(that is, from the fall of the Girondins), to July 27, 1794, (date of
the fall of Robespierre), is known as the "Reign of Terror".
[495] =antes bien=, emphatic form of =antes=, _rather_.
[496] =a la del Sur=, _i.e._, =por lo que toca a la América del Sur=,
_as regards South America_.
[497] =una como presunción=, _a certain superior assumption_.
[498] =se aguardan=. V. 2, 9.
[499] =se apresura=, _is anxious_.
[500] =y de aquí=, _and hence it is_. The verb =es= is understood.
[501] =esos próceres=, _i.e._, the leaders of the Revolution.
[502] =habría pecado por exceso=, _would have gone too far_.
[503] =excepto en cuanto reconocían=, _except in so far as they
recognized_.
[504] =por razón de su origen=, _i.e._, by reason of their common
nationality.
[505] =hace notar=, _brings out_.
[506] =el cabildo abierto=, _the town meeting_.
[507] =nunca se insistirá demasiado=, _one can never insist too much_.
Notice that =insistirá= is future of probability or possibility.
[508] =cuando no=, _if not_.
[509] =puesto que=, _since_.
[510] =plantea=. The subject is =democracia=.
[511] =haciendo que los representantes lo sean en común de las
grandes divisiones políticas=, lit., _bringing it about that the
representatives be so in common from the great political divisions_;
trans., _electing their representatives at large from the great
political divisions_, _i.e._, the representatives represent a province
and not a district.
[512] =se pretendía hacerle desempeñar=, _they_ (=la gente culta de las
ciudades=) _intended to have it_ (the people) _play_.
[513] =exteriorizando los cuales=, _upon manifesting which_.
[514] =Aunque figuras menores=. The verb =son= is understood.
[515] =habiendo algunos=, _there being some_.
[516] =o sea el voto secreto=, _that is, the secret ballot_. Mr.
Hipólito Irigoyen, the present incumbent of the presidency, is the
first Argentina president to have been elected by the secret or
Australian ballot.
[517] =esa ley=, _i.e._, of the Australian ballot.
[518] =su= refers to =poder=.
[519] =inhibiendo=, trans., _to prevent_.
[520] =de cuya presión... los sirven=, _the results of whose pressure
oftentimes are laws favorable to them, though ostensibly not meant to
be such_.
[521] =que en el acto de celebrarse el Congreso de Tucumán=, _than on
the occasion when the Congress of Tucumán was held_.
[522] =después de seis años de rotas las hostilidades=, _six years
after the breaking out of hostilities_.
[523] =llevaba involucrados=, _carried within itself_.
[524] =de este último=, _i.e._, =el proceso idealista=.
[525] =Uno de ellos=, _i.e._, one of the =caudillos=. V. Introduction.
[526] =a su alrededor=, _around it_.
[527] =que habría de regir=, _which was to rule_.
[528] =Córdoba=. V. map. Its university, having been founded in 1613,
is the third oldest in South America, that of San Marcos in Lima (which
was founded in 1551) and that of Bogotá (founded in 1572) having
preceded it.
[529] =Charcas=, capital of Bolivia, to-day called Sucre. It used to
be known also under the names of Chuquisaca and La Plata. Its famous
university was founded in 1623. It has a school of law, theology, and
medicine.
[530] =Santiago de Chile=, capital of Chile. V. map. The university was
founded in 1738.
[531] =Colegio de San Carlos=, in Lima, Peru.
[532] =véase el estado general del país=, _see the general condition of
the country_.
[533] =uno de los más ilustres miembros del Congreso=, _i.e._, Fray
Cayetano Rodríguez. Cf. 240, 3.
[534] =chocados=, _clashing_.
[535] =negándose algunos=, _some being opposed_.
[536] =habría que agregar=, _there ought to be added_.
[537] =Alto Perú=, name applied to the present republic of Bolivia
during the colonial and revolutionary period.
[538] =la aproximación del enemigo=. The last secret session of the
Congress of Tucumán was held January 17, 1817, when the Spanish forces
were advancing from the north, after invading the province of Jujuy.
[539] =Lima=, capital of Peru, was founded in 1535 by Pizarro. It was
by far the most important South American city during the colonial
period.
[540] =a quien tocaría=, _whose lot it would be_.
