The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies — Page 3
He stared at them for some time.
Il les regarda fixement pendant un certain temps.
Presently a fly settled on one of them and it moved.
Bientôt une mouche se posa sur l'un d'eux et il bougea.
Mr. McGregor climbed down on to the rubbish heap--
M. McGregor descendit sur le tas d'ordures --
"One, two, three, four! five! six leetle rabbits!" said he as he dropped them into his sack.
« Un, deux, trois, quatre ! cinq ! six p'tits lapins ! » dit-il en les jetant dans son sac.
The Flopsy Bunnies dreamt that their mother was turning them over in bed.
Les Lapins Flopsy rêvaient que leur mère les retournait dans leur lit.
They stirred a little in their sleep, but still they did not wake up.
Ils remuèrent un peu dans leur sommeil, mais ils ne se réveillèrent toujours pas.
Mr. McGregor tied up the sack and left it on the wall.
M. McGregor ficela le sac et le laissa sur le mur.
He went to put away the mowing machine.
Il alla ranger la tondeuse.
While he was gone, Mrs. Flopsy Bunny (who had remained at home) came across the field.
Pendant son absence, Mme Lapin Flopsy (qui était restée à la maison) traversa le champ.
She looked suspiciously at the sack and wondered where everybody was?
Elle regarda le sac d'un air soupçonneux et se demanda où était passé tout le monde.
Then the mouse came out of her jam pot, and Benjamin took the paper bag off his head, and they told the doleful tale.
Alors la souris sortit de son pot de confiture, et Benjamin enleva le sac en papier de sa tête, et ils racontèrent la triste histoire.
Benjamin and Flopsy were in despair, they could not undo the string.
Benjamin et Flopsy étaient désespérés, ils ne pouvaient pas défaire la ficelle.
But Mrs. Tittlemouse was a resourceful person.
Mais Mme Tittlemouse était une personne ingénieuse.
She nibbled a hole in the bottom corner of the sack.
Elle grignota un trou dans le coin inférieur du sac.
The little rabbits were pulled out and pinched to wake them.
Les petits lapins furent tirés dehors et pincés pour les réveiller.
Their parents stuffed the empty sack with three rotten vegetable marrows, an old blacking-brush and two decayed turnips.
Leurs parents bourrèrent le sac vide avec trois courges pourries, une vieille brosse à cirage et deux navets gâtés.
Then they all hid under a bush and watched for Mr. McGregor.
Puis ils se cachèrent tous sous un buisson et guettèrent M. McGregor.
Mr. McGregor came back and picked up the sack, and carried it off.
M. McGregor revint et ramassa le sac, et l'emporta.
He carried it hanging down, as if it were rather heavy.
Il le porta en le laissant pendre, comme s'il était assez lourd.
Vocabulary
- regarda
- Past tense of regarder; looked at or watched
- fixement
- Adverb meaning steadily or intently, without moving
- pendant
- Preposition meaning during or for a period of time
- certain
- Adjective meaning a certain or particular amount of time
- temps
- Noun meaning time or weather depending on context
- Bientôt
- Adverb meaning soon or shortly afterward
- mouche
- Noun meaning a common housefly or small fly
- posa
- Past tense of poser; landed or placed itself down
- eux
- Stressed pronoun meaning 'them' referring to people
- bougea
- Past tense of bouger; moved or stirred slightly
- descendit
- Past tense of descendre; came or went down somewhere
- tas
- Noun meaning a pile or heap of things
- ordures
- Noun meaning rubbish, garbage, or waste material
- p'tits
- Colloquial contraction of petits meaning little or small
- lapins
- Plural noun meaning rabbits, small furry animals
- dit-il
- Inverted verb phrase meaning 'he said' after dialogue
- jetant
- Present participle of jeter; throwing or tossing something
- sac
- Noun meaning a bag or sack for carrying things
- Lapins
- Plural noun meaning rabbits, used here as a proper name
- rêvaient
- Imperfect tense of rêver; were dreaming during sleep
- mère
- Noun meaning mother or female parent of children
- retournait
- Imperfect tense of retourner; was returning or going back
- lit
- Noun meaning a bed for sleeping or resting in
- remuèrent
- Past tense of remuer; stirred or moved slightly
- peu
- Adverb meaning a little or slightly in degree
- sommeil
- Noun meaning sleep or sleepiness in their slumber
- réveillèrent
- Past tense of réveiller; woke up or were awakened
- toujours
- Adverb meaning always or still in a given situation
- ficela
- Past tense of ficeler; tied up or bound with string
- laissa
