Original
Literary translation
§ 1.1
Hay cosas realmente difíciles de entender ,bien se me alcanza .Sobre todo ,cuando uno no se halla dispuesto a entenderlas .
There are things that are truly difficult to understand—I quite realize that. Especially when one is not disposed to understand them.
Note 1.1
Bien se me alcanza is a somewhat literary or old-fashioned idiom meaning 'I understand that perfectly well' or 'I quite realize it'; alcanzar retains its literal sense of 'reach' only faintly here. Hallarse dispuesto a means 'to be disposed/willing to'. The narrator begins with an ironic observation: some things are difficult to understand chiefly when a person has no desire to understand them.
§ 1.2
Entonces ,no es posible ,aunque le sean ofrecidas a plena luz ,captar siquiera la silueta de ellas ,mucho menos su pequeño espíritu escondido .
Then, even if they are laid before one in full light, it is impossible to make out even their outline, much less their little hidden spirit.
Note 1.2
The sentence extends the narrator's irony through a visual metaphor: someone unwilling to understand cannot perceive even the outward 'silhouette' of a thing, much less its hidden spirit or inner meaning. Le refers to the generic person introduced as uno in the preceding fragment, while sean ofrecidas agrees with the understood feminine plural cosas.
§ 1.3
Esto les ocurrió a mis oyentes de la cocina conventual de Pueblo Viejo ,cuando yo les narré la historia de los vagos amores de Samuel Morales con aquella graciosa muchacha guayaquileña que se llamaba ,si no recuerdo mal ,Perpetua ,o algo por el estilo .
That is what happened to my listeners in the convent kitchen at Pueblo Viejo, when I told them the story of Samuel Morales's vague love affair with that charming young woman from Guayaquil who was called, if I remember correctly, Perpetua, or something of the sort.
Note 1.3
The narrator now reveals that the opening remarks concern his own audience in Pueblo Viejo. Vagos amores suggests a vague, barely formed, or undefined romantic attachment rather than a conventional love affair. His uncertainty over the girl's name—Perpetua, 'or something of the sort'—adds the lightly ironic, conversational tone that frames the story.
§ 1.4
Empero ,la hora para narrar era propicia .Acabábamos de merendar ,y estábamos aún en torno de la gran mesa ,que presidía el cura de la aldea ,saboreando con deliciosa lentitud nuestro café aromado .
The hour, however, was favorable for storytelling. We had just eaten and were still gathered around the great table, presided over by the village priest, slowly savoring our fragrant coffee.
Note 1.4
Empero is a literary 'however'. Acabar de + infinitive means to have just done something, while merendar refers to taking a light meal or snack. En torno de means 'around'. The relaxed group lingering over fragrant coffee establishes what the narrator considers an ideal setting for storytelling.
§ 1.5
El párroco contaba hacía un instante el «ejemplo » del montuvio sordomudo ,devoto de la Virgen .
A moment earlier, the parish priest had been telling the 'exemplum' of a deaf-mute Montuvio devoted to the Virgin.
Note 1.5
Hacía un instante is a temporal use of hacer meaning 'a moment ago'. The quoted ejemplo is best understood as an exemplum, a brief religious or moral anecdote presented as an instructive example. Montuvio names the distinctive rural coastal Ecuadorian cultural identity central to much of de la Cuadra's work.
§ 1.6
Éste se había salvado ,porque ,ingenuo irreverente ,cada vez que pasaba frente a la iglesia arrojaba un pedruzco contra el icono ,sin duda para testimoniar su creencia ;por los agujeros que hicieron sus pedruzcos en el manto de la Madre ,entró en el Paraíso su alma ignorante ,pero empapada en la más severa fe religiosa .
He had been saved because, in his innocent irreverence, every time he passed the church he would hurl a stone at the icon, no doubt as a testimony to his belief; through the holes his stones made in the Mother's mantle, his ignorant soul—yet steeped in the sternest religious faith—entered Paradise.
Note 1.6
The priest's exemplum is intentionally paradoxical: the Montuvio's outward act is irreverent—throwing stones at a sacred image—but his naive intention is presented as sincere faith. The imperfects pasaba and arrojaba describe his repeated custom, while se había salvado places his salvation before the telling. The final image turns the damage itself into the route to salvation: his soul enters Paradise through the holes his stones made in the Virgin's mantle. Empapada is literally 'soaked' and figuratively means thoroughly steeped in faith.
§ 1.7
Como soy hombre de lecturas ,recordé en seguida la leyenda de aquel hermano sirviente que antes fuera juglar y el cual ,para congraciarse con la Virgen ,realizaba sus juegos malabares delante del altar .
Being a well-read man, I immediately remembered the legend of that serving brother who had once been a minstrel and who, to win the Virgin's favor, performed his juggling tricks before the altar.
Note 1.7
Hombre de lecturas presents the narrator, somewhat self-consciously, as a well-read man. The literary fuera has the sense of 'had formerly been' rather than expressing a live hypothetical. The parallel legend concerns a religious brother who had been a juglar, a medieval minstrel or entertainer, and who offers the Virgin the only devotion he knows: his juggling. Congraciarse con means to win someone's favor.
§ 1.8
Recordé de un modo exacto que esta leyenda la redactó ha muchos años ,en lengua moderna ,Anatole France ,tomándola de viejos textos feudales .
