# The Seven Madmen, The Slap Los siete locos · Roberto Arlt · Part One Source: https://1732studios.com/books/arlt/la-bofetada. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/arlt/la-bofetada.json. Audio: https://audio.1732studios.com/arlt/.m4a. De pronto alguien se detuvo frente a la puerta de calle. Suddenly someone stopped in front of the street door. > Pronominal «detenerse»: «Detenerse» ('to stop, to halt') is the pronominal form of «detener» ('to stop something / someone'). The reflexive pronoun «se» turns the action inward: the person stops himself. «Se detuvo» is the preterite — one completed action. Erdosain comprendió que era él y saltó de la cama. Erdosain understood that it was him and leapt out of bed. Como de costumbre Barsut golpeaba tratando de no hacer ruido. As usual Barsut was knocking, trying not to make noise. > «como de costumbre»: A fixed phrase meaning 'as usual', 'as is his custom'. «Costumbre» is 'habit / custom'; the whole expression flags a recurring, habitual action — which is why the verb «golpeaba» is imperfect, a repeated past gesture. Enronquecida la voz, Erdosain le gritó: His voice gone hoarse, Erdosain shouted at him: > Fronted participle phrase: «Enronquecida la voz» is an absolute construction: a past participle ('made hoarse') placed before its noun ('the voice'), with no verb. It compresses 'with his voice gone hoarse' into three words — a literary way to set a condition before the main clause. –Entra: ¿qué haces que no entras? "Come in — what are you doing that you don't come in?" Cargando el cuerpo sobre los talones entró Barsut. Throwing his weight back onto his heels, Barsut came in. > Gerund of manner: «Cargando» is a gerund ('-ing' form) describing how the subject enters: 'loading / throwing his body onto his heels'. The gerund clause comes first and the verb «entró» follows its subject «Barsut» — a common Spanish word order. –Ahora voy –le gritó Remo mientras el otro entraba al comedor. "I'm coming now," Remo shouted at him while the other went into the dining room. Y cuando entró, ya Barsut se había sentado, cruzándose de piernas, dando, como de costumbre, la espalda a la puerta y el perfil en dirección al ángulo sudeste de la pieza. And when he came in, Barsut had already sat down, crossing his legs, turning, as usual, his back to the door and his profile toward the southeast corner of the room. > Pluperfect: «Se había sentado» ('had sat down') is the pluperfect: «había» (imperfect of «haber») plus a past participle. It marks an action already finished before the moment of «entró» — Barsut was already seated by the time Erdosain came in. –¿Qué haces? "What are you doing?" –¿Cómo te va? "How's it going?" > Impersonal «irle a alguien»: «¿Cómo te va?» literally is 'How does it go for you?' — an idiomatic greeting using «ir» ('to go') impersonally with the indirect-object pronoun «te». It is the everyday equivalent of 'How are you?'. Cargaba el codo en la orilla de la mesa, pues apoyaba la mejilla en la barba y la luz ponía una rojidez de cobre en la blanca carnosidad de la mano. He rested his elbow on the edge of the table, for he was propping his cheek on his chin, and the light cast a copper redness over the white fleshiness of his hand. > «pues» as 'for / since': Here «pues» introduces a reason: 'for', 'because', 'since'. It links the posture to its cause — he leans his elbow on the table because he is propping up his cheek. Bajo las cejas, alargadas hacia las sienes, sus ojos verdes atemperaban la dura vidriosidad en una temperatura de pregunta. Beneath his eyebrows, drawn out toward his temples, his green eyes softened their hard glassiness into a questioning warmth. Y Erdosain distinguía su semblante como a través de una neblina de luces titilantes en lo alto, la frente huida con las sienes hacia las orejas puntiagudas, la huesuda nariz de ave carnicera, el mentón chato para soportar tremendos golpes y el prolijo nudo de la corbata negra arrancando del cuello almidonado. And Erdosain made out his face as if through a mist of lights flickering overhead — the receding forehead with the temples sloping toward the pointed ears, the bony beak of a bird of prey, the flat chin built to take tremendous blows, and the neat knot of the black tie rising from the starched collar. > «ave carnicera»: An «ave carnicera» is a bird of prey, a raptor — literally a 'butcher bird'. Arlt uses it to give Barsut a predatory, carrion-eating cast; the whole face is described as a hunting bird's. Torpe el timbre de voz, el otro preguntó: His tone of voice clumsy, the other asked: –¿Y Elsa? "And Elsa?" Erdosain recobró la lucidez de su entendimiento. Erdosain recovered the lucidity of his mind. –Salió. "She went out." –Ah... "Ah..." Callaron y Erdosain se quedó contemplando el ángulo recto que formaba la manga gris del saco en la blanca orilla de la mesa, y la mejilla que iluminaba la lámpara con un rojo de cobre hasta el dorso de la nariz, mientras que la otra mitad del rostro permanecía, desde la raíz de los cabellos hasta el hoyuelo del mentón, en una oscuridad donde la ojera ahondaba un cuévano de sombra. They fell silent, and Erdosain sat staring at the right angle the gray sleeve of the jacket made against the white edge of the table, and at the cheek the lamp lit with a copper red as far as the bridge of the nose, while the other half of the face remained, from the hairline to the dimple of the chin, in a darkness where the dark circle under his eye hollowed out a basket of shadow. > «quedarse» + gerund: «Quedarse» ('to remain / to stay') followed by a gerund means to keep on doing something or be left doing it: «se quedó contemplando» = 'he stayed there gazing', 'he was left staring'. It stresses a lingering, absorbed state. Barsut movía lentamente una pierna cruzada sobre otra. Barsut slowly swung one leg crossed over the other. –¡Ah! –escuchó Erdosain y preguntó–: ¿Qué decís? "Ah!" Erdosain heard, and he asked: "What are you saying?" > «vos» form «decís»: «Decís» is the «voseo» form of «decir» for the pronoun «vos», standard in Buenos Aires speech where other dialects use «tú dices». Throughout the dialogue the characters address each other with «vos» rather than «tú». Es que Erdosain había escuchado aquel «ah» pronunciado unos segundos antes, recién ahora. The thing was that Erdosain had heard that "ah", uttered a few seconds earlier, only just now. > «recién» = 'just now': In River Plate Spanish «recién» means 'just now', 'only now', often standing alone with a verb: «recién ahora» = 'only just now'. Elsewhere «recién» usually needs a following participle ('recently arrived'); here it works like an adverb of time on its own. –¿Salió Elsa?... "Did Elsa go out?..." Barsut enderezó la cabeza, sus cejas se levantaron para dejar entrar más luz a los párpados, y con los labios ligeramente entreabiertos, sopló: Barsut straightened his head, his eyebrows lifted to let more light into his eyelids, and with his lips slightly parted, he breathed out: –¿Se fue? "She's gone?" > Pronominal «irse»: «Irse» ('to leave / to go away') is the pronominal form of «ir». The «se» adds the sense of departing for good. «Se fue» ('she left / she's gone') carries a finality that plain «fue» would not. Erdosain arrugó el ceño, examinó al soslayo los zapatos del otro, y entrecerrando los párpados, espiando con esa mirada filtrada a través de las pestañas la angustia de Barsut, dejó caer lentamente: Erdosain knit his brow, examined the other man's shoes out of the corner of his eye, and half closing his lids, spying on Barsut's anguish with that gaze filtered through his lashes, slowly let fall: > «al soslayo»: «Al soslayo» (also «de soslayo») means 'sidelong', 'out of the corner of one's eye', 'askance'. It paints a furtive, slanting look — exactly the wary watching of this scene. –Sí... se... fue... con... un... hombre... "Yes... she... went off... with... a... man..." Y guiñando el párpado izquierdo como el farmacéutico Ergueta, inclinó la cabeza. And winking his left eyelid like Ergueta the pharmacist, he bowed his head. Bajo la bronceada raya de sus cejas, fieramente aguardaban sus pupilas. Beneath the bronzed line of his eyebrows, his pupils waited fiercely. Erdosain continuó: Erdosain went on: –¿Ves? "You see?" Allí está el revólver. There's the revolver. Los pude matar y sin embargo no lo hice. I could have killed them and yet I didn't do it. > Object pronoun before «poder»: When a verb like «poder» is followed by an infinitive, an object pronoun may climb in front of the conjugated verb: «los pude matar» = «pude matarlos» ('I could kill them'). Both placements are correct; fronting the pronoun is common in speech. Qué curioso animal es el hombre, ¿no? What a curious animal man is, isn't he? –¿Y vos te dejaste llevar la mujer en tus barbas? "And you let your wife be carried off right under your nose?" > «en las barbas de alguien»: The idiom «en las barbas de alguien» (literally 'in someone's beard') means 'right in front of them', 'to their face', 'under their very nose'. Here «en tus barbas» sharpens the insult: it happened where Erdosain could see. En Erdosain el odio antiguo exasperado por la humillación reciente se convertía ahora en un motivo de júbilo cruel y con la voz temblorosa en la garganta, reseca la boca de rencor, exclamó: In Erdosain the old hatred, exasperated by the recent humiliation, was now turning into a cause for cruel joy, and with his voice trembling in his throat, his mouth dry with rancor, he exclaimed: > «convertirse en»: The pronominal «convertirse en» means 'to turn into / become': «se convertía en un motivo de júbilo» = 'was turning into a cause for joy'. The imperfect «convertía» shows the change as an ongoing process, not a finished event. –¿Qué te interesa a vos? "What's it to you?" Una enorme bofetada lo hizo trastabillar sobre la silla. An enormous slap sent him reeling in the chair. > «bofetada»: A «bofetada» is a hard open-handed blow to the face, a slap. It gives the chapter its title; this single slap is the pivot on which the whole scene — and Erdosain's resolve — turns. Más tarde recordó que el brazo de Barsut retrocedía y avanzaba amasando su carne. Later he remembered that Barsut's arm drew back and came forward, kneading his flesh. Se tapó el rostro con las dos manos, quiso escapar a esa mole que siempre avanzaba sobre él como una fuerza desencadenada de la naturaleza. He covered his face with both hands, tried to escape that bulk that kept advancing on him like an unleashed force of nature. Su cabeza golpeó sordamente contra el muro y cayó. His head struck dully against the wall and he fell. Cuando volvió en sí Barsut estaba arrodillado a su lado. When he came to, Barsut was kneeling at his side. > «volver en sí»: The idiom «volver en sí» means 'to come to', 'to regain consciousness' (literally 'to return into oneself'). «Sí» here is the reflexive pronoun, not the word for 'yes'. Notó que tenía el cuello desprendido y unos hilos de agua le corrían hasta la garganta. He noticed his collar had come undone and threads of water were running down to his throat. Desde el tabique nasal le subía por el hueso un dolor titilante, y a cada momento le parecía que iba a estornudar. From the nasal septum a flickering pain climbed up the bone, and at every moment it seemed to him he was about to sneeze. Las encías le sangraban lentamente y bajo la inflamación de los labios se notaba la superficie dentaria. His gums were bleeding slowly, and beneath the swelling of his lips the surface of his teeth showed. Erdosain se levantó trabajosamente y cayó sobre una silla; Barsut estaba tan pálido que dos llamas parecían escapar de sus ojos. Erdosain got up with effort and dropped onto a chair; Barsut was so pale that two flames seemed to escape from his eyes. De los pómulos a las orejas, haces de músculos trazaban dos arcos temblorosos. From the cheekbones to the ears, bundles of muscle traced two trembling arcs. Erdosain tenía la sensación de bambolearse en un sueño interminable, pero comprendió cuando el otro lo tomó del brazo, diciéndole: Erdosain had the sensation of swaying in an endless dream, but he understood when the other took him by the arm, saying: > Article for body parts: Spanish uses the definite article, not a possessive, for body parts: «lo tomó del brazo» = 'took him by the arm'. The person affected is marked by the object pronoun «lo» ('him'), and «del brazo» says where. –Mirá, escupime a la cara, si querés, pero déjame hablar. "Look, spit in my face if you want, but let me talk." > «Voseo» imperatives: «Mirá» ('look') and «escupime» ('spit at me') are «vos» commands, stressed on the last syllable, and «querés» ('you want') is the «vos» present — all marks of porteño speech. Compare standard «mira», «escúpeme», «quieres». Es necesario que te cuente todo. I have to tell you everything. > Subjunctive after «es necesario que»: Impersonal expressions of necessity like «es necesario que» trigger the subjunctive in the clause that follows: «que te cuente» ('that I tell you'). «Cuente» is the present subjunctive of «contar» — the rule recurs each time Barsut says this line. Sentáte... así, ahí. –Erdosain se había levantado inconscientemente–. Oíme, hacé el favor. Sit down... like that, there." Erdosain had risen without realizing it. "Hear me out, do me the favor. > More «voseo» commands: «Sentáte» ('sit down'), «oíme» ('listen to me') and «hacé» ('do') are again «vos» imperatives, accented on the final stem syllable. The standard forms would be «siéntate», «óyeme», «haz». Vos ves ¿no? You see, don't you? Yo puedo matarte a trompadas... recién se me fue la mano... te juro... si querés te pido perdón de rodillas. I could beat you to death with my fists... my hand just got away from me... I swear... if you want I'll beg your forgiveness on my knees. > «irse la mano»: The idiom «írsele la mano a alguien» means 'to overdo it', 'to go too far' — literally 'the hand got away from one'. «Recién se me fue la mano» = 'I just lost control / went too far'. It is Barsut's half-apology for the blow. Qué querés, soy así. What do you want, I'm like this. Mirá... ah... ah... si la gente supiera. Look... ah... ah... if people only knew. > Imperfect subjunctive in «si» clauses: «Supiera» is the imperfect subjunctive of «saber», used after «si» for a hypothetical, contrary-to-fact condition: «si la gente supiera» = 'if people knew (but they don't)'. The trailing clause is left unsaid, deepening the hint. Erdosain escupió sangre. Erdosain spat blood. Una franja de temperatura le abrazaba la frente entrándole por las sienes y yéndole a punzar hasta la nuca. A band of heat gripped his forehead, entering at the temples and going on to stab as far as the nape of his neck. La espalda se le encorvó tanto que dejó apoyada la cabeza en la orilla de la mesa. His back stooped so far that he left his head resting on the edge of the table. Barsut, al verle así, le preguntó: Barsut, seeing him like that, asked him: > «Al» + infinitive: «Al» followed by an infinitive means 'on / upon (doing something)': «al verle así» = 'on seeing him like that', 'when he saw him that way'. The pronoun «le» ('him') attaches to the infinitive «ver». –¿Querés lavarte la cara? "Do you want to wash your face?" Te va a hacer bien. It'll do you good. Espera un momento, no salgas.