The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse — Page 2
There were yards and yards of sandy passages, leading to storerooms and nut-cellars and seed-cellars, all amongst the roots of the hedge.
Er waren meters en meters zandige gangen, die leidden naar voorraadkamers en noten-kelders en zaad-kelders, allemaal tussen de wortels van de heg.
[Illustration: In the pantry]
[Illustratie: In de provisiekamer]
[Illustration: In bed]
[Illustratie: In bed]
There was a kitchen, a parlour, a pantry, and a larder.
Er was een keuken, een salon, een provisiekamer en een spijskamer.
Also, there was Mrs. Tittlemouse's bedroom, where she slept in a little box bed!
Er was ook de slaapkamer van mevrouw Tittlemouse, waar zij sliep in een klein ledikant!
Mrs. Tittlemouse was a most terribly tidy particular little mouse, always sweeping and dusting the soft sandy floors.
Mevrouw Tittlemouse was een bijzonder verschrikkelijk netjes en precies klein muisje, dat altijd de zachte zandige vloeren veegde en afstofte.
Sometimes a beetle lost its way in the passages.
Soms verdwaalde een kever in de gangen.
"Shuh! shuh! little dirty feet!" said Mrs. Tittlemouse, clattering her dust-pan.
"Foei! foei! vieze kleine pootjes!" zei mevrouw Tittlemouse, terwijl ze met haar stofblik rammelde.
[Illustration: Shooing a beetle]
[Illustratie: Een kever wegsturen]
[Illustration: A ladybird]
[Illustratie: Een lieveheersbeestje]
And one day a little old woman ran up and down in a red spotty cloak.
En op een dag rende een klein oud vrouwtje heen en weer in een rode gevlekte mantel.
"Your house is on fire, Mother Ladybird! Fly away home to your children!"
"Uw huis staat in brand, Moeder Lieveheersbeestje! Vlieg naar huis, naar uw kinderen!"
Another day, a big fat spider came in to shelter from the rain.
Op een andere dag kwam een grote dikke spin binnen om te schuilen voor de regen.
"Beg pardon, is this not Miss Muffet's?"
"Neem me niet kwalijk, is dit niet het huis van Juffrouw Muffet?"
"Go away, you bold bad spider! Leaving ends of cobweb all over my nice clean house!"
"Ga weg, jij brutale slechte spin! Die overal in mijn mooie schone huis spinnenwebdraden achterlaat!"
[Illustration: Spider]
[Illustratie: Spin]
[Illustration: Out the window]
[Illustratie: Door het raam naar buiten]
She bundled the spider out at a window.
Ze werkte de spin door een raam naar buiten.
He let himself down the hedge with a long thin bit of string.
Hij liet zich aan de heg zakken met een lang dun stukje touw.
Mrs. Tittlemouse went on her way to a distant storeroom, to fetch cherry-stones and thistle-down seed for dinner.
Mevrouw Tittlemouse vervolgde haar weg naar een verre voorraadkamer, om kersenpitjes en distelzaad te halen voor het avondeten.
All along the passage she sniffed, and looked at the floor.
Langs de hele gang snuffelde ze en keek ze naar de vloer.
"I smell a smell of honey; is it the cowslips outside, in the hedge?
"Ik ruik een honinggeur; komen die van de sleutelbloemen buiten, in de heg?
Vocabulary
- Er
- There; used as expletive subject in sentences
- waren
- Were; past tense of 'zijn' (to be)
- meters
- Meters; unit of length measurement
- zandige
- Sandy; adjective describing a sandy texture
- gangen
- Corridors or passages; plural of 'gang'
- die
- That or those; demonstrative or relative pronoun
- leidden
- Led; past tense of 'leiden' (to lead)
- naar
- To or toward; preposition indicating direction
- voorraadkamers
- Storerooms; rooms for keeping food supplies
- noten
- Nuts; edible seeds with hard shells
- kelders
- Cellars; underground storage rooms
- zaad
- Seed; small plant embryo used for growing
- allemaal
- All; everyone or everything together
- tussen
- Between or among; preposition indicating position
- wortels
- Roots or carrots; plant roots or orange vegetables
- van
- Of or from; common Dutch preposition
- heg
- Hedge; a row of closely planted shrubs
- Illustratie
- Illustration; a picture or image in a book
- provisiekamer
- Pantry; a room for storing food provisions
- bed
- Bed; furniture for sleeping
- was
- Was; past tense singular of 'zijn' (to be)
- keuken
- Kitchen; room where food is prepared
- salon
- Living room or parlor; a formal sitting room
- spijskamer
- Larder; a room for storing food supplies
- ook
- Also or too; adverb indicating addition
- slaapkamer
- Bedroom; a room used for sleeping
- mevrouw
- Mrs. or madam; polite title for a woman
- waar
- Where; relative or interrogative adverb of place
- zij
- She or they; third person pronoun
- sliep
- Slept; past tense of 'slapen' (to sleep)
- klein
- Small or little; adjective describing small size
- ledikant
- Bedstead; an old-fashioned framed bed
- Mevrouw
- Mrs. or madam; polite title for a woman
- bijzonder
- Particularly or special; remarkably or unusually so
- verschrikkelijk
- Terribly or dreadfully; to an extreme degree
- netjes
- Neat or tidy; clean and orderly in appearance
- precies
- Exactly or precisely; with great accuracy
- muisje
- Little mouse; diminutive form of 'muis'
- dat
- That; demonstrative pronoun or conjunction
- altijd
- Always; at all times without exception
- zachte
- Soft; gentle in texture or manner
- vloeren
- Floors; plural of 'vloer', indoor ground surfaces
- veegde
- Swept; past tense of 'vegen' (to sweep)
- afstofte
