31. —[31-1] al establecerse, 'when they went into business.'
[31-3] Anduvo, 'he was' (lit., 'he went'.
[31-11] se, 'to themselves,' or 'to one another.'—al verle,'upon seeing him.' Note again this common use of al withthe infinitive.
[31-12] Chaviri is the subject of trae.
[31-13] se supo, 'it was known.'
[31-14] no hubo quien no dijese, 'there wasn't any one whodidn't say.'
[31-23] le is redundant: do not translate. It is in appositionto pescador. This idiom is very common in colloquial Spanish.
[31-25] de tarde en tarde, 'some afternoons' (lit., 'from afternoonto afternoon').—
se le veía, 'he was seen,' or 'theysaw him.'
[31-29] cuya pesca, 'the catching of which.'
[31-30] que.. le pagaban á subido precio, 'for which...paid him a high price.'
32. —[32-1] Ho había nadie que... llevara, 'there wasn't anyone who brought....'
[32-2] la de Chaviri, 'that of Chaviri,' or 'Chaviri's.'
[32-4] iba durando una y otra semana, 'lasted week after week.'
[32-5] Á los dos meses, 'after two months.'
[32-7] Fué la noticia extendiéndose, 'the report spread.'
[32-8] ya no volvieron á gritarle, 'no longer shouted at him.'
[32-14] en evitar que nadie me viese, 'to avoid being seen'(lit., 'in avoiding that any one should see me').
[32-20] á que acertasen el sitio, 'to the risk of their finding theplace' (lit., 'to that they should hit upon the place').
[32-26] levantóse= se levantó.
33. —[33-4] del de más allá, 'from one farther away.'
[33-9] Si querrás, 'can you indeed expect': querrás is fut. ofconjecture.—se puede,
'one can.']
[33-11] ¿Cómo que no? 'why not?'
[33-12] los tres, 'you three.'
CONFESIÓN DE UN CRIMEN
Armando Palacio Valdés, b. 1853 in the Asturias. PalacioValdés is a journalist and novelist. He began as a realist,but his later works have become more and more idealistic.He is a careful, direct writer, elegant in diction, and he excelsin psychological analysis. Palacio Valdés and Pérez Galdósare probably the strongest and the best known Spanish novelistsof today. Works: Marta y María, El idilio de un enfermo, José, El cuarto poder, La hermana San Sulpicio, Laespuma, La fe, El maestrante, La alegría del capitán Ribot, La aldea perdida, et al.
34. —[34-1] salón del Prado: see prado and salón, in Vocab.
[34-1] aún no había gente, 'there were not yet any people.'
[34-14] sin que... perdiesen de vista, 'without... losing sightof.'
[34-17] en una silla metálica de las que= en una de las sillasmetálicas que. Both constructions occur, but the first is consideredthe better.
[34-18] me puse á: see ponerse á, in Vocab.
[34-25] gravedad is the subject of llamó.
35. —[35-2] alegría is the subject of causaba.
[35-10] vestido de marinero, 'in a sailor-suit' (lit., 'dressed as asailor').
[35-14] Luisa: see this name, and those that follow, in theVocab.
[35-15] le tiró por los..., 'pulled his....'
[35-18] oí exclamar á Luisa= oí á Luisa que exclamaba.
[35-30] de su misma edad, 'of the same age as they.'
36. —[36-2] debía de ser, 'must have been.'
[36-9] visto lo cual por su amiga, 'her friend having observedthis' (lit., 'which seen by her friend').]
[36-11] lo que la ponía, 'what made her.'
[36-13] ya no: see ya no, under ya, in Vocab.
[36-16] Mañana hace un mes que = hará ('it will be') un mesmañana que.
[36-17] Á mí... me: translate by an emphatic 'me.' Thedouble construction is here used for emphasis.—toda la tardela pasé= pasé toda la tarde. The redundant la is here usedbecause the object precedes the verb.
[36-18] te lo ('so') puede decir= puede decírtelo.
[36-22] lo éramos desde hacía dos meses= hacía dos meses quelo éramos (eramos,
'had been'). The imperfect is used, asthe condition still existed: lo takes the place of novios,—omitin translation, or translate 'engaged.'
[36-23] al entrar en, 'as I was going into.'
[36-24] echó á correr: see echar(se) á, under echar, in Vocab.
[36-26] le había gustado: does this mean 'he had liked me' or'I had liked him'?—le quería= [le] quería á el: see querer á,in Vocab.
[36-27] en: see Vocab.—que era la que, 'which was the onethat.'
[36-29] á Luisa... Paco Núñez= también Paco Núñez habíaescrito á Luisa: for the use of le, see second note, l. 17.
