Heath's Modern Language Series: Tres Comedias Part 32

[64.1] =se entro.= For the reflexive see page 46, note 4.

[65.1] =anduvimos.= See page 59, note 2.

[66.1] =Ya se me tarda en verle.= This idiom has a very archaic flavor.

See vocabulary, under =tardar=.

[66.2] =vendriais.= An unusual construction; the subjunctive is the normal form after =temer=. It would appear that in this instance the verb has lost its emotional character, and has become almost equal to a verb of believing. The Dictionary of the Spanish Academy admits =sospechar= ('suspect') as a secondary meaning of =temer=.

[66.3] =como vengo de sofocada= 'how out of breath I come.' The use of =como= causes the insertion of =de=.

[66.4] =con que.= See page 3, note 1.

[68.1] =habeis.= This is a real plural, referring to Silvia and Leandro.

=Que= may be taken as a conjunction meaning 'so that' or 'for.' If we consider =que= a relative p.r.o.noun, there is no proper antecedent for it; such a construction, however, would not be impossible in conversation.

[68.2] =jorobas.= Punch is usually represented as a hunchback.

[68.3] =por esos mares= (freely translated) 'on the high seas.' =Ese= at times a.s.sumes a peculiar meaning that defies literal translation. It refers in a vague way to something on a large scale familiar to everybody, but particularly familiar to the person addressed. Note the expression =por esas calles de Dios= and the name of the periodical =Por esos mundos=.

[69.1] =haciendole que mire= 'making him look.' See page 52, note 4.

[70.1] =llevo remado.= Note the use of =llevar= as an auxiliary. See page 49, note 2.

[71.1] =lo que me hago.= Ethical dative. See page 15, note 1.

[72.1] =no me importo menos perderme= 'I cared less about being lost,' 'I didn't even mind being lost.' The preceding clause is in itself 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 an indefinite antecedent.

[74.1] =que= 'until.' A conversational use of =que= for the full =a que= (_i.e._ =hasta que=).

[75.1] =sigo.= This verb frequently means 'follow,' but when used with the present participle, it should be translated 'continue' or 'go on.' In this use it emphasizes, even more strongly than ir, continuity of action.

[76.1] =decirme.= See page 53, note 2.

[79.1] =como.= Note the use of =como= with the subjunctive in a conditional sense; see vocabulary.

[80.1] =hayas.= Archaically and poetically used for =tengas=. See page 49, note 3.

[80.2] =Decidme lo que sea.= 'Tell me what has become.' The subjunctive is due to the indefiniteness of the relative clause (cf. English 'what may have become'), because Colombina is uncertain as to Leandro'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 n.o.ble que tu quieras y ella pueda desear= 'just as much in love and just as faithful and n.o.ble as you like and she can desire.' =Lo= is used idiomatically before an adjective followed by a clause with =que=; the adjective agrees with a following noun or p.r.o.noun. The usual translation ('how') is impossible here. =Todo= intensifies =lo=. For examples see Ramsey, -- 1358.

[84.1] =me acuso mas de torpe.= If, after =de=, we supply =ser=, the sentence becomes clear.

[85.1] =Piensas... son para olvidarlas?= 'Do you think that the deeds of Mantua and Florence are (of a nature) to be forgotten?' Note that Spanish has the active infinitive (literally 'to forget them') where the pa.s.sive is used in English. =Las= is superfluous in translation.

[85.2] =Bolonia.= The Italian city of Bologna, especially famous as a center of legal studies.

[85.3] =considerandos... resultandos.= Typical terms in legal doc.u.ments (cf. the Doctor's speech, page 104, lines 1-7). Crispin, making fun of lawyers' language, uses the words as substantives and in the plural.

[89.1] =haceos del doliente.= An archaism; the modern idiom is =hacerse el doliente=.

[89.2] =sabre.= Supply =hacer=.

