Day 115: The Hacienda Owner's Great-Granddaughter
In a café in a restored henequen hacienda near Mérida, Ana Lucía (A), a customer, gets talking to Tamara (B), the barista; henequen is the agave whose fiber once made Yucatán rich, and a tienda de raya was a hacienda's own store.
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
¡Qué bien quedó la restauración! ¿Sabía que esta hacienda fue de mi bisabuelo hasta el reparto agrario?
What a good job they did of the restoration! Did you know this hacienda belonged to my great-grandfather until the land reform?
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B
¿De veras? Pues el mío trabajó en sus planteles: se puso a cortar pencas a los diez años.
Really? Well, mine worked in its fields: he started cutting agave leaves at the age of ten.
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A
¡Qué coincidencia! En mi familia dicen que fue un hacendado justo: les daba casa y hasta escuela.
What a coincidence! In my family they say he was a fair landowner: he gave them houses and even a school.
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B
En la mía, otra cosa: aunque tuvieran casa, el jornal se pagaba en fichas de la tienda de raya.
In mine, it's a different story: even if they had houses, their day's wages were paid in tokens for the tienda de raya.
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A
¿Y por qué no se iban? Mi abuela asegura que nadie los obligaba a quedarse.
And why didn't they leave? My grandmother insists nobody forced them to stay.
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B
Nadie, salvo las deudas. El mío nació endeudado y estuvo a punto de huir dos veces.
Nobody, except the debts. Mine was born in debt, and he came close to running away twice.
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A
Me da pena no haberlo sabido. Aunque se vea tan bonita, esta casa esconde otra historia.
I'm embarrassed I never knew. Even if it looks so lovely, this house hides another story.
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B
Por eso está ahí el libro de raya, mírelo. Y conste que la deuda de mi bisabuelo ya prescribió.
That's why the wages ledger is over there, look. And just so you know, my great-grandfather's debt has expired.
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A
¡Faltaba más! El domingo traigo a mi abuela a leerlo, aunque sea a rastras.
I should hope so! On Sunday I'm bringing my grandmother to read it, even if I have to drag her here.
Your progress is saved in this browser only, with no sign-up. The course page and the menu show where you left off. Well done! Next up: Day 116: Is the Viral Video Real?
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