[270] contestó... ofrecimiento, replied expressing his thanks for the offer.
[271] De vuelta en su casa, When he had returned home.
[272] póngase en salvo, take refuge.
[273] Colonia, city in Uruguay. V. map.
[274] Mendoza. San Martín made ready his army in this province prior to the invasion of Chile. V. map.
[275] ¿Se trabaja ahora? Are they working now?
[276] cuerpo de guardia, headquarters of the guard.
[277] de servicio, on duty.
[278] ratificándose en que, reiterating that.
[279] es que no. The no is redundant; omit it in translating.
[280] ¡Que... semejante! Never let such an occurrence happen again in your life!
[281] Río Bamba, city in Ecuador. V. map.
[282] Lavalle (Juan, 1794-1841), one of the heroes of the war of independence.
[283] bajo los fuegos de la infantería, under the protection of the (Spanish) infantry fire.
[284] habiendo pasado. The subject is Lavalle.
[285] Sucre. V. 239, 14.
[286] dejamos dicho, we have said.
[287] por ser. Note the difference in the use of por here and in line 23 where it means in order to; translate here, because the hour was.
[288] saltándosele las lágrimas, with tears in his eyes.
[289] ¡Cómo se pierde un escuadrón tan valiente! To think that such a brave squadron is being destroyed!
[290] permítamelo. The pronoun lo refers to ir con mis guías.
[291] Poníanse recién. Argentinism for acababan de ponerse.
[292] sin que... laureles, lit., without its falling to the lot of more than fifty to gather the laurels.
[293] anfiteatro de la Edad Media. That is, the condition and civilization of Ecuador were then medieval; trans., medieval amphitheater.
[294] algunos, i.e., ombús.
[295] madrastra, lit., stepmother, hence unkindly, harmful.
[296] su follaje, i.e., de los demás árboles.
[297] montes. Note the pun on the word monte, which may mean a wood or a mountain.
[298] no ansiaba. The negative is redundant.
[299] lo estamparon. Lo refers to pie.
[300] los leones de Necochea. Reference to mounted troops of this famous leader during the war of independence. Necochea was in command of the Argentine forces at the battle of Junín (1824), where he and his mounted grenadiers covered themselves with glory at a moment when the success of the battle seemed to be in danger.
[301] The apparent contradiction in dates, 6 de mayo and 31 de marzo (134, 10), is due to the fact that a part of the author’s letter, at the end of the second paragraph, has been omitted, and that the third paragraph refers to events which took place the year following the first date.
[302] nuestra bandera, i.e., the Argentina flag, the colors of which are sky-blue and white.
[303] días de capa, lit., days of cloak, i.e., of clouds; trans., bad weather.
[304] cabo, acabador. Notice pun on cabo, end or cape, and acabador, that which puts an end to anything.
[305] Aconcagua, province of Chile opposite the Argentine province of Mendoza.
[306] del bípedo delantero, i.e., del arriero.
[307] para adelante o para atrás, forward or backward.
[308] me parecía... revés, for it seemed to me that the animal was headed in a direction opposite to mine.
[309] con envidia del aficionado a jardines, an object of envy to the lover of gardens.
[310] de rojo y amarillo guirnaldas preciosas. The commoner word order is guirnaldas preciosas de rojo y amarillo.
[311] en otros, i.e., en otros cactus.
[312] remedaban. The subject is guirnaldas.
[313] Arauco, province of Chile, scene of the struggles between the Spaniards and the Araucanian Indians in Ercilla’s epic, La Araucana.
[314] que tal parece, for such it appears.
[315] estos instrumentos pedestres, i.e., las espuelas in line 4. The use of pedestre in the sense of the feet is not accurate.
[316] El pobre, i.e., animal.
[317] teatro de Carlos Alberto, theater in Buenos Aires.
[318] Bellini (Vincenzo), Italian composer, born in Catania, Sicily, in 1801. His most famous operas are I Puritani, La Sonnambula, and Norma. His music is characterized by sweetness and melancholy.
[319] ¡Casta Diva! one of the best known arias of the opera Norma, sung by the priestess Norma after whom the opera is named.
[320] se ofreció a los ojos de Norma, i.e., as the author sings the famous aria he identifies himself with the priestess who is supposed to sing it in the opera.
[321] Murillo (Bartolomé Esteban, 1617-1682), famous Spanish painter, born in Seville. His Asunción de la Virgen is one of the great masterpieces of art.
[322] original como pocos, lit., original as few; trans., unique in its originality.
[323] nos encontramos hasta tener, we went along till we had.
[324] El Salto. Reference to the falls of the river Mapocho, in the province of Santiago, Chile.
[325] formas redondas dadas contra la voluntad del granito, round shapes assumed despite the resistance of the granite.
[326] “la gota horada la piedra, non vi sed saepe cadendo.” The whole Latin expression is “non vi sed saepe cadendo gutta cavat lapidem”. Trans., “not through violence but by constant dripping a drop of water hollows stone.” Ovid’s Epistolae ex Ponto, IV, 60, 5.
[327] Cambray, city in northern France, also spelled Cambrai; famous for its manufactories of cloth, from which we get the English word cambric.
[328] fábrica de Monpelas, a firm in France, famous for its perfumes and soaps.
[329] y de ella, i.e., de la lucha, in 139, 18.
[330] (no puede por menos), trans., (without a doubt).
[331] “soñar e imaginar con desaliño”, “to dream and give free rein to the imagination”.
[332] El camino a vapor, The railroad.
[333] el Valdivia, el Hernán Cortés, el Pizarro, names of Spanish conquistadores; the first conquered Chile and died in combat against the Araucanian Indians; the second conquered Mexico, despite the opposition of his own countrymen under Narváez, who had been sent to capture Cortés for disobeying orders; Pizarro conquered Peru. Cf. 2, 6.
[334] en manos de los misioneros. Reference to the missionaries who always accompanied Spanish expeditions. One of the hard things in history is to reconcile the cruelty of the conquistadores and the gentle, patient endeavor of the missionaries to convert the Indians to Christianity.
[335] elementos antiguos, allusion to belief in the elements, air, fire, earth, water, by the ancient philosophers of Greece.
[336] está llamada. The subject is la ciencia de la mecánica, 141, 6.
[337] Anfiones. Amphion, a Theban prince, was reputed to have built Thebes by charming the stones into their places with his lyre.
[338] el fiat, the will.
[339] La América. The definite article may be used in Spanish before the name of a continent or country for personification.
[340] las columnas de ningún Hércules. The pillars of Hercules is the name applied to the Strait of Gibraltar in Greek mythology. Hercules, among his other feats, separated the mountains Calpe, the promontory of Gibraltar in Spain, and Ábila, ancient name of a mountain in Morocco. Calpe and Ábila are the pillars of Hercules. Previous to Columbus’ time, it was thought that these pillars were the end of the world and the barrier to exploration.
[341] la tierra... California, i.e., from Tierra del Fuego (land about the Straits of Magellan) to upper California.
[342] El inca Garcilaso. He was the son of one of the conquistadores of Peru and a princess of Inca descent. He wrote Comentarios Reales del Perú and La Florida del Inca.
[343] sin salir de casa, i.e., de la Argentina.
[344] Betis, ancient name of the Guadalquivir, a river in Andalusia, southern Spain.
[345] Góngora. He was the chaplain of Philip III of Spain; his writings have given rise to the term Gongorism, which is applied to a metaphorical and far-fetched style. Cf. euphuism in English.
[346] Bufón, Buffon, French naturalist (1707-1788).
[347] un ave. With feminine words beginning with an initial stressed a it is common to use an old apocopated form of the feminine article, which looks like the modern masculine form of the article.
[348] “fruta del monte”. Peaches are so common in the province of Buenos Aires that they are called “fruit of the woods”. In this connection Darwin says: “Among the introduced kinds may be enumerated poplars, olives, peach, and other fruit trees; the peaches succeed so well that they afford the main supply of firewood to the city of Buenos Aires.”—The Voyage of the Beagle.
[349] ab initio, from the beginning; a stock Latin quotation.
[350] “caminos que caminan”, descriptive of the Plata and the Paraná, rivers which move continuously and are highways of travel and commerce.
[351] la Escritura: i.e., Job 39:17.
[352] se convierta. The subject is el espacio, line 3.
[353] Calvario, mountain on which Christ was crucified; here synonymous with suffering.
[354] las Conchas. V. map.
[355] la Recoleta. V. map.
[356] sería. Note use of the conditional to express probability in past time.
[357] la vela de las armas. In the days of chivalry the squire kept watch over his arms the night before being knighted.
[358] y a fe... quien, and indeed it did not ill befit one who.
[359] Poitiers. The English under the Black Prince in 1356 defeated the French here. As a descendant of the defeated French, Santiago de Liniers had an opportunity to avenge the defeat of his forefathers.
[360] invasión de Popham. In 1806 Popham, a famous British admiral, proposed the seizure of Buenos Aires to the English government. For this purpose he was sent in command of a fleet to attack Buenos Aires.
[361] se debía oír a Liniers, heed should be given to Liniers.
[362] Caballero de Malta. In the eleventh century the Knights Hospitalers were established in Jerusalem to furnish shelter to the pilgrims. The order became successively the Knights of St. John, the Knights of Rhodes, and, in 1530, the Knights of Malta, when Charles V ceded that island to them. Now it exists as an honorary order only.
[363] Gibraltar y Menorca. During the War of American Independence France and Spain attempted to wrest these two places from England, but succeeded only in recovering Minorca. Liniers took an active part in both these campaigns.
[364] amaneciendo... Buenos Aires, finding themselves at dawn in view of Buenos Aires.
[365] Olivos. V. map.
[366] San Isidro. V. map.
[367] Corrales de Miserere. V. map.
[368] el jefe, i.e., Liniers.
[369] Beresford. He was in command of the British infantry forces landed by Popham.
[370] dejaban entrever, showed. The subject is pedidos.
[371] Pueyrredón. Later chosen Director of Argentina.
[372] Vencedor, if victorious; vencido, if vanquished.
[373] era. The imperfect is used here, instead of the conditional, for emphasis.
[374] el Retiro. V. map.
[375] salvó. The object is las dos millas.
[376] calle del Correo. To-day known as calle Florida, the Fifth Avenue of Buenos Aires.
[377] Plaza Mayor. To-day Plaza de Mayo.
[378] había que prevenirse, preparation had to be made.
[379] no resolviéndose a abandonar, being unable to bring themselves to abandon.
[380] con rendirse a discreción, provided he surrendered unconditionally.
[381] afirmándola con una salva, asserting its power with a salvo.
[382] Callao, city and port of Peru.
[383] era nacido. The more common usage is había nacido.
[384] recuerdo. Reference to the statue of Falucho in Buenos Aires.
[385] Tablada de Lurín, tollhouse of Lurín; in the suburbs of Lima.
[386] la independencia del Perú. San Martín declared the independence of Peru in 1821.
[387] se caracteriza como... militar, can be characterized as a profound political and military plan.
[388] con la espada de Chacabuco y Maipo, i.e., the two most decisive battles fought by San Martín in Chile, in 1817 and 1818. These victories gave Chile its independence.
[389] emancipación de un mundo, i.e., South America.
[390] Bolívar (Simón). Together with San Martín he brought about South American independence. He had been triumphant in the North and founded the republic of Gran Colombia, now Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1783, and died in 1830. The hopes and ambitions for which he had fought (a great republic by the name of Gran Colombia) had been set at naught in his own times by the revolt of the constituent members.
[391] Chimborazo, lofty mountain and volcano in Ecuador.
[392] Pichincha, volcano in Ecuador; the allied troops of Bolívar and San Martín won a decisive victory over the Spaniards in this vicinity in 1822. Cf. 126, 1.
[393] que. The antecedent is genio, referring to Bolívar in line 3.
[394] todo lo refería a, considered everything in relation to.
[395] Astrea, the goddess of Justice in Greek mythology.
[396] vaso opaco de la Escritura, unassuming chosen vessel of the Scriptures.
[397] This sentence has no principal verb. Supply murió—.
[398] la una, i.e., de Bolívar.
[399] la otra, i.e., de San Martín.
[400] su, i.e., del Perú.
[401] su, i.e., de San Martín.
[402] Macabeo. Judas Maccabeus, of the Maccabees, led the Jews against the tyrant Antiochus IV, assuming the leadership of the revolt in B.C. 164, upon the death of his father Matathias.
[403] Moreno (Mariano), Argentine patriot and statesman. Cf. 195.
[404] todos cuantos, all who.
[405] Misiones. V. map.
[406] Alto Perú, old name of the present republic of Bolivia. It became an independent state in 1825, with Bolívar as its first president.
[407] Artigas (José, 1746-1826). Although Mitre speaks thus of Artigas, present-day Uruguayans regard him as their national hero. Works published lately on his life show that he was misunderstood. The federal system of government for which he stood obtains to-day in Argentina, though not in Uruguay.
[408] Güemes (Martín), Gaucho leader in northern Argentina, whose deeds are commemorated in many tales. He may be compared with Marion, the American guerrilla fighter in the Carolinas during the American War of Independence.
[409] Rivadavia (Bernardino), first president of Argentina and supporter of the unitarian or centralized form of republican government. During his presidency he established primary education and encouraged the University of Buenos Aires, which had come into being under his tutelage. He was far in advance of his time.
[410] en tal sentido, of this type.
[411] cuyo sentimiento, the sentiment for which.
[412] Cuyo. Previous to his invasion of Chile, San Martín was ostensibly Governor of Cuyo, a region including the present provinces of Mendoza, San Juan, and San Luis. It was in this capacity that he made ready his Ejército de los Andes to attack the Spaniards in Chile.