1、Ltranger 1www.bilingual-Ltranger THE StrangerAlbert amus By ALBERT CAMUSPremire partie Part One1 IAujourdhui, maman est morte. Ou peut-tre hier, je ne sais pas. Jai reu un tlgramme de lasile: Mre dcde. Enterrement demain. Sentiments distingus. Cela ne veut rien dire. Ctait peut-tre hier.MOTHER died
2、today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I cant be sure. The telegram from the Home says: YOUR MOTHER PASSED AWAY. FUNERAL TOMORROW. DEEP SYMPATHY. Which leaves the matter doubtful; it could have been yesterday. Lasile de vieillards est Marengo, quatre-vingts kilomtres dAlger. Je prendrai lautobus deux heures e
3、t jarriverai dans laprs-midi. Ainsi, je pourrai veiller et je rentrerai demain soir. Jai demand deux jours de cong mon patron et il ne pouvait pas me les refuser avec une excuse pareille. Mais il navait pas lair content. Je lui ai mme dit : Ce nest pas de ma faute. II na pas rpondu. Jai pens alors q
4、ue je naurais pas d lui dire cela. En somme, je navais pas mexcuser. Ctait plutt lui de me prsenter ses condolances. Mais il le fera sans doute aprs-demain, quand il me verra en deuil. Pour le moment, cest un peu comme si maman ntait pas morte. Aprs lenterrement, au contraire, ce sera une affaire cl
5、asse et tout aura revtu une allure plus officielle.The Home for Aged Persons is at Marengo, some fifty miles from Algiers. With the two oclock bus I should get there well before nightfall. Then I can spend the night there, keeping the usual vigil beside the body, and be back here by tomorrow evening
6、. I have fixed up with my employer for two days leave; obviously, under the circumstances, he couldnt refuse. Still, I had an idea he looked annoyed, and I said, without thinking: “Sorry, sir, but its not my fault, you know.” Afterwards it struck me I neednt have said that. I had no reason to excuse
7、 myself; it was up to him to express his sympathy and so forth. Probably he will do so the day after tomorrow, when he sees me in black. For the present, its almost as if Mother werent really dead. The funeral will bring it home to me, put an official seal on it, so to speak. . Jai pris lautobus deu
8、x heures. II faisait trs chaud. Jai mang au restaurant, chez Cleste, comme dhabitude. Ils avaient tous beaucoup de peine pour moi et Cleste ma dit: On na quune mre. Quand je suis parti, ils mont accompagn la porte. Jtais un peu tourdi parce quil a fallu que je monte chez Emmanuel pour lui emprunter
9、une cravate noire et un brassard. Il a perdu son oncle, il y a quelques mois.I took the two-oclock bus. It was a blazing hot afternoon. Id lunched, as usual, at Clestes restaurant. Everyone was mo st kind, and Cleste said to me, “Theres no one like a mother.” When I left they came with me to the doo
10、r. It was something of a rush, getting away, as at the last moment I had to call in at Emmanuels place to borrow his black tie and mourning band. He lost his uncle a few months ago. Jai couru pour ne pas manquer le dpart. Cette hte, cette course, cest cause de tout cela sans doute, ajout aux cahots,
11、 lodeur dessence, la rverbration de la route et du I had to run to catch the bus. I suppose it was my hurrying like that, what with the glare off the road and from the sky, the reek of gasoline, and the jolts, that made me feel so drowsy. Anyhow, I Ltranger 2www.bilingual-ciel, que je me suis assoup
12、i. Jai dormi pendant presque tout le trajet. Et quand je me suis rveill, jtais tass contre un militaire qui ma souri et qui ma demand si je venais de loin. Jai dit oui pour navoir plus parler.slept most of the way. When I woke I was leaning against a soldier; he grinned and asked me if Id come from
13、a long way off, and I just nodded, to cut things short. I wasnt in a mood for talking. Lasile est deux kilomtres du village. Jai fait le chemin pied. Jai voulu voir maman tout de suite. Mais le concierge ma dit quil fallait que je rencontre le directeur. Comme il tait occup, jai attendu un peu. Pend
14、ant tout ce temps, le concierge a parl et ensuite, jai vu le directeur : il ma reu dans son bureau. Ctait un petit vieux, avec la Lgion dhonneur. Il ma regard de ses yeux clairs. Puis il ma serr la main quil a garde si longtemps que je ne savais trop comment la retirer. Il a consult un dossier et ma
15、 dit: Mme Meursault est entre ici il y a trois ans. Vous tiez son seul soutien. Jai cru quil me reprochait quelque chose et jai commenc lui expliquer. Mais il ma interrompu: Vous navez pas vous justifier, mon cher enfant. Jai lu le dossier de votre mre. Vous ne pouviez subvenir ses besoins. Il lui f
16、allait une garde. Vos salaires sont modestes. Et tout compte fait, elle tait plus heureuse ici. Jai dit: Oui, monsieur le Directeur. Il a ajout: Vous savez, elle avait des amis, des gens de son ge. Elle pouvait partager avec eux des intrts qui sont dun autre temps. Vous tes jeune et elle devait senn
17、uyer avec vous. Ctait vrai. Quand elle tait la maison, maman passait son temps me suivre des yeux en silence. Dans les premiers jours o elle tait lasile, elle pleurait souvent. Mais ctait cause de lhabitude. Au bout de quelques mois, elle aurait pleur si on lavait retire de lasile. Toujours cause de
18、 lhabitude. Cest un peu pour cela que dans la dernire anne je ny suis presque plus all. Et aussi parce que cela me prenait mon dimanche sans compter leffort pour aller lautobus, prendre des tickets et faire deux heures de route.The Home is a little over a mile from the village. I went there on foot.
19、 I asked to be allowed to see Mother at once, but the doorkeeper told me I must see the warden first. He wasnt free, and I had to wait a bit. The doorkeeper chatted with me while I waited; then he led me to the office. The warden was a very small man, with gray hair, and a Legion of Honor rosette in
20、 his buttonhole. He gave me a long look with his watery blue eyes. Then we shook hands, and he held mine so long that I began to feel embarrassed. After that he consulted a register on his table, and said: “Madame Meursault entered the Ho me three years ago. She had no private means and depended ent
21、irely on you.” I had a feeling he was blaming me for something, and started to explain. But he cut me short. “Theres no need to excuse yourself, my boy. Ive looked up the record and obviously you werent in a position to see that she was properly cared for. She needed someone to be with her all the t
22、ime, and young men in jobs like yours dont get too much pay. In any case, she was much happier in the Home.” I said, “Yes, sir; Im sure of that.” Then he added: “She had good friends here, you know, old folks like herself, and one gets on better with people of ones own generation. Youre much too you
23、ng; you couldnt have been much of a companion to her.” That was so. When we lived together, Mother was always watching me, but we hardly ever talked. During her first few weeks at the Home she used to cry a good deal. But that was only because she hadnt settled down. After a month or two shed have c
24、ried if shed been told to leave the Home. Because this, too, would have been a wrench. That was why, during the last year, I seldom went to see her. Also, it would have meant losing my Sundaynot to mention the trouble of going to the bus, getting my ticket, and spending two hours on the journey each
25、 way. Ltranger 3www.bilingual-Le directeur ma encore parl. Mais je ne lcoutais presque plus. Puis il ma dit: Je suppose que vous voulez voir votre mre. Je me suis lev sans rien dire et il ma prcd vers la porte. Dans lescalier, il ma expliqu: Nous lavons transporte dans notre petite morgue. Pour ne p
26、as impressionner les autres. Chaque fois quun pensionnaire meurt, les autres sont nerveux pendant deux ou trois jours. Et a rend le service difficile. Nous avons travers une cour o il y avait beaucoup de vieillards, bavardant par petits groupes. Ils se taisaient quand nous passions. Et derrire nous,
27、 les conversations reprenaient. On aurait dit dun jacassement assourdi de perruches. A la porte dun petit btiment, le directeur ma quitt: Je vous laisse, monsieur Meursault. Je suis votre disposition dans mon bureau. En principe, lenterrement est fix dix heures du matin. Nous avons pens que vous pou
28、rrez ainsi veiller la disparue. Un dernier mot: votre mre a, parat-il, exprim souvent ses compagnons le dsir dtre enterre religieusement. Jai pris sur moi de faire le ncessaire. Mais je voulais vous en informer. Je lai remerci. Maman, sans tre athe, navait jamais pens de son vivant la religion.The w
29、arden went on talking, but I didnt pay much attention. Finally he said: “Now, I suppose youd like to see your mother?” I rose without replying, and he led the way to the door. As we were going down the stairs he explained: “Ive had the body moved to our little mortuaryso as not to upset the other ol
30、d people, you understand. Every time theres a death here, theyre in a nervous state for two or three days. Which means, of course, extra work and worry for our staff.” We crossed a courtyard where there were a number of old men, talking amongst themselves in little groups. They fell silent as we cam
31、e up with them. Then, behind our backs, the chattering began again. Their voices reminded me of parakeets in a cage, only the sound wasnt quite so shrill. The warden stopped outside the entrance of a small, low building. “So here I leave you, Monsieur Meursault. If you want me for anything, youll fi
32、nd me in my office. We propose to have the funeral tomorrow morning. That will enable you to spend the night beside your mothers coffin, as no doubt you would wish to do. Just one more thing; I gathered from your mothers friends that she wished to be buried with the rites of the Church. Ive made arr
33、angements for this; but I thought I should let you know.” I thanked him. So far as I knew, my mother, though not a professed atheist, had never given a thought to religion in her life. Je suis entr. Ctait une salle trs claire, blanchie la chaux et recouverte dune verrire. Elle tait meuble de chaises
34、 et de chevalets en forme de X. Deux dentre eux, au centre, supportaient une bire recouverte de son couvercle. On voyait seulement des vis brillantes, peine enfonces, se dtacher sur les planches passes au brou de noix. Prs de la bire, il y avait une infirmire arabe en sarrau blanc, un foulard de cou
35、leur vive sur la tte. A ce moment, le concierge est entr derrire mon dos. Il avait d courir. Il a bgay un peu: On la couverte, mais je dois dvisser la bire pour que vous puissiez la voir. Il sapprochait de la bire quand je lai arrt. Il ma dit : Vous ne voulez pas? Jai rpondu: Non. Il sest interrompu
36、 et I entered the mortuary. It was a bright, spotlessly clean room, with whitewashed walls and a big skylight. The furniture consisted of some chairs and trestles. Two of the latter stood open in the center of the room and the coffin rested on them. The lid was in place, but the screws had been give
37、n only a few turns and their nickeled heads stuck out above the wood, which was stained dark walnut. An Arab womana nurse, I supposedwas sitting beside the bier; she was wearing a blue smock and had a rather gaudy scarf wound round her hair. Just then the keeper came up behind me. Hed evidently been
38、 running, as he was a little out of breath. “We put the lid on, but I was told to unscrew it when you came, so that you could see her.” While he was going up to the coffin I told him not to trouble. “Eh? Whats that?” he Ltranger 4www.bilingual-jtais gn parce que je sentais que je naurais pas d dire
39、cela. Au bout dun moment, il ma regard et il ma demand : Pourquoi ? mais sans reproche, comme sil sinformait. Jai dit : Je ne sais pas. Alors, tortillant sa moustache blanche, il a dclar sans me regarder : Je comprends. Il avait de beaux yeux, bleu clair, et un teint un peu rouge. Il ma donn une cha
40、ise et lui-mme sest assis un peu en arrire de moi. La garde sest leve et sest dirige vers la sortie. A ce moment, le concierge ma dit: Cest un chancre quelle a. Comme je ne comprenais pas, jai regard linfirmire et jai vu quelle portait sous les yeux un bandeau qui faisait le tour de la tte. A la hau
41、teur du nez, le bandeau tait plat. On ne voyait que la blancheur du bandeau dans son visage.exclaimed. “You dont want me to .?” “No,” I said. He put back the screwdriver in his pocket and stared at me. I realized then that I shouldnt have said, “No,” and it made me rather embarrassed. After eying me
42、 for some moments he asked: “Why not?” But he didnt sound reproachful; he simply wanted to know. “Well, really I couldnt say,” I answered. He began twiddling his white mustache; then, without looking at me, said gently: “I understand.” He was a pleasant-looking man, with blue eyes and ruddy cheeks.
43、He drew up a chair for me near the coffin, and seated himself just behind. The nurse got up and moved toward the door. As she was going by, the keeper whispered in my ear: “Its a tumor she has, poor thing.” I looked at her more carefully and I noticed that she had a bandage round her head, just belo
44、w her eyes. It lay quite flat across the bridge of her nose, and one saw hardly anything of her face except that strip of whiteness. Quand elle est partie, le concierge a parl: Je vais vous laisser seul. Je ne sais pas quel geste jai fait, mais il est rest, debout derrire moi. Cette prsence dans mon
45、 dos me gnait. La pice tait pleine dune belle lumire de fin daprs-midi. Deux frelons bourdonnaient contre la verrire. Et je sentais le sommeil me gagner. Jai dit au concierge, sans me retourner vers lui: II y a longtemps que vous tes l? Immdiatement il a rpondu: Cinq ans comme sil avait attendu depu
46、is toujours ma demande.As soon as she had gone, the keeper rose. “Now Ill leave you to yourself.” I dont know whether I made some gesture, but instead of going he halted behind my chair. The sensation of someone posted at my back made me uncomfortable. The sun was getting low and the whole room was flooded with a pleasant, mellow light. Two hornets were buzzing overhead, against the skylight. I was so sleepy I could hardly keep my eyes open. Without looking round, I asked the keeper how long hed been at the Home. “Five years.” The answer came so pat that
