The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete — Page 4
While Tom was eating his supper, and stealing sugar as opportunity offered, Aunt Polly asked him questions that were full of guile, and very deep—for she wanted to trap him into damaging revealments.
Pendant que Tom mangeait son souper et chapardait du sucre dès que l'occasion s'en présentait, Tante Polly lui posait des questions pleines de ruse et très subtiles — car elle voulait lui faire dire des choses compromettantes.
Like many other simple-hearted souls, it was her pet vanity to believe she was endowed with a talent for dark and mysterious diplomacy, and she loved to contemplate her most transparent devices as marvels of low cunning.
Comme bien d'autres âmes simples, sa vanité favorite était de croire qu'elle était douée d'un talent pour la diplomatie sombre et mystérieuse, et elle aimait contempler ses stratagèmes les plus transparents comme des merveilles de ruse subtile.
Said she:
Elle dit :
"Tom, it was middling warm in school, warn't it?"
« Tom, il faisait assez chaud à l'école, n'est-ce pas ? »
"Yes'm."
« Oui, m'dame. »
"Powerful warm, warn't it?"
« Vraiment très chaud, n'est-ce pas ? »
"Yes'm."
« Oui, m'dame. »
"Didn't you want to go in a-swimming, Tom?"
« Tu n'avais pas envie d'aller te baigner, Tom ? »
A bit of a scare shot through Tom—a touch of uncomfortable suspicion.
Une légère frayeur traversa Tom — un sentiment de suspicion inconfortable.
He searched Aunt Polly's face, but it told him nothing.
Il scruta le visage de Tante Polly, mais celui-ci ne lui révéla rien.
So he said:
Alors il dit :
"No'm—well, not very much."
« Non, m'dame — enfin, pas vraiment. »
The old lady reached out her hand and felt Tom's shirt, and said:
La vieille dame tendit la main et tâta la chemise de Tom, puis dit :
"But you ain't too warm now, though."
« Mais tu n'as pas trop chaud maintenant, quand même. »
And it flattered her to reflect that she had discovered that the shirt was dry without anybody knowing that that was what she had in her mind.
Et elle se sentit flattée de penser qu'elle avait découvert que la chemise était sèche sans que personne sache que c'était ce qu'elle avait en tête.
But in spite of her, Tom knew where the wind lay, now.
Mais malgré elle, Tom savait maintenant d'où venait le vent.
So he forestalled what might be the next move:
Alors il devança ce qui pourrait être le prochain coup :
"Some of us pumped on our heads—mine's damp yet. See?"
« Quelques-uns d'entre nous se sont arrosé la tête à la pompe — la mienne est encore humide. Vous voyez ? »
Aunt Polly was vexed to think she had overlooked that bit of circumstantial evidence, and missed a trick.
Tante Polly était contrariée de penser qu'elle avait négligé ce petit indice circonstanciel et laissé passer sa chance.
Vocabulary
- Pendant
- During; while something else is happening
- que
- That; which; as; conjunction linking clauses
- mangeait
- Was eating; imperfect tense of manger
- son
- His; her; its; possessive adjective
- souper
- Supper; evening meal eaten late
- et
- And; coordinating conjunction
- chapardait
- Was pilfering; sneakily stealing small items
- du
- Some; partitive article for masculine nouns
- sucre
- Sugar; sweet crystalline food substance
- dès
- As soon as; from the moment of
- l'
- The; contracted definite article before vowel
- occasion
- Opportunity; favorable moment to do something
- s'en
- Reflexive pronoun combined with en particle
- présentait
- Was presenting itself; arose as opportunity
- Tante
- Aunt; female relative, parent's sister
- lui
- Him; her; indirect object pronoun
- posait
- Was asking; was posing questions to someone
- des
- Some; indefinite article for plural nouns
- questions
- Questions; inquiries asked to obtain information
- pleines
- Full of; filled with a quality
- de
- Of; from; preposition with many uses
- ruse
- Cunning; clever trickery or deception
- très
- Very; adverb intensifying adjectives and adverbs
- subtiles
- Subtle; delicate and not immediately obvious
- car
- Because; for; coordinating causal conjunction
- elle
- She; third-person singular feminine pronoun
- voulait
- Wanted; imperfect tense of vouloir
- faire
- To make; to do; infinitive verb
- dire
- To say; to tell; infinitive verb
- choses
- Things; objects or matters in general
- compromettantes
- Compromising; revealing or damaging to reputation
- Comme
- Like; as; just as comparison conjunction
- bien
- Well; good; adverb of manner
- d'autres
- Others; other people or things
- âmes
- Souls; persons considered spiritually or simply
- simples
- Simple; uncomplicated, naive people or things
- sa
- His; her; possessive adjective feminine singular
- vanité
- Vanity; excessive pride in oneself
- favorite
- Favorite; most preferred or cherished trait
- était
- Was; imperfect tense of être
- croire
- To believe; to think something is true
- douée
- Gifted; talented in a particular skill
- un
- A; an; indefinite article masculine singular
- talent
- Talent; natural ability or skill
- pour
- For; in order to; preposition
- la
- The; definite article feminine singular
- diplomatie
- Diplomacy; skill in handling situations tactfully
- sombre
