The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher — Page 3
Jeremy shoved the boat out again a little way, and dropped in the bait.
Jérémie poussa le bateau un peu plus loin, et laissa tomber l'appât.
There was a bite almost directly; the float gave a tremendous bobbit!
Il y eut une touche presque aussitôt ; le bouchon fit un formidable plongeon !
"A minnow! a minnow! I have him by the nose!" cried Mr. Jeremy Fisher, jerking up his rod.
« Un vairon ! un vairon ! Je le tiens par le nez ! » s'écria M. Jérémie Fisher, en relevant brusquement sa canne.
But what a horrible surprise! Instead of a smooth fat minnow, Mr. Jeremy landed little Jack Sharp the stickleback, covered with spines!
Mais quelle horrible surprise ! Au lieu d'un gros vairon bien lisse, M. Jérémie sortit de l'eau le petit Jack l'épinoche, tout couvert de piquants !
The stickleback floundered about the boat, pricking and snapping until he was quite out of breath.
L'épinoche se débattit dans le bateau, piquant et mordant jusqu'à en perdre le souffle.
Then he jumped back into the water.
Puis il sauta de nouveau dans l'eau.
And a shoal of other little fishes put their heads out, and laughed at Mr. Jeremy Fisher.
Et un banc d'autres petits poissons sortirent la tête hors de l'eau et se moquèrent de M. Jérémie Fisher.
And while Mr. Jeremy sat disconsolately on the edge of his boat--sucking his sore fingers and peering down into the water--a much worse thing happened; a really frightful thing it would have been, if Mr. Jeremy had not been wearing a macintosh!
Et tandis que M. Jérémie était assis d'un air inconsolable au bord de son bateau — suçant ses doigts endoloris et scrutant l'eau — une chose bien pire arriva ; ce qui aurait été une chose vraiment affreuse, si M. Jérémie n'avait pas porté un imperméable !
A great big enormous trout came up--ker-pflop-p-p-p! with a splash--and it seized Mr. Jeremy with a snap, "Ow! Ow! Ow!"--and then it turned and dived down to the bottom of the pond!
Une énorme truite remonta à la surface — plouf-f-f-f ! avec une grande éclaboussure — et elle attrapa M. Jérémie d'un coup de mâchoire, « Aïe ! Aïe ! Aïe ! » — puis elle fit volte-face et plongea jusqu'au fond de l'étang !
But the trout was so displeased with the taste of the macintosh, that in less than half a minute it spat him out again; and the only thing it swallowed was Mr. Jeremy's goloshes.
Mais la truite fut tellement dégoûtée par le goût de l'imperméable qu'en moins d'une demi-minute elle le recracha ; et la seule chose qu'elle avala fut les caoutchoucs de M. Jérémie.
Mr.
M.
Vocabulary
- poussa
- Pushed (past tense of pousser)
- le
- The (masculine definite article)
- bateau
- Boat, vessel used for water travel
- un
- A, an (masculine indefinite article)
- peu
- A little, a small amount
- plus
- More, further, additional
- loin
- Far, at a greater distance
- et
- And (coordinating conjunction)
- laissa
- Left, allowed, let go (past tense of laisser)
- tomber
- To fall, to drop down
- l'
- The (elided definite article before vowel)
- appât
- Bait used to attract fish or animals
- Il
- He, it (masculine third-person singular pronoun)
- y
- There, referring to a previously mentioned place
- eut
- Had (past historic tense of avoir)
- une
- A, an (feminine indefinite article)
- touche
- Bite, nibble by a fish on bait
- presque
- Almost, nearly, not quite
- aussitôt
- Immediately, right away, at once
- bouchon
- Cork, float used as fishing bobber
- fit
- Made, did (past historic tense of faire)
- formidable
- Tremendous, remarkable, impressive in scale
- plongeon
- Dive, a plunging movement into water
- Un
- A, one (masculine indefinite article)
- vairon
- Minnow, a small freshwater fish
- Je
- I (first-person singular subject pronoun)
- tiens
- Hold, have, I've got (present tense tenir)
- par
- By, through, via (preposition)
- nez
- Nose, the facial organ for smelling
- s'
- Himself, herself, oneself (reflexive pronoun elided)
- écria
- Exclaimed, cried out (past historic of s'écrier)
- M.
