Heath's Modern Language Series: Tres Comedias Part 31

[44.2] =llamasteis.= As the modern form would be either =llamaste= or =llamo= (according to whether the speaker uses =tu= or =usted=), =llamasteis= is an archaism and properly corresponds to the archaic form of address =vos=.

Here living Spanish requires (=usted=) =llamo=, or (=tu=) =llamaste=, if the speaker may appropriately use =tu=. =Vos= is confined to poetic style, and to solemn addresses, for instance, to G.o.d, to royalty, or to high dignitaries, etc.

Everywhere in _Los intereses creados_ we find =vos= instead of =usted= and, consequently, =vuestro= etc. instead of =su= or =de usted=. With =vos= the verb must of course be in the true second person plural (_e.g._ =llamais=). See the note on =la antigua farsa=, page 39, note 2.

See Bello-Cuervo, ---- 234, 235.

[44.3] =fue= is intentionally archaic and is used for emphasis. See page 8, note 1.

[44.4] =llamais.= See note 2 (just above).

[44.5] =se.= The reflexive makes =estar= connote stopping or delaying or standing.

[45.1] =que.= This =que= is elliptical. A natural English rendering is made possible if we use 'or.'

[45.2] =a lo que.= See page 10, note 3.

[46.1] =soy con vosotros= 'I'll attend to you presently.' A special locution; for, in general, we should expect =estoy=; but for this meaning =soy= is the correct living form. This phrase has usually a future sense.

Here, the exact time expressed by =soy= may be present and may be future.

This idiom must not be confused with =estar con= denoting locality.

[46.2] =Buena la hicisteis!= (Ironically) 'That's a fine thing you've done!' For the feminine, see page 32, note 3.

[46.3] =Ordenanzas.= Ordinances or police regulations that required (and still require) Spanish innkeepers to report to the authorities within twenty-four hours of the arrival of a guest, his name, the place from which he comes, his business, and other details. A satisfactory statement of the law is to be found in the _Novisima recopilacion, Lib.

III, t.i.t. XIX, Ley XXVII, 4_. The _Novisima recopilacion_ is published in fairly convenient form in Alcubilla's _Codigos antiguos de Espana_ (page 1011). Of course the date a.s.signed to the action of _Los intereses creados_ is anterior to 1805, the year of the formulation of the code just mentioned; but the legal requirement was approximately the same in the earlier time.

[46.4] =Venios!= The reflexive with intransitive verbs of motion is borrowed from a similar construction with transitive verbs (_e.g._ =moverse=, =arroja.r.s.e=, etc.) and does not appreciably change the meaning of the verb; it is probably to be regarded as a mere sign of spontaneity.

See Bello-Cuervo, note 102.

[47.1] =Aretino.= Pietro Aretino (1492-1566), the most notorious literary blackmailer of the Italian Renaissance; also an author of ability. He was born in Arezzo (whence Aretino), but is more closely a.s.sociated with Venice.

[48.1] =Pobres de ellos...!= "When adjectives are used as interjections before personal p.r.o.nouns =de= is interposed." Ramsey, -- 1431. Translate 'Woe to them...!' Cf. page 15, note 2.

[48.2] =por melancolico.= Supply =ser= and translate 'because it is sad.'

[48.3] =Sois vosotros?= In English the verb is in the third person singular: 'Is it you?'

[49.1] =hagan merced.= An archaism corresponding to the modern =hagan (ustedes) el favor=.

[49.2] =tengo dedicado.= =Tener= and =llevar= are sometimes used instead of =haber= with the past participle, after the manner of auxiliaries; but they are not true auxiliaries, because the participle is treated as an adjective and therefore agrees with the object in gender and number.

=Tener= really denotes possession and is more emphatic than =haber=.

[49.3] =he menester.= This expression, with =haber= as princ.i.p.al verb, is not unknown even in modern prose. In general, however, the use of =haber= as an independent verb is archaic.

