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Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, CHAPTER I. CARTHORIS AND THUVIA

CHAPTER I. CARTHORIS AND THUVIA

Upon a massive bench of polished ersite beneath the gorgeous blooms of a giant pimalia a woman sat. Her shapely, sandalled foot tapped impatiently upon the jewel-strewn walk that wound beneath the stately sorapus trees across the scarlet sward of the royal gardens of Thuvan Dihn, Jeddak of Ptarth, as a dark-haired, red-skinned warrior bent low toward her, whispering heated words close to her ear.

"Ah, Thuvia of Ptarth," he cried, "you are cold even before the fiery blasts of my consuming love! No harder than your heart, nor colder is the hard, cold ersite of this thrice happy bench which supports your divine and fadeless form! Tell me, O Thuvia of Ptarth, that I may still hope—that though you do not love me now, yet some day, some day, my princess, I—" The girl sprang to her feet with an exclamation of surprise and displeasure. Her queenly head was poised haughtily upon her smooth red shoulders. Her dark eyes looked angrily into those of the man.

"You forget yourself, and the customs of Barsoom, Astok," she said. "I have given you no right thus to address the daughter of Thuvan Dihn, nor have you won such a right." The man reached suddenly forth and grasped her by the arm.

"You shall be my princess!" he cried. "By the breast of Issus, thou shalt, nor shall any other come between Astok, Prince of Dusar, and his heart's desire. Tell me that there is another, and I shall cut out his foul heart and fling it to the wild calots of the dead sea-bottoms!" At touch of the man's hand upon her flesh the girl went pallid beneath her coppery skin, for the persons of the royal women of the courts of Mars are held but little less than sacred. The act of Astok, Prince of Dusar, was profanation. There was no terror in the eyes of Thuvia of Ptarth—only horror for the thing the man had done and for its possible consequences.

"Release me." Her voice was level—frigid.

The man muttered incoherently and drew her roughly toward him.

"Release me!" she repeated sharply, "or I call the guard, and the Prince of Dusar knows what that will mean." Quickly he threw his right arm about her shoulders and strove to draw her face to his lips. With a little cry she struck him full in the mouth with the massive bracelets that circled her free arm.

"Calot!" she exclaimed, and then: "The guard! The guard! Hasten in protection of the Princess of Ptarth!" In answer to her call a dozen guardsmen came racing across the scarlet sward, their gleaming long-swords naked in the sun, the metal of their accoutrements clanking against that of their leathern harness, and in their throats hoarse shouts of rage at the sight which met their eyes.

But before they had passed half across the royal garden to where Astok of Dusar still held the struggling girl in his grasp, another figure sprang from a cluster of dense foliage that half hid a golden fountain close at hand. A tall, straight youth he was, with black hair and keen grey eyes; broad of shoulder and narrow of hip; a clean-limbed fighting man. His skin was but faintly tinged with the copper colour that marks the red men of Mars from the other races of the dying planet—he was like them, and yet there was a subtle difference greater even than that which lay in his lighter skin and his grey eyes.

There was a difference, too, in his movements. He came on in great leaps that carried him so swiftly over the ground that the speed of the guardsmen was as nothing by comparison.

Astok still clutched Thuvia's wrist as the young warrior confronted him. The new-comer wasted no time and he spoke but a single word.

"Calot!" he snapped, and then his clenched fist landed beneath the other's chin, lifting him high into the air and depositing him in a crumpled heap within the centre of the pimalia bush beside the ersite bench. Her champion turned toward the girl. "Kaor, Thuvia of Ptarth!" he cried. "It seems that fate timed my visit well." "Kaor, Carthoris of Helium!" the princess returned the young man's greeting, "and what less could one expect of the son of such a sire?" He bowed his acknowledgment of the compliment to his father, John Carter, Warlord of Mars. And then the guardsmen, panting from their charge, came up just as the Prince of Dusar, bleeding at the mouth, and with drawn sword, crawled from the entanglement of the pimalia.

Astok would have leaped to mortal combat with the son of Dejah Thoris, but the guardsmen pressed about him, preventing, though it was clearly evident that naught would have better pleased Carthoris of Helium.

"But say the word, Thuvia of Ptarth," he begged, "and naught will give me greater pleasure than meting to this fellow the punishment he has earned." "It cannot be, Carthoris," she replied. "Even though he has forfeited all claim upon my consideration, yet is he the guest of the jeddak, my father, and to him alone may he account for the unpardonable act he has committed." "As you say, Thuvia," replied the Heliumite. "But afterward he shall account to Carthoris, Prince of Helium, for this affront to the daughter of my father's friend." As he spoke, though, there burned in his eyes a fire that proclaimed a nearer, dearer cause for his championship of this glorious daughter of Barsoom.

The maid's cheek darkened beneath the satin of her transparent skin, and the eyes of Astok, Prince of Dusar, darkened, too, as he read that which passed unspoken between the two in the royal gardens of the jeddak. "And thou to me," he snapped at Carthoris, answering the young man's challenge. The guard still surrounded Astok. It was a difficult position for the young officer who commanded it. His prisoner was the son of a mighty jeddak; he was the guest of Thuvan Dihn—until but now an honoured guest upon whom every royal dignity had been showered. To arrest him forcibly could mean naught else than war, and yet he had done that which in the eyes of the Ptarth warrior merited death.

The young man hesitated. He looked toward his princess. She, too, guessed all that hung upon the action of the coming moment. For many years Dusar and Ptarth had been at peace with each other. Their great merchant ships plied back and forth between the larger cities of the two nations. Even now, far above the gold-shot scarlet dome of the jeddak's palace, she could see the huge bulk of a giant freighter taking its majestic way through the thin Barsoomian air toward the west and Dusar. By a word she might plunge these two mighty nations into a bloody conflict that would drain them of their bravest blood and their incalculable riches, leaving them all helpless against the inroads of their envious and less powerful neighbors, and at last a prey to the savage green hordes of the dead sea-bottoms.

No sense of fear influenced her decision, for fear is seldom known to the children of Mars. It was rather a sense of the responsibility that she, the daughter of their jeddak, felt for the welfare of her father's people. "I called you, Padwar," she said to the lieutenant of the guard, "to protect the person of your princess, and to keep the peace that must not be violated within the royal gardens of the jeddak. That is all. You will escort me to the palace, and the Prince of Helium will accompany me." Without another glance in the direction of Astok she turned, and taking Carthoris' proffered hand, moved slowly toward the massive marble pile that housed the ruler of Ptarth and his glittering court. On either side marched a file of guardsmen. Thus Thuvia of Ptarth found a way out of a dilemma, escaping the necessity of placing her father's royal guest under forcible restraint, and at the same time separating the two princes, who otherwise would have been at each other's throat the moment she and the guard had departed. Beside the pimalia stood Astok, his dark eyes narrowed to mere slits of hate beneath his lowering brows as he watched the retreating forms of the woman who had aroused the fiercest passions of his nature and the man whom he now believed to be the one who stood between his love and its consummation.

As they disappeared within the structure Astok shrugged his shoulders, and with a murmured oath crossed the gardens toward another wing of the building where he and his retinue were housed.

That night he took formal leave of Thuvan Dihn, and though no mention was made of the happening within the garden, it was plain to see through the cold mask of the jeddak's courtesy that only the customs of royal hospitality restrained him from voicing the contempt he felt for the Prince of Dusar. Carthoris was not present at the leave-taking, nor was Thuvia. The ceremony was as stiff and formal as court etiquette could make it, and when the last of the Dusarians clambered over the rail of the battleship that had brought them upon this fateful visit to the court of Ptarth, and the mighty engine of destruction had risen slowly from the ways of the landing-stage, a note of relief was apparent in the voice of Thuvan Dihn as he turned to one of his officers with a word of comment upon a subject foreign to that which had been uppermost in the minds of all for hours.

But, after all, was it so foreign?

"Inform Prince Sovan," he directed, "that it is our wish that the fleet which departed for Kaol this morning be recalled to cruise to the west of Ptarth." As the warship, bearing Astok back to the court of his father, turned toward the west, Thuvia of Ptarth, sitting upon the same bench where the Prince of Dusar had affronted her, watched the twinkling lights of the craft growing smaller in the distance. Beside her, in the brilliant light of the nearer moon, sat Carthoris. His eyes were not upon the dim bulk of the battleship, but on the profile of the girl's upturned face. "Thuvia," he whispered. The girl turned her eyes toward his. His hand stole out to find hers, but she drew her own gently away.