[36-31] le dije, 'said to him' (Paco).—en el paseo: on Sundayafternoons and on other holidays, groups of young womenaccompanied by older persons, and groups of young men,stroll up one side of the paseo and down the other. Oftenthey will go in opposite directions so that they may speakin passing.
In Spain and in Spanish America, as in all Latin countries,young men and young women, not closely related, may notwalk out together unless they are engaged to be married, andeven then they must be accompanied by an older person,usually the young woman's mother.
37. —[37-1] que sí, 'yes.' This expression may have itsorigin in dice que sí, 'he says so.'—á la otra vuelta, 'whenwe went around again' (lit., 'at the next turn').]
[37-6] una vez bailando, 'once when we were dancing.' Inthe Latin countries it is usually considered harmless to danceon Sundays after returning from mass, and the most devoutChristians may do so.—estaba= él estaba.
[37-10] á la salida del colegio, 'as I came from school.' See colegio in Vocab.
[37-14] á que continuase, 'for her to continue.'
[37-23] metido en, 'standing in' (lit., 'packed closely in').
[37-28] el de la criada, 'the servant's.'
[37-29] le dejé ir mojándose hasta casa, 'I let him go on gettingwet all the way home.'
[37-31] fué que, 'it was because.'
38. —[38-1] se le anudó la voz en la garganta, 'the wordschoked in her throat.'
[38-3] se la quedó mirando= se quedó mirándola.
[38-10] sin que... perdiesen, 'without... their losing.'
[38-23] debió pasar, 'must have passed.'
[38-25] destacóse= se destacó. Note, finally, that a personalpronoun object may follow any verb that comes first in aclause.—le echó los brazos al cuello, 'threw her arms abouther neck.'
[38-31] dejó de: see no (or ni) dejar de, under dejar, in Vocab.
39. —[39-1] que is expletive: do not translate.
ECONOMÍA PRÁCTICA
Luis Taboada, b. 1848 at Vigo in Galicia, d. 1906. Taboadais a playwright and novelist, but he has probably excelled inthe humorous articles that he has written for the daily press.
There is a good American edition of some of these humoroussketches, Cuentos alegres edited by Prof. Murray AnthonyPotter of Harvard University (Boston, 1907).
The editor of Spanish Tales for Beginners has pleasure in acknowledginghis indebtedness to Professor Potter.
40. —[40-7] Quiero que sea, 'I wish it to be.']
41. —[41-6] después de... rebajen, 'after getting them tothrow off.'
[41-19] Hace pocos días tuvo que, 'a few days ago he had to.'
[41-30] Oiga usted, 'listen.'
42. —[42-2] póngase usted en razón, 'be reasonable.'
[42-4] He dicho que no: do not translate que.
[42-7] el de los pájaros, 'the bird-dealer' (lit., 'he of the birds').
[42-12] Conque ya lo sabe usted, 'well, you understand' (lit.,'so you already know it').
[42-15] en, 'for.'
DE VIAJE
Luis Taboada: see note, page 40.
43. —[43-4] ha de, 'is to.'
[43-9] á la que trata de, 'which she tries to' (que alone wouldbe ambiguous, as it might be subject or object, but á la quemust be the object).
[43-16] dígale V. que no se moleste, 'tell it not to trouble itself.'
[43-25] Los demás viajeros conseguimos, 'the rest of us succeedin' (lit., 'we other passengers...').
44. —[44-12] Salvador=Amós Salvador, at one time ministerof finance,—a member of the liberal party.
[44-16] en éstas y las otras= en estas y otras cosas, 'in the meantime.'
[44-17] poco menos que, 'almost' (lit., 'little less than').
[44-30] ¿Que no? 'no?'
45. —[45-2] se las calza, 'puts them on.'
[45-24] ¿Cómo quieres que esté un hombre? 'how do you expecta man to be?'
TEMPRANO Y CON SOL
Emilia Pardo Bazán, b. 1851 in Galicia, a literary criticand novelist. Pardo Bazán is considered the most highlycultivated and the most forceful contemporary writer amongstthe women of modern Spain. Works: Los pazos de Ulloa, La madre naturaleza, El cisne de Vilamorta, De mi tierra, Pascual López, La cuestión palpitante, et al.
46. —[46-7] de, 'with.'
[46-10] le sentaba á las mil maravillas, 'was wonderfully becomingto her.'
[46-12] sobre poco más ó menos: see under más, in Vocab.
[46-17] quien, 'one who.'
[46-21] Ahí va dinero, 'there's the money.'
47. —[47-5] Al decir esto el empleado= cuando el empleadodijo esto. Note that empleado is the subject of decir. Seenote, page 6, l. 22.
[47-6] damisela: why can damisela not be the object of habíasoltado?
[47-17] Sonó la campana= la campana sonó. Note how oftenthe subject follows the verb in this story.
