Page 7. —1. {7-1} no ... hacer, nothing was left undone.
2. {7-2} larguísimo rato; note the omission of the article in many adverbialphrases.
3. {7-3} Que; this expletive que is usually omitted in translation, but hereit may be rendered approximately by why.
Page 8. —1. {8-1} á que ... saliese, until... went out.
2. {8-2} Me fijé ... más, I looked a little more closely.
Page 9. —1. {9-1}cf. page 1, note 1.
Page 10. —1. {10-1} tomaba y soltaba, he began and left off.
2. {10-2} deshaciéndolos y pulverizándolos, murdering them.
3. {10-3} Il sogno beato di pace e contento; the Italian words, put intoSpanish, would be: El sueño beato de paz y contento.
4. {10-4} La dolce memoria di un tenero amore is, in Spanish: La dulce memoriade un tierno amor.
Page 11. —1. {11-1} Vincenzo Bellini (1802-35), a famous Italian operaticcomposer, the most popular of his time. I Puritani (in Spanish, LosPuritanos) was his last, and his most popular work.
2. {11-2} vengan ... , out with ... (lit., let come ... ).
3. {11-3} ¡Al fin poeta! always a poet!
Page 12. —1. {12-1} The consumos is the tax collected on food-stuffs( consumos) that are brought into a city. The system is that of amunicipal customs house. A part of the revenue derived from the tax on consumos is kept by the city, and a part is turned over to the centralgovernment. Don Ramón and the other members of the commission sought toobtain a reduction of the part that had to be paid to the Spanishgovernment.
2. {12-2} hacía siete ... casado, I had been married fully seven years. Theimperfect is used, as the act or state still continued; cf. H. F. Gr. ,§ 73.
Page 14. —1. {14-1} Cf. page 7, note 2.
Page 15. —1. {15-1} somos los hombres, we men are. The pronoun subject,followed by an appositional noun, is often omitted, the verb indicatingthe person and number.
2. {15-2} fuese ... ó, whether it was ... or.
3. {15-3} antes de que pasase, before I should pass.
4. {15-4} sin que viese, without my seeing.
5. {15-5} no me tenía miedo alguno, she was not at all afraid of me.
Page 16. —1. {16-1} Cf. page 3, note 2.
2. {16-2} Tan bien ... ermanita = También usted me gusta á mí; no crea quejuego con muñecas: era de mi hermanita. Note ustez (for usted). Thepronunciation of final d as z is not uncommon in Madrid.
3. {16-3} se oía llamar, she heard some one call her.
4. {16-4} el que la mamá se enterase, if the mother had found it out. Notethe def.
art. introducing a subordinate clause.
5. {16-5} la cabeza, her head. Note the use of the definite article insteadof the possessive adjective, before words denoting parts of the body.
Page 17. —1. {17-1} Me llamo ... muñecas = Me llamo Teresa. No crea usted porDios que juego con muñecas.
2. {17-2} lo era; lo stands for más linda.
3. {17-3} me iba enamorando; cf. 6, note 2.
4. {17-4} que ... menor, that my youngest son was.
Page 18. —1. {18-1} Tenía ... negocios; note that the participle agrees withthe direct object when the auxiliary is tener.
2. {18-2} ¡Qué ... mona! what a pretty child!
3. {18-3} lo fácil que; see lo ... que, under que (adv.), in Vocab.
4. {18-4} alzarme ... cargo, take his place (as alcalde).
Page 19. —1. {19-1} fuese; the subject is alcalde.
2. {19-2} ¡Qué había de huir! why should I have to run away!
3. {19-3} se la he jugado á Manuel. Here, as often, la is an indefinitepronoun. In this sentence it may be translated a trick.
4. {19-4} que ... oye, that he almost heard me. Note the use of thehistorical present.
Page 20. —1. {20-1} solemos ... caballeros; cf. 15, note 1.
2. {20-2} echándolo á broma, turning it into a jest.
3. {20-3} cuanto ... peor, the more one likes them, the worse it is.
4. {20-4} ¡pero ... quieres! but if one loves, (one will do anything)!
5. {20-5} ¿Estará? can he be? Cf. page 3, note 1.
6. {20-6} todo ... cavilar, I pondered and pondered over it all.
Page 21. —1. {21-1} llega ... salgo has the force of hubiera llegado ...habría salido.
The pluperfect subjunctive and the conditional perfectare usually avoided in colloquial Spanish.
2. {21-2} lleva; cf. 3, note 3.
3. {21-3} ¡Si usted viera! If you had (could have) seen it!
4. {21-4} debí ... sido = debí (de) serle. This childlike language issomewhat similar to the redundant English expression that one sometimeshears, "I should have been glad to have done it."
Page 22. —1. {22-1} La = le, feminine, dative singular. The best writerssometimes use la in this way, to avoid ambiguity.
2. {22-2} Le ... sí, I consented to be his sweetheart (lit., I told himyes).
3. {22-3} iba cogida, was holding on. Note the use of ir as an auxiliaryverb with the past participle.
Page 23. —1. {23-1} no hacía ... estaban, it was not more than a year thatthey had been, or they had not been ... more than a year; cf. page12, note 2.
2. {23-2} le ... el cariño, ... their affection for her.
3. {23-3} que la mamá ... pudiese, that her mother should manage the best wayshe could.
4. {23-4} papá is subject of parecía; ... á ellas, the girls.
5. {23-5} las ... valían = cada una tenía un novio, pero los novios novalían. Cf. H. F.
Gr. , § 81, 2.
