# The Seven Madmen, The Espila Family Los siete locos · Roberto Arlt · Part Two Source: https://1732studios.com/books/arlt/los-espila. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/arlt/los-espila.json. Audio: https://audio.1732studios.com/arlt/.m4a. El tren se detuvo en Ramos Mejía. The train stopped at Ramos Mejía. > Pronominal «detenerse» in the preterite: «Detenerse» ('to stop, to come to a halt') is a pronominal verb: the reflexive «se» marks the train as undergoing the action itself rather than stopping something else. «Se detuvo» is the third-person preterite — a single, completed event that gets the chapter moving. El reloj de la estación marcaba las ocho de la noche. The station clock read eight o'clock at night. > Imperfect for a standing state: «Marcaba» (imperfect of «marcar») describes the clock as it stood — an ongoing condition framing the scene — rather than a one-off action. Spanish reaches for the imperfect to paint such backdrops; the preterite «marcó» would instead report a single moment of marking. Erdosain bajó. Erdosain got off. Una neblina densa pesaba en las calles fangosas del pueblo. A dense fog hung heavy over the muddy streets of the town. > «fangoso» — muddy: «Fangoso» means 'muddy, miry', from «fango» ('mud, mire'). Arlt's outer-suburb streets are literally unpaved and waterlogged; the word also carries a grimy, sunken connotation that colors the whole scene. Cuando se encontró solo en la calle Centenario, bloqueado de frente y a las espaldas por dos murallas de neblina, recordó que al día siguiente lo asesinarán a Barsut. When he found himself alone on Centenario street, walled off in front and behind by two ramparts of fog, he remembered that the next day they would murder Barsut. > Redundant object pronoun: River Plate Spanish often doubles a named direct object with a clitic: «lo asesinarán a Barsut» literally has both «lo» and «a Barsut». The «lo» is grammatically redundant but idiomatic — it foregrounds Barsut as the victim before he is even named. Era cierto. It was true. Lo asesinarían. They would murder him. > Conditional as a future-in-the-past: «Asesinarían» is the conditional of «asesinar». After a past frame it expresses a future seen from that past moment — 'they were going to murder him'. The bare two-word sentence lets the certainty land like a verdict. Hubiera querido tener un espejo frente a sus ojos para ver su cuerpo asesino, tan inverosímil le parecía ser él (el yo) quien con tal crimen se iba a separar de todos los hombres. He would have liked to have a mirror before his eyes to see his murderer's body, so implausible did it seem to him that it was he (the self) who, by such a crime, was going to cut himself off from all men. > Pluperfect subjunctive as a soft conditional: «Hubiera querido» ('he would have liked') is the pluperfect subjunctive of «querer». Spanish frequently uses the «-ra» subjunctive in place of the conditional «habría querido» to voice an unreal wish — here, a longing that cannot be fulfilled. Los faroles ardían tristemente vertiendo a través del fangal cataratas de luz algodonosa que goteaban en los mosaicos haciendo invisible el pueblo más allá de dos pasos. The streetlamps burned mournfully, pouring through the mire cataracts of cottony light that dripped onto the tiles, making the town invisible beyond two steps. > «algodonoso» — cottony: «Algodonoso» derives from «algodón» ('cotton'). Applied to «luz» ('light'), it makes the lamplight soft, woolly, and muffling — the fog turned to glowing fleece. Arlt favors such sensory adjectives to thicken his nocturnal atmosphere. Un enorme desconsuelo estaba en Erdosain que avanzaba más triste que un leproso. An enormous despair lay within Erdosain, who walked on sadder than a leper. Tenía ahora la sensación de que su alma se había apartado para siempre de todo afecto terrestre. He had now the sense that his soul had drawn away forever from every earthly affection. > Pluperfect indicative: «Se había apartado» («haber» in the imperfect + past participle) is the pluperfect — an action completed before another past reference point. It places the soul's withdrawal already in the past relative to the present sensation «tenía». Y su angustia era la de un hombre que lleva en su conciencia un siniestro jaulón, donde entre huesos de pecados, bostezan teñidos de sangre, elásticos tigres, afirmando el ojo en una proyección de salto. And his anguish was that of a man who carries in his conscience a sinister cage, where, among the bones of sins, blood-stained, supple tigers yawn, fixing the eye on the arc of a leap. > «jaulón» — a great cage: «Jaulón» is the augmentative of «jaula» ('cage'); the «-ón» suffix enlarges it to a big, brutal cage. The augmentative lets Arlt scale his inner menagerie up to nightmare size. Y Erdosain, a medida que avanzaba, pensaba en su vida como si fuera la de otro, tratando de comprender esas fuerzas oscuras que le subían desde las raíces de las uñas hasta agolparse silbando en sus rejas como el simún. And Erdosain, as he walked on, thought about his life as if it were someone else's, trying to understand those dark forces that rose in him from the roots of his nails until they crowded, hissing, against his bars like the simoom. > «como si» + past subjunctive: «Como si» ('as if') always triggers the imperfect subjunctive: «como si fuera» = 'as if it were'. It frames a hypothetical, counter-to-fact comparison — his own life held at arm's length, as though it belonged to a stranger. Envuelto en la neblina que llevaba hasta la última celdilla de su pulmón una gota de humedad pesada, Erdosain llegó a la calle Gaona, donde se detuvo para enjugarse la frente cubierta de sudor. Wrapped in the fog that carried into the last little cell of his lung a drop of heavy damp, Erdosain reached Gaona street, where he stopped to wipe his sweat-covered brow. > Reflexive «enjugarse»: «Enjugarse» ('to wipe / dry oneself') is the reflexive of «enjugar» ('to wipe dry'). The clitic «se» turns the action back on the subject's own body — he wipes his own brow. Golpeó a una puerta de tablas, la única entrada de un enorme frente de fábrica a cuyo costado