VGE2E12 traduction vers l’anglais texte n°3

Extrait de Jean-Philippe Toussaint, La Salle de bain (1985) – proposition de

traduction

Je partis brusquement, et sans prévenir personne

I left suddenly and without telling anyone.
!! “without doING something”

Je n’avais rien emporté.

I had not brought anything with me/ I had brought nothing with
me.
avoid contractions except in dialogue!!
“brought” = irregular verb

J’étais vêtu d’un costume sombre et d’un pardessus bleu

I was wearing a dark suit and a blue [over]coat
I was dressed in …
“overcoat” is the old-fashioned word… so a bit like “pardessus”

Je marchais dans la rue : les arbres, le trottoir, quelques passants.

I walked down the street, along the pavement with its trees
and passers-by.
note that you walk DOWN a street
here, try and replace the colon [:] by words—here, two have been added (“along” and
“with”)

En débouchant sur la place, j’aperçus l’autobus.

I saw the bus arriving as I came into the square.
it’s often easier /more natural to translate into English by starting with the subject and
the main clause of the sentence (“I saw the bus arriving”)

J’accélérai le pas, traversai l’avenue en courant et montai à la suite des autres voyageurs.
I quickened my pace [sped up], ran across the avenue and got
on the bus behind / after the other passengers.
note the verb “to speed up” (speed /sped /sped)
note also how grammatical categories change when you translate “traverser en
courant”
=> traverser (V) en courant (adverbial phrase) => run (V) + preposition (across)

L’autobus se mit en route

The bus set off.

Deux personnes se trouvaient en face de moi, une dame, un homme qui lisait le journal
Two people were sitting opposite me/ There were two people
opposite me : a lady, and a man [who was] reading the paper.
“in front of” is slightly different – it’s more like “devant” in French
don’t forget the AND between “lady” and “man”!
 VGE2E12 traduction vers l’anglais texte n°3

Les chaussures de mon vis-à-vis étaient mouillées, une mince flaque se dessinait autour des
semelles.
The shoes of the person directly opposite/ facing me were wet
and a little/ shallow puddle was forming around the soles.
remember that here “se dessinait” is a metaphor

Nous traversâmes la Seine, la retraversâmes au pont d’Austerlitz.

We crossed over the Seine and crossed it again over the Pont
d’Austerlitz/ Austerlitz Bridge.
geographical sites are rarely translated unless they are well known (“the Palace of
Versaille”), but English punctuation is applied – a capital P for “Pont”

À chaque arrêt, j’observais les gens qui montaient, surveillais leurs visages.
At each stop, I observed/ watched the people [who were]getting
on the bus, / scrutinising / scanning/ looking carefully at
their faces.
if you’re not sure of how to translate “surveiller”, use something simple like “look
carefully”

Je craignais de rencontrer quiconque.

I was frightened/ afraid/ scared of meeting someone I knew. /
I was scared I might meet someone I knew
I was scared to meet someone I knew
‘I knew’ has been added just to make the meaning a bit clearer
note possible use of “might”

Parfois, un profil entraperçu m’effrayait et je baissais la tête car il me semblait reconnaître

quelqu’un
Sometimes/ Every now and than/ From time to time …
… I caught/ would catch a glimpse of a profile which
frightened me …
… and I lowered my head [looked down] would lower my head
[looked down …
I thought I recognized someone/ because the face seemed
familiar/

it’s possible to use “would” here, because the narrator is describing a repeated action
in the past
note also the phrasal verb “to look down” (you can also look up/ across/into/through
etc.)

mais, dès que la personne me faisait face, la vue de son visage inconnu me soulageait et, avec
bienveillance, je la suivais des yeux jusqu’à ce qu’elle eût pris place.
but as soon as the person was right in front of me, I
would find to my relief that I didn’t know them and I
would watch them benevolently/kindly until they found a
seat/ sat down.

note the difference btw “look at” (regarder) and the more insistent “watch” (suivre des
yeux)
this sentence has been paraphrased as a literal translation was not possible.
 VGE2E12 traduction vers l’anglais texte n°3

Je descendis au terminus et me dirigeai vers la gare.

I got off at the terminal/ terminus/ last stop and headed for
/ made for the railway station.
note “to make for” “to head for”

J’errai quelque peu dans le hall. Je pris un billet, essayai d’obtenir une couchette, mais il
était trop tard : le train était sur le point de partir.

I wandered around the departure hall a bit, bought a ticket,

tried to get a place on a sleeper / sleeping car, but it was
too late as the train was about to leave.

Note again that [:] has been translated by a word – “as”. You could also have used a
dash [—]