[541] =el golpe definitivo=. The battle of Ayacucho (1824), fought
between the Spaniards and the combined Colombian and Argentine forces
under the command of Sucre, Bolívar's lieutenant, put an end to Spanish
domination in South America. As a feat of arms it stands among the
most brilliant of those recorded in the annals of South American
history. Sucre, though his forces numbered but half those of the
Spaniards, completely routed them, capturing about one-third of their
army, including La Serna, the commander-in-chief, as well as all their
baggage and ammunition.
[542] =describiera=. Cf. 66, 16; 223, 16.
[543] =Fray Cayetano Rodríguez= (1761-1823), historian of the
proceedings at the Congress of Tucumán. As a poet he wrote a sonnet _Al
25 de Mayo_, and versified on other events of his time.
[544] =no es de extrañar=, _it is not to be wondered at_.
[545] =Se pensó en traer=, _Some thought of bringing_.
[546] =San Martín=, =Belgrano=. Cf. 18, 17, and Introduction.
[547] =uno de los detractores de la monarquía=. One of the few voices
raised against the monarchical idea was that of the deputy Anchorena,
but his arguments were so specious that they rather strengthened the
supporters of the monarchy.
[548] =una mano firme=. Argentina owes in large measure her present
republican form of government to Fray Justo de Santa María de Oro, who
at the Congress of Tucumán stood out firmly and energetically in behalf
of a republic.
[549] =la vía=, _i.e._, of democracy.
[550] =de aquél=, _i.e._, =del Congreso=.
[551] =la larga noche de la anarquía=. The period of internecine
struggles, from the expulsion of the Spaniards till the downfall of
Rosas and the subsequent adoption of the Federal Constitution.
[552] =el _tercero_ del sur=. On rainy days the streets of Buenos Aires
were turned into veritable brooks, which were named numerically, first,
second, third, etc.
[553] =D. Juan María Gutiérrez=. Cf. Biographical Notes, p. liii.
[554] =se reducía=. The verb is in the singular because the subjects,
=la mesa y el mantenimiento=, are taken to be one and the same thing.
[555] =En toda la línea del norte=, _All along the northern boundary_.
[556] =prebostes de la Hermandad=. The =Santa Hermandad= was a police
institution founded in the fifteenth century in Spain, and carried over
into her colonies. Its purpose was to keep the highways and the country
clear of robbers. A =preboste= was an officer of the =Hermandad=; he
exercised both judicial and police powers.
[557] =revolucionaria=. The term _revolutionary_, after the French
Revolution, was synonymous with _progressive_.
[558] =brazos aptos=, _men suited for the task_.
[559] =hacían que apenas hubiese una que otra calle, malísimamente
empedrada=, _were the cause of there being only a few paved streets,
and very poorly paved at that_.
[560] =calle _del Empedrado_=, _Paved Street_.
[561] =las había=, _were there any_.
[562] =la reputación de la belleza=, _a reputation for beauty_.
[563] =su revolución=. The revolution for independence in 1810 was
mainly the work of the population of Buenos Aires, whereas the civil
revolution that followed later was started by the provinces.
[564] =el poeta de la revolución=, _i.e._, Vicente López y Planes, the
author of the _Himno Nacional_.
[565] =el _centro_=, _the "down-town" section_.
[566] =mostrador democrático=, _a people's store_.
[567] =de mostrador corrido=, _with its long counter_.
[568] =penetrar a=, unusual for =penetrar en=.
[569] "=ese caballero=", _i.e._, her husband.
[570] Something similar in the way of courtesy used to be the
habit among shop-keepers in this country. Nowadays we find it only
with the older generation. Although the author here complains that
these pleasant customs have already disappeared in Argentina, it is
nevertheless true that Spaniards and Spanish-Americans prefer to do
business in a way that still savors of social relationship.
[571] =para sentarse los tertulianos habituales del establecimiento=,
_where the habitúes of the establishment could sit_.
[572] =de Aubusson y de Gobelinos=. =Aubusson=, city in France, famous
for tapestries; =Gobelinos=, the Gobelins, in the fifteenth century,
established a tapestry factory in Paris which is now famous throughout
the world.
[573] =dejándolo amontonarse ampulosamente sobre el mostrador=,
_permitting it_ (=el lote vendido=) _to heap up in folds on the
counter_.
[574] _La Argentina y sus grandezas_.
[575] =vivos de=, _alive with_.
[576] =la guitarra ibera=. The guitar is the national musical
instrument of Spain.
[577] =grupa=, here, _poop_, carrying out the figure implied in =los
gigantes marinos=.
