The Time Traveller (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was flushed and animated. The fire burned brightly, and the soft radiance of the incandescent lights in the lilies of silver caught the bubbles that flashed and passed in our glasses.
Convenient - pratique, commode
expounding - l'exposé, préciser, expliciter
matter - matiere, matiere, affaire, question, cause, substance
shone - briller, éclairer
twinkled - a scintillé, briller, cligner, virevolter
pale - pâle, hâve
flushed - rincé, rougeur
animated - animée, animé, animer
burned - brulé, bruler
brightly - brillante, clairement, précisément
soft - souple, moelleux, alcoolsans, mou, doux
incandescent - incandescent, éblouissant, irradiant, resplendissant, éclatant
lilies - des lys, lys
silver - l'argent, argent
caught - pris, prise, touche, loquet, loqueteau, verrou, hic, couille
bubbles - bulles, bulle, trou, vent, ambiance, bouillonner
flashed - flashé, éclair, lueur
passed - passé, passer (devant), dépasser
Our chairs, being his patents, embraced and caressed us rather than submitted to be sat upon, and there was that luxurious after-dinner atmosphere when thought roams gracefully free of the trammels of precision. And he put it to us in this way-marking the points with a lean forefinger-as we sat and lazily admired his earnestness over this new paradox (as we thought it) and his fecundity.
patents - brevets, brevet (d'invention) (noun), breveté (adjective)
embraced - embrassée, étreindre, embrasser, accolade
caressed - caressé, caresser
submitted - soumis, soumettre
upon - sur, a
luxurious - luxueux, de luxe
atmosphere - atmosphere, atmosphere, ambience, ambiance
roams - erre, errer
gracefully - gracieusement
trammels - les trémails, crémaillere
precision - précision
marking - le marquage, marquant, repere, (mark), Marc
lean - maigre, adossons, adossent, appuyer, adossez
forefinger - l'index, index
lazily - paresseusement
admired - admiré, admirer
earnestness - le sérieux
paradox - paradoxe, antinomie
fecundity - fécondité
'You must follow me carefully. I shall have to controvert one or two ideas that are almost universally accepted. The geometry, for instance, they taught you at school is founded on a misconception.'
carefully - attentivement, soigneusement
shall - doit, rench: 'shall' followed by the infinitive is translated using the future tense'
controvert - controverse
almost - presque, quasiment
universally - universellement
accepted - acceptée, accepter, accepter (de), prendre sur soi
geometry - géométrie
instance - instance
misconception - idée fausse, idée erronée
'Is not that rather a large thing to expect us to begin upon?'said Filby, an argumentative person with red hair.
expect - s'attendre a, attendre, s'attendre a
argumentative - argumentatif
'I do not mean to ask you to accept anything without reasonable ground for it. You will soon admit as much as I need from you. You know of course that a mathematical line, a line of thickness nil, has no real existence. They taught you that? Neither has a mathematical plane. These things are mere abstractions.'
Accept - accepter, accepter (de), prendre sur soi, endurer patiemment
reasonable - raisonnable
ground - sol, foncierere, terre, terrain, (grind) sol
admit - admettre, avouer, reconnaître
mathematical - mathématique
thickness - l'épaisseur, épaisseur, grosseur
existence - l'existence, existence
neither - ni l'un ni l'autre, aucun des deux, ni X ni Y, non plus
mere - simple
abstractions - abstractions, abstraction
'That is all right,'said the Psychologist.
Psychologist - psychologue
'Nor, having only length, breadth, and thickness, can a cube have a real existence.'
nor - ni, NON-OU
Length - longueur, durée
cube - cube
'There I object,'said Filby. 'Of course a solid body may exist. All real things-'
solid - solide, massif, plein, continu
exist - existent, exister
'So most people think. But wait a moment. Can an instantaneous cube exist?'
instantaneous - instantanée, instantané
'Don't follow you,'said Filby.
'Can a cube that does not last for any time at all, have a real existence?'
Last - derniere, dernier, durer, dernierere, durez, passé, durent
Filby became pensive. 'Clearly,'the Time Traveller proceeded, 'any real body must have extension in four directions: it must have Length, Breadth, Thickness, and-Duration. But through a natural infirmity of the flesh, which I will explain to you in a moment, we incline to overlook this fact. There are really four dimensions, three which we call the three planes of Space, and a fourth, Time.
pensive - pensif, chagrin, mélancolique
Clearly - en clair, clairement
proceeded - a procédé, avancer, procéder
extension - extension
directions - des directions, direction
duration - durée
infirmity - l'infirmité, infirmité
flesh - de la chair, chair, peau, viande, corps, pulpe
overlook - vue, panorama, surplomber, négliger, louper, passer outre
dimensions - dimensions, dimension
There is, however, a tendency to draw an unreal distinction between the former three dimensions and the latter, because it happens that our consciousness moves intermittently in one direction along the latter from the beginning to the end of our lives.'
tendency - tendance
unreal - irréel
distinction - distinction, différence
former - ancien, ancienne, ci devant
consciousness - la conscience, conscience
intermittently - par intermittence
direction - direction
along - le long de, accompagné, rench: t-needed r
'That,'said a very young man, making spasmodic efforts to relight his cigar over the lamp; 'that … very clear indeed.'
spasmodic - spasmodique
efforts - efforts, effort
relight - rallumer
cigar - cigare
clear - clair, transparent, libre, dégagé, sans ambiguité, s'éclaircir
indeed - certainement, vraiment, en effet, bien sur, certes
'Now, it is very remarkable that this is so extensively overlooked,'continued the Time Traveller, with a slight accession of cheerfulness. 'Really this is what is meant by the Fourth Dimension, though some people who talk about the Fourth Dimension do not know they mean it. It is only another way of looking at Time.
remarkable - remarquable
extensively - de maniere extensive
overlooked - négligé, vue, panorama, surplomber, négliger, louper
continued - suite, continuer
Slight - insignifiant, léger
accession - l'adhésion, accession
cheerfulness - gaieté
Dimension - dimension, dimensionner
though - mais, néanmoins, cependant, malgré, bien que
There is no difference between Time and any of the three dimensions of Space except that our consciousness moves along it. But some foolish people have got hold of the wrong side of that idea. You have all heard what they have to say about this Fourth Dimension?'
Except - sauf, faire une exception
foolish - sot, stupide, bete, idiot
hold - tenir, stopper, tiens, tiennent, tenons
side - côté, parti, flanc
'I have not,'said the Provincial Mayor.
provincial - provinciale, provincial
mayor - maire, mairesse, bourgmestre
'It is simply this. That Space, as our mathematicians have it, is spoken of as having three dimensions, which one may call Length, Breadth, and Thickness, and is always definable by reference to three planes, each at right angles to the others. But some philosophical people have been asking why three dimensions particularly-why not another direction at right angles to the other three?
Simply - tout simplement, simplement
mathematicians - des mathématiciens, mathématicien, mathématicienne
definable - définissable
reference - référence, recommandation, faire référence a, référencer
philosophical - philosophique
particularly - en particulier
-and have even tried to construct a Four-Dimension geometry. Professor Simon Newcomb was expounding this to the New York Mathematical Society only a month or so ago.
construct - construction, construire
professor - professeur, professeure, prof, professeuse
York - york, Yorck, Yorque
Society - la société, société
You know how on a flat surface, which has only two dimensions, we can represent a figure of a three-dimensional solid, and similarly they think that by models of three dimensions they could represent one of four-if they could master the perspective of the thing. See?'
surface - surface, faire surface
represent - représenter, constituer, représentez, représentons
figure - figure, forme, personnage, personnalité, chiffre
similarly - de la meme maniere
Master - maître, patron, maîtriser, maitre, maîtrisent
perspective - perspective, perspectif
'I think so,'murmured the Provincial Mayor; and, knitting his brows, he lapsed into an introspective state, his lips moving as one who repeats mystic words. 'Yes, I think I see it now,'he said after some time, brightening in a quite transitory manner.
murmured - murmuré, murmure, rumeur, souffle, murmurer
knitting - tricotage, tricot, (knit), tricoter, souder, unir, se souder
brows - les sourcils, (brow), andouiller d'oil, maître andouiller
lapsed - caduque, erreur, faute
introspective - introspectif
state - l'État
lips - levres, levre
mystic - mystique
transitory - transitoire
manner - maniere, maniere, façon, mode
'Well, I do not mind telling you I have been at work upon this geometry of Four Dimensions for some time. Some of my results are curious. For instance, here is a portrait of a man at eight years old, another at fifteen, another at seventeen, another at twenty-three, and so on.
mind - l'esprit, esprit, raison, intelligence, mémoire
Curious - vous etes curieux, curieux, intéressant, singulier
portrait - portrait
All these are evidently sections, as it were, Three-Dimensional representations of his Four-Dimensioned being, which is a fixed and unalterable thing.
evidently - évidemment, de toute évidence, manifestement
Dimensioned - dimensionné, dimension
fixed - fixé, réparer, fixer, préparer, truquer, tricher, réparation
unalterable - inaltérable
'Scientific people,'proceeded the Time Traveller, after the pause required for the proper assimilation of this, 'know very well that Time is only a kind of Space. Here is a popular scientific diagram, a weather record. This line I trace with my finger shows the movement of the barometer.
scientific - scientifique
pause - pauser, pause
required - nécessaires, exiger, demander, avoir besoin de, requérir
proper - appropriée, approprié, convenable, exact, juste, propre
assimilation - l'assimilation, assimilation
diagram - diagramme, schéma
record - record, enregistrent, enregistrez, enregistrons
trace - trace, projection horizontale, décalquer
finger - doigt, pointer, tripoter, doigter
movement - mouvement
barometer - barometre, barometre
Yesterday it was so high, yesterday night it fell, then this morning it rose again, and so gently upward to here. Surely the mercury did not trace this line in any of the dimensions of Space generally recognized? But certainly it traced such a line, and that line, therefore, we must conclude was along the Time-Dimension.'
rose - Rose, (rise)
upward - a la hausse
surely - surement, surement, assurément
mercury - le mercure, mercure, vif-argent
generally - en général
recognized - reconnu, reconnaître
Certainly - certainement, surement, sans nul doute, sans aucun doute
traced - tracé, trace
such - tel, tellement, ainsi
therefore - par conséquent, en conséquence, donc, pour ça
conclude - conclure
'But,'said the Medical Man, staring hard at a coal in the fire, 'if Time is really only a fourth dimension of Space, why is it, and why has it always been, regarded as something different? And why cannot we move in Time as we move about in the other dimensions of Space?'
medical - médicale, médical
coal - charbon, houille, tisons, checkhouille
regarded - considérée, considérer
The Time Traveller smiled. 'Are you sure we can move freely in Space? Right and left we can go, backward and forward freely enough, and men always have done so. I admit we move freely in two dimensions. But how about up and down? Gravitation limits us there.'
smiled - souriait, sourire
freely - librement
backward - a l'envers, arriéré, en arriere, a reculons
forward - avant, acheminent, acheminer, avanten, acheminons
Gravitation - gravitation
limits - des limites, limite, limitation
'Not exactly,'said the Medical Man. 'There are balloons.'
exactly - exactement
balloons - ballons, ballon, ballon de baudruche
'But before the balloons, save for spasmodic jumping and the inequalities of the surface, man had no freedom of vertical movement.'
save - sauver, sauvegarder, épargner, préserver, protéger
jumping - sauter, (faire) sauter
inequalities - inégalités, inégalité, inéquation
freedom - la liberté, liberté
vertical - verticale, vertical
'Still they could move a little up and down,'said the Medical Man.
'Easier, far easier down than up.'
'And you cannot move at all in time, you cannot get away from the present moment.'
all in time - en temps et en heure
'My dear sir, that is just where you are wrong. That is just where the whole world has gone wrong. We are always getting away from the present moment. Our mental existences, which are immaterial and have no dimensions, are passing along the Time-Dimension with a uniform velocity from the cradle to the grave.
gone wrong - a mal tourné
getting away - s'échapper
mental - mentale, affectif, mental
existences - existences, existence
immaterial - immatériel
passing - en passant, passager, éminent, rapide, extremement
uniform - uniforme
velocity - la vélocité, vecteur vitesse, vélocité, fréquence
from the cradle to the grave - du berceau a la tombe
Just as we should travel down if we began our existence fifty miles above the earth's surface.'
earth's surface - la surface de la terre
'But the great difficulty is this,'interrupted the Psychologist. 'You can move about in all directions of Space, but you cannot move about in Time.'
difficulty - difficulté
interrupted - interrompu, interrompre, couper
'That is the germ of my great discovery. But you are wrong to say that we cannot move about in Time. For instance, if I am recalling an incident very vividly I go back to the instant of its occurrence: I become absent-minded, as you say. I jump back for a moment.
germ - germe
discovery - découverte
recalling - rappelant, rappeler, souvenir
incident - incident, checkfait-divers, checkaccident
vividly - précise
instant - instantanée, moment
Occurrence - occurrence
absent - absente, absent
minded - mentales, esprit, t+raison, t+intelligence, mémoire
jump - sauter, sautent, sautiller, sautons, félure
Of course we have no means of staying back for any length of Time, any more than a savage or an animal has of staying six feet above the ground. But a civilized man is better off than the savage in this respect.
savage - barbare, féroce, sauvage
civilized - civilisé, civiliser
respect - respect, respecter
He can go up against gravitation in a balloon, and why should he not hope that ultimately he may be able to stop or accelerate his drift along the Time-Dimension, or even turn about and travel the other way?'
against - contre, face a, pour
balloon - ballon, ballon de baudruche, ballon en baudruche
ultimately - en fin de compte
accelerate - accélérer
drift - dérive, dériver, errer, dévier
turn about - faire demi-tour
'Oh, this,'began Filby, 'is all-'
'Why not?'said the Time Traveller.
'It's against reason,'said Filby.
'What reason?'said the Time Traveller.
'You can show black is white by argument,'said Filby, 'but you will never convince me.'
convince - convaincre, persuader
'Possibly not,'said the Time Traveller. 'But now you begin to see the object of my investigations into the geometry of Four Dimensions. Long ago I had a vague inkling of a machine-'
Possibly - peut-etre, possiblement, peut-etre
investigations - des enquetes, investigation
vague - vague
inkling - l'étincelle, idée, soupçon
'To travel through time!'exclaimed the Very Young Man.
travel through time - voyager dans le temps
exclaimed - s'est exclamé, exclamer
'That shall travel indifferently in any direction of Space and Time, as the driver determines.'
indifferently - avec indifférence
determines - détermine, déterminer
Filby contented himself with laughter.
contented - satisfait
laughter - rires, rire
'But I have experimental verification,'said the Time Traveller.
experimental - expérimental
verification - vérification
'It would be remarkably convenient for the historian,'the Psychologist suggested. 'One might travel back and verify the accepted account of the Battle of Hastings, for instance!'
remarkably - remarquablement
historian - historien, historienne
suggested - suggéré, proposer, suggérer
verify - vérifier
account - compte, supputation, demande
battle - bataille, combat
'Don't you think you would attract attention?'said the Medical Man.
attract attention - attirer l'attention
'Our ancestors had no great tolerance for anachronisms.'
ancestors - ancetres, ancetre
tolerance - tolérance
anachronisms - anachronismes, anachronisme
'One might get one's Greek from the very lips of Homer and Plato,'the Very Young Man thought.
Greek - grec, grecque, grecques
Plato - platon
'In which case they would certainly plough you for the Little-go.
case - cas, affaire, fouille, étui, chose
plough - charrue, araire, labourer, pilonner
The German scholars have improved Greek so much.'
German - Allemand, Allemande, Germain, Germaine
scholars - des universitaires, étudiant, expert, savant, érudit
'Then there is the future,'said the Very Young Man. 'Just think! One might invest all one's money, leave it to accumulate at interest, and hurry on ahead!'
invest - investir, investissez, investissent, investis
accumulate - accumuler
hurry - se dépecher, précipitation, hâte
ahead - a l'avance, devant
'To discover a society,'said I, 'erected on a strictly communistic basis.'
discover - découvrir
erected - érigé, droit, dressé
strictly - strictement
communistic - communiste
basis - base
'Of all the wild extravagant theories!'began the Psychologist.
wild - sauvage, pétulant, grose
theories - théories, théorie
'Yes, so it seemed to me, and so I never talked of it until-'
seemed - semblait, sembler, paraître, avoir l'air
'Experimental verification!'cried I. 'You are going to verify that?'
cried - pleuré, pleurer, crier, hurler, gueuler, pleur, cri
'The experiment!'cried Filby, who was getting brain-weary.
experiment - expérience, expérimenter
brain - cerveau, or when used as food, tete, processeur
weary - fatigué, las, lasser
'Let's see your experiment anyhow,'said the Psychologist, 'though it's all humbug, you know.'
anyhow - d'une maniere ou d'une autre, de toute maniere
The Time Traveller smiled round at us. Then, still smiling faintly, and with his hands deep in his trousers pockets, he walked slowly out of the room, and we heard his slippers shuffling down the long passage to his laboratory.
round - ronde, cyclo, arrondissent, arrondis, arrondir
smiling - souriant, (smile), sourire
faintly - faiblement
deep - profond, épais, grave, foncé, foncée, profondeurs
pockets - poches, poche, empocher, de poche
slowly - lentement
slippers - des pantoufles, chausson, pantoufle
shuffling - le brassage, (shuffle), battage, battre, mélanger
passage - passage, corridoir, couloir
laboratory - laboratoire
The Psychologist looked at us. 'I wonder what he's got?'
wonder - merveille, se demander, conjecturer
'Some sleight-of-hand trick or other,'said the Medical Man, and
trick - tour, astuce, truc, rench: t-needed r, pli, levée, quart, duper
Filby tried to tell us about a conjurer he had seen at Burslem; but
conjurer - prestidigitateur, conjurateur, invocateur
before he had finished his preface the Time Traveller came back, and
preface - préface, préfacer
Filby's anecdote collapsed.
anecdote - anecdote
collapsed - effondré, s'effondrer, effondrement
The thing the Time Traveller held in his hand was a glittering metallic framework, scarcely larger than a small clock, and very delicately made. There was ivory in it, and some transparent crystalline substance. And now I must be explicit, for this that follows-unless his explanation is to be accepted-is an absolutely unaccountable thing.
held - détenus, (main)tenir
glittering - scintillant, étincelant, (glitter), étincellement, paillette
metallic - métallique, métalisé
framework - structure, cadre, checkcarcasse, checkcharpente
scarcely - a peine, a peine, guere
delicately - délicatement
ivory - ivoire
crystalline - cristalline, cristallin
substance - substance, fond, biens
explicit - explicite, expressément
Unless - a moins que, a moins que, sauf si
explanation - explication
absolutely - absolument
unaccountable - sans avoir a rendre de comptes
He took one of the small octagonal tables that were scattered about the room, and set it in front of the fire, with two legs on the hearthrug. On this table he placed the mechanism. Then he drew up a chair, and sat down. The only other object on the table was a small shaded lamp, the bright light of which fell upon the model.
octagonal - octogonal
scattered - dispersé, disperser, se disperser, éparpiller, parsemer
set - set, Seth
Hearthrug - faux-fuyant, tapis du foyer
mechanism - mécanisme
shaded - ombragée, alose
bright - lumineux, éclatant, clair
There were also perhaps a dozen candles about, two in brass candlesticks upon the mantel and several in sconces, so that the room was brilliantly illuminated. I sat in a low arm-chair nearest the fire, and I drew this forward so as to be almost between the Time Traveller and the fireplace. Filby sat behind him, looking over his shoulder.
Perhaps - peut-etre, peut-etre, possiblement
dozen - douzaine, dizaine
brass - laiton, airain
candlesticks - chandeliers, chandelier
several - plusieurs
illuminated - éclairé, illuminer
low - faible, inférieure
arm-chair - (arm-chair) fauteuil
fireplace - âtre, foyer, cheminée
The Medical Man and the Provincial Mayor watched him in profile from the right, the Psychologist from the left. The Very Young Man stood behind the Psychologist. We were all on the alert. It appears incredible to me that any kind of trick, however subtly conceived and however adroitly done, could have been played upon us under these conditions.
profile - contour, profil
on the alert - sur le qui-vive
Appears - apparaît, apparaître, paraître, sembler
subtly - subtilement
conceived - conçu, concevoir, tomber enceinte
adroitly - adroitement
conditions - conditions, condition
The Time Traveller looked at us, and then at the mechanism. 'Well?'said the Psychologist.
'This little affair,'said the Time Traveller, resting his elbows upon the table and pressing his hands together above the apparatus, 'is only a model. It is my plan for a machine to travel through time. You will notice that it looks singularly askew, and that there is an odd twinkling appearance about this bar, as though it was in some way unreal.'He pointed to the part with his finger.
affair - affaire, aventure, liaison
resting - au repos, (rest) au repos
elbows - coudes, coude, coup de coude, jouer des coudes
pressing - pressant, (pres) pressant
apparatus - l'appareil, appareil
travel through - a traverser
notice - remarquer, notification, préavis, s'apercevoir
singularly - singulierement
askew - de travers, de guingois, de traviole, oblique
odd - rench: t-needed r, bizarre, étrange, impair, a peu pres
twinkling - scintillant, (twinkle), briller, cligner, virevolter
appearance - l'apparence, apparition, apparence, comparution
bar - bar, barrent, barrons, barrer, barrez, tringle
'Also, here is one little white lever, and here is another.'
lever - levier, lever
The Medical Man got up out of his chair and peered into the thing.
peered - regardé, pair
'It's beautifully made,'he said.
beautifully - magnifique
'It took two years to make,'retorted the Time Traveller. Then, when we had all imitated the action of the Medical Man, he said: 'Now I want you clearly to understand that this lever, being pressed over, sends the machine gliding into the future, and this other reverses the motion. This saddle represents the seat of a time traveller.
retorted - a rétorqué, rétorquer
imitated - imité, imiter
pressed - pressé, appuyer sur, presser
gliding - le vol a voile, vol a voile, (glide), glisser, planer
reverses - inverse, faire marche arriere, inverser
motion - mouvement, motion
saddle - selle, ensellement
represents - représente, représenter
seat - siege, place, siege, assise, séant, fond
Presently I am going to press the lever, and off the machine will go. It will vanish, pass into future Time, and disappear. Have a good look at the thing. Look at the table too, and satisfy yourselves there is no trickery. I don't want to waste this model, and then be told I'm a quack.'
press - presse, pressons, serre, pressent, pressez, serrer
vanish - disparaître, s'évanouir, s'annuler
pass into - passer dans
disappear - disparaître
satisfy - satisfaire
trickery - la tromperie, tricherie, magouillage
waste - déchets, pelée, gaspiller, gâcher
quack - charlatanisme, couin-couin
There was a minute's pause perhaps. The Psychologist seemed about to speak to me, but changed his mind. Then the Time Traveller put forth his finger towards the lever. 'No,'he said suddenly. 'Lend me your hand.'And turning to the Psychologist, he took that individual's hand in his own and told him to put out his forefinger.
forth - avant, en avant
towards - vers, envers, pour, pres de
suddenly - soudain, soudainement, tout d'un coup
lend - preter, pretons, conférer, pretent, emprunter
individual - individu, individuel, checkindividuelle
So that it was the Psychologist himself who sent forth the model Time Machine on its interminable voyage. We all saw the lever turn. I am absolutely certain there was no trickery. There was a breath of wind, and the lamp flame jumped.
interminable - interminable
Voyage - voyage
absolutely certain - absolument certain
breath - respiration, souffle, haleine
wind - vent, emmailloter, détortiller, langer, enrouler
flame - flamme, polémique
jumped - a sauté, (faire) sauter
One of the candles on the mantel was blown out, and the little machine suddenly swung round, became indistinct, was seen as a ghost for a second perhaps, as an eddy of faintly glittering brass and ivory; and it was gone-vanished! Save for the lamp the table was bare.
candles - bougies, bougie, chandelle
blown out - soufflé
swung - balancé, osciller, se balancer, balancer, swinguer
indistinct - indistinct
ghost - fantôme, spectre, esprit, revenant
eddy - eddy, tourbillon
vanished - disparue, disparaître, s'évanouir, s'annuler
bare - a nu, dénudé, dégarnir, nu
Everyone was silent for a minute. Then Filby said he was damned.
silent - silencieux
damned - foutu, maudit, condamné, (damn), condamner, réprouver
The Psychologist recovered from his stupor, and suddenly looked under the table. At that the Time Traveller laughed cheerfully. 'Well?'he said, with a reminiscence of the Psychologist. Then, getting up, he went to the tobacco jar on the mantel, and with his back to us began to fill his pipe.
recovered - récupéré, recouvrer (la santé)
stupor - stupeur
cheerfully - réjouie
reminiscence - la réminiscence, réminiscence
getting up - se lever
tobacco - le tabac, tabac
jar - bocal, jarre
pipe - cornemuse, conduit, tuyau, barre verticale, tube, pipe
We stared at each other. 'look here,'said the Medical Man, 'are you in earnest about this? Do you seriously believe that that machine has travelled into time?'
look here - regarder ici
earnest - sérieux, (earn) sérieux
seriously - sérieusement, gravement, sérieux
'Certainly,'said the Time Traveller, stooping to light a spill at the fire. Then he turned, lighting his pipe, to look at the Psychologist's face. (The Psychologist, to show that he was not unhinged, helped himself to a cigar and tried to light it uncut.
stooping - se baisser
spill - déverser, répandre, renverser, déversement
unhinged - déséquilibré, dégonder, , déséquilibrer, troubler
uncut - non coupé
) 'What is more, I have a big machine nearly finished in there'-he indicated the laboratory-'and when that is put together I mean to have a journey on my own account.'
nearly - presque
indicated - indiqué, indiquer, signaler
'You mean to say that that machine has travelled into the future?'said Filby.
'Into the future or the past-I don't, for certain, know which.'
Certain - certain, quelconque
After an interval the Psychologist had an inspiration. 'It must have gone into the past if it has gone anywhere,'he said.
interval - intervalle
inspiration - l'inspiration, inspiration
gone into - entré dans
anywhere - n'importe ou, n'importe ou, ou que ce soit, nulle part
'Why?'said the Time Traveller.
'Because I presume that it has not moved in space, and if it travelled into the future it would still be here all this time, since it must have travelled through this time.'
presume - présumer, supposer
Since - depuis lors, depuis, depuis que, puisque, vu que
travelled through - traversé
'But,'I said, 'If it travelled into the past it would have been visible when we came first into this room; and last Thursday when we were here; and the Thursday before that; and so forth!'
visible - visible
'Serious objections,'remarked the Provincial Mayor, with an air of impartiality, turning towards the Time Traveller.
serious - sérieux
objections - objections, objection
remarked - remarqué, remarque
impartiality - l'impartialité, impartialité
'Not a bit,'said the Time Traveller, and, to the Psychologist: 'You think. You can explain that. It's presentation below the threshold, you know, diluted presentation.'
bit - bit, mordis, mordit, mordîmes, mordirent, (bite), mordre
presentation - exposé, présentation, conférence
threshold - seuil, seuil de tolérance
diluted - dilué, diluer, couper (about wine mainly), diluée, faible
'Of course,'said the Psychologist, and reassured us. 'That's a simple point of psychology. I should have thought of it. It's plain enough, and helps the paradox delightfully. We cannot see it, nor can we appreciate this machine, any more than we can the spoke of a wheel spinning, or a bullet flying through the air.
reassured - rassuré, tranquilliser, rassurer, réassurer
simple - simple
psychology - la psychologie, psychologie
plain - simple, unie, net, plaine
delightfully - délicieusement
appreciate - etre reconnaissant de, apprécier a sa juste valeur
wheel - roue, barre, rouler
spinning - la filature, filer, (spin) la filature
bullet - balle, projectile
flying through - Voler a travers
If it is travelling through time fifty times or a hundred times faster than we are, if it gets through a minute while we get through a second, the impression it creates will of course be only one-fiftieth or one-hundredth of what it would make if it were not travelling in time. That's plain enough.'He passed his hand through the space in which the machine had been. 'You see?'he said, laughing.
travelling through - Voyager a travers
gets through - passer a travers
impression - impression
fiftieth - cinquantieme, cinquantieme ('abbreviation' 50
hundredth - centieme, centieme
We sat and stared at the vacant table for a minute or so. Then the
vacant - vacant, vide, niais
Time Traveller asked us what we thought of it all.
'It sounds plausible enough to-night,'said the Medical Man; 'but wait until to-morrow. Wait for the common sense of the morning.'
plausible - plausible
morrow - lendemain, matin
sense - sens, acception, sentir
'Would you like to see the Time Machine itself?'asked the Time Traveller. And therewith, taking the lamp in his hand, he led the way down the long, draughty corridor to his laboratory.
itself - elle-meme, se, soi-meme
therewith - avec
led - dirigé, DEL, LED, (lead) dirigé
draughty - des courants d'air
corridor - couloir, corridor, couloir aérien
I remember vividly the flickering light, his queer, broad head in silhouette, the dance of the shadows, how we all followed him, puzzled but incredulous, and how there in the laboratory we beheld a larger edition of the little mechanism which we had seen vanish from before our eyes. Parts were of nickel, parts of ivory, parts had certainly been filed or sawn out of rock crystal.
flickering - clignotement, vaciller
queer - pédé, étrange, bizarre
broad - large
silhouette - silhouette
shadows - ombres, ombre, prendre en filature, t+filer
puzzled - perplexe, mystere, énigme, puzzle, casse-tete, jeu de patience
incredulous - incrédule
beheld - a été observée, regarder, voir, observer, voici, voila
edition - édition
nickel - nickel, piece de cinq cents, nickeler
filed - classée, file
sawn - scié
rock crystal - du cristal de roche
The thing was generally complete, but the twisted crystalline bars lay unfinished upon the bench beside some sheets of drawings, and I took one up for a better look at it. Quartz it seemed to be.
twisted - tordu, twist, torsion, entortiller, tordre
bars - bars, barre, tablette
lay - laique, pondre, pose
unfinished - inachevé
Bench - banc, établi, banquette
beside - a côté, aupres
sheets - feuilles, feuille, plaque, écoute
Quartz - quartz, cristal de roche
'Look here,'said the Medical Man, 'are you perfectly serious?
perfectly - parfaitement
Or is this a trick-like that ghost you showed us last Christmas?'
Christmas - Noël
'Upon that machine,'said the Time Traveller, holding the lamp aloft, 'I intend to explore time. Is that plain? I was never more serious in my life.'
holding - en attente, possession, (hold) en attente
aloft - en altitude, en haut, en l'air
intend - l'intention de, avoir l'intention, envisager, concevoir
explore - explorer
None of us quite knew how to take it.
none - aucun, ne nulle
I caught Filby's eye over the shoulder of the Medical Man, and he winked at me solemnly.
winked - clin d'oil, faire un clin d'oil (a)
I think that at that time none of us quite believed in the Time Machine. The fact is, the Time Traveller was one of those men who are too clever to be believed: you never felt that you saw all round him; you always suspected some subtle reserve, some ingenuity in ambush, behind his lucid frankness.
those - ceux-ci, ces, celles-la, ceux-la
clever - habile, agile, adroit, adroite, talentueux, malin, intelligent
suspected - soupçonné, suspecter, soupçonner
subtle - subtile, subtil, délicat, astucieux
reserve - réservation, réserve, réserves, remplaçant
ingenuity - l'ingéniosité, ingéniosité
ambush - embuscade
lucid - clair, claire, lucide
frankness - la franchise, franchise
Had Filby shown the model and explained the matter in the Time Traveller's words, we should have shown him far less scepticism. For we should have perceived his motives; a pork butcher could understand Filby. But the Time Traveller had more than a touch of whim among his elements, and we distrusted him. Things that would have made the frame of a less clever man seemed tricks in his hands.
scepticism - scepticisme
perceived - perçue, percevoir
motives - motivations, motif, mobile, theme, motiver
pork - porc, cochon
butcher - boucher, charcutier, abattre, (butch), hommasse
touch - toucher, émouvoir, contact
whim - caprice
among - parmi
elements - éléments, élément, membre
distrusted - méfiance, défiance, se méfier
frame - encadrer, cadre, armature, ossature, image, manche, frame, trame
tricks - des astuces, tour, astuce, truc, rench: -neededr, pli
It is a mistake to do things too easily. The serious people who took him seriously never felt quite sure of his deportment; they were somehow aware that trusting their reputations for judgment with him was like furnishing a nursery with egg-shell china.
easily - facilement
deportment - comportement
somehow - d'une maniere ou d'une autre
aware - conscient, attentif, vigilant, en éveil, en alerte
trusting - la confiance, confiance, trust, faire confiance
reputations - réputation, renommée (more slang)
judgment - jugement, sentence, verdict, jugement dernier
furnishing - l'ameublement, fournissant, (furnish), meubler, fournir, livrer
nursery - pépiniere, creche, pouponniere, pépiniere
shell - coquille, coquillage, carapace, coque, cosse, douille, obus
China - la chine, Chine
So I don't think any of us said very much about time travelling in the interval between that Thursday and the next, though its odd potentialities ran, no doubt, in most of our minds: its plausibility, that is, its practical incredibleness, the curious possibilities of anachronism and of utter confusion it suggested. For my own part, I was particularly preoccupied with the trick of the model.
doubt - des doutes, douter, doute
minds - les esprits, esprit, t+raison, t+intelligence, mémoire
practical - pratique
incredibleness - incroyable
possibilities - possibilités, possibilité
anachronism - anachronisme
utter - l'utérus, émettre
confusion - confusion, désordre, malentendu
preoccupied - préoccupé, préoccuper
That I remember discussing with the Medical Man, whom I met on Friday at the Linnaean. He said he had seen a similar thing at Tubingen, and laid considerable stress on the blowing out of the candle. But how the trick was done he could not explain.
whom - que, qui
laid - posé, poser
considerable - considérable
stress - le stress, tension, contrainte, stress, emphase, stresser
blowing out - en train d'exploser
candle - bougie, chandelle
The next Thursday I went again to Richmond-I suppose I was one of the Time Traveller's most constant guests-and, arriving late, found four or five men already assembled in his drawing-room. The Medical Man was standing before the fire with a sheet of paper in one hand and his watch in the other. I looked round for the Time Traveller, and-'It's half-past seven now,'said the Medical Man.
Richmond - richmond
suppose - supposer, imaginer
most constant - le plus constant
guests - invités, invité, invitée, hôte, client
assembled - assemblés, assembler, rassembler
sheet - feuille, plaque, écoute
'I suppose we'd better have dinner?'
'Where's--?'said I, naming our host.
