Heath's Modern Language Series: Spanish Short Stories Part 30

2.{81-2} =que dijo ser=, _who was, he said_.

=Page 82.=--1.{82-1} =opuesta ... ella=, lit., _opposed to that they should occupy themselves with her_. How should this be expressed in correct English?

2.{82-2} =como ... corazon= = _como su vanidad no le pedia el agradar a los hombres, ni su corazon le pedia agradar a aquel_ (= _el guarda_).

=Page 83.=--1.{83-1} =a que= = _apuesto a que_, _I wager that_.

2.{83-2} =no sabo= = _no se_. The natural tendency of children everywhere is to make all verbs regular.

3.{83-3} =carrillo=. It creaks and shrieks when it rises laden, and rattles and prattles when it descends.

4.{83-4} =renir= has here the force of an imperative.

5.{83-5} =a cantar= = _vamos a cantar_; =a ver= = _vamos a ver_.

6.{83-6} =no se ... rogar=, _did not have to be coaxed_.

7.{83-7} =dice=; _cancion_ (_song_) is understood as subject.

8.{83-8} =que=; note the use of _que_ in this and the following lines, sometimes expletive (as here), and again meaning _for_.

=Page 84.=--1.{84-1} =Carlanco=, _bugbear_. In a footnote (_Cuadros de Costumbres, Vol. II, Madrid, 1902_, page 216) Fernan Caballero says: _El Carlanco pertenece a la familia de los pavorosos y fantasticos monstruos del Cancon, del Bu y del Coco._ _Carlanco_ is not given in the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, but _cancon_, _bu_ and _coco_ are given and are defined as "an imaginary phantom with which one frightens children". In English one says "bugaboo", and sometimes "boo"

to frighten children.

2.{84-2} =que=, _for_; as also in lines 19 and 23. Note again this common use of _que_.

3.{84-3} =no tiene ... cal= = _no tiene dinero para comprar la cal_.

4.{84-4} =esa soy yo=, _I am she_.

=Page 85.=--1.{85-1} =les=; cf. page 33, note 6.

2.{85-2} =la=; cf. page 19, note 3.

=Page 86.=--1.{86-1} =pegando unos bufidos ... resoplidos=, _blowing and snorting_. Cf. the expression in the English nursery-tale, "and he huffed and he puffed."

2.{86-2} =para servir a Vd.=, _at your service_. This is a conventional phrase commonly used when one person is presented to another.

3.{86-3} =que echaba incendios=, _so that the sparks flew_, i.e. _like lightning_.

4.{86-4} =escuchare aquesto=; note the hypothetical (or future) subjunctive and the p.r.o.noun =aquesto=, both of which are archaic. To-day one would say: =Para el que escuche esto=.

=Page 87.=--1.{87-1} =pasada a deber=, _that had become a duty_.

2.{87-2} =sin que ... carita=, _so that nothing but her little face could be seen_.

3.{87-3} =mire Vd. antes en=, _first look at_.

=Page 88.=--1.{88-1} =abrame Vd. la ventana=. This is an invitation to Varmen to open her window and sit or stand there behind the grating (=reja=), so that the guard standing without may speak with her. This is the common way to woo in southern Spain.

2.{88-2} =tengo que ...= here means _I have something to ..._

3.{88-3} =ni pasa.r.s.e= [_de la raya_] =ni llega.r.s.e= = _not to cross the line nor even to come up to it_. Translate: _I draw the line there_, or _you must not go too far_.

4.{88-4} =No exprima ... zumo=. This proverbial saying comes from the fact, well known to southern Spaniards, that if the orange is squeezed too much, the juice will taste of the bitter peel. Here it means: _do not go too far_.

5.{88-5} =con el= = _con su ministerio_.

6.{88-6} =estaba hacia=; cf. page 12, note 2.

7.{88-7} =esto=; the preceding clause is the antecedent.

8.{88-8} Note that =unido esto al conocimiento individual= is here felt to be a plural subject of =hacian=.

=Page 89.=--1.{89-1} =Y tu lo que debes=; note that =tu= is more emphatic than if it was placed immediately before its verb, =debes=.

2.{89-2} =de manera ... vivir=, _almost to death_.

=Page 90.=--1.{90-1} =presurosa=; cf. page 4, note 2.

2.{90-2} =de lo que=. This word order is common in Spanish. The English word order would be =lo de que=.

3.{90-3} =en su vida=; when _en mi_ (_tu_, _su_, etc.) _vida_, like _jamas_, _nada_, etc., precedes the verb, _no_ is omitted. See _vida_ in Vocab.

4.{90-4} =lo=; cf. page 5, note 2.

5.{90-5} =a ese ... que=, _he is the one to whom_. Note the redundant =a= before =ese=.

=Page 91.=--1.{91-1} =que va mucho de ... a=, _there is a great distance between ... and_.

2.{91-2} =tiene echada el alma atras=, _he has cast away his soul_.

3.{91-3} =Haga yo ... quiera=, _may I do my duty, and G.o.d's will be done_.

4.{91-4} =cesped= is the subject of =cubre=.

=Page 92.=--1.{92-1} =No parece sino que=, _it seems only to have_.

2.{92-2} =eran=; translate _it was_.

3.{92-3} =que tienen ... quede= = _que tienen bastante para dar y para que les quede algun_ (=perfume=).

=Page 93.=--1.{93-1} =Aquella a ... conversacion=, _on the one following his conversation_.

2.{93-2} =no c.u.mple ... proposito= = _no c.u.mple un mal proposito tan facilmente como lo concibe_.

=Page 94.=--1.{94-1} For the life and works of Trueba, see pages xii-xiii of the _Introduction_. The text of _Ten-con-ten_ is taken from the _Obras de Don Antonio de Trueba, Tomo IX, Nuevos cuentos populares, Madrid, 1905_. The complete story is that of a monarch who tried to please everybody in a country divided by political factions. In his trouble he turned to General Robles for advice, and the general, in order to convince the monarch that he could not succeed in his effort to please everybody, told the story that is given in this volume. The king listened to this story, but he did not heed its moral, with the result that he lost his throne and was driven into exile.