# The Seven Madmen, The Hatred

Los siete locos · Roberto Arlt · Part One

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/arlt/el-odio. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/arlt/el-odio.json. Audio: https://audio.1732studios.com/arlt/<line id>.m4a.


Su vida se desangraba.  
His life was bleeding out.
> Pronominal «desangrarse»: «desangrarse» is the pronominal form of «desangrar» (formed by prefixing «des-» to «sangrar»), meaning 'to bleed out, to drain of blood'. In the imperfect «se desangraba» it pictures the draining as an ongoing process, not a single event.
Toda su pena descomprimida extendíase hacia el horizonte entrevistó a través de los cables y de los «trolleys» de los tranvías y súbitamente tuvo la sensación de que caminaba sobre su angustia convertida en una alfombra.  
All his decompressed sorrow stretched out toward the horizon he glimpsed through the cables and the trolleys of the streetcars, and suddenly he had the sensation that he was walking on his anguish turned into a carpet.
> Enclitic pronoun on the verb: «extendíase» = «se extendía» ('was stretching out'), with the reflexive «se» attached to the end of the verb. This enclitic placement is a literary, slightly old-fashioned style Arlt favors; in everyday speech the pronoun comes before: «se extendía».
Así como los caballos que, desventados por un toro se enredan en sus propias entrañas, cada paso que daba le dejaba sin sangre los pulmones.  
Just as horses that, gored open by a bull, become tangled in their own entrails, each step he took left his lungs without blood.
> Imperfect for a repeated action: Both «daba» (he took) and «dejaba» (it left) are imperfect. Here the imperfect marks a habitual, repeated action — what happened with every single step — rather than one finished event, which would take the preterite.
Respiraba despacio y desesperaba de llegar jamás.  
He breathed slowly and despaired of ever arriving.
¿A dónde?  
Where to?
Ni lo sabía.  
He didn't even know.
> «Ni» for 'not even': «ni» here means 'not even': «ni lo sabía» = 'he didn't even know it'. «ni» intensifies a negative, and the neuter «lo» stands in for the unanswered question 'where to?' from the line before.

En la calle Piedras se sentó en el umbral de una casa desocupada.  
On Piedras Street he sat down on the threshold of an empty house.
Estuvo varios minutos, luego echó a caminar rápidamente y el sudor corría por su semblante como en los días de excesiva temperatura.  
He stayed for several minutes, then set off walking quickly, and the sweat ran down his face as on days of excessive heat.
> «echar a» + infinitive: «echar a» plus an infinitive means 'to start/break into (doing something)' with a sudden, abrupt sense: «echó a caminar» = 'he set off walking', 'he started walking'. Compare «echó a correr» = 'he broke into a run'.

Así llegó hasta Cerrito y Lavalle.  
Thus he reached the corner of Cerrito and Lavalle.

Al poner una mano en el bolsillo encontró que tenía un puñado de billetes y entonces entró en el bar Japonés.  
On putting a hand in his pocket he found he had a fistful of banknotes, and so he went into the Japanese bar.
> «Al» + infinitive: «Al» followed by an infinitive means 'upon / on (doing something)': «al poner una mano en el bolsillo» = 'on putting a hand in his pocket', 'as he put a hand in his pocket'. It packs a whole clause of time into two words.
Cocheros y rufianes hacían rueda en torno de las mesas.  
Coachmen and pimps clustered in a ring around the tables.
> «rufián» — pimp: A «rufián» is literally a ruffian or scoundrel, but in the Buenos Aires underworld of Arlt's novels it means specifically a pimp — a man living off prostitution. The bar is full of them.
Un negro con cuello palomita y alpargatas negras se arrancaba los parásitos del sobaco, y tres «polacos» polacos, con gruesos anillos de oro en los dedos, en su jerigonza, trataban de prostíbulos y alcahuetas.  
A black man in a wing collar and black espadrilles was pulling the parasites out of his armpit, and three Polish "polacos", with thick gold rings on their fingers, talked in their gibberish of brothels and procuresses.
> «polaco» — a double meaning: In 1920s Buenos Aires «polaco» (Pole) was also slang for a Jewish pimp of the Zwi Migdal trafficking ring, many of whose members came from Poland. Arlt writes «tres polacos polacos» — three pimps who were also literally Poles — playing on the word's two senses.
En otro rincón varios choferes de taxímetros jugaban a los naipes.  
In another corner several taxi drivers were playing cards.
El negro que se despiojaba miraba en redor, como solicitando con los ojos que el público ratificara su operación, pero nadie hacía caso de él.  
The black man delousing himself looked around, as if asking with his eyes for the onlookers to endorse his operation, but no one paid him any attention.
> Imperfect subjunctive after «solicitar que»: «ratificara» is the imperfect subjunctive of «ratificar». Verbs of wanting or asking — here «solicitando … que» ('asking that') — trigger the subjunctive in the clause that follows: 'asking that the public endorse it'.

