Spanish · Part One

Arriba del árbol

Up in the Tree

131 sentences · 59 notes

Tap a sentence to open its words. The mark beside it plays it.

1
Day is breaking.
AmaneceDay is breakingamanecer · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular, impersonalmain verb of the sentence
WordWeather and daylight verbs «Amanecer» ('to dawn') is one of the impersonal verbs Spanish uses for natural phenomena, like «llover» (to rain) or «anochecer» (to grow dark). It has no subject — «amanece» on its own means 'day is breaking'. Arlt opens the chapter with a single bare verb to fix the hour at first light.
Erdosain walks along the path that runs beside the broken sidewalk by the market gardens.
Word«quinta» A «quinta» in River Plate Spanish is a country house or small farm on the edge of the city — here the truck-garden plots that ringed Buenos Aires in the 1920s. «Vereda» is the regional word for 'sidewalk' (Spain would say «acera»).
The coolness of the morning reaches the most remote little cell of his tired lungs.
Although overhead the sky still darkens, and all this darkness comes down to bring things close to the eyes, since the distant ones are invisible on the horizon.
Word«-ear» color verbs «Negrear» means 'to show black, to look black'. Spanish turns many color and light adjectives into verbs with «-ear»: «verdear» (to look green), «rojear» (to redden), «blanquear» (to whiten). Arlt leans on them throughout this dawn scene to paint the changing light.
Through the channel of back alleys, some grey-green bands slowly redden.
2
Erdosain walks on, thinking:
GrammarThe gerund of manner «Pensando» is the gerund (the «-ando/-iendo» form) attached to a main verb to show what someone does while doing the main action: «avanza pensando» = 'he advances thinking', i.e. 'he walks on, thinking'. It is Spanish's standard way to layer two simultaneous actions.
3
—This is sad as the desert.
Right now she is sleeping with him.
4
Quickly the watery brightness of dawn fills the alleys with whitish vapors.
Erdosain says to himself:
GrammarReflexive «decirse» The reflexive pronoun «se» turns «decir» (to say) into 'to say to oneself': «se dice» = 'he says to himself'. Spanish marks inner speech this way constantly, and Arlt uses it to keep us inside Erdosain's head.
5
—Still, one has to be strong.
Grammar«hay que» + infinitive «Hay que» plus an infinitive expresses impersonal obligation — 'one must', 'it is necessary to': «hay que ser fuerte» = 'one has to be strong'. Unlike «tener que», it names no particular person who must act; the duty hangs over everyone. It becomes Erdosain's refrain in this passage.
I remember when I was a kid.
Grammar«acordarse de» «Acordarse» is a pronominal verb that always takes «de» before its object: «me acuerdo de…» = 'I remember…'. Don't confuse it with «acordar» (to agree) — the reflexive «se» and the preposition «de» are what mean 'to remember'.
I used to think I saw walking, along the crests of the clouds, great men with curly hair and their upright limbs plated in light.
GrammarImperfect for a childhood habit «Creía» is the imperfect of «creer». The imperfect tense renders repeated or ongoing states in the past — 'I used to think / I would think' — the natural tense for childhood memory, set against the single, completed actions a preterite would mark.
6
In reality they walked inside the country of Joy that was within me.
Ah!, and to lose a dream is almost like losing a fortune.
GrammarInfinitive as subject Spanish uses the bare infinitive where English uses the «-ing» form as a noun: «perder un sueño es…» = 'losing a dream is…'. The infinitive «perder» is the grammatical subject of «es». (The spacing «¡ Ah!» is Arlt's own, kept verbatim.)
What am I saying?
It is worse.
One has to be strong — that is the only truth.
And to have no pity.
And even if one feels tired, to tell oneself: I am tired now, I am sorry now, but I won't be tomorrow.
GrammarSubjunctive after «aunque» «Aunque» ('even if / although') takes the subjunctive when the case is hypothetical rather than a stated fact. «Se sienta» is the present subjunctive of «sentirse» — 'even if one should feel tired' — as opposed to the indicative «se siente», which would assert it as true.
That is the truth.
Tomorrow.
7
Erdosain closes his eyes.
GrammarDefinite article for body parts Spanish uses the definite article, not a possessive, with body parts when the owner is clear: «cierra los ojos» = 'he closes his eyes', literally 'closes the eyes'. Saying «sus ojos» here would sound foreign.
A scent he cannot tell whether it is of spikenard or of carnation sprinkles the air with a mysterious, festive perfuming.
8
And Erdosain thinks:
9
—In spite of everything, it is necessary to graft a joy onto life.
Word«a pesar de» «A pesar de» is a fixed phrase meaning 'in spite of, despite'. It builds on «pesar» (to weigh; sorrow) but functions as a single preposition: «a pesar de todo» = 'in spite of everything'.
One cannot live like this.
GrammarImpersonal «se» «Se puede» with no named subject means 'one can / it is possible to'. The «se» makes the statement impersonal and general: «no se puede vivir así» = 'one cannot live this way'. This is the most common way Spanish says 'you can('t)' about people in general.
It isn't right.
Word«no hay derecho» An idiom of protest: «no hay derecho» literally is 'there is no right', but it means 'it isn't right, it's not fair'. A colloquial cry against injustice — keep it idiomatic, not literal.
Above all our misery a joy must float, I don't know, something more beautiful than the ugly human face, than the horrible human truth.
GrammarSubjunctive after impersonal expressions Impersonal expressions of necessity like «es necesario que» trigger the subjunctive in the clause that follows. «Flote» is the present subjunctive of «flotar» — 'it is necessary that a joy float'. The need is willed, not yet a fact, so Spanish reaches for the subjunctive.
The Astrologer is right.
Word«tener razón» «Tener razón» = 'to be right' (literally 'to have reason'). Spanish forms many states with «tener» + noun where English uses 'to be' + adjective: «tener hambre» (to be hungry), «tener razón» (to be right). The Astrologer is one of the novel's central conspirators.
One must inaugurate the empire of the Lie, of magnificent lies.
To worship someone?
GrammarThe personal «a» When the direct object of a verb is a specific person, Spanish inserts «a» before it: «adorar a alguien» = 'to worship someone'. This 'personal a' has no English equivalent — it simply flags a human object.
To make a way for oneself through this forest of stupidity?
But how?
10
Erdosain continues his soliloquy, his cheekbones tinged with pink:
11
—What does it matter whether I am a murderer or a degraded man?
GrammarSubjunctive after «importa que» «Importar que» ('to matter that') is an expression of emotional reaction, and such verbs take the subjunctive in the clause that follows. «Sea» is the present subjunctive of «ser» — '…that I be a murderer'. The subject pronoun «yo» is added for emphasis.
Does that matter?
No.
It is secondary.
There is something more beautiful than the vileness of all men together, and it is joy.
If I were happy, happiness would absolve me of my crime.
GrammarThe unreal conditional A contrary-to-fact condition pairs the past subjunctive in the «si» clause with the conditional in the main clause: «si estuviera… absolvería» = 'if I were… it would absolve'. «Estuviera» is the imperfect subjunctive of «estar»; «absolvería» is the conditional of «absolver». Erdosain is imagining a happiness he does not have.
Joy is the essential thing.
Grammar«lo» + adjective «Lo» before an adjective makes an abstract noun: «lo esencial» = 'the essential thing / what is essential'. Spanish uses this neuter «lo» to talk about a quality in the abstract, with no specific noun behind it.
And also to love someone...
Word«querer» = to love «Querer» means 'to want', but with the personal «a» before a person it means 'to love': «querer a alguien» = 'to love someone'. It is the warm, everyday word for loving people, lighter than «amar». The trailing «...» leaves the thought unfinished.
12
The sky turns green in the distance, while the low-lying darkness still wraps the trunks of the trees.