- Mr., abbreviation for Monsieur
- en
- While, by (preposition or gerund particle)
- relevant
- Raising, lifting up (present participle of relever)
- brusquement
- Abruptly, suddenly, sharply in manner
- sa
- His, her (feminine singular possessive adjective)
- canne
- Rod, cane; fishing rod specifically
- Mais
- But (coordinating conjunction expressing contrast)
- quelle
- What, which (feminine interrogative or exclamative adjective)
- horrible
- Horrible, dreadful, very unpleasant
- surprise
- Surprise, unexpected event or discovery
- Au
- At the, to the (masculine contracted article)
- lieu
- Place, location; au lieu de means instead of
- d'
- Of, from (elided preposition de)
- gros
- Big, large, fat in size
- bien
- Well, good, very (adverb or adjective)
- lisse
- Smooth, sleek, without roughness
- sortit
- Came out, exited (past historic of sortir)
- de
- Of, from (preposition)
- eau
- Water (feminine noun)
- petit
- Small, little in size
- épinoche
- Stickleback, a small spiny freshwater fish
- tout
- All, completely, entirely (adverb or adjective)
- couvert
- Covered, coated with something
- piquants
- Spines, sharp prickles on a fish or plant
- L'
- The (elided definite article before vowel)
- se
- Himself, herself, oneself (reflexive pronoun)
- débattit
- Struggled, thrashed about (past historic of se débattre)
- dans
- In, inside, within (preposition)
- piquant
- Stinging, pricking sharply
- mordant
- Biting, nipping sharply with teeth
- jusqu'
- Until, up to (elided preposition jusqu'à)
- à
- To, at, in (preposition)
- perdre
- To lose, to be deprived of
- souffle
- Breath, the air breathed in and out
- Puis
- Then, afterwards, next in sequence
- il
- He, it (masculine third-person singular pronoun)
- sauta
- Jumped, leaped (past historic of sauter)
- nouveau
- New, again; de nouveau means once more
- Et
- And (coordinating conjunction)
- banc
- School, shoal of fish; also bench
- autres
- Other, others (plural adjective or pronoun)
- petits
- Small, little ones (masculine plural adjective)
- poissons
- Fish (plural masculine noun)
- sortirent
- Came out, exited (past historic plural of sortir)
- la
- The (feminine definite article)
- tête
- Head, the top part of the body
- hors
- Out of, outside, beyond (preposition)
- moquèrent
- Mocked, made fun of (past historic of se moquer)
- tandis
- While, whereas (used in tandis que)
- que
- That, which, than (conjunction or pronoun)
- était
- Was, were (imperfect tense of être)
- assis
- Seated, sitting down (past participle of asseoir)
- air
- Air, appearance, look, manner
- inconsolable
- Inconsolable, impossible to comfort or console
- au
- At the, to the (masculine contracted preposition)
- bord
- Edge, bank, side of water
- son
- His, her (masculine singular possessive adjective)
- suçant
- Sucking (present participle of sucer)
- ses
- His, her (plural possessive adjective)
- doigts
- Fingers (plural masculine noun)
- endoloris
- Painful, sore, aching (plural adjective)
- scrutant
- Scrutinizing, examining closely (present participle of scruter)
- chose
- Thing, something (feminine noun)
- pire
- Worse, worst (comparative adjective)
- arriva
- Arrived, happened (past historic of arriver)
- ce
- This, that (demonstrative pronoun or adjective)
- qui
- Who, which, that (relative or interrogative pronoun)
- aurait
- Would have (conditional of avoir)
- été
- Been (past participle of être)
- vraiment
- Truly, really, genuinely (adverb)
- affreuse
- Dreadful, awful, frightful (feminine adjective)
- si
- If, whether (conjunction); yes (emphatic)
- n'
- Not (elided negation particle ne)
- avait
- Had (imperfect tense of avoir)
- pas
- Not (negation particle with ne)
- porté
- Worn, carried (past participle of porter)
- imperméable
- Raincoat, waterproof coat; waterproof (adjective)
- Une
- A, an (feminine indefinite article)
- énorme
- Enormous, huge, very large in size
- truite
- Trout, a type of freshwater fish
- remonta
- Rose again, came back up (past historic of remonter)
- surface
- Surface, the top layer of water
- plouf
- Splash, sound of something hitting water
- avec
- With, together with (preposition)
- grande
- Large, big, great (feminine adjective)
- éclaboussure
- Splash, a spray of liquid droplets
- elle
- She, it (feminine third-person singular pronoun)
- attrapa
- Grabbed, caught, seized (past historic of attraper)
- coup
- Blow, snap, action done in one motion
- mâchoire
- Jaw, the bone structure used for biting
- Aïe
- Ouch, ow (exclamation of pain)
- puis
- Then, afterwards, next (adverb of sequence)
- volte
- Turn; volte-face means a complete reversal
- face
- Face, front; volte-face is a sudden reversal
- plongea
- Dived, plunged (past historic of plonger)
- fond
- Bottom, depth, floor of a body of water
- étang
- Pond, a small body of standing water
- fut
- Was (past historic tense of être)
- tellement
- So much, so very, to such a degree
- dégoûtée
- Disgusted, revolted (feminine past participle of dégoûter)
- goût
- Taste, flavor, sense of taste
- qu'
- That, than (elided conjunction que)
- moins
- Less, fewer, minus (adverb or preposition)
- demi
- Half (adjective or noun)
- minute
- Minute, sixty seconds of time
- recracha
- Spat back out (past historic of recracher)
- seule
- Alone, only, sole (feminine adjective)
- avala
- Swallowed, gulped down (past historic of avaler)
- les
- The (plural definite article)
- caoutchoucs
- Rubber boots, galoshes, waterproof overshoes
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