French–English parallel text
Cinquante ans au sommet
Fifty at the Top
DuoText
A free bilingual French–English edition: the French text with the English beside it, paragraph by paragraph. Read it online, or download it as a dual-language ebook.
Opening the reader…
La photo sur le mur
The photo on the wall
Sipho habitait au Cap avec sa femme. Il avait quarante-neuf ans, et il était professeur dans une grande école.
Sipho lived in Cape Town with his wife. He was forty-nine, and he was a teacher at a big school.
Chaque matin, il allait au travail en voiture sous la montagne de la Table. Il la regardait tous les jours. Il n’y montait jamais.
Every morning, he drove to work under Table Mountain. He looked up at it every day. He never went up.
Un dimanche soir, sa femme s’est assise à côté de lui sur le canapé.
One Sunday evening, his wife sat down next to him on the sofa.
« Ton anniversaire est dans trois semaines, a-t-elle dit. Tu vas avoir cinquante ans. Qu’est-ce que tu aimerais ? Une grande fête ? »
“Your birthday is in three weeks,” she said. “You’re going to be fifty. What would you like? A big party?”
« Pas de fête, a dit Sipho. J’aimerais monter à pied sur la montagne de la Table. »
“No party,” said Sipho. “I’d like to walk up Table Mountain.”
Sa femme a ri. « Toi ? Tu prends la voiture pour aller au magasin au bout de la rue. »
His wife laughed. “You? You take the car to the shop at the end of the street.”
« Je sais. Mais je veux le faire. Avec l’ancien groupe. »
“I know. But I want to do it. With the old group.”
Il a regardé une photo sur le mur. Quatre garçons minces étaient debout sur un grand rocher. Derrière eux, il y avait la mer et toute la ville.
He looked at a photo on the wall. Four thin boys stood on a big rock. Behind them, there was the sea and the whole city.
C’était le sommet de la montagne de la Table, en 1994. Les garçons avaient dix-huit ans. Ils ont fini leur dernier examen cette semaine-là. Le lendemain, ils sont montés sur la montagne à pied.
It was the top of Table Mountain, in 1994. The boys were eighteen. They finished their last exam that week. The next day, they walked up the mountain.
« Trente-deux ans, a dit Sipho. Je veux la même photo. Les quatre mêmes personnes, à cinquante ans. »
“Thirty-two years,” said Sipho. “I want the same photo. The same four people, at fifty.”
« Quand est-ce que tu les as vus pour la dernière fois ? »
“When did you last see them?”
Sipho y a réfléchi. « Il y a cinq ans. Peut-être six. »
Sipho thought about it. “Five years ago. Maybe six.”
« Alors écris-leur, a dit sa femme. Ce soir. »
“Then write to them,” said his wife. “Tonight.”
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