Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — Page 3

English → Fr CHAPTER I. Level 6/10

After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers, and I was in a sweat to find out all about him; but by-and-by she let it out that Moses had been dead a considerable long time; so then I didn't care no more about him, because I don't take no stock in dead people.

Après le souper, elle sortit son livre et m'apprit l'histoire de Moïse et des joncs du Nil, et je brûlais d'envie d'en savoir plus sur lui ; mais peu à peu elle laissa échapper que Moïse était mort depuis un bon bout de temps ; alors je ne m'intéressai plus du tout à lui, parce que les morts, ça ne me dit rien.

Pretty soon I wanted to smoke, and asked the widow to let me.

Bientôt j'eus envie de fumer, et je demandai à la veuve de me laisser faire.

But she wouldn't.

Mais elle refusa.

She said it was a mean practice and wasn't clean, and I must try to not do it any more.

Elle dit que c'était une mauvaise habitude et que ce n'était pas propre, et que je devais essayer de ne plus le faire.

That is just the way with some people.

C'est bien là la façon de faire de certaines gens.

They get down on a thing when they don't know nothing about it.

Ils s'acharnent contre quelque chose dont ils ne savent rien.

Here she was a-bothering about Moses, which was no kin to her, and no use to anybody, being gone, you see, yet finding a power of fault with me for doing a thing that had some good in it.

Là elle s'agitait à propos de Moïse, qui n'était pas de sa famille, et qui n'était d'aucune utilité à personne, étant mort, vous comprenez, et pourtant elle me reprochait vivement de faire une chose qui avait du bon.

And she took snuff, too; of course that was all right, because she done it herself.

Et elle prisait du tabac, elle aussi ; bien sûr, ça c'était très bien, parce que c'est elle qui le faisait.

Her sister, Miss Watson, a tolerable slim old maid, with goggles on, had just come to live with her, and took a set at me now with a spelling-book.

Sa sœur, Miss Watson, une vieille fille assez maigre, avec des lunettes, venait juste d'emménager chez elle, et s'en prit à moi aussitôt avec un livre d'orthographe.

She worked me middling hard for about an hour, and then the widow made her ease up.

Elle me fit travailler passablement dur pendant environ une heure, puis la veuve lui demanda de se calmer.

I couldn't stood it much longer.

Je n'aurais pas pu tenir bien plus longtemps.

Then for an hour it was deadly dull, and I was fidgety.

Ensuite, pendant une heure, ce fut d'un ennui mortel, et je n'arrêtais pas de gigoter.

Vocabulary

Après: ah-preh — After; following in time or order
le: luh — The; masculine singular definite article
souper: soo-pay — Supper; the evening meal
elle: el — She; third-person singular feminine pronoun
sortit: sor-tee — Took out; past tense of sortir
son: sohn — His, her, its; possessive adjective masculine singular
livre: lee-vruh — Book; a bound written or printed work
et: ay — And; coordinating conjunction linking elements
m': muh — Me; elided first-person singular object pronoun
apprit: ah-pree — Taught, told; past tense of apprendre
l': luh/lah — The; elided definite article before vowel
histoire: ees-twahr — Story, history; a narrative or account
de: duh — Of, from; preposition indicating origin or belonging
des: day — Some, of the; plural indefinite or partitive article
joncs: zhohn — Rushes, reeds; tall grass-like wetland plants
du: dü — Of the; contracted masculine singular partitive article
je: zhuh — I; first-person singular subject pronoun
brûlais: brü-lay — Was burning; imperfect tense of brûler
d': duh — Of; elided preposition before a vowel
envie: ahn-vee — Desire, urge; strong wish to do something
en: ahn — In, of it; preposition or adverbial pronoun
savoir: sah-vwahr — To know; to have knowledge or information
plus: plü — More; indicating greater quantity or degree
sur: sür — On, about; preposition indicating topic or surface
lui: lwee — Him, he; third-person singular masculine pronoun
mais: may — But; coordinating conjunction expressing contrast
peu: puh — Little, few; indicating small amount or degree
à: ah — To, at; preposition indicating direction or location
laissa: lay-sah — Left, let; past tense of laisser
échapper: ay-shah-pay — To escape, slip out; to let something go
que: kuh — That, which; conjunction or relative pronoun
était: ay-tay — Was; imperfect tense of être, to be
mort: mor — Dead; no longer alive
depuis: duh-pwee — Since, for; indicating a starting point in time
un: uhn — A, one; masculine singular indefinite article
bon: bohn — Good; of satisfactory quality or nature
bout: boo — End, bit; a stretch or piece of time
temps: tahn — Time, weather; duration or atmospheric conditions
alors: ah-lor — Then, so; indicating consequence or time
ne: nuh — Not; negative particle used with pas or other negatives
intéressai: an-tay-reh-say — Took interest; past tense of s'intéresser
tout: too — All, completely; indicating totality or entirety
parce: par-suh — Because; part of parce que, giving reason
les: lay — The; plural definite article for all genders
morts: mor — Dead people; plural of mort
ça: sah — That, it; informal demonstrative pronoun
me: muh — Me; first-person singular object pronoun
dit: dee — Says, said; present or past of dire
rien: ryahn — Nothing; indicating absence of anything
Bientôt: byahn-toh — Soon; in a short time from now
j': zhuh — I; elided first-person singular subject pronoun
eus: ü — Had; past historic of avoir, to have
fumer: fü-may — To smoke; to inhale tobacco or cigarettes
demandai: duh-mahn-day — Asked; past tense of demander, to ask
la: lah — The; feminine singular definite article
veuve: vuhv — Widow; a woman whose husband has died
laisser: lay-say — To let, to allow; to permit someone to act
faire: fair — To do, to make; very common action verb
Mais: may — But; coordinating conjunction expressing contrast
refusa: ruh-fü-zah — Refused; past tense of refuser, to decline
Elle: el — She; third-person singular feminine subject pronoun
c': suh — It, that; elided demonstrative pronoun before vowel
une: ün — A, one; feminine singular indefinite article
mauvaise: moh-vez — Bad; of poor quality or harmful nature
habitude: ah-bee-tüd — Habit; a regularly repeated behavior or practice
ce: suh — This, that; demonstrative adjective or pronoun
n': nuh — Not; elided negative particle before vowel
pas: pah — Not; main negative adverb in French negation
propre: pro-pruh — Clean, proper; neat, tidy, or respectable
devais: duh-vay — Should, had to; imperfect of devoir
essayer: ay-say-yay — To try; to attempt something or make effort
C': suh — It, that; elided demonstrative before vowel
est: ay — Is; third-person singular present of être
bien: byahn — Well, indeed; indicating quality or emphasis
là: lah — There; indicating a place or moment
façon: fah-sohn — Way, manner; a method or style of doing
certaines: ser-ten — Certain, some; referring to specific unspecified people
gens: zhahn — People; persons in general or a group
Ils: eel — They; third-person plural masculine subject pronoun
s': suh — Themselves; elided reflexive pronoun before vowel
acharnent: ah-shar-nuh — Persist relentlessly; stubbornly attack or oppose something
contre: kohn-truh — Against; in opposition to someone or something
quelque: kel-kuh — Some, any; an indefinite amount or thing
chose: shohz — Thing; an object, matter, or subject
dont: dohn — Of which, whose; relative pronoun of possession
ils: eel — They; third-person plural masculine pronoun
savent: sahv — Know; third-person plural present of savoir
Là: lah — There; indicating a location or specific point
agitait: ah-zhee-tay — Was stirring up; imperfect of agiter, to agitate
propos: pro-poh — Remarks, matter; talk or comments about a subject
qui: kee — Who, which; interrogative or relative pronoun
sa: sah — His, her; feminine singular possessive adjective
famille: fah-mee-yuh — Family; a group of related people
aucune: oh-kün — No, none; feminine negative determiner
utilité: ü-tee-lee-tay — Usefulness; quality of being helpful or practical
personne: per-son — Person; also nobody in negative constructions
étant: ay-tahn — Being; present participle of être
vous: voo — You; second-person plural or formal singular pronoun
comprenez: kohm-pruh-nay — Understand; second-person plural present of comprendre
pourtant: poor-tahn — Yet, nevertheless; expressing contradiction or contrast
reprochait: ruh-pro-shay — Was reproaching; imperfect of reprocher, to blame
vivement: veev-mahn — Sharply, keenly; in a lively or forceful manner
avait: ah-vay — Had; third-person singular imperfect of avoir
Et: ay — And; coordinating conjunction linking elements
prisait: pree-zay — Was sniffing; imperfect of priser, to take snuff
tabac: tah-bah — Tobacco; dried plant leaves used for smoking
aussi: oh-see — Also, too; indicating addition or similarity
sûr: sür — Sure, certain; confident or without doubt
très: treh — Very; intensifying adverb before adjectives or adverbs
faisait: fuh-zay — Was doing; third-person imperfect of faire
Sa: sah — His, her; feminine singular possessive adjective
sœur: suhr — Sister; a female sibling
vieille: vyay-yuh — Old; feminine adjective describing advanced age
fille: fee-yuh — Girl, daughter; young female or female child
assez: ah-say — Quite, enough; indicating sufficiency or moderate degree
maigre: may-gruh — Thin, lean; lacking body fat or fullness
avec: ah-vek — With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
lunettes: lü-net — Glasses, spectacles; eyewear for correcting vision
venait: vuh-nay — Was coming; third-person imperfect of venir
juste: zhüst — Just, exactly; indicating precision or recent action
emménager: ay-may-nah-zhay — To move in; to settle into a new home
chez: shay — At someone's place; preposition for someone's home
prit: pree — Took; past historic of prendre, to take
moi: mwah — Me, I; stressed first-person singular pronoun
aussitôt: oh-see-toh — Immediately; right away without delay
orthographe: or-to-graf — Spelling; the conventional way of writing words
fit: fee — Made, had; past historic of faire, to do
travailler: trah-vah-yay — To work; to exert effort on a task
passablement: pah-sah-bluh-mahn — Fairly, tolerably; to a moderate or reasonable degree
dur: dür — Hard; with great effort or intensity
pendant: pahn-dahn — During, for; indicating a time period's duration
environ: ahn-vee-rohn — About, approximately; giving an estimated quantity
heure: uhr — Hour; a unit of time equal to sixty minutes
puis: pwee — Then, next; indicating sequence of events
demanda: duh-mahn-dah — Asked; past tense of demander, to request
se: suh — Himself, herself, itself; reflexive pronoun
calmer: kal-may — To calm down; to become less agitated or excited
Je: zhuh — I; first-person singular subject pronoun
aurais: oh-ray — Would have; conditional of avoir, to have
Pu: pü — Been able; past participle of pouvoir, can
tenir: tuh-neer — To hold out, to last; to endure a situation
longtemps: lohn-tahn — A long time; for an extended duration
Ensuite: ahn-sweet — Then, afterwards; indicating what follows next
fut: fü — Was; past historic of être, to be
ennui: ahn-nwee — Boredom, tedium; a feeling of listless weariness
mortel: mor-tel — Deadly, unbearable; causing or resembling death
arrêtais: ah-reh-tay — Was stopping; imperfect of arrêter, to stop
gigoter: zhee-go-tay — To wriggle, to fidget; to move restlessly about

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