=José Echegaray=, b. Madrid, 1833. Echegaray has been professor of
engineering in the Engineering College, Madrid, member of Parliament
(_Cortes_), and Minister of Commerce, of Education and of Finance. He is
the most prominent Spanish dramatist of today. In 1907 the Nobel prize
of forty thousand dollars for excellence in idealistic literature was
divided between Echegaray and the Provençal poet, Federico Mistral. The
dramas of Echegaray, though sometimes commonplace and often gloomy,
treat modern social problems with great skill. Among the best known are
_El gran Galeoto_, _Ó locura ó santidad_, _El poder de la impotencia_,
_El loco dios_, and _Mancha que limpia_.
=1.=--[1.3] =rey futuro=, 'future king.' A qualifying adjective usually
follows its noun.
[1.5] =le daba=, 'was giving him.' A personal pronoun object usually
precedes its verb.
[1.7] =del hombre=, 'from man.' The article is required because the noun
is used in a general sense to denote all of the thing or class it
names.--=le decía=, 'he said to him.' Note that a personal pronoun
subject may be omitted.--=no pretendas=, 'do not attempt.' The
subjunctive, and not the imperative, is used in a negative command.
[1.10] =domínalos=, 'subdue them.' The personal pronoun object follows
the positive imperative, and is attached to it so that the verb and
pronoun form one word.
[1.16] =le podrías lanzar=, 'you could hurl him.' Note that =le= is the
object of =lanzar=.
[1.19] =los de=, 'those of.'
[1.24] =¿Tendrá?= 'can he have?' The future indicative may be used
instead of the present, to denote probability or conjecture.
[1.25] =orgullosos=, 'proudly.' A predicate adjective is often used
instead of an adverb.
=2.=--[2.2] =la=, 'his.' The definite article is often used instead of a
possessive adjective.
[2.8] =murió el león padre=. Note that the subject often follows the
verb.
[2.10] =éste=, 'the latter.'
[2.11] =los leones=, 'lions.' See note, page 1, l. 7.--=se tendió=, 'he
stretched himself out.' Note that =se= is here to be translated by the
reflexive pronoun 'himself.'
[2.13] =se quedó=, 'he remained.' Note that =se= is not to be
translated.
[2.14] =se unieron=, 'were brought together' (or 'were united'). Note
that the reflexive is to be translated here, as often, by the passive
voice.
[2.18] =á=, 'with.'--=hizo rodar=, 'he rolled' (lit., 'he made to
roll').
[2.19] =hasta cerrar=, 'until he closed.'
[2.25] =fué soñando con=, 'he was dreaming of.' But =fué= is from _ir_
(see _ir_ in Vocab.).
[2.27] =¿Sería?= 'could... be?' The conditional indicative may be used
to denote remote or past probability. See note, page 1, l. 24.
[2.28] =Á=: do not translate.
[2.31] =Debía de ser=, 'it must have been.'
=3.=--[3.8] =se dice=, 'is said.'
[3.9] =al hombre=, 'man.' The preposition _á_ is usually required before
the direct object of a verb, that denotes a definite person or thing
personified.
[3.13] =se le enredó á una pierna=, 'wrapped itself about one of his
legs.' Note that =le==='his.'
[3.22] =que=, 'for.'
[3.24] =serpiente= is the subject of =forcejeó=.
=4.=--[4.3] =por=, 'on account of.'
[4.4] =me como=: do not translate =me=, which is a "dative of interest"
(or "ethical dative").--=las que=, 'those that.'
[4.18] =Á buscar=, 'let us seek' (lit., 'to seek').
[4.19] =por=, 'with regard to.'
[4.20] =lo rastrero y venenoso=, 'his crawling and venomous ways.'--=á
quien... le=, 'whose...' These are datives of possession; and =le= is
redundant.
[4.23] =valiente=: see note, page 1, l. 25.
[4.28] =me... á mi=: translate with an emphatic 'me.'
[4.31] =tendrá=, 'must have.' This is the future of probability or
conjecture.