Spanish · Part One

Los sueños del inventor

The Inventor's Dreams

65 sentences · 54 notes

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1
If someone had told Erdosain in advance that hours later he would be plotting Barsut's murder and would witness his wife's flight almost without flinching, he would not have believed it.
SiIfsi · subordinating conjunctionintroduces the clause of anticipado
alguiensomeonealguien · pronoun, singularsubject of anticipado
lehimél · pronoun, dative, singularindirect object of anticipado
"Le" doubles the indirect object "a Erdosain."
hubierahadhaber · auxiliary verb, imperfect, subjunctive, third-person, singularauxiliary of anticipado
anticipadotold in advanceanticipar · verb, past, participle, masculine, singularadverbial clause on creído
"Anticipar" means to tell someone something ahead of time, not "to anticipate" (expect) — a false friend.
atoa · prepositionpreposition marking Erdosain
ErdosainErdosainErdosain · proper nounindirect object of anticipado
quethatque · subordinating conjunctionintroduces the clause of tramaría
horashourshora · noun, feminine, pluralmodifies después
despuéslaterdespués · adverbmodifies tramaría
tramaríawould plottramar · verb, conditional, third-person, singularclause introduced by que, direct object of anticipado
eltheel · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of asesinato
asesinatomurderasesinato · noun, masculine, singulardirect object of tramaría
deofde · prepositionpreposition marking Barsut
BarsutBarsut'sBarsut · proper nounmodifies asesinato
yandy · conjunctionlinks the coordination
quethatque · subordinating conjunctionintroduces the clause of asistiría
asistiríawould witnessasistir · verb, conditional, third-person, singularcoordinated with tramaría
casialmostcasi · adverbmodifies impasiblemente
impasiblementewithout flinchingimpasiblemente · adverbmodifies asistiría
Literally "impassively"; our translation renders the phrase as "without flinching."
atoa · prepositionpreposition marking fuga
latheel · determiner, feminine, singulardeterminer of fuga
fugaflightfuga · noun, feminine, singularoblique complement of asistiría
deofde · prepositionpreposition marking esposa
suhissu · determiner, singulardeterminer of esposa
esposawifeesposa · noun, feminine, singularmodifies fuga
nonotno · adverbmodifies creído
loitél · pronoun, accusative, masculine, singulardirect object of creído
hubierawould havehaber · auxiliary verb, imperfect, subjunctive, third-person, singularauxiliary of creído
creídobelievedcreer · verb, past, participle, masculine, singularmain verb of the sentence
GrammarUnreal past condition Both verbs are the «-ra» pluperfect subjunctive: «si alguien le hubiera anticipado… no lo hubiera creído» = 'if someone had told him… he would not have believed it'. Arlt uses the subjunctive form in both halves — the protasis («hubiera anticipado») and, in place of the conditional perfect, the apodosis («hubiera creído») — to frame something that never happened.
2
He wandered the whole afternoon.
GrammarPreterite for a bounded action «Vagabundeó» is the preterite of «vagabundear», 'to wander/roam'. The preterite presents the afternoon's wandering as one completed stretch of time, 'he wandered' — a single closed event rather than an ongoing backdrop.
He had a need to be alone, to forget human voices, and to feel as detached from everything around him as a stranger in a city where he had missed his train at the station.
GrammarPronominal infinitives «olvidarse de» ('to forget about') and «sentirse» ('to feel oneself / to feel a certain way') are pronominal verbs; the «-se» stays attached to the infinitive. The chain «de estar… de olvidarse… de sentirse» lists three things he needs, each governed by «necesidad de».
Word«forastero» A «forastero» is an outsider or stranger — someone from elsewhere, not a local. The image of the foreigner who has missed his train in an unknown city captures Erdosain's wish to be cut loose from everything familiar.
3
He walked along the lonely chamfered corners of Arenales and Talcahuano streets, by the corners of Charcas and Rodríguez Peña, at the crossings of Montevideo and Avenida Quintana, craving the spectacle of those streets, magnificent in their architecture and forever denied to the wretched.
Word«ochava» An «ochava» is the cut, angled corner where two streets meet — the chamfered corner typical of Buenos Aires city blocks. The word is everyday Argentine usage and roots the scene firmly in that city's geometry.
His feet, on the white pavements, made the fallen leaves of the plane trees crackle, and he fixed his gaze on the oval panes of the great windows, silvered by the whiteness of the curtains within.
Word«vereda» = sidewalk In Argentina (and much of South America) «vereda» is the ordinary word for 'sidewalk/pavement' — where Spain would say «acera». It is one of the regional markers that flavor Arlt's Buenos Aires Spanish.
