# The Seven Madmen, The Farce Los siete locos · Roberto Arlt · Part Two Source: https://1732studios.com/books/arlt/la-farsa. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/arlt/la-farsa.json. Audio: https://audio.1732studios.com/arlt/.m4a. Al entrar, el círculo de hombres se puso de pie, mas Erdosain se detuvo estupefacto al observar entre los reunidos un oficial del ejército con el uniforme de mayor. As he came in, the circle of men rose to their feet, but Erdosain stopped short, dumbfounded to see among the gathering an army officer in a major's uniform. > «Al» + infinitive: «Al» plus an infinitive means 'upon / on (doing something)': «al entrar» = 'on entering', 'as he came in'. It packs a whole clause of time into two words and appears twice in this sentence («al entrar», «al observar»). > «mas» without an accent: Unaccented «mas» is a literary word for 'but', equivalent to «pero». Do not confuse it with «más» ('more'), which carries an accent. Arlt favors this older, bookish form. Estaban allí el Buscador de Oro, Haffner, un desconocido y el Mayor. There sat the Gold Seeker, Haffner, a stranger, and the Major. Los dos primeros de codos en la mesa. The first two with their elbows on the table. > «de codos»: «De codos» means 'leaning on one's elbows'. The phrase has no verb here — Arlt drops the verb of the previous sentence and lets the fragment stand, a clipped, sketch-like style. Haffner releyendo unos papeles en blanco, y el Buscador de Oro con un mapa frente a él. Haffner rereading some blank sheets, and the Gold Seeker with a map in front of him. Un pedrusco precintado impedía que el viento se llevara el dibujo. A sealed lump of stone kept the wind from carrying off the drawing. > Subjunctive after «impedir que»: Verbs of preventing, like «impedir que» ('to keep / prevent from'), force the subjunctive in the clause they govern. With the past-tense «impedía», that clause takes the imperfect subjunctive «se llevara» ('from carrying off'). El Rufián estrechó la mano de Erdosain y éste se sentó a su lado, poniéndose a observar al Mayor, que bruscamente había despertado toda su curiosidad. The Ruffian shook Erdosain's hand, and Erdosain sat down beside him, beginning to study the Major, who had abruptly aroused all his curiosity. > «ponerse a» + infinitive: «Ponerse a» plus an infinitive means 'to begin / set about (doing something)', stressing the start of the action: «poniéndose a observar» = 'beginning to observe'. The pronominal «se» is part of the idiom. Realmente el Astrólogo era maestro en sorpresas. The Astrologer was truly a master of surprises. Sin embargo, el desconocido le produjo mala impresión. Even so, the stranger made a bad impression on him. Era éste un hombre de elevada estatura, lívido y ojos renegridos. This was a man of tall stature, livid, with jet-black eyes. Había en él algo de repugnante, y era el labio inferior replegado en un continuo mohín de desprecio, la nariz larga y arqueada, arrugada sobre el ceño por tres muescas transversales. There was something repugnant in him, namely the lower lip drawn back in a perpetual sneer of contempt, the long, arched nose, wrinkled over the brow by three crosswise furrows. > Impersonal «había»: Impersonal «haber» states that something exists: «había algo» = 'there was something'. It stays singular regardless of what follows and never takes a subject — the thing that exists is its object. Un sedoso bigote caía sobre sus labios rojos y su mirada apenas se fijó en Erdosain, pues ni bien fue presentado a él se dejó caer en una hamaca, permaneciendo así con la cabeza apoyada en un respaldar, la espada entre las rodillas y un alón de cabello pegado a su frente plana. A silky moustache fell over his red lips, and his gaze barely settled on Erdosain, for the moment he was introduced to him he let himself drop into a hammock, staying that way with his head propped against a backrest, his sword between his knees, and a lock of hair stuck to his flat forehead. > «ni bien»: «Ni bien» is a River Plate way to say 'as soon as', 'the moment that': «ni bien fue presentado» = 'the moment he was introduced'. Where Spain would say «en cuanto», Buenos Aires says «ni bien». Y durante unos minutos todos permanecieron en silencio, observándose con evidente malestar. And for a few minutes they all stayed silent, eyeing one another with evident unease. > Reciprocal «se»: Here «-se» on «observándose» is reciprocal: not 'observing themselves' but 'observing each other'. With a plural subject the pronominal verb often means a mutual action between the members of the group. El Astrólogo, sentado a un costado de la entrada de la glorieta, encendió un cigarrillo observando oblicuamente a los «jefes». The Astrologer, seated to one side of the arbor's entrance, lit a cigarette, watching the "chiefs" out of the corner of his eye. Así se les llamó en una reunión posterior. That is what they were called at a later meeting. > Impersonal / passive «se»: «Se les llamó así» = 'they were called that' / 'one called them that'. The «se» makes the verb impersonal, leaving the doer unnamed; «les» is the object 'them'. Spanish prefers this to a true passive. De pronto levantó la cabeza mirando a los otros cinco hombres que estaban frente a la cabecera de la mesa, y dijo: Suddenly he raised his head, looking at the other five men who sat facing the head of the table, and said: –No creo necesario que volvamos a repetir lo que todos conocemos y hemos convenido en reuniones particulares..., es decir, la organización de una sociedad secreta cuyo sostenimiento se efectuará mediante comercios morales o inmorales. —I don't think it necessary for us to repeat what we all know and have agreed upon in private meetings…, that is, the founding of a secret society whose upkeep will be funded through moral or immoral trades. > «volver a» + infinitive: «Volver a» plus an infinitive means 'to do something again': «volver a repetir» = 'to repeat once more'. It is the everyday way to express 'again' in Spanish, replacing a separate adverb. En esto estamos todos de acuerdo, ¿no? On this we are all agreed, no? ¿Qué les parece a usted (a mí me gusta la geometría) que llamemos «células» a los distintos jefes radiales de la sociedad? How would it suit you (I happen to like geometry) for us to call the society's various branch chiefs "cells"? > Subjunctive after «¿qué les parece?»: Asking what someone thinks of a proposed action triggers the subjunctive: «¿qué les parece que llamemos…?» = 'how would it suit you for us to call…?'. The present subjunctive «llamemos» marks the suggestion as hypothetical, not yet a fact. –Así se llaman en Rusia –dijo el Mayor–. —That is what they are called in Russia —said the Major—. Los componentes de cada célula no podrán conocer a los miembros de otra. The members of each cell will not be able to know the members of another. –¿Cómo..., los jefes no se conocerán entre sí? —What do you mean…, the chiefs won't know one another? > «entre sí»: «Entre sí» reinforces a reciprocal meaning: 'among themselves', 'one another'. Paired with the reciprocal «se», «conocerse entre sí» makes the mutual sense unambiguous — they won't know each other. –Los que no se conocerán, insisto, no son los jefes, sino los socios. —The ones who won't know each other, I insist, are not the chiefs, but the members. > «no… sino»: After a negative, 'but rather' is «sino», not «pero»: «no son los jefes, sino los socios» = 'are not the chiefs, but the members'. «Sino» replaces a wrong term with the right one. El Buscador de Oro interrumpió: The Gold Seeker broke in: –Así no va a ser posible hacer nada. —This way it's going to be impossible to do anything. > «ir a» + infinitive (future): «Ir a» plus an infinitive is the common spoken future: «no va a ser posible» = 'it's not going to be possible'. Spanish prefers this periphrastic future to the inflected future in conversation. ¿Qué es lo que liga a los miembros de las distintas células? What is it that binds the members of the various cells together? > «lo que» as 'the thing that': «Lo que» means 'what / the thing that' as a relative: «qué es lo que liga…» = 'what is it that binds…'. The neuter «lo» turns the clause that follows into a noun-like 'thing that…'. –Pero si la sociedad somos nosotros seis. —But the society is the six of us. > Emphatic «si»: At the head of an exclamation, «si» is not 'if' but an emphatic 'but', protesting something obvious: «pero si la sociedad somos nosotros» = 'but the society is us!'. It signals mild surprise that this even needs saying. –No, señor... la sociedad soy yo –objetó el Astrólogo–. —No, sir… the society is me —objected the Astrologer—. Hablando seriamente, les diré que la sociedad son todos..., siempre con restricciones por lo que me atañe. Speaking seriously, I'll tell you the society is everyone…, always with reservations as far as I am concerned. > «atañer»: «Atañer» means 'to concern / pertain to'; «por lo que me atañe» = 'as far as I am concerned', 'where I'm concerned'. The verb is used almost only in the third person. Intervino el Mayor: The Major spoke up: –Creo que la discusión no tiene objeto, porque según tengo entendido existirá un escalafón perfectamente establecido. —I think the argument is pointless, because, as I understand it, there will be a perfectly fixed ladder of ranks. > «tener entendido»: «Tener entendido (que)» means 'to understand / be given to understand (that)': «según tengo entendido» = 'as I understand it'. «Tener» plus a past participle expresses a state of knowledge the speaker holds. Cada ascenso pondrá al miembro de célula en contacto con un jefe nuevo. Each promotion will put the cell member in contact with a new chief. Habrá tantos ascensos así como jefes de células. There will be as many promotions as there are cell chiefs. –¿A cuántas asciende por el momento las células? —How many do the cells come to at the moment? –Son cuatro. —There are four. Yo estaré encargado de todo –continuó el Astrólogo–. I will be in charge of everything —the Astrologer went on—. Usted, Erdosain, Jefe de Industrias; el Buscador de Oro –un joven que estaba en el ángulo de la mesa, inclinó la cabeza–, tendrá a su cargo las Colonias y Minas; el Mayor ramificará nuestra sociedad en el ejército, y Haffner será el Jefe de los Prostíbulos. You, Erdosain, Chief of Industries; the Gold Seeker —a young man at the corner of the table bowed his head— will have charge of the Colonies and Mines; the Major will branch our society into the army, and Haffner will be the Chief of the Brothels. Haffner se levantó exclamando: Haffner stood up, exclaiming: –Perdón, yo no seré jefe de nada. —Excuse me, I will not be chief of anything. Estoy aquí como podría estar en cualquier parte. I'm here the way I could be anywhere else. > The conditional: «Podría» is the conditional of «poder»: 'I could / would be able to'. The conditional states a hypothetical situation: «como podría estar en cualquier parte» = 'as I could be anywhere'. Lo único que hago en obsequio de ustedes es darles un presupuesto y nada más. The only thing I do as a favor to you is give you a budget, and nothing more. Si les molesto me puedo retirar. If I'm bothering you, I can leave. –No, quédese –rectificó el Astrólogo. —No, stay —the Astrologer corrected. > Affirmative «usted» command: «Quédese» is the formal «usted» imperative of the pronominal «quedarse» ('to stay'). In an affirmative command the pronoun attaches to the verb, adding a written accent: «quéde-se» = 'stay'. El Rufián Melancólico volvió a sentarse y a trazar garabatos con un lápiz en el papel. The Melancholy Ruffian sat down again and went back to scrawling doodles on the paper with a pencil. Erdosain admiró su insolencia. Erdosain admired his insolence. Pero fuera de toda duda allí el que centralizaba la atención y curiosidad de todos era el Mayor, con el prestigio de su uniforme y lo extraño de su sociedad. But beyond all doubt the one who drew everyone's attention and curiosity there was the Major, with the prestige of his uniform and the strangeness of his society. > Neuter «lo» + adjective: «Lo» before an adjective forms an abstract noun: «lo extraño de su sociedad» = 'the strangeness of his society' (literally 'the strange of'). It names the quality the adjective expresses. El Buscador de Oro se volvió hacia él: The Gold Seeker turned toward him: > «volverse» (to turn): Pronominal «volverse hacia» means 'to turn (oneself) toward'. Without the «se», «volver» means 'to return'; the reflexive pronoun shifts it to a bodily turning motion. –¿Cómo es eso? —How is that? ¿Usted tiene esperanza de filtrar nuestra sociedad en el ejército? Do you have hope of slipping our society into the army? Todos se habían incorporado en los sillones. They had all sat up in their chairs. > «incorporarse»: «Incorporarse» means 'to sit up' or 'to rise (from a reclining or seated position)'. It is the verb for raising one's body, distinct from «levantarse», 'to stand up' fully. Era aquello la sorpresa de la reunión, el golpe de efecto preparado en silencio. That was the surprise of the meeting, the coup de théâtre prepared in silence. Indudablemente, el Astrólogo tenía toda la pasta de un jefe. Undoubtedly, the Astrologer had all the makings of a leader. > «tener la pasta de»: «Tener la pasta de» is an idiom: 'to have the makings of', 'to be cut out for'. «Pasta» here is figurative 'stuff / material', as in 'the stuff a leader is made of'. Lo lamentable era que siempre guardara el secreto de sus procedimientos. The regrettable thing was that he always kept the secret of his methods. > Subjunctive after an evaluation: When the main clause judges a fact («lo lamentable era que…», 'the regrettable thing was that…'), the subordinate verb goes subjunctive. With the past «era», it takes the imperfect subjunctive «guardara». Pero Erdosain sentíase orgulloso de compartir una complicidad con él. But Erdosain felt proud to share a complicity with him. > Enclitic pronoun «sentíase»: In literary style the reflexive pronoun can attach to a finite verb: «sentíase» = «se sentía» ('he felt'). Arlt uses this older enclitic placement; in everyday Spanish the pronoun comes before the verb. Ahora todos se habían incorporado en sus asientos para escuchar al Mayor. Now they had all sat up in their seats to listen to the Major. Este observó al Astrólogo, y luego dijo: He looked at the Astrologer, and then said: –Señores, yo les hablaré con palabras bien pesadas. —Gentlemen, I will speak to you with carefully weighed words. Si no, no estaría aquí. If not, I would not be here. Ocurre lo siguiente: Here is what is happening: Nuestro ejército está minado de oficiales descontentos. Our army is riddled with discontented officers. No vale la pena de enumerar los motivos, ni a ustedes les interesarán. It's not worth listing the reasons, nor will they interest you. > «valer la pena»: «Valer la pena» means 'to be worth (the trouble)': «no vale la pena enumerar» = 'it's not worth listing'. The expression is impersonal and is usually followed by an infinitive. Las ideas de «dictadura» y los acontecimientos políticos militares de estos últimos tiempos, me refiero a España y a Chile, han hecho pensar en muchos de mis camaradas que nuestro país podría ser también terreno próspero para una dictadura. The ideas of "dictatorship" and the political-military events of these recent times — I mean Spain and Chile — have made many of my comrades think that our country could also be fertile ground for a dictatorship. > Causative «hacer» + infinitive: «Hacer» plus an infinitive expresses causing an action: «han hecho pensar» = 'have made (people) think'. The thing made to happen stays in the infinitive. El asombro más extraordinario abría las bocas de todos. The most extraordinary astonishment was opening everyone's mouths. Aquello era lo inesperado. That was the unexpected thing. El Buscador de Oro replicó: The Gold Seeker replied: –¿Pero usted cree que el ejército argentino... digo... los oficiales, aceptarán nuestras ideas? —But do you believe that the Argentine army… I mean… the officers, will accept our ideas? –Claro que las aceptarán..., siempre que ustedes sepan ordenarlas. —Of course they'll accept them…, provided you know how to set them in order. > Subjunctive after «siempre que»: «Siempre que» meaning 'provided that' introduces a condition and takes the subjunctive: «siempre que ustedes sepan» = 'provided you know'. The present subjunctive «sepan» marks the condition as not yet met. Desde ya puedo anticiparles que son más numerosos de lo que ustedes creen los oficiales desengañados de las teorías democráticas, incluso el parlamento. I can tell you right now that the officers disenchanted with democratic theories, parliament included, are more numerous than you think. > «desde ya»: «Desde ya» is a River Plate phrase meaning 'right now', 'from this moment', 'already': «desde ya puedo anticiparles» = 'I can tell you right now'. Common in Argentine speech and correspondence. No me interrumpa, señor. Don't interrupt me, sir. > Negative «usted» command: In a negative formal command the pronoun comes before the verb and the verb is subjunctive: «no me interrumpa» = 'don't interrupt me'. Contrast the affirmative, where the pronoun attaches: «interrúmpame». El noventa por ciento de los diputados de nuestro país son inferiores en cultura a un teniente primero de nuestro ejército. Ninety percent of our country's deputies are inferior in education to a first lieutenant in our army. Un político que ha sido acusado de haber intervenido en el asesinato de un gobernador ha dicho con mucho acierto: «Para gobernar un pueblo no se necesitan más aptitudes que las de un capataz de estancia». A politician accused of having taken part in the murder of a governor put it very aptly: "To govern a people you need no more skills than those of a ranch foreman". Y ese hombre ha dicho la verdad refiriéndose a nuestra América. And that man spoke the truth in regard to our America. El Astrólogo se restregaba las manos con evidente satisfacción. The Astrologer was rubbing his hands with evident satisfaction. El Mayor continuó, fijas las miradas de todos en él: The Major went on, with everyone's eyes fixed on him: –El ejército es un estado superior dentro de una sociedad inferior, ya que nosotros somos la fuerza específica del país. —The army is a higher state within a lower society, since we are the country's defining force. > «ya que»: «Ya que» means 'since / given that', introducing a reason already known to both speakers: «ya que nosotros somos la fuerza» = 'since we are the force'. It is causal, close to «porque» but with a 'as you know' flavor. Y sin embargo, estamos sometidos a las resoluciones del gobierno... ¿y el gobierno quién lo constituye?... el poder legislativo y el ejecutivo... es decir, hombres elegidos por partidos políticos informes... ¡y qué representantes, señores! And yet we are subject to the government's decisions… and who makes up the government?… the legislative and executive powers… that is, men chosen by shapeless political parties… and what representatives they are, gentlemen! Ustedes saben mejor que yo que para ser diputado hay que haber tenido una carrera de mentiras, comenzado como vago de comité, transando y haciendo vida común con perdularios de todas las calañas, en fin, una vida al margen del código y de la verdad. You know better than I do that to become a deputy one must have had a career of lies, started out as a party-committee loafer, cutting deals and keeping company with scoundrels of every stripe — in short, a life on the margins of the law and of truth. > «hay que» (impersonal obligation): «Hay que» plus an infinitive states an impersonal obligation: 'one must', 'you have to'. With a perfect infinitive, «hay que haber tenido» = 'one must have had'. No subject is named — the duty applies to anyone. No sé si esto ocurre en países más civilizados que los nuestros, pero aquí es así. I don't know whether this happens in countries more civilized than ours, but here it is so. En nuestra cámara de diputados y de senadores, hay sujetos acusados de usura y homicidio, bandidos vendidos a empresas extranjeras, individuos de una ignorancia tan crasa, que el parlamentarismo resulta aquí la comedia más grotesca que haya podido envilecer a un país. In our chamber of deputies and senators there are men accused of usury and homicide, bandits sold to foreign companies, individuals of such gross ignorance that parliamentarism here turns out to be the most grotesque farce that could ever have debased a country. > Subjunctive in a superlative clause: After a superlative («la comedia más grotesca que…», 'the most grotesque farce that…'), the relative clause goes subjunctive: «que haya podido envilecer» = 'that could ever have debased'. The subjunctive marks it as the extreme limit of what one can imagine. Las elecciones presidenciales se hacen con capitales norteamericanos, previa promesa de otorgar concesiones a una empresa interesada en explotar nuestras riquezas nacionales. Presidential elections are run on North American capital, in exchange for the prior promise of granting concessions to a company keen to exploit our national wealth. > Passive «se»: «Se hacen» is a passive-«se» construction: «las elecciones se hacen» = 'elections are run / are held'. The «se» agrees with the plural subject and leaves the agent unexpressed, as English passives often do. No exagero cuando digo que la lucha de los partidos políticos en nuestra patria no es nada más que una riña entre comerciantes que quieren vender el país al mejor postor. I'm not exaggerating when I say that the struggle of the political parties in our homeland is nothing more than a squabble between merchants who want to sell the country to the highest bidder. Todos miraban estupefactos al Mayor. Everyone stared at the Major, dumbfounded. A través de los rombos y campánulas veíase al celeste cielo de la mañana, pero nadie reparaba en ello. Through the diamond panes and bellflowers the pale-blue morning sky could be seen, but no one took notice of it. > «reparar en»: «Reparar en» means 'to notice', 'to take note of': «nadie reparaba en ello» = 'no one noticed it'. Without the «en» (or as «reparar» alone) the verb means 'to repair', so the preposition is essential to this sense. Erdosain contábame más tarde que ninguno de los concurrentes a la reunión del miércoles había previsto una escena de tan alto interés. Erdosain told me later that none of those attending the Wednesday meeting had foreseen a scene of such high interest. > The narrator's enclitic «me»: «Contábame» = «me contaba» ('he told me'), with the pronoun attached in literary style. Note that the novel has a first-person narrator to whom Erdosain recounts these events — the «me» is that 'I' surfacing inside the scene. El Mayor pasó un pañuelo por sus labios y continuó: The Major drew a handkerchief across his lips and went on: –Me alegro de que mis palabras interesen. —I'm glad that my words are of interest. > Subjunctive after emotion: Expressions of emotion like «alegrarse de que» ('to be glad that') govern the subjunctive: «me alegro de que interesen» = 'I'm glad they are of interest'. The present subjunctive «interesen» follows the feeling. Hay muchos jóvenes oficiales que piensan como yo. There are many young officers who think as I do. Hasta contamos con algunos generales nuevos... Lo que conviene, y no se asombren de lo que les voy a decir, es darle a la sociedad un aspecto completamente comunista. We even count on some new generals… What is advisable — and don't be shocked by what I'm about to tell you — is to give the society a completely communist appearance. > «contar con»: «Contar con» means 'to count on', 'to have at one's disposal': «contamos con algunos generales» = 'we count on some generals'. Plain «contar» means 'to count' or 'to tell (a story)'; the «con» gives the sense of relying on something. Les digo esto porque aquí no existe el comunismo, y no se puede llamar comunistas a ese bloque de carpinteros que desbarran sobre sociología en una cuadra donde nadie se quita el sombrero. I tell you this because communism does not exist here, and one cannot call communists that bloc of carpenters who rave about sociology on a block where nobody takes off his hat. Deseo explicarles con nitidez mi pensamiento. I wish to set out my thinking to you clearly. Toda sociedad secreta es un cáncer en la colectividad. Every secret society is a cancer in the community. > «todo» as 'every': Singular «todo/-a» before a noun without an article means 'every / any': «toda sociedad secreta» = 'every secret society'. With the article («toda la sociedad») it would mean 'the whole society' instead. Sus funciones misteriosas desequilibran el funcionamiento de la misma. Its mysterious workings unbalance the functioning of that very community. Pues bien, nosotros los jefes de células, les daremos a éstas un carácter completamente bolchevique. Well then, we, the cell chiefs, will give them a completely Bolshevik character. –Fue la primera vez que esa palabra se pronunció allí, e involuntariamente todos se miraron–. —It was the first time that word was spoken there, and involuntarily they all looked at one another—. Este aspecto atraerá numerosos desorbitados y, en consecuencia, la multiplicación de las células. This appearance will draw in numerous unhinged people and, in consequence, the multiplication of the cells. Crearemos así un ficticio cuerpo revolucionario. In this way we will create a fictitious revolutionary body. Cultivaremos en especial los atentados terroristas. We will especially cultivate terrorist attacks. Un atentado que tiene mediano éxito despierta todas las conciencias oscuras y feroces de la sociedad. An attack that meets with middling success awakens all the dark and ferocious consciences of society. Si en el intervalo de un año repetimos los atentados, acompañándolos de proclamas antisociales que inciten al proletariado a la creación de los «soviets»... ¿Sabes ustedes lo que habremos conseguido? If over the span of a year we repeat the attacks, backing them with antisocial manifestos that incite the proletariat to create "soviets"… Do you know what we will have achieved? > Subjunctive in a relative clause: When the noun described is hypothetical or sought rather than known, its relative clause takes the subjunctive: «proclamas que inciten» = 'manifestos that would incite'. The subjunctive «inciten» marks the manifestos as the intended kind, not yet real. Algo admirable y sencillo. Something admirable and simple. Crear en el país la inquietud revolucionaria. To create revolutionary unrest in the country. «La 'inquietud revolucionaria' yo la definiría como un desasosiego colectivo que no se atreve a manifestar sus deseos, todos se sienten alterados, enardecidos, los periódicos fomentan la tormenta y la policía le ayuda deteniendo a inocentes, que por los sufrimientos padecidos se convierten en revolucionarios; todas las mañanas las gentes se despiertan ansiosas de novedades, esperando un atentado más feroz que el anterior y que justifique sus presunciones; las injusticias policiales enardecen los ánimos de los que no las sufrieron, no falta un exaltado que descarga su revólver en el pecho de un polizonte, las organizaciones obreras se revuelven y decretan huelgas, y las palabras revolución y bolcheviquismo infiltran en todas partes el espanto y la esperanza. "I would define 'revolutionary unrest' as a collective disquiet that dares not voice its desires; everyone feels agitated, inflamed; the newspapers stoke the storm and the police help it along by arresting innocents, who, from the suffering they endure, turn into revolutionaries; every morning people wake hungry for news, expecting an attack fiercer than the last and one that will justify their suspicions; police injustices inflame the tempers of those who did not suffer them, there is always some hothead who empties his revolver into a constable's chest, the workers' organizations rise up and declare strikes, and the words revolution and Bolshevism spread terror and hope everywhere. > Conditional for a hypothetical definition: «Definiría» is the conditional of «definir»: 'I would define'. The conditional softens the statement into a proposed definition rather than a flat assertion: «yo la definiría como…» = 'I would define it as…'. > «no falta… que»: «No falta (alguien) que…» means 'there is always someone who…', literally 'someone who… is never lacking'. «No falta un exaltado que descarga su revólver» = 'there's always a hothead who empties his revolver'. Ahora bien, cuando numerosas bombas hayan estallado por los rincones de