Spanish · Part Two

El buscador de oro

The Gold Prospector

162 sentences · 85 notes

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1
After Haffner left, Erdosain, who wanted to talk with the Gold Prospector, said goodbye to the Astrologer and the Major.
DespuésAfterdespués · adverbmodifies despidió
quethatque · subordinating conjunctionintroduces the clause of salió
salióleftsalir · verb, past, indicative, third-person, singularadverbial clause on Después
HaffnerHaffnerHaffner · proper nounsubject of salió
ErdosainErdosainErdosain · proper nounsubject of despidió
quewhoque · pronounsubject of tenía
teníawantedtener · verb, imperfect, indicative, third-person, singularclause modifying Erdosain
deseosa desiredeseo · noun, masculine, pluraldirect object of tenía
detode · prepositionintroduces the clause of conversar
conversartalkconversar · verb, infinitiveclause modifying deseos
conwithcon · prepositionpreposition marking Buscador
eltheel · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of Buscador
BuscadorProspectorBuscador · proper nounoblique complement of conversar
deofde · prepositionpreposition marking Oro
OroGoldOro · proper nounpart of the name Buscador
sehimselfél · pronoun, accusative, reflexivereflexive particle of despidió
despidiósaid goodbyedespedir · verb, past, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
delto thedel · prepositionpreposition marking Astrólogo
AstrólogoAstrologerAstrólogo · proper nounoblique complement of despidió
yandy · conjunctionlinks the coordination
eltheel · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of Mayor
MayorMajorMayor · proper nouncoordinated with Astrólogo
GrammarPreterite against imperfect «salió» is preterite — a single completed exit. «tenía deseos» is imperfect — an ongoing wish that was simply in place, the backdrop to the action. Spanish constantly pairs the two this way: one sealed event against a continuous state.
Erdosain found himself uneasy once again.
Before leaving, eh!
2
The Astrologer told him in an aside:
Word«un aparte» «un aparte» is a private word spoken to one side, out of the others' hearing — the same theatrical sense as an English 'aside'. «en un aparte» = 'in an aside', 'privately'.
3
–Don't miss tomorrow at 9, we have to cash the check.
Grammar«hay que» + infinitive «hay que» plus an infinitive expresses an impersonal obligation — 'one must', 'we have to'. It states the necessity without naming who is responsible: «hay que cobrar el cheque» = 'the check has to be cashed'.
4
He had forgotten about "that".
GrammarPluperfect + pronominal «olvidarse» «se había olvidado» is the pluperfect ('he had forgotten') built on pronominal «olvidarse de» ('to forget about'). The «se» and the «de» travel together; the quotation marks around «aquello» ('that') hint at the dark errand he would rather not name.
Suddenly Erdosain looked around as if dazed by a blow.
Word«en derredor» «en derredor» means 'round about', 'all around' — a literary equivalent of «alrededor». It is old-fashioned and adds a slightly elevated, searching tone to the gesture.
5
He needed to talk with someone; to forget the black obligation that was now quickening the beat of his veins, under the burning midday sun.
GrammarImperfect for a sustained state Both «necesitaba» ('he needed') and «aceleraba» ('was quickening') are imperfect. The imperfect paints conditions that stretch across the moment rather than snap shut — his standing need and the ongoing pounding of his pulse, not single finished acts.
6
He took a liking to the Gold Prospector.
Grammar«ser simpático a» (reverse construction) Like «gustar», «ser simpático a alguien» flips the English subject and object: literally 'the Gold Prospector was likeable to him', i.e. 'he found the Gold Prospector likeable' / 'he took a liking to him'. The «le» marks the person doing the liking.
So he went up to him and said:
7
–Will you come with me?
I'd like to talk with you about "down there".
GrammarImperfect subjunctive as a softener «quisiera» is the imperfect subjunctive of «querer», used as a polite, tentative 'I would like'. It softens the request far more than the blunt present «quiero» ('I want') — a standard courtesy move in Spanish.
