him, I often saw 1 him, for he filled some inferior office 2 in one of the courts of law in3 Edinburgh. Poor fellow ! I believe he is dead; he took early to drinking.5 W. SCOTT. (Autobiography.) ROBINSON CRUSOE IN HIS ISLAND. 7 I was now in the twenty-third year of my residence in this island; and was so naturalized to the place, and the manner of living, that, could I have but enjoyed the certainty that no savages 8 would come to the place to disturb me, I could have been content to have capitulated for spending the rest of my time there, even to the last moment, till I had laid me down and died 10 like the old indefinite ('have renewed'), and leave out 'my.' 1 See page 1, note 6, and page 55, note. There is here repetition of the action. 2 une charge (or, un emploi) subalterne. 3 cours de justice de. 4 Pauvre garçon ! or, Pauvre diable-familiar. 5 il s'adonna de bonne heure à la boisson. 6 J'en étais à. This word en, placed before certain verbs, such as être, venir, rester, arriver, &c., indicates the last term- whether relatively or absolutely-of a progression; as, en venir à, &c. (to be at last brought, or reduced, to,' &c.), en rester à, &c. ('to leave off at,' &c.) See page 11, note18; also the LA FONTAINE, Fable XCIII., page 125, note 7. This en can only be translated into English by the words 'now,' 'at last,' or the like. Yet, here we might say, simply, in French, J'étais alors dans la, &c., just as we say, speaking of age, je suis dans ma vingttroisième année. 5 7 See page 38, note page 29, note, page 24, note 1, and the LA FONTAINE, page 6, note 2, and page 38, note 5.-but,' seulement, here. 8 Translate by, no savage,' with the verb in the singular. Aucun and nul, meaning, as they do, pas un, 'not one,' are not, as a rule, used in the plural, in French. The only cases which form an exception to this rule are, 1st, when aucun and nul are joined with a noun which has no singular (ex. aucunes funérailles); and, 2d, when they are joined with a noun that is taken, in the plural, in another sense than in the singular (ex. aucunes troupes, no troops,' 'no forces,' no soldiers').-Yet, we may use the plural where there is plurality in the idea, or where the singular would be awkward. 6 We might advantageously cut this sentence shorter, in French, by merely saying, sans la crainte des sauvages. 10 j'aurais été en quelque sorte content d'y (or, j'aurais volontiers consenti dy) passer le reste de mes goat in the cave. I had also arrived to some little diversions and amusements,1 which made the time pass a great deal more pleasantly with me than it did before :2 as, first, I had taught my Poll, as I noted before, to speak ; and he did it so familiarly, and talked so articulately and plain,1 that it was very pleasant to me; for I believe no bird ever spoke plainer;5 and he lived with me no less than six-and-twenty years: how long 7 he might have lived afterwards, I know not, though I know they have a notion in the Brazils that they live a hundred years. My dog was a very pleasant and loving companion to me for no less than sixteen years of my time, and then died of mere old age. As for my cats, they multiplied, as I have observed, to that degree, that I was obliged to shoot several of them at first, to keep them from devouring me and all I had; but, at length, when the two old ones 10 I brought with me were gone,11 and after 9 jours (or, de ma vie), jusqu'au moment où je serais mort (page 66, note 12) tranquillement. 1 Je m'étais même ménagé (or, trouve)—see page 18, note 8-des distractions et des amusements (or, de quoi me distraire-me divertir -et m'amuser-me récréer.) 24 which,' &c., &c.; simply, ressource qui m'avait manqué autrefois. This sentence of Defoe is one of the many instances of loose writing observable even in the best English authors: for what a superfluity of words is this, diversions and amusements which make time pass pleasantly!' Put a full stop after autrefois, and leave out as' in the translation. full stop after 'plainer,' and leave out and,' which follows. 6than' is always expressed by de before the cardinal numbers un, deux, trois, &c., before la moitié (half), le tiers (third), &c., and before douzaine (dozen), vinytaine (score), dizaine (half-a-score), &c., instead of by que, as in a comparison of objects.-'six-andtwenty;' see page 89, note 2. 7 combien de temps; or, simply, combien. 8 que ces animaux passent au Brésil pour vivre. 9 ils s'étaient tellement multipliés, comme je l'ai déjà dit (or, fuit observer), see page 5, note 14-que j'avais été obligé d'en tuer plusieurs à coups de fusil, afin de n'en être pas dévoré avec (or, que de peur qu'ils ne me dévorassent avec, &c., j'avais été .).-'all I had supply the whole ellipsis, in French. 10 les deux plus vieux; or, les deux premiers. 11 To go,' used absolutely, in the sense of 'to start,' 'to set out,' is, in French, partir, not aller. See, besides, page 23, note 4 7 3 1 some time continually driving. them from me, and letting them have no provision with me, they all ran wild into the woods, except two or three favourites, which I kept tame, and whose young, when they had any, I always drowned; and these wero part of my family. Besides these, I always kept two or three household kids about me, whom I taught to feed out of 5 my hand; and I had two more 6 parrots, which talked pretty well, and would all call Robin Crusoe, but none like my first; nor, indeed, did I take the pains with any of them that I had done with him. I had also several tame sea-fowls, whose names I knew not, that I caught upon the shore, and cut their wings;10 and the little stakes which I had planted before my castle wall being now grown up to a good thick grove,11 these fowls all lived 12 among these low trees, and bred there, which was very agreeable to me ;13 so that, as I said above, I began to be very well contented with the life I led, if I could but have been secured from the dread of the savages. 