Comienzo · continuación 9

MANRIQUE. ¿Qué miro! Vamos...

(_Reparando en Azucena._)

No le digáis, por Dios, a la cuitada que va su hijo a morir... ¡Madre infelice, hasta la tumba, adiós...! (_Al salir._)

ESCENA IX

LOS MISMOS, _menos_ MANRIQUE

AZUCENA, _incorporándose_. ¿Quién me llamaba? El era, él era. ¡Ingrato... se ha marchado sin llevarme también!

NUÑO. ¡Desventurada! Conoce al fin tu suerte.

AZUCENA. ¡El hijo mío!

NUÑO. Ven a verle morir.

AZUCENA. ¿Qué dices? ¡Calla! ¡Morir... morir!... No, madre,[93] yo no puedo; perdóname, lo quiero con el alma. Esperad, esperad,...

NUÑO. Llevadla.

AZUCENA. ¡Conde!

NUÑO. Que le mire espirar.

AZUCENA. Una palabra, un secreto terrible; haz que suspendan el suplicio un momento.[94]

NUÑO. No; llevadla.

(_La toma por una mano y la arrastra hasta la ventana._)

Ven, mujer infernal... goza en tu triunfo. Mira el verdugo, y en su mano el hacha que va pronto a caer...

(_Se oye un golpe que figura ser él de la cuchilla._)

AZUCENA. ¡Ay! ¡Esa sangre!

NUÑO. Alumbrad a la víctima, alumbradla.

AZUCENA. ¡Sí, sí... luces... él es... tu hermano, imbécil!

NUÑO. ¡Mi hermano, maldición!...

(_La arroja al suelo, empujándola, con furor._)

AZUCENA. ¡Ya estás vengada![95]

(_Con un gesto de amargura, y espira._)

NOTES

[1] =Luna=, a village 30 miles north of Saragossa on the Arba-de-Biel.

[2] =Aragón=, formerly a kingdom of Spain comprising the present provinces of Saragossa, Huesca, and Teruel. The King of Aragon at the time of "El Trovador" was Alfonso V, the Magnanimous.

[3] =Zaragoza=, _Saragossa_, the capital of Aragon, a city of 100,000 inhabitants, situated on the right bank of the Ebro.

[4] =sala corta=, a _drop-scene_, in order to allow the arrangement of the scenery for Scene 2.

[5] =Aljafería.= The Castillo de la Aljafería, outside of the western gate, owes its name to the sheik Abou Dja'far Ahmed who built it. It served later as the residence of the kings of Aragon and the palace of the Inquisition. Partially destroyed in 1809, it has been restored and now serves as a barracks. In visiting it one is shown the "Torreta," the prison which figures in Act V.

[6] =a palos=, _with blows_.

[7] =al otro día=, _on the next day_.

[8] =a guiarse por mis consejos=, _if they had let themselves be guided by my counsels_.

[9] =¡Pues por supuesto!= _Of course._

[10] =Dime con quién andas=, _y te diré quién eres_, an old Spanish proverb resembling our "birds of a feather," etc.

[11] =ni por ésas=, _nor was that of avail_.

[12] =unos ojos tan relucientes=, "_unos_ sometimes seems to mean little more than 'a pair of.'" (_Hills and Ford's Spanish Grammar._)

[13] =un no sé qué de diabólico=, _something diabolical_.

[14] =en tiempos de antaño=, _last year_.

[15] =Urgel=, the seat of a bishopric on the south slope of the Pyrenees, northeast of Saragossa.--=que en mala hora naciera=, _curse him_; lit. "who would that he were born in an evil hour."

[16] =en cuanto a lo demás=, i.e. _in other respects_.

[17] =para lo cual=, i.e. _para entrar en la habitación de Leonor_.

[18] =a lo más oculto del jardín=, the neuter form of the article is used before the masculine form of an adjective, when the adjective is used substantively as the name of a color or as an abstract noun.

[19] =con quién se las había=, "with whom she was having them," i.e. _with whom she was speaking_.

[20] =llegan a saber=, _come to know_.

[21] =para lo que ha dormido=, i.e. _para lo poco que ha dormido_.

[22] =no nos eche de menos=, _let him not miss us_.

[23] =Guillén= (or _Guilhén_), a Catalan form. The Castillian form of this name is _Guillermo_ or _Guillelmo_.

[24] =al de Luna=, "Before a relative clause, and before a phrase introduced by _de_, the definite article is generally used instead of a demonstrative or personal pronoun." (_Hills and Ford's Spanish Grammar._)

[25] =vos= instead of _usted_ is archaic.

[26] =Nunca lo fuerais, por Dios=, _would to God that you were not_.

[27] =¡Ay de mi!= _Alas for me!_

[28] =¿Os pesa de mi venida?= _Are you sorry because of my coming?_

[29] =no tengo nada=, _nothing is the matter with me_.

[30] =vía=, poetic for _veía_.

[31] =sino=, _if not_. Notice the etymological meaning of the word.

