Peter Pan — Page 8
It would be an easy map if that were all, but there is also first day at school, religion, fathers, the round pond, needle-work, murders, hangings, verbs that take the dative, chocolate pudding day, getting into braces, say ninety-nine, three-pence for pulling out your tooth yourself, and so on, and either these are part of the island or they are another map showing through, and it is all rather confusing, especially as nothing will stand still.
Ce serait une carte facile si c'était tout, mais il y a aussi le premier jour d'école, la religion, les pères, l'étang rond, la couture, les meurtres, les pendaisons, les verbes qui prennent le datif, le jour du pudding au chocolat, l'entrée dans les bretelles, dites quatre-vingt-dix-neuf, trois sous pour vous arracher vous-même votre dent, et ainsi de suite, et soit tout cela fait partie de l'île, soit c'est une autre carte qui transparaît, et tout cela est plutôt confus, surtout que rien ne reste en place.
Of course the Neverlands vary a good deal.
Bien sûr, les Pays Imaginaires varient beaucoup.
John's, for instance, had a lagoon with flamingoes flying over it at which John was shooting, while Michael, who was very small, had a flamingo with lagoons flying over it.
Celui de Jean, par exemple, avait un lagon avec des flamants roses qui volaient au-dessus et sur lesquels Jean tirait, tandis que Michel, qui était très petit, avait un flamant rose avec des lagons qui volaient au-dessus.
John lived in a boat turned upside down on the sands, Michael in a wigwam, Wendy in a house of leaves deftly sewn together.
Jean vivait dans un bateau retourné sur le sable, Michel dans un wigwam, Wendy dans une maison de feuilles habilement cousues ensemble.
John had no friends, Michael had friends at night, Wendy had a pet wolf forsaken by its parents, but on the whole the Neverlands have a family resemblance, and if they stood still in a row you could say of them that they have each other's nose, and so forth.
Jean n'avait pas d'amis, Michel avait des amis la nuit, Wendy avait un loup apprivoisé abandonné par ses parents, mais dans l'ensemble les Pays Imaginaires ont un air de famille, et si on les plaçait côte à côte en rang, on pourrait dire d'eux qu'ils ont le même nez, et ainsi de suite.
On these magic shores children at play are for ever beaching their coracles.
Sur ces rivages magiques, les enfants qui jouent échouent sans cesse leurs coracles.
We too have been there; we can still hear the sound of the surf, though we shall land no more.
Nous y avons été nous aussi ; nous pouvons encore entendre le bruit du ressac, bien que nous n'y débarquions plus jamais.
Of all delectable islands the Neverland is the snuggest and most compact, not large and sprawly, you know, with tedious distances between one adventure and another, but nicely crammed.
De toutes les îles délectables, le Pays Imaginaire est la plus douillette et la plus compacte, pas grande et étalée, vous savez, avec de fastidieuses distances entre une aventure et une autre, mais bien remplie à souhait.
Vocabulary
- Ce
- This; that (demonstrative pronoun/adjective)
- serait
- Would be (conditional form of être)
- une
- A; an (feminine indefinite article)
- carte
- Map; card; menu in a restaurant
- facile
- Easy; simple; not difficult to do
- si
- If; so (conjunction or adverb)
- était
- Was (imperfect form of être)
- tout
- All; everything; whole (pronoun or adjective)
- mais
- But; yet (conjunction introducing contrast)
- il
- He; it (masculine personal pronoun)
- aussi
- Also; too; as well (adverb)
- le
- The (masculine singular definite article)
- premier
- First; prime; earliest in sequence
- jour
- Day; daylight; period of twenty-four hours
- école
- School; educational institution for learning
- la
- The (feminine singular definite article)
- religion
- Religion; faith; system of beliefs
- les
- The (plural definite article)
- pères
- Fathers; male parents; founding fathers
- rond
- Round; circular; a circle or ring shape
- couture
- Sewing; seam; fashion design and tailoring
- verbes
- Verbs; action or state words in grammar
- qui
- Who; which; that (relative pronoun)
- prennent
- Take; accept (present tense of prendre)
- du
- Of the; some (contraction of de+le)
- au
- To the; at the (contraction of à+le)
- chocolat
- Chocolate; cocoa-based sweet substance
- entrée
- Entrance; entry; first course of meal
- dans
- In; into; within (preposition)
- dites
- Say; tell (imperative or present form)
- trois
- Three; the number after two
- sous
- Under; beneath; former French coin
- pour
- For; in order to; to (preposition)
- vous
- You (formal or plural pronoun)
- arracher
- Tear; pull out; extract forcefully
- vous-même
- Yourself; yourselves (reflexive pronoun)
- votre
- Your (formal or plural possessive adjective)
- dent
- Tooth; hard structure in mouth for chewing
- et
- And; conjunction joining words or clauses
- ainsi
- Thus; so; in this manner or way
- de
- Of; from; about (preposition)
- suite
- Sequence; following; continuation or series
- soit
- Be; may be; so be it (subjunctive être)
- cela
- That; it (neuter demonstrative pronoun)
- fait
- Fact; deed; act (noun or past participle)
- partie
- Part; portion; game; match or round
- île
- Island; land surrounded by water
- est
- Is (present form of être)
- autre
- Other; another; different one
- plutôt
- Rather; quite; somewhat; preferably
- confus
- Confused; unclear; disordered; bewildered
- surtout
- Especially; above all; chiefly
- que
- That; which; than (relative/comparison)
- rien
- Nothing; not anything (negative pronoun)
- ne
- Not; negative particle in French
- reste
- Remainder; leftovers; what remains
- en
- In; on; of it (preposition or pronoun)
- place
- Place; spot; square; position or location
- Bien
- Well; good; indeed (adverb or adjective)
- sûr
- Sure; certain; confident; definite
- Pays
- Country; land; region; nation
- Imaginaires
- Imaginary; fanciful; existing only in imagination
- varient
- Vary; differ; change (present of varier)
- beaucoup
- Much; a lot; greatly; very many
- Celui
- The one; that one (masculine demonstrative)
- par
- By; through; per; according to
- exemple
- Example; instance; specimen; illustration
- avait
- Had (imperfect form of avoir)
- un
- A; an (masculine indefinite article)
- avec
- With; in company with; alongside
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →