The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete — Page 3
I'm a laying up sin and suffering for us both, I know.
J'accumule péchés et souffrances pour nous deux, je le sais.
He's full of the Old Scratch, but laws-a-me! he's my own dead sister's boy, poor thing, and I ain't got the heart to lash him, somehow.
Il est possédé du diable, mais bonté divine ! c'est le fils de ma pauvre sœur défunte, et je n'ai pas le cœur de le fouetter, allez.
Every time I let him off, my conscience does hurt me so, and every time I hit him my old heart most breaks.
Chaque fois que je lui pardonne, ma conscience me tourmente, et chaque fois que je le frappe, mon vieux cœur se brise presque.
Well-a-well, man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble, as the Scripture says, and I reckon it's so.
Eh bien, l'homme né de la femme est de peu de jours et rassasié de troubles, comme dit l'Écriture, et je crois que c'est vrai.
He'll play hookey this evening,[*] and I'll just be obleeged to make him work, tomorrow, to punish him.
Il va faire l'école buissonnière cet après-midi,[*] et je serai bien obligée de le faire travailler demain, pour le punir.
It's mighty hard to make him work Saturdays, when all the boys is having holiday, but he hates work more than he hates anything else, and I've got to do some of my duty by him, or I'll be the ruination of the child.
C'est bien dur de le faire travailler le samedi, quand tous les garçons sont en vacances, mais il déteste le travail plus que tout, et je dois faire mon devoir envers lui, sinon je causerai sa perte.
[*] Southwestern for "afternoon"
[*] Dans le dialecte du Sud-Ouest, désigne l'« après-midi »
Tom did play hookey, and he had a very good time.
Tom fit effectivement l'école buissonnière, et il s'amusa fort bien.
He got back home barely in season to help Jim, the small colored boy, saw next-day's wood and split the kindlings before supper—at least he was there in time to tell his adventures to Jim while Jim did three-fourths of the work.
Il rentra à la maison tout juste à temps pour aider Jim, le petit garçon noir, à scier le bois du lendemain et à fendre le petit bois avant le souper — du moins était-il là à temps pour raconter ses aventures à Jim pendant que Jim faisait les trois quarts du travail.
Tom's younger brother (or rather half-brother) Sid was already through with his part of the work (picking up chips), for he was a quiet boy, and had no adventurous, trouble-some ways.
Le frère cadet de Tom (ou plutôt son demi-frère) Sid avait déjà terminé sa part du travail (ramasser les copeaux), car c'était un garçon tranquille, sans manières aventureuses ni turbulentes.
Vocabulary
- accumule
- To accumulate, gather, or pile up
- péchés
- Sins or moral wrongdoings
- souffrances
- Sufferings or painful experiences
- sais
- Know, first person singular of savoir
- possédé
- Possessed, controlled by an evil force
- diable
- The devil or a mischievous person
- bonté
- Goodness or kindness of character
- divine
- Divine, relating to God or heavenly
- fils
- Son, a male child of a parent
- pauvre
- Poor, unfortunate, or lacking resources
- sœur
- Sister, a female sibling
- défunte
- Deceased, referring to a dead female person
- cœur
- Heart, organ or center of emotion
- fouetter
- To whip or flog someone as punishment
- Chaque
- Each or every, distributive adjective
- fois
- Time or instance of an occurrence
- pardonne
- To forgive or pardon someone's wrongdoing
- conscience
- Conscience, inner sense of right and wrong
- tourmente
- To torment or cause great distress
- frappe
- To hit, strike, or knock someone
- vieux
- Old, elderly, or aged masculine adjective
- brise
- To break or shatter into pieces
- presque
- Almost or nearly, adverb of approximation
- Eh
- Hey or well, interjection expressing surprise
- né
- Born, past participle of naître
- peu
- Few or little, indicating small quantity
- jours
- Days, plural of jour meaning day
- rassasié
- Satiated, fully satisfied especially with food
- troubles
- Troubles, disorders, or disturbances
- Écriture
- Scripture, sacred religious writings or Bible
- crois
- Believe, first person singular of croire
- vrai
- True or real, adjective indicating truth
- école
- School, an institution for learning
- buissonnière
- Relating to truancy; faire l'école buissonnière means playing hooky
- après
- After or afterwards, preposition of time
- midi
- Noon or midday, twelve o'clock
- serai
- Will be, first person future of être
- obligée
- Obliged or forced to do something
- travailler
- To work or labor at a task
- demain
- Tomorrow, the day after today
- punir
- To punish someone for wrongdoing
- dur
- Hard, difficult, or tough
- samedi
- Saturday, the seventh day of the week
- quand
- When, conjunction or adverb of time
- tous
- All or every, masculine plural of tout
- garçons
- Boys or young males, plural of garçon
- vacances
- Vacation or holidays, time off from work
- déteste
- To detest or strongly dislike something
- travail
- Work or labor, a job or task
- tout
- All or everything, general indefinite pronoun
- dois
- Must or owe, first person of devoir
- devoir
- Duty or obligation; also to must or owe
- envers
- Toward or with regard to someone
- sinon
- Otherwise or if not, conditional conjunction
- causerai
- Will cause, first person future of causer
- perte
- Loss or ruin, destruction of something valued
- dialecte
- Dialect, regional variety of a language
- Sud
- South, cardinal direction
- Ouest
- West, cardinal direction
- désigne
- To designate or refer to something
- fit
- Did, third person singular passé simple of faire
- effectivement
- Indeed or effectively, confirming something is true
- amusa
- Had fun, third person passé simple of amuser
- fort
- Strongly or very much, adverb of intensity
- rentra
- Returned home, third person passé simple of rentrer
- maison
- House or home, where one lives
- juste
- Just, exactly, or fair in timing or judgment
- temps
- Time or weather, common noun
- aider
- To help or assist someone
- noir
- Black, masculine adjective of color
- scier
- To saw wood or cut with a saw
- bois
- Wood or forest, common noun
- lendemain
- The next day or the day after
- fendre
- To split or cleave wood apart
- avant
- Before, preposition or adverb of time
- souper
- Supper or dinner, the evening meal
- moins
- Less or minus, comparative adverb
- était
- Was, third person singular imperfect of être
- raconter
- To tell or narrate a story
- aventures
- Adventures or exciting experiences
- pendant
- During or while, preposition of time
- faisait
- Was doing, third person imperfect of faire
- quarts
- Quarters or three-quarters of something
- frère
- Brother, a male sibling
- cadet
- Younger sibling or junior in a family
- plutôt
- Rather or instead, adverb of preference
- demi
- Half, indicating partial relation
- avait
- Had, third person singular imperfect of avoir
- déjà
- Already or yet, adverb of time
- terminé
- Finished or completed a task
- part
- Share or part allocated to someone
- ramasser
- To pick up or collect things from ground
- copeaux
- Wood shavings or chips from sawing
- car
- Because or for, causal conjunction
- tranquille
- Quiet, calm, or peaceful in nature
- sans
- Without, preposition indicating absence
- manières
- Manners or ways of behaving socially
- aventureuses
- Adventurous, fond of adventure, feminine plural
- ni
- Nor, negative conjunction linking alternatives
- turbulentes
- Turbulent or rowdy, unruly in behavior
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