ESCENA ÚLTIMA

Felipe.—Deténganse ustedes.

Juan.—¿Eh? 25

Paula.—¿Qué pasa?

Felipe.—Nada; que me han hecho ustedes poner el
frac otra vez; y ya no era necesario.

Paula.—Pero, ¿qué ocurre?

Felipe.—Que los de González acaban de recibir la
noticia de la muerte de un pariente, y se ha suspendido 5
la reunión hasta nuevo aviso.

Luisa.—¡Qué fastidio!

Juan.—(¡Me alegro!)

Carmen.—¡Qué chasco!

Paula.—¡Pariente... pariente! Eso es que los 10
muy trapisondistas quieren darse tono sin gastar un
cuarto de esos que han hecho no se sabe cómo. Si yo
lo temía.

Juan.—¡Pero señora, por Dios!

Paula.—¡Vaya usted enhoramala, mamarracho! 15

Felipe (Mirándole los pantalones).—¡Calle! ¿Está
usted de manga corta?

Juan.—Para lo que me sirven... (Á Felipe.)

No se haga usted ilusiones.
Si insiste usted en casarse, 20
no hay más medio que entregarse
y abdicar los pantalones.
(Al público.)
Y si este cuento en acción
á ustedes no desagrada, 25
concedan una palmada
antes que caiga el telón.

NOTES

LA MUELA DEL JUICIO

1.—3. Franciscoo; notice the emphatic lengthening of the final vowel.

5. Voy á ponerte á la puerta de la calle (i.e., discharge).

2.—9. Unos por torpes... no se os puede sufrir, literally, "some of you on account of (being) stupid, and others, on account of (being) indolent, cannot be endured"; trans. freely, the stupidity of some of you servants, and the insolence of others, make you simply unbearable; no se os puede sufrir, one cannot endure you, or you cannot be endured; the reflexive construction is widely used as a substitute for the passive voice. It is frequently rendered in English by the indefinite pronoun "one"; cf. French "on" and German "man."

10. ¡Vaya con los criados! see voc. under ir.—pagarles bien y tratarles bien; the objective forms of the personal pronouns of the third person admit of double or alternate forms, which, though hardly sanctioned by the best usage, are found in reputable authors. Les for los, as direct object plural (see above, pagarles, etc.), and le for lo as direct object singular when reference is made to things, are somewhat infrequent. Commoner are the forms lo for le as direct object masculine with reference to persons, and la for le (pl. las for les) as indirect object feminine with reference to both persons and things. The student would do well to avoid these alternate forms.

13. ¡Se necesita más paciencia! what a lot of patience one needs! For se, see note 2, 9.

3.—4. ¡Pero...! Goodness...!; pero may be used as an emphatic interjection introducing exclamatory or interrogative phrases.

6. Vamos, hombre, que no es para mi genio, well, it's simply this: my disposition won't stand for it; que may be used elliptically at the beginning of a sentence or clause, frequently with an emphatic force that does not admit of translation. Its syntactical status may be explained by supplying a verbal expression, such as no cabe duda, upon which the clause introduced by que may depend. For hombre, as an interjection, see line 17 of this page.

8. ¿Se puede? see voc. under poder. For se, see note 2, 9.

11. Estoy sirviendo aquí hace tres meses, I have been employed here for three months; an action begun in past time and continued in the present is expressed in English by the present tense, and the time-idea by "for." In Spanish the present tense is required and the time-idea is expressed by hace or desde hace. Similarly, estaba sirviendo aquí hacía tres meses would mean "I had been employed here for three months." But if the main verb is in the preterite, hace followed by a time-clause is equivalent to "ago"; thus, ESTUVE sirviendo aquí hace tres meses, "I was employed here three months ago." For further examples of these two constructions, see voc. under hacer.

12. Ya supe, I found out; the preterite of saber may express the idea of "learning," "finding out." The imperfect sabía usually means "I knew."

17. Hombre, why, what are you saying?; hombre as an interjection expresses surprise or remonstrance. It is addressed without connotation of sex to a woman as well as to a man, e.g., hombre, ¿estás loca? "why, are you crazy, (woman)?"

18. De que, that; Spanish verbs usually retain before substantive clauses the prepositions which are associated with them before ordinary substantives. Here de is retained as a reminiscence of its presence in such an expression as alegrarse de una cosa, "to be glad of a thing."

26. confío en que; for en, see previous note.

4.—7. sigo la máxima del pobre porfiado... Erre que erre, I follow the maxim of the insistent beggar... keep at it. The maxim referred to is pobre porfiado saca mendrugo, "the insistent beggar gets his crust of bread," i.e., "he who persists, wins his point."

9. Lo que es á paciencia... le gane á usted, in the matter of being patient, there is no one who can get ahead of you.

11. ¿Verdad que no? isn't that true? A conjunctive clause may be inferred after que. Atilano might say in full, continuing the idea of the previous statement, ¿Verdad que no hay quien me gane?

16. me he venido; a few intransitive verbs undergo a change of meaning on being made reflexive. There may be a decided change of meaning; e.g., ir, "to go," irse, "to go away"; dormir, "to sleep," dormirse, "to go to sleep"; marchar, "to march," marcharse, "to go away." In a few verbs the change of meaning is imperceptible; e.g., venirse (see above), which is practically equivalent to venir, "to come."

18. ¿Me das...? will you give me...? In familiar speech, the present is substituted for the future, to express vividly a future action and to emphasize the certainty of its occurrence.—cerillita (dim. of cerilla); the diminutive conveys to the Spaniard many fine distinctions not easy for the foreigner to seize. Besides their obvious diminutive sense, these diminutive endings may imply sympathy, familiar or intimate relations, comradeship, affection, pity, playful irony, entreaty, as well as depreciation or contemptuous pity. At times they merely create a mood or atmosphere. Thus mothers will address their children, and lovers each other, with an abundance of diminutives as a means of displaying tenderness, without causing any alteration of meaning in the word itself. Specific instances of the diminutive will be discussed later in their relation to the context. cerillita here would help to show that don Atilano desires to be friendly and informal with Francisco, though it would not be impossible, were it intelligible in the context, for it to mean a "small match."

21. Por lo visto... cuarta pregunta. Atilano.—No, hijo mío... á la quinta, evidently you are "hard up." Atilano.—No, my dear fellow, I'm worse than "hard up." For hijo mío, see voc. under hijo.

5.—3. ¡Cuidado con lo que beben los empleados públicos! my, what a lot these government employés drink!

5. ¡Qué cosas tiene don Atilano! how Atilano does carry on!

11. á todo el que venga, to whoever may come.

16. y tiene un genio que ya, ya; it is difficult to give an exact rendering of this use of ya, ya, which conveys the idea that Raigón has a temper so bad that words cannot express it; trans. freely, and Great Scott, what a temper he has!

17. recibe, see note 4, 18.

18. hace que no nos vemos muchos años, we have not seen each other for many years; see note 3, 11. Notice the syntactical dislocation of hace muchos años.

21. Francisquito; the diminutive ending is used here with a cajoling purpose; see note 4, 18.

24. hombre, see note 3, 17.

28-29. regaña,... recibe, see note 4, 18.

29. ¡Pues poquito gusto que tendrá en verme! why, he will be simply delighted to see me! Poquito, "quite a little," "a good deal": the inflection of the voice and the context give the above meaning to poquito, rather than the usual "very little."

6.—2. ... Atilano Fuentesaúco; acuérdate de los garbanzos. Fuentesaúco is a town in the province of León, about twenty-five miles southeast of Zamora. Fuentesaúco and its neighborhood are known for the excellent quality of the chick-peas (garbanzos) raised there. Atilano jokingly implies that if Francisco will remember where the chick-peas are raised, he will not forget his (Atilano's) name.

7. llegan muy adentro, go far in, i.e., reach the heart.

12. lo de, see voc. under lo.—pobrecita, diminutive implying pity and affection; see note 4, 18.

7.—3. Raigoncillo; here the diminutive brings out the idea of affection (feigned, of course) and comradeship; you dear old Raigón approximates the Spanish.

5. Así lo entretenga dos horas, I hope to goodness he'll keep him for two hours; for lo, see note 2, 10.

18. Bien, pues usted dirá..., well, what do you wish? i.e., "come to the point."

19. ¿Qué es eso de usted? the idea of using "usted" with me! i.e., "you ought to 'thee-and-thou' me, you know me so well." Former schoolmates would hardly address each other with the formal usted, but Raigón is disinclined to recall his early friendship with Atilano, divining, doubtless, the purpose of the latter's visit.

22. bachillerato; the bachillerato is not to be confused with the degree of Bachelor of Arts conferred by reputable American colleges. It is a much more elementary course, more or less equivalent to that of our high schools, including, perhaps, some of the work of our Freshman and Sophomore years in college. Candidates prepare for the degree of bachiller in the public and private colegios and institutos. The degree itself is conferred after examination by the university.

8.—10. Ése sí que ha hecho suerte, that fellow certainly has been lucky!; sí may be used as an expletive to emphasize an assertion. It is usually followed by que, and is best translated by "yes," "indeed," "certainly," or by some form of the emphatic auxiliary "do."

17. Raigón, see voc. for the joke on the meaning.

29. dale que le das á la máquina, always working away at the machine.

9.—8. ni aun dispongo para, I haven't even the wherewithal to.

10. ¡Acabáramos! we have got to the end of it at last, have we! This seems to be a use of the -ra form with the force of a simple preterite of the indicative (from the Latin pluperf. indic.), here with ironical effect.

10.—1. Si siempre fué un adoquín, why, he always was a blockhead!; the conjunction si is frequently used at the beginning of a phrase to express surprise or expostulation.

3. ¡Cualquiera le pide nada á ese hombre! imagine anyone asking a favor of that man!

9. ¿Qué ha de pasarme? what do you suppose is the matter with me?

14. sacarse una muela, to get a tooth pulled.

16. ¡Qué sé yo! literally, "what do I know?" Trans. freely, I can't imagine!

11.—1. si, see note 10, 1.

3. va de veras, see voc. under veras.—¡Que lo aguante su abuela! let his grandmother put up with him (i.e., "I won't").

8. Esta casa es una romería, i.e., in that Raigón's patients are as numerous as pilgrims at a shrine.

19. ¿Y tacaño? Es de lo que no hay, and stingy? why there is nothing like him.

20. Con decirle á usted que..., I have only to tell you; a conclusion such as todo queda dicho is necessary to complete the sentence.

21. Es así. (Cerrando el puño.), meaning by the gesture that Raigón is "tight-fisted."

12.—9. ganándonos; nos is the dative of advantage; express the idea with the preposition "for," making for ourselves, or omit in translation.

18. si, see note 10, 1.

22. Á ver, let's see; vamos á ver would be the full form.

25. ¡Y así, un jubileo y venga guita! literally, "a jubilee and let money come"; trans. freely, and so there will be a high old time and plenty of cash as well; for further examples of this use of venga, see voc. under venir.

13.—2. que, see note 3, 6; supply a verb like mira, "consider," upon which que may depend.

18. ¿á qué viene...? see voc. under venir.

22. moría... mataba; in the conclusion of a present condition "contrary to fact," we should expect the conditional (here, moriría, mataría), or the first form of the imperfect subjunctive (muriera, matara). The imperfect indicative may replace these subjunctive and conditional forms, especially in familiar and conversational style, adding emphasis and vividness to the verbal idea.

14.—10. Verás, it's this way, you see...; verás, verá usted, verán ustedes are used to introduce or announce an explanatory statement.

28. Si lo descubre, lo descubro todo, if she finds it out, I shall disclose everything; a play on the two meanings of descubrir.

15.—1. Pues para todo igual, I'm just that way in everything.

2. yo soy muy hombre para decirles, I'm thoroughly man enough to tell them; muy used immediately before nouns has the same value as when placed before adjectives; cf. muy señor mío, "dear Sir."

4. La vecinita de la derecha... á la izquierda, my little neighbor who lives on the right (i.e., Inocencia) has stolen from me what I have on the left (i.e., my heart).

10. ya poco podemos tardar, we shall only have to wait a little longer.

18. muelita, dear little tooth; here the diminutive does not necessarily imply that Inocencia's tooth is small, but that Lelis, the lover, views it with affection.

22. Me voy á hacer; me, the dative of advantage, is the indirect object of hacer. Its position before voy is explained as follows: when a pronoun is governed by an infinitive, which is itself dependent upon another verb, the pronoun may be affixed to the infinitive or precede the main verb. Hence voy á hacerme would be the alternate order.

16.—18. figura irle instruyendo, (Francisco) is represented as giving him instructions, one after the other; ir, in conjunction with the present participle, may denote progressive action.

20. Se conoce que va á salir el que está, apparently, the person (inside) there is going to come out.

17.—16. juntitos, close together; an elusive use of the diminutive which hardly admits of translation. It suggests here the amorous attitude of the two lovers. Men speaking of "being together" would naturally use juntos, or muy juntos; lovers, juntitos, with the added suggestion of being pretty near together.

19. ¿Cuándo meteré yo la cabeza en alguna parte? when shall I ever accomplish anything?

18.—7. ¿Pues no han de venir? why, of course they will come.

17. acento andaluz; the speech of Andalucía, the southern-most province of Spain, is not a dialect in the sense that the languages spoken in León, the Asturias, and Aragón are. Andalusian has had no distinct historical development apart from Castilian, and its peculiarities indicate generally a distortion of Castilian sounds rather than the existence of independent forms. Besides having a characteristic intonation, the speech of Andalucía possesses, among others, the following characteristics: c and z are equivalent to s, and s is frequently given the sound of z (i.e., dise for dice, sapato for zapato, uzté for usted, and ezo for eso; ll is pronounced as y i.e., cabayo for caballo); there may be an interchange of liquids like l and r (i.e., er for el, Albelto for Alberto); there is a persistent suppression or weakening of initial, medial, and especially final consonants (i.e., ute for usted, lo' rato' for los ratos, ice for dice, andao for andado, pagá for pagada). Needless to say the speech of the educated Andalusian is free from most of these peculiarities. Many of the characteristics of Andalusian pronunciation persist in the speech of the Spanish-American countries which were settled to a considerable extent by southern Spaniards.

22. soleá, see voc. under soleá for the play on the meanings of the word.

27. ¡Qué barbaridad, cómo viene este hombre! how awful, the condition this man is in!

19.—1. Gracias á que, thank goodness that; á is retained before the substantival clause as a reminiscence of its use in expressions like gracias á Dios, where it precedes a substantive.

2. Yo no puedo más, see voc. under poder.

16. Buenas ganas de conversación tengo yo ahora, I feel a lot like talking, I must say.

20. Será de los nervios, it is probably caused by your nerves; the future may be used in place of the present, and the conditional in place of the imperfect, to express conjecture or probability.

