The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin — Page 3
Presently a little thread of blue _smoke_ from a wood fire came up from the top of the tree, and Nutkin peeped through the key-hole and sang--
Bientôt un mince filet de _fumée_ bleue provenant d'un feu de bois s'éleva du sommet de l'arbre, et Noisillon regarda par le trou de la serrure et chanta --
"A house full, a hole full! And you cannot gather a bowl-full!"
« Une maison pleine, un trou plein ! Et vous ne pouvez pas en remplir un bol ! »
The squirrels searched for nuts all over the island and filled their little sacks.
Les écureuils cherchèrent des noisettes partout sur l'île et remplirent leurs petits sacs.
But Nutkin gathered oak-apples--yellow and scarlet--and sat upon a beech-stump playing marbles, and watching the door of old Mr. Brown.
Mais Noisillon ramassa des galles de chêne -- jaunes et écarlates -- et s'assit sur une souche de hêtre à jouer aux billes, en surveillant la porte du vieux M. Brun.
On the third day the squirrels got up very early and went fishing; they caught seven fat minnows as a present for Old Brown.
Le troisième jour, les écureuils se levèrent de très bonne heure et allèrent à la pêche ; ils attrapèrent sept gros vairons comme cadeau pour le vieux Brun.
They paddled over the lake and landed under a crooked chestnut tree on Owl Island.
Ils pagayèrent à travers le lac et débarquèrent sous un châtaignier tordu sur l'Île aux Hiboux.
Twinkleberry and six other little squirrels each carried a fat minnow; but Nutkin, who had no nice manners, brought no present at all.
Luciole et six autres petits écureuils portaient chacun un gros vairon ; mais Noisillon, qui n'avait aucune bonne manière, n'apporta aucun cadeau du tout.
He ran in front, singing--
Il courut devant, en chantant --
"The man in the wilderness said to me, 'How many strawberries grow in the sea?' I answered him as I thought good-- 'As many red herrings as grow in the wood.'"
« L'homme dans la nature sauvage m'a dit : 'Combien de fraises poussent dans la mer ?' Je lui répondis comme bon me sembla -- 'Autant de harengs saurs qu'il en pousse dans la forêt.' »
But old Mr. Brown took no interest in riddles--not even when the answer was provided for him.
Mais le vieux M. Brun ne s'intéressait pas aux devinettes -- pas même quand on lui fournissait la réponse.
On the fourth day the squirrels brought a present of six fat beetles, which were as good as plums in _plum-pudding_ for Old Brown.
Le quatrième jour, les écureuils apportèrent un cadeau de six gros scarabées, qui valaient autant que des pruneaux dans un _pudding aux prunes_ pour le vieux Brun.
Each beetle was wrapped up carefully in a dock-leaf, fastened with a pine-needle pin.
Chaque scarabée était soigneusement enveloppé dans une feuille de patience, attachée avec une épingle faite d'une aiguille de pin.
But Nutkin sang as rudely as ever-- "Old Mr. B!
Mais Noisillon chanta aussi grossièrement que jamais -- « Vieux M. B !