I remembered quite precisely that Anatole France had written this legend many years ago in modern language, drawing it from old feudal texts.
Note 1.8
The construction ha muchos años is an older literary equivalent of modern hace muchos años, 'many years ago'. The direct-object pronoun la refers to leyenda. Tomándola de indicates that Anatole France drew his modern literary version from older feudal or medieval texts. The narrator is emphasizing that the priest's supposedly local anecdote resembles an already transmitted literary legend.
§ 1.9
Mas ,para no contrariar al párroco ,nada dije .
But, so as not to contradict the parish priest, I said nothing.
Note 1.9
Mas without an accent is the literary conjunction 'but', not más ('more'). Contrariar here means to contradict, oppose, or displease someone. The narrator recognizes the literary precedent but deliberately keeps silent rather than challenge the priest.
§ 1.10
Él pensaba que el «ejemplo » del montuvio sordomudo era de una indiscutible originalidad ,es decir ,de una autenticidad indiscutible .
He thought that the 'exemplum' of the deaf-mute Montuvio was of indisputable originality—that is, of indisputable authenticity.
Note 1.10
The narrator wryly equates the priest's belief in the anecdote's originality with his belief in its authenticity. Es decir introduces the ironic reformulation: for the priest, because the story seems wholly local and original, its truth is equally beyond question.
§ 1.11
Citaba nombres ,lugares y fechas ,y hasta circunstancias tan precisas como la de que ,el día en que murió el devoto ,y su alma inmortal voló a los cielos ,estaba lloviendo .
He cited names, places, and dates, and even details as precise as the fact that on the day the devotee died and his immortal soul flew to heaven, it was raining.
Note 1.11
The priest bolsters the anecdote's supposed authenticity with an accumulation of documentary-sounding detail: names, places, dates, even the weather. La de que is elliptical for la circunstancia de que. The comic precision of remembering that it was raining on the very day the devotee died continues the narrator's gentle skepticism.
§ 1.12
No obstante ,la historia de amor que la evocación me trajo a la memoria y que entonces narré en la cocina conventual de Pueblo Viejo ,no fue entendida por mis oyentes ,quienes ,sin duda ,no quisieron entenderla ...
Nevertheless, the love story that the recollection brought back to me and that I then told in the convent kitchen at Pueblo Viejo was not understood by my listeners, who, no doubt, did not want to understand it...
Note 1.12
No obstante means 'nevertheless'. Traer a la memoria is 'to bring to mind'. Narré is the first-person preterite of narrar ('I told'). The passive no fue entendida is immediately sharpened by no quisieron entenderla: the narrator claims his listeners did not merely fail to understand the story; they were unwilling to understand it.
§ 1.13
Narrador incomprendido ,la escribo para el gran lector .
A misunderstood narrator, I write it down for the great reader.
Note 1.13
Narrador incomprendido is an appositional self-description: the narrator casts himself, humorously, as a misunderstood storyteller. La refers back to la historia de amor. Having failed with his immediate audience in Pueblo Viejo, he now writes the story for the wider or ideal 'great reader'.
§ 1.14
Es un suave desquite del que ,por desgracia ,jamás se tendrá noticia en la remota aldea del agro montuvio ,donde fracasé .
It is a gentle revenge which, unfortunately, will never be heard of in the remote village of the Montuvio countryside where I failed.
Note 1.14
Desquite can mean revenge, payback, or compensating vindication; suave makes the narrator's revenge deliberately mild. Se tendrá noticia is an impersonal expression meaning that something will be heard of or become known. Agro is a literary word for the countryside, and agro montuvio situates Pueblo Viejo in the rural coastal Ecuadorian world of the Montuvios.
§ 1.15
Como es de buena técnica comenzar presentando a los personajes ,antes que nada describiré a la muchacha que se llamaba Perpetua o algo por el estilo .
Since good technique calls for beginning by introducing the characters, first of all I shall describe the girl whose name was Perpetua, or something of the sort.
Note 1.15
The narrator continues his playful commentary on storytelling technique. Es de buena técnica means that something accords with good narrative technique, comenzar presentando is 'to begin by introducing', and antes que nada means 'first of all'. His professed concern for proper technique is humorously undercut by again admitting that he is not even certain the girl's name was Perpetua.
§ 1.16
Para mis paisanos ,con decir que era guayaquileña ya la he descrito brillantemente ;pero ,como quiero creer que me leerán incluso extranjeros ,debo añadir que ,además ,era morena .
For my countrymen, simply saying that she was from Guayaquil means I have already described her brilliantly; but since I want to believe that even foreigners will read me, I must add that she was also dark.
Note 1.16
The narrator jokes that his fellow Ecuadorians need only hear that the young woman is from Guayaquil to imagine her fully; only foreign readers supposedly require the added physical detail morena. Guayaquileña is the demonym for a woman from Guayaquil. Morena is deliberately broad and can suggest dark hair, an olive or darker complexion, or both, so the literary translation avoids making the description more specific than the Spanish.
§ 1.17
Con esto sí me parece que es bastante .
With that, I really think the description is sufficient.
Note 1.17
Sí is emphatic rather than the answer 'yes': with these few details, the narrator insists, the description really is sufficient. The brevity continues the playful mockery of formal character description.
