Ordenanzas.
Ordinances
or
police
regulations
thatrequired (and still require) Spanish innkeepers to report to theauthorities within twenty-four hours of the arrival of a guest, hisname, the place from which he comes, his business, and other details. Asatisfactory statement of the law is to be found in the Novísimarecopilación, Lib. III, Tit. XIX, Ley XXVII, 4. The Novísimarecopilación is published in fairly convenient form in Alcubilla's Códigos antiguos de España (page 1011). Of course the date assigned tothe action of Los intereses creados is anterior to 1805, the year ofthe formulation of the code just mentioned; but the legal requirementwas approximately the same in the earlier time.
[46.4] ¡Veníos! The reflexive with intransitive verbs of motionis borrowed from a similar construction with transitive verbs ( e.g. moverse, arrojarse, etc.) and does not appreciably change the meaning ofthe verb; it is probably to be regarded as a mere sign of spontaneity.See Bello-Cuervo, note 102.
Aretino. Pietro Aretino (1492-1566), the most
notoriousliterary blackmailer of the Italian Renaissance; also an author ofability. He was born in Arezzo (whence Aretino), but is more closelyassociated with Venice.
[48.1] ¡Pobres de ellos...! "When adjectives are used asinterjections before personal pronouns de is interposed."
Ramsey, §1431. Translate 'Woe to them...!' Cf. [15.2].
[48.2] por melancólico. Supply ser and translate 'because it issad.'
[48.3] ¿Sois vosotros? In English the verb is in the thirdperson singular: 'Is it you?'
[49.1] hagan merced. An archaism corresponding to the modernhagan (ustedes) el favor.
[49.2] tengo dedicado. Tener and llevar are sometimes usedinstead of haber with the past participle, after the manner ofauxiliaries; but they are not true auxiliaries, because the participleis treated as an adjective and therefore agrees with the object ingender and number. Tener really denotes possession and is more emphaticthan haber.
he menester. This expression, with haber as principalverb, is not unknown even in modern prose. In general, however, the useof haber as an independent verb is archaic.
[50.1] ¡No miraré nada! 'I shall not stop at anything!' Cf.[22.2].
[50.2] ha (más de un mes). In this sense hace is much morecommon than ha in modern Spanish.
[50.3] un. Very commonly used for una before a feminine wordbeginning with stressed a or ha; for this apocopation see Bello-Cuervo,§ 156.
[51.1] mírese. Cf. [22.2]; the reflexive adds nothingthat can be rendered into English; it is scarcely more than an ethicaldative.
[51.2] ¿Cómo conocidos? 'How known?' 'What do you mean byknown?' An elliptical expression, not impossible in colloquial English.
[51.3] Olvidados los tengo. Note agreement of olvidados withlos and see note [49.2].
[52.1] vos. The conventional form of address; see note [44.2].
[52.2] ¿Cómo si sabemos? 'What do you mean by asking if weknow?' See note [51.2].
[52.3] vosotros... vos. An illustration of the distinctionbetween the two pronouns; vosotros, the real plural, refers to thecompany attacking, while vos, the artificial plural, refers to thecaptain; for the singular form espada, see note [4.3].
[52.4] hará que se os trate 'he will have you treated.'
Hacerfollowed by que and the subjunctive, meaning literally
'make that,''bring it about that,' is translated like hacer with the infinitive; queis suppressed.
No he librado de mala 'I've had a narrow
escape.' Librarse de buena means 'escape from danger.' The omission of thereflexive makes the expression briefer and more forceful. For thefeminine mala (originally followed, perhaps, by ventura), see note [32.3].
[53.2] Agradeceros. Supply some verb such as puedo before theinfinitive; the construction is permissible in English in certain cases;it makes it appear that the infinitive replaces the indicative. Thestatement thereby seems less personal.
[55.1] hay para. See vocabulary under haber (hay).
