Novelas Cortas

These exercises are based on the text of the preceding stories. The passage indicated, consisting usually of only fifteen or twenty lines, should be thoroughly studied before translating the exercise. The special subject illustrated by the exercise should also be studied in the grammar.

I. THE PRESENT TENSE

PAGE 2, LINES 20-34

1. He does not know what he is saying. 2. For a year I have been pursuing these gypsies. 3. We know that they rob travelers every day. 4. But the officers of the law never hit upon them. 5. The gypsies laugh again. 6. We laugh again. 7. What we can not do no one can do [it]. 8. We repeat that not only have they robbed him but they have assassinated him.

II. PAGE 5, LINES 27-8 (page 6)

1. The day passes, three days pass, a week passes, and the captain does not appear thereabouts. 2. I can not understand it. 3. We can not understand it. 4. Don't you know that the chiefs go away from time to time? 5. I know nothing of their absence. 6. In the afternoon we take them out of the cave, for the heat stifles them. 7. They are tying them to the trees.

III. THE IMPERFECT AND THE PRETERIT

PAGE 10, LINES 7-19

1. Two weeks after that he set out at nine o'clock in the morning. 2. The count finally ascertained his whereabouts as well as those of his companion. 3. He was to set out in search of the count. 4. He took leave of his family. 5. He was taking leave of his friends. 6. He was going to set out. 7. We set out. 8. It appeared that they were setting out.

PAGE 14, LINES 1-20

1. He was playing on the cornet and I was dancing. 2. It was not warm under the trees. 3. I was carrying the cornet to him. 4. Why did he not play? 5. The hypocrite said ¹ that he did not know how to play. 6. Nobody used to play like him. 7. We heard that you used to have a pension. 8. I heard so (=it.) 9. Come! come! I had no pension.

Footnote 1: (return) decir.

V. FUTURE AND CONDITIONAL

PAGE 17, LINES 30-12 (page 18)

1. We will attack them at nightfall. 2. The battle will last from three till five o'clock in the afternoon. 3. I will command. 4. I would give orders to them to fire. 5. They will be victorious and we shall have to flee. 6. I would kill the colonel. 7. We would not try to defend ourselves. 8. They would try in vain to defend him.

PAGE 21, LINES 29-15 (page 22)

1. The colonel will not know. 2. We shall not know. 3. He would remember us. 4. We will wait for Nicholas until one o'clock. 5. I shall not fall asleep. 6. He would not awake. 7. He would look around and would find himself alone. 8. It will strike two. 9. It would strike three. 10. He would not appear. 11. Day will dawn.

VII. DISJUNCTIVE PRONOUNS

PAGE 26, LINES 1-16

1. The painters, accompanied by their pupils, entered the church with me. 2. In it we found little to admire. 3. I was already going away with them. 4. I noticed a chapel and approached it. 5. They noticed a picture and approached it. 6. To the pupils, who were approaching with him, he said: "This youth will go away with us." 7. We pointed at the canvas which we had in front of us.

VIII. CONJUNCTIVE PRONOUNS

PAGE 29, LINES 32-7 (page 30)

1. I knew him. 2. He knew me. 3. I am selling him the picture. 4. He was selling us the pictures. 5. "You have not understood him," answered the friars. 6. I tell you that the authors of those paintings have died. 7. Will you tell us when they died? 8. You ask for the pictures—I sold them to him. 9. Do they want the picture? We will sell it to them.

IX. THE REFLEXIVE. THE PASSIVE [With reflexive substitute]

PAGE 32, LINES 14-25

1. The artist approached. 2. We were approaching. 3. The prior was surrounded by all (of) them. 4. The coffins were seen ² on the ground. 5. The face of the dead woman was seen. 6. It will be seen that he will be like his work. 7. Now his works will be seen. 8. The great painter found himself in the temple. 9. It was seen that the face was like the work of the dead prior.

Footnote 2: (return) Avoid the passive in similar constructions.

X. ADJECTIVES [Declension, apocopation]

PAGE 35, LINES 3-16

1. His skin was dry and yellow. 2. They (m.) were yellow as a mummy. 3. Their skin was black. 4. Many years ago his sunken eyes were black and shining. 5. The supper was good, but we had not any wine. 6. The wines were good and abundant. 7. I seek good wine and good conversation. 8. Wine! we have none. 9. I am seeking some one. 10. We are seeking some good wine. 11. Some wines are good, some are not good.

