17/10/2024

Le Pot-au-noir, les dames espagnoles, la baleine et, peut-être, qui sait, le retour à la maison


Philip G. Needell - In the Doldrums/Dans le Pot-au-noir, n.d.
Gravure sur bois en couleurs

 

À minuit sur le gaillard d'avant, c'est au chapitre 40 de Moby Dick qu'on se met à chanter...


Herman Melville - Moby Dick, ch. 40, trad. Armel Guerne
Ne soyons pas sentimentaux,c'est mauvais pour la digestion...
 
 
...Spanish Ladies, le grand classique des chants de marins anglais.
 
 
Farewell and adieu unto you Spanish ladiesFarewell and adieu to you ladies of SpainFor we have received orders to sail to old EnglandWe hope in a short time to see you againWe'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailorsWe'll rant and we'll roar along the salt seasUntil we strike soundings in the Channel of Old EnglandFrom Ushant to Scilly is thirty-five leagues
 We hove our ship to with the wind on sou'west, boysWe hove our ship to, deep soundings to takeTwas forty-five fathoms, with a white sandy bottomSo we squared our main yard and up channel did make.
We'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailorsWe'll rant and we'll roar along the salt seasUntil we strike soundings in the Channel of Old EnglandFrom Ushant to Scilly is thirty-five leagues

 

 Le 40 c'est un de mes chapitres préférés, à vrai dire...

 

Sarah Blasko - Spanish ladies (trad.) (1)
 
 
 
Now let every man drink off his full bumperAnd let every man drink off his full glassWe'll drink and be jolly and drown melancholyHere's to the health of each true-hearted lassWe'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailorsWe'll rant and we'll roar along the salt seasUntil we strike soundings in the Channel of Old EnglandFrom Ushant to Scilly is thirty-five leagues
 
 
  
Herman Melville - Moby Dick, ch.40 
Où sont les filles ?

 
The first land we made was called the DodmanNext Ram Head off Plymouth, off Portland the WightWe sailed by Beachy, by Fairlee and DoverThen abreast away for South Foreland LightWe'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailorsWe'll rant and we'll roar along the salt seasUntil we strike soundings in the Channel of Old EnglandFrom Ushant to Scilly is thirty-five leagues
 The signal is made for the grand fleet to anchorAnd all in the Downs that night for to lie;Let go your shank painter, let go your catHaul up your clewgarnets, let tacks and sheets fly!We'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailorsWe'll rant and we'll roar along the salt seasUntil we strike soundings in the Channel of Old EnglandFrom Ushant to Scilly is thirty-five leagues
 
 
 
...mais c'est un tournant du livre car c'est là, juste après, là, au début du chapitre 41, qu'on en vient...

 
 Herman Melville - Moby Dick, ch.41
Relativement rares étaient ceux qui l'avaient vu, de leurs yeux vu...


 
...au fond de l'affaire, à la baleine, et est-ce qu'on en remontera, du fond, est-ce qu'on reviendra chez soi, et dans quel état, hein ?
 
 Now let every man drink off his full bumperAnd let every man drink off his full glassWe'll drink and be jolly and drown melancholyHere's to the health of each true-hearted lassWe'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailorsWe'll rant and we'll roar along the salt seasUntil we strike soundings in the Channel of Old EnglandFrom Ushant to Scilly is thirty-five leagues
 
 
 
John Taylor Arms - Evening, East River, New York, 1919
Eau-forte et aquatinte
 

 
(1) Il en existe évidemment plusieurs versions. La plus connue du grand public, c'est celle que fredonne Robert Shaw dans Les dents de la mer, avant de se faire bouffer par le requin.

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