Erdosain frowns.
Word«fruncir el ceño» «Fruncir el ceño» is the set phrase 'to knit one's brow, to frown'. «El ceño» denotes the furrowed brow — the grimace of displeasure produced by drawing the eyebrows together. The space between the eyebrows is «el entrecejo»; both appear in the phrase «fruncir el ceño / fruncir el entrecejo». Note also the definite article «el» for a body part.
From his spirit there rise vapors of memory, golden mists, gleaming rails that lose themselves in the field of an afternoon vaulted with sun.
And the face of the girl, a pale little face, with greenish eyes and black curls escaping from under a little cloth hat, rises from the surface of his spirit.
WordDiminutives «-ita / -ito» The endings «-ito/-ita» form diminutives. They can mean literally 'small' — «carita» (little face), «sombrerito» (little hat) — but they also carry tenderness. Here they soften the remembered girl with affection. «Rulos» is the River Plate word for 'curls'.
13
Two years ago.
Grammar«hace» + time = 'ago' «Hace» plus a span of time means 'ago': «hace dos años» = 'two years ago'. It uses the third-person of «hacer» impersonally, never agreeing with the time word. Erdosain keeps correcting himself: two years, no, three.
No.
Three.
Yes, three years.
What was she called?
Grammar«llamarse» for names Spanish states a name with the reflexive «llamarse» (literally 'to call oneself'): «¿cómo se llamaba?» = 'what was she called?'. The imperfect «llamaba» fits a name as an ongoing fact in the past.
María, María Esther.
What was she called?
The sweet little face now fills, with its warmth, a darkened space of reverie.
He remembers so many things!
He was sitting at her side, the wind was stirring her black curls, and suddenly he reached out his hand and between his fingertips took the girl's burning chin.
GrammarImperfect backdrop, preterite action Watch the tenses switch: «estaba sentado» and «movía» (imperfect) set the ongoing scene — he was seated, the wind was blowing — while «extendió» and «tomó» (preterite) mark the single, completed gestures that break it. This is the core preterite/imperfect contrast in one sentence.
Where is she now?
Under what roof does she sleep?
if he found her, would he recognize her?
GrammarHypothetical 'if' Another contrary-to-fact condition: imperfect subjunctive «encontrara» + conditional «reconocería» = 'if he found her, would he recognize her?'. The unreal pairing signals a meeting he doesn't expect to happen. (Arlt's lowercase «si» here is kept verbatim.)
Three years ago.
He met her on a train, talked with her for a few minutes over fifteen days, and then he disappeared.
Grammar«conocer» in the preterite In the preterite, «conocer» means not 'knew' but 'met (for the first time)': «la conoció en un tren» = 'he met her on a train'. A handful of verbs shift meaning between tenses this way — «saber» preterite = 'found out', «querer» preterite = 'tried'.
That is all and nothing more.
And she didn't know that he was married.
What would she have said had she known it?
Grammar«de» + infinitive as a condition «De» before an infinitive can express a condition: «de saberlo» = 'if she had known it / had she known it'. It is a compact substitute for a whole «si» clause. «Hubiera dicho» is the past perfect subjunctive — 'would have said'.
Yes, now he remembers.
She was called María.
But does that matter at all?
No.
There was something more beautiful in all that, the sweet fever that fell from her eyes, at moments green and at moments brown.
Grammar«había» = 'there was' «Había» is the imperfect of «haber» used impersonally for 'there was / there were'. Like «hay» in the present, it never agrees with what follows — «había algo» (there was something), «había cosas» (there were things).
And her silence.
Erdosain remembers railway journeys; he is sitting beside the girl who has let her head drop onto his shoulder, he tangles his fingers in her curls, and the fifteen-year-old girl trembles in silence.
Grammar«dejar caer» = to let fall «Dejar» plus an infinitive means 'to let / allow (something to happen)': «dejar caer la cabeza» = 'to let one's head drop'. Here it sits in the present perfect, «ha dejado caer» — 'has let drop' — folding the memory into the present-tense narration.
