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21
luego que fijase en ella la atención, as soon as he observed her; literally, as soon as he fixed his attention on her. Cf. parar atención en, parar mientes en.
22
Preste Juan, Prester John: anglicized form of the name of a medieval king in Asia, whom missionaries reported as converted. About the name grew up fanciful and extravagant stories.
23
hasta que, till that [we form an opinion]: note the que for the preposition to lean on; so, following note.
24
de que, of [the fact] that: the preposition needs que.
25
Dijérase, It might be said: Alarcón very often puts the pronoun as an enclitic, at the end of the verb.
26
pagada, paid, satisfied, then self-satisfied. Cf. pagarse de meras palabras, be satisfied with mere words, Bello-Cuervo, Gramática, p. 1.
27
esas calles de Dios: say these blessed streets.
28
detengamos en: cf. second note 6, 7.
29
disparaban, were firing: other words in the text for shoot are tirar, fusilar, hacer fuego, hacer descarga.
30
de modo… que, so that: the student will note how the sense decides for indicative (as here) or subjunctive.
31
dar en = dar golpes en, strike on: dar and echar, verbs very short and very common, are used for many other verbs, just as English uses get and make for other verbs: get hurt, make a train, make a dollar, etc.
32
pellejo, hide: properly of animals; shows the author's scorn for the poor servant.
33
Galicia: not the Galicia we heard of so often in the first year of the Great War, and later, but the Galicia that forms the northwest corner of Spain.
34
desoyendo (des-oír), as though not hearing, i.e. disregarding; so later, desatender and desentendiendo, ignoring. Cf. our ignore, with a special meaning not felt in ignorant. Nadie se dio por entendido, Nobody let on.
35
daban a, opened on: cf. note 8, 7 for dar.
36
haciendo fuego: six or eight verbs replace estar and go with -ndo forms; so continuar here, and seguir often in the text.
37
medio, half: one of the adverbs without the ending -mente.
38
por considerarlo = porque lo consideraban, because they regarded him as.
39
echaban a, began: echar a has become almost an auxiliary verb with infinitives, and serves for several other verbs.
40
Quedó, Remained, was [left]: subject follows, as often. For another use of quedar, cf. quedamos en lo dicho, we will leave it that way, or it's agreed as said (Alarcón in Buenaventura, p. 5).
41
en medio: as usual without el.
42
piadosas: here the adjective follows, for emphasis.
43
informe, unshapely: complimentary or derogatory sense puts the adjective before its noun.
44
conocer, perceive: shows here the typical (inceptive) meaning of verbs in -cer.
45
balazo, a shot, literally, a blow with a bullet (bala + -azo): lately in Kansas City, a woman entered a saloon (where her husband got drunk), seized a chair (silla) and damaged the place "a sillazos", as the Spanish weekly Cosmopolita reported.
46
atravesada, pierced; fracturada, broken: the past participle must show gender and number, except with haber.
47
reparando en, noticing: the idea is first stop: so pararse, posarse; cf. also the noun reparos, remarks, objections, where one stops or hesitates.
48
primero is one of the few adverbs without -mente.
49
volver a (tornar a): again is often expressed as here without an adverb, otra vez, de nuevo, etc.
50
muy altas: note adjective for English adverb, as often.
51
dejásemos morir and (15,4) déjame ir: dejar, to leave, allow, let, becomes an auxiliary verb like may, can, etc., so takes the infinitive: déjalo dormir, hacérmelo ver in Alarcón's Sombrero, and so often. Also deja que te dé un abrazo, let me give you a hug. Like dejar, its opposite impedir is construed: me impedía desahogar, kept me from soothing [my soul in yours].
52
se diría, would be said: the reflexive form is commoner than the passive. The little bootblacks in Buenos Aires, instead of saying "Shine, Mister?" say: ¿Quiere el señor servirse? Cf. the striking case quoted by Bello, § 908: Llevose el cadáver al templo.
53
dichosas, literally, happy, but meaning unhappy, awful, accursed. This story is full of the disguised (encubierto) oath, or euphemism, as well as of real oaths: say here these blessed wars. Cf. the use of santa, 85, 2.
54
no vas, you are not going: the indicative either present or future (cf. the future in the ten commandments) is strong for the imperative. But notice that here, and through the story, Angustias has her own way.
55
de qué poco: de because with servir, how little use are your bandages.
56
tu… marido, thy husband: in plays and novels the author must make sure the reader or hearer gets the point; hence the insistence here upon