§ 1.18
El general José de San Martín creía lo mismo que yo ;y así se lo expresaba a su amante guayaquileña ,la «Protectora ».
General José de San Martín thought the same as I did, and expressed it that way to his Guayaquil lover, the 'Protectora'.
Note 1.18
The narrator humorously recruits General José de San Martín as support for his view of Guayaquil women. In se lo expresaba, se is the indirect object ('to her') and lo the direct object ('it'). The 'Protectora' is Rosa (Rosita) Campusano, a Guayaquil-born woman associated romantically with San Martín; her nickname plays on his title Protector of Peru.
§ 1.19
Samuel Morales era dueño de una canoa vivandera ,en la cual navegaba ,en plan de comercio ,por los ríos montuvios .
Samuel Morales owned a provision boat, in which he traveled the rivers of the Montuvio country trading goods.
Note 1.19
A canoa vivandera is not merely a canoe but a small trading or provision boat from which goods are sold while traveling the rivers—essentially an itinerant floating shop. En plan de comercio means that Morales traveled for purposes of trade. Ríos montuvios places his route in the riverine rural world of coastal Ecuador's Montuvio population.
§ 1.20
Se le conocía venir ,desde lejos ,por el prolongado grito de su caracola ,que sonaba como un cuerno de caza .
His approach could be recognized from far off by the long call of his conch shell, which sounded like a hunting horn.
Note 1.20
Se le conocía venir is an idiomatic construction meaning that one could recognize or tell from a distance that he was coming. Grito personifies the sound of the conch as a prolonged 'cry' or call. The comparison with a hunting horn establishes the caracola as Samuel's audible signature before he is even visible.
§ 1.21
Las patronas ricas se agitaban en sus cocinas :—Hay que renovar la provisión .—Ahá .
—Harinas . Sobre todo ,harinas .Y víveres serranos .Llámenlo .—¿Para qué ?Ya apegará .Siempre lo hace .
The wealthy mistresses bustled about their kitchens: “We need to replenish the supplies.” “Uh-huh.” “Flour. Above all, flour. And provisions from the highlands. Call him.” “What for? He'll come alongside soon enough. He always does.”
Note 1.21
The dialogue shows Samuel's routine arrival from inside the households he serves. Patronas are the women presiding over the houses. Hay que renovar la provisión means the household stock needs replenishing. Víveres serranos are provisions from Ecuador's Sierra or highlands. The especially regional verb is apegar: Ya apegará means that Samuel will draw near or bring his canoe alongside on his own, so there is no need to call him.
§ 1.22
En efecto ,jamás Samuel Morales dejaba siquiera de acercarse a alguna casa ,por humilde que fuese .
Indeed, Samuel Morales never failed to approach a house, however humble it might be.
Note 1.22
En efecto means 'indeed/in fact'. Dejar de + infinitive is 'to stop/fail to do'; with jamás, the meaning is that Samuel never failed even to approach a house. Por humilde que fuese is a concessive construction with the imperfect subjunctive: 'however humble it might be'. The sentence emphasizes that he did not reserve his trade for wealthy households.
§ 1.23
Aquí decía :—¿No se les ofrece nada ?—Nada , mismo .
Here he would say: “Don't you need anything?” “Nothing at all.”
Note 1.23
Aquí introduces Samuel's customary sales formula. ¿No se les ofrece nada? is idiomatic and polite: rather than literally asking whether something is 'offered' to them, he is asking whether they need or want anything. Nada, mismo uses regional emphatic mismo to mean 'nothing at all' or 'really nothing'.
§ 1.24
El vendedor ambulante recitaba de corrido la retahíla de sus artículos .—Nada , don Morales ;no queremos nada .
The traveling seller would rattle off the whole list of his goods. “Nothing, Don Morales; we don't want anything.”
Note 1.24
De corrido means continuously or fluently, without pausing, and retahíla is a long string or litany. Samuel therefore rattles off his inventory from memory even after the initial refusal. Artículos here means his merchandise or goods, not written articles.
§ 1.25
Samuel Morales meditaba un momento .Luego ,decía a la compradora remolona :—Si necesita ,lleve no más lo que sea ,patrona .No importa que no tenga platita .Me pagará otra vez cuando mismo pueda ...Le compraban .
Samuel Morales would think for a moment. Then he would say to the hesitant customer: “If you need something, just take whatever it is, ma'am. It doesn't matter if you don't have the money. You can pay me another time, whenever you're able...” And they would buy from him.
Note 1.25
Remolona describes the hesitant customer who is reluctant to buy. Lleve no más uses regional no más/nomás as encouragement: 'go ahead and take it'. Patrona is a respectful address to the woman of the household. Platita is the diminutive of plata, colloquial 'money', and makes Samuel's offer sound warm and unthreatening. Otra vez means 'another time/later' here, while cuando mismo pueda emphatically means 'whenever you can'. His willingness to extend credit works: le compraban, 'they bought from him'.
§ 1.26
Él conocía a su gente miserable ,a su gente «que no tenía platita ».
He knew his impoverished people, his people who 'didn't have any money.'
Note 1.26
Miserable here refers primarily to material poverty and hardship. The repetition of su gente makes Samuel's familiarity and identification with his customers explicit. Platita is a diminutive of plata, colloquial 'money/cash'; the quotation marks echo the familiar language used to describe people who simply did not have ready money.
§ 1.27
Por supuesto que cobraba después ,casi siempre .
Of course he collected payment later, almost always.
Note 1.27
Cobrar means to collect money owed. The narrator qualifies Samuel's generosity carefully: he did generally collect his debts later, but casi siempre—'almost always'—leaves room for exceptions.
§ 1.28
No sabía leer .Contaba ,apenas .Pero tenía una memoria maravillosa :—¿Se acuerda ,doña Angelita ?El día del aguacero grande del mes pasado ,le dejé ...Y seguía una lista de menudencias ,con precios en centavos y medios centavos .
He could not read. He could barely count. But he had a marvelous memory: “Do you remember, Doña Angelita? The day of the big downpour last month, I left you...” And there followed a list of small items, with prices in cents and half-cents.
Note 1.28
Although Samuel cannot read and can barely count, he keeps his credit accounts in memory. Acordarse means 'to remember', and aguacero is a heavy downpour. Menudencias are small miscellaneous goods or sundries. In Y seguía una lista, the postposed subject una lista means that a list would follow his opening reminder. The plural precios refers to the prices of the individual items. The centavos y medios centavos emphasize the extraordinary precision with which he remembers even tiny amounts.
§ 1.29
Mas ,no exigía .Cuando advertía que era menester ,daba más crédito ,todavía :—Lleve , no más .Me pagará cuando venda el arroz .No se preocupe .
But he did not press for payment. When he saw that it was necessary, he extended still more credit: “Go ahead and take it. Pay me when you sell the rice. Don't worry.”
Note 1.29
Mas is the literary conjunction 'but'. Samuel remembers debts precisely but does not press for payment. Ser menester is an older/literary expression meaning 'to be necessary'. Dar crédito means to sell on credit, and todavía intensifies más: he would extend still more credit when needed. Lleve no más uses regional no más/nomás as an encouraging 'go ahead'. Venda is subjunctive because the rice sale is a future event.
§ 1.30
Referíase que ,en ocasiones ,hasta ayudaba a sus clientes con pequeños préstamos y en toda forma que le era factible .
It was said that, on occasion, he even helped his customers with small loans and in every way he could.
Note 1.30
Referíase is a literary older-style placement of the clitic se, equivalent here to se refería: 'it was said/reported'. Hasta means 'even': Samuel sometimes went beyond merchandise credit and made small loans. En toda forma que le era factible means in every way that was possible for him.
§ 1.31
Cierta vez ,la viuda Moreno ,que le debía diez sucres ,lo llamó :—¿Podría dejarme ,don Samuel ,cuatro velitas ?
Once, the widow Moreno, who owed him ten sucres, called to him: “Could you leave me four little candles, Don Samuel?”
Note 1.31
The widow already owes Samuel ten sucres, so her request immediately tests the generosity described in the preceding passage. Podría is a polite conditional, and dejarme here means to leave or provide the candles to her, implicitly on credit. Velitas is the diminutive of vela, small candles.
§ 1.32
—¿Y comida ?¿No quiere comida ?—No ; sólo las velitas .—¿Y para qué ,ah ?¿Para qué ?
“And food? Don't you want any food?” “No, just the candles.” “And what for, huh? What for?”
Note 1.32
Samuel immediately asks whether she also needs food, showing that he suspects a deeper need than an ordinary purchase. ¿Para qué? means 'what for?' or 'why?', and ah is a conversational interjection that makes his repeated question more insistent.
§ 1.33
La viuda se echó a llorar .Morales subió a la casa .En media sala ,en el piso de tablas ,estaba tendido un cadáver infantil .
The widow burst into tears. Morales went up to the house. In the middle of the room, on the plank floor, lay the body of a child.
Note 1.33
Echarse a llorar means 'to begin crying'. En media sala is an older/literary way here of saying in the middle of the room. Tendido presents the child's body as laid out on the plank floor. The reason for the four candles is revealed without further dialogue.
§ 1.34
La viuda explicaba absurdamente :—Se me murió ,¿sabe ? ¡Era mi hijo y se me murió !Y necesito cuatro velitas .¡Le pagaré lo más breve !
The widow explained absurdly: “He died on me, you know. He was my son, and he died on me! And I need four little candles. I'll pay you as soon as possible!”
Note 1.34
Se me murió uses an affected or ethical dative: more emotionally charged than simply murió, it conveys 'he died on me / my child died'. The narrator's absurdamente underscores how impossible it is to rationally 'explain' such grief. Velitas is the diminutive of vela, and the four candles are for her child's wake. Lo más breve is an elliptical older/regional expression meaning 'as soon as possible'.
§ 1.35
Samuel Morales bajó hasta su canoa .Volvió luego con un paquete de cirios y unas varas de tela blanca .
Samuel Morales went down to his canoe. He returned with a bundle of candles and several lengths of white cloth.
Note 1.35
Samuel responds without bargaining or discussing the existing debt. Cirios are substantial wax candles or tapers associated especially with religious ceremonies and wakes. Varas refers to measured lengths of cloth using the traditional vara unit. The white cloth anticipates the material needed for the child's burial.
§ 1.36
—Aquí están las velas ,señora .No le cuestan nada ,mismo .Y este ruán ...P’al ataucito ,¿sabe ?
