← The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete — Page 2

English → Fr CHAPTER I Level 5/10

"Nothing! Look at your hands. And look at your mouth. What _is_ that truck?"

"Rien ! Regarde tes mains. Et regarde ta bouche. Qu'est-ce que c'est que cette _saleté_ ?"

"I don't know, aunt."

"Je ne sais pas, tante."

"Well, I know. It's jam—that's what it is. Forty times I've said if you didn't let that jam alone I'd skin you. Hand me that switch."

"Eh bien, moi je sais. C'est de la confiture — voilà ce que c'est. Je t'ai dit quarante fois que si tu ne laissais pas cette confiture tranquille, je t'écorcherais vif. Passe-moi cette baguette."

The switch hovered in the air—the peril was desperate—

La baguette se leva dans les airs — le péril était extrême —

"My! Look behind you, aunt!"

"Oh ! Regarde derrière toi, tante !"

The old lady whirled round, and snatched her skirts out of danger.

La vieille dame fit volte-face et tira vivement ses jupes hors de danger.

The lad fled on the instant, scrambled up the high board-fence, and disappeared over it.

Le garçon prit la fuite aussitôt, escalada la haute palissade en planches et disparut de l'autre côté.

His aunt Polly stood surprised a moment, and then broke into a gentle laugh.

Sa tante Polly demeura un instant interdite, puis éclata d'un doux rire.

"Hang the boy, can't I never learn anything? Ain't he played me tricks enough like that for me to be looking out for him by this time? But old fools is the biggest fools there is. Can't learn an old dog new tricks, as the saying is. But my goodness, he never plays them alike, two days, and how is a body to know what's coming? He 'pears to know just how long he can torment me before I get my dander up, and he knows if he can make out to put me off for a minute or make me laugh, it's all down again and I can't hit him a lick. I ain't doing my duty by that boy, and that's the Lord's truth, goodness knows. Spare the rod and spile the child, as the Good Book says.

"Maudit gamin, ne suis-je donc pas capable d'apprendre quoi que ce soit ? Ne m'a-t-il pas joué assez de tours pareils pour que je me méfie de lui à présent ? Mais les vieux fous sont les plus grands fols qui soient. On n'apprend pas à un vieux singe à faire la grimace, comme dit le proverbe. Mais mon Dieu, il ne les fait jamais de la même façon deux jours de suite, et comment voulez-vous qu'on sache ce qui va arriver ? On dirait qu'il sait exactement combien de temps il peut me tourmenter avant que je me mette en colère, et il sait que s'il réussit à me distraire une minute ou à me faire rire, tout retombe et je ne peux plus lui donner une tape. Je ne fais pas mon devoir envers ce garçon, c'est la pure vérité, Dieu le sait. Qui aime bien châtie bien, comme dit le Bon Livre.