- Past tense of laisser; left or allowed something behind
- mur
- Noun meaning a wall of a building or enclosure
- alla
- Past tense of aller; went somewhere or moved away
- ranger
- Infinitive meaning to put away or tidy something up
- tondeuse
- Noun meaning a lawn mower or grass-cutting machine
- Pendant
- Preposition meaning during or throughout a period of time
- absence
- Noun meaning the state of being away or not present
- Lapin
- Noun meaning rabbit, used here as a character's name
- restée
- Past participle of rester; had stayed or remained behind
- maison
- Noun meaning house or home where one lives
- traversa
- Past tense of traverser; crossed or went across an area
- champ
- Noun meaning a field or open area of land
- air
- Noun meaning an expression, look, or appearance on face
- soupçonneux
- Adjective meaning suspicious or distrustful in manner
- demanda
- Past tense of demander; asked or inquired about something
- passé
- Past participle of passer; happened to or gone somewhere
- tout
- Adjective or pronoun meaning all, every, or everything
- monde
- Noun meaning world or everyone; tout le monde means everyone
- Alors
- Adverb meaning then, so, or at that moment in time
- souris
- Noun meaning a mouse, the small rodent animal
- sortit
- Past tense of sortir; came out or exited a place
- pot
- Noun meaning a pot or jar used for storing food
- confiture
- Noun meaning jam or fruit preserve spread on bread
- enleva
- Past tense of enlever; removed or took off something
- papier
- Noun meaning paper, a thin material for writing on
- tête
- Noun meaning head, the top part of the body
- racontèrent
- Past tense of raconter; told or narrated a story
- triste
- Adjective meaning sad or unhappy about something
- histoire
- Noun meaning story, history, or tale of events
- désespérés
- Adjective meaning desperate or hopeless in a situation
- pouvaient
- Imperfect tense of pouvoir; were able to or could do
- défaire
- Infinitive meaning to undo or untie something bound
- ficelle
- Noun meaning string or twine used for tying things
- personne
- Noun meaning person or someone with a particular quality
- ingénieuse
- Adjective meaning clever, resourceful, or ingenious in nature
- grignota
- Past tense of grignoter; gnawed or nibbled through something
- trou
- Noun meaning a hole or opening in a surface
- coin
- Noun meaning corner of an object or room
- inférieur
- Adjective meaning lower or inferior in position or rank
- petits
- Adjective meaning small or little ones, the young
- furent
- Past tense of être; they were in a past moment
- tirés
- Past participle of tirer; pulled or drawn out of somewhere
- dehors
- Adverb meaning outside or out of an enclosed space
- pincés
- Past participle of pincer; pinched to wake or alert someone
- réveiller
- Infinitive meaning to wake someone up from sleep
- parents
- Noun meaning parents, one's mother and father
- bourrèrent
- Past tense of bourrer; stuffed or packed something full
- vide
- Adjective or noun meaning empty or a void space
- courges
- Noun meaning squashes or gourds, large vegetable fruits
- pourries
- Adjective meaning rotten or decayed, gone bad over time
- vieille
- Adjective meaning old or aged, feminine form of vieux
- brosse
- Noun meaning a brush used for cleaning or grooming
- cirage
- Noun meaning shoe polish or wax for shining shoes
- navets
- Noun meaning turnips, root vegetables grown underground
- gâtés
- Adjective meaning spoiled, rotten, or gone bad food
- Puis
- Adverb meaning then or next indicating sequence of events
- cachèrent
- Past tense of cacher; hid themselves from view somewhere
- tous
- Pronoun or adjective meaning all of them together
- sous
- Preposition meaning under or beneath something physical
- buisson
- Noun meaning a bush or shrub growing in the ground
- guettèrent
- Past tense of guetter; watched and waited for someone
- revint
- Past tense of revenir; came back or returned to place
- ramassa
- Past tense of ramasser; picked up or gathered something
- emporta
- Past tense of emporter; carried away or took something off
- porta
- Past tense of porter; carried or bore something along
- laissant
- Present participle of laisser; leaving or letting hang down
- pendre
- Infinitive meaning to hang or dangle from a point
- comme
- Conjunction or adverb meaning like, as, or since
- assez
- Adverb meaning enough or quite, indicating sufficient degree
- lourd
- Adjective meaning heavy in weight or burden
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