The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse — Page 6
Tittlemouse ventured to come out--everybody had gone away.
Tittlemouse osa sortir -- tout le monde était parti.
But the untidiness was something dreadful--"Never did I see such a mess--smears of honey; and moss, and thistledown--and marks of big and little dirty feet--all over my nice clean house!"
Mais le désordre était quelque chose d'épouvantable -- « Jamais je n'ai vu un tel fouillis -- des traînées de miel ; et de la mousse, et du duvet de chardon -- et des traces de grands et petits pieds sales -- partout dans ma belle maison propre ! »
She gathered up the moss and the remains of the beeswax.
Elle ramassa la mousse et les restes de la cire d'abeille.
Then she went out and fetched some twigs, to partly close up the front door.
Puis elle sortit et alla chercher quelques brindilles, pour boucher en partie la porte d'entrée.
"I will make it too small for Mr. Jackson!"
« Je vais la faire trop petite pour M. Jackson ! »
[Illustration: Closing up the front door]
[Illustration : Fermeture de la porte d'entrée]
[Illustration: Too tired]
[Illustration : Trop fatiguée]
She fetched soft soap, and flannel, and a new scrubbing brush from the storeroom.
Elle alla chercher du savon doux, de la flanelle et une nouvelle brosse à récurer dans le cellier.
But she was too tired to do any more.
Mais elle était trop fatiguée pour faire quoi que ce soit de plus.
First she fell asleep in her chair, and then she went to bed.
D'abord elle s'endormit dans son fauteuil, puis elle alla se coucher.
"Will it ever be tidy again?" said poor Mrs. Tittlemouse.
« Sera-t-il jamais de nouveau bien rangé ? » dit la pauvre Mme Tittlemouse.
Next morning she got up very early and began a spring cleaning which lasted a fortnight.
Le lendemain matin, elle se leva très tôt et entreprit un grand nettoyage de printemps qui dura quinze jours.
She swept, and scrubbed, and dusted; and she rubbed up the furniture with beeswax, and polished her little tin spoons.
Elle balaya, récura et épousseta ; elle frotta les meubles à la cire d'abeille et fit briller ses petites cuillères en étain.
[Illustration: Polishing]
[Illustration : Polissage]
When it was all beautifully neat and clean, she gave a party to five other little mice, without Mr. Jackson.
Quand tout fut joliment bien rangé et propre, elle donna une fête à cinq autres petites souris, sans M. Jackson.
He smelt the party and came up the bank, but he could not squeeze in at the door.
Il sentit la fête et remonta le talus, mais il ne put pas se faufiler par la porte.
[Illustration: The party]
[Illustration : La fête]
[Illustration: Honey-dew through the window]
[Illustration : Miellat par la fenêtre]
So they handed him out acorn-cupfuls of honey-dew through the window, and he was not at all offended.
Alors ils lui passèrent par la fenêtre des coupelles de gland remplies de miellat, et il ne fut pas du tout offensé.
He sat outside in the sun, and said--"Tiddly, widdly, widdly! Your very good health, Mrs. Tittlemouse!"
Il s'assit dehors au soleil, et dit -- « Tiddly, widdly, widdly ! À votre très bonne santé, Mme Tittlemouse ! »
Vocabulary
- osa
- Dared, had the audacity to do something
- sortir
- To go out, to leave a place
- tout
- All, everything, every
- le
- The, masculine definite article
- monde
- World, or everyone, all people
- était
- Was, past tense of être
- parti
- Gone, left, departed
- Mais
- But, however, introduces contrast
- désordre
- Disorder, mess, state of untidiness
- quelque
- Some, a certain amount of something
- chose
- Thing, object or matter
- d
- Contracted form of de, of or from
- épouvantable
- Dreadful, terrible, causing horror or shock
- Jamais
- Never, at no time
- je
- I, first person singular subject pronoun
- n
- Negation particle, shortened form of ne
- ai
- Have, first person singular of avoir
- vu
- Seen, past participle of voir
- un
- A, one, masculine indefinite article
- tel
- Such, of that kind or degree
- fouillis
- Jumble, clutter, confused mess of things
- des
- Some, plural indefinite article or of the
- traînées
- Trails, streaks, marks left behind
- de
- Of, from, preposition indicating possession or origin
- miel
- Honey, sweet substance made by bees
- et
- And, coordinating conjunction joining elements
- la
- The, feminine definite article
- mousse
- Moss, soft green plant growing on surfaces
- du
- Some, contraction of de and le
- duvet
- Down, soft fluffy feathers or filling material
- chardon
- Thistle, prickly wild plant with purple flowers
- traces
- Tracks, marks, footprints left on a surface
- grands
- Large, big, masculine plural adjective
- petits
- Small, little, masculine plural adjective
- pieds
- Feet, lower extremities used for walking
- sales
- Dirty, soiled, not clean
- partout
- Everywhere, in every place or location
- dans
- In, inside, within a place or time
- ma
- My, feminine singular possessive adjective
- belle
- Beautiful, lovely, feminine form of beau
- maison
- House, home, dwelling place
- propre
- Clean, tidy, neat and free of dirt
- Elle
- She, third person feminine singular pronoun
- ramassa
- Picked up, gathered things from the ground
- les
- The, plural definite article
- restes
- Remains, leftovers, what is left behind
- cire
- Wax, substance secreted by bees or used for polish
- abeille
- Bee, flying insect that produces honey
- Puis
- Then, next, afterwards in sequence
- elle
- She, third person feminine singular pronoun
- sortit
- Went out, left, past tense of sortir
- alla
- Went, past tense of aller
- chercher
- To look for, to fetch, to search for
- quelques
- A few, some, a small number of
- brindilles
- Twigs, small thin branches from a tree
- pour
- For, in order to, preposition of purpose
- boucher
- To block, to plug, to stop up an opening
- en
- In, of it, preposition or pronoun
- partie
- Part, portion, section of a whole
- porte
- Door, entrance to a building or room
- entrée
- Entrance, entry, doorway into a place
- Je
- I, first person singular subject pronoun
- vais
- Going, first person singular of aller
- faire
- To make, to do, general action verb
- trop
- Too, too much, excessively
- petite
- Small, little, feminine form of petit
- M.
