Won from the Waves — Page 10
Lads, we will try and do it," he said at length; "maybe she has struck on the lowest part of the bank, and we shall be able to cross it at the top of high water.
« Mes gars, nous allons essayer de le faire », dit-il enfin ; « peut-être a-t-elle touché la partie la plus basse du banc, et nous pourrons le traverser à la pleine mer. »
Come along, we will talk no more about it, but try and do what we have got to do."
« Allons, n'en parlons plus, mais tâchons de faire ce que nous avons à faire. »
Just at that instant the words, uttered in a shrill, loud tone, were heard:--
À cet instant précis, on entendit ces mots, prononcés d'une voix perçante et forte :
"Foolish men, have you a mind to drown yourselves in the deep salt sea!
« Hommes insensés, avez-vous l'intention de vous noyer dans les profondeurs de la mer salée !
Stay, I charge you, or take the consequence."
Arrêtez, je vous en conjure, ou subissez-en les conséquences. »
The voice seemed to come out of the darkness, for no one was seen.
La voix semblait surgir de l'obscurité, car on ne voyait personne.
The men looked round over their shoulders.
Les hommes regardèrent par-dessus leurs épaules.
Directly afterwards a tall thin figure, habited in grey from head to foot, emerged from the gloom.
Aussitôt après, une grande silhouette mince, vêtue de gris de la tête aux pieds, émergea de l'obscurité.
Those who beheld it might have been excused if they supposed it rather a phantom than a being of the earth, so shadowy did it appear in the thick mist.
Ceux qui la contemplaient auraient pu être pardonnés de l'avoir prise pour un fantôme plutôt que pour un être de chair, tant elle paraissait vaporeuse dans l'épais brouillard.
"The spirit of the air forbids your going, and I, his messenger, warn you that you seek destruction if you disobey him."
« L'esprit de l'air interdit votre départ, et moi, son messager, je vous avertis que vous courez à votre perte si vous lui désobéissez. »
The men gathered closer to each other as the figure approached.
Les hommes se rapprochèrent les uns des autres à mesure que la silhouette approchait.
It was now seen to be that of a tall, gaunt woman.
On distinguait à présent qu'il s'agissait d'une grande femme décharnée.
Vocabulary
- Mes
- My (plural possessive adjective)
- gars
- Guys, boys, fellows (informal)
- nous
- We, us (first person plural pronoun)
- allons
- We go, we are going (aller, present)
- essayer
- To try, to attempt something
- de
- Of, from, about (preposition)
- le
- The, it, him (definite article/pronoun)
- faire
- To do, to make (infinitive verb)
- dit-il
- He said (inverted form of dire)
- enfin
- Finally, at last, after all
- peut-être
- Perhaps, maybe, possibly
- a-t-elle
- Has she (inverted question form)
- touché
- Touched, reached, hit (past participle)
- la
- The, her, it (definite article/pronoun)
- partie
- Part, section, portion of something
- plus
- More, most, no longer (adverb)
- basse
- Low, lower, bottom (feminine adjective)
- du
- Of the, some (contraction de + le)
- banc
- Sandbank, bench, shallow area of water
- et
- And (coordinating conjunction)
- pourrons
- We will be able to (pouvoir, future)
- traverser
- To cross, to go through, to traverse
- à
- At, to, in (preposition)
- pleine
- Full, open, complete (feminine adjective)
- mer
- Sea, ocean (feminine noun)
- Allons
- Let's go, come on (imperative of aller)
- n'en
- Of it not, negation with pronoun en
- parlons
- Let's talk, we speak (parler, imperative/present)
- mais
- But, however (coordinating conjunction)
- tâchons
- Let's try, let's endeavor (tâcher, imperative)
- ce
- This, that, it (demonstrative pronoun/adjective)
- que
- That, which, what (conjunction/pronoun)
- avons
- We have (avoir, present tense)
- À
- At, to, in (preposition, capitalized)
- cet
- This, that (masculine demonstrative before vowel)
- instant
- Instant, moment, very brief time
- précis
- Precise, exact, specific moment or detail
- on
- One, we, they, people (indefinite pronoun)
- entendit
- Heard (entendre, passé simple third person)
- ces
- These, those (plural demonstrative adjective)
- mots
- Words (plural masculine noun)
- prononcés
- Spoken, uttered, pronounced (past participle)
- d'une
- Of a, in a (de + une contracted)
- voix
- Voice, tone of speaking
- perçante
- Piercing, shrill, penetrating (feminine adjective)
- forte
- Loud, strong, powerful (feminine adjective)
- Hommes
- Men, humans (plural masculine noun)
- insensés
- Foolish, senseless, reckless (plural adjective)
- avez-vous
- Do you have (inverted question form)
