| Version française de Riccardo Venturi
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EURYALUS AND NISUS | EURYALE ET NISE |
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The bright moon like a big lamp in the sky it did quiver, | La nuit était claire, la lune faisait lumière |
Euryalus and Nisus went downhill to the river. | Euryale et Nise sortirent des champs vers la rivière. |
They walked out of the fields shouldering their rucksacks, | Venant d’en haut avec leurs sacs à dos à l’épaule |
They had been order’d to blow up the bridge of Serravalle. | Ils devaient faire sauter le pont de Serravalle. |
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Euryalus was a baker, and Nisus was a student | Euryale était boulanger et Nise un étudiant, |
They had passed to the Partisans on the eight September | ils étaient passés au Maquis le huit septembre, |
The wood was sleeping but an owl warn’d them of danger, | la forêt dormait déjà, mais un hibou les écoute, |
There was an armed roadblock just at the road end. | y a un poste de bloc juste au bout de la route. |
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Euryalus told Nisus drying up his forehead, | Euryale dit à Nise en se séchant le front, |
"Look at the German watches just on the bridge ahead." | “Y a deux boches qui montent la garde au pont.” |
The snow had fallen and the cold made it so hard, | La neige était tombée, le froid l’endurcissait |
but they had on their felt shoes, and nobody heard. | mais avec du feutre aux pieds, personne n’ les entendait. |
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The watches weren’t moving, they looked like moonstruck | Les sentinelles étaient comme charmées par la lune, |
It was easy to overtake them and cut off their good luck, | il fut facile de les surprendre, de leur couper la fortune, |
One of them had a silver pin on his soldier’s greatcoat | une d’entre elles avait une épingle sur le manteau, |
Euryalus picked it up and attached it to his beret. | Euriale la prit et l’attacha à son chapeau. |
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The pin with the imperial eagle shone so vivid and bright | L’épingle était en argent, une aigle impériale, |
like an aurora it glitter’d in the darkness of night. | elle luisait dans la nuit plus qu’une aurore boréale. |
So he was easily noticed by the dogs and by the butchers | et le fit répérer: il tomba dans l’embuscade |
wanting to avenge the death of their comrades in arms. | des bourreaux voulant venger la mort d’ leurs camarades. |
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Euryalus was caught in the middle of the plain, | Euryale fut capturé au milieu de la plaine, |
Nisus kept well hidden for fear of being slain, | Nise s’était caché tremblant de peur et de haine, |
Euryalus was surrounded, at him long time they spat | Euriale fut entouré et couvert de crachats |
playing with him like cats toying with a poor rat. | il était la souris qui fait le jouet du chat. |
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But when he saw his friend tied up to a tree branch | Mais voyant son ami lié par ses bourreaux, |
like St. Sebastian pierced, but with their army daggers | et comme Saint Sébastien transpercé de couteaux |
Nisus jumped out and rush’d to them with all his wrath | Nise sortit de l’ombre avec toute sa fureur, |
Four of them he did kill before they slew him dead. | il en tua quatre avant de tomber. |
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He fell on the snowy ground to the feet of his friend, | Il tomba sur la neige aux pieds de son copain, |
so did the moon fall down on the bloodstained woodland, | la Lune aussi était tombée dans le bois sanglant, |
Two trees then bloomed just next to the graves where they lay | et deux arbres fleurirent tout près du cimetière, |
Their flowers were red and sprang up even in winter time. | leurs fleurs étaient rouges et poussaient en hiver. |
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The bright moon like a big lamp in the sky it did quiver, | La nuit était claire, la lune faisait lumière |
Euryalus and Nisus went downhill to the river. | Euriale et Nise sortirent des champs vers la rivière. |