Erdosain, pidió café, apoyó la frente en la mano y se quedó mirando el mármol.  
Erdosain ordered coffee, rested his forehead on his hand, and sat staring at the marble.
> «quedarse» + gerund: «quedarse» plus a gerund means to remain doing something, to be left doing it: «se quedó mirando» = 'he stayed/ended up staring'. The pronominal «se» here marks the change into a settled state.

–¿De dónde sacar los seiscientos pesos?  
—Where to get the six hundred pesos?
> Infinitive as a deliberating question: A bare infinitive after a question word voices an inner deliberation with no stated subject: «¿De dónde sacar…?» = 'Where (am I) to get…?'. It renders thought weighing options rather than asking someone.

Luego pensó en Gregorio Barsut, el primo de su mujer.  
Then he thought of Gregorio Barsut, his wife's cousin.

Ya no le preocupaba la actitud de Ergueta.  
Ergueta's attitude no longer worried him.
> «ya no» — 'no longer': «ya no» means 'no longer, not anymore': «ya no le preocupaba» = 'it no longer worried him'. Note the inverted order — the subject «la actitud de Ergueta» comes after the verb, very natural in Spanish.
Ante sus ojos se materializaba la taciturna figura del otro, de Gregorio Barsut, con la cabeza rapada, la nariz huesuda de ave de presa, los ojos verdosos y las orejas en punta como las del lobo.  
Before his eyes there materialized the taciturn figure of the other man, of Gregorio Barsut, with his shaved head, his bony bird-of-prey nose, his greenish eyes, and his ears pointed like a wolf's.
Su presencia le hacía temblar las manos dejándole la boca seca.  
His presence made his hands tremble, leaving his mouth dry.
> «hacer» + infinitive (causative): «hacer» plus an infinitive expresses making something happen: «le hacía temblar las manos» = 'made his hands tremble'. The «le» marks the person affected — literally 'made the hands tremble for him'.

Le volvería a pedir dinero esa noche.  
He would ask him for money again that night.
> «volver a» + infinitive — 'to do again': «volver a» plus an infinitive means 'to do (something) again': «volver a pedir» = 'to ask again'. Here in the conditional «volvería a pedir» = 'he would ask again'.
Seguramente a las nueve y media estaría en su casa como de costumbre.  
Surely by half past nine he would be at his house as usual.
Y lo reveía.  
And he saw him again in his mind.
> «rever» — to see again: «reveía» is the imperfect of «rever» ('to re-see, to see again'), built from «re-» + «ver». Here it is mental: Erdosain pictures Barsut once more before his eyes.
Amontonando una conversación abundante de pretextos vagos para visitarle, torrentes de palabras que lo entontecían a Erdosain, que con la boca sedienta y las manos temblorosas, no se atrevía a echarlo de su casa.  
Piling up a conversation full of vague pretexts for visiting him, torrents of words that left Erdosain stupefied, who with parched mouth and trembling hands did not dare to throw him out of his house.
> Pronominal «atreverse a»: «atreverse a» ('to dare to') is always pronominal — it carries «se» — and is followed by «a» plus an infinitive: «no se atrevía a echarlo» = 'he did not dare to throw him out'.

Y Gregorio Barsut debía darse cuenta de la repulsión que Erdosain experimentaba hacia él, porque más de una vez le dijo:  
And Gregorio Barsut must have been aware of the revulsion Erdosain felt toward him, because more than once he said to him:
> «darse cuenta de» — to realize: «darse cuenta de» is a fixed pronominal idiom meaning 'to realize, to become aware of'. «debía darse cuenta» = 'he must have realized / he must have been aware'.

–Parece que mi conversación te desagrada, ¿no? –lo cual no era óbice para que fuera a su casa con frecuencia fastidiosa.  
—It seems my conversation annoys you, doesn't it?—which was no obstacle to his coming to the house with tiresome frequency.
> «óbice» — obstacle, impediment: «óbice» is a formal, literary word for an obstacle or impediment, almost always in the negative phrase «no ser óbice para» = 'to be no obstacle to'. The clause that follows takes the subjunctive «fuera».

