Level A1 · Lesson 10
Monsieur Rozaine
Monsieur Rozaine
The last name on the list is Rozaine, the quiet fair-haired young man. He says: “Arrest me, then!” He shows his arm: no wound. But which arm?
The story
« Le quatrième nom, c’est… monsieur Rozaine. Qui est monsieur Rozaine ? »
“The fourth name is… Mr Rozaine. Who is Mr Rozaine?”
Silence sur le pont. Puis Nelly regarde son voisin, le jeune homme blond : « Monsieur Rozaine, vous ne répondez pas ? »
Silence on deck. Then Nelly looks at the man next to her, the fair-haired young man: “Mr Rozaine, aren’t you going to answer?”
Tout le monde regarde le jeune homme. Ses cheveux sont blonds. Il est très pâle.
Everyone looks at the young man. His hair is fair. He is very pale.
Je ne suis pas tranquille. Rozaine est mon rival… mais Lupin ? Je garde ma main droite dans ma poche.
I am not at ease. Rozaine is my rival… but Lupin? I keep my right hand in my pocket.
Enfin, Rozaine parle : « Mon nom commence par R. Je voyage seul. Et mes cheveux sont blonds. Alors, arrêtez-moi ! »
At last Rozaine speaks: “My name begins with R. I travel alone. And my hair is fair. So arrest me!”
Ses lèvres sont minces et blanches. Ses yeux sont rouges. Est-ce qu’il plaisante ? Peut-être.
His lips are thin and white. His eyes are red. Is he joking? Perhaps.
Nelly demande : « Mais votre bras ? Vous n’avez pas de blessure ? »
Nelly asks: “But what about your arm? You don’t have a wound?”
« C’est vrai, la blessure n’est pas là. Regardez ! » Il montre son bras. Pas de blessure.
“True, the wound is missing. Look!” He shows his arm. No wound.
Mais mes yeux rencontrent les yeux de Nelly. Nous avons la même idée : c’est son bras gauche !
But my eyes meet Nelly’s. We have the same idea: it is his left arm!
Vocabulary
- le bras: the arm
- la main: the hand
- les cheveux: the hair (on your head)
- les yeux: the eyes
- les lèvres: the lips
- la blessure: the wound
- pâle: pale
- mince: thin, slim
- tranquille: calm, at ease
- droit / droite: right
- gauche: left
- même: same
- répondre: to answer
- arrêter: to stop, to arrest
- montrer: to show
- garder: to keep
- plaisanter: to joke
- rencontrer: to meet
- le voisin / la voisine: the neighbour
- enfin: at last, finally
- puis: then
- peut-être: perhaps, maybe
- l’idée: the idea
Possessives: mon, ma, mes, son, sa, ses
A French possessive agrees with the thing owned, like an adjective, and pays no attention to who owns it.
| masculine | feminine | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| my | mon bras | ma main | mes yeux |
| your (tu) | ton bras | ta main | tes yeux |
| his / her / its | son bras | sa main | ses yeux |
| our | notre enquête | nos indices | |
| your (vous) | votre bras | vos cheveux | |
| their | leur bateau | leurs cabines | |
So son bras can be his arm or her arm: bras is masculine, so it is son either way. And sa main is his hand or her hand. If you really need to say whose, add de: le bras de Rozaine.
The vowel rule. Before a feminine noun starting with a vowel or silent h, ma, ta, sa would clash with the vowel, and French cannot use an apostrophe here. So it borrows the masculine form: son amie (Nelly’s friend, lady Jerland), mon idée, ton histoire. The noun stays feminine; only the little word changes.
One more detail. With parts of the body, when it is obvious whose they are, French often uses plain le or la where English insists on a possessive. Leblanc writes il avait montré le bras gauche, “he had shown the left arm”: whose else would it be?
Leblanc in the original
«D'un geste nerveux il releva sa manchette et découvrit son bras.»With a nervous gesture he pulled back his cuff and bared his arm.