Piccolissima — Page 13
The look, gloomy, and a little sullen, of the fly, recalled somewhat the funny mask of a harlequin, and Piccolissima was on the point of showing how one laughs with the lips, by laughing in the fly's face, when the latter forced air slightly through the breathing holes which open under the wings;
L'air sombre et quelque peu renfrogné de la mouche rappelait un peu le masque comique d'un arlequin, et Piccolissima était sur le point de montrer comment on rit avec les lèvres, en riant au nez de la mouche, lorsque celle-ci força légèrement l'air à travers les orifices respiratoires qui s'ouvrent sous les ailes ;
the two little double scales, the winglets, which unfold at birth, began to vibrate;
les deux petites écailles doubles, les ailerons, qui se déploient à la naissance, commencèrent à vibrer ;
and Piccolissima, who just now remarked that this was the method that her new acquaintance took to emit sounds, was eager to listen to what he might say; so she made an effort to command herself, and became serious.
et Piccolissima, qui venait de remarquer que c'était ainsi que sa nouvelle connaissance s'y prenait pour émettre des sons, était impatiente d'entendre ce qu'il pourrait dire ; elle fit donc un effort pour se maîtriser et redevint sérieuse.
"Do you not see, with your dull human intelligence, that my trunk is a pump, a hollow tube, an instrument for sucking which I stretch out and draw in at my pleasure?"
« Ne voyez-vous pas, avec votre terne intelligence humaine, que ma trompe est une pompe, un tube creux, un instrument d'aspiration que j'allonge et que je rétracte à ma guise ? »
While speaking thus, the fly thrust half way out from the cavity in the middle of his head, just under his eyes, a trunk with two or three joints in it; at the end was an opening like two black lips, folded over, with grooves or little hollows.
Tout en parlant ainsi, la mouche fit sortir à demi de la cavité située au milieu de sa tête, juste sous ses yeux, une trompe articulée en deux ou trois segments ; à l'extrémité se trouvait une ouverture semblable à deux lèvres noires, repliées, avec des rainures ou de petites cavités.
The fly, thus urged to show the use of his trunk, or, more probably, forgetting the sequel of a discourse upon which he had entered in such a pompous style, flew upon the sugar, and set himself again to sucking it.
La mouche, ainsi poussée à démontrer l'usage de sa trompe, ou, plus vraisemblablement, oubliant la suite d'un discours qu'elle avait entamé sur un ton si pompeux, se posa sur le sucre et se remit à le sucer.
Piccolissima again observed the little drops fall which she had noticed before.
Piccolissima observa de nouveau tomber les petites gouttes qu'elle avait remarquées auparavant.
Vocabulary
- air
- Appearance, look, or manner of someone or something.
- sombre
- Dark, gloomy, or somber in color or mood.
- et
- And; basic conjunction connecting words or clauses.
- quelque
- Some, any, or a certain unspecified quantity.
- peu
- A little, a small amount, or not much.
- renfrogné
- Frowning, scowling, or having a sullen expression.
- de
- Of, from, or belonging to; preposition indicating possession.
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article in French.
- mouche
- Fly; small flying insect with two wings.
- rappelait
- Recalled, reminded, or called back to mind.
- un
- A, an; masculine singular indefinite article.
- le
- The; masculine singular definite article in French.
- masque
- Mask; a covering worn over the face.
- comique
- Comic, funny, or relating to comedy or humor.
- était
- Was; past tense of être in third person.
- sur
- On, upon, or about; preposition indicating position.
- point
- Point, dot, or moment; on the verge of.
- montrer
- To show, display, or demonstrate something to someone.
- comment
- How; adverb asking about manner or method.
- on
- One, you, we; indefinite pronoun used generically.
- rit
- Laughs; third person singular present of rire.
- avec
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or association.
- les
- The; plural definite article for masculine or feminine.
- lèvres
- Lips; plural of lèvre, edges of the mouth.
- en
- In, on; preposition or pronoun indicating location or transformation.
- riant
- Laughing, smiling, or cheerful in appearance or manner.
- au
- To the, at the; contraction of à and le.
- nez
- Nose; facial feature used for breathing and smelling.
- lorsque
- When; conjunction indicating a temporal relationship between events.
- celle-ci
- This one, this; feminine demonstrative pronoun referring to.
- força
- Forced, pressed, or compelled with effort or pressure.
- légèrement
- Lightly, gently, or with minimal force or pressure.
- travers
- Through, across, or by means of; via.
- orifices
- Orifices, openings, or apertures in a surface.
- respiratoires
- Respiratory; relating to breathing or the respiratory system.
- qui
- Who, which, that; relative pronoun used in clauses.
- ouvrent
- Open, they open; third person plural present of ouvrir.
- sous
- Under, beneath, or below; preposition indicating position.
- ailes
- Wings; plural of aile, appendages for flying.
- deux
- Two; number between one and three.
- petites
- Small, little, or tiny; feminine plural adjective.
- écailles
- Scales; small plates covering fish or reptile skin.
- doubles
- Double, paired, or having two parts or layers.
- ailerons
- Ailerons, small fins on aircraft or fish.
- se
- Oneself, himself, herself; reflexive pronoun used with verbs.
- déploient
- Deploy, unfold, or spread out; third person plural present.
- naissance
- Birth, beginning, or origin of something or someone.
- commencèrent
- Began, started, or commenced; past tense third person plural.
- vibrer
- To vibrate, tremble, or quiver with movement.
- venait
- Was coming, used to come; imperfect tense of venir.
- remarquer
- To notice, observe, or point out something.
- que
- That, which; relative or subordinate conjunction in French.
- ainsi
- Thus, so, in this way; adverb of manner.
- sa
- His, her, its; feminine singular possessive adjective.
- nouvelle
- New, recent, or novel; feminine singular adjective.
- connaissance
- Acquaintance, knowledge, or person one knows.
- prenait
- Was taking, used to take; imperfect tense of prendre.
- pour
- For, in order to; preposition indicating purpose or direction.
- émettre
- To emit, produce, or send out sound or signals.
- des
- Some, of the; plural indefinite or partitive article.
- sons
- Sounds, noises, or audio frequencies; plural of son.
- impatiente
- Impatient, eager, or unable to wait calmly.
- entendre
- To hear, listen, or understand something said.
- ce
- This, that; demonstrative pronoun or adjective.
- qu
- That; elided form of que before vowel sound.
- il
- He, it; masculine singular personal pronoun.
- pourrait
- Could, might; conditional tense of pouvoir.
- dire
- To say, tell, or speak words to someone.
- elle
- She, it; feminine singular personal pronoun.
- fit
- Did, made; simple past tense of faire.
- donc
- Therefore, so, thus; conjunction indicating consequence.
- effort
- Effort, attempt, or exertion of strength or energy.
- maîtriser
- To master, control, or bring under one's control.
- redevint
- Became again, returned to being; past tense of redevenir.
- sérieuse
- Serious, earnest, or grave in manner or expression.
- Ne
- Not; negative adverb used in negation.
- voyez-vous
- Do you see; polite form asking someone to observe.
- pas
- Not, step; negation or a pace or footstep.
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →