Peter Pan — Page 9
When you play at it by day with the chairs and table-cloth, it is not in the least alarming, but in the two minutes before you go to sleep it becomes very real.
Quand vous y jouez le jour avec les chaises et la nappe, ce n'est pas le moins du monde effrayant, mais dans les deux minutes avant de s'endormir cela devient très réel.
That is why there are night-lights.
C'est pourquoi il y a des veilleuses.
Occasionally in her travels through her children's minds Mrs. Darling found things she could not understand, and of these quite the most perplexing was the word Peter.
Parfois, dans ses voyages à travers l'esprit de ses enfants, Mme Darling trouvait des choses qu'elle ne pouvait pas comprendre, et parmi celles-ci la plus déconcertante était le mot Peter.
She knew of no Peter, and yet he was here and there in John and Michael's minds, while Wendy's began to be scrawled all over with him.
Elle ne connaissait aucun Peter, et pourtant il apparaissait çà et là dans l'esprit de John et de Michael, tandis que celui de Wendy commençait à en être couvert de partout.
The name stood out in bolder letters than any of the other words, and as Mrs. Darling gazed she felt that it had an oddly cocky appearance.
Le nom ressortait en lettres plus grandes que n'importe quel autre mot, et tandis que Mme Darling le regardait fixement, elle sentait qu'il avait un air étrangement arrogant.
"Yes, he is rather cocky," Wendy admitted with regret.
« Oui, il est plutôt arrogant », admit Wendy avec regret.
Her mother had been questioning her.
Sa mère l'avait interrogée.
"But who is he, my pet?"
« Mais qui est-il, mon chéri ? »
"He is Peter Pan, you know, mother."
« C'est Peter Pan, tu sais, maman. »
At first Mrs. Darling did not know, but after thinking back into her childhood she just remembered a Peter Pan who was said to live with the fairies.
Au début, Mme Darling ne savait pas, mais après avoir repensé à son enfance elle se souvint vaguement d'un Peter Pan dont on disait qu'il vivait avec les fées.
There were odd stories about him, as that when children died he went part of the way with them, so that they should not be frightened.
Il courait sur lui d'étranges histoires, comme quoi lorsque des enfants mouraient il les accompagnait une partie du chemin, afin qu'ils n'aient pas peur.
She had believed in him at the time, but now that she was married and full of sense she quite doubted whether there was any such person.
Elle avait cru en lui en ce temps-là, mais maintenant qu'elle était mariée et pleine de bon sens elle doutait fort qu'une telle personne existât.
"Besides," she said to Wendy, "he would be grown up by this time.
« D'ailleurs, dit-elle à Wendy, il aurait grandi à l'heure qu'il est.
Vocabulary
- Quand
- When; used to introduce a time clause
- vous
- You (plural or formal); second-person pronoun
- y
- There; pronoun replacing a place or thing
- jouez
- You play; second-person plural of jouer
- le
- The; masculine singular definite article
- jour
- Day; a period of twenty-four hours
- avec
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- les
- The; plural definite article for all genders
- chaises
- Chairs; plural of chaise, a seat with legs
- et
- And; coordinating conjunction linking words or clauses
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- nappe
- Tablecloth; fabric covering laid over a table
- ce
- This/that; demonstrative pronoun or adjective
- n'
- Not; negation particle used before vowels
- est
- Is; third-person singular present of être
- pas
- Not; negation particle used with ne
- moins
- Less; comparative adverb indicating lesser degree
- du
- Of the; contracted masculine singular article
- monde
- World/people; can mean everyone or the world
- effrayant
- Frightening; causing fear or dread in someone
- mais
- But; coordinating conjunction expressing contrast or opposition
- dans
- In/within; preposition indicating location or time
- deux
- Two; the cardinal number 2
- minutes
- Minutes; units of time, sixty seconds each
- avant
- Before; preposition indicating prior time or position
- de
- Of/from; very common French preposition
- s'
- Oneself; reflexive pronoun before vowel sound
- endormir
- To fall asleep; reflexive verb meaning to sleep
- cela
- That; demonstrative pronoun referring to something distant
- devient
- Becomes; third-person singular of devenir
- très
- Very; adverb intensifying an adjective or adverb
- réel
- Real; adjective meaning actual, genuine, or true
- C'
- It is; contracted form of ce before est
- pourquoi
- Why; interrogative or relative adverb of reason
- il
- He/it; third-person masculine singular pronoun
- a
- Has; third-person singular present of avoir
- des
- Some/of the; plural indefinite or partitive article
- veilleuses
- Night lights; small lights left on during night
- Parfois
- Sometimes; adverb indicating occasional occurrence
- ses
- His/her/its; third-person plural possessive adjective
- voyages
- Travels/journeys; trips or explorations to other places
- à
- To/at/in; very common preposition of place or direction
- travers
- Through; used in à travers meaning across or through
- l'
- The; definite article contracted before a vowel
- esprit
- Mind/spirit; the intellect or inner consciousness
- enfants
- Children; plural of enfant, young human beings
- Mme
- Mrs.; abbreviation of Madame, title for adult women
- trouvait
- Found/was finding; imperfect of trouver
- choses
- Things; plural of chose, general objects or matters
- qu'
- That/which; relative or conjunction before vowel
- elle
- She/her; third-person feminine singular pronoun
- ne
- Not; first part of French negation ne…pas
- pouvait
- Could; imperfect tense of pouvoir, to be able
- comprendre
- To understand; to grasp the meaning of something
- parmi
- Among; preposition indicating inclusion in a group
- celles-ci
- These ones; feminine plural demonstrative pronoun
- plus
- More; comparative adverb indicating greater degree