"Thuvia of Ptarth, I love you!" cried the young warrior. "Tell me that it does not offend." She shook her head sadly. "The love of Carthoris of Helium," she said simply, "could be naught but an honour to any woman; but you must not speak, my friend, of bestowing upon me that which I may not reciprocate." The young man got slowly to his feet. His eyes were wide in astonishment. It never had occurred to the Prince of Helium that Thuvia of Ptarth might love another.

"But at Kadabra!" he exclaimed. "And later here at your father's court, what did you do, Thuvia of Ptarth, that might have warned me that you could not return my love?" "And what did I do, Carthoris of Helium," she returned, "that might lead you to believe that I DID return it?" He paused in thought, and then shook his head. "Nothing, Thuvia, that is true; yet I could have sworn you loved me. Indeed, you well knew how near to worship has been my love for you." "And how might I know it, Carthoris?" she asked innocently. "Did you ever tell me as much? Ever before have words of love for me fallen from your lips?" "But you MUST have known it!" he exclaimed. "I am like my father—witless in matters of the heart, and of a poor way with women; yet the jewels that strew these royal garden paths—the trees, the flowers, the sward—all must have read the love that has filled my heart since first my eyes were made new by imaging your perfect face and form; so how could you alone have been blind to it?" "Do the maids of Helium pay court to their men?" asked Thuvia.

"You are playing with me!" exclaimed Carthoris. "Say that you are but playing, and that after all you love me, Thuvia!" "I cannot tell you that, Carthoris, for I am promised to another." Her tone was level, but was there not within it the hint of an infinite depth of sadness? Who may say?

"Promised to another?" Carthoris scarcely breathed the words. His face went almost white, and then his head came up as befitted him in whose veins flowed the blood of the overlord of a world.

"Carthoris of Helium wishes you every happiness with the man of your choice," he said. "With—" and then he hesitated, waiting for her to fill in the name. "Kulan Tith, Jeddak of Kaol," she replied. "My father's friend and Ptarth's most puissant ally." The young man looked at her intently for a moment before he spoke again.

"You love him, Thuvia of Ptarth?" he asked.

"I am promised to him," she replied simply. He did not press her. "He is of Barsoom's noblest blood and mightiest fighters," mused Carthoris. "My father's friend and mine—would that it might have been another!" he muttered almost savagely. What the girl thought was hidden by the mask of her expression, which was tinged only by a little shadow of sadness that might have been for Carthoris, herself, or for them both.

Carthoris of Helium did not ask, though he noted it, for his loyalty to Kulan Tith was the loyalty of the blood of John Carter of Virginia for a friend, greater than which could be no loyalty.

He raised a jewel-encrusted bit of the girl's magnificent trappings to his lips. "To the honour and happiness of Kulan Tith and the priceless jewel that has been bestowed upon him," he said, and though his voice was husky there was the true ring of sincerity in it. "I told you that I loved you, Thuvia, before I knew that you were promised to another. I may not tell you it again, but I am glad that you know it, for there is no dishonour in it either to you or to Kulan Tith or to myself. My love is such that it may embrace as well Kulan Tith—if you love him." There was almost a question in the statement.

"I am promised to him," she replied. Carthoris backed slowly away. He laid one hand upon his heart, the other upon the pommel of his long-sword.

"These are yours—always," he said. A moment later he had entered the palace, and was gone from the girl's sight. Had he returned at once he would have found her prone upon the ersite bench, her face buried in her arms. Was she weeping? There was none to see.

Carthoris of Helium had come all unannounced to the court of his father's friend that day. He had come alone in a small flier, sure of the same welcome that always awaited him at Ptarth. As there had been no formality in his coming there was no need of formality in his going.

To Thuvan Dihn he explained that he had been but testing an invention of his own with which his flier was equipped—a clever improvement of the ordinary Martian air compass, which, when set for a certain destination, will remain constantly fixed thereon, making it only necessary to keep a vessel's prow always in the direction of the compass needle to reach any given point upon Barsoom by the shortest route. Carthoris' improvement upon this consisted of an auxiliary device which steered the craft mechanically in the direction of the compass, and upon arrival directly over the point for which the compass was set, brought the craft to a standstill and lowered it, also automatically, to the ground. "You readily discern the advantages of this invention," he was saying to Thuvan Dihn, who had accompanied him to the landing-stage upon the palace roof to inspect the compass and bid his young friend farewell. A dozen officers of the court with several body servants were grouped behind the jeddak and his guest, eager listeners to the conversation—so eager on the part of one of the servants that he was twice rebuked by a noble for his forwardness in pushing himself ahead of his betters to view the intricate mechanism of the wonderful "controlling destination compass," as the thing was called. "For example," continued Carthoris, "I have an all-night trip before me, as to-night. I set the pointer here upon the right-hand dial which represents the eastern hemisphere of Barsoom, so that the point rests upon the exact latitude and longitude of Helium. Then I start the engine, roll up in my sleeping silks and furs, and with lights burning, race through the air toward Helium, confident that at the appointed hour I shall drop gently toward the landing-stage upon my own palace, whether I am still asleep or no." "Provided," suggested Thuvan Dihn, "you do not chance to collide with some other night wanderer in the meanwhile." Carthoris smiled. "No danger of that," he replied. "See here," and he indicated a device at the right of the destination compass. "This is my 'obstruction evader,' as I call it. This visible device is the switch which throws the mechanism on or off. The instrument itself is below deck, geared both to the steering apparatus and the control levers.

"It is quite simple, being nothing more than a radium generator diffusing radio-activity in all directions to a distance of a hundred yards or so from the flier. Should this enveloping force be interrupted in any direction a delicate instrument immediately apprehends the irregularity, at the same time imparting an impulse to a magnetic device which in turn actuates the steering mechanism, diverting the bow of the flier away from the obstacle until the craft's radio-activity sphere is no longer in contact with the obstruction, then she falls once more into her normal course. Should the disturbance approach from the rear, as in case of a faster-moving craft overhauling me, the mechanism actuates the speed control as well as the steering gear, and the flier shoots ahead and either up or down, as the oncoming vessel is upon a lower or higher plane than herself.

"In aggravated cases, that is when the obstructions are many, or of such a nature as to deflect the bow more than forty-five degrees in any direction, or when the craft has reached its destination and dropped to within a hundred yards of the ground, the mechanism brings her to a full stop, at the same time sounding a loud alarm which will instantly awaken the pilot. You see I have anticipated almost every contingency." Thuvan Dihn smiled his appreciation of the marvellous device. The forward servant pushed almost to the flier's side. His eyes were narrowed to slits.

"All but one," he said. The nobles looked at him in astonishment, and one of them grasped the fellow none too gently by the shoulder to push him back to his proper place. Carthoris raised his hand.

"Wait," he urged. "Let us hear what the man has to say—no creation of mortal mind is perfect. Perchance he has detected a weakness that it will be well to know at once. Come, my good fellow, and what may be the one contingency I have overlooked?" As he spoke Carthoris observed the servant closely for the first time. He saw a man of giant stature and handsome, as are all those of the race of Martian red men; but the fellow's lips were thin and cruel, and across one cheek was the faint, white line of a sword-cut from the right temple to the corner of the mouth. "Come," urged the Prince of Helium. "Speak!" The man hesitated. It was evident that he regretted the temerity that had made him the centre of interested observation. But at last, seeing no alternative, he spoke.

"It might be tampered with," he said, "by an enemy." Carthoris drew a small key from his leathern pocket-pouch.

"Look at this," he said, handing it to the man. "If you know aught of locks, you will know that the mechanism which this unlooses is beyond the cunning of a picker of locks. It guards the vitals of the instrument from crafty tampering. Without it an enemy must half wreck the device to reach its heart, leaving his handiwork apparent to the most casual observer." The servant took the key, glanced at it shrewdly, and then as he made to return it to Carthoris dropped it upon the marble flagging. Turning to look for it he planted the sole of his sandal full upon the glittering object. For an instant he bore all his weight upon the foot that covered the key, then he stepped back and with an exclamation as of pleasure that he had found it, stooped, recovered it, and returned it to the Heliumite. Then he dropped back to his station behind the nobles and was forgotten.