– Y corrió hacia la cocina, de donde volvió con la palangana llena de agua–. Lávate. Wait a moment, don't go out." And he ran toward the kitchen, from which he came back with the basin full of water. "Wash up. > Negative command (subjunctive): Negative commands use the present subjunctive: «no salgas» ('don't go out'), from «salir». Note Barsut slips out of «voseo» here into the «tú» forms «espera», «lávate» — Arlt lets the spoken register drift. Eso te va a hacer bien. That'll do you good. ¿Querés que te friccione? Do you want me to rub you down? Mirá, perdóname, fue un impulso. Look, forgive me, it was an impulse. Vos, también, ¿por qué guiñaste un ojo como burlándote? And you, too — why did you wink an eye as if mocking me? > «como» + gerund: «Como» before a gerund means 'as if (doing)': «como burlándote» = 'as if mocking', 'as though making fun'. The gerund «burlándote» comes from the pronominal verb «burlarse de» ('to mock / make fun of'). Lávate, haceme el favor. Wash up, do me the favor. Erdosain, en silencio, se levantó y sumergió varias veces la cara en la palangana. Erdosain, in silence, stood up and plunged his face several times into the basin. Cuando le faltaba la respiración retiraba el rostro de la superficie del agua. When his breath ran short he would lift his face from the surface of the water. > Imperfect for repeated action: Both verbs are imperfect because the action is habitual and repeated: each time «le faltaba la respiración» ('his breath ran short') he «retiraba el rostro» ('would lift his face'). The imperfect renders English 'would' / 'used to'. Luego se sentó y el aire le evaporaba la humedad de los cabellos, junto a las sienes. Then he sat down and the air dried the dampness from his hair, beside his temples. ¡Qué cansado estaba! How tired he was! ¡Ah, si lo viera Elsa! Ah, if only Elsa could see him! > Imperfect subjunctive wish: «Viera» is the imperfect subjunctive of «ver». After «si» it forms a wistful, unreal wish: «¡si lo viera Elsa!» = 'if only Elsa could see him!' — something he longs for but knows will not happen. ¡Cómo lo compadecería! How she would pity him! > Conditional after a hypothesis: «Compadecería» is the conditional of «compadecer» ('to pity'). It pairs with the previous imperfect-subjunctive wish: if she saw him, then she would pity him. The «-ría» ending marks the 'would' outcome of an unreal condition. Cerró los ojos. He closed his eyes. Barsut arrimó la silla a su lado y dijo: Barsut drew the chair up beside him and said: –Es necesario que te cuente todo. "I have to tell you everything." Si no lo hiciera me sentiría un canalla. If I didn't, I'd feel like a scoundrel. > «canalla»: A «canalla» is a scoundrel, a swine, a despicable person. It is a strong moral self-judgment; Barsut keeps reaching for words like this as he confesses his own treachery. Ya ves, te hablo tranquilo. You see, I'm speaking to you calmly. Mirá, si no lo crees poneme la mano en el corazón. Look, if you don't believe it, put your hand on my heart. Te soy sincero. I'm being sincere with you. Bueno, yo... yo te... yo te denuncié a la Azucarera... yo fui el que mandó el anónimo. Well, I... I... I reported you to the Sugar Company... I was the one who sent the anonymous letter. > «el anónimo»: Used as a noun, «el anónimo» is 'the anonymous letter' — an unsigned denunciation. «Denunciar» means 'to report / inform on'. Barsut here confesses he is the one who turned Erdosain in to «la Azucarera», the Sugar Company. Erdosain ni levantó la cabeza. Erdosain did not even lift his head. > «ni» = 'not even': Before a verb, «ni» means 'not even': «ni levantó la cabeza» = 'he didn't even raise his head'. It is more emphatic than a plain «no», stressing how completely indifferent Erdosain has become. El u otro ¡qué importaba! One or the other — what did it matter! > «o» becomes «u»: The conjunction «o» ('or') changes to «u» before a word beginning with an o-sound: «el u otro» = 'one or the other'. The swap simply avoids two o-vowels colliding. Barsut lo miró: esperaba quién sabe qué palabras, y dijo: Barsut looked at him: he was waiting for who knows what words, and said: –¿Por qué no decís nada? "Why don't you say anything?" Sí, yo te denuncié. Yes, I reported you. ¿Te das cuenta? Do you realize? > «darse cuenta (de)»: The pronominal phrase «darse cuenta (de)» means 'to realize', 'to become aware (of)'. «¿Te das cuenta?» = 'Do you realize?' — a verbal tic Barsut repeats throughout the confession, demanding that Erdosain take it in. Yo te denuncié. I reported you. Quería hacerte meter preso, quedarme con Elsa, humillarla. I wanted to get you thrown in jail, to keep Elsa for myself, to humiliate her. > «meter preso»: «Meter preso a alguien» means 'to have someone locked up / thrown in jail'. With «hacer» ('to make / cause'), «hacerte meter preso» = 'to get you put in prison' — a causative chain Spanish builds out of stacked verbs. ¡No te imaginas las noches que he pasado pensando que te meterían preso! You can't imagine the nights I've spent thinking they'd lock you up! Vos no tenías de dónde sacar la plata y forzosamente ellos te denunciarían. You had nowhere to get the money from, and they were bound to report you. > «la plata» = money: In River Plate (and much of Latin American) Spanish, «la plata» — literally 'silver' — is the everyday word for money, where Spain would say «el dinero». It recurs whenever the embezzled sum comes up. ¿Pero, por qué no decís nada? But why don't you say anything? Erdosain levantó los párpados. Erdosain lifted his eyelids. Barsut estaba allí, sí, era él, y decía todas esas cosas. Barsut was there, yes, it was him, and he was saying all those things. De los pómulos a las orejas, bajo la piel, el reflejo de los músculos temblaba imperceptiblemente. From the cheekbones to the ears, beneath the skin, the play of the muscles trembled imperceptibly. Barsut bajó los ojos, apoyó los codos en las rodillas como si se encontrase frente a un fogón, y con voz lenta insistió: Barsut lowered his eyes, propped his elbows on his knees as if he were sitting before a hearth, and in a slow voice insisted: > «como si» + imperfect subjunctive: «Como si» ('as if') always takes the imperfect subjunctive: «como si se encontrase frente a un fogón» = 'as if he were before a hearth'. «Encontrase» is the imperfect subjunctive of «encontrarse» ('to find oneself / be'). –Es necesario que te cuente todo. "I have to tell you everything." ¿A quién sino a vos le podría contar todas estas cosas que hacen doler el corazón? To whom but you could I tell all these things that make the heart ache? > «sino» = 'but / except': «Sino» introduces an exception after a negative or near-negative idea: «¿a quién sino a vos?» = 'to whom but / except you?'. Do not confuse it with «si no» (two words, 'if not'). Dicen, y es cierto, que el corazón no duele, pero créelo, a momentos me digo: They say, and it's true, that the heart doesn't ache, but believe it, at times I say to myself: ¿para qué vivir? what's the point of living? > «para qué» vs «por qué»: «¿Para qué?» asks 'for what purpose / to what end?', while «¿por qué?» asks 'why / for what cause?'. «¿Para qué vivir?» = 'what is there to live for?' — a question of purpose, not of cause. ¿A dónde va la vida si yo soy así? Where does life go if I'm like this? ¿Te das cuenta? Do you realize? Vos tenés que ver todo lo que he cavilado pensando estas cosas. You have to see all I've brooded over thinking about these things. > «cavilar»: «Cavilar» means to brood, to ruminate, to turn something over obsessively in the mind. It names exactly the anxious, circling thought that grips Arlt's characters; «lo que he cavilado» = 'all I've brooded over'. Mirá, ni debía contártelas. Look, I shouldn't even be telling them to you. ¿Cómo es eso que uno le hace una canallada a una persona, luego se acerca a ella y le cuenta sus más íntimos secretos, y no siente remordimientos? How is it that you do a dirty thing to a person, then go up to them and tell them your most intimate secrets, and feel no remorse? > Impersonal «uno»: «Uno» ('one') works as an impersonal subject standing in for 'people in general' — or, here, for the speaker himself at a slight distance: «uno le hace una canallada» = 'one / you do a vile thing'. The verb stays in the third person singular. Yo mismo me he dicho muchas veces: ¿Por qué no siento remordimientos? I myself have said to myself many times: Why do I feel no remorse? ¿Qué vida es esta si hacemos una barbaridad y no sentimos nada? What kind of life is this if we do something monstrous and feel nothing? > «barbaridad»: A «barbaridad» is an outrage, an atrocity, an enormity — a monstrous act. In lighter speech it can also just mean 'a huge amount', but here it keeps its full moral weight. ¿Comprendes vos esto? Do you understand this? De acuerdo a lo que hemos estudiado en el colegio, un crimen termina por volverlo loco al delincuente, ¿y cómo es que en la realidad vos haces un crimen y te quedas lo más tranquilo? According to what we studied in school, a crime ends up driving the criminal mad — and how is it that in reality you commit a crime and stay perfectly calm? > «terminar por» + infinitive: «Terminar por» plus an infinitive means 'to end up (doing something)': «termina por volverlo loco» = 'ends up driving him mad'. «Volver loco a alguien» is the set phrase 'to drive someone crazy'. Erdosain continuaba con la mirada fija en Barsut ahora la imagen de aquel hombre se depositaba en el fondo de su conciencia. Erdosain kept his gaze fixed on Barsut; now the image of that man was settling into the depths of his consciousness. Las fuerzas de su vida ceñían el pálido relieve de una malla tan intensa que el calco que se verificaba en aquellos instantes ya nunca más se borraría. The forces of his life bound that pale relief in a mesh so intense that the imprint forming in those instants would never again be erased. –Mirá –continuó Barsut–, yo sabía que me tenías rabia, que de haberme podido matar lo hubieras hecho, y eso me alegraba y entristecía a un tiempo. "Look," Barsut went on, "I knew you held a grudge against me, that if you'd been able to kill me you would have, and that gladdened and saddened me at once." > Conditional with «de» + infinitive: «De» plus a perfect infinitive can replace an 'if' clause about the past: «de haberme podido matar» = 'if you had been able to kill me'. The result clause takes the pluperfect subjunctive «lo hubieras hecho» ('you would have done it'). ¡Cuántas noches me acosté pensando en el modo de secuestrarte! How many nights I lay down thinking of a way to kidnap you! > «secuestrar»: «Secuestrar» means 'to kidnap / abduct'. Barsut is speaking to Erdosain, so «secuestrarte» = 'to kidnap you [= Erdosain]': Barsut confesses his own obsessive fantasy of abducting Erdosain. Note the irony that Barsut himself is eventually the one who is kidnapped later in the novel. Hasta se me ocurrió mandarte una bomba por correo, o una víbora en una caja de cartón. It even occurred to me to send you a bomb by mail, or a viper in a cardboard box. > «ocurrírsele a alguien»: «Ocurrírsele algo a alguien» means 'for something to occur to someone', to pop into their mind. «Se me ocurrió» = 'it occurred to me'; the «se» is impersonal and «me» marks whose mind had the idea. O pagarle a un chofer para que te atropellara por la calle. Or to pay a driver to run you down in the street. > «para que» + subjunctive: «Para que» ('so that / in order that') always takes the subjunctive. «Atropellara» is the imperfect subjunctive of «atropellar» ('to run over'), matching the past-tense frame of Barsut's recollection. Cerraba los ojos y las horas se me pasaban pensando en ustedes. I would close my eyes and the hours slipped by as I thought about the two of you. ¿Vos te pensás que la quería a ella? Do you think I loved her? > Redundant object pronoun: Spanish often doubles a direct object: the pronoun «la» and the full phrase «a ella» both point to the same person. «La quería a ella» = 'I loved her', with «a ella» added for emphasis or contrast. –Erdosain observó más tarde que en la conversación de esa noche Barsut evitó llamar a Elsa por su nombre–. Erdosain noticed later that in that night's conversation Barsut avoided calling Elsa by her name. No, no la he querido nunca. No, I never loved her. Pero me hubiera gustado humillarla ¿sabes? But I would have liked to humiliate her, you know? > «gustar» in the pluperfect subjunctive: «Gustar» works backwards: the thing liked is the subject and the person is the indirect object «me». «Me hubiera gustado humillarla» = 'humiliating her would have pleased me' → 'I would have liked to humiliate her'. The form is the pluperfect subjunctive (hubiera + gustado), not the conditional perfect (habría gustado); in literary Spanish the pluperfect subjunctive substitutes for the conditional perfect. Humillarla porque sí: verte a vos hundido para que ella me pidiera de rodillas que te ayudara. Humiliate her just because: to see you ruined so that she'd beg me on her knees to help you. > «porque sí»: «Porque sí» means 'just because', 'for no reason other than I want to'. It refuses to give a reason — a fitting motive for Barsut's spite, which he can't fully explain even to himself. ¿Te das cuenta? Do you realize? Nunca la he querido. I never loved her. Si te denuncié fue por eso, para humillarla a ella que siempre fue tan orgullosa conmigo. If I reported you it was for that, to humiliate her, who was always so proud with me. Y cuando vos me dijiste que habías defraudado a la Azucarera, una alegría de salvaje me revolvió las entrañas. And when you told me you'd defrauded the Sugar Company, a savage joy churned my insides. > «defraudar»: «Defraudar» means 'to defraud / embezzle', to cheat someone of money or trust. Erdosain's «defraudado a la Azucarera» — defrauding the Sugar Company — is the original crime the anonymous letter exposed. Y no terminabas de hablar cuando yo me dije: bueno, vamos a ver ahora dónde termina su orgullo. And you hadn't finished speaking when I said to myself: well, now we'll see where her pride ends. Erdosain dejó escapar la pregunta: Erdosain let the question slip out: –¿Pero vos la querías?... "But did you love her?..." –No, no la he querido nunca. "No, I never loved her." ¡Si supieras lo que me ha hecho sufrir! If you knew how much she's made me suffer! ¿Quererla yo a ella, que nunca me dio la mano? Me, love her, who never gave me her hand? Cada vez que me miraba me parecía que me escupía a la cara. Every time she looked at me it seemed to me she was spitting in my face. ¡Ah, vos fuiste el marido, pero nunca la conociste! Ah, you were the husband, but you never knew her! > Preterite for finished facts: «Fuiste» ('you were') and «conociste» ('you knew / came to know') are preterites — single, closed facts viewed as a whole. With «conocer», the preterite means specifically 'to meet / get to know' at one point, not the ongoing 'knew' of the imperfect. ¡Qué sabes vos qué mujer es ella! What do you know about what kind of woman she is! Mirá, te podría ver morir y no tendría un gesto de lástima. Look, she could watch you die and not make a single gesture of pity. ¿Te das cuenta? Do you realize? Me acuerdo. I remember. > Pronominal «acordarse de»: «Acordarse (de)» means 'to remember' and is pronominal, requiring «me / te / se». «Me acuerdo» = 'I remember'. It is interchangeable in meaning with «recordar», which is not pronominal. Cuando la casa Astraldi quebró y ustedes se quedaron en la calle, si ella me hubiera pedido todo lo que yo tenía, se lo hubiera dado. When the Astraldi firm went bust and you two were left out in the street, if she had asked me for everything I had, I would have given it to her. > Unreal past conditional: A contrary-to-fact condition about the past uses the pluperfect subjunctive in both halves: «si me hubiera pedido... se lo hubiera dado» = 'if she had asked me... I would have given it to her'. Neither thing happened. Le hubiera dado toda mi fortuna para que me dijera «gracias». I would have given her my whole fortune just to have her say "thank you" to me. Nada más que gracias. Nothing more than thank you. Para que me dijera esa palabra yo me hubiera quedado sin nada. To have her say that word to me I would have left myself with nothing. Un día que entablé una conversación me contestó: Remo es suficiente hombre para ganar para nosotros dos. One day when I struck up a conversation she answered me: Remo is man enough to earn for the two of us. ¡Ah, vos no la conoces! Ah, you don't know her! Sería capaz de verte morir sin hacer un gesto. She'd be capable of watching you die without making a gesture. > «ser capaz de»: «Ser capaz de» means 'to be capable of', 'to be the kind to'. «Sería capaz de verte morir» = 'she'd be capable of watching you die' — said of someone you believe would actually do the terrible thing. Y yo pensaba. And I would think. ¡Cuántas cosa, Dios mío, pasan por la cabeza de un hombre! How many things, my God, run through a man's head! Me tiraba en una cama y me ponía a imaginar cosas...vos habías asesinado a un hombre... era necesario salvarte y entonces ella me venía a pedir que te ayudara y yo, sin decirle una palabra de mis sacrificios, corría de un lado a otro. I'd throw myself on a bed and start imagining things... you had murdered a man... you had to be saved, and so she would come to ask me to help you, and I, without saying a word about my sacrifices, would run from one place to another. > «ponerse a» + infinitive: «Ponerse a» plus an infinitive means 'to start / set about (doing something)': «me ponía a imaginar» = 'I would start imagining'. The imperfect keeps the whole daydream habitual and recurring. ¡Qué mujer, Remo! What a woman, Remo! ¡Qué mujer! What a woman! Me acuerdo de cuando cosía. I remember when she would sew. Me hubiera quedado al lado, ¿sabes? sosteniéndole la costura, y yo sabía que no era feliz con vos. I would have stayed at her side, you know, holding the sewing for her, and I knew she wasn't happy with you. Lo veía en la cara, en su cansancio, en su sonrisa. I could see it in her face, in her weariness, in her smile. Erdosain recordó las palabras que Elsa había pronunciado hacía una hora: Erdosain recalled the words Elsa had spoken an hour before: > «hacía» for 'ago' in the past: To say 'ago' from a past vantage point, Spanish uses «hacía» (imperfect of «hacer»): «hacía una hora» = 'an hour before / an hour earlier'. In the present this would be «hace una hora» ('an hour ago'). –No importa... Estoy contenta. "It doesn't matter... I'm happy." ¿Te das cuenta de tu sorpresa, Remo? Do you realize your surprise, Remo? Estás sólito de noche, estás solo... De pronto, cric... la puerta se abre... y soy yo... yo, que he venido. You're all alone at night, you're alone... Suddenly, click... the door opens... and it's me... me, who has come. > Diminutive «-ito»: «Sólito» is «solo» ('alone') with the diminutive «-ito», which here adds tenderness rather than smallness: 'all alone', 'poor and alone'. Spanish diminutives often carry warmth or pity, not literal size. Barsut continuó: Barsut went on: –Y claro, yo me preguntaba qué era lo que le hacía soportar la vida a tu lado, al lado de un hombre como vos... "And of course, I kept asking myself what it was that made her endure life at your side, beside a man like you..." > Causative «hacer» + infinitive: «Hacer» plus an infinitive forms a causative: 'to make someone do something'. «Lo que le hacía soportar la vida» = 'what made her bear life'; «le» marks the one who is made to endure. –Y vine a pie sola por las calles oscuras, buscándote, pero vos no me ves, estás solo, la cabeza... "And I came on foot, alone, through the dark streets, looking for you, but you don't see me, you're alone, your head..." Erdosain sentía que las ideas se le atorbellinaban en la superficie del cerebro como un remolino de agua. Erdosain felt the ideas whirling on the surface of his brain like a whirlpool of water. > «atorbellinarse»: A rare, vivid verb built on «torbellino» ('whirlwind, whirlpool'): «atorbellinarse» = 'to whirl, to swirl around'. The indirect «le» shows the whirling happens to (inside) Erdosain — his ideas spin out of his control. El cono gigante hundía la espiral hasta la raíz de sus miembros. The giant cone sank its spiral down to the root of his limbs. Torbellino cuyo roce suave arrancaba a su alma una ternura dolorida, nueva. A whirlwind whose gentle touch drew from his soul a pained, new tenderness. ¡Qué buenas las palabras de Elsa, qué extraordinario contenido! How good Elsa's words were, what an extraordinary substance! –Siempre te quise. "I always loved you." Ahora también te quiero... nunca ¿por qué nunca hablaste como esta noche? I love you now too... never — why did you never speak like this before tonight? Siento que te voy a querer toda la vida, que el otro a tu lado es la sombra de un hombre. I feel I'm going to love you all my life, that the other man beside you is the shadow of a man. Erdosain tenía ahora la certidumbre de que estas palabras salvaban para siempre su alma, mientras que Barsut amontonaba una envidiosa angustia: Erdosain now had the certainty that these words saved his soul forever, while Barsut piled up an envious anguish: –Y yo hubiera querido preguntarle a ella qué es lo que encontraba a tu lado, abrirte el pecho delante de ella y demostrarle hasta cansarla que vos eras un loco, un canalla, un cobarde... "And I would have wanted to ask her what it was she found at your side, to split your chest open in front of her and prove to her until she was sick of it that you were a madman, a scoundrel, a coward..." > «hasta» + infinitive: «Hasta» before an infinitive means 'until (the point of) doing': «hasta cansarla» = 'until I wore her out / until she was sick of it'. The pronoun «la» ('her') attaches to the infinitive «cansar». Te juro que digo estas palabras sin rabia. I swear I say these words without anger. –Lo creo –repuso Erdosain. "I believe it," Erdosain replied. > «repuso» (from «reponer»): «Repuso» is the preterite of «reponer» in its sense 'to reply, to retort'. It is a more literary alternative to «respondió» and is irregular, sharing its forms with «poner» («puso»). –Ahora mismo, yo me pregunto, mirándote: ¿Con qué ojos mira una mujer a un hombre? "Right now, looking at you, I ask myself: with what eyes does a woman look at a man?" Eso es lo que nunca sabremos. That's what we'll never know. ¿No te parece? Don't you think? Vos para mí eras un desgraciado, al que de un revés se lo saca uno de adelante. To me you were a wretch, the kind you knock out of your way with a backhand. > «desgraciado»: «Desgraciado» means both 'unfortunate / wretched' and, as an insult, 'wretch / lowlife'. Both senses press on Erdosain here: a man who is pitiable and contemptible at once. Pero para ella, ¿quién eras vos? But to her, who were you? Ese es el punto oscuro. That's the dark point. ¿Lo supiste alguna vez? Did you ever know it? Decíme francamente: ¿supiste vos en tu corazón qué hombre eras para tu mujer? Tell me frankly: did you know in your heart what man you were to your wife? ¿Qué es lo que ella vio en vos para sufrir tanto a tu lado, y soportarte como lo hizo? What was it she saw in you to suffer so much at your side, and to put up with you the way she did? ¡Qué gravemente conversaba Barsut! How gravely Barsut talked! Sus enronquecidas preguntas requerían una contestación. His hoarse questions demanded an answer. Erdosain lo sentía en sus inmediaciones no como a un hombre, sino precisamente como a un doble, un espectro de nariz huesuda y cabello de bronce que de pronto se había convertido en un pedazo de su conciencia, ya que como ésta en otras circunstancias, él ahora le dirigía las mismas preguntas. Erdosain felt him there beside him not as a man, but precisely as a double, a specter with a bony nose and bronze hair who had suddenly become a piece of his own conscience, since, just as his conscience did in other circumstances, this man was now putting the same questions to him. > «no... sino» (not... but): «No... sino» frames a correction: 'not X but (rather) Y'. «No como a un hombre, sino como a un doble» = 'not as a man, but as a double'. The personal «a» before «un hombre / un doble» marks them as the object of «sentía». Sí, era probable que para vivir tranquilo fuera necesario exterminarlo, y la «idea» se reveló fríamente en él. Yes, it was likely that to live in peace it would be necessary to exterminate him, and the "idea" revealed itself coldly within him. > Subjunctive after «era probable que»: An expression of likelihood like «era probable que» takes the subjunctive: «fuera necesario» ('it would be necessary') is the imperfect subjunctive of «ser». The whole cold thought is held at the distance of mere possibility. –Semejante a una espada entrando en un bloque de algodón –diría más tarde Erdosain. "Like a sword entering a block of cotton," Erdosain would say later. > Conditional as later narration: «Diría» is the conditional of «decir». Here it does not mean 'would say' as a hypothesis but narrates from the present looking back: 'he would say later', i.e. 'as he later put it'. The narrator frames Erdosain's image as a remembered quotation. Barsut ni remotamente se imaginó que en aquel instante, Remo acababa de condenarlo a muerte. Barsut did not remotely imagine that in that instant Remo had just condemned him to death. > «acabar de» + infinitive: «Acabar de» plus an infinitive means 'to have just (done something)': «acababa de condenarlo» = 'had just condemned him'. In the imperfect it sets the freshly completed act against Barsut's total unawareness. Explicándome luego las circunstancias de esa concepción, Erdosain me decía: Explaining to me later the circumstances of that conception, Erdosain said to me: «¿Usted ha visto a un general en un campo de batalla?... "Have you ever seen a general on a battlefield?... > Formal «usted»: With the narrator, Erdosain switches to the formal «usted» and its third-person verb «ha visto» ('have you seen'), a marked contrast to the intimate «vos» he used with Barsut. The pronoun choice signals the new, more distant relationship. Pero para hacerle más accesible mi idea le diré como inventor: Usted busca durante cierto tiempo la solución de un problema. But to make my idea more accessible to you I'll tell you, as an inventor: you search for a certain time for the solution to a problem. Usted sabe, tiene la seguridad de que la clave, el secreto, está en usted, pero no lo puede conocer, tan cubierto está el secreto de capas de misterio. You know, you are certain that the key, the secret, is within you, but you cannot grasp it, so covered is the secret in layers of mystery. Y un día, en el momento más inesperado, de pronto el plan, la visión completa de la máquina, aparece ante sus ojos, deslumbrándolo con su fácil exactitud. And one day, at the most unexpected moment, suddenly the plan, the complete vision of the machine, appears before your eyes, dazzling you with its easy exactness. ¡Es algo maravilloso! It's something marvelous! Imagínese un general en un campo de batalla... todo está perdido, y de pronto, clara, precisa, se le aparece una solución que jamás había soñado concebir, y que, sin embargo, tenía allí, al alcance de su mano, en el interior de sí mismo. Picture a general on a battlefield... all is lost, and suddenly, clear, precise, a solution appears to him that he had never dreamed of conceiving, and that, nevertheless, he had right there, within reach of his hand, inside himself. > «usted» command with pronoun: «Imagínese» is the «usted» imperative of «imaginarse» ('to imagine'), with the reflexive «se» attached and an accent added to keep the stress: 'imagine (for yourself)'. Formal commands borrow the present-subjunctive form. Yo, en aquel instante, supe que tenía que hacerlo matar a Barsut, y él, frente a mí, amontonando palabras inútiles no se imaginaba que yo, con la boca hinchada, la nariz dolorida, retenía una alegría estupenda, un deslumbramiento semejante al que se experimenta cuando lo que se ha descubierto es fatal como una ley matemática. I, in that instant, knew I had to have Barsut killed, and he, across from me, heaping up useless words, did not imagine that I, with my swollen mouth, my aching nose, was holding back a stupendous joy, a dazzlement like the one you feel when what you've discovered is as inexorable as a mathematical law. > «supe» = 'I realized': In the preterite, «saber» shifts meaning from 'to know' to 'to find out / realize' at a single moment: «supe que tenía que...» = 'I realized that I had to...'. The preterite marks the flash of insight; the imperfect «sabía» would mean a standing knowledge. > Causative «hacer matar»: «Hacer matar a alguien» means 'to have someone killed' — to cause the death without doing it oneself. This is the cold heart of Erdosain's plan: not to kill Barsut, but to «hacerlo matar», to have him killed. Quizás existe también una matemática del espíritu cuyas terribles leyes no son tan inviolables como las que rigen las combinaciones de los números y de las líneas. Perhaps there also exists a mathematics of the spirit whose terrible laws are not as inviolable as those governing the combinations of numbers and lines. Porque es curioso. Because it's curious. Aquella bofetada que aun me hacía sangrar la encía, como el cuño de una prensa hidráulica estampó en mi conciencia las líneas definitivas de un plan de muerte. That slap, which still made my gum bleed, like the die of a hydraulic press stamped into my conscience the definitive lines of a plan of death. > «cuño»: A «cuño» is a die or stamp — the engraved tool that strikes a coin or seal. Arlt extends the metaphor: the slap, like a press, stamps the murder plan permanently into Erdosain's mind. ¿Se da cuenta? Do you see? Un plan son tres líneas generales, tres admisibles líneas rectas, nada más. A plan is three general lines, three admissible straight lines, nothing more. Y en tumulto, se amontonaba mi regocijo sobre ese relieve en frío cuyas tres sintéticas líneas encerraban esto: secuestrar a Barsut, hacerlo matar y con su dinero fundar la sociedad secreta como deseaba el Astrólogo. And in a tumult, my elation piled up over that cold relief whose three terse lines held this: to kidnap Barsut, to have him killed, and with his money to found the secret society as the Astrologer wished. ¿Se da cuenta usted? Do you see? El plan del crimen surgió espontáneamente en mí, mientras que el otro hablaba tristemente de nuestras dos almas condenadas. The plan of the crime arose spontaneously in me, while the other man spoke sadly of our two condemned souls. El plan apareció en mí como si lo hubieran estampado en una plancha de hierro a miles de libras de presión. The plan appeared in me as if it had been stamped onto an iron plate at thousands of pounds of pressure. > «como si» + pluperfect subjunctive: For an unreal comparison about something already completed, «como si» takes the pluperfect subjunctive: «como si lo hubieran estampado» = 'as if they had stamped it'. The impersonal third-person plural «hubieran» leaves the stamper unnamed. «¡Ah! ¿Cómo explicarle? "Ah! How can I explain it to you? De pronto yo me olvidé de todo retenido por una contemplación helada, llena de gozo, algo así como la aurora que descubre un trasnochador consuetudinario que lo alivia de su cansancio en la mañana que sucedió a una noche llena de fatigas. Suddenly I forgot everything, held by an icy contemplation, full of delight, something like the dawn that a habitual night-owl discovers, which relieves him of his weariness in the morning that follows a night full of toil. > «olvidarse de»: «Olvidarse de» is the common pronominal way to say 'to forget': «me olvidé de todo» = 'I forgot everything'. The non-pronominal «olvidar algo» means the same but is less colloquial. ¿Se da cuenta? Do you see? Hacerlo asesinar a Barsut por un hombre que imperiosamente necesitaba dinero para llevar a cabo una idea genial. To have Barsut murdered by a man who urgently needed money to carry out a brilliant idea. > «llevar a cabo»: «Llevar a cabo» is a fixed phrase meaning 'to carry out, to bring about, to accomplish'. «Para llevar a cabo una idea genial» = 'to carry out a brilliant idea'. Y esta nueva aurora que latía en mí estaba tan perfectamente individualizada que muchas veces, más tarde, me he preguntado qué secreto llega a encerrar el alma de un hombre que, sucesivamente, le van mostrando horizontes nuevos, descascarando sensaciones que para él mismo son un asombro por su origen aparentemente ilógico». And this new dawn pulsing in me was so perfectly defined that many times, later, I have asked myself what secret the soul of a man comes to hold when, one after another, new horizons are shown to him, peeling away sensations that are an astonishment even to himself for their apparently illogical origin." En el curso de esta historia he olvidado decir que cuando Erdosain se entusiasmaba, giraba en torno de la «idea» eje con palabras numerosas. In the course of this story I have forgotten to say that when Erdosain grew excited, he would circle around the axis-"idea" with a flood of words. Necesitaba agotar todas las posibilidades de expresión, poseído por ese frenesí lento que a través de las frases le daba