[578] =El azul blanquecino del cielo=. The verb is =yace=, understood.
[579] =revelan únicamente=, _alone reveal_.
[580] =inmóvil, encantado en medio de la inmensidad=. Cf. _Ancient
Mariner_, Part II, 8:
"As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean."
[581] =no sabe salirse de él=, _cannot leave it_.
[582] =tragaderos insaciables=, _i.e._, =las costas de una inmensa
nación=.
[583] =Salomón=, king of the Israelites, famous for his wealth as well
as for his wisdom.
[584] =la torre de Babel=. According to biblical tradition Noah's sons
attempted to build a tower reaching unto heaven.
[585] =Semíramis=, legendary queen of Assyria, said to have founded
Babylon and built its storied hanging gardens.
[586] =ciudades-esperanza=, _cities of hope_. A noun is seldom used in
Spanish as an adjective to modify another noun, but when that occurs
the modifying noun is placed after the noun modified, not before, as in
English.
[587] =que veían en ella un escenario sonoro de su actividad
intelectual=, _who saw in her an attractive field for their
intellectual activity_.
[588] =lo=. Note the use of the neuter article to sum up a preceding
idea. In this case the clauses beginning with =lo que= in lines 9 and
10 are recapitulated.
[589] =Bagdad=, city on the banks of the Tigris, in Arabia. It was the
capital of an important caliphate, from the thirteenth to the fifteenth
centuries, and its name was synonymous with riches and wonders in the
Moslem world.
[590] =Toledo=, city in Spain, famous for its Gothic cathedral, which
contains many historical and artistic treasures. The metal industries
of Toledo were justly renowned in the Middle Ages.
[591] =próximos a=, _ready to_.
[592] =Salónica=, city and port in northern Greece, captured from the
Turks during the recent Balkan War (1912). When the Jews were expelled
from Spain during the reign of Philip II, they took refuge in Turkish
lands, particularly in Salonica, which to this day is largely populated
by them. Their language, a form of Spanish corrupted by years of
separation from Spanish-speaking peoples, is called =ladino= and can
be easily understood by one speaking Spanish. In New York there is
published to-day a =ladino= newspaper in Hebrew characters.
[593] =Potosí=, city in Bolivia famous for its silver mines.
[594] =Midas=, king of Phrygia about whom mythology has woven various
legends. Besides the one referred to here, he is said to have irritated
Apollo, who inflicted the ears of a donkey upon him.
[595] =Vellocino=, _the Golden Fleece_. Jason and the Argonauts, Greek
mythological characters, went to Colchis and brought back the Golden
Fleece, after slaying the dragon which kept guard over the fabled
treasure.
[596] =tierras de pan llevar=, _grain-producing lands_.
[597] =El Dorado=. The early _conquistadores_ imagined there existed a
country marvelously rich somewhere in America, which they called _=El
Dorado=_, i.e., _The Golden_.
[598] =la famosa ciudad del Alto Perú=, _i.e._, =Potosí=.
[599] =Quimera=, _Chimera_, monster in Greek mythology slain by
Bellerophon, the Corinthian hero. The meaning of _illusion_ has come as
a result of the fantastical shape ascribed to the monster.
[600] =la mísera máscara=, _i.e._, the exhausted mines of Peru and
California.
[601] =que apenas si bastan=, _which barely suffice_.
[602] =Murat= (Joaquín). He was the son of a humble inn-keeper, and
rose to be one of Napoleon's most trusted marshals, and was king of
Naples from 1808 to 1814.
[603] =Bernadotte= (Carlos), another marshal of Napoleon, risen from
the ranks. In 1818 he became king of Sweden.
[604] =los más=, _the majority_.
[605] =Río Negro=, river in the Argentine pampas. V. map.
[606] =chiripá=, _gaucho trousers_--composed of a piece of cloth
wound around the loins and the lower end brought between the legs and
fastened in front.
[607] =las colonias de Entre Ríos=. The province of Entre Ríos has many
colonies of Jewish farmers.
[608] _=golondrinas=_, name given in Argentina to the immigrants who go
back to their native land each year after the harvest.
[609] =los cuatro terrones=, _the niggardly patch_.
[610] =parece escribir el sol... la callejuela oriental=, _the sun
seems to write in arabesque characters trembling with lights and
shadows upon the whitewashed walls of the narrow oriental streets_.
[611] =a altas horas de la noche=, _in the late hours of the night_.
