The Tale of Tom Kitten — Page 2
Tabitha unwisely turned them out into the garden, to be out of the way while she made hot buttered toast.
Tabitha les mit imprudemment dehors dans le jardin, pour qu'ils ne soient pas dans ses jambes pendant qu'elle préparait des toasts beurrés bien chauds.
"Now keep your frocks clean, children! You must walk on your hind legs.
« Maintenant gardez vos robes propres, les enfants ! Vous devez marcher sur vos pattes de derrière.
Keep away from the dirty ash-pit, and from Sally Henny Penny, and from the pig-stye and the Puddle-Ducks."
Restez loin de la fosse à cendres sale, et de Sally Henny Penny, et de la porcherie et des Canards Flaque. »
Moppet and Mittens walked down the garden path unsteadily.
Moppet et Mittens descendirent le chemin du jardin d'un pas chancelant.
Presently they trod upon their pinafores and fell on their noses.
Bientôt ils marchèrent sur leurs tabliers et tombèrent sur le nez.
When they stood up there were several green smears!
Quand ils se relevèrent, il y avait plusieurs traînées vertes !
"Let us climb up the rockery, and sit on the garden wall," said Moppet.
« Grimpons sur le jardin de rocaille et asseyons-nous sur le mur du jardin », dit Moppet.
They turned their pinafores back to front, and went up with a skip and a jump; Moppet's white tucker fell down into the road.
Ils retournèrent leurs tabliers de devant en arrière, et montèrent en sautillant ; le col blanc de Moppet tomba dans le chemin.
Tom Kitten was quite unable to jump when walking upon his hind legs in trousers.
Tom Chaton était tout à fait incapable de sauter en marchant sur ses pattes de derrière avec son pantalon.
He came up the rockery by degrees, breaking the ferns, and shedding buttons right and left.
Il gravit la rocaille petit à petit, cassant les fougères et semant des boutons à droite et à gauche.
He was all in pieces when he reached the top of the wall.
Il était tout en morceaux quand il atteignit le sommet du mur.
Moppet and Mittens tried to pull him together; his hat fell off, and the rest of his buttons burst.
Moppet et Mittens essayèrent de le remettre en ordre ; son chapeau tomba, et le reste de ses boutons éclata.
While they were in difficulties, there was a pit pat paddle pat! and the three Puddle-Ducks came along the hard high road, marching one behind the other and doing the goose step--pit pat paddle pat! pit pat waddle pat!
Pendant qu'ils étaient dans l'embarras, on entendit un floc flac plouf flac ! et les trois Canards Flaque arrivèrent sur la grand-route, marchant l'un derrière l'autre et faisant le pas de l'oie -- floc flac plouf flac ! floc flac dandine flac !
They stopped and stood in a row, and stared up at the kittens.
Ils s'arrêtèrent et se placèrent en rang, et regardèrent fixement les chatons.
They had very small eyes and looked surprised.
Ils avaient de très petits yeux et avaient l'air surpris.
Vocabulary
- les
- Plural definite article meaning 'the'
- mit
- Past tense of 'mettre', meaning 'put' or 'placed'
- imprudemment
- Adverb meaning carelessly or recklessly
- dehors
- Outside, out of doors
- dans
- Preposition meaning 'in' or 'inside'
- le
- Masculine singular definite article meaning 'the'
- jardin
- A garden or yard outside a home
- pour
- Preposition meaning 'for' or 'in order to'
- qu'
- Conjunction 'que' before a vowel, meaning 'that'
- ils
- Third person plural pronoun meaning 'they'
- ne
- Negative particle used with 'pas' to negate verbs
- soient
- Subjunctive form of 'être', meaning 'be'
- pas
- Negation word used with 'ne' meaning 'not'
- ses
- Possessive adjective meaning 'his', 'her', or 'its'
- jambes
- Plural noun meaning legs of a person
- pendant
- Preposition meaning 'during' or 'while'
- elle
- Third person singular feminine pronoun meaning 'she'
- préparait
- Imperfect tense of 'préparer', meaning 'was preparing'
- des
- Plural indefinite article meaning 'some' or 'of the'
- toasts
- Slices of bread that have been toasted
- beurrés
- Adjective meaning buttered, spread with butter
- bien
- Adverb meaning 'well' or 'very'
- chauds
- Adjective meaning hot or warm
- Maintenant
- Adverb meaning 'now' or 'at this moment'
- gardez
- Imperative of 'garder', meaning 'keep' or 'guard'
- vos
- Possessive adjective meaning 'your' (plural)
- robes
- Plural noun meaning dresses or gowns
- propres
- Adjective meaning clean or tidy
- enfants
- Plural noun meaning children
- Vous
- Second person plural or formal pronoun meaning 'you'
- devez
- Present tense of 'devoir', meaning 'must' or 'have to'
- marcher
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to walk'
- sur
- Preposition meaning 'on' or 'upon'
- pattes
- Paws or legs of an animal
- de
- Preposition meaning 'of', 'from', or 'about'
- derrière
- Preposition or noun meaning 'behind' or 'back'
- Restez
- Imperative of 'rester', meaning 'stay' or 'remain'
- loin
- Adverb meaning 'far' or 'far away'
- la
- Feminine singular definite article meaning 'the'
- fosse
- A pit or hole dug in the ground
- à
- Preposition meaning 'to', 'at', or 'in'
- cendres
- Plural noun meaning ashes or cinders
- sale
- Adjective meaning dirty or filthy
- et
- Conjunction meaning 'and'
- porcherie
- A pigsty or enclosure where pigs are kept
- Canards
- Plural noun meaning ducks
- Flaque
- A puddle or small pool of liquid
- descendirent
- Past tense of 'descendre', meaning 'went down'