Vocabulary
- Bientôt
- Soon; in a short time from now
- un
- Indefinite article: a, an (masculine singular)
- mince
- Thin, slim, or slender in appearance
- filet
- Thin stream, trickle, or net-like structure
- de
- Preposition meaning of, from, or some
- fumée
- Smoke rising from a fire or source
- bleue
- Blue (feminine adjective describing color)
- provenant
- Coming from, originating from a source
- d'un
- Contraction of de un: from a, of a
- feu
- Fire; flames produced by burning material
- bois
- Wood; timber; also a small forest
- s'éleva
- Rose up, ascended (past tense, reflexive)
- du
- Contracted article meaning of the (masculine)
- sommet
- Top, summit, or peak of something
- l'arbre
- The tree (definite article with elision)
- et
- Conjunction meaning and, connecting words or clauses
- regarda
- Looked at, watched (simple past tense)
- par
- Preposition meaning through, by, or per
- le
- Definite article the (masculine singular)
- trou
- Hole, opening, or gap in a surface
- la
- Definite article the (feminine singular)
- serrure
- Lock; mechanical device securing a door
- chanta
- Sang (simple past tense of chanter)
- Une
- Indefinite article a, an (feminine singular)
- maison
- House; a building where people live
- pleine
- Full (feminine adjective); completely filled
- plein
- Full (masculine adjective); completely filled
- Et
- Conjunction and, used to connect clauses
- vous
- You (plural or formal second-person pronoun)
- ne
- Negation particle used with pas or other negatives
- pouvez
- Can, are able to (second-person plural pouvoir)
- pas
- Not; negation particle used with ne
- en
- Pronoun or preposition meaning it, some, in
- remplir
- To fill; to make something full
- bol
- Bowl; a round deep dish for food
- Les
- Definite article the (plural, masculine or feminine)
- écureuils
- Squirrels; small bushy-tailed tree-dwelling rodents
- cherchèrent
- Searched for, looked for (simple past tense)
- des
- Indefinite plural article meaning some, of the
- noisettes
- Hazelnuts; small edible nuts from hazel tree
- partout
- Everywhere; in all places or directions
- sur
- Preposition meaning on, upon, or over
- l'île
- The island (definite article with elision)
- remplirent
- Filled (simple past tense of remplir)
- leurs
- Their (plural possessive adjective)
- petits
- Small, little (masculine plural adjective)
- sacs
- Bags, sacks used to carry things
- Mais
- But; conjunction showing contrast or opposition
- ramassa
- Picked up, gathered (simple past tense)
- galles
- Galls; abnormal growths on plants caused by insects
- chêne
- Oak tree; large hardwood tree bearing acorns
- jaunes
- Yellow (plural adjective describing color)
- écarlates
- Scarlet; bright vivid red color (plural)
- s'assit
- Sat down (reflexive simple past of s'asseoir)
- une
- Indefinite article a, an (feminine singular)
- souche
- Tree stump; base remaining after felling
- hêtre
- Beech tree; smooth-barked hardwood forest tree
- à
- Preposition meaning at, to, or in
- jouer
- To play; engage in games or sport
- aux
- Contracted article meaning to the, at the (plural)
- billes
- Marbles; small glass balls used in games
- surveillant
- Watching over, monitoring, keeping an eye on
- porte
- Door; an entrance to a building or room
- vieux
- Old (masculine adjective); aged, elderly
- M.
- Abbreviation for Monsieur meaning Mister, Mr.
- Brun
- Brown; a surname meaning brown-colored
- Le
- Definite article the (masculine singular)
- troisième
- Third; ordinal number following second
- jour
- Day; a 24-hour period of time
- les
- Definite article the (plural form)
- se
- Reflexive pronoun meaning himself, herself, themselves
- levèrent
- Got up, rose (simple past tense of lever)
- très
- Very; adverb intensifying an adjective or adverb
- bonne
- Good (feminine adjective); of high quality
- heure
- Hour; a unit of time equal to 60 minutes
- allèrent
- Went (simple past tense of aller)
- pêche
- Fishing; the activity of catching fish
- ils
- They (masculine or mixed third-person plural pronoun)
- attrapèrent
- Caught, seized (simple past tense of attraper)
- sept
- Seven; the number 7
- gros
- Big, fat, large (masculine adjective)
- vairons
- Minnows; small freshwater fish commonly found in streams
- comme
- As, like; conjunction showing comparison or manner
- cadeau
- Gift, present given to someone on occasion
- pour
- For; preposition indicating purpose or recipient
