[1] The name _el Mágico prodigioso_, is purposely given to Máximo by the
author, in order to show that in Spain science is still considered, by
many, as a sort of sorcery; hence, that Spain is not abreast with modern
thought.
[2] The complete expression would be: _¡Dichosos los ojos que le ven a
V.!_
[3] _Hendaya_, French Hendaye, lies on the right bank of the Bidassoa.
It is the last French station before crossing the river into Spain.
[4] _Ursulinas_: an order of nuns founded by St. Angela Merici, at
Brescia, in Italy, about the year 1537, and so called from St. Ursula,
under whose protection it was placed. The members are devoted entirely
to education.
[5] _Bayona_: Bayonne, a city in southwestern France, near the Spanish
frontier. The population is largely Spanish and Basque.
[6] _Electra_: the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.
[7]: _Agamenón_: Agamemnon, in Greek legendary history, the most
powerful ruler in Greece. He led the Greek expedition against Troy, and
on his return was slain, according to Aeschylus, by his wife
Clytemnestra.
[8] _San José de la Penitencia_: the fictitious name of a convent;
suggested, perhaps, by the Franciscan nunnery of San Juan de la
Penitencia at Toledo, built with the partial incorporation of the
semi-Moorish palace of the Pantojas.
[9] _Amortizable_: the name of some stock, probably imaginary
[10] _sacado...posible de_: see _sacar_.
[11] _los_: refers to the accounts of the Yuste family.
[12] _Jesús me valga_: see _Jesús_.
[13] _Don Juan Tenorio_, who lived in the fourteenth century, was the
son of an illustrious family of Seville. Don Juan is the type of
skeptical libertinism, and, as such, has been made the subject of the
drama "El burlador de Sevilla," by Molina; of Molière's comedy, "Don
Juan ou le festin de Pierre"; of Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni"; of
Byron's poem "Don Juan"; and of works by several other authors.
[14] _Satanás_: because Satan would be sorry to lose so good a worker.
[15] _San José_, etc.: see footnote 8.
[16] _Bilbao_: capital of the province of Vizcaya, Spain.
[17] _Barcelona_: capital of the province of Barcelona, Spain. Said to
have been founded or rebuilt by Hamilcar Barca, and named for him. It is
the second city in Spain and one of the principal commercial places in
the peninsula.
[18] _Año Cristiano_: "Lives of the Saints." There are several
publications with this title, being either year-books giving the Saints'
days, or an account of the lives of the saints.
[19] _Patrocinio_: an imaginary religious association.
[20] _Valencia_: the chief town of the province of Valencia. It is the
third city in Spain, and the seat of a university.
[21] _Cádiz_: the capital of the province of Cádiz; an important
commercial city.
[22] _emplear...en dobles_: see _emplear_. An expression of the
Stock-exchange referring to the interest on stocks, and the broker's
commission.
[23] _a prima_: see _prima_. A privilege secured by the payment of a
certain premium, either (1) of calling for the delivery, or (2) of
making delivery, of a certain specified amount of some particular stock,
at a specified price, and within specified limits of time.
[24] _Las Esclavas_: an imaginary religious association
[25] _Andalucía_: Andalusia, a province in Southern Spain. From the
fertility of its soil it has been called the "garden" and "granary" of
Spain.
[26] _pajarita_: refers to the various little figures that
schoolchildren make by folding a square piece of paper in certain ways.
[27] _Don Juan_: see footnote 13.
[28] _San José_, etc.: see footnote 8.
[29] _Bach_: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). One of the greatest
composers of church music.
[30]: _el día...mañana:_ see _día_.
[31] _el Mágico prodigioso_: see footnote 1.
[32] _Beethoven_: Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827). A celebrated
Austrian composer, of Dutch descent.
[33] _Sonata Patética_: Sonata Pathétique, opus 13, pub. 1799; dedicated
to Prince Lichnowski.