If she knew now that he plans to kill a man, what would she say?
GrammarImperfect subjunctive + conditional «Supiera» is the imperfect subjunctive of «saber»; «diría» is the conditional of «decir». The pair builds the unreal 'if she knew… what would she say?'. This is the chapter's first explicit naming of the murder Erdosain is planning.
She probably wouldn't understand that word.
And Erdosain remembers with what schoolgirl shyness she would raise her arm and rest her hand on his cheeks rough with stubble; and perhaps that happiness, the one he lost, is the very one needed to wipe so much trace of ugliness from the human face.
GrammarImperfect for repeated gestures «Levantaba» and «apoyaba» (imperfect) describe habitual, repeated motions in the past — 'she would raise… and rest…' — the gestures she made again and again. The imperfect is Spanish's tense for 'used to / would' habits.
14
Erdosain now examines himself with curiosity.
Why does he think so many things?
By what right?
15
Since when do candidates for murderers think?
Word«¿desde cuándo?» «¿Desde cuándo?» literally asks 'since when?', and like its English twin it often carries a sting of irony — 'since when do murderers-to-be sit around thinking?'. «Candidatos a asesinos» uses «a» to mean 'candidates for'.
And yet, there is something in him that gives thanks to the Universe.
Word«dar las gracias» «Dar las gracias (a alguien)» is the set phrase 'to thank (someone)' — literally 'to give the thanks'. The «le… al Universo» doubles the indirect object, a normal Spanish redundancy that pins down who is being thanked.
Does it consist of humility or of love?
He doesn't know, but he understands that in incoherence there is sweetness; it occurs to him that a poor soul, on going mad, gratefully abandons the sufferings of this earth.
Grammar«al» + infinitive = 'upon doing' «Al» followed by an infinitive means 'upon / on (doing something)': «al enloquecer» = 'on going mad'. It compresses a clause of time into two words — the same construction that opens the novel's first chapter, «al abrir la puerta».
And below this pity, an implacable, almost ironic force twists his lip with a grimace of contempt.
16
The gods exist.
They live hidden under the covering of certain men who remember life on the planet when the earth was still a child.
GrammarAdjective from a past participle «Escondidos» is the past participle of «esconder» used as an adjective and made to agree in number and gender — 'hidden (men)'. Paired with «vivir», it describes a state: «viven escondidos» = 'they live hidden / in hiding'.
He too encloses a god.
Is it possible?
He touches his nose, sore from the punches he took from Barsut, and the implacable force insists on that affirmation: He carries a god hidden under his aching skin.
Word«trompada» «Trompada» is colloquial River Plate Spanish for a punch or blow with the fist (Spain would say «puñetazo»). Barsut is Erdosain's antagonist; the bruised nose ties this dawn reverie to the violence of the night before.
But has the Penal Code foreseen what punishment can be applied to a homicidal god?
GrammarPassive «se» «Aplicarse» here is the passive «se»: «qué castigo puede aplicarse» = 'what punishment can be applied'. Spanish often uses «se» plus a verb instead of a full passive when the agent is unimportant.
What would the examining magistrate say if he answered him: "I sin because I carry a god in me"?
17
But isn't it true?
Word«mas» without an accent «Mas» (no accent) is a literary conjunction meaning 'but', equivalent to «pero». Do not confuse it with «más» (with accent), which means 'more'. The unaccented form is archaic and bookish — Arlt reaches for it to raise the register.
This love, this force he carries through the dawn, beneath the dampness of the trees that drip dew in the darkness, is it not a virtue of the gods?
And again from the surface of his spirit rises the relief of that memory: An oval pale little face that had greenish eyes and black curls sometimes blown against her throat by the wind.
How simple this is!
GrammarExclamatory «¡qué…!» «¡Qué + adjective!» forms an exclamation of degree: «¡qué sencillo!» = 'how simple!'. Spanish frames such outbursts with paired marks, opening «¡» and closing «!».
