Oliver Twist — Chapter 13 in French
By Charles Dickens
revient au bon vieillard et à ses jeunes amis, par l'intermédiaire desquels une nouvelle connaissance est présentée au lecteur intelligent, et avec lesquels sont rapportées diverses matières agréables se rattachant à cette histoire. reverts to the merry old gentleman and his youthful friends, through whom a new acquaintance is introduced to the intelligent reader, and connected with whom various pleasant matters are related appertaining to this history.
Quand le Matois et son digne camarade maître Bates, après s’être approprié d’une manière illégale le mouchoir de M. Brownlow, s’étaient joints à la foule qui poursuivait Olivier, comme nous l’avons raconté précédemment, ils avaient obéi à un sentiment louable et méritoire, celui de se sauver eux-mêmes. Comme le respect de la liberté individuelle est un des privilèges dont tout bon Anglais s’enorgueillit le plus, je n’ai pas besoin de faire observer que cette fuite de nos jeunes filous doit les relever dans l’esprit des patriotes sincères. When the Dodger and his accomplished friend Master Bates joined in the hue-and-cry which was raised at Oliver's heels, in consequence of their executing an illegal conveyance of Mr. Brownlow's personal property, as has been already described with great perspicuity in a foregoing chapter, they were actuated, as we therein took occasion to observe, by a very laudable and becoming regard for themselves: and forasmuch as the freedom of the subject and the liberty of the individual are among the first and proudest boasts of a true-hearted Englishman, so I need hardly beg the reader to observe that this action must tend to exalt them in the opinion of all public and patriotic men, in almost as great a degree as this strong proof of their anxiety for their own preservation and safety goes to corroborate and confirm the little code of laws which certain profound and sound-judging philosophers have laid down as the mainsprings of all Nature's deeds and actions; the said philosophers very wisely reducing the good lady's proceedings to matters of maxim and theory, and by a very neat and pretty compliment to her exalted wisdom and understanding, putting entirely out of sight any considerations of heart, or generous impulse and feeling, as matters totally beneath a female who is acknowledged by universal admission to be so far beyond the numerous little foibles and weaknesses of her sex.
Ce qui montre bien qu’ils agissaient en vrais philosophes, c’est que, dès que l’attention générale fut fixée sur Olivier, ils cessèrent de poursuivre celui-ci, et regagnèrent leur demeure par le plus court chemin ; après avoir parcouru de toute la vitesse de leurs jambes un dédale de passages et de rues étroites, ils s’arrêtèrent d’un commun accord sous une voûte basse et sombre, et, dès qu’il eut repris haleine, maître Bates poussa un cri de joie et, dans les transports de sa gaieté, se tordit à force de rire et finit par se rouler à terre. If I wanted any further proof of the strictly philosophical nature of the conduct of these young gentlemen in their very delicate predicament, I should at once find it in the fact (also recorded in a foregoing part of this narrative) of their quitting the pursuit when the general attention was fixed upon Oliver, and making immediately for their home by the shortest possible cut; for although I do not mean to assert that it is the practice of renowned and learned sages at all to shorten the road to any great conclusion, their course indeed being rather to lengthen the distance by various circumlocutions and discursive staggerings, like unto those in which drunken men under the pressure of a too mighty flow of ideas are prone to indulge, still I do mean to say, and do say distinctly, that it is the invariable practice of all mighty philosophers, in carrying out their theories, to evince great wisdom and foresight in providing against every possible contingency which can be supposed at all likely to affect themselves. Ainsi, pour faire un grand bien, on peut faire un petit mal, et l'on peut employer tous les moyens que la fin à atteindre justifie ; la quantité du bien ou la quantité du mal, ou même la distinction entre les deux, étant entièrement abandonnée au philosophe en question : à être réglée et déterminée par sa vue claire, complète et impartiale de son cas particulier. Thus, to do a great right, you may do a little wrong, and you may take any means which the end to be attained will justify; the amount of the right or the amount of the wrong, or indeed the distinction between the two, being left entirely to the philosopher concerned: to be settled and determined by his clear, comprehensive, and impartial view of his own particular case.
Ce ne fut que lorsque les deux garçons eurent traversé avec une grande rapidité un dédale compliqué de rues étroites et de cours, qu'ils se hasardèrent à s'arrêter d'un commun accord sous une voûte basse et sombre. It was not until the two boys had scoured with great rapidity through a most intricate maze of narrow streets and courts, that they ventured to halt by one consent beneath a low and dark archway. Après être restés silencieux assez longtemps pour reprendre haleine et pouvoir parler, maître Bates poussa une exclamation de joie et de délice, et, se laissant aller à un accès de rire irrépressible, se jeta sur le seuil d'une porte et s'y roula dans les transports de l'hilarité. Having remained silent here, just long enough to recover breath to speak, Master Bates uttered an exclamation of amusement and delight, and, bursting into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, flung himself upon a door-step, and rolled thereon in a transport of mirth.