Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — Page 4
Jim was monstrous proud about it, and he got so he wouldn't hardly notice the other niggers.
Jim en était monstrueusement fier, et il en vint à ne presque plus remarquer les autres nègres.
Niggers would come miles to hear Jim tell about it, and he was more looked up to than any nigger in that country.
Des nègres venaient de loin pour entendre Jim en parler, et il était plus respecté que n'importe quel nègre de la région.
Strange niggers would stand with their mouths open and look him all over, same as if he was a wonder.
Des nègres inconnus restaient bouche bée à le regarder de la tête aux pieds, comme s'il était une merveille.
Niggers is always talking about witches in the dark by the kitchen fire; but whenever one was talking and letting on to know all about such things, Jim would happen in and say, "Hm! What you know 'bout witches?"
Les nègres parlent toujours des sorcières dans l'obscurité près du feu de la cuisine ; mais chaque fois que l'un d'eux parlait en faisant semblant de tout savoir sur ces choses-là, Jim survenait et disait : « Hm ! Qu'est-ce que tu connais aux sorcières ? »
and that nigger was corked up and had to take a back seat.
et ce nègre-là était réduit au silence et devait s'effacer.
Jim always kept that five-center piece round his neck with a string, and said it was a charm the devil give to him with his own hands, and told him he could cure anybody with it and fetch witches whenever he wanted to just by saying something to it; but he never told what it was he said to it.
Jim portait toujours cette pièce de cinq cents autour du cou au bout d'une ficelle, et disait que c'était un talisman que le diable lui avait donné de ses propres mains, et lui avait dit qu'il pouvait guérir n'importe qui avec elle et appeler les sorcières quand il voulait, rien qu'en lui disant quelque chose ; mais il n'a jamais révélé ce qu'il lui disait.
Niggers would come from all around there and give Jim anything they had, just for a sight of that five-center piece; but they wouldn't touch it, because the devil had had his hands on it.
Des nègres venaient de partout et donnaient à Jim tout ce qu'ils avaient, rien que pour voir cette pièce de cinq cents ; mais ils ne voulaient pas la toucher, parce que le diable avait posé les mains dessus.
Jim was most ruined for a servant, because he got stuck up on account of having seen the devil and been rode by witches.
Jim était pratiquement inutilisable comme domestique, parce qu'il était devenu prétentieux pour avoir vu le diable et avoir été chevauché par les sorcières.
Vocabulary
- en
- In, on, or used as a pronoun meaning 'of it'
- était
- Was; third-person singular imperfect of être
- monstrueusement
- Monstrously, enormously, to an extreme degree
- fier
- Proud, feeling or showing pride
- et
- And; coordinating conjunction joining words or clauses
- il
- He; third-person masculine singular subject pronoun
- vint
- Came; third-person singular simple past of venir
- à
- To, at, in; versatile preposition indicating direction or purpose
- ne
- Not; first part of French negation with pas or plus
- presque
- Almost, nearly, not quite
- plus
- No longer, more; used in negation or comparison
- remarquer
- To notice, to observe or pay attention to
- les
- The; definite article for plural nouns
- autres
- Others, the other ones; plural of autre
- Des
- Some; indefinite plural article or partitive article
- venaient
- Were coming; third-person plural imperfect of venir
- de
- Of, from; very common preposition indicating origin or possession
- loin
- Far, from a distance, far away
- pour
- For, in order to; preposition indicating purpose
- entendre
- To hear, to listen to something or someone
- parler
- To speak, to talk, to converse
- respecté
- Respected, regarded with esteem and admiration
- que
- That, than, which; subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun
- n'importe
- Any, no matter which; used in expressions like n'importe quel
- quel
- Which, what; interrogative or exclamative adjective
- la
- The; definite article for feminine singular nouns
- région
- Region, area, geographic zone or district
- inconnus
- Unknown people, strangers; plural of inconnu
- restaient
- Were staying, remained; third-person plural imperfect of rester
- bouche
- Mouth; the opening used for eating and speaking
- bée
- Agape, wide open; used in expression bouche bée
- le
- The; definite article for masculine singular nouns
- regarder
- To look at, to watch, to observe someone
- tête
- Head; the uppermost part of the body
- aux
- To the, at the; contraction of à and les
- pieds
- Feet; plural of pied, body parts at leg ends
- comme
- Like, as, as if; comparison or manner conjunction
- s'il
- If he; contraction of si and il
- une
- A, an; indefinite article for feminine singular nouns
- merveille
- Marvel, wonder, something extraordinary and astonishing
- Les
- The; definite article for plural nouns
- parlent
- Speak, talk; third-person plural present of parler
- toujours
- Always, still, ever; indicating continuity or frequency
- des
- Some, of the; plural indefinite or partitive article
- sorcières
- Witches; women believed to practice magic or sorcery
- dans
- In, inside, within; preposition indicating location