Erdosain se apresuró a negarle, y trató aparentemente de interesarse en la cháchara del otro, que conversaba horas seguidas, sin ton ni son, espiando siempre el rincón sudeste del cuarto.  
Erdosain hurried to deny it, and tried, to all appearances, to take an interest in the other man's chatter, who would talk for hours on end, without rhyme or reason, always spying on the southeast corner of the room.
> «sin ton ni son» — without rhyme or reason: «sin ton ni son» is a set idiom meaning 'without rhyme or reason, aimlessly, for no good reason'. It describes Barsut's endless, pointless talk.
¿Qué es lo que se proponía con esa actitud?  
What was he aiming at with that behavior?
Erdosain a su vez se consolaba de tales momentos desagradables pensando que el otro vivía acosado por la envidia y ciertos sufrimientos atroces que no tenían motivo de ser.  
Erdosain in turn consoled himself for such unpleasant moments by thinking that the other man lived hounded by envy and certain atrocious sufferings that had no reason to exist.

Una noche dijo Gregorio, en presencia de la esposa de Erdosain, que raramente asistía a esas conversaciones, pues se quedaba en otro cuarto cerrando la puerta para no escuchar las voces:  
One night Gregorio said, in the presence of Erdosain's wife—who rarely attended those conversations, since she stayed in another room, closing the door so as not to hear the voices:

–¡Qué notable sería que me volviera loco y los matara a ustedes a tiros, suicidándome luego!  
—How remarkable it would be if I went mad and shot you all dead, then killed myself!
> Conditional + imperfect subjunctive: A hypothetical pairs the conditional «sería» ('it would be') with the imperfect subjunctive «volviera», «matara» in the «que» clause: 'How remarkable it would be if I went mad and killed you'. «volverse loco» = 'to go mad'.
Sus ojos oblicuos estaban fijos en el rincón sudeste del cuarto, y sonreía mostrando los dientes puntiagudos, como si las palabras que antes había dicho no pasaran de una broma.  
His slanting eyes were fixed on the southeast corner of the room, and he smiled, showing his pointed teeth, as if the words he had just spoken were no more than a joke.
> «como si» + imperfect subjunctive: «como si» ('as if') always takes the imperfect (or pluperfect) subjunctive, never the indicative: «como si … no pasaran de una broma» = 'as if they were no more than a joke'. It frames a contrary-to-fact comparison.
Pero Elsa, mirándolo muy seria, le dijo:  
But Elsa, looking at him very gravely, said to him:

–Que sea la última vez que hables de esta manera en mi casa.  
—Let this be the last time you speak this way in my house.
> «Que» + subjunctive as a command: An independent clause opening with «que» plus the present subjunctive expresses a wish or order toward a third party: «Que sea la última vez» = 'Let this be the last time'. «hables» is likewise subjunctive after «que».
Si no, no volvés a pisar aquí.  
If not, you'll never set foot in here again.
> Argentine «voseo»: «volvés» is the «vos» form of «volver», not the standard «vuelves». In Buenos Aires «vos» replaces «tú», with its own present-tense endings (stress on the last syllable, no diphthong). «no volvés a pisar» = 'you don't set foot again'.
Gregorio trató de disculparse.  
Gregorio tried to apologize.
Pero ella salió y en toda la noche no volvió a dejarse ver.  
But she left, and for the rest of the night did not show herself again.

Continuaron los dos hombres charlando, el otro más pálido, la frente estrecha cargada de tumultuosas contracciones, pasándose a momentos la ancha mano por su cepillo de cabello color de bronce.  
The two men went on chatting, the other man paler now, his narrow forehead loaded with tumultuous twitchings, passing his broad hand now and then over his brush of bronze-colored hair.

Erdosain no se explicaba el odio que le había cobrado a Barsut.  
Erdosain could not explain to himself the hatred he had taken toward Barsut.
> «cobrar» + a feeling: Beyond 'to charge/collect', «cobrar» combines with feelings to mean 'to conceive, to take on' them: «cobrar odio» = 'to take a hatred (to someone)', «cobrar cariño» = 'to grow fond'. The pluperfect «había cobrado» = 'had taken'.
Le suponía grosero, mas ello se contradecía con ciertos sueños de Gregorio, en los que aparecía en descubierto una naturaleza vaga, extraña, delicada, movida por los más inexplicables sentimientos.  
He supposed him coarse, but that was contradicted by certain dreams of Gregorio's, in which a vague, strange, delicate nature was laid bare, moved by the most inexplicable feelings.
> «mas» without accent — 'but': «mas» (no accent) is a literary equivalent of «pero», 'but'. Do not confuse it with «más» (with accent), 'more'. Arlt uses the bare «mas» for an elevated register.