8
The other man watched him with his little sparkling eyes, and then said:
WordDiminutive «-illo» «ojillos» is «ojos» ('eyes') with the diminutive «-illo». It renders them small and bright — 'little eyes' — and the suffix can carry a shade of affection or sly cunning, both fitting this character.
9
–Of course.
Word«Cómo no» = of course «Cómo no» is a fixed expression of ready agreement — 'of course', 'sure', 'by all means'. Despite the question words it is not really a question; it's an emphatic yes, very common in River Plate speech.
Delighted.
I've found you very likeable.
10
–Thank you.
11
–Above all because of what the Astrologer has told me about you.
Grammar«lo que» = what / that which «lo que» is a relative pronoun meaning 'what' in the sense of 'that which': «lo que me ha dicho» = 'what he has told me'. The neuter «lo» points to a whole idea or statement rather than to one named noun.
Do you know your plan to make the social revolution with plague bacilli is formidable?
12
Erdosain raised his eyes.
Those praises almost humiliated him.
GrammarSubject after the verb The grammatical subject is «esos elogios» ('those praises'), which sits after the verb — «le humillaban esos elogios» = 'those praises humiliated him'. Spanish freely puts the subject last, with «le» marking Erdosain as the one affected.
Was it possible that anyone could attach importance to the theories he was thinking up?
GrammarSubjunctive after «era posible que» Expressions of possibility («era posible que») trigger the subjunctive. «diera» is the imperfect subjunctive of «dar» ('to give'), used here because the clause is in the past — 'that anyone might give importance'.
13
The Gold Prospector insisted:
14
–That and the asphyxiating gases, it's admirable.
Do you realize?
GrammarPronominal «darse cuenta» «darse cuenta (de)» means 'to realize', 'to notice'. It is built around the reflexive «se» and is unrelated to «dar cuenta» without it ('to give an account'). Here «¿Se da cuenta?» is the polite «usted» form: 'Do you realize?'
To leave a big steel flask in the Police Department, at the hour that bandit Santiago is there!
Word«de» of insult / apposition The pattern «noun + de + name» — «ese bandido de Santiago» — is an expressive construction: 'that bandit (of a) Santiago', i.e. 'that bandit Santiago'. The «de» links an epithet to the person it scorns.
Poison them all, the "cops", like rats!
Word«tiras» (lunfardo) «tira» is Buenos Aires «lunfardo» slang for a plainclothes policeman or detective — a 'cop' with a contemptuous edge. The author flags it with «guillemets» because it is street argot, not standard Spanish.
–And he let out a guffaw so booming that three birds broke loose in a great arcing flight from a lemon tree–.
Grammar«tan… que» (result clause) «tan» + adjective + «que» expresses degree and consequence: «tan estentórea que tres pájaros se desprendieron» = 'so booming that three birds broke loose'. The dashes mark this as the narrator's interjection inside the character's speech.
Yes, friend Erdosain, you are a colossus.
Plague and chlorine.
Do you know we'll turn this city upside down?
I can just picture that day, the shopkeepers scurrying like frightened viscachas out of their burrows and us scouring the filth off the planet with a machine gun.
15
Two hundred fifty shots a minute.
A cinch.
Word«una papa» = a cinch Literally 'a potato', «una papa» is River Plate slang for something dead easy — 'a piece of cake', 'a cinch'. It says the slaughter would be effortless, the casual cruelty making the line all the more chilling.
16
And then curtains of chlorine or phosgene... Ah!, your plans really ought to be published in the papers, believe me...
Grammar«habría que» + infinitive «habría que» is the conditional of «hay que»: 'one would have to', 'they ought to'. The conditional softens the impersonal obligation into a hypothetical — 'your plans ought to be published'.
17
Erdosain interrupted the panegyric with this question:
18
–So you found the gold, right?... the gold...
Grammar«Así que» = so / so then «Así que» introduces a conclusion drawn from what was just said — 'so', 'so then'. In dialogue it often opens a checking question: «¿Así que usted encontró el oro?» = 'So you found the gold?'
19
–I suppose you don't believe that tall tale about the "placers".