a él la conciencia de ser un hombre extraordinario y no un desdichado. He needed to exhaust every possibility of expression, possessed by that slow frenzy which, through his sentences, gave him the awareness of being an extraordinary man and not a wretch. Que decía la verdad, no me cabía duda. That he was telling the truth, I had no doubt. > «caber duda»: The idiom «caber duda» means 'for there to be room for doubt'. «No me cabía duda» = 'I had no doubt' (literally 'no doubt fit in me'). The verb «caber» ('to fit') is irregular and very common in such fixed expressions. Lo que muchas veces me confundió fue la pregunta que a mí mismo me hice: ¿de dónde sacaba ese hombre energías para soportar su espectáculo tanto tiempo? What often baffled me was the question I asked myself: where did that man draw the energy to endure his own spectacle for so long? No hacía otra cosa que examinarse, que analizar lo que en él ocurría, como si la suma de detalles pudiera darle la certidumbre de que vivía. He did nothing but examine himself, analyze what was happening inside him, as if the sum of details could give him the certainty that he was alive. > «no hacer otra cosa que»: «No hacer otra cosa que» plus an infinitive means 'to do nothing but / to do nothing other than': «no hacía otra cosa que examinarse» = 'he did nothing but examine himself'. It frames the action as exclusive and obsessive. Insisto. I insist. Un muerto que tuviera el poder de conversar no hablaría más que él, para cerciorarse de que en apariencia no estaba muerto. A dead man who had the power to converse would talk no more than he did, to convince himself that he was not, to all appearances, dead. > Hypothetical: subjunctive + conditional: The relative clause «que tuviera el poder» ('who had the power') uses the imperfect subjunctive for an imaginary being, and the main verb «no hablaría» ('would not speak') is conditional. Together they build a wholly unreal supposition. Bersut, sin darse cuenta de todo lo que acababa de ocurrir en el otro, continuó: Bersut, unaware of all that had just taken place in the other man, went on: –¡Ah!, vos no la conociste.., no la conociste nunca. "Ah! you didn't know her.. you never knew her." Fíjate, escucha lo que te voy a contar. Look, listen to what I'm going to tell you. Una tarde fui a verte, sabía que no estabas, quería encontrarme con ella, verla no más, aunque fuera. One afternoon I went to see you, I knew you weren't in, I wanted to meet her, just to see her, even if only that. > «no más»: In River Plate speech «no más» (often written «nomás») softens or limits a verb: 'just', 'only', 'go ahead and'. «Verla no más» = 'just to see her', 'merely to see her' — nothing further intended. Llegué sudado, no sé cuántas cuadras caminé al sol antes de resolverme. I arrived sweating; I don't know how many blocks I walked in the sun before I made up my mind. > «cuadra» = city block: In Latin American Spanish a «cuadra» is a city block — the stretch of street between two corners. «Cuántas cuadras caminé» = 'how many blocks I walked'. (In Spain the word usually means a stable.) –Igual que yo, al sol –pensó Erdosain. "Just like me, in the sun," thought Erdosain. –Y eso que vos sabes que a mí no me faltaba plata para tomar un automóvil, y aun cuando pregunté por vos, ella, sin moverse del umbral, me contestó: –Disculpe, no lo hago pasar porque no está mi esposo. "And that's even though you know I wasn't short of money to take a car, and even when I asked for you, she, without moving from the threshold, answered me: 'Excuse me, I won't let you in because my husband isn't home.'" > «y eso que»: «Y eso que» introduces a concession: 'and that's despite the fact that', 'even though'. It flags that what follows runs against expectation — he had money for a cab, yet still trudged through the sun. ¿Te das cuenta qué perra? Do you see what a bitch? Erdosain pensó: Erdosain thought: –Todavía hay un tren para Temperley. "There's still a train to Temperley." Barsut continuó: Barsut went on: –Y yo, que te veía tan pobre hombre, me dije: ¿qué le habrá visto Elsa a este infeliz para enamorarse de él? "And I, seeing you such a poor wretch, said to myself: what can Elsa have seen in this miserable man to fall in love with him?" > Future of probability: The future perfect «habrá visto» here does not point ahead in time; it expresses a guess about the past: 'what can she have seen?', 'what must she have seen?'. Spanish often uses the future this way to wonder aloud. Con tranquilísima voz le preguntó Erdosain: In a most tranquil voice Erdosain asked him: > Superlative «-ísimo»: The suffix «-ísimo/-a» forms the absolute superlative: «tranquilísima» = 'extremely / utterly calm'. It intensifies the adjective without comparison — calmer than calm, which makes Erdosain's composure here all the more ominous. –¿Y en la cara se me nota que soy un infeliz? "And can you tell from my face that I'm a miserable man?" > Impersonal «se» + «notarse»: «Notarse» with impersonal «se» means 'to be noticeable / show': «se nota» = 'it shows'. The «me» marks on whom it shows: «se me nota» = 'it shows on me / you can tell about me'. Barsut levantó la cabeza, extrañado. Barsut raised his head, taken aback. Durante un momento mantuvo inmóviles las translúcidas pupilas verdosas en su interlocutor. For a moment he held his translucent greenish pupils motionless on the man before him. El lienzo de luz que caía sobre él y Erdosain interponía una distancia de ensueño. The sheet of light that fell over him and Erdosain set a dreamlike distance between them. Y Barsut se comprendía tan fantasma como el otro, porque moviendo penosamente la cabeza, como si repentinamente todos los músculos del cuello se le hubieran enrigecido, contestó: And Barsut understood himself to be as much a phantom as the other, for, moving his head painfully, as if all the muscles of his neck had suddenly stiffened, he answered: > Pluperfect subjunctive after «como si»: «Como si» plus the pluperfect subjunctive «se le hubieran enrigecido» = 'as if [the muscles] had suddenly stiffened on him'. The «se» is the reflexive/pronominal marker of the verb «enrigecerse» (a pronominal change-of-state verb meaning 'to stiffen'), and «le» is the dative of interest, marking Barsut as the one affected. This is not impersonal «se». –No, mirándote bien pareces un tipo agarrado por una idea fija... vaya a saber qué. "No — looking at you closely, you seem like a fellow seized by a fixed idea... who knows what." > «vaya a saber»: «Vaya a saber» (or «vaya uno a saber») is an idiom meaning 'who knows', 'God knows', 'there's no telling'. The subjunctive «vaya» (from «ir») here forms a fixed exclamation of uncertainty. Erdosain repuso: Erdosain replied: –Sos psicólogo. "You're a psychologist." > «sos» = «vos» form of «ser»: «Sos» is the «voseo» present of «ser» for «vos»: «sos psicólogo» = 'you are a psychologist', where standard Spanish has «eres». It is one of the most recognizable markers of Buenos Aires speech. Naturalmente, yo no sé todavía en qué consiste esa idea fija, pero es curioso, lo que nunca se me ocurrió fue que vos pensaras en quitarme mi mujer... Y la tranquilidad con que decís esas cosas... Naturally, I still don't know what that fixed idea consists of, but it's curious — what never occurred to me was that you would think of taking my wife from me... And the calm with which you say these things... > Subjunctive after a mental reaction: «Pensaras» is the imperfect subjunctive of «pensar». After expressing that something never occurred to him — a reaction of surprise — the dependent clause «que vos pensaras en quitarme mi mujer» takes the subjunctive. –No me negarás que te soy franco... "You won't deny that I'm being frank with you..." –No... "No..." –Además, quería humillarla... no robártela, ¿para qué? "Besides, I wanted to humiliate her... not to steal her from you — what for?" > Two pronouns on an infinitive: «Robártela» stacks two object pronouns onto the infinitive «robar»: «te» ('from you') and «la» ('her') → 'to steal her from you'. When both attach, the indirect object comes first; an accent keeps the original stress. Si yo sabía que nunca me querría. When I knew she'd never love me. > «si» as 'since / after all': Not every «si» is 'if'. At the start of an exclamatory justification, «si» means 'but / since / after all': «si yo sabía que...» = 'when / since I knew that...'