estaba suspendida una lámpara de querosene... De pronto una mano abrió el portón y el joven farfullando malas palabras siguió los costados de un murallón por un sendero de ladrillos que se doblaban en el fango bajo sus pisadas. He knocked at a plank door, the only way into the huge front of a factory, beside which hung a kerosene lamp... Suddenly a hand opened the gate and the young man, muttering foul words, followed the sides of a great wall along a path of bricks that buckled in the mud under his steps. > «farfullar» — to mutter, jabber: «Farfullar» means to speak fast and indistinctly, to mumble or gabble. The gerund «farfullando» ('muttering') captures Erdosain swearing under his breath as he stumbles along the muddy path. Se detuvo frente a los vidrios de una puerta iluminada, golpeó las manos y una voz ronca le gritó: He stopped before the glass of a lit door, clapped his hands, and a hoarse voice shouted to him: –Adelante. "Come in." Erdosain entró. Erdosain entered. Una lámpara de acetileno iluminaba, con fulginosa llama, las cinco cabezas de la familia Espila, que hacía un instante estaban inclinadas sobre los platos. An acetylene lamp lit, with a sooty flame, the five heads of the Espila family, which a moment before had been bent over their plates. > «hacer» for elapsed time: Impersonal «hacía» («hacer» in the imperfect) plus a time expression means 'ago' in the past: «hacía un instante» = 'a moment before'. Spanish uses «hacer», not a verb of having, to measure how much time has passed. Todos le saludaron sonriendo con alegres voces, mientras que Emilio Espila, un muchachón alto, flaco y cabelludo, corrió hacia él para estrecharle las manos. They all greeted him, smiling with cheerful voices, while Emilio Espila, a tall, gaunt, shaggy-haired big lad, ran toward him to shake his hands. > «muchachón» — a big lad: «Muchachón» is the augmentative of «muchacho» ('boy, young man'); the «-ón» suffix makes him a large, overgrown youth. Paired with «alto, flaco y cabelludo» it sketches Emilio as a lanky, hairy beanpole. Erdosain saludó por orden, primero a la anciana Espila encorvada por el tiempo y cubierta de ropas negras; luego a las dos hermanas mozas, Luciana y Elena; luego al sordo Eustaquio, un gigantón encanecido y delgado como si estuviera tuberculoso, que, según su costumbre, comía con la nariz en el plato, mientras sus ojos grises vigilaban el jeroglífico de una revista, interpretándolo al tiempo que masticaba. Erdosain greeted them in turn, first the old Espila woman, stooped by the years and dressed in black; then the two young sisters, Luciana and Elena; then deaf Eustaquio, a greying giant, thin as if he were tubercular, who, as was his habit, ate with his nose in his plate while his grey eyes watched over the puzzle in a magazine, working it out as he chewed. > «como si» + imperfect subjunctive: Again «como si» ('as if') governs the imperfect subjunctive: «como si estuviera tuberculoso» = 'as if he were tubercular'. The construction marks an unreal comparison — he merely looks consumptive, he is not. Erdosain se sintió un poco reanimado por la sonrisa cordial de Luciana y Elena. Erdosain felt himself a little revived by the warm smile of Luciana and Elena. Luciana era carilarga y rubia, con la nariz respingada y la boca de largos y finos labios sinuosos teñidos de rosa. Luciana was long-faced and blonde, with a turned-up nose and a mouth of long, thin, sinuous lips tinged with pink. > «carilargo» — long-faced: «Carilargo» is a compound of «cara» ('face') and «largo» ('long'). Spanish builds such body-description compounds freely — compare «respingada» ('turned-up') applied to the nose in the same sentence. Elena tenía aspecto monjil, con su semblante ovalado y color de cera y las polleras largas, y las manos gordezuelas y pálidas. Elena had a nun-like look, with her oval, wax-colored face and long skirts, and plump, pale hands. > «pollera» — skirt (River Plate): In Argentina and Uruguay «pollera» is the everyday word for 'skirt'; in much of the rest of the Spanish-speaking world that would be «falda». It is one of many regionalisms that root the novel in Buenos Aires. –¿Querés cenar? –dijo la anciana. "Do you want supper?" said the old woman. > «voseo»: «querés» for «quieres»: «Querés» is the «voseo» form — the River Plate informal 'you' uses «vos» with verbs stressed on the final syllable and no stem change: «vos querés» instead of «tú quieres». You will hear it throughout this family's dialogue. Erdosain, al observar cuán enjuta estaba la fuente, respondió que ya lo había hecho. Erdosain, noticing how meager the serving dish was, answered that he already had. > «al» + infinitive: «Al» plus an infinitive means 'on / upon (doing something)': «al observar» = 'on noticing'. It packs a clause of time into two words — here, the instant he sees how little food there is. –¿De veras que cenaste? "Did you really have supper?" > Preterite «cenaste»: «Cenaste» ('you had supper / you dined') is the second-person singular preterite of «cenar» — a single completed act of eating. Note that the «voseo» preterite here keeps the same «-aste» ending as standard «tú». –Sí... voy a tomar un poco de té. "Yes... I'll have a little tea." Le hicieron sitio junto a la mesa, y Erdosain tomó asiento entre el sordo Eustaquio que continuaba vigilando su jeroglífico y Elena, que distribuía el resto del guisote entre Emilio y la anciana. They made room for him at the table, and Erdosain took a seat between deaf Eustaquio, who went on watching over his puzzle, and Elena, who was dividing the rest of the stew between Emilio and the old woman. > «guisote» — a poor stew: «Guisote» is a pejorative form of «guiso» ('stew'); the «-ote» suffix makes it a coarse, unappetizing one. The word quietly underscores the family's poverty — there is barely any of this sorry stew to go around. Erdosain los observó compadecido. Erdosain watched them with pity. Hacía muchos años que conocía a los Espila. He had known the Espilas for many years. > «hacía... que» + imperfect: «Hacía X que» plus an imperfect means an action had been going on for that long: «hacía muchos años que conocía» = 'he had