la ciudad y las proclamas sean leídas y la inquietud revolucionaria esté madura, entonces intervendremos nosotros, los militares...» Now then, when numerous bombs have gone off in the corners of the city and the manifestos are read and revolutionary unrest is ripe, then we, the military, will step in…" > Subjunctive after «cuando» (future): «Cuando» pointing to a still-unrealized future takes the subjunctive: «cuando hayan estallado», «sean leídas», «esté madura» = 'when (they) have gone off, are read, is ripe'. Spanish never uses the future indicative after «cuando» for events yet to come. El Mayor apartó sus botas de un rayo de sol, y continuó: The Major drew his boots out of a ray of sunlight and went on: –Sí, intervendremos nosotros, los militares. —Yes, we, the military, will step in. Diremos que en vista de la poca capacidad del gobierno para defender las instituciones de la patria, el capital y la familia, nos apoderamos del Estado, proclamando una dictadura transitoria. We will say that, in view of the government's scant capacity to defend the homeland's institutions, capital, and the family, we are seizing the State, proclaiming a transitional dictatorship. > «apoderarse de»: Pronominal «apoderarse de» means 'to seize / take possession of': «nos apoderamos del Estado» = 'we seize the State'. The «de» is required; the «nos» is part of the verb. Todas las dictaduras son transitorias para despertar confianza. All dictatorships are transitional, so as to inspire confidence. Capitalistas burgueses, y en especial, los gobiernos extranjeros conservadores, reconocerán inmediatamente el nuevo estado de cosas. Bourgeois capitalists, and conservative foreign governments in particular, will immediately recognize the new state of affairs. Culparemos al gobierno de los Soviets de obligarnos a asumir una actitud semejante y fusilaremos a algunos pobres diablos convictos y confesos de fabricar bombas. We will blame the Soviet government for forcing us to take such a stance, and we will shoot a few poor devils convicted and confessed of making bombs. > «culpar de» + infinitive: «Culpar a alguien de (algo)» means 'to blame someone for (something)'. With an action, the «de» is followed by an infinitive: «culparemos al gobierno de obligarnos» = 'we'll blame the government for forcing us'. Suprimiremos las dos cámaras y el presupuesto del país será reducido a un mínimo. We will abolish the two chambers, and the country's budget will be reduced to a minimum. La administración del Estado será puesta en manos de la administración militar. The administration of the State will be placed in the hands of the military administration. El país alcanzará así una grandeza nunca vista. In this way the country will attain a greatness never before seen. Calló el Mayor, y en la glorieta florida los hombres prorrumpieron en aplausos. The Major fell silent, and in the flowering arbor the men burst into applause. > Verb-first word order (preterite): Spanish freely puts the verb before the subject: «calló el Mayor» = 'the Major fell silent'. «Calló» is the preterite of «callar(se)», 'to fall / go silent' — a single completed act, not the ongoing imperfect. Una paloma echó a volar. A dove took to flight. > «echar a» + infinitive: «Echar a» plus an infinitive means 'to start / break into (an action)' suddenly: «echó a volar» = 'took flight', 'started to fly'. It stresses the abrupt beginning of the motion. –Su idea es hermosa –dijo Erdosain–, pero el caso es que nosotros trabajaremos para ustedes... —Your idea is beautiful —said Erdosain—, but the thing is that we'll be working for you… –¿No querían ser ustedes jefes? —Didn't you want to be chiefs? –Sí, pero lo que recibiremos nosotros serán las migajas del banquete... —Yes, but what we'll receive will be the crumbs from the banquet… –No, señor... usted confunde... lo pensado... —No, sir… you're confusing… what was planned… Intervino el Astrólogo: The Astrologer spoke up: –Señores... nosotros no nos hemos reunido para discutir orientaciones que no interesan ahora... sino para organizar las actividades de los jefes de célula. —Gentlemen… we have not gathered to debate directions that are of no interest right now… but to organize the activities of the cell chiefs. Si están dispuestos, vamos a empezar. If you're ready, let's begin. > «estar dispuesto a»: «Estar dispuesto (a)» means 'to be ready / willing (to)': «si están dispuestos» = 'if you're ready'. The adjective «dispuesto» agrees with the subject and often takes «a» before an infinitive. Un recio mozo que hasta entonces había permanecido callado, intervino en la discusión. A burly young man who until then had stayed quiet broke into the discussion. –¿Me permiten ustedes? —May I? –Cómo no. —Of course. > «cómo no»: «Cómo no» is a set phrase for an enthusiastic 'of course', 'certainly', 'by all means'. Though it looks like a question, it is an affirmative reply granting permission. –Pues entonces creo que el asunto hay que plantearlo en esta forma: ¿Quieren ustedes o no la revolución? —Well then, I think the matter has to be put this way: Do you want the revolution or not? Los detalles de organización deben ser posteriores. The details of organization must come afterward. –Eso... eso, son posteriores... si, señor. —That… that, those come afterward… yes, sir. El desconocido terminó por explicarse: The stranger finally explained himself: > «terminar por» + infinitive: «Terminar por» plus an infinitive means 'to end up (doing)', 'to finally (do)': «terminó por explicarse» = 'he finally explained himself'. It marks the action as the eventual outcome. –Soy amigo del señor Haffner. —I am a friend of señor Haffner. Soy abogado. I am a lawyer. He renunciado a los beneficios que podrían proporcionarme mi profesión por no transigir con el régimen capitalista. I have given up the profits my profession could bring me, so as not to compromise with the capitalist system. > «renunciar a»: «Renunciar a» means 'to give up / renounce (something)': «he renunciado a los beneficios» = 'I have given up the profits'. The «a» is obligatory before the thing renounced. ¿Tengo o no derecho a opinar así? Do I or do I not have the right to hold such an opinion? –Sí, señor, lo tiene. —Yes, sir, you do. > Neuter «lo» standing in for a clause: Here «lo» replaces the earlier idea ('the right to opine'): «lo tiene» = 'you have it / you do'. Spanish uses neuter «lo» to echo a whole statement, where English just says 'you do'. –Pues entonces aseguro que lo dicho por el Mayor imprime una nueva orientación a nuestra sociedad. —Well then, I assure you that what the Major has said gives our society a new direction. > «lo» + past participle: «Lo» plus a past participle makes an abstract noun: «lo dicho» = 'what has been said', 'the said'. «Lo dicho por el Mayor» = 'what the Major said'. –No –objetó el Buscador de Oro–. —No —objected the Gold Seeker—. Puede ser la base de ella sin la exclusión de sus otros principios. It can be the basis of it without excluding its other principles. –Claro. —Of course. –Sí. —Yes. La discusión se iba a renovar. The argument was about to start up again. > «iba a» + infinitive (was going to): The imperfect of «ir a» plus an infinitive expresses an action on the point of happening in the past: «se iba a renovar» = 'was about to start up again'. It is the past counterpart of «va a» ('is going to'). El Astrólogo se levantó: The Astrologer stood up: –Señores, discutirán otro día. —Gentlemen, you'll argue another day. Ahora se trata de la organización comercial... no de ideas. Right now it's a matter of the commercial organization… not of ideas. > «tratarse de»: Impersonal «tratarse de» means 'to be a matter / question of', 'it is about': «se trata de la organización comercial» = 'it's a matter of the commercial organization'. It has no personal subject. Por lo tanto suprimiremos todo lo que se aparte de ello. Therefore we will set aside everything that strays from that. > Subjunctive after an indefinite antecedent: «Todo lo que…» ('everything that…') pointing to an unspecified set takes the subjunctive: «todo lo que se aparte» = 'whatever strays'. The subjunctive «se aparte» leaves open exactly which things qualify. –Eso es la dictadura –exclamó el abogado. —That is dictatorship —exclaimed the lawyer. El Astrólogo lo miró un momento, luego dijo parsimoniosamente: The Astrologer looked at him for a moment, then said unhurriedly: > «parsimonioso»: «Parsimonioso» in Spanish means 'unhurried', 'slow and deliberate' — not the English 'parsimonious' (stingy). So «dijo parsimoniosamente» = 'he said unhurriedly', a false friend to watch for. –Usted se siente con pasta de jefe, a lo que creo... Creo que la tiene. —You feel you have the makings of a leader, it seems to me… I think you do have it. Su deber, si usted es inteligente, es organizar lejos de nosotros otra sociedad. Your duty, if you're intelligent, is to organize another society far from us. Así provocaremos el desmoronamiento de la actual. That way we'll bring about the collapse of the present one. Aquí usted me obedece, o se retira. Here you obey me, or you leave. Durante un instante los dos hombres se examinaron; el abogado se levantó, detuvo los ojos en el Astrólogo, se inclinó con una sonrisa de hombre fuerte y salió. For an instant the two men examined each other; the lawyer rose, fixed his eyes on the Astrologer, bowed with the smile of a strong man, and walked out. > Preterite «detuvo»: «Detuvo» is the irregular preterite of «detener» ('to stop / hold'): «detuvo los ojos en» = 'fixed his eyes on', literally 