The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete — Page 3
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Jim was only human—this attraction was too much for him.
Jim n'était qu'un homme — cette tentation était trop forte pour lui.
He put down his pail, took the white alley, and bent over the toe with absorbing interest while the bandage was being unwound.
Il posa son seau, prit la bille blanche, et se pencha sur l'orteil avec un intérêt absorbant pendant qu'on déroulait le bandage.
In another moment he was flying down the street with his pail and a tingling rear, Tom was whitewashing with vigor, and Aunt Polly was retiring from the field with a slipper in her hand and triumph in her eye.
Un instant plus tard, il dévalait la rue avec son seau et les fesses cuisantes, Tom badigeonnait avec vigueur, et Tante Polly quittait le champ de bataille, une pantoufle à la main et le triomphe dans les yeux.
But Tom's energy did not last.
Mais l'énergie de Tom ne dura pas.
He began to think of the fun he had planned for this day, and his sorrows multiplied.
Il commença à penser aux amusements qu'il avait prévus pour cette journée, et ses chagrins se multiplièrent.
Soon the free boys would come tripping along on all sorts of delicious expeditions, and they would make a world of fun of him for having to work—the very thought of it burnt him like fire.
Bientôt les garçons libres passeraient en gambadant pour toutes sortes d'expéditions délicieuses, et ils se moqueraient énormément de lui parce qu'il devait travailler — rien que cette pensée le brûlait comme un feu.
He got out his worldly wealth and examined it—bits of toys, marbles, and trash; enough to buy an exchange of _work_, maybe, but not half enough to buy so much as half an hour of pure freedom.
Il sortit toute sa fortune et l'examina — des bouts de jouets, des billes et des babioles ; de quoi acheter peut-être un échange de _travail_, mais pas la moitié de ce qu'il fallait pour acheter ne serait-ce qu'une demi-heure de pure liberté.
So he returned his straitened means to his pocket, and gave up the idea of trying to buy the boys.
Il remit donc ses maigres ressources dans sa poche et abandonna l'idée d'essayer d'acheter les garçons.
At this dark and hopeless moment an inspiration burst upon him!
À ce moment sombre et désespéré, une inspiration lui vint soudainement !
Nothing less than a great, magnificent inspiration.
Rien de moins qu'une grande et magnifique inspiration.
He took up his brush and went tranquilly to work.
Il prit son pinceau et se remit tranquillement au travail.
Ben Rogers hove in sight presently—the very boy, of all boys, whose ridicule he had been dreading.
Ben Rogers apparut bientôt — le garçon entre tous dont il redoutait les moqueries.
Ben's gait was the hop-skip-and-jump—proof enough that his heart was light and his anticipations high.
La démarche de Ben était celle du sautillement enjoué — preuve suffisante que son cœur était léger et ses attentes élevées.
Vocabulary
- était
- was; past tense of être
- qu
- that; relative pronoun
- un
- a, an; indefinite article
- homme
- man; adult male person
- cette
- this, that; feminine demonstrative adjective
- tentation
- temptation; strong desire to do something
- trop
- too much, too; excessive degree or quantity
- forte
- strong; having great power or intensity
- pour
- for; preposition indicating purpose or recipient
- lui
- him, her, to him; indirect object pronoun
- posa
- placed, put; past tense of poser
- son
- his, her, its; possessive adjective
- seau
- bucket; container for carrying liquids
- prit
- took; past tense of prendre
- la
- the; feminine definite article
- blanche
- white; pale or colorless
- et
- and; conjunction linking words or phrases
- se
- oneself; reflexive pronoun
- pencha
- bent, leaned; past tense of pencher
- sur
- on, upon, over; preposition of position
- avec
- with; preposition indicating accompaniment
- intérêt
- interest; curiosity or concern about something
- pendant
- during; preposition indicating time period
- on
- one, we, you; indefinite pronoun
- le
- the; masculine definite article
- bandage
- bandage; strip of cloth for binding wounds
- Un
- a, one; indefinite article or numeral
- instant
- instant, moment; very short period of time
- plus
- more; additional amount or greater degree
- tard
- late; after the expected or usual time
- il
- he, it; masculine subject pronoun
- rue
- street; public road in a town
- les
- the; plural definite article
- vigueur
- vigor, energy; strength or intensity
- Tante
- aunt; father's or mother's sister
- quittait
- was leaving; past continuous of quitter
- champ
- field; open area of land
- bataille
- battle; armed conflict or fight
- une
- a, an; feminine indefinite article
- main
- hand; body part at end of arm
- triomphe
- triumph; great victory or success
- dans
- in; preposition indicating location or time
- yeux
- eyes; organs of sight
- Mais
- but; conjunction expressing contrast
- énergie
- energy; strength and vitality
- ne
- not; negative particle
- dura
- lasted; past tense of durer
- pas
- not; negation adverb
- commença
- began; past tense of commencer
- penser
- to think; to use the mind
- aux
- to the; contraction of à + les
- amusements
- amusements, entertainment; enjoyable activities
- avait
- had; past tense of avoir
- prévus
- planned, foreseen; past participle of prévoir
- journée
- day; period of daylight
- ses
- his, her, its; plural possessive adjective
- chagrins
- sorrows, griefs; deep sadnesses
- multiplièrent
- multiplied; past tense of multiplier
- Bientôt
- soon; in the near future
- garçons
- boys; male children or young men
- libres
- free; not imprisoned or constrained
- passeraient
- would pass; conditional tense of passer
- en
- in, on; preposition of location
- toutes
- all; feminine plural of tout
- sortes
- sorts, kinds; types or varieties
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