Chapter 10

[31.4] =a los hombres os parece= 'you men think.' When a noun is in apposition with a personal pronoun, it is regularly preceded by the article, because it is used in a general sense: 'to [all you] men.'

[31.5] =pasarás por= 'you will be regarded as.' See page 21, note 3.

[32.1] =Pepe.= Being put before =lo= (instead of after =deseando=), =Pepe= seems to be left suspended; it is necessarily followed by a very slight pause and is to be stressed.

[32.2] =No digas.= Supply =que no= or =nada=. The idea is that the speaker rejects any contradiction or attempt at denial on the part of the interlocutor. 'Don't contradict me.' Cf. page 6, note 8.

[32.3] =la toman.= The feminine of a pronoun is often used to indicate something indefinite. Some feminine noun may be understood to explain the gender; =cosa= is frequently suggested. Often we cannot know what noun (if any) is to be supplied. See vocabulary under =tomar=.

[33.1] =donde... tenga=. Equivalent to a relative clause (=donde= = =en= + relative pronoun) requiring the subjunctive because =tener= (=tenga=) expresses not reality but an ideal yet to be fulfilled.

[33.2] =aguantaba.= See page 9, note 1. The sentence is ironical; =cualquiera=, therefore, has the implication of _nobody_.

[34.1] =Y aun piden las mujeres que os concedan.= An abrupt change, natural in conversation, from the third person to the second.

LOS INTERESES CREADOS

Hardly any of Benavente's plays has made a more favorable impression than =Los intereses creados=. Not only were the first performances enthusiastically received by the audiences, but they called forth highly flattering criticisms. Praise was showered upon the author for his simplicity and idealism, for the effective symbolism conveyed in the characters, and for purity, clearness, and poetry of style. (See the first note, on =el tinglado de la antigua farsa=, page 39, note 2.) So great was the admiration that a banquet was given in honor of Benavente. The first performance of the play was in the Teatro Lara, situated on the Corredera Baja de San Pablo, considerably to the north of the Puerta del Sol; the Teatro Lara is devoted to comedy and especially to short productions.

Literally translated, the title is 'Created Interests'; in the course of the play Crispín explains the application of the term.

_Los intereses creados_ is a product of enthusiasm. The author is glad for once to turn away from modern themes and to indulge in the freedom and gayety of the old Italian Comedy of Masks. The masterly prologue explains to perfection the frame of mind in which Benavente approaches the old farces, and it also shows wherein he differs from his models.

Attempts to classify this play with other works of Benavente are almost useless. It can be connected with its fellow productions only by virtue of fundamental qualities, such as clarity of style, irony, character study, etc. It would be stretching a point if we called attention to the nobility of Leandro's character and to the happy ending in order to insert the play among those that show a serious moral purpose. A more logical course would be to attribute _Los intereses creados_ to Benavente's love of romance.

No explanatory or critical statements can rival the prologue. Whatever critics may decide to call it, the characters live and move, and offer amusement and food for thought to all classes of persons.

Admirers of _Los intereses creados_ may receive a shock when they turn to the sequel, _La ciudad alegre y confiada_, in which a tone of pessimism prevails. Crispín has risen to be the ruler of the city that he had once entered as a servant, but in spite of his magnificence, his life is not as joyous as of old. Leandro is not happy as the son-in-law of Polichinela, nor even as the husband of Silvia. The protagonist of the piece is El Desterrado, a man once exiled by Crispín, but later permitted to return to the city. The play was greeted with enthusiasm, but it does not seem quite to reach the standard of its predecessor. The atmosphere is surcharged with impending disaster. In the prologue to _Los intereses creados_ it is stated that the world has aged since the days of the old farces; we may go further and state that in _La ciudad alegre y confiada_ the world of _Los intereses creados_ has grown old.

Puppet performances go back to the Italian _commedia dell'arte_ (Comedy of the Guild, Professional Comedy) which flourished especially in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. The Italian plays were for the most part mere scenarios; the speeches were improvised by the actors. This kind of performance was peculiarly suited to the histrionic ability of the Italians, and to their genius for gestures. The _commedia dell'arte_ was received with favor in many countries of Europe, and its influence was felt by some of the greatest authors. The modern Punch and Judy show is its direct descendant.

The characters in these old comedies are mostly fixed types with fixed masks and costumes, and often fixed names, that occur, with additions, omissions, and variations, in all the plays. Some of them--notably the braggart soldier, the crafty servant, the lovers, the deceived parents, and the intermediary--are traced through the Renaissance to the comedies of Plautus and Terence and to the New Comedy of Athens, nearly all of which is lost. Others have a later origin. Benavente has achieved remarkable success in preserving the conventional traits of his figures, and at the same time in investing them with modern qualities. The more important masks in _Los intereses creados_ are listed below, with very brief notes designed to point out the usual characteristics of each, and, where necessary, certain modifications introduced by Benavente. It must not be forgotten that each character is carefully delineated both from the old and from the modern point of view.

THE CHARACTERS IN _LOS INTERESES CREADOS_

SIRENA--the elderly woman who lives by her wits and acts as a go-between in love affairs.

SILVIA--the typical heroine.

SEÑORA DE POLICHINELA (Punch's wife)--frequently at odds with her husband; rather a colorless figure in _Los intereses creados_.

COLOMBINA (Columbine, fixed name)--a fairy-like dancer, represented as wooed by Harlequin.

LEANDRO--the typical hero.

CRISPÍN--the crafty servant.

EL DOCTOR--the pompous, showy, corrupt man of the law.

POLICHINELA (Punch, fixed name)--one of the most prominent puppet characters, whose general qualities are hard to define; sometimes described as essentially ridiculous; very often represented as deformed and as a knave.

ARLEQUÍN (Harlequin, fixed name)--a graceful and acrobatic character, sometimes supposed to be invisible and a spirit of the air; Benavente makes him a poet.

EL CAPITÁN--the braggart soldier, considerably toned down in _Los intereses creados_.

PANTALÓN (Pantaloon, fixed name)--a silly old man (frequently a merchant) considered a butt of ridicule and fair game for all.

EL HOSTELERO (the Innkeeper)--generally an object of ridicule in all literature; not particularly connected with the _commedia dell'arte_.

EL SECRETARIO--a fit companion for the Doctor; not particularly connected with the _commedia dell'arte_.

[39.1] =primer término.= See the following diagram for this and other stage directions.

(The directions =derecha= and =izquierda= are given from the standpoint of the actors, not from that of the audience; they are feminine to agree with =mano=, understood.)

C F ________________________ / \ / \ B / \ E / \ A / \ D

A--D: =proscenio= = front. (The part of the stage between its outer edge and the curtain.)

A--B: =primera derecha= = front, right.

B--C: =segunda derecha= = back, right.

D--E: =primera izquierda= = front, left.

E--F: =segunda izquierda= = back, left.

A--D--E--B: =primer término= = foreground.

C--F: =foro= = rear, back.

[39.2] =el tinglado de la antigua farsa=. In general, the language of _Los intereses creados_ is modern; but by the use of well-chosen archaisms Benavente imparts to this play something of the spirit of the period in which the events are supposed to take place. The action of the piece is assigned to the beginning of the seventeenth century.

[39.3] =el Puente Nuevo= _le Pont-Neuf_ (literally 'the New Bridge'). One of the oldest and most famous bridges in Paris; for a long time the most frequented spot in the city.

[39.4] =Tabarín.= Assumed name of Jean Salomon (c. 1584-1633), a celebrated street actor who gave performances in Paris, thereby winning lasting fame and attracting the attention of famous French authors; the name is adopted as a type of farcical comedian.

[39.5] =que.= Used instead of =porque= to mean 'for' or 'because'; it occurs repeatedly in this sense in _Los intereses creados_, and is, in general, common in all sorts of language, particularly in poetry; but =porque= more strongly expresses the idea of cause, whereas this =que= expresses an additional fact without stressing that fact as a cause.

[40.1] =que.= See preceding note.

[40.2] =Lope de Rueda.= A famous itinerant actor-manager and playwright of the middle of the sixteenth century; he is regarded as the founder of the modern Spanish theater.

=Shakespeare.= Linked with the old farces by such works as _A Midsummer Night's Dream_.

=Molière.= Influenced, particularly in his early plays, by the _commedia dell'arte_.

[40.3] =guiñolesca=. An adjective formed from the Spanish =guiñol= derived from the French _guignol_, meaning 'Punch' or 'the theater of Punch.'

[40.4] =comedia del Arte.= See page 118.

[40.5] =italiano.= We should expect =italiana=, in agreement with =comedia=; either =italiano= is a misprint, or it is attracted by the gender of the masculine =Arte=.

[40.6] =niñerías.= See page 7, note 3.

[41.1] =diga.= Subjunctive on account of the general command involved in the stage directions, which makes the relative clause indefinite.

