The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete — Page 9
After struggling till both were hot and flushed, each relaxed his strain with watchful caution, and Tom said:
Après s'être débattus jusqu'à être tous les deux en sueur et rouges, chacun relâcha son effort avec une prudence vigilante, et Tom dit :
"You're a coward and a pup. I'll tell my big brother on you, and he can thrash you with his little finger, and I'll make him do it, too."
« Tu es un lâche et un blanc-bec. Je le dirai à mon grand frère, et il peut te rosser avec son petit doigt, et je le ferai faire, en plus. »
"What do I care for your big brother? I've got a brother that's bigger than he is—and what's more, he can throw him over that fence, too."
« Qu'est-ce que je me soucie de ton grand frère ? J'ai un frère qui est plus grand que lui — et qui plus est, il peut le jeter par-dessus cette clôture, lui aussi. »
[Both brothers were imaginary.]
[Les deux frères étaient imaginaires.]
"That's a lie."
« C'est un mensonge. »
"_Your_ saying so don't make it so."
« Ce n'est pas parce que _tu_ le dis que c'est vrai. »
Tom drew a line in the dust with his big toe, and said:
Tom traça une ligne dans la poussière avec son gros orteil, et dit :
"I dare you to step over that, and I'll lick you till you can't stand up. Anybody that'll take a dare will steal sheep."
« Je te défie de franchir cette ligne, et je te rosserai jusqu'à ce que tu ne puisses plus tenir debout. Celui qui accepte un défi est capable de voler des moutons. »
The new boy stepped over promptly, and said:
Le nouveau garçon franchit la ligne sans hésiter, et dit :
"Now you said you'd do it, now let's see you do it."
« Tu as dit que tu le ferais, alors montre-moi ce que tu sais faire. »
"Don't you crowd me now; you better look out."
« Ne me pousse pas à bout ; tu ferais mieux de faire attention. »
"Well, you _said_ you'd do it—why don't you do it?"
« Eh bien, tu _as dit_ que tu le ferais — pourquoi tu ne le fais pas ? »
"By jingo! for two cents I _will_ do it."
« Sapristi ! pour une misère je _vais_ le faire. »
The new boy took two broad coppers out of his pocket and held them out with derision.
Le nouveau garçon sortit deux grosses pièces de cuivre de sa poche et les tendit avec dérision.
Tom struck them to the ground.
Tom les frappa et les envoya à terre.
Vocabulary
- Après
- After; following in time or order
- s'
- Reflexive pronoun; himself, herself, themselves
- être
- To be; fundamental linking verb
- débattus
- Debated or struggled; past participle of débattre
- jusqu'
- Until, up to; used before vowel sounds
- à
- To, at, in; common preposition of place or direction
- tous
- All, every; masculine plural of tout
- les
- The; definite article, plural form
- deux
- Two; the number 2
- en
- In, as, while; preposition or pronoun
- sueur
- Sweat, perspiration from physical effort
- et
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- rouges
- Red; flushed in color, plural adjective
- chacun
- Each one, everyone; indefinite pronoun
- relâcha
- Released, loosened; past tense of relâcher
- son
- His, her, its; possessive adjective singular
- effort
- Effort, exertion of physical or mental energy
- avec
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or manner
- une
- A, an; feminine indefinite article
- prudence
- Caution, care taken to avoid danger
- vigilante
- Watchful, alert, vigilant; feminine adjective
- dit
- Said; third-person singular past of dire
- Tu
- You; informal second-person singular pronoun
- es
- Are; second-person singular of être
- un
- A, an; masculine indefinite article or number one
- lâche
- Coward; someone who lacks courage
- blanc-bec
- Greenhorn, inexperienced young person without knowledge
- Je
- I; first-person singular subject pronoun
- le
- It, him; masculine singular direct object pronoun
- dirai
- Will tell; first-person future of dire
- mon
- My; masculine singular possessive adjective
- grand
- Big, great, older; adjective describing size or age
- frère
- Brother; male sibling
- il
- He, it; third-person masculine singular pronoun
- peut
- Can, is able to; third-person singular of pouvoir
- te
- You; second-person singular object pronoun
- rosser
- To thrash, beat someone soundly
- petit
- Small, little; adjective describing small size
- doigt
- Finger; digit of the hand
- je
- I; first-person singular subject pronoun
- ferai
- Will make, will do; future of faire
- faire
- To do, to make; essential infinitive verb
- plus
- More, no more; adverb of quantity or negation
- Qu'
- What, that; elided form of que before vowel
- est-ce
- Is it; inversion used in questions
- que
- That, what, which; conjunction or pronoun
