Day 2: The Historian's Third Rejection
At home in Puebla, Celestino (A), a retired historian, reads out the reviewers' report on his article about the Battle of Puebla to his wife Antonieta (B), a retired editor.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a Spanish word to see what it means.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Spanish, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning
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A
Tercer rechazo, Antonieta. Escucha: “Si el autor revisase sus fuentes con mayor rigor, el texto ganaría en solidez”.
Third rejection, Antonieta. Listen: “Were the author to revise his sources with greater rigor, the text would gain in solidity.”
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B
¿“Revisase”? En cuarenta años como editora jamás dejé pasar uno, y ellos lo escriben con orgullo.
“Revisase”? In forty years as an editor I never let one through, and they write it with pride.
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A
Y el segundo dictaminador remata: “Sea cual fuere la decisión del comité, convendría que el autor consultase los originales”.
And the second reviewer piles on: “Whatever the committee's decision may be, it would be advisable for the author to consult the originals.”
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B
¡“Sea cual fuere”! Ese dictamen parece escrito con pluma de ganso el mismo 5 de mayo de 1862.
“Whatever... may be”! That report looks as if it was written with a quill on May 5, 1862, itself.
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A
Y encima dicen que cito mal a Zaragoza, ¡a mí, que llevo cincuenta años estudiando esa batalla!
And on top of that they say I misquote Zaragoza, me, who's spent fifty years studying that battle!
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B
Pues en eso tienen razón, viejo. Zaragoza telegrafió “las armas del Supremo Gobierno”, no “las armas nacionales”.
Well, they're right about that, honey. Zaragoza telegraphed “the arms of the Supreme Government,” not “the national arms.”
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A
¿Tú también, Bruto? Esa versión la repiten en cada desfile del 5 de mayo.
Et tu, Brute? That's the version they repeat at every Cinco de Mayo parade.
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B
Por eso mismo: en un desfile se vale, en una revista arbitrada no. Anda, contéstales con elegancia y corrige la cita.
That's exactly why: at a parade it's fine, in a peer-reviewed journal it isn't. Go on, answer them gracefully and correct the quotation.
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A
Sale: “Agradezco a los dictaminadores sus observaciones, y si tuviesen a bien leer también la página doce...”
All right: “I thank the reviewers for their comments, and if they would be so kind as to read page twelve as well...”
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B
Borra lo de la página doce, viejo, y ese “tuviesen” también: no vaya a ser que te acepten por imitarlos.
Delete the bit about page twelve, honey, and that “tuviesen” too: we wouldn't want them accepting you for imitating them.
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