Pedro de Alarcón - El Capitán Veneno

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

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

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

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 .

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 -seis not considered good style.

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 .

el general: alin the 10th edition is an error.

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.

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

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

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

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 .

¡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.

salgan: salir, seguir[ continuar, quedar, venir, andar] follow irand take -ndoforms after them, like estar.

consentido en: consentirtakes en, con, a, and sometimes sobre, with different senses.

que tengas: omitted in 10th edition.

Mejor que mejor, Better and better : so peor que peor, dale que dale, etc., where the much used queis only an emphatic y, and ; cf. éranse que se eran, 5, 1.

permitiese: -seand -raforms are still used in wishes [like exclamations]; cf. Así nos diera Dios grandes políticos, Oh, that God would give us great politicians! Diario II, 272. ¡Diérame Dios el numen de Tasso! Oh, that God would give me Tasso's inspiration! Diario I, 320. ¡O Absalom! ¡Quién diera que hubiera yo muerto en lugar de ti! Oh, that I had died for thee! Bible. In Job 3: 1-9 are many examples in Valera's text: these are changed to present subjunctive in the Mexican edition of 1910. -seforms not so often: ¡Fuese ya mañana y estuviésemos en la batalla! Amadís , in Bello-Cuervo, § 701. ¡Quien me diese que me creyeseis! Oh that you would believe me! Ibid. Cf. also the familiar ¡Acabaras!to a child, Hush up!

Angustias: he omits señoritathis time.

la primera vez de su vida, the first time in his life ; so in Alarcón often: first tears , first smile , last time in his life , and others.

carne de perro: a compliment about like strong as a horse . The doctor falls into the captain's style.

matasanos, killer of well men : humorous here, but a common type: cf. curaperros, quitasol, parasol, sacamuelas( dentist ), perdona-vidas( bully ), picaporte. All like our pick-pocket , turnkey , cureall , forget-me-not .

Cuando salga, When I get out : there is hardly a word that occurs oftener with the present subjunctive than cuando.

todo un hombre, a whole man : cf. toda una obra maestra, a real masterpiece ; todo un capitán, a real captain .

¡Cuidado si tiene hígados para remendar cuerpos rotos! It's a caution what a nerve you have for mending broken bodies : cuidadohas become a disguised oath (for emphasis) with its ksound; cf. ¡Cuidado si está el chico que da gloria verlo! I'll declare the little fellow is a fine sight. Niño de la Bola , p. 174. Cf. also ¡Cuidado que aquel dichoso año hizo calor! That blessed year was plenty hot enough! Viva el Papa , p. 43. It is a year that I have been grumbling about an overcoat, y cuidado que me hace falta, and gracious how awfully I need it . Núñez. ¡Cuidado que a mí me encantan Horacio y Virgilio y los Gracos y…! I do like H. and V… though. Valera, Cartas Americanas , p. 92.

había oído citar, had heard some one mention .

al cabecilla , the leader ( cabeza): grammar gender and sex go together when speaking of persons: so el cura, el corneta, unos canallas, some scamps .