Day 65: Grandpa Copied Amado Nervo
In Valladolid, Yucatán, clearing out a closet, Karina (A) finds love letters in verse that her grandfather wrote in the 1960s to her grandmother Genoveva (B).
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
Abuela, mira lo que encontré al fondo del ropero: cartas del abuelo, amarradas con listón y todas en verso.
Grandma, look what I found at the back of the closet: letters from Grandpa, tied with ribbon and all in verse.
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B
¡Uay, mis cartas! Las escondí ahí en el sesenta y cuatro, cuando mi mamá me esculcaba todo.
Ooh, my letters! I hid them there in sixty-four, when my mother used to go through all my things.
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A
Oye nada más: “Pasaste con tu madre frente a San Servacio. Volviste la cabeza: ¡me clavaste muy hondo tu mirada azul!”
Just listen: “You walked past San Servacio with your mother. You turned your head: you pierced me deep with your blue gaze!”
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B
¿Mirada azul? ¡Si yo tengo los ojos negros! Ese verso es de Amado Nervo, mija; en la secundaria nos lo hacían recitar.
Blue gaze? But I've got dark eyes! That line is Amado Nervo's, honey; they made us recite it in middle school.
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A
¿O sea que el abuelo te conquistó con puro plagio? ¿Y tú lo sabías?
So Grandpa won you over with pure plagiarism? And you knew?
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B
He de confesarte que sí, desde la segunda carta. Pero Nervo nunca me esperó tres horas bajo la lluvia.
I have to confess I did, from the second letter. But Nervo never waited three hours for me in the rain.
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A
Esta no suena a Nervo: “Si tú me quisieses como yo te quiero, cruzaría el sol de mayo sin sombrero”.
This one doesn't sound like Nervo: “If you but loved me as I love you, I'd cross the May sun without a hat.”
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B
Esa sí es suya: Nervo jamás habría rimado “quiero” con “sombrero”. Y por esa, fíjate, le dije que sí.
That one is his: Nervo would never have rhymed “quiero” with “sombrero.” And that's the one, would you believe, that made me say yes.
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A
Pues mi novio me manda poemas hechos con inteligencia artificial. ¿Se lo perdono, como tú al abuelo?
Well, my boyfriend sends me poems made with artificial intelligence. Should I forgive him, like you forgave Grandpa?
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B
Perdónaselo el día que esa máquina te espere tres horas bajo un aguacero. Mientras, pídele uno malo, pero suyo.
Forgive him the day that machine waits three hours for you in a downpour. Until then, ask him for a bad one, but his own.
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