Otras veces su grosería aparente o real, trocábase en repugnante, y frente a Erdosain, que reprimía su indignación desdibujando en los labios un esquince pálido, Barsut amontonaba obscenidades sin nombre, por el solo placer de ultrajar la sensibilidad del otro.  
At other times his coarseness, whether apparent or real, turned repugnant, and in front of Erdosain—who suppressed his indignation, blurring on his lips a pale grimace—Barsut piled up nameless obscenities, for the sole pleasure of outraging the other man's sensibility.
> «trocarse en» — to turn into: «trocar» means to exchange or transform; pronominal «trocarse en» = 'to turn into, to change into'. Here «trocábase en repugnante» (with the enclitic «se») = 'turned repugnant'.

Era un duelo invisible, odioso, sin un fin inmediato, tan irritante que Erdosain después que Barsut salía, se juraba no recibirlo al otro día.  
It was an invisible duel, hateful, with no immediate end, so irritating that Erdosain, after Barsut left, would swear to himself not to receive him the next day.
Pocas horas antes de anochecer ya Erdosain estaba pensando en él.  
A few hours before nightfall Erdosain was already thinking about him.

Muchas veces el otro llegaba, y antes de sentarse comenzaba a hablar.  
Many times the other man would arrive, and before sitting down he would begin to talk.

–¿Sabes?... he tenido un sueño raro anoche.  
—You know?... I had a strange dream last night.

Y clavados los ojos en el rincón sudeste del cuarto, sin sonreír, con una expresión casi dolorosa en el semblante sucio, con barba de tres días, Barsut monologaba lentamente, contaba sus terrores de hombre de veintisiete años, la preocupación que le había dejado en el entendimiento el guiño de un pez tuerto, y relacionando el pez tuerto con la mirada fisgona de una anciana alcahueta que quería que se casara con su hija que se dedicaba al espiritismo, derivaba la conversación hacia cada absurdo que de pronto, Erdosain, olvidándose de su rencor, se preguntaba si el otro no estaría loco.  
And with his eyes fixed on the southeast corner of the room, unsmiling, with an almost pained expression on his dirty face, a three-day beard, Barsut would monologue slowly, recounting his terrors as a man of twenty-seven, the worry that the wink of a one-eyed fish had lodged in his mind, and—linking the one-eyed fish to the prying gaze of an old procuress who wanted him to marry her daughter, a girl given to spiritism—he steered the conversation toward such absurdity that suddenly Erdosain, forgetting his rancor, would ask himself whether the other man might not be mad.
> «querer que» + imperfect subjunctive: When the subject wanting and the subject acting differ, «querer que» takes a subjunctive: «quería que se casara» = 'she wanted him to marry'. Since the main verb is past, the subordinate verb is imperfect subjunctive.
Elsa, indiferente a todo, cosía en la habitación medianera, mientras un profundo malestar inmovilizaba a Erdosain.  
Elsa, indifferent to it all, sewed in the adjoining room, while a deep uneasiness held Erdosain frozen.

Percibía éste una vibración de impaciencia, entrechocando sus dedos por los nudillos, y el esfuerzo efectuado para ocultar este temblor, lo fatigaba.  
This one felt a vibration of impatience, his fingers knocking together at the knuckles, and the effort made to hide this trembling wore him out.
> «éste» — 'this one / the latter': The demonstrative «éste» ('this one') points back to the nearer noun just mentioned — here Erdosain. Spanish often uses «éste / aquél» to mean 'the latter / the former' and keep two characters apart.
Si pronunciaba alguna palabra lo hacía con extraordinaria dificultad, como si tuviera rígidos los labios por un baño de cola.  
If he uttered any word he did so with extraordinary difficulty, as if his lips were stiffened by a coat of glue.
> «como si» + imperfect subjunctive (again): Another «como si» ('as if') with the imperfect subjunctive «tuviera»: 'as if he had his lips stiff'. The construction is contrary to fact, so the indicative is never used after «como si».

Apoyando un codo en la mesa y corrigiendo la rodillera de su pantalón, Barsut se quejaba a veces de que nadie le quería, mirando largamente a Erdosain al decir esto.  
Resting an elbow on the table and straightening the knee of his trousers, Barsut would sometimes complain that no one loved him, looking long at Erdosain as he said this.
> Pronominal «quejarse de»: «quejarse» ('to complain') is pronominal and pairs with «de»: «quejarse de que…» = 'to complain that…'. The imperfect «se quejaba» marks a recurring habit — something Barsut did repeatedly.
Otras veces se burlaba de sus presentimientos y de un fantasma que decía ver en un rincón del excusado de la pensión donde vivía, fantasma que era una mujer gigantesca con una escoba entre las manos y los brazos delgados y la mirada arpía.  
At other times he would mock his own forebodings and a ghost he said he saw in a corner of the privy of the boarding house where he lived, a ghost that was a gigantic woman with a broom in her hands and thin arms and a harpy's stare.
> Pronominal «burlarse de»: «burlarse de» ('to make fun of, to mock') is always pronominal and governed by «de»: «se burlaba de sus presentimientos» = 'he mocked his forebodings'. The preposition is part of the verb.
En algunas oportunidades admitía que si no estaba enfermo terminaría por estarlo.  
On some occasions he admitted that if he was not ill he would end up being so.
> «terminar por» + infinitive: «terminar por» plus an infinitive means 'to end up (doing something)': «terminaría por estarlo» = 'he would end up being so'. The «lo» is a neuter pronoun standing in for the adjective «enfermo».

Erdosain, fingiéndose cuidadoso de su salud, le preguntaba por los síntomas, aconsejándole reposo y cama, y como insistiera sobre esto.  
Erdosain, feigning concern for his health, would ask him about the symptoms, advising him rest and bed, and since he kept insisting on this.
> Causal «como» + subjunctive: When «como» means 'since, as' (giving a reason) and the situation is set in the past, it can take the imperfect subjunctive: «como insistiera» = 'since he kept insisting'. This is a literary, slightly archaic touch.
Barsut, malévolamente, le replicó una vez:  
Barsut, malevolently, once retorted to him:

–¿Te molesta tanto mi presencia?  
—Does my presence bother you that much?
> «molestar» like «gustar»: «molestar» ('to bother') works like «gustar»: the thing that bothers is the grammatical subject, and the person bothered is an indirect object. «¿Te molesta mi presencia?» = literally 'does my presence bother to-you?' = 'does my presence bother you?'

Otras veces Barsut llegaba siniestramente alegre, con una jovialidad de ebrio taciturno que le ha pegado fuego a un depósito de petróleo, y espatarrándose en el comedor, palmeteándolo a Erdosain en la espalda, con insistencia molesta, le preguntaba:  
Other times Barsut would arrive sinisterly cheerful, with the joviality of a sullen drunk who has set fire to an oil depot, and sprawling in the dining room, clapping Erdosain on the back with bothersome insistence, he would ask him:
> «pegar fuego a» — to set fire to: «pegar fuego a» is an idiom meaning 'to set fire to, to set alight'. «que le ha pegado fuego a un depósito de petróleo» = 'who has set fire to an oil depot' — the «le» doubles the object «a un depósito», common in River Plate Spanish.

–¿Cómo te va? ¿Qué tal? ¿Cómo te va?  
—How's it going? How are you? How's it going?

A Barsut le centelleaban los ojos, y Erdosain permanecía allí triste, encogido, preguntándose qué era lo que lo apocaba en presencia de ese hombre, que siempre permanecía sentado en la orilla de la silla y espiando obstinadamente el rincón del comedor.  
Barsut's eyes would sparkle, and Erdosain remained there sad, shrunken, asking himself what it was that cowed him in the presence of that man, who always stayed seated on the edge of his chair, obstinately spying on the corner of the dining room.
> Body parts as subject with «le»: Spanish makes the body part the subject and marks the owner with an indirect object: «a Barsut le centelleaban los ojos» = literally 'to Barsut the eyes sparkled' = 'Barsut's eyes sparkled'. The «a Barsut … le» pair names whose eyes they are.

Y evitaban el mirarse a los ojos.  
And they avoided looking each other in the eyes.
> Reciprocal «se»: Here «se» in «mirarse» is reciprocal — 'to look at each other' (not 'at oneself'). The phrasing «el mirarse» nominalizes the infinitive with the article «el», 'the looking at each other'.

Había entre ellos una situación indefinida, oscura.  
There was between them an undefined, murky situation.
Una de esas situaciones que dos hombres que se desprecian toleran por razones independientes de sus voluntades.  
One of those situations that two men who despise each other tolerate for reasons beyond their own wills.

