[114-22] machacando, etc. , refers to the clatter the stork makeswith his beak.
[114-28] la rana al rano, 'the mamma frog to the papa frog.'—Picuaque, Ranoque and reniquicuaque are meaninglesswords that imitate the croaking of frogs.
115. —[115-3] que is expletive: do not translate.
[115-5] Uds. : note here the hesitancy between ustedes and theforms that correspond to vosotros. In Cuban and MexicanSpanish, both largely Andalusian dialects, vosotros is rare.
[115-10] pongo: see poner á que, under poner, in Vocab.
[115-13] y si no, 'and if you don't believe it.'
[115-15] Á que: see under the conjunction que, in Vocab.
[115-16] carrillo: it rattles boisterously as it goes down withouta load, and creaks and shrieks when it rises loaded.
[115-17] ¿lo que es? 'what this is?'
[115-28] el vino: see predicador, in Vocab.
116. —[116-22] de que abriese... la zorra, 'when the foxopened...'
[116-23] ¡[come] á otro; que ('for') no [me comerás] á mí!
117. —[117-2] Berbería ('Barbary') is often used in southernSpain to denote the land of the Moors, who are the traditionalenemies of the Spaniards.
[117-14] que le des is nearly equivalent to da. (imperative).
[117-15] eso no: the English word order would be no eso.
[117-18] ora por obis, a child's mispronunciation of ora pronobis, 'pray for us.'
118. —[118-11] Pueda... la luna, 'may the moon..."—perdonárselo,'pardon them for doing so' (lit., 'pardon it tothem').
[118-13] Nosotros no nos sentimos con, 'we do not feel that wehave.'
[118-19] Vese= se ve.—que es de= que es una de.
[118-27] de Melgarejo, Melgarejo's.
119. —[119-3] por los años de mil trescientos y tantos, 'aboutthe year thirteen hundred' (lit., 'about the years thirteenhundred odd').
[119-12] esclavo: at this time the Spanish peninsula was dividedbetween Moors and Spaniards, and each nation made slavesof those that were captured from the other nation.
[119-22] que, 'when,' as often after an expression of time.
[119-26] la cristiana: hueste is understood.
[119-29] por lo que: see under que, in Vocab.
[119-31] por el que, 'over which.'
120. —[120-3] se extraña: translate se by the indefinite pronoun'one.'
[120-7] se mueven, etc.,= los trabajadores mueven, como hormigasen un esqueleto.
121. —[121-15] Viernes Santo: see under Viernes, in Vocab.
[121-28] mas que no sea: see under mas, in Vocab.]
122. —[122-7] rosario: see Vocab.
[122-20] El interior lo formaba= formaba el interior: the subjectof formaba is pieza.
123. —[123-6] como lo era: do not translate lo, which standsfor doméstica y tranquila.
[123-8] les, 'in them.'
[123-23] por traerle= porque le traían ('kept').
124. —[124-7] ¡Qué será de ti! : see under ser, in Vocab.
[124-17] Más Honor que Honores='honor is better than honors.'
LA AJORCA DE ORO
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, b. 1836 in Seville, d. 1870,—journalist,writer of short stories and poet. His tales aremostly legendary, and are imbued with a morbid mysticism.Bécquer is primarily a poet, for even his prose has the poeticfancy and, to a large extent, the music of verse. His lyricverse is perhaps the most finished that was written in Spainduring the nineteenth century. Bécquer left only three volumesof prose and verse.
125. —[125-3] en nada, 'in any respect.'
[125-16] que los vió nacer, 'where they were born' (lit., 'thatsaw them [to be]
born.')
126. —[126-20] templo here refers to the cathedral of the archbishopricof Toledo, although any church may be called templo.—la fiesta de la Virgen refers to some one of severalchurch festivals in honor of the Virgin Mary.
[126-25] Salve, Regina ("Hail, Queen"), the opening words ofa Latin hymn to the Virgin.
[126-29] digo mal, en la imagen no, 'no, not on the image either'(lit., 'I speak incorrectly, not on the image').
127. —[127-21] no lo será nunca: lo stands for tuya.
[127-22] aquí, en la cabeza.]
[127-31] La [Virgen] del Sagrario, one of many images of theVirgin in the cathedral. This image is held in especial veneration,and it is adorned with many precious stones. See Sagrario, in Vocab.
