Day 67: A Century-Old Record From a Hacienda

Dialogue

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1. 1
   A

   Julieta, llevo toda la mañana con este expediente de 1925: puro rollo del escribano. ¿Le pagaban por palabra?

   Julieta, I've spent all morning on this 1925 record: the clerk just rambles on. Was he paid by the word?

   Line 1
2. 2
   B

   Por foja, que es peor. Léeme lo del cenote, que de eso depende el pleito.

   By the page, which is worse. Read me the part about the cenote: the whole case hangs on it.

   Line 2
3. 3
   A

   “Apenas hubo rubricado don Hilario la venta de la hacienda, declaró el testigo que el cenote quedaba fuera, salvo que el comprador pagase su precio”.

   “Scarcely had Don Hilario signed the sale of the hacienda when the witness declared that the cenote was excluded, unless the buyer should pay its price.”

   Line 3
4. 4
   B

   Ya perdimos: el hotel lleva años cobrando la entrada en terreno ajeno.

   Then we've lost: the hotel has spent years charging admission on someone else's land.

   Line 4
5. 5
   A

   No tan rápido: “apenas hubo rubricado”. El testigo habló con la venta ya firmada: eso no obliga a nadie.

   Not so fast: “scarcely had he signed.” The witness spoke once the sale was already signed: that binds nobody.

   Line 5
6. 6
   B

   Por más que te guste tu teoría, el escribano usaba ese tiempo para todo: “Apenas hubo amanecido, llovió”.

   Much as you like your theory, the clerk used that tense for everything: “Scarcely had dawn broken when it rained.”

   Line 6
7. 7
   A

   Entonces su gramática no prueba nada. Lo que decide la propiedad es si el comprador pagó, y eso no aparece.

   Then his grammar proves nothing. What decides ownership is whether the buyer paid, and that doesn't appear anywhere.

   Line 7
8. 8
   B

   Espérate... foja treinta y ocho, entre una tormenta y el precio del henequén: “Hubo de entregar el comprador cien pesos oro por el cenote”.

   Hang on... page thirty-eight, between a storm and the price of henequen: “The buyer had to hand over a hundred gold pesos for the cenote.”

   Line 8
9. 9
   A

   “Hubo de entregar”: ¿tuvo que pagar o pagó? Los herederos lo van a leer al revés.

   “Had to hand over”: was he obliged to pay, or did he pay? The heirs are going to read it the other way around.

   Line 9
10. 10
    B

    En prosa de escribano, “hubo de” quiere decir que pagó, y a regañadientes. Si hubiera escrito como la gente, nos ahorraba la mañana.

    In clerk's prose, “had to” means he paid, and grudgingly. If he'd written like a normal person, he'd have saved us the morning.

    Line 10
11. 11
    A

    Lo redacto a su manera: “Apenas hubo hallado la licenciada la foja treinta y ocho, su colega la invitó a comer”.

    I'll write it up his way: “Scarcely had the learned counsel found page thirty-eight when her colleague took her out to lunch.”

    Line 11