Vocabulary

Rien: Nothing; not anything at all.
Regarde: Look; imperative form of regarder.
tes: Your; plural possessive adjective (informal).
mains: Hands; plural of main.
Et: And; basic coordinating conjunction.
regarde: Look; imperative or present tense of regarder.
ta: Your; singular feminine possessive adjective (informal).
bouche: Mouth; the opening used for eating and speaking.
Qu': What/that; contraction of que before vowel.
est: Is; third-person singular of être.
ce: This/that; demonstrative pronoun or adjective.
que: That/what; subordinating conjunction or pronoun.
c': It/this; contraction of ce before est.
cette: This; feminine singular demonstrative adjective.
_saleté_: Filth; dirt or disgusting mess.
Je: I; first-person singular subject pronoun.
ne: Not; first part of French negation.
sais: Know; first-person singular of savoir.
pas: Not; second part of French negation.
tante: Aunt; a parent's sister.
Eh: Hey/well; interjection expressing emphasis or surprise.
bien: Well; adverb indicating manner or emphasis.
moi: Me/I; emphatic or stressed first-person pronoun.
je: I; first-person singular subject pronoun.
C': It/this; contraction of ce before vowel.
de: Of/from; very common French preposition.
la: The; feminine singular definite article.
confiture: Jam; sweet fruit preserve spread on bread.
voilà: There it is; expression pointing something out.
t': You; contraction of te before vowel.
ai: Have; first-person singular of avoir.
dit: Said/told; past participle of dire.
quarante: Forty; the cardinal number 40.
fois: Times; occurrences of a repeated action.
si: If/so; conditional conjunction or intensifier.
tu: You; informal second-person singular pronoun.
laissais: Were leaving alone; imperfect of laisser.
tranquille: Alone/calm; at peace, undisturbed.
vif: Alive/raw; lively or sharp.
Passe: Pass/hand over; imperative of passer.
baguette: Switch/wand; thin rod or French bread loaf.
La: The; feminine singular definite article.
se: Himself/herself/itself; reflexive pronoun.
leva: Rose/lifted; simple past of lever.
dans: In/into; preposition indicating location or time.
les: The; plural definite article.
airs: Air/airs; atmosphere, or upward direction.
le: The; masculine singular definite article.
péril: Peril; serious danger or risk.
était: Was; imperfect tense of être.
extrême: Extreme; very great in degree or intensity.
Oh: Oh; interjection expressing surprise or emotion.
derrière: Behind; preposition indicating position at the back.
toi: You; emphatic second-person singular pronoun.
vieille: Old; feminine adjective describing an older person.
dame: Lady; polite term for a woman.
fit: Did/made; simple past of faire.
volte-face: About-turn; complete reversal of direction or opinion.
et: And; coordinating conjunction.
tira: Pulled; simple past of tirer.
vivement: Quickly/sharply; in a lively or brisk manner.
ses: His/her/its; plural possessive adjective.
jupes: Skirts; plural of jupe.
hors: Out of/outside; preposition indicating exclusion.
danger: Danger; risk of harm or injury.
Le: The; masculine singular definite article.
garçon: Boy; a male child or young man.
prit: Took; simple past of prendre.
fuite: Flight/escape; act of running away.
aussitôt: Immediately; right away without delay.
escalada: Climbed; simple past of escalader.
haute: High/tall; feminine adjective describing great height.
palissade: Fence/palisade; a wall made of wooden stakes.
en: In/made of; preposition with multiple uses.
planches: Planks/boards; flat pieces of wood.
disparut: Disappeared; simple past of disparaître.
l': The; contracted definite article before vowel.
autre: Other; different or additional person or thing.
côté: Side; one of two or more faces or directions.
Sa: His/her/its; singular feminine possessive adjective.
demeura: Remained/stayed; simple past of demeurer.
un: A/one; masculine indefinite article or numeral.
instant: Instant/moment; a very brief period of time.
interdite: Dumbfounded; speechless or taken aback.
puis: Then; indicating what comes next in sequence.
éclata: Burst out; simple past of éclater.
d': Of/from; contracted preposition de before vowel.
doux: Sweet/gentle/soft; mild and pleasant in nature.
rire: Laughter/to laugh; the act of laughing.
Maudit: Cursed/wretched; exclamation of frustration about someone.
gamin: Brat/kid; a mischievous or naughty boy.
suis: Am; first-person singular of être.
donc: So/therefore; conjunction indicating logical consequence.
capable: Capable; able to do something successfully.
apprendre: To learn/teach; to acquire or impart knowledge.
quoi: What; interrogative or relative pronoun.
soit: Whatever/be; subjunctive of être.
Ne: Not; first element of French negation.
m': Me; contracted first-person object pronoun.
a: Has; third-person singular of avoir.
il: He/it; third-person masculine singular pronoun.
joué: Played; past participle of jouer.
assez: Enough/quite; sufficient in quantity or degree.
tours: Tricks/turns; mischievous or clever acts.
pareils: Such/similar; of the same kind or nature.
pour: For/in order to; preposition indicating purpose.
me: Me; first-person singular object pronoun.
méfie: Distrust; present of se méfier, to be wary.
lui: Him/her; third-person singular indirect pronoun.
à: To/at/in; very common French preposition.
présent: Now/present; at this moment in time.
Mais: But; coordinating conjunction showing contrast.
vieux: Old; masculine adjective describing age.
fous: Fools/crazy; plural of fou, mad person.
sont: Are; third-person plural of être.
plus: More/most; comparative or superlative adverb.
grands: Greatest/biggest; plural masculine of grand.
qui: Who/that; relative or interrogative pronoun.
soient: Be; subjunctive plural of être.
On: One/we/they; impersonal subject pronoun.
n': Not; contracted first part of negation.
apprend: Teaches/learns; third-person singular of apprendre.
singe: Monkey/ape; a primate animal.
faire: To do/make; very common French infinitive.
grimace: Grimace; a contorted facial expression.
comme: Like/as; conjunction or preposition of comparison.
proverbe: Proverb; a short traditional saying expressing wisdom.
mon: My; masculine singular possessive adjective.
Dieu: God; the supreme divine being.
fait: Does/makes; third-person singular of faire.
jamais: Never/ever; temporal adverb of negation.
même: Same/even; indicating similarity or emphasis.
façon: Way/manner; the style in which something is done.
deux: Two; the cardinal number 2.
jours: Days; plural of jour, a 24-hour period.
suite: Row/sequence; in de suite means in a row.
comment: How; interrogative adverb of manner.
voulez: Want; second-person plural of vouloir.
vous: You; formal or plural second-person pronoun.
qu': That/what; contraction of que before vowel.
on: One/we; impersonal subject pronoun.
sache: Know; subjunctive of savoir.
va: Goes/is going; third-person singular of aller.
arriver: To happen/arrive; to come or occur.
dirait: Would say; conditional of dire.
sait: Knows; third-person singular of savoir.
exactement: Exactly; precisely, without error or deviation.
combien: How much/many; interrogative of quantity.
temps: Time/weather; duration or atmospheric conditions.
peut: Can/may; third-person singular of pouvoir.
tourmenter: To torment; to cause persistent distress or annoyance.
avant: Before; preposition or adverb of time.
mette: Put/get; subjunctive of mettre.
colère: Anger; a strong feeling of displeasure.
s': Himself/herself; contracted reflexive pronoun.
réussit: Succeeds/succeeded; third-person singular of réussir.
distraire: To distract; to divert attention away from something.
une: A/one; feminine indefinite article or numeral.
minute: Minute; a unit of time equal to 60 seconds.
ou: Or; coordinating conjunction presenting alternatives.
tout: Everything/all; pronoun or adjective of totality.
retombe: Falls back; third-person singular of retomber.
peux: Can; first-person singular of pouvoir.
donner: To give; to hand something to someone.
tape: Slap/smack; a light hit with the hand.
fais: Do/make; first-person singular of faire.
devoir: Duty; an obligation or moral responsibility.
envers: Toward/regarding; preposition of attitude or relation.
pure: Pure; unmixed, unadulterated, genuine.
vérité: Truth; that which is true or factual.
Qui: Who/whoever; relative or interrogative pronoun.
aime: Loves; third-person singular of aimer.
châtie: Chastises; third-person singular of châtier.
Bon: Good; adjective expressing quality or approval.
Livre: Book; a written or printed literary work.

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