He needs to say nothing, so perfect is his rapture.
Though there would be nothing improbable in his having gone mad thinking of the schoolgirl beneath the trees that drip dampness.
Grammar«volverse loco» «Volverse loco» = 'to go mad'. The pronominal «volverse» marks an involuntary change of state, unlike «hacerse» (a willed change). «Hubiera vuelto» is the past perfect subjunctive, required after the hypothetical «tendría que…».
If not, how is it explained that his soul is so different from the one that possessed him in the night?
GrammarSubjunctive after «explicarse que» «Explicarse que» here introduces something doubted or wondered at, so the verb that follows goes subjunctive: «sea» (present subjunctive of «ser»). «Endemoniaba» is the imperfect of «endemoniar», 'to possess like a demon'.
Or is it that at night only dark thoughts can be conceived?
Grammar«¿es que…?» «¿Es que…?» opens a question that probes for an explanation — 'is it (perhaps) that…?'. It softens the question into musing. «Pueden concebirse» is again the passive «se»: 'can be conceived'.
Even if it is so, it does not matter.
GrammarConcessive subjunctive «Aunque así sea» = 'even if it be so / even so'. «Aunque» with the subjunctive «sea» concedes a hypothetical point. The fixed phrase «así sea» also survives as 'so be it / amen'.
He is another man now.
He smiles beside the trees.
Isn't this magnificently idiotic?
The Melancholy Pimp, the depraved Blind Woman, Ergueta with his myth of Christ, the Astrologer, all these incomprehensible phantoms, who speak human words, who have a fleshly word, what are they beside him who, leaning on a post, beside a privet hedge, feels the advance of life that comes to touch his chest?
18
He is another man, and by the mere fact of having thought of the girl who, in a train car, would let her head drop onto his shoulder.
GrammarThe perfect infinitive «Haber» plus a past participle forms the perfect infinitive: «haber pensado» = 'to have thought / having thought'. After «por el solo hecho de» it means 'by the mere fact of having thought'. It names a completed action as a cause.
Erdosain closes his eyes.
The acrid smell of the earth sends a shiver through him.
19
A vertigo rises from his tired flesh.
20
Another man comes up the road.
A hoarse whistle reaches him from the station.
Other men in caps or crooked hats cross in the distance.
21
In truth, what the devil is he doing there?
Word«qué diablos» «¿Qué diablos…?» is the colloquial intensifier 'what the devil / what on earth…?'. Spanish slots «diablos», «demonios» or «narices» into a question for exasperation, just as English uses 'the hell / the devil'.
Erdosain winks one eyelid; he is aware that he is cheating God, that he is playing the comedy of a man who has not managed to turn aside God's curse.
Word«hacer trampa» «Hacer trampa» means 'to cheat, to play foul' (as in a game): «le está haciendo trampa a Dios» = 'he is cheating God'. The «le… a Dios» again doubles the indirect object — standard in Spanish, redundant in English.
And yet, before his eyes there pass at moments gusts of darkness, and a kind of dull drunkenness is taking hold of his senses.
Grammar«ir» + gerund «Ir» plus a gerund describes a process unfolding gradually: «se va apoderando» = 'is gradually taking hold'. The verb «ir» ('to go') adds the sense of step-by-step progression to «apoderarse de» (to take possession of).
He would like to violate something.
Grammar«quisiera» — the softened wish «Quisiera» is the imperfect subjunctive of «querer» used as a polite or wistful 'I/he would like'. It softens a raw «quiero» (I want) into a longing — here, the urge to transgress. The same form gives the courteous «quisiera un café» (I'd like a coffee).
To violate common sense.
If there were a haystack over there he would set fire to it...
GrammarImperfect for the conditional In speech, Spanish often replaces the conditional «prendería» with the imperfect «prendía» in the main clause of a hypothetical: «si hubiera una parva, le prendía fuego» = 'if there were a haystack, he'd set fire to it'. «Prender fuego (a)» = 'to set fire (to)'.
