1 Tu te trompes si tu crois l’avoir, son seul aspect te fera reculer! | 1 Any hope you might have would be futile, the mere sight of him would overwhelm you. |
2 N’est-il pas cruel dès qu’on l’éveille? Qui lui fera face sans céder le terrain, | 2 When roused, he grows ferocious, who could ever stand up to him? |
3 qui l’attaquera et sera le plus fort? Personne sous les cieux. | 3 Who has ever attacked him with impunity? No one beneath al heaven! |
4 Je devrais parler de ses membres, il me faut rappeler sa force incomparable. | 4 Next I wil talk of his limbs and describe his matchless strength- |
5 Qui a soulevé le devant de sa tunique, et regardé sous sa carapace? | 5 who can undo the front of his tunic or pierce the double armour of his breastplate? |
6 Qui a ouvert les battants de sa mâchoire? et quelle frayeur à voir cette couronne de dents! | 6 Who dare open the gates of his mouth? Terror reigns round his teeth! |
7 Son dos n’est qu’un tissu de plaques qui se recouvrent sans laisser d’espace; | 7 His back is like rows of shields, sealed with a stone seal, |
8 la jointure est si bonne que pas un souffle n’y passerait. | 8 touching each other so close that no breath could pass between, |
9 Chacune est soudée à sa voisine, leur assemblage ne se démonte pas. | 9 sticking to one another making an impervious whole. |
10 S’il éternue, ce sont des étincelles, ses paupières laissent jaillir une lumière. | 10 His sneezes radiate light, his eyes are like the eyelashes of the dawn. |
11 De sa gueule se dégagent des flammes, des étincelles de feu s’en échappent. | 11 From his mouth come fiery torches, sparks of fire fly out of it. |
12 Une vapeur sort de ses narines, des projections, comme d’un chaudron qui bouillonne. | 12 His nostrils belch smoke like a cauldron boiling on the fire. |
13 À son souffle les charbons s’enflamment, une langue de feu sort de sa gueule! | 13 His breath could kindle coals, flame issues from his mouth. |
14 Toute sa force est dans son cou, l’effroi passe devant lui! | 14 His strength resides in his neck, violence leaps before him as he goes. |
15 Sa carcasse ne fait qu’un tout, partout elle résiste et rien ne bouge. | 15 The strips of his flesh are jointed together, firmly set in and immovable. |
16 Son cœur est dur comme le roc, comme une pierre à broyer. | 16 His heart is as hard as rock unyielding as the lower mil stone. |
17 S’il se redresse, les flots refluent, les ondes s’effraient. | 17 When he stands up, the waves take fright and the bil ows of the sea retreat. |
18 L’épée le frappe sans pénétrer, la lance et la flèche rebondissent. | 18 Sword may strike but will not stick in him, no more will spear, javelin or lance. |
19 Pour lui le fer n’est que paille, et le bronze comme le bois s’émousse. | 19 Iron means no more to him than straw, nor bronze than rotten wood. |
20 Les traits de l’arc ne le font pas fuir, les pierres de fronde lui semblent brins de paille. | 20 No arrow can make him flee, a sling-stone tickles him like hay. |
21 La massue n’est pour lui qu’une baguette, le javelot résonne sur lui: il s’en moque. | 21 Club seems to him like straw, he laughs at the whirring javelin. |
22 Tout son dessous est garni de pointes, il herse la vase, y laissant des sillons. | 22 He has sharp potsherds underneath, and moves across the slime like a harrow. |
23 Puis c’est un bouillonnement dans les ondes, des bulles sur l’eau, comme sur des charbons d’encens. | 23 He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron, he makes the sea fume like a scent burner. |
24 Il laisse derrière lui un sillage de lumière, une mer d’écume blanche. | 24 Behind him he leaves a glittering wake -- a white fleece seems to float on the deeps. |
25 Nulle bête sur terre ne saurait le vaincre: il a été fait rebelle à la peur. | 25 He has no equal on earth, being created without fear. |
26 Il brave en face les plus fières, il est le roi de tous les carnassiers! | 26 He looks the haughtiest in the eye; of al the lordly beasts he is king. |