Word«placeres» = placers Here «placeres» does not mean 'pleasures' but is the mining term 'placers' — surface deposits where gold is washed from sand or gravel. The «guillemets» flag the specialized prospecting sense.
20
–What do you mean, a tall tale?
So the gold...?
21
–It exists, of course it exists... but you have to find it.
22
So deep was Erdosain's disappointment that the Gold Prospector added:
GrammarFronted «tan… que» The degree predicate («Tan profunda era la decepción de Erdosain») is fronted for emphasis; the result clause («que el Buscador de Oro agregó») stays in its normal final position. Instead of «la decepción era tan profunda que…», Arlt writes «Tan profunda era la decepción… que…» = 'So deep was the disappointment that…'. Spanish allows this inversion to throw weight onto the adjective.
23
–Look, brother... I spoke with you because the Astrologer told me I could.
Grammar«Vea» (usted imperative) «Vea» is the formal «usted» command of «ver» ('to see'), used here as a discourse opener — 'Look', 'See here'. The «-a» ending (rather than «-e») marks the polite imperative of an «-er» verb.
24
–Yes, but I thought...
GrammarImperfect «creía» «creía» is the imperfect of «creer» — 'I used to think', 'I was thinking'. It frames a belief he held over time, now trailing off; the preterite «creí» would instead point to one momentary act of believing.
25
–What?
26
–That among so many lies, that one would be one of the few truths.
GrammarConditional in reported thought «sería» is the conditional of «ser» ('would be'). It is the future-in-the-past: from his earlier vantage point he expected that this 'would be' one of the rare truths, so the conditional reports that expectation.
27
–Deep down it's true.
Word«en el fondo» «en el fondo» literally 'at the bottom' is an idiom meaning 'deep down', 'basically', 'when it comes down to it'. It introduces the underlying truth beneath appearances.
The gold exists... you just have to find it, that's all.
You ought to be glad that everything is being organized to go after it.
GrammarSubjunctive after emotion «alegrarse de que» ('to be glad that') expresses emotion, so the following verb is subjunctive: «se esté organizando» = 'is being organized'. Spanish requires the subjunctive whenever a feeling, not a fact, governs the clause.
Or do you think those animals would budge if they weren't pushed along by extraordinary lies?
Grammar«si» + imperfect subjunctive A hypothetical condition takes the imperfect subjunctive after «si»: «si no fueran empujados» = 'if they weren't pushed'. «fueran» is the passive auxiliary here ('were [being] pushed'), setting up a contrary-to-fact scenario.
Ah! how much I have thought.
On that rests the greatness of the Astrologer's theory: men only shake themselves awake with lies.
Grammar«lo» + adjective = the [quality] Neuter «lo» plus an adjective turns it into an abstract noun: «lo grande» = 'the greatness', 'what is great'. «lo falso» later in the chapter likewise means 'what is false'. It is a key Spanish way of nominalizing a quality.
He gives what is false the solidity of what is true; people who would never have walked a step to reach anything, types undone by every disillusion, come back to life by the power of his lies.
Word«tipos» = guys / types «tipo» colloquially means a 'guy', a 'fellow', or, dismissively, a 'type'. In the plural «tipos deshechos» = 'wrecked types', 'guys broken by disillusion'. It is informal, everyday River Plate register.
Do you want, perhaps, anything greater?
Word«acaso» in a question Inside a question «acaso» means 'perhaps', 'by any chance' and often colors it rhetorically — expecting the answer 'no'. «¿Quiere usted, acaso, algo más grande?» half-implies 'surely you don't want anything greater'.
Notice that in reality the same thing happens and no one condemns it.
Grammar«Fíjese» (pronominal imperative) «Fíjese» is the «usted» command of pronominal «fijarse» ('to notice', 'to pay attention'), with «se» attached to the end — 'notice', 'mark this'. It is a common way to point a listener at something.
Yes, all things are appearances... realize it... there is no man who does not accept the petty, stupid lies that govern how our society works.
