NOTES

I. PLATERO

1. cual = como.

2. no sé qué has an adjective force; translate by inexplicable.

3.--cascabeleo refers to the jingling of the bells worn by mules and donkeys. It is used figuratively here to suggest the joyous eagerness with which Platero answers his master's call.

4. cuanto = todo lo que.

5. igual que = como.

6. últimas callejas; the streets in the outskirts of the town.

7. Acero y plata de luna; the word acero suggests the strength and sturdiness of the donkey while plata de luna, used by the peasants instead of azogue to mean 'quicksilver,' suggests his alertness and agility.

II. EL LOCO

1. blancas de cal con sol; the sun shining on the lime-covered walls makes the streets seem remarkably white; the preposition de frequently expresses cause.

2. el sin fin, the infiniteness.

III. JUEGOS DEL ANOCHECER

1. juegan a asustarse, play bogy man.

2. cambiar, changeableness; the word refers to the vacillating imaginations of the children.

3. ellas sabrán cómo, probably they alone know how. The future is used in place of the present to denote conjecture or probability. Similar cases occur a few lines below, levantará, matará and llevará. See also Repaso de Gramática in Chapter V.

4. se creen unos príncipes, they imagine that they are princes.

5. La Viudita, a popular folk song of Spain.

IV. LA ESPINA

1. Pero, hombre; the word hombre is commonly used in expressions of surprise or expostulation in addressing persons, regardless of age or sex. In all of these sketches Platero's master addresses him as he would a child, with affectionate concern and sincere sympathy,--¿qué te pasa? What is the matter?

2. me lo he llevado; me is the dative of concern or interest and represents the person to whom the action is of special interest; lo is the redundant use of the object pronoun.

V. EL NIÑO TONTO

1. el pasar; when the infinitive is used as subject or predicate, it usually takes the definite article in the masculine singular.

2. alegre él, this redundant use of the pronoun is frequent in the popular language, for the purpose of emphasis.

3. aquel mal viento negro = la muerte.

4. mariposa gallega refers to the quotation from Curros Enríquez which follows and which is equivalent in Castilian to: Mariposa de alitas doradas.

5. Estará sentado; the future is frequently used in place of the present to express conjecture or probability; see Chapter 3, note 3.

VI. EL CANARIO VUELA

1. se muriera... se comieran, subjunctives in substantive clauses after por miedo de que, an expression of feeling or emotion.

2. se lo; another instance of the dative of interest combined with the redundant use of the object pronoun; see Chapter IV, note 2.

3. nadie, subject of saber.

4. ladrándole; le refers to campanilla.

VII. EL ALJIBE

1. mirador con sol; when the water in the cistern is low, the reflection of the sunny mirador may be seen at the bottom.

2. montera refers to the glass roof with which many patios are covered.

3. hace años; hace in time expressions, when the action is not continuous, may usually be translated by ago.

4. galería, underground reservoir.

5. tiene el brocal esculpido; the cisterns in the patios may be ornamental, hence the marble curbing.

6. Villegas, the name of a man, perhaps a well-known character in the town.

VIII. LA SANGUIJUELA

1. más cada vez, more and more.

2. lo más claro; the neuter article is used before masculine adjectives having an abstract meaning.

3. a Raposo; verbal expressions of advantage (or disadvantage) require the dative of the person and the accusative of the thing; in English this relation is expressed by the prepositions for or from. Translate, I asked R. for help, or I asked help from him.

4. abrirle a Platero la boca; the definite article takes the place of the possessive adjective modifying a noun which refers to parts of the body or articles of clothing when the noun is used as the object of a verb. The possessor is indicated by the dative of interest, a Platero.

5. suelte; subjunctive in an adverbial clause introduced by para que.

IX. LAS TRES VIEJAS

1. Vendrán; future of probability or conjecture; see Chapter III, note 3.

2. Que te caes; this is said as a kind of warning to one of the gypsies and may be freely translated, Be careful or you will fall.

3. Van a cuerpo; ir a cuerpo is equivalent to English to go without a wrap or coat.

X. LA CARRETILLA

1. ¡Qué sonreír el de la chiquilla! Literally, What a smile that of the little girl! Translate by How the little girl smiled!

2. encendiese; imperfect subjunctive after como si in an elliptical sentence, with a present condition contrary to fact.

XI. EL PAN

1. igual que. See note to Chapter I, note 5.

2. que; object of levantan; the antecedent is canastos.

XII. LA ARRULLADORA

1. reventando sangre; the girl's lips look so red that they seem to be on the point of bursting from an over-supply of blood.

2. durmiendo al hermanito, putting her little brother to sleep: the transitive use of dormir.

3. la hora de mayo, May-time.

4. la Pastora, reference to the Virgin Mary, the 'Shepherdess'.

XIII. ALEGRÍA

1. hace como que, acts as if.

2. es de juguete; is a plaything, a toy donkey, a donkey to play with.

XIV. EL SELLO

1. fina y malva; malva is used here as an adjective and refers to the color of the flower of the mallow, a delicate pink.

2. Los había; to avoid repetition, the personal pronoun is used with haber to refer to a noun previously expressed.

3. ¡Qué latirme el corazón! How my heart beat!

4. qué sé yo; this expression is very idiomatic and is translated in various ways; as it is used here, the English and I don't know what all conveys the meaning.

5. ¿Quedó algo por... ? Was there anything left?

XV. EL TÍO DE LAS VISTAS

1. tío; the use of this word is somewhat similar to that of English fellow, man, or old man, when applied to persons whose names are not known.

2. comprar su fantasia, to buy a 'look.'

XVI. LA COZ

1. si tú no puedes venir; si (unaccented) is frequently used at the beginning of a phrase to express surprise or expostulation. Translate by why.

