Day 40: The Landlord's House Rules in Puns
In a shared house in Cholula, Puebla, Itzia (A) and Paulina (B), two literature students, meet their new landlord, Don Evaristo (C), a retired Spanish teacher who writes his house rules in puns.
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
Buenas tardes, don Evaristo. Ya leímos el reglamento del refri, lo cual nos costó más trabajo que un examen.
Good afternoon, Don Evaristo. We've read the rules on the fridge, which took more work than an exam.
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B
Y eso que las dos estudiamos Letras. ¿Siempre escribe así sus reglamentos?
And we both study literature, no less. Do you always write your rules like that?
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C
Deformación profesional, señoritas: treinta y cinco años enseñando español en la prepa. ¿Cuál les costó más trabajo?
Occupational hazard, young ladies: thirty-five years teaching Spanish at a high school. Which one gave you the most trouble?
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A
La primera: “Quien dejare trastes en el fregadero verá su contrato irse al traste”. ¿Es chiste o amenaza?
The first one: “Whosoever shall leave dishes in the sink shall see their lease go down the drain.” Is it a joke or a threat?
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C
Ambas cosas, sea quien fuere la culpable. Pregúntele a mi inquilino anterior, cuyos trastes cobraron vida propia.
Both, whoever the culprit may be. Ask my last tenant, whose dishes took on a life of their own.
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B
La segunda la entendí a la primera: “Prohibido tender la ropa sin haber tendido la cama”.
I got the second one on the first try: “No hanging out laundry without having made your bed.”
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C
Pura polisemia: aquí se tiende la ropa, la cama y, sobre todo, la mano a la compañera.
Pure polysemy: here you hang out the laundry, make the bed and, above all, lend your roommate a hand.
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A
¿Y la tercera? “La renta se paga el día primero, no el día primero Dios”. Esa va con dedicatoria, ¿no?
And the third? “Rent is due on the first, not on the ‘first, God willing’.” That one's got someone's name on it, right?
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C
Va para el mismo inquilino, cuyo abuelo se moría cada fin de mes. Seis entierros en un año, y el abuelo tan campante.
It's for the same tenant, whose grandfather died at the end of every month. Six burials in a year, and Grandpa as right as rain.
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B
Entendido: pagamos el día primero, y usted, primero Dios, nos hace descuento. Y ojo, que ahí el sujeto es usted.
Understood: we pay on the first, and you, God willing, give us a discount. And careful: the subject there is you.
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C
¡Me ganaron con mi propia gramática! Diez por ciento, y no por Dios, sino por la ocurrencia.
You've beaten me with my own grammar! Ten percent off, and not for God's sake, but for wit's sake.
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