We had knocked those three old gentlemen off their chairs into a general heap at the bottom of the boat, and they were now slowly and painfully sorting themselves out from each other, and picking fish off themselves; and as they worked, they cursed us - not with a common cursory curse, but with long, carefully-thought-out, comprehensive curses, that embraced the whole of our career, and went away into the distant future, and included all our relations, and covered everything connected with us - good, substantial curses.
Lentement, péniblement, ils se dégageaient et se débarrassaient du poisson qui les couvrait. Et tout en se démenant, ils nous abreuvaient d’injures – non pas de banales in jures de tous les jours, mais de malédictions longuement réfléchies et significatives qui embrassaient notre existence entiere, s’étendaient jusqu’aux futurs lointains, et englobaient tous nos parents, amis et connaissances.