The Tale of Benjamin Bunny — Page 3
Little Benjamin said that the first thing to be done was to get back Peter's clothes, in order that they might be able to use the pocket-handkerchief.
Le petit Benjamin dit que la première chose à faire était de récupérer les vêtements de Pierre, afin qu'ils puissent utiliser le mouchoir de poche.
They took them off the scarecrow.
Ils les retirèrent de l'épouvantail.
There had been rain during the night; there was water in the shoes, and the coat was somewhat shrunk.
Il avait plu pendant la nuit ; il y avait de l'eau dans les chaussures, et la veste avait quelque peu rétréci.
Benjamin tried on the tam-o'-shanter, but it was too big for him.
Benjamin essaya le béret, mais il était trop grand pour lui.
Then he suggested that they should fill the pocket-handkerchief with onions, as a little present for his Aunt.
Puis il suggéra qu'ils remplissent le mouchoir de poche d'oignons, comme petit cadeau pour sa Tante.
Peter did not seem to be enjoying himself; he kept hearing noises.
Pierre ne semblait pas s'amuser ; il n'arrêtait pas d'entendre des bruits.
Benjamin, on the contrary, was perfectly at home, and ate a lettuce leaf.
Benjamin, au contraire, était parfaitement à l'aise, et mangea une feuille de laitue.
He said that he was in the habit of coming to the garden with his father to get lettuces for their Sunday dinner.
Il dit qu'il avait l'habitude de venir au jardin avec son père pour chercher des laitues pour leur dîner du dimanche.
(The name of little Benjamin's papa was old Mr. Benjamin Bunny.)
(Le nom du papa du petit Benjamin était le vieux M. Benjamin Lapin.)
The lettuces certainly were very fine.
Les laitues étaient certainement très belles.
Peter did not eat anything; he said he should like to go home.
Pierre ne mangea rien ; il dit qu'il aimerait rentrer chez lui.
Presently he dropped half the onions.
Bientôt il laissa tomber la moitié des oignons.
Little Benjamin said that it was not possible to get back up the pear-tree with a load of vegetables.
Le petit Benjamin dit qu'il n'était pas possible de remonter dans le poirier avec un chargement de légumes.
He led the way boldly towards the other end of the garden.
Il prit hardiment la tête et se dirigea vers l'autre bout du jardin.
They went along a little walk on planks, under a sunny, red brick wall.
Ils longèrent un petit chemin de planches, sous un mur de briques rouges ensoleillé.
The mice sat on their doorsteps cracking cherry-stones; they winked at Peter Rabbit and little Benjamin Bunny.
Les souris étaient assises sur le pas de leur porte à croquer des noyaux de cerise ; elles firent un clin d'œil à Pierre Lapin et au petit Benjamin Lapin.
Presently Peter let the pocket-handkerchief go again.
Bientôt Pierre lâcha de nouveau le mouchoir de poche.
Vocabulary
- petit
- Small or little in size or age
- Benjamin
- Proper name; also means youngest child in family
- dit
- Said; past tense of 'dire', to say
- première
- First; feminine form of premier
- chose
- Thing; a general object or matter
- faire
- To do or to make; very common verb
- était
- Was; imperfect tense of 'être', to be
- récupérer
- To retrieve, recover, or get back something
- vêtements
- Clothes; garments worn on the body
- afin
- In order to; used to express purpose
- puissent
- Could, might; subjunctive form of 'pouvoir'
- utiliser
- To use or make use of something
- mouchoir
- Handkerchief; small cloth used to wipe face
- poche
- Pocket; small pouch sewn into clothing
- retirèrent
- Removed or took off; past historic of 'retirer'
- épouvantail
- Scarecrow; figure placed in fields to scare birds
- avait
- Had; imperfect tense of 'avoir', to have
- plu
- Rained; past participle of 'pleuvoir', to rain
- pendant
- During; preposition indicating duration of time
- nuit
- Night; the dark period after sunset
- y
- There; pronoun replacing a place or thing
- eau
- Water; liquid essential for life
- chaussures
- Shoes; footwear worn on the feet
- veste
- Jacket; short coat worn over other clothing
- quelque
