Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — Page 6
I didn't need anybody to tell me that that was an awful bad sign and would fetch me some bad luck, so I was scared and most shook the clothes off of me.
Je n'avais pas besoin que quelqu'un me dise que c'était un très mauvais présage et que cela m'attirerait de la malchance, alors j'étais effrayé et je faillis faire tomber mes vêtements tellement je tremblais.
I got up and turned around in my tracks three times and crossed my breast every time; and then I tied up a little lock of my hair with a thread to keep witches away.
Je me levai et fis le tour sur moi-même trois fois en faisant le signe de croix à chaque fois ; puis j'attachai une petite mèche de mes cheveux avec un fil pour éloigner les sorcières.
But I hadn't no confidence.
Mais je n'avais aucune confiance en cela.
You do that when you've lost a horseshoe that you've found, instead of nailing it up over the door, but I hadn't ever heard anybody say it was any way to keep off bad luck when you'd killed a spider.
On fait ça quand on a perdu un fer à cheval qu'on avait trouvé, au lieu de le clouer au-dessus de la porte, mais je n'avais jamais entendu dire que c'était un moyen d'éloigner la malchance quand on avait tué une araignée.
I set down again, a-shaking all over, and got out my pipe for a smoke; for the house was all as still as death now, and so the widow wouldn't know.
Je me rassis, tremblant de tout mon corps, et sortis ma pipe pour fumer ; car la maison était maintenant silencieuse comme la mort, et ainsi la veuve ne saurait rien.
Well, after a long time I heard the clock away off in the town go boom—boom—boom—twelve licks; and all still again—stiller than ever.
Eh bien, après un long moment, j'entendis l'horloge au loin dans la ville sonner boum—boum—boum—douze coups ; et puis de nouveau le silence—plus silencieux que jamais.
Pretty soon I heard a twig snap down in the dark amongst the trees—something was a stirring.
Bientôt j'entendis une brindille craquer en bas dans l'obscurité parmi les arbres — quelque chose bougeait.
I set still and listened.
Je restai immobile et j'écoutai.
Directly I could just barely hear a "_me-yow! me-yow!_" down there.
Bientôt je pus tout juste entendre un « _miaou ! miaou !_» là en bas.
That was good!
C'était bon signe !
Says I, "_me-yow! me-yow!_" as soft as I could, and then I put out the light and scrambled out of the window on to the shed.
Je fis « _miaou ! miaou !_ » aussi doucement que je pouvais, puis j'éteignis la lumière et me glissai par la fenêtre sur le toit de la remise.
Vocabulary
- avais
- ah-veh — Past imperfect of 'avoir'; had
- besoin
- buh-zwaN — Need; necessity for something
- quelqu'
- kel-kuh — Shortened form of 'quelqu'un'; someone
- dise
- deez — Subjunctive of 'dire'; to tell or say
- mauvais
- moh-veh — Adjective meaning bad or poor quality
- présage
- preh-zahzh — Omen; a sign of things to come
- attirerait
- ah-teer-eh — Conditional of 'attirer'; would attract or bring
- malchance
- mal-shahNs — Bad luck; misfortune
- effrayé
- ef-reh-yeh — Adjective meaning frightened or scared
- faillis
- fah-yee — Past simple of 'faillir'; almost did something
- tomber
- toN-beh — Infinitive meaning to fall or drop
- vêtements
- vet-maN — Clothing; garments worn on the body
- tellement
- tel-maN — Adverb meaning 'so much' or 'so greatly'
- tremblais
- traN-bleh — Past imperfect of 'trembler'; was shaking
- levai
- luh-veh — Past simple of 'lever'; stood up or rose
- fis
- fee — Past simple of 'faire'; did or made
- tour
- toor — Turn or circuit around something
- même
- mem — Adverb or adjective meaning 'same' or 'even'
- fois
- fwah — Noun meaning 'times' as in occurrences
- faisant
- fuh-zaN — Present participle of 'faire'; doing or making
- signe
- seen-yuh — Sign or gesture made with body or hand
- croix
- krwah — Cross; a religious symbol or shape
- chaque
- shahk — Adjective meaning 'each' or 'every'
- puis
- pwee — Adverb meaning 'then' or 'next'
- attachai
- ah-tah-sheh — Past simple of 'attacher'; tied or fastened
- mèche
