Puntos (Student Edition) Anne Becher

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 Puntos
Thalia Dorwick
Ana M.
Pérez-Gironés

partida
WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

Anne Becher
UNIVERSITY OF
COLORADO, BOULDER
de
PUNTOS DE PARTIDA, TENTH EDITION

Published by McGraw-Hill Education, 2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121. Copyright © 2017 by McGraw-Hill Education. All
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.

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Student Edition Instructor’s Edition (not for resale)

ISBN 978-0-07-353449-7 ISBN 978-1-259-62276-2

MHID 0-07-353449-8 MHID 1-259-62276-2

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dorwick, Thalia, 1944- author.

Puntos de Partida : an invitation to Spanish / Thalia Dorwick; Ana M.Pirez-Gironis,Wesleyan University; Anne Becher,
University of Colorado, Boulder. — Tenth Edition.
pages cm
Includes index.
Previous ed.: 2012.
ISBN 978-0-07-353449-7 (student edition : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-259-62276-2 (instructor’s edition : alk. paper)
1. Spanish language—Textbooks for foreign speakers—English. I. Pirez-Gironis, Ana Marma, author. II. Becher, Anne. III. Title.
PC4129.E5P86 2016
468.2’421—dc23
2015029086

The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. The inclusion of a website does not indicate an
endorsement by the authors or McGraw-Hill Education, and McGraw-Hill Education does not guarantee the accuracy of the
information presented at these sites.

www.mhhe.com
It’s more than a text. It’s a program.
Success in the language classroom requires so much more than
just a text. In any language-learning setting, students require
numerous and various opportunities to read, write, hear, and
speak. Puntos de partida sets the standard for Spanish-language
teaching. An innovative program that has been continuously
refined for today’s classroom, Puntos delivers proven pedagogy
with clear and effective presentations, comprehensive teaching
resources, and powerfully adaptive digital tools.

Now in its anniversary Tenth Edition, Puntos builds on the holistic,

five-skills approach it pioneered. It’s the Puntos you know. It’s the
Puntos of today.
 Proven Approach

Puntos has been the starting point for over a million students beginning to
learn Spanish. The best-selling program combines digital innovations with
the program’s solid foundation and proven approach.

This is what Puntos offers that continues to set the standard for Introductory
Spanish programs:

• Comprehensive scope and sequence

Puntos’ hallmark approach to vocabulary and grammar focuses on the
acquisition of vocabulary during the early stages of language learning
(Capítulo 1: Ante todo) and then at the start of each chapter throughout
the text. Grammar is introduced in thorough explanations, with careful
attention given to skill development rather than grammatical knowledge
alone.

To this end, the overall organization carefully progresses

from formulaic expressions to vocabulary and grammar
relevant to daily life and personal interests (studies, family,
home, leisure activities), then goes on to prepare students
for survival situations (ordering a meal, traveling), and
finally branches out to broader themes (current events,
social and environment issues). This forward progress is
reinforced by a cyclical structure where vocabulary,
grammar, and language functions are continuously
reviewed and recycled.

• Clear and effective vocabulary and grammar

presentations
The thorough, effective grammar explanations in Puntos are
in keeping with the extensive changes made in the ninth edition. These
explanations are now even more accessible to students, featuring
conversational language, increased clarity, additional examples, and
organization of complex, dense explanations into manageable chunks of
concise grammar summary. Students will find the grammar explanations to
be clear and comprehensible, and particular care has been taken to
bolster those grammar points that traditionally prove difficult.

iv
• Integrated four-skills approach with
scaffolded activities that move
students from input to o ­ pen-ended
communication
One of the hallmark features of Puntos is its
careful sequencing of activities, moving
students from controlled to free-form tasks. In
the tenth edition, this scaffolding is improved
and introduced at the individual activity level.
Starting with the very first activity following
the grammar explanation, additional Pasos
have been added to give students the
opportunity to use the new grammar in a
controlled but more personalized way,
facilitating practice and communication with
their peers as soon as new concepts are
introduced. The activities following each
vocabulary topic and grammar point also
build up to one or more free- expression activities in which students
communicate more independently and creatively.

• Inclusion of all Spanish-speaking countries

The tenth edition of Puntos highlights the
proven concept that introducing students to
the Spanish-speaking world goes beyond
asking them to simply absorb information
about each country. Instead, a few key
cultural insights, appearing at various
moments throughout each chapter, serve to
spark students’ interest and, by closing with
a question that asks students to reflect on
cultural comparisons, encourage them to
create personal connections with the cultures
of the Spanish-speaking world.

 v
 Comprehensive Teaching
Resources to Create a
Successful Face-to-Face,
Hybrid, or Online Class
Puntos de partida was designed to provide novice and experienced instructors
alike with the tools needed to walk into the classroom—be it face-to-face or
online—well-prepared to teach an engaging class. As a comprehensive
program, Puntos offers a wide array of resources and supporting materials, so
it functions as a flexible framework that can be tailored to individual teaching
situations and goals. Whether you’re using the program for your face-to-face,
hybrid, or online class, the wealth of resources sets up both instructors and
students for success.

• New and enhanced instructor’s annotations

The program’s user-friendliness and solid teaching support are strengthened in
this edition with extensively rewritten annotations in the Instructor’s Edition. With
improved and added notes, instructors will now find teaching suggestions for
each and every grammar presentation and practice activity in the text, with
point-by-point suggestions for presenting the material in class, in addition to a
wealth of helpful facts and resources, variations on and supplements to the
existing material, and suggestions for follow-up and extension. Taking into
account that Introductory Spanish classrooms typically contain a mix of true
beginners, false beginners, and even heritage speakers, a new streamlined
organization and a designated space for expanded suggestions for heritage
speakers makes it even easier to meet the needs of students with varying
levels of language proficiency.

vi
• Brand-new digital and print testing program
A key part of the instructor resources available with Puntos is the comprehensive
testing program, now completely rewritten and available in both print and digital
formats. Whether you use the testing program as a model to customize your own
tests, or you want to quickly and easily assign existing exams or poolable
questions to your students, the new testing program offers multiple versions for
each chapter from which instructors can draw.

• Updated supplemental activities manual

The tenth edition can be accompanied by the updated Supplementary Materials
to Accompany Puntos de partida, by Sharon Foerster. The supplementary
materials are an updated teacher’s guide to Puntos and consist of worksheets,
short pronunciation practice, listening exercises, grammar worksheets, integrative
communication-building activities, comprehensive chapter reviews, and language
games.

• In-class grammar and culture presentations on Connect under

the Library tab
Connect houses other important resources to support instruction. In addition to the
Instructor’s Manual and an Instructor’s Guide for Connect, you will find a digital
Image Bank to support your classroom
presentations and activities, as well as
updated cultural and grammar content for
in-class use. With engaging images and
cultural facts about the countries of focus, the
updated Cultural PowerPoint Presentations
offer students additional contact with culture,
and offer the instructor detailed notes and
suggestions for how to present these in class.
To build on the grammar presentations in the
text, Grammar PowerPoint Presentations
provide an additional way for students to
absorb grammatical knowledge, which is
especially useful for hard-to-grasp concepts
where students often benefit from multiple
and varied modes of presentation.

 vii
 Engaging and Immersive
Digital Tools

Connect is the most powerful and flexible course management system available.
Rooted in research on effective student learning practices, the platform integrates
adaptive learning tools with dynamic, engaging language practice activities. The
result is better student learning of the Spanish language.

• A personalized and adaptive learning and teaching experience

No two students learn a language the same way or at the same rate. Students
enter the Introductory Spanish course with a wide range of knowledge and
experience, from true beginners to heritage speakers. So how do you know what
to teach and to whom?

McGraw-Hill’s LearnSmart provides each student with a personalized and adaptive

learning experience based on individual needs. As the student works through a series
of probes around the vocabulary and grammar presented in each chapter, LearnSmart
identifies what the student knows and doesn’t know, and continuously adapts the
subsequent probes to focus on those areas where the student needs the most help.
Each student learns and masters core vocabulary and grammar at his or her own pace
and comes to class better prepared to communicate in the target language.

And just as no two students learn a language the same way, no two Spanish
courses are taught the same way. Connect provides the instructor with both the
ability and flexibility to pull from the robust set of content available in the platform
and craft a unique learning path based on the goals of the course. Be it in a face-
to-face, hybrid, or fully online course, Connect can adapt to you and to your
students to create the ideal learning environment.

• Student-centered
Students learn best when they are involved and interested in the material being
taught. Practice Spanish: Study Abroad, the market’s first 3-D immersive language
game designed exclusively by McGraw-Hill Education, brings the language to the
students in a fun, engaging, and immersive gaming experience. Students “study
abroad” virtually in Colombia where they will create their very own avatar, live with
a host family, make new friends, and navigate a variety of real-world scenarios
using their quickly developing Spanish language skills. Students earn points and
rewards for successfully accomplishing these tasks via their smartphones, tablets,
and computers, and instructors have the ability to assign specific tasks, monitor
student achievement, and incorporate the game into the classroom experience.
Practice Spanish: Study Abroad is available upon request. Your Learning
viii Technology Representative can provide more information.
• Robust data
Instructors and students alike want to know how students are performing in the
course and where they can improve. The powerful reporting tools in Connect
surface actionable data to both instructors and students so steps can be taken by
both groups to ensure student success.

The first and only analytics tool of its kind, Connect Insight is a series of visual
data displays—each framed by an intuitive question—to provide instructors at-a-
glance information regarding how your class is doing. Connect Insight provides
analysis on five key insights, available at a moment’s notice from your Connect
course.

LearnSmart provides powerful reports to view student progress by module and

detail with completion breakdown, along with class performance data, frequency of
missed questions, and a view into the most challenging learning objectives.
Metacognitive reports allow instructors to view statistics on how knowledgeable
their students are about their own comprehension and learning. What’s more,
LearnSmart provides students their own progress reports so they can take full
responsibility for their own learning.

 ix
WHAT’S NEW

Functional design
and easy reference
• Identifiable goals: Each
chapter opener details
what students can hope to
accomplish.
• Significance of color:
Updated color patterns
allow for easy navigation
and concept identification.
• Visually fresh: Many new
photos, realia, and updated
drawings.

