Alice's Adventures in Wonderland — Page 8
And yet I wish I could show you our cat Dinah: I think you'd take a fancy to cats if you could only see her.
Et pourtant, je voudrais pouvoir vous montrer notre chatte Dinah : je pense que vous prendriez goût aux chats si seulement vous pouviez la voir.
She is such a dear quiet thing," Alice went on, half to herself, as she swam lazily about in the pool, "and she sits purring so nicely by the fire, licking her paws and washing her face—and she is such a nice soft thing to nurse—and she's such a capital one for catching mice—oh, I beg your pardon!"
C'est une si chère petite chose tranquille, » continua Alice, se parlant à moitié à elle-même, tandis qu'elle nageait paresseusement dans la mare, « et elle est assise à ronronner si agréablement près du feu, à lécher ses pattes et à se laver le visage — et c'est une si douce chose à câliner — et elle est si douée pour attraper les souris — oh, je vous demande pardon !»
cried Alice again, for this time the Mouse was bristling all over, and she felt certain it must be really offended.
s'écria Alice de nouveau, car cette fois la Souris se hérissait de partout, et Alice était certaine qu'elle devait être vraiment offensée.
"We won't talk about her any more if you'd rather not."
« Nous n'en parlerons plus si vous préférez. »
"We indeed!" cried the Mouse, who was trembling down to the end of his tail.
« Nous, vraiment ! » s'écria la Souris, qui tremblait jusqu'au bout de la queue.
"As if _I_ would talk on such a subject! Our family always _hated_ cats: nasty, low, vulgar things! Don't let me hear the name again!"
« Comme si _moi_ je parlerais d'un tel sujet ! Notre famille a toujours _détesté_ les chats : de sales, viles et vulgaires créatures ! Ne me faites plus jamais entendre ce nom ! »
"I won't indeed!" said Alice, in a great hurry to change the subject of conversation.
« Je n'en parlerai plus, c'est promis ! » dit Alice, très pressée de changer le sujet de la conversation.
"Are you—are you fond—of—of dogs?"
« Aimez-vous — aimez-vous — les — les chiens ? »
The Mouse did not answer, so Alice went on eagerly: "There is such a nice little dog near our house I should like to show you!
La Souris ne répondit pas, alors Alice continua avec enthousiasme : « Il y a un si gentil petit chien près de chez nous que j'aimerais vous montrer !
A little bright-eyed terrier, you know, with oh, such long curly brown hair!
Un petit terrier aux yeux vifs, vous savez, avec oh, de si longs poils bouclés et bruns !
Vocabulary
- pourtant
- Conjunction meaning 'yet' or 'however', showing contrast.
- voudrais
- Conditional form of 'vouloir', meaning 'I would like'.
- pouvoir
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to be able to' or 'can'.
- montrer
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to show' something to someone.
- chatte
- Feminine noun meaning 'female cat'.
- prendriez
- Conditional form of 'prendre', meaning 'you would take'.
- goût
- Noun meaning 'taste' or 'liking' for something.
- seulement
- Adverb meaning 'only' or 'just'.
- pouviez
- Imperfect form of 'pouvoir', meaning 'you were able to'.
- chère
- Adjective meaning 'dear', 'beloved', or 'expensive'.
- tranquille
- Adjective meaning 'quiet', 'calm', or 'peaceful'.
- continua
- Past tense of 'continuer', meaning 'continued'.
- parlant
- Present participle of 'parler', meaning 'speaking' or 'talking'.
- moitié
- Noun meaning 'half'; 'à moitié' means 'halfway' or 'half'.
- elle-même
- Reflexive pronoun meaning 'herself', used for emphasis.
- tandis
- Conjunction used in 'tandis que', meaning 'while' or 'whereas'.
- nageait
- Imperfect tense of 'nager', meaning 'was swimming'.
- paresseusement
- Adverb meaning 'lazily' or 'idly'.
- mare
- Feminine noun meaning 'pool' or 'pond'.
- assise
- Feminine past participle of 'asseoir', meaning 'seated' or 'sitting'.
- ronronner
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to purr', as a cat does.
- agréablement
- Adverb meaning 'pleasantly' or 'agreeably'.
- feu
- Masculine noun meaning 'fire' or 'flame'.
- lécher
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to lick'.