known them for many years'. The imperfect «conocía» keeps the acquaintance ongoing up to the moment described. En otro tiempo la familia ocupaba una posición relativamente desahogada, luego una sucesión de desastres los había arrojado en plena miseria, y Erdosain, que encontró casualmente un día en la calle a Emilio, los visitó. In an earlier time the family had occupied a relatively comfortable position; then a string of disasters had thrown them into utter destitution, and Erdosain, who one day happened to meet Emilio in the street, paid them a visit. > «desahogado» — comfortably off: Of an economic «posición», «desahogado» means 'comfortable, free of strain' — literally 'un-suffocated', from «ahogar» ('to drown, choke'). The whole sentence pivots from that ease to «plena miseria» ('utter destitution'). Hacía siete años que no los veía y se asombró de reencontrarlos a todos viviendo en un cuchitril, ellos, que en otra época tenían criada, sala y antesala. It had been seven years since he had seen them, and he was astonished to find them all again living in a hovel — they, who in another day had had a maid, a parlor, and an antechamber. > «cuchitril» — a hovel: «Cuchitril» means a cramped, squalid little room or pigsty of a dwelling. The contrast with «criada, sala y antesala» ('maid, parlor, antechamber') measures exactly how far the Espilas have fallen. Las tres mujeres dormían en la habitación atestada de muebles viejos y que hacia en las horas de cenar o almorzar, las veces de comedor, mientras que Emilio y el sordo se guarecían en una cocinita de chapas de zinc. The three women slept in the room crammed with old furniture, which at supper or lunch hours served as the dining room, while Emilio and the deaf man took shelter in a little kitchen of zinc sheets. > Idiom: «hacer las veces de»: «Hacer las veces de» means 'to serve as, to stand in for' something. Here the cramped bedroom «hacía las veces de comedor» — it doubled as the dining room. (The source spells «hacía» as «hacia», a period typo retained verbatim.) Para subvenir a los gastos de la casa, efectuaban los trabajos más extraordinarios: vendían guías sociales, aparatos caseros para fabricar helados, y las dos hermanas hacían costura. To meet the household's expenses, they took on the most extraordinary jobs: they sold social directories, homemade machines for making ice cream, and the two sisters did sewing. > «subvenir a» — to provide for: «Subvenir a (los gastos)» is a formal verb meaning 'to meet, to provide for (expenses)'. Its bookish register sits with deliberate irony against the makeshift jobs the family actually scrapes by on. Un invierno, era tanta la pobreza, que robaron un poste de telégrafos y lo aserraron en la noche. One winter, the poverty was so great that they stole a telegraph pole and sawed it up in the night. > «tanto... que» — so much that: The correlative «tanto/tanta... que» expresses cause and result: «era tanta la pobreza, que...» = 'the poverty was so great that...'. «Tanta» agrees in gender with the feminine «pobreza». Otra vez se llevaron todos los pilares de un alambrado, y las aventuras que corrían para muñirse de dinero lo divertían y compadecían a un tiempo a Erdosain. Another time they carried off all the posts of a wire fence, and the escapades they ran to scrape together money at once amused and saddened Erdosain. > «muñirse de» — to get hold of: «Muñirse de (dinero)» is a River Plate colloquialism for 'to provide oneself with, to scrounge up' something. The reflexive marks the family acting on their own behalf as they hustle for cash. La impresión que recibió la primera vez que lo visitó, fue enorme. The impression he received the first time he visited was enormous. Vivían los Espila en un caserón cerca de Chacarita, un cuartel de tres pisos y divisorias de chapas de hierro. The Espilas lived in a big run-down house near Chacarita, a three-story barracks with partitions of iron sheeting. > «caserón» — a great rambling house: «Caserón» is the augmentative of «casa» ('house'): a big, old, often run-down building. Here it names the overcrowded tenement near Chacarita, the Buenos Aires district known for its vast cemetery. El edificio tenía el aspecto de un transatlántico, y los chiquillos brotaban de allí como si el conventillo fuera un falansterio. The building had the look of an ocean liner, and the children sprang from it as if the tenement were a phalanstery. Durante algunos días Erdosain recorrió las calles pensando en los sufrimientos que debieron sobrellevar los Espila, para resignarse a esa catástrofe, y más tarde, cuando inventó la rosa de cobre, se dijo que para levantar el espíritu de esa gente era necesario injertarles una esperanza, y con parte del dinero robado en la Azucarera compró un acumulador usado, un amperímetro y los diversos elementos para instalar un primitivo taller de galvanoplastia. For several days Erdosain wandered the streets thinking of the sufferings the Espilas must have endured to resign themselves to that catastrophe, and later, when he invented the copper rose, he told himself that to lift these people's spirits he had to graft a hope onto them, and with part of the money stolen from the Sugar Company he bought a used storage battery, an ammeter, and the various items to set up a primitive electroplating workshop. > «deber» of probability: «Deber» + infinitive expresses supposition: «debieron sobrellevar» = 'they must have endured'. (When «deber de» appears the inference is even clearer, but plain «deber» is widely used the same way.) Erdosain is inferring their past suffering, not stating an obligation. Y convenció a los Espila que debían dedicarse a ese trabajo en horas perdidas, pues de tener éxito todos se enriquecerían. And he convinced the Espilas that they should devote themselves to that work in their spare hours, since if it succeeded they would all grow rich. > «de» + infinitive as a condition: «De» plus an infinitive can replace a whole «si» clause: «de tener éxito» = 'if it were to succeed'. It is a compact, slightly literary way of stating a hypothetical condition. Y él, cuya vida carecía por completo de consuelo y