Something repugnant bloats his face: these are the grim expressions of madness; suddenly he looks at a tree, gives a leap, reaches a branch, clutches at it, and gripping the trunk with his feet, helping himself with his elbows, he manages to clamber up to the fork of the acacia.
GrammarHistoric present for action Arlt narrates the whole chapter in the present tense, even for sudden bursts of action: «da un salto, alcanza una rama, se aferra». This 'historic present' keeps the reader pinned to Erdosain's immediate, feverish now rather than reporting events as past.
22
His shoes slip on the glossy bark, the twigs whip his face springily, he stretches out his arm and grabs a branch, poking his head out through the wet leaves.
GrammarThe 'unplanned' indirect object Spanish frames mishaps with an indirect-object pronoun for the affected person: «le resbalan los zapatos» = literally 'the shoes slip on him', i.e. 'his shoes slip'. The «le» shows it happens to him, not by his choice. This is a gustar-type reverse-subject construction (the shoes are the grammatical subject), distinct from the se-accidental pattern of «se me cayó» (the se-accidental marks unintended events).
The street, below, goes on sloping down toward an archipelago of trees.
23
He is up in the tree.
He has violated common sense, just because, with no purpose, like someone who murders a passerby who crossed his path, to see whether the police can later track him down.
Word«porque sí» «Porque sí» is an idiom meaning 'just because, for no reason at all' — the answer a child gives when there is no reason. It captures the gratuitousness of the act: he climbed the tree for nothing, the way a stranger might be killed for nothing.
Toward the east, against the greenish wash of the sky, funereal chimneys stand out in silhouette; then mounds of greenery like monstrous herds of elephants fill the lowlands of Bánfield, and the same sadness is in him.
It is not enough to have violated common sense in order to feel happy.
Still, he makes an effort and says out loud:
Word«en voz alta» «En voz alta» = 'aloud, out loud' (literally 'in a high/loud voice'); its opposite is «en voz baja», 'in a low voice, under one's breath'. Erdosain now turns his inner monologue into actual speech to the sleeping landscape.
24
—Hey! sleeping beasts: hey!, I swear that... but no... I want to violate the law of common sense, you calm little creatures... No.
Grammar«jurar» — the unfinished oath «Juro que…» = 'I swear that…'. Erdosain breaks off mid-oath, the trailing «...» staging a mind that cannot hold its own thought. «Animalitos» is the affectionate diminutive of «animales» — 'little creatures'.
What I want is to proclaim audacity, the new life.
GrammarCleft sentence with «lo que» «Lo que quiero es…» = 'what I want is…'. The neuter «lo que» ('that which / what') builds a cleft sentence that throws the emphasis onto whatever follows «es» — here, proclaiming audacity.
I am speaking from up in the tree; I am not "out on a limb", but in the acacia: hey! sleeping beasts.
25
Quickly his strength drains away.
He looks around, almost startled to find himself in such a position; suddenly the face of the remote girl bursts inside him like a flower, and, immensely ashamed of the comedy he is playing, he climbs down from the tree.
Grammar«y» becomes «e» The conjunction «y» ('and') changes to «e» before a word beginning with the «i» sound, to avoid two like vowels colliding: «e inmensamente avergonzado». The same rule turns «o» into «u» before an «o» sound.
He is beaten.
He is a wretch.
Grammar«ser» vs. «estar» The chapter ends on the two verbs for 'to be'. «Está vencido» uses «estar» for a resulting condition — 'he is (now) beaten'. «Es un desgraciado» uses «ser» for what he is in essence — 'he is a wretch'. Same English word 'is', two different Spanish claims about Erdosain.

The particulars

The text: Los siete locos, Roberto Arlt. Part One.
Reading aloud: Digital narration, directed by 1732 Studios.
Words: Every word of the text, by letter.
Data: JSON · Markdown · A guide for agents