Original
Literary translation
§ 1.1
El hombre hizo un gesto de asco .Después arrojó la buchada ,sin reparar que añadía nuevas manchas al sucio mantel de la mesilla .La muchacha se acercó ,solícita ,con el limpión en la mano .—¿Taba caliente ?
The man made a face of disgust. Then he spat out the mouthful, without noticing that he was adding fresh stains to the dirty tablecloth on the little table. The girl came over attentively, cleaning cloth in hand. “Was it hot?”
Note 1.1
The waitress’s Taba represents colloquial pronunciation of estaba, with the initial es- dropped.
§ 1.2
Se revolvió el hombre fastidiado .—El que está caliente soy yo ,¡ajo ! —replicó .
The man turned on her, annoyed. “I’m the one who’s hot, damn it!” he retorted.
Note 1.2
The reply plays on caliente. The waitress means physically hot cacao; the man turns the adjective back on himself to express that he is heated or angry. Ajo is a softened expletive, a minced oath used in place of a stronger swearword.
§ 1.3
De seguida soltó a media voz una colección de palabrotas brutales .Concluyó :—¿Y a esta porquería la llaman cacao ?¿A esta cosa intomable ?
Right away he muttered a string of brutal curses under his breath. He finished: “And they call this filth cacao? This undrinkable stuff?”
Note 1.3
De seguida means 'immediately' or 'straightaway,' while a media voz means in a low voice. Porquería is strongly contemptuous here. Intomable is a transparent formation meaning 'undrinkable' or 'unfit to drink.'
§ 1.4
Mirábalo la sirvienta ,azorada y silenciosa .Desde adentro ,de pie tras el mostrador ,la patrona espectaba .Continuó el hombre :—¡Y pensar que ésta es la tierra del cacao !A tres horas de aquí ya hay huertas ...
The waitress watched him, flustered and silent. From inside, standing behind the counter, the proprietress looked on. The man continued: “And to think this is cacao country! Three hours from here there are already cacao groves...”
Note 1.4
The syntax and vocabulary become more literary in the narration: Mirábalo is miraba + lo with the object pronoun attached to the verb, and espectaba means 'watched' or 'looked on.' Huertas literally means cultivated gardens or plots; after tierra del cacao, it refers here to nearby cacao-growing plots or groves.
§ 1.5
Expresó esto en un tono suave ,nostálgico ,casi dulce ...
He said this in a gentle, nostalgic, almost sweet tone...
Note 1.5
The description marks an abrupt emotional shift: after the man’s disgust and swearing, the thought of the nearby cacao country makes his voice gentle and nostalgic.
§ 1.6
Y se quedó contemplando a la muchacha .Después ,bruscamente ,se dirigió a ella :—Yo no vivo en Guayaquil ,¿sabe ? Yo vivo allá ,allá ...en las huertas .
And he remained looking at the girl. Then, abruptly, he addressed her: “I don’t live in Guayaquil, you know. I live out there, out there... among the cacao plantations.”
Note 1.6
In this cacao context, huertas refers not simply to vegetable gardens but to cultivated cacao plots or plantations.
§ 1.7
Agregó ,absurdamente confidencial :—He venido porque tengo un hijo enfermo ,¿sabe ?, mordido de culebra ...Lo dejé esta tarde en el hospital de niños ...Se morirá ,sin duda ...Es la mala pata ...
He added, with an oddly confiding air: “I’ve come because I have a sick son, you know—bitten by a snake... I left him this afternoon at the children’s hospital... He’ll die, no doubt... It’s bad luck...”
Note 1.7
Mordido de culebra means bitten by a snake. The repeated ¿sabe? gives his speech a confiding, almost helpless quality. Mala pata is a colloquial idiom meaning bad luck or misfortune, not literally a bad leg or paw.
§ 1.8
La muchacha estaba ahora más cerca .Calladita ,calladita .Jugando con los vuelos del delantal .Quería decir :—Yo soy de allá ,tambén ;de allá ...de las huertas ...
The girl was closer now. She was very, very quiet, playing with the ruffles of her apron. She wanted to say: “I’m from out there too; from out there... from the cacao plantations...”
Note 1.8
Calladita is the diminutive of callada; here, repeating it, intensifies the description. Tambén is a nonstandard representation of también, marking her speech. Vuelos refers to the decorative ruffles or flounces of the apron.
§ 1.9
Habría sonreído al decir esto .Pero no lo decía .Lo pensaba ,sí ,vagamente .Y atormentaba los flequillos de randa con los dedos nerviosos .
She would have smiled as she said it. But she did not say it. She had the thought, though only vaguely. And her nervous fingers fiddled with the lace trim.
Note 1.9
The conditional Habría sonreído imagines the smile that would have accompanied words she never actually speaks. Atormentaba is literally 'tormented'; applied to the lace fringe, it vividly describes nervous fidgeting, or twisting it with her fingers. Randa is lace trim used to ornament clothing.
§ 1.10
Gritó la patrona :—¡María ! ¡Atienda al señor del reservado !
The proprietress shouted: “María! See to the gentleman in the private room!”
Note 1.10
Patrona is the woman who owns or runs the establishment. Here reservado is a noun referring to a private or set-apart room or section of the café, not the adjective 'reserved.'
