Extrait du livre Gudule goes on vacation
Gudule goes on vacation by Fanny Joly and Roser Capdevila French to English translation: Natalie Worden Fanny Joly Numérik
Gudule goes on vacation
My name is Gudule. I’m somewhat of a known figure in the area. Last Saturday, for the school play, I was the one who played the Queen of the Prairie. I wore pom poms in my hair instead of having it up in a ponytail like I usually do. And there were bells all around my tutu! I don’t want to brag or anything, but I was a smashing success…
But it’s surprisingly hard to sing and dance and remember everything by heart in front of all those people you know, like the baker, Mary-Ann’s mommy, Daddy, Mommy, and especially my little brother, Gaston. Maybe I’ve told you about him already. My friends say I talk about him too much. But if they had a little brother like Gaston, they’d understand…
During my Queen of the Prairie dance, Gaston just screamed like a banshee. I don’t know if he was jealous of me being the star, or what. Mommy said that all eyes were on me–but my little brother was the only thing I could hear!
When we got home, I sat Gaston down on my toy chest and told him, “Gudule’s school play is the best day of the year, because just after that, the school closes. You’ve already ruined that for me. So, you’re going to calm down. Now that the school play is over and everything is closed, we are going on vacation. And I am not going to have you ruin my vacation, too! Got it, little guy?”
He didn’t really seem to understand. The poor thing does not know what vacation is. So, to explain it to him, I put on my swimsuit, my mask, and my flippers. Then I blew up my inner tube and I showed him how I can do the butterfly, the whale, and the mermaid. “Of course, you’re still too little for this,” I told him. “So, you won’t be able to do it. But you can watch me. And that’s already really cool.”
Then he suddenly opened the valve of my inner tube. “What?!” I wailed, “I’ve just spent all this time explaining what vacation is, and that’s the thanks I get?” “Tankyew…cake! Gasston cake! Tankyew cake!” he replied. Cake. Cake. It’s all he ever thinks about. “If you think you’re going to stuff yourself with cake before you go swimming, think again!” He started to make that face he always gets before he cries. So, I ran to get him some cake to stop the floodgates from opening.
