=Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer=, b. 1836 in Seville, d. 1870,--journalist,
writer of short stories and poet. His tales are mostly legendary, and
are imbued with a morbid mysticism. Bécquer is primarily a poet, for
even his prose has the poetic fancy and, to a large extent, the music of
verse. His lyric verse is perhaps the most finished that was written in
Spain during the nineteenth century. Bécquer left only three volumes of
prose and verse.
=125.=--[125.3] =en nada=, 'in any respect.'
[125.16] =que los vió nacer=, 'where they were born' (lit., 'that saw
them [to be] born.')
=126.=--[126.20] =templo= here refers to the cathedral of the archbishopric of
Toledo, although any church may be called _templo_.--=la fiesta de la
Virgen= refers to some one of several church festivals in honor of the
Virgin Mary.
[126.25] =Salve, Regina= ("Hail, Queen"), the opening words of a Latin
hymn to the Virgin.
[126.29] =digo mal, en la imagen no=, 'no, not on the image either'
(lit., 'I speak incorrectly, not on the image').
=127.=--[127.21] =no lo será nunca=: =lo= stands for =tuya=.
[127.22] =aquí=, _en la cabeza_.
[127.31] =La [Virgen] del Sagrario=, one of many images of the Virgin in
the cathedral. This image is held in especial veneration, and it is
adorned with many precious stones. See _Sagrario_, in Vocab.
=128.=--[128.5] =otra Virgen=: although there is only one Virgin Mary worshiped
by Christians, certain images of the Virgin are believed to have more
efficacy than others, and there is often much rivalry and jealousy
between the adherents of one and another image.
[128.19] =La catedral de Toledo=: this vast Roman Catholic cathedral was
begun in the thirteenth century and finished (or nearly finished) in the
fifteenth.
=129.=--[129.12] =si grande=, etc.,=_si_ ('although') _la catedral se presenta
grande é imponente_.
[129.30] =el último=: _día_ is understood.
=130.=--[130.10] =permitía distinguir=, 'permitted one to distinguish.'
[130.13] =que sólo el concebirla=, 'the mere conception of which' (lit.,
'that only the conceiving it').
[130.15] =saberse=: translate into the English passive voice.
=131.=--[131.10] =el suelo=, etc.,=_formaban el suelo de la capilla_. The
subject follows.
[131.17] =el templo todo==_todo el templo_.
[131.25] =la Reina de los cielos==_la Virgen_.
[131.29] =tranquilizara==_tranquilizó_. This use of the imperfect
subjunctive in _-ra_, with the force of a pluperfect or preterite
indicative, is not uncommon in Spanish. See the Hills-Ford _Spanish
Grammar_, § 99, note 2.
[131.30] =que el=: _temor_ is understood.
=132.=--[132.10] =demonios=: these =demonios=, =endriagos=, etc., within and
without the medieval churches,--usually placed high on cornice or
roof,--gave concrete expression to the belief that demons were hovering
about ready to pounce down upon the wicked.
[132.18] =no vistos=: no may perhaps be best expressed by 'never
before.'
[132.22] =se rodeaban y confundían=, 'were moving about one another and
were intermingling.'
[132.30] =todo un mundo de=, etc., is the subject of =pululaban=.
=133.=--[133.9] =¡Suya!==_¡es de ella (de María Antúnez)!_