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--
Al gauw steeg er een dun sliertje blauwe _rook_ van een houtvuur op uit de top van de boom, en Nutkin gluurde door het sleutelgat en zong--
"A house full, a hole full! And you cannot gather a bowl-full!"
"Een huis vol, een gat vol! En je kunt geen komvol verzamelen!"
The squirrels searched for nuts all over the island and filled their little sacks.
De eekhoorns zochten overal op het eiland naar noten en vulden hun kleine zakjes.
But Nutkin gathered oak-apples--yellow and scarlet--and sat upon a beech-stump playing marbles, and watching the door of old Mr. Brown.
Maar Nutkin verzamelde galappels--geel en scharlakenrood--en zat op een beukenstomp knikkers te spelen en de deur van de oude meneer Brown in de gaten te houden.
On the third day the squirrels got up very early and went fishing; they caught seven fat minnows as a present for Old Brown.
Op de derde dag stonden de eekhoorns heel vroeg op en gingen vissen; ze vingen zeven vette elritsen als cadeautje voor de oude Brown.
They paddled over the lake and landed under a crooked chestnut tree on Owl Island.
Ze peddelden over het meer en landden onder een knoestige kastanjeboom op Uilen-eiland.
Twinkleberry and six other little squirrels each carried a fat minnow; but Nutkin, who had no nice manners, brought no present at all.
Twinkleberry en zes andere kleine eekhoorns droegen elk een vette elrits; maar Nutkin, die geen goede manieren had, bracht helemaal geen cadeautje mee.
"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.'"
"De man in de wildernis zei tegen mij, 'Hoeveel aardbeien groeien er in de zee?' Ik antwoordde hem zoals ik goed dacht-- 'Zoveel als er haringen in het woud groeien.'"
But old Mr. Brown took no interest in riddles--not even when the answer was provided for him.
Maar de oude meneer Brown had geen interesse in raadsels--zelfs niet wanneer het antwoord voor hem werd gegeven.
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.
Op de vierde dag brachten de eekhoorns een cadeautje van zes vette kevers, die net zo goed waren als pruimen in _pruimenpudding_ voor de oude Brown.
Each beetle was wrapped up carefully in a dock-leaf, fastened with a pine-needle pin.
Elke kever was zorgvuldig ingepakt in een zuring-blad, vastgemaakt met een dennennaaldenspeld.
But Nutkin sang as rudely as ever-- "Old Mr. B!
Maar Nutkin zong zo onbeleefd als altijd-- "Oude meneer B!
Vocabulary
- Al
- Already; used to indicate something happened sooner than expected
- gauw
- Soon, quickly; before long
- steeg
- Rose, climbed; past tense of 'stijgen'
- er
- There; unstressed pronoun indicating place or existence
- een
- A, an; indefinite article
- dun
- Thin, slender; having little thickness
- sliertje
- Small wisp or thin trail of smoke or thread
- blauwe
- Blue; inflected form of 'blauw'
- rook
- Smoke; visible gas produced by burning
- van
- Of, from; preposition indicating origin or belonging
- houtvuur
- Wood fire; fire made by burning wood
- op
- On, up; preposition indicating position or direction
- uit
- Out, from; preposition indicating outward movement
- de
- The; definite article for common-gender nouns
- top
- Top, peak; highest point of something
- boom
- Tree; large woody plant with trunk and branches
- en
- And; conjunction connecting words or clauses
- gluurde
- Peeked, spied; looked furtively through a small opening
- door
- Through; preposition indicating movement through something
- het
- The; definite article for neuter-gender nouns
- sleutelgat
- Keyhole; small opening in a lock for a key
- zong
- Sang; past tense of 'zingen'
- Een
- A, an; indefinite article starting a sentence
- huis
- House; building used as a home
- vol
- Full; containing as much as possible
- gat
- Hole; opening or gap in a surface
- je
- You; informal second-person singular pronoun
- kunt
- Can; second-person form of 'kunnen', to be able
- geen
- No, not any; negation of a noun
- komvol
- Bowlful; the amount that fills a bowl
- verzamelen
- To collect, gather; bring things together in one place
- De
- The; definite article for common-gender nouns
- eekhoorns
- Squirrels; small bushy-tailed rodents that gather nuts
- zochten
- Searched, looked for; past tense of 'zoeken'
- overal
- Everywhere; in all places
- eiland
- Island; land mass completely surrounded by water
- naar
- To, toward; preposition indicating direction or target
- noten
- Nuts; hard-shelled seeds eaten as food
- vulden
- Filled; past tense of 'vullen', to fill up
- hun
- Their; third-person plural possessive pronoun
- kleine
- Small, little; inflected form of 'klein'
- zakjes
- Small bags, pouches; diminutive plural of 'zak'
- Maar
- But; conjunction indicating contrast or exception
- verzamelde
- Collected, gathered; past tense of 'verzamelen'
- geel
- Yellow; the colour of sunflowers and lemons
- scharlakenrood
- Scarlet; bright vivid red colour
- zat
- Sat; past tense of 'zitten', to sit
