Piccolissima — Page 3
She adhered to the old-fashioned notions, and could not suppose it possible that her little one could sleep without rocking.
Elle adhérait aux notions démodées, et ne pouvait pas supposer qu'il fût possible que sa petite pût dormir sans être bercée.
What the good little mother found the most trouble from, in the extreme smallness and delicacy of the limbs of her new-born doll baby, was the impossibility of swathing and dressing it.
Ce qui causa le plus de difficulté à la bonne petite mère, dans l'extrême petitesse et la délicatesse des membres de son nouveau-né de poupée, fut l'impossibilité de l'emmailloter et de l'habiller.
So she was forced to resign herself to doing as the birds do, and bring up her little one on a bed of moss and down.
Elle fut donc contrainte de se résigner à faire comme les oiseaux, et à élever sa petite sur un lit de mousse et de duvet.
She hardly dared to put upon the little arm, smaller than her own little finger, a little shift made of the fine white skin of the inside of an eggshell.
Elle osait à peine passer sur le petit bras, plus petit que son propre petit doigt, une petite chemise faite de la fine peau blanche de l'intérieur d'une coquille d'œuf.
The boots of the little one had soles cut out of the inside husks of the corn; a poppy leaf made her an ample bonnet.
Les bottines de la petite avaient des semelles découpées dans les enveloppes intérieures du maïs ; une feuille de coquelicot lui faisait un ample bonnet.
The spider's web which the dew whitens, and the wind winds up in balls, seemed too coarse too weave her sheets with, and the cup of an acorn was big enough for Piccolissima.
La toile d'araignée que la rosée blanchit et que le vent enroule en pelotes semblait trop grossière pour tisser ses draps, et la cupule d'un gland était assez grande pour Piccolissima.
Her parents obtained all her wardrobe, and all the small furniture for her use from those thousands of skilful laborers, so adroit, and yet of whom we think so little, who hide themselves in all the walls, in the leaves of the trees turned up like horns, under the bark of the trees; in short, that are found in all the corners and crevices of creation.
Ses parents obtinrent toute sa garde-robe, et tout le petit mobilier à son usage, de ces milliers d'habiles ouvriers, si adroits, et pourtant auxquels nous pensons si peu, qui se cachent dans tous les murs, dans les feuilles des arbres repliées en cornets, sous l'écorce des arbres ; bref, que l'on trouve dans tous les coins et recoins de la création.
Mr. and Mrs. Tom Thumb were not people who could be astonished.
M. et Mme Petit Poucet n'étaient pas des gens que l'on pouvait étonner.
Vocabulary
- adhérait
- Was adhering to or holding firmly to beliefs.
- notions
- Ideas or concepts held about a subject.
- démodées
- Old-fashioned or out of style, no longer current.
- supposer
- To suppose or assume something to be true.
- fût
- Imperfect subjunctive of 'être', meaning 'was' or 'were'.
- pût
- Imperfect subjunctive of 'pouvoir', meaning 'could'.
- bercée
- Rocked or cradled gently, as in a cradle.
- causa
- Past tense of 'causer', meaning caused or brought about.
- difficulté
- A problem or challenge that is hard to overcome.
- bonne
- Feminine adjective meaning good; also a household servant.
- extrême
- Extreme; reaching the highest degree of something.
- petitesse
- Smallness; the quality of being very tiny.
- délicatesse
- Delicacy; the quality of being fragile or refined.
- membres
- Limbs of the body, such as arms and legs.
- nouveau-né
- Newborn; a very recently born baby.
- poupée
- A doll; a small toy figure resembling a person.
- impossibilité
- The state of being impossible; inability to do something.
- emmailloter
- To swaddle; to wrap a baby tightly in cloth.
- habiller
- To dress; to put clothes on someone.
- donc
- Conjunction meaning 'therefore' or 'so', indicating consequence.
- contrainte
- Forced or compelled; a constraint or obligation.
- résigner
- To resign oneself; to accept something reluctantly.
