El Capitán Veneno

79

por no haber, because she had not.

80

occipucio, occiput: Alarcón often playfully throws in an odd or big word, or even slang.

81

habían cruzado, had exchanged: the mother and daughter were discussing the unconscious man. Could observaciones be the subject here?

82

que declarasen, such as might declare: an example of the subjunctive of characteristic; or in a relative clause with an indefinite antecedent.

83

asegurando: segurando in the 10th edition.

84

sentado muy mal, had offended: by the manner of it quite as much as by the word itself, for such words are common.

85

Guía de Forasteros , Strangers' Guide or Directory (giving names and titles, like our Red Books and Blue Books).

86

caiga que caiga, come what may; and later quiera o no quiera, whether or no: subjunctives, used optatively or imperatively.

87

Dejémosle: the pronouns -le and -me are unnecessary, but add a personal touch by showing who is the subject of the following verb.

88

permíteme: the pronouns -le and -me are unnecessary, but add a personal touch by showing who is the subject of the following verb.

89

Convenio de Vergara, Treaty of Vergara, i.e. the terms of agreement between General Espartero for the queen, and General Maroto for the Carlists.

90

Tiene and (21) ha in this same sentence: what is the difference?

91

teniendo… habiendo: let the student note the distinct meanings.

92

que maldito…, accursed, condemned: translate, and blamed if I deserve them.

93

nos agradezca cosa alguna, that you thank us for anything: the construction is nos dative, and cosa alguna accusative, and the subjunctive in a subordinate clause dependent upon necesitamos.

94

convenido , signer, party to: sense of convenirse, fall in with, adjust oneself.

95

des cuerda: the figure is of winding an old-style clock.

96

a que me traten con bondad, to their treating me with kindness: Alarcón admired the Spanish general O'Donnell greatly, and seems to have taken him as the prototype of Captain Veneno. Alarcón was with O'Donnell in Africa, and wrote, in the Diario de un testigo, in detail of O'Donnell's frank, abrupt, even harsh bearing. The wound in the head was possibly suggested also by a great scar on an Arab's head, of which Alarcón tells in the Diario.

97

He dicho, I have done, or I have spoken: at the end of a speech, like amen at the end of a prayer; it is the dixi of the Roman orators.

98

¡Jesús…! all the characters of this story use oaths and asseverations, except the servant girl. Translate here: Heavens!

99

condolido: this verb 'pity' repeated becomes comical; poor rhetoric. Like Ormulum's Alls iff þu drunnke waterrdrinnch, As if thou drankest a waterdrink.

100

entre las tres, we three, where entre is losing its prepositional force, as it has in entrambos, entre usted y yo. Rubén Darío says (Autobiografía, p. 61): Entre él y otros amigos me arreglaron mi viaje a Chile, He and other friends provided (money) for my trip to Chile. Entre ellos y los soldados… lo cogieron, they and the soldiers caught him.

101

¡vaya si pesa…! my but you are heavy! cf. ¡Vaya que susto me has dado! Oh, what a scare you gave me! Una carta de tu tío, y ¡vaya si es gorda! A letter from your uncle, and my but it's big! Alarcón in Moros y Cristianos. ¡Vaya si me lo llevaré! Surely I'll take it (the secret) to the grave with me! Moros y Cristianos. Novelas Cortas, Giese ed., p. 109.

102

amostazarse: from mostaza, mustard: cf. pepper, ginger, in familiar parlance.

103

tiráronle un tiro, they shot her a shot: cf. English "killed him dead"; poor rhetoric again.

104

perdone: asking him to pardon her for frightening her mother, seems far-fetched, a false note; but it does inform the captain of the facts in the case; que is omitted here as often with words like suplicar, pedir, rogar, etc.

105

os: this second person plural is not always familiar.

106

hazmerreír, make-me-laugh, laughing-stock; a whole sentence become a word, like hand-me-down for ready-made and like Hoosier (if from "Who-is-yer") and forget-me-not. Spanish has also corre-ve-i-dile, tattle-tale; va-i-ven, pendulum motion; gana-pierde, give-away (at checkers).

107

faltaba = faltaría: a common idiomatic use of the imperfect indicative for the conditional.

108

mismo: in mañana mismo, ahora mismo, the adverb is used as a neuter noun.

109

después de acostada, after you are in bed: very common usage; no suppressed word need be assumed. The form has become idiomatic. Cf. the English usage of certain localities: he wants in, he wants out, for he wants to get in, he wants to get out, where we no longer think of the omitted verb.

110

tila con flor de azahar, lime tea and orange flower, a soothing concoction for the nerves.

111

aunque Dios no quiera, even though God be unwilling: an allusion to the usual phrase "God willing", Deo volente. Lorenzo Dow said: "I shall preach, God willing; no, I will anyway".

112

Angustias: he hasn't heard her name yet; not in the story.

113

número…: the dots, puntos suspensivos, are read as tal, so-and-so.