- knikkers
- Marbles; small glass balls used in children's games
- te
- To; particle used before infinitive verbs
- spelen
- To play; engage in games or recreational activity
- deur
- Door; movable barrier closing an entrance
- oude
- Old; inflected form of 'oud', aged or elderly
- meneer
- Mister, sir; polite title for an adult male
- in
- In, inside; preposition indicating location within
- gaten
- Holes; plural of 'gat'; also used in 'in de gaten houden'
- houden
- To keep, hold; also used in idioms about watching
- Op
- On; preposition indicating position or a specific day
- derde
- Third; ordinal number following second
- dag
- Day; period of twenty-four hours
- stonden
- Stood; past tense of 'staan', to stand
- heel
- Very, quite; intensifier meaning completely or very
- vroeg
- Early; before the usual or expected time
- gingen
- Went; past tense of 'gaan', to go
- vissen
- To fish; catching fish as activity or food
- ze
- They, she; third-person pronoun for plural or female
- vingen
- Caught; past tense of 'vangen', to catch
- zeven
- Seven; the number 7
- vette
- Fat, plump; inflected form of 'vet'
- als
- As, like; conjunction of comparison or condition
- cadeautje
- Small gift, present; diminutive of 'cadeau'
- voor
- For; preposition indicating purpose or intended recipient
- Ze
- They; third-person plural subject pronoun
- peddelden
- Paddled; past tense of 'peddelen', to paddle a boat
- over
- Over, across; preposition indicating crossing something
- meer
- Lake; large body of inland water
- landden
- Landed; past tense of 'landen', to arrive on shore
- onder
- Under, beneath; preposition indicating lower position
- knoestige
- Gnarled, knotty; having rough twisted knots in wood
- kastanjeboom
- Chestnut tree; large tree producing edible chestnuts
- zes
- Six; the number 6
- andere
- Other; different ones from those already mentioned
- droegen
- Carried; past tense of 'dragen', to carry or wear
- elk
- Each, every; referring to individual members of a group
- maar
- But; conjunction expressing contrast
- die
- Who, that; relative pronoun referring to a person
- goede
- Good; inflected form of 'goed', of high quality
- manieren
- Manners; polite social behaviour and etiquette
- had
- Had; past tense of 'hebben', to have
- bracht
- Brought; past tense of 'brengen', to bring
- helemaal
- Completely, entirely; used as intensifier of totality
- mee
- Along, with; particle indicating accompaniment
- man
- Man; adult male person
- wildernis
- Wilderness; wild uncultivated natural area
- zei
- Said; past tense of 'zeggen', to say
- tegen
- Against, to; preposition indicating direction of speech
- mij
- Me; first-person singular object pronoun
- Hoeveel
- How many, how much; question word about quantity
- aardbeien
- Strawberries; sweet red fruit grown close to the ground
- groeien
- To grow; increase in size, develop naturally
- zee
- Sea; large body of salt water
- Ik
- I; first-person singular subject pronoun
- antwoordde
- Answered; past tense of 'antwoorden', to answer
- hem
- Him; third-person singular masculine object pronoun
- zoals
- As, just as; conjunction expressing similarity
- goed
- Good, well; positive quality or correct manner
- dacht
- Thought; past tense of 'denken', to think
- Zoveel
- So many, so much; indicating a large equal quantity
- haringen
- Herrings; small oily saltwater fish eaten as food
- woud
- Forest, wood; large dense area of trees
- interesse
- Interest; the feeling of wanting to know or learn more
- raadsels
- Riddles; puzzling questions requiring clever answers
- zelfs
- Even; used to emphasize an extreme or unexpected case
- niet
- Not; word used to negate verbs or sentences
- wanneer
- When; question word or conjunction about time
- antwoord
- Answer; response to a question or problem
- werd
- Was, became; past tense of 'worden', to become
- gegeven
- Given; past participle of 'geven', to give
- vierde
- Fourth; ordinal number following third
- brachten
- Brought; past tense plural of 'brengen', to bring
- kevers
- Beetles; insects with hard wing-covers
- net
- Just, exactly; adverb expressing precision or recency
- zo
- So, thus; adverb of manner or degree
- waren
- Were; past tense plural of 'zijn', to be
- pruimen
- Plums; sweet purple or red stone fruits
- Elke
- Every, each; referring to all individual members
- kever
- Beetle; insect with hardened protective forewings
- was
- Was; past tense singular of 'zijn', to be
- zorgvuldig
- Carefully, meticulously; done with great attention and care
- ingepakt
- Wrapped up, packaged; past participle of 'inpakken'
- vastgemaakt
- Fastened, attached; past participle of 'vastmaken'
- met
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or instrument
- onbeleefd
- Rude, impolite; lacking good manners or courtesy
- altijd
- Always; at all times, on every occasion
- Oude
- Old; inflected form of 'oud', elderly or aged
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