- me
- Me; first-person singular object pronoun
- soucie
- Concerns, worries; from se soucier
- de
- Of, from; very common French preposition
- ton
- Your; masculine singular informal possessive adjective
- J'
- I; elided form of je before vowel
- ai
- Have; first-person singular of avoir
- qui
- Who, which; relative or interrogative pronoun
- est
- Is; third-person singular present of être
- lui
- Him, he; emphatic or indirect object pronoun
- jeter
- To throw, to toss something somewhere
- par-dessus
- Over, above; preposition indicating going beyond something
- cette
- This, that; feminine singular demonstrative adjective
- clôture
- Fence, enclosure surrounding a property or area
- aussi
- Also, too, as well; adverb of addition
- Les
- The; plural definite article for all genders
- frères
- Brothers; plural of frère, male siblings
- étaient
- Were; third-person plural imperfect of être
- imaginaires
- Imaginary, fictitious, not real or existing
- C'
- It, this; elided form of ce before est
- mensonge
- Lie, falsehood; an untrue statement
- Ce
- It, this, that; demonstrative pronoun or adjective
- n'
- Not; elided negation particle before vowel
- pas
- Not; negation particle used with ne
- parce
- Because; used in parce que construction
- _tu_
- You; emphasized second-person singular pronoun
- dis
- Say, tell; second-person singular of dire
- c'
- It, this; elided demonstrative before vowel
- vrai
- True, real; adjective meaning correct or truthful
- traça
- Drew, traced; past tense of tracer
- ligne
- Line; a mark drawn on a surface
- dans
- In, inside; preposition indicating location within
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- poussière
- Dust; fine dry powder on surfaces
- gros
- Big, fat, large; masculine adjective of size
- orteil
- Toe; digit of the foot
- défie
- Challenges, dares; from défier someone
- franchir
- To cross over, to pass beyond a boundary
- rosserai
- Will thrash; first-person future of rosser
- ce
- This, that; demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- ne
- Not; first part of French negation with pas
- puisses
- Can, be able; subjunctive of pouvoir
- tenir
- To hold, to stand; to maintain a position
- debout
- Standing upright, on one's feet
- Celui
- The one, he who; demonstrative pronoun masculine
- accepte
- Accepts; third-person singular of accepter
- défi
- Challenge, dare; a test of courage or skill
- capable
- Capable, able; having the ability to do something
- voler
- To steal or to fly; ambiguous infinitive verb
- des
- Some, of the; partitive or plural article
- moutons
- Sheep; domesticated woolly farm animals
- Le
- The; masculine singular definite article
- nouveau
- New; masculine adjective indicating novelty or newness
- garçon
- Boy; a young male person
- franchit
- Crossed; third-person singular past of franchir
- sans
- Without; preposition indicating absence of something
- hésiter
- To hesitate, to pause before acting
- as
- Have; second-person singular of avoir
- ferais
- Would do; conditional of faire
- alors
- Then, so; adverb indicating consequence or time
- montre-moi
- Show me; imperative of montrer with pronoun
- sais
- Know; first or second person of savoir
- Ne
- Not; negation particle beginning ne…pas construction
- pousse
- Push; imperative or present of pousser
- bout
- End, limit; pousser à bout means to exasperate
- mieux
- Better; comparative adverb of bien
- attention
- Attention, watch out; warning or caution
- Eh
- Hey, well; interjection to attract attention
- bien
- Well, good; adverb or adjective of quality
- _as
- Have; emphasized second-person singular of avoir
- dit_
- Said; emphasized past participle of dire
- pourquoi
- Why; interrogative adverb asking for a reason
- fais
- Do, make; second-person singular of faire
- Sapristi
- Good grief, darn it; old-fashioned French exclamation
- pour
- For, in order to; preposition of purpose
- misère
- Misery, poverty, hardship; great suffering or distress
- _vais_
- Going; emphatic first-person present of aller
- sortit
- Took out, left; past tense of sortir
- grosses
- Big, large; feminine plural adjective of size
- pièces
- Coins, pieces; units of currency or objects
- cuivre
- Copper; reddish metal used for coins
- sa
- His, her, its; feminine singular possessive adjective
- poche
- Pocket; small pouch in clothing for storage
- tendit
- Held out, extended; past tense of tendre
- dérision
- Derision, mockery; contemptuous ridicule of someone
- frappa
- Hit, struck; past tense of frapper
- envoya
- Sent, threw; past tense of envoyer
- terre
- Ground, earth; the surface of the ground
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