The Spanish reading room
One sentence of «La tortuga gigante»
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.
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.
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.
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.
Después le sacó el cuero, tan grande que él solo podía servir de alfombra para un cuarto.
Then he stripped off its hide, so big that on its own it could have carpeted a room.
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Al | al | to the, at the (a + el) |
| ver | ver | to see (v.) |
| hombre | hombre | man (n., m.) |
| el | el | the (def. art., m.) |
| tigre | tigre | tiger — in these tales the jaguar of the South American forest (n., m.) |
| lanzó | lanzar | to hurl, let out; lanzarse — to fling oneself (v.) |
| un | un | a, an, one (indef. art.) |
| rugido | rugido | roar (n., m.) |
| espantoso | espantoso | frightful, appalling (adj.) |
| y | y | and (conj.) |
| se | se | himself, herself, themselves (reflexive); stands in for le before lo/la (se la dieron — they gave it to her); one, people (se ve — one sees) (pron.) |
| de | de | of, from (prep.) |
| salto | salto | jump, leap (n., m.) |
| sobre | sobre | on, upon; about (prep.) |
| él | él | he, him; ella — she, her (subject pron.) |
Read «La tortuga gigante» in the room Every word glossed where it stands, the English a tap away. This scene asks for no account.