[93.1] =summum jus, summa injuria.= A Latin saying found in Cicero, _De Officiis_, 1, 10, 33, where it is quoted as proverbial. It means literally "extreme law (justice) is extreme injustice," and refers to cases where law is rigorously applied without regard to equity or to circ.u.mstances. As Cicero puts it (in _De Officiis_, just before the proverb quoted): "Injuries often exist through a certain chicanery and an over-adroit but malicious interpretation of the law." A similar phrase is found in Terence, _Heauton Timoroumenos_, vs. 796: =jus summum saepe summa est malitia=.

[93.2] =Barbara, Celare, Dario, Ferioque, Baralipton.= Terms invented by medieval scholastic logicians to help in remembering the various forms (technically, moods) of syllogisms. The words in themselves are meaningless. Their vowels represent different types of logical propositions. This jargon (possibly familiar to a few university graduates) is put in the Doctor's mouth for humorous effect; he is depicted as fond of displaying learning. A similar legal speech occurs in _le Bourgeois gentilhomme_ by Moliere, Act 2, Scene 6.

[94.1] =esta es buena!= 'That's a good one!' As to this feminine see page 32, note 3.

[94.2] =las doce tablas.= The twelve tables const.i.tuting the first written compilation of Roman Law, said by Livy and others to have been prepared in two sections (first ten tables, then two) in the fifth century B. C.

(452 and later) by a decemvirate of which the princ.i.p.al member was Appius Claudius.

[94.3] =Justiniano.= Justinian (483-565) the best known of the rulers of the Eastern Roman Empire; he ordered the compilation of the great code _corpus juris civilis_ ('body of the civil law').

=Triboniano.= Tribonian, a famous jurist, minister under Justinian and one of the leading compilers of the _corpus juris civilis_.

=Emiliano y Triberiano.= These names are used humorously. Benavente may have invented them, or he may have meant them as mistaken references of the Doctor to eminent jurists. Thus Emiliano might be Aemilius Papinia.n.u.s, a Roman jurist who lived about 200 A.D., while Triberiano might relate to the _senatusconsultum Trebellianum_, ascribed to Trebellius Maximus, a consul in Rome under Nero.

[97.1] =Quedaron suspensos...= This speech, which may or may not be taken as incomplete, seems to refer to the accusers of Crispin and Leandro, and to mean 'They are taken aback.' It might also refer to the suspension of court proceedings. For the preterit, see page 8, note 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 'look out' or 'be careful about'; cf. the English 'see to.'

[98.2] =hayais.= See page 80, note 1.

[100.1] =talion.= A word existing also in English; it comes from the Latin _talio_ and means 'retaliation,' or more precisely a penalty that consists in making a guilty man suffer the same injury that he caused.

[100.2] =Equitas justicia magna est.= The Latin form of the Spanish sentence immediately preceding.

[100.3] =las Pandectas= 'the Pandects.' The name given to the compendium or digest, the most important part of the _corpus juris civilis_, compiled by Justinian's orders.

[100.4] =Triboniano con Emiliano Triboniano.= The Doctor does not seem particularly clear in his references. He is, however, true to his dictatorial and showy character; see page 94, note 3.

[104.1] =De ley?=--=Oro de le=y is gold approved by law and therefore standard; cf. 'legal tender.' Crispin makes a joke by a.s.suming knowledge 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 and locutions as found in this book, and its scope is therefore limited.

Only meanings actually encountered in the text are given except when the definition ill.u.s.trates a rare or perplexing usage from which the student might be led to infer a general usage.

2. The aim has been to combine clearness and consistency, but when a choice 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 one heading.

3. When a word found in the text is used both as an adjective and as a substantive the meanings are placed under one heading (the adjective) if the English translation can be made by adding such a word as 'man' or 'person' to the adjective. Otherwise separate headings are allotted. If the word occurs only in the substantive sense, though ordinarily employed in Spanish as a well-known adjective, both meanings are stated.

4. Where abstract nouns are used in the plural an effort has been made to indicate possible translations both in the singular and in the plural if the literal translation does not admit a plural in English.