Solidifying
grammar
and vocabulary
• Clarity: Grammar explanations are simpler and more straightforward, with particular care given to points that
are often challenging for students.
• Grammar summaries: Short summaries now appear at the end of all grammar explanations.
• More input: More models in the target language to guide students through activities.
• Seamless progression: Práctica and Conversación are now a single section, Práctica y comunicación, for
seamless transition from controlled to free-form activities, while maintaining careful sequencing. Each initial
activity in Práctica y comunicación incorporates an Autoprueba for students to check their comprehension and
builds up to personalized and communicative grammar practice.
• Self-checks: En resumen now includes a chapter-ending checklist for students to assess their progress toward
attaining the goals stated at the beginning of the chapter.

New opportunities for communicative practice

• Chapter opener: New personal chapter
opener questions and answers from native
speakers from various parts of the Spanish-
speaking world get students listening and
talking in the target language from the very
first page of each chapter.
• Communicative grammar practice:
Grammar activity sections are scaffolded
to carefully move students into free-form
practice activities after each grammar point.
• Producción personal: This new chapter-ending section guides students to create a capstone portfolio of writing,
speaking, and filming activities.
• Information gap activities: New activities designed for every chapter.

x
Integrated culture
• Culturally based activities: More grammar and vocabulary exercises center on
cultural context.
• Algo sobre… : Appearing three to four times per chapter, these new windows
into the countries of focus weave culture into the linguistic workflow.
• A leer: Readings are simplified and include more interactive activities (Y ahora, Uds.).
• Un poco de todo: Each section starts with a Lengua y cultura activity to practice
newly acquired and recycled grammar and vocabulary.

Video integration:
• In each chapter, the Salu2 (formerly
Telepuntos) video is divided into two shorter
segments, one that is integrated into the
vocabulary presentation, providing the
opportunity for additional practice, and one
that remains at the end of the chapter to
reinforce a variety of skills.

Digital tools
• Embedded audio: Audio recordings
throughout the ebook; students hear new
vocabulary as it is introduced.
• LearnSmart: Grammar modules for every grammar topic and updated
vocabulary modules.
• Practice Spanish: Study Abroad: This interactive 3D game, accessible on
computers and mobile devices, immerses students in a virtual study abroad
experience in Colombia. Practice Spanish facilitates real-world application that
integrates culture, grammar, and vocabulary.
• English grammar guides: Assignable explanations and practice with basic
grammar concepts in English.

Instructor resources
• Even more comprehensive instructor annotations: Strengthened and
reorganized annotations have consistent suggestions for expansion, oral
practice, and grammar explanations.
• Well-organized: Easy-to-navigate Annotated Instructor’s Edition with a
dedicated area for heritage speakers.
• Testing program: Completely revised in both digital and print forms.

 xi
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Thalia Dorwick retired as McGraw-Hill’s Editor-
in-Chief for Humanities, Social Sciences, and Languages.
For many years she was also in charge of McGraw-Hill’s
World Languages college list in Spanish, French, Italian,
German, Japanese, and Russian. She has taught at
Allegheny College, California State University
(Sacramento), and Case Western Reserve University,
where she received her Ph.D. in Spanish in 1973. She
was recognized as an Outstanding Foreign Language
Teacher by the California Foreign Language Teachers
Association in 1978. Dr. Dorwick is the coauthor of
several textbooks and the author of several articles on
language teaching issues. She is a frequent guest
speaker on topics related to language learning, and she
was also an invited speaker at the II Congreso
Internacional de la Lengua Española, in Valladolid, Spain,
in October 2001. In retirement, she consults for McGraw-
Hill, especially in the area of world languages, which is of
personal interest to her. She is a Vice President of the
Board of Trustees of Case Western Reserve University
and a past President of the Board of Directors of
Berkeley Repertory Theatre.
Ana María Pérez-Gironés is an Adjunct
Associate Professor of Spanish at Wesleyan University,
Middletown, Connecticut, where she teaches and
coordinates Spanish language courses. She received a
xii
Licenciatura en Filología Anglogermánica from the
Universidad de Sevilla in 1985, and her M.A. in General
Linguistics from Cornell University in 1988. Professor
Pérez-Gironés’ professional interests include second
language acquisition and the use of technology in
language learning. She is a coauthor of A otro nivel,
Puntos en breve, Second Edition, and ¿Qué tal?, Seventh
Edition. She is also a coauthor of the Student Manuals
for Intermediate Grammar Review and Intensive and
High Beginner Courses that accompany Nuevos
Destinos.
Anne Becher received her M.A. in Hispanic
Linguistics in 1992 from the University of Colorado—
Boulder, and now coordinates the Beginning Spanish
One course and teaches pedagogy and methods
courses for the Department of Spanish and Portuguese
there. She has taught beginning through advanced levels
of Spanish since 1996, including several years teaching
Modified Spanish classes for students with difficulty
learning languages. She has published several reviews in
Hispania, presents frequently at the Colorado Congress
of Foreign Language Teachers (CCFLT) conferences, and
has served on the boards of CCFLT and the Colorado
chapter of American Association of Teachers of Spanish
and Portuguese. She co-edited the bilingual literary
journal La selva subterranea from 1987–1996.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank the overwhelming number of friends and colleagues who served on boards of advisors or
as consultants, completed reviews or surveys, and attended symposia or focus groups. Their feedback was indis-
pensible in creating the Puntos program. The appearance of their names in the following lists does not necessarily
constitute their endorsement of the program or its methodology.

Practice Spanish: Study Abroad Board of Advisors

James Abraham Patricia Harrigan David Neville
Glendale Community College Community College of Baltimore County Elon University
Kalynn Aguirre Felix Kronenberg Michelle Ocasio
Florida Atlantic University Rhodes College Valdosta State University
Adam Ballart Melissa Logue Aaron Salinger
Ball State University Columbus State Community College Mount San Antonio College
Kelly Conroy Leticia McGrath Jacquelyn Sandone
Western Kentucky University Georgia Southern University University of Missouri
Ari Gutman
Auburn University

Practice Spanish: Study Abroad Colombia Consultants

Lourdes Arevalo Martiza Nemoga Amy Uribe
University of California, Los Angeles University of Pittsburgh Lone Star College
Jorge Cubillos Beatriz Potter Juan Villa
University of Delaware Valdosta State University University of Rhode Island
Fabio Espitia Chayree Santiago Thomas
Grand Valley State University Rowan-Cabarrus Community College

Practice Spanish: Study Abroad Student Board of Advisors

Kaitlin Anderson Brandi Glenn Isaac Reeves
Illinois State University Georgia Southern University Ben Davis University
Jasmine Arias Michael R. Herrera Gulya Tlegenova
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign University of Cincinnati San Diego Mesa College
Joyce Bolivar Tricia Hogan Kari Uhle
University of Rhode Island University of Rhode Island Indiana University
Mike Churvis Abigael Mandenberg Victoria Vanderaa
Georgia Perimeter College, Dunwoody University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Illinois State University
Julian Colonia Jen McGunigal Juan Villa
University of Rhode Island University of Rhode Island University of Rhode Island
Brian de la Cruz Johan Molina Kayla Warren
University of Rhode Island University of Rhode Island Georgia Southern University
Katherine Foss Deandra Moorman
University of Rhode Island University of Cincinnati

 xiii
Practice Spanish: Study Abroad Student Ambassadors
Daniel Carroll Colin McCullough Vanessa Wismeier
Northern Virginia Community College Ohio University Loras College
Marie-Claire Levy Emily Ousterhout Matt Wolf
Florida State University Mississippi State University Kansas State University
Tuyen Lieu Paige Tabler
Central Piedmont Community College California State University, Chico
Matt Lozano Maggie Wilson
Clarke University George Mason University

Practice Spanish: Study Abroad Pilots and Beta Testers

James Abraham Muriel Gallego Leticia McGrath
Glendale Community College Ohio University Georgia Southern University
Julie Alwehieby Audrey R. Gertz Peggy McNeil
Coastline Community College Indiana University-Purdue Louisiana State University
Melba Amador University Indianapolis Marco Mena
Western Kentucky University Scott Gibby Mass Bay Community College
Jeanette Banashak Austin Community College Wendy Mendez-Hasselman
Grand Valley State University Adrienne Gonzalez Palm Beach State College
Tulio Cedillo University of Denver Jerome Mwinyelle
Lynchburg College Michael Harrison East Tennessee State University
Daren Crasto San Diego Mesa College Danae Orlins
Houston Community College Claudia Jaramillo University of Cincinnati
Paul Cristofaro Purdue University Calumet Hector Iglesias Pascual
Minot State University Ryan LaBrozzi Ohio University
Luis Delgado Bridgewater State University Erika M Southerland
Olive Harvey College Jude Thomas Manzo Muhlenberg College
Mark A. Dowell Saint Phillip’s College Amber Workman
Randolph Community College California Lutheran University

ACTFL 2014 Workshop Participants

Susana Solera Adoboe Jude Thomas Manzo Samuel Sommerville
Southern Methodist University Saint Phillip’s College Johnson County Community College
Berta Chópite Leticia McDoniel Gloria Yampey-Jorge
Earlham College Southern Methodist University Houston Community College
Abby Dings Javier Morin
Southwestern University Del Mar College

Symposia
Atlanta, GA
Juan Alcarría
Georgia College & State University
Barbara A. Bateman
Georgia Perimeter College
María Elena Bermudez
Georgia State University
María Guadalupe Calatayud
University of North Georgia
Aurora Castillo-Scott
Georgia College & State University
Jose A. Cortés
Georgia Perimeter College
Lisa Davie
Georgia Perimeter College
Janan Fallon
Georgia Perimeter College
Carolina Ganem-Cameron
Georgia Perimeter College
Gael Guzmán Medrano
University of West Georgia
Kristi Hislope
University of North Georgia
Nicolas Hu
University of North Georgia
Melissa Logue
Columbus State Community College
Leda Lozier
The University of Georgia
Raúl Llorente
Georgia State University
Rosaria Meek
University of North Georgia
Oscar H. Morena
Georgia State University
Sharon Nuruddin
Clark Atlanta University
Teresa Pérez-Gamboa
The University of Georgia

xiv
Rick Robinson Elizabeth Z. Solis Alvaro Torres Calderón
Georgia Perimeter College University of West Georgia University of North Georgia
Daniel Sanchez Mariana Stone Ami L. Travillian-Vonesh
The University of Georgia University of North Georgia University of North Georgia
Pamela Simpson Sherry von Klitzing
Georgia Perimeter College Kennesaw State University

