(p143)
NOTES
(The first figures refer to pages of text, and second figures to the reference figures in text).
1-1: Capitanía general: headquarters of the Captain general, who has supreme military authority in his district.
1-2: Granada: a province (and its principal city), the former bordering on the Mediterranean. It is full of Moorish remains, including the Alhambra.
1-3: echado que hubo: a very common construction = asi que hubo echado.
1-4: edecán: a corruption of the French aide-de-camp.
1-5: Sr. D.: Señor Don.
1-6: toitico = todito, diminutive of todo. This diminutive ending often adds emphasis.
2-1: a que = para que.
2-2: se persigue: they have pursued. The perfect tense value is often represented by the present (and the pluperfect by the imperfect) after después or hace (ago).
2-3: se volvió a reír = volvió a reírse, laughed again. Volver a, followed by an infinitive, is to be rendered as a formula of repetition, as, again, once more, etc.
2-4: no hay quien lo haga: there is no one who can do it.
2-5: conoce nadie: does anybody know? Observe that nadie is not necessarily negative. Cf. use of jamás, etc.
3-1: me matan: a vivid use of the present for the future.
3-2: vestido de macareno: dressed in a loud or striking fashion. The macareno is a native of one of the districts of Seville.
3-3: caerme de espaldas: to fall on my back.
3-4: había de conocer = conocería. Haber de followed by the infinitive denotes (a) obligation: as: ha de ser, it must be; habrá de hacerlo, he will have to do it; (b) futurity (present tense of haber de + infinitive), as: he de hablar, I will speak: (c) conditioned action (imperfect of haber de + infinitive), as: quién había de creer? who would believe?
3-5: que haya madre: and (to think) that there should be a mother!
3-6: Jesús: the Spaniard, the most Catholic of men, is in the habit of interlarding his speech with copious expletives derived from his religion, such as Jesús, Ave María purísima, etc., which may often be rendered by the mildest of English substitutes.
3-7: ¡Que ... muera!: may I die! let me die! As the subjunctive used with imperative value, depends on some desiderative verb understood, the que which would follow that verb is usually retained in Spanish (as in French), though not when V. or VV. is used.
3-8: para decirte la buenaventura: to tell your fortune.
4-1: a todo trapo: under full sail (lit. rag), i.e. unrestrainedly.
4-2: si son de alegría: why! they are tears of joy. Si is often used to introduce an emphatic assertion. It may be translated by an expletive or omitted entirely. Cf. p. 45, line 31 and note.
4-3: tomado a este hombre: (a = from). The preposition a is regularly used with the value of the English from, after verbs like steal, deprive, buy, etc.
4-4: burro en pelo: a bare-backed donkey (pelo = hair).
4-5: la mano: observe the usual idiomatic mode of expressing possession of parts of the body, wearing apparel, etc., by the use of the definite article instead of the possessive adjective his, her, etc., the dative pronoun also being often added to indicate the possessor, as: Yo me corté el dedo, I cut my finger.
4-6: se la: for the possessive value of se cf. the preceding note. Observe also the regular use of se instead of le or les when followed by la, le, lo or their plurals.
4-7: con todas las veras: with all the sincerity or earnestness. Cf. de veras, truly.
4-8: tarde que (usually o) temprano: sooner or later.
4-9: ya me ... ya me: whether ... or. For me cf. note p. 4, 3.
5-1: doy el cante: I denounce him.
5-2: dices que cuándo: do you ask when? Que redundant is required after decir introducing an indirect question. Cf. digo que no, que sí; I say no, yes.
5-3: el mes que entra: next month.
5-4: salir por la tapa de los sesos: cf. levantarse la tapa de los sesos, to blow out one's brains.
5-6: te ahorco: cf. note me matan, p. 3, 1.
5-7: para esa fecha: by that time (date).
5-8: después de muerto: after (he is) dead.
5-9: de haber echado tan corto el plazo: for having set so near (lit. short) a time.
5-10: tomó el tole: departed hurriedly.
5-11: vamos: (imperative) and vaya (subjunctive) are often used, regardless of their original meaning, as mere interjections. Translate: come now, well, etc. Cf. French allons.
5-12: a lo que me contó: in view of what ... told me.
5-13: se va al infierno: translate disappears. (Infierno = infernal regions.)
6-1: ello es: the fact is.
6-2: llevarían: would live. Cf. lleva diez años de casado, he has been married ten years.
6-3: de servicio: on service, on duty.
6-4: hijos: children.
6-5: voy de vuelta: I am returning.
6-6: cómo he de perder: how am I to suffer the loss? Cf. note había de conocer, p. 3, 4.
6-7: no seas: don't be. Observe that the imperative is never used negatively, being then replaced by the subjunctive.
7-1: Alicante: a port on the eastern coast of Spain.
7-2: Sevilla: a city of southern Spain (Andalusia) on the Guadalquivir River. Also (as here) the province in which this city is situated.
7-3: Preparen: (sc. ustedes). This is an order addressed to the bandit's comrades.
7-4: Tengo seis hijos: observe that tener (to have) does not take the preposition a before its personal direct object, which likewise omits a when preceded by a numeral, unless certain specific persons are referred to.
7-5: lo que me digo: me is an ethical dative (indicating the person interested). Omit in translating.
7-6: ustedes: the polite form ustedes is in this single instance substituted in the peasant's speech for vosotros, by attraction after the ceremonious word Caballeros. Observe that the bandits end by addressing the peasant as usted likewise.
7-7: mis hijos ...¡Hijos míos!: observe the variant forms mis and míos. For explanation see any grammar (possessive adjectives).
7-8: el rey Nerón: (i.e. el emperador). The Roman emperor Nero (reigned A.D. 54-68) persecuted the Christians, burning them as torches before his palace and making them fight with wild beasts in the arena.
8-1: ¡Pues no quiere su dinero!: well! if he doesn't actually want his money too!
8-2: No sé cómo: I don't know why.
8-3: le habéis robado: for dative le cf. note tomado a este hombre, p. 4, 3.
8-4: se los: cf. note se la, p. 4, 6.
8-5: ¡A la paz de Dios!: (a familiar formula of leavetaking) God be with you, good-by, etc.
8-6: No habría andado: he could not have gone. The conditional mood is often employed to express conjecture as to a (usually) past event, just as the future indicative is used to express conjecture about a (usually) present event.
8-7: volver pies atrás: retrace his steps.
9-1: estupefacto: words having originally an initial s followed by a consonant prefix an e on becoming Spanish, as: estupor, stupor; escuela, school.
9-2: se echó ... a la cara: brought up to a level with his face. Cf. also note la mano, p. 4, 5.
9-3: cayó redondo: fell suddenly (collapsed).
9-4: maldito seas: a rather exceptional use of the subjunctive for the imperative, though common with the verb ser. Cf. last line, page 124.
9-5: unos canallas: canalla is feminine in its usual collective meaning: rabble. Applied to an individual, however, it agrees in gender.
9-6: Si conforme soy yo: if, just as it was (lit. is) I.
9-7: se: (ethical dative). Cf. note lo que me digo, p. 7, 5.
9-8: migueletes: militiamen, serving as police for the suppression of brigandage.
9-9: dándome la espalda: turning his back on me. Cf. note la mano, P. 4, 5.
9-10: a todo escape: with the utmost velocity.
9-11: se ha quedado con: has kept (lit. has remained with).
10-1: a otro: observe that the indefinite article is never used before otro, -a.
10-2: a fe mía: upon my word. Cf. note á fe que, p. 12, 6.
10-3: nadie: cf. note conoce nadie, p. 2, 5.
10-4: con sus cinco sentidos: with his five senses, i.e. with all his heart.
11-1: El llamado Manuel: the one named Manuel.
11-2: Cuesta del Perro: Dog's Hill.
11-3: Van once: that makes eleven.
11-4: Sierra de Loja: a mountain named from Loja, a town halfway between the cities of Granada and Málaga.
11-5: la lista nominal: the roll-call.
12-1: arrancó a correr: started to run.
12-2: del arma: cf. note al ave, p. 25, 3.
