Heath's Modern Language Series: Spanish Short Stories Part 27

3.{21-3} =Si usted viera!= _If you had (could have) seen it!_

4.{21-4} =debi ... sido= = _debi (de) serle_. This childlike language is somewhat similar to the redundant English expression that one sometimes hears, "I should have been glad to have done it."

=Page 22.=--1.{22-1} =La= = =le=, feminine, dative singular. The best writers sometimes use _la_ in this way, to avoid ambiguity.

2.{22-2} =Le ... si=, _I consented to be his sweetheart_ (lit., _I told him yes_).

3.{22-3} =iba cogida=, _was holding on_. Note the use of _ir_ as an auxiliary verb with the past participle.

4.{22-4} =fue=; cf. page 6, note 2.

=Page 23.=--1.{23-1} =no hacia ... estaban=, _it was not more than a year that they had been_, or _they had not been ... more than a year_; cf. page 12, note 2.

2.{23-2} =le ... el carino=, _... their affection for her_.

3.{23-3} =que la mama ... pudiese=, _that her mother should manage the best way she could_.

4.{23-4} =papa= is subject of =parecia=; =... a ellas=, _the girls_.

5.{23-5} =las ... valian= = _cada una tenia un novio, pero los novios no valian_. Cf. H. F. _Gr._, -- 81, 2.

=Page 24.=--1.{24-1} =aquel= refers to the =paraiso=.

2.{24-2} =Teresa ... admirablemente=, _Teresa was most delighted_.

3.{24-3} =el verla=; note the definite article before the infinitive.

Cf. H. F. _Gr._, -- 120, 3.

4.{24-4} =A te, oh cara= (Ital.), is, in Spanish: _a ti, oh cara_, _to thee, my beloved_.

=Page 25.=--1.{25-1} =no ... valga=, _no queen would be of account_.

2.{25-2} =hacerselo reconocer=, _to make her realize it_.

3.{25-3} =si ... acuerdo= (Span. proverb), _out of sight, out of mind_.

4.{25-4} =para ... punto= (lit., _to carry the conversation to another point_), _to change the subject_.

5.{25-5} =Si yo ... pocos!= (= _muchos o pocos anos_), _why! I shall love you the same, whether you are old or young!_

=Page 26.=--1.{26-1} =que nos tratasemos de tu=, _that we should address each other with tu_. _Tu_ is more familiar than _usted_.

2.{26-2} =despues de aceptado=, _after I had accepted_.

3.{26-3} =del principio=, _that she had had at first_.

=Page 27.=--1.{27-1} =que le habia visto=, _that I had seen her wear_.

=Page 28.=--1.{28-1} =se le ... garganta=, _a lump had come into her throat_.

2.{28-2} =hacia ... delante=, _she made them hold their hands before them_.

=Page 29.=--1.{29-1} =de=, _for_.

=Page 30.=--1.{30-1} For the life and works of Alarcon, see page xii of the _Introduction_. The text of _La Buenaventura_ is taken from the _Obras de D. Pedro A. de Alarcon_ (in the _Coleccion de Escritores Castellanos_), _Novelas Cortas, Madrid, 1905_. _La Buenaventura_ describes the conditions that existed formerly in certain parts of Spain. Then the spa.r.s.ely populated districts were infested with highwaymen. To-day, chiefly through the efforts of the Civil Guard, a select body of Spanish police, one is as safe in the highways and by-ways of Spain as in those of any other civilized country.

2.{30-2} =sobrenombre= is, strictly speaking, a name added to the _apellido_, to distinguish two persons whose _apellido_ is the same.

3.{30-3} =echado que hubo= = _cuando hubo echado_.

4.{30-4} =Eugenio Portocarrero, conde del Montijo=, was father of Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III.

5.{30-5} That is to say, he was fond of =lo ajeno=, but he took it only =con permiso del enganado dueno=.

=Page 31.=--1.{31-1} =a que se me den=, _that I may receive_ (lit., _that ... may be given to me_).

2.{31-2} --=Los ofrecidos hace dias=, _those offered some days ago_.

3.{31-3} =al que=, _to the one who_.

4.{31-4} =Lo=, him. Alarcon uses _lo_ oftener than _le_, as the masc.

sing. accusative form of the pers. p.r.o.n. Some of the best modern writers, e.g. Juan Valera, have avoided _lo_ as a masc. form.

5.{31-5} =hace tres anos que se persigue=, _for three years we have been pursuing_; the present tense is used, as the act or state still continues.

6.{31-6} =de que ... Justicia=, _by which the officers of justice should never catch him_.

=Page 32.=--1.{32-1} =hizo ocho dias=, _a week ago_. Cf. the French _il y a huit jours_, and the German _vor acht Tagen_.

2.{32-2} =Sera=; cf. page 20, note 5.

3.{32-3} =matan=; cf. page 3, note 3.

=Page 33.=--1.{33-1} =no habia de conocerte= has about the force of _no te conoceria_. See H. F. _Gr._, -- 71, 1.

2.{33-2} =Y que ... para=, _and can there be a mother who gives birth to_.

3.{33-3} =Jesus!= Expressions such as _Dios mio!_, _Jesus!_, etc., are common in Spanish. Translate by _heavens!_, or some similar expression.

4.{33-4} =Que ... muera=, _may I die an untimely death_.

5.{33-5} =gitanico= is subject of =tenia=.

6.{33-6} =le= refers to =mula=: do not translate =le=. This use of an expletive dat. pers. p.r.o.n., of the 3d pers., referring to a dative noun, is very common in spoken Spanish. See also page 34, line 5.

7.{33-7} =si son=, _why, they are_. Note this common use of exclamatory _si_.

=Page 34.=--1.{34-1} =Parron= is subject of =decir=; =nube de trabucos= is subject of =rodear=.