Napa, CA
Tanya Chroman Deborah Holmberg Marcelo Paz
California Polytechnic State University Azusa Pacific University California State University, East Bay
Laurie de González Keith Johnson Beatriz Robinson
University of Oregon California State University, Fresno University of Nevada, Reno
Mari Carmen García Anne Kelly-Glasoe Judy Rodríguez
Sacramento City College South Puget Sound Community College California State University, Sacramento
Ana Hartig-Ferrer Milagros Ojermark Julio Torres
California Polytechnic State University Diablo Valley College University of California, Irvine

Chicago, IL
Maxi Armas Ronald Gest David Migaj
Triton College Milwaukee Area Technical College Wilbur Wright College
An Chung Cheng Ileana Hester Octavian Stinga
University of Toledo Governors State University City Colleges of Chicago
Chyi Chung Alfonso Illingworth-Rico Lucero Tonkinson
Northwestern University Eastern Michigan University City Colleges of Chicago
Luis Delgado Franklin Inojosa
Olive-Harvey College City Colleges of Chicago

Los Angeles, CA
Ashlee Balena Christopher DiCapua Maria Manni
University of North Carolina at Community College of Philadelphia University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Wilmington Concepción Domenech Anne-Marie Martin
Tracy Bishop University of Wyoming Portland Community College
University of Arkansas Mandy Faretta-Stutenberg Juan Carlos Moraga
Aymara Boggiano Northern Illinois University Folsom Lake College
Rice University Erin Finzer Christine Núñez
Oscar Cabrera University of Arkansas at Little Rock Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
Community College of Philadelphia Anna Kalminskaia Eva Núñez
Sara Casler University of Nevada, Reno Portland State University
Sierra College David Leavell Norma Rivera-Hernández
Christine Cotton College of S. Nevada Millersville University of Pennsylvania
University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Baton Rouge, LA
Gina Breen Amy George-Hirons Sulagna Mishra
Louisiana State University Tulane University Louisiana State University
Brigitte Delzell Melissa Guerry John Patin
Louisiana State University Louisiana State University Louisiana State University
Dorian Dorado Sheldon Lotten Alfonso Quinones
Louisiana State University Louisiana State University Louisiana State University
Ann Francois Cathy Luquette Mariela Sanchez
Louisiana State University Louisiana State University Southeastern Louisiana University
Stephanie Gaillard Peggy McNeil Jack Yeager
Louisiana State University Louisiana State University Louisiana State University

 xv
Miami, FL
Emmanuel Alvarado Trenton Hoy Alyse Schoenfeldt
Palm Beach State College Broward College Central Palm Beach State College, Eissey
Elisabeth D’Antoni Wendy Mendez-Hasselman Alina Vega-Franco
Broward College Central Palm Beach State College, Lake Worth Broward College Central
Domenica Diraviam Sandy Oakley Justin White
Broward College Central Palm Beach State College, Eissey Florida Atlantic University, Boca
Mónica Durán Celia Roberts Raton
University of Miami, Coral Gables Broward College Central

Amelia Island, FL
Flavia Belpoliti María Elizabeth Mahaffey Carmen Sotolongo
University of Houston University of North Carolina, Charlotte El Camino College
Sarah Bentley Leticia McGrath Edda Temoche-Weldele
Portland Community College Georgia Southern University Grossmont College
Sara Casler Catherine Ortiz Amy Uribe
Sierra College University of Texas at Arlington Lone Star College
Jorge Cubillos Yanira Paz Karen Zetrouer
University of Delaware University of Kentucky Santa Fe Community College
Paul Larson Carlos Ramírez
Baylor University University of Pittsburgh

Key West, FL
Michelle Cipriano Melissa Logue Beatriz Potter
Wright State University Columbus State Community College Valdosta State University
Edward Erazo Germán Negrón Latasha Russell
Broward College–Central University of Nevada, Las Vegas Florida State College, South Campus
Cindy Espinosa Sylvia Nikopoulos Nancy Stucker
Central Michigan University Central Piedmont Community Cabrillo College
Vanessa Lazo-Wilson College Lucero Tenorio
Austin Community College–Round Isabel Parra Oklahoma State University, Stillwater
Rock University of Cincinnati, Batavia Lilia Vidal
Kathy Leonard Carlos Pedroza Miracosta College
University of Nevada, Reno Palomar College

Practice Spanish: Study Abroad - Hollywood, FL

Kelly Conroy Luz Font Alejandro Muñoz
Western Kentucky University Florida State College, South Campus Garces Coastal Carolina University
Darren Crasto Muriel Gallego Aaron Roggia
Houston Community College, Ohio University, Athens Oklahoma State University
Northwest College Scott Gibby Aaron Salinger
Richard Curry Austin Community College, Mt. San Antonio College
Texas A & M University Northridge Jacquelyn Sandone
Dorian Dorado Ryan LaBrozzi University of Missouri, Columbia
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge Bridgewater State University Michael Vrooman
Leah Fonder-Solano Melissa Logue Grand Valley State University
University of Southern Mississippi Columbus State Community College

xvi
Reviewers
Dean Allbritton Indira Dortolina Roberto Jimenez-Arroyo
Colby College Lone Star College, Univeristy Park University of South Florida
Tim Altanero Denise Egidio Sarasota-Manatee
Austin Community College Guilford Technical Community College Julie Kleinhans-Urrutia
Virginia Arreola Hector Fabio Espitia Austin Community College
Hiram College Grand Valley State University Chris Kneifl
Silvia Arroyo Abra Figueroa University of Oklahoma
Mississippi State University Oklahoma City Community College Dr Jeremy Larochelle
Barbara Avila-Shah Sarah Finley University of Mary Washington
University at Buffalo, State University University of Kentucky Luis E Latoja
of New York Timothy Foxsmith Columbus State Community College
Wanda Baumgartel Univeristy of Texas, Arlington Rachele Lawton
Snead State Community College Ellen Lorraine Friedrich The Community College of
Anne Becher Valdosta State University Baltimore County
University of Colorado at Boulder Daniel Fulmer Vanessa Lazo-Wilson
Brian Beeles Snead State Community College Austin Community College
Arizona Western College Javier A. Galvan Peter Lebron
Clare Bennett Santa Ana College Moberly Area Community College
University of Alaska Southeast, Luis Garcia-Torvisco Kathleen Leonard
Ketchikan Gonzaga University University of Nevada, Reno
Donna Binkowski Alejandro Garza Talia Loaiza
Southern Methodist University Tarrant County College, Northwest Austin Community College
Diane Birginal Campus Rosemary LoDato
Gonzaga University Scott Gibby Houston Community College
Joseph Brockway Austin Community College Southwest
Mountain View College Debbie Gill Kathy Lopez
Francis Canedo Penn State University, DuBois Saginaw Valley State University
Northeast State Community College Elena Grajeda Kimberly Louie
Beth Cardon Pima Community College Southeast Missouri State University
Georgia Perimeter College Ileana Gross Monica Malamud
Gabriela Carrion University of Colorado Denver Canada College
Regis University Sergio A. Guzmán Jude Thomas Manzo
Mayra Cortes-Torres College of Southern Nevada Saint Philip’s College
Pima Community College Karen Hall Zetrouer Sandra M. Manzon - Omundson
Laurence Covington Santa Fe College Anoka Ramsey Community College
University of the District of Columbia Patricia Harrigan Ornella Mazzuca
Community College Community College of Baltimore Dutchess Community College
Darren Crasto County Peggy McNeil
Houston Community College Haydn Louisiana State University
Betsy Dahms Campbell University Marco Mena
University of West Georgia Lynn Healy Massbay Community College
Kit Decker Grand Valley State University Wendy Mendez-Hasselman
Piedmont Virginia Community College Laurie Huffman Palm Beach State College
Heriberto Del Porto Los Medanos College Jise L. Mendoza
Westminster College, MO Elena Iglesias-Villamel The University of San Diego
David Detwiler Hiram College Joseph Menig
MiraCosta College Kelsey Ihinger Valencia College
John Deveny University of Wisconsin, Madison Lizette Moon
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater Casilde Isabelli Houston Community College
Dorian Dorado University of Nevada, Reno Northwest
Louisiana State University

 xvii
Patricia Moore-Martinez Francisco Salgado Giovanna Urdangarain
Temple University The College of Staten Island Pacific Lutheran University
Sandra J. Mulryan Francisco Salgado-Robles Amy Uribe
Community College of Baltimore County University of Kentucky LoneStar College CyFair
Heather Nylen Bethany Sanio Vangie Vélez-Cobb
University of Hawaii at Manoa University of Nebraska at Lincoln Palo Alto College
Dale Omundson Roman Santos Hilde Votaw
Anoka-Ramsey Community College Mohawk Valley Community College University of Oklahoma
Ann Ortiz David Schultz Michael Vrooman
Campbell University College of Southern Nevada Grand Valley State University
Catherine Ortiz Dr. Dennis Seager Natalie S. Wagener
University of Texas at Arlington Oklahoma State University University of Texas, Arlington
Patricia Orozco Watrel Georgia Seminet Sara Walker
University of Mary Washington St. Edward’s University Holy Family University
Philip Pack Louis Silvers Tina Ware-Walters
Connors State College Monroe Community College Oklahoma Christian University
Elizabeth Petree Natalie Sobalvarro Sandra Watts
Joliet Junior College Merced College University of North Carolina,
Maria Portal Samuel Sommerville Charlotte
Hamilton College Johnson County Community College Susan Wehling
Tim Robbins Stacy Southerland Valdosta State University
Drury University University of Central Oklahoma Christopher Weimer
Silvia Roca-Martinez Clay Tanner Oklahoma State University
The Citadel The University of Memphis Joseph Wieczorek
Angelo J. Rodriguez Joe Terantino College of Baltimore
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Kennesaw State University Karen Zetrouer
Margarita Rodriguez Rosa Tezanos-Pinto Santa Fe College
Lone Star College System Indiana University-Purdue University
Ulises Rodriguez Indianapolis
Mountain View College