- chemin
- A path, road, or way
- du
- Contraction of 'de le', meaning 'of the'
- d'
- Elided form of 'de', meaning 'of' or 'from'
- un
- Masculine indefinite article meaning 'a' or 'one'
- chancelant
- Adjective meaning tottering or staggering unsteadily
- Bientôt
- Adverb meaning 'soon' or 'shortly'
- marchèrent
- Past tense of 'marcher', meaning 'walked'
- leurs
- Possessive adjective meaning 'their'
- tabliers
- Plural noun meaning aprons worn over clothing
- tombèrent
- Past tense of 'tomber', meaning 'fell'
- nez
- Noun meaning nose of a person or animal
- Quand
- Conjunction or adverb meaning 'when'
- se
- Reflexive pronoun meaning 'himself', 'herself', 'itself'
- relevèrent
- Past tense of 'relever', meaning 'got back up'
- il
- Third person singular masculine pronoun meaning 'he' or 'it'
- y
- Pronoun meaning 'there' or 'it' in expressions
- avait
- Imperfect of 'avoir', meaning 'there was' or 'had'
- plusieurs
- Adjective meaning several or multiple things
- traînées
- Plural noun meaning streaks, smears, or trails
- vertes
- Feminine plural adjective meaning green in color
- Grimpons
- Imperative of 'grimper', meaning 'let's climb'
- rocaille
- A rocky garden feature or pile of stones
- asseyons-
- Imperative of 'asseoir', meaning 'let's sit'
- nous
- First person plural pronoun meaning 'we' or 'us'
- mur
- A wall of a building or garden
- dit
- Past tense of 'dire', meaning 'said'
- Ils
- Third person plural pronoun meaning 'they'
- retournèrent
- Past tense of 'retourner', meaning 'turned back'
- devant
- Preposition meaning 'in front of' or 'ahead'
- en
- Preposition meaning 'in', 'on', or 'by'
- arrière
- Noun or adverb meaning 'back' or 'backward'
- montèrent
- Past tense of 'monter', meaning 'went up' or 'climbed'
- sautillant
- Present participle meaning hopping or skipping along
- col
- A collar worn around the neck of clothing
- blanc
- Adjective meaning white in color
- tomba
- Past tense of 'tomber', meaning 'fell down'
- Chaton
- Noun meaning kitten or small cat
- était
- Imperfect of 'être', meaning 'was'
- tout
- Adjective or adverb meaning 'all', 'every', or 'quite'
- fait
- Noun or past participle meaning 'fact' or 'done'
- incapable
- Adjective meaning unable or incapable of something
- sauter
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to jump' or 'to leap'
- marchant
- Present participle of 'marcher', meaning 'walking'
- avec
- Preposition meaning 'with'
- son
- Possessive adjective meaning 'his', 'her', or 'its'
- pantalon
- Noun meaning trousers or pants worn on legs
- Il
- Third person singular masculine pronoun meaning 'he'
- gravit
- Past tense of 'gravir', meaning 'climbed up'
- petit
- Adjective meaning small or little in size
- cassant
- Adjective or participle meaning breaking or snapping
- fougères
- Plural noun meaning ferns, plants with leafy fronds
- semant
- Present participle of 'semer', meaning 'scattering' or 'sowing'
- boutons
- Plural noun meaning buttons on clothing
- droite
- Noun or adjective meaning 'right' side or direction
- gauche
- Noun or adjective meaning 'left' side or direction
- morceaux
- Plural noun meaning pieces or fragments of something
- quand
- Conjunction meaning 'when' introducing a time clause
- atteignit
- Past tense of 'atteindre', meaning 'reached' the top
- sommet
- Noun meaning summit, top, or peak of something
- essayèrent
- Past tense of 'essayer', meaning 'tried' to do something
- remettre
- Infinitive meaning 'to put back' or 'to restore'
- ordre
- Noun meaning order, arrangement, or tidiness
- chapeau
- Noun meaning hat worn on the head
- reste
- Noun meaning remainder or the rest of something
- éclata
- Past tense of 'éclater', meaning 'burst' or 'split apart'
- Pendant
- Preposition meaning 'during' or 'while' something happens
- étaient
- Imperfect of 'être', meaning 'were'
- l'
- Elided definite article 'le' or 'la' before vowel
- embarras
- Noun meaning embarrassment or awkward difficult situation
- on
- Indefinite pronoun meaning 'one', 'we', or 'they'
- entendit
- Past tense of 'entendre', meaning 'heard'
- trois
- Number meaning three
- arrivèrent
- Past tense of 'arriver', meaning 'arrived'
- grand-
- Prefix meaning 'grand' or 'great' in compound words
- route
- Noun meaning road or route for traveling
- autre
- Adjective or pronoun meaning 'other' or 'another'
- faisant
- Present participle of 'faire', meaning 'doing' or 'making'
- oie
- Noun meaning goose, a large waterfowl bird
- dandine
- From 'se dandiner', meaning to waddle or sway walking
- s'
- Elided reflexive pronoun 'se' before a vowel
- arrêtèrent
- Past tense of 'arrêter', meaning 'stopped'
- placèrent
- Past tense of 'placer', meaning 'placed themselves'
- rang
- Noun meaning row, rank, or line of people
- regardèrent
- Past tense of 'regarder', meaning 'looked at'
- fixement
- Adverb meaning fixedly or steadily staring at something
- chatons
- Plural noun meaning kittens, young cats
- avaient
- Imperfect of 'avoir', meaning 'had'
- très
- Adverb meaning 'very' intensifying an adjective
- petits
- Masculine plural adjective meaning small or little
- yeux
- Plural noun meaning eyes of a person or animal
- air
- Noun meaning appearance, look, or expression
- surpris
- Past participle adjective meaning surprised or astonished
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