GrammarSubjunctive in a negated antecedent When the thing described is denied or doubtful, the relative verb goes subjunctive: «no hay hombre que no admita» = 'there is no man who does not accept'. «admita» is subjunctive because «no hay hombre» makes the antecedent nonexistent.
What is the Astrologer's sin?
To replace an insignificant lie with an eloquent, enormous, far-reaching one.
Grammar«substituir A por B» «substituir una cosa por otra» means 'to replace one thing with another' — note the preposition is «por», not 'with'. The infinitive «substituir» here answers the question 'what is his sin?' with the act itself.
The Astrologer, with his falsehoods, does not seem an extraordinary man, and he isn't... and he is; he is... because he draws no personal profit from his lies, and he isn't because all he does is apply an old principle put to use by every swindler and reorganizer of humanity.
Grammar«lo» standing in for a predicate The neuter «lo» replaces a whole predicate already named — here 'extraordinary'. «y no lo es… y lo es» = 'and he isn't [extraordinary]… and he is [it]'. Spanish keeps this «lo» where English would just repeat or imply the adjective.
If one day the story of that man is written, those who read it and keep a little cold blood will say to themselves: He was great, because to attain it like any charlatan.
GrammarSubjunctive for a future indefinite reader «los que la lean y tengan» ('those who read it and keep') uses the subjunctive because the readers are hypothetical, unknown future people. Spanish takes the subjunctive in relative clauses whose antecedent is not yet a definite, actual person.
And what strikes us as novelistic and unsettling is nothing but the anguish of weak, mediocre spirits, who believe in success only when the means to reach it are complicated, mysterious, and not simple.
Word«zozobra» «zozobra» is deep anxiety or dread — the uneasy foundering of the spirit (the word also means a boat capsizing). It is a favorite Arlt register for the gnawing dread that haunts his characters.
And yet you ought to know that great acts are simple, like the trick of Columbus's egg.
28
–The truth of the lie?
29
–That's exactly it.
The thing is that we lack the courage for enormous undertakings.
Grammar«faltar» (reverse construction) Like «gustar», «faltar» flips subject and object: «nos falta el coraje» literally 'the courage is lacking to us', i.e. 'we lack the courage'. The thing missing («el coraje») is the grammatical subject; «nos» marks who is short of it.
We imagine that running a State is more complicated than running a modest household, and into events we pour an excess of melodrama, of idiotic romanticism.
Word«novelería» «novelería» is a taste for the novelesque — a craving for sensational, fictional drama, 'melodrama' or 'fanciful storytelling'. The Prospector accuses ordinary people of dressing plain events up like a cheap novel.
30
–But in your conscience do you feel, I mean, does reality give you the impression that we'll succeed?
31
–Completely, and believe me... we'll be at the very least the masters of the country... if not of the world.
Word«cuando menos» = at the very least «cuando menos» is a set phrase meaning 'at least', 'at the very least' — interchangeable with «por lo menos». It sets the floor of the boast: masters of the country at minimum, perhaps of the world.
32
We have to be it.
What the Astrologer is planning is the salvation of the souls of men worn out by the mechanization of our civilization.
There are no more ideals.
Grammar«ya no» = no longer «ya no» means 'no longer', 'not anymore': «ya no hay ideales» = 'there are no longer any ideals'. Don't confuse it with «todavía no» ('not yet'); «ya no» marks something that has ceased.
There are no symbols, good or bad.
The Astrologer, the other time, was talking about colonies that the drifters who didn't feel at home in their own country used to found in the old world.
GrammarImperfect + late subject «fundaban» is imperfect ('used to found', a habitual past action), and its subject «los vagos» ('the drifters') again comes after the verb and its object. Spanish word order is flexible enough to delay the subject to the end of the clause.
We will do the same, but giving the Society a sense of vigorous play... play that seduces even the soul of shopkeepers when they go to the cinema to watch a cowboy adventure.
Word«cinematógrafo» «cinematógrafo» is the period word for the 'cinema' or 'movies' — the full term that later shortened to «cine». It dates the scene to the late 1920s, when going to the «cinematógrafo» was a new popular pastime.
What do you know, brother, of the messes we mean to stir up?...