Host - l'hôte, hote, hôte
'You've just come? It's rather odd. He's unavoidably detained. He asks me in this note to lead off with dinner at seven if he's not back. Says he'll explain when he comes.'
unavoidably - inévitablement
detained - détenu, détenir, arreter
lead - du plomb
'It seems a pity to let the dinner spoil,'said the Editor of a well-known daily paper; and thereupon the Doctor rang the bell.
Seems - semble-t-il, sembler, paraître, avoir l'air
pity - compassion, pitié, dommage, honte, plaindre, avoir pitié de
spoil - gâter, gâcher, tourner, dévoiler, révéler
editor - rédacteur, lecteur-correcteur, réviseur, éditeur, éditrice
daily paper - un journal quotidien
thereupon - a ce sujet, sur ce, la-dessus
bell - cloche, sonnette
The Psychologist was the only person besides the Doctor and myself who had attended the previous dinner. The other men were Blank, the Editor aforementioned, a certain journalist, and another-a quiet, shy man with a beard-whom I didn't know, and who, as far as my observation went, never opened his mouth all the evening.
besides - d'ailleurs, aupres
myself - moi-meme, me, m'
attended - a assisté, assister a, suivre
previous - précédente, préalable
blank - vide, blanc, vierge, balles a blanc, préforme, espace
aforementioned - susmentionné
journalist - journaliste
Shy - timide, gené, prudent, embarrassé
beard - barbe
observation - observation, remarque
There was some speculation at the dinner-table about the Time Traveller's absence, and I suggested time travelling, in a half-jocular spirit. The Editor wanted that explained to him, and the Psychologist volunteered a wooden account of the 'ingenious paradox and trick'we had witnessed that day week.
speculation - spéculation
absence - absence, manque, absence du fer
jocular - joculaire
spirit - l'esprit, esprit, moral, élan, spiritueux
volunteered - volontaire, bénévole
wooden - en bois, boisé, raide
ingenious - ingénieux
witnessed - témoins, témoignage, témoin, preuve, témoigner
He was in the midst of his exposition when the door from the corridor opened slowly and without noise. I was facing the door, and saw it first. 'Hallo!'I said. 'At last!'And the door opened wider, and the Time Traveller stood before us. I gave a cry of surprise. 'Good heavens! man, What's the matter?'cried the Medical Man, who saw him next. And the whole tableful turned towards the door.
midst - centre, milieu
exposition - exposition
noise - bruit, vacarme, brouhaha, boucan
Hallo - bonjour, salut
wider - plus large, large
cry - pleurer, crier, hurler, gueuler, pleur, cri
surprise - surprise, surprendre, étonner
Good heavens - Grands dieux
What's the matter? - Qu'est-ce qu'il y a ?
tableful - une table
He was in an amazing plight. His coat was dusty and dirty, and smeared with green down the sleeves; his hair disordered, and as it seemed to me greyer-either with dust and dirt or because its colour had actually faded. His face was ghastly pale; his chin had a brown cut on it-a cut half healed; his expression was haggard and drawn, as by intense suffering.
plight - situation difficile, situation critique
dusty - poussiéreux
smeared - étalé, badigeonner, couvrir, diffamer, trace, traînée
sleeves - manches, manche, chemise (inner), gaine (outer), manchon
disordered - désordonné, désordre, trouble
either - chaque, non plus, ou, soit
dirt - la saleté, saleté, ordure, terre, boue, salissure, tache
actually - en fait
faded - fanée, (s')affaiblir, diminuer
ghastly - épouvantable, effrayant, affreux, horrible
chin - menton
healed - guéri, guérir, (se) cicatriser
expression - expression
haggard - hagard, émacié
intense - intense
suffering - la souffrance, souffrance, douleur
For a moment he hesitated in the doorway, as if he had been dazzled by the light. Then he came into the room. He walked with just such a limp as I have seen in footsore tramps. We stared at him in silence, expecting him to speak.
hesitated - hésité, hésiter
doorway - l'embrasure de la porte, embrasure de la porte
dazzled - éblouie, éblouir
limp - boiteux, boitez, boitent, boitons, boiter
footsore - éclopé
Tramps - des clochards, clochard, va-nu-pieds, traînée, garce
silence - le silence, silence
He said not a word, but came painfully to the table, and made a motion towards the wine. The Editor filled a glass of champagne, and pushed it towards him. He drained it, and it seemed to do him good: for he looked round the table, and the ghost of his old smile flickered across his face. 'What on earth have you been up to, man?'said the Doctor. The Time Traveller did not seem to hear.
painfully - douloureusement
champagne - du champagne, Champagne
pushed - poussé, pousser
drained - drainé, drain, bonde, hémorragie, gouffre, drainer
smile - sourire
flickered - a clignoté, vaciller
earth - terre, terrier, relier a la terre, tmettre a la terre, enterrer
Seem - sembler, paraître, avoir l'air
'Don't let me disturb you,'he said, with a certain faltering articulation. 'I'm all right.'He stopped, held out his glass for more, and took it off at a draught. 'That's good,'he said. His eyes grew brighter, and a faint colour came into his cheeks. His glance flickered over our faces with a certain dull approval, and then went round the warm and comfortable room.
disturb - déranger, perturber, gener
faltering - en perte de vitesse, (falter), vaciller
brighter - plus lumineux, brillant, éclatant
faint - évanouissement, s'évanouir, défailles, défaillez, défaillir
cheeks - joues, joue, fesse, culot, toupet, potence de bringuebale
glance - regard, jeter un coup d’oil
dull - émoussé, ennuyeux, barbant, mat, terne, sot, obtus
approval - agrément, approbation
comfortable - confortable
Then he spoke again, still as it were feeling his way among his words. 'I'm going to wash and dress, and then I'll come down and explain things … Save me some of that mutton. I'm starving for a bit of meat.'
mutton - du mouton, mouton
I'm starving - Je suis affamé
He looked across at the Editor, who was a rare visitor, and hoped he was all right. The Editor began a question. 'Tell you presently,'said the Time Traveller. 'I'm-funny! Be all right in a minute.'
rare - rares, rare
He put down his glass, and walked towards the staircase door. Again I remarked his lameness and the soft padding sound of his footfall, and standing up in my place, I saw his feet as he went out. He had nothing on them but a pair of tattered, blood-stained socks. Then the door closed upon him. I had half a mind to follow, till I remembered how he detested any fuss about himself.
staircase - escalier
lameness - boiterie
padding - le rembourrage, rembourrage, (pad) le rembourrage
stained - taché, tache, souillure, colorant, tacher, entacher, colorer
socks - chaussettes
detested - détesté, détester, mépriser
fuss - l'agitation, agitation, histoires, s’agiter, s’empresser
For a minute, perhaps, my mind was wool-gathering. Then, 'Remarkable Behaviour of an Eminent Scientist,'I heard the Editor say, thinking (after his wont) in headlines. And this brought my attention back to the bright dinner-table.
Wool - laine
gathering - rassemblement, cueillant, amassant, ramassage
behaviour - manieres
wont - de la volonté
headlines - les titres, titre, manchette
attention - attention, attentions, garde a vous
'What's the game?'said the Journalist. 'Has he been doing the Amateur Cadger? I don't follow.'I met the eye of the Psychologist, and read my own interpretation in his face. I thought of the Time Traveller limping painfully upstairs. I don't think any one else had noticed his lameness.
amateur - amateur, amatrice, amateuse
Cadger - cadger
interpretation - l'interprétation, interprétation
limping - boitant, (limp) boitant
noticed - remarqué, remarquer, notification, préavis
The first to recover completely from this surprise was the Medical Man, who rang the bell-the Time Traveller hated to have servants waiting at dinner-for a hot plate. At that the Editor turned to his knife and fork with a grunt, and the Silent Man followed suit. The dinner was resumed.
recover - récupérer, captons, capter, recouvrent, recouvrer, recouvrons
completely - completement, completement
servants - serviteurs, serviteur, domestique, servante, fr
plate - assiette, plaque, écriteau
knife - couteau, frapper d'un coup de couteau
fork - fourchette, ramification
grunt - grognement, bidasse, troufion, grogner
suit - complet, costume, tailleur, combinaison, costard, enseigne
resumed - reprise, reprendre
Conversation was exclamatory for a little while, with gaps of wonderment; and then the Editor got fervent in his curiosity. 'Does our friend eke out his modest income with a crossing? or has he his Nebuchadnezzar phases?'he inquired. 'I feel assured it's this business of the Time Machine,'I said, and took up the Psychologist's account of our previous meeting.
exclamatory - exclamatif
gaps - lacunes, espace, vide, trou
wonderment - l'émerveillement
fervent - fervent
curiosity - curiosité
eke - eke, faire durer, maintenir
modest - modeste, (mod)
income - revenus, revenu, recette
Crossing - carrefour, croisement, traversée, (cross), croix
phases - phases, phase
inquired - a demandé, enqueter, renseigner
assured - assurée, assurerent, assura, assurai
The new guests were frankly incredulous. The Editor raised objections. 'What was this time travelling? A man couldn't cover himself with dust by rolling in a paradox, could he?'And then, as the idea came home to him, he resorted to caricature. Hadn't they any clothes-brushes in the Future?
frankly - franchement
raised - soulevée, (sou)lever
cover - une couverture
dust - la poussiere, poussiere, épousseter, pulvériser
rolling in - en train de rouler
resorted - recouru, avoir recours (a)
caricature - caricature, caricaturer
brushes - brosses, brosse, brossage, accrochage, brosser
The Journalist too, would not believe at any price, and joined the Editor in the easy work of heaping ridicule on the whole thing. They were both the new kind of journalist-very joyous, irreverent young men. 'Our special correspondent in the Day after To-morrow reports,'the Journalist was saying-or rather shouting-when the Time Traveller came back.
heaping - en tas, tas, pile, monceau
ridicule - ridiculiser, bafouer, ridicule
joyous - joyeux
irreverent - irrévérencieux
special correspondent - correspondant spécial
He was dressed in ordinary evening clothes, and nothing save his haggard look remained of the change that had startled me.
ordinary - piece, ordinaire, quelconque
remained - est restée, reste, rester, demeurer
startled - surpris, sursauter, surprendre
'I say,'said the Editor hilariously, 'these chaps here say you have been travelling into the middle of next week! Tell us all about little Rosebery, will you? What will you take for the lot?'
hilariously - hilarant
chaps - les chaps, type
Middle - au milieu, milieu, moyen, central
take for - prendre pour
The Time Traveller came to the place reserved for him without a word. He smiled quietly, in his old way. 'Where's my mutton?'he said. 'What a treat it is to stick a fork into meat again!'
reserved - réservé, réservation, réserve, réserves-p
quietly - paisablement, tranquillement, quietement
treat - négocier, traiter, régaler, guérir, soigner
stick - bâton, canne, stick
'Story!'cried the Editor.
'Story be damned!'said the Time Traveller. 'I want something to eat. I won't say a word until I get some peptone into my arteries. Thanks. And the salt.'
peptone - peptone
arteries - arteres, artere
'One word,'said I. 'Have you been time travelling?'
'Yes,'said the Time Traveller, with his mouth full, nodding his head.
nodding - hochement de tete, (nod), dodeliner, hocher, hochement
'I'd give a shilling a line for a verbatim note,'said the Editor. The Time Traveller pushed his glass towards the Silent Man and rang it with his fingernail; at which the Silent Man, who had been staring at his face, started convulsively, and poured him wine. The rest of the dinner was uncomfortable.
shilling - shilling, (shill), homme de paille, prete-nom
verbatim - verbatim
fingernail - ongle, ongle de main
convulsively - convulsivement
poured - versé, verser, se déverser
rest - se reposer, reposent, reposez, reposons, se, reposer, débris
uncomfortable - inconfortable
For my own part, sudden questions kept on rising to my lips, and I dare say it was the same with the others. The Journalist tried to relieve the tension by telling anecdotes of Hettie Potter. The Time Traveller devoted his attention to his dinner, and displayed the appetite of a tramp. The Medical Man smoked a cigarette, and watched the Time Traveller through his eyelashes.
sudden - soudain, soudaine, subit
dare - oser, aventurer
relieve - soulager, relayer, faire ses besoins, se soulager
tension - tension, traction
anecdotes - des anecdotes, anecdote
Potter - potter, potier/-iere
devoted - dévouée, consacrer, vouer
displayed - affichée, représentation, spectacle, moniteur, écran
appetite - l'appétit, appétit
tramp - piéton, clochard, va-nuieds, traînée, garce
smoked - fumé, fumée
cigarette - cigarette
eyelashes - cils, cil
The Silent Man seemed even more clumsy than usual, and drank champagne with regularity and determination out of sheer nervousness. At last the Time Traveller pushed his plate away, and looked round us. 'I suppose I must apologize,'he said. 'I was simply starving. I've had a most amazing time.'He reached out his hand for a cigar, and cut the end. 'But come into the smoking-room.
clumsy - empoté, gauche, lourd, maladroit
usual - habituel/habituelle
regularity - régularité
determination - détermination
sheer - transparent, pur
nervousness - la nervosité, nervosité
apologize - s'excuser, présenter des excuses, faire l'apologie de
Starving - affamés, affamant, (starve), mourir de faim, crever de faim
most amazing - le plus étonnant
reached - atteint, arriver/parvenir a
smoking - fumant, (smoke) fumant
It's too long a story to tell over greasy plates.'And ringing the bell in passing, he led the way into the adjoining room.
plates - plaques, assiette
adjoining room - la chambre attenante
'You have told Blank, and Dash, and Chose about the machine?'he said to me, leaning back in his easy-chair and naming the three new guests.
Dash - dash, tiret, trait, ta, sprint, soupçon, se précipiter
leaning - penchant, adossant, (lean) penchant
'But the thing's a mere paradox,'said the Editor.
'I can't argue to-night. I don't mind telling you the story, but I can't argue. I will,'he went on, 'tell you the story of what has happened to me, if you like, but you must refrain from interruptions. I want to tell it. Badly. Most of it will sound like lying. So be it! It's true-every word of it, all the same.
argue - argumenter, affirmer, débattre, se disputer, se quereller
I don't mind - Ça ne me dérange pas
refrain from - s'abstenir
interruptions - des interruptions, interruption
badly - mal, mauvaisement
lying - gisant, sis, mentant, (lie) gisant
I was in my laboratory at four o'clock, and since then … I've lived eight days … such days as no human being ever lived before! I'm nearly worn out, but I shan't sleep till I've told this thing over to you. Then I shall go to bed. But no interruptions! Is it agreed?'
human - humain
shan - Shan
'Agreed,'said the Editor, and the rest of us echoed 'Agreed.'And with that the Time Traveller began his story as I have set it forth. He sat back in his chair at first, and spoke like a weary man. Afterwards he got more animated. In writing it down I feel with only too much keenness the inadequacy of pen and ink-and, above all, my own inadequacy-to express its quality.
echoed - en écho, écho
feel with - ressentir avec
keenness - l'ardeur
ink - encre
express - express, exprimons, exprimez, exprimer, expriment
quality - qualité
You read, I will suppose, attentively enough; but you cannot see the speaker's white, sincere face in the bright circle of the little lamp, nor hear the intonation of his voice. You cannot know how his expression followed the turns of his story!
attentively - attentivement
speaker - l'orateur, parleur, parleuse
sincere - sincere, sincere
circle - cercle, disque, yeux cernés, cerne, cercler, entourer, encercler
intonation - l'intonation, intonation
voice - voix
Most of us hearers were in shadow, for the candles in the smoking-room had not been lighted, and only the face of the Journalist and the legs of the Silent Man from the knees downward were illuminated. At first we glanced now and again at each other. After a time we ceased to do that, and looked only at the Time Traveller's face.
shadow - l'ombre, ombre, prendre en filature, filer
glanced - a glissé, jeter un coup d’oil, coup d'oil
ceased - cessé, cesser, s'arreter, cesser de + 'infinitive'
'I told some of you last Thursday of the principles of the Time Machine, and showed you the actual thing itself, incomplete in the workshop. There it is now, a little travel-worn, truly; and one of the ivory bars is cracked, and a brass rail bent; but the rest of it's sound enough.
principles - principes, principe
actual - réel, effectif, checkeffectif, checkprésent
incomplete - incomplete
workshop - atelier
truly - vraiment
cracked - fissuré, (se) feler
rail - ferroviaire, rail
bent - plié, courba, courbai, courbés, courbé, cambrai
I expected to finish it on Friday, but on Friday, when the putting together was nearly done, I found that one of the nickel bars was exactly one inch too short, and this I had to get remade; so that the thing was not complete until this morning. It was at ten o'clock to-day that the first of all Time Machines began its career.
expected - attendue, attendre, s'attendre a
putting together - Mettre en place
inch - pouce
remade - refait, refaits, refaites, refaite, refîmes
I gave it a last tap, tried all the screws again, put one more drop of oil on the quartz rod, and sat myself in the saddle. I suppose a suicide who holds a pistol to his skull feels much the same wonder at what will come next as I felt then. I took the starting lever in one hand and the stopping one in the other, pressed the first, and almost immediately the second.
tap - robinet, forer, toucher, rencontrer
screws - vis, hélice, visser, baiser, coucher avec, fourrer
drop - chute, goutte, tomber
oil - huile
rod - tige, canne a peche, verges, bite, paf, pine, queue, vit, zob
suicide - le suicide, suicide, suicidé, suicidée, suicidant, suicidante
holds - tient, (main)tenir
pistol - pistolet
skull - crâne, crane
immediately - immédiatement, tout de suite, aussitôt
I seemed to reel; I felt a nightmare sensation of falling; and, looking round, I saw the laboratory exactly as before. Had anything happened? For a moment I suspected that my intellect had tricked me. Then I noted the clock. A moment before, as it seemed, it had stood at a minute or so past ten; now it was nearly half-past three!
reel - reel, bobine, enrouleur, embobiner, enrouler, tituber
nightmare - cauchemar, mauvais reve, tourment
sensation - sensation
as before - comme avant
tricked - piégé, tour, astuce, truc, rench: -neededr, pli, levée
'I drew a breath, set my teeth, gripped the starting lever with both hands, and went off with a thud. The laboratory got hazy and went dark. Mrs. Watchett came in and walked, apparently without seeing me, towards the garden door. I suppose it took her a minute or so to traverse the place, but to me she seemed to shoot across the room like a rocket. I pressed the lever over to its extreme position.
gripped - saisi, empoigner
thud - bruit sourd, martelement, marteler
hazy - brumeux, flou, trouble, vague
apparently - apparemment, évidemment, en apparence
traverse - franchir, traverser
shoot - tirer, larguer, tirent, tirons, tirez
rocket - fusée
extreme - extreme, extreme, excessif, excessive
position - position, poste
The night came like the turning out of a lamp, and in another moment came to-morrow. The laboratory grew faint and hazy, then fainter and ever fainter. To-morrow night came black, then day again, night again, day again, faster and faster still. An eddying murmur filled my ears, and a strange, dumb confusedness descended on my mind.
turning out - en train de s'éteindre
fainter - plus faible, (faint) plus faible
eddying - eddying, tourbillon
murmur - murmure, rumeur, souffle, murmurer
strange - étrange, anormal, inconnu, étranger
dumb - stupide, muet
confusedness - confusion
descended - descendu, descendre
'I am afraid I cannot convey the peculiar sensations of time travelling. They are excessively unpleasant. There is a feeling exactly like that one has upon a switchback-of a helpless headlong motion! I felt the same horrible anticipation, too, of an imminent smash. As I put on pace, night followed day like the flapping of a black wing.
convey - transmettre, transporter, véhiculer, communiquer
peculiar - particulier, extraordinaire, bizarre, curieux
sensations - sensations, sensation
excessively - de maniere excessive, excessivement, bien trop (much too...)
unpleasant - déplaisant, pénible, désagréable
switchback - switchback, lacet
helpless - sans défense, désemparé
headlong - tete baissée, la tete la premiere
horrible - horrible, affreux, épouvantable
imminent - imminent
smash - smash, fracasser, percuter, écraser
pace - rythme, pas
flapping - battre des ailes, pan
Wing - aile, ailier, improviser
The dim suggestion of the laboratory seemed presently to fall away from me, and I saw the sun hopping swiftly across the sky, leaping it every minute, and every minute marking a day. I supposed the laboratory had been destroyed and I had come into the open air. I had a dim impression of scaffolding, but I was already going too fast to be conscious of any moving things.
dim - dim, faible, vague
suggestion - suggestion, proposition
hopping - sauter, (hop) sauter
sky - ciel, nue
leaping - sauter, bondir
supposed - supposé, supposer, imaginer
destroyed - détruite, détruire, euthanasier
open air - a l'air libre
scaffolding - l'échafaudage, échafaud, (scaffold), échafaudage
conscious - conscient
The slowest snail that ever crawled dashed by too fast for me. The twinkling succession of darkness and light was excessively painful to the eye. Then, in the intermittent darknesses, I saw the moon spinning swiftly through her quarters from new to full, and had a faint glimpse of the circling stars.
snail - escargot, limaçon
crawled - rampé, ramper
dashed - en pointillés, tiret, trait, ta, sprint, soupçon, se précipiter
succession - succession
painful - douloureux, laborieux
intermittent - intermittent
darknesses - les ténebres, obscurité, ténebres-p, qualifier
moon - lune
Glimpse - aperçu, entrevoir
circling - en cercle, (circle), cercle, disque, yeux cernés, cerne
Presently, as I went on, still gaining velocity, the palpitation of night and day merged into one continuous greyness; the sky took on a wonderful deepness of blue, a splendid luminous color like that of early twilight; the jerking sun became a streak of fire, a brilliant arch, in space; the moon a fainter fluctuating band; and I could see nothing of the stars, save now and then a brighter circle flickering in the blue.
gaining - l'acquisition, (gain) l'acquisition
palpitation - des palpitations, palpitation
merged - fusionné, fusionner, amalgamer
continuous - continue
greyness - grisaille
deepness - profondeur
splendid - splendide, fameux
luminous - lumineux
twilight - demi-jour, crépuscule, entre chien et loup, pénombre, brumes
jerking - par a-coups, (jerk) par a-coups
streak - de l'histoire, raie, chésias du genet
brilliant - brillante, brillant, perle
arch - arch, dôme
fluctuating - fluctuante, fluctuer, onduler
'The landscape was misty and vague. I was still on the hill-side upon which this house now stands, and the shoulder rose above me grey and dim. I saw trees growing and changing like puffs of vapour, now brown, now green; they grew, spread, shivered, and passed away. I saw huge buildings rise up faint and fair, and pass like dreams.
landscape - paysage
misty - brumeux
Hill - hill, colline, côte
puffs - bouffées, souffle, bouffée
vapour - vapeur, fumées
spread - se propager, étaler, écarter, disperser, répandre, éparpiller
shivered - frissonné, frissonner
huge - énorme
rise up - se lever
fair - équitable, blond, exposition, foire, marché, kermesse, juste
pass - passer, doubler, passe, dépasser, passez, passons, passage
dreams - reves, reve, t+songe, t+voeu, t+souhait, t+vou
The whole surface of the earth seemed changed-melting and flowing under my eyes. The little hands upon the dials that registered my speed raced round faster and faster.
melting - la fonte, fusion, (melt), fondre (1), se dissoudre (2)
flowing - en cours d'exécution, couler
dials - les cadrans, cadran, bouille, tronche, composer
registered - enregistré, registre, inscription
Speed - la vitesse, galoper, vitesse
raced round - Un tour de piste
Presently I noted that the sun belt swayed up and down, from solstice to solstice, in a minute or less, and that consequently my pace was over a year a minute; and minute by minute the white snow flashed across the world, and vanished, and was followed by the bright, brief green of spring.
belt - ceinture, courroie, région
swayed - balancés, autorité, poids, influence, prépondérance, balancer
solstice - solstice
consequently - en conséquence
brief - bref, court
'The unpleasant sensations of the start were less poignant now. They merged at last into a kind of hysterical exhilaration. I remarked indeed a clumsy swaying of the machine, for which I was unable to account. But my mind was too confused to attend to it, so with a kind of madness growing upon me, I flung myself into futurity.
hysterical - hystérique
swaying - se balancer, (sway), autorité, poids, influence, prépondérance
unable - incapable, inapte, inhabile
confused - confus, rendre perplexe, confondre
attend to - s'occuper
madness - la folie, folie
flung - jeté, lancer
futurity - l'avenir
At first I scarce thought of stopping, scarce thought of anything but these new sensations. But presently a fresh series of impressions grew up in my mind-a certain curiosity and therewith a certain dread-until at last they took complete possession of me.
scarce - rare
fresh - frais
series - suite, série
impressions - impressions, impression
dread - peur, redouter, craindre, crainte
possession - bien, possession, propriété, possessions
What strange developments of humanity, what wonderful advances upon our rudimentary civilization, I thought, might not appear when I came to look nearly into the dim elusive world that raced and fluctuated before my eyes! I saw great and splendid architecture rising about me, more massive than any buildings of our own time, and yet, as it seemed, built of glimmer and mist.
developments - développements, développement
humanity - l'humanité, humanité
advances - des avancées, élever, avancer, avancée, progression
rudimentary - rudimentaire
civilization - la civilisation, civilisation
appear - apparaître, sembler
elusive - insaisissable
raced - couru, course
fluctuated - a fluctué, fluctuer, onduler
architecture - l'architecture, architecture
more massive - plus massive
glimmer - l'éclat, lueur, émettre une lueur
mist - brouillard, brume
I saw a richer green flow up the hill-side, and remain there, without any wintry intermission. Even through the veil of my confusion the earth seemed very fair. And so my mind came round to the business of stopping.
flow - flux, coulons, couler, coulez, courant, écoulement
remain - reste, rester, demeurer
wintry - hivernal, hibernal
intermission - l'entracte, intermede, interlude, entracte
veil - voile, voiler
'The peculiar risk lay in the possibility of my finding some substance in the space which I, or the machine, occupied. So long as I travelled at a high velocity through time, this scarcely mattered; I was, so to speak, attenuated-was slipping like a vapour through the interstices of intervening substances!
Risk - risque
lay in - s'allonger
possibility - possibilité
occupied - occupée, occuper, habiter
mattered - a eu de l'importance, matiere, affaire
slipping - glissement, glisser
interstices - interstices, interstice
intervening - intervenir
substances - substances, substance, fond, biens-p
But to come to a stop involved the jamming of myself, molecule by molecule, into whatever lay in my way; meant bringing my atoms into such intimate contact with those of the obstacle that a profound chemical reaction-possibly a far-reaching explosion-would result, and blow myself and my apparatus out of all possible dimensions-into the Unknown.
Involved - impliqué, nécessiter, impliquer
jamming - brouillage, confiture
molecule - molécule
whatever - quoi qu'il en soit, quel que soit, n'importe quel
atoms - atomes, atome
intimate - intime
contact - contact, lentille, connaissance, toucher, contacter
obstacle - obstacle
profound - profond
chemical - chimique, produit chimique
reaction - réaction
reaching - atteindre, arriver/parvenir a
explosion - explosion
blow - souffler, soufflons, soufflent, soufflez, coup
unknown - inconnu, inconnue
This possibility had occurred to me again and again while I was making the machine; but then I had cheerfully accepted it as an unavoidable risk-one of the risks a man has got to take! Now the risk was inevitable, I no longer saw it in the same cheerful light.
occurred - s'est produite, produire
unavoidable - inévitable
risks - risques, risque
inevitable - inévitable
cheerful - joyeux, content, de bonne humeur
The fact is that, insensibly, the absolute strangeness of everything, the sickly jarring and swaying of the machine, above all, the feeling of prolonged falling, had absolutely upset my nerve. I told myself that I could never stop, and with a gust of petulance I resolved to stop forthwith.
absolute - absolue, absolu
strangeness - l'étrangeté, étrangeté
sickly - malade, maladif, souffreteux, chétif, valétudinaire, douçâtre
jarring - secouant, discordant, déroutant, (jar) secouant
prolonged - prolongée, prolonger
upset - fâché, dérangé, perturbé, bouleversé, remué, énerver
nerve - nerf, nervure, toupet, culot, cran
gust - rafale
resolved - résolu, prendre la résolution de
forthwith - immédiatement, aussitôt, séance tenante, de ce pas
Like an impatient fool, I lugged over the lever, and incontinently the thing went reeling over, and I was flung headlong through the air.
impatient - impatient
fool - idiot, dinde, fou, bouffon, mat, duper, tromper
lugged - trimballé, traîner
incontinently - incontinent
'There was the sound of a clap of thunder in my ears. I may have been stunned for a moment. A pitiless hail was hissing round me, and I was sitting on soft turf in front of the overset machine. Everything still seemed grey, but presently I remarked that the confusion in my ears was gone. I looked round me.
clap - applaudir, claquent, claquer, applaudissement, claquez
thunder - le tonnerre, tonnerre, tonitruer
stunned - stupéfait, étourdir, étonner, époustoufler
hail - grele
turf - gazon, motte de gazon, hippodrome, champ de courses, gazonner
overset - surdimensionné
I was on what seemed to be a little lawn in a garden, surrounded by rhododendron bushes, and I noticed that their mauve and purple blossoms were dropping in a shower under the beating of the hail-stones. The rebounding, dancing hail hung in a cloud over the machine, and drove along the ground like smoke. In a moment I was wet to the skin.
lawn - pelouse, gazon, gazer
surrounded - entouré, entourer, enceindre
rhododendron - rhododendron
bushes - buissons, buisson
mauve - mauve
blossoms - fleurs, fleur, floraison, fleurir, s'épanouir
dropping in - passer
beating - battre, battage, battement, (beat) battre
hail - grele, charretée, greler
stones - des pierres, pierre, t+roche, t+caillou, t+roc
rebounding - le rebond, rebondir
hung - accroché, suspendre, etre accroché
cloud - nuage, s'obscurcir
like smoke - comme de la fumée
wet - humide, mouillé, mouiller, se mouiller
skin - la peau, peau, apparence, écorcher, égratigner, dépouiller
"Fine hospitality," said I, "to a man who has travelled innumerable years to see you."
hospitality - l'hospitalité, hospitalité, hôtellerie-restauration
innumerable - innombrables
'Presently I thought what a fool I was to get wet. I stood up and looked round me. A colossal figure, carved apparently in some white stone, loomed indistinctly beyond the rhododendrons through the hazy downpour. But all else of the world was invisible.
colossal - colossal
stone - pierre, roche, caillou, roc
loomed - a été tissé, métier a tisser
indistinctly - indistinctement
beyond - au-dela, au-dela, par-dela
rhododendrons - les rhododendrons, rhododendron
downpour - pluie diluvienne, trombe, averse, pleuvoir a verse
invisible - invisible, caché
'My sensations would be hard to describe. As the columns of hail grew thinner, I saw the white figure more distinctly. It was very large, for a silver birch-tree touched its shoulder. It was of white marble, in shape something like a winged sphinx, but the wings, instead of being carried vertically at the sides, were spread so that it seemed to hover.
columns - colonnes, colonne, colonne (1, 2, 3)
distinctly - distinctement
birch - le bouleau, bouleau, badine, baguette, verge, verger
touched - touché, toucher, émouvoir, contact
marble - marbre, bille, grillot, marbrer
shape - forme
winged - ailée, aile, ailier, improviser
sphinx - sphinx
wings - des ailes, aile, ailier
instead - a la place, a la place, au lieu de
vertically - verticalement
sides - côtés, côté
hover - survol, éventiller, faire du surlace, hésiter
The pedestal, it appeared to me, was of bronze, and was thick with verdigris. It chanced that the face was towards me; the sightless eyes seemed to watch me; there was the faint shadow of a smile on the lips. It was greatly weather-worn, and that imparted an unpleasant suggestion of disease. I stood looking at it for a little space-half a minute, perhaps, or half an hour.
pedestal - piédestal
appeared - est apparu, apparaître, paraître, sembler
bronze - le bronze, bronze, airain, hâlé, bronzé, tanné (par le soleil)
thick - épais, gros, dense, opaque, incompréhensible, lourd
verdigris - vert-de-gris
chanced - hasardeux, hasard
sightless - sans vision
greatly - grandement
imparted - transmis, donner, communiquer, transmettre
disease - maladie, mal
It seemed to advance and to recede as the hail drove before it denser or thinner. At last I tore my eyes from it for a moment and saw that the hail curtain had worn threadbare, and that the sky was lightening with the promise of the sun.
advance - élever, avancer, avancée, progression, avance, souscription
recede - reculer, se retirer
denser - plus dense, dense, obscur, bouché
tore - a la déchirure
curtain - rideau
threadbare - filiforme, élimé
lightening - l'éclaircissement, (lighten) l'éclaircissement
promise - vou, promesse, promettre
'I looked up again at the crouching white shape, and the full temerity of my voyage came suddenly upon me. What might appear when that hazy curtain was altogether withdrawn? What might not have happened to men? What if cruelty had grown into a common passion?
crouching - accroupi, s'accroupir
temerity - la témérité, témérité
altogether - tout a fait, completement, en meme temps, quoi qu'il en soit
withdrawn - retiré, (se) retirer
cruelty - la cruauté, cruauté
passion - passion
What if in this interval the race had lost its manliness and had developed into something inhuman, unsympathetic, and overwhelmingly powerful? I might seem some old-world savage animal, only the more dreadful and disgusting for our common likeness-a foul creature to be incontinently slain.
race - course, race
manliness - la virilité, masculinité, virilité
developed - développé, se développer, développer
inhuman - inhumaine
unsympathetic - antipathique
overwhelmingly - a une écrasante majorité
powerful - puissant
more dreadful - plus redoutable
disgusting - dégoutant, dégouter, dégout
foul - la faute, infâme
creature - créature, etre
slain - tué, tuer
'Already I saw other vast shapes-huge buildings with intricate parapets and tall columns, with a wooded hill-side dimly creeping in upon me through the lessening storm. I was seized with a panic fear. I turned frantically to the Time Machine, and strove hard to readjust it. As I did so the shafts of the sun smote through the thunderstorm.
vast - vaste
shapes - formes, forme
intricate - complexe
parapets - les parapets, parapet
wooded - boisé, (de) bois
dimly - faiblement, obscurément, vaguement, confusément
creeping in - qui s'insinue
lessening - diminution, amoindrir, atténuer, diminuer, réduire
seized with - saisir
panic - panique
fear - peur, angoisse, craignent, crainte, crains, craignons
frantically - frénétiquement
strove - s'efforcer, s'efforcer de
readjust - rééquilibrer, rajuster, réadapter, réajuster
shafts - arbres, hampe, rachis, cage, entuber
smote - smote, frapper
thunderstorm - orage
The grey downpour was swept aside and vanished like the trailing garments of a ghost. Above me, in the intense blue of the summer sky, some faint brown shreds of cloud whirled into nothingness. The great buildings about me stood out clear and distinct, shining with the wet of the thunderstorm, and picked out in white by the unmelted hailstones piled along their courses.