12-3: ¡Qué Conde del Montijo ni qué niño muerto!: the expression niño muerto is often thus used in contemptuous rejection of an idea. Translate the count del Montijo! fiddlesticks!
12-4: lo que hay que hacer: what must be done.
12-5: lo mismo me da: it's all one to me. Cf. no se me da nada, I don't care at all.
12-6: A fe que: upon my word; surely. Cf. note a fe mía, p. 10, 2.
13-1: ¡Necio de mí!: fool that I was!
13-2: tan sólo: only (tan redundant and emphatic).
13-3: inescrutables: cf. note estupefacto, p. 9, 1.
14-1: ¿Cómo que no?: que is redundant. It is dependent on some form of the verb decir understood: How can you say that you will not?
14-2: ¡Que no sabe!: a kindred usage to that in the last note. Que is frequently used in this elliptical and emphatic manner at the beginning of a sentence.
14-3: ¡habrá hipócrita igual!: can there be, etc. Cf. note no habría andado, p. 8, 6.
14-4: regalemos el oído: flatter; say pleasant things.
14-5: ¡vamos!: cf. note vamos, p. 5, 11.
14-6: músico mayor: military bandmaster.
14-7: Palacio: the royal palace.
14-8: Espartero: (1792-1879) Spanish general and statesman, at one time regent.
14-9: ¡vaya!: used like vamos above, p. 14, 5.
14-10: especialidad: (in familiar parlance) a notability.
14-11: no he vuelto: cf. note se volvió a reír, p. 2, 3.
15-1: otro Rossini: cf. note a otro, p. 10, 1. Rossini: (1792-1868) Italian composer who once enjoyed an immense vogue. His music, light, brilliant, but lacking in sincerity and deeper artistic qualities, is now much neglected.
15-2: lo que es esta tarde: as far as this afternoon is concerned.
15-3: ha de tocar: must play. Cf. note había de conocer, p. 3, 4.
15-4: es mi día: it is my saint's day (which among Catholics is celebrated as a birthday).
15-5: papá abuelo: dear grandpa. Abuelo is often used in addressing an old man.
15-6: ¡Quita allá!: a phrase used to express emphatic dissent. Translate Not much!
15-7: Se lo suplica a V.: Se = le, redundant pronoun anticipating usted. See note se la, p. 4, 6.
16-1: Mazzepa: (or rather Mazeppa) a Pole, who in punishment for an intrigue, was bound to the back of a horse, which carried him among the Cossacks, where he rose to distinction and high command. Vide Byron's poem Mazeppa.
16-2: Carlos XII: (doce— the ordinal numerals above décimo not being used with names of sovereigns) Charles XII, king of Sweden (lived 1682-1718). He fought, at first with brilliant success, against the Czar, Peter the Great, but was ultimately defeated.
16-3: Carlos e Isabel: Fernando VII (see notes Fernando, pp. 34, 5 and 51, 17) left the Spanish throne to his daughter, Isabel II, but Don Carlos. her uncle, laid claim to it by virtue of the Salic law excluding women from the throne. A long and disastrous civil warfare ensued between his party, the Carlistas, and the party of the queen-regent, Maria Cristina, the Cristinos.
16-4: Estoy por decir: I am on the point of saying.
16-5: buenos humos tenía: was much too proud.
16-6: ni (al lucero, etc.): even. The negative is intruded from the underlying negative psychologic notion: Ramón would not have suffered an affront—not even from, etc. Cf. note ni, p. 99, 3. lucero del alba: the planet Venus, bearing (as morning star) the name Lucifer. For el alba cf. note al ave, p. 25, 3.
16-7: morrión: a kind of tall helmet-cap, worn by the Cristinos.
16-8: boina: a round woolen cap, worn by the Carlists.
16-9: el Principado: the territory of Asturias, in the north of Spain. The term is also applicable to Cataluña in the northeast of Spain.
17-1: regularmente: (i.e. según reglas; naturalmente) presumably.
17-2: no te expongas: cf. note no seas, p. 6, 7.
17-3: se la ha fumado: for se cf. note lo que me digo, p. 7, 5.