xviii
The authors wish to thank the following friends and
professional colleagues. Their feedback, support, and
Contributors
contributions are greatly appreciated. Kalynn Aguirre, Sarah Alem, Allen Bernier, Denise
Nicole Casnettie, Eileen Fancher, Lorena Gómez
• Arni C. Álvarez , Rodrigo Figueroa, Nathan Gordon, ­Mostajo, Danielle Havens, Shelly Hubman, Emilia Illana
Melissa Logue, Christina D. Miller, and Mark Pleiss Mahiques, Constance Kihyet, Christopher LaFond, Lily
for their work as user diarists, and Anne Becher Martínez, Leticia McGrath, Wendy Mendez-Hasselman,
and Jeanette Sánchez Naranjo for helping us Louise Neary, Ron Nelms, Pennie Nichols, Jodi Parrett,
identify many members of this fine team Maritza Salgueiro-Carlisle, John Underwood, Annie
• The Teaching Assistants and colleagues of Anne ­Rutter Wendel, Sam Sommerville, Nina Tunac-Basey,
Becher at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Amy Uribe, Alina Vega Franco
whose thought-provoking conversations and
annotations truly shaped the revision of the Product Team
grammar, vocabulary, and activities. “Their work was
Editorial and Marketing: Mike Ambrosino, Jorge
perhaps the single most important kind of input that
Arbujas, Allen J. Bernier, Susan Blatty, Chris Brown,
I received for this edition.”—Thalia Dorwick
Laura Ciporen, Craig Gill, Helen Greenlea, Misha
• The colleagues of Ana Pérez-Gironés at Wesleyan Maclaird, Pennie Nichols, Sadie Ray, Kimberley Sallee,
University Katie Stevens, Alina Vega Franco
• Dora Y. Marrón Romero and Claudia Sahagún
Art, Design, and Production: Matt Backhaus, Amber
(Broward Community College), for their helpful
Bettcher, Francine Cronshaw, Kelly Heinrichs, Patti Isaacs,
comments about culture
Lynne Lemley, Erin Melloy DeHeck, Sylvie Pittet, Margaret
• Alejandro Lee (Central Washington University), for Potter, Terri Schiesl, Emily Tietz, Beth Thole, Shawntel
the many comments and suggestions on the eighth Schmitt
edition
• Laura Chastain, for her meticulous work on the
Media Partners: Aptara, BBC Motion Gallery, Eastern
Sky Studios, Hurix, Klic Video Productions, Inc.,
language and linguistic accuracy of the manuscript,
Laserwords, Latinallure Voiceover, LearningMate
over many editions but especially this one
Finally, the authors would like to thank their families
and close personal friends for all of their love, support,
and patience throughout the creation of this edition.
¡Los queremos mucho!

 xix
CONTENTS
VOCABULARY AND
GRAMMAR
Capítulo PRONUCIATION

1
Primera parte Primera parte
Ante todo 2 Saludos y expresiones de ¿Cómo es usted? (Part 1) 9
cortesía 4 Segunda parte
Nota comunicativa Más Los números del 0 al 30; Hay 13
expresiones de cortesía 5 Nota comunicativa El género y los números 13
El alfabeto español 8 Los gustos y preferencias (Part 1) 15
Nota comunicativa Los ¿Qué hora es? 17
cognados 9
Segunda parte
Nota comunicativa Cómo
expresar la hora 17
Pronunciación Las vocales:
a, e, i, o, u 7

2
En el salón de clase 28
En la 1 Naming People, Places, Things, and Ideas (Part 1) •
universidad 26 Las materias 30 Singular Nouns: Gender and Articles 35
Nota comunicativa Más palabras 2 Naming People, Places, Things, and Ideas (Part 2) •
interrogativas 32 Nouns and Articles: Plural Forms 38
Pronunciación Diphthongs and 3 Expressing Actions • Subject Pronouns (Part 1) •
Linking 34 Present Tense of -ar Verbs; Negation 41
Nota comunicativa Cómo expresar las partes
del día 46
Nota comunicativa El verbo estar 47
4 Getting Information (Part 1) • Asking Yes/No
Los Estados Unidos de
América
Questions 48

3
La familia y los parientes 62
La familia 60 Los números del 31 al 100 64
Nota comunicativa Cómo
expresar la edad: tener… años 65
Los adjetivos 66
Pronunciación Stress and
Written Accent Marks (Part 1) 68
México
5 Describing • Adjectives: Gender, Number, and
Position 69
Nota comunicativa Otras nacionalidades 73
6 Expressing to be • Present Tense of ser; Summary
of Uses (Part 2) 75
Nota comunicativa Cómo dar explicaciones : Porque y
para + infinitive 78
7 Expressing Possession • Unstressed Possessive
Adjectives (Part 1) 80
8 Expressing Actions • Present Tense of -er and -ir
Verbs; Subject Pronouns (Part 2) 83
Nota comunicativa Cómo expresar la frecuencia de
las acciones 87

xx
VIDEO, LISTENING,
AND WRITING READING AND CULTURE

SALU 2 Primera parte

desde Los NOTA CULTURAL Los saludos en el mundo hispano 5
Ángeles 20 ¡Aquí se habla español! 11
Segunda parte
A LEER
Una lección de geografía 22

SALU 2 NOTA CULTURAL Las universidades más antiguas del mundo hispano 30
¡Qué bacán! Algo sobre…
Segmento 1 33 • la universidad 29
Segmento 2 53 • los Departamentos de Estudios Latinos en las universidades de los
Estados Unidos 50
A ESCUCHAR UN POCO DE TODO Lengua y cultura: Dos universidades fabulosas… y
Un anuncio para los cursos de verano de la diferentes 51
Universidad Internacional 56
A LEER
PRODUCCIÓN PERSONAL Lectura cultural: Los Estados Unidos
A escribir: Un ensayo sobre este semestre/ La presencia latina en las universidades norteamericanas 54
trimestre 57 En otros países hispanos (En todo el mundo hispanohablante;
En el Ecuador) 54
Un símbolo latino en los Estados Unidos: Los murales y el arte
urbano 54
Del mundo hispano
Lectura: Un anuncio de Inglés USA 55

SALU 2 NOTA CULTURAL El sistema hispano de apellidos 64

Padres modernos Algo sobre…
Segmento 1 67 • los estados mexicanos 65
Segmento 2 91 • una pintora mexicana 72
• la comida de México 85
A ESCUCHAR • una gran ciudad mexicana 88
La familia de Lucía Jiménez Flores 94 • ¿América? 89
UN POCO DE TODO Lengua y cultura: Las familias 89
PRODUCCIÓN PERSONAL
A escribir: Un ensayo sobre la familia 95 A LEER
Lectura cultural: México
La institución de la familia en México 92
En otros países hispanos (En todo el mundo hispanohablante) 92
Un símbolo mexicano: Los centros arqueológicos 92
Del mundo hispano
Lectura: Un parto excepcional en la República Dominicana 93
 xxi
 VOCABULARY AND
PRONUCIATION GRAMMAR

4 De De compras: La ropa 100 9 Pointing Out People and Things • Demonstrative

compras 98 Nota comunicativa Preguntas
coletilla (tag) 102
Los colores: ¿De qué color
es? 103
Los números a partir del 100 105
Pronunciación Stress and
Written Accent Marks (Part 2) 108
Adjectives (Part 2) and Pronouns 110
10 Expressing Actions and States • Tener, venir, poder,
preferir, querer; Some Idioms with tener 114
Nota comunicativa Mucho y poco 117
11 Expressing Destination and Future Actions • Ir; The
Contraction al; Ir + a + Infinitive 119

Guatemala Honduras

5
Los muebles, los cuartos y otras
partes de la casa 132
En casa 130
¿Qué día es hoy? 134
Nota comunicativa Cómo
expresar on con los días de la
semana 135
¿Cuándo?: Las preposiciones
(Part 1) 136
12 Expressing Actions • Hacer, oír, poner, salir, traer,
ver 139
13 Expressing Actions • Present Tense of Stem-
changing Verbs (Part 2) 145
14 Expressing -self/-selves • Reflexive Pronouns
(Part 1) 150
Nota comunicativa Cómo expresar una secuencia de
acciones 153

El Salvador Nicaragua

6
¿Qué tiempo hace hoy? 166
Las estaciones
y el tiempo 164 Nota comunicativa Otras
expresiones con tener 167
Los meses y las estaciones
del año 168
¿Dónde está?: Las preposiciones
(Part 2) 170
15 ¿Qué están haciendo? • Present Progressive:
Estar + -ndo 173
Nota comunicativa El gerundio con otros verbos 177
16 ¿Ser o estar? • Summary of the Uses of ser and
estar 178
Nota comunicativa El uso de adjetivos + por 181
17 Describing • Comparisons 185

Costa Rica

xxii
VIDEO, LISTENING,
AND WRITING READING AND CULTURE

SALU 2 NOTA CULTURAL La ropa tradicional en el mundo hispano 104

¡Moda, moda, Algo sobre…
moda! • un artista guatemalteco 103
Segmento 1 107 • Tikal 117
Segmento 2 123 • las compras en Guatemala y Honduras 121
UN POCO DE TODO Lengua y cultura: Pero, ¿no se puede
A ESCUCHAR regatear? 121
Los planes de Lidia y Cristina para ir de
compras 126 A LEER
Lectura cultural: Guatemala y Honduras
PRODUCCIÓN PERSONAL Los mercados 124
A escribir: Un ensayo sobre los estilos en el En otros países hispanos (En todo el mundo hispanohablante;
campus 127 En los países andinos) 124
Un símbolo guatemalteco y hondureño: El Popol Vuh 124
Del mundo hispano
Lectura: Un artículo sobre la ropa 125

SALU 2 NOTA CULTURAL Las casas en el mundo hispano 134

Vivir con la familia Algo sobre…
Segmento 1 138 • los lagos de Nicaragua 143
Segmento 2 157 • las casas tradicionales centroamericanas 144
• la costa centroamericana 152
A ESCUCHAR UN POCO DE TODO Lengua y cultura: Una tradición extendida —El
Ernesto y Víctor necesitan muchos Día de la Cruz 155
muebles 160
A LEER
PRODUCCIÓN PERSONAL Lectura cultural: El Salvador y Nicaragua
A escribir: Un ensayo sobre una semana típica La vivienda 158
de los estudiantes universitarios 161 En otros países hispanos (En todo el mundo
hispanohablante) 158
Un símbolo de El Salvador y Nicaragua: los volcanes 158
Del mundo hispano
Lectura: Anuncios de bienes raíces 159