- oiseaux
- Birds; winged animals that typically fly.
- élever
- To raise or bring up, as in raising children.
- mousse
- Moss; soft green plant growing on rocks or trees.
- duvet
- Down feathers or a soft quilt filled with down.
- osait
- Dared; imperfect of 'oser', to dare to do something.
- peine
- Difficulty, sorrow, or hardship; barely or hardly.
- propre
- Own; clean; belonging specifically to oneself.
- doigt
- Finger; one of the digits of the hand.
- chemise
- A shirt or garment worn on the upper body.
- fine
- Fine, thin, or delicate; of high quality or thinness.
- peau
- Skin; the outer covering of the body or an animal.
- intérieur
- Interior or inside part of something.
- coquille
- Shell; the hard outer covering of an egg or snail.
- œuf
- Egg; the oval object laid by birds or reptiles.
- bottines
- Ankle boots; small boots covering the foot and ankle.
- semelles
- Soles; the bottom part of shoes or boots.
- découpées
- Cut out; shaped by cutting from a larger material.
- enveloppes
- Coverings or husks; protective outer layers of something.
- intérieures
- Interior or inner; referring to the inside layers.
- maïs
- Corn or maize; a cereal plant with large kernels.
- feuille
- Leaf; a flat green part of a plant or tree.
- coquelicot
- Poppy; a bright red wildflower found in fields.
- ample
- Ample, wide, or large; generous in size or extent.
- bonnet
- A bonnet or cap; a head covering worn by infants.
- toile
- Cloth or canvas; a woven fabric used for various purposes.
- araignée
- Spider; a small eight-legged arachnid that spins webs.
- rosée
- Dew; tiny water droplets forming on surfaces at night.
- blanchit
- Whitens or bleaches; makes something whiter in appearance.
- vent
- Wind; moving air occurring naturally in the atmosphere.
- enroule
- Rolls up or winds into a coil or ball shape.
- pelotes
- Balls of yarn or thread wound into a round shape.
- semblait
- Seemed; imperfect of 'sembler', to appear or seem.
- grossière
- Coarse or rough; lacking fineness or refinement.
- tisser
- To weave; to interlace threads to create fabric.
- draps
- Bed sheets; flat cloth coverings used on a bed.
- cupule
- A cupule or cup-shaped base holding an acorn.
- gland
- Acorn; the nut of an oak tree, cup-shaped at base.
- assez
- Enough or quite; a sufficient amount or degree.
- obtinrent
- Obtained; simple past of 'obtenir', to get or obtain.
- garde-robe
- Wardrobe; a collection of clothing or a clothes cabinet.
- mobilier
- Furniture; movable items used to furnish a room.
- usage
- Use or usage; the act or manner of using something.
- milliers
- Thousands; very large numbers, groups of thousands.
- habiles
- Skillful or clever; showing great ability or dexterity.
- ouvriers
- Workers or laborers; people who perform manual work.
- adroits
- Dexterous or skillful; nimble and clever with hands.
- pourtant
- However or yet; expressing contrast or contradiction.
- auxquels
- To whom or to which; relative pronoun combining 'à' and 'lesquels'.
- cachent
- Hide or conceal; third person plural of 'cacher'.
- murs
- Walls; vertical structures forming sides of a building.
- feuilles
- Leaves; flat green parts of plants and trees.
- arbres
- Trees; large perennial woody plants with trunks and branches.
- repliées
- Folded back or rolled up; bent over on themselves.
- cornets
- Small cones or cone-shaped objects made from leaves.
- écorce
- Bark; the outer protective layer of a tree trunk.
- bref
- Brief; in short; used to summarize or conclude.
- coins
- Corners or nooks; small recessed angles or areas.
- recoins
- Nooks or hidden corners; out-of-the-way small spaces.
- création
- Creation; everything that has been made; the natural world.
- gens
- People; persons or folks in a general sense.
- étonner
- To astonish or amaze; to cause great surprise.
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →