[93.1] summum jus, summa injuria. A Latin saying found in Cicero, De Officiis, 1, 10, 33, where it is quoted as proverbial. It means literally "extreme law (justice) is extreme injustice," and refers to cases where law is rigorously applied without regard to equity or to circumstances. As Cicero puts it (in De Officiis, just before the proverb quoted): "Injuries often exist through a certain chicanery and an over-adroit but malicious interpretation of the law." A similar phrase is found in Terence, Heauton Timoroumenos, vs. 796: jus summum saepe summa est malitia.
[93.2] Barbara, Celare, Dario, Ferioque, Baralipton. Terms invented by medieval scholastic logicians to help in remembering the various forms (technically, moods) of syllogisms. The words in themselves are meaningless. Their vowels represent different types of logical propositions. This jargon (possibly familiar to a few university graduates) is put in the Doctor's mouth for humorous effect; he is depicted as fond of displaying learning. A similar legal speech occurs in le Bourgeois gentilhomme by Molière, Act 2, Scene 6.
[94.1] ¡Ésta es buena! 'That's a good one!' As to this feminine see note [32.3].
[94.2] las doce tablas. The twelve tables constituting the first written compilation of Roman Law, said by Livy and others to have been prepared in two sections (first ten tables, then two) in the fifth century B. C. (452 and later) by a decemvirate of which the principal member was Appius Claudius.
[94.3] Justiniano. Justinian (483-565) the best known of the rulers of the Eastern Roman Empire; he ordered the compilation of the great code corpus juris civilis ('body of the civil law').
Triboniano. Tribonian, a famous jurist, minister under Justinian and one of the leading compilers of the corpus juris civilis.
Emiliano y Triberiano. These names are used humorously. Benavente may have invented them, or he may have meant them as mistaken references of the Doctor to eminent jurists. Thus Emiliano might be Aemilius Papinianus, a Roman jurist who lived about 200 A.D., while Triberiano might relate to the senatusconsultum Trebellianum, ascribed to Trebellius Maximus, a consul in Rome under Nero.
[97.1] Quedaron suspensos... This speech, which may or may not be taken as incomplete, seems to refer to the accusers of Crispín and Leandro, and to mean 'They are taken aback.' It might also refer to the suspension of court proceedings. For the preterit, see note [8.1].
[98.1] Ved. A slight change has to be made in the translation, as is sometimes the case when ver is semi-exclamatory; translate 'look out' or 'be careful about'; cf. the English 'see to.'