SALU 2 NOTA CULTURAL El clima en el mundo hispano 169

En la Mitad del Algo sobre…
Mundo • los valores de los costarricenses 175
Segmento 1 172 • la democracia en Costa Rica 180
Segmento 2 193 • San José y Buenos Aires 185
UN POCO DE TODO Lengua y cultura: Dos hemisferios 191
A ESCUCHAR
El pronóstico del tiempo en la Argentina 196 A LEER
Lectura cultural: Costa Rica
PRODUCCIÓN PERSONAL El clima de Costa Rica 194
A escribir: Un ensayo sobre sus preferencias En otros países hispanos (En Chile; En España) 194
climáticas 197
Un símbolo costarricense: La carreta 194
Del mundo hispano
Lectura: Un calendario especial 195

 xxiii
 VOCABULARY AND
PRONUCIATION GRAMMAR

7
La comida y las comidas 202
¡A comer! 200 Nota comunicativa Más
vocabulario para hablar de la
comida 203
¿Qué sabe Ud. y a quién
conoce? 205
18 Expressing what or who(m) • Direct Objects: The
Personal a; Direct Object Pronouns 209
Nota comunicativa Cómo expresar una acción muy
reciente: acabar + de + infinitivo 213
19 Expressing Negation • Indefinite and Negative
Words 215
20 Influencing Others • Commands (Part 1): Formal
Commands 219

Panamá

8
De viaje 234
De viaje 232 De vacaciones 236
Nota comunicativa Otro uso de
la palabra se: para expresar
acciones impersonales 238
21 Expressing to who(m) or for who(m) • Indirect
Object Pronouns; Dar and decir 241
22 Expressing Likes and Dislikes • Gustar (Part 2) 246
Nota comunicativa Otras maneras de expresar los
gustos y preferencias 250
23 Talking About the Past (Part 1) • Preterite of Regular
Verbs and of dar, hacer, ir, and ser 251

La República
Dominicana

9
Una fiesta de cumpleaños para 24 Talking About the Past (Part 2) • Irregular
Los días Preterites 274
Javier 268
festivos 266
Las emociones y los estados 25 Talking About the Past (Part 3) • Preterite of
afectivos 271 Stem-changing Verbs 278
Nota comunicativa Cómo 26 Avoiding Repetition • Expressing Direct and Indirect
enfatizar: -ísimo 272 Object Pronouns Together 282

Cuba

xxiv
VIDEO, LISTENING,
AND WRITING READING AND CULTURE

SALU 2 NOTA CULTURAL La comida del mundo hispano 204

¡Qué rico! Algo sobre…
Segmento 1 208 • Rubén Blades 206
Segmento 2 225 • la Ciudad de Panamá 213
• los emberás 218
A ESCUCHAR
UN POCO DE TODO Lengua y cultura: La cocina panameña 223
Los señores Robles piden la cena 228
A LEER
PRODUCCIÓN PERSONAL
Lectura cultural: Panamá
A escribir: La comida de las cafeterías de esta
universidad 229 La comida panameña 226
En otros países hispanos (En todo el mundo hispanohablante;
En los Estados Unidos) 226
Un símbolo panameño: En canal de Panamá 226
Del mundo hispano
Lectura: Una receta 227

SALU 2 NOTA CULTURAL Tipos de turismo en el mundo hispano 237

¡De viaje! Algo sobre…
Segmento 1 240 • el colmado dominicano 238
Segmento 2 259 • el casabe 245
• las hermanas Mirabal 255
A ESCUCHAR
UN POCO DE TODO Lengua y cultura: Mi abuela dominicana 257
Las actividades de Arturo y David, de ayer y
hoy 262 A LEER
PRODUCCIÓN PERSONAL Lectura cultural: La República Dominicana
A escribir: Un ensayo sobre el verano El turismo en la República Dominicana 260
pasado 263 En otros países hispanos (En todo el mundo hispanohablante;
En España; En los Estados Unidos) 260
Un símbolo dominicano: El merengue 260
Del mundo hispano
Lectura: I love viajes 261

SALU 2 NOTA CULTURAL Los días festivos importantes del mundo

De fiesta en fiesta hispano 270
Segmento 1 273 Algo sobre…
Segmento 2 287 • las parrandas cubanas 269
• José Martí   280
A ESCUCHAR • el son cubano 285
El mensaje telefónico de Pilar 290
UN POCO DE TODO Lengua y cultura: La Virgen de Guadalupe,
PRODUCCIÓN PERSONAL quince siglos de historia 285
A escribir: Un ensayo sobre una celebración A LEER
memorable 291 Lectura cultural: Cuba
Dos días festivos cubanos 288
En otros países hispanos (En todo el mundo
hispanohablante) 288
Un símbolo cubano: La palma 288
Del mundo hispano
Lectura: Una declaración de propósitos 289

 xxv
 VOCABULARY AND
PRONUCIATION GRAMMAR

10 El tiempo Los pasatiempos, diversiones y
aficiones 296
libre 294
Los quehaceres domésticos 298
Nota comunicativa Cómo
expresar la obligación 300
27 Talking About the Past (Part 4) • Descriptions and
Habitual Actions in the Past: Imperfect of Regular
and Irregular Verbs 302
Nota comunicativa El progresivo en el pasado 305
28 Getting Information (Part 2) • Summary of
Interrogative Words 308
29 Expressing Extremes • Superlatives 310

Puerto Rico

11
La salud y el bienestar 324
En el consultorio del médico 326
La salud 322
Nota comunicativa Cómo
expresar una cualidad general:
lo + adjetivo 328
30 Talking About the Past (Part 5) • Using the Preterite
and the Imperfect 330
Nota comunicativa Algunas palabras y expresiones
asociadas con el pretérito y el imperfecto 333
31 Recognizing que, quien(es), lo que • Relative
Pronouns 338
32 Expressing each other (Part 2) • Reciprocal Actions
with Reflexive Pronouns 341

Venezuela

12
La ciudad y el barrio 354 33 Influencing Others (Part 2) • Tú (Informal)
¡Conectad@s! Commands 360
352 La tecnología 356
Nota comunicativa Verbos derivados de poner, tener y
venir 363
34 Expressing Subjective Actions or States • Present
Subjunctive (Part 1): An Introduction 365
35 Expressing Desires and Requests • Use of the
Subjunctive (Part 2): Influence 371

Colombia

xxvi
VIDEO, LISTENING,
AND WRITING READING AND CULTURE

SALU 2 NOTA CULTURAL Los deportes más populares del mundo

Deportes que hispano 297
mueven masas Algo sobre…
Segmento 1 301 • el coquí 299
Segmento 2 315 • Borinquen 307
• la bomba y la plena 313
A ESCUCHAR UN POCO DE TODO Lengua y cultura: Un poco de la historia de
Unos compañeros hablan de «un desastre» 318 Puerto Rico 313
PRODUCCIÓN PERSONAL A LEER
A escribir: Un ensayo sobre los pasatiempos Lectura cultural: Puerto Rico
y diversiones 319 El tiempo libre en Puerto Rico 316
En otros países hispanos (En todo el mundo hispanohablante;
En la Argentina) 316
Un símbolo puertorriqueño: El Viejo San Juan 316
Del mundo hispano
Lectura: Los teléfonos celulares 317

SALU 2 NOTA CULTURAL El cuidado médico en el mundo hispano 327

Remedios para Algo sobre…
todos • la harina de maíz blanco 325
Segmento 1 329 • Simón Bolívar 333
Segmento 2 345 • el lago de Maracaibo 337
UN POCO DE TODO Lengua y cultura: La leyenda del lago de
A ESCUCHAR Maracaibo 343
Campaña de vacunación contra la gripe 348
A LEER
PRODUCCIÓN PERSONAL Lectura cultural: Venezuela
A escribir: La historia de una enfermedad 349 El seguro médico en Venezuela 346
En otros países hispanos (En Latinoamérica; En España) 346
Un símbolo venezolano: «La rumba» 346
Del mundo hispano
Lectura: «Epitafio», de Nicanor Parra 347

SALU 2 NOTA CULTURAL El español y la tecnología 358

¡No sin mi celular! Algo sobre…
Segmento 1 359 • la cumbia 357
Segmento 2 377 • Gabriel García Márquez 373
• la orquídea colombiana 374
A ESCUCHAR UN POCO DE TODO Lengua y cultura: La ciudad de Cartagena,
Un doctor habla de un proyecto Colombia 375
tecnológico 380
A LEER
PRODUCCIÓN PERSONAL Lectura cultural: Colombia
A escribir: La educación universitaria: Los barrios colombianos 378
¿presencial o a distancia? 381 En otros países hispanos (En todo el mundo hispanohablante;
En México y la Argentina) 378
Un símbolo colombiano: El café 378
Del mundo hispano
Lectura: «Cuadrados y ángulos», de Alfonsina Storni 379

 xxvii
 VOCABULARY AND
PRONUCIATION GRAMMAR

13 El arte y la Las artes 386 36 Expressing Feelings • Use of the Subjunctive

cultura 384 Nota comunicativa Más sobre
los gustos y preferencias 387
Los ordinales 390
(Part 3): Emotion 392
Nota comunicativa Cómo expresar los deseos con
ojalá 395
37 Expressing Uncertainty • Use of the Subjunctive
(Part 4): Doubt and Denial 397
Nota comunicativa Verbos que requieren
preposiciones 400
38 Expressing Influence, Emotion, Doubt, and Denial •
The Subjunctive (Part 5): A Summary 401

El Ecuador Bolivia

14 Las presiones Las presiones de la vida 39 Telling How Long Something Has Been Happening
académica 416 or How Long Ago Something Happened • Hace…
de la vida que: Another Use of hacer 423
moderna 414 ¡Qué mala suerte! 419
40 Expressing Unplanned or Unexpected Events •
Nota comunicativa Más sobre
Another Use of se 426
los adverbios: adjetivo +
-mente 421 41 ¿Por o para? • A Summary of Their Uses 430

El Perú

15 La naturaleza La ciudad y el campo 446 42 Más descripciones • Past Participle Used as an

Adjective 454
y el medio Los vehículos 450
43 ¿Qué has hecho? • Perfect Forms: Present Perfect
ambiente 444 Nota comunicativa Frases para
Indicative and Present Perfect Subjunctive 458
indicar cómo llegar a un
lugar 452 Nota comunicativa El pluscuamperfecto: había +
participio pasado 462