swept - balayé, balayer, balayage
aside - a part, a côté, en passant, aparté
trailing - en queue de peloton, pister, suivre, traîner, piste, traces-p
garments - vetements, vetement
shreds - en lambeaux, lambeau
whirled - tourbillonné, tourbillonner
nothingness - le néant, néant, vide
distinct - distinct, intelligible, reconnaissable
shining - brillant, briller, éclairer
picked out - choisi
unmelted - non fondu
hailstones - des grelons, grelon
piled - empilés, pile, tas
I felt naked in a strange world. I felt as perhaps a bird may feel in the clear air, knowing the hawk wings above and will swoop. My fear grew to frenzy. I took a breathing space, set my teeth, and again grappled fiercely, wrist and knee, with the machine. It gave under my desperate onset and turned over. It struck my chin violently.
naked - nue, nu, a poil, dénudé
hawk - faucon, autour
swoop - swoop, précipitation
frenzy - frénésie
breathing - respirer, respiration, (breath), souffle, haleine
grappled - empoigné, en venir aux mains/prises avec
fiercely - férocement, âprement, farouchement
wrist - poignet
desperate - désespérée, désespéré
onset - l'état d'esprit, assaut, attaque, rench: t-needed r
turned over - retourné
struck - frappé, biffer, rayer, barrer, frapper, battre
violently - violemment
One hand on the saddle, the other on the lever, I stood panting heavily in attitude to mount again.
panting - haletant, (pant) haletant
heavily - lourdement
attitude - posture, état d'esprit, attitude
mount - monter, montent, montez, montons
'But with this recovery of a prompt retreat my courage recovered. I looked more curiously and less fearfully at this world of the remote future. In a circular opening, high up in the wall of the nearer house, I saw a group of figures clad in rich soft robes. They had seen me, and their faces were directed towards me.
recovery - récupération, rétablissement, recouvrement, guérison
prompt - rapide, ponctuel, indicateur, invite de commande, inciter
retreat - retraite
courage - bravoure, courage, cour, vaillance
curiously - curieusement
fearfully - avec crainte
remote future - un avenir lointain
circular - circulaire, rond
figures - chiffres, figure, forme, personnage, personnalité
clad - vetu, nippé, (clothe), vetir, habiller
robes - robes, robe
directed - dirigée, direct, mettre en scene, ordonner
'Then I heard voices approaching me. Coming through the bushes by the White Sphinx were the heads and shoulders of men running. One of these emerged in a pathway leading straight to the little lawn upon which I stood with my machine. He was a slight creature-perhaps four feet high-clad in a purple tunic, girdled at the waist with a leather belt.
voices - voix
approaching - en approche, (s')approcher (de)
emerged - a émergé, émerger, sortir
pathway - voie d'acces, voie
leading - dirigeante, (lead) dirigeante
straight - droit, rectiligne, comme il faut, pur, pure, hétéro, tout droit
tunic - tunique
girdled - ceinturé, ceinture
waist - taille, ceinture
leather belt - ceinture en cuir
Sandals or buskins-I could not clearly distinguish which-were on his feet; his legs were bare to the knees, and his head was bare. Noticing that, I noticed for the first time how warm the air was.
sandals - des sandales, sandale
distinguish - distinguer
noticing - remarquer, notification, préavis
'He struck me as being a very beautiful and graceful creature, but indescribably frail. His flushed face reminded me of the more beautiful kind of consumptive-that hectic beauty of which we used to hear so much. At the sight of him I suddenly regained confidence. I took my hands from the machine.
graceful - gracieux
indescribably - de maniere indescriptible
frail - fragile, souffreteuxse
reminded - rappelée, rappeler
more beautiful - plus belle
consumptive - consommateur, tuberculeux, tuberculeuse
hectic - trépidant, agité, hectique
beauty - la beauté, beauté
sight - vue, quelque chose a voir, truc a voir, mire, viseur
regained - retrouvée, reconquérir, reprendre
confidence - assurance, confiance en soi, confiance, confidence
'In another moment we were standing face to face, I and this fragile thing out of futurity. He came straight up to me and laughed into my eyes. The absence from his bearing of any sign of fear struck me at once. Then he turned to the two others who were following him and spoke to them in a strange and very sweet and liquid tongue.
fragile - fragile
straight up - directement
bearing - naissant, coussinet, (bear) naissant
sign - signe, signent, signez, placard, caractériser
sweet - doux, doucement, friandise, bonbon, sucreries
liquid - liquide
tongue - langue, languette
'There were others coming, and presently a little group of perhaps eight or ten of these exquisite creatures were about me. One of them addressed me. It came into my head, oddly enough, that my voice was too harsh and deep for them. So I shook my head, and, pointing to my ears, shook it again. He came a step forward, hesitated, and then touched my hand.
exquisite - exquis
creatures - créatures, créature, etre
oddly enough - bizarrement
harsh - sévere, sévere, rude, cruel, dur, checkdure
shook - secoué, (shake), secouer, agiter, se serrer la main, secousse
step forward - faire un pas en avant
Then I felt other soft little tentacles upon my back and shoulders. They wanted to make sure I was real. There was nothing in this at all alarming. Indeed, there was something in these pretty little people that inspired confidence-a graceful gentleness, a certain childlike ease. And besides, they looked so frail that I could fancy myself flinging the whole dozen of them about like nine-pins.
tentacles - des tentacules, tentacule, pieuvre
alarming - alarmante, alarme, réveille-matin, réveil, alarmer, fr
inspired - inspirée, inspirer
gentleness - la douceur, rench:
ease - l'aisance, facilité, repos, abaisser, abréger, amoindrir
fancy - fantaisie, imaginer, songer
flinging - flingage, lancer
pins - épingles, épingle
But I made a sudden motion to warn them when I saw their little pink hands feeling at the Time Machine. Happily then, when it was not too late, I thought of a danger I had hitherto forgotten, and reaching over the bars of the machine I unscrewed the little levers that would set it in motion, and put these in my pocket. Then I turned again to see what I could do in the way of communication.
warn - avertir, alerter, prévenir
Happily - heureux, heureusement, par bonheur, joyeusement, gaiement
danger - danger, péril
hitherto - jusqu'a présent, jusqu'ici, jusqu'alors, jusqu'a maintenant
unscrewed - dévissé, dévisser
levers - leviers, levier
Pocket - poche, empocher, de poche
communication - la communication, communication, message
'And then, looking more nearly into their features, I saw some further peculiarities in their Dresden-china type of prettiness. Their hair, which was uniformly curly, came to a sharp end at the neck and cheek; there was not the faintest suggestion of it on the face, and their ears were singularly minute. The mouths were small, with bright red, rather thin lips, and the little chins ran to a point.
features - caractéristiques, caractéristique, particularité, spécialité
further - encourager, ultérieur, plus loin, de plus, (furth)
peculiarities - particularités, singularité, bizarrerie, étrangeté
Dresden - dresde
prettiness - joliesse
uniformly - uniformément
curly - bouclé, frisé, courbe, courbé
sharp - pointu, affilé, coupant, affuté, tranchant
neck - cou, kiki
cheek - joue, fesse, culot, toupet, potence de bringuebale
faintest - le plus faible, faible, léger
chins - mentons, menton
The eyes were large and mild; and-this may seem egotism on my part-I fancied even that there was a certain lack of the interest I might have expected in them.
mild - doux, douce, léger
fancied - aimée, envie, caprice
lack - manque
'As they made no effort to communicate with me, but simply stood round me smiling and speaking in soft cooing notes to each other, I began the conversation. I pointed to the Time Machine and to myself. Then hesitating for a moment how to express time, I pointed to the sun.
effort - l'effort, effort
communicate - communiquer, communier
cooing - roucouler, (coo) roucouler
hesitating - hésitant, hésiter
At once a quaintly pretty little figure in chequered purple and white followed my gesture, and then astonished me by imitating the sound of thunder.
quaintly - de façon pittoresque
gesture - geste, signe
astonished - étonné, étonner, surprendre
imitating - l'imitation, imiter
'For a moment I was staggered, though the import of his gesture was plain enough. The question had come into my mind abruptly: were these creatures fools? You may hardly understand how it took me. You see I had always anticipated that the people of the year Eight Hundred and Two Thousand odd would be incredibly in front of us in knowledge, art, everything.
staggered - en décalé, tituber
import - l'importation, implanter, importons, importent, importez
abruptly - brusquement, abruptement, tout d'un coup, précipitamment
fools - des imbéciles, dinde, fou, bouffon, mat, duper, tromper
hardly - a peine, dur, durement, guere, a peine
anticipated - anticipée, anticiper, prévoir
incredibly - incroyable
knowledge - connaissance, science, connaissances, savoir
Then one of them suddenly asked me a question that showed him to be on the intellectual level of one of our five-year-old children-asked me, in fact, if I had come from the sun in a thunderstorm! It let loose the judgment I had suspended upon their clothes, their frail light limbs, and fragile features. A flow of disappointment rushed across my mind.
intellectual - intellectuel, intellectuelle, intello
level - plat, a ras, au meme niveau, constant, niveau, profondeur
loose - en vrac, ample, desserré
suspended - suspendue, suspendre
limbs - membres, membre
disappointment - déception
rushed - précipité, se précipiter, emmener d'urgence
For a moment I felt that I had built the Time Machine in vain.
in vain - en vain
'I nodded, pointed to the sun, and gave them such a vivid rendering of a thunderclap as startled them. They all withdrew a pace or so and bowed. Then came one laughing towards me, carrying a chain of beautiful flowers altogether new to me, and put it about my neck.
nodded - hoché la tete, dodeliner, hocher, hochement
vivid - vivante, vivide
thunderclap - coup de tonnerre
withdrew - s'est retiré, (se) retirer
bowed - incliné, (s')incliner devant, saluer d'un signe de tete
chain - chaîne, enchaîner
The idea was received with melodious applause; and presently they were all running to and fro for flowers, and laughingly flinging them upon me until I was almost smothered with blossom. You who have never seen the like can scarcely imagine what delicate and wonderful flowers countless years of culture had created.
received - reçu, recevoir
melodious - mélodieux
applause - applaudissements, applaudissement, acclamation
fro - fro
laughingly - en riant
smothered - étouffé, étouffer
blossom - fleur, floraison, fleurir, s'épanouir
delicate - délicate, délicat, délicat (1, 2)
countless - innombrables, incalculable, innombrable
Then someone suggested that their plaything should be exhibited in the nearest building, and so I was led past the sphinx of white marble, which had seemed to watch me all the while with a smile at my astonishment, towards a vast grey edifice of fretted stone.
plaything - jouet, joujou
exhibited - exposée, exposer, exposition, piece a conviction
smile at - sourire a
astonishment - l'étonnement, étonnement
edifice - l'édifice, édifice, école de pensée
fretted - fretté, (se) tracasser (pour)
As I went with them the memory of my confident anticipations of a profoundly grave and intellectual posterity came, with irresistible merriment, to my mind.
memory - mémoire, souvenir
confident - assuré, confiant
profoundly - profondément
grave - tombe
posterity - la postérité, postérité
irresistible - irrésistible
merriment - la gaieté, gaieté
'The building had a huge entry, and was altogether of colossal dimensions. I was naturally most occupied with the growing crowd of little people, and with the big open portals that yawned before me shadowy and mysterious. My general impression of the world I saw over their heads was a tangled waste of beautiful bushes and flowers, a long neglected and yet weedless garden.
entry - entrée, acces, vestibule, article
naturally - naturellement
occupied with - occupés par
crowd - foule, acculer, amas, marée humaine
portals - portails, portique, portail, veine porte
yawned - bâillé, bâiller, béer, bâillement
shadowy - ombrageux, sombre
mysterious - mystérieux
general - général, communal, en chef, universal, d'ensemble
tangled - enchevetrés, désordre, enchevetrement
neglected - négligé, négliger, négligence
weedless - sans mauvaises herbes
I saw a number of tall spikes of strange white flowers, measuring a foot perhaps across the spread of the waxen petals. They grew scattered, as if wild, among the variegated shrubs, but, as I say, I did not examine them closely at this time. The Time Machine was left deserted on the turf among the rhododendrons.
spikes - des pointes, clou, pointe, pieu, pic, pique, épi, crampons-p
measuring - mesurer, mesurant, (measure), mesure
waxen - cire, (wax) cire
petals - pétales, pétale
shrubs - des arbustes, arbuste
examine - examiner
closely - de pres, étroitement, pres
deserted - désertée, abandonner
'The arch of the doorway was richly carved, but naturally I did not observe the carving very narrowly, though I fancied I saw suggestions of old Phoenician decorations as I passed through, and it struck me that they were very badly broken and weather-worn.
observe - observer, remarquer, respecter, garder
carving - la sculpture, gravure, sculpture, découpage
narrowly - de façon étroite, étroitement
suggestions - suggestions, suggestion, proposition
Phoenician - phénicien, Phénicienne
decorations - décorations, décoration
passed through - Passé a travers
Several more brightly clad people met me in the doorway, and so we entered, I, dressed in dingy nineteenth-century garments, looking grotesque enough, garlanded with flowers, and surrounded by an eddying mass of bright, soft-colored robes and shining white limbs, in a melodious whirl of laughter and laughing speech.
entered - a pénétré, entrer, rench: -neededr, taper, saisir
dingy - terne, miteux
nineteenth - dix-neuvieme, dix-neuvieme ('before the noun'), ('in names of monarchs and popes') dix-neuf ('after the name') ('abbreviation' XIX)
grotesque - grotesque
garlanded - en guirlande, guirlande, rench: -neededr
mass - masse, foule, amas
shining - brillant, tibia
whirl - tourbillon, tourbillonner
Speech - parole, discours
'The big doorway opened into a proportionately great hall hung with brown. The roof was in shadow, and the windows, partially glazed with coloured glass and partially unglazed, admitted a tempered light.
proportionately - proportionnellement
hall - couloir, corridor, salle, salon, manoir, foyer
roof - toit
partially - partiellement, en partie
unglazed - non émaillé
admitted - admis, admettre, avouer, reconnaître
tempered - tempéré, caractere, tempérament, humeur, état d'esprit, recuit
The floor was made up of huge blocks of some very hard white metal, not plates nor slabs-blocks, and it was so much worn, as I judged by the going to and fro of past generations, as to be deeply channelled along the more frequented ways. Transverse to the length were innumerable tables made of slabs of polished stone, raised perhaps a foot from the floor, and upon these were heaps of fruits.
blocks - blocs, bloc
metal - métal, metal
slabs - dalles, bloc, pavé
judged - jugée, juger
generations - générations, génération, création
deeply - profondément
channelled - canalisé, chenal
frequented - fréquenté, fréquent
polished - polie, polonais
heaps - tas, pile, monceau
Some I recognized as a kind of hypertrophied raspberry and orange, but for the most part they were strange.
hypertrophied - hypertrophié, hypertrophie, s’hypertrophier
raspberry - framboise
'Between the tables was scattered a great number of cushions. Upon these my conductors seated themselves, signing for me to do likewise. With a pretty absence of ceremony they began to eat the fruit with their hands, flinging peel and stalks, and so forth, into the round openings in the sides of the tables. I was not loath to follow their example, for I felt thirsty and hungry.
cushions - coussins, coussin, amortir
conductors - conducteurs, chef d'orchestre, contrôleur, poinçonneur (ancient
seated - assis, place, siege, assise, séant, fond
themselves - eux-memes, se, eux-memes, elles-memes
signing - signant, (sign) signant
likewise - de meme
ceremony - cérémonie
peel - peler, pelent, pelage, coque, pelons, pelez
stalks - tiges, tige
loath - détester
As I did so I surveyed the hall at my leisure.
surveyed - enquetés, sondage, arpentage, reconnaissance, enquete
leisure - les loisirs, loisir, temps libre
'And perhaps the thing that struck me most was its dilapidated look. The stained-glass windows, which displayed only a geometrical pattern, were broken in many places, and the curtains that hung across the lower end were thick with dust. And it caught my eye that the corner of the marble table near me was fractured. Nevertheless, the general effect was extremely rich and picturesque.
dilapidated - délabré, délabrer, dilapider
geometrical - géométrique
pattern - modele, modele, motif, régularité, tendance, schéma, patron
broken in - Cassé en
curtains - rideaux, rideau
lower - plus bas, abaisser, en privé, rabattre, baissent
corner - coin, rencogner, piéger, acculer, négocier un prix de gros
fractured - fracturé, fracture, fracturer
nevertheless - néanmoins, toutefois, pourtant, malgré tout
effect - effet, effets, effectuer
extremely - extremement, extremement, vachement
picturesque - pittoresque
There were, perhaps, a couple of hundred people dining in the hall, and most of them, seated as near to me as they could come, were watching me with interest, their little eyes shining over the fruit they were eating. All were clad in the same soft and yet strong, silky material.
couple - couple, paire, époux, quelques, deux ou trois., coupler
dining - dîner, vacarme
silky - soyeux
material - matériel, matériau, matiere, étoffe, tissu
'Fruit, by the by, was all their diet. These people of the remote future were strict vegetarians, and while I was with them, in spite of some carnal cravings, I had to be frugivorous also. Indeed, I found afterwards that horses, cattle, sheep, dogs, had followed the Ichthyosaurus into extinction.
remote - a distance, distant, éloigné, télécommande
strict - stricte, strict
vegetarians - végétariens, végétarien, végétarienne, herbivore
spite - dépit, rancune
carnal - charnel
cattle - du bétail, bétail, bovins
Ichthyosaurus - ichtyosaure
extinction - l'extinction, extinction
But the fruits were very delightful; one, in particular, that seemed to be in season all the time I was there-a floury thing in a three-sided husk-was especially good, and I made it my staple. At first I was puzzled by all these strange fruits, and by the strange flowers I saw, but later I began to perceive their import.
delightful - délicieux
particular - particulier
season - saison
sided - côté
husk - de l'écorce, coque
especially - spécialement, particulierement, surtout, en particulier
staple - l'agrafe, parenthese
perceive - percevoir
'However, I am telling you of my fruit dinner in the distant future now. So soon as my appetite was a little checked, I determined to make a resolute attempt to learn the speech of these new men of mine. Clearly that was the next thing to do. The fruits seemed a convenient thing to begin upon, and holding one of these up I began a series of interrogative sounds and gestures.
distant - distante, distant, lointain, éloigné
determined - déterminé, déterminer
resolute - résolu, résolue, ferme, déterminé
attempt - tenter, essayer, tentative, attentat
interrogative - interrogative, interrogatif
gestures - gestes, geste, signe
I had some considerable difficulty in conveying my meaning. At first my efforts met with a stare of surprise or inextinguishable laughter, but presently a fair-haired little creature seemed to grasp my intention and repeated a name.
conveying - transmettre, transporter, véhiculer, communiquer
stare - fixer, regarder (fixement), dévisager
inextinguishable - inextinguible
haired - cheveux
grasp - saisir, agripper, comprendre
intention - intention
They had to chatter and explain the business at great length to each other, and my first attempts to make the exquisite little sounds of their language caused an immense amount of amusement.
chatter - bavardage, bavarder, babil, cacarder
attempts - tentatives, tenter, essayer, tentative, attentat
caused - causée, cause, raison, causer
immense - immense
amount - montant, quantité, monter, correspondre
amusement - l'amusement, amusement
However, I felt like a schoolmaster amidst children, and persisted, and presently I had a score of noun substantives at least at my command; and then I got to demonstrative pronouns, and even the verb "to eat.
amidst - au milieu
persisted - persisté, persister
score - nombre de point oints, score, note, vingtaine
substantives - substantifs, substantif, direct
Command - commandement, ordre, maîtrise, commande, commander, ordonner
demonstrative - démonstratif
pronouns - pronoms, pronom
verb - verbe
" But it was slow work, and the little people soon tired and wanted to get away from my interrogations, so I determined, rather of necessity, to let them give their lessons in little doses when they felt inclined. And very little doses I found they were before long, for I never met people more indolent or more easily fatigued.
necessity - nécessité, besoin
doses - doses, dose
before long - bientôt
fatigued - fatigué, fatigue, épuisement, corvée, fatiguer
'A queer thing I soon discovered about my little hosts, and that was their lack of interest. They would come to me with eager cries of astonishment, like children, but like children they would soon stop examining me and wander away after some other toy. The dinner and my conversational beginnings ended, I noted for the first time that almost all those who had surrounded me at first were gone.
discovered - découvert, découvrir
Hosts - hôtes, hôte/-esse
eager - enthousiaste, désireux
cries - pleure, pleurer, crier, hurler, gueuler, pleur, cri
examining - l'examen, examiner
wander - errer, vaguer, divaguer
toy - jouet, jouer (avec), caresser
conversational - conversationnel
It is odd, too, how speedily I came to disregard these little people. I went out through the portal into the sunlit world again as soon as my hunger was satisfied. I was continually meeting more of these men of the future, who would follow me a little distance, chatter and laugh about me, and, having smiled and gesticulated in a friendly way, leave me again to my own devices.
speedily - rapidement
disregard - ne pas en tenir compte, mépris, ignorer, mépriser
portal - portique, portail, veine porte
sunlit - ensoleillé
hunger - la faim, faim
satisfied - satisfaits, satisfaire
distance - distance, éloigner, checks'éloigner
gesticulated - gesticulé, gesticuler
devices - des appareils, appareil, dispositif, stratageme, ruse, manouvre
'The calm of evening was upon the world as I emerged from the great hall, and the scene was lit by the warm glow of the setting sun. At first things were very confusing. Everything was so entirely different from the world I had known-even the flowers. The big building I had left was situated on the slope of a broad river valley, but the Thames had shifted perhaps a mile from its present position.
Calm - calme, tranquille, calme plat, calmer, apaiser
scene - scene, scene, scene de ménage
glow - l'éclat, briller, luire, irradier, lueur, éclat
setting sun - le soleil couchant
confusing - confus, rendre perplexe, confondre
entirely different - entierement différente
situated - situé, situer
slope - pente, inclinaison
Valley - la vallée, vallée, val
Thames - la tamise, Tamise
shifted - décalé, quart, équipe, poste, décalage, vitesse
I resolved to mount to the summit of a crest, perhaps a mile and a half away, from which I could get a wider view of this our planet in the year Eight Hundred and Two Thousand Seven Hundred and One A.D. For that, I should explain, was the date the little dials of my machine recorded.
summit - sommet, apogée
crest - l'écusson, crete, huppe, aigrette, cimier, criniere
view - vue, vision, regard, point de vue, opinion, regarder
planet - planete, planete
recorded - enregistré, rapport écrit
'As I walked I was watching for every impression that could possibly help to explain the condition of ruinous splendour in which I found the world-for ruinous it was.
condition - condition
ruinous - ruineux
splendour - splendeur
A little way up the hill, for instance, was a great heap of granite, bound together by masses of aluminium, a vast labyrinth of precipitous walls and crumpled heaps, amidst which were thick heaps of very beautiful pagoda-like plants-nettles possibly-but wonderfully tinted with brown about the leaves, and incapable of stinging.
heap - tas, pile, monceau
granite - granite, granit
bound together - liés entre eux
masses - masses, amas
aluminium - l'aluminium, aluminium
labyrinth - labyrinthe
precipitous - précipité
crumpled - froissé, chiffonner, froisser, se froisser, s'effondrer
pagoda - pagode
nettles - des orties, ortie, piquer, irriter, vexer
wonderfully - a merveille
tinted - teinté, nuance, teinte
incapable - incapable
stinging - des piqures, (sting) des piqures
It was evidently the derelict remains of some vast structure, to what end built I could not determine. It was here that I was destined, at a later date, to have a very strange experience-the first intimation of a still stranger discovery-but of that I will speak in its proper place.
derelict - a l'abandon, abandonné, délaissé, (tombé) en ruines
remains - reste, rester, demeurer
structure - structure
determine - déterminer
Experience - expérience, éprouver, vivre
intimation - intimation
Stranger - étranger, (strang) étranger
'Looking round with a sudden thought, from a terrace on which I rested for a while, I realized that there were no small houses to be seen. Apparently the single house, and possibly even the household, had vanished. Here and there among the greenery were palace-like buildings, but the house and the cottage, which form such characteristic features of our own English landscape, had disappeared.
terrace - toit-terrasse, terrasse, gradins
rested - reposé, repos
realized - réalisé, réaliser, se rendre compte, prendre conscience
single - seul, célibataire f, célibataire, simple
household - foyer, ménage, maisonnée, domestique
greenery - de la verdure
Palace - le palais, palais
cottage - chalet, cottage
characteristic - caractéristique
disappeared - a disparu, disparaître
'"Communism," said I to myself.
Communism - le communisme, communisme
'And on the heels of that came another thought. I looked at the half-dozen little figures that were following me. Then, in a flash, I perceived that all had the same form of costume, the same soft hairless visage, and the same girlish rotundity of limb. It may seem strange, perhaps, that I had not noticed this before. But everything was so strange. Now, I saw the fact plainly enough.
heels - talons, talon
flash - flash, clignoter
costume - costume, déguisement
hairless - sans poils, glabre
girlish - fillette
rotundity - rotondité
limb - membre
plainly - en toute clarté, simplement, clairement
In costume, and in all the differences of texture and bearing that now mark off the sexes from each other, these people of the future were alike. And the children seemed to my eyes to be but the miniatures of their parents. I judged, then, that the children of that time were extremely precocious, physically at least, and I found afterwards abundant verification of my opinion.
texture - texture
mark off - Délimiter
sexes - sexes, sexe
alike - comme, semblable, pareil, analogue, pareillement
miniatures - des figurines, miniature, enluminure, figurine
precocious - précoce
physically - physiquement
abundant - abondante
'Seeing the ease and security in which these people were living, I felt that this close resemblance of the sexes was after all what one would expect; for the strength of a man and the softness of a woman, the institution of the family, and the differentiation of occupations are mere militant necessities of an age of physical force; where population is balanced and abundant, much childbearing becomes an evil rather than a blessing to the State; where violence comes but rarely and off-spring are secure, there is less necessity-indeed there is no necessity-for an efficient family, and the specialization of the sexes with reference to their children's needs disappears. We see some beginnings of this even in our own time, and in this future age it was complete. This, I must remind you, was my speculation at the time. Later, I was to appreciate how far it fell short of the reality.
Security - la sécurité, sécurité, sécurisant, titre négociable
resemblance - ressemblance, comparaison, probabilité
strength - la force, force, vigueur, effectif, point fort
softness - la douceur, douceur
Institution - l'institution, institution
differentiation - différentiation, différenciation
occupations - professions, occupation
militant - militant
necessities - des nécessités, nécessité, besoin
physical - physique, physiologique, visite médicale, check-up
force - force, forcez, contrainte, forçons, contraindre, forcent
population - population
balanced - équilibré, contrepoids, équilibre, solde, balancier
childbearing - la procréation
evil - le mal, mauvais, torve
blessing - la bénédiction, bénédiction, grâce, troupeau, harde
state - l'état, état, Etat, déclarer, indiquer
violence - la violence, violence
rarely - rarement
secure - sécurisé, sur, sécuriser
efficient - efficace
specialization - spécialisation
disappears - disparaît, disparaître
remind - rappeler
reality - la réalité, réalité, vérité
'While I was musing upon these things, my attention was attracted by a pretty little structure, like a well under a cupola. I thought in a transitory way of the oddness of wells still existing, and then resumed the thread of my speculations. There were no large buildings towards the top of the hill, and as my walking powers were evidently miraculous, I was presently left alone for the first time.
musing - muser, songeur, pensif, pensée, (mus) muser
attracted - attiré, attirer
cupola - coupole, dôme
oddness - bizarrerie
existing - existant, exister
thread - fil, processus léger, exétron, fil de discussion, filer
speculations - des spéculations, spéculation
top - haut, dessus, sommet, couvercle, hune, premiere demi-manche
powers - pouvoirs, pouvoir, puissance, électricité
miraculous - miraculeux
alone - seul
With a strange sense of freedom and adventure I pushed on up to the crest.
adventure - l'aventure, aventure
'There I found a seat of some yellow metal that I did not recognize, corroded in places with a kind of pinkish rust and half smothered in soft moss, the arm-rests cast and filed into the resemblance of griffins'heads. I sat down on it, and I surveyed the broad view of our old world under the sunset of that long day. It was as sweet and fair a view as I have ever seen.
recognize - reconnaître, reconnaissons, homologuer, reconnaitre, retrouve
corroded - corrodée, éroder, rouiller, corroder
places with - des lieux avec
pinkish - rosâtre
rust - rouille, se rouiller
moss - mousse
rests - se repose, repos
cast - casting, jeter, diriger, lancer, additionner, sommer, muer
griffins - des griffons, griffon
sunset - coucher de soleil, crépuscule
The sun had already gone below the horizon and the west was flaming gold, touched with some horizontal bars of purple and crimson. Below was the valley of the Thames, in which the river lay like a band of burnished steel. I have already spoken of the great palaces dotted about among the variegated greenery, some in ruins and some still occupied.
flaming - flammes, enflammé, flambant, (flame), flamme, polémique
gold - l'or, or
horizontal - horizontal
crimson - cramoisi, carmin, pourpre
burnished steel - acier bruni
palaces - des palais, palais
dotted - en pointillés, point
ruins - des ruines, ruine, ruiner, abîmer
Here and there rose a white or silvery figure in the waste garden of the earth, here and there came the sharp vertical line of some cupola or obelisk. There were no hedges, no signs of proprietary rights, no evidences of agriculture; the whole earth had become a garden.
silvery - argenté, argentin
obelisk - obélisque, obele
hedges - des haies, haie
signs - des signes, signe
proprietary rights - les droits de propriété
evidences - des preuves, preuve, prouver, démontrer
agriculture - l'agriculture, agriculture
'So watching, I began to put my interpretation upon the things I had seen, and as it shaped itself to me that evening, my interpretation was something in this way. (Afterwards I found I had got only a half-truth-or only a glimpse of one facet of the truth.)
shaped - en forme, forme
truth - la vérité, vérité
facet - facette, volet, ommatidie, facetter
'It seemed to me that I had happened upon humanity upon the wane. The ruddy sunset set me thinking of the sunset of mankind. For the first time I began to realize an odd consequence of the social effort in which we are at present engaged. And yet, come to think, it is a logical consequence enough. Strength is the outcome of need; security sets a premium on feebleness.
wane - s'affaiblir, diminuer
ruddy - ruddy, rougeâtre
mankind - l'humanité, humanité, genre humain, hommes
realize - réaliser, se rendre compte, prendre conscience
consequence - conséquence
social - sociale, social
engaged - engagé, attirer l'attention, engager, embrayer
logical - logique
outcome - issue, résultat, dénouement
sets - des ensembles, Seth
Premium - la prime, haut de gamme, prix, prime, cotisation
feebleness - débilité
The work of ameliorating the conditions of life-the true civilizing process that makes life more and more secure-had gone steadily on to a climax. One triumph of a united humanity over Nature had followed another. Things that are now mere dreams had become projects deliberately put in hand and carried forward. And the harvest was what I saw!
ameliorating - améliorant, améliorer
civilizing - civiliser
process - processus, procédé
steadily - régulierement
climax - l'apogée, climax, apogée, paroxysme, jouissance, orgasme
triumph - triomphe, triomphal
United - unis, unir
nature - nature
deliberately - délibérément
harvest - la récolte, récolte, moisson, récolter, moissonner, recueillir
'After all, the sanitation and the agriculture of to-day are still in the rudimentary stage. The science of our time has attacked but a little department of the field of human disease, but even so, it spreads its operations very steadily and persistently.
sanitation - l'assainissement, assainissement
stage - scene, étape, phase, scene, caleche, platine, mettre en scene
attacked - attaqué, attaque, attaquer, apostropher
department - ministere, département
field - champ, campo, terrain, corps, rubrique, attraper
spreads - des tartinades, étaler, écarter, disperser, répandre
operations - des opérations, opération, fonctionnement, exploitation
persistently - de façon persistante
Our agriculture and horticulture destroy a weed just here and there and cultivate perhaps a score or so of wholesome plants, leaving the greater number to fight out a balance as they can.
horticulture - l'horticulture, horticulture
destroy - détruire, euthanasier
weed - l'herbe, sarcler, cibiche, (wee) l'herbe
cultivate - cultiver
wholesome - salubre, sain, vertueux
fight out - se battre
balance - l'équilibre, contrepoids, équilibre, solde, balancier, apurer
We improve our favourite plants and animals-and how few they are-gradually by selective breeding; now a new and better peach, now a seedless grape, now a sweeter and larger flower, now a more convenient breed of cattle. We improve them gradually, because our ideals are vague and tentative, and our knowledge is very limited; because Nature, too, is shy and slow in our clumsy hands.
gradually - progressivement
selective - sélectif
breeding - l'élevage, (breed), se reproduire, engendrer, élever, race
peach - peche
grape - raisin
sweeter - plus doux, doucement, friandise, bonbon, sucreries-p
more convenient - plus pratique
ideals - idéaux, idéal, parfait
tentative - provisoire, approximatif
limited - limitée, limité, (limit) limitée
some day all this will be better organized, and still better. That is the drift of the current in spite of the eddies. The whole world will be intelligent, educated, and co-operating; things will move faster and faster towards the subjugation of Nature. In the end, wisely and carefully we shall readjust the balance of animal and vegetable life to suit our human needs.
some day - un jour
organized - organisée, organiser
current - courant, présent, actuel
eddies - tourbillons, tourbillon
intelligent - intelligent
educated - éduqués, éduquer
operating - en fonctionnement, opérer, ouvrer
subjugation - l'asservissement, assujettissement
wisely - a bon escient, sagement, savamment
'This adjustment, I say, must have been done, and done well; done indeed for all Time, in the space of time across which my machine had leaped. The air was free from gnats, the earth from weeds or fungi; everywhere were fruits and sweet and delightful flowers; brilliant butterflies flew hither and thither. The ideal of preventive medicine was attained. Diseases had been stamped out.
adjustment - l'ajustement, ajustement, areglement
space of time - l'espace de temps
leaped - a sauté, sauter, bondir
gnats - les moucherons, moucheron
weeds - les mauvaises herbes, (weed) les mauvaises herbes
fungi - Les champignons, (fungus), fongus
everywhere - partout
butterflies - des papillons, papillon, pansement papillon
thither - la, la, d'ici la
Ideal - idéal, parfait
preventive - préventif
Medicine - la médecine, médicament, officinal, médecine
attained - atteint, atteindre
diseases - les maladies, maladie, mal
stamped out - supprimer
I saw no evidence of any contagious diseases during all my stay. And I shall have to tell you later that even the processes of putrefaction and decay had been profoundly affected by these changes.