14_DEFOE. 9 4. But here, 'gone' seems, from the context, to mean 'dead,' and should be rendered accordingly. 1 et que (page 17, notell) j'eus pendant quelque temps continuelle ment chassé (page 19, note 5) les autres loin de moi (or, simply, et à force de chasser les, &c.), sans leur rien donner à manger. 2 ils s'enfuirent tous dans les bois, et devinrent sauvages. 3 dont j'avais grand soin de noyer les petits (page 35, end of note 20) dès qu'ils venaient au monde. Put a full stop after monde, and leave out 'and these,' &c. 4 En outre, j'avais toujours près de moi deux ou trois chevreaux familiers; or, Le reste de ma maison consistait en deux ou trois 5 manger dans. chevreaux. 6 et deux autres. 8 et j'avoue-page 15, note 2(or, et il est vrai) que j'avais donné plus de soins à (or, pris plus de sorn de l'éducation de celui-là qu'à -que de-celle d'aucun des deux derniers; or, simply, pour lequel aussi j'avais pris beaucoup de peine. 9 je les avais attrapés (page 32, note 12). 10 See page 11, note 1 11 'grown up to,' &c. ; see page 6, note 13-god thick grove,' bosquet d'une bonne épaisseur. 12 habitaient, in the sense of 'to dwell;' here, however, we might take it as well in the other sense, and translate likewise by vivaient. 13 et y avaient leurs couvées; de cette façon ils contribuaient beaucoup à mon divertissement. 14 Ainsi donc, somme toute (or, en somme), comme je l'ai dit plus haut, je commençais à être fort content de la vie que je menais, à la réserve (or, à l'exception) de la crainte e-a la crainte près - que m'inspiraient les sauvages (page 3, note 3); or, j'aurais été parfaitement satisfait de la vie.... &c., sans la crainte (or, n'eût été la crainte-or, si j'eusse seulement pu m'affranchir; or, me délivrer, de la crainte) des sauvages. GULLIVER'S WAY OF LIVING IN THE COUNTRY OF LILLIPUT. 1 It may perhaps divert the curious reader, to give some account of my domestics, and 1 my manner of living in this country, during a residence of nine months and thirteen days. Having a head mechanically turned, and being likewise 2 forced by necessity, I had made for myself3 a table and chair convenient enough, out of the largest trees in the 5 royal park. Two hundred sempstresses were employed to make me shirts, and linen for my bed and table,7 all of the strongest and coarsest kind they could get; which, however, they were forced to quilt together in several folds, for the thickest was some degrees 10 finer than lawn. Their linen is usually three inches wide, and three feet make 11 a piece. The sempstresses took my measure as I lay on the ground,12 one standing at my neck, and another at my mid-leg, 13 with a strong cord extended, that each held by the end,14 while a third measured the length of the cord with a rule of an inch long.15 Then they measured my right thumb,16 and desired no more; 17 for, by a 9 which,' &c., mise en plusieurs doubles et piquée. 10 un peu. 1 Peut-être le 8 me saura-t-il avec la plus forte toile; see (page 32, note ) gré de lui donner page 1, note 12. quelques détails sur mon intérieur (or, mon particulier) et sur. See page 49, note 8. It is not necessary to repeat sur, here; only, its repetition points more to each of the two distinct things, which are about to be considered, or related, separately. 2 Comme j'ai toujours eu des dispositions pour les arts mécuniques, et que (page 17, note 11) j'étais en outre. 3 je m'étais fait.-'a table and chair;' see page, note1. 4 avec le bois. 5 See page 32, note 6. 6 See page 17, note 16. 11 Leurs toiles (in this sense,-in another sense, as above, between notes 6 and 7, the word is linge) ont en général trois pouces de largeur (or, de large), et la longueur de trois pieds forme. See p. 96, n. 1. lorsque j'étais couché. 12 13 sur le gras de ma jambe. 14 et tenant chacune par un bout une grosse corde. 15 Simply, d'un pouce. 16 le tour du pouce de ma main droite. We might say, as in English, de mon pouce droit, but we do 7 See page 8, note 1, and page not commonly use this expression 19, note. 17 et ce fut assez. 5 mathematical computation,1 that twice round the thumb is once round the 2 wrist, and so on to the neck and the waist; 3 and by the help of my old shirt, which I displayed on the ground before them for a pattern, they fitted me exactly.1 Three hundred tailors were employed in the same manner to make me clothes; but they had another contrivance for taking my measure. I. kneeled down, and they raised a ladder from the ground to my neck; upon this ladder one of them mounted, and let fall a plumb-line from my collar to the floor, which 8 just answered the length of my coat, but my waist and arms I measured myself.9 When my clothes were finished, which was done in my house, (for the largest of theirs would not have been able to hold them,) they looked like the patch-work 10 made by the ladies in England, only that mine were all of a 11 colour. I had three hundred cooks to dress 12 my victuals, in little convenient huts built about my house, where they and their families lived,13 and prepared 14 me two dishes a-piece.15 I took up twenty waiters in my hand, and placed them on the table: a hundred more 16 attended below on the ground, some with dishes of meat, and some with barrels of wine, and other liquors, slung on their shoulders; all which the waiters above drew up as I wanted, in a very stop after coat,' and leave out 'but.' 9 Je pris moi-même la mesure du corps et des bras. 10 ils ressemblaient à ces couvertures composées de petits morceaux carrés cousus ensemble. 11 seulement ils étaient tous de la même. 12 To dress,' in this sense, is préparer, or, accommoder. 13 où ils logeaient eux et leurs familles. This instance of two pronouns, the one conjunctive (ils) and the other disjunctive (eux), used together with one verb only, has some similitude with that of page 23, note 15. 14 See page 23, note 6. 15 chacun. 16 une centaine de leurs cama rades; or, simply, cent autres. |