Un extraño, al oirlo, habría creído que se trataba de enemigos feroces a quienes era menester negarles el fuego y el agua.
—Manuel T. Podestá (Argentino)
Chapter Footnotes:
[1] hervía de gente, was crowded with people. The verb hervía, ‘to boil,’ suggests the idea of ‘running over.’ VARIANT: Estaba atestado de gente.
[2] le daba por ..., which reached his ....
[3] anillo de chispa, ring with a very small diamond.
[4] con alguno de su confianza, with some intimate friend.
[5] a hurtadillas, slyly, furtively.
[6] su hogar y sus majadas, their homes and their herds; equivalent to English ‘hearths and homes.’
[7] el fulano de los mates, what’s-his-name who serves «mate»; the servant whose duty it was to serve mate to the people in the clubrooms.