The Wonderful Wizard of Oz — Page 4
Aunt Em, badly frightened, threw open the trap door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small, dark hole.
Tante Em, très effrayée, ouvrit brusquement la trappe dans le plancher et descendit l'échelle dans le petit trou sombre.
Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt.
Dorothy attrapa Toto enfin et commença à suivre sa tante.
When she was halfway across the room there came a great shriek from the wind, and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing and sat down suddenly upon the floor.
Quand elle fut à mi-chemin de la pièce, un grand hurlement du vent retentit, et la maison trembla si fort qu'elle perdit l'équilibre et s'assit brusquement sur le plancher.
Then a strange thing happened.
Alors une chose étrange se produisit.
The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air.
La maison tournoya deux ou trois fois et s'éleva lentement dans les airs.
Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.
Dorothy eut l'impression de monter dans un ballon.
The north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the exact center of the cyclone.
Les vents du nord et du sud se rencontrèrent là où se trouvait la maison, et en firent le centre exact du cyclone.
In the middle of a cyclone the air is generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of the house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the very top of the cyclone; and there it remained and was carried miles and miles away as easily as you could carry a feather.
Au centre d'un cyclone, l'air est généralement calme, mais la grande pression du vent sur chaque côté de la maison la souleva de plus en plus haut, jusqu'à ce qu'elle se trouve au sommet même du cyclone ; et là elle demeura et fut emportée à des kilomètres et des kilomètres aussi facilement qu'on pourrait porter une plume.
It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but Dorothy found she was riding quite easily.
Il faisait très sombre, et le vent hurlait horriblement autour d'elle, mais Dorothy constata qu'elle se déplaçait assez facilement.
After the first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.
Après les premiers tourbillons, et une autre fois où la maison s'inclina fortement, elle eut l'impression d'être bercée doucement, comme un bébé dans un berceau.
Toto did not like it.
Toto n'aimait pas cela.
Vocabulary
- Tante
- tahnt — Aunt; a parent's sister or female relative
- très
- treh — Very; used to intensify adjectives or adverbs
- effrayée
- eh-freh-yay — Frightened, scared; feminine past participle of effrayer
- ouvrit
- oo-vree — Opened; past historic tense of ouvrir
- brusquement
- brüsk-mah(n) — Abruptly, suddenly, without warning or gentleness
- trappe
- trap — Trapdoor; a hinged door in a floor
- dans
- dah(n) — In, inside; preposition indicating location within something
- plancher
- plah(n)-shay — Floor; the flat surface one walks on indoors
- descendit
- day-sah(n)-dee — Descended, went down; past historic of descendre
- échelle
- ay-shel — Ladder; a structure with rungs used for climbing
- petit
- puh-tee — Small, little; adjective describing something of small size
- trou
- troo — Hole; an opening or gap in a surface
- sombre
- soh(m)-bruh — Dark, gloomy; lacking light or cheerfulness
- attrapa
- ah-trah-pah — Caught, grabbed; past historic of attraper
- enfin
- ah(n)-fa(n) — Finally, at last; after a long wait or delay
- commença
- koh-mah(n)-sah — Began, started; past historic of commencer
- suivre
- swee-vruh — To follow; to go after someone or something
- tante
- tahnt — Aunt; a parent's sister or female relative
- Quand
- kah(n) — When; conjunction or adverb indicating time
- fut
- fü — Was; past historic of être, third person singular
- mi
- mee — Mid, half; prefix used in compound expressions
- chemin
- shuh-ma(n) — Path, way, road; route between two places
- pièce
- pyess — Room; an enclosed space within a building
- grand
- grah(n) — Great, big, large; adjective describing great size
- hurlement
- ürl-mah(n) — Howl, scream; a loud, prolonged cry or wail
- vent
- vah(n) — Wind; moving air, especially a strong current
- retentit
- ruh-tah(n)-tee — Rang out, resounded; past historic of retentir
- maison
- meh-zo(n) — House; a building used as a human dwelling
- trembla
- trah(m)-blah — Trembled, shook; past historic of trembler
- si
- see — So, so much; adverb intensifying adjectives or adverbs
- fort
- for — Strong, strongly, hard; with great force or intensity
- perdit
- pair-dee — Lost; past historic of perdre, third person singular
- équilibre
- ay-kee-lee-bruh — Balance; stable equilibrium of the body or object
- assit
- ah-see — Sat down; past historic of s'asseoir
- sur
- sür — On, upon; preposition indicating position above something
- Alors
- ah-lor — Then, so; adverb indicating time sequence or consequence
- chose
