The question is on "Une fois" as found in this passage from Camus's The Stranger.
Il y a eu aussi les cigarettes. Quand je suis entré en prison, on m’a pris ma ceinture, mes cordons de souliers, ma cravate et tout ce que je portais dans mes poches, mes cigarettes en particulier. Une fois en cellule, j’ai demandé qu’on me les rende. Mais on m’a dit que c’était défendu.
Question
English translators have translated "Une fois" as if it meant the English "once" as follows.
Stuart Gilbert:
Once I had been given a cell to myself I asked to be given back, anyhow, the cigarettes.
Matthew Ward:
Once I was in my cell, I asked to have them back.
Which of the following is the case?
(a) The French original only says that the request for cigarettes happened "one time" while the prisoner was in his cell, not twice or three times. It could have happened weeks after he got into the cell. The English translators are adding new content (not found in Camus) based on their understanding of smoker psychology (i.e. he'll want a cigarette as soon as he got into the cell).
(b) There is a usage of French "Une fois" that corresponds to the English "once" and may suggest (without relying on smoker psychology) that the two events, getting into the cell and asking for cigarettes, were in a rapid succession.
