Tales by Vladimir Suteev. The little boat I translated this little tale by myself. This is the third story from the storybook that I'm going to translate as a practice. Any corrections are very welcom

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Tales by Vladimir Suteev. The little boat I translated this little tale by myself. This is the third story from the storybook that I'm going to translate as a practice. Any corrections are very welcome :) Frogling, Chicken, Mouse, Ant and Bug went for a walk. They came to the river. - Let's go bathing! - Frogling said and jumped into the water. - We cannot swim, - Chicken, Mouse, Ant and Bug said. - Ribbitee-hee! Ribbitee-hee! - Frogling bursted out laughing. - You're useless! - and he started nicker so hard that he nearly drowned. Chicken, Mouse, Ant and Bug got insulted. They began to think. They was thinking and thinking and thought up... Chicken went and got a leaf. Mouse brought the walnut shell. Ant dragged a straw. And Bug brought a rope. Then they began their work: they stuck a straw in the walnut shell, attached a leaf with a rope and built a boat! They pushed the boat into the water, boarded it and have sailed! Frogling stuck his head out of water for laughing a bit more, but the boat has sailed far away... Can't catch it! Кораблик Пошли гулять Лягушонок, Цыплёнок, Мышонок, Муравей и Жучок. Пришли на речку. - Давайте купаться! - сказал Лягушонок и прыгнул в воду. - Мы не умеем плавать, - сказали Цыплёнок, Мышонок, Муравей и Жучок. - Ква-ха-ха! Ква-ха-ха! - засмеялся Лягушонок. - Куда же вы годитесь! - И так стал хохотать - чуть было не захлебнулся. Обиделись Цыплёнок, Мышонок, Муравей и Жучок. Стали думать. Думали-думали и придумали. Пошёл Цыплёнок и принёс листочек. Мышонок - ореховую скорлупку. Муравей соломинку притащил. А Жучок - верёвочку. И пошла работа: в скорлупку соломинку воткнули, листок верёвочкой привязали - и построили кораблик! Столкнули кораблик в воду. Сели на него и поплыли! Лягушонок голову из воды высунул, хотел еще посмеяться, а кораблик уже далеко уплыл... И не догонишь!

Tales by Vladimir Suteev. The Little Boat (Titles need capitalization.)

Frogling, Chicken, Mouse, Ant and Bug went for a walk. They came to the river.

"Let's go ~~bathing~~ swimming!" Frogling said and jumped into the water. (Bathing in English implies the use of soap.)

"We cannot swim," Chicken, Mouse, Ant and Bug said.

"Ribbitee-hee! Ribbitee-hee!" Frogling bursted out laughing. "You're useless!" - and he started ~~nicker~~ to guffaw so hard that he nearly drowned. (Burst is already past tense, no need for -ed suffix, it's tricky! I've only the heard the word "nicker" in association with the sound horses make, if you're looking for a big belly laugh "guffaw" or a synonym is a better choice. Whichever laugh you choose, it needs to have "to" in front of it, "he started to".)

Chicken, Mouse, Ant and Bug ~~got~~ were insulted. (Instead of insulted, offended might be a better word choice... but since I can't put my finger on why so I didn't change your sentence. I think it's because being insulted may or may not lead to being offended, but if you're offended you're likely to do something about it.)

They began to think. They was thinking and thinking and thought up... ("They thought and thought" is better here. I'm not sure why past tense is used rather than present tense to match the previous sentence, I'm not sure but I think it's because the conclusion to their thinking happens in the sentence, so the whole sentence has to be in the past. "They were thinking and thinking when they were interrupted by..." is fine since they were in the act of thinking when the interruption occurs, but "They thought and thought and came up with a plan." is correct here since by the end of the sentence they are done thinking. Also, this sentence in English feels like it is hanging, missing an explanation of what they thought up. An idea? A plan?)

Chicken went and got a leaf. ("Got" is OK in speech but, if it isn't technically poor grammar, it sure sounds like it. Brought, found, retrieved, those would be better words.)

Mouse brought ~~the~~ a walnut shell. (Articles again! Here it could be any old walnut shell, so we use "a".)

Ant dragged a straw. (Good job on the article here!)

And Bug brought a rope.

Then they began their work: they stuck a the straw in the walnut shell, attached a the leaf with a the rope and built a boat! (Since each of these items have been retrieved, it isn't any old straw or leaf, it is the one in their hands. Paws. :) Whatever.)

They pushed the boat into the water, boarded it and ~~have~~ sailed off! (I can't remember the name of the "have [verb]", past perfect? Anyway, it's not needed here, and we need a direction for them to sail into otherwise the sentence leads the reader into believing that the next sentence occurs before they've managed to get any distance.)

Frogling stuck his head out of water ~~for laughing~~ to laugh a bit more, but the boat ~~has~~ had sailed far away...

Can't catch it! (Hm. What about "And he would never catch it!")

Кораблик

Пошли гулять Лягушонок, Цыплёнок, Мышонок, Муравей и Жучок. Пришли на речку.

- Давайте купаться! - сказал Лягушонок и прыгнул в воду.

- Мы не умеем плавать, - сказали Цыплёнок, Мышонок, Муравей и Жучок.

- Ква-ха-ха! Ква-ха-ха! - засмеялся Лягушонок. - Куда же вы годитесь! - И так стал хохотать - чуть было не захлебнулся.

Обиделись Цыплёнок, Мышонок, Муравей и Жучок. Стали думать. Думали-думали и придумали.

Пошёл Цыплёнок и принёс листочек.

Мышонок - ореховую скорлупку.

Муравей соломинку притащил.

А Жучок - верёвочку.

И пошла работа: в скорлупку соломинку воткнули, листок верёвочкой привязали - и построили кораблик!

Столкнули кораблик в воду.

Сели на него и поплыли!

Лягушонок голову из воды высунул, хотел еще посмеяться, а кораблик уже далеко уплыл...

И не догонишь!

Corrections · 1

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