[55.2] ¡Que una dama se vea! 'To think that a lady should seeherself!' Another elliptical sentence dependent upon some suchexpression as es posible.
[56.1] hasta emplearlo yo 'until I employed him.' Note thatemplear is governed by hasta and that yo is its subject.
[56.2] Triste de. See note [48.1].
[56.3] ser llegado. A relic of the auxiliary ser withintransitive verbs of motion. This construction is common in OldSpanish, rare in Cervantes, and almost non-existent now. A few survivalsoccur even in prose, and of such survivals es llegado is perhaps themost common. See Bello-Cuervo, § 1119.
[56.4] no sería 'could not have been.' Conditional ofprobability in the past.
[56.5] la doña Sirena de mis veinte 'the doña Sirena that I wasat the age of twenty.' Años must be supplied, as is clear from thesucceeding speeches. Colombina pretends to suppose that some other word( e.g. amantes) might be intended.
creyera.
Imperfect
subjunctive,
substituted
occasionallyfor the pluperfect when negation is strong.
Con ser tal. Equivalent to 'although' and a
dependentclause. With the infinitive con denotes means, cause, condition, orconcession. In translating we use sometimes the present participle, andsometimes a dependent clause.
[59.2] no anduviera 'would not be.' When substituted for ser, andar usually implies continuance or permanence, and strengthens thestatement.
[59.3] a no fiar tanto 'if he did not rely so much.' A +infinitive is commonly equivalent to a conditional clause.
[60.1] Ya me iréis conociendo 'you will learn to know megradually.' See note [7.2].
[61.1] con ser 'being.' See note [59.1].
[61.2] ¡Si así fuera siempre! 'If it were only always thus!'—
awish that cannot be realized.
[62.1] referidos 'if told,' 'if they were told.' See note [3.6].
[64.1] se entró. For the reflexive see note [46.4].
[65.1] anduvimos. See note [59.2].
[66.1] Ya se me tarda en verle. This idiom has a very archaicflavor. See vocabulary, under tardar.
[66.2] vendríais. An unusual construction; the subjunctive isthe normal form after temer. It would appear that in this instance theverb has lost its emotional character, and has become almost equal to averb of believing. The Dictionary of the Spanish Academy admitssospechar ('suspect') as a secondary meaning of temer.
[66.3] cómo vengo de sofocada 'how out of breath I come.'
Theuse of cómo causes the insertion of de.
[66.4] con que. See note [3.1].
[68.1] habéis. This is a real plural, referring to Silvia andLeandro. Que may be taken as a conjunction meaning 'so that' or 'for.'If we consider que a relative pronoun, there is no proper antecedent forit; such a construction, however, would not be impossible inconversation.
[68.2] jorobas. Punch is usually represented as a hunchback.
[68.3] por esos mares (freely translated) 'on the high seas.' Ese at times assumes a peculiar meaning that defies literal translation.It refers in a vague way to something on a large scale familiar toeverybody, but particularly familiar to the person addressed. Note theexpression por esas calles de Dios and the name of the periodical Poresos mundos.
[69.1] haciéndole que mire 'making him look.' See note [52.4].
[70.1] llevo remado. Note the use of llevar as an auxiliary.See note [49.2].
[71.1] lo que me hago. Ethical dative. See note [15.1].
[72.1] no me importó menos perderme 'I cared less about beinglost,' 'I didn't even mind being lost.' The preceding clause is initself negative; menos makes the succeeding negative even stronger. Cf.the English 'I don't know and care less.'
[72.2] algo que fuera. Subjunctive in a relative clause with anindefinite antecedent.
[74.1] que 'until.' A conversational use of que for the full aque ( i.e. hasta que).
[75.1] sigo. This verb frequently means 'follow,' but when usedwith the present participle, it should be translated 'continue'
or 'goon.' In this use it emphasizes, even more strongly than ir, continuityof action.
[76.1] decirme. See note [53.2].