evidence - des preuves, preuve, prouver, démontrer
contagious - contagieux
processes - processus, procédé
putrefaction - la putréfaction, putréfaction
decay - pourriture, décrépitude, déchéance, pourrir, se désintégrer
affected - affectée, affecter
'Social triumphs, too, had been effected. I saw mankind housed in splendid shelters, gloriously clothed, and as yet I had found them engaged in no toil. There were no signs of struggle, neither social nor economical struggle. The shop, the advertisement, traffic, all that commerce which constitutes the body of our world, was gone.
triumphs - triomphes, triomphe
effected - affectée, effet, effets-p, effectuer
shelters - les refuges, abri, refuge, abriter
gloriously - glorieusement
clothed - habillé, tissu, étoffe, tenue
as yet - a ce jour
toil - labeur, travailler
Struggle - lutte, lutter, s'efforcer, combattre
economical - économe, économique
advertisement - la publicité, publicité, pub, annonce, avis
commerce - le commerce, commerce, rapports
constitutes - constitue, constituer
It was natural on that golden evening that I should jump at the idea of a social paradise. The difficulty of increasing population had been met, I guessed, and population had ceased to increase.
paradise - le paradis, paradis, cieux
increasing - en augmentation, augmentant, (increase), augmenter, croître
increase - augmenter, croître, accroître, augmentation
'But with this change in condition comes inevitably adaptations to the change. What, unless biological science is a mass of errors, is the cause of human intelligence and vigour?
inevitably - inévitablement
adaptations - des adaptations, adaptation
biological - biologique
errors - erreurs, erreur, vice, etre en erreur, planter
cause - cause, raison, causer
intelligence - l'intelligence, intelligence, renseignements
vigour - force, vigueur, énergie
Hardship and freedom: conditions under which the active, strong, and subtle survive and the weaker go to the wall; conditions that put a premium upon the loyal alliance of capable men, upon self-restraint, patience, and decision.
hardship - difficultés, misere
active - active, actif
survive - survivre
weaker - plus faible, faible, débile
loyal - loyal, fidele
alliance - l'alliance, alliance
capable - capable
self - soi, soi-meme
restraint - la retenue, contention, frein, retenue
patience - la patience, patience
decision - décision
And the institution of the family, and the emotions that arise therein, the fierce jealousy, the tenderness for offspring, parental self-devotion, all found their justification and support in the imminent dangers of the young. Now, where are these imminent dangers?
emotions - des émotions, émotion
arise - se lever, surgir, apparaitre, naitre
Therein - dans
fierce - féroce
jealousy - jalousie, envie
tenderness - tendresse
offspring - de la progéniture, enfant, enfance, progéniture, descendance
parental - parentale
devotion - la dévotion, dévouement, dévotion
justification - justification
support - soutien, soutenez, appuyez, appuyons, appuyent, soutiens
dangers - dangers, danger, péril, qualifier
There is a sentiment arising, and it will grow, against connubial jealousy, against fierce maternity, against passion of all sorts; unnecessary things now, and things that make us uncomfortable, savage survivals, discords in a refined and pleasant life.
sentiment - sentiment
arising - qui en découle, (arise), se lever, surgir, apparaitre, naitre
connubial - connubial
sorts - sortes, sorte
unnecessary - inutile
survivals - survivants, survie
discords - discordes, discorde
refined - raffiné, raffiner, fr
pleasant - agréable, plaisant
'I thought of the physical slightness of the people, their lack of intelligence, and those big abundant ruins, and it strengthened my belief in a perfect conquest of Nature. For after the battle comes Quiet. Humanity had been strong, energetic, and intelligent, and had used all its abundant vitality to alter the conditions under which it lived. And now came the reaction of the altered conditions.
slightness - petitesse
strengthened - renforcée, renforcer, affermir, raffermir, fortifier
belief - croyance, conviction, foi
conquest - conquete, conquete
energetic - énergique, énergétique
vitality - vitalité
altered - modifié, transformer, changer, altérer
'Under the new conditions of perfect comfort and security, that restless energy, that with us is strength, would become weakness. Even in our own time certain tendencies and desires, once necessary to survival, are a constant source of failure. Physical courage and the love of battle, for instance, are no great help-may even be hindrances-to a civilized man.
comfort - le confort, confort, consoler
restless - inquiet, agité, checkimpatient
energy - l'énergie, énergie, courage
weakness - faiblesse, point faible
tendencies - tendances, tendance
desires - désirs, désirer, désir
necessary - nécessaire
survival - la survie, survie
constant - constant, constante
source - source
failure - l'échec, échec, daube, flop, panne
hindrances - des obstacles, entrave, obstacle
And in a state of physical balance and security, power, intellectual as well as physical, would be out of place. For countless years I judged there had been no danger of war or solitary violence, no danger from wild beasts, no wasting disease to require strength of constitution, no need of toil.
power - pouvoir, puissance, électricité, courant, alimenter
war - guerre, bataille, entrer en guerre, tfaire la guerre
solitary - solitaire, seul, un a un
beasts - betes, bete, bete sauvage
wasting - le gaspillage, (wast) le gaspillage
require - exiger, demander, avoir besoin de, requérir, nécessiter
constitution - constitution
For such a life, what we should call the weak are as well equipped as the strong, are indeed no longer weak. Better equipped indeed they are, for the strong would be fretted by an energy for which there was no outlet.
weak - faible, débile
outlet - sortie, conduit, exutoire, issue, dérivatif, magasin d’usine
No doubt the exquisite beauty of the buildings I saw was the outcome of the last surgings of the now purposeless energy of mankind before it settled down into perfect harmony with the conditions under which it lived-the flourish of that triumph which began the last great peace. This has ever been the fate of energy in security; it takes to art and to eroticism, and then come languor and decay.
settled - réglée, (s')installer
harmony - l'harmonie, harmonie
flourish - s'épanouir, fleurir, brandir, gesticulation, fioriture
peace - la paix, paix, tranquillité
fate - le destin, destin, destinée, sort
eroticism - l'érotisme, érotisme
languor - langueur
'Even this artistic impetus would at last die away-had almost died in the Time I saw. To adorn themselves with flowers, to dance, to sing in the sunlight: so much was left of the artistic spirit, and no more. Even that would fade in the end into a contented inactivity.
artistic - artistique
impetus - l'impulsion, élan
adorn - décorer, orner, parer
sunlight - la lumiere du soleil, lumiere du soleil
fade in - s'effacer
inactivity - l'inactivité, inactivité
We are kept keen on the grindstone of pain and necessity, and, it seemed to me, that here was that hateful grindstone broken at last!
keen - enthousiaste, désireux, poivré, vif
grindstone - meule
pain - douleur, mal, diuleur
hateful - haineux
'As I stood there in the gathering dark I thought that in this simple explanation I had mastered the problem of the world-mastered the whole secret of these delicious people. Possibly the checks they had devised for the increase of population had succeeded too well, and their numbers had rather diminished than kept stationary. That would account for the abandoned ruins.
mastered - maîtrisée, maître/-tresse
secret - secret
devised - conçu, concevoir, élaborer
succeeded - a réussi, succéder, réussir, avoir du succes
diminished - diminué, réduire, rétrécir, rapetisser, diminuer, amincir
stationary - stationnaire
abandoned - abandonnée, abandonner
Very simple was my explanation, and plausible enough-as most wrong theories are!
'As I stood there musing over this too perfect triumph of man, the full moon, yellow and gibbous, came up out of an overflow of silver light in the north-east. The bright little figures ceased to move about below, a noiseless owl flitted by, and I shivered with the chill of the night. I determined to descend and find where I could sleep.
full moon - la pleine lune
gibbous - gibbeux, gibbeuse
overflow - débordement, déborder, checktransborder, checks'épancher
noiseless - sans bruit, silencieux
Owl - hibou, chouette
flitted - flotté, voltiger, voleter, papillonner, virevolter
chill - refroidissement, froid
descend - descendre
'I looked for the building I knew. Then my eye travelled along to the figure of the White Sphinx upon the pedestal of bronze, growing distinct as the light of the rising moon grew brighter. I could see the silver birch against it. There was the tangle of rhododendron bushes, black in the pale light, and there was the little lawn. I looked at the lawn again. A queer doubt chilled my complacency.
looked for - cherché
silver birch - du bouleau argenté
tangle - enchevetrement, chaos
the pale - la pâleur
chilled - réfrigéré, froid
complacency - l'autosatisfaction, suffisance, complaisance
"No," said I stoutly to myself, "that was not the lawn."
stoutly - avec acharnement
'But it was the lawn. For the white leprous face of the sphinx was towards it. Can you imagine what I felt as this conviction came home to me? But you cannot. The Time Machine was gone!
leprous - lépreux
'At once, like a lash across the face, came the possibility of losing my own age, of being left helpless in this strange new world. The bare thought of it was an actual physical sensation. I could feel it grip me at the throat and stop my breathing. In another moment I was in a passion of fear and running with great leaping strides down the slope.
lash - cils, amarrons, amarrez, amarrent, fustiger
grip - poignée, ballot, grippe, saisir, agripper, préhension
throat - gorge, goulot
strides - foulées, marcher a grands pas
Once I fell headlong and cut my face; I lost no time in stanching the blood, but jumped up and ran on, with a warm trickle down my cheek and chin. All the time I ran I was saying to myself: "They have moved it a little, pushed it under the bushes out of the way." Nevertheless, I ran with all my might.
stanching - stanching, (stanch) stanching
jumped up - a sauté
trickle - goutte a goutte, filet, dégoulinade, verser goutte a goutte
All the time, with the certainty that sometimes comes with excessive dread, I knew that such assurance was folly, knew instinctively that the machine was removed out of my reach. My breath came with pain. I suppose I covered the whole distance from the hill crest to the little lawn, two miles perhaps, in ten minutes. And I am not a young man.
certainty - certitude
excessive - excessif
assurance - l'assurance, assurance, culot
folly - folie, sottise
removed - supprimée, enlever
reach - atteindre, parviens, allonge, parvenir, préhension
covered - couverts, couvercle, couverture, couvert
I cursed aloud, as I ran, at my confident folly in leaving the machine, wasting good breath thereby. I cried aloud, and none answered. Not a creature seemed to be stirring in that moonlit world.
cursed - maudis, maudite, maudites, maudits, maudit, (curs) maudis
aloud - a haute voix, a voix haute, a haute voix, fort
thereby - et donc, ainsi, de ce fait, par la
stirring - l'agitation, passionnant
'When I reached the lawn my worst fears were realized. Not a trace of the thing was to be seen. I felt faint and cold when I faced the empty space among the black tangle of bushes. I ran round it furiously, as if the thing might be hidden in a corner, and then stopped abruptly, with my hands clutching my hair.
fears - des craintes, peur
empty space - un espace vide
furiously - furieusement
hidden - caché, (se) cacher
clutching - l'embrayage, se raccrocher (a)
Above me towered the sphinx, upon the bronze pedestal, white, shining, leprous, in the light of the rising moon. It seemed to smile in mockery of my dismay.
towered - en hauteur, tour
dismay - affliger, mortifier, avoir peur, désarroi, consternation
'I might have consoled myself by imagining the little people had put the mechanism in some shelter for me, had I not felt assured of their physical and intellectual inadequacy. That is what dismayed me: the sense of some hitherto unsuspected power, through whose intervention my invention had vanished.
consoled - consolé, consoler
shelter - l'abri, abri, refuge, abriter
dismayed - consterné, affliger, mortifier, avoir peur, désarroi
unsuspected - insoupçonné
whose - a qui, de qui, dont, duquel (de + lequel), duquel
intervention - l'intervention, intervention
invention - invention
Yet, for one thing I felt assured: unless some other age had produced its exact duplicate, the machine could not have moved in time. The attachment of the levers-I will show you the method later-prevented any one from tampering with it in that way when they were removed. It had moved, and was hid, only in space. But then, where could it be?
produced - produit, produire, produits-p
exact - exact, précis, exiger
duplicate - dupliqué, dupliquée, copier, dupliquer, duplicata, double
attachment - l'attachement, attachement, dépendance, piece jointe, saisie
method - méthode, modalité
prevented - empeché, empecher
tampering - la falsification, (tamper) la falsification
hid - caché, (hide) caché
'I think I must have had a kind of frenzy. I remember running violently in and out among the moonlit bushes all round the sphinx, and startling some white animal that, in the dim light, I took for a small deer. I remember, too, late that night, beating the bushes with my clenched fist until my knuckles were gashed and bleeding from the broken twigs.
dim light - une faible lumiere
deer - cerf, chevreuil
clenched - serré, serrer, prise (en main) ferme, poigne ferme
fist - poing
knuckles - poings américains, articulation du doigt, articulation
gashed - gazéifié, entaille, balafre
bleeding - des saignements, saignant, saignement
twigs - brindilles, brindille
Then, sobbing and raving in my anguish of mind, I went down to the great building of stone. The big hall was dark, silent, and deserted. I slipped on the uneven floor, and fell over one of the malachite tables, almost breaking my shin. I lit a match and went on past the dusty curtains, of which I have told you.
sobbing - sanglots, sanglotement, sanglotant, sanglotante, (sob), fdp
raving - divagations
anguish of mind - l'angoisse d'esprit
slipped - a glissé, glisser
uneven - inégale, inégal
malachite - malachite
shin - shin, tibia
match - match, s'entremettre, allumette, concorder
'There I found a second great hall covered with cushions, upon which, perhaps, a score or so of the little people were sleeping. I have no doubt they found my second appearance strange enough, coming suddenly out of the quiet darkness with inarticulate noises and the splutter and flare of a match. For they had forgotten about matches. "Where is my Time Machine?
darkness - l'obscurité, obscurité, ténebres
noises - bruits, bruit, vacarme, brouhaha, boucan, tintamarre
splutter - balbutiement
flare - flare, fusée lumineuse, feu de Bengale, arrondi
matches - des correspondances, allumette
" I began, bawling like an angry child, laying hands upon them and shaking them up together. It must have been very queer to them. Some laughed, most of them looked sorely frightened. When I saw them standing round me, it came into my head that I was doing as foolish a thing as it was possible for me to do under the circumstances, in trying to revive the sensation of fear.
bawling - brailler, (bawl), hurler
laying - pose, (lay) pose
shaking - tremblant, (shake), secouer, agiter, se serrer la main, secousse
sorely - douloureusement
frightened - effrayé, effrayer, redouter, terrifier
circumstances - circonstances, circonstance
For, reasoning from their daylight behaviour, I thought that fear must be forgotten.
daylight - la lumiere du jour, jour, lumiere du jour
'Abruptly, I dashed down the match, and, knocking one of the people over in my course, went blundering across the big dining-hall again, out under the moonlight. I heard cries of terror and their little feet running and stumbling this way and that. I do not remember all I did as the moon crept up the sky. I suppose it was the unexpected nature of my loss that maddened me.
knocking - frapper, frappant, (knock), coup
blundering - maladresses, embrouillant, (blunder), gaffe
dining-hall - (dining-hall) le réfectoire
moonlight - le clair de lune, clair de lune, travailler au noir
terror - la terreur, terreur, effroi, terrorisme
stumbling - trébucher, chute, faux pas, bourde
crept - rampé, ramper, rampement, fatigue, fluage, reptation
unexpected - inattendu
Loss - perte, déperdition, perdition, déchet, coulage
I felt hopelessly cut off from my own kind-a strange animal in an unknown world. I must have raved to and fro, screaming and crying upon God and Fate.
hopelessly - sans espoir
an unknown - un inconnu
raved - s'est extasié, délirer
screaming - des cris, cri, crier
crying - pleurer, pleur, (cry), crier, hurler, gueuler
God - dieu, idolâtrer, déifier
I have a memory of horrible fatigue, as the long night of despair wore away; of looking in this impossible place and that; of groping among moon-lit ruins and touching strange creatures in the black shadows; at last, of lying on the ground near the sphinx and weeping with absolute wretchedness. I had nothing left but misery.
fatigue - la fatigue, fatigue, épuisement, corvée, fatiguer
despair - le désespoir, désespérer, désespoir
looking in - Regarder dans
impossible - impossible, insupportable
groping - tripotage, tâter, tâtonner, tripoter, peloter
touching - toucher, attendrissant, (touch), émouvoir
weeping - pleurant, (weep) pleurant
wretchedness - la misere
misery - la misere, misere
Then I slept, and when I woke again it was full day, and a couple of sparrows were hopping round me on the turf within reach of my arm.
sparrows - moineaux, moineau, bruant, piaf
within - a l'intérieur, dedans, avant, d'ici
'I sat up in the freshness of the morning, trying to remember how I had got there, and why I had such a profound sense of desertion and despair. Then things came clear in my mind. With the plain, reasonable daylight, I could look my circumstances fairly in the face. I saw the wild folly of my frenzy overnight, and I could reason with myself. "Suppose the worst?" I said.
freshness - fraîcheur
desertion - désertion
fairly - équitable, justement, assez
overnight - pendant la nuit, du jour au lendemain, nocturne, nuitée
"Suppose the machine altogether lost-perhaps destroyed? It behoves me to be calm and patient, to learn the way of the people, to get a clear idea of the method of my loss, and the means of getting materials and tools; so that in the end, perhaps, I may make another." That would be my only hope, perhaps, but better than despair. And, after all, it was a beautiful and curious world.
behoves - doit, incomber
patient - patient, patiente, malade
materials - matériaux, matériel, matériau, matiere
tools - des outils, outil, mouton, façonner
'But probably, the machine had only been taken away. Still, I must be calm and patient, find its hiding-place, and recover it by force or cunning. And with that I scrambled to my feet and looked about me, wondering where I could bathe. I felt weary, stiff, and travel-soiled. The freshness of the morning made me desire an equal freshness. I had exhausted my emotion.
hiding-place - (hiding-place) Une cachette
by force - par la force
cunning - astucieux, rusé
scrambled - brouillés, ruer
wondering - se demander, (wonder), merveille, conjecturer
bathe - prendre un bain, se baigner, faire prendre un bain, baignade
stiff - rigide, raide, macchabée
soiled - souillé, sol, terre
desire - désirer, désir
Equal - l'égalité, égal, égaler a, égale
exhausted - épuisé, épuiser, échappement
emotion - l'émotion, émotion
Indeed, as I went about my business, I found myself wondering at my intense excitement overnight. I made a careful examination of the ground about the little lawn. I wasted some time in futile questionings, conveyed, as well as I was able, to such of the little people as came by. They all failed to understand my gestures; some were simply stolid, some thought it was a jest and laughed at me.
excitement - l'excitation, excitation
careful - prudent, soigneux, attentif
examination - l'examen, examen
wasted - gaspillé, gaspiller
futile - futile
conveyed - transmis, transporter, véhiculer, communiquer
failed - a échoué, échouer (a)
stolid - solide, impassible
jest - jest, plaisanter
laughed at - dont on se moque
I had the hardest task in the world to keep my Hands off their pretty laughing faces. It was a foolish impulse, but the devil begotten of fear and blind anger was ill curbed and still eager to take advantage of my perplexity. The turf gave better counsel.
task - tâche
Hands off - Gardez vos mains loin
impulse - impulsion
devil - Diable, Satan, type
begotten - engendré, engendrer, procréer
blind - aveugle, mal-voyant, mal-voyante, store, blind, aveugler
anger - la colere, colere, ire, courroux, rage
ill - malade, écouré, écourée
curbed - curbed, restreindre, endiguer
advantage - avantage, avantager, favoriser
perplexity - perplexité
counsel - conseil, expertise, plan, projet, conseiller
I found a groove ripped in it, about midway between the pedestal of the sphinx and the marks of my feet where, on arrival, I had struggled with the overturned machine. There were other signs of removal about, with queer narrow footprints like those I could imagine made by a sloth. This directed my closer attention to the pedestal. It was, as I think I have said, of bronze.
groove - rainure, sillon, routine, groove, puits
ripped - déchiré, (se) déchirer
midway - a mi-parcours, a mi-chemin
marks - marques, Marc
on arrival - a l'arrivée
struggled with - Lutter avec
overturned - annulée, renverser, retourner, capoter, verser
removal - l'éloignement, enlevement, élimination, prélevement
narrow - étroite, pressé, étroit
footprints - empreintes de pas, empreinte de pied, empreinte écologique
sloth - paresse, paresseux, ai
It was not a mere block, but highly decorated with deep framed panels on either side. I went and rapped at these. The pedestal was hollow. Examining the panels with care I found them discontinuous with the frames. There were no handles or keyholes, but possibly the panels, if they were doors, as I supposed, opened from within. One thing was clear enough to my mind.
block - bloc, bloquer, bloquent, bloquons, obstruer, buche
highly - hautement, extremement
decorated - décoré, décorer, orner
framed - encadré, encadrer, cadre, armature, ossature
panels - panneaux, panneau, table ronde, case, vignette, , g
rapped - rappé, coup sec
hollow - creux, cavez, caver, cavent, cavons
care - soins, s'occuper, soin, souci
discontinuous - discontinu
frames - cadres, encadrer, cadre, armature, ossature
handles - poignées, anse, poignée, manche
keyholes - trous de serrure, trou de la serrure
It took no very great mental effort to infer that my Time Machine was inside that pedestal. But how it got there was a different problem.
infer - déduire, inférer
inside - a l'intérieur, intérieur, dedans, au-dedans, la-dedans
'I saw the heads of two orange-clad people coming through the bushes and under some blossom-covered apple-trees towards me. I turned smiling to them and beckoned them to me. They came, and then, pointing to the bronze pedestal, I tried to intimate my wish to open it. But at my first gesture towards this they behaved very oddly. I don't know how to convey their expression to you.
apple-trees - (apple-trees) des pommiers
beckoned - fait signe, faire signe
wish - souhait, souhaiter, espérer
behaved - s'est-elle comportée, comporter
oddly - bizarrement, étrangement
Suppose you were to use a grossly improper gesture to a delicate-minded woman-it is how she would look. They went off as if they had received the last possible insult. I tried a sweet-looking little chap in white next, with exactly the same result. Somehow, his manner made me feel ashamed of myself. But, as you know, I wanted the Time Machine, and I tried him once more.
grossly - grossierement, grossierement
improper - inapproprié
insult - insultes, insulter, insulte
chap - chap, fissure
feel ashamed - avoir honte
As he turned off, like the others, my temper got the better of me. In three strides I was after him, had him by the loose part of his robe round the neck, and began dragging him towards the sphinx. Then I saw the horror and repugnance of his face, and all of a sudden I let him go.
temper - caractere, tempérament, humeur, état d'esprit, recuit
robe - robe de chambre, robe
dragging - traînant, tirer, entraîner
horror - l'horreur, horreur, effroi, dégout, aversion
repugnance - répugnance
'But I was not beaten yet. I banged with my fist at the bronze panels. I thought I heard something stir inside-to be explicit, I thought I heard a sound like a chuckle-but I must have been mistaken. Then I got a big pebble from the river, and came and hammered till I had flattened a coil in the decorations, and the verdigris came off in powdery flakes.
beaten - battu, battre
banged - cogné, détonation
stir - remuer, affecter
chuckle - glousser
pebble - galet, gravillon
hammered - martelée, marteau, chien, malléus, t+marteau, marteler
flattened - aplatie, aplatir
coil - bobine, spirale
powdery - poudreux
flakes - flocons, flocon
The delicate little people must have heard me hammering in gusty outbreaks a mile away on either hand, but nothing came of it. I saw a crowd of them upon the slopes, looking furtively at me. At last, hot and tired, I sat down to watch the place. But I was too restless to watch long; I am too Occidental for a long vigil.
hammering - martelage, martelant, (hammer), marteau, chien
gusty - grose
outbreaks - des épidémies, éruption, déclenchement, apparition, explosion
slopes - les pentes, pente, inclinaison
furtively - furtivement
Occidental - occidental
vigil - veille, veillée
I could work at a problem for years, but to wait inactive for twenty-four hours-that is another matter.
inactive - inactif
'I got up after a time, and began walking aimlessly through the bushes towards the hill again. "Patience," said I to myself. "If you want your machine again you must leave that sphinx alone. If they mean to take your machine away, it's little good your wrecking their bronze panels, and if they don't, you will get it back as soon as you can ask for it.
aimlessly - sans but précis, sans but, au hasard
wrecking - démolition, (wreck), épave, carcasse, accident, bousiller
To sit among all those unknown things before a puzzle like that is hopeless. That way lies monomania. Face this world. Learn its ways, watch it, be careful of too hasty guesses at its meaning. In the end you will find clues to it all.
puzzle - mystere, énigme, puzzle, casse-tete, jeu de patience, devinette
hopeless - sans espoir, désespéré
lies - mensonges, mensonge
monomania - monomanie
hasty - hâtive, hâtif
clues - indices, indice, piste, idée, informer
" Then suddenly the humour of the situation came into my mind: the thought of the years I had spent in study and toil to get into the future age, and now my passion of anxiety to get out of it. I had made myself the most complicated and the most hopeless trap that ever a man devised. Although it was at my own expense, I could not help myself. I laughed aloud.
humour - l'humour, humour, humeur, disposition, amadouer
anxiety - l'anxiété, anxiété, inquiétude, angoisse
most complicated - le plus compliqué
most hopeless - le plus désespéré
trap - piege
although - bien que, combien que, encore que, nonobstant que
expense - dépenses, dépense
'Going through the big palace, it seemed to me that the little people avoided me. It may have been my fancy, or it may have had something to do with my hammering at the gates of bronze. Yet I felt tolerably sure of the avoidance. I was careful, however, to show no concern and to abstain from any pursuit of them, and in the course of a day or two things got back to the old footing.
avoided - évitée, éviter, fuir
gates - portes, porte, barriere
tolerably - de maniere tolérable
avoidance - l'évitement, évitement
concern - inquiétude, souci, soin, préoccupation, concerner
abstain - s'abstenir
pursuit - poursuite
I made what progress I could in the language, and in addition I pushed my explorations here and there. Either I missed some subtle point or their language was excessively simple-almost exclusively composed of concrete substantives and verbs. There seemed to be few, if any, abstract terms, or little use of figurative language.
progress - progres, progressent, progresser, progressons, progrés
Addition - addition, ajout
explorations - explorations, exploration
exclusively - exclusivement, uniquement
composed - composé, composer
concrete - du béton, concret, de béton, béton, bétonner, concréter
verbs - verbes, verbe
abstract - résumé, abstrait, abstraire, distiller, se retirer
terms - conditions, peine, mandat, période
figurative - au sens figuré
Their sentences were usually simple and of two words, and I failed to convey or understand any but the simplest propositions. I determined to put the thought of my Time Machine and the mystery of the bronze doors under the sphinx as much as possible in a corner of memory, until my growing knowledge would lead me back to them in a natural way.
simplest - le plus simple, simple
propositions - propositions, proposition
mystery - mystere, mystere
lead - plomb, guider, conduire, mener
Yet a certain feeling, you may understand, tethered me in a circle of a few miles round the point of my arrival.
tethered - attachés, longe, attacher
arrival - arrivée, arrivant, arrivante
'So far as I could see, all the world displayed the same exuberant richness as the Thames valley. From every hill I climbed I saw the same abundance of splendid buildings, endlessly varied in material and style, the same clustering thickets of evergreens, the same blossom-laden trees and tree-ferns.
exuberant - exubérant
richness - richesse
abundance - l'abondance, abondance
endlessly - sans fin, indéfiniment
varied - varié, varier
clustering - la mise en grappe, groupe, grappe, régime, amas
thickets - des fourrés, fourré, maquis
evergreens - les arbres a feuilles persistantes, a feuilles persistantes
laden - laden, chargé, chargée, (lade) laden
ferns - des fougeres, fougere
Here and there water shone like silver, and beyond, the land rose into blue undulating hills, and so faded into the serenity of the sky. A peculiar feature, which presently attracted my attention, was the presence of certain circular wells, several, as it seemed to me, of a very great depth. One lay by the path up the hill, which I had followed during my first walk.
undulating - ondulée, onduler, ondoyer
hills - collines, colline, côte
faded - fanée, mode, lubie
serenity - la sérénité, sérénité
feature - fonction
presence - présence
depth - profondeur, épaisseur
lay by - Mettre de côté
path - chemin, sentier
Like the others, it was rimmed with bronze, curiously wrought, and protected by a little cupola from the rain. Sitting by the side of these wells, and peering down into the shafted darkness, I could see no gleam of water, nor could I start any reflection with a lighted match.
rimmed - bordé, jante, bord
protected - protégé, protéger
peering - peering, pair
shafted - secoués, hampe, rachis, cage, entuber
gleam - briller, luisent, luisez, brillant, luisons
reflection - réflexion, reflet, eaning 4
But in all of them I heard a certain sound: a thud-thud-thud, like the beating of some big engine; and I discovered, from the flaring of my matches, that a steady current of air set down the shafts. Further, I threw a scrap of paper into the throat of one, and, instead of fluttering slowly down, it was at once sucked swiftly out of sight.
engine - moteur
flaring - torche, fusée lumineuse, feu de Bengale
steady - stable, lisse, régulier
set down - mettre en place
threw - jeté, jeter, lancer
scrap - de la ferraille, ferraille, chiffon, mettre au rebut
fluttering - flottement, faséyer, voleter, voltiger, battement
sucked - aspiré, sucer, téter, etre chiant, etre nul
'After a time, too, I came to connect these wells with tall towers standing here and there upon the slopes; for above them there was often just such a flicker in the air as one sees on a hot day above a sun-scorched beach. Putting things together, I reached a strong suggestion of an extensive system of subterranean ventilation, whose true import it was difficult to imagine.
connect - se connecter, accoupler, connecter, brancher
towers - tours, tour
flicker - scintillement, flottge
scorched - brulé, roussir, bruler
extensive - étendu
system - systeme, systeme
subterranean - souterraine, souterrain
ventilation - ventilation, aération, confrontation, respiration
I was at first inclined to associate it with the sanitary apparatus of these people. It was an obvious conclusion, but it was absolutely wrong.
associate - associé, fréquenter, associer
sanitary - sanitaire
obvious - évidentes, évident
conclusion - conclusion, fin
'And here I must admit that I learned very little of drains and bells and modes of conveyance, and the like conveniences, during my time in this real future. In some of these visions of Utopias and coming times which I have read, there is a vast amount of detail about building, and social arrangements, and so forth.
drains - les drains, drain, bonde, hémorragie, gouffre, drainer
bells - cloches, cloche
modes - modes, mode, maniere
conveniences - des commodités, convenance, commodité, avantage, commodités-p
visions - visions, vision, vue, aspiration, apparition
Utopias - des utopies, utopie
arrangements - des arrangements, arrangement, disposition, composition
But while such details are easy enough to obtain when the whole world is contained in one's imagination, they are altogether inaccessible to a real traveller amid such realities as I found here. Conceive the tale of London which a negro, fresh from Central Africa, would take back to his tribe!
obtain - obtenir, se procurer, réussir, avoir succes, s'établir
contained - contenu, contenir
imagination - l'imagination, imagination
inaccessible - inaccessible
amid - amid, au milieu de, parmi, entre
realities - réalités, réalité, vérité
conceive - concevoir, tomber enceinte
Tale - conte, récit
negro - negre, negre
central - central
Africa - l'afrique, l’Afrique
take back - reprendre
tribe - tribu
What would he know of railway companies, of social movements, of telephone and telegraph wires, of the Parcels Delivery Company, and postal orders and the like? Yet we, at least, should be willing enough to explain these things to him! And even of what he knew, how much could he make his untravelled friend either apprehend or believe?
