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of Spain, famous in history because of the decisive victory gained
there, July 16, 1212, by the allied kings of Christian Spain over the
Moslems. In the first edition, at the mention of this disastrous defeat
of the Moors, Zulima interrupts Marsilla's narrative with an outburst of
feeling quite appropriate in a Mohammedan:
¡Lugar maldito del cielo,
donde la negra fortuna
postró de la media luna
la pujanza por el suelo!
258 et seq. In the early years of the 13th century a religious sect in
the south of France, the Albigenses, rebelled against the authority of
the Church of Rome. Pope Innocent III proclaimed a crusade against them
in 1208, and a bloody war began in which the crusaders were led by the
ruthless Simon de Montfort until his death at the siege of Toulouse
(1218). During this Albigensian War (1208-1229) Beziers and other
important cities in the south of France were almost destroyed.
267-270. #Y en pena ... sepultó = y en pena de que mi mano rompió el
hierro de mis cadenas, profundo encierro me sepultó en vida.#
281. #haz por escuchar atento#, _try to listen attentively to_ ...
293. #aquí#, in the land of the Moors.
303. #Respuesta ... dé = es bien que se le dé a ella respuesta.#
311-312. #Medita ... reclama#, _consider it well and you will grant
to time what it demands as its due_. If you take into consideration the
length of time that has passed since you have seen Isabel, you will
realize that she has probably forgotten you, and will become reconciled
to changed conditions because of the lapse of time.
321. #dada ... recibida#, _having given my love and having received
hers_; or, _having given my heart in exchange for hers_.
330. #le = su corazón.#
335-336. #la nueva de ser Isabel esposa#, _the news of Isabel's
marriage_.
340. #cuanto fabrico derrumba = derrumba cuanto (todo lo que) yo
fabrico.#
345. #han de traer = traerán.# Note that _Isabel_ is direct object of
_traer_.
346. #para tanto = para hacer tanto.#
356. #Sálvete su diligencia#, _let his efforts save you from danger_.
361. #perecéis = pereceréis.# Present instead of future for greater
vividness.
364-366. #estallo = hubiera estallado; calla = habría callado; llega =
habría llegado.#
392. #que venga.# Subject of _venga_ is _la rebelión,_ line 394.
395-396. Note that _quien_ is subject of both _lema_ and _dé_.
425. #el un capitán = uno de los capitanes.#
444. #Ya no hay perdón que le alcance#, _she is beyond the reach of
pardon_.
445-446. #después de correr ... vencido# = _after the struggle is
over, disposition will be made of the conquered_.
ACTO SEGUNDO
17. #don Jaime#, James the Conqueror, King of Aragon from 1213 to
1276, son and successor of Pedro II. He gained the title, _El
Conquistador_, by his conquest of the Balearic Islands (1228-1232) and
Valencia (1258) from the Moors.
21. #Sancho VII#, King of Navarre (1194-1234), known as _El Fuerte_.
He played an important part in the defeat of the Moors at Navas de
Tolosa in 1212.
21. #Fernando III#, King of Castile (1217-1252), known as _El Santo_.
He reconquered Cordova, Seville, Jaén, etc,. from the Moors.
87-88. #sobre como ... allanar#, _as to how it should be smoothed,
overcome_.
102. #¡Virgen del Pilar!# _Our Lady of the Sacred Pillar protect us!_
In the church of _Nuestra Señora del Pilar_, Saragossa, is the sacred
pillar on which the Holy Virgin is believed to have appeared to Saint
James during his missionary journey through Spain. This pillar, with its
wooden image of the Virgin and Child, is the magnet that has drawn
countless pilgrims to Saragossa.
131-132. #de estarse ... pestañear#, _from standing so long with
staring, unblinking, eyes_.
137-139. #le fué ... al infeliz = la punta le fué a parar al corazón del
infeliz.#
144. #pisaba = pisaría.#
162. #¿Si sabrá?# ... _I wonder if he knows_...
174. #querrá.# Future to denote probability.
186. #Pues ... partido#, _well, even in throwing the bar I can win
the game from him_. _Barra_, was a game in which the contestants strove
to outdo each other in throwing a heavy iron bar. It was therefore a
test of strength.
197. #Jamás ... cara#, _never from danger do I turn my face_.
204. #la mano que todo lo guía#, _the hand that directs the
universe_, the hand of God.
208-209. #benéfica, airada#. Note that adjectives are frequently used
instead of adverbs, especially in poetry.
212. #de amante inquietud#, _inspired by loving solicitude_, that of
his own family.
213. #no cobre#..., _may I never recover_...
215. #Mayor mi tesón a más padecer#, _my obstinacy increasing with my
suffering_. Compare _mi tesón crecía con mi padecer_, of the first
edition.
