04b. Le pont du Diable. Partie 2/2. 04b. Devil's bridge. Part 2/2. 04b. Duivelsbrug. Deel 2/2.

Satan réfléchit un instant.

– Oh !

Je désire que l’âme du premier individu qui passera sur ce pont m’appartienne, répondit-il. I want the soul of the first person to cross this bridge to belong to me," he replied. – Soit, dit le bailli.

– Rédigeons l’acte, continua Satan. - Let's draw up the deed," continued Satan.

– Dictez vous-même. - Dictate for yourself. – Dite a si mesmo.

Le bailli prit une plume, de l’encre et du papier, et se prépara à écrire. The bailiff took a quill, ink and paper, and prepared to write.

Cinq minutes après, un sous-seing en bonne forme, fait double et de bonne foi, était signé par Satan en son propre nom, et par le bailli au nom et comme fondé de pouvoir de ses paroissiens. Five minutes later, a sub-signature in good form, made in duplicate and in good faith, was signed by Satan in his own name, and by the bailiff in the name and as proxy of his parishioners. Cinco minutos depois, uma sub-assinatura em boa forma, feita em duplicado e de boa fé, foi assinada por Satanás em seu próprio nome, e pelo oficial de justiça em nome e como procurador dos seus paroquianos.

Le diable s’engageait formellement, par cet acte, à bâtir dans la nuit un pont assez solide pour durer cinq cents ans ; et le magistrat, de son côté, concédait, en paiement de ce pont, l’âme du premier individu que le hasard ou la nécessité forcerait de traverser la Reuss sur le passage diabolique que Satan devait improviser. With this deed, the devil formally undertook to build a bridge during the night, strong enough to last five hundred years; and the magistrate, for his part, conceded, in payment for this bridge, the soul of the first individual whom chance or necessity would force to cross the Reuss on the diabolical passage Satan was to improvise. Le lendemain, au point du jour, le pont était bâti. The next day, at daybreak, the bridge was built.

Bientôt le bailli parut sur le chemin de Goschenen ; il venait vérifier si le diable avait accompli sa promesse. Soon the bailiff appeared on the road to Goschenen, coming to check whether the devil had fulfilled his promise.

Il vit le pont, qu’il trouva fort convenable, et, à l’extrémité opposée à celle par laquelle il s’avançait, il aperçut Satan, assis sur une borne et attendant le prix de son travail nocturne. He saw the bridge, which he found very suitable, and, at the opposite end to the one he was approaching, he saw Satan, seated on a bollard and awaiting the prize for his night's work. – Vous voyez que je suis homme de parole, dit Satan. - You see I'm a man of my word," says Satan. "Você vê que eu sou um homem de palavra", disse Satanás.

– Et moi aussi, répondit le bailli. - And me too," replied the bailiff.

– Comment, mon cher Curtius, reprit le diable stupéfait, vous dévoueriez-vous pour le salut de vos administrés ? - How, my dear Curtius," said the stunned devil, "would you devote yourself to the salvation of your constituents?

– Pas précisément, continua le bailli en déposant à l’entrée du pont un sac qu’il avait apporté sur son épaule, et dont il se mit incontinent à dénouer les cordons. - Not precisely," continued the bailiff, depositing a bag he had slung over his shoulder at the entrance to the bridge, and promptly untying its cords. “Não exatamente”, continuou o oficial de justiça, depositando na entrada da ponte uma bolsa que carregava no ombro, cujas cordas ele imediatamente começou a desamarrar.

– Qu’est-ce ? - What is it?

dit Satan, essayant de deviner ce qui allait se passer. Satan said, trying to guess what was going to happen. – Prrrrrooooou !

dit le bailli.

Et un chien, traînant une poêle à sa queue, sortit tout épouvanté du sac, et, traversant le pont, alla passer en hurlant aux pieds de Satan. And a dog, dragging a frying pan on its tail, came out of the sack in a fright and, crossing the bridge, went howling past Satan's feet. E um cachorro, arrastando uma frigideira no rabo, saiu do saco apavorado e, atravessando a ponte, passou uivando aos pés de Satanás.

– Eh !

dit le bailli, voilà votre âme qui se sauve ; courez donc après, monseigneur. says the Bailli, your soul is being saved; run after it, my lord. Satan était furieux ; il avait compté sur l’âme d’un homme, et il était forcé de se contenter de celle d’un chien.

Il y aurait eu de quoi se damner, si la chose n’eût pas été faite. We'd have been damned if it hadn't been done. Cependant, comme il était de bonne compagnie, il eut l’air de trouver le tour très drôle, et fit semblant de rire tant que le bailli fut là ; mais à peine le magistrat eut-il le dos tourné que Satan commença à s’escrimer des pieds et des mains pour démolir le pont qu’il avait bâti ; il avait fait la chose tellement en conscience qu’il se retourna les ongles et se déchaussa les dents avant d’en avoir pu arracher le plus petit caillou. However, as he was in good company, he seemed to find the trick very funny, and pretended to laugh as long as the bailiff was there; but no sooner had the magistrate's back been turned than Satan began to toil with his hands and feet to demolish the bridge he'd built; he'd done the thing so conscientiously that he turned his nails and bared his teeth before he could pull out the smallest pebble. – J’étais un bien grand sot, dit Satan. - I was a great fool," says Satan.