Railway - chemins de fer, chemin de fer, réseau ferroviaire, voie ferrée
movements - mouvements, mouvement
Telegraph - télégraphe, télégraphier, dépecher
wires - fils, fil
parcels - colis, paquet, parcelle, empaqueter, emballer, envelopper
delivery - livraison, accouchement, parturition, naissance, administration
postal - postal
untravelled - non voyagé
apprehend - appréhender, comprendre, arreter
Then, think how narrow the gap between a negro and a white man of our own times, and how wide the interval between myself and these of the Golden Age! I was sensible of much which was unseen, and which contributed to my comfort; but save for a general impression of automatic organization, I fear I can convey very little of the difference to your mind.
gap - l'écart, breche, créneau, breche
wide - large
sensible - sensible, sensé, raisonnable
unseen - invisible
contributed - a contribué, contribuer
automatic - automatique, semi-automatique
organization - l'organisation, organisation
'In the matter of sepulture, for instance, I could see no signs of crematoria nor anything suggestive of tombs. But it occurred to me that, possibly, there might be cemeteries (or crematoria) somewhere beyond the range of my explorings. This, again, was a question I deliberately put to myself, and my curiosity was at first entirely defeated upon the point.
sepulture - la sepulture
crematoria - crématoriums
suggestive - suggestif
tombs - tombes, tombe, tombeau
cemeteries - les cimetieres, cimetiere
somewhere - quelque part
range - chaîne (de montagnes), cuisiniere, sélection, gamme, champ
explorings - explorations
entirely - entierement, entierement, entierement (1)
defeated - vaincu, battre, vaincre
The thing puzzled me, and I was led to make a further remark, which puzzled me still more: that aged and infirm among this people there were none.
remark - remarque, remarquent, remarquez, remarquons
infirm - infirme, infirmer
'I must confess that my satisfaction with my first theories of an automatic civilization and a decadent humanity did not long endure. Yet I could think of no other. Let me put my difficulties. The several big palaces I had explored were mere living places, great dining-halls and sleeping apartments. I could find no machinery, no appliances of any kind.
confess - avouer, confesser
satisfaction - satisfaction
decadent - décadent, décadente
endure - endurer, perdurer, supporter
difficulties - des difficultés, difficulté
explored - exploré, explorer
dining - dîner
halls - salles, couloir, corridor, salle, salon, manoir, foyer
machinery - des machines, machines, pieces, machinerie, mécanique
appliances - des appareils, appareil, appareil électrique
Yet these people were clothed in pleasant fabrics that must at times need renewal, and their sandals, though undecorated, were fairly complex specimens of metalwork. Somehow such things must be made. And the little people displayed no vestige of a creative tendency. There were no shops, no workshops, no sign of importations among them.
clothed - habillé, vetir, habiller
fabrics - des tissus, structure, tissu, textile
renewal - renouvellement, renouvelement
undecorated - sans décoration
complex - complexe
specimens - spécimens, spécimen, exemple
metalwork - la métallurgie
vestige - vestige
creative - créatif, créative, checkcréative
workshops - des ateliers, atelier
They spent all their time in playing gently, in bathing in the river, in making love in a half-playful fashion, in eating fruit and sleeping. I could not see how things were kept going.
playful - ludique, folâtre, enjoué, joueur
fashion - la mode, mode, vogue, façon, façonner
'Then, again, about the Time Machine: something, I knew not what, had taken it into the hollow pedestal of the White Sphinx. Why? For the life of me I could not imagine. Those waterless wells, too, those flickering pillars. I felt I lacked a clue. I felt-how shall I put it?
pillars - piliers, pilier, pile
lacked - manquée, manquer de qqch
clue - indice, piste, idée, informer
Suppose you found an inscription, with sentences here and there in excellent plain English, and interpolated therewith, others made up of words, of letters even, absolutely unknown to you? Well, on the third day of my visit, that was how the world of Eight Hundred and Two Thousand Seven Hundred and One presented itself to me!
inscription - inscription, légende, dédicace
excellent - excellent
interpolated - interpolés, interpoler
third - troisieme, troisieme, trois, tiers, tierce
'That day, too, I made a friend-of a sort. It happened that, as I was watching some of the little people bathing in a shallow, one of them was seized with cramp and began drifting downstream. The main current ran rather swiftly, but not too strongly for even a moderate swimmer.
sort - tri, assortir, esrece, assortis, sorte
shallow - superficielle, peu profond, superficiel, haut-fond, baisse
seized - saisi, saisir
cramp - crampe
drifting - a la dérive, dérive, dériver, errer, dévier
downstream - aval, descendant, en aval, dans le sens du courant (descente
strongly - fort, fortement
moderate - modéré, moderer, modérer
swimmer - nageur, nageuse
It will give you an idea, therefore, of the strange deficiency in these creatures, when I tell you that none made the slightest attempt to rescue the weakly crying little thing which was drowning before their eyes. When I realized this, I hurriedly slipped off my clothes, and, wading in at a point lower down, I caught the poor mite and drew her safe to land.
deficiency - déficience, carence
slightest - le moins du monde, insignifiant, léger
rescue - secours, délivrer, secourir, sauver, checksauver, sauvetage
weakly - souffreteuxse
drowning - la noyade, noyade, (drown), noyer, checksubmerger
hurriedly - en toute hâte, a la hâte, a la sauvette, a la va-vite
slipped off - a glissé
wading - patauger, (wad) patauger
mite - mite, acarien
safe - sur, en sécurité, o longer in danger, sans danger, sur, sauf
A little rubbing of the limbs soon brought her round, and I had the satisfaction of seeing she was all right before I left her. I had got to such a low estimate of her kind that I did not expect any gratitude from her. In that, however, I was wrong.
rubbing - le frottement, frottage, froissement, lessivage
estimate - estimation, devis, estimer
gratitude - la gratitude, gratitude
'This happened in the morning. In the afternoon I met my little woman, as I believe it was, as I was returning towards my centre from an exploration, and she received me with cries of delight and presented me with a big garland of flowers-evidently made for me and me alone. The thing took my imagination. Very possibly I had been feeling desolate.
exploration - l'exploration, exploration
delight - plaisir, délice, joie, enchanter, ravir
garland - guirlande, rench: t-needed r
desolate - désolée, ravager, désoler
At any rate I did my best to display my appreciation of the gift. We were soon seated together in a little stone arbour, engaged in conversation, chiefly of smiles. The creature's friendliness affected me exactly as a child's might have done. We passed each other flowers, and she kissed my hands. I did the same to hers.
rate - taux, taxer, évaluer, tarifaire, dividende, rang
display - l'affichage, représentation, spectacle, moniteur, écran
appreciation - l'appréciation, appréciation, estimation, évaluation
gift - présent, cadeau, don, talent, donner
arbour - tonnelle
chiefly - principalement, surtout
smiles - sourires, sourire
friendliness - l'amabilité, gentillesse, cordialité
kissed - embrassée, (s')embrasser
Then I tried talk, and found that her name was Weena, which, though I don't know what it meant, somehow seemed appropriate enough. That was the beginning of a queer friendship which lasted a week, and ended-as I will tell you!
appropriate - approprié, idoine, approprier
friendship - l'amitié, amitié
lasted - a duré, dernier
'She was exactly like a child. She wanted to be with me always. She tried to follow me everywhere, and on my next journey out and about it went to my heart to tire her down, and leave her at last, exhausted and calling after me rather plaintively. But the problems of the world had to be mastered. I had not, I said to myself, come into the future to carry on a miniature flirtation.
heart - cour
tire - fatiguer, pneu, pneumatique
plaintively - plaintivement
miniature - miniature, enluminure, figurine
flirtation - flirt
Yet her distress when I left her was very great, her expostulations at the parting were sometimes frantic, and I think, altogether, I had as much trouble as comfort from her devotion. Nevertheless she was, somehow, a very great comfort. I thought it was mere childish affection that made her cling to me. Until it was too late, I did not clearly know what I had inflicted upon her when I left her.
distress - la détresse, détresse
frantic - éperdu, paniqué, frénétique
trouble - des problemes, peine, mal, probleme, emmerde, checksouci
childish - enfantin, puéril, gamin
cling to - s'accrocher a
inflicted - infligé, infliger
Nor until it was too late did I clearly understand what she was to me. For, by merely seeming fond of me, and showing in her weak, futile way that she cared for me, the little doll of a creature presently gave my return to the neighbourhood of the White Sphinx almost the feeling of coming home; and I would watch for her tiny figure of white and gold so soon as I came over the hill.
merely - simplement, uniquement, seulement
seeming - en apparence, paraissant, (seem), sembler, paraître, avoir l'air
fond - fond, tendre, amoureux
showing in - Montrant en
cared for - pris en charge
doll - poupée, marionnette, guignol
neighbourhood - quartier
tiny - minuscule
'It was from her, too, that I learned that fear had not yet left the world. She was fearless enough in the daylight, and she had the oddest confidence in me; for once, in a foolish moment, I made threatening grimaces at her, and she simply laughed at them. But she dreaded the dark, dreaded shadows, dreaded black things. Darkness to her was the one thing dreadful.
fearless - sans peur, courageux, brave, intrépide
oddest - le plus étrange, rench: -neededr, bizarre, étrange, impair
threatening - menaçante, menaçant, (threaten), menacer
grimaces - des grimaces, grimace, grimacer, faire des grimaces
dreaded - redouté, redouter, craindre, crainte
dreadful - épouvantable, redoutable, affreux, terrible
It was a singularly passionate emotion, and it set me thinking and observing. I discovered then, among other things, that these little people gathered into the great houses after dark, and slept in droves. To enter upon them without a light was to put them into a tumult of apprehension. I never found one out of doors, or one sleeping alone within doors, after dark.
passionate - passionné
observing - l'observation, observer, remarquer, respecter, garder
gathered - rassemblés, rassembler, ramasser, recueillir
in droves - en masse
enter - entrer, rench: t-needed r, taper, saisir
tumult - tumultes, barouf, baroufe, bagarre
out of doors - a l'extérieur
Yet I was still such a blockhead that I missed the lesson of that fear, and in spite of Weena's distress I insisted upon sleeping away from these slumbering multitudes.
blockhead - tete de noeud, imbécile, cancre
insisted - insisté, insister
slumbering - dormir, (slumber), somnolence, somnoler
multitudes - multitudes, multitude
'It troubled her greatly, but in the end her odd affection for me triumphed, and for five of the nights of our acquaintance, including the last night of all, she slept with her head pillowed on my arm. But my story slips away from me as I speak of her. It must have been the night before her rescue that I was awakened about dawn.
troubled - troublé, peine, mal, probleme, emmerde, fr
triumphed - triomphé, triomphe
acquaintance - une connaissance, relation
pillowed - oreillé, oreiller, tetiere
slips away - s'échappe
awakened - éveillé, réveiller, se réveiller
dawn - l'aube, se lever, naître, aube, lever du soleil, aurore
I had been restless, dreaming most disagreeably that I was drowned, and that sea anemones were feeling over my face with their soft palps. I woke with a start, and with an odd fancy that some greyish animal had just rushed out of the chamber. I tried to get to sleep again, but I felt restless and uncomfortable.
dreaming - en train de rever, revant, (dream), reve, songe, voeu
disagreeably - désagréable
drowned - noyé, noyer
anemones - anémones, anémone
greyish - grisâtre
chamber - chambre, piece, salle
It was that dim grey hour when things are just creeping out of darkness, when everything is colourless and clear cut, and yet unreal. I got up, and went down into the great hall, and so out upon the flagstones in front of the palace. I thought I would make a virtue of necessity, and see the sunrise.
creeping - rampant, ramper, rampement, fatigue, fluage, reptation
colourless - sans couleur, incolore
clear cut - évident
flagstones - les dalles, dalle, lauze
virtue - la vertu, vertu
sunrise - lever du soleil, potron-minet
'The moon was setting, and the dying moonlight and the first pallor of dawn were mingled in a ghastly half-light. The bushes were inky black, the ground a sombre grey, the sky colourless and cheerless. And up the hill I thought I could see ghosts. There several times, as I scanned the slope, I saw white figures.
setting - de l'environnement, réglage, configuration
dying - teignant, mourant, (dye) teignant
pallor - pâleur
mingled - mélangés, mélanger
sombre - sombre
cheerless - sans joie
ghosts - fantômes, fantôme, t+spectre, t+esprit, t+revenant
scanned - numérisé, scanner, fouiller, numériser, scander, scan
Twice I fancied I saw a solitary white, ape-like creature running rather quickly up the hill, and once near the ruins I saw a leash of them carrying some dark body. They moved hastily. I did not see what became of them. It seemed that they vanished among the bushes. The dawn was still indistinct, you must understand. I was feeling that chill, uncertain, early-morning feeling you may have known.
ape - singe
leash - laisse
hastily - hâtivement, précipitamment, a la hâte
uncertain - incertaine
I doubted my eyes.
doubted - douté, douter, doute
'As the eastern sky grew brighter, and the light of the day came on and its vivid colouring returned upon the world once more, I scanned the view keenly. But I saw no vestige of my white figures. They were mere creatures of the half light. "They must have been ghosts," I said; "I wonder whence they dated." For a queer notion of Grant Allen's came into my head, and amused me.
eastern - orientale, oriental
keenly - vivement
whence - pourquoi, d'ou
notion - notion
Grant - la subvention, accorder, admettre
amused - amusé, amuser
If each generation die and leave ghosts, he argued, the world at last will get overcrowded with them. On that theory they would have grown innumerable some Eight Hundred Thousand Years hence, and it was no great wonder to see four at once. But the jest was unsatisfying, and I was thinking of these figures all the morning, until Weena's rescue drove them out of my head.
generation - génération, création, generation
argued - argumenté, affirmer, débattre, se disputer, se quereller
last will - le dernier testament
theory - théorie
hence - d'ou, d'ici, ainsi, donc, d'ou
unsatisfying - insatisfaisante
I associated them in some indefinite way with the white animal I had startled in my first passionate search for the Time Machine. But Weena was a pleasant substitute. Yet all the same, they were soon destined to take far deadlier possession of my mind.
associated - associés, fréquenter, associer
search - recherche, chercher, fouiller
substitute - mettre, remplaçant, substitut
deadlier - plus mortelle, mortel, fatal, létal
'I think I have said how much hotter than our own was the weather of this Golden Age. I cannot account for it. It may be that the sun was hotter, or the earth nearer the sun. It is usual to assume that the sun will go on cooling steadily in the future.
assume - supposer, présupposer, présumer, assumer, adopter, prendre
But people, unfamiliar with such speculations as those of the younger Darwin, forget that the planets must ultimately fall back one by one into the parent body. As these catastrophes occur, the sun will blaze with renewed energy; and it may be that some inner planet had suffered this fate. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that the sun was very much hotter than we know it.
unfamiliar - peu familier
planets - planetes, planete
fall back - se replier
catastrophes - des catastrophes, catastrophe
occur - se produisent, produire
blaze - flamme, feu, embrasement
renewed - renouvelée, renouveler
suffered - souffert, souffrir, souffrir de, pâtir de, endurer
'Well, one very hot morning-my fourth, I think-as I was seeking shelter from the heat and glare in a colossal ruin near the great house where I slept and fed, there happened this strange thing: Clambering among these heaps of masonry, I found a narrow gallery, whose end and side windows were blocked by fallen masses of stone.
seeking - a la recherche, chercher
heat - chaleur, ardeur, chauffer
glare - éblouissement, éclat
ruin - la ruine, ruine, ruiner, abîmer, foutre en l'air
fed - alimentée, alimentées, alimenterent
clambering - de l'escalade, grimper
masonry - la maçonnerie, maçonnerie
gallery - galerie, balcon
blocked - bloqué, bloc
masses - masses, Masse, Massé
By contrast with the brilliancy outside, it seemed at first impenetrably dark to me. I entered it groping, for the change from light to blackness made spots of colour swim before me. Suddenly I halted spellbound. A pair of eyes, luminous by reflection against the daylight without, was watching me out of the darkness.
contrast with - en contraste avec
brilliancy - brillance
impenetrably - impénétrable
blackness - la noirceur, noirceur
spots - taches, tache, bouton, peu, endroit, zone, détecter, trouver
halted - arreté, (s')arreter
'The old instinctive dread of wild beasts came upon me. I clenched my hands and steadfastly looked into the glaring eyeballs. I was afraid to turn. Then the thought of the absolute security in which humanity appeared to be living came to my mind. And then I remembered that strange terror of the dark. Overcoming my fear to some extent, I advanced a step and spoke.
instinctive - instinctif
steadfastly - fermement
glaring - éblouissant, éclat
eyeballs - les globes oculaires, globe oculaire, évaluer a vue de nez
Overcoming - surmonter, vaincre, envahir
extent - mesure, étendue
advanced - avancé, élever, avancer, avancée, progression, progres
step - étape, marche
I will admit that my voice was harsh and ill-controlled. I put out my hand and touched something soft. At once the eyes darted sideways, and something white ran past me. I turned with my heart in my mouth, and saw a queer little ape-like figure, its head held down in a peculiar manner, running across the sunlit space behind me.
controlled - contrôlé, contrôler, maîtrise, contrôle, commandes-p
darted - dardé, dard, fleche
It blundered against a block of granite, staggered aside, and in a moment was hidden in a black shadow beneath another pile of ruined masonry.
blundered - gaffe, qualifier
beneath - dessous
pile - pile, tapée, pilotis, foule, amas
ruined - ruiné, ruine, ruiner, abîmer, foutre en l'air
'My impression of it is, of course, imperfect; but I know it was a dull white, and had strange large greyish-red eyes; also that there was flaxen hair on its head and down its back. But, as I say, it went too fast for me to see distinctly. I cannot even say whether it ran on all-fours, or only with its forearms held very low. After an instant's pause I followed it into the second heap of ruins.
imperfect - imparfait
flaxen - de lin
whether - si, que, soit, si oui ou non
forearms - les avant-bras, avant-bras
heap of ruins - un tas de ruines
I could not find it at first; but, after a time in the profound obscurity, I came upon one of those round well-like openings of which I have told you, half closed by a fallen pillar. A sudden thought came to me. Could this Thing have vanished down the shaft?
obscurity - l'obscurité, obscurité
pillar - pilier, pile
shaft - arbre, hampe, rachis, cage, entuber
I lit a match, and, looking down, I saw a small, white, moving creature, with large bright eyes which regarded me steadfastly as it retreated. It made me shudder. It was so like a human spider! It was clambering down the wall, and now I saw for the first time a number of metal foot and hand rests forming a kind of ladder down the shaft.
retreated - s'est retirée, battre en retraite
shudder - frémir, tremblement, frisson, frissonner, trembler
spider - araignée
ladder - l'échelle, échelle
Then the light burned my fingers and fell out of my hand, going out as it dropped, and when I had lit another the little monster had disappeared.
fingers - doigts, pointer, tripoter, doigter
fell out - Tomber
dropped - a déposé, goutte
monster - monstre, bete, monstrueux
'I do not know how long I sat peering down that well. It was not for some time that I could succeed in persuading myself that the thing I had seen was human.
Succeed - succéder, réussir, avoir du succes
persuading - persuader, convaincre
But, gradually, the truth dawned on me: that Man had not remained one species, but had differentiated into two distinct animals: that my graceful children of the Upper-world were not the sole descendants of our generation, but that this bleached, obscene, nocturnal Thing, which had flashed before me, was also heir to all the ages.
dawned - s'est levé, se lever, naître, aube, lever du soleil
differentiated - différenciée, distinguer, dériver, différencier
sole - unique, seul, semelle, plante, sole
descendants - descendants, descendant, descendante
bleached - blanchi, eau de javel, décolorant
obscene - obscene, obscene
nocturnal - nocturne
heir - héritier, héritiere, successeur, successeuse
'I thought of the flickering pillars and of my theory of an underground ventilation. I began to suspect their true import. And what, I wondered, was this Lemur doing in my scheme of a perfectly balanced organization? How was it related to the indolent serenity of the beautiful Upper-worlders? And what was hidden down there, at the foot of that shaft?
underground - souterrain, clandestin, underground, alternatif, sous terre
suspect - suspecter, soupçonner, suspect
wondered - s'est demandé, merveille, étonner
Lemur - lémur, lémurien
scheme - le projet, plan, combine, machination, schéma, systeme
related - en rapport, raconter, relater
worlders - mondial
I sat upon the edge of the well telling myself that, at any rate, there was nothing to fear, and that there I must descend for the solution of my difficulties. And withal I was absolutely afraid to go! As I hesitated, two of the beautiful Upper-world people came running in their amorous sport across the daylight in the shadow. The male pursued the female, flinging flowers at her as he ran.
edge - bord, côté, arete, carre
solution - solution
withal - en tout état de cause
amorous - amoureuse
pursued - poursuivie, poursuivre, rechercher
female - femelle
'They seemed distressed to find me, my arm against the overturned pillar, peering down the well. Apparently it was considered bad form to remark these apertures; for when I pointed to this one, and tried to frame a question about it in their tongue, they were still more visibly distressed and turned away. But they were interested by my matches, and I struck some to amuse them.
distressed - en détresse, détresse
considered - envisagée, considérer, examiner, réfléchir, songer
apertures - les ouvertures, ouverture
visibly - visiblement
amuse - amuser
I tried them again about the well, and again I failed. So presently I left them, meaning to go back to Weena, and see what I could get from her. But my mind was already in revolution; my guesses and impressions were slipping and sliding to a new adjustment.
revolution - révolution, coup d'état, tour
sliding - glissant, (slid) glissant
I had now a clue to the import of these wells, to the ventilating towers, to the mystery of the ghosts; to say nothing of a hint at the meaning of the bronze gates and the fate of the Time Machine! And very vaguely there came a suggestion towards the solution of the economic problem that had puzzled me.
hint at - insinuer
vaguely - vaguement
economic - économique
'Here was the new view. Plainly, this second species of Man was subterranean. There were three circumstances in particular which made me think that its rare emergence above ground was the outcome of a long-continued underground habit. In the first place, there was the bleached look common in most animals that live largely in the dark-the white fish of the Kentucky caves, for instance.
emergence - l'émergence, émergence
habit - habitude, configuration
largely - en grande partie, largement, en général, pour la plupart
Kentucky - le kentucky, Kentucky
caves - des grottes, grotte
Then, those large eyes, with that capacity for reflecting light, are common features of nocturnal things-witness the owl and the cat. And last of all, that evident confusion in the sunshine, that hasty yet fumbling awkward flight towards dark shadow, and that peculiar carriage of the head while in the light-all reinforced the theory of an extreme sensitiveness of the retina.
capacity - capacité
reflecting - réfléchissant, refléter, réfléchir
witness - témoignage, témoin, preuve, témoigner
last of all - le dernier de tous
evident - évidentes, évident
sunshine - soleil, lumiere du soleil
fumbling - le tâtonnement, tâtonner
awkward - maladroit, gauche, embarrassant, inconvenant
carriage - transport, rench: t-needed r, carrosse, port, chariot
reinforced - renforcée, renforcer
sensitiveness - sensibilité
retina - rétine
'Beneath my feet, then, the earth must be tunnelled enormously, and these tunnellings were the habitat of the new race. The presence of ventilating shafts and wells along the hill slopes-everywhere, in fact, except along the river valley-showed how universal were its ramifications.
tunnelled - en tunnel, tunnel
enormously - énormément
habitat - l'habitat, habitat
universal - universel
ramifications - conséquences, ramification
What so natural, then, as to assume that it was in this artificial Underworld that such work as was necessary to the comfort of the daylight race was done? The notion was so plausible that I at once accepted it, and went on to assume the how of this splitting of the human species.
artificial - artificiels
underworld - le monde souterrain, au-dela, autre monde, Enfers, pegre
splitting - le fractionnement, fendant, (split), divisé, fissure, division
I dare say you will anticipate the shape of my theory; though, for myself, I very soon felt that it fell far short of the truth.
anticipate - anticiper, prévoir
'At first, proceeding from the problems of our own age, it seemed clear as daylight to me that the gradual widening of the present merely temporary and social difference between the Capitalist and the Labourer, was the key to the whole position. No doubt it will seem grotesque enough to you-and wildly incredible!-and yet even now there are existing circumstances to point that way.
proceeding - la poursuite de la procédure, acte, (proceed), avancer
clear as daylight - clair comme de l'eau de roche
gradual - graduelle, graduel
widening - l'élargissement, s’élargir, élargir
temporary - temporaire, provisoire, intérimaire
Capitalist - capitaliste
Labourer - ouvrier
wildly - sauvage, sauvagement
There is a tendency to utilize underground space for the less ornamental purposes of civilization; there is the Metropolitan Railway in London, for instance, there are new electric railways, there are subways, there are underground workrooms and restaurants, and they increase and multiply.
utilize - utiliser, utilisent, exploiter, utilisons
ornamental - ornemental, ornementale
purposes - objectifs, but, objet
metropolitan - métropolitain, urbain
Electric - électrique, voiture électrique
railways - les chemins de fer, chemin de fer, réseau ferroviaire
subways - les métros, métro, métropolitain
workrooms - salles de travail, atelier
multiply - se multiplier, multipliez, multiplions, multiplier, multiplient
Evidently, I thought, this tendency had increased till Industry had gradually lost its birthright in the sky. I mean that it had gone deeper and deeper into larger and ever larger underground factories, spending a still-increasing amount of its time therein, till, in the end-!
increased - augmenté, augmenter, croître, accroître, augmentation
industry - l'industrie, industrie
deeper - plus profond, profond, épais, grave, foncé, foncée
factories - des usines, usine, fabrique, manufacture
Even now, does not an East-end worker live in such artificial conditions as practically to be cut off from the natural surface of the earth?
practically - pratiquement, quasiment
'Again, the exclusive tendency of richer people-due, no doubt, to the increasing refinement of their education, and the widening gulf between them and the rude violence of the poor-is already leading to the closing, in their interest, of considerable portions of the surface of the land. About London, for instance, perhaps half the prettier country is shut in against intrusion.
exclusive - exclusive, exclusif
due - due, du
refinement - raffinement
education - l'éducation, éducation, enseignement
Gulf - golfe
rude - grossier, impoli, malpoli
portions - portions, part, portion
shut - fermé, fermer
intrusion - intrusion
And this same widening gulf-which is due to the length and expense of the higher educational process and the increased facilities for and temptations towards refined habits on the part of the rich-will make that exchange between class and class, that promotion by intermarriage which at present retards the splitting of our species along lines of social stratification, less and less frequent.
educational - éducatif
facilities - des installations, facilité, infrastructure
temptations - tentations, tentation
habits - habitudes, habitude
Exchange - l'échange, échangent, échangeons, échanger, échangez, échange
promotion - promotion
intermarriage - les mariages mixtes
retards - des attardés, retard, retardé, attardé
frequent - fréquents, fréquenter
So, in the end, above ground you must have the Haves, pursuing pleasure and comfort and beauty, and below ground the Have-nots, the Workers getting continually adapted to the conditions of their labour. Once they were there, they would no doubt have to pay rent, and not a little of it, for the ventilation of their caverns; and if they refused, they would starve or be suffocated for arrears.
pursuing - poursuivre, poursuivant, (pursue), rechercher
pleasure - plaisir, volupté, désir
below ground - sous terre
nots - pas
Workers - les travailleurs, travailleur, travailleuse, ouvrier, ouvriere
adapted - adapté, adapter, s'adapter
labour - le travail, effort, travail, labeur, besogne, travailleurs
rent - loyer, louez, louons, arrentez, accensons
caverns - cavernes, caverne, grotte
refused - refusé, refuser de
starve - mourir de faim, crever de faim, crever la dalle, affamer
suffocated - étouffé, suffoquer, étouffer
arrears - des arriérés, arriéré
Such of them as were so constituted as to be miserable and rebellious would die; and, in the end, the balance being permanent, the survivors would become as well adapted to the conditions of underground life, and as happy in their way, as the Upper-world people were to theirs. As it seemed to me, the refined beauty and the etiolated pallor followed naturally enough.
constituted - constitué, constituer
miserable - misérable
rebellious - rebelle
permanent - permanent, permanente
survivors - survivants, survivant, survivante, rescapé, rescapée
'The great triumph of Humanity I had dreamed of took a different shape in my mind. It had been no such triumph of moral education and general co-operation as I had imagined. Instead, I saw a real aristocracy, armed with a perfected science and working to a logical conclusion the industrial system of to-day.
dreamed - revé, reve, t+songe, t+voeu, t+souhait, t+vou
moral - moral, moralité, morale
operation - l'opération, opération, fonctionnement, exploitation, gestion
aristocracy - l'aristocratie, aristocratie
industrial - industrielle, industriel
Its triumph had not been simply a triumph over Nature, but a triumph over Nature and the fellow-man. This, I must warn you, was my theory at the time. I had no convenient cicerone in the pattern of the Utopian books. My explanation may be absolutely wrong. I still think it is the most plausible one.
fellow - un camarade, ensemble, mâle
cicerone - cicérone
Utopian - utopie, utopique
most plausible - le plus plausible
But even on this supposition the balanced civilization that was at last attained must have long since passed its zenith, and was now far fallen into decay. The too-perfect security of the Upper-worlders had led them to a slow movement of degeneration, to a general dwindling in size, strength, and intelligence. That I could see clearly enough already.
supposition - hypothese, supposition, conjecture
zenith - zénith
degeneration - dégénérescence, dégénération
dwindling - en baisse, diminuer, fondre, s'amenuiser, se tarir
size - taille, ampleur, pointure
What had happened to the Under-grounders I did not yet suspect; but from what I had seen of the Morlocks-that, by the by, was the name by which these creatures were called-I could imagine that the modification of the human type was even far more profound than among the "Eloi," the beautiful race that I already knew.
modification - modification
more profound - plus profonde
'Then came troublesome doubts. Why had the Morlocks taken my Time Machine? For I felt sure it was they who had taken it. Why, too, if the Eloi were masters, could they not restore the machine to me? And why were they so terribly afraid of the dark? I proceeded, as I have said, to question Weena about this Under-world, but here again I was disappointed.
troublesome - genants
doubts - des doutes, douter, doute
masters - maîtres, maître/-tresse
restore - restaurer, rétablir, rendre, restituer
Terribly - terriblement
disappointed - déçue, décevoir, désappointer
At first she would not understand my questions, and presently she refused to answer them. She shivered as though the topic was unendurable. And when I pressed her, perhaps a little harshly, she burst into tears. They were the only tears, except my own, I ever saw in that Golden Age.
unendurable - insoutenable
burst - l'éclatement, éclater, faire éclater, rompre, briser
Tears - des larmes, larme
When I saw them I ceased abruptly to trouble about the Morlocks, and was only concerned in banishing these signs of the human inheritance from Weena's eyes. And very soon she was smiling and clapping her hands, while I solemnly burned a match.
concerned - préoccupé, inquiétude, souci, soin, préoccupation
banishing - le bannissement, bannir
inheritance - l'héritage, héritage
'It may seem odd to you, but it was two days before I could follow up the new-found clue in what was manifestly the proper way. I felt a peculiar shrinking from those pallid bodies. They were just the half-bleached colour of the worms and things one sees preserved in spirit in a zoological museum. And they were filthily cold to the touch.
manifestly - manifestement
shrinking - se rétrécir, se réduire, rétrécir, se resserrer
pallid - pâle, blafard
worms - des vers, ver, vermine, scarabée, vis sans fin, dragon
preserved - préservée, confiture, conserve, réserve naturelle
zoological - zoologique
filthily - de façon répugnante
Probably my shrinking was largely due to the sympathetic influence of the Eloi, whose disgust of the Morlocks I now began to appreciate.
sympathetic - sympathique
influence - influence, influencer, influer
disgust - dégout, dégouter, dégout
'The next night I did not sleep well. Probably my health was a little disordered. I was oppressed with perplexity and doubt. Once or twice I had a feeling of intense fear for which I could perceive no definite reason. I remember creeping noiselessly into the great hall where the little people were sleeping in the moonlight-that night Weena was among them-and feeling reassured by their presence.
oppressed - opprimés, opprimer, oppresser
definite - définitif
noiselessly - sans bruit
It occurred to me even then, that in the course of a few days the moon must pass through its last quarter, and the nights grow dark, when the appearances of these unpleasant creatures from below, these whitened Lemurs, this new vermin that had replaced the old, might be more abundant. And on both these days I had the restless feeling of one who shirks an inevitable duty.
pass through - passer a travers
appearances - les apparences, apparition, apparence
whitened - blanchi, blanchir
Lemurs - les lémuriens, lémur, lémurien
vermin - la vermine, vermine
replaced - remplacés, remplacer
shirks - se dérobe, se dérober a
Duty - le devoir, devoir, obligation, service, travail, taxe
I felt assured that the Time Machine was only to be recovered by boldly penetrating these underground mysteries. Yet I could not face the mystery. If only I had had a companion it would have been different. But I was so horribly alone, and even to clamber down into the darkness of the well appalled me. I don't know if you will understand my feeling, but I never felt quite safe at my back.
boldly - hardiment
penetrating - pénétrant, pénétrer
mysteries - mysteres, mystere
companion - compagnon, compagne
horribly - horriblement
clamber - clamber, grimper
appalled - consterné, épouvanter
'It was this restlessness, this insecurity, perhaps, that drove me further and further afield in my exploring expeditions. Going to the south-westward towards the rising country that is now called Combe Wood, I observed far off, in the direction of nineteenth-century Banstead, a vast green structure, different in character from any I had hitherto seen.
restlessness - l'agitation, agitation, impatience
insecurity - l'insécurité, insécurité
exploring - l'exploration, explorer
expeditions - des expéditions, expédition
Combe - combe
wood - du bois, (de) bois
observed - observée, observer, remarquer, respecter, garder
character - caractere, personnage, caractere
It was larger than the largest of the palaces or ruins I knew, and the facade had an Oriental look: the face of it having the lustre, as well as the pale-green tint, a kind of bluish-green, of a certain type of Chinese porcelain. This difference in aspect suggested a difference in use, and I was minded to push on and explore.
facade - façade
lustre - l'éclat, lustre, éclat
tint - teinte, nuance, teindre
bluish - bleuâtre, bleuté, légerement bleu
Chinese - chinois, langue chinoise
porcelain - porcelaine
aspect - aspect, rench: t-needed r
in use - en cours d'utilisation
push - pousser, poussons, poussez, poussent, buter, acculer
But the day was growing late, and I had come upon the sight of the place after a long and tiring circuit; so I resolved to hold over the adventure for the following day, and I returned to the welcome and the caresses of little Weena.
tiring - fatiguant, fatigant, (tire) fatiguant
circuit - circuit
caresses - caresses, caresser
But next morning I perceived clearly enough that my curiosity regarding the Palace of Green Porcelain was a piece of self-deception, to enable me to shirk, by another day, an experience I dreaded. I resolved I would make the descent without further waste of time, and started out in the early morning towards a well near the ruins of granite and aluminium.
regarding - concernant, considérer
deception - supercherie, tromperie
enable - autoriser, permettre, activer
shirk - shirk, se dérober a
descent - descente, origine, ascendance
'Little Weena ran with me. She danced beside me to the well, but when she saw me lean over the mouth and look downward, she seemed strangely disconcerted. "Good-bye, little Weena," I said, kissing her; and then putting her down, I began to feel over the parapet for the climbing hooks. Rather hastily, I may as well confess, for I feared my courage might leak away!
strangely - étrangement
disconcerted - déconcerté, déconcerter, fr
Good-bye - (Good-bye) Au revoir
kissing - s'embrasser, (s')embrasser
parapet - parapet
hooks - des crochets, crochet, agrafe, hook, accrocher, ferrer
feared - craint, peur
leak - fuite, voie d'eau, taupe, fuir
At first she watched me in amazement. Then she gave a most piteous cry, and running to me, she began to pull at me with her little hands. I think her opposition nerved me rather to proceed. I shook her off, perhaps a little roughly, and in another moment I was in the throat of the well. I saw her agonized face over the parapet, and smiled to reassure her.
amazement - l'étonnement, stupéfaction, stupeur
piteous - piteux, pitoyable
pull - tirer, retirer, tirer un coup, influence
opposition - l'opposition, opposition
nerved - nervé, nerf, nervure, toupet, culot, cran
proceed - avancer, procéder
roughly - en gros, rudement, approximativement
reassure - tranquilliser, rassurer, réassurer
Then I had to look down at the unstable hooks to which I clung.
look down - regarder en bas
unstable - instable
clung - s'est accroché, s'accrocher (a)
'I had to clamber down a shaft of perhaps two hundred yards. The descent was effected by means of metallic bars projecting from the sides of the well, and these being adapted to the needs of a creature much smaller and lighter than myself, I was speedily cramped and fatigued by the descent. And not simply fatigued!
cramped - a l'étroit, crampe
One of the bars bent suddenly under my weight, and almost swung me off into the blackness beneath. For a moment I hung by one hand, and after that experience I did not dare to rest again. Though my arms and back were presently acutely painful, I went on clambering down the sheer descent with as quick a motion as possible.
weight - poids, lest, graisse, alourdir, lester, appesantir
acutely - avec acuité
Glancing upward, I saw the aperture, a small blue disk, in which a star was visible, while little Weena's head showed as a round black projection. The thudding sound of a machine below grew louder and more oppressive. Everything save that little disk above was profoundly dark, and when I looked up again Weena had disappeared.
glancing - un coup d'oil, (glance), jeter un coup d’oil
aperture - ouverture
disk - disque
projection - saillie, projection
thudding - thudding, martelement, marteler
louder - plus fort, fort
oppressive - oppressif
'I was in an agony of discomfort. I had some thought of trying to go up the shaft again, and leave the Under-world alone. But even while I turned this over in my mind I continued to descend. At last, with intense relief, I saw dimly coming up, a foot to the right of me, a slender loophole in the wall.