23. ya; for the expletive use of ya, see voc.

20.—1. ¡Qué me he de reir...! I, laugh? I should say not!

6. No me retientan ni por casualidad, they show no signs of attacking me again; not in the least.

23. se me va calmando; se is the object of calmar; me is the dative of advantage.

21.—25. ¡pero si tiene usted ahí la cueva de Montesinos! why, you have a regular cave of Montesinos in there! (i.e., the cavity); cueva de Montesinos, famous through Cervantes' reference to it in Don Quijote (Part II, chapters 22-23), lies about three miles from the village of Osa de Montiel in La Mancha. Being about 40 yards wide and 60 deep, we may assume that the impression made upon Rocío by the cavity in the Caballero's tooth was considerable.

22.—1. Vaya si es graciosa la mujer, my, but this woman is funny!

5. Para valiente cosa le serviría yo á usted, precious little good I'd be to you.

8. perdió usted á su esposo... No lo perdí yo; se perdió él, you lost your husband... I didn't destroy (or lose) him; he destroyed himself. A play on the two meanings of perder.

15. Tengo aquí un plato de calamares, I have here (within my breast) a dish of squids; the squid, or calamary, emits a black fluid, and when served as a food is known in Spanish as calamares en su tinta, "squids in their ink." Rocío uses this essentially Andalusian exaggeration to signify that her heart is in mourning.

23.—5. Servidora, I, Sir; a briefer form of servidora de usted, "your servant," a polite substitute for "I."

22. De los más chiquirrititos. De aquéllos, de los de dos pesetas, the very smallest you have. Those (you know) that (you sell) for two pesetas; chiquirrititos, combinations of diminutive terminations with a cumulative value are common in Spanish, especially in conversation. Starting with chico, the gradations of smallness are expressed by chiquito, chiquitito, and chiquirritito.

24.—5. ¿Dónde habrá papeles? I wonder where there is any paper; see note 19, 20.

7. y ponerme ahora á que me den un par de tirones, and to allow myself now (i.e., after the pain has gone) to be given a couple of yanks; supply as a conclusion something like "would be quite foolish."

10. Vaya, que me largo, there now, I'm off.

20. De parte de usted, "on your behalf," i.e., I'll be glad to do so for you.

22. como si lo viera: está..., I am as sure as can be (literally, "as if I saw it") (that) he is...

25.—13. Habrá, see note 19, 20.

26.—2. á que, in order that; see note 3, 18.—la; le instead of la would be expected as indirect object; see note 2, 10.

11. ¿Es bueno, eh? it's a pretty sight, isn't it?

15. media estocada, in bull-fighting parlance, the media estocada is a thrust made by the matador that causes only half the blade to enter the bull. Here Atilano uses the expression to mean that no ordinary pinchazo will suffice to cure such an abscess as Isidra's, which must be opened by the sort of thrust that will kill a bull.

28. ¡Qué sé yo, qué sé yo! I'm not so sure.

29. calarlo, see voc. under calar, connect calar with melón in ¡Si esto es un melón! for the play on words.

27.—12. dejarlo; the infinitive may be used as an imperative in sudden exclamations or brief commands.

28.—9. Ni que robara uno el dinero, why, if one actually stole money (i.e., "get it easily, as by stealing"); supply he wouldn't ask such a price as that.

16. si no quiere que le iguale los dos carrillos, if you don't want me to make your two cheeks look alike (i.e., by cuffing the other cheek and making it swell).

19. ¡Ni en Sierra Morena! trans. freely, even the bandits in the Sierra Morena Mountains wouldn't rob one to that extent.

29.—2. Venga, see voc. under venir.

15. no es de los que, is not of the sort that.

30.—11. ¡estoy perdido!... ¡Es verdad, perdido! I'm in a fearful condition (i.e., "my teeth are, etc.")... That's right, you are done for ("when I get hold of you"): a pun on the two meanings of perdido.

30. Déjese de tratamientos, drop your ceremony (i.e., the use of usía); see voc. under usía and tratamiento.

31.—2. tranquilito, nice and quiet; the diminutive gives a soothing and persuasive tone to the suggestion.

3. se aguanta; notice the imperative force here of the present indicative.

30. hija del respeto, due to respect.

32.—12. por si acaso, to make sure; an elliptical expression, the rest of which must be inferred in each case from the context. Here the complete idea could be por si acaso tirara yo demasiado, "in case I might pull too hard."

13. Ya estoy, ya (supply agarrado), I am (holding on).

33.—4. unas, need not be translated; unos, -as is more indefinite than algunos, being frequently equivalent to the French partitive construction with des, etc.; it is also equivalent to the English "a pair of," "a couple of."

7. Nada, nada, como que retiro mi promesa, why, I should say you did have a clever hand, and such a clever one that I withdraw my promise; this use of nada, nada cannot be translated literally into English; its general sense is "there's no getting out of it" or "there is no help for it." Peláez thinks Atilano such a skilful dentist that it is quite unnecessary to get him a government job.

30. lo ponga de su bolsillo, you should make it up out of your own pocket.

34.—7. yo te pondré seis velas, I shall offer up to thee six candles; it is a Catholic custom to make an offering of candles for some special intention, or by way of petition or thanks-giving. In many churches candles are to be found unlighted near the altar. The offering is a coin dropped in a box near by, after a candle has been lighted.

14. Eso ha sido del cabello de ángel, the sweets caused it (i.e., the tooth-ache); see voc. under cabello.

25. auxiliar tercero de la clase de quintos, a third assistant civil employé of the government of the fifth grade; the auxiliar tercero de la clase de quintos (the position no longer exists) was an office-holder drawing a salary of three thousand reales (about $150) annually, and consequently was one of the humblest clerks in the Spanish bureaucracy. The author is evidently trying to emphasize the abject category of Atilano, the cesante, and to ridicule a condition of affairs which maintains such poorly paid positions.

37.—2. Ande usted con él, you go ahead and tackle him.

18. ¡Los innumerables mártires de Zaragoza! Atilano compares Francisco's victims to the ill-fated defenders of the city of Saragossa in the famous siege of 1808-1809, when the city held out against the French from the 15th of June, 1808, to the 19th of February, 1809. More than half of the inhabitants (about 50,000) perished in the defence.

>LAS SOLTERONAS

41.—Stage direction, de junto á, near; de governs the clause junto á la chimenea and combined with it forms an adjectival clause modifying butacas.

3. siempre te llevas más de lo que dejas, you keep taking away more than you leave.

42.—2. ejercicios, see voc. for the play on meanings.

43.—13. Te, see note 15, 22.

19. Lo dicho, it's just as I said.

24. á qué viene, see voc. under venir.

26. ¡Lo que son las mujeres! what a queer lot women are!

27. Que may be explained as depending upon some verbal expression like dices, understood.

29. de que sus novios hayan dado media vuelta, that their suitors have turned their backs on them (i.e., have spurned them).

31. Puede que sí, see voc. under poder.

44.—7. que, trans. by if, or in case.

12. á no ser que, unless.

18. Estoy poniendo los puntos sobre las íes.—Di más bien: los pies sobre los callos, trans. freely, I am speaking to the point.—You mean that you are making matters worse (Sandalia also implies that he is treading on corns by assuming his daughters to have them).

46.—10. Ni tú á la tuya, nor do you resemble yours (i.e., your mother).

25. Lo que es hoy, elliptical for por lo que es hoy, "as far as to-day is concerned"; trans. to-day, at least.

47.—2. ¡Pues bonitos son los hombres! a fine lot men are, I must say!—¡Qué han de ser bonitos! pretty? I should say not! A play on the two meanings of bonito, "fine" (ironical), and "pretty."

10. señor don Procopio Canchalagua; don precedes the baptismal name, e.g., don Procopio; señor, the family name, e.g., señor Canchalagua. The use of the double form señor don, before either the baptismal name or the baptismal and family name combined, conveys an idea of greater respect than the use of either form singly. The possible combinations are: don Procopio, señor don Procopio, señor Canchalagua, señor don Procopio Canchalagua; but not don Canchalagua, or señor Procopio. This last form is used by the illiterate, as when doña Paula refers to "señor de Rodrigo en la horca," Los Pantalones, 82, 22.

22. ¿Su gracia de usted?—Ninguna, what is your name?—I haven't any; Casta uses gracia in the sense of "name"; Claudio stupidly takes it to mean "wit," and tells her he hasn't any.

48.—1. unos, do not translate; cf. French, des yeux.

49.—6. ¡Ya; vamos! yes, yes, of course.

19. Pues nada, no trouble at all.

24. ¡Que si lo sé! do I know it!

25. Calle usted, would you believe it, why...; calle usted prepares and enhances the following assertion.

30. tortícolis; there seems to be considerable confusion as to the accentuation and gender of the word. The Dictionary of the Spanish Academy gives the gender as masculine (from Lat. tortum collum) and places the accent on the penultimate syllable. The word is doubtless properly masculine, but through the analogy of feminines ending in unaccented is (cf. tisis, crisis, etc.), it is erroneously made feminine, especially in the plural.

31. ¡Digo, digo! I declare!

50.—9. ¡Así fuese mañana! would that it were to-morrow.

27. Posada del Peine, a hotel in the calle de Postas in Madrid, patronized extensively by Spaniards from the country to whom it represents all that is best in urban luxury and refinement. The Madrileños themselves poke fun at the hotel as a third-rate hostelry and a gathering-place for provincials.

51.—2. ¡No faltaba más! the very idea!; see also line 21, where it means why, of course.

52.—1. ¡Es que son guapas! they really are good-looking.

11. Por, referring to.

28. ¡Miren la de las convicciones arraigadas! just see the woman with the deep-rooted convictions! Pura is referring sarcastically to Casta's remark on page 47, lines 4 and 5, where she declares her contempt for man.

53.—7. se está; se is untranslatable; see note 4, 16.

