Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — Page 6
So Tom got out a sheet of paper that he had wrote the oath on, and read it.
Tom sortit alors une feuille de papier sur laquelle il avait écrit le serment, et le lut.
It swore every boy to stick to the band, and never tell any of the secrets; and if anybody done anything to any boy in the band, whichever boy was ordered to kill that person and his family must do it, and he mustn't eat and he mustn't sleep till he had killed them and hacked a cross in their breasts, which was the sign of the band.
Il engageait chaque garçon par serment à rester fidèle à la bande, et à ne jamais révéler aucun des secrets ; et si quelqu'un faisait quoi que ce soit à un membre de la bande, le garçon qui serait désigné pour tuer cette personne et sa famille devait s'en acquitter, et il ne devait ni manger ni dormir avant de les avoir tués et d'avoir taillé une croix sur leur poitrine, ce qui était le signe de la bande.
And nobody that didn't belong to the band could use that mark, and if he did he must be sued; and if he done it again he must be killed.
Et personne n'appartenant pas à la bande ne pouvait utiliser cette marque, et s'il le faisait il devait être poursuivi en justice ; et s'il recommençait il devait être tué.
And if anybody that belonged to the band told the secrets, he must have his throat cut, and then have his carcass burnt up and the ashes scattered all around, and his name blotted off of the list with blood and never mentioned again by the gang, but have a curse put on it and be forgot forever.
Et si quelqu'un appartenant à la bande révélait les secrets, il devait avoir la gorge tranchée, puis son cadavre devait être brûlé et ses cendres dispersées partout, et son nom devait être effacé de la liste avec du sang et ne plus jamais être mentionné par la bande, mais une malédiction devait être prononcée sur lui et il devait être oublié à jamais.
Everybody said it was a real beautiful oath, and asked Tom if he got it out of his own head.
Tout le monde dit que c'était un vraiment beau serment, et demanda à Tom s'il l'avait inventé lui-même.
He said, some of it, but the rest was out of pirate-books and robber-books, and every gang that was high-toned had it.
Il dit qu'une partie venait de lui, mais que le reste était tiré de livres de pirates et de livres de brigands, et que toutes les bandes qui se respectaient l'avaient.
Some thought it would be good to kill the families of boys that told the secrets.
Certains pensèrent qu'il serait bien de tuer les familles des garçons qui révéleraient les secrets.
Tom said it was a good idea, so he took a pencil and wrote it in.
Tom dit que c'était une bonne idée, alors il prit un crayon et l'inscrivit.
Vocabulary
- sortit
- He/she went out or took out (past tense).
- alors
- Then, so, or at that moment.
- une
- A, an (feminine indefinite article).
- feuille
- A sheet of paper or a leaf.
- de
- Of, from (very common preposition).
- papier
- Paper, a material for writing on.
- sur
- On, upon (common preposition of place).
- laquelle
- Which, on which (feminine relative pronoun).
- il
- He, it (third-person masculine subject pronoun).
- avait
- Had (third-person singular imperfect of avoir).
- écrit
- Written (past participle of écrire).
- le
- The (masculine definite article).
- serment
- An oath or solemn vow.
- et
- And (basic coordinating conjunction).
- lut
- He/she read aloud (past historic of lire).
- Il
- He, it (third-person masculine subject pronoun).
- engageait
- Was binding or obligating someone to something.
- chaque
- Each, every (adjective used before nouns).
- garçon
- A boy or young male person.
- par
- By, per, through (common preposition).
- à
- To, at, in (very common preposition).
- rester
- To stay, to remain in a place or state.
- fidèle
- Faithful, loyal, true to someone.
- la
- The (feminine definite article or pronoun).
- bande
- A gang, group, or band of people.
- ne
- Not (part of French negation structure).
- jamais
- Never, or ever (used in negation).
- révéler
- To reveal or disclose a secret.
- aucun
- None, not any (negative adjective or pronoun).
- des
- Some, of the (plural partitive or article).
- secrets
- Secrets, things kept hidden from others.
- si
- If, or yes (in response to negation).
- quelqu'un
- Someone, somebody (indefinite pronoun).
- faisait
- Was doing or making (imperfect of faire).
- quoi
- What (interrogative or relative pronoun).
- que
- That, what, than (conjunction or pronoun).
- ce
- This, that (demonstrative adjective or pronoun).
- soit
- Be (subjunctive of être), or so be it.
- un
- A, an (masculine indefinite article).
- membre
- A member of a group or organization.
- qui
- Who, which (relative or interrogative pronoun).
- serait
- Would be (conditional of être).
- désigné
- Designated, appointed for a specific task.
- pour
- For, in order to (preposition or conjunction).
- tuer
- To kill, to take someone's life.
- cette
- This, that (feminine demonstrative adjective).
- personne
- A person, or nobody (in negation).
- sa
- His, her, its (feminine possessive adjective).