- pattes
- Plural noun meaning 'paws' of an animal.
- laver
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to wash'.
- visage
- Masculine noun meaning 'face'.
- douce
- Feminine adjective meaning 'sweet', 'gentle', or 'soft'.
- câliner
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to cuddle' or 'to pamper'.
- douée
- Feminine adjective meaning 'gifted' or 'talented'.
- attraper
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to catch' or 'to grab'.
- souris
- Plural noun meaning 'mice'; singular is also 'souris'.
- pardon
- Noun or interjection meaning 'pardon' or 'excuse me'.
- écria
- Past tense of 's'écrier', meaning 'exclaimed' or 'cried out'.
- nouveau
- Adjective/adverb meaning 'new' or 'again' (de nouveau).
- car
- Conjunction meaning 'because' or 'for', giving a reason.
- fois
- Feminine noun meaning 'time' as in 'this time' or 'once'.
- Souris
- Feminine noun meaning 'Mouse', here used as a character name.
- hérissait
- Imperfect of 'hérisser', meaning 'was bristling' or 'was raising'.
- partout
- Adverb meaning 'everywhere' or 'all over'.
- certaine
- Feminine adjective meaning 'certain' or 'sure'.
- devait
- Imperfect of 'devoir', meaning 'must have been' or 'had to'.
- vraiment
- Adverb meaning 'truly', 'really', or 'genuinely'.
- offensée
- Past participle of 'offenser', meaning 'offended' or 'hurt.
- parlerons
- Future tense of 'parler', meaning 'we will speak'.
- préférez
- Second person plural of 'préférer', meaning 'you prefer'.
- tremblait
- Imperfect of 'trembler', meaning 'was trembling' or 'shaking'.
- jusqu'
- Preposition contraction of 'jusque', meaning 'up to' or 'until'.
- bout
- Masculine noun meaning 'end', 'tip', or 'extremity'.
- queue
- Feminine noun meaning 'tail' of an animal or a queue.
- parlerais
- Conditional of 'parler', meaning 'I would speak' or 'talk'.
- tel
- Adjective meaning 'such' or 'such a', indicating comparison.
- sujet
- Masculine noun meaning 'subject' or 'topic'.
- toujours
- Adverb meaning 'always' or 'still'.
- _détesté_
- Past participle of 'détester', meaning 'hated' or 'despised'.
- sales
- Plural adjective meaning 'dirty' or 'filthy'.
- viles
- Plural adjective meaning 'vile', 'base', or 'despicable'.
- vulgaires
- Plural adjective meaning 'vulgar', 'common', or 'coarse'.
- créatures
- Plural feminine noun meaning 'creatures' or 'beings'.
- faites
- Imperative of 'faire', meaning 'make' or 'do' (command form).
- jamais
- Adverb meaning 'never' or 'ever' depending on context.
- entendre
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to hear' or 'to understand'.
- nom
- Masculine noun meaning 'name' or 'noun'.
- parlerai
- Future tense of 'parler', meaning 'I will speak'.
- promis
- Past participle of 'promettre', meaning 'promised'.
- pressée
- Feminine adjective meaning 'in a hurry' or 'rushed'.
- changer
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to change' or 'to switch'.
- Aimez-vous
- Inverted question form of 'aimer', meaning 'do you like'.
- répondit
- Past tense of 'répondre', meaning 'replied' or 'answered'.
- alors
- Adverb or conjunction meaning 'then', 'so', or 'at that time'.
- enthousiasme
- Masculine noun meaning 'enthusiasm' or 'eagerness'.
- gentil
- Adjective meaning 'nice', 'kind', or 'gentle'.
- chez
- Preposition meaning 'at the home of' or 'among'.
- aimerais
- Conditional of 'aimer', meaning 'I would like' or 'love'.
- terrier
- Masculine noun meaning 'terrier', a type of dog breed.
- yeux
- Plural noun meaning 'eyes'; singular is 'œil'.
- vifs
- Plural adjective meaning 'lively', 'bright', or 'keen'.
- savez
- Second person plural of 'savoir', meaning 'you know'.
- poils
- Plural masculine noun meaning 'hairs' or 'fur' on an animal.
- bouclés
- Plural adjective meaning 'curly', describing hair or fur.
- bruns
- Plural adjective meaning 'brown' in color.
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