Note 141.1 — Front matter (continued 3)

porque si no... en un patatús, because otherwise, some fine day she would have had a fit. Here the present tense is substituted for the compound conditional for the purpose of graphic narration. Si no llego a bajar ayer, de fijo me manda al médico, "If I had not gotten down-stairs yesterday, he would certainly have sent the doctor to me." Cf. page 28, note 4.