One had to be careful not to graze oneself in these fractures; and beneath the slow crushing, which caused the splitting of billets of oak as large as the thigh, one had to glide almost on one's belly with a secret fear of suddenly hearing one's back break.
Il fallait prendre garde de s'écorcher a ces cassures; et, sous le lent écrasement qui faisait éclater des rondins de chene gros comme la cuisse, on se coulait a plat ventre, avec la sourde inquiétude d'entendre brusquement craquer son dos.