10. Á ver, niñas, corriendo, decid..., come now, girls, hurry and tell.

13. almorzado; the almuerzo, frequently confused with our breakfast or first meal of the day, is a substantial meal eaten near midday. The Spanish breakfast is the desayuno, a light meal taken early, and consisting usually of coffee or chocolate and bread.

26. Pues que no te lo parezca; tenlo por seguro. Mejor. Éstos caen en seguida, there is no thinking at all in the matter, it is an absolute fact. So much the better (that he is stupid), for these (stupid men) fall into the trap right off.

54.—3. arrimo... sardina, see voc. under arrimar.

16. Matalavieja, i.e., mata-la-vieja; Procopio implies facetiously that the Claudio will "kill (i.e., help him get rid of) the old maid"; that is, he will take one of the daughters off his (Procopio's) hands.

55.—5. ¡ni que las llevaras á cuestas! trans. freely, not even though you were actually carrying them on your back could you make such a fuss about it.

7. ¡... cuándo nos veremos en otra! i.e., when we'll get another chance (to marry them); otra is the indefinite feminine pronoun.

12. por su casa, through his family estate.

19. comiéndose; distinguish from the reflexive construction of intransitive verbs (note 4, 16). Here se is indirect object, or dative of advantage, and conveys the idea of "eating up."

56.—7. ¡Vamos, que estoy animadete! the fact is, I'm feeling a bit lively.

31. Está usted en su casa, a play on the literal and figurative meaning of the expression. In Spanish you courteously inform your guest, to make him feel at home, that he is in his own house. Claudio, fresh from the country, overworks the expression. He wants to make Procopio feel "at home," which is not difficult under the circumstances.

57.—9. cuando pasé por Toro; if the student will bear in mind that toro means "bull" and that Toro is a town in the province of Zamora; that pasar por means "to pass through" and "to pass as," he will be able to enjoy this seventh-rate pun.

26. no es maleja, is not so bad.

59.—4. Soy lo más topo, how stupid I am!

6. Esto ya es otra cosa, this is quite different.

9. ¿En cuál?; supply medio.

20. Pues si tiene usted unos ojos, why, you have such (lovely) eyes; some word or phrase qualifying ojos must be understood to explain the intensive force of unos, e.g., ojos incomparables. The Spaniard, of course, does not feel the incompleteness of the construction; to him unos itself conveys the idea of "admirable," "exquisite," etc.

28. Vaya, see voc. under ir.

60.—10. Ésa; ése, -a, frequently implies contempt.

12. No sale de ahí, she is always at the same old tune.

18. caigo en que, I understand.

23. ¿Que es guapa? i.e., ¿dice usted que es guapa?

61.—6. ¡Esto va de veras! see voc. under veras.

62.—2. Pues con no haber venido, an elliptical expression meaning si no hubieses venido no habrías interrumpido; trans. freely, why did you come, then?

26. No te has dado poca prisa... Por si acaso, you were not at all slow about it (i.e., making eyes at Claudio). Yes, because of what might have happened (i.e., "You might have got ahead of me").

63.—2. primer; bueno, malo, primero, tercero, uno, alguno, ninguno lose their final o when they stand as attributes before a noun in the masculine singular. The same law is applicable in familiar speech before nouns in the feminine singular, especially before a and ha.

5. Empezaste á hacerle tanta monada, you began to cast such sheeps' eyes on him; tanta monada, singular nouns accompanied by words denoting quantity, such as mucho, tanto, cuanto, are used as emphatic plurals.

7. Si eres el perro del hortelano, why, you are just like the dog in the manger.

11. Conocemos el personal, we know with whom we are dealing.

20. perdone, hermana, I can do nothing for you, sister; it is customary to say to beggars, when refusing their request for alms,—perdone hermano (hermana). Pura implies that she will give Casta no opportunity in the affair with Claudio; at the same time her manner of denial (as to a beggar) expresses her contemptuous attitude towards her sister.

64.—17. que performs here the double function of "than" and "that"; literally, there is no other remedy than that he should choose.—á quien Dios se lo dé, the first part of the saying á quien Dios se lo dé, San Pedro se lo bendiga, a saying which expresses the idea that we should be content with the decrees of fate, whether they are to our advantage or not. Here Procopio implies that he will be well pleased if Claudio chooses either one of his daughters.

65.—20. ¿Cómo que quién piensa en eso? what do you mean by saying "who is thinking of that"?

24. ¿Que no? you are not, eh?; ¿que no? = ¿dice usted que no?

66.—11. eso se dice, it is customary to say (that one is married).

24. Con decirle á usted que allí tienen gran partido..., I have only to tell you that the... are great favorites there, see note 11, 20.

LOS PANTALONES

71.—7. señores, see voc. under señor.

9. Por vida de la política, see voc. under vida.

72.—14. daba, see note 13, 22.

26. á quien menos le luzca el trabajo, whose work shows to less advantage.

73.—7. antigüedad, length of service.