agony - l'agonie, agonie, angoisse
discomfort - malaise, inconfort
relief - secours, allégement, relief, soulagement
slender - svelte, mince
loophole - une faille, meurtriere, échappatoire, breche
Swinging myself in, I found it was the aperture of a narrow horizontal tunnel in which I could lie down and rest. It was not too soon. My arms ached, my back was cramped, and I was trembling with the prolonged terror of a fall. Besides this, the unbroken darkness had had a distressing effect upon my eyes. The air was full of the throb and hum of machinery pumping air down the shaft.
swinging - l'échangisme, pivotant, (swing), osciller, se balancer
tunnel - tunnel
lie - mentir, mensonge, mentez, gésir, gis, mentons
ached - a souffert, douleur
unbroken - ininterrompue
distressing - pénible, détresse
throb - palpitant, battre, palpiter, vibrer, résonner, battement
Hum - hum, fredonner, bourdonner, fourmiller
pumping - pompage, pompe
'I do not know how long I lay. I was roused by a soft hand touching my face. Starting up in the darkness I snatched at my matches and, hastily striking one, I saw three stooping white creatures similar to the one I had seen above ground in the ruin, hastily retreating before the light.
roused - réveillé, réveiller
snatched - arraché, empoigner, happer, saisir, arracher, enlever
striking - frappant, éclatant, (strike), biffer, rayer, barrer, frapper
retreating - se retirer, battre en retraite
Living, as they did, in what appeared to me impenetrable darkness, their eyes were abnormally large and sensitive, just as are the pupils of the abysmal fishes, and they reflected the light in the same way. I have no doubt they could see me in that rayless obscurity, and they did not seem to have any fear of me apart from the light.
impenetrable - impénétrable
abnormally - anormalement
sensitive - sensible
pupils - éleves, écolier/-iere
abysmal - abyssal, épouvantable, terrible, exécrable
reflected - réfléchie, refléter, réfléchir
apart - a part, séparé, séparément, a part, en morceaux, en pieces
But, so soon as I struck a match in order to see them, they fled incontinently, vanishing into dark gutters and tunnels, from which their eyes glared at me in the strangest fashion.
fled - fui, s'enfuir, prendre la fuite, fuir, échapper
vanishing - en voie de disparition, (vanish), disparaître, s'évanouir
gutters - les gouttieres, gouttiere, caniveau
tunnels - tunnels, tunnel
glared - éblouie, éclat
Strangest - le plus étrange, étrange, anormal, inconnu, étranger
'I tried to call to them, but the language they had was apparently different from that of the Over-world people; so that I was needs left to my own unaided efforts, and the thought of flight before exploration was even then in my mind. But I said to myself, "You are in for it now," and, feeling my way along the tunnel, I found the noise of machinery grow louder.
unaided - sans aide
Presently the walls fell away from me, and I came to a large open space, and striking another match, saw that I had entered a vast arched cavern, which stretched into utter darkness beyond the range of my light. The view I had of it was as much as one could see in the burning of a match.
arched - en arc de cercle, voute, arche
cavern - caverne, grotte
stretched - étiré, étendre, s'étendre, s'étirer, étirement
burning - bruler, brulant, ardent, brulage, (burn) bruler
'Necessarily my memory is vague. Great shapes like big machines rose out of the dimness, and cast grotesque black shadows, in which dim spectral Morlocks sheltered from the glare. The place, by the by, was very stuffy and oppressive, and the faint halitus of freshly shed blood was in the air. Some way down the central vista was a little table of white metal, laid with what seemed a meal.
necessarily - nécessairement
dimness - obscurité
spectral - spectrale, spectral, spectral?
sheltered - a l'abri, abri, refuge, abriter
stuffy - mal aéré, étouffant, bouché, fâché, en rogne
halitus - halitus
freshly - fraîchement, froidement
shed blood - verser du sang
vista - vista, vue, point de vue
The Morlocks at any rate were carnivorous! Even at the time, I remember wondering what large animal could have survived to furnish the red joint I saw. It was all very indistinct: the heavy smell, the big unmeaning shapes, the obscene figures lurking in the shadows, and only waiting for the darkness to come at me again!
carnivorous - carnivore
survived - a survécu, survivre
furnish - meubler, fournir, livrer
joint - conjoint, commun, articulation, rotule, jointure, assemblage
heavy - lourd, emporté
smell - odeur, parfum, gout, odorat, sentir, humer
unmeaning - sans signification
lurking - se cacher, (lurk), s'embusquer, se dissimuler
Then the match burned down, and stung my fingers, and fell, a wriggling red spot in the blackness.
stung - piqué, piquant, dard
wriggling - se tortiller, (wriggle), remuer
spot - spot, tache, bouton, peu, endroit, zone, détecter, trouver
'I have thought since how particularly ill-equipped I was for such an experience. When I had started with the Time Machine, I had started with the absurd assumption that the men of the Future would certainly be infinitely ahead of ourselves in all their appliances.
absurd - absurde
assumption - hypothese, assomption, supposition, hypothese, proposition
infinitely - a l'infini
ourselves - nous-memes, nous-meme
I had come without arms, without medicine, without anything to smoke-at times I missed tobacco frightfully-even without enough matches. If only I had thought of a Kodak! I could have flashed that glimpse of the Underworld in a second, and examined it at leisure.
smoke - la fumée, fumons, griller, fumer, fument, fumée, fumez
frightfully - effrayante
examined - examinés, examiner
But, as it was, I stood there with only the weapons and the powers that Nature had endowed me with-hands, feet, and teeth; these, and four safety-matches that still remained to me.
weapons - des armes, arme
endowed - dotés, doter, enrichir
safety - la sécurité, sécurité, sureté
'I was afraid to push my way in among all this machinery in the dark, and it was only with my last glimpse of light I discovered that my store of matches had run low. It had never occurred to me until that moment that there was any need to economize them, and I had wasted almost half the box in astonishing the Upper-worlders, to whom fire was a novelty.
store - magasin, entrepôt, stock, stocker, conserver
economize - économiser, épargner
astonishing - étonnante, étonner, surprendre
novelty - nouveauté
Now, as I say, I had four left, and while I stood in the dark, a hand touched mine, lank fingers came feeling over my face, and I was sensible of a peculiar unpleasant odour. I fancied I heard the breathing of a crowd of those dreadful little beings about me. I felt the box of matches in my hand being gently disengaged, and other hands behind me plucking at my clothing.
mine - la mienne, mienne, miniere
lank - lank, plats
odour - odeur
beings - etres, etre, créature, existence
disengaged - désengagé, désengager
plucking - plumer, tirer, pincer, voler, abats-p, persévérance
clothing - vetements, vetements, habits, (cloth), tissu, étoffe, tenue
The sense of these unseen creatures examining me was indescribably unpleasant. The sudden realization of my ignorance of their ways of thinking and doing came home to me very vividly in the darkness. I shouted at them as loudly as I could. They started away, and then I could feel them approaching me again. They clutched at me more boldly, whispering odd sounds to each other.
realization - connaissance, réalisation
ignorance - l'ignorance, ignorance
shouted - crié, cri
loudly - bruyamment, fort, a voix haute, a haute voix
clutched - serré, se raccrocher (a)
whispering - chuchotement, (whisper), chuchoter, susurrer
I shivered violently, and shouted again-rather discordantly. This time they were not so seriously alarmed, and they made a queer laughing noise as they came back at me. I will confess I was horribly frightened. I determined to strike another match and escape under the protection of its glare.
discordantly - de maniere discordante
alarmed - alarmé, alarme, réveille-matin, réveil, alarmer, fr
strike - greve, biffer, rayer, barrer, frapper, battre, faire greve
escape - échapper, s'échapper, éviter, échapper (a quelqu'un), évasion
protection - protection
I did so, and eking out the flicker with a scrap of paper from my pocket, I made good my retreat to the narrow tunnel. But I had scarce entered this when my light was blown out and in the blackness I could hear the Morlocks rustling like wind among leaves, and pattering like the rain, as they hurried after me.
eking - eking, faire durer, maintenir
blown - soufflé, coup
rustling - bruissement, (rustle), froufrou, froufrouter
pattering - le patinage, crépiter
hurried - pressé, précipitation, hâte, dépecher
'In a moment I was clutched by several hands, and there was no mistaking that they were trying to haul me back. I struck another light, and waved it in their dazzled faces. You can scarce imagine how nauseatingly inhuman they looked-those pale, chinless faces and great, lidless, pinkish-grey eyes!-as they stared in their blindness and bewilderment.
haul - de l'eau de pluie, haler, trainer, butin, magot
waved - salué, vague
nauseatingly - nauséabond
chinless - sans menton
lidless - sans couvercle
blindness - la cécité, cécité
bewilderment - la perplexité, ahurissement, confusion, perplexité
But I did not stay to look, I promise you: I retreated again, and when my second match had ended, I struck my third. It had almost burned through when I reached the opening into the shaft. I lay down on the edge, for the throb of the great pump below made me giddy.
pump - pompe, pompons, pompez, pompent, pomper
giddy - étourdi, étourdissant
Then I felt sideways for the projecting hooks, and, as I did so, my feet were grasped from behind, and I was violently tugged backward. I lit my last match … and it incontinently went out.
grasped - saisi, saisir, agripper, comprendre
tugged - tiré, tirer, remorquer, tirement
But I had my hand on the climbing bars now, and, kicking violently, I disengaged myself from the clutches of the Morlocks and was speedily clambering up the shaft, while they stayed peering and blinking up at me: all but one little wretch who followed me for some way, and well-nigh secured my boot as a trophy.
kicking - coups de pied, donner un coup de pied (a, dans)
clutches - embrayages, se raccrocher (a)
blinking - clignotant, ciller, cligner des yeux, clignoter
wretch - malheureux, malheureux/-euse
nigh - nuit, proche, pres
secured - sécurisé, sur, sécuriser
trophy - trophée
'That climb seemed interminable to me. With the last twenty or thirty feet of it a deadly nausea came upon me. I had the greatest difficulty in keeping my hold. The last few yards was a frightful struggle against this faintness. Several times my head swam, and I felt all the sensations of falling.
deadly - mortelle, mortel, fatal, létal
nausea - des nausées, nausée, dégout
frightful - effrayante, effrayant
against this - contre cela
At last, however, I got over the well-mouth somehow, and staggered out of the ruin into the blinding sunlight. I fell upon my face. Even the soil smelt sweet and clean. Then I remember Weena kissing my hands and ears, and the voices of others among the Eloi. Then, for a time, I was insensible.
got over - surmonter
soil - sol, terre, barbouillons, barbouiller, foncierere
smelt - l'éperlan, fondre, (smell), odeur, parfum, gout, odorat, sentir
insensible - insensible
'Now, indeed, I seemed in a worse case than before. Hitherto, except during my night's anguish at the loss of the Time Machine, I had felt a sustaining hope of ultimate escape, but that hope was staggered by these new discoveries.
anguish - l'angoisse, angoissons, angoissez, angoisser, angoissent
sustaining - durable, (sustain), maintenir, subvenir
ultimate - dernier, ultime
discoveries - découvertes, découverte
Hitherto I had merely thought myself impeded by the childish simplicity of the little people, and by some unknown forces which I had only to understand to overcome; but there was an altogether new element in the sickening quality of the Morlocks-a something inhuman and malign. Instinctively I loathed them.
impeded - entravé, entraver
simplicity - la simplicité, simplicité
forces - forces, force
overcome - vaincre, surmonter, envahir
element - élément, membre, point
sickening - écourant, a s’en rendre malade
malign - malin, vilipender, injurier
loathed - détesté, exécrer, détester, hair
Before, I had felt as a man might feel who had fallen into a pit: my concern was with the pit and how to get out of it. Now I felt like a beast in a trap, whose enemy would come upon him soon.
pit - fosse, écart, précipice, noyau
beast - bete, bete, bete sauvage
enemy - l'ennemi, ennemi, ennemie
'The enemy I dreaded may surprise you. It was the darkness of the new moon. Weena had put this into my head by some at first incomprehensible remarks about the Dark Nights. It was not now such a very difficult problem to guess what the coming Dark Nights might mean. The moon was on the wane: each night there was a longer interval of darkness.
new moon - la nouvelle lune
incomprehensible - incompréhensible
remarks - remarques, remarque
And I now understood to some slight degree at least the reason of the fear of the little Upper-world people for the dark. I wondered vaguely what foul villainy it might be that the Morlocks did under the new moon. I felt pretty sure now that my second hypothesis was all wrong.
degree - diplôme, degré, ordre
villainy - méchanceté
hypothesis - hypothese, hypothese
The Upper-world people might once have been the favoured aristocracy, and the Morlocks their mechanical servants: but that had long since passed away. The two species that had resulted from the evolution of man were sliding down towards, or had already arrived at, an altogether new relationship. The Eloi, like the Carolingian kings, had decayed to a mere beautiful futility.
favoured - favorisée, service
mechanical - mécanique, machinal
evolution - l'évolution, évolution
relationship - rapport, relation
Carolingian - carolingien
Kings - les rois, roi
decayed - en décomposition, décrépitude, déchéance, pourrir
futility - futilité
They still possessed the earth on sufferance: since the Morlocks, subterranean for innumerable generations, had come at last to find the daylit surface intolerable. And the Morlocks made their garments, I inferred, and maintained them in their habitual needs, perhaps through the survival of an old habit of service.
possessed - possédé, posséder, s'emparer de
sufferance - souffrance
daylit - éclairé par la lumiere du jour, jour, lumiere du jour
intolerable - intolérable
inferred - déduit, déduire, inférer
maintained - maintenue, entretenir, maintenir
habitual - habituel
service - service, messe
They did it as a standing horse paws with his foot, or as a man enjoys killing animals in sport: because ancient and departed necessities had impressed it on the organism. But, clearly, the old order was already in part reversed. The Nemesis of the delicate ones was creeping on apace. Ages ago, thousands of generations ago, man had thrust his brother man out of the ease and the sunshine.
paws - pattes, patte
killing - tuer, meurtre, (kill) tuer
ancient - ancienne, antique
departed - parti, partir, s’en aller, dévier, quitter
impressed - impressionné, impressionner
organism - organisme
reversed - inversé, faire marche arriere, inverser
apace - a un rythme soutenu, rapidement
thrust - estocade, poussée, propulser
And now that brother was coming back changed! Already the Eloi had begun to learn one old lesson anew. They were becoming reacquainted with Fear. And suddenly there came into my head the memory of the meat I had seen in the Under-world. It seemed odd how it floated into my mind: not stirred up as it were by the current of my meditations, but coming in almost like a question from outside.
anew - a nouveau, a nouveau, derechef
floated - flotté, flotter
stirred up - remué
meditations - méditations, méditation
I tried to recall the form of it. I had a vague sense of something familiar, but I could not tell what it was at the time.
recall - rappeler
familiar - familier, esprit familier
'Still, however helpless the little people in the presence of their mysterious Fear, I was differently constituted. I came out of this age of ours, this ripe prime of the human race, when Fear does not paralyse and mystery has lost its terrors. I at least would defend myself. Without further delay I determined to make myself arms and a fastness where I might sleep.
differently - différemment
ripe - mur, pruine
prime - premier
paralyse - paralyser
terrors - terreurs, terreur, effroi, terrorisme
defend - défendre
delay - délai, ajourner, décélération, surseoir, retard, retarder
With that refuge as a base, I could face this strange world with some of that confidence I had lost in realizing to what creatures night by night I lay exposed. I felt I could never sleep again until my bed was secure from them. I shuddered with horror to think how they must already have examined me.
refuge - refuge
base - base, baser, basent, socle, basez, Assise, basons
realizing - la réalisation, réaliser, se rendre compte, prendre conscience
by night - la nuit
exposed - exposée, exposer, dénoncer
shuddered - a tremblé, tremblement, frisson, frissonner, trembler
'I wandered during the afternoon along the valley of the Thames, but found nothing that commended itself to my mind as inaccessible. All the buildings and trees seemed easily practicable to such dexterous climbers as the Morlocks, to judge by their wells, must be.
wandered - erré, errer, vaguer, divaguer
commended - félicité, féliciter, recommander
practicable - praticable
dexterous - dextre, adroit, habile
judge - juge, juger
Then the tall pinnacles of the Palace of Green Porcelain and the polished gleam of its walls came back to my memory; and in the evening, taking Weena like a child upon my shoulder, I went up the hills towards the south-west. The distance, I had reckoned, was seven or eight miles, but it must have been nearer eighteen.
pinnacles - des pinacles, cime, pic, pinacle
reckoned - a calculé, considérer
I had first seen the place on a moist afternoon when distances are deceptively diminished. In addition, the heel of one of my shoes was loose, and a nail was working through the sole-they were comfortable old shoes I wore about indoors-so that I was lame. And it was already long past sunset when I came in sight of the palace, silhouetted black against the pale yellow of the sky.
moist - humide, moite
distances - les distances, distance, éloigner, fr
deceptively - de maniere trompeuse
heel - talon, alinéa
nail - clou, ongle, enclouer, clouer, caboche
indoors - a l'intérieur, intérieur, salle
lame - boiteux
silhouetted - silhouettée, silhouette
pale yellow - jaune pâle
'Weena had been hugely delighted when I began to carry her, but after a while she desired me to let her down, and ran along by the side of me, occasionally darting off on either hand to pick flowers to stick in my pockets. My pockets had always puzzled Weena, but at the last she had concluded that they were an eccentric kind of vase for floral decoration.
hugely - énorme, colossalement
delighted - ravie, plaisir, délice, joie, enchanter, ravir
desired - souhaitée, désirer, désir
Occasionally - occasionnellement
darting - darting, dard, fleche
pick - pioche, passeartout, choix, écran, prendre, cueillir, choisir
concluded - conclu, conclure
eccentric - excentrique
vase - vase
floral - floral
decoration - la décoration, décoration
At least she utilized them for that purpose. And that reminds me! In changing my jacket I found…'
utilized - utilisé, utiliser
purpose - objectif, dgssein, dessein, finalité, but
reminds - rappelle, rappeler
The Time Traveller paused, put his hand into his pocket, and silently placed two withered flowers, not unlike very large white mallows, upon the little table. Then he resumed his narrative.
paused - en pause, pauser, pause
silently - en silence, silencieusement
withered - flétrie, (se) faner
unlike - contrairement a, différent
mallows - des mauves, mauve
narrative - narratif, récit
'As the hush of evening crept over the world and we proceeded over the hill crest towards Wimbledon, Weena grew tired and wanted to return to the house of grey stone. But I pointed out the distant pinnacles of the Palace of Green Porcelain to her, and contrived to make her understand that we were seeking a refuge there from her Fear.
Hush - chut !, silence
contrived - artificiel, combiner, inventer
You know that great pause that comes upon things before the dusk? Even the breeze stops in the trees. To me there is always an air of expectation about that evening stillness. The sky was clear, remote, and empty save for a few horizontal bars far down in the sunset. Well, that night the expectation took the colour of my fears. In that darkling calm my senses seemed preternaturally sharpened.
dusk - crépuscule
breeze - brise
expectation - attentes, attente
stillness - l'immobilité, calme, immobilité
empty - vide, vider, cadavre
darkling - darkling, (darkle) darkling
senses - sens, acception, sentir
preternaturally - de façon préternaturelle
sharpened - aiguisé, affiler, affuter, aiguiser
I fancied I could even feel the hollowness of the ground beneath my feet: could, indeed, almost see through it the Morlocks on their ant-hill going hither and thither and waiting for the dark. In my excitement I fancied that they would receive my invasion of their burrows as a declaration of war. And why had they taken my Time Machine?
hollowness - le vide
see through - voir a travers
ant - fourmi
hither - ici, ça
receive - recevoir
invasion - invasion
burrows - des terriers, terrier, clapier
declaration - déclaration
'So we went on in the quiet, and the twilight deepened into night. The clear blue of the distance faded, and one star after another came out. The ground grew dim and the trees black. Weena's fears and her fatigue grew upon her. I took her in my arms and talked to her and caressed her.
deepened - approfondi, approfondir, intensifier
Then, as the darkness grew deeper, she put her arms round my neck, and, closing her eyes, tightly pressed her face against my shoulder. So we went down a long slope into a valley, and there in the dimness I almost walked into a little river. This I waded, and went up the opposite side of the valley, past a number of sleeping houses, and by a statue-a Faun, or some such figure, minus the head.
tightly - étanche, fermement
waded - pataugé, patauger (dans)
opposite side - du côté opposé
statue - statue
Faun - faune
minus - moins, strictement négatif, strictement négative
Here too were acacias. So far I had seen nothing of the Morlocks, but it was yet early in the night, and the darker hours before the old moon rose were still to come.
'From the brow of the next hill I saw a thick wood spreading wide and black before me. I hesitated at this. I could see no end to it, either to the right or the left. Feeling tired-my feet, in particular, were very sore-I carefully lowered Weena from my shoulder as I halted, and sat down upon the turf. I could no longer see the Palace of Green Porcelain, and I was in doubt of my direction.
brow - sourcils, andouiller d'oil, maître andouiller
sore - douloureux, ulcere
lowered - abaissé, (s')assombrir
I looked into the thickness of the wood and thought of what it might hide. Under that dense tangle of branches one would be out of sight of the stars. Even were there no other lurking danger-a danger I did not care to let my imagination loose upon-there would still be all the roots to stumble over and the tree-boles to strike against.
hide - cacher, planquer, peau, fourrure
dense - dense, obscur, bouché
branches - branches, branche, t+rameau, affluent, filiale
roots - des racines, racine
stumble - chute, faux pas, bourde, trébucher
boles - boles, tronc
'I was very tired, too, after the excitements of the day; so I decided that I would not face it, but would pass the night upon the open hill.
excitements - des excitants, excitation
pass the night - passer la nuit
'Weena, I was glad to find, was fast asleep. I carefully wrapped her in my jacket, and sat down beside her to wait for the moonrise. The hill-side was quiet and deserted, but from the black of the wood there came now and then a stir of living things. Above me shone the stars, for the night was very clear. I felt a certain sense of friendly comfort in their twinkling.
Glad - heureux, heureuse
asleep - endormi
wrapped - enveloppé, enrouler (autour de)
moonrise - lever de lune
All the old constellations had gone from the sky, however: that slow movement which is imperceptible in a hundred human lifetimes, had long since rearranged them in unfamiliar groupings. But the Milky Way, it seemed to me, was still the same tattered streamer of star-dust as of yore.
constellations - constellations, constellation
imperceptible - imperceptible
lifetimes - vies, durée de vie (objects), vie (persons), éternité
rearranged - réarrangé, réorganiser, réarranger
groupings - des groupements, groupement
Milky Way - La Voie lactée
streamer - streamer, fanion
yore - autrefois, jadis, antan
Southward (as I judged it) was a very bright red star that was new to me; it was even more splendid than our own green Sirius. And amid all these scintillating points of light one bright planet shone kindly and steadily like the face of an old friend.
more splendid - plus splendide
Sirius - sirius
scintillating - scintillant, scintiller
kindly - avec bienveillance
'Looking at these stars suddenly dwarfed my own troubles and all the gravities of terrestrial life. I thought of their unfathomable distance, and the slow inevitable drift of their movements out of the unknown past into the unknown future. I thought of the great precessional cycle that the pole of the earth describes.
dwarfed - nain, naine
troubles - des problemes, peine, mal, probleme, emmerde, fr
gravities - gravités, gravité, pesanteur
terrestrial - terrestre
unfathomable - insondable
precessional - précessionnel
cycle - tour, cycle, faire du vélo, rench: passer par un cycle
pole - pôle, poteau, pieu, Gaule, pole
Only forty times had that silent revolution occurred during all the years that I had traversed. And during these few revolutions all the activity, all the traditions, the complex organizations, the nations, languages, literatures, aspirations, even the mere memory of Man as I knew him, had been swept out of existence.
traversed - traversé, franchir, traverser
revolutions - révolutions, révolution, coup d'état, tour
traditions - traditions, tradition
organizations - des organisations, organisation
nations - nations, nation
literatures - littératures, littérature
Instead were these frail creatures who had forgotten their high ancestry, and the white Things of which I went in terror. Then I thought of the Great Fear that was between the two species, and for the first time, with a sudden shiver, came the clear knowledge of what the meat I had seen might be. Yet it was too horrible!
ancestry - l'ascendance, ascendance
shiver - frisson, trembler, frissonner
I looked at little Weena sleeping beside me, her face white and starlike under the stars, and forthwith dismissed the thought.
starlike - comme une étoile
dismissed - licencié, renvoyer, limoger, licencier, démettre
'Through that long night I held my mind off the Morlocks as well as I could, and whiled away the time by trying to fancy I could find signs of the old constellations in the new confusion. The sky kept very clear, except for a hazy cloud or so. No doubt I dozed at times.
dozed - s'est assoupi, sommeiller
Then, as my vigil wore on, came a faintness in the eastward sky, like the reflection of some colourless fire, and the old moon rose, thin and peaked and white. And close behind, and overtaking it, and overflowing it, the dawn came, pale at first, and then growing pink and warm. No Morlocks had approached us. Indeed, I had seen none upon the hill that night.
wore on - a porté
peaked - en crete, pic
overtaking - le dépassement, dépasser, doubler, surprendre
overflowing - débordant, (overflow), débordement, déborder, checktransborder
approached - approché, (s')approcher (de)
And in the confidence of renewed day it almost seemed to me that my fear had been unreasonable. I stood up and found my foot with the loose heel swollen at the ankle and painful under the heel; so I sat down again, took off my shoes, and flung them away.
unreasonable - déraisonnable
swollen - gonflé, enfler, gonfler
ankle - cheville
'I awakened Weena, and we went down into the wood, now green and pleasant instead of black and forbidding. We found some fruit wherewith to break our fast. We soon met others of the dainty ones, laughing and dancing in the sunlight as though there was no such thing in nature as the night. And then I thought once more of the meat that I had seen.
wherewith - avec quoi
dainty - délicate, délicat, mignon
I felt assured now of what it was, and from the bottom of my heart I pitied this last feeble rill from the great flood of humanity. Clearly, at some time in the Long-Ago of human decay the Morlocks'food had run short. Possibly they had lived on rats and such-like vermin. Even now man is far less discriminating and exclusive in his food than he was-far less than any monkey.
bottom - fond, bas, dessous, arriere-train, cul
pitied - pitié, compassion, dommage, honte, plaindre
feeble - faible
rill - rill, ruisselet
flood - inondation, inonder, submerger, noyer
run short - court
rats - les rats, rat
discriminating - discriminatoire, discriminer
monkey - singe, guenon
His prejudice against human flesh is no deep-seated instinct. And so these inhuman sons of men--! I tried to look at the thing in a scientific spirit. After all, they were less human and more remote than our cannibal ancestors of three or four thousand years ago. And the intelligence that would have made this state of things a torment had gone. Why should I trouble myself?
prejudice - préjugés, préjugé, idée préconçue, préjudice
instinct - l'instinct, instinct
cannibal - cannibale
torment - tourments, tourment, tourmenter
These Eloi were mere fatted cattle, which the ant-like Morlocks preserved and preyed upon-probably saw to the breeding of. And there was Weena dancing at my side!
preyed - en proie a la violence, butin, prise, proie
'Then I tried to preserve myself from the horror that was coming upon me, by regarding it as a rigorous punishment of human selfishness. Man had been content to live in ease and delight upon the labours of his fellow-man, had taken Necessity as his watchword and excuse, and in the fullness of time Necessity had come home to him.
preserve - confiture, conserve, réserve naturelle, domaine réservé
rigorous - rigoureux
punishment - punition, châtiment
selfishness - l'égoisme, égocentrisme, égoisme
content - contenu, satisfait, contentement
labours - travaux, effort, travail, labeur, besogne, travailleurs-p
watchword - mot d'ordre
Excuse - pardon, excuser, pardonner, justifier, prétexte, excuse
fullness - la plénitude, plénitude
I even tried a Carlyle-like scorn of this wretched aristocracy in decay. But this attitude of mind was impossible. However great their intellectual degradation, the Eloi had kept too much of the human form not to claim my sympathy, and to make me perforce a sharer in their degradation and their Fear.
scorn - mépriser, dédaigner, mépris, dédain
wretched - misérable
degradation - dégradation
claim - réclamation, titre, affirmation, revendication, demande
sympathy - compassion, sympathie, condoléance
perforce - perforce, forcément, nécessairement
sharer - partageur
'I had at that time very vague ideas as to the course I should pursue. My first was to secure some safe place of refuge, and to make myself such arms of metal or stone as I could contrive. That necessity was immediate. In the next place, I hoped to procure some means of fire, so that I should have the weapon of a torch at hand, for nothing, I knew, would be more efficient against these Morlocks.
pursue - poursuivre, rechercher
place of refuge - lieu de refuge
contrive - de l'argent, combiner, inventer
immediate - immédiate, immédiat, proche
procure - se procurer, acquérir, obtenir, proxénétisme, procurer
weapon - arme
torch - torche, flambeau, incendier
Then I wanted to arrange some contrivance to break open the doors of bronze under the White Sphinx. I had in mind a battering ram. I had a persuasion that if I could enter those doors and carry a blaze of light before me I should discover the Time Machine and escape. I could not imagine the Morlocks were strong enough to move it far away. Weena I had resolved to bring with me to our own time.
arrange - arranger
contrivance - artifice, appareil, dispositif, stratageme
break open - s'ouvrir
battering - coups de poing, battre
ram - bélier, RAM, mémoire RAM
persuasion - la persuasion, persuasion
And turning such schemes over in my mind I pursued our way towards the building which my fancy had chosen as our dwelling.
schemes - des schémas, plan, combine, machination, schéma
dwelling - logement, demeure, (dwell), résider, s'appesantir sur
'I found the Palace of Green Porcelain, when we approached it about noon, deserted and falling into ruin. Only ragged vestiges of glass remained in its windows, and great sheets of the green facing had fallen away from the corroded metallic framework.
noon - midi
ragged - dépenaillé, loqueteuxse, (rag) dépenaillé
vestiges - vestiges, vestige
It lay very high upon a turfy down, and looking north-eastward before I entered it, I was surprised to see a large estuary, or even creek, where I judged Wandsworth and Battersea must once have been. I thought then-though I never followed up the thought-of what might have happened, or might be happening, to the living things in the sea.
turfy - turf
surprised - surpris, surprise, surprendre, étonner
estuary - l'estuaire, estuaire
Creek - le ruisseau, crique, ruisseau
'The material of the Palace proved on examination to be indeed porcelain, and along the face of it I saw an inscription in some unknown character. I thought, rather foolishly, that Weena might help me to interpret this, but I only learned that the bare idea of writing had never entered her head. She always seemed to me, I fancy, more human than she was, perhaps because her affection was so human.
proved - prouvé, prouver
foolishly - betement
Interpret - interpréter, traduire
more human - plus humain
'Within the big valves of the door-which were open and broken-we found, instead of the customary hall, a long gallery lit by many side windows. At the first glance I was reminded of a museum. The tiled floor was thick with dust, and a remarkable array of miscellaneous objects was shrouded in the same grey covering.
valves - des soupapes, clapet, soupape, valvule
customary - coutumier, habituel, d'usage
tiled - carrelé, tuile, carreau
array - gamme, kyrielle, ribambelle, éventail, tableau
miscellaneous - divers
shrouded - enveloppée, linceul
covering - la couverture, bâchant, couvrant, (cover), couvercle
Then I perceived, standing strange and gaunt in the centre of the hall, what was clearly the lower part of a huge skeleton. I recognized by the oblique feet that it was some extinct creature after the fashion of the Megatherium.
gaunt - décharné, maigre, osseux, anguleux, émacié
lower part - la partie inférieure
skeleton - squelette, ossature
extinct - éteinte, éteint, disparu
Megatherium - Mégatherium
The skull and the upper bones lay beside it in the thick dust, and in one place, where rain-water had dropped through a leak in the roof, the thing itself had been worn away. Further in the gallery was the huge skeleton barrel of a Brontosaurus. My museum hypothesis was confirmed.
bones - os
beside it - a côté
barrel - tonneau, barrique, baril, canon, barillet, embariller
Brontosaurus - brontosaure
confirmed - confirmée, confirmer
Going towards the side I found what appeared to be sloping shelves, and clearing away the thick dust, I found the old familiar glass cases of our own time. But they must have been air-tight to judge from the fair preservation of some of their contents.
sloping - en pente, renverser, déborder
shelves - étageres, rayon, étagere, tablard, rayonnage
clearing away - Déblayer
cases - cas
air-tight - (air-tight) étanche a l'air
preservation - préservation
Contents - contenu, satisfait
'Clearly we stood among the ruins of some latter-day South Kensington!