Erdosain odiaba a Barsut, pero con un rencor gris, tramposo, compuesto de malos ensueños y peores posibilidades.  
Erdosain hated Barsut, but with a gray, treacherous rancor, made of bad daydreams and worse possibilities.
> The personal «a»: When the direct object is a specific person, Spanish inserts «a» before it: «odiaba a Barsut» = 'hated Barsut'. This 'personal a' has no English equivalent and is not translated.
Y lo que hacía más intenso este odio era la falta de motivos.  
And what made this hatred more intense was the lack of motives.

A veces dábase a trenzar las imágenes de alguna venganza atroz, y con el ceño fruncido compaginaba desastres.  
Sometimes he gave himself over to weaving the images of some atrocious vengeance, and, brow furrowed, he pieced disasters together.
> «darse a» + infinitive: «darse a» plus an infinitive means 'to give oneself over to (doing something)': «dábase a trenzar» = 'he gave himself over to weaving'. The enclitic «se» on «dábase» is the literary equivalent of «se daba».
Pero al otro día, al llamar Barsut a la puerta de calle.  
But the next day, when Barsut knocked at the street door.
> «al» + infinitive with its own subject: «al» + infinitive can carry its own subject placed right after the verb: «al llamar Barsut a la puerta» = 'when Barsut knocked at the door'. The subject «Barsut» follows the infinitive «llamar».
Erdosain se estremecía como una adúltera a la llegada de su esposo, y hasta una vez llegó a encolerizarse con Elsa, porque demoró en abrirle la puerta a Barsut, agregando a modo de comentario destinado a ocultar su cobardía ante ella:  
Erdosain would shudder like an adulteress at her husband's arrival, and once he even got so far as to grow angry with Elsa, because she was slow to open the door for Barsut, adding by way of a comment meant to hide his cowardice from her:
> «llegar a» + infinitive: «llegar a» plus an infinitive means 'to get to the point of, to even (do something)': «llegó a encolerizarse» = 'he even got angry, he went so far as to grow angry'. It stresses that an extreme was reached.

–Va a creer que no queremos recibirlo.  
—He's going to think we don't want to receive him.
> «ir a» + infinitive — the near future: «ir a» plus an infinitive is the everyday way to express the future: «va a creer» = 'he is going to think, he'll think'. It parallels English 'going to'.
Para eso es mejor decirle que no venga más.  
For that it's better to tell him not to come anymore.
> «decir que» + subjunctive (a command): When «decir que» reports an order rather than a fact, the verb that follows is subjunctive: «decirle que no venga» = 'to tell him not to come'. Compare the indicative «decirle que no viene» = 'to tell him that he isn't coming'.

Faltaba el motivo concreto, y ese rencor subterráneo se extendía en él como un cáncer.  
The concrete motive was missing, and that underground rancor spread within him like a cancer.
Erdosain encontraba en cada gesto de Barsut razones para encorajinarse y desearle muertes atroces.  
Erdosain found in every gesture of Barsut's reasons to work himself into a fury and to wish atrocious deaths upon him.
> «encorajinarse» — to fly into a rage: «encorajinarse» is a pronominal verb meaning 'to get worked up, to fly into a rage / a sulk'. It is colloquial and emphatic, stronger than simply «enojarse» ('to get angry').
Y Barsut, como si presintiera los sentimientos del otro, parecía ejecutar ex profeso las groserías más repugnantes.  
And Barsut, as if he sensed the other man's feelings, seemed to perform the most repugnant vulgarities on purpose.
> «ex profeso» — on purpose: «ex profeso» (also written «ex professo») is a Latin phrase meaning 'deliberately, on purpose'. «ejecutar ex profeso» = 'to do deliberately'.

Así, Erdosain no olvidó jamás este hecho:  
Thus, Erdosain never forgot this incident:
> Double negative with «jamás»: Spanish allows—indeed requires—a double negative when the negative word follows the verb: «no olvidó jamás» = 'he never forgot'. «jamás» is an emphatic 'never', stronger than «nunca».