A moment later Carthoris had made his adieux to Thuvan Dihn and his nobles, and with lights twinkling had risen into the star-shot void of the Martian night.

CHAPTER I. CARTHORIS AND THUVIA ||卡尔索里斯||图维亚 Chapter|one|Carthoris|with|Thark princess ||Карторис||Тувия KAPITEL I. CARTHORIS UND THUVIA CHAPTER I. CARTHORIS AND THUVIA CAPÍTULO I. CARTHORIS Y THUVIA CAPÍTULO I. CARTHORIS E THUVIA 第一章 卡托里斯和图维娅

Upon a massive bench of polished ersite beneath the gorgeous blooms of a giant pimalia a woman sat. 在||||||||||||||||| On|on a|large|seat|of|smoothly finished|stone-like material|underneath|the|stunning|flowers|||large|tree species||female figure|was seated |||sandalye|üzerinde|parlak|||||||||||| |||||pulida|||||||||||| на||массивной|скамейка||отшлифованный|ерсит||||цветы||||пималия||| Upon a massive bench of polished ersite beneath the gorgeous blooms of a giant pimalia a woman sat. Sur un banc massif d'ersite polie sous les magnifiques fleurs d'un pimalia géant, une femme était assise. Her shapely, sandalled foot tapped impatiently upon the jewel-strewn walk that wound beneath the stately sorapus trees across the scarlet sward of the royal gardens of Thuvan Dihn, Jeddak of Ptarth, as a dark-haired, red-skinned warrior bent low toward her, whispering heated words close to her ear. |стройный|в сандалиях|||нетерпеливо|||||||||||сорапус||||алый|газон||||||Туван|Дихн|джедак||Птарта|||||||воин|наклонился|||||восторженные||||| the woman|well-proportioned|wearing sandals|foot|tapped|with annoyance|||gem-encrusted|adorned with jewels|pathway|which|curved|||majestic|sorapus trees|sorapus trees|on the other side of||red|lawn|||royalty's|royal gardens||Thuvan Dihn|Dihn J|king||planet|while||dark-haired|dark-haired|red-skinned|red-colored|fighter|leaned|downward|in the direction of||speaking softly|intense|heated words|near|in the direction of||side of her head Son pied galbé en sandale tapait avec impatience sur l'allée parsemée de joyaux qui serpentait sous les majestueux sorapus à travers le gazon écarlate des jardins royaux de Thuvan Dihn, Djeddak de Ptarth, alors qu'un guerrier aux cheveux noirs et à la peau rouge se penchait vers elle. , chuchotant des mots passionnés près de son oreille.

"Ah, Thuvia of Ptarth," he cried, "you are cold even before the fiery blasts of my consuming love! ||||||||||||пламенные|порывы ветра|||поглощающей| exclamation of realization||||he|exclaimed|you|are|unfeeling|in addition|in advance of||intense|winds||my consuming love|all-consuming|affectionate passion « Ah, Thuvia de Ptarth, s'écria-t-il, tu as froid même devant les explosions ardentes de mon amour dévorant ! No harder than your heart, nor colder is the hard, cold ersite of this thrice happy bench which supports your divine and fadeless form! ||||||||||||||трижды||скамья||поддерживает||божественный||неувядаемый| Not|more difficult|comparison marker|your|emotions|nor colder|more frigid|||solid||||this bench|three times|joyful||that|holds up||heavenly||everlasting|shape Ni plus dur que ton cœur, ni plus froid n'est l'ersite dur et froid de ce banc trois fois heureux qui soutient ta forme divine et inaltérable ! Не труднее твоего сердца, и не холоднее твердый, холодный эрсит этого трижды счастливого скамейка, который поддерживает твою божественную и неугасимую форму! Tell me, O Thuvia of Ptarth, that I may still hope—that though you do not love me now, yet some day, some day, my princess, I—" Speak|I|O addressing Thuv|Thuvia|||||might|yet|have hope||although||verb|do not|||at this moment|but|at some point|future time||||beloved| Скажи мне, о Тувия из Птарта, что я все же могу надеяться — что хотя бы сейчас ты не любишь меня, но однажды, однажды, моя принцесса, я — The girl sprang to her feet with an exclamation of surprise and displeasure. |young female|jumped|||feet|with an|an|exclamation||astonishment||unhappiness Девушка вскочила на ноги с восклицанием удивления и недовольства. Her queenly head was poised haughtily upon her smooth red shoulders. |regal|head|was positioned|held high|with arrogance|||sleek||smooth red shoulders Sa tête de reine était fièrement posée sur ses épaules lisses et rouges. Her dark eyes looked angrily into those of the man. ||gaze||with anger|at|the man's|||

"You forget yourself, and the customs of Barsoom, Astok," she said. |lose control|your own behavior|||traditions||Mars|a name|Astok| "I have given you no right thus to address the daughter of Thuvan Dihn, nor have you won such a right." |possess|granted|||entitlement|in this way||speak to||daughter|||||||earned|that|| The man reached suddenly forth and grasped her by the arm. ||extended|unexpectedly|forward||seized firmly||with||upper limb L'homme tendit brusquement la main et la saisit par le bras.

"You shall be my princess!" |will||| he cried. "By the breast of Issus, thou shalt, nor shall any other come between Astok, Prince of Dusar, and his heart's desire. ||breast||the goddess|you|will|||any other|anyone else|interfere|interfere with||royal title||Dusar's Prince||his|deepest wish|heart's wish "Par le sein d'Issus, tu ne viendras, ni personne d'autre, entre Astok, prince de Dusar, et le désir de son cœur. Tell me that there is another, and I shall cut out his foul heart and fling it to the wild calots of the dead sea-bottoms!" |||exists||another one||||remove|remove||disgusting|||throw|the heart|||feral|dogs|||of the dead|dead sea|ocean floors |||||||||||||||||||salvajes||||muertos|| Dis-moi qu'il y en a un autre, et je lui arracherai son cœur immonde et je le jetterai aux calots sauvages des fonds marins morts !" At touch of the man's hand upon her flesh the girl went pallid beneath her coppery skin, for the persons of the royal women of the courts of Mars are held but little less than sacred. At the|the contact|||male|hand|||skin|||became||||reddish-brown|surface|because||bodies||||royal women|||royal courts||the planet Mars||considered|only|somewhat|somewhat||holy or revered Au contact de la main de l'homme sur sa chair, la jeune fille pâlit sous sa peau cuivrée, car les personnes des femmes royales des cours de Mars sont tenues pour un peu moins que sacrées. The act of Astok, Prince of Dusar, was profanation. |deed|||||||disrespectful act There was no terror in the eyes of Thuvia of Ptarth—only horror for the thing the man had done and for its possible consequences. ||||in the|||||||just|dismay|||action|||had done|committed|||the|potential|outcomes

"Release me." Set| Her voice was level—frigid. |tone of voice||steady|cold and unemotional Sa voix était calme, glaciale.

The man muttered incoherently and drew her roughly toward him. ||spoke softly|in a confused manner||pulled||with force||himself L'homme marmonna de manière incohérente et l'attira brutalement vers lui.

"Release me!" she repeated sharply, "or I call the guard, and the Prince of Dusar knows what that will mean." ||in a stern tone|otherwise||summon||guard personnel||||||understands|what that||future tense|signify répéta-t-elle brusquement, "ou j'appelle le garde, et le prince de Dusar sait ce que cela signifiera." Quickly he threw his right arm about her shoulders and strove to draw her face to his lips. In a hurry||wrapped||||around||||attempted||pull||face|||mouth Rapidement, il passa son bras droit autour de ses épaules et s'efforça d'attirer son visage vers ses lèvres. With a little cry she struck him full in the mouth with the massive bracelets that circled her free arm. |||shout|the girl|hit||directly|directly||face area||||arm adornments||encircled||unrestrained| Avec un petit cri, elle le frappa en pleine bouche avec les bracelets massifs qui encerclaient son bras libre.