Here, apparently, was the Palaeontological Section, and a very splendid array of fossils it must have been, though the inevitable process of decay that had been staved off for a time, and had, through the extinction of bacteria and fungi, lost ninety-nine hundredths of its force, was nevertheless, with extreme sureness if with extreme slowness at work again upon all its treasures.
fossils - fossiles, fossile
staved - staved, douve, fuseau, strophe, portée
bacteria - bactéries, bactérie, (bacterium)
hundredths - centiemes, centieme
sureness - assurance
slowness - lenteur
treasures - des trésors, trésor, garder précieusement
Here and there I found traces of the little people in the shape of rare fossils broken to pieces or threaded in strings upon reeds. And the cases had in some instances been bodily removed-by the Morlocks as I judged. The place was very silent. The thick dust deadened our footsteps.
traces - des traces, trace
threaded - fileté, fil, processus léger, exétron
strings - cordes, corde, suite, série, chaîne de caracteres
reeds - anches, roseau
instances - instances, instance
bodily - corporel
deadened - mort, endormir, assourdir, isoler
Footsteps - des pas, empreinte, trace de pas, pas, bruit de pas, marche
Weena, who had been rolling a sea urchin down the sloping glass of a case, presently came, as I stared about me, and very quietly took my hand and stood beside me.
rolling - rouler, enroulant, roulant, (roll) rouler
sea urchin - oursin de mer
sloping - en pente, pente, inclinaison
'And at first I was so much surprised by this ancient monument of an intellectual age, that I gave no thought to the possibilities it presented. Even my preoccupation about the Time Machine receded a little from my mind.
monument - monument, mémorial
receded - a reculé, reculer
'To judge from the size of the place, this Palace of Green Porcelain had a great deal more in it than a Gallery of Palaeontology; possibly historical galleries; it might be, even a library! To me, at least in my present circumstances, these would be vastly more interesting than this spectacle of oldtime geology in decay. Exploring, I found another short gallery running transversely to the first.
deal - accord, dispenser, distribuer
Palaeontology - paléontologie
historical - historique
galleries - galeries, galerie, balcon
vastly - largement, beaucoup
spectacle - spectacle
oldtime - ancien
geology - la géologie, géologie
transversely - transversalement
This appeared to be devoted to minerals, and the sight of a block of sulphur set my mind running on gunpowder. But I could find no saltpeter; indeed, no nitrates of any kind. Doubtless they had deliquesced ages ago. Yet the sulphur hung in my mind, and set up a train of thinking.
minerals - des minéraux, minéral
sulphur - le soufre, soufre
gunpowder - la poudre a canon
saltpeter - le salpetre
nitrates - nitrates, nitrate, azotate, nitrater
doubtless - sans doute, sans aucun doute, sans nul doute, indubitablement
deliquesced - déliquescent, déliquider
As for the rest of the contents of that gallery, though on the whole they were the best preserved of all I saw, I had little interest. I am no specialist in mineralogy, and I went on down a very ruinous aisle running parallel to the first hall I had entered. Apparently this section had been devoted to natural history, but everything had long since passed out of recognition.
mineralogy - minéralogie
aisle - l'allée, allée, rayon, couloir, côté couloir
parallel - parallele, parallele, parallele a, parallelement
natural history - l'histoire naturelle
recognition - reconnaissance
A few shrivelled and blackened vestiges of what had once been stuffed animals, desiccated mummies in jars that had once held spirit, a brown dust of departed plants: that was all! I was sorry for that, because I should have been glad to trace the patent readjustments by which the conquest of animated nature had been attained.
shrivelled - ratatiné, se flétrir, se rider
blackened - noirci, noircir, souiller, salir
stuffed - empaillé, truc, substance (1), frachin (2), fr
desiccated - desséché, secher, fr
mummies - des momies, maman
jars - bocaux, pot
been glad - été heureux
patent - brevet
readjustments - des réajustements, réajustement
Then we came to a gallery of simply colossal proportions, but singularly ill-lit, the floor of it running downward at a slight angle from the end at which I entered. At intervals white globes hung from the ceiling-many of them cracked and smashed-which suggested that originally the place had been artificially lit.
proportions - proportions, proportion
intervals - intervalles, intervalle
globes - globes, Terre, globe
ceiling - plafond, (ceil) plafond
smashed - écrasé, smash, fracasser, percuter, écraser
originally - a l'origine
artificially - artificiellement
Here I was more in my element, for rising on either side of me were the huge bulks of big machines, all greatly corroded and many broken down, but some still fairly complete. You know I have a certain weakness for mechanism, and I was inclined to linger among these; the more so as for the most part they had the interest of puzzles, and I could make only the vaguest guesses at what they were for.
bulks - des masses, grosseur, gros, ensemble, vrac
broken down - tombe en panne
linger - s'attarder, s'installer, stagner, s'incruster, s'éteindre
puzzles - casse-tete, mystere, énigme, puzzle, casse-tete
vaguest - le plus vague, vague
I fancied that if I could solve their puzzles I should find myself in possession of powers that might be of use against the Morlocks.
solve - résoudre, régler, solutionner
'Suddenly Weena came very close to my side. So suddenly that she startled me. Had it not been for her I do not think I should have noticed that the floor of the gallery sloped at all. [Footnote: It may be, of course, that the floor did not slope, but that the museum was built into the side of a hill.-ED.] The end I had come in at was quite above ground, and was lit by rare slit-like windows.
sloped - en pente, pente, inclinaison
Footnote - note en bas de page, note de bas de page
slit - fente, vulve
As you went down the length, the ground came up against these windows, until at last there was a pit like the "area" of a London house before each, and only a narrow line of daylight at the top. I went slowly along, puzzling about the machines, and had been too intent upon them to notice the gradual diminution of the light, until Weena's increasing apprehensions drew my attention.
intent - l'intention, intention, résolu, déterminé, buté
Then I saw that the gallery ran down at last into a thick darkness. I hesitated, and then, as I looked round me, I saw that the dust was less abundant and its surface less even. Further away towards the dimness, it appeared to be broken by a number of small narrow footprints. My sense of the immediate presence of the Morlocks revived at that.
ran down - s'écraser
be broken - etre brisé
I felt that I was wasting my time in the academic examination of machinery. I called to mind that it was already far advanced in the afternoon, and that I had still no weapon, no refuge, and no means of making a fire. And then down in the remote blackness of the gallery I heard a peculiar pattering, and the same odd noises I had heard down the well.
academic - académique, universitaire
'I took Weena's hand. Then, struck with a sudden idea, I left her and turned to a machine from which projected a lever not unlike those in a signal-box. Clambering upon the stand, and grasping this lever in my hands, I put all my weight upon it sideways. Suddenly Weena, deserted in the central aisle, began to whimper.
signal - signal, signaler
grasping - saisir, agripper, comprendre
whimper - gémissement, gémir, pleurnicher
I had judged the strength of the lever pretty correctly, for it snapped after a minute's strain, and I rejoined her with a mace in my hand more than sufficient, I judged, for any Morlock skull I might encounter. And I longed very much to kill a Morlock or so. Very inhuman, you may think, to want to go killing one's own descendants!
correctly - correctement
snapped - cassé, claquer, claquement de doigts, photographie, photo
strain - souche, accablement
mace - masse, massue
sufficient - suffisante, suffisant
encounter - rencontre
kill - tuer, tuent, tuons, dézinguer, tuez
But it was impossible, somehow, to feel any humanity in the things. Only my disinclination to leave Weena, and a persuasion that if I began to slake my thirst for murder my Time Machine might suffer, restrained me from going straight down the gallery and killing the brutes I heard.
disinclination - la réticence, réticence
slake - se faufiler
thirst - soif, avoir soif, désirer
murder - meurtre, homicide, assassinat, occire
suffer - souffrir, souffrir de, pâtir de, endurer, supporter, subir
restrained - retenue, (se) contenir/retenir
brutes - brutes, bete, brutal
'Well, mace in one hand and Weena in the other, I went out of that gallery and into another and still larger one, which at the first glance reminded me of a military chapel hung with tattered flags. The brown and charred rags that hung from the sides of it, I presently recognized as the decaying vestiges of books. They had long since dropped to pieces, and every semblance of print had left them.
military - militaire (1, 2), armée, troupes
chapel - chapelle
flags - drapeaux, drapeau
charred - carbonisé, carboniser
rags - chiffons, chiffon
decaying - en décomposition, décrépitude, déchéance, pourrir
print - imprimer, imprimé, empreinte, estampe
But here and there were warped boards and cracked metallic clasps that told the tale well enough. Had I been a literary man I might, perhaps, have moralized upon the futility of all ambition. But as it was, the thing that struck me with keenest force was the enormous waste of labour to which this sombre wilderness of rotting paper testified.
warped - déformé, gauchir
boards - des planches, planche
clasps - fermoirs, fermoir, serrer
literary - littéraire
Ambition - l'ambition, ambition, ambition (1-5)
keenest - le plus enthousiaste, passionné
enormous - énorme
wilderness - la nature sauvage, désert, naturalité, nature sauvage
rotting - la pourriture, pourrir
testified - a témoigné, témoigner, attester
At the time I will confess that I thought chiefly of the Philosophical Transactions and my own seventeen papers upon physical optics.
'Then, going up a broad staircase, we came to what may once have been a gallery of technical chemistry. And here I had not a little hope of useful discoveries. Except at one end where the roof had collapsed, this gallery was well preserved. I went eagerly to every unbroken case. And at last, in one of the really air-tight cases, I found a box of matches. Very eagerly I tried them.
technical - technique, technical
chemistry - chimie
eagerly - avec empressement, avidement
tight - serré, tendu, ivre, bien
They were perfectly good. They were not even damp. I turned to Weena. "Dance," I cried to her in her own tongue. For now I had a weapon indeed against the horrible creatures we feared. And so, in that derelict museum, upon the thick soft carpeting of dust, to Weena's huge delight, I solemnly performed a kind of composite dance, whistling The Land of the Leal as cheerfully as I could.
damp - humide, moite, mouillé, humidité, grisou, amortir
carpeting - moquette, (carpet), tapis, tapisser
performed - réalisée, exécuter, performer, jouer ('actor')
composite - composé, checkcombiné, composite, composer
whistling - siffler, (whistle), sifflet, sifflement, sifflements
In part it was a modest cancan, in part a step dance, in part a skirt-dance (so far as my tail-coat permitted), and in part original. For I am naturally inventive, as you know.
cancan - cancan
tail - queue
permitted - autorisé, permettre
original - originel, original
inventive - inventif
'Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a most strange, as for me it was a most fortunate thing. Yet, oddly enough, I found a far unlikelier substance, and that was camphor. I found it in a sealed jar, that by chance, I suppose, had been really hermetically sealed.
escaped - s'est échappé, échapper, s'échapper, éviter, tirer
immemorial - immémoriale
most strange - le plus étrange
unlikelier - improbable, peu probable, improbablement
camphor - camphre
by chance - par hasard
hermetically sealed - hermétiquement scellé
I fancied at first that it was paraffin wax, and smashed the glass accordingly. But the odour of camphor was unmistakable. In the universal decay this volatile substance had chanced to survive, perhaps through many thousands of centuries. It reminded me of a sepia painting I had once seen done from the ink of a fossil Belemnite that must have perished and become fossilized millions of years ago.
paraffin - la paraffine, paraffine, paraffiner
wax - la cire, cirons, cirez, cire, cirer, cirent
accordingly - en conséquence, conséquemment
volatile - volatile, volatil
sepia - sépia
perished - a péri, périr
fossilized - fossilisé, fossiliser
I was about to throw it away, but I remembered that it was inflammable and burned with a good bright flame-was, in fact, an excellent candle-and I put it in my pocket. I found no explosives, however, nor any means of breaking down the bronze doors. As yet my iron crowbar was the most helpful thing I had chanced upon. Nevertheless I left that gallery greatly elated.
throw - lancer, jetent, jetez, jetons, mise bas
inflammable - inflammable
explosives - des explosifs, explosif
breaking down - en train de s'effondrer
iron - le fer, fer, repasser
crowbar - pied de biche, pied-de-biche, pince-monseigneur
most helpful - le plus utile
'I cannot tell you all the story of that long afternoon. It would require a great effort of memory to recall my explorations in at all the proper order. I remember a long gallery of rusting stands of arms, and how I hesitated between my crowbar and a hatchet or a sword. I could not carry both, however, and my bar of iron promised best against the bronze gates.
rusting - rouille, (rust) rouille
hatchet - hachette
sword - l'épée, épée, glaive, épéiste
of iron - de fer
promised - promis, vou, promesse, promettre
There were numbers of guns, pistols, and rifles. The most were masses of rust, but many were of some new metal, and still fairly sound. But any cartridges or powder there may once have been had rotted into dust. One corner I saw was charred and shattered; perhaps, I thought, by an explosion among the specimens.
guns - des armes, arme a feu
pistols - pistolets, pistolet
rifles - fusils, fusil
cartridges - cartouches, cartouche
powder - poudre, réduire en poudre, pulvériser, poudrer
rotted - pourri, pourrir
shattered - brisé, fracasser, réduire en miettes, mettre en pieces, briser
In another place was a vast array of idols-Polynesian, Mexican, Grecian, Phoenician, every country on earth I should think. And here, yielding to an irresistible impulse, I wrote my name upon the nose of a steatite monster from South America that particularly took my fancy.
another place - un autre endroit
idols - idoles, idole
Polynesian - Polynésien, Polynésienne
Mexican - Mexicain, Mexicaine
Grecian - hellénique
yielding - rendant, (yield) rendant
steatite - stéatite
'As the evening drew on, my interest waned. I went through gallery after gallery, dusty, silent, often ruinous, the exhibits sometimes mere heaps of rust and lignite, sometimes fresher. In one place I suddenly found myself near the model of a tin-mine, and then by the merest accident I discovered, in an air-tight case, two dynamite cartridges! I shouted "Eureka!" and smashed the case with joy.
waned - s'est terni, décroître
exhibits - expositions, exposer, exposition, piece a conviction
lignite - lignite
fresher - plus frais, étudiant de premiere année, (fresh) plus frais
tin - l'étain, étain, conserve, boîte de conserve, moule, gamelle
merest - plus, simple
accident - accident
dynamite - de la dynamite, dynamite, dynamiter
Eureka - eureka, eureka
joy - joie
Then came a doubt. I hesitated. Then, selecting a little side gallery, I made my essay. I never felt such a disappointment as I did in waiting five, ten, fifteen minutes for an explosion that never came. Of course the things were dummies, as I might have guessed from their presence.
selecting - sélectionnant, sélect, choisir, sélectionner
essay - essai, manipulation, these, traité, gradin
dummies - des mannequins, muet, idiot, idiote, imbécile, mannequin, mort
I really believe that had they not been so, I should have rushed off incontinently and blown Sphinx, bronze doors, and (as it proved) my chances of finding the Time Machine, all together into non-existence.
chances - chances, hasard
non - non
'It was after that, I think, that we came to a little open court within the palace. It was turfed, and had three fruit-trees. So we rested and refreshed ourselves. Towards sunset I began to consider our position. Night was creeping upon us, and my inaccessible hiding-place had still to be found. But that troubled me very little now.
Court - la cour, cour, tribunal, court de tennis, court, courtiser
turfed - gazonné, gazon, motte de gazon, hippodrome, champ de courses
fruit-trees - (fruit-trees) des arbres fruitiers
refreshed - rafraîchie, revigorer, rafraîchir
Consider - envisager, considérer, examiner, réfléchir, songer
hiding - se cacher, (hid) se cacher
I had in my possession a thing that was, perhaps, the best of all defences against the Morlocks-I had matches! I had the camphor in my pocket, too, if a blaze were needed. It seemed to me that the best thing we could do would be to pass the night in the open, protected by a fire. In the morning there was the getting of the Time Machine. Towards that, as yet, I had only my iron mace.
defences - défenses, défense
But now, with my growing knowledge, I felt very differently towards those bronze doors. Up to this, I had refrained from forcing them, largely because of the mystery on the other side. They had never impressed me as being very strong, and I hoped to find my bar of iron not altogether inadequate for the work.
refrained - s'est abstenu, refrain
forcing - le forçage, force
inadequate - inadéquate, inadéquat
'We emerged from the palace while the sun was still in part above the horizon. I was determined to reach the White Sphinx early the next morning, and ere the dusk I purposed pushing through the woods that had stopped me on the previous journey. My plan was to go as far as possible that night, and then, building a fire, to sleep in the protection of its glare.
horizon - horizon
ere - ici
purposed - voulu, but, objet
pushing - poussant, pousser
woods - bois, (de) bois
Accordingly, as we went along I gathered any sticks or dried grass I saw, and presently had my arms full of such litter. Thus loaded, our progress was slower than I had anticipated, and besides Weena was tired. And I began to suffer from sleepiness too; so that it was full night before we reached the wood.
sticks - bâtons, enfoncer
dried - séché, sec, anhydre, sécher, tfaire sécher
grass - l'herbe, herbe, pelouse, gazon, beuh, balance, moucharder
litter - litiere, litiere, portée, détritus
thus - donc, ainsi, tellement, pour cette raison, également
loaded - chargé, charge, chargement
sleepiness - somnolence
Upon the shrubby hill of its edge Weena would have stopped, fearing the darkness before us; but a singular sense of impending calamity, that should indeed have served me as a warning, drove me onward. I had been without sleep for a night and two days, and I was feverish and irritable. I felt sleep coming upon me, and the Morlocks with it.
shrubby - arbustive
fearing - craindre, peur
singular - singulier
calamity - calamité
served - servi, service, servir, signifier, purger
warning - l'avertissement, avertissement, attention, (warn), avertir
onward - plus loin, en avant
feverish - fébrile, fiévreux
irritable - irritable
'While we hesitated, among the black bushes behind us, and dim against their blackness, I saw three crouching figures. There was scrub and long grass all about us, and I did not feel safe from their insidious approach. The forest, I calculated, was rather less than a mile across.
scrub - gommage, lessivage
safe from - a l'abri de
insidious - insidieux
approach - approche, approchons, abordent, abordez, rapprochons
forest - foret, foret, brousse, sylve, bois, (fore) foret
calculated - calculée, calculer
If we could get through it to the bare hill-side, there, as it seemed to me, was an altogether safer resting-place; I thought that with my matches and my camphor I could contrive to keep my path illuminated through the woods. Yet it was evident that if I was to flourish matches with my hands I should have to abandon my firewood; so, rather reluctantly, I put it down.
safer - plus sur, en sécurité, qualifier
resting-place - (resting-place) lieu de repos
abandon - abandonner, renoncer, abandonnent, abandonnons, délaisser
firewood - du bois de chauffage, bois de chauffage
reluctantly - a contrecour
And then it came into my head that I would amaze our friends behind by lighting it. I was to discover the atrocious folly of this proceeding, but it came to my mind as an ingenious move for covering our retreat.
amaze - étonner, stupéfier
atrocious - atroce
move for - se déplacer pour
'I don't know if you have ever thought what a rare thing flame must be in the absence of man and in a temperate climate. The sun's heat is rarely strong enough to burn, even when it is focused by dewdrops, as is sometimes the case in more tropical districts. Lightning may blast and blacken, but it rarely gives rise to widespread fire.
temperate - tempéré
climate - le climat, climat
burn - bruler, s'allumer, brulons, brulez, bruler, cuite, griller
focused - ciblée, foyer, attention, focaliser, mettre au point
dewdrops - gouttes de rosée, goutte de rosée
more tropical - plus tropical
districts - districts, district, fr
lightning - la foudre, éclair, éloise, foudre
blast - explosion, souffle
blacken - noircir, souiller, salir
rise - hausse, remonte, élévation, débout, surcroît
widespread - généralisée
Decaying vegetation may occasionally smoulder with the heat of its fermentation, but this rarely results in flame. In this decadence, too, the art of fire-making had been forgotten on the earth. The red tongues that went licking up my heap of wood were an altogether new and strange thing to Weena.
vegetation - la végétation, végétation
smoulder - smoulder, couver
decadence - décadence, décadentisme
tongues - langues, langue, languette
licking - lécher, léchage, (lick) lécher
'She wanted to run to it and play with it. I believe she would have cast herself into it had I not restrained her. But I caught her up, and in spite of her struggles, plunged boldly before me into the wood. For a little way the glare of my fire lit the path.
struggles - des luttes, lutte, lutter, s'efforcer, combattre
plunged - plongé, plonger
Looking back presently, I could see, through the crowded stems, that from my heap of sticks the blaze had spread to some bushes adjacent, and a curved line of fire was creeping up the grass of the hill. I laughed at that, and turned again to the dark trees before me.
crowded - encombré, foule
adjacent - adjacente
curved line - ligne courbée
It was very black, and Weena clung to me convulsively, but there was still, as my eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, sufficient light for me to avoid the stems. Overhead it was simply black, except where a gap of remote blue sky shone down upon us here and there. I struck none of my matches because I had no hand free.
clung to - a laquelle il s'est accroché
accustomed - habitué, accoutumer
avoid - éviter, fuir
overhead - des frais généraux, dessus, sur, au dessus, aérien, grippage
Upon my left arm I carried my little one, in my right hand I had my iron bar.
little one - petit
'For some way I heard nothing but the crackling twigs under my feet, the faint rustle of the breeze above, and my own breathing and the throb of the blood-vessels in my ears. Then I seemed to know of a pattering about me. I pushed on grimly. The pattering grew more distinct, and then I caught the same queer sound and voices I had heard in the Under-world.
crackling - crépitement, couenne rissolee, (crackle)
rustle - bruissement, froufrou, froufrouter
vessels - navires, vaisseau, recipient
grimly - sinistre
There were evidently several of the Morlocks, and they were closing in upon me. Indeed, in another minute I felt a tug at my coat, then something at my arm. And Weena shivered violently, and became quite still.
tug - tirer, remorquer, tirement
'It was time for a match. But to get one I must put her down. I did so, and, as I fumbled with my pocket, a struggle began in the darkness about my knees, perfectly silent on her part and with the same peculiar cooing sounds from the Morlocks. Soft little hands, too, were creeping over my coat and back, touching even my neck. Then the match scratched and fizzed.
fumbled - a trébuché, tâtonner
scratched - égratigné, gratter, égratigner, piquer, rayer, biffer
I held it flaring, and saw the white backs of the Morlocks in flight amid the trees. I hastily took a lump of camphor from my pocket, and prepared to light it as soon as the match should wane. Then I looked at Weena. She was lying clutching my feet and quite motionless, with her face to the ground. With a sudden fright I stooped to her. She seemed scarcely to breathe.
lump - lump, masse, tas, protubérance, renflement
motionless - immobile
fright - d'effroi, anxiété, peur, frayeur
stooped - vouté, se baisser
breathe - respirer, inspirer, expirer, reprendre son souffle
I lit the block of camphor and flung it to the ground, and as it split and flared up and drove back the Morlocks and the shadows, I knelt down and lifted her. The wood behind seemed full of the stir and murmur of a great company!
split - divisé, fissure, division, fragment, morceau, grand écart
flared up - Eclater
knelt - a genoux, agenouiller
lifted - soulevée, soulever
'She seemed to have fainted. I put her carefully upon my shoulder and rose to push on, and then there came a horrible realization. In manoeuvring with my matches and Weena, I had turned myself about several times, and now I had not the faintest idea in what direction lay my path. For all I knew, I might be facing back towards the Palace of Green Porcelain. I found myself in a cold sweat.
fainted - s'est évanoui, faible, léger
manoeuvring - manouvre
cold sweat - des sueurs froides
I had to think rapidly what to do. I determined to build a fire and encamp where we were. I put Weena, still motionless, down upon a turfy bole, and very hastily, as my first lump of camphor waned, I began collecting sticks and leaves. Here and there out of the darkness round me the Morlocks'eyes shone like carbuncles.
rapidly - rapidement
encamp - camper
bole - bole, tronc
waned - s'est terni, pâle, blafard
collecting - la collecte, collection, (collect) la collecte
carbuncles - des escarboucles, carboucle
'The camphor flickered and went out. I lit a match, and as I did so, two white forms that had been approaching Weena dashed hastily away. One was so blinded by the light that he came straight for me, and I felt his bones grind under the blow of my fist. He gave a whoop of dismay, staggered a little way, and fell down. I lit another piece of camphor, and went on gathering my bonfire.
blinded - aveuglé, aveugle, mal-voyant, mal-voyante, store, blind
grind - broyage, crisser, moudre
whoop - qui, cri
bonfire - feu de joie, bucher
Presently I noticed how dry was some of the foliage above me, for since my arrival on the Time Machine, a matter of a week, no rain had fallen. So, instead of casting about among the trees for fallen twigs, I began leaping up and dragging down branches. Very soon I had a choking smoky fire of green wood and dry sticks, and could economize my camphor.
dry - sec, anhydre, sécher, tfaire sécher
foliage - le feuillage, feuillage
casting - casting, moulage, (cast), jeter, diriger, lancer, additionner
choking - l'étouffement, suffoquer, étouffer
smoky - enfumé
Then I turned to where Weena lay beside my iron mace. I tried what I could to revive her, but she lay like one dead. I could not even satisfy myself whether or not she breathed.
dead - morts, mort, milieu, cour, profondeurs
breathed - respiré, respirer, inspirer, expirer
'Now, the smoke of the fire beat over towards me, and it must have made me heavy of a sudden. Moreover, the vapour of camphor was in the air. My fire would not need replenishing for an hour or so. I felt very weary after my exertion, and sat down. The wood, too, was full of a slumbrous murmur that I did not understand. I seemed just to nod and open my eyes.
beat - battre
Moreover - de plus, en plus, au surplus, en outre
replenishing - de réapprovisionnement, réapprovisionner
exertion - l'effort, effort, dépense
slumbrous - slumbrous
nod - hochement de tete, dodeliner, hocher, hochement
But all was dark, and the Morlocks had their hands upon me. Flinging off their clinging fingers I hastily felt in my pocket for the match-box, and-it had gone! Then they gripped and closed with me again. In a moment I knew what had happened. I had slept, and my fire had gone out, and the bitterness of death came over my soul. The forest seemed full of the smell of burning wood.
clinging - s'accrocher, s'accrocher (a)
gone out - sorti
bitterness - l'amertume, amertume
Death - mort, déces, camarde, la mort, l'arcane sans nom
soul - âme
I was caught by the neck, by the hair, by the arms, and pulled down. It was indescribably horrible in the darkness to feel all these soft creatures heaped upon me. I felt as if I was in a monstrous spider's web. I was overpowered, and went down. I felt little teeth nipping at my neck. I rolled over, and as I did so my hand came against my iron lever. It gave me strength.
pulled down - tiré vers le bas
heaped - en tas, tas, pile, monceau
monstrous - monstrueux
web - réseau, panier, poche, âme, âme (de rail), palmure, bobine
overpowered - surpuissant, soumettre
nipping - la pince, pincer, donner un coup de dent
rolled - roulé, rouleau
I struggled up, shaking the human rats from me, and, holding the bar short, I thrust where I judged their faces might be. I could feel the succulent giving of flesh and bone under my blows, and for a moment I was free.
struggled - en difficulté, lutte, lutter, s'efforcer, combattre
succulent - succulent, succulente, gras, grasse
bone - os
blows - coups, (blow) coups
'The strange exultation that so often seems to accompany hard fighting came upon me. I knew that both I and Weena were lost, but I determined to make the Morlocks pay for their meat. I stood with my back to a tree, swinging the iron bar before me. The whole wood was full of the stir and cries of them. A minute passed.
exultation - exultation
accompany - accompagner
fighting - combattre, combat, bagarre, (fight) combattre
Their voices seemed to rise to a higher pitch of excitement, and their movements grew faster. Yet none came within reach. I stood glaring at the blackness. Then suddenly came hope. What if the Morlocks were afraid? And close on the heels of that came a strange thing. The darkness seemed to grow luminous.
pitch - de l'emplacement, dresser
Very dimly I began to see the Morlocks about me-three battered at my feet-and then I recognized, with incredulous surprise, that the others were running, in an incessant stream, as it seemed, from behind me, and away through the wood in front. And their backs seemed no longer white, but reddish.
battered - battu, battre
incessant - incessant
stream - flux, ruisseau, ru, rupt, filet, flot, courant
reddish - rougeâtre
As I stood agape, I saw a little red spark go drifting across a gap of starlight between the branches, and vanish. And at that I understood the smell of burning wood, the slumbrous murmur that was growing now into a gusty roar, the red glow, and the Morlocks'flight.
agape - agape
spark - l'étincelle, flammeche, étincelle
starlight - la lumiere des étoiles, lumiere des étoiles, lumiere d'étoile
roar - rugir, hurler, s'esclaffer, rire aux éclats
'stepping out from behind my tree and looking back, I saw, through the black pillars of the nearer trees, the flames of the burning forest. It was my first fire coming after me. With that I looked for Weena, but she was gone. The hissing and crackling behind me, the explosive thud as each fresh tree burst into flame, left little time for reflection.
stepping out - de sortir
flames - flammes, flamme, polémique
explosive - explosif
My iron bar still gripped, I followed in the Morlocks'path. It was a close race. Once the flames crept forward so swiftly on my right as I ran that I was outflanked and had to strike off to the left. But at last I emerged upon a small open space, and as I did so, a Morlock came blundering towards me, and past me, and went on straight into the fire!
'And now I was to see the most weird and horrible thing, I think, of all that I beheld in that future age. This whole space was as bright as day with the reflection of the fire. In the centre was a hillock or tumulus, surmounted by a scorched hawthorn.
weird - bizarre, étrange
hillock - colline, monticule, tertre, mondrain, mamelon
surmounted - surmonté, surmonter
hawthorn - l'aubépine, aubépine
Beyond this was another arm of the burning forest, with yellow tongues already writhing from it, completely encircling the space with a fence of fire. Upon the hill-side were some thirty or forty Morlocks, dazzled by the light and heat, and blundering hither and thither against each other in their bewilderment.
encircling - encerclant, ceignant, (encircle), encercler
fence - clôture, cloison, recéleur, recéleuse, receleur
At first I did not realize their blindness, and struck furiously at them with my bar, in a frenzy of fear, as they approached me, killing one and crippling several more. But when I had watched the gestures of one of them groping under the hawthorn against the red sky, and heard their moans, I was assured of their absolute helplessness and misery in the glare, and I struck no more of them.
crippling - paralysant, estropié, infirme, estropier, bridé
red sky - un ciel rouge
moans - gémissements, gémissement, se plaindre, geindre, gémir, mugir
'Yet every now and then one would come straight towards me, setting loose a quivering horror that made me quick to elude him. At one time the flames died down somewhat, and I feared the foul creatures would presently be able to see me. I was thinking of beginning the fight by killing some of them before this should happen; but the fire burst out again brightly, and I stayed my hand.
quivering - tremblant, frémir
elude - éluder
somewhat - en quelque sorte, assez, quelque peu
fight - combattre, combattons, rixe, combattez, combattent
I walked about the hill among them and avoided them, looking for some trace of Weena. But Weena was gone.
'At last I sat down on the summit of the hillock, and watched this strange incredible company of blind things groping to and fro, and making uncanny noises to each other, as the glare of the fire beat on them. The coiling uprush of smoke streamed across the sky, and through the rare tatters of that red canopy, remote as though they belonged to another universe, shone the little stars.
uncanny - déroutant, déroutante, étrange, troublant
beat - battre, abats, battement, battirent, battent, abattîmes
coiling - enroulement, enrouler
uprush - la montée en puissance
streamed - en streaming, ruisseau, ru, rupt, filet, flot, courant, torrent
canopy - d'auvent, dais, baldaquin, voute, marquise, canopée
belonged - a appartenu, appartenir a
universe - univers
Two or three Morlocks came blundering into me, and I drove them off with blows of my fists, trembling as I did so.
fists - poings, poing
'For the most part of that night I was persuaded it was a nightmare. I bit myself and screamed in a passionate desire to awake. I beat the ground with my hands, and got up and sat down again, and wandered here and there, and again sat down. Then I would fall to rubbing my eyes and calling upon God to let me awake.
persuaded - persuadé, persuader, convaincre
screamed - crié, cri, crier
awake - éveillé, (se) réveiller, (s')éveiller
fall to - Tomber
Thrice I saw Morlocks put their heads down in a kind of agony and rush into the flames. But, at last, above the subsiding red of the fire, above the streaming masses of black smoke and the whitening and blackening tree stumps, and the diminishing numbers of these dim creatures, came the white light of the day.
thrice - trois fois
rush - rush, ruée, affluence, gazer, galoper, bousculer
subsiding - s'affaisser, tomber, calmer
streaming - streaming, (stream), ruisseau, ru, rupt, filet, flot, courant
whitening - blanchissement, blanchiment, (whiten), blanchir
blackening - le noircissement, (blacken), noircir, souiller, salir
stumps - des souches, souche, moignon, estompe
diminishing - en baisse, diminuant, (diminish), réduire, rétrécir, rapetisser
'I searched again for traces of Weena, but there were none. It was plain that they had left her poor little body in the forest. I cannot describe how it relieved me to think that it had escaped the awful fate to which it seemed destined. As I thought of that, I was almost moved to begin a massacre of the helpless abominations about me, but I contained myself.
searched - recherchée, recherche, chercher, fouiller
relieved - soulagé, soulager, relayer, faire ses besoins, se soulager
awful - terrible, épouvantable, horrible
massacre - massacre, massacrer
abominations - abominations, abomination
The hillock, as I have said, was a kind of island in the forest. From its summit I could now make out through a haze of smoke the Palace of Green Porcelain, and from that I could get my bearings for the White Sphinx.
haze - brume, chicaner, fumées
And so, leaving the remnant of these damned souls still going hither and thither and moaning, as the day grew clearer, I tied some grass about my feet and limped on across smoking ashes and among black stems, that still pulsated internally with fire, towards the hiding-place of the Time Machine.
remnant - vestige, reste
souls - âmes, âme
moaning - gémissements, gémissement, se plaindre, geindre, gémir, mugir
clearer - plus clair, sou, (clear), clair, transparent, libre, dégagé
tied - attachée, attacher
limped - boitait, mou, faible
ashes - des cendres, cendre
internally - en interne
I walked slowly, for I was almost exhausted, as well as lame, and I felt the intensest wretchedness for the horrible death of little Weena. It seemed an overwhelming calamity. Now, in this old familiar room, it is more like the sorrow of a dream than an actual loss. But that morning it left me absolutely lonely again-terribly alone.
intensest - plus intense, intense
overwhelming - écrasante, abreuver, accabler, envahir
sorrow - peine, chagrin
dream - reve, reve, songe, voeu
actual loss - la perte réelle
lonely - solitaire, seul, désert, abandonné
I began to think of this house of mine, of this fireside, of some of you, and with such thoughts came a longing that was pain.
thoughts - réflexions, idée, pensée
'But as I walked over the smoking ashes under the bright morning sky, I made a discovery. In my trouser pocket were still some loose matches. The box must have leaked before it was lost.
trouser - pantalon
leaked - fuitée, fuite, voie d'eau, taupe, fuir
'About eight or nine in the morning I came to the same seat of yellow metal from which I had viewed the world upon the evening of my arrival. I thought of my hasty conclusions upon that evening and could not refrain from laughing bitterly at my confidence.
viewed - consultés, vue, q
conclusions - conclusions, conclusion, fin
refrain from laughing - se retenir de rire
bitterly - amerement, amerement
Here was the same beautiful scene, the same abundant foliage, the same splendid palaces and magnificent ruins, the same silver river running between its fertile banks. The gay robes of the beautiful people moved hither and thither among the trees. Some were bathing in exactly the place where I had saved Weena, and that suddenly gave me a keen stab of pain.
magnificent - magnifique
fertile - fertile
gay - gay, gai
saved - sauvée, sauver, sauvegarder, épargner, préserver, protéger
stab - poignard, piquer
And like blots upon the landscape rose the cupolas above the ways to the Under-world. I understood now what all the beauty of the Over-world people covered. Very pleasant was their day, as pleasant as the day of the cattle in the field. Like the cattle, they knew of no enemies and provided against no needs. And their end was the same.
blots - taches, tache, (ink) pâté, souillure, tacher
cupolas - des coupoles, coupole, dôme
enemies - ennemis, ennemi, ennemie
provided - fourni, fournir, procurer, pourvoir
'I grieved to think how brief the dream of the human intellect had been. It had committed suicide. It had set itself steadfastly towards comfort and ease, a balanced society with security and permanency as its watchword, it had attained its hopes-to come to this at last. Once, life and property must have reached almost absolute safety.
grieved - en deuil, avoir du chagrin
committed - engagé, confier, commettre, remettre, consigner
permanency - la permanence
property - propriété, accessoire
The rich had been assured of his wealth and comfort, the toiler assured of his life and work. No doubt in that perfect world there had been no unemployed problem, no social question left unsolved. And a great quiet had followed.
wealth - la richesse, richesse, profusion, abondance, checkfortune
toiler - tuileur
unemployed - sans emploi
unsolved - non résolue
'It is a law of nature we overlook, that intellectual versatility is the compensation for change, danger, and trouble. An animal perfectly in harmony with its environment is a perfect mechanism. Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no change and no need of change.
law - loi
versatility - la polyvalence, polyvalence
compensation - compensation, dédommagement, émolument, indemnisation
environment - l'environnement, environnement
appeals - des appels, en appeler (a), supplier
useless - inutile, inutilisable, bon a rien
Only those animals partake of intelligence that have to meet a huge variety of needs and dangers.
partake - participer
variety - variété
'So, as I see it, the Upper-world man had drifted towards his feeble prettiness, and the Under-world to mere mechanical industry. But that perfect state had lacked one thing even for mechanical perfection-absolute permanency. Apparently as time went on, the feeding of the Under-world, however it was effected, had become disjointed.
drifted - a la dérive, dérive, dériver, errer, dévier
perfection - la perfection, perfection
feeding - l'alimentation, alimentant, (feed) l'alimentation
Mother Necessity, who had been staved off for a few thousand years, came back again, and she began below. The Under-world being in contact with machinery, which, however perfect, still needs some little thought outside habit, had probably retained perforce rather more initiative, if less of every other human character, than the Upper.
retained - retenue, retenir, conserver, maintenir
initiative - initiative
And when other meat failed them, they turned to what old habit had hitherto forbidden. So I say I saw it in my last view of the world of Eight Hundred and Two Thousand Seven Hundred and One. It may be as wrong an explanation as mortal wit could invent. It is how the thing shaped itself to me, and as that I give it to you.
forbidden - interdites, interdire, nier, dénier
mortal - mortel, mortelle
wit - wit, esprit
invent - inventer
'After the fatigues, excitements, and terrors of the past days, and in spite of my grief, this seat and the tranquil view and the warm sunlight were very pleasant. I was very tired and sleepy, and soon my theorizing passed into dozing. Catching myself at that, I took my own hint, and spreading myself out upon the turf I had a long and refreshing sleep.
fatigues - le treillis, fatigue, épuisement, corvée, fatiguer
grief - le chagrin, douleur, peine
tranquil - tranquille
sleepy - somnolent, ensommeillé, ensuqué, endormi
theorizing - la théorisation, théoriser
dozing - s'assoupir, (doze) s'assoupir
catching - de capture, attrapant, (catch), prise, touche, loquet
hint - indice, indication, soupçon, faire allusion
refreshing - rafraîchissant, revigorer, rafraîchir
'I awoke a little before sunsetting. I now felt safe against being caught napping by the Morlocks, and, stretching myself, I came on down the hill towards the White Sphinx. I had my crowbar in one hand, and the other hand played with the matches in my pocket.
awoke - s'est réveillé, (se) réveiller, (s')éveiller
sunsetting - l'extinction des feux, coucher de soleil, crépuscule
being caught - d'etre pris
napping - la sieste, sieste, petit somme
stretching - l'étirement, étendre, s'étendre, s'étirer, étirement
'And now came a most unexpected thing. As I approached the pedestal of the sphinx I found the bronze valves were open. They had slid down into grooves.
most unexpected - le plus inattendu
slid - glissée, (slide), glisser, déraper, toboggan, glissoire
grooves - sillons, rainure, sillon, routine, groove, puits
'At that I stopped short before them, hesitating to enter.
