The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete — Page 8
I could lick you with one hand tied behind me, if I wanted to."
Je pourrais t'avoir avec une main attachée dans le dos, si je le voulais."
"Well why don't you _do_ it? You _say_ you can do it."
"Alors pourquoi tu ne le _fais_ pas ? Tu _dis_ que tu peux le faire."
"Well I _will_, if you fool with me."
"Eh bien je le _ferai_, si tu te moques de moi."
"Oh yes—I've seen whole families in the same fix."
"Oh oui — j'ai vu des familles entières dans le même pétrin."
"Smarty! You think you're _some_, now, _don't_ you? Oh, what a hat!"
"Petit malin ! Tu te crois _quelqu'un_, maintenant, _n'est-ce pas_ ? Oh, quel chapeau !"
"You can lump that hat if you don't like it. I dare you to knock it off—and anybody that'll take a dare will suck eggs."
"Tu peux faire la grimace pour ce chapeau si tu ne l'aimes pas. Je te défie de le faire tomber — et quiconque relève un défi est un lâche."
"You're a liar!"
"Tu mens !"
"You're another."
"Toi aussi."
"You're a fighting liar and dasn't take it up."
"Tu es un menteur bagarreur et tu n'oses pas l'admettre."
"Aw—take a walk!"
"Allez — va te promener !"
"Say—if you give me much more of your sass I'll take and bounce a rock off'n your head."
"Dis donc — si tu continues à m'insolenter comme ça, je vais te lancer une pierre sur la tête."
"Oh, of _course_ you will."
"Oh, bien _sûr_ que tu le feras."
"Well I _will_."
"Eh bien je le _ferai_."
"Well why don't you _do_ it then? What do you keep _saying_ you will for? Why don't you _do_ it? It's because you're afraid."
"Alors pourquoi tu ne le _fais_ pas ? Pourquoi tu continues à _dire_ que tu le feras ? Pourquoi tu ne le _fais_ pas ? C'est parce que tu as peur."
"I _ain't_ afraid."
"Je n'ai _pas_ peur."
"You are."
"Si, tu as peur."
"I ain't."
"Non, pas du tout."
"You are."
"Si, tu as peur."
Another pause, and more eying and sidling around each other.
Un autre silence, et ils continuèrent à se toiser et à se contourner l'un l'autre.
Presently they were shoulder to shoulder.
Bientôt ils se retrouvèrent épaule contre épaule.
Tom said:
Tom dit :
"Get away from here!"
"Dégage d'ici !"
"Go away yourself!"
"Va-t'en toi-même !"
"I won't."
"Je ne partirai pas."
"I won't either."
"Moi non plus."
So they stood, each with a foot placed at an angle as a brace, and both shoving with might and main, and glowering at each other with hate.
Ils se tinrent ainsi, chacun avec un pied placé en angle comme appui, poussant tous les deux de toutes leurs forces, et se lançant des regards haineux.
But neither could get an advantage.
Mais aucun des deux ne put prendre l'avantage.
