[26.7] primacía, superiority of rank, precedence. An evident pun on primo, which is of course lost in translating.

[26.8] unos petates, unos hidalgüelos de mala muerte, a lot of good-for-nothings, petty country gentry of small importance, 'of no account.' Cf. un empleíllo de mala muerte, "a wretched little position."

[26.9] levantaban pendón, were raising their standard.

[26.10] tenían fundada... la horca, had their collegiate church founded and the gallows set up. A collegiate church is one which, not being the seat of a bishop or archbishop, is governed by secular dignitaries and canons, and in which the divine services are celebrated as in cathedrals.

[27.1] teniéndolo a mucho honor, holding it a high honor.

[27.2] ¿Qué tienes que partir en...? What have you to do with...? lit. "share."

[27.3] ni. Note that ni is used instead of o where negation is expressed or even merely implied, as here.

[27.4] pendejo, poltroon.

[27.5] sin dársele nada... de, without caring anything about. Dársele = importarle.

[27.6] y hasta otra, and that was the end of it till the next time. Elliptical for hasta otra vez.

[27.7] tendrá ganas de irse, no doubt wishes to be going. Cf. page 8, note 11.

[27.8] avizor, searching.

[28.1] estantería, shelves.

[28.2] ojos saltones, goggle-eyes.

[28.3] lo ha olido, got wind of it, scented it out.

[28.4] ¡Si se descuida en echar fuera al maestro! If she had delayed, neglected to throw the dominie out! We have here a present indicative substituted, to render the narration more graphic, for a plpf. subjunctive. The sentence might be completed: el otro le pide (= hubiera pedido) dinero.

[28.5] que seguía... en espera de, who stayed waiting for.

[28.6] ¿gustan VV. de cenar? It is customary in Spanish countries to offer whatever one has in the way of food, etc., to those present, but the invitation may be accepted only if repeated.

[29.1] viene, suits.

[29.2] enreda algo, interferes somewhat.

[29.3] No te apures tanto, mujer, Don't worry so much, I tell you. Mujer and hombre are often used as expletives in familiar address by way of emphasis or remonstrance. Cf. page 160, note 3.

[29.4] dando las buenas noches, saying good-night.

[29.5] al tenor de, after the fashion of, like.

[29.6] Hernán-Cortés y Doña Marina. The latter was an Indian woman, daughter of a cacique, but presented as a slave to Cortés, whom she greatly aided in his conquest, especially by serving him as interpreter.

[29.7] funda de hilo, linen cover. Hilo = "[linen] thread." Cf. Eng. "thread-lace," which is made of linen.

[30.1] las cuentas todas. Note the unusual position of todas, which lends emphasis.

[30.2] No dejes de hablarle, Do not fail to speak to her, i.e. of our marriage.

[30.3] ¡No es esto...! Isn't that right?

[30.4] Allá V...., yo no llevo apunte, I leave it to you..., I have no note of it. Llevar as a substitute for tener has the sub-sense of continuation.

[30.5] echar la cuenta, cast the account.

[30.6] dando vueltas a, turning over.

[30.7] todo él estaba, he was wholly.

[30.8] concluida que fuese la cuenta, when the calculation should be completed.

[30.9] Son, It is.

[31.1] siete cuartos. She cheats him, but the book does not give us data for estimating the amount of his loss.

[31.2] después de haberle chupado la sangre, after having 'bled' him, lit. "sucked his blood."

[32.1] se disponía a darla por terminada, gave signs of considering it at an end.

[32.2] a espaldas de su madre, behind her mother's back.

[32.3] un sin número, no end of. The phrase sin número is treated as a substantive.

[32.4] mayormente, in the main.

[33.1] no chistaba, did not utter a word.

[33.2] ¡Vaya un susto que me has dado! Oh, but you've given me a fright!

[33.3] nada, not at all.

[33.4] en mi mano, in my power.

[33.5] dar vueltas, rack my brains, lit. "go about [seeking a thing without finding it]."

[33.6] echáis a perder, spoil.

[33.7] Lo mismo tú que Elisa, You as well as Elisa.

[33.8] mañana u otro día, some day or other.

[34.1] de la parte de fuera, outside.

[34.2] soñado con, dreamed of.

[34.3] tenía tanto empeño en que la hablases, I was so anxious for you to speak to her.

[35.1] Vizcaya, one of the three Basque provinces (Guipúzcoa, Álava, Vizcaya). Separated by the province of Santander from Asturias.

[35.2] Santander, province to the east of Asturias, now incorporated with Old Castile.

[36.1] se veía y deseaba, worked very hard, had much difficulty in.

[36.2] a los pocos meses supo, a few months afterward she learned.

[37.1] apisonada, hard, lit. "rammed," "well-packed."

[37.2] por meterse en la vida ajena, for meddling with other people's affairs.

[37.3] cualquiera, any one. Here a pron., more commonly an adj. Grammars do not note this use.

[37.4] en su busca, in search of him. Possess. adj. replaces objective genitive.

[38.1] eran de oír, were worth hearing.

[38.2] de rapaz, as "boy."

[38.3] despavilar, rouse. Also written despabilar. This quite frequent variation is due to the fact that b and v have the same phonetic values, that of a bilabial fricative generally, and that of a bilabial explosive after m (and n = m).

[39.1] la navegación de altura, sailing the high seas.

[39.2] una chica como una plata, a fine girl, lit. "[shining] like silver," i.e. neat and pretty. Cf. valer tanto como la plata, "to be worth one's weight in gold." But also esa niña es de oro.

[40.1] alguna de esas miradas. The grammars do not note this curious use of the singular of alguno in a distributive or plural sense. It is paralleled by the Italian alcuno (e.g. c'era alcuno presente che diceva). Cf. in Spanish the similar use of tanto: al ver tanto libro, "on seeing so many books." In English the use of "many a," "many a man," etc., is somewhat analogous.

[40.2] nunca, ever. Correlative to negative prefix in desconfiaba.

[40.3] en vías de arreglo, in a way of being settled. The plural is sometimes used with a force apparently singular, but more general or indefinite. Here the idea is perhaps "in one of a number of possible ways." Cf. al fin del mes, "at the end of the month," a fines del mes, "about the end of the month" (during the last days of the month?). In the conventional forms of greeting, buenos días, etc., the fundamental idea is, according to Foerster, Spanische Sprachlehre, page 275, to extend the greeting to subsequent meetings.

[40.4] romería, journey or pilgrimage made to some sanctuary. It is mainly, however, a pleasure-trip or picnic, for when the religious duties are accomplished, the rest of the time is given over to dancing and other amusements.

[41.1] en un principio, at first.

[41.2] hacer agua, leak.

[41.3] en último resultado, as a last resource.

[41.4] llevar a cabo, carry out, lit. "bring to an end."

[41.5] cavilaciones, worries, brooding.

[41.6] el Robledal, the Oaks, lit. "oak-grove" or "oak-forest."

[42.1] allí tomar. Infinitive for imperative. This use is confined to brief directions and commands.

[42.2] a estas horas, at this time [of night]. Cf. page 40, note 3.

[42.3] con el rabillo del ojo, out of the corner of his eye, lit. "with the tail of his eye."

[43.1] con alientos. Here the plur. seems to be merely a stronger form of the sing., or to express the sum of courage or energy: with [full] courage.

[43.2] ¿Y cuánto te ha tocado de estas mareas? And how much has fallen to your share out of this catch?

[44.1] hasta mañana que, until tomorrow when. Hasta que, used of future time, governs the subjunctive, and the insertion of mañana does not change the construction.

[45.1] esa sin vergüenza, that shameless woman. Cf. page 32, note 3.

[45.2] echándote de cebo a su hija, enticing you with her daughter, lit. "throwing you her daughter as bait."

[45.3] para darte a la postre con la puerta en los hocicos, only to shut the door in your face at last. Hocico, properly "snout."

[45.4] hazme reír, laughing-stock. Written also as one word, hazmerreír. The word belongs to a somewhat limited class of compound nouns formed of phrases, cf. quehaceres, "occupations," cumpleaños, "birthday."

[45.5] chino, simpleton.

[45.6] Soy dueño de dar... a quien me parezca, I am free to give what is mine to whomever I like, lit. "I am master of giving... to whomever it seems best to me [to give it]."

[45.7] ¿Y me lo echas en cara...? And you twit me with it? lit. "and you throw it in my face?"

[45.8] ¡No me faltaba ya más que eso! That caps the climax, that's the last straw, lit. "I lacked no more than that." Another form of the phrase is ¡Eso faltaba!

[45.9] al pie de las calderas, over the kettles. Al pie de = 1. "at the foot of," then 2. "near," "next," then 3. "about," "over."

[45.10] andar arrastrada, live in misery, lit. "go dragging along."

[46.1] ¡Anda tú...! Out upon you!

[46.2] ¡Vergüenza había de darte! You ought to be ashamed of yourself, lit. "it ought to give you shame." Subj. is ello understood.

[46.3] ¿Verdad? Don't you? Elliptical for no es verdad?

[47.1] los acontecimientos pareció que justificaban. The logical order would be pareció que, etc. Such inversion, however, is common where the principal verb is in sense really an auxiliary to the second, and in such cases que is often omitted.

[47.2] cuentas galanas, fine calculations, castles in the air. Also cuentas alegres.

[47.3] o sea, that is to say. The conjunction o, when it denotes not difference or separation, but equivalence, is sometimes strengthened by the present subjunctive of the verb ser. Cf. Italian ossia.

[47.4] ninguna, none other.

[48.1] mañana tendremos hijos, before long there will be children.

[48.2] consentía = permitía.

[48.3] va empapada, is imbued, replete.

[48.4] la conocimos, we made her acquaintance.

[49.1] por la parte de tierra, on the land side.

[49.2] al cerrar el horizonte, where the horizon ended. This construction, which usually marks time, here denotes place. But the idea of time is still present in the suggestion of the glance travelling over the scene. The transition is very natural.

[49.3] la costa cantábrica. Cantabria was a province of ancient Spain, including the north coast to the Pyrenees, Biscay and western Guipúzcoa. The Cantabrian Mts. are the coast range of northern Spain, the western continuation of the Pyrenees.

[49.4] se esforzaba con ilusión en averiguar, tried fondly to discover, i.e. "tried to give herself the illusion of discovering," "to deceive herself into believing she discovered." The same idea might be expressed by trataba de ilusionarse en uno de ellos.

[49.5] sería, might be. Conditional of modified statement.

[49.6] como que, since indeed.

[49.7] campar por sus respetos, to act independently. Campar = "to be prominent," "take precedence."

[50.1] ora... bien, now... now, at one time... at another. Also ora... ora.

[50.2] torcía el gesto, made a wry face, lit. "twisted her face."

[50.3] antes, sooner.

[50.4] poner de manifiesto, make manifest.

[50.5] rellena, full to overflowing, very full.

[50.6] arbitrando recursos, devising means.

[50.7] volver sobre, retract, "go back on."

[51.1] bígaros, small sea-snails.

[51.2] cuyas. Here a substitute for las cuales. This construction, though objected to by grammarians, is gaining acceptance.

[51.3] corrían, pursued, ran after.

[51.4] le dieran en lo vivo, wound him to the quick.

[51.5] Cayó, It's down, lit. "it has fallen." Cf. page 7, note 2.

[51.6] poner... tierra por medio, put distance between [them].

[51.7] dar... en el suelo, fall to the ground.

[51.8] si bien... en ello, though in this case (ya) it was men who took pleasure in it.

[52.1] de buena tinta, on good authority, from a good source, lit. "ink."

[52.2] al compás que, in proportion as.

[52.3] sin que dejase de echarle, without being sure to cast at him. This very curious construction is not noted in grammars or dictionaries, not even in Cuervo's excellent Diccionario de Construcción. The development of dejar de as a negative may be summarized as follows: 1. It negatives an action by denoting its cessation, e.g. deje V. de hablar. 2. From "ceasing to do" the next step is "fail to begin," cf. page 30, note 2. 3. No dejar de = "nevertheless," cf. page 6, note 6. 4. Dejar de = no, e.g. si éramos liberales, o dejábamos de serlo. 5. Finally, as in the present example, it comes to be merely an expletive (here correlative to sin), though an expletive which adds a certain emphasis. No coma V. melón sin dejar de echarle sal, "Don't eat melon without putting salt on it." No pase V. por Madrid sin dejar de venir a verme.

[52.4] le ponía semblante halagüeño, looked sweetly at him, lit. "made him a friendly face."

[52.5] en que se deshacía el tonto, in which the idiot indulged, "to which he abandoned himself," "gave vent."

[52.6] siempre que, provided that.

[53.1] a ver, let us see, and we shall see. This construction, imperative in force, is explainable by the ellipse of some word like vamos.

[53.2] al célebre Cristo. This image is not really at Cudillero, but at Candás, another small port-town of Asturias.

[53.3] se hizo con él encontradiza, met him as if by chance. The suffix -izo indicates susceptibility or tendency, "that may be met."