That was another world within the squalid city he knew, another world for which his heart now beat with slow, heavy throbs.
GrammarImperfect for setting the scene «era» ('was') and «latía» ('beat') are imperfect. The imperfect paints durative, framing states — the place simply was another world, the heart was beating in a continuous way — rather than naming a single finished act.
4
Stopping now and then, he observed the garages, luxurious as polished patens, and the green plumes of the cypresses in the gardens, defended by walls of jagged cornices, or by thick iron railings capable of halting the charge of a lion.
GrammarGerund of a pronominal verb «Deteniéndose» is the gerund of «detenerse» ('to stop oneself'), with the pronoun attached and an accent added to keep the stress: 'stopping / pausing'. The gerund sets the manner of the main verb «observaba» — he watched while pausing.
The red gravel wound between the ovals of the green flower beds.
5
Here and there a nursemaid in a gray bonnet strolled along the paths.
Word«aya» = nursemaid/governess An «aya» is a governess or nursemaid, a woman who cares for and educates the children of a wealthy household. Her presence quietly signals the class of the homes Erdosain is passing — servants for other people's children.
6
And he owed six hundred pesos and seven cents!
Grammar«deber» = to owe «debía» is the imperfect of «deber», which on its own means 'to owe (money)': «él debía seiscientos pesos» = 'he owed six hundred pesos'. The exact sum — the same six hundred pesos and seven cents from the opening — becomes a refrain that hammers through the chapter.
7
He gazed at length at the handrails that on the black balconies gleamed with the roundness of gold bars, at the windows painted pearl gray or the color of milk stained with a few drops of coffee, at the panes whose thickness must have made the images of passersby look watery.
Grammar«deber» = must / probably Unlike the plain «deber» ('to owe') two lines above, «deber» followed by an infinitive expresses likelihood: «debía tornar aguanosa» = 'must have made watery / probably turned watery'. Same verb, two very different jobs, told apart by whether an infinitive follows.
The gauze curtains, so light that their names must have been as pretty as the geography of distant countries.
How different love must have been in the shade of those tulles that dim the light and soften the sounds!...
Grammar«qué» + adjective in exclamations «¡Qué + adjective…!» builds an exclamation of degree: «¡Qué distinto debía ser…!» = 'How different it must have been…!'. The construction lets Erdosain marvel at a life he imagines but will never live.
8
And yet he owed six hundred pesos and seven cents.
Word«sin embargo» «sin embargo» is the fixed connector 'nevertheless / and yet'. It yanks Erdosain out of his reverie about other people's tender lives and back to the debt — the chapter's recurring gut-punch.
And the pharmacist's voice now repeated in his ears:
9
"You're right... the world is full of scoundrels... of wretches... but how to fix this?... In what way are the sacred truths to be set before people who have no faith?..."
Grammar«tenés» — Argentine «voseo» «Tenés razón» ('you're right') uses «vos», not «tú», for the informal 'you'. This «voseo» — «vos tenés» where Spain says «tú tienes» — is the everyday spoken form of the River Plate, and Arlt writes his Buenos Aires characters speaking it.
Word«turro» — Buenos Aires slang «Turro» is «lunfardo», Buenos Aires street slang, for a scoundrel, a low or treacherous person. It is exactly the kind of porteño word Arlt mixes into ordinary speech to make his dialogue sound like the real city.
10
The sorrow, like one of those shrubs whose growth is hastened by electricity, swelled in the depths of his chest, climbing all the way up to his throat.
Grammar«cuyo» = 'whose' «cuyo» is the relative 'whose'; it agrees with the thing possessed, not the owner: «esos arbustos cuyo desarrollo…» = 'those shrubs whose growth…', masculine because «desarrollo» is masculine.
11
Standing still, he thought that each grief was an owl hopping from one branch to another of his misery.
He owed six hundred pesos and seven cents, and although he wanted to forget it by pinning his hopes on Barsut or on the Astrologer, his thoughts forked off toward a dark street.
Grammar«aunque» with the indicative «aunque» ('although / even though') takes the indicative «quería» here because the wanting is a real fact, not a hypothesis: 'although he wanted to forget it'. (With a merely possible concession, «aunque» would take the subjunctive instead.)
Rows of lights seemed to rest on the cornices.
Below, a mist of dust filled the trough of the street.
GrammarVerb before its subject The subject «una neblina de polvo» comes after the verb «llenaba»: literally 'filled the trough of the street a mist of dust'. Spanish freely puts the subject last, especially to let a vivid image land at the end of the sentence.