Vocabulary
- pourrais
- Conditional form of 'pouvoir', meaning 'could'
- avoir
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to have'
- main
- Noun meaning 'hand', part of the body
- attachée
- Past participle of 'attacher', meaning 'tied' or 'bound'
- dos
- Noun meaning 'back', referring to the rear of the body
- voulais
- Imperfect form of 'vouloir', meaning 'wanted'
- _fais_
- Emphatic form of 'faire', meaning 'do' or 'make'
- _dis_
- Emphatic present tense of 'dire', meaning 'say'
- peux
- First or second person present of 'pouvoir', meaning 'can'
- faire
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to do' or 'to make'
- _ferai_
- Emphatic future tense of 'faire', meaning 'will do'
- moques
- Present tense of 'se moquer', meaning 'mock' or 'make fun'
- vu
- Past participle of 'voir', meaning 'seen'
- familles
- Plural noun meaning 'families'
- entières
- Feminine plural adjective meaning 'entire' or 'whole'
- même
- Adjective or adverb meaning 'same' or 'even'
- pétrin
- Noun meaning 'trouble' or 'mess', colloquially a tight spot
- malin
- Adjective meaning 'clever' or 'cunning', sometimes ironic
- crois
- Present tense of 'croire', meaning 'believe' or 'think'
- _quelqu'un_
- Emphatic indefinite pronoun meaning 'someone' or 'somebody'
- _n'est-ce
- Part of 'n'est-ce pas', a tag question meaning 'isn't it'
- quel
- Interrogative or exclamatory adjective meaning 'what' or 'which'
- chapeau
- Noun meaning 'hat'; exclamation expressing admiration or kudos
- grimace
- Noun meaning 'grimace' or 'funny face', an expression of discomfort
- aimes
- Second person singular present of 'aimer', meaning 'like' or 'love'
- défie
- Present tense of 'défier', meaning 'challenge' or 'dare'
- tomber
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to fall'
- quiconque
- Indefinite pronoun meaning 'whoever' or 'anyone who'
- relève
- Present tense of 'relever', meaning 'takes up' or 'accepts a challenge'
- défi
- Noun meaning 'challenge' or 'dare'
- lâche
- Adjective or noun meaning 'coward' or 'cowardly'
- mens
- Second person singular present of 'mentir', meaning 'lie'
- menteur
- Noun meaning 'liar', one who tells lies
- bagarreur
- Noun or adjective meaning 'fighter' or 'brawler', aggressive person
- oses
- Second person singular present of 'oser', meaning 'dare'
- admettre
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to admit' or 'to acknowledge'
- promener
- Infinitive meaning 'to walk'; 'va te promener' means 'go away'
- Dis
- Imperative of 'dire', meaning 'say' or 'tell'; 'dis donc' means 'hey'
- continues
- Second person singular present of 'continuer', meaning 'continue'
- insolenter
- Verb meaning 'to be insolent to' or 'to insult'
- lancer
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to throw' or 'to launch'
- pierre
- Noun meaning 'stone' or 'rock'
- tête
- Noun meaning 'head', the top part of the body
- _sûr_
- Emphatic adjective meaning 'sure' or 'certain'
- feras
- Second person singular future of 'faire', meaning 'will do'
- _dire_
- Emphatic infinitive of 'dire', meaning 'to say' or 'to tell'
- peur
- Noun meaning 'fear'; 'avoir peur' means 'to be afraid'
- Si
- Conjunction meaning 'if'; also affirms a negative statement, 'yes'
- silence
- Noun meaning 'silence', the absence of sound
- continuèrent
- Simple past of 'continuer', meaning 'continued'
- toiser
- Infinitive meaning 'to eye up' or 'to look someone up and down'
- contourner
- Infinitive meaning 'to go around' or 'to circle around'
- Bientôt
- Adverb meaning 'soon' or 'shortly'
- retrouvèrent
- Simple past of 'retrouver', meaning 'found themselves' or 'met again'
- épaule
- Noun meaning 'shoulder', part of the upper body
- contre
- Preposition meaning 'against' or 'next to'
- Dégage
- Imperative of 'dégager', meaning 'get out' or 'clear off'
- Va-t'
- Imperative form of 'aller' with reflexive, part of 'va-t'en', 'go away'
- toi-même
- Reflexive stressed pronoun meaning 'yourself'
- partirai
- First person singular future of 'partir', meaning 'will leave'
- tinrent
- Simple past of 'tenir', meaning 'held' their position
- ainsi
- Adverb meaning 'thus', 'so', or 'in this way'
- chacun
- Indefinite pronoun meaning 'each one' or 'each person'
- pied
- Noun meaning 'foot', the lower part of the leg
- placé
- Past participle of 'placer', meaning 'placed' or 'positioned'
- angle
- Noun meaning 'angle' or 'corner', a geometric or positional term
- appui
- Noun meaning 'support' or 'prop', something to lean on
- poussant
- Present participle of 'pousser', meaning 'pushing'
- forces
- Plural noun meaning 'strength' or 'forces'
- lançant
- Present participle of 'lancer', meaning 'throwing' or 'casting'
- regards
- Plural noun meaning 'looks' or 'glances'
- haineux
- Adjective meaning 'hateful' or 'full of hatred'
- aucun
- Indefinite adjective or pronoun meaning 'none' or 'neither'
- put
- Third person singular simple past of 'pouvoir', meaning 'could'
- prendre
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to take' or 'to gain'
- avantage
- Noun meaning 'advantage' or 'upper hand'
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