[50.1] =No mirare nada!= 'I shall not stop at anything!' Cf. page 22, note 2.

[50.2] =ha= (=mas de un mes=). In this sense =hace= is much more common than =ha= in modern Spanish.

[50.3] =un.= Very commonly used for =una= before a feminine word beginning with stressed =a= or =ha=; for this apocopation see Bello-Cuervo, -- 156.

[51.1] =mirese.= Cf. page 22, note 2; the reflexive adds nothing that can be rendered into English; it is scarcely more than an ethical dative.

[51.2] =Como conocidos?= 'How known?' 'What do you mean by known?' An elliptical expression, not impossible in colloquial English.

[51.3] =Olvidados los tengo.= Note agreement of =olvidados= with =los= and see page 49, note 2.

[52.1] =vos.= The conventional form of address; see page 44, note 2.

[52.2] =Como si sabemos?= 'What do you mean by asking if we know?' See page 51, note 2.

[52.3] =vosotros... vos.= An ill.u.s.tration of the distinction between the two p.r.o.nouns; =vosotros=, the real plural, refers to the company attacking, while =vos=, the artificial plural, refers to the captain; for the singular form =espada=, see page 4, note 3.

[52.4] =hara que se os trate= 'he will have you treated.' =Hacer= followed by =que= and the subjunctive, meaning literally 'make that,' 'bring it about that,' is translated like =hacer= with the infinitive; =que= is suppressed.

[53.1] =No he librado de mala= 'I've had a narrow escape.' =Libra.r.s.e de buena= means 'escape from danger.' The omission of the reflexive makes the expression briefer and more forceful. For the feminine =mala= (originally followed, perhaps, by =ventura=), see page 32, note 3.

[53.2] =Agradeceros.= Supply some verb such as =puedo= before the infinitive; the construction is permissible in English in certain cases; it makes it appear that the infinitive replaces the indicative. The statement thereby seems less personal.

[55.1] =hay para.= See vocabulary under =haber= (=hay=).

[55.2] =Que una dama se vea!= 'To think that a lady should see herself!'

Another elliptical sentence dependent upon some such expression as =es posible=.

[56.1] =hasta emplearlo yo= 'until I employed him.' Note that =emplear= is governed by =hasta= and that =yo= is its subject.

[56.2] =Triste de.= See page 48, note 1.

[56.3] =ser llegado.= A relic of the auxiliary =ser= with intransitive verbs of motion. This construction is common in Old Spanish, rare in Cervantes, and almost non-existent now. A few survivals occur even in prose, and of such survivals =es llegado= is perhaps the most common. See Bello-Cuervo, -- 1119.

[56.4] =no seria= 'could not have been.' Conditional of probability in the past.

[56.5] =la dona Sirena de mis veinte= 'the dona Sirena that I was at the age of twenty.' =Anos= must be supplied, as is clear from the succeeding speeches. Colombina pretends to suppose that some other word (_e.g._ =amantes=) might be intended.

[57.1] =creyera.= Imperfect subjunctive, subst.i.tuted occasionally for the pluperfect when negation is strong.

[59.1] =Con ser tal.= Equivalent to 'although' and a dependent clause.

With the infinitive =con= denotes means, cause, condition, or concession.

In translating we use sometimes the present participle, and sometimes a dependent clause.

[59.2] =no anduviera= 'would not be.' When subst.i.tuted for =ser=, =andar= usually implies continuance or permanence, and strengthens the statement.

[59.3] =a no fiar tanto= 'if he did not rely so much.' =A= + infinitive is commonly equivalent to a conditional clause.

[60.1] =Ya me ireis conociendo= 'you will learn to know me gradually.' See page 7, note 2.

[61.1] =con ser= 'being.' See page 59, note 1.

[61.2] =Si asi fuera siempre!= 'If it were only always thus!'--a wish that cannot be realized.

[62.1] =referidos= 'if told,' 'if they were told.' See page 3, note 6.