Spanish Tales for Beginners

by Unknown

[[80-6]] á poco más: see under poco, in Vocab.]

[[80-7]] no lo dejó, 'it did not stop [raining].'

[[80-10]] por no tener, 'on account of not having,' or 'because it did not have.'

[[80-11]] aprendiz de río, 'an apprentice of a river.'

[[80-17]] Móstoles: the wine-grower of Móstoles had been mentioned before. He had a wine-shop at Móstoles, about nine miles west of Madrid, and had recently established a branch in the outskirts of Madrid beside the Manzanares. In a meadow between the wine-shop and the river the empty wine-casks (cubas) were accumulating.

81.—[[81-4]] del agua sacarían vino=sacarían vino del agua.

[[81-7]] Oir Alvar, 'for Alvar to hear': see note, page 79, l. 10.

[[81-19]] coronada villa del oso.—The arms of Madrid show a bear climbing a madroño (see Vocab.). The crest is a crown.

82.—[[82-2]] Otra te pego=te pegaré otra [paliza, bofetada, or some such word].

[[82-5]] me, 'from me': me is dat. of separation or privation.—una va llena, 'one is full (lit., 'one goes full'). Note that va llena is taken for ballena. As a matter of fact, most Spaniards pronounce b and v alike. See the Hills-Ford Spanish Grammar, § 6.