But he was walking toward the country of joy, forgetful of the Limited Sugar Company.
12
What had he done with his life?
GrammarPluperfect: «había» + participle «había hecho» is the pluperfect ('had done/made'): the imperfect of «haber» plus a past participle. It looks back from his present anguish over everything already done with — or wasted from — his life.
Was that, or was it not, the moment to ask himself?
GrammarTwo pronouns on the infinitive «preguntárselo» = «preguntar» + «se» (himself) + «lo» (it): 'to ask it of himself'. Both pronouns attach to the end of the infinitive, and an accent is added to keep the original stress on «-tar-».
And how could he walk if his body weighed seventy kilos?
Or was he a ghost, a ghost remembering events of the earth?
13
How many things stirred in his heart!
Grammar«cuánto» in exclamations In an exclamation «¡cuánto/-a/-os/-as…!» means 'how much / how many': «¡Cuántas cosas se movían…!» = 'How many things were stirring…!'. It agrees in gender and number with the noun it counts, here feminine plural «cosas».
And the other one, who had married a prostitute?
Grammar«casarse con» «casarse con» is 'to marry / get married to' — pronominal, and it takes «con» for the spouse, not a direct object: «se había casado con una prostituta» = 'he had married a prostitute'.
And Barsut, with his obsession over the one-eyed fish and the eldest daughter of the spiritualist woman?
Word«primogénito/-a» «primogénito/-a» means 'firstborn / eldest child'. The feminine «primogénita» marks her as the eldest daughter — one of the strange fixations Arlt drops in to suggest the whole tangle of lives crowding Erdosain's mind.
And Elsa, who by not giving herself to him was throwing him out into the street?
GrammarGerund with stacked pronouns «entregándosele» is the gerund of pronominal «entregarse» ('to give oneself') plus «le» ('to him'): 'by giving herself to him', here negated — 'by not giving herself to him'. Two pronouns ride on the end of the gerund, with an accent holding the stress.
Was he mad or not?
14
He asked himself this question because at times a hope that had risen in him struck him as strange.
GrammarPronoun on the end: «hacíase» «Hacíase» is «se hacía» ('he asked himself / he posed himself') with the pronoun attached to the front-positioned verb — an older, literary placement Arlt favors. The plain modern order would be «se hacía esta pregunta».
He imagined that from the peephole of the shutter of one of those mansions a certain "melancholy and taciturn" millionaire was examining him through opera glasses.
Word«gemelos» = opera glasses Besides 'twins', «gemelos» means a pair of small binoculars; «gemelos de teatro» are opera glasses. The detail makes the imagined millionaire a spectator, watching Erdosain as if he were a figure on a stage.
(I use Erdosain's exact words.)
15
And the curious thing is that whenever he thought the "melancholy and taciturn millionaire" might be observing him, he composed a contrite, meditative expression, and did not look at the backsides of the maids who passed, pretending to be transfixed by the attention he was giving to some great inner labor.
GrammarRedundant indirect object Spanish doubles the indirect object: the pronoun «le» (here standing for the plural sense) anticipates the full phrase «a las criadas». Literally 'he did not look at them the backside, to the maids' — a normal pattern with body parts and possessors.
Because he told himself that if the "melancholy and taciturn millionaire" saw him looking at the maids' backsides, he would deduce from it that he was not troubled enough to deserve his compassion.
GrammarImperfect 'if', conditional result «si… veía… deduciría» pairs an imperfect in the 'if' clause with a conditional in the result: 'if he saw… he would deduce'. The imperfect for an open, repeatable condition is colloquial but common, standing in for the more formal «si viera… deduciría».
Grammar«tan… como para» = 'enough to' «no estaba tan preocupado como para merecer su compasión» = 'he was not troubled enough to deserve his compassion'. The frame «tan + adjective + como para + infinitive» expresses a degree sufficient (or, negated, insufficient) for a result.
16
So much so that Erdosain expected the "melancholy and taciturn millionaire" to send for him at any moment, on observing his face, its muscles hardened by the suffering of so many years.
GrammarImperfect subjunctive after «esperar que» «esperar que» ('to expect/hope that') forces the subjunctive in the clause that follows; in the past it becomes the imperfect subjunctive «mandara»: 'he expected that the millionaire would send for him'. The idiom «mandar llamar a alguien» = 'to send for someone'.
17
This obsession grew so much that afternoon that all at once he believed a rogue in a waistcoat with red and yellow stripes, who was at the hotel door examining him brazenly, was the spy of the "melancholy and taciturn millionaire."