- l'obscurité
- The darkness, the dark; absence of light
- près
- Near, close to; preposition indicating proximity
- du
- Of the, from the; contraction of de and le
- feu
- Fire; combustion producing heat and light
- cuisine
- Kitchen; room where food is prepared and cooked
- mais
- But; coordinating conjunction expressing contrast or opposition
- chaque
- Each, every; adjective referring to individual items
- fois
- Time, occasion; used in expressions like chaque fois
- l'un
- One of them, one; masculine singular pronoun
- d'eux
- Of them; contraction of de and eux
- parlait
- Was speaking; third-person singular imperfect of parler
- faisant
- Doing, making; present participle of faire
- semblant
- Pretending; used in faire semblant meaning to pretend
- tout
- All, everything, completely; used as adjective or pronoun
- savoir
- To know; to have knowledge or understanding of something
- sur
- On, about, upon; preposition indicating position or topic
- ces
- These, those; demonstrative adjective for plural nouns
- choses-là
- Those things; emphatic form of ces choses with là
- survenait
- Appeared suddenly; third-person singular imperfect of survenir
- disait
- Was saying; third-person singular imperfect of dire
- Qu'est-ce
- What is it; part of interrogative expression qu'est-ce que
- tu
- You; second-person singular subject pronoun (informal)
- connais
- Know; second-person singular present of connaître
- ce
- This, that, it; demonstrative pronoun or adjective
- réduit
- Reduced, silenced; past participle of réduire
- au
- To the, at the; contraction of à and le
- silence
- Silence; complete absence of sound or noise
- devait
- Had to, was supposed to; imperfect of devoir
- s'effacer
- To fade away, to step aside, to withdraw
- portait
- Was wearing, was carrying; imperfect of porter
- cette
- This, that; feminine singular demonstrative adjective
- pièce
- Piece, coin, room; can refer to money or space
- cinq
- Five; the cardinal number 5
- cents
- Cents or hundreds; monetary unit or number
- autour
- Around; preposition indicating surrounding position
- cou
- Neck; the part connecting head and body
- bout
- End, tip, piece; extremity of an object
- d'une
- Of a; contraction of de and une
- ficelle
- String, twine; thin cord used for tying things
- c'était
- It was; contraction of ce and était
- un
- A, an, one; indefinite article for masculine nouns
- talisman
- Talisman; object believed to have magical protective powers
- diable
- Devil; the supreme evil spirit or a mischievous person
- lui
- Him, her, to him; indirect or stressed personal pronoun
- avait
- Had; third-person singular imperfect of avoir
- donné
- Given; past participle of donner
- ses
- His, her, its; possessive adjective for plural nouns
- propres
- Own, clean; adjective meaning belonging to oneself
- mains
- Hands; plural of main, body parts at arm ends
- dit
- Said; third-person singular present or past of dire
- qu'il
- That he; contraction of que and il
- pouvait
- Could, was able to; imperfect of pouvoir
- guérir
- To heal, to cure, to recover from illness
- qui
- Who, which, that; relative or interrogative pronoun
- avec
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- elle
- She, her, it; feminine third-person singular pronoun
- appeler
- To call, to summon, to name someone or something
- quand
- When; conjunction or adverb indicating time
- voulait
- Wanted; third-person singular imperfect of vouloir
- rien
- Nothing; negative pronoun indicating absence of anything
- qu'en
- Than in, just by; contraction of que and en
- disant
- Saying; present participle of dire
- quelque
- Some, a few; indefinite adjective indicating vague quantity
- chose
- Thing; a general word for an object or matter
- n'a
- Has not; contraction of ne and a in negation
- jamais
- Never, ever; adverb of frequency in negation
- révélé
- Revealed; past participle of révéler, to disclose
- partout
- Everywhere, all over; adverb of place
- donnaient
- Were giving; third-person plural imperfect of donner
- qu'ils
- That they; contraction of que and ils
- avaient
- Had; third-person plural imperfect of avoir
- voir
- To see; to perceive visually or to understand
- ils
- They; third-person masculine plural subject pronoun
- voulaient
- Wanted; third-person plural imperfect of vouloir
- pas
- Not; second part of negation with ne
- toucher
- To touch, to make physical contact with something
- parce
- Because; used in parce que meaning because
- posé
- Placed, set down; past participle of poser
- dessus
- On top, above, on it; adverb indicating upper position
- pratiquement
- Practically, almost, virtually; adverb of degree
- inutilisable
- Unusable, impossible to use; adjective indicating uselessness
- domestique
- Servant, domestic; household worker or home-related adjective
- devenu
- Become; past participle of devenir
- prétentieux
- Pretentious, arrogant; claiming undeserved importance or distinction
- avoir
- To have; infinitive of the auxiliary and main verb
- vu
- Seen; past participle of voir
- été
- Been; past participle of être, or summer (noun)
- chevauché
- Ridden, straddled; past participle of chevaucher
- par
- By, through, per; preposition indicating agent or means
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