Nous commençons par un bref exemple, reproduit ci-dessous et destiné à illustrer ce qui se passe lorsqu'un passage de prose est saisi sur ordinateur par un opérateur n'ayant qu'une faible notion de ce que représente le balisage, ou du potentiel des textes électroniques. Dans un monde parfait, une telle sortie imprimée pourrait être générée par un lecteur optique très précis. Elle tente de rester fidèle à l'aspect du texte imprimé, en retenant les mêmes coupures de ligne que l'original, en insérant des blancs afin de représenter la disposition des titres originaux et des fins de page, et ainsi de suite. Lorsque certains caractères sont nécessaires mais indisponibles au clavier (tels que la lettre « a » accentuée dans le mot « faàl », ou le trait long), elle essaie de reproduire leur aspect.
CHAPTER 38
READER, I married him. A quiet wedding we had: he and I,
the parson and clerk, were alone present. When we got back from
church, I went into the kitchen of the manor-house, where Mary
was cooking the dinner, and John cleaning the knives, and I
said -- 'Mary, I have been married to Mr Rochester this mor-
ning.' The housekeeper and her husband were of that decent,
phlegmatic order of people, to whom one may at any time safely
ommunicate a remarkable piece of news without incurring the
danger of having on'es ears pierced by some shrill ejaculation
and subsequently stunned by a torrent of wordy wonderment. Mary
did look up, and she did stare at me; the ladle with which she
was basting a pair of chickens roasting at the fire, did for
some three minutes hang suspended in air, and for the same
space of time John's knives also had rest from the polishing pro-
cess; but Mary, bending again over the roast, said only --
'Have you, miss? Well, for sure!'
A short time after she pursued, 'I seed you go out with the
master, but I didn't know you were gone to church to be wed'; and
she basted away. John, when I turned to him, was grinning from
ear to ear. 'I telled Mary how it would be,' he said: 'I knew
what Mr Edward' (John was an old servant, and had known his mas-
ter when he was the cadet of the house, therefore he often gave
him his Christian name) -- 'I knew what Mr Edward would do; and I
was certain he would not wait long either: and h'es done right,
for aught I know. I wish you joy, miss!' and he politely pulled
his forelock.
'Thank you, John. Mr Rochester told me to give you and Mary
this.'
I put into his hand a five-pound note. Without waiting to hear
more, I left the kitchen. In passing the door of that sanctum
some time after, I caught the words --
'Sh'ell happen do better for him nor ony o' t' grand ladies.'
And again, 'If she ben't one o' th' handsomest, sh'es noan faa\l,
and varry good-natured; and i' his een sh'es fair beautiful,
onybody may see that.'
I wrote to Moor House and to Cambridge immediately, to say what
I had done: fully explaining also why I had thus acted. Diana and
474
JANE EYRE 475
Mary approved the step unreservedly. Diana announced that she
would just give me time to get over the honeymoon, and then
she would come and see me.
'She had better not wait till then, Jane,' said Mr Rochester,
when I read her letter to him; 'if she does, she will be too
late, for our honey moon will shine our life long: its beams
will only fade over your grave or mine.'
How St John received the news I don't know: he never answered
the letter in which I communicated it: yet six months after he
wrote to me, without, however, mentioning Mr Rochester's name or
alluding to my marriage. His letter was then calm, and though
very serious, kind. He has maintained a regular, though not very
frequent correspond ence ever since: he hopes I am happy, and
trusts I am not of those who live without God in the world, and
only mind earthly things.
Cette transcription souffre d'un certain nombre de limitations :
Nous présentons maintenant le même passage avec un codage conforme aux recommandations de la TEI. Comme nous le verrons, ce codage pourrait être étendu de bien des façons, mais au minimum, le codage recommandé par la TEI permet d'effectuer les distinctions suivantes :
<pb n='474'> <div1 type=chapter n='38'> <p>Reader, I married him. A quiet wedding we had: he and I, the parson and clerk, were alone present. When we got back from church, I went into the kitchen of the manor-house, where Mary was cooking the dinner, and John cleaning the knives, and I said ‐ <p><q>Mary, I have been married to Mr Rochester this morning.</q> The housekeeper and her husband were of that decent, phlegmatic order of people, to whom one may at any time safely communicate a remarkable piece of news without incurring the danger of having one's ears pierced by some shrill ejaculation and subsequently stunned by a torrent of wordy wonderment. Mary did look up, and she did stare at me; the ladle with which she was basting a pair of chickens roasting at the fire, did for some three minutes hang suspended in air, and for the same space of time John's knives also had rest from the polishing process; but Mary, bending again over the roast, said only ‐ <p><q>Have you, miss? Well, for sure!</q> <p>A short time after she pursued, <q>I seed you go out with the master, but I didn't know you were gone to church to be wed</q>; and she basted away. John, when I turned to him, was grinning from ear to ear. <q>I telled Mary how it would be,</q> he said: <q>I knew what Mr Edward</q> (John was an old servant, and had known his master when he was the cadet of the house, therefore he often gave him his Christian name) ‐ <q>I knew what Mr Edward would do; and I was certain he would not wait long either: and hés done right, for aught I know. I wish you joy, miss!</q> and he politely pulled his forelock. <p><q>Thank you, John. Mr Rochester told me to give you and Mary this.</q> <p>I put into his hand a five-pound note. Without waiting to hear more, I left the kitchen. In passing the door of that sanctum some time after, I caught the words ‐ <p><q>She'll happen do better for him nor ony o' t' grand ladies.</q> And again, <q>If she ben't one o' th' handsomest, sh'es noan faàl, and varry good-natured; and i' his een sh'es fair beautiful, onybody may see that.</q> <p>I wrote to Moor House and to Cambridge immediately, to say what I had done: fully explaining also why I had thus acted. Diana and <pb n='475'> Mary approved the step unreservedly. Diana announced that she would just give me time to get over the honeymoon, and then she would come and see me. <p><q>She had better not wait till then, Jane,</q> said Mr Rochester, when I read her letter to him; <q>if she does, she will be too late, for our honeymoon will shine our life long: its beams will only fade over your grave or mine.</q> <p>How St John received the news I don't know: he never answered the letter in which I communicated it: yet six months after he wrote to me, without, however, mentioning Mr Rochester's name or alluding to my marriage. His letter was then calm, and though very serious, kind. He has maintained a regular, though not very frequent correspondence ever since: he hopes I am happy, and trusts I am not of those who live without God in the world, and only mind earthly things.
La décision de se concentrer sur le texte de Brontë, plutôt que sur la façon dont il a été imprimé dans cette édition spécifique, témoigne d'un problème de codage fondamental : celui de la sélectivité. Un codage rend explicite seulement celles des caractéristiques du texte qui ont une importance pour l'encodeur. Il n'est pas difficile d'imaginer comment on pourrait étendre facilement le codage d'un passage même aussi court que celui-ci. Par exemple :
La méthode recommandée par la TEI pour faire tout ceci est décrite dans le reste de ce document. La TEI dans son ensemble fournit également maintes possibilités, dont nous ne citons que quelques exemples :
Pour connaître les recommandations applicables dans ces différents cas, et pour découvrir de nombreuses autres possibilités, il convient de se reporter au texte complet des recommandations de la TEI.