esperanza, él, que se sentía perdido hacía mucho tiempo, llegó a sugestionarlos con esperanzas tan intensas que los Espila se avinieron a iniciar los experimentos, y Elena se dedicó muy en serio a estudiar galvanoplastia, mientras que el sordo preparaba los baños y se ponía práctico en ese trabajo de unir en serie o tensión los cables del amperímetro y en manejar la resistencia. And he, whose life utterly lacked comfort and hope, he, who had felt himself lost for a long time, went so far as to fill their minds with hopes so intense that the Espilas agreed to begin the experiments, and Elena threw herself in earnest into studying electroplating, while the deaf man prepared the baths and grew handy at the job of wiring the ammeter's cables in series or in parallel and at working the resistor. > «avenirse a» — to agree to: «Avenirse a» means 'to agree, to consent, to bring oneself to' do something. «Se avinieron a iniciar» = 'they agreed to begin'. The irregular preterite «avinieron» comes from «avenir», built on «venir». Hasta la anciana participó en los experimentos y nadie dudó, cuando consiguieron cobrear una chapa de estaño, que en breve tiempo se enriquecerían si la rosa de cobre no fracasaba. Even the old woman took part in the experiments, and no one doubted, once they managed to copper-plate a sheet of tin, that in a short time they would grow rich if the copper rose did not fail. > «cobrear» — to copper-plate: «Cobrear» is a verb coined from «cobre» ('copper'): to coat something with copper by electroplating. Arlt drops in this technical jargon to make Erdosain's harebrained scheme sound almost plausible. Erdosain les habló además de confeccionar puntillas de oro, visillos de plata, gasas de cobre, y hasta esbozó un proyecto de corbata metálica que los asombró a todos. Erdosain also talked to them about making gold lace, silver curtains, copper gauzes, and even sketched out a plan for a metal necktie that amazed them all. Su plan en esencia era sencillo. His plan was, in essence, simple. Se fabricarían camisas de pecheras, puño y cuellos metálicos, tomando género, bañándolo en una solución salina y sometiéndolo a un baño galvanoplastia) de cobre o níquel. They would manufacture shirts with metal fronts, cuffs, and collars, by taking cloth, dipping it in a saline solution, and subjecting it to an electroplating bath of copper or nickel. > Impersonal «se» + conditional: «Se fabricarían» pairs the impersonal/passive «se» with the conditional: 'shirts would be manufactured', with no stated agent. Spanish leans on this «se» construction to describe a process without naming who does it. (The source's stray «)» after «galvanoplastia» is a period typo, kept verbatim.) Gath y Chaves, Harrods o San Juan podrían comprarle la patente, y Erdosain, que no creía sino a medias en esas aplicaciones, llegó a pensar un día que se había extralimitado en hacer soñar a esa gente, porque ahora, a pesar de que no pagaban a nadie y se morían casi de hambre, lo menos que soñaban era adquirir un Rolls– Royce y un chalet, que de no estar en la Avenida Alvear no les interesaba como propiedad. Gath y Chaves, Harrods, or San Juan could buy the patent from him, and Erdosain, who only half believed in these applications, came to think one day that he had gone too far in setting these people dreaming, because now, despite the fact that they paid no one and were nearly starving, the least they dreamed of was acquiring a Rolls-Royce and a chalet, which, if it were not on Avenida Alvear, did not interest them as a property. Erdosain se inclinó sobre la taza de té, y entonces Luciana, que estaba ligeramente sonrosada, correspondió a la sonrisa petulante de Emilio con una señal, pero éste, que a causa de estar extraordinariamente desdentado no podía hablar sino ceceando mucho, dijo: Erdosain leaned over the cup of tea, and then Luciana, who was slightly flushed, answered Emilio's cocky smile with a sign, but he, who because he was extraordinarily toothless could not speak except with a heavy lisp, said: > «cecear» — to lisp: «Cecear» is to pronounce «s» as a «th»-like sound, i.e. to lisp. Toothless Emilio's lisp is then written into his dialogue («Zabez» for «Sabés», «roza» for «rosa»), so his lines look spelled-out wrong on purpose. –Zabez... la roza ez un hecho... "Y'know... the rothe ith a thure thing..." > Lisped «Sabés»; idiom «ser un hecho»: «Zabez» spells out a lisped «Sabés» — the «voseo» form of «saber» ('you know'). «Ser un hecho» ('to be a fact / a done thing') is an idiom for 'it's settled, it's a sure thing'. The misspellings render Emilio's toothless lisp. –Sí, gracias a Dios la hemos conseguido sacar. "Yes, thank God we've managed to get it out." > Clitic before «conseguir + infinitive»: With a verb plus infinitive, the object pronoun may climb to the front of the whole phrase: «la hemos conseguido sacar» instead of «hemos conseguido sacarla». Both are correct; «conseguir» + infinitive means 'to manage to' do something. –Pero Luciana saltó impaciente, abrió un cajón de lavatorio y Erdosain sonrió entusiasmado. But Luciana sprang up impatiently, opened a washstand drawer, and Erdosain smiled, delighted. Entre los dedos de la rubia doncella se erguía la rosa de cobre. Between the fingers of the blonde maiden the copper rose stood upright. > Reflexive «erguirse» (imperfect): «Erguirse» ('to rise, to stand erect') is pronominal: the rose holds itself upright. The imperfect «se erguía» freezes the image as an ongoing tableau, and the verb «erguir» is notably irregular (e.g. present «se yergue»). En el miserable cuchitril la maravillosa flor metálica esfoleaba sus pétalos bermejos. In the wretched hovel the marvelous metal flower unfurled its vermilion petals. > «bermejo» — bright red: «Bermejo» is a literary word for a reddish, vermilion or auburn color — warmer and older-sounding than plain «rojo». It lends the copper petals a jewel-like glow against the squalor of the room. El temblor de la llama de la lámpara de acetileno hacía jugar una transparencia roja, como si la flor se animara de una botánica vida, que ya estaba quemada por los ácidos y que constituía su alma. The trembling of the