Fue un anochecer en que habían ido a tomar un vermouth.  
It was one evening when they had gone to have a vermouth.
> Preterite for the framing event: «Fue» (preterite of «ser») presents the occasion as a single, completed point in the past: 'It was one evening…'. The pluperfect «habían ido» then sets what had already happened before that point.
Acompañando la bebida, el mozo trajo un platito de papas en ensalada, con mostaza.  
To go with the drink, the waiter brought a little dish of potato salad, with mustard.
> «mozo» — waiter: In Argentina (and much of Latin America) «mozo» is the standard word for a waiter in a café or bar. «papas» is the American Spanish for potatoes, where Spain says «patatas».
Barsut clavó con tal avidez el escarbadiente en un trozo de papa que volcó la ensalada sobre el mármol ennegrecido por el roce de las manos y la ceniza de los cigarrillos.  
Barsut jabbed the toothpick into a piece of potato with such avidity that he overturned the salad onto the marble, blackened by the rubbing of hands and the ash of cigarettes.
> «tal … que» — 'such … that': «tal» plus a noun, answered by «que», expresses cause and consequence: «con tal avidez … que volcó la ensalada» = 'with such avidity that he overturned the salad'. «tal» agrees as an adjective; for adjectives/adverbs Spanish uses «tan … que».
Erdosain lo observó, irritado.  
Erdosain watched him, irritated.
Entonces, Barsut, burlándose, recogió pedazo por pedazo y al llegar al último restregó con éste la mostaza derramada en el mármol, llevándoselo después a la boca con una sonrisa irónica.  
Then Barsut, mocking, picked them up piece by piece, and on reaching the last one he wiped up with it the mustard spilled on the marble, carrying it afterward to his mouth with an ironic smile.
> Two pronouns on a gerund: «llevándoselo» stacks «se» + «lo» onto the gerund «llevando»: «se» is the personal touch ('on himself, to himself') and «lo» is the piece of potato. «llevárselo a la boca» = 'to carry it to one's mouth'.

–Podrías lamer el mármol –observó Erdosain asqueado.  
—You could lick the marble—remarked Erdosain, disgusted.
> Conditional «podrías»: «podrías» is the conditional of «poder» ('to be able'), 'you could'. Here it is sarcastic — not a real suggestion but a barbed 'you could just lick the marble'. The conditional softens the verb into a hypothetical.

Barsut le dirigió una mirada extraña, casi provocativa.  
Barsut gave him a strange, almost provocative look.
Luego inclinó la cabeza y su lengua enjugó el mármol.  
Then he bent his head and his tongue wiped the marble.

–¿Estás contento?  
—Are you happy now?
> «estar» for a passing state: Spanish uses «estar» (not «ser») for moods and conditions that can change: «estás contento» = 'you are happy (right now)'. With «ser», «eres contento» would wrongly suggest a permanent trait.

Erdosain palideció.  
Erdosain turned pale.
> «palidecer» — to turn pale: «palidecer» is an inchoative verb built on «pálido» ('pale') with the «-ecer» ending that means 'to become': 'to grow/turn pale'. The preterite «palideció» marks the single, sudden change of color.

–¿Te has vuelto loco?  
—Have you gone mad?
> «volverse» + adjective — to become: «volverse» plus an adjective expresses a sudden, often involuntary change: «volverse loco» = 'to go/turn mad'. In the present perfect «te has vuelto loco» = 'have you gone mad?'

–¿Qué? ¿Te vas a hacer mala sangre?  
—What? Are you going to get yourself worked up?
> «hacerse mala sangre» — to get worked up: «hacerse mala sangre» is an idiom — literally 'to make oneself bad blood' — meaning to fret, to get upset or worked up, to let something eat at you. Very common in River Plate speech.

Y de pronto Barsut, riéndose, amable, disuelta esa especie de frenesí que lo había enfoscado toda la tarde, se levantó diciendo futilezas.  
And suddenly Barsut, laughing, amiable, that sort of frenzy that had darkened him all afternoon now dissolved, stood up saying trivial things.
> Absolute participle clause: «disuelta esa especie de frenesí» is an absolute construction: a past participle plus a noun, standing apart, meaning 'that frenzy now dissolved / once the frenzy had dissolved'. The participle «disuelta» agrees with the feminine «especie».

De ese hecho no se olvidó ya más Erdosain: la cabeza rapada, color de bronce, inclinada sobre el mármol y una lengua adherida a la viscosidad de la piedra amarilla.  
Erdosain never again forgot that incident: the shaved head, bronze-colored, bent over the marble, and a tongue clinging to the sliminess of the yellow stone.
> Pronominal «olvidarse de»: Alongside plain «olvidar», Spanish has pronominal «olvidarse de»: «no se olvidó de ese hecho» = 'he did not forget that incident'. The stacked «ya más» piles on the sense 'never, ever again'.