[34] _Clair de Lune_: opus 27, No. 2 (Moonlight). Composed 1801 (?);
dedicated to Countess Guicciardi.
[35] _Las Esclavas:_ see footnote 24.
[36] _Patrocinio_: see footnote 19.
[37] _Socorro_: probably an ambulance station (_casa de socorro_), of
which there are a number in Madrid.
[38] _Fomento_: Ministry of public works (_Ministerio de Fomento_).
[39] _el Mágico prodigioso_: see footnote 1.
[40] _La Esclavitud_: a fictitious name; possibly suggested by the
church of Nuestra Señora de la Esclavitud, at Esclavitud, in Galicia.
[41] _Las Esclavas_: see footnote 24.
[42] _¡Virgen del Carmen!_ an exclamation, with a suggested allusion to
the Procesión de la Virgen del Carmen, from the church of San José,
which is among the ecclesiastical festivals of Madrid.
[43] _Ursulinas de Bayona_: see footnote 4.
[44] _Ursulinas_: see footnote 4.
[45] _Hendaya_: see footnote 3.
[46] _entrando...edad_: see _entrar_.
[47] _cuatrollones_: see _cuatromillon_. A mistake on the part of the
servant who is speaking, and who wishes to give the impression of a
large amount.
[48] _Virgen del Carmen_: see footnote 42.
[49] _hacen el oso_: see _hacer_. In Spain it is customary for a young
man to walk back and forth before the house of his fair one, watching
the windows, thus hoping to obtain a glimpse of her. Hence the
comparison to a bear pacing back and forth in his cage.
[50] _La Esclavitud_: see footnote 40.
[51] _San José_, etc.; see footnote 8.
[52] _Santa Clara_: a fictitious name.
[53] _Tablas de resistencias_: a catalogue, or tabular list, giving the
electrical resistance of metals.
[54] _el Mágico prodigioso_: see footnote 31.
[55] ¿_Cuánto (tiempo) hace que comieron?_
[56] _Fausto_: Dr. Johann Faust, or Faustus, born near Weimar, and said
to have died in 1538. A magician, astrologer, and soothsayer. The
legends concerning him have furnished material for several plays,
notably Goethe's tragedy "Faust." Calderon's play "El Mágico Prodigioso"
resembles Goethe's play, though founded upon another legend.
[57] _Homero_: Homer. The poet to whom tradition assigns the authorship
of the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey." Modern criticism has led to the doubt
whether such a person as Homer existed at all, the great epics which
bear that name being supposed to be the product of various persons and
ages.
[58] _Virgilio_: Virgil or Vergil. Publius Vergilius Maro (70 B.C.-19
B.C.), a famous Roman epic and idyllic poet. His works include
"Eclogues" or "Bucolics," "Georgics," and the "Aeneid."
[59] _Dante Alighieri_ (1265-1321): the greatest poet of Italy. His
chief work is the "Divina Commedia" which created the Italian language.
[60] _Lope Félix de Vega Carpio_ (1562-1635): a celebrated Spanish
dramatist and poet. The remarkable facility with which he produced plays
can be judged from their number, eighteen hundred according to Pérez de
Montalvan, his intimate friend.
[61] _Pedro Calderón de la Barca_ (1600-1681): a celebrated Spanish
dramatist. He wrote both secular and religious plays, maintaining a
controlling influence over whatever related to the drama.
[62] _Hendaya_: see footnote 3.
[63] _Colón_: Christopher Columbus (1446(?)-1506).
[64] _Burdeos_: Bordeaux, situated on the Garonne river, is the fourth
city and third port of France. It has a large trade in wine and brandy.
[65] _Jerez de la Frontera_: a city in the Province of Cadiz, Spain,
celebrated for the production and export of sherry wine.
[66] _henos aquí_: see _aquí_.
[67] _Bunsen_: Robert Wilhelm Bunsen (1811-1899). A noted German
chemist, and the inventor of the "Bunsen burner," "Bunsen battery," etc.