239-240. #decid ... vida#, _tell her to whom this father_ (Martin
himself) _owes the privilege of seeing himself alive_.
247-248. Compare with these the two corresponding lines of the first
edition:
Con tal compañera, ¿quién no ha de temblar
de perder la vida que lleva dichosa?
255-256. #dirige = hubiese dirigido; ahorran = habrían ahorrado; cuánto
de llanto = ¡cuántas lágrimas!#
259. #la de Maurel#, the battle of Muret in southern France, 1213, in
which the Albigenses and their allies, the Aragonese, were defeated by
the Crusaders under Simon de Montfort. King Pedro of Aragon lost his
life in the battle and many Aragonese were killed or taken prisoners.
275-276. #Diligencia escasa ... cupo = parece que diligencia escasa,
fortuna severa, cupo en suerte a# (_fell to the lot of_) #mi sangre
(familia).#
278. #se muestre#, _let him show himself_. Freely translated: _one
who has been unable to overcome adverse fortune should at least be
patient when it wounds him_.
279. #de aquesa manera#, _in that condition_, that is, without a
sword.
296. #le acatan propios y ajenos#, _all respect him, those of his
own family_ (#propios#) _and those of others_ (#ajenos#).
341. #logré ... mal#, _I succeeded in convincing my ears that they_
(#los acentos desabridos#) _did not have a disagreeable sound for
me_.
347. #al recordar mi memoria#, _when memory would bring to mind_.
371 et seq. Note that _vos, piedra, bóveda, suelo_ are all direct
objects of _invoco_, line 379. _Not you, but rather the inanimate stone
... that vaulted ceiling ... that pavement ... do I call upon as
witnesses_....
377. #a no ser ... huella#, _if it were not as hard and cold as the
one that walks upon it_.
381. #que# = _for_; #le = al afán.#
384. #oyera = pudiera, podría, oírla.#
413. #ofrecí dar#, _I would gladly have given_.
423-426. Compare corresponding lines in first edition:
Cuanto padezco mirad
pues ya como dicha cuento
que mis penas un momento
suspendan su intensidad.
447-450. #Vuestras razones ... crimen#, _your words of intercession
carry conviction to his heart; any hesitation or reluctance on my part
would be (considered) disrespect, sinful_.
455. #que ... mortaja = que él se limite a tenerme una cruz y una
mortaja#, _he need do no more than provide me a cross and a shroud_.
559. #de infeliz ... más#, _from an unhappy state I have passed to
one still more wretched_.
564-565. #por señas que ... judío.# Teresa's meaning is clear; he
must be either a Jew or a Moor, she thinks, since he refused to partake
of the slices of pork and wine that she had offered him. She might have
expressed herself more logically thus: _por señas que_ (as proof that)
_debe ser moro o judío, nada de ello (magras y vino) ha probado_.
572. #¡Que haya ... oí!# _If it were only a dream what I believe that
I heard!_
600. #Ya que padecí, padezca (ella).#
603-605. #al fin ... miserable#, _after all, compared with her,
Manilla was of little account_.
616-617. See _buena_ in Vocabulary.
664. #en que reina#, _where he now dwells_.
673-674. #sin que ... ofensa#, _without any one's being able to take
offense at my tears_.
734. #que lea#, _that he may read_.
735. #encontrármelas.# _Me_, dative of interest or concern, may be
translated: _for all I care_.
764. #se ofrezca ... morir#, _consent to worse than death_.
ACTO TERCERO
7. #Si esto ... difunto = esto es como si yo amortajase a un
difunto.#
34. #No tardarán ... San Pedro#, _the call to vespers will not be
long in sounding over there in Saint Peter's_. San Pedro is the name of
the old parochial church in Teruel connected with the legend of _Los
Amantes_.
73-74. #Yo no creía que dudarais de mi rendimiento fiel.#
84-86. #y al fin hallaréis otro que no podéis figuraros en vuestro rigor
esquivo.#
89. #aun no le visteis#, _him you have not yet seen_.
107-109. #una lengua venenosa no pudo jamás echarme maldición más
espantosa que decir#....
142-144. #Para romper ... indagaciones#, _in order to break my
bondage (free myself from love of you), in order to find defects in you,
my investigations were undertaken._
156. #lo que yo vivirá = lo que# (_as long as_) #yo viva, vivirá#.
167-168. #concluyo de desear y pedir#, _I desire and ask for no
more_.
180-181. #mudaréis en suma de casa y de vecindad#, _you will move
into another house and neighborhood, nothing more_.
210-211. #lo demás ... notorio#, _otherwise it would give cause for
notorious scandal_.