“Here are the candles, ma’am. They won’t cost you a thing. And this cloth... For the little coffin, you know?”
Note 1.36
Samuel gives the widow the candles for free and adds the white cloth needed for her child's burial. Ruán names a kind of cloth, historically associated with Rouen. P’al represents colloquial para el, while ataucito is a colloquial diminutive of ataúd. The small, affectionate form makes the reference to the child's coffin especially poignant.
§ 1.37
Así era Samuel Morales ,comerciante montuvio .
That was Samuel Morales, a Montuvio merchant.
Note 1.37
This brief sentence closes the portrait of Samuel. Así era means 'that was what he was like': the episode with the widow exemplifies the generosity that defines him. Montuvio identifies him with the rural coastal Ecuadorian culture at the center of de la Cuadra's fiction.
§ 1.38
Sólo en las novelas el amor principia desde un límite fijo y determinado .
Only in novels does love begin at a fixed and definite point.
Note 1.38
The narrator shifts from Samuel's character to a reflection on love. He rejects the neat conventions of fiction: only in novels, he says, does love have a clearly identifiable beginning. Principiar is a literary synonym of empezar or comenzar.
§ 1.39
En la vida real ,la cuestión sucede de manera distinta .Va naciendo sin saberse cómo .
In real life, it happens differently. Love gradually comes into being without anyone knowing how.
Note 1.39
The contrast with novels continues. Va naciendo uses ir + gerund to emphasize a gradual, almost unnoticed process: in real life love develops little by little, without a clearly knowable moment of origin. La cuestión means the matter at hand, namely how love begins.
§ 1.40
Se va formando —eso es —como las nubes tupidas en el cielo claro ;empieza por ser apenas una mancha turbia contra el azul hasta preñarse de negrura y de amenaza .
It gradually takes shape—that’s it—like dense clouds in a clear sky; at first it is scarcely a murky blot against the blue, until it swells with blackness and menace.
Note 1.40
The narrator extends the idea of gradual development into a storm-cloud metaphor. Se va formando again uses ir + gerund: love slowly takes shape like dense clouds gathering in a clear sky. It begins as scarcely more than a murky patch, then becomes preñada—literally 'pregnant' or swollen—with blackness and threat. The image makes love organic and imperceptibly accumulating rather than something with a neat starting point.
§ 1.41
Nadie podría decir ,y mucho menos ellos mismos ,pues jamás supieron exactamente si se amaban ;nadie podría decir ,ni siquiera las bravías comadres de la orilla ,cómo se iniciaron los amores de Samuel Morales y la muchacha guayaquileña .
No one could say—and least of all they themselves, since they never knew exactly whether they loved each other; no one could say, not even the fierce gossips along the riverbank, how the romance between Samuel Morales and the young woman from Guayaquil began.
Note 1.41
The narrator insists that the romance had no identifiable starting point: Samuel and the young woman never even knew exactly whether they loved one another. The repetition of nadie podría decir reinforces that uncertainty. Bravías comadres de la orilla evokes the spirited, gossip-prone women along the riverbank, people one might otherwise expect to know every local romance.
§ 1.42
Ella pasaba vacaciones en la hacienda de unos parientes —«El Tesoro »—en las riberas del Vinces .
She was spending her vacation at the estate of some relatives—«El Tesoro»—on the banks of the Vinces River.
Note 1.42
The young woman is spending her vacation at relatives' hacienda, named «El Tesoro», on the banks of the Vinces River. Hacienda here is a rural estate, and the river setting places her directly along Samuel's commercial route.
§ 1.43
Él frecuentaba aquellas zonas con su canoa vivandera ,anunciando su ambulante comercio con el canto de la caracola .
He regularly traveled through those parts in his provisions canoe, announcing his itinerant trade with the call of the conch.
Note 1.43
Samuel regularly traveled through the same river district in his canoa vivandera, a canoe from which he sold provisions. The imperfect frecuentaba marks habitual action. The 'song' of the conch is the signal announcing his itinerant trade.
§ 1.44
Desde Vuelta Perdida —una curva inútil del río —,Samuel Morales sonaba su caracola .
From Vuelta Perdida—a useless bend in the river—Samuel Morales would blow his conch.
Note 1.44
Vuelta Perdida is the name of a river bend, which the narrator wryly glosses as 'a useless bend in the river.' From there Samuel sounds his conch, giving the people farther along the river advance notice of his arrival. Sonaba is habitual imperfect and is used transitively here: he makes the conch sound by blowing it.
§ 1.45
Se detenía en el muelle de la hacienda ,y negociaba con las gentes de «El Tesoro ».
He would stop at the hacienda's dock and trade with the people of «El Tesoro».
Note 1.45
Samuel's habitual route brings him directly to the hacienda's dock, where he trades with the people of «El Tesoro». Both detenía and negociaba are imperfect forms, presenting this stop as part of his repeated routine rather than a single event.
§ 1.46
Luego se alejaba a remo lento .
Then he would row slowly away.
Note 1.46
Samuel's routine continues after trading at «El Tesoro»: he moves away slowly under oars. A remo means 'by rowing', and lento makes the departure feel unhurried. The imperfect alejaba again presents this as a repeated action.