XI. POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES AND PRONOUNS

PAGE 39, LINES 22-5 (page 40)

1. His words and mine. 2. My voice and his. 3. The Frenchman's words and yours alarmed me. 4. My bottles are new, his are not new. 5. They have drunk five bottles of our wine, and five and a half of his. 6. This is her wine. 7. This is the door of their drug-store. 8. The door of my drug-store and of his. 9. This chair is not theirs, it is mine. 10. These chairs are not ours, but hers.

XII. USE OF usted

PAGE 43, LINES 1-11

1. He is going to relate to you a historic episode. 2. You are going to relate the episode to him. 3. The episode is not historic and it is not we who will relate it to you. 4. It is not you who related it to her. 5. We do not ask of you that you relate it to us. 6. You will not ask of us that we relate it to you. 7. You will not take upon yourself the trouble to tell it to them.

XIII. COMPOUND TENSES

PAGE 46, LINES 34-9 (page 47)

1. We have gone out of the café. 2. As he has told you, they had left the café. 3. Two dusty carriages have stopped before the house. 4. They will have stopped in front of your house. 5. I would have stopped in front of her house. 6. The carriage has stopped. 7. As I have said, they had approached the door of the house. 8. We had alighted and would have approached the house.

XIV. PERSONAL a

PAGE 50, LINES 28-14 (page 51)

1. The people saw the priest. 2. He saw them and he saw the captives also. 3. The captives did not see the strangers. 4. The captive will behold Napoleon. 5. She has seen our two companions. 6. He had abandoned his companion. 7. We have not abandoned our companions. 8. I saw the captives and the stranger. 9. I saw the guitar and the captive who was playing it. 10. We left Catalonia.

XV. DEMONSTRATIVES

PAGE 58, LINES 13-23

1. That book which you are reading is better than this one. 2. These books which I am reading are better than those. 3. We did not believe what you were reading in those books. 4. These people believed what that rogue said. 5. The Poles would not come to this country. 6. These Poles were serving under the orders of that wretch. 7. Those who died were Poles, but this one is not a Pole. 8. What is that?

XVI. RELATIVES AND INTERROGATIVES

PAGE 62, LINES 22-2 (page 63)

N.B. Observe carefully the distinction between cuál and el, la, lo cual, quien and quién, que and qué, etc.

1. What are you doing? 2. What was your companion doing? 3. Which one? 4. The companion at whom you were looking. 5. "What will you do?" asked the others, who were much moved. 6. The others, to whom they did not give time to fire a shot, were giving their guns to the soldiers who had killed the Poles. 7. Which ones? 8. The ones who had robbed the soldier. 9. Which soldiers stole the portraits that we wore? 10. Which soldier killed the stranger at whom I was looking?

XVII. COMPARISON

PAGE 67, LINES 1-11

[See Grammar for the various formulas of comparison.]

1. This bay forms a more ample circle than that one. 2. The smaller of these bays is more charming than that of Cádiz. 3. The most celebrated castle is that of the duke. 4. It is less celebrated than that of the Dukes of Osuna. 5. The gardener is not as humble as his uncle. 6. The duke had as many castles as his uncle. 7. The uncle's name was more celebrated than the duke's. 8. The most celebrated name is that of the duke, who was, a very long time ago, the most humble of horticulturists.

XVIII. SUBJUNCTIVE

[After impersonal verbs]

PAGE 70, LINES 18-33

1. It is impossible that he should recognize me. 2. It is impossible that they should understand. 3. It was not possible that they should see me. 4. It will be a marvel should he see his daughters. 5. It is impossible that we should stay in the place. 6. It was impossible for them to stay in Cádiz. 7. Is it a wonder that he should not set out for Cádiz to-day? 8. Was it necessary (preciso) that you should set out? 9. It is infamous that he should say those things to-day.

XIX. SUBJUNCTIVE

[After conjunctions, adverbs, etc.]