- l'intention
- The intention, the plan, the purpose
- vous
- You (second person plural/formal pronoun)
- noyer
- To drown, to submerge in water
- dans
- In, inside, within (preposition)
- les
- The (definite article, plural)
- profondeurs
- Depths, deep places (plural feminine noun)
- salée
- Salty, salted (feminine adjective)
- Arrêtez
- Stop, halt (arrêter, imperative plural)
- je
- I (first person singular pronoun)
- en
- Of it, some, in, from there (pronoun/preposition)
- conjure
- To implore, to beg earnestly (conjurer)
- ou
- Or (coordinating conjunction)
- subissez-en
- Suffer the consequences of it (subir, imperative)
- conséquences
- Consequences, results, outcomes (plural noun)
- La
- The (feminine definite article, capitalized)
- semblait
- Seemed, appeared (sembler, imperfect tense)
- surgir
- To emerge suddenly, to appear abruptly
- l'obscurité
- The darkness, the obscurity, the gloom
- car
- Because, for, since (coordinating conjunction)
- ne
- Not (first part of negation ne…pas)
- voyait
- Saw, could see (voir, imperfect tense)
- personne
- Nobody, no one, person (noun/pronoun)
- Les
- The (plural definite article, capitalized)
- hommes
- Men, humans (plural masculine noun)
- regardèrent
- Looked, gazed (regarder, passé simple)
- par-dessus
- Over, above, across (prepositional phrase)
- leurs
- Their (plural possessive adjective)
- épaules
- Shoulders (plural feminine noun)
- Aussitôt
- Immediately, right away, at once
- après
- After, afterward, following (preposition/adverb)
- une
- A, an, one (feminine indefinite article)
- grande
- Tall, large, great (feminine adjective)
- silhouette
- Silhouette, outline, shadowy figure
- mince
- Thin, slim, slender (adjective)
- vêtue
- Dressed, clothed (past participle, feminine)
- gris
- Grey, gray (color adjective)
- tête
- Head (feminine noun, body part)
- aux
- To the, at the (à + les contracted)
- pieds
- Feet (plural masculine noun)
- émergea
- Emerged, appeared (émerger, passé simple)
- Ceux
- Those, those ones (plural demonstrative pronoun)
- qui
- Who, which, that (relative/interrogative pronoun)
- contemplaient
- Were contemplating, gazing at (imperfect tense)
- auraient
- Would have (avoir, conditional perfect auxiliary)
- pu
- Been able to (past participle of pouvoir)
- être
- To be (infinitive of être)
- pardonnés
- Forgiven, excused (past participle, plural)
- l'avoir
- Having it, for having her (pronoun + avoir)
- prise
- Taken, mistaken (past participle, feminine)
- pour
- For, in order to (preposition)
- un
- A, an, one (masculine indefinite article)
- fantôme
- Ghost, phantom, specter (masculine noun)
- plutôt
- Rather, instead, somewhat (adverb)
- chair
- Flesh, skin, body (feminine noun)
- tant
- So much, so, as long as (adverb)
- elle
- She, her, it (third person singular pronoun)
- paraissait
- Appeared, seemed (paraître, imperfect tense)
- vaporeuse
- Vaporous, misty, hazy (feminine adjective)
- l'épais
- The thick, the dense (masculine adjective)
- brouillard
- Fog, mist, thick haze (masculine noun)
- L'esprit
- The spirit, mind, ghost (masculine noun)
- l'air
- The air, the look, the appearance
- interdit
- Forbidden, bewildered, dumbfounded (adjective)
- votre
- Your (second person plural possessive adjective)
- départ
- Departure, leaving, start (masculine noun)
- moi
- Me, I (stressed first person pronoun)
- son
- His, her, its (singular possessive adjective)
- messager
- Messenger, envoy, bearer of news
- avertis
- Warned, alerted (avertir, past participle/imperative)
- courez
- Run, you run (courir, imperative/present)
- perte
- Loss, ruin, downfall (feminine noun)
- si
- If, whether, so (conjunction/adverb)
- lui
- Him, her, to him/her (stressed pronoun)
- désobéissez
- Disobey (désobéir, present/imperative form)
- se
- Himself, herself, themselves (reflexive pronoun)
- rapprochèrent
- Drew closer together (rapprocher, passé simple)
- uns
- Some, ones (plural indefinite pronoun)
- des
- Of the, some (de + les contracted)
- autres
- Others, other people (plural pronoun/adjective)
- mesure
- Measure, degree; as (à mesure que)
- approchait
- Was approaching, drawing near (imperfect tense)
- On
- One, we, people (indefinite subject pronoun)
- distinguait
- Could distinguish, make out (imperfect tense)
- présent
- Now, present, current (adverb/adjective)
- qu'il
- That he, that it (que + il contracted)
- s'agissait
- It was about, it concerned (s'agir, imperfect)
- femme
- Woman, wife (feminine noun)
- décharnée
- Emaciated, gaunt, skeletal (feminine adjective)
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