§ 1.47
En la Vuelta de los Tamarindos ,hacia el norte ,antes de perderse detrás de los árboles solemnes ,sonaba otra vez la caracola .
At Vuelta de los Tamarindos, to the north, before he disappeared behind the stately trees, the conch would sound again.
Note 1.47
Farther north, at the bend called Vuelta de los Tamarindos, the conch sounds once more before Samuel disappears behind the stately trees. Perderse detrás de means to disappear from view behind something. The imperfect sonaba keeps this second sounding within the repeated daily pattern.
§ 1.48
Ella ,asomada en la gran galería de la casa ,lo miraba .
She, looking out from the house's broad veranda, watched him.
Note 1.48
The narration quietly reveals the girl's participation in Samuel's routine: from the hacienda's broad gallery or veranda, she watches him leave. Asomada suggests that she is positioned at the edge of the gallery looking outward, while lo refers directly to Samuel.
§ 1.49
Volvía él luego por la noche ,hacia el sur ,para rehacer su camino en la mañana .
Later, at night, he would return south to travel the same route again in the morning.
Note 1.49
At night Samuel returns south so that he can cover the same commercial route again the following morning. Rehacer su camino here means to make or travel the route again, not literally to rebuild a road. The imperfect volvía keeps the action within the daily cycle.
§ 1.50
Y esto ocurría cada día .
And this happened every day.
Note 1.50
The short sentence makes explicit what the sequence of imperfect verbs has implied: this entire pattern repeats every day. That repetition quietly establishes the routine through which Samuel and the girl become aware of one another.
§ 1.51
En propiedad ,aquí cabría concluir la historia de estos vagos amores ,en los que no acaeció nada de extraordinario .
Strictly speaking, this story of their vague, half-formed romance could end here, since nothing extraordinary happened.
Note 1.51
The narrator again comments on his own storytelling. En propiedad means “strictly speaking”, cabría means “it would be reasonable/possible”, and acaecer is a literary “to happen”. The 1938 wording estos vagos amores echoes vagos amores in sentence 3, emphasizing how undefined the relationship remains. His point is deliberately anticlimactic: nothing extraordinary has happened.
§ 1.52
Mas ,como también es de buena técnica anudar incidentes en la narración antes de arribar al desenlace ,procuraré recordar alguno y relatarlo .
But since good technique also calls for weaving incidents into the narrative before reaching the ending, I shall try to remember one and tell it.
Note 1.52
The narrator playfully invokes the rules of storytelling to justify continuing. Mas is literary 'but'. Anudar is literally 'to tie' or 'knot', here figuratively to weave incidents into a narrative, while arribar al desenlace means to reach the story's resolution. Procuraré means 'I will try'.
§ 1.53
Cierta ocasión ella se sentiría un poco niña .
On one occasion, she must have felt a little like a child.
Note 1.53
The conditional sentiría is best read as conjectural rather than as a future-in-the-past: the narrator imagines that she must have felt a little like a child on this occasion. This playful uncertainty fits his insistence that the lovers' inner feelings cannot be known exactly.
§ 1.54
Lo era ,después de todo ,con sus diecisiete años alocados ,sus trajes de organdí y su melena en alboroto .
After all, she was still a girl, with her madcap seventeen years, her organdy dresses, and her tousled hair.
Note 1.54
Lo refers back to niña: after all, she really was still very young. The narrator sketches that youth through her 'madcap' seventeen years, organdy dresses, and melena en alboroto—hair in lively disarray. Organdí is a light, crisp, sheer fabric.
§ 1.55
Quiso comer caramelos de color ,y bajó hasta la rambla a comprarlos de la canoa vivandera .
She wanted some brightly colored candies, and went down to the riverbank to buy them from the provisions canoe.
Note 1.55
Her childlike impulse becomes concrete: she wants colored candies and goes down to the riverside to buy them from Samuel's trading canoe. In this context rambla is best understood as the riverside or landing area, not the familiar modern sense of an urban boulevard. Comprarlos contains the enclitic los referring to the candies.
§ 1.56
Samuel Morales sintió algo muy extraño en su cuerpo y en su espíritu ,al contemplarla tan cerca de él .
Samuel Morales felt something very strange in his body and in his spirit when he saw her so close to him.
Note 1.56
The girl's visit to the canoe brings her physically close to Samuel, turning the distant daily ritual into an immediate encounter. Al contemplarla means 'upon seeing her'; contemplarla contains the direct-object pronoun la. The parallel cuerpo y espíritu emphasizes that his reaction is both physical and emotional.
§ 1.57
Habría querido no recibir la moneduca que le extendía ;pero ,no juzgó prudente hacerlo .
He would have liked not to accept the little coin she held out to him, but he did not think it prudent to do so.
Note 1.57
Habría querido is conditional perfect and expresses Samuel's unrealized wish: he would have liked to refuse her payment. Moneduca is an unusual expressive/diminutive coin word used by de la Cuadra; the text's form is preserved. Hacerlo refers back to refusing to take the coin: he decides that such a gesture would be too revealing or improper.
§ 1.58
Se desquitó entregándole más caramelos de la cuenta :el doble ,el triple del valor de la compra .
He made up for it by giving her more candy than she had paid for—twice, even three times the value of her purchase.