17-4: El que no asista, etc.: a very loosely constructed sentence. Translate: If either of us does not appear, etc.
18-1: alaveses: natives of Álava, a Basque province in the north of Spain.
18-2: boina blanca de carlista: see note boina, p. 16, 8.
18-3: pistoletazo: pistol-shot. Observe the use of the ending azo, denoting a blow, cut, or shot with a weapon.
18-4: era de suponer: it was to be supposed; it was presumable.
18-5: habrá perecido: cf. note no habría andado, p. 8, 6.
18-6: da razón: give an account.
19-1: habían despertado: (intransitive).
20-1: a una voz: with one voice.
20-2: por último: finally. Cf. por fin.
21-1: Ánimas: ringing of bells, generally at sunset, inviting to prayer for the souls of the dead.
21-2: el nombre de siempre: the same name as always. Cf. lo de siempre, the same as ever.
21-3: Como sabrás: cf. note no habría andado, p. 8, 6.
21-4: cristino: see note Carlos e Isabel, p. 16, 3.
22-1: al salir el sol: at sunrise (el sol is the subject of salir).
22-2: veintiún: (for veinte y un.) Observe that uno in compounds is not pluralized and drops o before a noun. Other compounds are similarly formed, e.g. dieciseis, veintiseis.
23-1: tanto me conocía: knew me so well.
23-2: un corneta: the nouns corneta, trompeta, etc., used in the feminine, denote the instrument, and in the masculine, the player.
24-1: sabré música: ordinarily the definite article is used before a noun employed in a general sense. Here a partitive sense is hinted: I shall know (some) music.
25-1: mi vida se reducía a soplar: I passed all my time in playing (soplar, to blow).
25-2: notabilidades: noted men; celebrities.
25-3: al ave: el replaces la before feminine nouns beginning with accented a or ha. Un is occasionally used for una in the same cases (not academic).
25-4: me encontré con que, etc.: con governs the whole following clause as its object. Psychologically an intervening noun is indicated: I met with (the discovery) that I could not, etc.
25-5: haga són: (make sound) play. Alarcón has accented són to distinguish it from the verb son.
26-1: Pedro Pablo Rubens: Peter Paul Rubens, the great Flemish painter (1577-1640). He enjoyed much royal patronage, and consequently much of his work is now in the galleries of Spain and France.
26-2: Castilla la Nueva: the southern portion of the province of Castile, in central Spain, the northern portion being called Castilla la Vieja.
26-3: de feísima capilla: una is understood before feísima.
26-4: al momento: instantly.
26-5: delante: in front (of himself).
26-6: Descendimiento: descent (from the cross).
26-7: que figuraba estar colgado: which was represented as being hung.
27-1: Velázquez, etc.: this list includes the greatest names in the history of Spanish painting. They were all contemporaries, though Murillo (1618-1682) was considerably younger than the others.
27-2: tal maravilla: such a marvel. Observe the frequent omission of the indefinite article before tal. Cf. note a otro, p. 10, 1, and also un tal García, p. 33, 4.
27-3: propio: personal.
27-4: Vos: you (singular). It is used nominatively and after prepositions, taking a verb in the second person plural. It is more formal than tú and less so than usted.
28-1: de veras: cf. note con todas las veras, p. 4, 7.
28-2: está de cuerpo presente: is lying in state.
28-3: el alma: cf. note al ave, p. 25, 3.
28-4: que puede: que is redundant.
28-5: se habrá serenado: cf. note no habría andado, p. 8, 6.
29-1: en son de burla: by way of a jest. Cf. note haga són, p. 25, 5.
29-2: compraros: to buy of you. Cf. note tomado a este hombre, p. 4, 3.
29-3: inmortal: observe the variation from the English form, as in Spanish c and n are the only consonants doubled. The Spanish equivalents of English words with initial imm are written inm.
29-4: habéis de saber: cf. note había de conocer, p. 3, 4.
29-5: por ir unido: because of its being associated.
29-6: ¡vamos!: cf. note vamos, p. 5, 11.
30-1: un alma: cf. note al ave, p. 25, 3.
30-2: el grande artista: the apocopated form gran, usual before initial consonants, is not favored before vowels.
