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Il vient de sauter sur un câble sans filet !

Il vient de sauter sur un câble sans filet !
He just jumped on a wire without a net!
From Lesson 120:Comparative adverbs (plus... que)·French

Questions & Answers about Il vient de sauter sur un câble sans filet !

Why does vient de sauter mean 'just jumped'?
In French, the structure venir de + an infinitive verb creates the 'passé récent' (recent past). It means that an action happened very recently, translating to 'have/has just [done something]' in English.
Why isn't there an article before filet? Shouldn't it be sans un filet?
After the preposition sans (without), French normally drops indefinite articles (un, une, des) when referring to a general concept. Since he is without a net in a general sense, it is simply sans filet.
Could I use the word juste and say il a juste sauté to mean 'he just jumped'?
It is much more natural to use venir de for things that happened a moment ago. Saying il a juste sauté sounds more like 'he ONLY jumped' (meaning he didn't do anything else) rather than 'he jumped a second ago'.
Why is câble translated as 'wire' instead of 'cable'?
Câble can mean both! It refers to thick cables, wires, and even tightropes in a circus context. Here, jumping on a tightrope or thick wire without a net fits the dangerous stunt being described.

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