brave heart - Henry Quinson

BRAVE HEART
1297. William Wallace, a Scottish patriot (see insert p. 2) has started invading England with his
troops to free Scotland from English rule. King Edward I "Longshanks1" has sent his daughter-in-law,
Isabella2, Princess of Wales, to negotiate with William.
5
10
15
20
25
Wallace and the princess were left alone.
She spoke quickly as if anxious to settle their business and end the meeting. "Let us talk plainly.
You invade England. You have it within your power to cause great suffering and death. But you cannot
complete the conquest, and I perceive you are clever enough to know that."
Wallace broke in. "We will bear the hardships to make our country free."
She forced herself on. "The king proposes that you withdraw your attack. In return he grants you
hereditary title, estates, and this chest3 with a thousand pounds of gold, which I am to pay to you
personally."
"A lordship. And gold. That I should become Judas."
"Peace is made in such ways."
"Slaves are made in such ways!" He turned away from her sharply and struggled to control the
emotions that had leaped4 from him.
"Someday you will be a queen. So you must open your eyes," William said. "When I was seven
years old I saw thirty Scottish patriots hanged in a barn5, lured6 there by Longshanks under a flag of truce7.
My father and brother stood up to that savagery and lost their lives. When I grew to be a man, I tried to live
in peace. I fell in love with..." But he could not bring himself to speak her name.
But he wanted - needed - to tell this woman who reminded him so much of Murron just how and
why he had lost her. "The soldiers of your king decided they could take her, like everything else in
Scotland. I fought them, but she was caught. To lure me to capture, the king's magistrate cut her throat in
the square of Lanark Village."
He paused and drew in a long slow breath. Isabella watched him, her eyes burning, her arms aching
to hold him. He looked at her, his eyes growing harder. "My fight is not with fortress cities. It’s with one
man's desire to rule another man. Tell your king that William Wallace will not be ruled. Nor will any Scot
while I live."
The princess rose slowly from her chair, moved in front of him, and lowered herself to her knees.
"Sir," she said in a voice only Wallace could hear, "I leave this money as a gift. Not from the king
but from myself. And not to you but to the orphans of your country."
She lifted her face. Their eyes held a moment too long.
Randall Wallace, Braveheart (1995) ©Signet Penguin London
ANALYSIS
1. Read the title and the introduction and imagine what the negotiation is going to be about and
how William Wallace will probably react.
2. Read the whole text now and check if you anticipated correctly.
3. Fill in the blanks with a word that is first used as a noun in the introduction and then as a verb in
the last part of the next.
William Wallace and his friends don't want the Scots to be under English ………………………….. They
refuse to be …………………….... by the English.
1
Edward I "Longshanks": roi d'Angleterre de 1272 à 1307, surnommé Edouard le Sec
Princess Isabella: épouse de l'héritier du trône
3
chest: coffre
4
leap: jaillir
5
barn: grange
6
lure: attirer (souvent dans un piège)
7
flag of truce: drapeau blanc
2
Brave Heart
4. Find the English equivalents of :
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
5.
Sir William Wallace
(Born between 1260 and 1278; murdered August 23,
1305)
achever
s'apercevoir
se forcer à continuer
terres
esclaves
marquer une pause
citadelle
orphelin.
War
Use the context to find the English for:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
6.
souffrance
se replier
pendre
se dresser contre
perdre la vie
combattre
capturer (two words)
égorger
combat.
Negotiating
Find the words corresponding to the following definitions:
•
•
•
•
•
come to an agreement
talk clearly
interrupt
give as a favor
a present.
7.
...-ship
Analyze the formation and deduce the meaning of:
•
hardship (l. 5),
•
lordship (l. 9).
8. Use the context to guess the meaning of the words in bold letters:
•
"We will bear the hardships to make our country free." (1. 5)
•
...this woman who reminded him so much of Murron... (1. 17)
9. "A lordship. And gold. That I should become Judas!". What does
Wallace mean?
•
The king offers me a lordship and gold so that I become Judas.
•
The king certainly believes I have become Judas, that’s why he
offers me a lordship and gold.
10. Body
Make sure that you know the English for the following words. If not,
you will find them in the text from l. 11 to l. 28:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
brusquement
s'efforcer (lutter)
reprendre son souffle
observer
bras
faire mal
se lever
se baisser
genoux
lever
visage.
Tradition has long believed that William
Wallace was born in Elderslie, Renfrewshire,
although contemporary research would
indicate that he may well have been born at
Ellerslie, in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. The son of
Sir Malcolm Wallace and Margaret Craufurd
he was a popular figure who led guerilla
fighters against the forces of English
occupation, and had his greatest victory on 11
September 1297 at Stirling Bridge. Much has
been said and written about Sir William
Wallace and the release in 1995 of the film
Braveheart. Some of the reservations
concerning the historical accuracy of the film
are true, but the movie overall tells Wallace’s
story quite well.
What is not in doubt is that Wallace lived in a
Scotland which was being subjected to a
brutal occupation by the forces of the
English King Edward I. Wallace would not
succumb to this English rule and he fought for
his country's freedom serving as one of the
Guardians of Scotland. Wallace was the
catalyst that sparked the revolution. He was
betrayed by Menteith to the English, taken to
London and accused of treason. At his mock
trial he refuted the allegation, stating that he
had never sworn loyalty to Edward, so how
could he be guilty of treason? He was dragged
through the streets of London, hanged,
castrated, and still alive at this stage,
disemboweled. Finally he was decapitated and
his body cut into quarters. His head was
displayed on a pike on London Bridge, his
four parts displayed around the country at
Newcastle, Berwick, Perth and Stirling.
