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Un pot de cornichon

French short stories – Learning French through English

Akbar and Birbal – Un pot de cornichon

 

Once upon a time, there was a man who lived in King Akbar’s Kingdom. He and his family wanted to go for a pilgrimage. He put all his savings, a few gold and silver coins and some jewellery in an empty pickle jar.

Translate

Il était une fois un homme qui vivait dans le royaume du roi Akbar. Sa famille et lui le voulaient aller pour un pèlerinage. Il a mis toutes ses économies, quelques pièces d’or et d’argent et quelques bijoux dans un pot de cornichon vide.

 

He gave the pickle jar to his neighbour. He asked his neighbour to keep it safely until he came back. The neighbour took the pickled jar and promised to keep it safely.

Translate

Il a donné le pot de cornichon à son voisin. Il a demandé à son voisin de le garder en sécurité jusqu’à son retour. Le voisin a pris le pot mariné et a promis de le garder en sécurité.

 

The man went from his pilgrimage and then went to meet his neighbour. He asked the neighbour for his pickle jar. The neighbour brought the jar from inside and gave it to the man. When the man opened the jar, he saw that there was just some mango pickle in the jar, instead of the money.

Translate

L’homme est parti de son pèlerinage puis est allé à la rencontre de son voisin. Il a demandé au voisin son pot de cornichon. Le voisin a apporté le pot de l’intérieur et l’a donné à l’homme. Quand l’homme a ouvert le pot, il a vu qu’il y avait juste un cornichon à la mangue dans le pot, au lieu de l’argent.

 

He said, “Sir, when I gave you this jar, it was full of all my hard earned money. Now it does not have any money and has only mango pickle.”

Translate

Il a dit: «Monsieur, quand je vous ai donné ce pot, il était plein de tout mon argent durement gagné. Maintenant, il n’a pas d’argent et n’a que du cornichon à la mangue.»

 

The dishonest neighbour replied, “I do not know that you gave me money. I did not touch the jar. Whatever you gave me, I am giving it back to you.”

Translate

Le voisin malhonnête a répondu: «Je ne sais pas que vous m’avez donné de l’argent. Je n’ai pas touché le pot. Tout ce que vous m’avez donné, je vous le rends.»

 

The man started to cry and went to Birbal for justice. He told Birbal the entire story and how the neighbour was stealing his money. Birbal said that he would help the man.

Translate

L’homme s’est mis à pleurer et s’est rendu à Birbal pour obtenir justice. Il a raconté à Birbal toute l’histoire et comment le voisin volait son argent. Birbal a dit qu’il aiderait l’homme.

 

Birbal went to the neighbour and asked him, “Where is the money that was kept in this jar?”

Translate

Birbal est allé voir le voisin et lui a demandé: «Où est l’argent qui était conservé dans ce pot?»

 

The neighbour replied, “Dear Birbal, I have told my neighbour that I do not know anything about the money. He gave me a pickle jar and I did not open the jar even once. I only took the jar from him, kept it safely and then returned it back to him. Instead of thanking me for taking his jar of pickle, he is accusing me of theft.”

Translate

Le voisin a répondu: «Cher Birbal, j’ai dit à mon voisin que je ne savais rien de l’argent. Il m’a donné un pot de cornichon et je n’ai pas ouvert le pot même une fois. Je lui ai seulement pris le pot, je l’ai gardé en lieu sûr, puis je le lui ai rendu. Au lieu de me remercier d’avoir pris son pot de cornichon, il m’accuse de vol.»

 

Birbal asked the man, “How long were you keeping the jar?”

The neighbour said, “I kept the jar safely for 6 months.”

Translate

Birbal a demandé à l’homme: «Combien de temps gardiez-vous le pot?»

Le voisin a dit: «J’ai gardé le pot en toute sécurité pendant 6 mois.»

 

Birbal knew how to check the story. Birbal went out for a few hours and came back with another man.

Translate

Birbal savait comment vérifier l’histoire. Birbal est sorti pendant quelques heures et est revenu avec un autre homme.

 

Birbal asked him, “Dear chef, you work in the royal kitchens. Can you please look at this pickle and tell me how old it is?”

Translate

Birbal lui a demandé: «Cher chef, vous travaillez dans les cuisines royales. Pouvez-vous regarder ce cornichon et me dire quel âge il a?»

 

The man took one look at the pickle and said, “That is very easy to say. The pickle is not old. It is not pickled enough. It was definitely not made six months back. This man is a liar”

Translate

L’homme a jeté un coup d’œil au cornichon et a dit: «C’est très facile à dire. Le cornichon n’est pas vieux. Ce n’est pas assez mariné. Ce n’était certainement pas fait il y a six mois. Cet homme est un menteur »

 

The neighbour started to blabber and when Birbal said that he would throw him into jail, he confessed and gave him the full money back. Birbal also made him pay a fine of 5 gold coins to the man for stealing the money.

Translate

Le voisin a commencé à bavarder et quand Birbal a dit qu’il le jetterait en prison, il a avoué et lui a rendu la totalité de l’argent. Birbal lui a également fait payer une amende de 5 pièces d’or à l’homme pour avoir volé l’argent.

 

The man was very happy that he got his money back. He thanked Birbal and the chef.

Translate

L’homme était très heureux d’avoir récupéré son argent. Il a remercié Birbal et le chef.

 

The man said, “Dear chef. You are amazing. You took one look at the pickle and said it was not even one month old. How did you do that?”

Translate

L’homme a dit: «Cher chef. Vous êtes très incroyable. Vous avez jeté un coup d’œil au cornichon et vous avez dit qu’il n’avait même pas un mois. Comment avez-vous fait ça?»

 

The chef said, “I am not a chef. I am Birbal’s servant. He asked me to lie and tell that the pickle was not six months old. Your neighbour confessed by himself.”

Translate

Le chef a déclaré: «Je ne suis pas chef. Je suis le serviteur de Birbal. Il m’a demandé de mentir et de dire que le cornichon n’avait pas six mois. Votre voisin a avoué tout seul.»

 

 

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About: Studying through Dual Language immersion is among the best techniques for learning a new language. The objective of this website is to teach yourself how to read and speak French confidently using English as a base 🙂

These French short stories are super cool to read for beginners and also for entertaining children. Akbar and Birbal are among the best stories that can be studied on a daily basis.

 

 

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