The Tale of Two Bad Mice — Page 1
THE TALE OF TWO BAD MICE
LE CONTE DES DEUX MÉCHANTES SOURIS
FOR W. M. L. W. THE LITTLE GIRL WHO HAD THE DOLL'S HOUSE
À W. M. L. W. LA PETITE FILLE QUI AVAIT LA MAISON DE POUPÉE
THE TALE OF TWO BAD MICE BY BEATRIX POTTER Author of 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit,' &c.
LE CONTE DES DEUX MÉCHANTES SOURIS PAR BEATRIX POTTER Auteur de « Le Conte de Pierre Lapin », etc.
LONDON FREDERICK WARNE AND CO. AND NEW YORK 1904 [All rights reserved]
LONDRES FREDERICK WARNE AND CO. ET NEW YORK 1904 [Tous droits réservés]
COPYRIGHT 1904 BY FREDERICK WARNE & CO. ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL.
COPYRIGHT 1904 PAR FREDERICK WARNE & CO. ENREGISTRÉ À STATIONERS' HALL.
ONCE upon a time there was a very beautiful doll's-house; it was red brick with white windows, and it had real muslin curtains and a front door and a chimney.
IL était une fois une très belle maison de poupée ; elle était en briques rouges avec des fenêtres blanches, et elle avait de vrais rideaux en mousseline, une porte d'entrée et une cheminée.
IT belonged to two Dolls called Lucinda and Jane; at least it belonged to Lucinda, but she never ordered meals.
ELLE appartenait à deux Poupées appelées Lucinda et Jane ; du moins elle appartenait à Lucinda, mais celle-ci ne commandait jamais les repas.
Jane was the Cook; but she never did any cooking, because the dinner had been bought ready-made, in a box full of shavings.
Jane était la Cuisinière ; mais elle ne faisait jamais la cuisine, car le dîner avait été acheté tout prêt, dans une boîte pleine de copeaux.
THERE were two red lobsters and a ham, a fish, a pudding, and some pears and oranges.
IL y avait deux homards rouges et un jambon, un poisson, un pudding, et des poires et des oranges.
They would not come off the plates, but they were extremely beautiful.
Ils ne se détachaient pas des assiettes, mais ils étaient extrêmement beaux.
ONE morning Lucinda and Jane had gone out for a drive in the doll's perambulator. There was no one in the nursery, and it was very quiet. Presently there was a little scuffling, scratching noise in a corner near the fire-place, where there was a hole under the skirting-board.
UN matin, Lucinda et Jane étaient sorties faire un tour dans le landau de poupée. Il n'y avait personne dans la nursery, et c'était très calme. Bientôt on entendit un petit bruit de frottement et de grattement dans un coin près de la cheminée, là où il y avait un trou sous la plinthe.
Tom Thumb put out his head for a moment, and then popped it in again.
Tom Pouce sortit la tête un instant, puis la rentra aussitôt.
Tom Thumb was a mouse.
Tom Pouce était une souris.
Vocabulary
- CONTE
- A short story or tale, often for children
- DEUX
- The number two
- MÉCHANTES
- Feminine plural adjective meaning wicked, naughty, or mean
- SOURIS
- Small rodent; mouse or mice
- PETITE
- Feminine adjective meaning small or little
- FILLE
- Noun meaning girl or daughter
- AVAIT
- Third-person singular imperfect of 'avoir,' meaning 'had'
- MAISON
- Noun meaning house or home
- POUPÉE
- Noun meaning doll or puppet
- Auteur
- Noun meaning author or creator of a work
- Conte
- A short story or tale, often for children
- Lapin
- Noun meaning rabbit
- LONDRES
- French name for the city of London, England
- Tous
- Adjective or pronoun meaning all or every
- droits
- Noun meaning rights; legal entitlements or privileges
- réservés
- Adjective meaning reserved; kept for exclusive use
- ENREGISTRÉ
- Past participle meaning registered or recorded officially
- était
- Third-person singular imperfect of 'être,' meaning 'was'
- fois
- Noun meaning time or instance; 'once upon a time'
- très
- Adverb meaning very or extremely
- belle
- Feminine adjective meaning beautiful or lovely
- maison
- Noun meaning house or home
- poupée
- Noun meaning doll or puppet
- briques
- Noun meaning bricks, rectangular building material blocks
- rouges
- Plural adjective meaning red in color
- fenêtres
- Noun meaning windows in a building
- blanches
- Feminine plural adjective meaning white in color
- avait
- Third-person singular imperfect of 'avoir,' meaning 'had'
- vrais
- Masculine plural adjective meaning real or true
- rideaux
- Noun meaning curtains or drapes for windows
- mousseline
- Noun meaning muslin, a lightweight sheer cotton fabric
- porte
- Noun meaning door; also third-person verb 'carries'
- entrée
- Noun meaning entrance, entry, or front door
- cheminée
- Noun meaning fireplace or chimney in a building
- appartenait
- Imperfect tense of 'appartenir,' meaning 'belonged to'
- deux
- The number two
- Poupées
- Noun meaning dolls or puppets
- appelées
- Past participle meaning called or named, feminine plural
- moins
- Adverb meaning less or fewer; 'at least' in context
- celle
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'the one,' feminine form
- commandait
- Imperfect tense meaning 'ordered' or 'commanded'
- jamais
- Adverb meaning never or ever
- repas
- Noun meaning meal or meals
- Cuisinière
- Noun meaning cook, female kitchen worker
- faisait
- Imperfect tense of 'faire,' meaning 'made' or 'did'
- cuisine
- Noun meaning kitchen or cooking
- car
- Conjunction meaning 'because' or 'for'
- dîner
- Noun meaning dinner; also verb 'to dine'
- été
- Past participle of 'être,' meaning 'been'; also 'summer'
- acheté
- Past participle of 'acheter,' meaning 'bought' or 'purchased'
- tout
- Adjective or adverb meaning all, whole, or completely
- prêt
- Adjective meaning ready or prepared
- boîte
- Noun meaning box, tin, or container
- pleine
- Feminine adjective meaning full or filled
- copeaux
- Noun meaning wood shavings or chips used as packing
- y
- Pronoun meaning 'there' or replacing a previously mentioned place
- homards
- Noun meaning lobsters, large marine crustaceans
- jambon
- Noun meaning ham, a cured pork product
- poisson
- Noun meaning fish
- pudding
- Noun meaning pudding, a sweet dessert dish
- poires
- Noun meaning pears, a sweet juicy fruit
- oranges
- Noun meaning oranges, a citrus fruit
- détachaient
- Imperfect meaning 'came off,' 'detached,' or 'separated'
- assiettes
- Noun meaning plates or dishes for serving food
- étaient
- Imperfect plural of 'être,' meaning 'were'
- extrêmement
- Adverb meaning extremely or very greatly
- beaux
- Masculine plural adjective meaning beautiful or handsome
- matin
- Noun meaning morning
- sorties
- Past participle meaning 'gone out,' feminine plural form
- faire
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to do' or 'to make'
- tour
- Noun meaning a tour, walk, or trip around
- landau
- Noun meaning a baby carriage or pram
- personne
- Noun meaning person; as negative, meaning nobody
- calme
- Adjective or noun meaning calm, quiet, or peaceful
- Bientôt
- Adverb meaning soon or shortly
- entendit
- Passé simple of 'entendre,' meaning 'heard'
- petit
- Masculine adjective meaning small or little
- bruit
- Noun meaning noise or sound
- frottement
- Noun meaning rubbing, scraping, or friction sound
- grattement
- Noun meaning scratching or scraping sound
- coin
- Noun meaning corner or nook
- près
- Adverb or preposition meaning near or close to
- là
- Adverb meaning there or at that place
- où
- Relative or interrogative adverb meaning 'where'
- trou
- Noun meaning hole or gap
- sous
- Preposition meaning 'under' or 'beneath'
- plinthe
- Noun meaning baseboard or skirting board along a wall
- Pouce
- Noun meaning thumb; 'Tom Pouce' means Tom Thumb
- sortit
- Passé simple of 'sortir,' meaning 'went out' or 'came out'
- tête
- Noun meaning head
- instant
- Noun meaning moment or instant in time
- puis
- Adverb meaning then, next, or afterwards
- rentra
- Passé simple of 'rentrer,' meaning 'went back in'
- aussitôt
- Adverb meaning immediately or right away
- souris
- Noun meaning mouse or mice
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