acetylene lamp's flame set a red transparency playing, as if the flower were stirred by a botanical life that was already burned away by the acids and that made up its soul. > «como si» + imperfect subjunctive: Once more «como si» ('as if') takes the imperfect subjunctive: «como si... se animara» = 'as if it were stirred to life'. The unreal mood is exactly right — the rose only seems alive; its 'life' has been burned out by acid. El sordo levantó la nariz del plato de escarola, y con voz tenante, exclamó, después de examinar el jeroglífico y la rosa: The deaf man lifted his nose from his plate of escarole, and in a booming voice exclaimed, after examining the puzzle and the rose: –No hay vuelta, che... Erdosain... sos un genio... "No two ways about it, man... Erdosain... you're a genius..." > «che» and «voseo» «sos»: «Che» is the quintessential River Plate interjection for getting someone's attention — 'hey, man, buddy'. «Sos» is the «voseo» present of «ser» («vos sos» = 'you are'), replacing «tú eres». Both stamp the dialogue as unmistakably porteño. –Zi de ezta hecha noz hazemos ricoz... "If thith time we make ourthelveth rich..." > Idiom: «de esta hecha»: Under the lisp, «Zi de ezta hecha noz hazemos ricoz» is «Si de esta hecha nos hacemos ricos». «De esta hecha» is an idiom meaning 'this time around, on this occasion'. Emilio is daydreaming: 'if this time we strike it rich...'. –Dios te oiga –murmuró la anciana. "May God hear you," murmured the old woman. > Subjunctive of wish: «Oiga» is the present subjunctive of «oír». A bare subjunctive can voice a wish or blessing: «Dios te oiga» = 'may God hear you'. The old woman's hope is wistful — she half doubts the prayer will be answered. –Pero mamá... no zea tan ezéptica... "But Mama... don't be tho thkeptical..." > Negative command with subjunctive: Behind the lisp, «no zea» is «no sea» — the negative «usted» command of «ser», 'don't be'. Negative commands always use the subjunctive. Emilio addresses his mother with formal «usted» even while teasing her: «no sea tan escéptica», 'don't be so skeptical'. –¿Te costó mucho trabajo? "Did it take you a lot of work?" > «costar» like «gustar»: «Costar» works like «gustar»: the thing (the work) is the subject and the person is an indirect object — «te costó mucho trabajo» literally 'much work cost to you', i.e. 'did it cost you a lot of effort?'. Elena, con una gravedad sonriente y talante científico, se explicó. Elena, with a smiling gravity and a scientific air, explained herself. > «talante» — disposition, air: «Talante» means one's mood, manner, or disposition; «talante científico» is 'a scientific air / frame of mind'. Elena adopts the bearing of a real chemist as she walks Erdosain through the procedure. –Fijate, Remo, que como a la primera rosa éste le largaba exceso de amperaje, se quemaba... "Look, Remo, since on the first rose this one here was giving it too much amperage, it kept burning..." > «voseo» command «fijate»: «Fijate» is the affirmative «vos» command of «fijarse» ('to notice, pay attention') — 'look, take note'. The «voseo» imperative drops the «-r» of the infinitive and adds the pronoun, with no accent shift: «fijá» + «te» → «fijate». –¿Y el baño no se precipitó? "And the bath didn't precipitate out?" > «precipitarse» — to precipitate (chemistry): Beyond its everyday sense 'to rush, to fall headlong', «precipitarse» is the chemistry term 'to precipitate', i.e. to drop out of solution as a solid. Erdosain asks, in the jargon of the workshop, whether the plating bath went cloudy. –No... eso sí, lo entibiamos un poquito... "No... that said, we warmed it up a little bit..." > Diminutive «-ito»: «Poquito» is the diminutive of «poco» ('a little'); the «-ito» suffix softens it to 'a tiny bit'. Spanish diminutives carry warmth and understatement as much as size, which suits the family's cozy shop talk. –Para darle el baño a ésta; la encolamos... "To give this one its bath, we glued it..." > «encolar» — to glue: «Encolar» ('to glue, to size') is formed from «cola», which in this sense means 'glue' (not 'tail' or 'queue'). They coat the natural rose in glue so the metal will take to it in the plating bath. –Zabez... un baño de cola fina... zuave... "Y'know... a coat of fine glue... thmooth..." Remo examinó nuevamente la rosa de cobre, admirando su perfección. Remo examined the copper rose once more, admiring its perfection. Cada pétalo rojo era casi transparente, y bajo la película metálica se distinguía apenas la forma nervada del pétalo natural, que había ennegrecido la cola. Each red petal was almost transparent, and under the metallic film one could barely make out the veined shape of the natural petal, which the glue had blackened. > Impersonal «se» — 'one could': «Se distinguía» uses the impersonal «se» with no stated subject: 'one could make out', 'you could tell'. Spanish often replaces an English passive or generic 'one' with this «se» plus a third-person verb. El peso de la flor era leve, y Erdosain agregó: The weight of the flower was slight, and Erdosain added: –¡Qué liviana!... Pesa menos que una moneda de cinco centavos... "How light it is!... It weighs less than a five-centavo coin..." > Exclamatory «¡Qué + adjective!»: «¡Qué liviana!» = 'How light (it is)!'