217. #resucitara = hubiera resucitado.#
219. #matara = habría matado.#
221. #corriera = habría corrido.#
346. #saliéndole al camino = saliéndole al encuentro.#
354. #más ... marido = yo, prófuga, he podido (hacer) más que mi real
marido.#
364. #monstruo ... abismo#, _inhuman creature, in whose voice is
heard the wrath of hell_.
386-387. #a quien ... frente#, _whose forehead evil fate branded at
birth with burning iron_.
388. #que por verte vive#, _who receives new life on seeing you_.
434. #merézcate ... lazo#, _respect as you should that marriage
bond_.
437. #Con mi presencia queda destruído.# "Sublime respuesta de la
pasión, tan sublime por lo menos como el famoso _Qu'il mourût_ de
Corneille, porque para la pasión no hay obstáculo, no hay mundo, no hay
hombres, no hay más Dios, en fin, que ella misma. Sacrilegio sublime
como el de Ayax en Homero." (José de Larra, _Colección de artículos_,
page 194.)
ACTO CUATRO
7. #prenden = habrían prendido.#
8. #acuden = hubiesen acudido.#
41. #sois quien sois#, _you are true to yourself_; or, _one can
always count upon you_.
48. #entre vos y yo#, _we two, you and I_.
119. #¿No ha de ser?# _Why not?_
122. #por si es#, _lest it be; in case it may be_.
139. #Esto es antes.# Teresa thought that the spirit of Marsilla was
conducting Rodrigo to the cemetery. Pedro, after giving the real
explanation, adds _Esto es antes_, meaning, _rather is this it_, i.e.,
the true explanation.
165-166. #mira si te engañas#, _you are surely mistaken_.
166. #mal pudiera = mal podría (engañarme).#
201-202. #Pasa más#, _more has happened; there is still more to
tell_. Note that _yo_ is the subject understood of _aperciba_ in line
202.
220. #al = al tálamo.#
222-224. #salga ... hospedaje#, _let her leave here at once, let not
the law of hospitality serve her (as protection)_.
230-231. #fuera rayar en loca#, _would be little removed from folly;
would border on madness_.
233-234. #sean ... pierdo = sean jueces de mi furia todas las mujeres
que pierdan lo que yo pierdo.#
250-251. #que ... veía#, _who had not seen him for such a long
time_....
263-264. #que ... son#, _that rightly belong to a true believer_. In
this case _creyente_ means Moslem, a follower of Mohammed. Isabel's
magnanimity arouses Adel's admiration.
Escena VI. Read #que entra# after #Marsilla#.
286. #dos#, his own sword and that of Rodrigo. The explanation will
be found in lines 401-413.
317. #si tú vivías#, _seeing that you were still alive_.
319-320. #la que ... separara? = ¿Cómo podría separarse de ti sin ti la
(vida) que me alienta?#
321. #desterró#, _banished, exiled (from Heaven)_; = #Juntos aquí nos
desterró (del cielo) la mano (de Dios) que distribuye sabia-(mente)
gozos y penas.#
327-328. #debiera prometerme = habría debido prometerme#, _you ought
to have offered me_...; or, _I should have expected_....
342-344. #no se casa ... humana#, _one that loved as I did does not
marry, unless compelled to do so by the strongest force within the power
of mankind_.
348. #sujetaras = habrías sujetado.#
352. #la suya = su mano.#
355. #me ves ajena#, _you see me the wife of another_.
367. #va mi vida en oírtelo#, _to hear you say it is a matter of life
or death to me_.
391. #en recuerdo si no#, _in memory at least_.
408. #si lo llego ... librara?# _Should I ever believe that, who
could protect him?_
440. #las entrañas = el corazón. Una por una# in the preceding line
might be translated _little by little_.
473-474. #en pos de ... lanza#, _my lovelorn spirit hastens away in
pursuit of thine_.
A comparison of the closing lines of the play with those of the first
version shows a decided gain in dramatic effectiveness.
ISABEL. ¿Conque ya es muerto?
TODOS. ¡Muerto!
ISABEL. Yo le maté; quise alejarle ...
que le odiaba le dije ... el sentimiento,
el espanto ... ¡Y mentí!...
Pero también de mí se apiada el cielo.
Ya de la eternidad me abre la puerta
y de mis ojos huye el mundo entero,
y una tumba diviso solamente
con un cadáver, y a su lado un hueco.
Marsilla, yo te amé, siempre te amaba ...
tú me lloraste ajena ... tuya muero.
Cotarelo y Mori, in his scholarly study of the origin and development of
the legend, uses as an argument against its historical authenticity the
improbable ending; skeptically, he asks the question: "¿No es
verdaderamente pasmoso que en el siglo XIII hubiese ni en Teruel ni en
parte alguna dos personas de sensibilidad tan exquisita a quienes
simultáneamente pudiera causar la muerte el verse privadas una de otra?"