[32] =hidalgo de pobre cuna= is vocative.

[33] =le debieron de matar=, _they must have killed him_.

[34] =¿cómo os va de aquella herida?= _How is your wound?_

[35] =Jerusalén.= There still exists a "Convento de Jerusalén" in Saragossa in the Paseo de la Independencia.

[36] =Velilla.= A small town on the Ebro below Saragossa, so-called from the alarm bell of its church, San Nicolas, which was said to toll of its own accord whenever a great calamity was to befall Aragon. It was cast by the Goths who, according to tradition, threw into the fused metal one of the thirty pieces of silver received by Judas.

[37] =lo=, i.e. _religiosa_.

[38] =del mismo altar=, _of the altar itself_.

[39] =entre=, subjunctive after a verb of commanding.

[40] =la voy a perder=, _I am going to lose her_.

[41] =Hoy mismo=, _this very day_.

[42] =entrar a saco=, _to sack_.

[43] =Castellar=, a castle situated about 10 miles west of Saragossa.

[44] =Debe de haber=, _there must be_. Cf. _hay_, "there is."

[45] =puerta del Sol=, a square in the eastern part of Saragossa.

[46] =Pluguiera=, from _placer_, optative subjunctive.

[47] =no las tengo yo todas conmigo=, _I am disturbed_; literally, "I haven't them all with me," i.e. my wits, self-confidence.

[48] =Quiera=, optative subjunctive.

[49] =haga=, subjunctive after a relative with indefinite antecedent.

[50] =de la hoguera en derredor=, i.e. _en derredor de la hoguera_.

[51] =al siniestro resplandor=, i.e. _de la llama trémula_.

[52] =niño=, _young_.

[53] =Haro=, a city of 7976 inhabitants and centre of the celebrated vineyards of Rioja, situated on the Ebro 220 kilometres above Saragossa.

[54] =Vizcaya=, one of the "Basque" provinces in the north of Spain. Its capitol, Bilbao, now a city of 74,093 inhabitants, was founded in 1300 by Diego Lopez de Haro, the person mentioned in this passage.

[55] =Alcázar=, a Moorish word.

[56] =dieron en decir=, _insisted in saying_ or _people would have it that_.

[57] =mal de ojo=, _the evil eye_.

[58] =Yo no hacía otra cosa que=, _I did nothing but_.

[59] =Artal=, the family name of Nuño.

[60] =Que no sepa nunca=, optative subjunctive.

[61] =Estuvo en poco que no se lo descubriera=, _He came very near finding it out_.

[62] =¿qué os hicisteis?= Leonor is addressing the "_tiempos en que amor solía_..."

[63] =a la prenda=, notice the "personal _a_."

[64] =al cielo=, notice "personal _a_."

[65] =Pues que=, _well then_.

[66] =Calle corta=, _drop-scene_.

[67] =por la espalda y por la frente=, _from in front and behind_.

[68] =Ya vuelve=, _she is coming to consciousness_.

[69] =los suyos=, i.e. _sus soldados_.

[70] =Que se escapara=, _to think that he should have escaped_.

[71] =los suyos=, see page 45, note 1.

[72] =Catalanes=, from Cataluña, the northeastern province of Spain.

[73] =que nos hacían gran falta=, _of whom we had great need_.

[74] =por qué arman ese alboroto=, _Why do they raise this disturbance_?

[75] =sea atrevido a=, _dare to_.

[76] =a contártelo yo=, _upon my letting it to you_; _if I were to tell you_.

[77] =tan sólo ha sido=, see vocabulary under _tan_.

[78] =al tocarle osado=, _upon boldly touching it_.

[79] Manrique's dream, though having no importance in the solution of the drama, is of considerable dramatic value as it foreshadows the catastrophe. The phantom of the dream is to be interpreted as Azucena, and the change of Leonor in the dream foreshadows her death in Act V.

[80] =lleva a cuchillo=, _takes with the sword_, or _puts to the sword_.

[81] =puntas de hechicera=, cf. Act I, Scene 1, _ribetes de bruja_.

[82] =fratricido=, Leonor uses this word in a general sense, of course not knowing the specific sense which the spectator may apply to it.

[83] Ruiz is complaining because he has had to pay a high price for the bottle.

[84] =Hagan bien para hacer bien=, "do good that good be done," i.e. _pray_. This is from the prayer for those about to die.

[85] =Ya no puedo ser del Conde=, _I cannot be the Count's_.

[86] =Valencia=, a city on the eastern coast of Spain, at this time in state of civil warfare.

[87] =plugo=, from _placer_.

[88] =Como su madre=, i.e. Azucena's.

[89] =por todo un Dios=, _for heaven's sake_.

[90] =¿Qué tienes?= _What is the matter with you?_

[91] =se acaba por instantes=, _is slowly ebbing away_.

[92] =día=, _by day_.

[93] Azucena addresses her own mother.

[94] Azucena has not the courage to see Manrique die and is going to reveal his identity in order to prevent the execution, but she is too late.