[79.1] como. Note the use of como with the subjunctive in aconditional sense; see vocabulary.
[80.1] hayas. Archaically and poetically used for tengas.
[80.2] Decidme lo que sea. 'Tell me what has become.'
Thesubjunctive is due to the indefiniteness of the relative clause (cf.English 'what may have become'), because Colombina is uncertain as toLeandro's fate. When followed by de the verb ser often takes the meaning'become of.'
[83.1] todo lo enamorado y lo fiel y lo noble que tú quieras yella pueda desear 'just as much in love and just as faithful and nobleas you like and she can desire.' Lo is used idiomatically before anadjective followed by a clause with que; the adjective agrees with afollowing noun or pronoun. The usual translation ('how') is impossiblehere. Todo intensifies lo. For examples see Ramsey, § 1358.
[84.1] me acusó más de torpe. If, after de, we supply ser, thesentence becomes clear.
[85.1] ¿Piensas... son para olvidarlas? 'Do you think that thedeeds of Mantua and Florence are (of a nature) to be forgotten?' Notethat Spanish has the active infinitive (literally
'to forget them')where the passive is used in English. Las is superfluous intranslation.
[85.2] Bolonia. The Italian city of Bologna, especially famousas a center of legal studies.
considerandos... resultandos. Typical terms in
legaldocuments (cf. the Doctor's speech, page 104, lines 1-7).
Crispín,making fun of lawyers' language, uses the words as substantives and inthe plural.
[89.1] haceos del doliente. An archaism; the modern idiom ishacerse el doliente.
[89.2] sabré. Supply hacer.
[93.1] summum jus, summa injuria. A Latin saying found inCicero, De Officiis, 1, 10, 33, where it is quoted as proverbial.
Itmeans literally "extreme law (justice) is extreme injustice,"
and refersto cases where law is rigorously applied without regard to equity or tocircumstances. As Cicero puts it (in De Officiis, just before theproverb quoted): "Injuries often exist through a certain chicanery andan over-adroit but malicious interpretation of the law." A similarphrase is found in Terence, Heauton Timoroumenos, vs. 796: jus summumsaepe summa est malitia.
Barbara, Celare, Dario, Ferioque, Baralipton.
Termsinvented by medieval scholastic logicians to help in remembering thevarious forms (technically, moods) of
syllogisms. The words inthemselves are meaningless. Their vowels represent different types oflogical propositions. This jargon (possibly familiar to a few universitygraduates) is put in the Doctor's mouth for humorous effect; he isdepicted as fond of displaying learning. A similar legal speech occursin le Bourgeois gentilhomme by Molière, Act 2, Scene 6.
[94.1] ¡Ésta es buena! 'That's a good one!' As to this femininesee note [32.3].
[94.2] las doce tablas. The twelve tables constituting thefirst written compilation of Roman Law, said by Livy and others to havebeen prepared in two sections (first ten tables, then two) in the fifthcentury B. C. (452 and later) by a decemvirate of which the principalmember was Appius Claudius.
[94.3] Justiniano. Justinian (483-565) the best known of therulers of the Eastern Roman Empire; he ordered the compilation of thegreat code corpus juris civilis ('body of the civil law').
Triboniano. Tribonian, a famous jurist, minister under Justinian and oneof the leading compilers of the corpus juris civilis.
Emiliano y Triberiano. These names are used humorously.
Benavente mayhave invented them, or he may have meant them
as mistaken references ofthe Doctor to eminent jurists. Thus Emiliano might be AemiliusPapinianus, a Roman jurist who lived about 200 A.D., while Triberianomight relate to the senatusconsultum
Trebellianum,
ascribed
toTrebellius
Maximus, a consul in Rome under Nero.
[97.1] Quedaron suspensos... This speech, which may or may notbe taken as incomplete, seems to refer to the accusers of Crispín andLeandro, and to mean 'They are taken aback.' It might also refer to thesuspension of court proceedings. For the preterit, see note [8.1].