§ 1.11
Era mentira .Sólo una señal convenida de apresurarse era .Porque ni había señor ,ni había reservado .No había sino estas cuatro mesitas entre estas cuatro paredes ,bajo la luz angustiosa de la lámpara de querosén .Y ,al fondo ,el mostrador ,debajo del cual las dos mujeres dormían apelotonadas ,abrigándose la una con el cuerpo de la otra .Nada más .Se levantó el hombre para marcharse .
It was a lie, only an agreed signal telling her to hurry. There was no gentleman and no private room. There were only these four little tables between these four walls, under the oppressive light of the kerosene lamp; and at the back, the counter, beneath which the two women slept huddled together, each keeping the other warm with her body. Nothing more. The man got up to leave.
Note 1.11
The narrator reveals that the patrona’s shouted order was only a prearranged signal for María to hurry. No había sino means 'there was nothing but' or 'there were only.' The description of the two women sleeping under the counter emphasizes the poverty and cramped conditions of the café.
§ 1.12
—¿Cuánto es ?La sirvienta aproximose más aún a él .Tal como estaba ahora ,la patrona únicamente la veía de espaldas ;no veía el accionar de sus manos nerviosas ,ilógicas .—¿Cuánto es ?
“How much is it?” The waitress moved even closer to him. From where she now stood, the proprietress could see only her back; she could not see the strange movements of her nervous hands. “How much is it?”
Note 1.12
Aproximose is literary or older enclitic word order: aproximó + se, equivalent to modern se aproximó. El accionar is a noun meaning the action, activity, or movements of her hands. Ilógicas suggests that the nervous gestures are purposeless or irrational rather than literally governed by faulty logic.
§ 1.13
—Nada ... nada ...—¿Eh ? —Sí ; no es nada ...,no cuesta nada ...Como no te gustó ...
“Nothing... nothing...” “Huh?” “Yes; it’s nothing... there’s no charge... Since you didn’t like it...”
Note 1.13
The girl refuses payment because he disliked the cacao. No cuesta nada literally means 'it costs nothing.' Her use of te in Como no te gustó addresses him with the familiar singular form, which adds intimacy and social immediacy to the exchange.
§ 1.14
Sonreía la muchacha mansamente ,miserablemente ;lo mismo que ,a veces ,suelen mirar los perros .Repitió ,musitando :—Nada ... Suplicaba casi al hablar .
The girl smiled meekly, pitifully, the way a dog will sometimes look at you. She murmured again, “Nothing...” Her words were almost a plea.
Note 1.14
The comparison to dogs is deliberately humbling and painful: her smile is submissive and pleading. Mansamente means meekly or gently; miserablemente here is best understood as pitiably or wretchedly. Musitando means speaking in a very low murmur.
§ 1.15
El hombre rezongó ,satisfecho :—¿Ah ? Bueno ...Y salió .
The man grumbled, satisfied: “Oh? All right...” And left.
Note 1.15
Rezongar means to mutter or grumble in a low, somewhat displeased voice. The adjective satisfecho creates a sharp contrast with the girl’s near-pleading generosity: he accepts the free drink and leaves.
§ 1.16
Fue al mostrador la muchacha .Preguntó la patrona :—¿Te dio propina ?—No ; sólo los dos reales de la taza ...
The girl went to the counter. The proprietress asked, “Did he give you a tip?” “No; only the two reales for the cup...”
Note 1.16
Dos reales refers to the price of the drink in an older currency denomination. The line makes clear that the man paid only for the cacao and left no tip.
§ 1.17
Extrajo del bolsillo del delantal unas monedas que colocó sobre el zinc del mostrador .—Ahí están .
She took some coins from the pocket of her apron and placed them on the zinc-covered counter. “Here.”
Note 1.17
El zinc del mostrador refers to the zinc or sheet-metal surface covering the counter, a common practical surface in modest establishments.
§ 1.18
Se lamentó la mujer :—No se puede vivir ...Nadie da propina ...No se puede vivir ...La muchacha no la escuchaba ya .
The woman complained: “How can you make a living... Nobody tips... You can’t make a living...” The girl was no longer listening to her.
Note 1.18
No se puede vivir is idiomatic here: not simply 'one cannot live,' but 'you can’t make a living' under these economic conditions. The repetition underscores the patrona’s habitual frustration, while the girl’s attention has already shifted elsewhere.
§ 1.19
Iba ,de prisa ,a atender a un cliente recién llegado .Andaba mecánicamente .Tenía en los ojos ,obsesionante ,la visión de las huertas natales ,el paisaje cerrado de las arboledas de cacao .Y le acalambraba el corazón un ruego para que Dios no permitiera la muerte del desconocido hijo de aquel hombre entrevisto .
She hurried to wait on a customer who had just arrived, moving mechanically. Before her eyes rose the haunting vision of the plantations back home, the dense, shaded cacao groves. Her heart ached as she prayed that God would spare the son of that man she had seen only in passing.
Note 1.19
The girl is physically returning to work while mentally remaining in the cacao country of her childhood. Huertas natales means the cultivated lands of her native place; arboledas de cacao are groves of cacao trees. Le acalambraba el corazón is a striking figurative expression: literally, the prayer 'cramped' or seized her heart, conveying painful emotional constriction. Entrevisto means only briefly or imperfectly seen.