Note 1.58
Unable to refuse her coin, Samuel makes up for it by giving her far more candy than she paid for. Desquitarse normally has several senses, including getting even, but here it means compensating himself for the restraint he has shown. Más ... de la cuenta means more than was due or called for; he gives double or triple the value of the purchase.
§ 1.59
Luego de improviso ,le inquirió :—Usted , señorita ,¿sabe nadar ?
Then, suddenly, he asked her: “Miss, do you know how to swim?”
Note 1.59
Samuel abruptly turns the encounter into a personal question. De improviso means 'suddenly', while inquirió is a literary verb for 'asked'. Saber + infinitive expresses knowing how to do something, so ¿sabe nadar? means 'do you know how to swim?'. His formal usted and señorita preserve the social distance between them.
§ 1.60
Ella contestó que sí ,que sí sabía nadar y agregó :—¿Por qué me lo pregunta ?
She answered yes, that she did know how to swim, and added: “Why do you ask me that?”
Note 1.60
The repeated que sí strengthens her affirmative answer: yes, she did know how to swim. In ¿Por qué me lo pregunta?, me is the person being asked and neuter lo refers to the matter just raised—why he is asking her that particular question. Pregunta is the formal usted form addressed back to Samuel.
§ 1.61
Él apenas supo responder :—Por nada ,vea ;por nada .—Ah ...
He barely managed to answer: “No reason, you see; no reason.” “Ah...”
Note 1.61
Samuel is caught off guard by her question and can barely produce an answer. Por nada means 'for no reason', while vea is a formal imperative of ver used conversationally like 'you see' or 'look'. Her short —Ah... completes the exchange and leaves his real motive unspoken.
§ 1.62
Pero ,Samuel Morales mentía .Era que ahora sentía su corazón heroico ,vibrante en un hazañoso impulso irrefrenable .
But Samuel Morales was lying. The truth was that he now felt his heroic heart throbbing with an irresistible impulse to great deeds.
Note 1.62
The narrator immediately exposes Samuel's evasive answer as a lie. Era que introduces the real explanation: Samuel feels seized by a fantasy of heroism. Hazañoso is an uncommon adjective meaning heroic or associated with great exploits, intensifying the comic-romantic picture of his heart throbbing with an irresistible heroic impulse.
§ 1.63
Le hubiera gustado ,por ejemplo ,que ella no supiese nadar y resbalara al río ...Él la habría salvado entre los brazos fornidos ,oprimiéndola contra su ancho pecho de remero .
He would have liked, for instance, for her not to know how to swim and to slip into the river... He would have saved her in his brawny arms, pressing her against his broad rower's chest.
Note 1.63
Samuel's reason for asking about swimming is an exaggerated rescue fantasy. Le hubiera gustado que introduces the imagined situation, with supiese and resbalara in the imperfect subjunctive. Él la habría salvado then gives the imagined result in the conditional perfect. The physical language—brawny arms and a rower's broad chest—gently mocks the heroic romance he constructs in his head.
§ 1.64
—Usted regresa de noche ,señor ,para volver de mañana ,¿no ?
—Así es .—¿Y por qué no suena la caracola ?
“You return at night, sir, to come back again in the morning, don't you?” “That's right.” “Then why doesn't the conch sound?”
Note 1.64
The girl reveals that she has noticed Samuel's nightly return as well as his daytime routine. De noche and de mañana mean 'at night' and 'in the morning'. Her final question is literally why the conch does not sound; implicitly, she is asking why he does not blow it when he passes at night. Así es is Samuel's concise 'that's right'.
§ 1.65
Nada impidió que él le dijera entonces :—La sonaré ...despacito ...para que usted me oiga ,no más .
Nothing kept him from saying then: “I'll blow it... softly... just so you can hear me.”
Note 1.65
Samuel accepts the invitation implicit in her question and promises to sound the conch softly at night. Impedir que takes the subjunctive, hence dijera. La refers to la caracola, and sonar is used transitively: to sound or blow it. No más is common in American Spanish with the sense 'just/only' here, not 'no more': he will do it just so she can hear him.
§ 1.66
Ella sonrió levemente .A Samuel Morales le pareció en ese momento que su canoa no se balanceaba en las sucias ondas del Vinces ,sino en verdosas aguas de Kananga ,su olor favorito .
She smiled faintly. At that moment it seemed to Samuel Morales that his canoe was rocking not on the dirty waves of the Vinces, but on greenish Kananga water, his favorite scent.
Note 1.66
Her slight smile sends Samuel into a romantic sensory fantasy. A Samuel Morales le pareció uses a doubled dative experiencer: 'it seemed to Samuel'. The contrast no ... sino replaces the dirty Vinces with verdosas aguas de Kananga. This plays on Agua de Kananga, a perfumed water/cologne: his canoe seems to float in the greenish waters of his favorite scent.
§ 1.67
Desde aquella ocasión ,cada noche sonaba su caracola en la Vuelta de los Tamarindos y en la Vuelta Perdida ,al rehacer el camino .
From that night on, he sounded his conch every evening at Vuelta de los Tamarindos and Vuelta Perdida as he retraced his route.
Note 1.67
From then on Samuel keeps the promise implicit in the previous exchange: every night, while retracing his route south, he sounds the conch at both named bends. The commercial signal has become a private ritual addressed to the girl. Al rehacer el camino means 'as/while retracing the route'.