114

Veneno , Venom: about like Spitfire, if it were for a woman.

115

el enviar, the sending: infinitives and past participles are an abundant source of nouns in Spanish.

116

Buenos días, Good day: much more usual at meeting or passing, and by day, than at leaving and at night, although it was of course, by this time, about four o'clock in the morning.

117

de demonio, devilish: this is the nearest Rosa comes to oaths. In the Diario, Alarcón speaks of the mil votos y ternos, thousand oaths and curses, of the soldiers.

118

de punta, on end: a fine example of de used to make an adverb; we use of similarly for time (of a morning, of Sundays); Spanish uses de for adverbs of time, place, or manner. Six of the clock, of necessity, born of woman, of a truth, said of old, live of milk alone, all of a sudden, in English are of a vanishing type.

119

cervata: usually only masculine cervato, but Rosa follows the general principle. Her háceme temblar is rather provincial for me hace.

120

como el dolor, as well as sorrow: our style would be rather sorrow as well as happiness. It is notable how often the order is reversed in Spanish, e.g. antes como después, before as afterwards, tarde o temprano, late or soon (i. e. sooner or later).

121

hallábase: Alarcón, as well as Rosa, puts the pronoun last.

122

A éste le había dado… por callar, He had taken to silence, he didn't feel like talking: dar (impersonal) for some other verb as often; cf. le dio por ahí, he (or she) took to that.

123

Cristo: a strong oath. Usually Cristo is covered by some innocent word beginning with the same sound, as we shall often see. Captain Veneno later says por Jesucristo vivo, 135, 20.

124

balazo de la frente, bullet wound in his forehead: in the Diario I, 168, Alarcón tells of a captive Moor who had a terrible scar in his forehead: nos mostró una larga cicatriz que le atravesaba toda la frente. ¿Cómo no moriste? – La bala se deslizó sobre el hueso, – respondió, He showed us a long scar which crossed his whole forehead. Why didn't it kill you? – The ball glanced on the bone, he answered.

125

por estar la tibia muy destrozada, because the tibia was shattered. The subject of the infinitive is the post-placed noun tibia.

126

a solas, alone, privately: as feminine -mente is universal for the adverb ending, and as cosa is so often understood, it has come about that the fashion is to make adverbial expressions with a feminine form: cf. apenas, a duras penas, a ciegas; and even where the feminine is illogical, as in a ojos vistas, a pie juntillas, a ojos cegarritas: two constructions are confused, the adverb from a noun: a ojos, a pie, a la vista, and the adverb from an adjective.

127

tres Marías: reference to the three Marys at the crucifixion, Matthew 27:56. The phrase has become common with the legend that the three Marys came to Provence together.

128

¡cáspita…! and (20) ¡caracoles…!: note the disguised [encubierto] oath, how it starts as though to say Cristo and switches off to ca-something, any word beginning with ca- (canastos, caminos, canales, calles, culebrines, etc.), or even ca alone, or que. The commonest is caramba. In the Diario I, p. 32, and elsewhere several times, Alarcón speaks of the great amount of swearing: Valiéndose de distintas interjecciones y muletillas, usando de diverso género de oratorio, declaman, votan, refieren, arguyan, se insultan, se reconcilian… Using different interjections and gags, using a varied kind of oratory, they declaim, swear, quote, argue, insult each other, make up… Cf. our disguised forms for Jesus: By Joe, by George, Gewhiz, Jerusalem, Jehosaphat, Jimminy, and many more.

129

Y cuenta que = Tenga usted en cuenta que, And remember or just to think; in Don Quixote, haz cuenta que. Cf. the fuller form Hágase V. cuenta de que no nos hemos abrazado todavía, Remember we have not embraced each other yet. Escándalo, p. 151.

130

calaverada: cf. Aquella calaverada propuesta por la serpiente y aceptada por Eva, That prank proposed by the serpent and accepted by Eve.

131

velis nolis [Latin], whether or no, willy nilly = Spanish quiera o no quiera. Another form is de buen o mal grado, in La Pródiga.

132

dejarse cuidar… por, let [some one] take care of him: se is the object of cuidar, then por following mixes the construction. Cf. English I have heard say by somebody, a mixed construction for I have heard said by somebody, and I have heard somebody say.

133

so pena, under penalty: so pretexto, and so capa, under pretext; so, often pronounced jo, gave way to bajo, which is the common word for under. So [Lat. sub] remains in a few legal or set phrases.

134

precauciones nasales, nasal precautions: facetious, like the expressions of a baseball reporter with us; it is a style of playfulness common with Alarcón.

135

alguno after its word = ninguno.

136

interrumpió: a marked trait of Jorge.

137

señores: includes señoras; cf. los reyes católicos de España, the Catholic king and queen of Spain, i.e. Ferdinand and Isabel.

138

la contraria [razón]: Alarcón uses el contrario, lo contrario, in the same sense.