- Dusted; past tense of 'afstoffen' (to dust off)
- Soms
- Sometimes; on certain occasions but not always
- verdwaalde
- Got lost; past tense of 'verdwalen' (to get lost)
- kever
- Beetle; a type of hard-shelled insect
- Foei
- Shame or tut; exclamation expressing disapproval
- foei
- Shame or tut; exclamation expressing disapproval
- vieze
- Dirty or disgusting; unclean or nasty
- kleine
- Small or little; adjective in inflected form
- pootjes
- Little feet or paws; diminutive of 'poot'
- zei
- Said; past tense of 'zeggen' (to say)
- terwijl
- While or whereas; conjunction indicating simultaneous action
- ze
- She or they; informal third person pronoun
- met
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- haar
- Her or hair; possessive pronoun or noun
- stofblik
- Dustpan; a flat scoop for collecting swept dust
- rammelde
- Rattled; past tense of 'rammelen' (to rattle)
- wegsturen
- To send away; to dismiss someone from a place
- lieveheersbeestje
- Ladybug; a small red and black spotted beetle
- op
- On or up; preposition indicating position or direction
- dag
- Day; a period of twenty-four hours
- rende
- Ran; past tense of 'rennen' (to run)
- oud
- Old; having lived or existed for many years
- vrouwtje
- Little woman; diminutive of 'vrouw' (woman)
- heen
- Away or forth; adverb indicating direction outward
- weer
- Back or again; adverb of return or repetition
- rode
- Red; inflected form of 'rood' (red)
- gevlekte
- Spotted; having marks or spots on the surface
- mantel
- Coat or mantle; an outer garment worn over clothes
- Uw
- Your; formal possessive pronoun (polite form)
- huis
- House; a building used as a home
- staat
- Stands or is; third person singular of 'staan'
- brand
- Fire; destructive burning of something
- Moeder
- Mother; a female parent
- Lieveheersbeestje
- Ladybug; a small red and black spotted beetle
- Vlieg
- Fly; imperative of 'vliegen' (to fly)
- uw
- Your; formal possessive pronoun (polite form)
- kinderen
- Children; plural of 'kind' (child)
- andere
- Other; a different one or different ones
- kwam
- Came; past tense of 'komen' (to come)
- grote
- Big or large; inflected form of 'groot'
- dikke
- Fat or thick; inflected form of 'dik'
- spin
- Spider; a small eight-legged arthropod
- binnen
- Inside or in; adverb or preposition of location
- om
- Around or in order to; preposition or conjunction
- schuilen
- To shelter or hide; to take cover from weather
- voor
- For or before; preposition of purpose or position
- regen
- Rain; water falling from clouds in drops
- Neem
- Take; imperative of 'nemen' (to take)
- niet
- Not; basic negation adverb in Dutch
- kwalijk
- Ill; used in 'neem me niet kwalijk' (excuse me)
- dit
- This; demonstrative pronoun for nearby objects
- Juffrouw
- Miss; a title for an unmarried woman
- Ga
- Go; imperative of 'gaan' (to go)
- weg
- Away or road; direction adverb or noun
- jij
- You; second person singular subject pronoun (informal)
- brutale
- Cheeky or impudent; disrespectfully bold in manner
- slechte
- Bad or wicked; inflected form of 'slecht'
- Die
- That or who; demonstrative or relative pronoun
- overal
- Everywhere; in every place or location
- mijn
- My; first person singular possessive pronoun
- mooie
- Beautiful or nice; inflected form of 'mooi'
- schone
- Clean or pure; inflected form of 'schoon'
- spinnenwebdraden
- Spider web threads; the silk strands of a web
- achterlaat
- Leaves behind; third person of 'achterlaten'
- Spin
- Spider; a small eight-legged arthropod
- Door
- Through or by; preposition indicating passage
- raam
- Window; a glass opening in a wall
- buiten
- Outside; beyond the walls or boundaries of something
- Ze
- She or they; informal third person pronoun
- werkte
- Worked; past tense of 'werken' (to work)
- door
- Through or on; preposition or adverb of continuation
- Hij
- He; third person masculine subject pronoun
- liet
- Let or allowed; past tense of 'laten'
- zich
- Himself or herself; reflexive pronoun
- aan
- On or to; preposition indicating contact or direction
- zakken
- To sink or lower; also plural of 'zak' (bag)
- lang
- Long or tall; adjective describing length or height
- dun
- Thin; slender in width or diameter
- stukje
- Little piece; diminutive of 'stuk' (piece)
- touw
- Rope; a strong thick cord or string
- vervolgde
- Continued or pursued; past tense of 'vervolgen'
- verre
- Far or distant; inflected form of 'ver'
- voorraadkamer
- Storeroom; a room for keeping food supplies
- kersenpitjes
- Cherry stones; small pits from cherry fruits
- distelzaad
- Thistle seed; seeds from a thistle plant
- halen
- To fetch or get; to retrieve something from somewhere
- avondeten
- Dinner or supper; the evening meal
- Langs
- Along; preposition indicating movement beside something
- hele
- Whole or entire; inflected form of 'heel'
- gang
- Corridor or hallway; a passage inside a building
- snuffelde
- Sniffed around; past tense of 'snuffelen'
- keek
- Looked; past tense of 'kijken' (to look)
- vloer
- Floor; the lower surface of a room
- ruik
- Smell; first person singular of 'ruiken'
- honinggeur
- Honey scent; the smell of honey
- komen
- To come; basic verb of motion toward a place
- sleutelbloemen
- Primroses or cowslips; yellow spring wildflowers
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