[9.4] ¡Allí fue Troya! Then came the crash! lit. "There was (the fall of) Troy!"
[9.5] soltaron... el hilo de la risa, burst out laughing all together, lit. "loosed the thread of laughter." Similar phrases are: soltar la llave de las lágrimas, escaparse el flujo de la risa, etc., etc.
[9.6] que. The conjunction que is frequently used with a subtle and variable force. Here it lends emphasis and might be rendered by a simple "and": and they needed to badly enough. In line 12; below, it is nearly equivalent to porque. Sometimes it expresses surprise, etc., and may be rendered "so," cf. [page 71], note 2. And elsewhere it shades into a mere expletive, without translatable force.
[9.7] un si es no es, a trifle.
[9.8] que yo, elliptical for en que yo me he visto.
Page 10.—
[10.1] A las pocas brazas de hilo que metió dentro, After hauling in a few fathoms of line, lit. "upon, or after the few fathoms of line that he brought in."
Page 11.—
[11.1] por dar la vuelta, to turn.
[11.2] hiciese la mortecina, were feigning death.