[41.2] =en... dado.= The vocabulary should be examined whenever =dar en= occurs. Not only does this idiom mean 'hit upon,' 'chance upon,' or 'strike,' but it may also signify 'take a notion to.'

[41.3] =Picardía.= A noun of double meaning; as a common noun =picardía= denotes 'knavery' or 'roguery,' and as a proper noun =Picardía= is the name of an old province in Northern France centering in the valley of the Somme, and called Picardie (Picardy). In the thirteenth century there sprang up in Picardy a sect of heretics who became known as _les picards_, which came to mean 'rogues,' 'oath-breakers,' etc. François Villon alludes to them, and they were widely known.

[41.4] =asiento.= Another play on words, for =asiento= means 'seat' or 'bench'; hence the reference to the hardness of a seat in the galleys; =hacer asiento= is 'make a stop' or 'halt'; the pun is scarcely translatable.

[42.1] =que=, =malvendiéndolos= (freely translated) 'when, by selling them (even) at a loss.' Here =que= may be taken as a relative pronoun, direct object of =malvendiendo=; in this case =los= repeats =que=. Or we may assume that =que= is a relative pronoun having no grammatical connection with what follows (_i.e._ the phenomenon known as anacolouthon). This =que= might also be considered a conjunction introducing an additional statement that amounts to an objection ('but,' 'for,' 'when'). In any case the general meaning of the sentence is clear.

[42.2] =desabrido.= See page 11, note 4.

[42.3] =Somos los hombres= 'We men are'; see page 31, note 4.

[42.4] =así.= Used as a conjunction; see vocabulary.

[44.1] =Que ella... sea.= 'May it be.' A modified imperative expressing a wish. Cf. page 3, note 2.

[44.2] =llamasteis.= As the modern form would be either =llamaste= or =llamó= (according to whether the speaker uses =tú= or =usted=), =llamasteis= is an archaism and properly corresponds to the archaic form of address =vos=. Here living Spanish requires (=usted=) =llamó=, or (=tú=) =llamaste=, if the speaker may appropriately use =tú=. =Vos= is confined to poetic style, and to solemn addresses, for instance, to God, to royalty, or to high dignitaries, etc.

Everywhere in _Los intereses creados_ we find =vos= instead of =usted= and, consequently, =vuestro= etc. instead of =su= or =de usted=. With =vos= the verb must of course be in the true second person plural (_e.g._ =llamáis=). See the note on =la antigua farsa=, page 39, note 2. See Bello-Cuervo, §§ 234, 235.

[44.3] =fue= is intentionally archaic and is used for emphasis. See page 8, note 1.

[44.4] =llamáis.= See note 2 (just above).

[44.5] =se.= The reflexive makes =estar= connote stopping or delaying or standing.

[45.1] =que.= This =que= is elliptical. A natural English rendering is made possible if we use 'or.'

[45.2] =a lo que.= See page 10, note 3.

[46.1] =soy con vosotros= 'I'll attend to you presently.' A special locution; for, in general, we should expect =estoy=; but for this meaning =soy= is the correct living form. This phrase has usually a future sense. Here, the exact time expressed by =soy= may be present and may be future. This idiom must not be confused with =estar con= denoting locality.

[46.2] =¡Buena la hicisteis!= (Ironically) 'That's a fine thing you've done!' For the feminine, see page 32, note 3.

[46.3] =Ordenanzas.= Ordinances or police regulations that required (and still require) Spanish innkeepers to report to the authorities within twenty-four hours of the arrival of a guest, his name, the place from which he comes, his business, and other details. A satisfactory statement of the law is to be found in the _Novísima recopilación, Lib. III, Tit. XIX, Ley XXVII, 4_. The _Novísima recopilación_ is published in fairly convenient form in Alcubilla's _Códigos antiguos de España_ (page 1011). Of course the date assigned to the action of _Los intereses creados_ is anterior to 1805, the year of the formulation of the code just mentioned; but the legal requirement was approximately the same in the earlier time.

[46.4] =¡Veníos!= The reflexive with intransitive verbs of motion is borrowed from a similar construction with transitive verbs (_e.g._ =moverse=, =arrojarse=, etc.) and does not appreciably change the meaning of the verb; it is probably to be regarded as a mere sign of spontaneity. See Bello-Cuervo, note 102.

[47.1] =Aretino.= Pietro Aretino (1492-1566), the most notorious literary blackmailer of the Italian Renaissance; also an author of ability. He was born in Arezzo (whence Aretino), but is more closely associated with Venice.