- Some, a little; used before adjectives or nouns
- peu
- A little, slightly; indicates small degree
- rétréci
- Shrunk; past participle of 'rétrécir', to shrink
- essaya
- Tried on or attempted; past historic of 'essayer'
- béret
- Beret; flat round cap of French origin
- trop
- Too, too much; indicates excess
- grand
- Big, large, tall; opposite of small
- Puis
- Then, next; indicates sequence of events
- suggéra
- Suggested; past historic of 'suggérer'
- remplissent
- Fill; subjunctive or present of 'remplir'
- oignons
- Onions; pungent bulb vegetables used in cooking
- comme
- As, like; used for comparison or manner
- cadeau
- Gift, present; something given to someone
- Tante
- Aunt; father's or mother's sister
- semblait
- Seemed, appeared; imperfect of 'sembler'
- amuser
- To enjoy oneself, have fun
- arrêtait
- Kept stopping or kept on; imperfect of 'arrêter'
- entendre
- To hear; to perceive sound
- bruits
- Noises, sounds; plural of 'bruit'
- contraire
- Contrary, opposite; au contraire means on contrary
- parfaitement
- Perfectly; in a perfect or complete manner
- aise
- Ease, comfort; à l'aise means at ease
- mangea
- Ate; past historic of 'manger', to eat
- feuille
- Leaf; flat green part of a plant
- laitue
- Lettuce; leafy green vegetable used in salads
- habitude
- Habit, custom; something done regularly
- venir
- To come; to move toward the speaker
- jardin
- Garden; outdoor area for growing plants
- père
- Father; male parent
- chercher
- To look for, to seek or fetch something
- laitues
- Lettuces; plural of lettuce, leafy vegetables
- dîner
- Dinner; main evening meal
- dimanche
- Sunday; seventh day of the week
- nom
- Name; word by which someone is known
- papa
- Dad, daddy; informal word for father
- vieux
- Old; aged, having existed for a long time
- Lapin
- Rabbit; small furry long-eared mammal
- étaient
- Were; imperfect tense plural of 'être'
- certainement
- Certainly, definitely; without any doubt
- belles
- Beautiful; feminine plural of 'beau'
- rien
- Nothing; negation meaning not anything
- aimerait
- Would like; conditional of 'aimer', to like
- rentrer
- To return home, go back inside
- chez
- At someone's home or place; preposition
- Bientôt
- Soon; in a short time from now
- laissa
- Left, let; past historic of 'laisser'
- tomber
- To fall; to drop down due to gravity
- moitié
- Half; one of two equal parts
- possible
- Possible; able to happen or be done
- remonter
- To go back up, climb again
- poirier
- Pear tree; tree that produces pears
- chargement
- Load, cargo; quantity of things carried together
- légumes
- Vegetables; edible plants or plant parts
- prit
- Took; past historic of 'prendre', to take
- hardiment
- Boldly, bravely; in a daring courageous manner
- tête
- Head; upper part of the body
- dirigea
- Headed toward, directed; past historic of 'diriger'
- vers
- Toward, towards; preposition of direction
- autre
- Other, another; different from the current one
- bout
- End, tip; extremity of something
- longèrent
- Went along, skirted; past historic of 'longer'
- chemin
- Path, way, road; route used for walking
- planches
- Planks, boards; flat pieces of cut wood
- sous
- Under, beneath; preposition of position below
- mur
- Wall; vertical structure dividing or enclosing space
- briques
- Bricks; rectangular blocks used in construction
- rouges
- Red; plural adjective describing the color red
- ensoleillé
- Sunny; full of sunshine and bright light
- souris
- Mice or mouse; small rodent
- assises
- Seated, sitting; feminine plural of 'assis'
- porte
- Door; panel used to open or close an entrance
- croquer
- To crunch, nibble; bite with a crunching sound
- noyaux
- Pits, stones, kernels; hard seeds inside fruits
- cerise
- Cherry; small round sweet red fruit
- firent
- Did, made; past historic plural of 'faire'
- clin
- Wink; as in 'clin d'œil', a quick wink
- œil
- Eye; organ used for seeing
- lâcha
- Let go, released; past historic of 'lâcher'
- nouveau
- New, again; de nouveau means once again
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →