26. Pues que no te lo parezca; tenlo por seguro. Mejor.
Éstos caen enseguida, there is no thinking at all in the matter, it is an absolutefact. So much the better ( that he is stupid), for these ( stupidmen) fall into the trap right off.
54. —3. arrimo... sardina, see voc. under arrimar.
16. Matalavieja, i.e., mata-la-vieja; Procopio implies [Pg 118]facetiouslythat 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 thoughyou were actually carrying them on your back could you make such a fussabout it.
7. ¡... cuándo nos veremos en otra! i.e., when we'll get anotherchance (to marry them); otra is the indefinite feminine pronoun.
12. por su casa, through his family estate.
19.
comiéndose;
distinguish
from
the
reflexive
construction ofintransitive verbs (note 4, 16). Here se is indirect object, or dativeof advantage, and conveys the idea of "eating up."
56. —7. ¡Vamos, que estoy animadete! the fact is, I'm feeling a bitlively.
31. Está usted en su casa, a play on the literal and figurative meaningof the expression. In Spanish you courteously inform your guest, to makehim feel at home, that he is in his own house. Claudio, fresh from thecountry, overworks the expression. He wants to make Procopio feel
"athome," 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 ableto 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[Pg 119] understood to explain theintensive force of unos, e.g., ojos incomparables. The Spaniard, ofcourse, 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 sino hubieses venido no habrías interrumpido; trans. freely, why did youcome, then?
26. No te has dado poca prisa... Por si acaso, you were not at all slowabout it (i.e., making eyes at Claudio). Yes, because of what mighthave 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 anoun in the masculine singular. The same law is applicable in familiarspeech 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 denotingquantity, such as mucho, tanto, cuanto, are used as emphaticplurals.
7. Si eres el perro del hortelano, why, you are just like the dog inthe manger.
11. Conocemos el personal, we know with whom we are dealing.
20. perdone, hermana, I can do nothing for you, sister; it iscustomary to say to beggars, when refusing their request foralms,— perdone hermano (hermana). Pura implies that she[Pg 120] will giveCasta no opportunity in the affair with Claudio; at the same time hermanner of denial (as to a beggar) expresses her contemptuous attitudetowards 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.—áquien Dios se lo dé, the first part of the saying á quien Dios se lodé, San Pedro se lo bendiga, a saying which expresses the idea that weshould be content with the decrees of fate, whether they are to ouradvantage or not. Here Procopio implies that he will be well pleased ifClaudio chooses either one of his daughters.
65. —20. ¿Cómo que quién piensa en eso? what do you mean by saying "whois 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 totell 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 lessadvantage.
73. —7. antigüedad, length of service.
18. Estoy poniendo en limpio una minuta, I am making a fair copy of amemorandum.
19. ¡Poniendo en limpio! cleaning up, are you? Paula takes theexpression literally.[Pg 121]
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 habríacasado, 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 aboutmy ears!
16. Somos nobles por los cuatro costados, we are of noble birth on bothour father's and our mother's side.
21. nos han envuelto en ricos pañales, literally, "we were wrapped inrich swaddling-clothes," trans., we were born in opulence.
75. —4. ¡Por vida de mi debilidad de carácter! the deuce take this weakcharacter 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 inEnglish in this sense.
24. ¡Otro que bien baila! another of the same stamp; this expressionimplies that one person resembles another in some defect or quality notpraiseworthy. 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 ordrop 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 takeoffence?
19. Metternich, an Austrian statesman, 1773-1859.
22. Metternach, unknown except to Paula.[Pg 122]
23. la solfa da poca grasa á los garbanzos, literally,
"music gives thechick-peas but little fat"; trans. freely, music provides but poorfare, 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, itwould have been more profitable for you to have taken notice of thelieutenant ( 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 thatthey have spent.
15. cuya; cuyo, -a (Latin cujus), is a relative possessiveadjective. Being essentially a genitive its only equivalents in Spanishare de quien, del cual (English,
"whose," "of which," "of whom"). Itis incorrectly used here in the sense of el ( la) cual. This misuseof 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 somedisparaging 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 thisconstruction the adjective does not agree with the neuter lo, but withthe 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.[Pg 123]
82. —1. ¡Caracoles, en la que me he metido! Great Scott, what a mess Ihave got into! The feminine object pronouns la, las may be usedwith the force of an indefinite pronoun; some word suitable to thecontext 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 theproudest person that ever lived; this is Paula's illiterate paraphraseof the expression tener más humos que don Rodrigo en la horca, "to beprouder than don Roderick on the gallows." The saying may have arisen inconnection with the hanging of some noble who kept up his pride to theend by insisting that he be hanged with a silken cord, as the lawallowed, instead of by the plebeian rope. Notice Paula's incorrect useof 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 tobe sure to honor us with your presence: rogarles (que) no falten, que may be omitted after verbs denoting request, permission, or entreaty; áesta su casa, see 56, 31.
8. ¡Qué hemos de negarnos, hombre! I should say we are not going torefuse!
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, uponwhich 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... , Isha'n't have to ask them to give me that color, i.e., they will put medown as a dolt, of their own accord; lila,
"lilac," is usedcolloquially to mean "dolt," "fool."
21. dejada de la mano de Dios, literally, "abandoned by God's hand";trans., past recall, or a hopeless case.[Pg 124]
22. ¡Dale con mi madre! you are always harping on the subject of mymother! or let my mother alone, won't you?
86. —11. me preguntaron... si el difunto era mayor.
Como que tiene colael tal pantalón, they asked me whether the deceased was a bigger manthan I, since the trousers in question have a train (they drag so onthe ground); the question is sometimes facetiously put to one wearing abadly fitting garment, si el difunto era mayor, implying that thegarment is second-hand.
15. ¿Y vas tú á presumir acaso? you don't mean you are going to put onairs?
20. ¿Cómo se entiende? why, what do you mean? (implies that thespeaker 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 probablefulfilment of the action of the infinitive: governing the infinitivedirectly it denotes obligation, i.e., debe estar en su cuarto, "it isher obligation to be in her room." This distinction, however, is moretheoretical than practical. In current speech, Spaniards use the twoconstructions interchangeably.
88. —6. señor don Juan, see 47, 10.
16. que le sobra á este pantalón, of which these trousers have enoughand 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 shareher by periods"; trans., we can take turns at having her.
21. Éste se la ha olido, this fellow has smelled a rat; for la, seenote 82, 1.
25. esas; in English we should use here the definite article,[Pg 125] i.e.,"where are the ladies?" cf. Fr. où sont ces dames? The definitearticle is also possible in Spanish.
26. va de baile; the distinction between ir de baile, as used in thecontext, and ir al baile is more easily explained than translated.Both seem to mean simply "are you going to the dance?" But meeting afriend 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 weask ¿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 theobservations concerning los pantalones; Felipe expresses himself, andunderstands Juan literally; to the latter the manner of wearing one'strousers indicates a man's status as a husband and family-man:—
Con talde que tenga usted los pantalones bien puestos, if only your trousersfit well (implied, "you will be a man of character where the women areconcerned").—¡Quiá, hombre! Si se me están cayendo; son anchos, butthey don't! why, they are falling off! they are too loose (interpretedby Juan to mean that when a man's trousers won't stay on, he is sure tobe henpecked).—¿Su sastre de usted es profeta? is your tailor aprophet? (implied, "when he made your trousers too loose, was he aprophet 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 beassumed? ("have you, or have you not, a toothache?").—( Assume) thatit was merely a pretext to avoid going.[Pg 126]
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 tosplit her, and right in two!
10. después de escrita, a compact equivalent of después de haberescrito.
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 therelative pronoun que and the personal pronoun lo. The redundant useof 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 estáusted; see note 3, 6.—pintiparada, exactly like her (i.e., SantaFislomena).
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 thediminutive 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 someexpression like