. «¡Qué!» plus an adjective or noun forms an exclamation; «liviana» ('light in weight') agrees with the feminine «flor»/«rosa». Luego observando una sombra amarilla que cubría los pistilos de la flor, estriándose al retrepar a los pétalos, agregó: Then, noticing a yellow shadow that covered the flower's pistils, streaking as it climbed back up to the petals, he added: –Sin embargo, cuando saquen las flores del baño tienen que lavarlas con mucha agua. "All the same, when you take the flowers out of the bath you have to wash them with plenty of water." > Subjunctive after «cuando» (future): When «cuando» points at an as-yet-unrealized future action, the verb goes in the subjunctive: «cuando saquen las flores» = 'when(ever) you take the flowers out'. The deed hasn't happened yet, so Spanish uses «saquen», not the indicative «sacan». ¿Ven estas estrías amarillas? "Do you see these yellow streaks?" Es el cianuro del baño que ataca al cobre. "It's the cyanide in the bath attacking the copper." –Todas las cabezas formaban círculo en torno de él, y le escuchaban con religioso silencio. All the heads formed a circle around him and listened to him in religious silence. Continuó: He went on: –Se forma cianato de cobre, que hay que evitarlo, porque si no no ataca el baño de níquel. "Copper cyanate forms, which you have to avoid, because otherwise the nickel bath won't take." > «hay que» + infinitive — impersonal obligation: «Hay que» plus an infinitive states a general necessity with no particular subject: «hay que evitarlo» = 'one must avoid it', 'it has to be avoided'. Contrast «tener que» («tienen que lavarlas»), which pins the obligation on a specific person. ¿Cuánto duró? "How long did it take?" –Una hora. "An hour." Al levantar los ojos de la rosa su mirada se encontró con la de Luciana. On lifting his eyes from the rose, his gaze met Luciana's. > «al» + infinitive (time): «Al levantar los ojos» = 'on raising his eyes', 'as he looked up'. The «al» + infinitive again compresses a whole clause of time into the moment one action coincides with another — here, the chance meeting of glances. Los ojos de la doncella parecían aterciopelados de una calidez misteriosa y sus labios sonreían dejando entrever los dientes brillantes. The maiden's eyes seemed velveted with a mysterious warmth, and her lips smiled, letting the bright teeth show through. > «aterciopelado» — velvety: «Aterciopelado» ('velvety, velveted') comes from «terciopelo» ('velvet'). Used of Luciana's eyes it makes her gaze soft and plush — the first hint of the tenderness she is about to confess. Erdosain la miró extrañado. Erdosain looked at her, taken aback. El sordo examinaba la rosa y todas las cabezas estrechadas contra él seguían con atención las rayas amarillas del cianuro. The deaf man was examining the rose, and all the heads pressed close against him followed attentively the yellow lines of the cyanide. Luciana no bajó los párpados. Luciana did not lower her eyelids. De pronto Erdosain recordó que al día siguiente intervendría en el asesinato de Barsut, y una tristeza enorme le hizo bajar los ojos: luego, súbitamente hostil para esa gente ilusionada y que no tenía una idea de sus sufrimientos y de las angustias que hacia meses estaba soportando, se levantó y dijo: Suddenly Erdosain remembered that the next day he would take part in the murder of Barsut, and an enormous sadness made him lower his eyes; then, suddenly hostile toward these deluded people, who had no notion of his sufferings or of the anguish he had been bearing for months, he stood up and said: > Conditional as future-in-the-past: «Intervendría» (irregular conditional of «intervenir») reports a future event seen from a past vantage point — 'he would take part'. The murder is still to come for Erdosain, but the narration looks at it from within the remembered evening. –Bueno, hasta luego. "All right, see you later." Hasta el sordo lo miró desencajado. Even the deaf man looked at him, dumbfounded. > «desencajado» — with a stunned, contorted face: «Desencajado» literally means 'out of joint, dislocated'; of a face it describes features twisted or frozen by shock. The deaf man's expression comes apart at Erdosain's abrupt change of mood. Elena dejó la silla y la anciana quedóse con el brazo inmóvil sosteniendo un plato que iba a colocar frente a Eustaquio. Elena left her chair, and the old woman froze with her arm still, holding a plate she was about to set in front of Eustaquio. > Enclitic pronoun: «quedóse»: «Quedóse» attaches the reflexive pronoun to the end of the verb — «se quedó» written as one word. This enclitic placement is a literary, slightly old-fashioned style; in everyday speech you would say «se quedó». –¿Qué te pasa, Remo? "What's the matter, Remo?" > «pasar» with an indirect object: «¿Qué te pasa?» — literally 'what happens to you?' — is the everyday way to ask 'what's wrong?'. «Pasar» here takes an indirect-object pronoun («te») for the person affected, much like «gustar» or «doler». –Pero, che, Erdosain... "But come on, man, Erdosain..." Elena lo observó seriamente: Elena watched him gravely: –¿Te pasa algo, Remo? "Is something wrong, Remo?" –Nada, Elena... créame... "Nothing, Elena... believe me..." > Formal command «créame»: «Créame» is the affirmative «usted» command of «creer» with the pronoun attached — 'believe me (formal)'. Note the switch: Erdosain addresses Elena with formal «usted» here, even though elsewhere the family uses «vos» with each other. –¿Estás enojado? –preguntó Luciana llenos los ojos de su calidez misteriosa y triste. "Are you angry?" asked Luciana, her eyes brimming with that mysterious, sad warmth. > «enojarse» — to get angry: In River Plate (and broader Latin American) Spanish «enojarse» / «estar enojado» is the standard way to say 'to get / be angry'. In Spain «enfadarse» is more usual. «¿Estás enojado?» = 'Are you angry / upset?'. –No, nada... sentía unas enormes ganas de verlos... Ahora tengo que irme... "No, nothing... I had a huge urge to see you all... Now I have to go..." > Idiom: «tener ganas de»: «Tener ganas de» plus an infinitive means 'to feel like / have an urge to' do something: «ganas de verlos» = 'a longing to see you all'. The object pronoun «los» on «ver» refers to the whole family. –¿De veras que no estás enojado? "You're really not angry?" –No, señora. "No, ma'am." –Zon las preocupacionez... me explico... "It'th the worrieth... I underthtand..." > «explicarse» — to understand: Reflexive «explicarse» means 'to understand, to make sense of' something: «me explico» = 'I see, that explains it'. Under the lisp («Zon... preocupacionez») Emilio is saying «Son las preocupaciones... me explico» — 'It's the worries... that makes sense to me'. –Callate vos, badulaque... "You be quiet, you fool..." > «voseo» command + emphatic «vos»: «Callate» is the «vos» command of «callarse» ('to be quiet') — 'shut up, hush'. Adding «vos» after it is emphatic: 'you, you be quiet'. «Badulaque» is an old insult meaning 'fool, good-for-nothing'. El sordo se resolvió a abandonar el jeroglífico e insistió