The Spanish reading room
One sentence of «La tortuga gigante»
Precisamente un día que tenía mucha hambre, porque hacía dos días que no cazaba nada, vió a la orilla de una gran laguna un tigre enorme que quería comer a una tortuga, y la ponía parada de canto para meter dentro una pata y sacar la carne con las uñas.
One day in particular, when he was very hungry because he had caught nothing for two days, he saw at the edge of a great lagoon an enormous jaguar that was trying to eat a tortoise, standing her up on her edge so as to get a paw inside and hook the flesh out with its claws.
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
El hombre tenía otra vez buen color, estaba fuerte y tenía apetito.
The man had his colour back, he was strong and he had an appetite.
Al ver al hombre, el tigre lanzó un rugido espantoso y se lanzó de un salto sobre él.
Seeing the man, the jaguar let out a frightful roar and sprang at him.
Pero el cazador, que tenía una gran puntería, le apuntó entre los dos ojos, y le rompió la cabeza.
But the hunter, who was a fine shot, aimed between its two eyes and shattered its head.
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Precisamente | precisamente | precisely, exactly (adv.) |
| un | un | a, an, one (indef. art.) |
| día | día | day (n., m.) |
| que | que | that, which, who; than (conj./rel. pron.) |
| tenía | tener | to have; tener que — to have to (v.) |
| mucha | mucho | much, many; a lot (adj./adv.) |
| hambre | hambre | hunger (n., f. — takes el: el hambre) |
| porque | porque | because (conj.) |
| hacía | hacer | to do, make (v.) |
| dos | dos | two (num.) |
| no | no | no, not (adv.) |
| cazaba | cazar | to hunt (v.) |
| nada | nada | nothing (pron.) |
| vió now vio | ver | to see (v.) |
| a | a | to; at; on (prep.) |
| la | el | the (def. art., f.); also her, it (object pron., before a verb) |
| orilla | orilla | bank, shore, edge (n., f.) |
| de | de | of, from (prep.) |
| gran | grande | big, great (adj.) |
| laguna | laguna | lagoon, pool (n., f.) |
| tigre | tigre | tiger — in these tales the jaguar of the South American forest (n., m.) |
| enorme | enorme | enormous (adj.) |
| quería | querer | to want; to love (v.) |
| comer | comer | to eat (v.) |
| tortuga | tortuga | tortoise, turtle (n., f.) |
| y | y | and (conj.) |
| la | el | her, it (f., object pron.) |
| ponía | poner | to put, place; ponerse — to put on, become (v.) |
| parada | parar | standing, upright (adj.) |
| canto | canto | edge, rim (n., m.) |
| para | para | for, in order to (prep.) |
| meter | meter | to put in; meterse — to get into (v.) |
| dentro | dentro | inside, within (adv.) |
| pata | pata | paw, leg of an animal (n., f.) |
| sacar | sacar | to take out, pull out; to remove (v.) |
| carne | carne | meat, flesh (n., f.) |
| con | con | with (prep.) |
| uñas | uña | nail, claw (n., f.) |
Read «La tortuga gigante» in the room Every word glossed where it stands, the English a tap away. This scene asks for no account.