[98.1] Ved. A slight change has to be made in the translation,as is sometimes the case when ver is semi-exclamatory; translate
'lookout' or 'be careful about'; cf. the English 'see to.'
[98.2] hayáis. See note [80.1].
[100.1] talión. A word existing also in English; it comes fromthe Latin talio and means 'retaliation,' or more precisely a penaltythat consists in making a guilty man suffer the same injury that hecaused.
[100.2] Equitas justicia magna est. The Latin form of theSpanish sentence immediately preceding.
[100.3] las Pandectas 'the Pandects.' The name given to thecompendium or digest, the most important part of the corpus juriscivilis, compiled by Justinian's orders.
[100.4] Triboniano con Emiliano Triboniano. The Doctor does notseem particularly clear in his references. He is, however, true to hisdictatorial and showy character; see note
[104.1] ¿De ley? —Oro de ley is gold approved by law andtherefore standard; cf. 'legal tender.' Crispín makes a joke by assumingknowledge of such a thing in a man versed in the law.
Attention is called to the following remarks
1. The vocabulary is meant to give English equivalents of words andlocutions as found in this book, and its scope is therefore limited.Only meanings actually encountered in the text are given except when thedefinition illustrates a rare or perplexing usage from which the studentmight be led to infer a general usage.
2. The aim has been to combine clearness and consistency, but when achoice between them has been necessary clearness has been preferred.Thus, if two or more parts of speech are represented by the same word,they are sometimes noted separately, and sometimes put under oneheading.
3. When a word found in the text is used both as an adjective and as asubstantive the meanings are placed under one heading (the adjective) ifthe English translation can be made by adding such a word as 'man' or'person' to the adjective. Otherwise separate headings are allotted. Ifthe word occurs only in the substantive sense, though ordinarilyemployed in Spanish as a well-known adjective, both meanings are stated.
4. Where abstract nouns are used in the plural an effort has been madeto indicate possible translations both in the singular and in the pluralif the literal translation does not admit a plural in English.
5. If the same word is used as an adjective and as an adverb separateentries are generally made. But in the case of such words as más, mucho, poco, tanto and todo the meanings are grouped under one heading, becausethe distinction between the parts of speech in idiomatic phrases is atbest a shadowy one, and because the list of idioms is lengthy.
6. Proper nouns are translated only when the same or similar names existin English.
7. The language to which a foreign word belongs is indicated by anabbreviation unless a reference to the notes follows.
8. References to the notes are limited to certain stage directions andto cases where for special reasons the meaning is not given in thevocabulary.
9. Reflexive verbs are treated variously. If a verb occurs both in itssimple and in its reflexive form the translation of the simple formalone is given if the reflexive can be rendered by the English reflexiveor by the passive. Otherwise both forms are translated. If a verb occursonly in the reflexive the simple form is not indicated unless it isessential to comprehension of the real meaning or to the avoidance ofmisunderstanding.
10. Idioms and phrases of various kinds are grouped in alphabeticalorder varied only in a few cases where one expression seems to belongnaturally near another. Under verbs, forms containing the simpleinfinitive are given first; then come forms with the infinitive andreflexive, and last those where the verb is conjugated.
11. Wherever the word 'to' is merely 'a sign of the infinitive,' it isomitted.
VOCABULARY
A
a to, at, after, by, on, upon, according to, in, for, with, from; not
translated
before
personal
direct
object;
— no fiar tanto if he did not rely so much; al + inf. = in, on, upon, while, etc. + pres. part. or a dependent clause
with
finite
verb;
al
pasar
in
passing,
when
you
pass;
for meanings of numerous phrases and expressions containing a, see Notes and other headings in this vocabulary abatido,
-a
dejected,
downcast
abatimiento
m.
dejection
abdicación
f.
renunciation
abierto,
-a
( from
abrir)
open;