'stopped his eyes on'. The chain of preterites here («se levantó, detuvo, se inclinó, salió») reports a sequence of completed actions. Terminó con el silencio de todos la voz del Mayor, que dijo al Astrólogo: The Major's voice ended everyone's silence, saying to the Astrologer: –Ha obrado usted muy bien. —You have acted very well. > «obrar»: «Obrar» means 'to act / behave', 'to proceed': «ha obrado muy bien» = 'you have acted very well'. It is a slightly formal word for conduct, distinct from «trabajar» ('to work at a job'). La disciplina es la base de todo. Discipline is the basis of everything. Le escuchamos. We're listening to you. Rombos de sol ponían su mosaico de oro en la tierra negra de la glorieta. Diamonds of sunlight laid their golden mosaic on the black earth of the arbor. A lo lejos sonaba el yunque de una herrería, innumerables pájaros echaban a rodar sus gorjeos entre las ramas. In the distance the anvil of a smithy rang out; countless birds set their warbling rolling through the branches. > «a lo lejos»: «A lo lejos» is a fixed phrase meaning 'in the distance', 'far off': «a lo lejos sonaba el yunque» = 'in the distance the anvil rang out'. Erdosain chupaba la flor blanca de la madreselva y el Buscador de Oro, los codos apoyados en las rodillas, miraba atentamente el suelo. Erdosain sucked at the white honeysuckle flower, and the Gold Seeker, his elbows propped on his knees, stared intently at the ground. > Imperfect for scene-painting: «Chupaba» and «miraba» are imperfects, used to paint an ongoing background scene: 'was sucking', 'was staring'. The imperfect freezes the men in their poses rather than reporting finished acts. Fumaba el Rufián y Erdosain espiaba el mongólico semblante del Astrólogo, con su guardapolvo gris abotonado hasta la garganta. The Ruffian smoked, and Erdosain spied on the Astrologer's Mongol-like face, with his gray dust-coat buttoned up to the throat. Siguió a estas palabras un silencio molesto. An awkward silence followed these words. ¿Qué buscaba ese intruso allí? What was that intruder after there? Erdosain súbitamente malhumorado se levantó, exclamando: Erdosain, suddenly in a bad mood, stood up, exclaiming: –Aquí habrá toda la disciplina que ustedes quieran, pero es absurdo que estemos hablando de dictadura militar. —There'll be all the discipline you like here, but it's absurd that we should be talking about military dictatorship. > Subjunctive after an open quantity: When the amount is left open ('all the … you like'), the relative clause is subjunctive: «toda la disciplina que ustedes quieran» = 'all the discipline you may want'. The subjunctive «quieran» refuses to fix the amount. A nosotros, sólo pueden interesarnos los militares plegándose a un movimiento rojo. The military can only interest us by falling in with a red movement. > «plegarse a»: Pronominal «plegarse a» means 'to fall in with', 'to go along with', 'to submit to': «plegándose a un movimiento rojo» = 'by falling in with a red movement'. Literally «plegar» is 'to fold'. El Mayor se incorporó en su asiento y mirando a Erdosain, dijo sonriendo: The Major sat up in his seat and, looking at Erdosain, said with a smile: –¿Entonces reconoce usted que hago bien mi papel? —So you admit I play my part well? –¿Papel?... —Part?… –Sí, hombre... yo soy tan Mayor como usted. —Yes, man… I'm as much a Major as you are. –¿Se dan cuenta ahora ustedes del poder de la mentira? –dijo el Astrólogo–. —Do you realize now the power of the lie? —said the Astrologer—. > «darse cuenta de»: «Darse cuenta de» means 'to realize / notice': «¿se dan cuenta del poder…?» = 'do you realize the power…?'. The «de» is required before the thing realized; without it the meaning changes ('to give account'). Lo he disfrazado a este amigo de militar y ya ustedes mismos creían, a pesar de estar casi en el secreto, que teníamos revolución en el ejército. I dressed this friend up as a soldier, and you yourselves already believed, even though you were almost in on the secret, that we had a revolution going in the army. > «disfrazar de»: «Disfrazar (a alguien) de» means 'to disguise / dress (someone) up as': «lo he disfrazado de militar» = 'I dressed him up as a soldier'. The redundant «lo… a este amigo» (object pronoun plus full object) is normal River Plate usage. –¿Entonces? —And so? –Este no fue nada más que un ensayo... ya que representaremos la comedia en serio algún día. —This was nothing more than a rehearsal… since we will stage the farce in earnest one day. > Theater words turned political: «Ensayo» is a 'rehearsal' and «representar la comedia» is 'to stage the play'. The Astrologer keeps the theater metaphor: the fake Major was a rehearsal for a real seizure of power — a key image in this chapter titled «La farsa», 'The Farce'. Las palabras resonaron tan amenazadoras que los cuatro hombres se quedaron observando al Mayor, que dijo: The words rang out so menacing that the four men sat there watching the Major, who said: > «quedarse» + gerund: «Quedarse» plus a gerund means 'to remain / stay (doing something)': «se quedaron observando» = 'they sat there watching', 'they stayed watching'. It frames the men as held in the act of looking. –En realidad no he pasado de sargento –pero el Astrólogo interrumpió sus explicaciones, diciendo: —In truth I never got past sergeant —but the Astrologer cut off his explanations, saying: > «pasar de»: «Pasar de» means 'to go beyond / get past (a point)': «no he pasado de sargento» = 'I never rose above sergeant'. The negative caps how far he got. –¿Amigo Haffner, tiene el presupuesto? —Friend Haffner, do you have the budget? –Sí... aquí está. —Yes… here it is. El Astrólogo hojeó durante unos minutos los pliegos borroneados de cifras y explicó a la concurrencia: The Astrologer leafed for a few minutes through the sheets scrawled over with figures and explained to the gathering: –La base más sólida de la parte económica de nuestra sociedad, son los prostíbulos. —The most solid foundation of the economic side of our society is the brothels. El Astrólogo continuó: The Astrologer went on: –El señor me ha entregado un presupuesto que se refiere a la instalación de un prostíbulo con diez pupilas. —The gentleman has handed me a budget for setting up a brothel with ten girls. > «pupila»: In this context «pupila» means a brothel's house prostitute (a 'boarder' kept by the establishment), not 'pupil' or 'pupil of the eye'. The cold accountancy of the word fits the chapter's clinical budget. He aquí los gastos a efectuarse. Here are the expenses to be incurred. > «he aquí»: «He aquí» is a fixed presentational phrase meaning 'here is / here are', 'behold': «he aquí los gastos» = 'here are the expenses'. This «he» is not the verb «haber» you conjugate; it only appears in «he aquí / he allí». Y leyó: And he read: –10 Juegos de dormitorio, usados $ 2.000 —10 bedroom sets, used $2,000 –Alquiler de la casa, mensual $400 —Rent of the house, monthly $400 –Depósito, tres meses $ 1.200 —Deposit, three months $1,200 –Instalación, cocina, baños y bar. $ 2.000 —Fitting-out, kitchen, baths and bar. $2,000 –Coima mensual al comisario $300 —Monthly bribe to the police chief $300 > «coima»: «Coima» is the River Plate word for a bribe or kickback paid to officials; «coimear» is 'to bribe'. The budget's matter-of-fact line items of «coima» to the police chief, the doctor, and the political boss expose the everyday graft of 1920s Buenos Aires. –Coima al médico $150 —Bribe to the doctor $150 –Coima al jefe político para la concesión $ 2.000 —Bribe to the political boss for the license $2,000 –Impuesto municipal mensual $50 —Monthly municipal tax $50 –Piano eléctrico $ 1.500 —Electric piano $1,500 –Gerenta $150 —Manageress $150 > «gerenta»: «Gerenta» is the feminine of «gerente» ('manager') — here the woman who runs the house. The explicitly feminine form marks the role as a woman's job within the brothel. –Cocinero $150 —Cook $150 Total: $9.000 Total: $9,000 «Cada pupila abona 14 pesos por semana en concepto de gastos de comida y tiene que comprar en la casa, la yerba, azúcar, kerosene, velas, medias, polvos, jabón y perfumes. "Each girl pays 14 pesos a week toward food costs and has to buy from the house her yerba, sugar, kerosene, candles, stockings, powders, soap, and perfumes. > «en concepto de»: «En concepto de» is an accounting phrase meaning 'by way of', 'as / under the heading of': «en concepto de gastos de comida» = 'toward food costs', 'for food expenses'. It labels what a payment is for. «Fuera de todos gastos podemos contar con una entrada mínima de dos mil quinientos pesos por mes. "After all expenses we can count on a minimum income of two thousand five hundred pesos a month. En cuatro meses hemos recuperado el capital invertido. In four months we have recovered the invested capital. Con el cincuenta por ciento de las entradas líquidas instalaremos otros lenocinios, el veinticinco por ciento será destinado a cubrir las deudas, y la otra tercera parte se destinará al sostenimiento de las células. With fifty percent of the net takings we will set up other brothels, twenty-five percent will be earmarked to cover debts, and the other third will go to the upkeep of the cells. > «lenocinio»: «Lenocinio» is a formal, legalistic word for a brothel (and for the crime of pimping). Arlt swaps it in for «prostíbulo» to give the Astrologer's speech a chillingly bureaucratic register. ¿Se autoriza el gasto de diez mil pesos o no? Is the expenditure of ten thousand pesos approved or not? Todos inclinaron la cabeza aprobando, menos el Buscador de