The Wonderful Wizard of Oz — Page 1
The Cyclone
La Tornade
Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife.
Dorothy vivait au cœur des grandes prairies du Kansas, avec Oncle Henry, qui était fermier, et Tante Em, qui était la femme du fermier.
Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles.
Leur maison était petite, car le bois nécessaire à sa construction avait dû être transporté en chariot sur de nombreux kilomètres.
There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds.
Il y avait quatre murs, un plancher et un toit, qui formaient une seule pièce ; et cette pièce contenait un poêle à cuisiner à l'aspect rouillé, un buffet pour la vaisselle, une table, trois ou quatre chaises, et les lits.
Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner.
Oncle Henry et Tante Em avaient un grand lit dans un coin, et Dorothy un petit lit dans un autre coin.
There was no garret at all, and no cellar—except a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path.
Il n'y avait pas de grenier du tout, et pas de cave — excepté un petit trou creusé dans le sol, appelé une cave à tornades, où la famille pouvait se réfugier au cas où l'un de ces grands tourbillons se lèverait, assez puissant pour écraser tout bâtiment sur son passage.
It was reached by a trap door in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.
On y accédait par une trappe au milieu du plancher, depuis laquelle une échelle descendait dans le petit trou sombre.
When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side.
Lorsque Dorothy se tenait sur le pas de la porte et regardait autour d'elle, elle ne voyait rien d'autre que la grande prairie grise de tous côtés.
Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions.
Pas un arbre ni une maison ne venait rompre l'immense étendue de pays plat qui s'étendait jusqu'au bord du ciel dans toutes les directions.
The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it.
Le soleil avait cuit la terre labourée en une masse grise, parcourue de petites fissures.
Vocabulary
- Tornade
- A violent rotating column of air; tornado
- vivait
- Past imperfect of 'vivre'; was living, used to live
- cœur
- Heart; also used to mean the center or middle
- prairies
- Large flat grassy areas; meadows or plains
- Oncle
- A male sibling of one's parent; uncle
- fermier
- A person who works or owns a farm; farmer
- Tante
- A female sibling of one's parent; aunt
- femme
- A woman; also means wife in context
- maison
- A building where people live; house or home
- car
- Conjunction meaning because or for
- bois
- Wood as a building material; also means forest
- nécessaire
- Adjective meaning required or needed; necessary
- construction
- The process of building something; construction
- dû
- Past participle of 'devoir'; had to, was obliged to
- transporté
- Past participle of 'transporter'; carried or transported
- chariot
- A wheeled vehicle pulled by animals; wagon
- nombreux
- Adjective meaning many or numerous
- murs
- Vertical structures enclosing a space; walls
- plancher
- The flat surface one walks on inside; floor
- toit
- The covering on top of a building; roof
- formaient
- Past imperfect of 'former'; formed, made up
- seule
- Feminine adjective meaning only, single, or alone
- pièce
- A room in a building; also means piece or coin
- contenait
- Past imperfect of 'contenir'; contained or held
- poêle
- A stove used for heating or cooking
- cuisiner
- To prepare food by applying heat; to cook
- aspect
- The appearance or look of something
- rouillé
- Adjective describing something covered in rust; rusty
- buffet
- A piece of furniture for storing dishes; sideboard
- vaisselle
- Dishes and utensils used for eating; crockery
- chaises
- Pieces of furniture for sitting; chairs
- lits
- Pieces of furniture for sleeping; beds
- lit
- A piece of furniture used for sleeping; bed
- coin
- An interior angle where two surfaces meet; corner
- grenier
- A storage space at the top of a house; attic
- cave
- An underground room beneath a building; cellar
- excepté
- Preposition or adjective meaning except or apart from
- trou
- An opening or hollow space in something; hole
- creusé
- Past participle of 'creuser'; dug out or hollowed
- sol
- The ground or floor surface; earth or soil
- appelé
- Past participle of 'appeler'; called or named
- tornades
- Plural of tornade; violent rotating windstorms
- pouvait
- Past imperfect of 'pouvoir'; could or was able to
- réfugier
- To take shelter or seek safety somewhere; to refuge
- cas
- A situation or instance of something; case
- tourbillons
- Spinning masses of air or water; whirlwinds or vortices
- lèverait
- Conditional of 'lever'; would lift or raise
- assez
- Adverb meaning enough or sufficiently
- puissant
- Adjective meaning strong, powerful, or mighty
- écraser
- To crush, flatten, or destroy by great force
- bâtiment
- A structure built for human use; building
- passage
- The act of passing through; passage or path
- accédait
- Past imperfect of 'accéder'; accessed or entered
- trappe
- A hinged door set into a floor or ceiling; trapdoor
- milieu
- The middle or center of something
- depuis
- Preposition meaning since or from
- laquelle
- Feminine relative pronoun meaning which or from which
- échelle
- A structure for climbing up or down; ladder
- descendait
- Past imperfect of 'descendre'; went down or descended
- sombre
- Adjective meaning dark, dim, or gloomy
- Lorsque
- Conjunction meaning when or at the time that
- tenait
- Past imperfect of 'tenir'; held or kept
- porte
- An entrance or exit with a movable barrier; door
- regardait
- Past imperfect of 'regarder'; was looking or watching
- autour
- Adverb or preposition meaning around or surrounding
- voyait
- Past imperfect of 'voir'; saw or could see
- rien
- Indefinite pronoun meaning nothing or not anything
- prairie
- A large open area of flat grassy land
- grise
- Feminine adjective meaning grey in color
- côtés
- Plural of côté; sides or directions around something
- arbre
- A large woody perennial plant; tree
- ni
- Conjunction meaning nor, used in negative sentences
- venait
- Past imperfect of 'venir'; came or used to come
- rompre
- To break, interrupt, or disrupt something
- immense
- Adjective meaning extremely large or vast
- étendue
- A large area or expanse of land or water
- pays
- A nation or region; country or land
- plat
- Adjective meaning flat or level; without elevation
- étendait
- Past imperfect of 's'étendre'; stretched or spread out
- jusqu'
- Elided preposition meaning up to or as far as
- bord
- The edge or rim of something; border
- ciel
- The expanse above the earth; sky or heaven
- soleil
- The star at the center of our solar system; sun
- cuit
- Baked or scorched by heat; cooked or hardened
- terre
- The ground, soil, or earth surface
- labourée
- Past participle of 'labourer'; ploughed or tilled
- masse
- A large body or bulk of something; mass
- parcourue
- Past participle of 'parcourir'; crossed or covered with
- fissures
- Narrow cracks or splits in a surface; fissures
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