Word«armar un lío» «un lío» is a mess, a tangle, a ruckus; «armar» here means 'to cause' or 'to kick up'. «los líos que pensamos armar» = 'the trouble we intend to stir up' — colloquial and a little gleeful.
As a last resort we'll sow trinitrotoluene bombs to amuse ourselves a little with the terror of the rabble.
Word«la canalla» «la canalla» is a collective noun of contempt — 'the rabble', 'the riffraff', 'the scum'. It treats a whole crowd of people as a single despicable mass, matching the Prospector's icy disdain.
33
What do you think the old gangs and the toughs of the slums were?
Word«patota», «malevo», «arrabal» (lunfardo) Three Buenos Aires words: a «patota» is a roving gang of toughs; a «malevo» is a knife-carrying neighborhood hard man of the early-century underworld; the «arrabal» is the rough city outskirts, the slum edge mythologized in tango. Together they paint the porteño street world.
Men who had found no channels into which to fling their energy.
And so they vented it by roughing up some dandy or some Turk.
Word«cajetilla» and «turco» (lunfardo) «cajetilla» is porteño slang for a foppish, well-dressed city boy — a 'dandy' or 'swell', said with scorn. «turco» ('Turk') was the catch-all street label for Middle Eastern immigrants (often Syrian-Lebanese). Both name the easy targets of the «malevo»'s violence.
34
Look... Comodoro... Puerto Madryn, Trelew, Esquel, Arroyo Pescado, Camo Chileno, I know every road and every wilderness... Believe it... we'll organize a body of admirable young men –he had grown excited–.
You think there's no gold?
You remind me of the children who at the table have eyes bigger than their stomachs.
Word«criaturas» = small children «criatura» literally a 'creature' is the everyday word for a small child, a 'little one'. «las criaturas… tienen los ojos más grandes que el estómago» applies the familiar 'eyes bigger than the stomach' image to children at the table.
In our country everything is gold.
35
Erdosain felt himself swept along by the other man's heat.
GrammarEnclitic pronoun «sentíase» «sentíase» is «se sentía» ('he felt himself') with the pronoun «se» attached to the end of the verb. This enclitic placement on a conjugated verb is a literary, slightly archaic touch Arlt favors in the narration.
The Gold Prospector spoke convulsively, winking, raising now one eyebrow, now the other, shaking him by the arm in a friendly way.
Word«ya… ya…» = now… now… Repeated «ya… ya…» means 'now… now…', 'first one… then the other'. «ya una ceja, ya la otra» = 'now one eyebrow, now the other', describing the alternation of his restless face.
36
–Believe me, Erdosain... there's a lot of gold... more than you can imagine... but that's not the reality.
Grammar«más del que» comparison Before a clause, 'more than' becomes «más del que / de lo que», not «más que». «más del que se puede imaginar» = 'more than one can imagine'. The «del que» agrees with masculine «oro» understood.
There's another: the time that slips away.
Esquel, Arroyo Pescado, Río Pico... Campo Chileno... leagues... roads of days and days... and you know, you know that to get the certificate for a horse not worth ten pesos you walk for weeks, time is worth nothing... Everything is vast... enormous... eternal out there.
GrammarImpersonal «se» «se camina semanas» uses impersonal «se» — 'one walks for weeks', 'you walk for weeks' with no specific subject. Spanish uses «se» + a third-person verb to make a general, subjectless statement about what happens.
You have to convince yourself.
I remember when the Mask and I would travel through Arroyo Pescado.
Grammar«con X» for 'X and I' River Plate Spanish often says «con la Máscara íbamos» where the first-person plural verb «íbamos» already includes the speaker — literally 'with the Mask we went', meaning 'the Mask and I went'. The companion is named with «con», and the 'I' lives inside the verb.
Not only gold... the red gold...
Out there the souls that civilization sickened are saved.
GrammarSubject after the verb in a relative clause «las almas que enfermó la civilización» = 'the souls that civilization sickened'. The relative «que» is the object, and the subject «la civilización» follows the verb «enfermó» — a normal Spanish order that can trip up English readers expecting 'that-subject-verb'.