- mesh — Lock of hair or a small tuft
- cheveux
- shuh-vuh — Noun meaning hair on one's head
- fil
- feel — Thread or thin string for sewing or tying
- éloigner
- eh-lwah-nyeh — Infinitive meaning to keep away or distance
- sorcières
- sor-syair — Witches; women said to practice magic
- aucune
- oh-kün — Negative adjective meaning 'no' or 'none'
- confiance
- koN-fyaNs — Trust or confidence in someone or something
- perdu
- pair-dü — Past participle of 'perdre'; lost
- fer
- fair — Iron; a hard metallic element
- cheval
- shuh-val — Horse; a large domesticated animal
- trouvé
- troo-veh — Past participle of 'trouver'; found
- lieu
- lyuh — Place; used in 'au lieu de' meaning instead of
- clouer
- kloo-eh — Infinitive meaning to nail something down or attach
- dessus
- duh-sü — Adverb or preposition meaning 'on top' or 'above'
- porte
- port — Door; an entrance or exit to a building
- jamais
- zhah-meh — Adverb meaning 'never' or 'ever'
- entendu
- aN-taN-dü — Past participle of 'entendre'; heard
- moyen
- mwah-yaN — Means or method; a way of doing something
- tué
- tü-eh — Past participle of 'tuer'; killed
- araignée
- ah-ren-yeh — Spider; a small eight-legged arachnid
- rassis
- rah-see — Past simple of 'se rasseoir'; sat back down
- tremblant
- traN-blaN — Present participle of 'trembler'; trembling or shaking
- corps
- kor — Body; the physical frame of a person
- sortis
- sor-tee — Past simple of 'sortir'; took out or went out
- pipe
- peep — Pipe; a tube used for smoking tobacco
- fumer
- fü-meh — Infinitive meaning to smoke tobacco or cigarettes
- car
- kar — Conjunction meaning 'because' or 'for'
- silencieuse
- see-laN-syuhz — Feminine adjective meaning silent or quiet
- mort
- mor — Death; the end of life
- ainsi
- aN-see — Adverb meaning 'thus' or 'in this way'
- veuve
- vuhv — Widow; a woman whose husband has died
- saurait
- soh-reh — Conditional of 'savoir'; would know
- rien
- ryaN — Pronoun meaning 'nothing'
- entendis
- aN-taN-dee — Past simple of 'entendre'; heard
- horloge
- or-lozh — Clock; a device for measuring and showing time
- loin
- lwaN — Adverb meaning 'far' or 'far away'
- ville
- veel — City or town; an urban settlement
- sonner
- soh-neh — Infinitive meaning to ring or chime
- boum
- boom — Onomatopoeia for a loud bang or boom
- coups
- koo — Blows or strokes; chimes of a clock
- nouveau
- noo-voh — Adjective meaning 'new'; used in 'de nouveau' meaning again
- silence
- see-laNs — Silence; absence of sound or noise
- silencieux
- see-laN-syuh — Masculine adjective meaning silent or quiet
- Bientôt
- byaN-toh — Adverb meaning 'soon' or 'shortly'
- brindille
- braN-dee-yuh — Twig; a small thin branch from a tree
- craquer
- krah-keh — Infinitive meaning to crack or snap loudly
- bas
- bah — Below; down low; at a low level
- obscurité
- ob-skü-ree-teh — Darkness; the state of being without light
- parmi
- par-mee — Preposition meaning 'among' or 'amidst'
- arbres
- ar-bruh — Trees; large woody plants with trunks
- quelque
- kel-kuh — Adjective meaning 'some' or 'a certain'
- bougeait
- boo-zheh — Past imperfect of 'bouger'; was moving
- restai
- res-teh — Past simple of 'rester'; stayed or remained
- immobile
- ee-moh-beel — Adjective meaning motionless or still
- écoutai
- eh-koo-teh — Past simple of 'écouter'; listened
- pus
- pü — Past simple of 'pouvoir'; was able to
- juste
- zhüst — Adverb meaning 'just' or 'barely'
- entendre
- aN-taN-druh — Infinitive meaning to hear or listen
- miaou
- myah-oo — Meow; the sound made by a cat
- doucement
- doos-maN — Adverb meaning softly or gently
- pouvais
- poo-veh — Past imperfect of 'pouvoir'; could or was able
- éteignis
- eh-ten-yee — Past simple of 'éteindre'; turned off or extinguished
- lumière
- lü-myair — Light; illumination or a source of light
- glissai
- glee-seh — Past simple of 'glisser'; slid or slipped
- fenêtre
- fuh-neh-truh — Window; an opening in a wall for light
- toit
- twah — Roof; the top covering of a building
- remise
- ruh-meez — Shed or outbuilding used for storage
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