La Argentina El Uruguay

xxviii
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
prolonged absence in town seemed futile, his daughter wrote, still to
the care of “Old Betty’s,” informing him that she could no longer bear
the suspense, and that she had written to Kemble to say that she
was coming to town immediately, and would drive at once to his
house, where, “if he cannot see me then, I have requested him to
leave word when and where he will see me.”
The matter was evidently settled and the play arranged to be
produced at Drury Lane Theatre on Saturday, October 11. Writing
this information to Sir William Elford a week or so before the
production, Miss Mitford said: “Mr. Young plays the hero, and has
been studying the part during the whole vacation; and a new
actress[24] makes her first appearance in the part of the heroine. This
is a very bold and hazardous experiment, no new actress having
come out in a new play within the memory of man; but she is young,
pretty, unaffected, pleasant-voiced, with great sensibility, and a
singularly pure intonation—a qualification which no actress has
possessed since Mrs. Siddons. Stanfield[25] is painting the new
scenes, one of which is an accurate representation of Rienzi’s
house. This building still exists in Rome, and is shown there as a
curious relique of the domestic architecture of the Middle Ages. They
have got a sketch which they sent for on purpose, and they are
hunting up costumes with equal care; so that it will be very splendidly
brought out, and I shall have little to fear, except from the emptiness
of London so early in the season. If you know any one likely to be in
that great desert so early in the year, I know that you will be so good
as to mention me and my tragedy. I do not yet know where I shall be.
I think of going to town in about a fortnight, and, if the play succeeds,
shall remain there about the same time.”
Mrs. S. C. Hall, in her Memories, gives us a delightful picture of
the flurry and bustle which preceded the Rienzi production, a bustle
which was accentuated by an alteration of the date to one week
earlier. Miss Mitford was up in town superintending the
arrangements, lodging meanwhile at the house of her friend, Mrs.
Hofland, in Newman Street. “Mrs. Hofland invited us to meet her
there one morning. All the world was talking about the expected play,
and all the world was paying court to its author.
 “‘Mary,’ said Mrs. Hofland to her visitors, ‘is a little grand and
stilted just now. There is no doubt the tragedy will be a great
success; they all say so in the green-room; and Macready told me it
was a wonderful tragedy—an extraordinary tragedy “for a woman to
have written.” The men always make that reservation, my dear; they
cramp us, my dear, and then reproach us with our lameness; but
Mary did not hear it, and I did not tell her. She is supremely happy
just now, and so is her father, the doctor. Yes, it is no wonder that
she should be a little stilted—such grand people coming to call and
invite them to dinner, and all the folk at the theatre down-upon-knee
to her—it is such a contrast to her life at Three Mile Cross.’
“‘But,’ I said, ‘she deserves all the homage that can be rendered
her—her talents are so varied. Those stories of Our Village have
been fanned by the pure breezes of “sunny Berkshire,” and are
inimitable as pictures of English rural life; and she has also achieved
the highest walk in tragedy——’
“‘For a woman,’ put in dear Mrs. Hofland. She had not forgiven our
great tragedian—then in the zenith of his popularity—for his
ungallant reserve.”
It is pleasant to read that Macready could praise this tragedy,
although we cannot forget that spiteful entry in his Diary, under date
November 24, 1836—“I have no faith in her power of writing a play.”
Stilted or not, Miss Mitford was contented to appear in a garb
which spoke, all too plainly, of the country cottage and country
fashion.
“I certainly was disappointed,” continues Mrs. Hall, “when a stout
little lady, tightened up in a shawl, rolled into the parlour in Newman
Street, and Mrs. Hofland announced her as Miss Mitford; her short
petticoats showing wonderfully stout leather boots, her shawl
bundled on, and a little black coal-scuttle bonnet—when bonnets
were expanding—added to the effect of her natural shortness and
rotundity; but her manner was that of a cordial country gentlewoman;
the pressure of her fat little hands (for she extended both) was warm;
her eyes, both soft and bright, looked kindly and frankly into mine;
and her pretty, rosy mouth, dimpled with smiles that were always
sweet and friendly. At first I did not think her at all ‘grand or stilted,’
though she declared she had been quite spoilt—quite ruined since
she came to London, with all the fine compliments she had received;
but the trial was yet to come. ‘Suppose—suppose Rienzi should be
——,’ and she shook her head. Of course, in full chorus, we declared
that could not be. ‘No! she would not spend an evening with us until
after the first night; if the play went ill, or even coldly, she would run
away, and never be again seen or heard of; if it succeeded——’ She
drew her rotund person to its full height, and endeavoured to stretch
her neck, and the expression of her face assumed an air of
unmistakable triumph. She was always pleasant to look at, and had
her face not been cast in so broad—so ‘outspread’—a mould, she
would have been handsome; even with that disadvantage, if her
figure had been tall enough to carry her head with dignity, she would
have been so, but she was most vexatiously ‘dumpy’; but when Miss
Mitford spoke, the awkward effect vanished—her pleasant voice, her
beaming eyes and smiles, made you forget the wide expanse of
face; and the roly-poly figure, when seated, did not appear really
short.”
On October 4 Rienzi was played—played to crowded houses, with
audiences so rapt that a pin might have been heard had one
dropped in the house. The author, fearful of failure, dare not witness
the first production, but remained near at hand, praying for success
from her inmost soul, “for on it hangs the comfort of those far dearer
to me than myself.” It was Haydon who was the first to bring her the
news of success, and it was a message the bearer of which she
never forgot.
On October 20 she wrote informing Sir William Elford that “the
triumph has been most complete and decisive—the houses crowded
—and the attention such as has not been since Mrs. Siddons. How
long the run may continue I cannot say, for London is absolutely
empty; but even if the play were to stop to-night, I should be
extremely thankful—more thankful than I have words to tell; the
impression has been so deep and so general. You should have been
in London, or seen the newspapers as a whole, to judge of the
exceedingly strong sensation that has been produced.”
 “The reception of this tragedy,” wrote George Daniel, the famous
critic and Editor of Cumberland’s British Theatre, “is a proof that,
though the public have been wont to feed on garbage, they have no
disinclination to wholesome food.... If in the character of Rienzi, Miss
Mitford has shown that she can write with masculine energy, let
Claudia bear witness that her wonted dominion over the heart is still
in full force; that, with the power of agitating the soul by the fierce
conflict of contending passions, a fine sensibility, a true pathos, a
bewitching tenderness, are still her own, to relieve and illumine the
dark shadows that veil the mysterious grandeur of the tragic muse.
“The sentiments are just and noble; the language is vigorous,
picturesque and poetical.
“It was to be expected that the actor who plays Macbeth and
Hamlet with such skill and effect as Mr. Young should be highly
successful in Rienzi. His performance was a fine specimen of the
Kemble school—chaste, vigorous and grand. Miss Phillips proved
herself fully equal to sustain the character of the gentle Claudia. Her
excellence lies in the expression of tenderness.”
Congratulations poured in upon the author from all quarters, and
these, with countless invitations to festivities in her honour, nearly
turned her head. Fulfilling a promise made at the Hofland’s house to
Mrs. Hall, she went to dinner one evening during the run of Rienzi,
and was, unconsciously, the cause of much merriment, fortunately
suppressed. Mrs. Hall describes her as not appearing to advantage
that evening; “her manner was constrained, and even haughty. She
got up tragedy looks, which did not harmonize with her naturally
playful expression. She seated herself in a high chair, and was
indignant at the offer of a footstool, though her feet barely touched
the ground; she received those who wished to be introduced to her
en reine; but such was her popularity just then, that all were gratified.
She was most unbecomingly dressed in a striped satin something,
neither high nor low, with very short sleeves, for her arms were white
and finely formed; she wore a large yellow turban, which added
considerably to the size of her head. She had evidently bought the
hideous thing en route, and put it on, in the carriage, as she drove to
our house, for pinned at the back was a somewhat large card, on
which were written in large letters, ‘very chaste—only 5s. 3d.’ I
had observed several of our party passing behind the chair,
whispering and tittering, and soon ascertained the cause. Under
pretence of settling her turban, I removed the obnoxious notice; and,
of course, she never knew that so many wags had been merry at her
cost.”
All very amusing; and yet, a picture which cannot fail to evoke our
sympathy for the little woman so anxious to enjoy to the full her
wonderful hour of success.
The play ran for fifty nights and enjoyed a truly remarkable sale in
book form. In view of the popularity of Rienzi and, possibly, because
she feared it might affect the run in some way, Miss Mitford now
begged Kemble to postpone the production of Inez de Castro until
some future date, to which he, of course, agreed.
Meanwhile, and in the November of the same year—that is, while
Rienzi was still running—she made preparations towards the writing
of a new play, founded on a German story, and to be called Otto of
Wittelsbach.
Upon her return to Three Mile Cross she was again inundated with
congratulations, both personal and written, and this, of course,
proved a serious delay to her work, and, incidentally, led to a
temporary break in her correspondence with her old friend, Sir
William Elford. Conscience-stricken, she sent him a pretty letter—an
amusing blend of contrition and excuse—on her birthday.
“Thinking over those whom I love and those who have been kind
to me, as one does on these annual occasions, it occurred to me, my
dear friend, that I had most unkindly checked your warmhearted
interest in my doings. I was very busy—not quite well—and
overwhelmed, beyond anything that can be conceived, by letters and
visits of congratulation. I am now quite well again; and though still
with much to do—much that I ought to have done to make up—yet,
having fairly stemmed the tide of formal compliments, I steal a
moment to tell you and your dear circle that Rienzi continues
prosperous. It has passed the twentieth night, which, you know,
insures the payment of four hundred pounds from the theatre (the
largest price that any play can gain); and the sale of the tragedy has
been so extraordinary, that I am told the fourth edition is nearly
exhausted—which, as the publisher told me each edition would
consist of at least two thousand, makes a circulation of eight
thousand copies in two months.... Heaven grant I may ever do as
well again! I shall have hard work to write up to my own reputation,
for certainly I am at present greatly overrated.”
Among the many tributes of praise received by Rienzi’s author
none gave greater delight than the one embodied in Lord Lytton’s
Preface to his novel, Rienzi, which first appeared in 1835. “I cannot
conclude,” it runs, “without rendering the tribute of my praise and
homage to the versatile and gifted Author of the beautiful Tragedy of
Rienzi. Considering that our hero be the same—considering that we
had the same materials from which to choose our several stories—I
trust I shall be found to have little, if at all, trespassed upon ground
previously occupied. With the single exception of a love-intrigue
between a relative of Rienzi and one of the antagonist party, which
makes the plot of Miss Mitford’s Tragedy, and is little more than an
episode in my Romance, having slight effect on the conduct and
none on the fate of the hero, I am not aware of any resemblance
between the two works; and even this coincidence I could easily
have removed, had I deemed it the least advisable; but it would be
almost discreditable if I had nothing that resembled a performance
so much it were an honour to imitate.”