We will send all our own people to the mountains.
Look... I'm twenty-seven... and I've risked my hide in gunfights several times –he drew the revolver–.
Word«jugarse la piel» «jugarse la piel» literally 'to gamble one's skin' is an idiom for 'to risk one's neck', 'to put one's life on the line'. The pronominal «jugarse» (rather than plain «jugar», 'to play') marks the stake as one's own self.
See that sparrow? –it was fifty paces off, he raised the revolver to his chin, squeezed the trigger, and at the crack of the shot the bird dropped straight down off the branch–.
Grammar«al» + noun of moment «al» before a noun (or infinitive) marks the instant something happens: «al estampido» = 'at the report', 'at the crack of the shot'. It is the same time-compressing «al» you meet in «al abrir la puerta» ('on opening the door').
Did you see?
That's how I've risked my hide many times.
There's no need to be sad.
Grammar«estar» for a mood Sadness is a passing state, so it takes «estar», not «ser»: «estar triste» = 'to be sad (right now)'. «ser triste» would instead mean 'to be a sad thing' by nature. The «estar/ser» split tracks state versus essence.
Look, I'm twenty-seven.
Arroyo Pescado, Esquel, Río Pico, Campo Chileno... all the wildernesses will be ours... we'll organize the escort of the New Joy... The Order of the Knights of the Red Gold...
You think I'm carried away.
No, man!
You have to have been out there to realize it.
And in those circumstances one conceives the need, the indispensable need, of a natural aristocracy.
GrammarImpersonal «uno» «uno» ('one') is used as a generalized human subject — 'one conceives', 'you come to feel'. It lets the speaker state a universal experience while keeping himself half inside it, a softer alternative to impersonal «se».
Defying the solitude, the dangers, the sadness, the sun, the infinitude of the plain, one feels oneself another man... different from the herd of slaves agonizing in the city.
Word«rebaño» = flock / herd «rebaño» is a flock or herd of animals; used of people it is openly contemptuous — 'the herd'. «el rebaño de esclavos» frames the city-dwellers as cattle, a recurring image in the Prospector's elitist creed.
Do you know what the proletariat, anarchist, socialist, of our cities is?
A herd of cowards.
Instead of going off to break their souls in the mountains and the fields, they prefer comforts and amusements to the heroic solitude of the wilderness.
Grammar«en vez de» + infinitive «en vez de» ('instead of') is followed by the infinitive: «en vez de irse» = 'instead of going off'. The pronominal «irse» ('to leave', 'to go away') adds the sense of departing for good, not merely going.
What would the factories, the fashion houses, the thousand parasitic mechanisms of the city do if men went off to the wilderness... if each of them pitched his tent down there?
GrammarConditional + imperfect subjunctive This is a classic contrary-to-fact sentence: the main clause is conditional («harían», 'would do') and the «si» clause is imperfect subjunctive («se fueran», «levantara», 'went', 'pitched'). Spanish pairs these two tenses to imagine what would happen under an unreal condition.
Do you understand now why I'm with the Astrologer?
We the young will create the new life; yes, we.
We will establish an outlaw aristocracy.
The intellectuals infected with the idiocy of Tolstoy we'll shoot, and the rest off to work for us.
GrammarFronted object doubled by «los» The object is moved to the front and then echoed by «los»: «A los intelectuales… los fusilaremos» = 'the intellectuals… we'll shoot them'. The personal «a» marks the human object, and the resumptive «los» is required once it is fronted.
That's why I admire Mussolini.
GrammarDoubled object pronoun River Plate Spanish doubles a personal direct object with both the pronoun and the noun: «lo admiro a Mussolini» carries «lo» ('him') and «a Mussolini» on the same verb. English says simply 'I admire Mussolini'.
In that country of mandolin players he established the use of the cudgel and that operetta reign turned overnight into the mastiff of the Mediterranean.
Word«del día a la noche» «del día a la noche» (more often «de la noche a la mañana») is an idiom for a sudden, total change — 'overnight', 'from one day to the next'. It stresses how abruptly the 'operetta kingdom' is said to have hardened.