Nine years after his barbaric murder, at the
Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the Scots, led
by King Robert the Bruce, defeated the
English army of Edward II, and so secured that
Independence which had made Wallace a
martyr.
Wallace's spirit and vision of an
Independent and free nation live on in
modern Scotland today. The Scottish
National Party have been keeping that flame
alive since 1934, and many Scots believe they
are now closer than at any time in their history
to achieving that goal.
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Brave Heart
11. Translate the following sentences with words from the text:
a) C'est ainsi qu'on fait la guerre.
b) Il ne pouvait se résoudre à lui parler.
12. William Wallace
a) Pick up two words from l. 11 to l. 12 indicating how strongly he reacts to the king's offer.
b) What can you guess about his social origins?
c) Imagine who Murron was.
d) Now, watch three other extracts from Gibson’s movie, describe them and relate them to the
negotiation scene. Can you explain why Wallace is fighting against the English king?
e) Pick up a few sentences showing his determination to fight for freedom.
13. The princess
a) Pick up the words showing in what state of mind (état d'esprit) Isabella starts the negotiation.
How do you explain it?
b) At what point in the text does the reader realize that Isabella’s feelings for the rebel have
changed?
c) What does she decide to do at the end? Why?
14. Body LANGUAGE
The two heroes do not say anything about the evolution of their feelings for each other, but a lot is
said through body attitudes. For example, the fact that William turned away from her sharply... (l.
8) shows that he is furious at her. Find other examples of body language and imagine what is implied
each time.
15. Explain the evolution of the two characters' feelings for each other.
WORDS
1. Nouns:
•
Scots, Scotsman/woman
•
nobleman/woman = peer, aristocrat ≠ commoner
•
negotiation = deal • proposal, demand (exigence)
•
betrayal (trahison), traitor, coward (lâche)
•
boldness (audace), recklessness (témérité)
•
humanity, goodwill (bonne volonté), generosity, charity
•
attraction, appeal, fascination.
2. Adjectives:
•
Scottish
•
intolerable = unbearable
•
pitiless = merciless
•
powerful = mighty
•
cowardly ≠ bold = daring, reckless, fearless, strong-minded, passionate
•
sympathetic (compatissant), sensitive, understanding, open-minded, warm-hearted, generous,
charitable, kind (gentil).
3. Verbs:
•
talk, notify, confide (confier), communicate, demand (exiger), allude to
•
betray, avenge
•
admire, impress, respect
•
sympathize with = feel for.
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Brave Heart
Cannot, must, WILL
A. CANNOT, must
1. "But you cannot complete the conquest... " (l. 4)
2. "So you must open your eyes… " (l. 13)
Quelle notion est exprimée par le modal (en caractères gras) en l et en 2?
a) capacité
b) incapacité
c) interdiction
d) nécessité
Dites pour chaque énoncé qui parle à qui.
D'après le contexte, que traduit l'utilisation du modal en l et 2 ?
a) Celui (celle) qui parle transmet une information sans commentaire.
b) Il (elle) tente de faire pression sur l'autre.
B. WILL
1. "We will bear the hardships... " (l. 5)
2. "Someday you will be a queen." (l. 13)
3. "Tell your king that William Wallace will not be ruled." (l. 23)
Dans quel(s) cas will exprime-t-il un simple futur et dans quel(s) cas une nuance de volonté? Traduisez les
énoncés 1,2,3.
C. Will et les subordonnées de temps
1. "What will you do when you are a queen?"
2. "As soon as I submit, they will capture me."
3. "Nor will any Scot while I live." (l. 23-24)
Que désignent les verbes en gras utilisés après when, as soon as et while ? Un fait présent ou un fait futur ?
Traduisez l'énoncé l.
Choisissez une traduction pour as soon as I submit en 2 :
a) Aussitôt que je me soumets...
b) Dès que je me soumets...
c) Dès que je me soumettrai...
Choisissez une traduction pour while I live en 3 :
a) ... tant que je vivrai.
b) ... pendant que je suis vivant.
c) ... depuis que je suis vivant.
Déduisez de ce qui précède une règle :
Pour exprimer le ………………………………. dans une subordonnée de temps, on ne peut pas
employer……………………………………..
D. EXERCICES
Complétez avec can't, must ou will.
a) "You .…………………… leave the country. It is absolutely necessary," the Princess said.
b) "……………………. the king take back his soldiers, if I submit?" asked Wallace.
c) "You ………………….…. go on like this. It's impossible," the Princess said.
d) "If you withdraw your attack, the king ……………………….. give you a lot of money."
e) "I .………………………. never submit"
Voici les prédictions faites à la princesse Isabella par son astrologue en l'an 1305. Complétez avec will ou le
présent simple lorsque will est impossible.
“The year 1305 …………………. (be) tragic. When the Moon …………………. (move) into Scorpio, William
Wallace, your lover, …………………. (be) captured and …………………. (die).Then Edward I ………………….
(die) and you…………………. (become) a queen. The planets seem to indicate that the following years
…………………. (be) very dramatic. After a year of exile in Paris, you …………………. (return) home. Some
decisive changes …………………. (occur) in your life when you …………………. (return) to the court of England.
As soon as Mars …………………. (enter) your sign in 1306, jealousy …………………. (rule) your heart. You
(declare) war on your husband's friend and adviser, Hugh Le Despenser. When the Sun …………………. (enter)
your sign in February, you …………………. (achieve) your goals. Hugh Le Despenser …………………. (be)
executed. The year 1327…………………. (be) even more tragic. Your husband, Edward II ………………. (die).”
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