"Calot!" Hey Calot she exclaimed, and then: "The guard! |shouted|and then|after that|| The guard! Hasten in protection of the Princess of Ptarth!" Rush||safeguarding||||| In answer to her call a dozen guardsmen came racing across the scarlet sward, their gleaming long-swords naked in the sun, the metal of their accoutrements clanking against that of their leathern harness, and in their throats hoarse shouts of rage at the sight which met their eyes. |response|||||twelve|soldiers|arrived quickly|running quickly||||grass surface|possessive pronoun|shining|extended blades|long-swords|uncovered|||bright sunlight||material|||gear and equipment|making noise|with contact to||||leather|gear|with|||throats|rough|hoarse cries||anger|||scene||greeted|| En réponse à son appel, une douzaine de gardes coururent à travers le gazon écarlate, leurs longues épées brillantes nues au soleil, le métal de leurs accoutrements claquant contre celui de leur harnais de cuir, et dans leurs gorges des cris rauques de rage à la vue qui rencontrèrent leurs regards.

But before they had passed half across the royal garden to where Astok of Dusar still held the struggling girl in his grasp, another figure sprang from a cluster of dense foliage that half hid a golden fountain close at hand. ||the group||traveled|partially||||royal garden||to the location|||||was holding||resisting fighting||||hold||person||from||group||thick|plant life|||concealed||golden|golden fountain||| Mais avant qu'ils aient traversé la moitié du jardin royal jusqu'à l'endroit où Astok de Dusar tenait toujours la fille qui se débattait dans ses bras, une autre silhouette jaillit d'un bouquet de feuillage dense qui cachait à moitié une fontaine dorée à portée de main. A tall, straight youth he was, with black hair and keen grey eyes; broad of shoulder and narrow of hip; a clean-limbed fighting man. |tall|upright|young man||||dark-colored|hair||sharp|gray||wide||broad shoulders||slim||waist area||fit|well-proportioned|warrior| C'était un adolescent grand et droit, avec des cheveux noirs et des yeux gris perçants ; large d'épaule et étroit de hanche; un combattant aux membres propres. His skin was but faintly tinged with the copper colour that marks the red men of Mars from the other races of the dying planet—he was like them, and yet there was a subtle difference greater even than that which lay in his lighter skin and his grey eyes. ||||slightly|tinted||||shade||distinguishes|||people||||||peoples|||declining|planet Mars|||similar to|the red men||||||slight|distinction|more significant|||||resided|||paler||||| Sa peau n'était que légèrement teintée de la couleur cuivrée qui distingue les hommes rouges de Mars des autres races de la planète mourante - il était comme eux, et pourtant il y avait une différence subtile plus grande même que celle qui résidait dans sa peau plus claire et son yeux gris.

There was a difference, too, in his movements. ||||also|||actions He came on in great leaps that carried him so swiftly over the ground that the speed of the guardsmen was as nothing by comparison. ||in|with|large|bounds||propelled||with such speed|with great speed|across|||||pace||||||insignificant||contrast Il avançait en grands bonds qui le portaient si rapidement sur le sol que la vitesse des gardes n'était rien en comparaison.

Astok still clutched Thuvia's wrist as the young warrior confronted him. ||held tightly|belonging to Th|arm joint|||young warrior||faced off against| Astok agrippait toujours le poignet de Thuvia alors que le jeune guerrier lui faisait face. The new-comer wasted no time and he spoke but a single word. |recent|newcomer|did not||effort|||uttered|||one|a single word

"Calot!" he snapped, and then his clenched fist landed beneath the other's chin, lifting him high into the air and depositing him in a crumpled heap within the centre of the pimalia bush beside the ersite bench. |struck suddenly||||tightened|clenched hand|struck down|||opponent's|jawline|raising||upward|||air||placing||||crumpled heap|crumpled mass|inside||middle||||pimalia bush|next to||| claqua-t-il, puis son poing fermé atterrit sous le menton de l'autre, le soulevant haut dans les airs et le déposant en un tas froissé au centre du buisson de pimalia à côté du banc de l'ersite. Her champion turned toward the girl. |protector|faced||| "Kaor, Thuvia of Ptarth!" exclamation of greeting||| he cried. "It seems that fate timed my visit well." |appears||destiny|synchronized||arrival|appropriately or favorably "Il semble que le destin ait bien chronométré ma visite." "Kaor, Carthoris of Helium!" |||the city of Helium the princess returned the young man's greeting, "and what less could one expect of the son of such a sire?" ||responded to||||salutation||||should|one could|anticipate|||child|from|||father la princesse retourna le salut du jeune homme, "et que pouvait-on attendre de moins du fils d'un tel père?" He bowed his acknowledgment of the compliment to his father, John Carter, Warlord of Mars. |bent forward||recognition|||praise|||dad||John Carter|leader of Mars|| Il a incliné sa reconnaissance du compliment à son père, John Carter, Warlord of Mars. And then the guardsmen, panting from their charge, came up just as the Prince of Dusar, bleeding at the mouth, and with drawn sword, crawled from the entanglement of the pimalia. ||||breathing heavily|||rush||to|exactly||||||injured||||||ready to fight|drawn weapon|emerged slowly|||tangle of pimal||| Et puis les gardes, haletants de leur charge, sont arrivés juste au moment où le prince de Dusar, saignant de la bouche et l'épée nue, rampait hors de l'enchevêtrement du pimalia.

Astok would have leaped to mortal combat with the son of Dejah Thoris, but the guardsmen pressed about him, preventing, though it was clearly evident that naught would have better pleased Carthoris of Helium. |would have||jumped||deadly|battle|||||Dejah Thoris|Dejah's daughter||||surrounded|||stopping him|although|||obviously|clearly apparent||nothing|||more|satisfied||| Astok aurait sauté au combat mortel avec le fils de Dejah Thoris, mais les gardes se pressaient autour de lui, l'empêchant, bien qu'il soit clairement évident que rien n'aurait mieux plu à Carthoris d'Hélium.

"But say the word, Thuvia of Ptarth," he begged, "and naught will give me greater pleasure than meting to this fellow the punishment he has earned." |imagine|||||||implored||nothing||bring|||satisfaction|in comparison to|administering|||man||retribution he deserves||has earned|deserved "Mais dites un mot, Thuvia de Ptarth", supplia-t-il, "et rien ne me fera plus plaisir que d'infliger à cet homme la punition qu'il a méritée." "It cannot be, Carthoris," she replied. |cannot be||||said "Even though he has forfeited all claim upon my consideration, yet is he the guest of the jeddak, my father, and to him alone may he account for the unpardonable act he has committed." ||||relinquished|entire|right to|||regard|||||visitor|||||||||only|must||explain himself|||unforgivable||||performed "Même s'il a renoncé à toute créance sur ma considération, il est pourtant l'invité du djeddak, mon père, et à lui seul peut-il rendre compte de l'acte impardonnable qu'il a commis." "As you say, Thuvia," replied the Heliumite. ||||||person from Helium "But afterward he shall account to Carthoris, Prince of Helium, for this affront to the daughter of my father's friend." |later|||||||||||insult||||||my father's|acquaintance "Mais ensuite, il rendra compte à Carthoris, prince d'Hélium, de cet affront à la fille de l'ami de mon père." As he spoke, though, there burned in his eyes a fire that proclaimed a nearer, dearer cause for his championship of this glorious daughter of Barsoom. |||||burned|||||passion||indicated||closer|more cherished|purpose|||support for|||illustrious||| Pendant qu'il parlait, cependant, il y avait dans ses yeux un feu qui proclamait une cause plus proche et plus chère pour son championnat de cette glorieuse fille de Barsoom.

