Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience — Page 4
The twelve labors of Hercules were trifling in comparison with those which my neighbors have undertaken; for they were only twelve, and had an end; but I could never see that these men slew or captured any monster or finished any labor.
Les douze travaux d'Hercule étaient dérisoires en comparaison de ceux que mes voisins ont entrepris ; car ils n'étaient que douze, et avaient une fin ; mais je n'ai jamais pu voir que ces hommes aient tué ou capturé quelque monstre que ce soit, ni achevé aucun travail.
They have no friend Iolas to burn with a hot iron the root of the hydra's head, but as soon as one head is crushed, two spring up.
Ils n'ont pas d'ami Iolas pour brûler avec un fer rouge la racine de la tête de l'hydre, mais dès qu'une tête est écrasée, deux repoussent.
I see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, barns, cattle, and farming tools; for these are more easily acquired than got rid of.
Je vois de jeunes hommes, mes concitoyens, dont le malheur est d'avoir hérité de fermes, de maisons, de granges, de bétail et d'outils agricoles ; car tout cela s'acquiert plus facilement qu'on ne s'en débarrasse.
Better if they had been born in the open pasture and suckled by a wolf, that they might have seen with clearer eyes what field they were called to labor in.
Il eût mieux valu pour eux naître dans un pâturage à ciel ouvert et être allaités par une louve, afin de voir avec des yeux plus clairs dans quel champ ils étaient appelés à travailler.
Who made them serfs of the soil?
Qui les a faits serfs de la terre ?
Why should they eat their sixty acres, when man is condemned to eat only his peck of dirt?
Pourquoi devraient-ils engloutir leurs soixante arpents, alors que l'homme est condamné à n'avaler qu'une poignée de terre ?
Why should they begin digging their graves as soon as they are born?
Pourquoi devraient-ils commencer à creuser leur tombe dès leur naissance ?
They have got to live a man's life, pushing all these things before them, and get on as well as they can.
Ils doivent vivre une vie d'homme, en poussant devant eux toutes ces choses, et s'en tirer du mieux qu'ils peuvent.
How many a poor immortal soul have I met well nigh crushed and smothered under its load, creeping down the road of life, pushing before it a barn seventy-five feet by forty, its Augean stables never cleansed, and one hundred acres of land, tillage, mowing, pasture, and wood-lot!
Combien de pauvres âmes immortelles ai-je rencontrées, presque écrasées et étouffées sous leur fardeau, rampant sur le chemin de la vie, poussant devant elles une grange de soixante-quinze pieds sur quarante, leurs écuries d'Augias jamais nettoyées, et cent arpents de terre à labourer, à faucher, en pâturage et en bois !
Vocabulary
- douze
- The number twelve
- travaux
- Tasks, labors, or works undertaken
- Hercule
- Hercules, hero of Greek and Roman mythology
- étaient
- Were; past imperfect of 'être'
- dérisoires
- Laughably small or insignificant in comparison
- comparaison
- A comparison made between two things
- ceux
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'those ones'
- voisins
- Neighbors; people living nearby
- entrepris
- Undertaken or started a project or task
- car
- Conjunction meaning 'because' or 'for'
- avaient
- Had; imperfect tense of 'avoir'
- fin
- End or conclusion of something
- jamais
- Never; used in negative constructions
- pu
- Past participle of 'pouvoir'; been able to
- voir
- To see or observe something
- hommes
- Men; adult male human beings
- aient
- Subjunctive form of 'avoir'; have
- tué
- Killed; past participle of 'tuer'
- capturé
- Captured; caught and restrained something
- quelque
- Some; an indefinite adjective indicating a vague quantity
- monstre
- A monster; terrifying mythical creature
- soit
- Subjunctive of 'être'; be or may be
- ni
- Conjunction meaning 'nor'; used in negation
- achevé
- Completed or finished a task or work
- aucun
- No, none; negative adjective or pronoun
- travail
- Work or labor; a task or job
- ami
- Friend; a close companion or associate
- brûler
- To burn; to set fire to something
- fer
- Iron; a hard metallic element
- rouge
- Red; a primary color
- racine
- Root; base part of a plant or word
- tête
- Head; the top part of the body
- hydre
- Hydra; many-headed mythological serpent creature
- dès
- Preposition meaning 'as soon as' or 'from'
- écrasée
- Crushed or flattened by force
- repoussent