18. Estoy poniendo en limpio una minuta, I am making a fair copy of a memorandum.

19. ¡Poniendo en limpio! cleaning up, are you? Paula takes the expression literally.

74.—3. para lo poco que tú servías, how little you are good for.

4. me caso, the present, instead of the conditional perfect me habría casado, imparts emphasis and certainty to the statement.

6. consiento = habría consentido; see previous note.

13. ¡Adiós! ¡El diluvio! It's no use! Now there will be a storm about my ears!

16. Somos nobles por los cuatro costados, we are of noble birth on both our father's and our mother's side.

21. nos han envuelto en ricos pañales, literally, "we were wrapped in rich swaddling-clothes," trans., we were born in opulence.

75.—4. ¡Por vida de mi debilidad de carácter! the deuce take this weak character of mine!

10. pero de habérselo advertido = si se lo hubiese advertido.

15. mételo en algo; haz que sea algo, get him started in something; make something out of him.

22. Pues señor, just think!; "well, sir" is occasionally used in English in this sense.

24. ¡Otro que bien baila! another of the same stamp; this expression implies that one person resembles another in some defect or quality not praiseworthy. Here Paula contemptuously compares Felipe, Luisa's lover, to Juan, Carmen's husband. Colloquially we might say "another bad egg."

76.—4. herrar ó quitar el banco, either bring the matter to a head or drop it, i.e., "marry Felipe or give him up."

5. Tú ya no estás para, you are not in a condition to.

10. Si es que ésta no sabe, it's simply this; this girl doesn't know (how to go about it).

16. ¿Cómo que se escame? what do you mean by saying that he may take offence?

19. Metternich, an Austrian statesman, 1773-1859.

22. Metternach, unknown except to Paula.

23. la solfa da poca grasa á los garbanzos, literally, "music gives the chick-peas but little fat"; trans. freely, music provides but poor fare, i.e., it is not easy for a musician to support a family.

25. Más cuenta te hubiese tenido... de casa de las de González, it would have been more profitable for you to have taken notice of the lieutenant (whom you met) at the house of the González women.

77.—5. Y eso que se han pasado, and that, in spite of the fact that they have spent.

15. cuya; cuyo, -a (Latin cujus), is a relative possessive adjective. Being essentially a genitive its only equivalents in Spanish are de quien, del cual (English, "whose," "of which," "of whom"). It is incorrectly used here in the sense of el (la) cual. This misuse of cuyo is not uncommon.

20. Serán otros González, it may be another González family.

23. Ellos serán, los muy..., it's probably they, the (understand some disparaging epithet like "upstart").

78.—1. Por allá dentro, somewhere inside there.

15. ¡Estás fresco! see voc. under fresco.

79.—23. con la frecuencia que = la frecuencia con que.

24. lo próxima que está, how near... is; notice that in this construction the adjective does not agree with the neuter lo, but with the subject of the conjunctive clause.

26. Y eso de que, see voc. under ése.

80.—13. como á mí no me duelen prendas, as I don't care at all; cf. the expression al buen pagador no le duelen prendas.

81.—11. Usted lo dirá, that is for you to say.

17. si por nosotras, indeed, for all we care.

82.—1. ¡Caracoles, en la que me he metido! Great Scott, what a mess I have got into! The feminine object pronouns la, las may be used with the force of an indefinite pronoun; some word suitable to the context may be inferred; here, perhaps, la (situación).

10. ¿Qué sería de vosotras...? see voc. under ser.

22. se dan... señor de Rodrigo en la horca, put on more airs than the proudest person that ever lived; this is Paula's illiterate paraphrase of the expression tener más humos que don Rodrigo en la horca, "to be prouder than don Roderick on the gallows." The saying may have arisen in connection with the hanging of some noble who kept up his pride to the end by insisting that he be hanged with a silken cord, as the law allowed, instead of by the plebeian rope. Notice Paula's incorrect use of señor (see note 47, 10) and of de before the baptismal name.

84.—3. rogarles no falten á esta su casa, trans. freely, to beg you to be sure to honor us with your presence: rogarles (que) no falten, que may be omitted after verbs denoting request, permission, or entreaty; á esta su casa, see 56, 31.

8. ¡Qué hemos de negarnos, hombre! I should say we are not going to refuse!

20. ahora es todo un..., now he is a real (understand some word like potentado).

22. Nada, nada, it's settled.

29. que; supply some expression like es cierto, or es claro, upon which the clause introduced by que may depend.

85.—5. está á componer, is being repaired.

6. nada, no trouble about that.

15. Ese color (i.e., color lila), sin pedirlo, me lo dan á mí..., I sha'n't have to ask them to give me that color, i.e., they will put me down as a dolt, of their own accord; lila, "lilac," is used colloquially to mean "dolt," "fool."

21. dejada de la mano de Dios, literally, "abandoned by God's hand"; trans., past recall, or a hopeless case.

22. ¡Dale con mi madre! you are always harping on the subject of my mother! or let my mother alone, won't you?