XVII. ESCALOFRÍO

1. no sé qué gives an idea of vagueness and strangeness.

2. el camino asaeteado de estrellas; the rays of starlight shining through the branches of the trees suggest arrows.

3. se enredara; subjunctive after como sí; see Chapter X, note 2.

4. cual si = como si.

5. que se acerca; the author speaks of the village as approaching the donkey, hence the omission of a before que.

XVIII. PASAN LOS PATOS

1. darle agua a Platero; see Chapter IV, note 2.

XIX. LA NIÑA CHICA

1. la veía venir; the independent infinitive follows verbs of seeing or hearing.

2. ¡Platerón! ¡Platerillo! etc. denoting, respectively, largeness and smaliness. -ón may also express grotesqueness, -illo good-natured ridicule, and -ete depreciation. Translate by big, clumsy Platero and tiny, little Platero.

XX. LOS TOROS

1. ¡A que no sabes...! I'll wager that you don't know...!

2. llevasen; subjunctive of indirect command after dejaba.

3. pedir contigo la llave; at the beginning of a bullfight there is a ceremony in which a man on horseback asks the presidente for the key to the toril (bull-pen where the animals are kept before the fight).

4. piensen; subjunctive of indirect command after he dicho.

5. cuadrilla, the team of bullfighters.

6. presidentas; patronesses, distinguished ladies chosen to act as patronesses at the bullfight.

7. Apenas; read, Apenas si (hay)... un viejecito (que)...

XXI. SARITO

1. dos veces grana seems to mean that the cape in addition to the original red of the cloth was stained red with blood from the bullfights.

2. a mí mismo; the appropriate form of mismo may be used with the prepositional form of a personal pronoun to express emphasis.

XXII. ALMIRANTE

1. Tú no lo conociste, You did not know him. In normal Castilian, le is the more usual form of the accusative for persons (here the horse is personified). The author reveals his Andalusian origin by the use of lo throughout the book.

2. Lauro, probably a servant.

3. charret; the correct spelling of this word is charrette; being a French word, the final e is silent and is pronounced as if it were spelled charret.

4. Hubo que llamar; haber (impersonal), followed by que and the infinitive of some other verb, expresses necessity or obligation.

5. que todo lo borra, which effaces everything; when the neuter pronoun todo precedes the verb as its direct object, lo must be used with it.

6. Lord, the fox terrier previously mentioned in a chapter of Platero y yo not included in the present text.

7. hubierais, subjunctive in a statement contrary to fact.

XXIII. EL CANARIO SE MUERE

1. hacía jardín ... , turned the open room into a garden.

2. abrían; peculiar use of abrir which should be used reflexively here.

3. otro canario viejo, another old canary, another old song bird.

4. habrá; see Chapter III, note 3.

5. un errar encantado, a magic flutter.

XXIV. SUSTO

1. Soñaba... tibia (poetic phrasing), cast a rosy, dreamy light.

2. áspera alegría, garish brightness.

3. ¡El tonto de Platero! De is used idiomatically between a noun and a qualifying adjective; cf. English 'the fool of a Platero'. Translate by the foolish Platero.

XXV. LOS GITANOS

1. viene ... a cuerpo; see Chapter IX, note 3.

2. Friseta, a local name.

XXVI. LA CORONA DE PEREJIL

1. A ver = vamos a ver, 'let us see'.

2. ¡A la una, a las dos, a las tres! One, two, three, go! Note the use of the preposition and article with the numeral.

3. alboroto blanco y rosa; rosa is used here as an adjective; see Chapter XIV, note 1. Translate by pink, rosy. The adjectives suggest the color of the children's dresses.

4. por no perder; por followed by an infinitive frequently expresses purpose.

5. ¡Que gana Platero! Platero is going to win! Que is frequently used elliptically to introduce a phrase and in such cases has a variety of meanings. Here que is emphatic or intensive.

6. Que is used here because the sentence that follows is dependent upon les dije of the preceding sentence.

7. un lacedemonio; among the Spartans it was the custom to place a wreath on the brow of men who distinguished themselves in contest and competition.

XXVII. LOS REYES MAGOS

1. Los Reyes Magos; the day of Epiphany (Epifanía) is celebrated the sixth of January and commemorates the visit paid to Christ in Bethlehem by the Three Wise Men, Gaspar, Balthasar, and Melchior. It is a common belief among Spanish children that on the eve of Epiphany the Wise Men come mounted on camels and that they leave presents in the shoes which the children have placed on the balconies.

2. no fueran a pasar; the subjunctive is used because doubt is implied. Translate by lest the Wise Men might pass.

3. tita, aunty. This is a contraction of tiita, diminutive of tía.

4. deslumbre; after cuando, conjunction of time, the subjunctive is required when uncertainty is implied.

XXVIII. EL ALBA

1. lo que habría sido del pobre Platero, what would have become of poor Platero. When proper names are qualified by an adjective, the definite article is used.

2. hubiese caído; subjunctive in protasis (condition) of contrary to fact condition of which habría sido is the apodosis (conclusion).

XXIX. CARNAVAL

1. Carnaval, the three days preceding Ash Wednesday, given over to merrymaking. Cf. the Mardi Gras of New Orleans.

2. doquiera = dondequiera.

XXX. LA MUERTE

1. se levantara; subjunctive after quise, an expression of wish.

2. sumió la enorme boca desdentada hasta la nuca; the lips lacking the support of the teeth, sink inward; obviously, it is an exaggeration to say that they sink as far back as the nape of the neck.

XXXI. NOSTALGIA

1. que tienen posadas en sus ramas sus propias flores, etc. whose blossoms are nestled in the branches like a swarm of butterflies. Because the blossoms of this shrub grow close to the branches, they suggest to the poetic imagination of the author a group of butterflies.