- Ils
- They (masculine or mixed third-person plural pronoun)
- pagayèrent
- Paddled (simple past tense of pagayer)
- travers
- Across, through (used in à travers)
- lac
- Lake; large body of inland water
- débarquèrent
- Landed, disembarked (simple past tense of débarquer)
- sous
- Under, beneath (preposition indicating position below)
- châtaignier
- Chestnut tree; large tree bearing edible nuts
- tordu
- Twisted, bent, crooked (past participle of tordre)
- Hiboux
- Owls; nocturnal birds of prey (plural)
- Luciole
- Firefly; luminous flying insect also a name
- six
- Six; the number 6
- autres
- Others; the remaining ones (plural adjective/pronoun)
- portaient
- Were carrying (imperfect tense of porter)
- chacun
- Each one, everyone (singular indefinite pronoun)
- vairon
- Minnow; small freshwater fish (singular)
- mais
- But; conjunction showing contrast or exception
- qui
- Who, which, that (relative or interrogative pronoun)
- n'avait
- Did not have (negated imperfect of avoir)
- aucune
- No, none, not any (feminine negative adjective)
- manière
- Manner, way, style of doing something
- n'apporta
- Did not bring (negated simple past of apporter)
- aucun
- No, none, not any (masculine negative adjective)
- tout
- All, everything, whole (pronoun or adjective)
- Il
- He; third-person masculine singular subject pronoun
- courut
- Ran (simple past tense of courir)
- devant
- In front of; ahead (preposition or adverb)
- chantant
- Singing (present participle of chanter)
- L'homme
- The man (definite article with elision)
- dans
- In, inside (preposition indicating location)
- nature
- Nature; the natural world and environment
- sauvage
- Wild, savage; untamed or uncivilized
- m'a
- Has told me (me + past tense avoir)
- dit
- Said, told (past participle of dire)
- Combien
- How many, how much (interrogative word)
- fraises
- Strawberries; sweet red berries (plural noun)
- poussent
- Grow, push (third-person plural present of pousser)
- mer
- Sea; large body of salt water
- Je
- I; first-person singular subject pronoun
- lui
- Him, her, to him, to her (indirect pronoun)
- répondis
- Replied, answered (simple past of répondre)
- bon
- Good (masculine adjective); of quality or benefit
- me
- Me, to me (first-person object pronoun)
- sembla
- Seemed, appeared (simple past of sembler)
- Autant
- As many, as much (comparative adverb of quantity)
- harengs
- Herrings; common Atlantic saltwater fish (plural)
- qu'il
- That he, than he (contraction of que + il)
- pousse
- Grows, pushes (third-person singular of pousser)
- forêt
- Forest; large area densely covered with trees
- s'intéressait
- Was interested in (imperfect reflexive of intéresser)
- devinettes
- Riddles; puzzling questions asked for amusement
- même
- Even, same, itself (adverb or adjective)
- quand
- When; conjunction indicating time of action
- on
- One, we, people (indefinite subject pronoun)
- fournissait
- Was providing, supplying (imperfect of fournir)
- réponse
- Answer, response to a question or riddle
- quatrième
- Fourth; ordinal number following third
- apportèrent
- Brought (simple past tense of apporter)
- scarabées
- Beetles; hard-shelled insects (plural noun)
- valaient
- Were worth (imperfect tense of valoir)
- autant
- As much, as many (adverb of quantity)
- que
- That, than, as, which (conjunction or pronoun)
- pruneaux
- Prunes; dried plums used in cooking
- Chaque
- Each, every (singular distributive adjective)
- scarabée
- Beetle; hard-shelled insect (singular noun)
- était
- Was (imperfect tense of être, third person)
- soigneusement
- Carefully, neatly, with great care
- enveloppé
- Wrapped, enclosed (past participle of envelopper)
- feuille
- Leaf; flat green part of a plant
- patience
- Patience; also dock plant leaf used for wrapping
- attachée
- Tied, fastened (feminine past participle of attacher)
- avec
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- épingle
- Pin; small pointed fastening device
- faite
- Made (feminine past participle of faire)
- d'une
- Of a, from a (feminine contraction of de une)
- aiguille
- Needle; thin pointed instrument for sewing or pinning
- pin
- Pine tree; evergreen coniferous tree
- aussi
- Also, too, as well (adverb)
- grossièrement
- Rudely, coarsely, roughly (adverb)
- jamais
- Never, ever (negative or emphatic adverb)
- Vieux
- Old (masculine adjective); aged or elderly
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