The maid's cheek darkened beneath the satin of her transparent skin, and the eyes of Astok, Prince of Dusar, darkened, too, as he read that which passed unspoken between the two in the royal gardens of the jeddak. |belonging to the|face|blushed|||smooth fabric|||see-through||||||||||blushed||||interpreted silently||||without words|||two people||||||| La joue de la servante s'assombrit sous le satin de sa peau transparente, et les yeux d'Astok, prince de Dusar, s'assombrirent aussi, en lisant ce qui s'était passé entre eux dans les jardins royaux du djeddak. "And thou to me," he snapped at Carthoris, answering the young man's challenge. ||||||||responding to||||provocation "Et toi à moi," lança-t-il sèchement à Carthoris, répondant au défi du jeune homme. The guard still surrounded Astok. |||enclosed around| It was a difficult position for the young officer who commanded it. |||challenging|situation||||military leader|that|led| His prisoner was the son of a mighty jeddak; he was the guest of Thuvan Dihn—until but now an honoured guest upon whom every royal dignity had been showered. |captive||||||powerful|||||||||up to||||esteemed|||whom to whom|all||royal honor||had|bestowed Son prisonnier était le fils d'un puissant Djeddak ; il était l'invité de Thuvan Dihn - jusqu'à présent un invité d'honneur sur qui toute la dignité royale avait été comblée. To arrest him forcibly could mean naught else than war, and yet he had done that which in the eyes of the Ptarth warrior merited death. |detain||with force||||nothing other||conflict|||||||||||||||deserved|execution L'arrêter de force ne pouvait signifier rien d'autre que la guerre, et pourtant il avait fait ce qui, aux yeux du guerrier Ptarth, méritait la mort.

The young man hesitated. |||paused briefly He looked toward his princess. She, too, guessed all that hung upon the action of the coming moment. ||anticipated|||depended|||event|||next|upcoming action Elle aussi devina tout ce qui dépendait de l'action du moment à venir. For many years Dusar and Ptarth had been at peace with each other. |a long time|a long time|||||||in harmony||one another| Their great merchant ships plied back and forth between the larger cities of the two nations. ||trading|vessels|traveled|to and fro|||||bigger|urban centers||||countries Leurs grands navires marchands faisaient la navette entre les grandes villes des deux nations. Even now, far above the gold-shot scarlet dome of the jeddak's palace, she could see the huge bulk of a giant freighter taking its majestic way through the thin Barsoomian air toward the west and Dusar. ||high above|high above||golden|decorated with gold||dome|of||ruler's|royal residence|||observe||large|large shape||||cargo ship|moving||grand and impressive|path|throughout||sparse|of Barsoom||||westward direction|| Même maintenant, bien au-dessus du dôme écarlate doré du palais du djeddak, elle pouvait voir l'énorme masse d'un cargo géant se frayer un chemin majestueux dans l'air raréfié de Barsoom en direction de l'ouest et de Dusar. By a word she might plunge these two mighty nations into a bloody conflict that would drain them of their bravest blood and their incalculable riches, leaving them all helpless against the inroads of their envious and less powerful neighbors, and at last a prey to the savage green hordes of the dead sea-bottoms. ||||could|plunge|||||||||||deplete||||most courageous|bravest warriors|||immeasurable|wealth|rendering|||vulnerable and defens|||advances|||jealous|||less strong|surrounding countries|||finally||victims|||barbaric|savage green hordes|marauding groups||||| D'un mot, elle pourrait plonger ces deux puissantes nations dans un conflit sanglant qui les viderait de leur sang le plus courageux et de leurs richesses incalculables, les laissant toutes impuissantes contre les incursions de leurs voisins envieux et moins puissants, et enfin en proie aux sauvages. hordes vertes des fonds marins morts.

No sense of fear influenced her decision, for fear is seldom known to the children of Mars. |perception||fearfulness|affected||choice||||rarely experienced|recognized|||youth of Mars|| It was rather a sense of the responsibility that she, the daughter of their jeddak, felt for the welfare of her father's people. ||somewhat|||||duty||||||||experienced|||well-being||||subjects "I called you, Padwar," she said to the lieutenant of the guard, "to protect the person of your princess, and to keep the peace that must not be violated within the royal gardens of the jeddak. |summoned|your|Lieutenant Padwar|||||guard lieutenant|||||||safety of||||||maintain|||||||||||||| That is all. You will escort me to the palace, and the Prince of Helium will accompany me." |future tense|guide|||||||||||join| Without another glance in the direction of Astok she turned, and taking Carthoris' proffered hand, moved slowly toward the massive marble pile that housed the ruler of Ptarth and his glittering court. Not|one more|look|||toward Astok||||||||offered||walked|at a slow pace||||stone structure|structure||contained||leader|||||shimmering|royal entourage Sans un autre regard en direction d'Astok, elle se tourna et, prenant la main tendue de Carthoris, se dirigea lentement vers l'énorme tas de marbre qui abritait le souverain de Ptarth et sa cour scintillante. On either side marched a file of guardsmen. |both|flank|walked in formation||line|| Thus Thuvia of Ptarth found a way out of a dilemma, escaping the necessity of placing her father's royal guest under forcible restraint, and at the same time separating the two princes, who otherwise would have been at each other's throat the moment she and the guard had departed. ||||discovered||||||difficult situation|avoiding||requirement||putting|||||in|physical|forcible confinement||||at the same time||keeping apart|||royal sons||in that case|||||||throat||||||||left Ainsi Thuvia de Ptarth a trouvé un moyen de sortir d'un dilemme, échappant à la nécessité de placer l'invité royal de son père sous contrainte, et en même temps séparant les deux princes, qui autrement auraient été à la gorge l'un de l'autre au moment où elle et le garde était parti. Beside the pimalia stood Astok, his dark eyes narrowed to mere slits of hate beneath his lowering brows as he watched the retreating forms of the woman who had aroused the fiercest passions of his nature and the man whom he now believed to be the one who stood between his love and its consummation. |||was positioned|||||squinted||only|narrow openings||intense anger|||furrowed|eyebrows|||observed||moving away|figures||||||stirred up||most intense|emotions|||character|||||||thought||||||||||||fulfillment À côté de la pimalia se tenait Astok, ses yeux sombres se rétrécissant en de simples fentes de haine sous ses sourcils baissés alors qu'il regardait les formes reculées de la femme qui avait suscité les passions les plus féroces de sa nature et l'homme qu'il croyait maintenant être celui qui se tenait debout. entre son amour et sa consommation.

As they disappeared within the structure Astok shrugged his shoulders, and with a murmured oath crossed the gardens toward another wing of the building where he and his retinue were housed. ||vanished|||building's framework||lifted his shoulders||||||softly spoken|curse or exclamation|walked through|||||section|||edifice|||||entourage|were staying|accommodated Alors qu'ils disparaissaient à l'intérieur de la structure, Astok haussa les épaules, et avec un juron murmuré traversa les jardins vers une autre aile du bâtiment où lui et sa suite étaient logés.

That night he took formal leave of Thuvan Dihn, and though no mention was made of the happening within the garden, it was plain to see through the cold mask of the jeddak's courtesy that only the customs of royal hospitality restrained him from voicing the contempt he felt for the Prince of Dusar. |that night||took formal leave|official|farewell|||||||reference||reference|||event||||||clear||||||facade||||polite demeanor|||||||royal customs|held back|||expressing||disdain||||||| Cette nuit-là, il prit officiellement congé de Thuvan Dihn, et bien qu'aucune mention n'ait été faite de ce qui se passait dans le jardin, il était évident de voir à travers le masque froid de la courtoisie du djeddak que seules les coutumes de l'hospitalité royale l'empêchaient d'exprimer le mépris qu'il ressenti pour le prince de Dusar. Carthoris was not present at the leave-taking, nor was Thuvia. |||there||||||| Carthoris n'était pas présent à l'adieu, ni Thuvia. The ceremony was as stiff and formal as court etiquette could make it, and when the last of the Dusarians clambered over the rail of the battleship that had brought them upon this fateful visit to the court of Ptarth, and the mighty engine of destruction had risen slowly from the ways of the landing-stage, a note of relief was apparent in the voice of Thuvan Dihn as he turned to one of his officers with a word of comment upon a subject foreign to that which had been uppermost in the minds of all for hours. |event|||rigid|||||protocol||render|the ceremony||at the moment||||||climbed awkwardly|||railing|||warship|||transported||||significant||||||||||machine||war machine||ascended||||launching platform|||disembarkation platform|landing platform||tone||sigh of relief||evident||||||||||||||military personnel|||||remark|||topic|unrelated||||||most important|||thoughts||||an extended period La cérémonie était aussi rigide et formelle que l'étiquette de la cour pouvait la rendre, et lorsque le dernier des Dusarians grimpa sur la rambarde du cuirassé qui les avait amenés lors de cette visite fatidique à la cour de Ptarth, et que le puissant moteur de destruction s'était levé lentement des voies de l'embarcadère, une note de soulagement était apparente dans la voix de Thuvan Dihn alors qu'il se tournait vers l'un de ses officiers avec un mot de commentaire sur un sujet étranger à celui qui avait prévalu dans l'esprit de tous. Pendant des heures.