en lo que dijera antes. The deaf man made up his mind to leave the puzzle and pressed the point he had made before. > «-ra» subjunctive as a pluperfect: Here «dijera» (imperfect subjunctive of «decir») stands in for the pluperfect «había dicho» — 'what he had said before'. This older literary use of the «-ra» form to mean a remote past is common in early-20th-century prose like Arlt's. –Te prevengo que esto tenés que tomarlo en serio, porque te vas a hacer rico. "I warn you, you've got to take this seriously, because you're going to get rich." > «voseo» «tenés» + «tener que»: «Tenés» is the «voseo» present of «tener» ('you have'), and «tener que» + infinitive means 'to have to': «tenés que tomarlo en serio» = 'you have to take it seriously'. The «lo» on «tomar» refers back to «esto» ('this'). –¿Pero no te pasa nada a vos? "But nothing's wrong with you, is there?" Erdosain recogió su sombrero. Erdosain picked up his hat. Experimentaba una repugnancia enorme al pronunciar palabras inútiles. He felt an enormous revulsion at uttering useless words. Todo estaba resuelto. Everything was settled. ¿A qué hablar, entonces? Why speak, then? > «¿A qué + infinitive?»: «¿A qué hablar?» = 'what's the point of talking?', 'why speak?'. The pattern «¿a qué + infinitive?» asks rhetorically about the purpose of an action, and the infinitive stands in for a full clause. Sin embargo, se esforzó y dijo: Nevertheless, he made an effort and said: –Créanme... los quiero mucho a ustedes... como antes... No estoy enojado... tranquilícense... tengo más ideas... Pondremos una tintorería de perros y venderemos perros teñidos de verde, de azul, de amarillo y de violeta... Ya ven que ideas me sobran... Ustedes van a salir de esta horrible miseria... yo los voy a sacar... ya ven, me sobran ideas. "Believe me... I love you all very much... just like before... I'm not angry... calm down... I have more ideas... We'll open a dog-dyeing shop and sell dogs dyed green, blue, yellow, and violet... You see I have ideas to spare... You're going to get out of this horrible misery... I'm going to get you out... you see, ideas overflow in me." > «sobrar» like «gustar»: «Sobrar» ('to be left over, to be in excess') behaves like «gustar»: the thing is the subject and the person takes an indirect object — «me sobran ideas» = 'ideas are left over to me', i.e. 'I have ideas to spare'. The verb agrees with the plural «ideas». > Plural formal command «tranquilícense»: «Tranquilícense» is the «ustedes» command of «tranquilizarse» ('to calm down') with the reflexive pronoun attached — 'calm yourselves'. The «z→c» spelling before «-en» keeps the soft sound of the verb. Luciana lo miró compadecida y dijo: Luciana looked at him with pity and said: –Yo te acompaño –así salieron juntos hasta la calle. "I'll walk you out," and so they went out together as far as the street. > Present tense for the near future: «Yo te acompaño» — present indicative — is used here for an immediate intention: 'I'll go with you'. Spanish freely uses the present to announce something about to happen, especially in offers like this one. La neblina encajaba en el callejón un cubo en el cual reverberaban tristemente los mecheros de los faroles de petróleo. The fog wedged into the alley a cube in which the burners of the oil lamps reverberated mournfully. > «callejón» — narrow alley: «Callejón» is the augmentative-shaped but actually narrowing form of «calle» ('street'): a tight lane or alley. The fog packs itself into this slot of a street, a 'cube' of grey lit only by the oil-lamp flames. De pronto, Luciana tomóse del brazo de Erdosain y le dijo con voz muy suave: Suddenly Luciana took Erdosain's arm and said to him in a very soft voice: > Enclitic + «tomarse de»: «Tomóse» is «se tomó» with the pronoun attached (the literary enclitic style). «Tomarse de(l brazo)» means 'to take hold of (the arm)' — she clutches his arm to her. –¡Te quiero, te quiero mucho! "I love you, I love you so much!" > «querer» — to love: «Querer» means both 'to want' and, of a person, 'to love'. «Te quiero» is the warm, everyday way to say 'I love you' — less solemn than «te amo». Luciana's blurted confession is tender, not theatrical. Erdosain la miró irónicamente, su pena se había transfigurado en crueldad. Erdosain looked at her ironically; his grief had transfigured itself into cruelty. La miró: He looked at her: –Ya lo sé. "I already know." > «ya» and the neuter «lo»: «Ya» means 'already, now'; the neuter «lo» stands in for a whole idea rather than a noun — «ya lo sé» = 'I already know (that)'. The two tiny words make Erdosain's reply curt and cold. Ella continuó: She went on: –Te quiero tanto, que para serte agradable me he estudiado cómo es un alto horno y el transformador de Beseemer. "I love you so much that, to please you, I've studied how a blast furnace works and the Bessemer transformer." > Infinitive of purpose + clitic: «Para serte agradable» = 'in order to be pleasing to you'. «Para» + infinitive states purpose, and the dative «te» ('to you') attaches to the infinitive «ser». «Alto horno» is a 'blast furnace'. ¿Querés que te diga lo qué son los atalajes y cómo funciona la refrigeración? "Do you want me to tell you what the harness gear is and how the cooling works?" > Subjunctive after a verb of wanting: When the subject of «querer» wants someone else to do something, the second verb goes in the subjunctive: «querés que te diga» = 'do you want me to tell you'. «Diga» is the present subjunctive of «decir»; «querés» is the «voseo» form. Erdosain la envolvió en una mirada fría, pensando: «Esta mujer está mal». Erdosain wrapped her in a cold look, thinking: "This woman is unwell." > «estar mal» — to be unwell / not right: «Estar mal» (with «estar», not «ser») means 'to be in a bad way' — physically or mentally unwell, or 'not right'. Erdosain coldly judges Luciana to be disturbed. The «guillemets» «...» mark his interior thought. Ella continuó: –Siempre pensaba en vos. She went on: "I was always thinking of you." > «pensar en» + «vos»: «Pensar en» means 'to think about / of'. After a preposition the «voseo» pronoun is «vos»: «en vos» = 'of you' (where «tuteo» would