128. —[128-5] otra Virgen: although there is only one VirginMary worshiped by Christians, certain images of the Virginare believed to have more efficacy than others, and there isoften much rivalry and jealousy between the adherents ofand another image.
[128-19] La catedral de Toledo: this vast Roman Catholic cathedralwas begun in the thirteenth century and finished (ornearly finished) in the fifteenth.
129. —[129-12] si grande, etc.,= si ('although') la catedral sepresenta grande é imponente.
[129-30] el último: día is understood.
130. —[130-10] permitía distinguir, 'permitted one to distinguish.'
[130-13] que sólo el concebirla, 'the mere conception of which'(lit., 'that only the conceiving it').
[130-15] saberse: translate into the English passive voice.
131. —[131-10] el suelo, etc.,= formaban el suelo de la capilla.The subject follows.
[131-17] el templo todo= todo el templo.
[131-25] la Reina de los cielos= la Virgen.
[131-29] tranquilizara= tranquilizó. This use of the imperfectsubjunctive in -ra, with the force of a pluperfect or preteriteindicative, is not uncommon in Spanish. See the Hills-Ford Spanish Grammar, § 99, note 2.
[131-30] que el: temor is understood.
132. —[132-10] demonios: these demonios, endriagos, etc.,within and without the medieval churches,—usually placedhigh on cornice or roof,—gave concrete expression to thebelief that demons were hovering about ready to pouncedown upon the wicked.
[132-18] no vistos: no may perhaps be best expressed by 'neverbefore.'
[132-22] se rodeaban y confundían, 'were moving about oneanother and were intermingling.'
[132-30] todo un mundo de, etc., is the subject of pululaban.
133. —[133-9] ¡Suya! = ¡es de ella (de María Antúnez)!
POESÍAS
In Spanish poetry the verse-line must contain some definitenumber of syllables, as in the following six-syllabled lines:
En | es | ta | dis | pu | ta, Lle | gan | do | los | pe | rros, Pi | llan | des | cui | da | dos Á | mis | dos | co | ne | jos.
In the syllabic division of words, a single consonant, or anygroup of consonants that may begin a word,[A] goes with thefollowing vowel.
[A] These are bl, br, cl, cr, dr, fl, fr, gl, gr, pl, pr, and tr. Note also that ch, ll, ñ, and rr are considered single consonants. But a prepositionalprefix, except before s+consonant, forms a separate syllable: des | a | gra | da | ble, in | a | ni | ma | do, but cons | tan | te.
The final vowel of one word, and the initial vowel of thenext word in the same line, usually form one syllable:
De | su | ma | dri | gue | ra Sa | lió^un | com | pa | ñe | ro, Y | le | di | jo:— | ¡Ten | te!
A | mi | go, | ¿Qué^es | es | to?
A verse-line contains one or more rhythmic stresses. Byrhythmic stress is meant the more important metrical accentthat falls (1) always upon the last accented syllable of a line,and (2) near the middle of a line of ten or more syllables.In the following line there are eight syllables and one rhythmicstress:
Á | pe | sar | de | su | vi | ve | za.
The following line has eleven syllables and two rhythmicstresses:
ai | re | de^a | ro | mas, | flo | res | a | pi | ña | das.
The strongly marked rhythmic beat of English and Germanverse occurs rarely in Spanish. The syllables of a verse-lineshould be read evenly, with the exception of a slight emphasisand rest upon the word that bears the rhythmic stress.
Verse may be blank (unrhymed) or rhymed. If it isrhymed, the rhyme may be (1) both vocalic and consonantal( viveza, tristeza, pureza, or honor, volador, olor, etc.), or (2) itmay be merely vocalic (assonance), in which the vowels aloneare rhymed ( pe rro s, cone jo, compañe ro, e sto, or mucha cho, á rbo l, etc.).
LOS DOS CONEJOS
Tomás de Iriarte y Oropesa, b. 1750, d. 1791,—knownchiefly for his fables ( Fábulas literarias).
135. — Los dos conejos has 6 syllables to the verse-line, asfollows: Por | en | tre^u | nas | ma | tas, Se | gui | do | de | pe | rros, (No | di | ré | co | rrí | a) Vo | la | ba^un | co | ne | jo.
Each verse-line contains one rhythmic stress. The rhymeis assonance, the rhyme-vowels being é-o in the 2d, 4th, 6th,etc., line throughout the poem.
[135-9] ¿Qué ha de ser? 'what must it be?'
