L’épisode de la poupée rendit encore plus difficiles les premiers pas de Léa au pensionnat. Sœur Saint-‐Gabriel aurait été bien en peine de la lui rendre. Mise au pied du mur, elle tenta d’expliquer à l’enfant que le règlement était le règlement : pas de jouets pour éviter de créer des différences entre les élèves et d’exciter des jalousies. La petite écouta ce discours avec un regard flamboyant de colère. − Je la chercherai partout, hurla-‐t-‐elle. Je finirai par la trouver. Le monsieur vous mettra en prison si vous ne lui obéissez pas. Et puis d’abord c’est papa qui me l’a donnée. Demain, quand il reviendra, il vous forcera à me la rendre. Il vous tordra le bras derrière le dos jusqu’à ce que vous lui montriez la cachette. Il vous fera très mal ! On dut recourir à Bénédicte pour l’amadouer. Elle y parvint sans difficulté. − Moi, dit-‐elle sereinement, il y a longtemps que je ne joue plus à la poupée. Je pense que c’est un jeu de bébé. Des jeux, je t’en apprendrai de bien plus drôles si tu veux être mon amie. Cela mit fin à la discussion mais le caractère de Léa ne s’arrangea pas pour autant au cours des dix-‐huit mois qui suivirent. Ses camarades de pension étaient, pour la plupart, des filles de commerçants, de négociants en vins ou de propriétaires terriens bordelais. Elles recevaient régulièrement de leur famille les fameux suppléments – beurre, miel, confiture – rangés dans le coffret de bois cadenassé avec soin dont elles gardaient la clef accrochée à la chaîne en or pendue à leur cou qui retenait leur médaille ou leur croix de baptême. Lorsqu’elles l’ouvraient aux repas, elles commençaient par en vérifier le contenu d’un air méfiant derrière le couvercle levé, en le protégeant de leurs bras repliés sur lesquels elles posaient le front. Les provisions faisaient l’objet de trocs, scellaient les alliances, officialisaient les brouilles. On se les échangeait avec des mines confites en dévotion, des sourires entendus, des regards rapides qui parcouraient la table pour faire le bilan des jalousies et des rancœurs. Le coffret refermé, on enfouissait la clef dans l’encolure du chandail d’un air important. E. GILLE, Un paysage de cendres, 1996.
The doll episode / episode with the doll/ What happened with/over the doll made Léa’s first few days/early days (first steps) at/in the boarding school even more difficult/even harder. Sister Saint-‐Gabriel would have been hard pushed to give /hard pressed to give / would have had a hard job giving it back to her. Finding herself with her back to the wall/ driven into a corner, /Realising she had no choice/option, she tried/attempted/made an attempt to explain to the child that rules were rules/ rules had to be respected : no toys were allowed/toys were forbidden in order to avoid creating differences among/between the pupils and to avoid arousing/stirring up (any) jealousy /so that all pupils should be equal and that there should be no jealousy aroused among them. The little girl listened to those words/this talk with an expression of burning rage on her face/As she listened to those words, the little girl’s eyes burned with anger/rage / the little girl glared at Sister SG with eyes full of rage. “I shall/will look for her screamed/howled/yelled/bawled.
/(it
OK)/
seek
her
everywhere/all
over”
she
“I will find her in the end/eventually/sooner or later. The man will lock you up/send you to prison/put you behind bars/put you in prison/throw you in(to) jail if you do not do as he says/what he tells you to. And anyway,/And besides, it was daddy who gave me her/her to me. Tomorrow when he comes back, he will make you give her back/force you to give her back (to me). He will twist your arm behind your back until you show him where she is hidden/the hiding place. He will really hurt you/hurt you very badly!” They had to turn to/call on/ask for Bénédicte to soothe her/calm her. She managed to do this easily/with no problem at all. “Look at me, /Take me, / As for me,” she said calmly/serenely, “I stopped playing with dolls a long time ago/ it’s been a long time since I played with dolls / I haven’t played with a doll in / for a long time. I think it’s a game for babies/a babies’ game (cf. a children’s party game). And as for games, I will teach you some which are a lot more fun/teach you much funnier ones if you want to be my friend/if you are friends with me”. That brought the discussion/conversation to an end/close / That put an end to the discussion but for all that,/nevertheless, Léa’s temperament/character did not improve during/over the following eighteen months/the eighteen months that followed. Most of her... / Her fellow boarders were mainly/mostly (the) daughters of shopkeepers, wine merchants or Bordelais landowners/property owners/landed proprietors/ landowners from Bordeaux.
Their families regularly sent them the famous extras/much talked about extras / They regularly received the... from their families – butter, honey, jam-‐ which they would carefully stow/put away in the padlocked wooden chest/chests (each girl had her own chest) the key/keys to which they kept around their necks on the gold chains which also bore/which were meant for their baptism/christening/religious medals/medallions. When they opened the chest/it/them (up) at meal times, they would begin by checking what was inside, with a suspicious/mistrustful expression behind the open lid/cover, while (all the time) protecting/shielding the contents with their folded arms upon which they rested their foreheads. The supplies/provisions were used in/for exchanges/swaps /(were the object of...), they sealed alliances and made quarrels/disagreements/breaches official. They were exchanged with expressions steeped in piety, beaming smiles and glances.../ The faces of those involved in the exchanges were full of devotion; there were beaming smiles and quick looks around the table to see who was jealous and who was resentful/to take stock of/to check for jealousy and resentment. Once the chest was/had been closed up again/re-‐sealed, its owner would ceremoniously tuck the key into the collar/neck of her pullover/sweater.