86.—11. me preguntaron... si el difunto era mayor. Como que tiene cola el tal pantalón, they asked me whether the deceased was a bigger man than I, since the trousers in question have a train (they drag so on the ground); the question is sometimes facetiously put to one wearing a badly fitting garment, si el difunto era mayor, implying that the garment is second-hand.

15. ¿Y vas tú á presumir acaso? you don't mean you are going to put on airs?

20. ¿Cómo se entiende? why, what do you mean? (implies that the speaker is displeased at a previous statement).

87.—15. Si es un momento, why, it will only take a moment.

22. Debe de estar, is probably; debe de expresses the probable fulfilment of the action of the infinitive: governing the infinitive directly it denotes obligation, i.e., debe estar en su cuarto, "it is her obligation to be in her room." This distinction, however, is more theoretical than practical. In current speech, Spaniards use the two constructions interchangeably.

88.—6. señor don Juan, see 47, 10.

16. que le sobra á este pantalón, of which these trousers have enough and to spare.

28. que va usted bien, trans. freely, and you will make no mistake.

89.—12. nos la podemos repartir á temporadas, literally, "we can share her by periods"; trans., we can take turns at having her.

21. Éste se la ha olido, this fellow has smelled a rat; for la, see note 82, 1.

25. esas; in English we should use here the definite article, i.e., "where are the ladies?" cf. Fr. où sont ces dames? The definite article is also possible in Spanish.

26. va de baile; the distinction between ir de baile, as used in the context, and ir al baile is more easily explained than translated. Both seem to mean simply "are you going to the dance?" But meeting a friend on the street in evening clothes it might occur to us to say: hola, ¿va usted de baile? "Ah, so you are off to a dance, are you?" though not knowing to what particular dance he is going; but should we ask ¿va usted al baile? we have in mind a specific dance. The English "on a" sometimes translates de in this construction, cf. ir de gira, "to go on a picnic."

90.—12. Con tal de que tenga usted los pantalones bien puestos, etc., etc.; the point of this dialogue lies in the double entente of the observations concerning los pantalones; Felipe expresses himself, and understands Juan literally; to the latter the manner of wearing one's trousers indicates a man's status as a husband and family-man:—Con tal de que tenga usted los pantalones bien puestos, if only your trousers fit well (implied, "you will be a man of character where the women are concerned").—¡Quiá, hombre! Si se me están cayendo; son anchos, but they don't! why, they are falling off! they are too loose (interpreted by Juan to mean that when a man's trousers won't stay on, he is sure to be henpecked).—¿Su sastre de usted es profeta? is your tailor a prophet? (implied, "when he made your trousers too loose, was he a prophet to foresee that you, too, would be under a woman's (i.e., Luisa's) thumb.)—No; es García, no, his name (is not prophet, it) is García.

21. salimos con que, it turns out that.

91.—8. picada, decayed; picado (line 9), provoked.

12. ¿En qué quedamos?—Ha sido el pretexto para no ir, what is to be assumed? ("have you, or have you not, a toothache?").—(Assume) that it was merely a pretext to avoid going.

92.—1. Nada, it's no use.

3. ¡... partirnos á la suegra!... ¡Ya lo creo que debíamos partirla! Pero por la mitad, share your mother-in-law! I should say we ought to split her, and right in two!

10. después de escrita, a compact equivalent of después de haber escrito.

14. ¡Soy lo más lila! I'm the biggest fool!

15. se me caen los pantalones, see note 90, 12.

26. ¡Y qué maja se ha puesto usted! my, how you've spruced up!

93.—8. que me lo ha dado; notice that dar has as direct objects the relative pronoun que and the personal pronoun lo. The redundant use of the relative pronoun is common in Spanish.

16. ¡Quién fuera señora...¡ don't I wish I were a lady!

23. Que sí = digo que sí ... que está usted = le aseguro que está usted; see note 3, 6.—pintiparada, exactly like her (i.e., Santa Fislomena).

94.—10. Hablaría, see note 19, 20.

25. se llevan, are carrying off; llevan (line 26), wear.

95.—1. hombre, evidently the object of a preposition like para understood.

24. las; notice the redundant construction.

27. ¡Dichoso bailecito! confounded dance!; both the adjective and the diminutive are used ironically.

96.—20. Debe, debe de would be expected; see note 87, 22.

21. venga, see voc. under venir.

97.—25. ¿Á que...? I'll bet.

98.—20. ¡Por torpe! trans. freely, what an ass!

23. ¡Yo qué he de ir! but I'm not going, I tell you!

24. ¿Cómo que no? you're not, eh? a compact equivalent of some expression like ¿cómo te atreves á decir que no vas?

99.—3. no implica eso para que yo les sepa llevar, that doesn't prevent my being able to wear them.

15. dejarnos sin ir, prevent us from going.

100.—10. Eso es que los muy trapisondistas, the fact is these fine mischief-makers.

16. ¿Está usted de manga corta? are you wearing short sleeves? (referring to the trousers).

18. Para lo que me sirven, and little good they will do me (Juan says this resignedly implying that his trousers se le caerán siempre, i.e., that he will always be under a woman's thumb).