[135-18] como mi abuelo, 'as sure as fate' (lit., 'like my grandfather.'Cf. Éste tan muerto está como mi abuelo, in Samaniego's Los dos amigos y el oso).
[135-20] vistos los tengo= los he visto. Note that the participleagrees with the object when the auxiliary is tener.
136. —[136-2] Que: do not translate. The expression is elliptic: digo may be understood ( digo que no... ).
[136-4] que: do not translate. After que, son may be understood.
EL PATO Y LA SERPIENTE
Iriarte: see note, page 135.
137. — El pato y la serpiente has 7 syllables to the line: Á^o | ri | llas | de^un | es | tan | que Di | cien | do^es | ta | ba^un | Pa | to:
¿Á | qué^a | ni | mal | dió^el | cie | lo Los | do | nes | que | me^ha | da | do?
Each line has one rhythmic stress. The rhyme is assonance,the rhyme-vowels being á-o in every second line.
[137-13] No hay que, 'you needn't.'
[137-14] ni anda= usted ni anda.
[137-17] tenga sabido, 'know' (imperative).
EL JABALÍ Y LA ZORRA
Félix María de Samaniego, b. 1745, d. 1801,—knownchiefly for his fables, most of which are imitations or renderingsof those of Phaedrus or La Fontaine.
138. — El jabalí y la zorra has 11 or 7 syllables to the line: Sus | ho | rri | bles | col | mi | llos | a | gu | za | ba Un | Ja | ba | lí^en | el | tron | co | de^u | na^en | ci | na, La | Zo | rra, | que | ve | ci | na Del | a | ni | mal | cer | do | so | se | mi | ra | ba.
Each line of 11 syllables has 2 rhythmic stresses, and eachline of 7 syllables has 1.
The rhyme-scheme is a, b, b, a; c, d, d, c; e, f, f, e.
[138-4 se miraba, 'happened to be' (lit., 'saw herself').
138.5. Extraño el verte, 'I am surprised to see' (do not translatete). Note that the infinitive is modified by the definitearticle.
[138-9] Tenga entendido, 'please understand' (lit., 'have [it]understood').
[138-12] vale por dos, 'is worth two.'
Á TODO HAY QUIEN GANE
Felipe Pérez y González, b. in Seville,—journalist, novelistand playwright,—
writing at times under the pseudonym ofTello Téllez. Works: El libro malo, Tajos y reveses, Elnuevo sistema tétrico, and many light comedies.
[139]. —Á Todo Hay Quien Gane (lit., 'there is some onewho will get the better of every one'), 'Every One Is SometimesWorsted.'
Á todo hay quien gane has 8 syllables to the line:
Juan, | que^es | pes | ca | dor | de | ca | ña, Se | pa | sa^el | dí | a | pes | can | do, Y | Pe | dro | lo^es | tá | mi | ran | do Con | u | na | son | ri | sa^ex | tra | ña.
The line has one rhythmic stress. The rhyme-scheme isa, b, b, a, etc.
[139-10] ha de, 'must.'
EL PERAL
Juan Eugenio Hartzenbusch, b. 1806 in Madrid, of a Germanfather and a Spanish mother, d. 1880,—a literarycritic, and a romantic poet and dramatist. Works: Amantesde Teruel, La ley de raza, Vida por honra, Un sí y un no, Cuentos y fábulas, et al.
140. — El peral has 7 or 5 syllables, and 1 rhythmic stressto the line: Á^un | Pe | ral | u | na | pie | dra Ti | ró^un | mu | cha | cho,
Y^u | na | pe | ra^ex | qui | si | ta Sol | tó | le^el | ár | bol.
The rhyme is assonance, the rhyme-vowels being á-o inthe 2d and 4th lines, and ó-e in the 5th and 7th lines. Thiskind of metrical composition is called seguidilla.
[140-1] Á un Peral... muchacho= un muchacho tiró unapiedra á un peral.
[140-4] Soltóle= le ('for him') soltó.
EL GLOBITO AZUL
Juan Antonio Cavestany, b. 1861 at Seville,—playwrightand poet. Works: El esclavo de su culpa, Grandezas humanas, El casino, Salirse de su esfera, Sobre quien viene su castigo, La noche antes, et al.
141. — El globito azul has 8 syllables, and 1 rhythmicstress, to the line: Mi | ra | ba^un | ni | ño^a | som | bra | do, Con | ex | pre | sión | ca | ri | ño | sa,