- famille
- A family, group of related people.
- devait
- Had to, was supposed to (imperfect of devoir).
- s'en
- Of it/them (reflexive pronoun combined with en).
- acquitter
- To fulfill an obligation or acquit a duty.
- ni
- Neither, nor (negative conjunction).
- manger
- To eat food.
- dormir
- To sleep, to rest at night.
- avant
- Before (in time or order).
- les
- The (plural definite article or object pronoun).
- avoir
- To have; auxiliary verb for compound tenses.
- tués
- Killed (past participle of tuer, plural).
- d'avoir
- Of having (infinitive avoir with elided de).
- taillé
- Carved or cut (past participle of tailler).
- croix
- A cross, a mark shaped like a plus sign.
- leur
- Their, to them (possessive or indirect pronoun).
- poitrine
- The chest or breast of a person.
- était
- Was (third-person singular imperfect of être).
- signe
- A sign, mark, or symbol.
- Et
- And (basic coordinating conjunction).
- n'appartenant
- Not belonging (negative present participle of appartenir).
- pas
- Not (second part of French negation).
- pouvait
- Could, was able to (imperfect of pouvoir).
- utiliser
- To use something for a purpose.
- marque
- A mark, brand, or distinctive sign.
- s'il
- If he (contraction of si + il).
- être
- To be (fundamental French infinitive verb).
- poursuivi
- Pursued or prosecuted (past participle of poursuivre).
- en
- In, by, or as a pronoun replacing partitive.
- justice
- Justice, or the legal court system.
- recommençait
- Started again, repeated an action (imperfect).
- tué
- Killed (past participle of tuer, singular).
- appartenant
- Belonging (present participle of appartenir).
- révélait
- Was revealing or disclosing (imperfect of révéler).
- gorge
- The throat or gorge of a person.
- tranchée
- Cut, slashed (past participle of trancher).
- puis
- Then, afterwards, next in sequence.
- son
- His, her, its (masculine possessive adjective).
- cadavre
- A corpse, a dead body.
- brûlé
- Burned, consumed by fire (past participle).
- ses
- His, her, its (plural possessive adjective).
- cendres
- Ashes remaining after something is burned.
- dispersées
- Scattered, spread in different directions (plural).
- partout
- Everywhere, in all places.
- nom
- A name or noun.
- effacé
- Erased, wiped out (past participle of effacer).
- liste
- A list of names or items.
- avec
- With (common preposition indicating accompaniment).
- du
- Of the (masculine partitive article).
- sang
- Blood, the red liquid in the body.
- plus
- More, or no longer (in negation).
- mentionné
- Mentioned, referred to (past participle).
- mais
- But (coordinating conjunction of contrast).
- malédiction
- A curse or malediction placed on someone.
- prononcée
- Pronounced, uttered (past participle, feminine).
- lui
- Him, her, to him/her (personal pronoun).
- oublié
- Forgotten (past participle of oublier).
- Tout
- All, every, everything (adjective or pronoun).
- monde
- World or people (tout le monde = everyone).
- dit
- Said (past historic or present of dire).
- c'était
- It was (contraction of ce + était).
- vraiment
- Really, truly (adverb of emphasis).
- beau
- Beautiful, fine, handsome (masculine adjective).
- demanda
- Asked (past historic of demander).
- l'avait
- Had it (pronoun l' + avait, auxiliary).
- inventé
- Invented, made up (past participle of inventer).
- lui-même
- Himself (emphatic reflexive pronoun).
- qu'une
- That a, only one (que + une contracted).
- partie
- A part, portion, or share of something.
- venait
- Was coming from (imperfect of venir).
- reste
- The rest, the remainder of something.
- tiré
- Drawn from, pulled, or derived (past participle).
- livres
- Books, or pounds (currency/weight).
- pirates
- Pirates, sea robbers or buccaneers.
- brigands
- Brigands, bandits who rob travellers.
- toutes
- All (feminine plural adjective or pronoun).
- bandes
- Gangs, bands or groups of people.
- se
- Himself, herself, themselves (reflexive pronoun).
- respectaient
- Respected, observed rules (imperfect of respecter).
- l'avaient
- Had it (plural: l' + avaient auxiliary).
- Certains
- Some, certain ones (indefinite plural pronoun).
- pensèrent
- Thought (past historic of penser, third plural).
- qu'il
- That he (conjunction que + pronoun il).
- bien
- Well, good, really (common adverb or adjective).
- familles
- Families, groups of related people (plural).
- garçons
- Boys, young male persons (plural).
- révéleraient
- Would reveal (conditional of révéler, third plural).
- bonne
- Good (feminine adjective, feminine of bon).
- idée
- An idea, a thought or suggestion.
- prit
- Took (past historic of prendre).
- crayon
- A pencil or crayon for writing/drawing.
- l'inscrivit
- Wrote it down, enrolled it (past historic of inscrire).
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