FOOTNOTES:
[24] Louisa Anne Phillips; she was only sixteen when she made
her début.
[25] W. Clarkson Stanfield—the famous marine-painter.
 CHAPTER XXI

A GREAT SORROW

Prominent among the many and varied characteristics of Miss

Mitford’s life is the remarkable and unfailing interest she ever
displayed towards struggling genius. Nothing gave her more
pleasure than news of some individual who, possibly humbly born,
was making a strenuous fight for fame; while to be brought into
personal relationship with the struggler was a circumstance which
seemed at once to quicken her mothering instinct, and it would not
be long before she became a self-constituted champion, using her
influence to secure the interest and support of all who were likely to
be of service to her protégé.
For Haydon she had an unfailing regard and would fight his battles
with any who dared to disparage him or his work in her hearing. Of
Talfourd’s achievements she was never tired of talking and writing,
even after he had forfeited any claim to her interest by his stupid
jealousy. Lough, the sculptor, son of a small farmer in
Northumberland, excited her admiration when, barely two years after
he had left his father’s cornfields, he achieved fame with his Statue
of Milo. And now, following her own success with Rienzi, we find her
interesting herself in young Lucas, the painter, of whom she wrote to
Harness: “He is only twenty-one, was bound to Reynolds, the
engraver, and practised the art which he was resolved to pursue,
secretly, in his own room, in hours stolen from sleep and needful
exercise, and minutes from necessary food. Last July he became his
own master, and since then he has regularly painted. Everybody
almost that sees his pictures desires to sit, and he is already torn to
pieces with business. In short, I expect great things of him. But what
I especially like is his character. I have seen nothing in all my life
more extraordinary than his union of patience and temper and
rationality, with a high and ardent enthusiasm.” That was written in
the January of 1828. In the following November she wrote to
Haydon: “I am now going to tell you something which I earnestly
hope will neither vex nor displease you; if it do, I shall grieve most
heartily—but I do not think it will. The patron of a young artist of great
merit (Mr. Lucas) has made a most earnest request that I will sit to
him. He comes here to paint it—and there is a double view; first to
get two or three people hereabout to sit to him; next to do him good
in London, by having in the Exhibition the portrait of a person whose
name will probably induce people to look at it, and bring the painting
into notice. The manner in which this was pressed upon me by a
friend to whom I owe great gratitude was such as I really could not
refuse—especially as it can by no accident be injurious to your
splendid reputation, that an ugly face which you happen to have
taken, should be copied by another. There is a project of having the
portrait engraved, which would increase the benefit that they
anticipate to Mr. Lucas, and would be so far satisfactory to us as it
would supersede a villainous print out of some magazine, from a
drawing of Miss Drummond’s, which is now selling in the shops.” To
this Haydon good-naturedly replied that he would not be offended
and that he should be glad to be of use to Mr. Lucas, or of any
service to the print; but, as a matter of fact, he was not at all pleased
and was really jealous of the young painter for a while.
Meanwhile the sittings for the Lucas portrait took place, and by
January of 1829 the picture was advanced enough for its original to
bestow her praise. Sir William Elford was, of course, among the
earliest to learn the particulars. “The portrait is said by everybody to
be a work of art. It certainly is a most graceful and elegant picture—a
very fine piece of colour, and, they say, a very strong likeness. It was
difficult, in painting me, to steer between the Scylla and Charybdis of
making me dowdy, like one of my own rustic heroines, or dressed
out like a tragedy queen. He has managed the matter with infinite
taste, and given to the whole figure the look of a quiet gentlewoman.
I never saw a more lady-like picture. The dress is a black velvet hat,
with a long, drooping black feather; a claret-coloured high gown; and
a superb open cloak of gentianella blue, the silvery fur and white
satin lining of which are most exquisitely painted and form one of the
most beautiful pieces of drapery that can be conceived. The face is
thoughtful and placid, with the eyes looking away—a peculiarity
which, they say, belongs to my expression.”
Assuming that these millinery and drapery details were
understandable to Sir William, the catalogue must have given him
something of a shock, for he would assuredly wonder what had
come over his little friend, in the first place, to have become
possessed of such a heap of finery and, in the second place, to have
submitted to being decked out in it.
The truth is that Lady Madelina Palmer—wife of the Reading
Member, Fyshe Palmer—had taken a leading part in the
arrangement for this portrait and, determined that the author of
Rienzi should make a brave show, had dressed up the homely figure
in some of her own society garments. The effect was worse than that
of a parlour-maid masquerading as the mistress, for Miss Mitford had
neither the figure nor the artificiality which could set off the
bedizenments of a duke’s daughter. Poor Lucas—“the sweet young
boy,” Miss Mitford afterwards called him—fumed inwardly when he
saw what he had to portray, daring not to criticize lest he offend the
owner of the clothes, who was near by. He stuck manfully to his task,
fretting at the bad taste of the whole thing, only to cancel the picture
in the end. Fortunately an engraving of the picture has been
preserved, of which we are able to present a copy in these pages.
As a picture it is undoubtedly graceful and admirably proportioned,
but as regards the tout ensemble it must be regarded as a failure.
 Mary Russell Mitford.
(From a painting by John Lucas, 1829.)
During the sitting Miss Mitford composed some graceful lines to
the painter, which are worthy of quotation here, because apart from
their intrinsic value as a poetical tribute, they also contain a piece of
self-portraiture most deftly interwoven:—
“To Mr. Lucas
(Written whilst sitting to him for my Portrait, December, 1828).

“Oh, young and richly gifted! born to claim

No vulgar place amidst the sons of fame;
 With shapes of beauty haunting thee like dreams,
And skill to realize Art’s loftiest themes:
How wearisome to thee the task must be
To copy these coarse features painfully;
Faded by time and paled by care, to trace
The dim complexion of this homely face;
And lend to a bent brow and anxious eye
Thy patient toil, thine Art’s high mastery.
Yet by that Art, almost methinks Divine,
By touch and colour, and the skilful line
Which at a stroke can strengthen and refine,
And mostly by the invisible influence
Of thine own spirit, gleams of thought and sense
Shoot o’er the careworn forehead, and illume
The heavy eye, and break the leaden gloom:
Even as the sunbeams on the rudest ground
Fling their illusive glories wide around,
And make the dullest scene of Nature bright
By the reflexion of their own pure light.”

During the year Dr. Mitford developed a most curious and

inexplicable dislike to his daughter’s friends and acquaintances.
Possibly he was growing tired of the congratulatory callers, but even
so, he must surely have recognized that this sort of thing was the
penalty exacted of popularity. “My father,” she wrote to William
Harness, “very kind to me in many respects, very attentive if I’m ill,
very solicitous that my garden should be nicely kept, that I should go
out with him, and be amused—is yet, so far as art, literature, and the
drama are concerned, of a temper infinitely difficult to deal with. He
hates and despises them, and all their professors—looks on them
with hatred and with scorn; and is constantly taunting me with my
‘friends’ and my ‘people’ (as he calls them), reproaching me if I hold
the slightest intercourse with author, editor, artist, or actor, and
treating with frank contempt every one not of a station in the county. I
am entirely convinced that he would consider Sir Thomas Lawrence,
Sir Walter Scott, and Mrs. Siddons as his inferiors. Always this is
very painful—strangely painful.
 “Since I have known Mr. Cathcart I can say with truth that he has
never spoken to me or looked at me without ill-humour; sometimes
taunting and scornful—sometimes more harsh than you could fancy.
Now, he ought to remember that it is not for my own pleasure, but
from a sense of duty, that I have been thrown in the way of these
persons; and he should allow for the natural sympathy of similar
pursuits and the natural wish to do the little that one so powerless
and poor can do to bring merit (and that of a very high order) into
notice. It is one of the few alleviations of a destiny that is wearing
down my health and mind and spirits and strength—a life spent in
efforts above my powers, and which will end in the workhouse, or in
a Bedlam, as the body or the mind shall sink first. He ought to feel
this; but he does not. I beg your pardon for vexing you with this
detail. I do not often indulge in such repining.”
It is difficult to read such a letter without experiencing a feeling of
intensest indignation against the almost inhuman selfishness of Dr.
Mitford, who, content to batten on the fruits of his daughter’s
industry, would yet make her path more difficult by his unreasonable
and capricious jealousy. The incident can only be likened to that of a
brute creature biting the hand that feeds him. And what, after all, was
the cause of this cruel conduct? Nothing other than that his daughter
was interesting herself in a young actor whose welfare she hoped to
promote.
Contrast this episode with one of a few months later, which Miss
Mitford was delighted to relate—it showed such admirable traits in
the “dear papa’s” character, and could not go unrecorded. “Dash has
nearly been killed to-day, poor fellow! He got into a rabbit burrow so
far that he could neither move backward nor forward; and my father,
two men and a boy, were all busy digging for upwards of two hours,
in a heavy rain, to get him out. They had to penetrate through a high
bank, with nothing to guide them but the poor dog’s moans. You
never saw any one so full of gratitude, or so sensible of what his
master has done for him, as he is.... My father was wet to the skin;
but I am sure he would have dug till this time rather than any living
creature, much less his own favourite dog, should have perished so
miserably.”
 In the tragedy of Rienzi there are some fine lines embodied in
Rienzi’s injunction to his daughter, which we cannot refrain from
quoting at this point:—

“Claudia, in these bad days,

When men must tread perforce the flinty path
Of duty, hard and rugged; fail not thou
Duly at night and morning to give thanks
To the all-gracious Power, that smoothed the way
For woman’s tenderer feet. She but looks on,
And waits and prays for the good cause, whilst man
Fights, struggles, triumphs, dies!”

Did we not know that Miss Mitford was incapable of a harsh

thought towards her father, we should be inclined to read a satire
into these lines. Who smoothed the way for her? What time had she
wherein to wait and pray? Her days she spent in treading the flinty
path of duty, made more rugged and hard by that one who, had he
done his duty, would have exerted himself rather in smoothing the
way.
Writing to Haydon late in the year to congratulate him on a
success, she said:—“Be quite assured that my sympathy with you
and with art is as strong as ever, albeit the demonstration have lost
its youthfulness and its enthusiasm, just as I myself have done. The
fact is that I am much changed, much saddened—am older in mind
than in years—have entirely lost that greatest gift of nature, animal
spirits, and am become as nervous and good-for-nothing a person
as you can imagine. Conversation excites me sometimes, but only, I
think, to fall back with a deader weight. Whether there be any
physical cause for this, I cannot tell. I hope so, for then perhaps it
may pass away; but I rather fear that it is the overburthen, the sense
that more is expected of me than I can perform, which weighs me
down and prevents me doing anything. I am ashamed to say that a
play bespoken last year at Drury Lane, and wanted by them beyond
measure, is not yet nearly finished. I do not even know whether it will
be completed in time to be produced this season. I try to write it and
cry over my lamentable inability, but I do not get on. Women were
not meant to earn the bread of a family—I am sure of that—there is a
want of strength.... God bless you and yours! Do not judge of the
sincerity of an old friendship, or the warmth of an old friend, by the
unfrequency or dulness of her letters.”
Added to all this weight of work and the forbearance exacted of
her by her father, there was the worry consequent upon Mrs.
Mitford’s failing health. Judging by the letters of the period it is
evident that the mother’s condition was growing serious. Her mind
was often a blank and, as the winter drew on, there was a
recurrence of the asthma which sapped the little strength remaining
to her. “My mother, whom few things touch now, is particularly
pleased,” wrote Miss Mitford to William Harness à propos of a visit
he had promised to pay them, and concerning which she added:
—“You don’t know how often I have longed to press you to come to
us, but have always been afraid; you are used to things so much
better, and I thought you would find it dull.”
On Boxing-Day, 1829, Mrs. Mitford’s condition was very grave, for
she was seized with apoplexy, and had to be put to bed. There she
lingered hovering between life and death until the morning of
January 2, 1830, when she passed away, in the eightieth year of her
age. The account of her last illness and death is amongst the most
touching things ever penned by her daughter—to whom
sentimentality was abhorrent. It is too long for extensive quotation,
but we cannot forbear making a brief extract describing the last sad
moments.
“She was gone. I had kissed her dear hand and her dear face just
before. She looked sweet, and calm, and peaceful: there was even a
smile on her dear face. I thought my heart would have broken, and
my dear father’s too.
“On Saturday I did not see her; I tried, but on opening the door I
found her covered by a sheet, and had not courage to take it down....
On Thursday I saw her for the last time, in the coffin, with the dear
face covered, and gathered for her all the flowers I could get—
chrysanthemums (now a hallowed flower), white, yellow and purple
—laurustinus, one early common primrose, a white Chinese
primrose, bay and myrtle from a tree she liked, verbena, and lemon-
grass also. I put some of these in the coffin, with rosemary, and my
dear father put some.
“We kissed her cold hand, and then we followed her to her grave
in Shinfield Church, near the door, very deep and in a fine soil, with
room above it for her own dear husband and her own dear child.
God grant we may tread in her steps!... No human being was ever so
devoted to her duties—so just, so pious, so charitable, so true, so
feminine, so industrious, so generous, so disinterested, so lady-like
—never thinking of herself, always of others—the best mother, the
most devoted wife, the most faithful friend.... Oh, that I could but
again feel the touch of that dear hand! God forgive me my many
faults to her, blessed angel, and grant that I may humbly follow in her
track!... She told Harriet Palmer (of whom she was fond) that she
meant to get a guinea, and have her father’s old Bible—the little
black Bible which she read every day—beautifully bound, with her
initials on it, and give it to me. She told me, when Otto should be
performed, she wanted a guinea—but not why—and would not take
it before. It shall be done, blessed saint!”
 CHAPTER XXII

“THE WORKHOUSE—A FAR PREFERABLE

DESTINY”

“For my own part I have plenty that must be done; much connected
painfully with my terrible grief; much that is calculated to force me
into exertion, by the necessity of getting money to meet the
inevitable expenses. Whether it were inability or inertness I cannot
tell, but Otto is still but little advanced. I lament this of all things now;
I grieve over it as a fault as well as a misfortune.”
So wrote Miss Mitford to William Harness on January 9, 1830, the
day following her mother’s funeral. And truly there was plenty to be
done and she would need all her woman’s courage, for now “the
weight which Dr. Mitford had divided between two forbearing women
had to be borne by one.”
A new volume—the fourth—of Our Village was now almost ready
for publication, for which Whittaker agreed to give £150, and during
the month an agent from a publisher had called at Three Mile Cross
with a view to arranging for a work to be entitled Stories of American
Life by American Writers, which were to be selected and edited, with
prefaces by Miss Mitford. The suggested publisher was Colburn.
This, of course, necessitated a great deal of labour, in the midst of
which the negotiations for the American book nearly fell through by
reason of a quarrel between the publisher and his agent.
It was a most trying period, for Dr. Mitford grew more exacting day
by day, demanding more and more attention from his daughter,
whom he expected—nay, forced—to play cribbage with him until he
fell asleep, when, being released, she read and worked far into the
night. Then, to make matters worse, the Doctor began to imbibe
more wine than was good for him—it will be noticed that his creature
comforts did not diminish—and, whilst returning alone from a dinner-
party in the neighbourhood, was thrown out of the chaise and the
horse and vehicle arrived empty at the cottage in the dead of night.
His daughter, who had been waiting for him, made the discovery that
he was missing and, rousing the man and servants, they all set off
along the road to Shinfield, finding him lying stunned by the roadside
a mile away, “Only think,” wrote his daughter, “what an agony of
suspense it was! Thank Heaven, however, he escaped uninjured,
except being stiff from the jar; and I am recovering my nervousness
better than I could have expected.”
 Very truly yours
M. R. Mitford
THE AUTHOR OF OUR VILLAGE
Miss Mitford “attended by a printer’s devil to whom she is
delivering ‘copy.’” (From a sketch in Fraser’s Magazine,
May, 1831.)
The success of Rienzi in America, and the previous re-publication
in that country of a small volume of the Narrative Poems on the
Female Character, had brought Miss Mitford’s name prominently
before the American people, and towards the end of 1830 she was
gratified by the receipt of a long letter of congratulation from Miss
Catharine Maria Sedgwick,[26] an American author of some repute in
her day, who had, that year, published a novel entitled Hope Leslie.
The letter mentioned the despatch of an author’s copy of one of the
writer’s books and asked for particulars of the village and home-life
of Miss Mitford, whose volumes on Our Village were being read with
avidity across the Atlantic. It drew a long and characteristic reply.
“I rejoice,” wrote Miss Mitford, “to find that your book is not merely
reprinted but published in England, and will contribute, together with
the splendid novels of Mr. Cooper, to make the literature and
manners of a country so nearly connected with us in language and
ways of thinking, known and valued here. I think that every day
contributes to that great end. Cooper is certainly, next to Scott, the
most popular novel writer of the age. Washington Irving enjoys a
high and fast reputation; the eloquence of Dr. Channing, if less
widely, is perhaps more deeply felt; and a lady, whom I need not
name, takes her place amongst these great men, as Miss Edgeworth
does among our Scotts and Chalmerses. I have contributed, or
rather, am about to contribute, my mite to this most desirable
interchange of mind with mind, having selected and edited three
volumes of tales, taken from the great mass of your periodical
literature, and called Stories of American Life by American Authors.
They are not yet published, but have been printed some time; and I
shall desire Mr. Colburn to send you a copy, to which, indeed, you
have every way a right, since I owe to you some of the best stories in
the collection.” Then followed a short description of the events which
led up to the removal from Bertram House to the cottage at Three
Mile Cross. “There was, however, no loss of character amongst our
other losses; and it is to the credit of human nature to say, that our
change of circumstances has been attended with no other change
amongst our neighbours and friends than that of increased attentions
and kindness. Indeed I can never be sufficiently thankful for the very
great goodness which I have experienced all through life, from
almost every one with whom I have been connected. My dear
mother I had the misfortune to lose last winter. My dear father still
lives, a beautiful and cheerful old man, whom I should of all things
like you to know, and if ever you do come to our little England, you
must come and see us. We should never forgive you if you did not.
Our family losses made me an authoress ... and I should have
abstained from all literary offence for the future had not poverty
driven me against my will to writing tragic verse and comic prose;
thrice happy to have been able, by so doing, to be of some use to
my dear family.”
In response to the invitation contained in this letter Miss Sedgwick
did call at the cottage when, some years later, she paid a visit to this
country. It was a visit ostensibly undertaken to see the sights and
meet the lions—particularly the literary lions. The record of the trip
was embodied in two small volumes published in 1841 by Moxon, in
London, and entitled Letters from Abroad to Kindred at Home. Miss
Sedgwick possessed a telling style, picturesque to a degree, and
there can be no shadow of doubt that her “kindred at home” were
delighted to have her spicy epistles, but they shocked Miss Mitford.
“If you have a mind,” the latter wrote to a friend, “to read the coarsest
Americanism ever put forth, read the Literary Gazette of this last
week. I remember, my dear love, how much and how justly you were
shocked at Miss Sedgwick’s way of speaking of poor Miss Landon’s
death; but when you remember that her brother and nephew had
spent twice ten days at our poor cottage—that she had been
received as their kinswoman, and therefore as a friend, you may
judge how unexpected this coarse detail has been. The Athenæum
will give you no notion of the original passage nor the book itself—for
John Kenyon, meeting with it at Moxon’s, cancelled the passage—
but too late for the journals, except the Athenæum. Of course its
chief annoyance to me is the finding the aunt of a dear friend so
excessively vulgar. Do get the Literary Gazette—for really it must be
seen to be believed.”
We quote the extract from the Literary Gazette of July 10, 1841.
“Our coachman (who, after telling him we were Americans, had
complimented us on our speaking English, ‘and very good English,
too’) professed an acquaintance of some twenty years standing with
Miss M., and assured us that she was one of the ‘cleverest women in