- Dark; gloomy; somber in character
- mystérieuse
- Mysterious; secretive and difficult to understand
- aimait
- Loved; liked; imperfect tense of aimer
- contempler
- To contemplate; to gaze at admiringly
- ses
- Her; his; its; possessive adjective plural
- stratagèmes
- Stratagems; clever plans or schemes
- les
- The; definite article plural form
- plus
- Most; more; superlative or comparative adverb
- transparents
- Transparent; obvious and easy to see through
- merveilles
- Marvels; wonderful or astonishing things
- subtile
- Subtle; delicate and cleverly understated
- Elle
- She; third-person feminine singular pronoun
- dit
- Said; past tense of dire
- il
- He; it; third-person masculine singular pronoun
- faisait
- Was making; was doing; imperfect of faire
- assez
- Quite; enough; fairly; degree adverb
- chaud
- Hot; warm; describing temperature
- à
- At; to; in; common French preposition
- école
- School; educational institution for students
- n'est-ce pas
- Isn't it; right; tag question phrase
- Oui
- Yes; affirmative response word
- m'dame
- Ma'am; informal contraction of madame
- Vraiment
- Really; truly; indeed; emphasis adverb
- Tu
- You; informal second-person singular pronoun
- avais
- Had; imperfect tense of avoir
- envie
- Desire; urge; wanting to do something
- aller
- To go; infinitive of motion verb
- te
- You; yourself; reflexive or object pronoun
- baigner
- To bathe; to swim; to dip in water
- Une
- A; an; indefinite article feminine singular
- légère
- Slight; light; mild in degree
- frayeur
- Fright; sudden fear or alarm
- traversa
- Crossed through; passed through quickly
- sentiment
- Feeling; emotion experienced internally
- suspicion
- Suspicion; feeling that something wrong occurred
- inconfortable
- Uncomfortable; causing unease or discomfort
- Il
- He; it; third-person masculine singular pronoun
- scruta
- Scrutinized; examined closely and carefully
- le
- The; definite article masculine singular
- visage
- Face; the front part of the head
- mais
- But; however; coordinating adversative conjunction
- celui-ci
- This one; this particular one nearby
- ne
- Not; negation particle used with pas
- révéla
- Revealed; disclosed previously hidden information
- rien
- Nothing; not anything; negation word
- Alors
- Then; so; well; discourse connective word
- Non
- No; negative response word
- enfin
- Finally; well; at last; discourse marker
- vraiment
- Really; truly; sincerely; intensifying adverb
- La
- The; definite article feminine singular
- vieille
- Old woman; elderly female person
- tendit
- Stretched out; extended toward something
- main
- Hand; body part at end of arm
- tâta
- Felt; touched to check by hand
- chemise
- Shirt; garment worn on the upper body
- puis
- Then; next; afterward in sequence
- Mais
- But; however; adversative conjunction
- tu
- You; informal second-person singular pronoun
- as
- Have; second-person present of avoir
- trop
- Too much; excessively; degree adverb
- maintenant
- Now; at the present moment
- quand
- When; at what time; conjunction
- même
- Even; same; self; emphasis word
- Et
- And; coordinating conjunction
- se
- Himself; herself; reflexive pronoun
- sentit
- Felt; sensed; past tense of sentir
- flattée
- Flattered; pleased by praise or attention
- penser
- To think; to believe; infinitive verb
- avait
- Had; third-person imperfect of avoir
- découvert
- Discovered; uncovered; found something hidden
- sèche
- Dry; lacking moisture; adjective
- sans
- Without; lacking; preposition
- personne
- Nobody; no one; negative pronoun
- sache
- Knows; present subjunctive of savoir
- c'est
- It is; this is; common expression
- ce
- This; that; demonstrative pronoun or adjective
- tête
- Head; the top part of the body
- malgré
- Despite; in spite of; preposition
- savait
- Knew; imperfect tense of savoir
- où
- Where; from where; relative pronoun
- venait
- Was coming; imperfect tense of venir
- vent
- Wind; moving air; noun
- devança
- Got ahead of; anticipated before others
- qui
- Who; which; relative or interrogative pronoun
- pourrait
- Could; conditional tense of pouvoir
- être
- To be; infinitive of fundamental French verb
- prochain
- Next; upcoming; following in sequence
- coup
- Move; blow; action; a strategic step
- Quelques-uns
- Some; a few of them; indefinite pronoun
- entre
- Among; between; preposition
- nous
- We; us; first-person plural pronoun
- sont
- Are; third-person plural present of être
- arrosé
- Watered; sprinkled with water
- pompe
- Pump; device for moving water
- mienne
- Mine; first-person feminine possessive pronoun
- encore
- Still; yet; again; adverb
- humide
- Damp; wet; moist to the touch
- Vous
- You; formal or plural second-person pronoun
- voyez
- See; you see; present tense of voir
- contrariée
- Annoyed; upset by something going wrong
- négligé
- Neglected; overlooked; failed to notice
- petit
- Small; little; adjective of size
- indice
- Clue; hint; piece of evidence
- circonstanciel
- Circumstantial; based on indirect evidence
- laissé
- Left; allowed; past participle of laisser
- passer
- To pass; to let go; to miss
- chance
- Chance; luck; opportunity presented to someone
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