'Within was a small apartment, and on a raised place in the corner of this was the Time Machine. I had the small levers in my pocket. So here, after all my elaborate preparations for the siege of the White Sphinx, was a meek surrender. I threw my iron bar away, almost sorry not to use it.
elaborate - élaborer, approfondir
preparations - préparations, préparation, concoction
siege - siege, siege
meek - doux, humble, modeste, soumis, faible
surrender - la reddition, capituler, capitulation, reddition
'A sudden thought came into my head as I stooped towards the portal. For once, at least, I grasped the mental operations of the Morlocks. Suppressing a strong inclination to laugh, I stepped through the bronze frame and up to the Time Machine. I was surprised to find it had been carefully oiled and cleaned.
suppressing - supprimer, contenir, fr
inclination - inclinaison, checktendance
stepped - en escalier, steppe
oiled - huilé, huile
I have suspected since that the Morlocks had even partially taken it to pieces while trying in their dim way to grasp its purpose.
'Now as I stood and examined it, finding a pleasure in the mere touch of the contrivance, the thing I had expected happened. The bronze panels suddenly slid up and struck the frame with a clang. I was in the dark-trapped. So the Morlocks thought. At that I chuckled gleefully.
clang - clang, rench: ('of crane') glapissement g, ('of goose') criaillement g
trapped - piégé, piege
chuckled - ricané, glousser
gleefully - avec joie
'I could already hear their murmuring laughter as they came towards me. Very calmly I tried to strike the match. I had only to fix on the levers and depart then like a ghost. But I had overlooked one little thing. The matches were of that abominable kind that light only on the box.
murmuring - murmure, (murmur), rumeur, souffle, murmurer
calmly - calmement, paisiblement
Fix - réparer, fixer, préparer, truquer, tricher, réparation, dose
depart - partir, s’en aller, dévier, quitter
abominable - abominable
'You may imagine how all my calm vanished. The little brutes were close upon me. One touched me. I made a sweeping blow in the dark at them with the levers, and began to scramble into the saddle of the machine. Then came one hand upon me and then another. Then I had simply to fight against their persistent fingers for my levers, and at the same time feel for the studs over which these fitted.
sweeping - balayage, a l'emporteiece, radical, complet
scramble - brouiller, faire de l'escalade, bousculade, interception
then another - puis un autre
persistent - persistante, persistant, tenace
studs - des crampons, écurie
fitted - adapté, en forme
One, indeed, they almost got away from me. As it slipped from my hand, I had to butt in the dark with my head-I could hear the Morlock's skull ring-to recover it. It was a nearer thing than the fight in the forest, I think, this last scramble.
got away - s'échapper
butt - de fesses, crosse
ring - anneau, cerne, ring, tinter
'But at last the lever was fitted and pulled over. The clinging hands slipped from me. The darkness presently fell from my eyes. I found myself in the same grey light and tumult I have already described.
pulled - tiré, tirer, retirer, tirer un coup, influence
'I have already told you of the sickness and confusion that comes with time travelling. And this time I was not seated properly in the saddle, but sideways and in an unstable fashion. For an indefinite time I clung to the machine as it swayed and vibrated, quite unheeding how I went, and when I brought myself to look at the dials again I was amazed to find where I had arrived.
sickness - maladie
properly - proprement, correctement, convenablement
vibrated - vibré, vibrer
unheeding - sans écoute
amazed - stupéfait, stupéfier
One dial records days, and another thousands of days, another millions of days, and another thousands of millions. Now, instead of reversing the levers, I had pulled them over so as to go forward with them, and when I came to look at these indicators I found that the thousands hand was sweeping round as fast as the seconds hand of a watch-into futurity.
dial - cadran, bouille, tronche, composer, signaler
records - dossiers, rapport écrit
reversing - l'inversion, reversement, (revers), revers
indicators - des indicateurs, indicateur, aiguille, clignotant, signofile
'As I drove on, a peculiar change crept over the appearance of things. The palpitating greyness grew darker; then-though I was still travelling with prodigious velocity-the blinking succession of day and night, which was usually indicative of a slower pace, returned, and grew more and more marked. This puzzled me very much at first.
palpitating - des palpitations, palpiter
prodigious - prodigieux
indicative - indicative, indicatif
marked - marqué, Marc
The alternations of night and day grew slower and slower, and so did the passage of the sun across the sky, until they seemed to stretch through centuries. At last a steady twilight brooded over the earth, a twilight only broken now and then when a comet glared across the darkling sky.
alternations - alternances, alternance
stretch - étendre, s'étendre, s'étirer, étirement
brooded - couvé, couvée, couver, protéger
comet - comete, comete
The band of light that had indicated the sun had long since disappeared; for the sun had ceased to set-it simply rose and fell in the west, and grew ever broader and more red. All trace of the moon had vanished. The circling of the stars, growing slower and slower, had given place to creeping points of light.
broader - plus large, large
At last, some time before I stopped, the sun, red and very large, halted motionless upon the horizon, a vast dome glowing with a dull heat, and now and then suffering a momentary extinction. At one time it had for a little while glowed more brilliantly again, but it speedily reverted to its sullen red heat.
dome - dôme
glowing - rayonnante, briller, luire, irradier, lueur
momentary - momentanée
glowed - a brillé, briller, luire, irradier, lueur, éclat
reverted - inversé, conversion, retomber, retourner, redevenir, renvoyer
sullen - maussade, morose, morne, lent
I perceived by this slowing down of its rising and setting that the work of the tidal drag was done. The earth had come to rest with one face to the sun, even as in our own time the moon faces the earth. Very cautiously, for I remembered my former headlong fall, I began to reverse my motion.
slowing down - Ralentissement
tidal - marée, tidal
drag - draguer, transbahuter, traîner
cautiously - avec prudence, précautionneusement
reverse - inverser, verso, inverse
Slower and slower went the circling hands until the thousands one seemed motionless and the daily one was no longer a mere mist upon its scale. Still slower, until the dim outlines of a desolate beach grew visible.
daily - quotidien, journellement
scale - échelle, escaladez, escalader, escaladent, gravir, bareme
outlines - les grandes lignes, contour, silhouette, esquisse, aperçu
'I stopped very gently and sat upon the Time Machine, looking round. The sky was no longer blue. North-eastward it was inky black, and out of the blackness shone brightly and steadily the pale white stars. Overhead it was a deep Indian red and starless, and south-eastward it grew brighter to a glowing scarlet where, cut by the horizon, lay the huge hull of the sun, red and motionless.
Indian - indien, amérindien, Indienne
scarlet - écarlate
hull - coque, Hull
The rocks about me were of a harsh reddish colour, and all the trace of life that I could see at first was the intensely green vegetation that covered every projecting point on their south-eastern face. It was the same rich green that one sees on forest moss or on the lichen in caves: plants which like these grow in a perpetual twilight.
rocks - des rochers, rocher, roc
intensely - intensément
lichen - lichen
perpetual - perpétuel
'The machine was standing on a sloping beach. The sea stretched away to the south-west, to rise into a sharp bright horizon against the wan sky. There were no breakers and no waves, for not a breath of wind was stirring. Only a slight oily swell rose and fell like a gentle breathing, and showed that the eternal sea was still moving and living.
wan - wan, pâle, blafard
waves - des vagues, vague
oily - huileux, onctueux
swell - gonfler, déferlement, se tuméfier
gentle - gentil, doux
eternal - éternelle, éternel
And along the margin where the water sometimes broke was a thick incrustation of salt-pink under the lurid sky. There was a sense of oppression in my head, and I noticed that I was breathing very fast. The sensation reminded me of my only experience of mountaineering, and from that I judged the air to be more rarefied than it is now.
margin - marge
incrustation - travestissement
lurid - lugubre, choquant, choquante, blafard, livide, bleme, jaunâtre
oppression - l'oppression, oppression
mountaineering - l'alpinisme, alpinisme, (mountaineer), montagnard
'Far away up the desolate slope I heard a harsh scream, and saw a thing like a huge white butterfly go slanting and fluttering up into the sky and, circling, disappear over some low hillocks beyond. The sound of its voice was so dismal that I shivered and seated myself more firmly upon the machine.
scream - cri, crier
butterfly - papillon, pansement papillon
slanting - en biais, biais, connotation, bridé, qualifier
hillocks - des buttes, monticule, tertre, mondrain, mamelon
dismal - lamentable, misérable, morne, lugubre, déprimant
Looking round me again, I saw that, quite near, what I had taken to be a reddish mass of rock was moving slowly towards me. Then I saw the thing was really a monstrous crab-like creature.
Rock - le rocher, bercer, balancer, rupestre, rocher, roc
Crab - le crabe, crabe
Can you imagine a crab as large as yonder table, with its many legs moving slowly and uncertainly, its big claws swaying, its long antennae, like carters'whips, waving and feeling, and its stalked eyes gleaming at you on either side of its metallic front? Its back was corrugated and ornamented with ungainly bosses, and a greenish incrustation blotched it here and there.
yonder - la-bas, la-bas
uncertainly - incertaine
claws - griffes, griffe
antennae - des antennes
whips - des fouets, fouet, whip, fouetter, flageller, défaire, battre
waving - en faisant signe de la main, (wave) en faisant signe de la main
stalked - traqué, tige
gleaming - étincelante, brillant, (gleam) étincelante
ornamented - orné, ornement, ornement musical
ungainly - disgracieux, gauche
bosses - patrons, patron/-onne
greenish - verdâtre, verdouillard
blotched - tacheté, tache
I could see the many palps of its complicated mouth flickering and feeling as it moved.
complicated - compliqué, compliquer
'As I stared at this sinister apparition crawling towards me, I felt a tickling on my cheek as though a fly had lighted there. I tried to brush it away with my hand, but in a moment it returned, and almost immediately came another by my ear. I struck at this, and caught something threadlike. It was drawn swiftly out of my hand.
sinister - sinistre
apparition - apparition
crawling - a quatre pattes, (crawl) a quatre pattes
tickling - des chatouilles, (tickle), chatouiller
brush - brosse, brossage, accrochage, brosser, se brosser, peindre
threadlike - comme un fil
With a frightful qualm, I turned, and I saw that I had grasped the antenna of another monster crab that stood just behind me. Its evil eyes were wriggling on their stalks, its mouth was all alive with appetite, and its vast ungainly claws, smeared with an algal slime, were descending upon me. In a moment my hand was on the lever, and I had placed a month between myself and these monsters.
qualm - qualm, scrupule
antenna - antenne
alive - en vie, vivant
algal - algues, algal
slime - de la bave, slime, glaire, bave
descending - descendant, descendre
monsters - des monstres, monstre, bete, monstrueux
But I was still on the same beach, and I saw them distinctly now as soon as I stopped. Dozens of them seemed to be crawling here and there, in the sombre light, among the foliated sheets of intense green.
dozens - douzaines, douzaine, dizaine
'I cannot convey the sense of abominable desolation that hung over the world. The red eastern sky, the northward blackness, the salt Dead Sea, the stony beach crawling with these foul, slow-stirring monsters, the uniform poisonous-looking green of the lichenous plants, the thin air that hurts one's lungs: all contributed to an appalling effect.
hung over - La gueule de bois
Dead Sea - La mer Morte
stony - pierreux, froid, sec
poisonous - toxiques
lichenous - lichen
hurts - fait mal, faire mal, blesser, blessé
lungs - poumons, poumon
appalling - épouvantable, effroyable, (appal)
I moved on a hundred years, and there was the same red sun-a little larger, a little duller-the same dying sea, the same chill air, and the same crowd of earthy crustacea creeping in and out among the green weed and the red rocks. And in the westward sky, I saw a curved pale line like a vast new moon.
duller - plus terne, émoussé, ennuyeux, barbant, mat, terne, sot, obtus
earthy - terreux
crustacea - Crustacés
curved - courbé, courbe, courbes, courber
'So I travelled, stopping ever and again, in great strides of a thousand years or more, drawn on by the mystery of the earth's fate, watching with a strange fascination the sun grow larger and duller in the westward sky, and the life of the old earth ebb away.
ebb away - s'éloigner
At last, more than thirty million years hence, the huge red-hot dome of the sun had come to obscure nearly a tenth part of the darkling heavens. Then I stopped once more, for the crawling multitude of crabs had disappeared, and the red beach, save for its livid green liverworts and lichens, seemed lifeless. And now it was flecked with white. A bitter cold assailed me.
obscure - obscure, obscur, sibyllin, obscurcir
tenth part - dixieme partie
heavens - les cieux, ciel, paradis, au-dela, cieux-p
multitude - multitude
crabs - des crabes, crabe
livid - livide, furieux
liverworts - les hépatiques, hépatique
lichens - les lichens, lichen
lifeless - sans vie
flecked - moucheté, tache, flocon, frarticule (1), froucheture, moucheter
Bitter - amere, amer, saumâtre
assailed - assailli, assaillir
Rare white flakes ever and again came eddying down. To the north-eastward, the glare of snow lay under the starlight of the sable sky and I could see an undulating crest of hillocks pinkish white. There were fringes of ice along the sea margin, with drifting masses further out; but the main expanse of that salt ocean, all bloody under the eternal sunset, was still unfrozen.
sable - zibeline, martre, sable
fringes - les franges, frange, périphérie, radicaux
Ocean - l'océan, océan
bloody - sanglante
'I looked about me to see if any traces of animal life remained. A certain indefinable apprehension still kept me in the saddle of the machine. But I saw nothing moving, in earth or sky or sea. The green slime on the rocks alone testified that life was not extinct. A shallow sandbank had appeared in the sea and the water had receded from the beach.
animal life - la vie animale
indefinable - indéfinissable
sandbank - banc de sable
I fancied I saw some black object flopping about upon this bank, but it became motionless as I looked at it, and I judged that my eye had been deceived, and that the black object was merely a rock. The stars in the sky were intensely bright and seemed to me to twinkle very little.
flopping - flopping, (s')affaler
deceived - trompé, tromper, leurrer, séduire
Twinkle - twinkle, briller, cligner, virevolter
'Suddenly I noticed that the circular westward outline of the sun had changed; that a concavity, a bay, had appeared in the curve. I saw this grow larger. For a minute perhaps I stared aghast at this blackness that was creeping over the day, and then I realized that an eclipse was beginning. Either the moon or the planet Mercury was passing across the sun's disk.
outline - les grandes lignes, contour, silhouette, esquisse, aperçu
concavity - concavité
bay - baie
curve - courbe, courbes, courber
aghast - consterné, effaré, stupéfait, épouvanté, paniqué
eclipse - éclipse, éclipser
Naturally, at first I took it to be the moon, but there is much to incline me to believe that what I really saw was the transit of an inner planet passing very near to the earth.
Transit - transit, transiter
'The darkness grew apace; a cold wind began to blow in freshening gusts from the east, and the showering white flakes in the air increased in number. From the edge of the sea came a ripple and whisper. Beyond these lifeless sounds the world was silent. Silent? It would be hard to convey the stillness of it.
gusts - des rafales, rafale
ripple - ondulation
whisper - chuchotement, chuchoter, susurrer, murmurer
All the sounds of man, the bleating of sheep, the cries of birds, the hum of insects, the stir that makes the background of our lives-all that was over. As the darkness thickened, the eddying flakes grew more abundant, dancing before my eyes; and the cold of the air more intense. At last, one by one, swiftly, one after the other, the white peaks of the distant hills vanished into blackness.
bleating - belant, (bleat), belement
Insects - insectes, insecte
background - arriere-plan, trame, fond
thickened - épaissie, épaissir, lier, s'épaissir
more intense - plus intense
peaks - pics, pic
The breeze rose to a moaning wind. I saw the black central shadow of the eclipse sweeping towards me. In another moment the pale stars alone were visible. All else was rayless obscurity. The sky was absolutely black.
'A horror of this great darkness came on me. The cold, that smote to my marrow, and the pain I felt in breathing, overcame me. I shivered, and a deadly nausea seized me. Then like a red-hot bow in the sky appeared the edge of the sun. I got off the machine to recover myself. I felt giddy and incapable of facing the return journey.
marrow - moelle
overcame - surmonté, vaincre, surmonter, envahir
bow - l'arc, arc
return journey - le retour
As I stood sick and confused I saw again the moving thing upon the shoal-there was no mistake now that it was a moving thing-against the red water of the sea. It was a round thing, the size of a football perhaps, or, it may be, bigger, and tentacles trailed down from it; it seemed black against the weltering blood-red water, and it was hopping fitfully about. Then I felt I was fainting.
shoal - banc (de poissons)
trailed - suivi, pister, suivre, traîner, piste, traces-p, sentier
fitfully - de façon irréguliere
Fainting - l'évanouissement, syncope
But a terrible dread of lying helpless in that remote and awful twilight sustained me while I clambered upon the saddle.
sustained - soutenue, maintenir, subvenir
clambered - escaladé, grimper
'So I came back. For a long time I must have been insensible upon the machine. The blinking succession of the days and nights was resumed, the sun got golden again, the sky blue. I breathed with greater freedom. The fluctuating contours of the land ebbed and flowed. The hands spun backward upon the dials. At last I saw again the dim shadows of houses, the evidences of decadent humanity.
sky blue - bleu ciel
breathed - respiré, respiration, souffle, haleine
contours - contours, contour, ligne de niveau
ebbed - ebbed, reflux, jusant, refluer, décliner
flowed - s'est écoulée, couler
spun - filé, tournoyer, (faire) tourner
These, too, changed and passed, and others came. Presently, when the million dial was at zero, I slackened speed. I began to recognize our own pretty and familiar architecture, the thousands hand ran back to the starting-point, the night and day flapped slower and slower. Then the old walls of the laboratory came round me. Very gently, now, I slowed the mechanism down.
flapped - battu, pan
'I saw one little thing that seemed odd to me. I think I have told you that when I set out, before my velocity became very high, Mrs. Watchett had walked across the room, travelling, as it seemed to me, like a rocket. As I returned, I passed again across that minute when she traversed the laboratory. But now her every motion appeared to be the exact inversion of her previous ones.
inversion - l'inversion, inversion, renversement
The door at the lower end opened, and she glided quietly up the laboratory, back foremost, and disappeared behind the door by which she had previously entered. Just before that I seemed to see Hillyer for a moment; but he passed like a flash.
glided - glissé, glisser, planer
foremost - avant tout
previously - autrefois, auparavant, antérieurement, précédemment
'Then I stopped the machine, and saw about me again the old familiar laboratory, my tools, my appliances just as I had left them. I got off the thing very shakily, and sat down upon my bench. For several minutes I trembled violently. Then I became calmer. Around me was my old workshop again, exactly as it had been. I might have slept there, and the whole thing have been a dream.
shakily - tremblant
trembled - tremblait, trembler, vibrer, tremblement, vibration
calmer - plus calme, calme, tranquille, calme plat, calmer
'And yet, not exactly! The thing had started from the south-east corner of the laboratory. It had come to rest again in the north-west, against the wall where you saw it. That gives you the exact distance from my little lawn to the pedestal of the White Sphinx, into which the Morlocks had carried my machine.
'For a time my brain went stagnant. Presently I got up and came through the passage here, limping, because my heel was still painful, and feeling sorely begrimed. I saw the Pall Mall Gazette on the table by the door. I found the date was indeed to-day, and looking at the timepiece, saw the hour was almost eight o'clock. I heard your voices and the clatter of plates.
Pall - pall, drap mortuaire, voile
Mall - mail, centre commercial
clatter - claquer, craquer, claquement, craquement, vacarme
I hesitated-I felt so sick and weak. Then I sniffed good wholesome meat, and opened the door on you. You know the rest. I washed, and dined, and now I am telling you the story.
sniffed - reniflé, renifler, sniffer
dined - dîné, vacarme
'I know,'he said, after a pause, 'that all this will be absolutely incredible to you. To me the one incredible thing is that I am here to-night in this old familiar room looking into your friendly faces and telling you these strange adventures.'
adventures - aventures, (adventure) aventures
He looked at the Medical Man. 'No. I cannot expect you to believe it. Take it as a lie-or a prophecy. Say I dreamed it in the workshop. Consider I have been speculating upon the destinies of our race until I have hatched this fiction. Treat my assertion of its truth as a mere stroke of art to enhance its interest. And taking it as a story, what do you think of it?'
prophecy - prophétie
speculating - des spéculations, spéculer
destinies - destins, destin
hatched - éclos, passe-plats
fiction - fiction, belles-lettres
assertion - assertion
stroke - accident vasculaire cérébral, caresser
enhance - augmenter, accroître, améliorer
He took up his pipe, and began, in his old accustomed manner, to tap with it nervously upon the bars of the grate. There was a momentary stillness. Then chairs began to creak and shoes to scrape upon the carpet. I took my eyes off the Time Traveller's face, and looked round at his audience. They were in the dark, and little spots of colour swam before them.
nervously - nerveusement
grate - grilles, grille, crisser, grincer, râper
creak - grincement, craquement, craquer
scrape - gratter, racler, effleurer
carpet - tapis, moquette, tapisser
audience - assistance, public, auditoire, lectorat, audience
The Medical Man seemed absorbed in the contemplation of our host. The Editor was looking hard at the end of his cigar-the sixth. The Journalist fumbled for his watch. The others, as far as I remember, were motionless.
absorbed in - absorbée
contemplation - contemplation
sixth - sixieme, sixieme ('before the noun'), ('in names of monarchs and popes') six ('after the name') ('abbreviation' VI)
The Editor stood up with a sigh. 'What a pity it is you're not a writer of stories!'he said, putting his hand on the Time Traveller's shoulder.
sigh - soupir
What a pity - Quel dommage
'You don't believe it?'
'Well--'
'I thought not.'
The Time Traveller turned to us. 'Where are the matches?'he said.
He lit one and spoke over his pipe, puffing. 'To tell you the truth
puffing - souffler, (puff) souffler
… I hardly believe it myself…. And yet…'
His eye fell with a mute inquiry upon the withered white flowers upon the little table. Then he turned over the hand holding his pipe, and I saw he was looking at some half-healed scars on his knuckles.
mute - muet
inquiry - demande, enquete
scars - cicatrices, cicatrice
The Medical Man rose, came to the lamp, and examined the flowers. 'The gynaeceum's odd,'he said. The Psychologist leant forward to see, holding out his hand for a specimen.
gynaeceum - gynécée
leant - leant, pencher
holding out - Tenir bon
specimen - spécimen, exemple
'I'm hanged if it isn't a quarter to one,'said the Journalist.
hanged - pendu
'How shall we get home?'
'Plenty of cabs at the station,'said the Psychologist.
plenty - l'abondance, abondance
cabs - cabs, taxi
'It's a curious thing,'said the Medical Man; 'but I certainly don't know the natural order of these flowers. May I have them?'
The Time Traveller hesitated. Then suddenly: 'Certainly not.'
'Where did you really get them?'said the Medical Man.
The Time Traveller put his hand to his head. He spoke like one who was trying to keep hold of an idea that eluded him. 'They were put into my pocket by Weena, when I travelled into Time.'He stared round the room. 'I'm damned if it isn't all going. This room and you and the atmosphere of every day is too much for my memory. Did I ever make a Time Machine, or a model of a Time Machine?
eluded - éludé, éluder
Or is it all only a dream? They say life is a dream, a precious poor dream at times-but I can't stand another that won't fit. It's madness. And where did the dream come from? … I must look at that machine. If there is one!'
precious - précieux
fit - s'adapter, adapter
He caught up the lamp swiftly, and carried it, flaring red, through the door into the corridor. We followed him. There in the flickering light of the lamp was the machine sure enough, squat, ugly, and askew; a thing of brass, ebony, ivory, and translucent glimmering quartz.
sure enough - Assurément
squat - squat, s'accroupir
ugly - laid, moche, vilain
ebony - ébene, ébene, bois d'ébene, ébénier
translucent - translucide
glimmering - scintillant, (glimmer), lueur, émettre une lueur
Solid to the touch-for I put out my hand and felt the rail of it-and with brown spots and smears upon the ivory, and bits of grass and moss upon the lower parts, and one rail bent awry.
touch-for - (touch-for) toucher pour
smears - des frottis, badigeonner, couvrir, diffamer, trace, traînée
bits - bits, (petit) morceau
awry - mal, de travers, de guingois, de traviole
The Time Traveller put the lamp down on the bench, and ran his hand along the damaged rail. 'It's all right now,'he said. 'The story I told you was true. I'm sorry to have brought you out here in the cold.'He took up the lamp, and, in an absolute silence, we returned to the smoking-room.
damaged - endommagé, dégât, dommage, endommager, abîmer
He came into the hall with us and helped the Editor on with his coat. The Medical Man looked into his face and, with a certain hesitation, told him he was suffering from overwork, at which he laughed hugely. I remember him standing in the open doorway, bawling good night.
hesitation - hésitation
overwork - le surmenage, surmenage
I shared a cab with the Editor. He thought the tale a 'gaudy lie.'For my own part I was unable to come to a conclusion. The story was so fantastic and incredible, the telling so credible and sober. I lay awake most of the night thinking about it. I determined to go next day and see the Time Traveller again.
cab - cab, fiacre
gaudy - criardes, criard
credible - crédible
sober - sobre, cuver
I was told he was in the laboratory, and being on easy terms in the house, I went up to him. The laboratory, however, was empty. I stared for a minute at the Time Machine and put out my hand and touched the lever. At that the squat substantial-looking mass swayed like a bough shaken by the wind.
on easy terms - a des conditions favorables
substantial - substantielle, substantiel
bough - rameau, branche
shaken - secoué, secouer, agiter
Its instability startled me extremely, and I had a queer reminiscence of the childish days when I used to be forbidden to meddle. I came back through the corridor. The Time Traveller met me in the smoking-room. He was coming from the house. He had a small camera under one arm and a knapsack under the other. He laughed when he saw me, and gave me an elbow to shake.
instability - l'instabilité, instabilité
meddle - s'immiscer, s'ingérer, se meler
knapsack - sac a dos, sac a dos
elbow - coude, coup de coude, jouer des coudes
shake - secouer, agiter, se serrer la main, secousse
'I'm frightfully busy,'said he, 'with that thing in there.'
'But is it not some hoax?'I said. 'Do you really travel through time?'
hoax - duper, berner, canular, mystification, intox
'Really and truly I do.'And he looked frankly into my eyes. He hesitated. His eye wandered about the room. 'I only want half an hour,'he said. 'I know why you came, and it's awfully good of you. There's some magazines here. If you'll stop to lunch I'll prove you this time travelling up to the hilt, specimen and all. If you'll forgive my leaving you now?'
awfully - terriblement
Prove - prouver, éprouvent, éprouvons, éprouvez, prouvent
hilt - hilt, poignée
forgive - pardonner
I consented, hardly comprehending then the full import of his words, and he nodded and went on down the corridor. I heard the door of the laboratory slam, seated myself in a chair, and took up a daily paper. What was he going to do before lunch-time? Then suddenly I was reminded by an advertisement that I had promised to meet Richardson, the publisher, at two.
consented - a consenti, consentir, approuver, agréer, consentement
comprehending - comprendre
slam - slam, claquer
publisher - éditeur, maison d’édition
I looked at my watch, and saw that I could barely save that engagement. I got up and went down the passage to tell the Time Traveller.
barely - a peine, a peine
engagement - l'engagement, fiançailles
As I took hold of the handle of the door I heard an exclamation, oddly truncated at the end, and a click and a thud. A gust of air whirled round me as I opened the door, and from within came the sound of broken glass falling on the floor. The Time Traveller was not there.
handle - poignée, crosse, manions, traiter, manient, maniez
exclamation - exclamation
truncated - tronqué, tronquer
click - cliquer, se fermer rapidement, claquer
I seemed to see a ghostly, indistinct figure sitting in a whirling mass of black and brass for a moment-a figure so transparent that the bench behind with its sheets of drawings was absolutely distinct; but this phantasm vanished as I rubbed my eyes. The Time Machine had gone. Save for a subsiding stir of dust, the further end of the laboratory was empty.
ghostly - fantomatique
whirling - tourbillonnant, (whirl), tourbillonner
phantasm - phantasme
rubbed - frotté, friction, hic, frotter, polir
A pane of the skylight had, apparently, just been blown in.
pane - panneau, vitre
skylight - puits de lumiere, fenetre de toit, lucarne, vélux, verriere
I felt an unreasonable amazement. I knew that something strange had happened, and for the moment could not distinguish what the strange thing might be. As I stood staring, the door into the garden opened, and the man-servant appeared.
servant - serviteur, domestique, servante, checkserviteur
We looked at each other. Then ideas began to come. 'Has Mr. -- gone out that way?'said I.
Mr - monsieur
'No, sir. No one has come out this way. I was expecting to find him here.'
At that I understood. At the risk of disappointing Richardson I stayed on, waiting for the Time Traveller; waiting for the second, perhaps still stranger story, and the specimens and photographs he would bring with him. But I am beginning now to fear that I must wait a lifetime. The Time Traveller vanished three years ago. And, as everybody knows now, he has never returned.
disappointing - décevante, décevoir, désappointer
lifetime - a vie, durée de vie (objects), vie (persons), éternité
EPILOGUE
Epilogue - epilogue, épilogue
One cannot choose but wonder. Will he ever return? It may be that he swept back into the past, and fell among the blood-drinking, hairy savages of the Age of Unpolished Stone; into the abysses of the Cretaceous Sea; or among the grotesque saurians, the huge reptilian brutes of the Jurassic times.
hairy - poilu
savages - sauvages, barbare, féroce, sauvage
abysses - des abîmes, abîme, précipice, abysse, gouffre
Cretaceous - Crétacé
saurians - les sauriens, saurien
reptilian - reptilien
Jurassic - jurassique
He may even now-if I may use the phrase-be wandering on some plesiosaurus-haunted Oolitic coral reef, or beside the lonely saline lakes of the Triassic Age. Or did he go forward, into one of the nearer ages, in which men are still men, but with the riddles of our own time answered and its wearisome problems solved?
wandering - l'errance, errement, errance, divagation, (wander), errer
plesiosaurus - plésiosaure
haunted - hanté, hanter, demeurer, point de rencontre
coral reef - récif corallien
saline - saline, salin
lakes - des lacs, lac
Triassic - Trias
riddles - des énigmes, devinette
solved - résolu, résoudre, régler, solutionner
Into the manhood of the race: for I, for my own part, cannot think that these latter days of weak experiment, fragmentary theory, and mutual discord are indeed man's culminating time! I say, for my own part.
manhood - la virilité, humanité, virilité, masculinité
mutual - mutuelle, mutuel
discord - discorde, désaccord
culminating - le point culminant, aboutir a, conduire a, déboucher sur
He, I know-for the question had been discussed among us long before the Time Machine was made-thought but cheerlessly of the Advancement of Mankind, and saw in the growing pile of civilization only a foolish heaping that must inevitably fall back upon and destroy its makers in the end. If that is so, it remains for us to live as though it were not so.
cheerlessly - sans joie
advancement - l'avancement, progres, avancement d'hoirie
makers - les faiseurs, faiseur, fabricant, créateur
But to me the future is still black and blank-is a vast ignorance, lit at a few casual places by the memory of his story. And I have by me, for my comfort, two strange white flowers-shrivelled now, and brown and flat and brittle-to witness that even when mind and strength had gone, gratitude and a mutual tenderness still lived on in the heart of man.
casual - fortuit, accidentel, de hasard, occasionnel, désinvolte, sport
brittle - fragile, cassant, croquant
witness - témoin
End of Project Gutenberg's The Time Machine, by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
George - george, Georges, Jorioz