- shohz — Thing; a general term for an object or matter
- étrange
- ay-trah(n)zh — Strange, odd; unusual or surprising in nature
- produisit
- proh-dwee-zee — Happened, occurred; past historic of se produire
- tournoya
- toor-nwah-yah — Spun, whirled; past historic of tournoyer
- deux
- duh — Two; the cardinal number following one
- trois
- trwah — Three; the cardinal number following two
- fois
- fwah — Times; instances of repetition of an action
- éleva
- ay-luh-vah — Rose, lifted; past historic of élever
- lentement
- lah(n)t-mah(n) — Slowly; at a slow pace, not quickly
- airs
- air — Air, skies; open space above the ground
- eut
- ü — Had; past historic of avoir, third person singular
- impression
- a(m)-preh-syo(n) — Impression, feeling, sensation; a vague mental sense
- monter
- mo(n)-tay — To go up, rise, climb; move to a higher position
- ballon
- bah-lo(n) — Balloon; an inflated bag that rises in the air
- vents
- vah(n) — Winds; currents of moving air
- nord
- nor — North; one of the four cardinal compass directions
- sud
- süd — South; the cardinal direction opposite to north
- rencontrèrent
- rah(n)-ko(n)-trair-ah(n) — Met, encountered; past historic of rencontrer, plural
- là
- lah — There; adverb indicating a specific place or location
- où
- oo — Where; relative or interrogative adverb of place
- trouvait
- troo-veh — Was located, found itself; imperfect of se trouver
- firent
- feer-ah(n) — Made, did; past historic of faire, third person plural
- centre
- sah(n)-truh — Center; the middle point of something
- exact
- eg-zakt — Exact, precise; perfectly accurate or correct
- cyclone
- see-klon — Cyclone; a large, violent rotating storm system
- air
- air — Air; the invisible mixture of gases we breathe
- généralement
- zhay-nay-ral-mah(n) — Generally, usually; in most cases or situations
- calme
- kalm — Calm, still, quiet; free from disturbance or agitation
- mais
- meh — But; conjunction expressing contrast or contradiction
- grande
- grah(n)d — Great, large; feminine form of grand
- pression
- preh-syo(n) — Pressure; force applied over an area
- chaque
- shak — Each, every; referring to individual members of a group
- côté
- koh-tay — Side; one of two lateral parts of something
- souleva
- sool-vah — Lifted, raised; past historic of soulever
- plus
- plü — More; comparative adverb indicating greater degree
- haut
- oh — High, higher; at or to a great elevation
- jusqu'
- zhüsk — Until, up to; elided preposition before vowel
- trouve
- troov — Finds, is located; present tense of trouver
- sommet
- soh-meh — Top, summit, peak; the highest point of something
- même
- mem — Even, same, itself; used for emphasis or comparison
- demeura
- duh-muh-rah — Remained, stayed; past historic of demeurer
- emportée
- ah(m)-por-tay — Carried away, swept off; feminine past participle
- kilomètres
- kee-loh-meh-truh — Kilometers; units of distance equal to 1000 meters
- aussi
- oh-see — Also, as, too; adverb of addition or comparison
- facilement
- fah-seel-mah(n) — Easily; without difficulty or great effort
- on
- o(n) — One, we, they; impersonal subject pronoun in French
- pourrait
- poo-reh — Could, would be able to; conditional of pouvoir
- porter
- por-tay — To carry, bear; to transport something from place to place
- plume
- plüm — Feather, pen; a light object that floats easily
- faisait
- fuh-zeh — Was making, was doing; imperfect of faire
- hurlait
- ür-leh — Was howling, screaming; imperfect of hurler
- horriblement
- oh-ree-bluh-mah(n) — Horribly, terribly; in a horrible or dreadful manner
- autour
- oh-toor — Around; on all sides of something or someone
- constata
- ko(n)-stah-tah — Noticed, observed; past historic of constater
- déplaçait
- day-plah-seh — Was moving, was shifting; imperfect of se déplacer
- assez
- ah-say — Enough, quite, fairly; a sufficient amount or degree
- Après
- ah-preh — After; preposition indicating something following in time
- premiers
- pruh-myay — First; masculine plural of premier, earliest
- tourbillons
- toor-bee-yo(n) — Whirlwinds, eddies; rapid spinning circular movements
- autre
- oh-truh — Other, another; different from the one already mentioned
- inclina
- a(n)-klee-nah — Tilted, leaned; past historic of incliner
- fortement
- fort-mah(n) — Strongly, heavily; with great force or intensity
- être
- eh-truh — To be; fundamental linking verb in French
- bercée
- bair-say — Rocked, cradled; feminine past participle of bercer
- doucement
- doos-mah(n) — Gently, softly; in a soft or tender manner
- comme
- kom — Like, as; conjunction or preposition of comparison
- bébé
- bay-bay — Baby; a very young infant or small child
- berceau
- bair-soh — Cradle; a small rocking bed for a baby
- aimait
- eh-meh — Liked, loved; imperfect of aimer, third person singular
- cela
- suh-lah — That, this; demonstrative pronoun referring to something
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