- déconcertante
- Disconcerting; causing confusion or unease in someone
- était
- Was; third-person singular imperfect of être
- mot
- Word; a unit of language with meaning
- Elle
- She; third-person feminine singular subject pronoun
- connaissait
- Knew; imperfect of connaître, to be familiar with
- aucun
- No/none; negative adjective or pronoun, not any
- pourtant
- Yet/however; adversative adverb indicating contrast
- apparaissait
- Appeared; imperfect of apparaître, to come into view
- là
- There; adverb indicating a place nearby or far
- tandis
- While/whereas; used in tandis que for contrast
- que
- That/than/which; versatile conjunction or pronoun
- celui
- The one; masculine singular demonstrative pronoun
- commençait
- Was beginning; imperfect of commencer, to start
- en
- In/of it; preposition or pronoun with varied uses
- être
- To be; fundamental auxiliary and linking verb
- couvert
- Covered; past participle of couvrir, to cover
- partout
- Everywhere; adverb indicating all places or locations
- Le
- The; masculine singular definite article
- nom
- Name; the word used to identify a person or thing
- ressortait
- Stood out; imperfect of ressortir, to stand out
- lettres
- Letters; alphabetic characters forming words
- grandes
- Large/big; feminine plural adjective for grande
- importe
- Matters; used in n'importe quel meaning any
- quel
- Which/what; interrogative or exclamatory adjective
- autre
- Other; adjective or pronoun meaning different or else
- regardait
- Was looking at; imperfect of regarder, to look
- fixement
- Fixedly/intently; adverb meaning staring without blinking
- sentait
- Felt/smelled; imperfect of sentir, to feel or smell
- avait
- Had; third-person singular imperfect of avoir
- un
- A/an; masculine singular indefinite article
- air
- Air/look; appearance or manner someone gives off
- étrangement
- Strangely; adverb meaning in an odd or unusual way
- arrogant
- Arrogant; showing exaggerated self-importance or pride
- Oui
- Yes; affirmative response word
- plutôt
- Rather/quite; adverb indicating preference or degree
- admit
- Admitted; past tense of admettre, to acknowledge
- regret
- Regret; feeling of sorrow or disappointment about something
- Sa
- His/her; feminine singular possessive adjective
- mère
- Mother; female parent of a child
- interrogée
- Questioned; past participle of interroger, to question
- Mais
- But; conjunction expressing contrast or contradiction
- qui
- Who/which; relative or interrogative pronoun
- est-
- Is; part of est-ce que inversion structure
- mon
- My; masculine singular first-person possessive adjective
- chéri
- Darling/dear; affectionate term for a loved one
- tu
- You; informal second-person singular subject pronoun
- sais
- Know; second-person singular present of savoir
- maman
- Mom/mum; informal word for mother
- Au
- At the/to the; contracted masculine article with à
- début
- Beginning/start; the initial stage of something
- savait
- Knew; imperfect of savoir, to know a fact
- après
- After; preposition or adverb indicating later time
- avoir
- To have; fundamental auxiliary and possession verb
- repensé
- Thought back; past participle of repenser, to reconsider
- son
- His/her/its; masculine singular possessive adjective
- enfance
- Childhood; the period of life when one is young
- se
- Oneself; reflexive pronoun for third-person subjects
- souvint
- Remembered; past historic of se souvenir
- vaguement
- Vaguely; in an unclear or indistinct manner
- d'
- Of/from; contracted preposition before vowel sound
- dont
- Whose/of which; relative pronoun replacing de + noun
- on
- One/they/people; indefinite third-person subject pronoun
- disait
- Said/was saying; imperfect of dire, to say
- vivait
- Lived/was living; imperfect of vivre, to live
- fées
- Fairies; magical female beings from folklore
- Il
- He/it; third-person masculine singular subject pronoun
- courait
- Ran/was running; imperfect of courir, to run
- sur
- On/about; preposition of position or subject matter
- lui
- Him/her; third-person singular stressed pronoun
- étranges
- Strange; adjective meaning odd, unusual, or peculiar
- histoires
- Stories; plural of histoire, tales or narratives
- comme
- Like/as; conjunction or adverb of comparison or manner
- quoi
- What; pronoun used after prepositions or for emphasis
- lorsque
- When; conjunction introducing a time clause (formal)
- mouraient
- Were dying; imperfect of mourir, to die
- accompagnait
- Accompanied; imperfect of accompagner, to go with
- une
- A/an; feminine singular indefinite article
- partie
- Part/portion; a section or portion of a whole
- chemin
- Path/way; a road or route to somewhere
- afin
- So that; used in afin que to express purpose
- ils
- They; third-person masculine plural subject pronoun
- aient
- Have; subjunctive of avoir, used after que
- peur
- Fear; a feeling of dread or being scared
- cru
- Believed; past participle of croire, to believe
- temps
- Time/weather; period or meteorological conditions
- maintenant
- Now; adverb referring to the present moment
- mariée
- Married; feminine past participle of marier, to marry
- pleine
- Full of; feminine adjective indicating completeness
- bon
- Good; adjective indicating quality or suitability
- sens
- Sense; meaning, direction, or common sense
- doutait
- Doubted; imperfect of douter, to have doubts
- fort
- Strongly/very; adverb intensifying an action or feeling
- telle
- Such a; feminine form of tel, meaning of that kind
- personne
- Person/nobody; can mean individual or no one
- D'
- Of/from; contracted preposition before vowel
- ailleurs
- Elsewhere/besides; adverb meaning in another place
- dit-
- Said; part of inversion structure dit-on, people say
- aurait
- Would have; conditional of avoir
- grandi
- Grown up; past participle of grandir, to grow
- heure
- Hour/time; unit of sixty minutes or time of day
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