[612] =una mujer blanca y azul=, _a woman clad in blue and white_,
_i.e._, the colors of the Argentine flag.
[613] =Murillo=, Spanish painter. Cf. 138, 19.
[614] =a prevención=, _in their foresight_.
[615] =Van desapareciéndose=, _Gradually there disappear_.
[616] =¡Lo que trabajará...!= _How he will work!_
[617] =Balzac= (Honoré de), French novelist of the nineteenth century.
[618] ="¡Tú serás mío!"= Cf. _Les Illusions Perdues_, by Balzac,
chapter entitled, _Un Grand Homme de Province à Paris_.
[619] =entra por mucho=, _plays an important part_.
[620] =entre las temblonas pinceladas del gas=, _among the quivering
gleams of gas lights_.
[621] =toma blancuras de leche=, _becomes milk-white_.
[622] =la Mancha=, region in New Castile, Spain, birthplace of Don
Quijote, hero of Cervantes' novel, _The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quijote
of La Mancha_. The =esforzado hidalgo= mentioned in line 5 is Don
Quijote.
[623] =a su encuentro=, _to meet him_.
[624] =se pierden de vista=, _are lost to view_.
[625] =en cuesta=, _on a slope_.
[626] =_Salambó_=, novel by Flaubert, the great French novelist of the
nineteenth century. It depicts life in Carthage.
[627] =les da con un pie en la amplia grupa=, _shoves them off_.
[628] =apartando puentes=, _causing bridges to be drawn_.
[629] =río abajo=, _downstream_.
[630] =en la oportunidad debida=, _at the proper time_.
[631] =habría que=, _one should_.
[632] =se advierte=, _it is clear_.
[633] =se cumplan=, _will be met_.
[634] =en este sentido=, _to this effect_.
[635] =la independencia y la acción=, _freedom of action_.
[636] =Otros=, _Different_.
[637] =Hamilton= (Alexander), American statesman and economist
(1754-1804).
[638] =pueda ser llevada a juicio=, _can be indicted_.
[639] =se le prive=, _i.e._, =a la nación= mentioned in line 16.
[640] =de la de elegir=, _i.e._, =de la sentencia de elegir=. Trans.,
_of the power to select_.
[641] =porque el cobro... violencia=, _for preventing the collection of
it from being carried out by means of violence_.
[642] =de tal=, _as such_.
[643] =de aquél=, _i.e._, =el capitalista=.
[644] =aparece contrariando visiblemente=, _seems to contradict
outright_.
[645] Véase el discurso pronunciado por el Ministro argentino en los
Estados Unidos, don Domingo F. Sarmiento, en la fiesta oficial de la
Sociedad Histórica de Rhode Island, en presencia del Gobernador del
Estado.
[646] =el memorable mensaje=, _i.e._, the Monroe Doctrine.
[647] =la anarquía y las convulsiones=. Reference to period of civil
strife in Argentina from 1818 to 1851. V. Introduction.
[648] The period from 1880 to 1890 was one of great financial stress
in Argentina. The country became bankrupt during the administration of
Juárez Celman (1886-1890). Confidence in Argentina was restored during
the administration of Uriburu (1894-1898) by the nation's decision to
acknowledge the external indebtedness of the individual provinces.
[649] =entregando a su fallo=. Reference to boundary dispute with
Chile regarding southern Patagonia and the region of Atacama in the
northwest. The British crown settled the dispute during the summer of
1902.
[650] =del excelentísimo señor presidente de la República=. Julio Roca,
who had been president from 1880 to 1886, was president at this time.
[651] =transmita=. The subject of this verb is =el señor ministro= in
line 21.
[652] =a fin de que se sirva tenerla=, _so that it_ (=el gobierno de
los Estados Unidos=) _may be pleased to consider it_ (=nuestra manera
de considerar los sucesos=).
[653] =Quiera el señor ministro aceptar=, _May it please the minister
to accept_.
* * * * *
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
de la civilización europa=> de la civilización europea {pg 51}
que atrevesó=> que atravesó {pg 115}
cañon=> cañón {pg 155}
invasora y absorvente=> invasora y absorbente {pg 172}
así tambien=> así también {pg 206}
que acuadillaba=> que acaudillaba {pg 208}
=madrasta=, stepmother=> =madrastra=, stepmother {voc.}
=resfuerzo=, reënforcement=> =refuerzo=, reënforcement {voc.}
once and a half rifle distance=> one and a half rifle distance {voc.}