4.{21-4} =debí ... sido= = _debí (de) serle_. This childlike language is
somewhat similar to the redundant English expression that one sometimes
hears, "I should have been glad to have done it."
=Page 22.=--1.{22-1} =La= = =le=, feminine, dative singular. The best
writers sometimes use _la_ in this way, to avoid ambiguity.
2.{22-2} =Le ... sí=, _I consented to be his sweetheart_ (lit., _I told
him yes_).
3.{22-3} =iba cogida=, _was holding on_. Note the use of _ir_ as an
auxiliary verb with the past participle.
4.{22-4} =fué=; cf. page 6, note 2.
=Page 23.=--1.{23-1} =no hacía ... estaban=, _it was not more than a
year that they had been_, or _they had not been ... more than a year_;
cf. page 12, note 2.
2.{23-2} =le ... el cariño=, _... their affection for her_.
3.{23-3} =que la mamá ... pudiese=, _that her mother should manage the
best way she could_.
4.{23-4} =papá= is subject of =parecía=; =... á ellas=, _the girls_.
5.{23-5} =las ... valían= = _cada una tenía un novio, pero los novios no
valían_. Cf. H. F. _Gr._, § 81, 2.
=Page 24.=--1.{24-1} =aquél= refers to the =paraíso=.
2.{24-2} =Teresa ... admirablemente=, _Teresa was most delighted_.
3.{24-3} =el verla=; note the definite article before the infinitive.
Cf. H. F. _Gr._, § 120, 3.
4.{24-4} =A te, oh cara= (Ital.), is, in Spanish: _Á ti, oh cara_, _to
thee, my beloved_.
=Page 25.=--1.{25-1} =no ... valga=, _no queen would be of account_.
2.{25-2} =hacérselo reconocer=, _to make her realize it_.
3.{25-3} =si ... acuerdo= (Span. proverb), _out of sight, out of mind_.
4.{25-4} =para ... punto= (lit., _to carry the conversation to another
point_), _to change the subject_.
5.{25-5} =¡Si yo ... pocos!= (= _muchos ó pocos años_), _why! I shall
love you the same, whether you are old or young!_
=Page 26.=--1.{26-1} =que nos tratásemos de tú=, _that we should address
each other with tú_. _Tú_ is more familiar than _usted_.
2.{26-2} =después de aceptado=, _after I had accepted_.
3.{26-3} =del principio=, _that she had had at first_.
=Page 27.=--1.{27-1} =que le había visto=, _that I had seen her wear_.
=Page 28.=--1.{28-1} =se le ... garganta=, _a lump had come into her
throat_.
2.{28-2} =hacía ... delante=, _she made them hold their hands before
them_.
=Page 29.=--1.{29-1} =de=, _for_.
=Page 30.=--1.{30-1} For the life and works of Alarcón, see page xii of
the _Introduction_. The text of _La Buenaventura_ is taken from the
_Obras de D. Pedro A. de Alarcón_ (in the _Colección de Escritores
Castellanos_), _Novelas Cortas, Madrid, 1905_. _La Buenaventura_
describes the conditions that existed formerly in certain parts of
Spain. Then the sparsely populated districts were infested with
highwaymen. To-day, chiefly through the efforts of the Civil Guard, a
select body of Spanish police, one is as safe in the highways and
by-ways of Spain as in those of any other civilized country.
2.{30-2} =sobrenombre= is, strictly speaking, a name added to the
_apellido_, to distinguish two persons whose _apellido_ is the same.
3.{30-3} =echado que hubo= = _cuando hubo echado_.
4.{30-4} =Eugenio Portocarrero, conde del Montijo=, was father of
Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III.
5.{30-5} That is to say, he was fond of =lo ajeno=, but he took it only
=con permiso del engañado dueño=.
=Page 31.=--1.{31-1} =á que se me den=, _that I may receive_ (lit.,
_that ... may be given to me_).
2.{31-2} --=Los ofrecidos hace días=, _those offered some days ago_.
3.{31-3} =al que=, _to the one who_.
4.{31-4} =Lo=, him. Alarcón uses _lo_ oftener than _le_, as the masc.
sing. accusative form of the pers. pron. Some of the best modern
writers, e.g. Juan Valera, have avoided _lo_ as a masc. form.
5.{31-5} =hace tres años que se persigue=, _for three years we have been
pursuing_; the present tense is used, as the act or state still
continues.
6.{31-6} =de que ... Justicia=, _by which the officers of justice should
never catch him_.
=Page 32.=--1.{32-1} =hizo ocho días=, _a week ago_. Cf. the French _il
y a huit jours_, and the German _vor acht Tagen_.
2.{32-2} =¿Será=; cf. page 20, note 5.
3.{32-3} =matan=; cf. page 3, note 3.
=Page 33.=--1.{33-1} =no había de conocerte= has about the force of _no
te conocería_. See H. F. _Gr._, § 71, 1.
2.{33-2} =¡Y que ... para=, _and can there be a mother who gives birth
to_.
3.{33-3} =¡Jesús!= Expressions such as _¡Dios mío!_, _¡Jesús!_, etc.,
are common in Spanish. Translate by _heavens!_, or some similar
expression.
4.{33-4} =¡Que ... muera=, _may I die an untimely death_.
5.{33-5} =gitanico= is subject of =tenía=.
6.{33-6} =le= refers to =mula=: do not translate =le=. This use of an
expletive dat. pers. pron., of the 3d pers., referring to a dative noun,
is very common in spoken Spanish. See also page 34, line 5.
7.{33-7} =si son=, _why, they are_. Note this common use of exclamatory
_si_.
=Page 34.=--1.{34-1} =Parrón= is subject of =decir=; =nube de trabucos=
is subject of =rodear=.
2.{34-2} =¡Deteneos!=; for this omission of _-d_ before _os_, see H. F.
_Gr._, § 86. a.
3.{34-3} =se la cogí=; _se_ is the dative of interest; lit., _for him_;
cf. H. F. _Gr._, § 111, a.
4.{34-4} =Eso= =... lo=; cf. page 5. note 2.
5.{34-5} =¿Dices que cuándo?= Note the expletive =que= here, as in =que
sí= and =que no=.
6.{34-6} =me... sesos=, _might cause my brains to be blown out_.
=Page 35.=--1.{35-1} =después de muerto=, _after he is dead_.
2.{35-2} =había... sacasen=, _I had succeeded in getting them to take me
out..._
=Page 36.=--1.{36-1} =los gitanos... tenemos=; cf. page 15, note 1.
2.{36-2} =hubiese= is here an imperf. subj., corresponding in meaning to
_hay_.
=Page 37.=--1.{37-1} =quiere decir=; see under _decir_, in Vocab.