At this unlucky question, a burst of laughter rose from the clerk's table caught by the audience, so violent, so wild, so contagious, so universal, that the two deaf men were forced to perceive it.
À cette question malencontreuse, un éclat de rire s’éleva, du greffe à l’auditoire, si violent, si fou, si contagieux, si universel que force fut bien aux deux sourds de s’en apercevoir.