The rain had already drenched him, and after slipping down the muddy slope, he had frequently been obliged to grope his way upon all fours.
Il était déjà ruisselant d’eau, il avait glissé par la boue des pentes, n’avançant qu’à tâtons, souvent à quatre pattes.
Zola, Emile / The Three Cities - ParisZola, Emile / Les Trois Villes - Paris
Les Trois Villes - Paris
Zola, Emile
The Three Cities - Paris
Zola, Emile
On others she was obliged to grope her way to reach her couch, a poor one, made of four badly joined planks, and a straw paillasse, which was so lumpy that in places the two sides of the tick touched each other.
Les autres jours, elle gagnait sa couche à tâtons, pauvre couche faite de quatre planches mal jointes et d’une paillasse dont les toiles se touchaient par endroits.
Zola, Emile / Contes à NinonZola, Emile / Stories for Ninon
Stories for Ninon
Zola, Emile
Contes à Ninon
Zola, Emile
They were all damp. It was necessary for them to grope their way upstairs.
Toutes étaient mouillées; il fallut monter à tâtons.
Zola, Emile / His MasterpieceZola, Emile / L'Oeuvre
L'Oeuvre
Zola, Emile
His Masterpiece
Zola, Emile
I noticed lots of small details - machine-gun detachments, signalling parties, squads of stretcher-bearers - which mean the fringe of an army, and as soon as the night began the white fingers of searchlights began to grope in the skies.
Je remarquai pas mal de petits détails – sections de mitrailleuses, équipes de brancardiers, escouades d’éclaireurs – qui révèlent l’approche d’une armée, et dès que la nuit fut venue les longs doigts blancs des projecteurs fouillèrent le ciel.
Buchan, John / GreenmantleBuchan, John / Le prophète au manteau vert
I was neither stunned nor hurt; and I began to grope around me, for as yet I could see nothing. My eyes were full of sand, and pained me exceedingly.
Je ne suis ni blessé, ni contusionné; j'essaie de regarder autour de moi, mais il m'est impossible de rien distinguer; je ne puis ouvrir mes yeux, qui me font horriblement souffrir.
Reid, Mayne / The Scalp HuntersReid, Mayne / Les chausseurs de chevelures
The candle lurched up against the wall when they got into the room, and went out, and they had to undress and grope into bed in the dark.
Leur entrée dans la chambre dut être mouvementée, car la chandelle alla donner contre le mur et s’éteignit : il leur fallut se déshabiller dans le noir et chercher leurs lits à tâtons.
Jerome, Jerome Klapka / Three Men in a BoatJerome, Jerome Klapka / Trois hommes dans le bateau
Trois hommes dans le bateau
Jerome, Jerome Klapka
Three Men in a Boat
Jerome, Jerome Klapka
As we grope about in the barn, we cannot touch anything but what is sodden and cold, and the sour smell of wet animals is added to the vapor of the liquid manure that our beds contain.
Dans la grange, on ne touche plus en tâtonnant que des choses et des formes trempées, humides et frigides, et une âcre senteur de bête mouillée s’ajoute aux exhalaisons du purin que renferment nos lits.
Barbusse, Henri / Under fireBarbusse, Henri / Le feu
Claude and Christine, on reaching home, took Jacques from the doorkeeper, and found the studio quite chilly, wrapped in such dense gloom that they had to grope about for several minutes before they were able to light the lamp.
Et, en rentrant, Claude et Christine, après avoir repris Jacques chez la concierge, trouvèrent l’atelier tout froid, noyé d’une ombre si épaisse, qu’ils tâtonnèrent longtemps, avant de pouvoir allumer la lampe.
Zola, Emile / His MasterpieceZola, Emile / L'Oeuvre
L'Oeuvre
Zola, Emile
His Masterpiece
Zola, Emile
He went and groped about among the heap of papers, regardless of the dust; but he soon began to moan: " Nothing, not a single whole page.
Il alla fouiller le tas de papiers, sans songer à la poussière. Il se lamentait. – Rien, pas une page entière.