Cities are the cancers of the world.
They annihilate man, they mold him cowardly, cunning, envious, and it is envy that asserts his social rights, envy and cowardice.
GrammarCleft sentence «es… la que» «es la envidia la que afirma» is a cleft construction — 'it is envy that asserts' — used to spotlight «la envidia». Spanish builds emphasis with «ser» + the highlighted element + «el/la que» ('the one that').
If those herds were made up of courageous beasts they would have torn it all to pieces.
Word«corajudo» «corajudo» means 'gutsy', 'full of fight', from «coraje» ('courage', 'fighting spirit'). It is a more colloquial, combative word than «valiente» — the Prospector wants beasts with real nerve, not the timid 'herd'.
To believe in the mass is to believe you can touch the moon with your hand.
Word«el montón» = the mass / the crowd «un montón» is a heap or pile; «el montón» used of people means 'the masses', 'the common herd', often dismissively. «creer en el montón» = 'to believe in the masses', which he equates with a childish impossibility.
Look what happened to Lenin with the Russian peasant.
But it's all organized now and there's nothing else to say: in our century, those who aren't comfortable in the city, let them go off to the wilderness.
Grammar«que» + subjunctive as a command «que se vayan al desierto» = 'let them go to the wilderness'. A bare «que» followed by the subjunctive expresses an indirect command or wish about a third party — English 'let them…', 'may they…'.
That is what the Astrologer intends.
He's quite right.
Grammar«tener razón» = to be right Spanish 'is right' is built with «tener» ('to have'): «tiene razón» literally 'he has reason', i.e. 'he is right'. «mucha razón» intensifies it — 'he's quite right', 'absolutely right'.
When the first Christians felt ill at ease in the cities they went off to the desert.
GrammarPreterite of a single past turn Both verbs are preterite — «se sintieron mal» ('felt ill at ease') and «se fueron» ('went off') — narrating one completed historical movement. Note both are pronominal: «sentirse» ('to feel [a way]') and «irse» ('to leave').
There, in their own way, they built themselves happiness.
Today, by contrast, the city rabble barks in the committees.
Word«chusma» «chusma» is another scornful collective for the lowest crowd — 'rabble', 'riffraff'. Paired with «ladra» ('barks'), it reduces the political meetings of the masses to dogs yapping in the «comités» (party committee rooms).
37
–Do you know I like your simile of the desert?
38
–But of course, Erdosain.
The Astrologer says it: those who aren't comfortable in the cities have no right to bother those who enjoy them.
For the discontented and uneasy of the cities there is the mountain, the plain, the banks of the great rivers.
Erdosain had not imagined such violence in the Gold Prospector.
The other man guessed his thought, for he said:
39
–We will preach violence, but we won't accept the theorists of violence into the cells; rather, whoever wants to prove his hatred of the present civilization to us will have to give us a proof of his obedience to the society.
GrammarSubjunctive after «aquel que» «aquel que quiera» ('whoever wants') takes the subjunctive «quiera» because the person is indefinite — anyone at all who might want. Spanish marks such an unspecified, hypothetical antecedent with the subjunctive.
Do you realize now the purpose of the colony?
Isn't the gold too a beautiful illusion?
The effort will turn him into a superman.
Then powers will be granted to him.
GrammarPassive «se» with an indirect object «se le otorgarán poderes» = 'powers will be granted to him'. The «se» makes it passive/impersonal, «poderes» is the subject, and «le» marks the recipient — a tidy way Spanish avoids naming who does the granting.
Doesn't the same happen with the monastic orders?
Isn't the army organized the same way?
But, man, don't open your mouth!
GrammarNegative «usted» command «no abra la boca» is the negative «usted» imperative — 'don't open your mouth'. For «-ar» verbs the polite command takes the «-e» ending («abra»), and the negative keeps that same subjunctive-based form.
In commercial firms themselves... for example, at the Gath y Chaves store, at Harrods, the employees have told me that the staff is governed by a discipline next to which military discipline is a toy.