Puis, cette réflexion faite, il mit les mains dans ses poches et descendit les rives de la Reuss, regardant à droite et à gauche, comment aurait pu le faire un amant de la belle nature. Then, with this thought behind him, he put his hands in his pockets and walked down the banks of the Reuss, looking right and left, as a lover of beautiful nature might have done.

Cependant, il n’avait pas renoncé à son projet de vengeance. Ce qu’il cherchait des yeux, c’était un rocher d’une forme et d’un poids convenables, afin de le transporter sur la montagne qui domine la vallée, et de le laisser tomber de cinq cents pieds de haut sur le pont que lui avait escamoté le bailli de Goschenen. What he was looking for with his eyes was a boulder of suitable shape and weight, so that he could carry it up the mountain overlooking the valley, and drop it five hundred feet onto the bridge that the bailiff of Goschenen had hidden from him. O que ele estava procurando era um pedregulho de forma e peso adequados, para carregá-lo até a montanha que domina o vale e jogá-lo a quinhentos pés de altura na ponte, que o oficial de justiça de Goschenen havia roubado dele. Il n’avait pas fait trois lieues qu’il avait trouvé son affaire. He hadn't gone three leagues before he found his business.

C’était un joli rocher, gros comme une des tours de Notre-Dame : Satan l’arracha de terre avec autant de facilité qu’un enfant aurait fait d’une rave, le chargea sur son épaule, et, prenant le sentier qui conduisait au haut de la montagne, il se mit en route, tirant la langue en signe de joie et jouissant d’avance de la désolation du bailli quand il trouverait le lendemain son pont effondré. It was a pretty rock, as big as one of Notre-Dame's towers: Satan plucked it from the ground with as much ease as a child would have done from a rave, loaded it onto his shoulder, and, taking the path that led to the top of the mountain, he set off, sticking out his tongue in joy and enjoying in advance the bailiff's desolation when he found his bridge collapsed the next day. Era uma pedra bonita, do tamanho de uma das torres de Notre-Dame: Satanás a arrancou do chão com tanta facilidade quanto uma criança faria de um nabo, carregou-a no ombro e, pegando o para o cume da montanha, partiu, mostrando a língua em sinal de alegria e desfrutando de antemão a desolação do meirinho ao ver a ponte desabar no dia seguinte.

Lorsqu’il eut fait une lieue, Satan crut distinguer sur le pont un grand concours de populace ; il posa son rocher par terre, grimpa dessus, et, arrivé au sommet, aperçut distinctement le clergé de Goschenen, croix en tête et bannière déployée, qui venait de bénir l’œuvre satanique et de consacrer à Dieu le pont du Diable. When he'd gone a league, Satan thought he saw a large gathering of people on the bridge; he placed his rock on the ground, climbed over it, and when he reached the top, clearly saw the clergy of Goschenen, cross in hand and banner unfurled, who had just blessed the Satanic work and consecrated the Devil's bridge to God. Depois de ter percorrido uma légua, Satanás pensou ter visto na ponte uma grande multidão de turbas; colocou sua pedra no chão, subiu nela e, chegando ao cume, viu distintamente o clero de Goschenen, cruz à frente e bandeira desfraldada, que acabara de abençoar a obra satânica e consagrar a ponte do diabo a Deus.

Satan vit bien qu’il n’y avait rien de bon à faire pour lui ; il descendit tristement, et, rencontrant une pauvre vache qui n’en pouvait mais, il la tira par la queue et la fit tomber dans un précipice. Satan saw that there was nothing good for him to do; he went down sadly, and, meeting a poor cow who couldn't stand it, he pulled her by the tail and dropped her into a precipice. Satanás viu que não havia nada de bom para ele fazer; ele desceu triste e, encontrando uma pobre vaca que não aguentou, puxou-a pelo rabo e a fez cair em um precipício. Quant au bailli de Goschenen, il n’entendit jamais reparler de l’architecte infernal ; seulement, la première fois qu’il fouilla à son escarcelle, il se brûla vigoureusement les doigts : c’était le lingot qui était redevenu charbon. As for the Bailli de Goschenen, he never heard from the infernal architect again; only, the first time he reached into his escarcelle, he burned his fingers vigorously: it was the ingot that had become coal again. Quanto ao oficial de justiça de Goschenen, nunca mais ouviu falar do arquiteto infernal; só que, na primeira vez que remexeu na bolsa, queimou vigorosamente os dedos: era o lingote que se tornara carvão novamente.

Le pont subsista cinq cents ans, comme l’avait promis le diable. The bridge remained standing for five hundred years, just as the devil had promised. A ponte durou quinhentos anos, como o diabo havia prometido.