Day 120: A Eulogy for Our Old Bookstore

Dialogue

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1. 1
   A

   Llevo una hora con el primer párrafo y suena a esquela de periódico. ¿Y si abrimos con una frase de don Lucio?

   I've spent an hour on the first paragraph and it sounds like a death notice in the paper. What if we open with one of Don Lucio's sayings?

   Line 1
2. 2
   B

   ¿Cuál, la de “si usted leyese más, compraría menos tonterías”? La librería cierra, Ciro, pero don Lucio sigue vivito y coleando.

   Which one, “if you read more, you'd buy less junk”? The bookstore's closing, Ciro, but Don Lucio is still alive and kicking.

   Line 2
3. 3
   A

   Justo por eso. Cada sábado me recibía con su “joven, si usted quisiese hojear gratis, se iría a la biblioteca”, y yo volvía feliz.

   That's exactly why. Every Saturday he'd greet me with his “young man, if you wanted to browse for free, you'd go to the library,” and I happily kept coming back.

   Line 3
4. 4
   B

   Porque eras masoquista. Aunque es cierto: cuanto más nos corría, más volvíamos. Así nos conocimos, sentados en el piso del pasillo de poesía.

   Because you were a masochist. Though it's true: the more he threw us out, the more we came back. That's how we met, sitting on the floor of the poetry aisle.

   Line 4
5. 5
   A

   Peleándonos el último ejemplar de Sabines. Y él, desde la caja: “Si ustedes se pusiesen de acuerdo, no me destrozarían el lomo”.

   Fighting over the last copy of Sabines. And him, from the register: “If you two could come to an agreement, you wouldn't be breaking my spine.”

   Line 5
6. 6
   B

   Y sí nos pusimos de acuerdo: en odiarlo. Pero quien no lo conozca va a leer esas frases y creer que es un ogro.

   And we did come to an agreement: to hate him. But anyone who doesn't know him will read those sayings and think he's an ogre.

   Line 6
7. 7
   A

   Era un ogro, pero de los que te apartaban el libro que no podías pagar y te lo fiaban hasta la quincena.

   He was an ogre, but the kind who'd put aside the book you couldn't afford and let you have it on credit till payday.

   Line 7
8. 8
   B

   Cuanto más gruñón lo pintemos, más se va a notar lo buena gente que es. Pero la de las tonterías no, que me la dijo a mí.

   The grumpier we paint him, the more it'll show what a good guy he is. But not the junk one, because he said that one to me.

   Line 8
9. 9
   A

   Por querer esconder un libro de autoayuda debajo de El laberinto de la soledad. Esa frase es patrimonio potosino, Janet.

   For trying to hide a self-help book under The Labyrinth of Solitude. That saying is part of San Luis Potosí's heritage, Janet.

   Line 9
10. 10
    B

    Va, pero cerramos con la mía, la del letrero de la caja: “Aquí no hay wifi; hablen entre ustedes, como si fuesen gente”.

    OK, but we end with mine, the one on the sign by the register: “There's no wifi here; talk to each other, as if you were people.”

    Line 10
11. 11
    A

    Órale. Y pegamos la despedida en la cortina, para que por fin alguien lea gratis ahí sin que don Lucio lo corra.

    You're on. And we'll stick the farewell on the shutter, so that at last someone can read there for free without Don Lucio throwing them out.

    Line 11