Grammar«tanto… que» with a fronted verb «tanto… que» means 'so much… that': «Tanto creció esta obsesión… que… creyó…» = 'this obsession grew so much that he came to believe…'. Arlt fronts the verb «creció» before its subject «esta obsesión» for emphasis on the swelling.
18
And the servant was calling him.
He followed him.
They crossed a garden bristling with cactus, they entered a drawing room, and he remained alone for a few minutes.
GrammarImperfect for an imagined scene The imperfects «cruzaban», «entraban», «permanecía» do not report something that happened; they unfold a daydream as a continuous, half-real picture — 'they were crossing… entering… he was remaining alone'. The tense itself signals that this is fantasy, not event.
The whole building was in darkness.
Word«a oscuras» = in the dark «a oscuras» is a fixed adverbial phrase meaning 'in darkness / in the dark'. Note it is not «a oscuro»; the expression is locked in the plural feminine form.
A lamp shone in a corner of the drawing room.
On the bracket of the piano, pieces of sheet music gave off the fragrance of papers always handled by feminine hands.
On the sill of a window draped in violet lawn, a woman's marble head lay abandoned.
Grammar«estar» + past participle as state «estaba abandonada» uses «estar» plus a past participle to describe a resulting state, not an action: 'lay abandoned / sat forgotten'. The subject «la cabeza de mármol» again comes after the verb, a common literary order.
The cushions of the friar's-chairs could be seen upholstered in fabrics that looked like Cubist paintings, and on the desk there were ashtrays of black bronze and Punchinellos of a thousand colors.
GrammarPassive/impersonal «se», pronoun attached «Veíanse» is «se veían» ('they could be seen / one saw') with the «se» attached to the front verb. The «se» here is the passive-impersonal one: it presents the cushions as simply visible, with no named seer.
19
In what circumstance of his life had he been inside that room which now presented itself to his imagination?
He could not remember.
But he saw a great ebony frame whose parallel bevels climbed toward a brilliant white ceiling that poured its plaster light over a seascape: a certain sinister wooden bridge, beneath whose cyclopean buttresses a crowd of blurred men seethed, stained with reddish shadows, hauling great bundles before a stormy sea of cast iron, bloodred, out of which there rose at a right angle a stone wharf cluttered with forges, rails, and winches.
GrammarAbsolute superlative «-ísimo» «blanquísimo» is «blanco» plus «-ísimo», the absolute superlative meaning 'extremely / brilliantly white'. The spelling changes «c» to «qu» to keep the hard sound. Arlt piles up such intensities to make the imagined painting overpowering.
Grammar«cuyo» chained again A second «cuyo» («bajo cuyos contrafuertes…» = 'beneath whose buttresses…') threads another relative clause onto the long sentence. Agreeing with «contrafuertes», it is masculine plural — the relative tracks the thing possessed, not the possessor.
20
In that room Elsa used to move about, when she was still his sweetheart.
GrammarImperfect for habit and a past state «se movía» ('used to move about') and «era» ('was') are imperfect. The imperfect carries habitual past action — what Elsa used to do — and an ongoing past state — that she was then his fiancée — without fixing either to a single moment.
Yes, perhaps, but what is the use of remembering it?
Word«¿para qué?» = to what end? «¿para qué?» asks 'for what purpose? / what's the use?' — distinct from «¿por qué?» ('why?', for a cause). «¿Para qué recordarlo?» = 'what good is it to remember it?', a weary, rhetorical shrug.
He was the fraud, the man of the broken boots, the frayed necktie, the stain-covered suit, who earns his living in the street while his sick wife washes clothes at home.
Grammar«ganarse la vida» «ganarse la vida» is the idiom 'to earn one's living / to make a living'. The reflexive «se» and the article «la vida» are fixed parts of the phrase; you 'win yourself the life'.
He was all that and nothing more.
That was why the "melancholy and taciturn millionaire" had sent for him.
Word«por eso» = that's why «por eso» means 'for that reason / that's why', drawing a consequence from what came before. Here it knots Erdosain's self-disgust to his fantasy: because he is a wretch, the imaginary millionaire has summoned him.
21
Erdosain, joyful in the reverie — made, in part, palpable by the stretches of time and the images rebuilt at the expense of the great invisible gentleman — no longer wished to linger over his interview with the "melancholy and taciturn millionaire" who was offering him money to put his inventions into practice; instead, like those readers of crime serials who, hurrying to reach the unraveling of the plot, skip the "dead spots" of the novel, Erdosain glossed over certain interesting constructions of his imagination and returned himself to the street, although in the street he already was.