Oro, que dijo: They all bowed their heads in approval, except the Gold Seeker, who said: –¿Quién es el revisor de cuentas? —Who is the auditor of accounts? –Se elegirá terminado todo. —One will be chosen once everything is finished. > Absolute participle: A past participle can open an 'absolute' clause meaning 'once / after (something) is done': «terminado todo» = 'once everything is finished'. The participle «terminado» agrees with «todo» and needs no conjunction. –De acuerdo. —Agreed. –¿Usted también, Mayor? —You too, Major? –Sí. —Yes. Erdosain levantó la cabeza y miró el pálido semblante del pseudo–sargento, cuyos ojos aviesos se habían detenido en una mariposa blanca que movía sus alas en lo verde, y esta vez no pudo menos que decirse cómo era posible que el Astrólogo moviera tales comediantes. Erdosain raised his head and looked at the pale face of the pseudo-sergeant, whose sinister eyes had come to rest on a white butterfly fluttering its wings in the greenery, and this time he could not help wondering to himself how it was possible that the Astrologer could maneuver such play-actors. > «no poder menos que»: «No poder menos que» plus an infinitive means 'cannot help but (do)', 'cannot do otherwise than': «no pudo menos que decirse» = 'he could not help saying to himself'. It expresses an unavoidable reaction. > Subjunctive after «es posible que»: «Ser posible que» governs the subjunctive: «era posible que… moviera» = 'it was possible that… could maneuver'. The past «era» pulls the subordinate verb into the imperfect subjunctive «moviera». Pero el Astrólogo lo interpretaba: But the Astrologer read his thoughts: –Usted, señor Erdosain, ¿cuánto necesita para instalar el taller de galvanoplastia? —You, señor Erdosain, how much do you need to set up the electroplating workshop? –Mil pesos. —A thousand pesos. –¡Ah! ¿Usted es el inventor de la rosa de cobre? –le dijo el Mayor. —Ah! You're the inventor of the copper rose? —the Major said to him. –Sí. —Yes. –Lo felicito. —Congratulations. Yo creo que la venta tendrá éxito. I think the sales will be a success. Naturalmente hay que metalizar flores en gran cantidad. Naturally one has to metal-plate flowers in great quantity. –Así, es. —That's right. Yo he pensado agregar el ramo de fotografía. I've thought of adding a photography line. > «ramo»: «Ramo» literally means 'branch / bough', but in business it means a 'line' or 'branch of trade': «el ramo de fotografía» = 'the photography line'. (The same «ramo» also means a 'bunch / bouquet' of flowers.) Salvaría los gastos del taller. It would cover the workshop's costs. –Eso queda a su criterio. —That is left to your judgment. –Además, yo cuento ya con un práctico amigo mío para la galvanoplastia –al decir esto pensaba en la familia Espila, que bien podía ingresar en la sociedad secreta, mas el Astrólogo interrumpió sus reflexiones, diciendo: —Besides, I already have a skilled friend of mine lined up for the electroplating —as he said this he was thinking of the Espila family, who could well join the secret society, but the Astrologer cut off his musings, saying: > «al» + infinitive (simultaneity): «Al» plus an infinitive can mark a simultaneous action: «al decir esto pensaba…» = 'as he said this, he was thinking…'. Here it pins one action to the moment of another. –El Buscador de Oro nos va a dar noticias de la zona donde pensamos instalar nuestra colonia –y ésta se levantó. —The Gold Seeker is going to give us news of the area where we plan to set up our colony —and he rose to his feet. Erdosain se asombró al considerar el físico del otro. Erdosain was astonished when he took in the other man's build. Se había imaginado a éste de acuerdo a los cánones de la cinematografía, un hombre enorme, de barbazas rubias apestando a bebidas. He had pictured him according to the conventions of the movies — a huge man, with a great blond beard, reeking of drink. No había tal cosa. There was no such thing. El Buscador de Oro era un joven de su edad, la piel pegada sobre los huesos planos del rostro y palidísima, y renegridos ojos vivaces. The Gold Seeker was a young man his own age, the skin drawn tight and very pale over the flat bones of his face, and quick, jet-black eyes. > Absolute superlative «-ísimo»: The suffix «-ísimo/-a» makes an absolute superlative, 'extremely / very': «palidísima» = 'extremely pale'. It intensifies the adjective without comparing it to anything. La enorme caja toráxica parecía pertenecer a un hombre dos veces más desarrollado que él. The enormous ribcage seemed to belong to a man twice as developed as he was. Las piernas eran finas y arqueadas. The legs were thin and bowed. Entre el cinto de cuero y el paño del pantalón se le veía el cabo de un revólver. Between the leather belt and the cloth of his trousers the butt of a revolver could be seen. Tenía la voz clara, pero en él todo revestía un continente extraño, como si el sujeto estuviera compuesto de diferentes piezas humanas correspondientes a hombres de distintos estados. His voice was clear, but in him everything took on a strange bearing, as if the man were assembled out of different human parts belonging to men of different conditions. > «como si» + imperfect subjunctive: «Como si» ('as if') always takes the imperfect (or pluperfect) subjunctive: «como si el sujeto estuviera compuesto» = 'as if the man were assembled'. It frames the comparison as contrary to fact. Así, su cara era la de un hombre de tapete acostumbrado a bizquear tras de los naipes, su pecho el de un boxeador y las piernas pertenecientes a un jockey. Thus his face was that of a gambling man used to squinting over his cards, his chest that of a boxer, and his legs those of a jockey. > «hombre de tapete»: The «tapete» is the baize-covered gaming table, so «hombre de tapete» is a gambler, a card-table man. The phrase paints the Gold Seeker as a creature of cards and chance. Y él tenía un poco de ese amasijo, en aquella realidad informe que trascendía de su cuerpo. And he had a little of that jumble in him, in the shapeless reality that emanated from his body. Hasta los catorce años había vivido en el campo, luego mató a tiros a un ladrón, y más tarde el miedo a la tuberculosis lo arrojó nuevamente a la llanura y había galopado días y noches extensiones increíbles. Until the age of fourteen he had lived in the countryside, then he shot a thief dead, and later the fear of tuberculosis flung him out onto the plains again, and he had galloped over incredible distances for days and nights. > «matar a tiros»: «Matar a tiros» means 'to shoot dead', 'to kill with gunshots': «mató a tiros a un ladrón» = 'he shot a thief dead'. The «a + (means)» pattern names the manner — compare «a golpes» ('by beating'). Erdosain simpatizó con él inmediatamente de conocerle. Erdosain took to him the moment he met him. > «simpatizar con»: «Simpatizar con» means 'to take a liking to', 'to hit it off with' — not 'to sympathize'. «Simpatizó con él» = 'he took to him'. A common false friend. El Buscador de Oro desenvolvió unas piedras. The Gold Seeker unwrapped some stones. Eran trozos de cuarzo aurífero. They were pieces of gold-bearing quartz. Luego dijo: Then he said: –Aquí tienen el certificado de análisis de la Dirección de Minas e Hidrología. —Here you have the assay certificate from the Bureau of Mines and Hydrology. > «e» instead of «y»: Before a word beginning with an «i» sound, 'and' becomes «e» instead of «y», to avoid two i-sounds colliding: «Minas e Hidrología» (the «h» is silent). The same happens with «o» → «u» before an «o» sound. Las piedras pasaron rápidamente de mano en mano. The stones passed quickly from hand to hand. Los ojos afirmaban una voracidad extraordinaria y las yemas de los dedos rozaban con delectación el cuarzo con escamas y compactos injertos de oro. The eyes betrayed an extraordinary greed, and the fingertips brushed with delight against the quartz with its flakes and compact veins of gold. El Astrólogo, liando lentamente un cigarrillo, observaba todos los semblantes que habían recibido una descarga de alma... una tentación los tensionaba al examinar las piedras. The Astrologer, slowly rolling a cigarette, watched all the faces that had received a discharge of soul… a temptation tightened them as they examined the stones. El Buscador de Oro volvió a sentarse y dijo conversando con todos: The Gold Seeker sat down again and said, talking to them all: –Allá abajo hay mucho oro. —Down there is a lot of gold. Nadie lo sabe. No one knows it. Es en el Campo Chileno. It's in the Campo Chileno. Primero estuve en Esquel... están las máquinas tiradas de una explotación que fracasó, después anduve en Arroyo Pescado... caminé... allá, no sé si ustedes lo sabrán, los días no se cuentan y entré al Campo Chileno. First I was in Esquel… there sit the machines abandoned from a venture that failed, then I roamed around Arroyo Pescado… I walked… out there, I don't know if you'll know this, the days don't get counted, and I came into the Campo Chileno. > Irregular preterite «anduve»: «Anduve» is the irregular preterite of «andar» ('to walk / go around'): «anduve en Arroyo Pescado» = 'I went about in Arroyo Pescado'. Beware the false regular form «andé», which does not exist. Selva, puro bosque de miles de kilómetros cuadrados. Jungle, sheer forest of thousands of square kilometers. Me acompañaba la Máscara, una prostituta de Esquel que conocía una picada para entrar porque antes había estado con un minero al que lo asesinaron al volver. The Mask came with me, a prostitute from Esquel who knew a trail