§ 1.68
Ella ,desde su cama ,bajo el toldo que la defendía de los mosquitos y de los primos resbaladizos ,lo escuchaba y ,medio dormida ,sonreía .
From her bed, beneath the canopy that protected her from mosquitoes and slippery cousins, she listened to him and, half asleep, smiled.
Note 1.68
From bed she listens for Samuel's nightly signal and smiles half asleep. Toldo is the protective canopy or mosquito net over the bed. The narrator jokes that it protects her not only from mosquitoes but also from primos resbaladizos—literally 'slippery cousins', with a playful suggestion of sly or amorously intrusive young men. Masculine lo points to Samuel, heard through his conch.
§ 1.69
Así transcurrieron los meses hasta que la muchacha porteña que se llamaba Perpetua o algo por el estilo ,dejó la hacienda para reintegrarse a su colegio de Guayaquil .
And so the months passed until the girl from the port, who was called Perpetua or something like that, left the hacienda to return to her school in Guayaquil.
Note 1.69
The nightly ritual lasts for months and ends when the girl's vacation ends. Porteña here identifies her as a girl from the port city of Guayaquil. The narrator repeats his comic uncertainty about her name—Perpetua o algo por el estilo. Reintegrarse a su colegio means to return to her school in Guayaquil; colegio is 'school' here, not university-level English 'college'.
§ 1.70
Por supuesto ,en el río Vinces ha seguido sonando la caracola de Samuel Morales .
Of course, Samuel Morales's conch has continued to sound on the Vinces River.
Note 1.70
The girl's departure does not end Samuel's river life or the sound associated with their romance. Ha seguido sonando combines the present perfect with seguir + gerund: the conch has continued sounding up to the narrator's present. Por supuesto gives the statement a gently ironic inevitability: of course Samuel kept sounding it.
§ 1.71
Pero ahora su canto es triste ,como el de las valdivias ,que anuncian la muerte bajo la noche medrosa .
But now its song is sad, like that of the valdivias, which foretell death beneath the fearful night.
Note 1.71
The conch still sounds, but its emotional meaning has changed after the girl's departure. Como el de las valdivias contains an ellipsis: el stands for el canto, 'that [song] of the valdivias'. Valdivia is an Ecuadorian vernacular bird name, commonly applied to the laughing falcon, whose call has ominous associations in regional belief. The narrator intensifies that folklore directly: these birds 'announce death' beneath a medrosa, fear-laden night.
§ 1.72
La muchacha no volvió jamás a «El Tesoro ».
The girl never returned to «El Tesoro».
Note 1.72
The narrator closes off any possibility of a reunion: the girl never returned to «El Tesoro». No ... jamás is emphatic negative phrasing, naturally rendered simply as 'never' in English.
§ 1.73
Seguramente se habrá casado y tendrá un rondador de chiquitines .
She has probably married by now and has a whole brood of little children.
Note 1.73
The narrator imagines the girl's later life rather than reporting facts. Both se habrá casado and tendrá use the future to express conjecture: she has probably married and probably has children by now. In Ecuador a rondador is a traditional panpipe with a row of differently sized pipes; rondador de chiquitines is therefore best read as a playful metaphor for a whole row or brood of little children, though the figurative interpretation is an inference.
§ 1.74
Pero hasta mucho tiempo después de su estada en la hacienda ,hasta cinco años después ,para ser preciso ,cada vez que se sentía tomada de melancolía ,imitaba ,con su dulce voz virginal ,el canto de la caracola navegante .
But for a long time after her stay at the hacienda—as much as five years afterward, to be precise—whenever melancholy came over her, she would imitate, in her sweet maidenly voice, the song of the sailing conch.
Note 1.74
Although she never returned, the girl carried the sound of Samuel's conch with her for years—five, the narrator pointedly specifies. Estada is a literary/Latin American word for a stay or sojourn. Cada vez que se sentía tomada de melancolía means 'whenever she felt overcome by melancholy'. The paired imperfects sentía and imitaba make this a repeated habit. Caracola navegante poetically transfers Samuel's movement on the river to the conch and its traveling call.
§ 1.75
Era curioso constatar que ello le traía una plácida consolación .
It was curious to observe that imitating the sound brought her a gentle sense of comfort.
Note 1.75
The remembered sound does not merely deepen her melancholy; reproducing it soothes her. Ello is a neuter pronoun referring to her act of imitating the conch's call, and le refers to the girl. The imperfect traía presents this peaceful consolation as the recurring result of that habit.
§ 1.76
Ésta fue la historia de amor que no quisieron entenderme mis paisanos de Pueblo Viejo ,minúscula aldea perdida en el agro montuvio .
This was the love story that my countrymen of Pueblo Viejo—a tiny village lost in the Montuvio countryside—refused to understand when I told it.
Note 1.76
The final sentence returns to the frame narrative and echoes the narrator's earlier complaint that his listeners in Pueblo Viejo would not understand this understated love story. No quisieron entenderme conveys unwillingness—'they did not want/refused to understand me'—rather than mere inability. Minúscula aldea perdida en el agro montuvio casts Pueblo Viejo as a tiny, remote village in Ecuador's rural coastal Montuvio world, bringing the story back to the audience with whom it began.