You see, Erdosain, that we invent nothing.
40
We replace a petty end with an extraordinary one, nothing more.
41
Erdosain felt humiliated before the Gold Prospector.
He envied the other man his violence, his coarse and incontestable truths irritated him, and he would have liked to contradict him, while saying to himself:
GrammarEnclitic «le» + doubled object «Envidiábale» is «le envidiaba» ('he envied of him') with «le» tacked onto the verb, and «al otro» doubles that «le» — 'he envied the other man'. The thing envied, «la violencia», is the direct object. The piled-up pronoun and noun are pure River Plate texture.
42
–I am less a character out of drama than he is; I am the sordid, cowardly man of the city.
Why don't I feel his aggressiveness and his hatred?.
Yes, he's right.
And I smile at his words, cautiously, as if I were afraid he might give me a slap, and the truth is his violence frightens me, his courage angers me.
Grammar«como si» + imperfect subjunctive «como si» ('as if') always takes the imperfect subjunctive: «como si temiera» = 'as if I were afraid'. The dependent «que me dé una cachetada» ('that he give me a slap') is itself subjunctive after the verb of fearing.
Word«cachetada» = a slap «cachetada» is a slap or smack across the face (from «cacheta/cachete», 'cheek'). It is the everyday word for an open-handed blow, and the whole novel turns on a remembered slap — making the image quietly loaded here.
43
–What are you thinking about, brother? –said the Gold Prospector.
Grammar«pensar en» = to think about 'To think about' something is «pensar en»: «¿En qué piensa?» = 'What are you thinking about?'. The preposition «en» is required; «pensar de» instead asks for an opinion ('what do you think of…').
44
The Gold Prospector shrugged his shoulders.
Word«encogerse de hombros» «encogerse de hombros» is the set phrase 'to shrug one's shoulders'. The pronominal «encogerse» ('to shrink', 'to draw oneself in') plus «de hombros» fixes the gesture; you cannot swap the preposition.
45
–You think you're a coward because the circumstances of living haven't forced you to risk your hide.
I'd like to see you the day your life hangs on the trigger of the revolver, whether you're a coward or not.
GrammarSubjunctive for an unreached future day «el día en que su vida esté pendiente» = 'the day your life hangs in the balance'. The subjunctive «esté» appears because that day has not yet come — Spanish uses it for a time clause pointing at an as-yet-unrealized future.
The thing is that in the city one can't be brave.
You know that if you smash the face of some wretch, the police paperwork will hound you so much that you'd rather put up with it than take justice into your own hands.
Grammar«hacerse justicia por su mano» «hacerse justicia por su (propia) mano» is the idiom 'to take justice into one's own hands'. The pronominal «hacerse» plus «por su mano» ('by one's own hand') makes the whole expression — vigilante self-redress.
That is the reality.
And one gets used to being resigned, to reining in one's impulses...
Grammar«acostumbrarse a» + infinitive «acostumbrarse a» means 'to get used to' and needs the preposition «a» before its complement: «se acostumbra a ser un resignado» = 'one gets used to being resigned'. Drop the «a» and the construction breaks.
46
Erdosain looked at him:
47
–Do you know it's remarkable?
48
–Don't you worry, partner.
Word«pierda cuidado» = don't worry «pierda cuidado» (the «usted» command of «perder cuidado») is a set reassurance — 'don't worry', 'rest easy'. «socio» literally 'partner/associate' is also a chummy form of address, like 'pal' or 'partner'.
You'll soon see how you'll wake up before long... and you'll find yourself with the soul of a brave man... You just have to begin, that's all.
Word«despabilarse» «despabilarse» means to wake up, sharpen up, snap out of one's dullness — 'to come alive', 'to get sharp'. «va a despabilar» promises Erdosain will shake off his timid stupor and grow keen.
49
At one in the afternoon the two men said goodbye.
GrammarReciprocal «se» «se despidieron» here is reciprocal — 'they said goodbye to each other'. The pronominal «despedirse» ('to take one's leave') with a plural subject naturally reads as a mutual action between the two men.

The particulars

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