139

himno de Riego: not so much that he indorsed Riego, as to be mean and pique the marquis. Alarcón would not have a hero too radical. He tells us Jorge had never been a revolutionist (lo que nunca ha hecho ha sido pronunciarse). He tells us of himself that he was anti-royalist only a little while: his democratic impulses (pujos democráticos) were sudden and fleeting (repentinos y fugaces). See Diario I, p. 11.

140

a quien nadie mandaba echar su cuarto a espadas, whom nobody told to bet his money on spades, i.e. he had no business to get into the fray: the figure is of betting on cards.

141

podía haber escarmentado, he might have known better.

142

perito agrónomo, land expert, surveyor: agrónomo is an adjective.

143

Señoras y señores: addressed to the same ones he called señores before.

144

partiendo de la base, starting from the basis = taking for granted.

145

resabios, tricks: note the sense flavor, taste, bad taste, of the stem saber, to taste, smack, flavor, here and in sinsabores, desabrimiento, desabor. Cf. English disgusting [gust, 'taste'].

146

ahorrar descontentos y sinsabores, to spare the lady annoyances and offenses.

147

proveer = resolver, deciding.

148

gran: apocopated, instead of grande as usual whether before masculine or feminine noun.

149

Bilbao: one would think first of the famous Chilean patriot, Francisco Bilbao, after mention of Riego; but as there was no man Maella corresponding, the two names must refer to the towns. Bilbao was besieged several times, and as late as 1874, in the Carlist wars. The Bilbaínos are sturdy and brave, love liberty, and easily join against the government. The battle of Maella was won by General Cabrera in 1830.

150

en esto, meantime: like en tanto, en cuanto.

151

a fuer de = al tenor de, as a.

152

en sendas butacas, in their respective chairs.

153

generalato: note -ato and -ado, different forms of the same ending.

154

condado: note -ato and -ado, different forms of the same ending.

155

a poco, in a little while, as soon as: cf. al ver, when he saw.

156

hurgó [from furca, fork; cf. stir, prod]: preterit of hurgar, confused with urgió, urged, from urgir.

157

derecho… a tener que comer, the right to have something to eat, i.e. right to live, have a pension.

158

que le asistía, that was present to her or that she had: cf. para sospechar que le asistían razones para no decirlo, to suspect that he had reasons for not telling. Escándalo, p. 44.

159

pasta de ángeles, the nature of angels: cf. Soy de la madera de Diógenes, I am of the wood (material) of Diogenes. Escándalo, p. 33.

160

poco asustadizas, not scary: cf. bold, bad man.

161

crisma, the [anointed or sprinkled] head: familiar even from such a dignified man; el bautismo is used in the same sense. Otelo II, 2.

162

quítame allá esas pajas, take away those straws: a common phrase for bagatelle, a mere nothing. Don Quixote says, Parte I, cap. XXIX: en dácame esas pajas, in a 'give me those straws' = in no time, in the twinkling of an eye.

163

como no sea, as it be not = if not, unless.

164

deseare: must be for deseara or desease. All editions have deseare. It is the only instance in Alarcón along with a form in -ría.

165

Ya se ve, It is seen = That is plain, the reason is plain.

166

Apuntole el bozo, His beard started, i.e. At puberty [he was in wars in America].

167

ha hecho ha sido: note even in verbs the tendency to repeat forms after a relative.

168

están a la orden de usted, are at your service, at your disposal: an extreme, but very common, formula of politeness; similarly, a Spaniard, in telling a friend where he lives, will not say: Ahí está mi casa, but Ahí tiene usted su casa, There is your house.

169

de saberlo = si lo supiese, if he knew it: the condition can be supplied in several ways: si lo supiera, a saberlo, sabiéndolo, si lo sabía, or even si sabe. The conclusion (here dimitiría) has fewer forms: dimitiera, dimitía, dimite, and rarely dimitiese. This form in -se is not considered good style.

170

milloncejos: note the diminutive. English would cover the idea by some adjective: my snug nine million, my cool nine million, my little old nine million.

171

el general: al in the 10th edition is an error.

172

dilatadas, deferred: cf. … con aplausos y vivas, de donde resultó que aquella votación fuese muy dilatada, with applause and shouts, whence it came that the voting was much delayed. Villaseñor, Guillermo, p. 337.

173

tenga: verbs of all kinds, even decir,at times omit que; but the que is oftenest omitted with such verbs as suplicar, beg, pray, implore.

174

hasta cierto punto, to a certain extent: here more normal than at 5, 9.

175

mismísimo: three different sounds of i in this word, according to Professor Olmsted.

176

demos por terminada, let us consider it ended: so delo por dicho, you needn't tell me, never mind, or I don't care to hear it.

177

¡Permítame usted besarle la mano! – ¡Y permite… que yo te abrace…! verbs like permitir, dejar, impedir, admit either the infinitive or a que-clause, without difference in meaning.

178

salgan: salir, seguir [continuar, quedar, venir, andar] follow ir and take -ndo forms after them, like estar.