- Mister, abbreviated title for a man
- Illustration
- Picture, drawing accompanying a text
- Fermeture
- Closure, closing, act of shutting something
- Trop
- Too, too much, excessively
- fatiguée
- Tired, exhausted, worn out from effort
- savon
- Soap, cleaning agent used for washing
- doux
- Soft, gentle, mild in texture or manner
- flanelle
- Flannel, soft woven fabric used for cleaning
- une
- A, one, feminine indefinite article
- nouvelle
- New, recent, feminine form of nouveau
- brosse
- Brush, tool with bristles for cleaning
- à
- To, at, preposition indicating direction or purpose
- récurer
- To scrub, to scour clean vigorously
- cellier
- Storeroom, pantry for storing food or supplies
- quoi
- What, interrogative or relative pronoun
- que
- That, what, conjunction or relative pronoun
- ce
- This, that, demonstrative pronoun or adjective
- soit
- May be, subjunctive form of être
- plus
- More, no more, comparative adverb
- abord
- First, at first, initially, in d'abord
- s
- Reflexive pronoun, contracted form of se
- endormit
- Fell asleep, past tense of s'endormir
- son
- His, her, its, possessive adjective
- fauteuil
- Armchair, comfortable upholstered chair with armrests
- puis
- Then, next, afterwards in a sequence
- se
- Herself, himself, reflexive pronoun
- coucher
- To go to bed, to lie down to sleep
- Sera
- Will be, future tense of être
- il
- He, it, third person masculine singular pronoun
- jamais
- Never, ever, at no point in time
- nouveau
- New, again, masculine form of new
- bien
- Well, good, properly, adverb of manner
- rangé
- Tidy, neat, properly put away and organized
- dit
- Said, past tense of dire
- pauvre
- Poor, unfortunate, evoking pity or sympathy
- Mme
- Mrs, abbreviated title for a woman
- Le
- The, masculine definite article
- lendemain
- The next day, the day after
- matin
- Morning, the early part of the day
- leva
- Got up, rose, past tense of se lever
- très
- Very, extremely, intensifier adverb
- tôt
- Early, soon, at an early hour
- entreprit
- Undertook, began, past tense of entreprendre
- grand
- Big, large, great, important
- nettoyage
- Cleaning, the act of making something clean
- printemps
- Spring, season between winter and summer
- qui
- Who, which, relative or interrogative pronoun
- dura
- Lasted, past tense of durer
- quinze
- Fifteen, the number 15
- jours
- Days, plural of jour
- balaya
- Swept, past tense of balayer
- récura
- Scrubbed, past tense of récurer
- épousseta
- Dusted, past tense of épousseter
- frotta
- Rubbed, scrubbed, past tense of frotter
- meubles
- Furniture, movable items in a room
- fit
- Made, did, past tense of faire
- briller
- To shine, to gleam, to glitter
- ses
- Her, his, its, plural possessive adjective
- petites
- Small, little, feminine plural adjective
- cuillères
- Spoons, small utensils for eating or stirring
- étain
- Tin, pewter, a silvery metal material
- Polissage
- Polishing, the act of making surfaces shine
- Quand
- When, at the time that
- fut
- Was, past tense of être in passé simple
- joliment
- Nicely, prettily, in a neat pleasant way
- donna
- Gave, hosted, past tense of donner
- fête
- Party, celebration, festive gathering
- cinq
- Five, the number 5
- autres
- Other, others, different ones
- souris
- Mice, plural of souris, small rodents
- sans
- Without, lacking, in the absence of
- Il
- He, it, third person masculine singular pronoun
- sentit
- Felt, smelled, past tense of sentir
- remonta
- Went back up, climbed again, past tense of remonter
- talus
- Embankment, slope, raised bank of earth
- mais
- But, however, conjunction of contrast
- ne
- Not, negation particle used with pas or jamais
- put
- Could, was able to, past tense of pouvoir
- pas
- Not, step, used in negation with ne
- faufiler
- To slip through, to squeeze through a gap
- par
- By, through, via, preposition of means
- La
- The, feminine definite article
- Miellat
- Honeydew, sweet sticky secretion from insects
- fenêtre
- Window, opening in a wall with glass
- Alors
- Then, so, at that moment or therefore
- ils
- They, third person masculine plural pronoun
- lui
- Him, her, to him, indirect object pronoun
- passèrent
- Passed, handed over, past tense of passer
- coupelles
- Small cups, tiny bowl-shaped containers
- gland
- Acorn, fruit of an oak tree
- remplies
- Filled, full, past participle of remplir
- miellat
- Honeydew, sweet sticky liquid from insects
- offensé
- Offended, hurt, feeling insulted or slighted
- assit
- Sat down, past tense of s'asseoir
- dehors
- Outside, outdoors, beyond the walls
- au
- At the, to the, contraction of à and le
- soleil
- Sun, the star that gives light and warmth
- À
- To, at, preposition used in toasts and phrases
- votre
- Your, plural or formal possessive adjective
- bonne
- Good, feminine form of bon
- santé
- Health, also used as a toast meaning cheers
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