One sentence of «Les Fées»
La bonne femme, ayant bu, lui dit : « Vous êtes si bonne et si honnête, que je ne puis m’empêcher de vous faire un don ; car c’était une fée qui avait pris la forme d’une pauvre femme de village, pour voir jusqu’où irait l’honnêteté de cette jeune fille.
The good woman, having drunk, said to her: “You are so good and so courteous that I cannot help giving you a gift”; for she was a fairy who had taken the form of a poor village woman, to see how far this girl’s courtesy would go.
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
“Why, certainly, my good mother,” said the girl; and, rinsing her pitcher at once, she drew water from the finest spot in the fountain and offered it to her, holding up the pitcher all the while so that she could drink more easily.
“My gift to you,” the fairy went on, “is that with every word you speak, either a flower or a precious stone will come out of your mouth.”
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| La | le | the (le, la, l’, les); him, her, it, them — as an object (art./pron.) |
| bonne | bon | good; kind (adj.); sentir bon — to smell sweet; de bon cœur — heartily |
| femme | femme | woman; wife (n., f.); bonne femme — good woman, old woman |
| ayant | avoir | to have (v.); il y a — there is, there are; avoir beau + inf. — to do in vain; avoir peur — to be afraid |
| bu | boire | to drink (v.); donner à boire — to give a drink; donner pour boire — to give a tip |
| lui | lui | him; to him, to her (pron.) |
| dit | dire | to say, tell (v.); on aurait dit — you would have said; se dire — to say to oneself |
| Vous | vous | you (pron.) |
| êtes | être | to be (v.); c’est — it is; also forms the past of some verbs: elle est venue — she came |
| si | si | if, whether (conj.); so (adv.) — si fort, so hard; yes (after a negative question); s’il vous plaît — please |
| et | et | and (conj.) |
| honnête | honnête | polite, courteous; honest, decent (adj.); un honnête homme — a gentleman, a decent man |
| que | que | that, which, whom; than; how…! (conj./rel. pron.); ne… que — only |
| je | je | I (pron.) |
| ne | ne | not (neg. particle) — ne… pas, ne… point, ne… plus, ne… que (only); ne… rien — nothing; ne… guère — hardly |
| puis | puis | then, next (adv.); et puis — and then, and besides; also old je puis — I can (from pouvoir) |
| m | me | me, to me, myself (pron.) |
| empêcher | empêcher | to prevent (v.); s’empêcher de — to help, refrain from |
| de | de | of, from; some, any (prep./partitive art.) — du pain, de l’eau; pas de — no, not any; de… en… — from… to… |
| faire | faire | to do, make (v.); faire + inf. — to have (something) done; il se fit — there came; faire le mort — to play dead; se faire à — to get used to |
| un | un | a, an; one (art./num.); l’un… l’autre — the one… the other; les unes… les autres — some… others |
| don | don | gift (n., m.) |
| car | car | for, because (conj.) |
| c | ce | this, that; these, those (dem. adj.); it, that (pron.) — c’est, it is; ce qui, ce que — what |
| fée | fée | fairy (n., f.); enchanted, bewitched (adj.) — la clef était fée |
| qui | qui | who, which, that (rel./interr. pron.); à qui — to whom, whose; qui… qui — one… another |
| pris | prendre | to take; to catch (v.); prendre les devants — to go on ahead; prendre un homme — to take a man as husband; s’y prendre — to go about it |
| forme | forme | form, shape (n., f.) |
| pauvre | pauvre | poor (adj.) |
| village | village | village (n., m.) |
| pour | pour | for; in order to (prep.); pour moi — as for me; pour sa sœur — as for her sister |
| voir | voir | to see (v.); se voir — to see oneself; voyons — let’s see; voyez-vous — you see |
| jusqu | jusque | as far as, until, up to (prep.); jusqu’à — right up to; jusqu’au bout — to the very end; jusqu’où — how far |
| où | où | where; in which (adv./rel. pron.); d’où — where from |
| irait | aller | to go (v.); s’en aller — to go away, leave; aller + inf. — to go and…, be going to…; y aller de bon cœur — to throw oneself into it |
| honnêteté | honnêteté | courtesy, good manners; honesty (n., f.) — in Perrault chiefly politeness |
| jeune | jeune | young (adj.); le plus jeune — the youngest |
| fille | fille | daughter; girl (n., f.); jeune fille — girl, young woman; petite fille — little girl; ma fille — my child |
Read «Les Fées» in the room → Every word glossed where it stands, the English a tap away. This scene asks for no account.