Day 26: A Winged Coyote for Her Sister
In a craft store in Oaxaca, Angélica (A), who has had a falling-out with her sister over their late mother's house, asks Brenda (B), the young salesclerk, about an expensive alebrije, one of the region's brightly painted wooden figures.
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
Señorita, ¿me enseña el coyote con alas del aparador? Es para hacer las paces con mi hermana.
Excuse me, miss, could you show me the winged coyote in the window? It's to make peace with my sister.
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B
Con gusto. Es de Tilcajete, tallado en copal y pintado a mano, lo cual explica el precio.
Of course. It's from San Martín Tilcajete, carved from copal wood and painted by hand, which explains the price.
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A
Catorce mil quinientos. Más caros me salen los abogados del pleito por la casa de mi mamá.
Fourteen thousand five hundred. The lawyers in the fight over my mom's house cost me more.
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B
Lo siento, señora. ¿Le pongo una tarjeta con el nombre de su hermana?
I'm sorry, ma'am. Should I put a card on it with your sister's name?
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A
Ponga: “Para Celia, cuyos lentes rojos me vienen persiguiendo en sueños desde enero”. No, mejor nomás “Para Celia, con cariño”.
Put: “To Celia, whose red glasses have been haunting my dreams since January.” No, better just “To Celia, with love.”
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B
¿Lentes rojos? Este, no sé si debería decirle, pero ayer una señora de lentes rojos anduvo viendo alebrijes toda la tarde.
Red glasses? Um, I don't know if I should tell you, but yesterday a lady in red glasses spent the whole afternoon looking at alebrijes.
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A
¿Celia, en una tienda de artesanías? Si no suelta un peso ni para el predial, lo cual es la mitad del pleito.
Celia, in a craft store? She won't part with a peso even for the property tax, which is half the fight.
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B
Pues soltó nueve mil por un colibrí y me dictó la tarjeta. ¿De casualidad usted se llama Angélica?
Well, she parted with nine thousand for a hummingbird and dictated the card to me. Is your name Angélica, by any chance?
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A
La mismísima. Envuélvame el coyote: si ella dio el primer paso, yo doy el más caro.
The very same. Wrap up the coyote: if she took the first step, I'll take the pricier one.
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