[48.1] =¡Pobres de ellos...!= "When adjectives are used as interjections before personal pronouns =de= is interposed." Ramsey, § 1431. Translate 'Woe to them...!' Cf. page 15, note 2.

[48.2] =por melancólico.= Supply =ser= and translate 'because it is sad.'

[48.3] =¿Sois vosotros?= In English the verb is in the third person singular: 'Is it you?'

[49.1] =hagan merced.= An archaism corresponding to the modern =hagan (ustedes) el favor=.

[49.2] =tengo dedicado.= =Tener= and =llevar= are sometimes used instead of =haber= with the past participle, after the manner of auxiliaries; but they are not true auxiliaries, because the participle is treated as an adjective and therefore agrees with the object in gender and number. =Tener= really denotes possession and is more emphatic than =haber=.

[49.3] =he menester.= This expression, with =haber= as principal verb, is not unknown even in modern prose. In general, however, the use of =haber= as an independent verb is archaic.

[50.1] =¡No miraré nada!= 'I shall not stop at anything!' Cf. page 22, note 2.

[50.2] =ha= (=más de un mes=). In this sense =hace= is much more common than =ha= in modern Spanish.

[50.3] =un.= Very commonly used for =una= before a feminine word beginning with stressed =a= or =ha=; for this apocopation see Bello-Cuervo, § 156.

[51.1] =mírese.= Cf. page 22, note 2; the reflexive adds nothing that can be rendered into English; it is scarcely more than an ethical dative.

[51.2] =¿Cómo conocidos?= 'How known?' 'What do you mean by known?' An elliptical expression, not impossible in colloquial English.

[51.3] =Olvidados los tengo.= Note agreement of =olvidados= with =los= and see page 49, note 2.

[52.1] =vos.= The conventional form of address; see page 44, note 2.

[52.2] =¿Cómo si sabemos?= 'What do you mean by asking if we know?' See page 51, note 2.

[52.3] =vosotros... vos.= An illustration of the distinction between the two pronouns; =vosotros=, the real plural, refers to the company attacking, while =vos=, the artificial plural, refers to the captain; for the singular form =espada=, see page 4, note 3.

[52.4] =hará que se os trate= 'he will have you treated.' =Hacer= followed by =que= and the subjunctive, meaning literally 'make that,' 'bring it about that,' is translated like =hacer= with the infinitive; =que= is suppressed.

[53.1] =No he librado de mala= 'I've had a narrow escape.' =Librarse de buena= means 'escape from danger.' The omission of the reflexive makes the expression briefer and more forceful. For the feminine =mala= (originally followed, perhaps, by =ventura=), see page 32, note 3.

[53.2] =Agradeceros.= Supply some verb such as =puedo= before the infinitive; the construction is permissible in English in certain cases; it makes it appear that the infinitive replaces the indicative. The statement thereby seems less personal.

[55.1] =hay para.= See vocabulary under =haber= (=hay=).

[55.2] =¡Que una dama se vea!= 'To think that a lady should see herself!' Another elliptical sentence dependent upon some such expression as =es posible=.

[56.1] =hasta emplearlo yo= 'until I employed him.' Note that =emplear= is governed by =hasta= and that =yo= is its subject.

[56.2] =Triste de.= See page 48, note 1.

[56.3] =ser llegado.= A relic of the auxiliary =ser= with intransitive verbs of motion. This construction is common in Old Spanish, rare in Cervantes, and almost non-existent now. A few survivals occur even in prose, and of such survivals =es llegado= is perhaps the most common. See Bello-Cuervo, § 1119.

[56.4] =no sería= 'could not have been.' Conditional of probability in the past.

[56.5] =la doña Sirena de mis veinte= 'the doña Sirena that I was at the age of twenty.' =Años= must be supplied, as is clear from the succeeding speeches. Colombina pretends to suppose that some other word (_e.g._ =amantes=) might be intended.

[57.1] =creyera.= Imperfect subjunctive, substituted occasionally for the pluperfect when negation is strong.

[59.1] =Con ser tal.= Equivalent to 'although' and a dependent clause. With the infinitive =con= denotes means, cause, condition, or concession. In translating we use sometimes the present participle, and sometimes a dependent clause.

[59.2] =no anduviera= 'would not be.' When substituted for =ser=, =andar= usually implies continuance or permanence, and strengthens the statement.

