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C’est l’histoire d’une poule rousse.

La poule rousse vit dans une ferme. Toute la journée, elle travaille dur : Elle picore le sol. Elle cherche des vers. Elle se perche dans un buisson. Et parfois… elle pond un œuf.

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This is the story of a red hen.

The red hen lives on a farm. All day long, she works hard: She pecks the ground. She looks for worms. She perches in a bush. And sometimes… she lays an egg. 

the red hen laying an egg

La poule rousse est amie avec un chat, un chien et un cheval. Ces animaux ne travaillent pas dur du tout, eux.

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The red hen is friends with a cat, a dog, and a horse. These animals don’t work hard at all.

The “eux” at the end is like saying “in contrast”. We’re comparing these lazy animals with the hardworking hen

Le chat aime dormir au soleil. Le chien aime dormir à l’ombre. Et le cheval aime regarder la télé toute la journée.

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The cat likes to sleep in the sun. The dog likes to sleep in the shade. And the horse likes to watch TV all day long. 

the cat and dog sleeping, the horse is watching TV

Un jour, la poule rousse voit un buisson de framboises. 
“Des framboises !” s’exclame-t-elle. “Miam miam miam ! On pourrait faire un gâteau aux framboises !”

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One day the red hen sees a raspberry bush.
“RASPBERRIES!” she exclaims. “Yum yum yum! We could* make a raspberry cake!”

“We COULD make a raspberry cake” then “we CAN make a raspberry cake”. We go from the conditional to the present form of “pouvoir”

La poule rousse court prévenir ses amis.
“Eh les amis ! Il y a des framboises là-bas ! On peut faire un gâteau aux framboises !” dit-elle.

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The red hen runs to tell her friends.
"Hey friends! There are raspberries over there! We can make a raspberry cake!"
she says.

The excited hen with a speech bubble containing a raspberry cake

Le chien en bave. “Yes !!*”
Le chat s’en lèche les babines. “Ouaip !**”
Le cheval en remue la queue. “Super idée !”

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The dog drools. “Yes!”*
The cat licks its lips. “Absolutely!”**
The horse flicks its tail. “Great idea!”

* The “Yes” in French doesn’t literally mean “yes”. It means something like “Great! Let’s do this!”, and is very commonly used in this situation. (French people would never say “Oui!” here.)
** “Ouaip” is a spoken, informal version of “ouais”, which is a spoken, informal version of “oui”.

“Alors… qui veut m’aider à cueillir les framboises ?” demande la poule rousse.

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“So… who wants to help me pick the raspberries?” asks the red hen.

“Pas moi” dit le chien. “Je suis trop occupé.”
“Pas moi” dit le chat. “Je suis trop fatigué.”
“Pas moi” dit le cheval. “Je regarde la télé.”

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"Not me," says the dog, "I'm too busy."
"Not me," says the cat, "I'm too tired."
"Not me," says the horse, "I'm watching TV."

“Alors je le ferai toute seule” dit la poule rousse. Elle cueille donc les baies, une par une, toute seule.

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“Then I will do it alone,” says the red hen. So she picks the berries, one by one, all by herself (lit: all alone).

The hen picking berries from the bush and putting them in a bowl

“Maintenant, nous avons besoin de farine, et de sucre, et de lait, et de beurre,” dit la poule rousse. “Qui veut m’aider à aller les chercher ?” 

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“Now we need flour, and sugar, and milk, and butter,” says the red hen. “Who wants to help me get them?”

“Pas moi” dit le chien. “Je suis trop occupé.”
“Pas moi” dit le chat. “Je suis trop fatigué.”
“Pas moi” dit le cheval. “Je regarde la télé.”

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"Not me," says the dog, "I'm too busy."
"Not me," says the cat, "I'm too tired."
"Not me," says the horse, "I'm watching TV."

“Alors je le ferai toute seule” dit la poule rousse.
Elle va jusqu’au placard et en sort la farine et le sucre. Elle va jusqu’au frigo et en sort le beurre et le lait.

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“Then I will do it alone”, says the red hen.
She goes to the* cupboard and takes out the flour and the sugar. She goes to the fridge and takes out the butter and the milk. 

The “jusqu’au” here works like saying “she went ALL THE WAY to the cupboard” — it expresses a kind of weariness or effort.

the hen in front of the open fridge

Elle met tout dans un très grand bol, toute seule. 

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She puts everything together into a very big bowl, all by herself. 

“Qui veut m’aider à mélanger la pâte ?” demande la poule rousse.
“Pas moi”
dit le chien. “Je suis trop occupé.”
“Pas moi”
dit le chat. “Je suis trop fatigué.”
“Pas moi”
dit le cheval. “Je regarde la télé.”

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“Who wants to help me mix the batter?” asks the red hen. 
"Not me,"
says the dog, "I'm too busy."
"Not me,"
says the cat, "I'm too tired."
"Not me,"
says the horse, "I'm watching TV."

“Alors je le ferai toute seule !” dit la poule rousse. Elle mélange la pâte jusqu'à ce qu'elle soit lisse et crémeuse. Puis elle ajoute délicatement les framboises.

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“Then I will do it alone!” says the red hen. She mixes the batter until it is smooth and creamy. Then she gently adds the raspberries.

Cake batter in a bowl

Elle verse la pâte dans un moule à gâteau. Puis elle le met dans le four.
Toute seule.

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She pours the batter into a cake pan. Then she puts it in the oven.
All by herself. 

(Tic, tac, tic, tac)
Bientôt, une odeur délicieuse s’échappe de la cuisine. Le chien la sent. Le chat la sent. Le cheval la sent aussi. Ils se précipitent tous dans la cuisine.

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(Tick tock, tick tock)
Soon a delicious smell wafts from the kitchen. The dog smells it. The cat smells it. The horse smells it too. They all rush to the kitchen. 

All the animals in the kitchen. The hen is holding the steaming cake pan

La poule rousse sort le gâteau du four. Elle le dépose sur une assiette et le saupoudre de sucre.

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The red hen takes the cake out of the oven. She places it on a plate and sprinkles it with sugar. 

“Qui veut m’aider à manger ce gâteau ?” demande la poule rousse.
“Moi !” dit le chien.
“Moi !” dit le chat.
“Moi !” dit le cheval.

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“Who wants to help me eat this cake?” asks the red hen.
“Me!”
says the dog. 
“Me!”
says the cat. 
“Me!”
says the horse. 

“Je ne crois pas, non.” dit la poule rousse. “Vous ne m’avez pas aidé à faire ce gâteau, vous ne m’aiderez pas à le manger”.

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“I don’t think so, no,” says the red hen. “You didn’t help me make this cake, you won’t help me eat it.”

Elle s’enfuit avec le gâteau et le mange jusqu’à la dernière miette. Toute seule.

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She runs away with the cake and eats every last crumb. All by herself. 

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The hen eating the cake. There is big hole pecked in the middle
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