in, because before she'd been with a miner who was murdered on his way back. > «picada»: Here «picada» is a rough trail or path hacked through the bush, an Argentine sense of the word: «una picada para entrar» = 'a trail to get in by'. (In other contexts «picada» means appetizers or a steep dive.) Bueno, allá abajo se mata a uno por nada. Well, down there they'll kill a man for nothing. > Impersonal «se» with «a uno»: «Se mata a uno» = 'one gets killed', 'they kill a man'. Impersonal «se» leaves the killer unnamed, and «a uno» ('a person, anyone') is the human object, marked by the personal «a». Estaba sifilítica y se me quedó en el bosque. She was syphilitic, and she died on me there in the forest. > Ethical dative «me»: The «me» in «se me quedó» is an 'ethical dative': it adds the speaker as the affected party — 'she stayed/died on me'. Spanish uses this extra pronoun to show emotional involvement; «quedarse» here is a gentle word for dying. La Máscara. The Mask. ¡Sí, me acuerdo! Yes, I remember! > «acordarse (de)»: Pronominal «acordarse» means 'to remember': «me acuerdo» = 'I remember'. When an object follows it takes «de» («me acuerdo de ella»). Plain «acordar» means 'to agree', so the «se» is what gives 'remember'. Veinte años hacía que daba vueltas por esos pagos. For twenty years she'd been knocking around those parts. > «hacía… que» + imperfect: «Hacía X años que» plus an imperfect expresses how long something had been going on: «veinte años hacía que daba vueltas» = 'she had been wandering around for twenty years'. The imperfect «daba» marks the ongoing past. > «pagos»: In the River Plate, «pagos» (always plural here) means 'those parts', 'the region / home turf': «por esos pagos» = 'around those parts'. It is rural, regional vocabulary, not 'payments'. De Puerto Madryn fue a Comodoro, después a Trelew, después a Esquel. From Puerto Madryn she went to Comodoro, then to Trelew, then to Esquel. Ella los conoció a todos los buscadores de oro. She knew them all, every one of the gold seekers. > Doubled object: «Los conoció a todos los buscadores» repeats the object as both a pronoun («los») and a full noun phrase. This doubling, normal in the River Plate, adds emphasis: 'she knew them all, the gold seekers'. Primero fuimos hasta Arroyo Pescado... es cuarenta leguas más al sur de Esquel... pero no había sino un poquito de polvo en las arenas... a caballo seguimos quince días y entre monte y monte llegamos al Campo Chileno. First we went as far as Arroyo Pescado… it's forty leagues farther south than Esquel… but there was only a bit of dust in the sands… on horseback we kept on for fifteen days, and from thicket to thicket we reached the Campo Chileno. > «no… sino» as 'only': «No (haber) sino» means 'there is nothing but', i.e. 'only': «no había sino un poquito de polvo» = 'there was only a little dust'. Here «sino» works like «más que» to mean 'nothing other than'. Con voz clara y fija en el motivo del relator el Buscador de Oro narraba su odisea en el sur. In a clear voice, fixed on the storyteller's theme, the Gold Seeker recounted his odyssey in the south. Escuchándole, Erdosain tenía la impresión de cruzar en compañía de la Máscara, desfiladeros gigantescos negros y glaciales, cerrados en el confín por triángulos violetas de más montañas. Listening to him, Erdosain had the impression of crossing, in the Mask's company, gigantic black and glacial gorges, closed off at the far edge by violet triangles of yet more mountains. Los altiplanos desaparecían bajo el altísimo avance del bosque perpetuo de troncos rojizos y follaje de negro verde, y ellos, alucinados, seguían adelante bajo el espacio profundo y liso como un desierto de hielo celeste. The high plateaus vanished beneath the towering advance of the perpetual forest of reddish trunks and black-green foliage, and they, in a daze, pressed on beneath a sky deep and smooth as a desert of sky-blue ice. Con gestos lentos, indiferentes al asombro que suscitaba su relato, contaba el Buscador de Oro la aventura de meses. With slow gestures, indifferent to the wonder his account stirred up, the Gold Seeker told of his months-long adventure. Todos le escuchaban absortos. They all listened to him, spellbound. Luego, una mañana llegó al desfiladero negro. Then, one morning, he reached the black gorge. Era un círculo de piedra negra, basáltica, crestada, un brocal empenachado de estalagmitas oscuras, donde lo celeste del espacio se hacía infinitamente triste. It was a ring of black, basaltic, crested stone, a well-rim plumed with dark stalagmites, where the blue of the sky turned infinitely sad. Pájaros errantes rozaban en su vuelo los bloques de piedra, sombreados por otros círculos de montes más altos... Y en el fondo de aquel pozal, un lago de agua de oro, donde refluían hilachos de cascadas destrenzados por las breñas. Wandering birds grazed the blocks of stone in their flight, shaded by further rings of higher peaks… And at the bottom of that pit, a lake of golden water, into which trickled threads of waterfalls unbraided by the crags. Nunca el Buscador de Oro había estado en parajes tan siniestros. Never had the Gold Seeker been in such sinister spots. Aquella profundidad de agua de bronce espejando los farallones negros lo detuvo asombrado. That depth of bronze water mirroring the black cliffs stopped him in astonishment. Los muros de piedra caían perpendicularmente, moteados de sarcomas verdosos, de largas malaquitas, y en aquel fondo de bronce su figura pálida y barbuda se reflejaba con los pies hacia el cielo. The stone walls dropped sheer, mottled with greenish growths, with long streaks of malachite, and in that bronze depth his pale, bearded figure was reflected with its feet toward the sky. Al pronto se le ocurrió que el agua sería de oro, pero desechó la hipótesis por absurda, porque no había leído ni oído nunca nada semejante, y continuó contando: At first it occurred to him that the water might be made of gold, but he dismissed the idea as absurd, because he had never read or heard anything of the kind, and he went on telling his story: > «ocurrírsele a alguien»: «Ocurrírsele (algo) a alguien» means 'for something to occur to someone': «se le ocurrió que…» = 'it occurred to him that…'. The «se» plus the dative «le» presents the thought as arriving on its own. «Sería» is a conditional of conjecture, 'might be'. –Pero al volver, encontrándome un día en Rawson esperando en la sala de un dentista, se me ocurrió hojear una revista llamada «La Semana Médica», que había en una de las mesas del vestíbulo... y aquí se produce el prodigio. —But on my way back, finding myself one day in Rawson waiting in a dentist's room, it occurred to me to leaf through a magazine called "La Semana Médica" that was lying on one of the tables in the lobby… and here the marvel happens. Abro al azar el folleto y en la primera página que miro veo un artículo titulado: «El agua de oro, o el oro coloidal en la terapéutica de lupus eritematoso». I open the booklet at random, and on the first page I look at I see an article titled: "Gold water, or colloidal gold in the treatment of lupus erythematosus". > «al azar»: «Al azar» means 'at random', 'by chance': «abro al azar el folleto» = 'I open the booklet at random'. «Azar» is 'chance / fate' — note the historic-present «abro», «veo» that makes the scene vivid. Me puse a leer y entonces aprendí que el oro es susceptible de quedar suspendido en el agua en partículas microscópicas... y que ese fenómeno que para mí era flamante, lo habían descubierto los alquimistas que lo llamaban «agua de oro». I set to reading, and then I learned that gold can stay suspended in water in microscopic particles… and that this phenomenon, which to me was brand-new, had been discovered by the alchemists, who called it "gold water". > «ponerse a» + infinitive: «Ponerse a» plus an infinitive means 'to start / set about (doing)': «me puse a leer» = 'I started reading'. It stresses the moment of beginning the action. La obtenían por el procedimiento más simple que es dado imaginar: echando un trozo candente de oro en agua de lluvia. They obtained it by the simplest procedure one can imagine: dropping a white-hot piece of gold into rainwater. Inmediatamente me acordé del lago cuya coloración atribuí a substancias vegetales. Immediately I remembered the lake, whose coloring I had put down to vegetable matter. Yo había estado, sin reconocerlo, junto a un lago de oro coloidal que quizá cuántos siglos había tardado en formarse por el paso del agua junto a las vetas. I had stood, without realizing it, beside a lake of colloidal gold that perhaps had taken who knows how many centuries to form, from the water passing along the veins of ore. > «tardar en» + infinitive: «Tardar en» plus an infinitive means 'to take (time) to (do)', 'to be long in': «había tardado en formarse» = 'had taken (long) to form'. The «en» links the verb to the action that took the time. ¿Se dan cuenta ustedes ahora, lo que es la ignorancia? Do you realize now what ignorance is? Si el azar no arroja esa revista en mis manos, yo hubiera ignorado para siempre la importancia de ese descubrimiento... If chance had not thrown that magazine into my hands, I would have remained forever ignorant of the importance of that discovery… > Mixed conditional: A contrary-to-fact past condition is normally «si no hubiera arrojado… habría/hubiera ignorado». Here the speaker uses a vivid present «arroja» in the 'if' clause with the past subjunctive «hubiera ignorado» in the result — a colloquial mix that keeps the telling