say «en ti»). The imperfect «pensaba» makes the thinking habitual: 'I was always thinking of you'. ¿Querés que te explique el análisis de los aceros y cómo se funde el cobre, mirá, y el lavado del oro y lo qué son las muflas? "Do you want me to explain the analysis of steels and how copper is smelted, look, and the washing of gold and what the muffles are?" > «voseo» command «mirá»: «Mirá» is the «vos» imperative of «mirar» ('look'), stressed on the final syllable instead of «mira». Dropped into the middle of her breathless list, it is a filler appeal — 'look, listen' — typical of porteño speech. Erdosain, apretando obstinadamente los labios, caminaba por el callejón pensando que la existencia de los hombres era un absurdo, y otra vez el rencor injustificado brotaba de él hacia la dulce muchacha que, apretada contra su brazo decía: Erdosain, pressing his lips together stubbornly, walked along the alley thinking that the existence of men was an absurdity, and once more an unjustified rancor welled up out of him toward the sweet girl who, pressed against his arm, was saying: > Imperfect for a recurring surge: «Brotaba» (imperfect of «brotar», 'to sprout, well up') paired with «otra vez» ('again') paints the rancor as something that keeps rising in him, not a single burst. The imperfect is Arlt's tense for these slow, repeating tides of feeling. –¿Te acordás de aquella vez que hablaste de que tu ideal era ser jefe de un alto horno? "Do you remember that time you talked about how your ideal was to be the head of a blast furnace?" > «acordarse de» («voseo»): «Acordarse de» is the pronominal verb 'to remember': «¿te acordás de...?» = 'do you remember...?'. «Acordás» is the «voseo» present (vs. «tú te acuerdas», which also has a stem change «o→ue» that «voseo» drops). Me has vuelto loca. "You've driven me mad." > Idiom: «volver loco/a»: «Volver loco/a a alguien» means 'to drive someone crazy/mad'. The participle agrees with the speaker: Luciana says «loca» (feminine). Here it carries both senses — infatuation and the real unbalance Erdosain has just diagnosed. ¿Por qué no hablas? "Why don't you speak?" Entonces me puse a estudiar metalurgia. "So I started studying metallurgy." > «ponerse a» — to set about: «Ponerse a» + infinitive means 'to begin / set about' doing something, often spontaneously: «me puse a estudiar» = 'I started studying'. The preterite «me puse» marks the moment she took it up. ¿Querés que te explique la diferencia que existe entre una distribución irregular de carbono y otra molecular perfecta? "Do you want me to explain the difference between an irregular distribution of carbon and a perfectly molecular one?" ¿Por qué no hablas, querido? "Why don't you speak, darling?" Sintióse el fragor sordo del tren que pasó a lo lejos, la lechosidad de la neblina se convertía en oscuridad a poca distancia de los faroles, y Erdosain hubiera querido hablar, explicarle sus desdichas, pero aquel la malignidad sorda y enconada, lo mantenía rígido junto a la doncella, que insistió: The muffled roar of the train passing in the distance was heard; the milkiness of the fog turned to darkness a short way from the streetlamps, and Erdosain would have liked to speak, to explain his miseries to her, but that dull, festering malice held him rigid beside the maiden, who insisted: > Enclitic passive «se»: «Sintióse» is «se sintió» with the pronoun attached, here a passive/impersonal «se»: 'the roar was heard / made itself heard'. The enclitic word order is a literary flourish; the «se» turns the sentence around so the noise, not a hearer, is the focus. –Pero, ¿qué tenés? "But what's wrong with you?" ¿Estás enojado con nosotros? "Are you angry with us?" Sin embargo, a vos te deberemos nuestra fortuna. "And yet, it's to you we'll owe our fortune." > Doubled indirect object for emphasis: «A vos te deberemos» doubles the indirect object — the full phrase «a vos» and the clitic «te» both point to the same 'you' — to throw stress onto Erdosain: 'it's to YOU we'll owe it'. «Deberemos» is the future of «deber» ('to owe'). Erdosain la miró de pies a cabeza, apretó el brazo de la muchacha y le dijo sordamente: Erdosain looked her up and down, gripped the girl's arm, and said to her dully: > Idiom: «de pies a cabeza»: «De pies a cabeza» — literally 'from feet to head' — is the set phrase for 'from head to toe, up and down, all over'. Erdosain takes her in with one cold, appraising sweep. –No me interesas. "You don't interest me." > «interesar» like «gustar»: «Interesar» follows the «gustar» pattern: «no me interesas» = 'you do not interest me', with «me» the experiencer and «tú/vos» («interesas») the subject. The cruelty lands precisely because the grammar is so flat and ordinary. Luego le volvió la espalda, y antes de que ella atinara a volverse hacia él, a rápido paso se perdió entre la neblina. Then he turned his back on her, and before she could manage to turn toward him, with a quick step he was lost in the fog. > Subjunctive after «antes de que»: «Antes de que» always takes the subjunctive: «antes de que ella atinara a volverse» = 'before she could manage to turn'. «Atinara» is the imperfect subjunctive; «atinar a» means 'to manage / succeed in' doing something. Comprendía que gratuitamente había ultrajado a la muchacha, y esta convicción le proporcionó una alegría tan cruel, que murmuró entre dientes: He understood that he had gratuitously insulted the girl, and this conviction afforded him a joy so cruel that he muttered through his teeth: > «ultrajar»; idiom «entre dientes»: «Ultrajar» means 'to outrage, to insult grievously' — stronger than ordinary «insultar». «Murmurar entre dientes» ('to mutter between one's teeth') is the idiom for muttering under one's breath, half to oneself. –Ojalá revienten todos y me dejen tranquilo. "I hope they all croak and leave me in peace." > «ojalá» + subjunctive: «Ojalá» ('I hope, if only') always triggers the subjunctive: «ojalá revienten... y me dejen» = 'I hope they croak... and leave me'. «Reventar» here is crude slang, 'to drop dead, to croak'. The chapter ends on this savage wish. --- 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.