Y muchas veces imaginaba que Barsut lo recordaba a través de los días con el odio que se le toma a las personas a quienes se han hecho demasiadas confidencias.  
And many times he imagined that Barsut remembered him through the days with the hatred one takes toward the people to whom one has confided too much.
> Impersonal «se»: «se» with no stated subject forms an impersonal 'one': «el odio que se le toma a las personas» = 'the hatred one takes toward people'. Likewise «se han hecho confidencias» = 'one has confided'.
Pero no se podía dominar, porque apenas llegaba a la casa de Erdosain, volcaba en las orejas de éste cubos de desdichas, aunque sabía que Erdosain se regocijaba con ellas.  
But he could not control himself, because the moment he reached Erdosain's house he poured buckets of misfortunes into the latter's ears, even though he knew that Erdosain delighted in them.
> «apenas» — 'as soon as': Beyond 'hardly', «apenas» also means 'as soon as, the moment that': «apenas llegaba … volcaba» = 'the moment he arrived … he poured'. The imperfect on both verbs marks a recurring pattern.

Y es que Remo provocaba sus confidencias, y las provocaba con una transitoria pero espontánea compasión, de manera que Barsut sentía desvanecerse su rencor hacia el otro, cuando éste le aconsejaba seriamente.  
And the thing is that Remo drew out his confidences, and drew them out with a fleeting but spontaneous compassion, so that Barsut felt his rancor toward the other man fade away whenever the latter advised him in earnest.
> «es que» — 'the thing is': «(Y) es que…» introduces an explanation or excuse: 'the thing is that…, it's because…'. «de manera que» later in the sentence means 'so that, in such a way that', introducing the result.
Mas su odio se desenroscaba furiosamente, cuando una rápida y furtiva mirada de Erdosain le revelaba que en éste se desvanecía la piedad y aparecía un maligno goce ante el espectáculo de su vida en parte deshecha, pues aun cuando tenía dinero para vivir mediocremente de renta, sufría el terror de volverse loco como había acontecido con su padre y sus hermanos.  
But his hatred uncoiled furiously whenever a quick, furtive glance from Erdosain revealed to him that in the latter pity was fading and a malignant relish was appearing at the spectacle of his partly ruined life—for even though he had money enough to live modestly off his rent, he suffered the terror of going mad, as had happened with his father and his brothers.
> «aun cuando» — 'even though': «aun cuando» (note «aun» without accent) means 'even though, even when'. Followed by the indicative «tenía» it concedes a real fact: 'even though he had money'. Distinguish from «aún» (with accent), 'still / yet'.

De pronto Erdosain levantó la cabeza.  
Suddenly Erdosain raised his head.
El negro de cuello palomita había terminado de empulgarse y ahora los tres «macrós» se repartían fajos de dinero bajo la ávida mirada de los choferes que, desde la otra mesa, soslayaban con el vértice del ojo.  
The black man in the wing collar had finished delousing himself, and now the three "macrós" were splitting wads of money under the greedy gaze of the drivers who, from the other table, watched sidelong out of the corner of the eye.
> «macró» — lunfardo for pimp: «macró» is Buenos Aires «lunfardo» (the city's slang) for a pimp, borrowed from French «maquereau». Arlt uses it interchangeably with «rufián» and «polaco» for the traffickers around the table.
El negro parecía que, bajo la influencia del dinero, iba a estornudar, tan lamentablemente miraba a los rufianes.  
The black man looked as if, under the influence of the money, he were about to sneeze, so pitifully did he gaze at the pimps.
> «tan» + adverb (consequence): «tan» intensifies an adverb and signals a consequence: «tan lamentablemente miraba» = 'so pitifully did he gaze'. With nouns Spanish uses «tanto/tal»; with adjectives and adverbs, «tan».

Erdosain se puso de pie y pagó.  
Erdosain rose to his feet and paid.
> «ponerse de pie» — to stand up: «ponerse de pie» is the idiom for getting to one's feet, standing up. «ponerse» (pronominal «poner») plus a phrase or adjective expresses entering a state — here, the bodily change from sitting to standing.
Luego salió diciéndose: –Si Gregorio me falla le pediré al Astrólogo.  
Then he went out saying to himself: —If Gregorio fails me I'll ask the Astrologer.
> Real conditional («si» + present): For a likely future condition Spanish uses «si» plus the present indicative, with the result in the future: «si Gregorio me falla, le pediré» = 'if Gregorio fails me, I'll ask'. The «si» clause never takes the future tense.
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Source text: public domain (Roberto Arlt, d. 1942). English translation: © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC — original draft, pending editorial review. NOTE: this is a minimal seed excerpt to make the app target runnable; full verified content is authored through the content pipeline.