5 ANDRES'S RETREAT

La casa donde vivía la familia Hurtado era propiedad de un marqués, a quien don
Pedro había conocido en el colegio.
Don Pedro la administraba, cobraba los alquileres y hablaba mucho y con entusiasmo del marqués y de sus fincas, lo que a su hijo le parecía de una absoluta bajeza.
La familia de Hurtado estaba bien relacionada; don Pedro, a pesar de sus
arbitrariedades y de su despotismo casero, era amabilísimo con los de fuera y sabía sostener las amistades útiles.
Hurtado conocía a toda la vecindad y era muy complaciente con ella. Guardaba a
los vecinos muchas atenciones, menos a los de las guardillas, a quienes odiaba.
En su teoría del dinero equivalente a mérito, llevada a la práctica, desheredado tenía que ser sinónimo de miserable.

THE house in which the Hurtado family lived belonged
to a marquis whose acquaintance Don Pedro
had made at college.
Don Pedro administered it, collected the rents and
spoke frequently and with enthusiasm of the marquis
and his country-houses; and this to his son seemed 'entirely
vile.
The Hurtado family was well related; Don Pedro,
with all his arbitrary behaviour at home, was exceedingly
amiable outside it and quite capable of maintaining
useful friendships.
He knew all the lodgers in the house and was very
kind and friendly towards them, with the exception of
those who lived in the garrets, whom he hated.
The practical inference from his theory that money
implied merit was necessarily that a penniless man must
be a knave.

Don Pedro, sin pensarlo, era un hombre a la antigua; la sospecha de que un obrero pretendiese considerarse como una persona, o de que una mujer quisiera ser independiente le ofendía como un insulto.
Sólo perdonaba a la gente pobre su pobreza, si unían a ésta la desvergüenza y la canallería..
Para la gente baja, a quien se podía hablar de tú, chulos, mozas de partido, jugadores, guardaba don Pedro todas sus simpatías.
En la casa, en uno de los cuartos del piso tercero, vivían dos ex bailarinas,
protegidas por un viejo senador.
La familia de Hurtado las conocía por las del Moñete.

El origen del apodo provenía de la niña de la favorita del viejo senador. A la niña la
peinaban con un moño recogido en medio de la cabeza muy pequeño. Luisito, al verla
por primera vez, le llamó la Chica del Moñete, y luego el apodo del Moñete pasó por extensión a la madre y a la tía.

Don Pedro was unconsciously old-fashioned: the idea
that a workman might consider himself" toú be a human
being or that a woman should wish to be inc,lependent
seemed to him a personal insult.
He only made an exception in the case of poor people
if they had no sense of shame or decency. Anyone whom
he could address in the second person singular, such as
rogues and prostitutes and gamblers, was the object of
his friendly regard.
In one of the rooms on the third floor lived two former
dancers, under the protection of an aged senator.
To the Hurtado family they were known as the Hairknot
family.
The nickname came from the small daughter of the
aged senator's favourite. They did her hair with a
small knot of it on the top of her head, and the first
time Luisito saw her he called her the girl of the little
knot of hair and the nickname was at once extended to
her mother and aunt.

Don Pedro hablaba con frecuencia de las dos ex bailarinas y las elogiaba mucho; su hijo Alejandro celebraba las frases de su padre como si fueran de un camarada suyo; Margarita se quedaba seria al oír las alusiones a la vida licenciosa de las bailarinas, y Andrés volvía la cabeza desdeñosamente, dando a entender que los alardes cínicos de su padre le parecían ridículos y fuera de lugar.

Únicamente a las horas de comer Andrés se reunía con su familia; en lo restante del tiempo no se le veía.
Durante el bachillerato Andrés había dormido en la misma habitación que su
hermano Pedro; pero al comenzar la carrera pidió a Margarita le trasladaran a un cuarto bajo de techo, utilizado para guardar trastos viejos.

Don Pedro frequently spoke of the
ex-dancers and praised them; his son Alejandro applauded
his father's words as though they were spoken
by someone of his own age. Margarita grew serious at
these allusions to the free life of the dancers, and Andres
turned his head away to signify that he considered these
cynical displays on the part of his father were ridiculous
and out of place.
Andres only met his family at meal-times; for the rest
of the day he was not to be seen.
While studying for his bachelor's degree he slept in
the same room as his brother Pedro; hut after taking his
degree he asked Margarita to put him in a room under
the roof, in which odds and ends of old furniture were
kept.

Margarita al principio se opuso; pero luego accedió, mandó quitar los armarios y baúles, y allí se instaló Andrés.
La casa era grande, con esos pasillos y recovecos un poco misteriosos de las construcciones antiguas.
Para llegar al nuevo cuarto de Andrés había que subir unas escaleras, lo que le dejaba completamente independiente.
El cuartucho tenía un aspecto de celda; Andrés pidió a Margarita le cediera un
armario y lo llenó de libros y papeles, colgó en las paredes los huesos del esqueleto que le dio su tío el doctor Iturrioz y dejó el cuarto con cierto aire de antro de mago o de nigromántico.

Allá se encontraba a su gusto, solo; decía que estudiaba mejor con aquel silencio; pero muchas veces se pasaba el tiempo leyendo novelas o mirando sencillamente por la ventana.

Esta ventana caía sobre la parte de atrás de varias casas de las calles de Santa Isabel
y de la Esperancilla, y sobre unos patios y tejavanas.
Andrés había dado nombres novelescos a lo que se veía desde allí: la casa
misteriosa, la casa de la escalera, la torre de la cruz, el puente del gato negro, el tejado del depósito de agua...

Margarita at first refused, but presently relented and
ordered the removal of the trunks and cabinets, and
Andres installed himself there.
The house was a large one and had those rather
mysterious passages and odd corners found in ancient
buildings.
In order to arrive at Andres's new room it was neces?
sary to ascend several flights of stairs, and this made
him completely independent.
The room looked like a cell; Andres asked Margarita
for a cupboard and filled it with books and papers, and
on the wall he hung the bones of a skeleton given him
by his uncle Dr. Iturrioz, so that the room had somewhat
the air of a magician's or necromancer's den.
Here he felt at ease, alone; he said that he could study
better in that silence; but often he spent the time readin&
novels or simply looking out of the window.
The window looked onto the back of several houses
of the streets of Santa Isabel and the Esperancilla and
on some courts and sheds.
Andres gave romantic names to all that he could see:
the mysterious house, the house of the stairway, the tower
of the cross, the bridge of the black cat, the roof of the
water-cistern.

Los gatos de casa de Andrés salían por la ventana y hacían largas excursiones por
estas tejavanas y saledizos, robaban de las cocinas, y un día uno de ellos se presentó con una perdiz en la boca.
Luisito solía ir contentísimo al cuarto de su hermano, observaba las maniobras de
los gatos, miraba la calavera con curiosidad; le producía todo un gran entusiasmo.
Pedro, que siempre había tenido por su hermano cierta admiración, iba también a verle a su cubil y a admirarle como a un bicho raro.
Al final del primer año de carrera, Andrés empezó a tener mucho miedo de salir mal
de los exámenes.
Las asignaturas eran para marear a cualquiera; los libros muy voluminosos; apenas había tiempo de enterarse bien; luego las clases en distintos sitios, distantes los unos de los otros, hacían perder tiempo andando de aquí para allá, lo que constituía motivos de distracción.

Además, y esto Andrés no podía achacárselo a nadie más que a sí mismo, muchas veces, con Aracil y con Montaner, iba, dejando la clase, a la parada de Palacio o al Retiro, y después, por la noche, en vez de estudiar, se dedicaba a leer novelas.

The cats of the house in which Andres lived used to
ANDRES's RETREAT 25
go out by this window and make long excursions over
these sheds and eaves; they stole in the kitchens of other
houses and one day one of them arrived with a partridge
in its mouth.
Luisito loved to go to his brother's room and watch the
cats and examine the skeleton; it all filled him with
delight. Pedro, who had always felt a certain admiration
for his hrother, used also to go up to his den and admire
him as a rare bird.
At the end of the first year Andres began to feel very
afraid of failing in his examinations. The subjects were
enough to confuse anyone and the books on each subject
were very voluminous; there was scarcely time to understand
them properly. Moreover the lectures, given at different
places far distant from one another, meant loss of
time and many a distraction by the way.
Besides, and here he could not blame anyone but
himself, he used often after a lecture to go to see the
guard changed at the palace or to the public park of the
Retiro, and at night, instead of studying, he would read
novels.

Llegó mayo y Andrés se puso a devorar los libros a ver si podía resarcirse del
tiempo perdido.
Sentía un gran temor de salir mal, más que nada por la rechifla del padre, que podía decir: Para eso creo que no necesitabas tanta soledad.
Con gran asombro suyo aprobó cuatro asignaturas, y le suspendieron, sin ningún
asombro por su parte, en la última, en el examen de Química. No quiso confesar en casa el pequeño tropiezo e inventó que no se había presentado.

— ¡Valiente primo! —le dijo su hermano Alejandro.
Andrés decidió estudiar con energía durante el verano. Allí, en su celda, se
encontraría muy bien, muy tranquilo y a gusto.

Pronto se olvidó de sus propósitos, y en vez de estudiar miraba por la ventana con
un anteojo la gente que salía en las casas de la vecindad.

Por la mañana dos muchachitas aparecían en unos balcones lejanos. Cuando se levantaba Andrés ya estaban ellas en el balcón. Se peinaban y se ponían cintas en el pelo. No se les veía bien la cara, porque el anteojo, además de ser de poco alcance, no era acromático y daba una gran irisación de todos los objetos.

May came, and Andres began to devour his text-books,
to see if he could make up for lost time. He was afraid
of not passing chiefly on account of the sarcastic remark
his father was likely to make: "You scarcely needed so
much solitude for this."
To his amazement he passed in four subjects, and, not
at all to his amazement, failed in the last, which was the
chemistry examination. He was unwilling to admit this
misadventure at home and pretended that he had not
gone in for that examination.
"Well, you were a fool," said his brother Alejandro.
Andres resolved to study strenuously during the summer;
it would he so quiet and easy in his cell. But he
soon forgot his good intentions and instead of studying
he used to look through a telescope at people showing
themselves in the neighbouring houses.
In the morning two girls could he seen on a distant
balcony; when Andres got up they were already on the
balcony, doing their hair and putting rihands in it.
He could not see their faces well because his telescope
was not a strong one and also it cast an iridescent hue
over everything.

Un chico que vivía enfrente de esas muchachas solía echarlas un rayo de sol con un espejito. Ellas le reñían y amenazaban, hasta que, cansadas, se sentaban a coser en el balcón.

En una guardilla próxima había una vecina que al levantarse se pintaba la cara. Sin duda no sospechaba que pudieran mirarle y realizaba su operación de un modo concienzudo.
Debía de hacer una verdadera obra de arte; parecía un ebanista barnizando un mueble.
Andrés, a pesar de que leía y leía el libro, no se enteraba de nada. Al comenzar a repasar vio que, excepto las primeras lecciones de Química, de todo lo demás apenas podía contestar.

Pensó en buscar alguna recomendación; no quería decirle nada a su padre, y fue a
casa de su tío Iturrioz a explicarle lo que le pasaba.
Iturrioz le preguntó:
— ¿Sabes algo de química?
—Muy poco.
— ¿No has estudiado?
—Sí; pero se me olvida todo en seguida.

—Es que hay que saber estudiar. Salir bien en los exámenes es una cuestión
mnemotécnica, que consiste en aprender y repetir el mínimum de datos hasta
dominarlos...; pero, en fin, ya no es tiempo de eso, te recomendaré, vete con esta carta a casa del profesor.
Andrés fue a ver al catedrático, que le trató como a un recluta.

El examen que hizo días después le asombró por lo detestable; se levantó de la silla, confuso, lleno de vergüenza. Esperó, teniendo la seguridad de que saldría mal; pero se encontró, con gran sorpresa, que le habían aprobado.

A youth who lived opposite these girls used to throw
a ray of sun on them by means of a small mirror. They
scolded him till they were tired and then sat down to
sew on the balcony.
In a neighbouring garret lived a woman who painted
her face every morning. Probably she had no idea that
she could he seen and she carried out her task conscientiously;
it must have been a real work of art, and she
looked like a cabinet-maker varnishing a piece of furniture.
Andres read his hook of chemistry through and
ANDRES'S RETREAT 27
through, but its contents meant little to him and he found
that he could only remember the first lessons.
He bethought him of the need of influence. He was
unwilling to speak to his father and went to the house
of his uncle Dr. Iturrioz and told him how matters stood.
Iturrioz asked him if he knew anything about chemistry.
"Very little."
"Haven't you studied?"
"Yes, but it all goes out of my head at once."
"One must know how to study. The passing of an
examination is a question of memory; one must learn
the minimum of facts and learn them thoroughly. Well,
it is too late now; take this letter to the professor at his
house."
Andres went to see the professor, who treated him like
a recruit in the army.
His examination a few days later was terrible, and
he went out shame-faced and amazed. He was now certain
that he must have failed, but found to his great
astonishment that he had passed