[59.3] =a no fiar tanto= 'if he did not rely so much.' =A= + infinitive is commonly equivalent to a conditional clause.

[60.1] =Ya me iréis conociendo= 'you will learn to know me gradually.' See page 7, note 2.

[61.1] =con ser= 'being.' See page 59, note 1.

[61.2] =¡Si así fuera siempre!= 'If it were only always thus!'--a wish that cannot be realized.

[62.1] =referidos= 'if told,' 'if they were told.' See page 3, note 6.

[64.1] =se entró.= For the reflexive see page 46, note 4.

[65.1] =anduvimos.= See page 59, note 2.

[66.1] =Ya se me tarda en verle.= This idiom has a very archaic flavor. See vocabulary, under =tardar=.

[66.2] =vendríais.= An unusual construction; the subjunctive is the normal form after =temer=. It would appear that in this instance the verb has lost its emotional character, and has become almost equal to a verb of believing. The Dictionary of the Spanish Academy admits =sospechar= ('suspect') as a secondary meaning of =temer=.

[66.3] =cómo vengo de sofocada= 'how out of breath I come.' The use of =cómo= causes the insertion of =de=.

[66.4] =con que.= See page 3, note 1.

[68.1] =habéis.= This is a real plural, referring to Silvia and Leandro. =Que= may be taken as a conjunction meaning 'so that' or 'for.' If we consider =que= a relative pronoun, there is no proper antecedent for it; such a construction, however, would not be impossible in conversation.

[68.2] =jorobas.= Punch is usually represented as a hunchback.

[68.3] =por esos mares= (freely translated) 'on the high seas.' =Ese= at times assumes a peculiar meaning that defies literal translation. It refers in a vague way to something on a large scale familiar to everybody, but particularly familiar to the person addressed. Note the expression =por esas calles de Dios= and the name of the periodical =Por esos mundos=.

[69.1] =haciéndole que mire= 'making him look.' See page 52, note 4.

[70.1] =llevo remado.= Note the use of =llevar= as an auxiliary. See page 49, note 2.

[71.1] =lo que me hago.= Ethical dative. See page 15, note 1.

[72.1] =no me importó menos perderme= 'I cared less about being lost,' 'I didn't even mind being lost.' The preceding clause is in itself negative; =menos= makes the succeeding negative even stronger. Cf. the English 'I don't know and care less.'

[72.2] =algo que fuera.= Subjunctive in a relative clause with an indefinite antecedent.

[74.1] =que= 'until.' A conversational use of =que= for the full =a que= (_i.e._ =hasta que=).

[75.1] =sigo.= This verb frequently means 'follow,' but when used with the present participle, it should be translated 'continue' or 'go on.' In this use it emphasizes, even more strongly than ir, continuity of action.

[76.1] =decirme.= See page 53, note 2.

[79.1] =como.= Note the use of =como= with the subjunctive in a conditional sense; see vocabulary.

[80.1] =hayas.= Archaically and poetically used for =tengas=. See page 49, note 3.

[80.2] =Decidme lo que sea.= 'Tell me what has become.' The subjunctive is due to the indefiniteness of the relative clause (cf. English 'what may have become'), because Colombina is uncertain as to Leandro's fate. When followed by =de= the verb =ser= often takes the meaning 'become of.'

[83.1] =todo lo enamorado y lo fiel y lo noble que tú quieras y ella pueda desear= 'just as much in love and just as faithful and noble as you like and she can desire.' =Lo= is used idiomatically before an adjective followed by a clause with =que=; the adjective agrees with a following noun or pronoun. The usual translation ('how') is impossible here. =Todo= intensifies =lo=. For examples see Ramsey, § 1358.

[84.1] =me acusó más de torpe.= If, after =de=, we supply =ser=, the sentence becomes clear.

[85.1] =¿Piensas... son para olvidarlas?= 'Do you think that the deeds of Mantua and Florence are (of a nature) to be forgotten?' Note that Spanish has the active infinitive (literally 'to forget them') where the passive is used in English. =Las= is superfluous in translation.

[85.2] =Bolonia.= The Italian city of Bologna, especially famous as a center of legal studies.

[85.3] =considerandos... resultandos.= Typical terms in legal documents (cf. the Doctor's speech, page 104, lines 1-7). Crispín, making fun of lawyers' language, uses the words as substantives and in the plural.

[89.1] =haceos del doliente.= An archaism; the modern idiom is =hacerse el doliente=.

[89.2] =sabré.= Supply =hacer=.