lively. –¿Y volvió usted? –interrumpió el Mayor. —And did you go back? —the Major broke in. –Pero, naturalmente. —Why, of course. Volví solo hace ocho meses de esto, fue cuando le escribí a usted... pero yo partía de un error... tengo que estudiar la obtención metálica del oro... además hay filones allá... es cuestión de trabajar... conseguirse un traje de buzo, porque el fondo del agua es dorado y al agua en sí no tiene color. I came back only eight months ago from all this; that was when I wrote to you… but I was starting from a mistake… I have to study how to extract the gold as metal… besides, there are veins out there… it's a matter of working at it… getting hold of a diving suit, because the bottom of the water is golden and the water itself has no color. > «hace» for 'ago': «Hace» plus a time span means 'ago': «hace ocho meses» = 'eight months ago'. Here «volví… hace ocho meses» = 'I came back eight months ago'. This «hace» is invariable, always third-person singular. Haffner dijo: Haffner said: –¿Sabe que es interesante lo que cuenta? —Do you know, what you're telling is interesting? Poniendo que no existiera oro, aquello es siempre más divertido que esta puerca ciudad. Even supposing there were no gold, that's always more fun than this filthy city. > «poner que» (supposing that): «Poner que» means 'to suppose / grant that', and like other suppositions it takes the subjunctive: «poniendo que no existiera oro» = 'supposing there were no gold'. The imperfect subjunctive «existiera» marks it as a mere hypothesis. El Mayor agregó: The Major added: –Si se instala la colonia en el Campo Chileno, será necesario contar con una estación telegráfica. —If the colony is set up in the Campo Chileno, it will be necessary to have a telegraph station. Erdosain replicó: Erdosain replied: –Si es así, puede armarse una estación portátil con longitud de onda de 45 a 80 metros. —If that's the case, a portable station can be put together with a wavelength of 45 to 80 meters. > «armar»: «Armar» means 'to assemble / put together', 'to set up': «puede armarse una estación» = 'a station can be put together'. The passive-«se» leaves the assembler unnamed. (Note: «armar» also means 'to arm', as with weapons.) Costaría quinientos pesos y tiene un alcance de tres mil kilómetros. It would cost five hundred pesos and has a range of three thousand kilometers. Nuevamente intervino el Mayor: Once again the Major spoke up: –La colonia tiene toda mi preferencia porque allí se podrá instalar la fábrica de gases asfixiantes. —The colony has my full preference, because there the factory for asphyxiating gases can be set up. Usted, Erdosain, conoce algo al respecto. You, Erdosain, know something about that. > «al respecto»: «Al respecto» means 'about it', 'on the matter', 'in that regard': «conoce algo al respecto» = 'you know something about it'. It refers back to the topic just raised without naming it again. –Sí, que el aristol se puede fabricar electrolíticamente, pero no he estudiado nada al respecto, aunque los gases asfixiantes y el laboratorio bacteriológico son los que deben preocuparnos en grado mayor. —Yes, that aristol can be manufactured electrolytically, but I haven't studied anything about it, though the asphyxiating gases and the bacteriological laboratory are what should concern us most. Sobre todo el laboratorio de cultivo de microbios de la peste bubónica y el cólera asiático. Above all the laboratory for culturing the microbes of bubonic plague and Asiatic cholera. Habría que conseguirse algunas bacterias «tipos», que la ventaja consiste en la enorme baratura de la producción. We'd need to get hold of some "type" bacteria, the advantage being the enormous cheapness of production. > «habría que» + infinitive: «Habría que» plus an infinitive is the conditional of impersonal «hay que»: 'one would have to', 'we'd need to'. «Habría que conseguirse algunas bacterias» = 'we'd have to get hold of some bacteria'. El Astrólogo intervino: The Astrologer spoke up: –Creo que lo más conveniente sería dejar para más adelante la organización de la colonia. —I think it would be most sensible to leave the organization of the colony for later. Por ahora debemos limitarnos a llevar a cabo el proyecto de Haffner. For now we must limit ourselves to carrying out Haffner's project. > «llevar a cabo»: «Llevar a cabo» is a set phrase meaning 'to carry out', 'to accomplish': «llevar a cabo el proyecto» = 'to carry out the project'. «Cabo» here means 'end / completion', so literally 'to bring to its end'. Sólo cuando dispongamos de entradas, organizaremos el primer contingente que partirá para la colonia. Only when we have income coming in will we organize the first contingent to set out for the colony. > Subjunctive after future «cuando»: «Cuando» pointing to the future takes the present subjunctive: «cuando dispongamos de entradas» = 'when we have income'. «Disponer de» means 'to have available', 'to have at one's disposal'. ¿Usted, Erdosain, me había hablado de una familia? You, Erdosain, had spoken to me about a family? –Sí; los Espila. —Yes; the Espilas. Haffner repuso: Haffner retorted: –¡Qué diablo! —What the devil! Me parece que no hacemos nada más que hablar macanas. It seems to me we do nothing but talk nonsense. > «macana» (lunfardo): «Macana» is River Plate slang for 'nonsense', 'rubbish', 'a blunder': «hablar macanas» = 'to talk rubbish'. A staple of Buenos Aires «lunfardo» speech; «macanudo», by contrast, means 'great'. Si bien es cierto que yo en la sociedad de ustedes no paso de ser un simple informante, me parece que ahora mismo debería resolverse algo. While it's true that in your society I'm no more than a mere informant, it seems to me something ought to be decided right now. > «si bien» (although): «Si bien» means 'although', 'while it's true that' — a concessive, not a condition. «Si bien es cierto que…» = 'although it's true that…'. It concedes a point before stating the speaker's own. El Astrólogo lo miró y repuso: The Astrologer looked at him and retorted: –¿Está usted dispuesto a dar el dinero para hacer algo? —Are you willing to put up the money to do something? No. No. ¿Y entonces? And so? Espere usted a que dispongamos de un capital, que no puede pasar muchos días tendremos, y entonces, ya verá. Wait until we have some capital, which we'll have in no more than a few days, and then you'll see. > «esperar a que» + subjunctive: «Esperar a que» ('to wait until / for') takes the subjunctive: «espere a que dispongamos» = 'wait until we have'. The present subjunctive «dispongamos» marks the awaited event as still pending. Haffner se levantó, y mirándolo al Buscador de Oro, dijo: Haffner stood up and, looking at the Gold Seeker, said: –Ya sabe, compañero; cuando el asunto de la colonia esté listo, me avisa; y si necesita gente, mejor que mejor, yo le proporcionaré una gavilla de malandrines que no van a tener ningún inconveniente en dejar Buenos Aires –y poniéndose el sombrero, sin darle la mano a nadie y saludándolos a todos con un gesto, iba a salir, cuando, recordando algo, exclamó dirigiéndose al Astrólogo–: Si se apura a conseguir el dinero, hay un magnífico prostíbulo en venta. —You know how it is, comrade; when the colony business is ready, let me know; and if you need people, all the better, I'll supply you a gang of crooks who won't have the slightest objection to leaving Buenos Aires —and putting on his hat, shaking no one's hand and saluting them all with a gesture, he was about to leave when, remembering something, he exclaimed, turning to the Astrologer—: If you hurry to get the money, there's a magnificent brothel for sale. > «malandrín» and «gavilla»: «Malandrín» (cousin of the lunfardo «malandra») means a crook or scoundrel, and «una gavilla» is a 'band / gang' of them: «una gavilla de malandrines» = 'a gang of crooks'. Haffner is offering recruits from the Buenos Aires underworld. > «apurarse»: In the River Plate «apurarse» means 'to hurry', 'to get a move on': «si se apura a conseguir el dinero» = 'if you hurry to get the money'. (In Spain the same verb leans toward 'to worry / fret'.) Tiene anexo y churrasquería, y además se juega mucho. It has an annex and a grill-house, and on top of that there's heavy gambling. El patrón es un uruguayo y pide 15.000 pesos al contado, pero con diez mil y los otros cinco a un año de plazo creo que se conformará. The owner is a Uruguayan and he's asking 15,000 pesos in cash, but with ten thousand and the other five over a one-year term I think he'll settle. > «al contado»: «Al contado» means 'in cash', 'paid up front': «15.000 pesos al contado» = '15,000 pesos in cash'. Its opposite is «a plazo» ('on installments / on credit'), which appears in the same sentence. –¿Puede usted venir el viernes aquí? —Can you come here on Friday? –Sí. —Yes. –Bueno, véame el viernes, creo que arreglaremos el asunto. —All right, come see me on Friday, I think we'll settle the matter. > Command with attached pronoun: «Véame» is the «usted» imperative of «ver» with the object pronoun attached: «vea» + «me» = «véame» ('see me / come see me'), the accent kept to preserve the stress. Affirmative commands always take the pronoun on the end. –Salú. —So long. > «Salú»: «Salú» is the colloquial River Plate pronunciation of «salud» (the final «-d» dropped), used here as a casual 'cheers / so long' in parting. The clipped spelling captures Haffner's offhand, streetwise tone. –Así saludó el Rufián, y salió. —That is how the Ruffian said goodbye, and he walked out. --- 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.