[47-20] fuesen, 'might be.'
[47-25] del, 'in the.'
48. —[48-9] que le enseñase, 'to show him.'
[48-13] Tengo la colección completa= la colección está completa.
[48-19] Éste no lo tengo yo= yo no tengo éste; but éste is moreemphatic in the first sentence.
[48-23] se pusiese color de, 'turned the color of.' Note thesubj. with como ('as'): como se pusiese= poniéndose.
[48-27] te he de decir una cosa, 'I have something to tell you.'
[48-28] dímela ( di-me-la): see di, in Vocab.
49. —[49-1] Hay que ir: see hay que under haber, in Vocab.
[49-7] que le había de suceder algo raro... , 'that somethingunusual... would' (or
'was to) happen to him.'
[49-9] con: see soñar con, in Vocab.
[49-10] coleccionaba, soñaba: why must these be translated bythe English pluperfect indicative?]
[49-18] constándole á, 'as it was clear' (or 'evident) to.'
[49-19] había is here the imp. ind. of hay.
[49-25] Lo que me ibas á decir= lo que ('what') ibas á decirme.
[49-28] Si: note that si here means 'why' or 'indeed,' andnot 'if.'
50. —[50-4] echó á= empezó á.
[50-10] Se halla un alma enamorada= un alma se halla enamorada.Note un, where el would be used, before a femininenoun beginning with stressed a. It is considered better formto use una.
[50-14] No... más que en, '... only of.'
[50-17] novios en regla, 'real lovers.' Here novio does notmean formally 'betrothed.'
[50-19] se hablaba de, 'they were speaking of.'
[50-24] ¡Jesús, María y José! 'great heavens!' Custom hasmade this invocation of the Holy Family less sacrilegious inSpanish than in English. Cf. dios mío, 'dear me.'
[50-36] irán, 'can they be going?' See note, page 1, l. 24.—Aviso= avisaré.The pres.
ind. may often be used forthe fut.
51. —[51-14] que, 'to.'
[51-19] La hicimos, 'we have done it.' La is here an indefinitepronoun.
[51-20] será de: see under ser, in Vocab.
[51-21] Lo que, 'how,' or 'what (a good time).'
[51-28] ¿Por dónde se va? see under dónde, in Vocab.
52. —[52-2] á la del Inglés= á la fonda del Inglés.
[52-8] no se les permitió, 'they were not permitted.'—ni aúnlos domingos: the internos, or boarding-students, of a colegio are allowed to visit their parents or guardians on Sundays.On other occasions they may leave the confines of the colegio only when accompanied by an instructor. See colegio inVocab.]
EL PREMIO GORDO
Emilia Pardo Bazán: see note, page 46.
53. —[53-25] no lo pasaban mal tampoco, 'did not have a badtime of it either.'
54. —[54-2] nadie, 'any one.' Note the negative pronounafter a comparative ( mejor).
[54-3] andaban ellos de contentos, 'they were well satisfied.'
[54-26] Al oir tal, 'on hearing this.'—hubo=pret. of hay.
[54-29] que el que echaba con señores, 'that he who gambledwith gentlemen.'
[54-30] de lo cual le pesó tanto al marqués, 'at which the marquiswas so displeased' (lit., 'on account of which it weighedso upon the marquis').
55. —[55-2] le cobijaba, 'had given him shelter.' Why imp.ind. in Spanish?
[55-13] se le colaba el frío por la nuca, 'his neck was gettingcold' (lit., 'the cold was filtering through the nape of hisneck').
[55-15] no nos ha de caer, 'will not fall to us.'
[55-17] se las compuso, 'arranged matters' (las is here anindefinite pronoun. Some such word as cosas is probablyunderstood after las).
[55-18] no sé qué, 'some... or other' (lit., 'I know not what').
[55-31] El Siglo Futuro, an ultra-catholic paper.
56. —[56-3] á los diez segundos de atender, 'after payingattention for ten seconds.'
[56-8] No tardó tres minutos en regresar el enviado= el enviadoregresó dentro de tres minutos. See tardar, in Vocab.
[56-11] por querer, 'in his efforts' (lit., 'through seeking').
[56-14] logró oir brotar, 'he finally heard... burst forth'(lit., 'he succeeded in hearing burst forth').
[56-20] rauda y amorosamente= raudamente y amorosamente.Note that mente is used with only the last adjective, and notealso that the adjectives are feminine to agree with mente.][56-26] sin que fuese poderoso, 'without his being able.'
[56-27] echándoselo unos á otros, 'tossing him from one toanother.' Note that both se and unos á otros are here reciprocal.
[56-31] quieras no quieras, 'whether he were willing or not'(lit., 'you may be willing [or] you may not be willi