Page 24. —1. {24-1} aquél refers to the paraíso.
2. {24-2} Teresa ... admirablemente, Teresa was most delighted.
3. {24-3} el verla; note the definite article before the infinitive. Cf. H. F. Gr. , § 120, 3.
4. {24-4} A te, oh cara (Ital.), is, in Spanish: Á ti, oh cara, to thee, mybeloved.
Page 25. —1. {25-1} no ... valga, no queen would be of account.
2. {25-2} hacérselo reconocer, to make her realize it.
3. {25-3} si ... acuerdo (Span. proverb), out of sight, out of mind.
4. {25-4} para ... punto (lit., to carry the conversation to another point), to change the subject.
5. {25-5} ¡Si yo ... pocos! (= muchos ó pocos años), why! I shall love youthe same, whether you are old or young!
Page 26. —1. {26-1} que nos tratásemos de tú, that we should address eachother with tú. Tú is more familiar than usted.
2. {26-2} después de aceptado, after I had accepted.
3. {26-3} del principio, that she had had at first.
Page 27. —1. {27-1} que le había visto, that I had seen her wear.
Page 28. —1. {28-1} se le ... garganta, a lump had come into her throat.
2. {28-2} hacía ... delante, she made them hold their hands before them.
Page 29. —1. {29-1} de, for.
Page 30. —1. {30-1} For the life and works of Alarcón, see page xii of the Introduction. The text of La Buenaventura is taken from the Obrasde D. Pedro A.
de Alarcón (in the Colección de EscritoresCastellanos), Novelas Cortas, Madrid, 1905. La Buenaventura describes the conditions that existed formerly in certain parts ofSpain. Then the sparsely populated districts were infested withhighwaymen. To-day, chiefly through the efforts of the Civil Guard, aselect body of Spanish police, one is as safe in the highways andby-ways of Spain as in those of any other civilized country.
2. {30-2} sobrenombre is, strictly speaking, a name added to the apellido, todistinguish two persons whose apellido is the same.
3. {30-3} echado que hubo = cuando hubo echado.
4. {30-4} Eugenio Portocarrero, conde del Montijo, was father of Eugénie, thewife of Napoleon III.
5. {30-5} That is to say, he was fond of lo ajeno, but he took it only conpermiso del engañado dueño.
Page 31. —1. {31-1} á que se me den, that I may receive (lit., that ... maybe given to me).
2. {31-2} —Los ofrecidos hace días, those offered some days ago.
3. {31-3} al que, to the one who.
4. {31-4} Lo, him. Alarcón uses lo oftener than le, as the masc. sing.accusative form of the pers. pron. Some of the best modern writers, e.g.Juan Valera, have avoided lo as a masc. form.
5. {31-5} hace tres años que se persigue, for three years we have beenpursuing; the present tense is used, as the act or state stillcontinues.
6. {31-6} de que ... Justicia, by which the officers of justice should nevercatch him.
Page 32. —1. {32-1} hizo ocho días, a week ago. Cf. the French il y a huitjours, and the German vor acht Tagen.
2. {32-2} ¿Será; cf. 20, note 5.
3. {32-3} matan; cf. 3, note 3.
Page 33. —1. {33-1} no había de conocerte has about the force of no teconocería.
See H. F. Gr. , § 71, 1.
2. {33-2} ¡Y que ... para, and can there be a mother who gives birth to.
3. {33-3} ¡Jesús! Expressions such as ¡Dios mío! , ¡Jesús! , etc., are commonin Spanish. Translate by heavens! , or some similar expression.
4. {33-4} ¡Que ... muera, may I die an untimely death.
5. {33-5} gitanico is subject of tenía.
6. {33-6} le refers to mula: do not translate le. This use of an expletive dat.pers.
pron., of the 3d pers., referring to a dative noun, is very commonin spoken Spanish.
See also page 34, line 5.
7. {33-7} si son, why, they are. Note this common use of exclamatory si.
Page 34. —1. {34-1} Parrón is subject of decir; nube de trabucos is subject ofrodear.
2. {34-2} ¡Deteneos! ; for this omission of -d before os, see H. F. Gr. , §86. a.
3. {34-3} se la cogí; se is the dative of interest; lit., for him; cf. H.F. Gr. , § 111, a.
4. {34-4} Eso ... lo; cf. 5. note 2.
5. {34-5} ¿Dices que cuándo? Note the expletive que here, as in que sí and queno.
6. {34-6} me... sesos, might cause my brains to be blown out.
Page 35. —1. {35-1} después de muerto, after he is dead.
2. {35-2} había... sacasen, I had succeeded in getting them to take me out...
Page 36. —1. {36-1} los gitanos... tenemos; cf. 15, note 1.
2. {36-2} hubiese is here an imperf. subj., corresponding in meaning to hay.
Page 37. —1. {37-1} quiere decir; see under decir, in Vocab.
2. {37-2} Todo... muera = es preciso que muera todo el que cae...
3. {37-3} me, an ethical dative; do not translate.
4. {37-4} alguno de ustedes; note the changing from vosotros to ustedes, whichis more formal and expresses greater respect.
5. {37-5} será; cf. 3, note 1.
Page 38. —1. {38-1} ¡Pues... dinero! well, if he doesn't actually want hismoney too.
Page 39. —1. {39-1} ¡Á la paz de Dios! God be with you!
2. {39-2} habría; cf. 2, note 3.
3. {39-3} que... vista (lit., that took away my sight), that blinded me.
Page 40. —1. {40-1} Si conforme... señas, if, instead of me, who found him andlearned what w