. It defends the previous statement rather than posing a condition. –¿Y en qué lo adivinabas? "And how did you guess it?" –Eso es lo que no sé. "That's what I don't know." Porque uno hace ciertas cosas que no se puede explicar. Because you do certain things that can't be explained. Porque te trataba y vos me tratabas no pudiéndonos «pasar». Because I dealt with you and you dealt with me, the two of us unable to "stand" each other. > «no poder pasar a alguien»: «No poder pasar a alguien» (often «no poder ver / tragar») is colloquial for 'to be unable to stand someone'. Arlt puts «pasar» in guillemets to flag the slangy sense; «no pudiéndonos pasar» = 'unable to stand each other'. Venía porque viniendo te hacía sufrir y sufría. I came because by coming I made you suffer and I suffered too. Todos los días me decía: No iré más... no iré más... Every day I told myself: I won't go anymore... I won't go anymore... Pero en cuanto llegaba la hora, me ponía nervioso. But as soon as the hour came, I would get nervous. > «en cuanto» = 'as soon as': «En cuanto» means 'as soon as'. With a repeated past habit it takes the imperfect: «en cuanto llegaba la hora» = 'as soon as the hour came (each time)'. For a single future event it would take the subjunctive instead. Era como si me llamaran desde algún lado, y entonces me vestía apurado... venía... It was as if someone were calling me from somewhere, and then I'd dress in a hurry... and come... Erdosain de pronto tuvo una idea singular, y dijo: Erdosain suddenly had a singular idea, and said: –Hablando de todo un poco... No sé si sabrás que esta mañana me hablaron en la Azucarera del anónimo. "Speaking of this and that... I don't know if you know that this morning they talked to me at the Sugar Company about the anonymous letter." Si no rindo cuentas me ponen preso mañana. If I don't account for the money, they put me in jail tomorrow. > «rendir cuentas»: «Rendir cuentas» means 'to account for / render an accounting', to show where money went. «Si no rindo cuentas» = 'if I don't square the accounts'. «Rendir» is stem-changing: «rindo», «rinde». El único culpable, y creo que no tendrás inconveniente en admitirlo, de que esto pase sos vos, de modo que me tenés que facilitar la plata. The only one to blame — and I think you'll have no objection to admitting it — for this happening is you, so you have to put up the money for me. > Subjunctive after «culpable de que»: «Culpable de que» ('to blame for the fact that') takes the subjunctive in the following clause: «culpable de que esto pase» = 'to blame for this happening'. «Pase» is the present subjunctive of «pasar». ¿De dónde voy a sacar esa cantidad? Where am I going to get that amount? Barsut se irguió asombrado. Barsut drew himself up, astonished. > «erguirse» (to draw oneself up): «Se irguió» is the preterite of the pronominal «erguirse» ('to straighten up, sit up straight'). The verb is highly irregular — the stem «erg-» becomes «irg-/yerg-» — and is mostly literary. –Pero, ¿cómo? "But what?" ¿Después que yo resulto cornudo y apaleado, después que Elsa se va y hago una infamia, el que te tiene que dar la plata soy yo? After I come out cuckolded and beaten, after Elsa leaves and I commit an infamy, I'm the one who has to give you the money? > «cornudo»: «Cornudo» (literally 'horned') is the crude word for a cuckold — a man whose wife has been unfaithful. Barsut piles it onto «apaleado» ('beaten with a stick') to dramatize his grievance, though he himself was the one who struck. ¿Vos estás loco? Are you crazy? ¿Con qué ventaja te voy a dar seiscientos pesos?... What would I get out of giving you six hundred pesos?... –Con siete centavos... "And seven cents..." Erdosain se levantó. Erdosain stood up. –¿Esa es tu última palabra? "Is that your last word?" –Pero, comprendé, ¿cómo yo?... "But understand — how am I supposed to?..." > «comprendé» («vos» command): «Comprendé» is the «vos» imperative of «comprender» ('to understand'), stressed on the last syllable. Standard Spanish would use «comprende». The clipped command underlines Barsut's flustered protest. –Bueno «m'hijo»... Paciencia. "All right, "sonny"... Patience." > «m'hijo»: «M'hijo» is the contracted, spoken form of «mi hijo» ('my son'), used as a familiar — and here faintly condescending — form of address, like 'son' or 'pal'. The apostrophe marks the swallowed vowel of porteño speech. Ahora haceme el favor de irte, que quiero dormir. Now do me the favor of leaving, because I want to sleep. > Causal «que»: Sentence-initial or trailing «que» can mean 'because / for': «que quiero dormir» = 'because I want to sleep'. It is a colloquial shortcut for «porque», giving the brush-off a curt, spoken edge. –¿No querés que salgamos? "Don't you want to go out?" > Subjunctive after «querer que»: When the subject of «querer» differs from the subject of the wished-for action, the second verb goes in the subjunctive: «¿querés que salgamos?» = 'do you want us to go out?'. «Salgamos» is the present subjunctive of «salir». –Estoy cansado. "I'm tired." Déjame. Leave me be. Barsut vaciló. Barsut hesitated. Luego, levantándose y con el sombrero cogido de un ala, salió torpemente de la pieza. Then, rising and gripping his hat by one brim, he left the room clumsily. Erdosain escuchó el golpe que hizo la puerta al cerrarse, caviló ceñudo un instante, buscó en su bolsillo una guía de ferrocarriles, miró el horario, luego volvió a lavarse, y ante el espejo se peinó. Erdosain heard the bang the door made as it closed, brooded with a frown for a moment, searched his pocket for a railway timetable, looked at the schedule, then washed again, and combed his hair before the mirror. > «volver a» + infinitive: «Volver a» plus an infinitive means 'to do something again': «volvió a lavarse» = 'he washed again', literally 'he returned to washing himself'. It is the everyday way to say 'again' with a verb. Tenía el labio amoratado, una mancha roja bordeábale la nariz, así como otra circunvalaba la sien, junto a la entrada del cabello. His lip was bruised purple, a red mark edged his nose, and another ringed his temple, beside the hairline. > Pronoun attached to the verb: «Bordeábale» attaches the indirect pronoun «le» to the end of the conjugated verb «bordeaba» ('bordered him'), a literary placement Arlt favors. In ordinary prose this would be «le bordeaba la nariz». Miró en derredor buscando algo, vio el revólver caído, lo recogió y salió. He looked around searching for something, saw the fallen revolver, picked it up and went out. > «en derredor»: «En derredor» is a literary equivalent of «alrededor» ('around, round about'). «Miró en derredor» = 'he looked all around'. The revolver he retrieves is the one mentioned earlier — the gun he chose not to use. Pero como dejara la luz encendida, volvió y apagó la lámpara. But since he had left the light on, he went back and put out the lamp. > «como» + imperfect subjunctive for cause: Here «como» means 'since / as' (giving a reason), and Arlt pairs it with the imperfect subjunctive «dejara» ('he had left') — an older, literary alternative to the indicative «había dejado». «Como dejara la luz encendida» = 'since he had left the light on'. Todo estaba oscuro ahora, como el rastro de una luz brilló ante sus ojos y salió. Everything was dark now; like the trace of a light it gleamed before his eyes, and he went out. Por segunda vez en aquel día iba a la casa del Astrólogo. For the second time that day he was going to the Astrologer's house. > Imperfect for an action in progress: «Iba» (imperfect of «ir») here frames a journey under way: 'he was going / on his way to'. The chapter closes on this open, continuous motion — Erdosain already set on the road to the Astrologer and the plan he has just conceived. --- 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.