuracies made in writing or speech
- désuètes
- Outdated or obsolete; no longer in common use
- noms
- Names or nouns used to identify things or people
- familiers
- Familiar; well-known from long acquaintance or habit
- enfance
- Childhood; the early period of a person's life
- efforce
- Strives or makes an effort to achieve something
- plutôt
- Rather or instead; preferably one thing over another
- atteindre
- To reach, achieve, or attain a goal or standard
- exactitude
- Precision and accuracy in detail or execution
- ceux
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'those' or 'the ones'
- accrochent
- Cling or hold on to something stubbornly
- encore
- Still, yet, or again in a given situation
- devraient
- Conditional of 'devoir'; they should or ought to
- souci
- Concern or worry; care about something important
- cohérence
- Logical consistency and harmony between elements
- exhumer
- To dig up or revive something long buried or forgotten
- oublié
- Forgotten; no longer remembered or used
- opinions
- Personal views or judgments on a particular matter
- traducteur
- A person who translates text between languages
- concernant
- Regarding or relating to a particular subject
- origine
- The starting point or source of something's existence
- histoire
- History or a story; narrative of past events
- littéraire
- Relating to literature or literary works and traditions
- Nuits
- Nights; plural of 'nuit', used in the famous title
- pleinement
- Fully or completely, without reservation
- exprimées
- Expressed; clearly communicated or stated in words
- Revue
- A review or journal periodical publication
- fin
- End; the concluding part of something
- troisième
- Ordinal number meaning 'third'
- volume
- A single book forming part of a larger work
- préface
- An introductory section at the beginning of a book
- originale
- Original; the first or earliest version of something
- déclarait
- Was declaring; imperfect tense of 'déclarer'
- remarques
- Comments or observations about a subject
- soumets
- Submit or present something for consideration
- ici
- Adverb meaning 'here' indicating this place
- lecteur
- A reader; person who reads a text or book
- ayant
- Present participle of 'avoir'; having something
- rédigées
- Written up or drafted; composed in written form
- alors
- Then; at that time or in that situation
- tiers
- One third; a fraction equal to one of three parts
- seulement
- Only or merely; nothing more than stated
- ouvrage
- A work, especially a literary or scholarly publication
- auquel
- Relative pronoun 'à lequel' meaning 'to which'
- rapportent
- Relate or refer to a particular subject matter
- principalement
- Mainly or primarily; above all other considerations
- imprimé
- Printed; produced in physical published form
- inévitablement
- Inevitably; in a way that cannot be avoided
- incomplètes
- Incomplete; lacking necessary parts or information
- seraient
- Conditional of 'être'; they would be
- réservées
- Reserved or saved for a later time or purpose
- période
- A span of time defined by particular characteristics
- ultérieure
- Later or subsequent; occurring at a future time
- fil
- Thread; 'au fil de' means 'throughout' or 'over the course'
- publication
- The act of making a written work publicly available
- pourrai
- First person future of 'pouvoir'; I will be able to
- peut-être
- Perhaps or maybe; expressing possibility or uncertainty
- former
- To form or develop ideas, opinions, or conclusions
- vues
- Views or opinions on a particular subject
- claires
- Clear; easy to understand or well-defined
- complètes
- Complete; fully formed without missing elements
- différents
- Different or various; not the same as others
- sujets
- Subjects or topics under discussion or study
- conviendrait
- Would be appropriate or suitable; conditional of 'convenir'
- traiter
- To treat or deal with a subject in writing
- tête
- Head; also used to mean 'at the front of' something
- traduction
- A text converted from one language into another
- juge
- Judges or considers; also a noun meaning 'judge'
- donc
- Therefore or so; indicating a logical conclusion
- préférable
- More desirable or advisable than an alternative
- ajouter
- To add or include something additional to existing content
- nombreuses
- Numerous or many; a large quantity of things
- observations
- Remarks or comments based on careful consideration
- avais
- Imperfect of 'avoir'; I had or used to have
- initialement
- Initially; at the beginning or first stage
- prévu
- Planned or anticipated; intended beforehand
- placer
- To place or position something in a specific location
- préambule
- A preliminary introduction or preamble to a text
- premier
- First; the earliest or foremost in a sequence
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