But, after all, was it so foreign? |in conclusion|||||

"Inform Prince Sovan," he directed, "that it is our wish that the fleet which departed for Kaol this morning be recalled to cruise to the west of Ptarth." Notify||Prince Sovan||commanded||||our|desire|||naval group||||Kaol||today's||returned||sail||||| « Informez le prince Sovan, ordonna-t-il, que nous souhaitons que la flotte qui est partie ce matin pour Kaol soit rappelée pour naviguer à l'ouest de Ptarth. As the warship, bearing Astok back to the court of his father, turned toward the west, Thuvia of Ptarth, sitting upon the same bench where the Prince of Dusar had affronted her, watched the twinkling lights of the craft growing smaller in the distance. ||naval vessel|carrying||||||||||||||||perched|||||||||||insulted||||shimmering|twinkling lights|||vessel|becoming smaller|lesser in size|||far away Tandis que le navire de guerre, ramenant Astok à la cour de son père, tournait vers l'ouest, Thuvia de Ptarth, assise sur le même banc où le prince de Dusar l'avait offensée, regardait les lumières scintillantes de l'engin diminuer au loin. Beside her, in the brilliant light of the nearer moon, sat Carthoris. ||||bright|brilliant illumination||||moonlight||Carthoris À côté d'elle, dans la lumière brillante de la lune la plus proche, était assise Carthoris. His eyes were not upon the dim bulk of the battleship, but on the profile of the girl's upturned face. ||||on||faint|large shape|||||||outline|||the girl|tilted upward| Ses yeux n'étaient pas sur la masse sombre du cuirassé, mais sur le profil du visage renversé de la jeune fille. "Thuvia," he whispered. ||spoke softly The girl turned her eyes toward his. His hand stole out to find hers, but she drew her own gently away. ||moved stealthily|||locate|her hand||the girl|||her own|softly|from him Sa main se glissa pour trouver la sienne, mais elle retira doucement la sienne.

"Thuvia of Ptarth, I love you!" cried the young warrior. "Tell me that it does not offend." ||||does not||upset or hurt She shook her head sadly. |moved side to side|||with sadness "The love of Carthoris of Helium," she said simply, "could be naught but an honour to any woman; but you must not speak, my friend, of bestowing upon me that which I may not reciprocate." ||||||||in a straightforward manner|||nothing|||privilege||||||||talk||||giving||||||||return "L'amour de Carthoris d'Hélium," dit-elle simplement, "ne pourrait être qu'un honneur pour n'importe quelle femme; mais vous ne devez pas parler, mon ami, de m'accorder ce que je ne peux pas rendre en retour." The young man got slowly to his feet. |||rose|||| His eyes were wide in astonishment. |||open and round||surprise It never had occurred to the Prince of Helium that Thuvia of Ptarth might love another. |not once||crossed his mind||||||||||||

"But at Kadabra!" ||the store he exclaimed. "And later here at your father's court, what did you do, Thuvia of Ptarth, that might have warned me that you could not return my love?" |afterward|at||||||past tense verb|||||||||alerted|to me|||||come back|| "Et plus tard ici à la cour de ton père, qu'as-tu fait, Thuvia de Ptarth, qui aurait pu m'avertir que tu ne pourrais pas me rendre mon amour ?" "And what did I do, Carthoris of Helium," she returned, "that might lead you to believe that I DID return it?" ||||||||||||cause|||think||||| "Et qu'est-ce que j'ai fait, Carthoris d'Hélium," répondit-elle, "qui pourrait vous amener à croire que je l'AI rendu ?" He paused in thought, and then shook his head. |stopped briefly||contemplation||||| "Nothing, Thuvia, that is true; yet I could have sworn you loved me. ||||fact|||||believed firmly||cared for| « Rien, Thuvia, c'est vrai ; pourtant j'aurais pu jurer que tu m'aimais. Indeed, you well knew how near to worship has been my love for you." truly|||were aware|the manner|close||adoration|||||| En effet, vous saviez bien à quel point mon amour pour vous a été proche de l'adoration." "And how might I know it, Carthoris?" ||||find out|| « Et comment pourrais-je le savoir, Carthoris ? she asked innocently. |inquired|without guile "Did you ever tell me as much? ||at any time||||that much "Tu ne m'en as jamais dit autant ? Ever before have words of love for me fallen from your lips?" |previously|||||||come||| Des mots d'amour pour moi sont-ils déjà tombés de tes lèvres ?" "But you MUST have known it!" he exclaimed. "I am like my father—witless in matters of the heart, and of a poor way with women; yet the jewels that strew these royal garden paths—the trees, the flowers, the sward—all must have read the love that has filled my heart since first my eyes were made new by imaging your perfect face and form; so how could you alone have been blind to it?" |am like|||dad|lacking insight||topics|||||||bad||||||ornaments||scatter across||royal||walkways||||blooms||grass|||||||||occupied|||from the moment|when|||||||imagining||ideal|||||||||||unaware of|| « Je suis comme mon père, sans esprit dans les affaires de cœur et pauvre avec les femmes ; pourtant les joyaux qui parsèment ces allées royales du jardin, les arbres, les fleurs, le gazon, doivent tous avoir lu l'amour qui a rempli mon cœur depuis que mes yeux ont été renouvelés en imaginant votre visage et votre forme parfaits ; alors, comment avez-vous pu être le seul aveugle ? » "Do the maids of Helium pay court to their men?" ||female attendants|||show respect|||| "Est-ce que les servantes d'Hélium font la cour à leurs hommes ?" asked Thuvia.

"You are playing with me!" ||engaging|| exclaimed Carthoris. "Say that you are but playing, and that after all you love me, Thuvia!" « Dis que tu ne fais que jouer, et qu'après tout tu m'aimes, Thuvia ! "I cannot tell you that, Carthoris, for I am promised to another." |||||||||betrothed|| Her tone was level, but was there not within it the hint of an infinite depth of sadness? |voice quality||||||||||suggestion|||boundless|vastness||deep sorrow Son ton était égal, mais n'y avait-il pas en lui le soupçon d'une profondeur infinie de tristesse ? Who may say?

"Promised to another?" Carthoris scarcely breathed the words. |barely|exhaled|| His face went almost white, and then his head came up as befitted him in whose veins flowed the blood of the overlord of a world. |||nearly|pale||||||||suitable for|||whose veins|bloodline|coursed|||||ruler|||planet Son visage devint presque blanc, puis sa tête se redressa comme il convenait à celui dans les veines duquel coulait le sang du seigneur d'un monde.

"Carthoris of Helium wishes you every happiness with the man of your choice," he said. |||hopes|||joy||||||selected man|| "With—" and then he hesitated, waiting for her to fill in the name. |||||pausing||||provide|||the name "Kulan Tith, Jeddak of Kaol," she replied. Kulan Tith|Tith||||| "My father's friend and Ptarth's most puissant ally." ||||Ptarth's|greatest|powerful|supporter The young man looked at her intently for a moment before he spoke again. ||||||with focus|||||||once more

"You love him, Thuvia of Ptarth?" he asked.