- Grow back; regrow after being removed
- vois
- See; first person singular present of 'voir'
- jeunes
- Young; adjective describing youth or youthfulness
- concitoyens
- Fellow citizens sharing the same community or country
- dont
- Relative pronoun meaning 'whose' or 'of which'
- malheur
- Misfortune; a bad or unhappy situation
- avoir
- To have; infinitive of the auxiliary verb
- hérité
- Inherited; received something from a predecessor
- fermes
- Farms; agricultural properties or establishments
- maisons
- Houses; residential buildings where people live
- granges
- Barns; buildings for storing farm products
- bétail
- Livestock; farm animals raised for agriculture
- outils
- Tools; instruments used to perform tasks
- agricoles
- Agricultural; relating to farming or cultivation
- tout
- All or everything; totality of something
- cela
- That; demonstrative pronoun referring to something
- acquiert
- Acquires; obtains or gains something over time
- plus
- More; used in comparisons or negations
- facilement
- Easily; without difficulty or effort
- débarrasse
- Gets rid of; frees oneself from something
- eût
- Past subjunctive of 'avoir'; had
- mieux
- Better; comparative adverb of 'bien'
- valu
- Been worth; past participle of 'valoir'
- eux
- Them; stressed third person plural pronoun
- naître
- To be born; to come into existence
- pâturage
- Pasture; land used for grazing animals
- ciel
- Sky or heaven; the space above earth
- ouvert
- Open; not closed or covered
- être
- To be; infinitive of the verb 'être'
- allaités
- Suckled; nursed with milk from a mother
- louve
- Female wolf; a she-wolf
- afin
- In order to; used to express purpose
- yeux
- Eyes; the organs used for seeing
- clairs
- Clear or bright; easily understood or seen
- quel
- What or which; interrogative or exclamatory adjective
- champ
- Field; an open area of land for farming
- appelés
- Called; summoned or designated for a purpose
- travailler
- To work; to perform labor or tasks
- faits
- Made or done; past participle of 'faire'
- serfs
- Serfs; feudal laborers bound to land
- terre
- Earth, land, or soil; ground underfoot
- Pourquoi
- Why; interrogative adverb asking for reason
- devraient
- Should; conditional form of 'devoir'
- engloutir
- To swallow or engulf something entirely
- leurs
- Their; possessive adjective for plural owners
- soixante
- The number sixty
- arpents
- Arpents; old French units of land measurement
- alors
- Then; at that time or in that case
- homme
- Man; an adult male human being
- condamné
- Condemned; sentenced or doomed to a fate
- avaler
- To swallow; to ingest something by mouth
- poignée
- Handful; a small quantity held in hand
- commencer
- To begin or start something
- creuser
- To dig; to excavate or hollow out
- leur
- Their; singular possessive adjective or pronoun
- tombe
- Grave or tomb; a burial place
- naissance
- Birth; the moment of coming into life
- doivent
- Must; third person plural of 'devoir'
- vivre
- To live; to be alive or reside
- vie
- Life; the state of being alive
- poussant
- Pushing; present participle of 'pousser'
- devant
- In front of; preposition indicating position ahead
- toutes
- All; feminine plural form of 'tout'
- choses
- Things; objects or matters in general
- tirer
- To pull or draw something toward oneself
- peuvent
- Can; third person plural of 'pouvoir'
- Combien
- How many or how much; quantity question
- pauvres
- Poor; lacking financial resources or unfortunate
- âmes
- Souls; the spiritual essence of a person
- immortelles
- Immortal; never dying, lasting forever
- rencontrées
- Encountered or met; past participle of 'rencontrer'
- presque
- Almost; nearly but not quite completely
- écrasées
- Crushed or overwhelmed by weight or burden
- étouffées
- Suffocated or smothered; deprived of breath
- sous
- Under or beneath; preposition of position
- fardeau
- Burden; a heavy load or obligation
- rampant
- Crawling or creeping along the ground
- chemin
- Path or road; a route for traveling
- grange
- Barn; a large farm storage building
- quinze
- The number fifteen
- pieds
- Feet; units of measurement or body parts
- quarante
- The number forty
- écuries
- Stables; buildings for housing horses
- nettoyées
- Cleaned; made free of dirt or mess
- cent
- One hundred; the number 100
- labourer
- To plow; to till the soil for farming
- faucher
- To mow or cut down grass or crops
- bois
- Wood or forest; timber or wooded area
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