Heath's Modern Language Series: Spanish Short Stories

Chapter 31

2.{94-2} =dicese ... lleva= (lit., _it is said that when the river sounds it brings water_), _where there is smoke, there is a fire_.

=Page 95.=--1.{95-1} =Traga-santos=; a play on the double meaning of the word _tragar_, "to swallow" and "to believe implicitly in". See in the Vocab. _Animalejos_ and other proper nouns.

=Page 96.=--1.{96-1} =es para ... referida=, _must be imagined; it cannot be told_.

=Page 97.=--1.{97-1} =El alma ... Traga-santos=, _poor Traga-santos"

heart sank into his shoes_.



2.{97-2} =victimas=; this paragraph is a sarcastic allusion to the irreligious way in which the holiday of San Isidro is observed at Madrid.

3.{97-3} =y mas=, _the more so_.

4.{97-4} =cual no ... asombro=, _imagine the amazement_.

=Page 98.=--1.{98-1} =para que ... lloviese=, _in order that he should see to it that it did not rain_.

2.{98-2} It is said that in the rural districts of both Spain and Spanish America the images of saints have been beaten or stoned because prayers were not granted. The scene that is given here is, probably, purely imaginary.

3.{98-3} =Lo que ... lluvia!=, _the fact is that the rain ceased!_ (lit., _flew away immediately_)

=Page 99.=--1.{99-1} =en ... ser=, _valued so little the fact that it was_.

=Page 100.=--1.{100-1} =e hizo ... escultor=, _and had a good sculptor make him...._

2.{100-2} =lo mucho que=, _how much_.

3.{100-3} =ni al Santo ... Dios=. = _ni Dios le niega nada al Santo_.

4.{100-4} =lo santo que=, _so saintly as_.

=Page 101.=--1.{101-1} =era de muerte=, _was to be killed_. _Dar la muerte,_ i.e. the killing of the bull, is the crowning and most dangerous feat of the bull-fighter.

2.{101-2} =que quiere ... rezar!=, _what do you expect me to do but pray_, or _what can I do but pray!_

=Page 103.=--1.{103-1} =arregleselas=, _manage it_. Note again the fem.

personal p.r.o.noun, with the force of an indefinite p.r.o.noun.

=Page 104.=--1.{104-1} =Si nos iran=, _I wonder whether they are going_.

2.{104-2} =nos doblan ... medio=, _they will close us up entirely_ (_like a jack-knife_).

=Page 105.=--1.{105-1} =Que va a= = _que va a apostar usted?_

2.{105-2} =Buena ... hacen=, _we are badly in need of them_ (_the rains_).

=Page 106.=--1.{106-1} =hasta ... noche=, _until night was well advanced_.

2.{106-2} =Que lastima de fuego en ella=, _what a pity that fire does not strike it_.

3.{106-3} =ha llovido=; in Spanish the present perfect is sometimes used instead of the preterite to express an act that occurred recently.

4.{106-4} =Con un ... dar porque=, _we might be happy to-day, if_. This is a vulgar paraphrase of the expression: _da.r.s.e con un canto en los pechos_.

=Page 107.=--1.{107-1} =por lo ... nosotros=, _for having acted so kindly towards us_.

2.{107-2} =si al ... quisiera=, _if heaven had been left to do as it pleased_.

3.{107-3} =que llueva ... llover=, _that it might rain or fail to rain_.

4.{107-4} =habra quien=, _can there be any one who_. Here, as often, _quien_ includes its antecedent.

=Page 108.=--1.{108-1} The irony of this mock-heroic proclamation and of the lines that follow is characteristic of Trueba"s later and riper work.

2.{108-2} =cuanto ... parte=, _my part_, or _all that was in my power_.

3.{108-3} =si Dios tenia que=; this may be translated freely, _as much as it could_.

=Page 109.=--1.{109-1} =una=; cf. _hacer una con_ = "to play a trick on." Here una has the force of an indefinite p.r.o.noun; cf. page 19, note 3.

=Page 110.=--1.{110-1} =el que=, _the fact that_. Here the def. art.

introduces a subordinate clause. Cf. also page 16, note 4.

2.{110-2} See page ix of the _Introduction_.

=Page 111.=--1.{111-1} =echaba=; note here the use of the imp. ind. for the cond. in a condition contrary to fact.

2.{111-2} =de=, _if_.

3.{111-3} Trueba takes this opportunity to offer good advice to budding authors.

4.{111-4} =esto o ... alla=, _this or that or the other_.

=Page 114.=--1.{114-1} For the life and works of Narciso Campillo, see page xiii of the _Introduction_. The text of _Vino y frailes_ is taken from _Una docena de cuentos, por D. Narciso Campillo, Madrid, 1878_.

2.{114-2} =grave y lentamente= = _gravemente y lentamente_.

3.{114-3} =admirabase=; note how frequently Campillo places the personal p.r.o.noun-object after an indicative verb. This usage is not uncommon, but it is generally considered incorrect except when the verb comes first in a sentence or clause.

=Page 115.=--1.{115-1} =aplaste= and =perdone=; subjunctive with force of imperative.

2.{115-2} =hubiese=, _whether there was_.

=Page 116.=--1.{116-1} =Padre habia=, _there was a father or two_. Note the indefinite use of =Padre=.

=Page 117.=--1.{117-1} =en cuyo dia=; the 24th of June is consecrated to St. John.

=Page 120.=--1.{120-1} =resaltaba causante ... vino ...=, _it resulted that the ... wine was the cause..._

2.{120-2} =Habria nadie=, _had anyone_.