The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 — Page 5
His lynx eye immediately perceives the paper, recognises the handwriting of the address, observes the confusion of the personage addressed, and fathoms her secret.
Son œil de lynx aperçoit immédiatement le papier, reconnaît l'écriture de l'adresse, observe la confusion de la personne à qui il est adressé, et pénètre son secret.
After some business transactions, hurried through in his ordinary manner, he produces a letter somewhat similar to the one in question, opens it, pretends to read it, and then places it in close juxtaposition to the other.
Après quelques transactions d'affaires, expédiées à la hâte à sa manière ordinaire, il tire de sa poche une lettre assez semblable à celle en question, l'ouvre, fait semblant de la lire, puis la place en étroite juxtaposition avec l'autre.
Again he converses, for some fifteen minutes, upon the public affairs.
Il s'entretient de nouveau, pendant environ un quart d'heure, des affaires publiques.
At length, in taking leave, he takes also from the table the letter to which he had no claim.
Enfin, en prenant congé, il prend aussi sur la table la lettre à laquelle il n'avait aucun droit.
Its rightful owner saw, but, of course, dared not call attention to the act, in the presence of the third personage who stood at her elbow.
Sa légitime propriétaire le vit, mais, bien entendu, n'osa pas attirer l'attention sur l'acte, en présence du troisième personnage qui se tenait à son côté.
The minister decamped; leaving his own letter—one of no importance—upon the table."
Le ministre décampa, laissant sa propre lettre — sans aucune importance — sur la table."
"Here, then," said Dupin to me, "you have precisely what you demand to make the ascendancy complete—the robber's knowledge of the loser's knowledge of the robber."
« Voilà donc, » me dit Dupin, « vous avez précisément ce qu'il vous faut pour rendre l'ascendant complet — la connaissance qu'a le voleur de ce que sait la victime concernant le voleur. »
"Yes," replied the Prefect; "and the power thus attained has, for some months past, been wielded, for political purposes, to a very dangerous extent.
« Oui, » répondit le Préfet ; « et le pouvoir ainsi obtenu a, depuis quelques mois, été exercé, à des fins politiques, dans une mesure très dangereuse.
The personage robbed is more thoroughly convinced, every day, of the necessity of reclaiming her letter.
La personne volée est de plus en plus convaincue, chaque jour, de la nécessité de récupérer sa lettre.
But this, of course, cannot be done openly.
Mais cela, bien entendu, ne peut se faire ouvertement.
In fine, driven to despair, she has committed the matter to me."
Enfin, poussée au désespoir, elle m'a confié l'affaire. »
"Than whom," said Dupin, amid a perfect whirlwind of smoke, "no more sagacious agent could, I suppose, be desired, or even imagined.
« Que personne, » dit Dupin, au milieu d'un véritable tourbillon de fumée, « ne pourrait, je suppose, être souhaité comme agent plus sagace, ni même imaginé.
Vocabulary
- son
- his, her, its (possessive adjective)
- œil
- eye (organ of sight)
- de
- of, from (preposition)
- aperçoit
- perceives, catches sight of (third person singular)
- immédiatement
- immediately, at once (adverb)
- le
- the (definite article masculine)
- papier
- paper (material for writing)
- reconnaît
- recognizes, acknowledges (third person singular)
- écriture
- handwriting, writing (penmanship)
- adresse
- address (location or destination)
- observe
- observes, watches carefully (third person singular)
- la
- the (definite article feminine)
- confusion
- confusion, disorder, or embarrassment (noun)
- personne
- person, individual (noun)
- qui
- who, which (relative pronoun)
- il
- he, it (masculine personal pronoun)
- est
- is (third person singular of être)
- adressé
- addressed, directed (past participle)
- et
- and (conjunction)
- pénètre
- penetrates, sees through (third person singular)
- secret
- secret, mystery (noun or adjective)
- Après
- after, afterwards (preposition or adverb)
- quelques
- some, a few (indefinite adjective)
- transactions
- transactions, business dealings (noun plural)
- affaires
- business, affairs, matters (noun plural)
- expédiées
- dispatched, sent off (past participle feminine)
- hâte
- haste, hurry (noun feminine)
- manière
- manner, way, fashion (noun)
- ordinaire
- ordinary, usual, common (adjective)
- tire
- pulls, draws, takes out (third person singular)
- poche
- pocket (noun feminine)
- une
- a, an (indefinite article feminine)
- lettre
- letter (written message)
- assez
- quite, rather, enough (adverb)
- semblable
- similar, alike, resembling (adjective)
- celle
- the one, that one (feminine demonstrative)
- en
- in, on, made of (preposition)
- question
- question, matter at issue (noun)
- ouvre
- opens (third person singular of ouvrir)
- fait
- makes, does (third person singular)
- semblant
- pretence, semblance (noun masculine)
- lire
- to read (infinitive verb)
- puis
- then, next (adverb)
- place
- places, sets (third person singular)
- étroite
- narrow, tight, close (feminine adjective)
- avec
- with, alongside (preposition)
- autre
- other, another (adjective or pronoun)
- Il
- he, it (masculine personal pronoun)
- entretient
- maintains, keeps up conversation (third person)
- nouveau
- new, again (adjective or adverb)
- pendant
- during, for (preposition or conjunction)
- environ
- about, approximately (adverb)
- un
- a, an (indefinite article masculine)
- quart
- quarter, fourth part (noun)
- heure
- hour (unit of time)
- des
- of the, some (preposition or article)
- publiques
- public, state-related (feminine plural adjective)
- Enfin
- finally, at last (adverb)
- prenant
- taking (present participle of prendre)
- congé
- leave, farewell, dismissal (noun masculine)
- prend
- takes (third person singular of prendre)
- aussi
- also, too, as well (adverb)
- sur
- on, upon, over (preposition)
- table
- table, desk (noun feminine)
- laquelle
- which (feminine relative pronoun)
- avait
- had (imperfect third person singular)
- aucun
- no, none, not any (indefinite adjective)
- droit
- right, claim, law (noun masculine)
- Sa
- his, her, its (possessive adjective feminine)
- légitime
- legitimate, lawful, rightful (adjective)
- propriétaire
- owner, proprietor (noun)
- vit
- saw, perceived (past simple of voir)
- mais
- but, yet (conjunction)
- bien
- well, very, quite (adverb or adjective)
- entendu
- understood, of course (past participle)
- osa
- dared (past simple of oser)
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →