Day 67: Did Smallpox Defeat Tenochtitlan?
At home in Mexico City, Ethan (A), sixteen, who is preparing for a debate between schools on the fall of Tenochtitlan, the Mexica capital, tries out his argument on his father Román (B), a history teacher; a tlatoani was a Mexica ruler.
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
Pa, escucha mi argumento: la viruela, no el ejército español, fue la razón por la cual cayó Tenochtitlan.
Dad, listen to my argument: smallpox, not the Spanish army, was the reason Tenochtitlan fell.
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B
Le hago al abogado del diablo: si la epidemia fue en 1520, ¿cómo resistió la ciudad hasta 1521?
I'll play devil's advocate: if the epidemic was in 1520, how did the city hold out until 1521?
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A
Resistió, pero ya muy débil: murieron miles de guerreros, y hasta el tlatoani Cuitláhuac.
It held out, but it was very weak by then: thousands of warriors died, and even the tlatoani, Cuitláhuac.
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B
Concedido, pero se te olvidan los tlaxcaltecas, sin los cuales Cortés nunca habría sitiado la ciudad.
Granted, but you're forgetting the Tlaxcalans, without whom Cortés would never have besieged the city.
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A
El otro equipo va a hablar de cañones y caballos; con la viruela los dejo callados.
The other team is going to talk about cannons and horses; with smallpox I'll leave them speechless.
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B
Cuidado: no hay ningún historiador que diga que fue solo la viruela, y ellos lo saben.
Careful: there isn't a single historian who says it was just smallpox, and they know it.
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A
¿Y tú cómo sabes qué saben ellos? ¡Si no hay nadie que haya visto sus fichas!
And how do you know what they know? Nobody's seen their notes!
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B
Yo sí, mijo: su asesor soy yo. Así que matiza tu argumento y no digo más.
I have, son: I'm their coach. So qualify your argument, and I'll say no more.
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