Class 4: Correction of Franz Bartelt

Part One: Correction of Franz Bartelt

“My dear colleague, you have come to our beautiful city just in time for the medieval festival[1]. You couldn’t have had better timing[2]. Everybody is taking part in[3] the festivities, even our patients, of course, you will see.”

As he spoke[4], Baptiste Rouque-Jaune, his elbow on the table and a hand lying on his belly, kept flattening his tie. It was a habit of his, usually a sign that he had had too much to drink and that he was feeling satisfied[5] with himself.

Frédéric Soumagne was the newcomer at the Grand Bercail. He was replacing Emile Borsat, who was killed two months earlier in an earthquake in Japan.

“He had longed[6] to see Japan for thirty years. In the end, it became[7] an obsession. As far as we know, he was killed an hour after having set foot on Japanese soil. He hadn’t even left the airport. He was waiting for his baggage.”

“What bad luck[8],” Frédéric Soumagne commented soberly, glancing over his bifocals.

“The most incredible[9] thing in this story is that the earthquake only claimed one victim, my eminent colleague Emile Borsat. What do you think of that, hunh?”[10]

“What really bad luck,” Soumagne thought appropriate to reaffirm.

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[1] Celebrations. NOT « feast » because this is a big meal, one that is usually associated with a religious holiday.

[2] couldn’t have timed it better.

[3] joining in on.

[4] Here there is an editorial decision to make. Should you use the present tense? Should you use the narrative past? The latter is the general tense used by the narrator in story telling and is quite common in English, whereas the present for narration is less common and generally used for dramatic effect only. However, if you choose to use the present tense here, to mirror the present in the French text, you must be coherent throughout the rest of the text.

[5] Pleased with himself, self-satisfied. A feeling of self-satisfaction.

[6] He had been longing to see Japan…

[7] had become, turned into

[8] How unlucky, What hard luck.

[9] extraordinary

[10] What do you say to that?

Part Two: Get ready for the midterm. Vocab. Past tense. Vocab.


Homework: There is none in particular. Whew. You'll have a slight break during the week of your holidays. We will do the correction of the midterm in class during the week following your vacation. I can, if you wish, post the next text sooner than that. Send me an email to let me know what you prefer.