Level A1 · Lesson 4
The telegram
Le télégramme
The message is a terrible telegram: Arsène Lupin is on board, in first class. He has blond hair and a wound on his right arm. His name begins with R… and then, a clap of thunder.
The story
Dans la cabine du télégraphe, l’employé est pâle. Le message est pour le commandant.
In the telegraph cabin, the operator is pale. The message is for the captain.
Mais sur un bateau, les secrets voyagent vite. Le soir, les passagers parlent du message.
But on a ship, secrets travel fast. In the evening, the passengers are talking about the message.
Voici le message : « Arsène Lupin à bord, première classe, cheveux blonds, blessure avant-bras droit, voyage seul, sous le nom de R… »
Here is the message: “Arsène Lupin on board, first class, blond hair, wound right forearm, travelling alone, under the name of R…”
Arsène Lupin, le célèbre voleur, est ici, sur la Provence, avec nous !
Arsène Lupin, the famous thief, is here, on the Provence, with us!
Il a les cheveux blonds. Il a une blessure au bras droit, entre la main et le coude.
He has blond hair. He has a wound on his right arm, between the hand and the elbow.
Et le nom ? Il commence par un R. Mais à ce moment, il y a un coup de tonnerre dans le ciel noir.
And the name? It begins with an R. But at that moment there is a clap of thunder in the black sky.
Le message s’arrête. Le reste du nom est perdu dans l’orage.
The message stops. The rest of the name is lost in the storm.
Miss Nelly ouvre ses grands yeux noirs. Dans le salon, les passagers regardent les cheveux des messieurs : blonds, bruns, gris…
Miss Nelly opens her big dark eyes. In the lounge, the passengers look at the gentlemen’s hair: blond, brown, grey…
Le monsieur italien a une barbe noire. Le jeune homme silencieux a les cheveux blonds… Qui est monsieur R ?
The Italian gentleman has a black beard. The quiet young man has blond hair… Who is Mr R?
Vocabulary
- la tête: the head
- les cheveux (m.): hair
- un œil / les yeux: an eye / the eyes
- la barbe: the beard
- le bras: the arm
- l’avant-bras (m.): the forearm
- le coude: the elbow
- la main: the hand
- la blessure: the wound
- blanc / blanche: white
- noir / noire: black
- gris / grise: grey
- bleu / bleue: blue
- rouge: red
- vert / verte: green
- blond / blonde: blond (hair)
- brun / brune: brown, dark (hair)
- le télégramme: the telegram
- à bord: on board
- seul / seule: alone
- le nom: the name
- le secret: the secret
- le voleur / la voleuse: the thief
- célèbre: famous
- pâle: pale
- la robe: the dress
- droit / droite: right
- gauche: left
- le coup de tonnerre: the clap of thunder
- perdu / perdue: lost
- vite: fast, quickly
- le soir: the evening, in the evening
The body and colours. Where the adjective goes
Most French adjectives come after the noun. This is the single biggest word-order difference you will meet at this level, and the telegram is full of it:
| English | French |
|---|---|
| blond hair | les cheveux blonds |
| the right forearm | l’avant-bras droit |
| a black beard | une barbe noire |
| the black sky | le ciel noir |
Colours, nationalities and shapes always follow the noun: un monsieur italien, une barbe noire. Think of it as French naming the thing first and then giving details, like a police report.
The exceptions are short and very common. A handful of everyday adjectives go before the noun: grand, petit, jeune, joli, beau, bon. Many learners remember them as BAGS: Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size. You can have both kinds at once: ses grands yeux noirs, “her big dark eyes”, with size before and colour after.
Describing a body. French does not say “his hair is blond” or “he has his blond hair”. It says il a les cheveux blonds: avoir + the article + the body part + the adjective. Who the hair belongs to is already clear from il a, so French does not repeat it. Same pattern: elle a les yeux noirs, il a une blessure au bras droit (au is à + le, “on the”).
Colours agree like any adjective: une barbe noire, des yeux noirs. Watch three of them: blanc becomes blanche; rouge already ends in -e, so it does not change for feminine; gris already ends in -s, so it does not change for plural, les cheveux gris.
Leblanc in the original
«Arsène Lupin à votre bord, première classe, cheveux blonds, blessure avant-bras droit, voyage seul, sous le nom de R...»Arsène Lupin on your ship, first class, blond hair, wound right forearm, travelling alone, under the name of R…