"I am promised to him," she replied simply. "Je lui suis promise," répondit-elle simplement. He did not press her. |||urge or push| "He is of Barsoom's noblest blood and mightiest fighters," mused Carthoris. |||Barsoom's|most noble|||most powerful|warriors|thought aloud| "My father's friend and mine—would that it might have been another!" ||||my friend|wish|||||| "L'ami de mon père et le mien, si cela pouvait être un autre !" he muttered almost savagely. |||with fierce intensity What the girl thought was hidden by the mask of her expression, which was tinged only by a little shadow of sadness that might have been for Carthoris, herself, or for them both. |||||concealed||||||her expression||||||||hint|||||||||the girl||||the two of them

Carthoris of Helium did not ask, though he noted it, for his loyalty to Kulan Tith was the loyalty of the blood of John Carter of Virginia for a friend, greater than which could be no loyalty. |||||inquire|||observed||||devotion||||||||||||||Virginia||||||||||

He raised a jewel-encrusted bit of the girl's magnificent trappings to his lips. |lifted|||decorated with jewels|ornamented piece|of the|||splendid|ornate attire||| Il porta à ses lèvres un morceau incrusté de bijoux des magnifiques ornements de la jeune fille. "To the honour and happiness of Kulan Tith and the priceless jewel that has been bestowed upon him," he said, and though his voice was husky there was the true ring of sincerity in it. ||||joy||||||invaluable||which|||given to||||||||||hoarse|||||tone||genuine emotion||his voice "Pour l'honneur et le bonheur de Kulan Tith et du joyau inestimable qui lui a été accordé", dit-il, et bien que sa voix soit rauque, il y avait un vrai son de sincérité en elle. "I told you that I loved you, Thuvia, before I knew that you were promised to another. |informed||||||||||||||| I may not tell you it again, but I am glad that you know it, for there is no dishonour in it either to you or to Kulan Tith or to myself. ||||||||||happy|||||||||shame||||||||||||me My love is such that it may embrace as well Kulan Tith—if you love him." |||||||include|||||conditional clause||| There was almost a question in the statement. ||||implied inquiry|||remark

"I am promised to him," she replied. Carthoris backed slowly away. |moved|| He laid one hand upon his heart, the other upon the pommel of his long-sword. |placed||||||||||sword handle|||| Il posa une main sur son cœur, l'autre sur le pommeau de son épée longue.

"These are yours—always," he said. ||belong to you|forever|| A moment later he had entered the palace, and was gone from the girl's sight. |||||gone inside|||||no longer there|||| Had he returned at once he would have found her prone upon the ersite bench, her face buried in her arms. ||||immediately||||||lying down|||||she||hidden|||forearms S'il était revenu tout de suite, il l'aurait trouvée couchée sur le banc de l'ersite, le visage enfoui dans ses bras. Was she weeping? ||crying softly There was none to see. ||no one||

Carthoris of Helium had come all unannounced to the court of his father's friend that day. ||||||without prior notice||||||||| Carthoris d'Hélium était venu sans prévenir à la cour de l'ami de son père ce jour-là. He had come alone in a small flier, sure of the same welcome that always awaited him at Ptarth. ||||||small-sized|aircraft|confident of||||greeting or reception|||awaited him||| Il était venu seul dans un petit aviateur, sûr du même accueil qui l'attendait toujours à Ptarth. As there had been no formality in his coming there was no need of formality in his going. |||||ceremony|||||||requirement|||||departure

To Thuvan Dihn he explained that he had been but testing an invention of his own with which his flier was equipped—a clever improvement of the ordinary Martian air compass, which, when set for a certain destination, will remain constantly fixed thereon, making it only necessary to keep a vessel's prow always in the direction of the compass needle to reach any given point upon Barsoom by the shortest route. ||||clarified||||||experimenting||device|||||||||fitted with||smart|enhancement|||standard|of Mars||navigation device|||adjusted|||specific|location point||stay|always|set|on it|allowing for|||essential||||the ship's|front of the vessel||||||||compass indicator||arrive at|||location on Barsoom|||||most direct|path À Thuvan Dihn, il expliqua qu'il n'avait fait que tester une de ses propres inventions dont son aviateur était équipé - une amélioration intelligente de la boussole martienne ordinaire, qui, lorsqu'elle est réglée pour une certaine destination, restera constamment fixée dessus, ce qui la rend seulement nécessaire de garder la proue d'un navire toujours dans la direction de l'aiguille de la boussole pour atteindre un point donné sur Barsoom par la route la plus courte. Carthoris' improvement upon this consisted of an auxiliary device which steered the craft mechanically in the direction of the compass, and upon arrival directly over the point for which the compass was set, brought the craft to a standstill and lowered it, also automatically, to the ground. ||||was composed|||supporting|mechanical steering apparatus||guided|||by mechanical means|||||||||reaching the destination|precisely above|||||||||||||||complete stop||descended to ground||in addition|without manual intervention||| L'amélioration de Carthoris consistait en un dispositif auxiliaire qui dirigeait mécaniquement l'engin dans la direction de la boussole, et à l'arrivée directement au-dessus du point pour lequel la boussole était réglée, immobilisait l'engin et l'abaissait, également automatiquement, à le sol. "You readily discern the advantages of this invention," he was saying to Thuvan Dihn, who had accompanied him to the landing-stage upon the palace roof to inspect the compass and bid his young friend farewell. |easily and quickly|recognize||benefits||||||speaking||||||joined|||||||||top of the palace||examine||||say||young friend||goodbye « Vous discernez aisément les avantages de cette invention », disait-il à Thuvan Dihn, qui l'avait accompagné jusqu'au débarcadère sur le toit du palais pour inspecter la boussole et dire adieu à son jeune ami. A dozen officers of the court with several body servants were grouped behind the jeddak and his guest, eager listeners to the conversation—so eager on the part of one of the servants that he was twice rebuked by a noble for his forwardness in pushing himself ahead of his betters to view the intricate mechanism of the wonderful "controlling destination compass," as the thing was called. |||||||a few|body servants|attendants||standing together|at the back||||||enthusiastic|attentive audience|||discussion|||||of one|||||||||two times|scolded|||aristocrat|||impertinence||advancing|himself|in front|||superiors||observe the||complex system|device|||amazing|navigating|controlling destination compass|||||| Une douzaine d'officiers de la cour avec plusieurs serviteurs du corps étaient groupés derrière le djeddak et son invité, auditeurs avides de la conversation - si désireux de la part d'un des serviteurs qu'il fut deux fois réprimandé par un noble pour son audace à se pousser en avant de ses supérieurs pour voir le mécanisme complexe de la merveilleuse "boussole de contrôle de destination", comme on appelait la chose. "For example," continued Carthoris, "I have an all-night trip before me, as to-night. |for instance|said|||||||journey||||| « Par exemple, continua Carthoris, j'ai devant moi un voyage de toute la nuit, comme ce soir. I set the pointer here upon the right-hand dial which represents the eastern hemisphere of Barsoom, so that the point rests upon the exact latitude and longitude of Helium. |||indicator||||||gauge||indicates||eastern hemisphere|half of a sphere|||||||is positioned|||precise|latitude||geographic coordinate|| Je place ici l'aiguille sur le cadran de droite qui représente l'hémisphère oriental de Barsoom, de sorte que la pointe repose sur la latitude et la longitude exactes de l'Hélium. Then I start the engine, roll up in my sleeping silks and furs, and with lights burning, race through the air toward Helium, confident that at the appointed hour I shall drop gently toward the landing-stage upon my own palace, whether I am still asleep or no." ||begin||motor|arrive||||sleeping attire|sheets||fur garments||||illuminated|travel||||||sure of myself||||designated|time|||descend|softly|||||||||if||||in slumber|| Puis je démarre le moteur, m'enroule dans mes soies et mes fourrures endormies et, les lumières allumées, je cours dans les airs vers l'hélium, confiant qu'à l'heure dite je descendrai doucement vers le débarcadère sur mon propre palais, que je sois ou non encore endormi ou pas." "Provided," suggested Thuvan Dihn, "you do not chance to collide with some other night wanderer in the meanwhile." on the condition|advised||||||happen to||bump into|||||traveler at night|||in the meantime "Pourvu," suggéra Thuvan Dihn, "que vous n'ayez pas la chance d'entrer en collision avec un autre vagabond nocturne entre-temps." Carthoris smiled. |grinned "No danger of that," he replied. |risk|||| "See here," and he indicated a device at the right of the destination compass. ||||pointed to||||||||| "This is my 'obstruction evader,' as I call it. |||obstacle remover|obstruction evader|||| This visible device is the switch which throws the mechanism on or off. |clearly seen||||control device||activates|||||not active Ce dispositif visible est l'interrupteur qui active ou désactive le mécanisme. The instrument itself is below deck, geared both to the steering apparatus and the control levers. |device|the instrument||underneath|the deck|connected to||||navigation control|steering mechanism|||manipulation devices|control levers L'instrument lui-même est sous le pont, adapté à la fois à l'appareil de direction et aux leviers de commande.

"It is quite simple, being nothing more than a radium generator diffusing radio-activity in all directions to a distance of a hundred yards or so from the flier. ||very|easy to understand|functioning as||no more than|||radioactive element|device|spreading out|radiation|process|||all directions||||||one hundred|yards||||| "C'est assez simple, n'étant rien de plus qu'un générateur de radium diffusant de la radioactivité dans toutes les directions jusqu'à une distance d'une centaine de mètres du voleur. Should this enveloping force be interrupted in any direction a delicate instrument immediately apprehends the irregularity, at the same time imparting an impulse to a magnetic device which in turn actuates the steering mechanism, diverting the bow of the flier away from the obstacle until the craft's radio-activity sphere is no longer in contact with the obstruction, then she falls once more into her normal course. conditional verb||surrounding|force field||halted or disrupted|||||sensitive||without delay|detects||disruption|||||transmitting||force or push|||magnet-based||||in response|activates||navigation system||redirecting||front of|||||||obstruction|||vehicle's|||field of influence|||longer than before||touch with||||||returns|||||usual path|path of travel Si cette force enveloppante est interrompue dans n'importe quelle direction, un instrument délicat appréhende immédiatement l'irrégularité, en même temps qu'il donne une impulsion à un dispositif magnétique qui à son tour actionne le mécanisme de direction, détournant la proue du dépliant loin de l'obstacle jusqu'à ce que la radio de l'engin -la sphère d'activité n'est plus en contact avec l'obstacle, puis elle retombe dans sa course normale. Should the disturbance approach from the rear, as in case of a faster-moving craft overhauling me, the mechanism actuates the speed control as well as the steering gear, and the flier shoots ahead and either up or down, as the oncoming vessel is upon a lower or higher plane than herself. ||object|come|||back|||event of|||moving more quickly|moving faster||catching up to|||||||||||||steering mechanism||||moves forward||||||lower|||approaching|craft||||lower plane||elevated|altitude level|| Si la perturbation s'approche de l'arrière, comme dans le cas d'un engin se déplaçant plus rapidement, le mécanisme actionne le contrôle de la vitesse ainsi que l'appareil à gouverner, et le dépliant tire vers l'avant et vers le haut ou vers le bas, lorsque le navire venant en sens inverse est sur un plan inférieur ou supérieur à elle-même.

"In aggravated cases, that is when the obstructions are many, or of such a nature as to deflect the bow more than forty-five degrees in any direction, or when the craft has reached its destination and dropped to within a hundred yards of the ground, the mechanism brings her to a full stop, at the same time sounding a loud alarm which will instantly awaken the pilot. |serious|situations|||||barriers||||||||||change direction|||||more than 45||angles|||||||||||||descended|||||||||||brings to|||||full stop|||||emitting||audible alert|warning signal|||immediately wake|alert||operator of the craft "Dans les cas aggravés, c'est-à-dire lorsque les obstacles sont nombreux, ou de nature à dévier la proue de plus de quarante-cinq degrés dans n'importe quelle direction, ou lorsque l'engin a atteint sa destination et est tombé à moins de cent mètres du sol, le mécanisme l'arrête complètement, faisant retentir en même temps une alarme sonore qui réveillera instantanément le pilote. You see I have anticipated almost every contingency." ||||foreseen|||possible event Vous voyez que j'ai anticipé presque toutes les éventualités." Thuvan Dihn smiled his appreciation of the marvellous device. ||||gratitude for|||wonderful| The forward servant pushed almost to the flier's side. |front|serving player|moved forward||||aircraft| L'avant-serviteur poussa presque du côté de l'aviateur. His eyes were narrowed to slits.

"All but one," he said. The nobles looked at him in astonishment, and one of them grasped the fellow none too gently by the shoulder to push him back to his proper place. |noblemen|||||surprise|||||||||||||||shove|||||correct|position Carthoris raised his hand.

"Wait," he urged. Hold on||encouraged strongly "Let us hear what the man has to say—no creation of mortal mind is perfect. allow|we|listen to||||||||creation|||intellect||flawless or ideal "Ecoutons ce que l'homme a à dire - aucune création de l'esprit mortel n'est parfaite. Perchance he has detected a weakness that it will be well to know at once. perhaps|||discovered||vulnerability||||||||| Peut-être a-t-il décelé une faiblesse qu'il sera bon de connaître tout de suite. Come, my good fellow, and what may be the one contingency I have overlooked?" ||dear|||||||||||failed to consider Allons, mon bon ami, et quelle est la seule éventualité que j'aie négligée ? » As he spoke Carthoris observed the servant closely for the first time. ||||watched|||with attention|||| He saw a man of giant stature and handsome, as are all those of the race of Martian red men; but the fellow's lips were thin and cruel, and across one cheek was the faint, white line of a sword-cut from the right temple to the corner of the mouth. |saw|||||height||attractive||||||||||||||man|||||harsh|||||||slight||mark|||sword-cut|||||side of the head|||corner of||| "Come," urged the Prince of Helium. "Speak!" The man hesitated. It was evident that he regretted the temerity that had made him the centre of interested observation. |||||felt remorse||boldness||||||||curious scrutiny|scrutiny But at last, seeing no alternative, he spoke. |||noticing||option||

"It might be tampered with," he said, "by an enemy." |||altered|||||an unspecified|adversary "Il pourrait être altéré", a-t-il dit, "par un ennemi." Carthoris drew a small key from his leathern pocket-pouch. Carthoris||||small key||||pouch|small bag Carthoris tira une petite clef de sa pochette de cuir.

"Look at this," he said, handing it to the man. imperative verb|||||giving|||| "Regarde ça," dit-il en le tendant à l'homme. "If you know aught of locks, you will know that the mechanism which this unlooses is beyond the cunning of a picker of locks. |||anything||lock picking|||||||||releases or opens||beyond the skill||skill|||locksmith|| "Si vous connaissez un peu les serrures, vous saurez que le mécanisme qui en découle dépasse la ruse d'un crocheteur de serrures. It guards the vitals of the instrument from crafty tampering. |protects||essential parts|||||sneaky|manipulation Il protège les éléments vitaux de l'instrument contre les altérations astucieuses. Without it an enemy must half wreck the device to reach its heart, leaving his handiwork apparent to the most casual observer." ||||||damage|||||||||workmanship|||||| Sans elle, un ennemi doit à moitié détruire l'appareil pour atteindre son cœur, laissant son œuvre apparente à l'observateur le plus occasionnel." The servant took the key, glanced at it shrewdly, and then as he made to return it to Carthoris dropped it upon the marble flagging. ||||||||with cunning||||||||||||||||pavement Le domestique prit la clé, y jeta un coup d'œil astucieux, puis, en s'apprêtant à la rendre à Carthoris, la laissa tomber sur le dallage de marbre. Turning to look for it he planted the sole of his sandal full upon the glittering object. |||||||||||footwear|||||glittering object Se tournant pour le chercher, il planta la semelle de sa sandale en plein sur l'objet scintillant. For an instant he bore all his weight upon the foot that covered the key, then he stepped back and with an exclamation as of pleasure that he had found it, stooped, recovered it, and returned it to the Heliumite. ||brief moment||put|||body weight|||||was on top of|||||moved back||||||||||||||bent down|picked up||||||| Pendant un instant, il porta tout son poids sur le pied qui couvrait la clé, puis il recula et avec une exclamation de plaisir qu'il l'avait trouvée, se baissa, la récupéra et la remit à l'Héliumite. Then he dropped back to his station behind the nobles and was forgotten. ||||||position||||||overlooked by others Puis il retomba à son poste derrière les nobles et fut oublié.

A moment later Carthoris had made his adieux to Thuvan Dihn and his nobles, and with lights twinkling had risen into the star-shot void of the Martian night. |||||||farewells||||||||||flashing|||||star-filled||emptiness|||| Un instant plus tard, Carthoris avait fait ses adieux à Thuvan Dihn et à ses nobles, et avec des lumières scintillantes s'était élevé dans le vide étoilé de la nuit martienne.