[68] _Es...cuento_: see _cuento_.
[69] _En...parte_: see _parte_.
[70] _Santa Clara_: a fictitious name.
[71] _Cónclave_: the assembly of the cardinals of the Roman Catholic
church for the election of a pope; hence, any private meeting or close
assembly.
[72] _Júpiter_: in Roman mythology, the supreme deity. He was regarded
as the special protector of Rome.
[73] _Olimpo_: Olympus. The name of a mountain on the borders of
Macedonia and Thessaly, regarded as the especial home of the gods.
[74] _Guardia civil_: a select body of fine, trustworthy Spanish police,
armed and disciplined like soldiers. These guards, in pairs, patrol the
roads.
[75] _por encima de_: see _por_.
[76] _quiere...mal a_: see _querer_.
[77] _¿Verdad que no?_ see _verdad_.
[78] _No tengo...mejillas_: refers to the teaching of Christ's sermon on
the Mount (Matt. 5, 39).
[79] _haciendo juego_: see _hacer_.
[80] _Virgen de los Dolores_: the Virgin Mary.
[81] _la novela...capítulos_: refers to the interest and authority shown
by Cuesta and Pantoja.
[82] _Hasta...luego_: see _luego_.
[83] _vascongada_: see _vascongado_. Vascongadas, the Spanish name of
the Basque Provinces. These include the provinces of Vizcaya, Guipuzcoa,
and Alava, in Spain. The Basque district in France comprises the
arrondissements of Bayonne and Mauléon, in the department of
Basses-Pyrénées.
[84] _eso sí_: see _eso_.
[85] 68...: in 1868, Isabella II., Queen of Spain, was deposed and
banished by a revolution which broke out at Cadiz. She abdicated in
favor of her eldest son, Alphonso XII., in 1870.
[86] _bajaremos...humos_: see _humo_.
[87] _hagas caso_: see _hacer_.
[88] _haga frente_: see _hacer_.
[89] _San José_, etc.: see footnote 8.
[90] _allá...haya_: see _haber_.
[91] _por el pronto_: see _pronto_.
[92] _Congregación_: (1) a religious community bound together by a
common vow, but not by the solemn and irrevocable vows which
characterize the monastic orders; (2) in some religious orders, the
union of a number of monasteries of the same order under the direction
of a Superior.
[93] _La Penitencia_: see footnote 8.
[94] _Magdalena_: Mary Magdalene. A woman mentioned in the Gospels from
whom seven devils had been cast out (Mark 26, 9; Luke 8, 2). She has
been identified, erroneously, with the woman mentioned in Luke 7, 37-50.
[95] _Congregación_: see footnote 92.
[96] _La Penitencia_: see footnote 8.
[97]: _salimos...tecla_: see _tecla_.
[98] _a que_: see _que_.
[99] _triste de mí_: see _mí_.
[100] _dar parte_: see _dar_.
[101] _Si falta todo_: see _faltar_.
[102] _camposanto_: Campo Santo (sacred field) is the Italian name for a
cemetery, but more especially for an enclosed place of interment. The
most notable Campo Santo is that of Pisa, founded by Archbishop Ubaldo
in the 12th century. The archbishop, being driven out of Palestine,
brought back his vessels loaded with earth from Mount Calvary. This he
deposited on the spot which was then called the "sacred field," and
which gave its name as a generic term to the burying-grounds of Italy.
[103] _Qué...hombre_: see _lástima_.
[104] _¿Con que_: see _que_.
[105] _no cabe en_: see _caber_.
[106] _La Penitencia_: see footnote 8.
[107] _volverá locos_: see _volver_.
[108] _a cara descubierta_: see _cara_.
[109] _con tiempo_: see _tiempo_.
[110] _por...sesgado_: see _camino_.
[111] _San José_, etc.: see footnote 8.
[112] _Congregación_: see footnote 92.
[113] _tocan...fin_: see _tocar_.
[114] _franquear...paso_: see _franquear_.