Pedro de Alarcón - El Capitán Veneno

Tal dijo Angustias, volviéndole la espalda con verdadero enojo.

Y así quedaba siempre, de obscuro y embrollado, el importantísimo punto que, sin saberlo, discutían aquellos dos seres desde que se vieron por primera vez… y que muy pronto iba a ponerse más claro que el agua.

El tan celebrado y jubiloso día en que se levantó el Capitán Veneno había de tener un fin asaz lúgubre y lamentable, cosa muy frecuente en la humana vida, según que más atrás, y por razones inversas a las de ahora, dijimos filosóficamente.

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la vecina corte, or la villa y corte, means 'Madrid'.

con vivas instancias, with hearty urging . Cf. the kindred sense in "instant (urgent) in prayer".

1848: Isabel II being queen. She was dethroned in 1868.

la República : it was twenty-five years later that Spain became a republic, and then relapsed in one year.

Ataulfo, Visigoth king; with Alaric, he overran Italy; died assassinated 415 A.D.

Pelayo, called "first king of the Spaniards". Died about 737.

Trastamarabecame king as Henry II. Died 1379.

Isabel II: 1830-1904; queen at three; niece of Don Carlos, who always opposed her.

Narváez: 1800-1868; general and statesman of great energy.

acontecimientos, happenings . Let the student note the ending -imiento, so common with -erand -irverb stems.

vivían: the student must learn to recognize the subject far after the verb, constantly in this text, and commonly.

piadosas: any adjective may precede its noun in a complimentary way.

éranse que se eran, there were so there were : children's style; que, in such clauses as this, is frequently to be ignored in translation, or else is to be rendered by and . The verb serrarely takes a reflexive.

salido en todo a su padre, had turned out to look like her father : salirse a, in the sense of parecerse a, to look like .

doméstica, servant : this poor girl is abused throughout the story.

hasta cierto punto, to a certain extent : not used here seriously, but rather trivially. The author often drops into a coterie style.

con faldas, with skirts on : facetious. Cf. hígado con pies y sombrero, 'a liver with feet and hat'. Niña de la Bola , p. 126. Such often in Alarcón.

Facilísimo: Felicísimoin the 10th edition.

dejara de, should fail to : preposition echoes the prefix.

prendarse de, be taken with : a common construction.

luego que fijase en ella la atención, as soon as he observed her ; literally, as soon as he fixed his attention on her . Cf. parar atención en, parar mientes en.

Preste Juan, Prester John : anglicized form of the name of a medieval king in Asia, whom missionaries reported as converted. About the name grew up fanciful and extravagant stories.

hasta que, till that [we form an opinion]: note the quefor the preposition to lean on; so, following note.

de que, of [ the fact ] that : the preposition needs que.

Dijérase, It might be said : Alarcón very often puts the pronoun as an enclitic, at the end of the verb.

pagada, paid , satisfied , then self-satisfied . Cf. pagarse de meras palabras, be satisfied with mere words , Bello-Cuervo, Gramática , p. 1.

esas calles de Dios: say these blessed streets .

detengamos en: cf. second note 6, 7.

disparaban, were firing : other words in the text for shoot are tirar, fusilar, hacer fuego, hacer descarga.

de modo… que, so that : the student will note how the sense decides for indicative (as here) or subjunctive.

dar en= dar golpes en, strike on : darand echar, verbs very short and very common, are used for many other verbs, just as English uses get and make for other verbs: get hurt , make a train , make a dollar , etc.

pellejo, hide : properly of animals; shows the author's scorn for the poor servant.

Galicia: not the Galicia we heard of so often in the first year of the Great War, and later, but the Galicia that forms the northwest corner of Spain.

desoyendo( des-oír), as though not hearing , i.e. disregarding ; so later, desatenderand desentendiendo, ignoring . Cf. our ignore , with a special meaning not felt in ignorant . Nadie se dio por entendido, Nobody let on .

daban a, opened on : cf. note 8, 7 for dar.