Translation from French into English 1 One of my language exchange partners did this translation from French into English and asked me to provide some feedback. I am putting this up in notebook in order to make any corrections/comments clearer. Others are more than welcome to help out! TRANSLATION I had to struggle with myself to hold back my urge to smear them in black. I never dared to do so of course. My instinct would whisper to me that such an act would drive my mother into hysteria or even insanity and that she wouldn’t hesitate a second to ditch me at the bottom of the well. I didn’t trust her. Her mood would change too often. Two women lived within her, two irreconcilable co-owners: the fairy godmother and the naughty witch. In the course of hours, and without any reason, she would become one or the other and the paradise would change into nightmare. It was quite unsettling. I believe she let herself get possessed by her characters without even noticing. As the fairy godmother, she spread kindness and tenderness. As the witch, she became mean unfair and intolerant. You could never bother her when she worked in her workshop. Leaning on the drawing board, she went into trance. The house could have burnt, she wouldn’t have noticed. Over the years, I learnt to subsist on the fringes, without getting spotted, as an illegal alien in my own house. ORIGINAL Je devais lutter contre l’envie de les barbouiller de peinture noire. Je n’ai jamais osé, bien sûr. Mon instinct me soufflait qu’un tel acte plongerait ma mère dans l’hystérie, voire la démence, et qu’elle n’hésiterait pas une seconde à me balancer au fond du puits. Je n’avais pas confiance en elle. Elle était d’humeur trop changeante. Deux femmes l’habitaient, deux copropriétaires irréconciliables : la bonne fée, et Carabosse la sorcière. Au fil des heures, et sans qu’on sache pourquoi, elle devenait l’une ou l’autre, et le paradis devenait cauchemar. C’était assez déstabilisant. Je crois qu’elle se laissait posséder par ses personnages, sans même en avoir conscience. Bonne fée, elle répandait douceur et tendresse ; sorcière, elle devenait méchante, injuste et intolérante. Il ne fallait jamais la déranger lorsqu’elle travaillait dans l’atelier. Penchée sur la planche à dessin, elle entrait en transe. La maison aurait flambé qu’elle ne s’en serait nullement aperçue. Peu à peu, j’ai appris à subsister en marge, sans me faire repérer, en passagère clandestine de ma propre demeure.