PAGE 73, LINES 30-6 (page 74)

1. He left the receipt in order that you might see that he had paid. 2. He will leave a receipt so that you may see that you have paid him. 3. I will bring you the receipt before you pay me. 4. He said that he would bring me a receipt before I paid him. 5. We will bring him the books when (cuando) he pays you. 6. He brought me a book so I might pay him. 7. They bring me the books so I may not say that they are robbing me.

PAGE 80, LINES 20-30

1. I will offer him a part of what I may find, although (aunque) it may not be a very large one. 2. Although he may offer me a part of what he finds, it will not be a very large one. 3. When you find out what it is necessary to offer to him, we will explain it to him. 4. If I knew this, I would talk of it. 5. If you would explain this to your sons, when they learn all they would aid you. 6. I will take that land, although there may be some fraud in this same business.

XXI. SUBJUNCTIVE

[After verbs expressing inherent doubt, i.e. verbs of fear, hope, disbelief, anticipation, purpose, etc.]

PAGE 84, LINES 18-29

1. I made an effort to keep him from reading the parchment. 2. He will make an effort to keep me from reading the postscript. 3. I fear (temer) that they may read the letter which Pepa sent me. 4. I feared they might send Pepa to me. 5. Make an effort to have them inform me. 6. I warned them to respect my letters. 7. I warn you to respect my letters. 8. I fear that you may see and read the letter and may try to keep Pepa from sending me the forty bank-notes.

XXII. SUBJUNCTIVE

[After verbs of volition: desire, command, concession, prohibition]

PAGE 88, LINES 4-20

1. I desire that you translate the parchment. 2. He wished us to translate it. 3. We wished them to remain. 4. He did not wish the orphans to ask alms. 5. He gave orders ¹³ that they should burn the parchment. 6. We will give orders that they translate the Arabic verses which my uncle has just sent to me. 7. I will give orders to Josefa (so) that she may have the Arabic parchment translated by (some) competent person. 8. I wish you to send some help to the orphans.

Footnote 3: (return) To order, mandar.

XXIII. SUBJUNCTIVE

[With the imperative value]

PAGE 93, LINES 5-17

1. God grant that he may not die! 2. Let them not die! 3. Let not your daughters escape from your house! 4. Let all go out! 5. Go out. 6. Let us go out. 7. Let him not know it. 8. Let us know it. 9. Let us escape from their house. 10. Let him not escape from my house. 11. Do not escape. 12. Do not go out. 13. Know that the coins are mine. 14. Do it. 15. Do not do it.

XXIV. SUBJUNCTIVE

[In relative clauses]

PAGE 98, LINES 21-34

1. We need a man (hombre) who may be faithful and loyal. 2. The king of Spain needs men who may prove faithful and loyal. 3. Kings need men of whose lives they may be masters and who may labor loyally. 4. The man needs a master whom he may accompany. 5. We need millions of which we may be masters. 6. I need a man to work faithfully. 7. He wants a document which he may read. 8. They wanted documents which they might read.

XXV. SUBJUNCTIVE

[After emotional verbs]

PAGE 102, LINES 23-7 (page 103)

1. I am sorry ⁴ that you have not come. 2. He was sorry that we had not come yesterday afternoon. 3. We are sorry that it should be necessary to tear down this wall. 4. I am glad ⁵ that it is not necessary to build a tower. 5. We were glad that it was not necessary to demolish the foundations. 6. They are sorry that the contract does not suit you. 7. I was sorry that it did not suit them to do this work. 8. I am glad that the contract has suited you. 9. He is sorry the contract does not suit you.

Footnote 4: (return) To be sorry, pesarle a uno; I am sorry, me pesa.

Footnote 5: (return) To be glad, gustarle a uno.

XXVI. COMPOSITION

PAGE 112, LINES 16-3 (page 113)

Two days passed. He found six bits of cedar and obtained a fire. He killed some reindeer and preserved the torn flesh in the ice. It was preserved thus all the year. Having no axe he transported to his grotto the splinters of the trees torn to pieces by the frost. Every morning he began again ⁶ the struggle with the cold and the solitude, because he desired to live and to return some day to his hearth. He adored life.

Footnote 6: (return) Use volver a (with infinitive).

About This Book

EXERCISES FOR TRANSLATION