Thèmes n° 3 et 4 (Propositions)

Rappel : Textes anglais originaux ici.

Text #3 : “Un de plus” (José Bové)

Leading article

One more candidate !

That’s 46 of them now! J.B. is lined up for the start as well, which turns the presidential election into some kind of running race. The self-proclaimed leader of antiglobaliszation [the alterglobalist movement], aims/vows to be the spokesman of the speechless [those who’re given no right to speak], which is altogether honorable, ambitious and, to put it bluntly [to cut a long story short / not to beat about the bush], somewhat inaccurate and arrogant.

J.B., whose candidacy is, according to the polls, rejected by 75% of French people, still needs to get the 500 sponsorships, which [is not a mere trifle] has ceased to be a mere trifle / has become a difficult task since the Socialist Party has tightened things up with its elected representatives. [tear sb off a strip: remonter les bretelles à qqun / set the record straight about sth: faire une mise au point]

J.B., who is now one of five antiliberal leftwing candidates running for the election, had thought for quite a while that he would manage to get the support of the “action groups” that were created at the time of [in the wake of] the European referendum. As he had failed, he seemed to have given up. He is now back onto the political scene, which has not changed one dot [dot or iota] : the Communist Party has a candidate, and the three far left [extreme left] parties have appointed one each. None of those parties wished to leave free space to J.B.

Although he considers Mr Sarkozy to be “a dangerous person”, the former Larzac peasant and cattle breeder, who now spends more time on platforms throughout the world, is nonetheless quite harsh with the Socialist candidate, “who emb od ies the Left that has given up”, thereby implying, most probably, that the Socialists have given up on making the Revolution.

J.B. hopes that “a popular process of unity” [a popular unifying process] will now develop in his support. In other words, he intends to improve his current score, which is between 1% and 3%, depending on the polls: to do this, he needs to steal votes from the three extreme left candidates, from the few remaining Communist voters, from the Green candidate’s small batch of ballots, and finally, but with far less likeliho od , from the Socialist candidate, without the slightest clue as to how these go od people will all settle matters for the second run. In a nutshell, the rightwing, which is not far from having one single candidate – and a very domineering one at that – can more than ever rub its hands in glee /gleefully.

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Text 4 – Abbaye de la Clarté Dieu

Still remembering Citeaux

/ They sure didn’t citeauxn the fence / Cistercian soul sisters

[An enduring memory of Citeaux / Lasting memories of Citeaux]

/ Long time no Citeaux

P. and J. M. bought “the last of Citeaux’s daughters” four years ago. There was meth od to their madness. [That was sheer madness, but they were freely consenting. / Whimsical though that was, they were freely-consenting.]

In specialized guidebooks this Cistercian abbey is said to be “hidden in the deepest recesses of a solitary vale, somewhere in the area of St Paterne Racan”.

That is more than a metaphor. P. and J. M. have gradually unveiled the Abbey of Clarté-Dieu, after clearing the place for four and a half years and discovering both the remnants of a cloister and the boundaries of a lake that had been dug by the monks.

It is a love story indeed, but one where chance played a part. Says P.: “We lived in Château-du-Loir during fifteen years [We had lived in C-du-L. for fifteen years.] Our house had become to small to accomm od ate my wife’s sculpting studio and my own wo od carver and restorer’s studio, so we started looking for a large yet ordinary farm... And then we stumbled on La Clarté-Dieu, and we okayed the deal without giving it any further thought /without the slightest hesitation.”

Without any further thought: well, indeed, you have to be somewhat crazy to take on your hands such a building, which is as magnificent as it is huge and as harmonious as it is fragile /decrepit, delicate.

“The abbey is [was? lecture différente] built on a network of former stone quarries. During the Revolution, the Clarté-Dieu became a farm. It went out of mind. [It was forgotten.] As it was uninhabited, it was pillaged [plundered/ransacked] by various people [every Tom, Dick and Harry], which made it more fragile.” Time made its mark as well. “Dampness rotted the refectory, and the roof structure is about to cave in [collapse / fall apart]."

Such considerations might have discouraged quite a few people, but, when it comes to renovating historical sites [heritage monuments], P. and J. M. had already had some experience.

“A few decades ago, we bought a stronghouse [stronghold / fortress / small castle] in Dordogne. It was a building which had probably been owned by a small lord after his return from Italy. That is where we learnt how to handle a trowel, how to make whitewash and renovate electricity.”