30-3: siglo: world (lit. cycle, century). Cf. English use of secular.
30-4: por lo que: a preposition that logically divides lo que is regularly prefixed.
30-5: Llevaos: observe the dropping of final d when os is suffixed.
31-1: olvidado: oblivious. A number of past participles are employed with the value of present participial adjectives. Cf. divertido, amusing.
31-2: llevarían: must have brought. Cf. note no habría andado, p. 8, 6.
31-3: a lo largo del templo: (the length of the church) down one of the longitudinal aisles.
31-4: vámonos: observe the dropping of the final s of the first person plural when nos is suffixed.
31-5: ¡Calla!; What! A number of imperative verb-forms are used with the value of mere interjections. Cf. note vamos, p. 5, 11.
32-1: Palacio: cf. note Palacio, p. 14, 7.
32-2: teniéndole a la mesa: inviting him to dinner.
32-3: se encontró con que: cf. note me encontré con que, p. 25, 4.
33-1: gallego: Galician. The province of Galicia lies in the northwest corner of Spain.
33-2: allá por el año: back in the year.
33-3: sapos y culebras y agua llovediza: i.e. popular remedies not recognized in the legitimate materia medica.
33-4: un tal García: a certain García.
33-5: acaso, y sin acaso: quite certainly.
33-6: varón ilustre: a Greek athlete, Milo of Crotona (in southern Italy), frequent victor in the Olympic games. By lifting and carrying a bull-calf daily, he was able, so the legend runs, ultimately to carry the full-grown bull. He came to his death by trying to pull asunder a split tree, which, reacting, held him fast until devoured by the wolves.
33-7: campar por su respeto: (to be absolute master of one's own actions) to have everything one's own way; to have full sway.
33-8: se llamará: cf. note no habría andado, p. 8, 6.
33-9: las Ánimas: cf. note Ánimas, p. 21, 1.
33-10 ¿Qué hacemos?: cf. note me matan, p. 3, 1.
33-11: Por judío: for (i.e. as being) a Jew (often used as a term of reprobation).
34-1: llevo echados: llevar and tener are sometimes used as auxiliaries with a past participle governing (and agreeing with) a direct object. Cf. the Latin consilium captum habeo.
34-2: era mía: observe that the article is usually omitted when the verb ser is followed by the possessive adjective (contrary to the French usage).
34-3: había de esperar: cf. note había de conocer, p. 3, 4.
34-4: ¡Toma! Como que vendía: Why! (cf. note ¡calla! p. 31, 5) didn't he sell (como que, inasmuch as).
34-5: Fernando VII: a weak and tyrannical monarch who began to reign in 1808, but yielded his crown to Napoleon I. Restored to power in 1814, he reigned till 1833. Cf. also note p. 51, 7.
34-6: qué algazara traen: what a noise they are making.
34-7: entramos: cf. note me matan, p. 3, I.
34-8: cuartos ... ochavos: the cuarto (1/4) was a small copper coin (obsolete) worth four maravedís. Cuarto is also, however, a (fourth) part of a lacerated body—cf. the English draw and quarter. Hacer cuartos may be translated by this phrase and hacer ochavos by make mincemeat.
34-9: ochavo: (1/8) half a cuarto.
34-10: corrían la francachela: were carousing.
35-1: contaría: cf. note no habría andado, p. 8, 6.
35-2: dijérase: in either member of a conditional sentence (i.e. condition or conclusion) the simple tense may be substituted for the compound one. Thus dijérase = se hubiera (or habría) dicho.
35-3: alguna vez: sometimes. Vez is often used in the singular with plural value. Cf. rara vez, rarely.
35-4: Quién ... quién: are used as correlatives: this one ... that one. Cuál ... cuál are used in the same way. They then bear the accent— which otherwise is used only when quién and cuál are interrogative or exclamatory.
35-5: 2 de Mayo: the 2d of May, 1808, is one of the great days in the annals of Spain. Out of loyalty to the royal family, an insurrection of the populace of Madrid took place, which was put down by the French only after the most desperate and heroic resistance by the ill-armed Spaniards.