This rhetorical question was answered many years before it was thus
formulated. José de Larra in his review of the play a few days after its
first performance and only a few days before his own tragic death,
speaking for those who believe that death may be caused by grief alone,
urged the author to pay no heed to critics who scoffed at the
_dénouement_ of his play: "Si óyese repetir a sus oídos un cargo vulgar
que a los nuestros ha llegado, y que ni mentar hemos querido en este
artículo; si óyese decir que el final de su obra es inverosímil, que el
amor no mata a nadie, puede responder que es un hecho consignado en la
historia; que los cadáveres se conservan en Teruel, y la posibilidad en
los corazones sensibles; que las penas y las pasiones han llenado más
cementerios que los médicos y los necios; que el amor mata (aunque no
mate a lodo el mundo) como matan la ambición y la envidia; que más de
una mala nueva al ser recibida ha matado a personas robustas,
instantáneamente y como un rayo; y aun será en nuestro entender mejor
que a ese cargo no responda, porque el que no lleve en su corazón la
respuesta, no comprenderá ninguna. Las teorías, las doctrinas, los
sistemas se explican; los sentimientos se sienten." (_Colección de
artículos_, page 197.)
VOCABULARY
The purpose of this vocabulary is to give English equivalents for the
words and locutions as used in this play, in order to help the student
understand the text or translate it into clear, idiomatic English. In
some cases, therefore, the English equivalent is not a literal
translation of the Spanish and may not give the usual meaning of the
word or phrase. Moreover, words that the student is reasonably certain
to know and those that have the same or almost the same form and meaning
in Spanish and English are omitted, as well as inflected forms, except
in the case of those that seem to offer special difficulty.
#A#
#abandonar# leave, abandon
#abatimiento# despondency, dejection
#abierto# _p.p. of_ #abrir# open
#abismo# abyss, gulf; hell
#abogar# plead, intercede for; defend
#aborrecer# hate, detest
#abrasador, -a# burning, ardent
#abrazar# embrace
#abrazo# embrace
#abrir, -se# open
#acá# here, hither, this way
#acabar# end, finish; come to an end; weaken; #-- con# put an end to;
#-- de# finish with, have finished, have just; #acabarás de hacer
justicia# you will do justice in the end
#acatar# respect, honor, do homage to
#acción# action, impulse
#acechar# spy upon
#acento# accent; #-s# words
#acercarse# approach
#acero# steel; blade, sword, dagger
#aciago# bitter; fatal
#aclamar# acclaim
#acometer# attack
#acompañar# accompany; #fué acompañándome# he went with me, kept me
company
#acordarse# (de) remember
#activo# vigorous
#acudir# come up, hasten (to help); #-se a# have recourse to, go to
#adelantarse a# go ahead of, outrun
#ademán# _m._ gesture; attitude
#adentro# within; off the stage
#aderezar# dress, get ready
#adiós# good-bye, farewell
#administrar# administer; give
#adonde# where, to the place where
#adorar (en)# adore
#adormecer# put to sleep
#adormecido# sleeping
#adorno# adornment
#afán# _m._ anxiety, trouble, sorrow; #con --# solicitously
#afecto# love, affection; #-- amoroso# feeling of love
#afición# love, fondness
#afligir# afflict, grieve
#agasajar# regale; entertain
#agolpados# crowding
#agradecer# be grateful, thankful (for)
#agradecido# grateful
#agua# water
#aguardar# wait for
#ahogar# smother, oppress; #-se# be stifled _or_ suffocated
#ahora# now; nowadays; #por --# for the present
#ahorrar# save, spare; #-se# be spared
#ahuyentar# frighten, drive away
#airado# angry, wrathful
#aire# _m._ air
#ajeno# belonging to another, of another, another's
#alameda# avenue, grove (_of poplars_)
#alarde# _m._ boast, boasting; #hacer --# be proud of, boast
#alarido# cry, shout
#alazán# _m._ sorrel horse
#alba# dawn
#Albarracín# _small town and mountainous district a short distance west
of the city of Teruel_
#albedrío# will, free will
#albergue# _m._ lodging, room
#albigenses# Albigenses (_see note, Act I_, 258); #un francés --# an
Albigensian Frenchman
#alborotado# excited, agitated
#alborozo# joy
#alcanzar# reach, overtake; obtain; #-- con# have influence with
#alcazaba# stronghold, fortress, donjon
#alcázar# _m._ castle, royal palace
#alcoba# bedroom
#alcurnia# ancestry; family name
#alentar# give breath; animate
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