1) Seuls les portes claquaient et les verres s’entrechoquaient.
Only (the?) doors banged / slammed, and (the?) glasses clattered.
2) Cela sentait fort le poisson dans le hall.
It stank out fish / There was a strong smell of fish in the hall (couloir?). lobby (I'd say. I'm thinking of a hotel.)
3) Il se redressa, marmonna un merci, et quitta la salle.
He stood up, mumbled a ‘thank you / thanks (?)’, and left the room.
Do I need to use inverted commas around "thank you" ? Yes.
4) Le dimanche il continuait à se promener lentement dans le parc.
On Sunday / Sundays (both possible? I'd say no.) he kept strolling along in the park.
or [continued / went on] taking his leisurely walks in the park.
5) Le frou-frou de sa robe s’estompa derrière la porte.
The rustling of her dress faded away behind the door.
6) La femme chantait une chanson un peu oubliée, un peu démodée et il se surprit à en marmonner les paroles.
The woman was singing a song a rather forgotten, out of fashion /
old fashioned (?) worn-out old song/tune, and he found himself (?) mumbling the / its (?) words.
also possible: he caught himself ...
7) Il avait une quarante ans à peine et on le trouvait extrêmement sympathique.
He was just about forty He was scarcely forty, and (he) was thought to be extremely friendly.
He was scarcely forty, and people found him quite friendly.
8) Ainsi vivaient-ils, eux et leurs amis. Ils
n’étaient pas malheureux, ils se promenaient en bavardant pendant des
heures jusqu’à la pointe du jour.
That was / is (?) how they and their friends lived. They were not
unhappy. They strolled along chatting for hours until the early hours /
until dawn.
Less literally, you could probably get away with this:
And so it was that they lived, [they and their friends / their friends
and them]. They were reasonably happy, and they would take long walks, chatting for
hours until dawn.
9) Les derniers coups de minuit venaient de retentir.
The last strokes of midnight had just rung.
or The clocks had just struck midnight.
10) Il m’a considéré avec incertitude et puis me fixa dans les yeux.
He looked at (?) me with some hesitation, (?) then looked at me in the eye.
or looked me over [uncertainly / doubtfully / with some hesitation] ...
11) Il y a des étoiles qui vacillent comme la flamme mourante d’une bougie.
There are stars that flicker like the dying flame of a candle. (How poetic!)
12) De temps à autre elle jetait un coup d’oeil par la vitre du taxi.
Now and again she glanced out (of) the window of the taxi / cab.
13) Mondo sentait la lumière qui caressait son visage et son coeur battait au ralenti.
Mondo felt the light stroking / caressing his face, and his heart was beating at a slower pace (??).
Mondo felt the light (shining) on his face, and his heartbeat [slowed down / began to slow down / was beginning to slow down].
14) Je criais, je hurlais, j’étouffais. = I was shouting, I was screaming, I was choking. (???)
15) Les gens qui agressent les autres devraient être punis.
People who bully? (tyraniser? brutaliser?) (other possibility ?) attack the others should be punished.
I hope that you didn't find that too long. Don't worry. It only took six hours. ![Smile [:)]](/emoticons/emotion-1.gif)
CJ