Grammar«no… sino que» = 'not… but rather' «no quería detenerse… sino que… soslayaba…» sets up a correction: 'he did not wish to linger… but rather glossed over…'. «sino que» (with the verb) replaces a rejected idea with the true one, sharper than a plain «pero».
Word«folletín policial» A «folletín» is a serialized novel published in installments; «policial» makes it a crime/detective serial. Arlt — himself a writer of pulp-flavored fiction — compares Erdosain's mind to a reader greedily skipping ahead in a cheap thriller.
22
Then, leaving the corner of Charcas and Talcahuano, or of Arenales and Rodríguez Peña, he would set off walking in a hurry.
Grammar«echar a» + infinitive «echar a» plus an infinitive means 'to start (suddenly) to do something': «echaba a caminar» = 'he would set off walking / he broke into a walk'. It marks the abrupt onset of the action, the moment of setting out.
And his excesses were displaced by extravagances of hope.
GrammarTrue passive with «ser» «eran desplazados por…» is the periphrastic passive: «ser» plus a past participle plus «por» for the agent — 'were displaced by…'. The participle «desplazados» agrees with the masculine plural subject «los excesos».
23
He would triumph — yes! — he would triumph.
GrammarThe conditional «Triunfaría» is the conditional of «triunfar», 'he would triumph'. Spanish forms it by adding «-ía» endings to the full infinitive. Here, repeated, it carries Erdosain's surge of free-floating, almost manic hope.
With the money of the "melancholy and taciturn millionaire" he would set up a laboratory of electrical engineering, he would devote himself especially to the study of Beta rays, to the wireless transmission of energy, and to that of electromagnetic waves, and without losing his youth — like the absurd character of an English novel — he would grow old; only his face would pale until it took on the whiteness of marble, and his pupils, sparkling like a magician's, would seduce all the maidens of the earth.
GrammarA cascade of conditionals The whole sentence rides on conditionals — «instalaría», «se dedicaría», «envejecería», «empalidecería», «seducirían» — each 'he would…'. The conditional spins out a future imagined from the present, turning the daydream into a chain of glittering, unreal promises.
Word«doncella» A «doncella» is a maiden — an unmarried young woman, with an old-fashioned, romantic ring. The deliberately storybook word fits the pulp-novel fantasy Erdosain is spinning for himself.
24
The afternoon was falling, and suddenly he remembered that the only one who could save him from his horrible situation was the Astrologer.
GrammarImperfect backdrop, preterite event «Caía la tarde» (imperfect) sets the continuous scene — dusk coming on — while «recordó» (preterite) drops the single, sudden act of remembering into it. The pairing is the classic Spanish way to stage 'it was happening when, all at once, X happened'.
This idea stirred up all his thoughts.
Word«ocurrencia» An «ocurrencia» is a sudden idea or notion that occurs to someone (it can also mean a witty remark). It names the abrupt brainwave — turning to the Astrologer — that upends Erdosain's wandering thoughts.
Perhaps the other man had money.
Grammar«quizás» with the indicative «quizás» ('perhaps') can take either the indicative or the subjunctive. With the indicative «tenía» the guess feels more grounded — 'maybe he did have money' — closer to a real possibility than a remote one.
He even suspected he might be a Bolshevik delegate sent to spread communist propaganda in the country, since the man had a most singular project for a revolutionary society.
GrammarSubjunctive after doubt «sospechar que» here leans toward conjecture, so it pulls the imperfect subjunctive «pudiera ser» = 'that he might be'. The subjunctive marks the guess as uncertain — Erdosain is speculating, not stating a fact.
Without hesitating, he hailed a car and told the driver to take him to Constitución station.
GrammarSubjunctive of command Verbs of telling/asking someone to do something («indicar que…») take the subjunctive; in the past it is the imperfect subjunctive «llevara»: 'he told the driver to take him'. The subjunctive carries the force of the request inside the reported speech.
There he bought a ticket for Temperley.
Word«sacar boleto» «sacar (un) boleto» is the everyday phrase for 'to buy/get a ticket' — «sacar» literally 'to take out', as from a ticket window. «Boleto» is the Latin American word for ticket (Spain prefers «billete»). Temperley is a town in greater Buenos Aires, the Astrologer's lair.

The particulars

The text: Los siete locos, Roberto Arlt. Part One.
Reading aloud: Digital narration, directed by 1732 Studios.
Words: Every word of the text, by letter.
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