3 ANDRES HURTADO AND HIS FAMILY

En casi todos los momentos de su vida Andrés experimentaba la sensación de sentirse solo y abandonado.
La muerte de su madre le había dejado un gran vacío en el alma y una inclinación por la tristeza.
La familia de Andrés, muy numerosa, se hallaba formada por el padre y cinco hermanos. El padre, don Pedro Hurtado, era un señor alto, flaco, elegante, hombre guapo y calavera en su juventud.
De un egoísmo frenético, se consideraba el meta-centro del mundo.
Tenía una desigualdad de carácter perturbadora, una mezcla de sentimientos aristocráticos y plebeyos insoportable. Su manera de ser se revelaba de una manera insólita e inesperada.

Dirigía la casa despóticamente, con una mezcla de chinchorrería y de abandono, de despotismo y de arbitrariedad, que a Andrés le sacaba de quicio.

A. T almost every moment of his life Andres had a
feeling of being alone and neglected.
The death of his mother had left him with a great
void and a tendency to melancholy.
His numerous family consisted of his father and five
other children. His father, Pedro Hurtado, was tall and
slim, elegant, a handsome man who had been wild in
his youth.
Fiercely egoistic, he considered himself the centre of
the universe. His character was disconcertingly irregular
and his mixture of aristocratic and plebeian sentiments
was intolerable. His temperament revealed itself in a
number of unusual and unexpected ways. He ruled his
household despotically, with alternations of parsimony
and carelessness and arbitrary tyranny, which set Andres
beside himself.

Dirigía la casa despóticamente, con una mezcla de chinchorrería y de abandono, de despotismo y de arbitrariedad, que a Andrés le sacaba de quicio.

Varias veces, al oír a don Pedro quejarse del cuidado que le proporcionaba el manejo de la casa, sus hijos le dijeron que lo dejara en manos de Margarita. Margarita contaba ya veinte años, y sabía atender a las necesidades familiares mejor que el padre; pero don Pedro no quería.

A éste le gustaba disponer del dinero, tenía como norma gastar de cuando en cuando veinte o treinta duros en caprichos suyos, aunque supiera que en su casa se necesitaban para algo imprescindible.

Several times, when Don Pedro complained of the
trouble the management of his household cost him, his
children told him he should let Margarita take charge;
AND R ES H U RT AD O AND H IS FAM: IL Y 15
she was twenty and knew better than her father how to
manage a family; but he always refused.
He liked to have the purse-strings in his own hands;
from time to time he would spend twenty or thirty dollars
on some personal caprice, although he knew that
the money was needed for something indispensable at
home.

A éste le gustaba disponer del dinero, tenía como norma gastar de cuando en cuando veinte o treinta duros en caprichos suyos, aunque supiera que en su casa se necesitaban para algo imprescindible.

Don Pedro ocupaba el cuarto mejor, usaba ropa interior fina, no podía utilizar pañuelos de algodón como todos los demás de la familia, sino de hilo y de seda. Era socio de dos casinos, cultivaba amistades con gente de posición y con algunos aristócratas, y administraba la casa de la calle de Atocha, donde vivían.

Su mujer, Fermina Iturrioz, fue una víctima; pasó la existencia creyendo que sufrir era el destino natural de la mujer. Después de muerta, don Pedro Hurtado hacía el honor a la difunta de reconocer sus grandes virtudes.
—No os parecéis a vuestra madre —decía a sus hijos—; aquélla fue una santa.
A Andrés le molestaba que don Pedro hablara tanto de su madre, y a veces le contestó violentamente, diciéndole que dejara en paz a los muertos.

Don Pedro had the best room of the house, his clothes
were of the best, he could not use cotton handkerchiefs
like the rest of his family-they must be of linen or
silk. He was a member of two casinos; he maintained
friendships with persons of a certain position and a
few aristocrats, and administered the house in the Calle
de Atocha where they lived.
His wife, Fermina Iturrioz, had been a victim; she
spent her whole life in the belief that it was a woman's
natural lot to suffer. After her death Don Pedro Hurtado
was ready enough to recognize her great virtues.
"You are not like your mother," he would say to his
children. "She was a saint."
Andres disliked these continual references to his
mother and sometimes he would answer angrily, bidding
him leave the dead in peace.

De los hijos, el mayor y el pequeño, Alejandro y Luis, eran los favoritos del padre.
Alejandro era un retrato degradado de don Pedro. Más inútil y egoísta aún, nunca quiso hacer nada, ni estudiar ni trabajar, y le habían colocado en una oficina del Estado, adonde iba solamente a cobrar el sueldo.
Alejandro daba espectáculos bochornosos en casa; volvía a las altas horas de las tabernas, se emborrachaba y vomitaba y molestaba a todo el mundo.
Al comenzar la carrera Andrés, Margarita tenía unos veinte años.
Era una muchacha decidida, un poco seca, dominadora y egoísta.

Pedro venía tras ella en edad y representaba la indiferencia filosófica y la buena pasta. Estudiaba para abogado, y salía bien por recomendaciones; pero no se cuidaba de la carrera para nada.
Iba al teatro, se vestía con elegancia, tenía todos los meses una novia distinta. Dentro de sus medios gozaba de la vida alegremente.

Of his children the eldest and the youngest, Alejandro
and Luis, were his favourites.
Alejandro was a debased copy of Don Pedro. Even
more useless and self-centred, he always refused to do
16 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE
anything, either to study or work; so they found him
a post in a state department, to which he went only
when it was a question of drawing his salary. At home
there were disgusting scenes, for he would some back
late at night, dead drunk, from the taverns and annoy
everyone.
When Andres began to study for a career Margarita
was about twenty, a decided girl, somewhat peevish,
domineering, and selfish. The next in age to her was
Pedro, who was philosophically indifferent and goodnatured.
He was studying to be a lawyer and passed his
examinations through influence. He went to the theatre,
dressed elegantly, and was in love with a new girl every
month. Within his means he enjoyed life gaily.

El hermano pequeño, Luisito, de cuatro o cinco años, tenía poca salud.
La disposición espiritual de la familia era un tanto original. Don Pedro prefería a
Alejandro y a Luis; consideraba a Margarita como si fuera una persona mayor; le era indiferente su hijo Pedro, y casi odiaba a Andrés, porque no se sometía a su voluntad.
Hubiera habido que profundizar mucho para encontrar en él algún afecto paternal.

Alejandro sentía dentro de la casa las mismas simpatías que el padre; Margarita quería más que a nadie a Pedro y a Luisito, estimaba a Andrés y respetaba a su padre.
Pedro era un poco indiferente; experimentaba algún cariño por Margarita y por Luisito y una gran admiración por Andrés. Respecto a este último, quería apasionadamente al hermano pequeño, tenía afecto por Pedro y por Margarita, aunque con ésta reñía constantemente, despreciaba a Alejandro y casi odiaba a su padre; no le podía soportar, le encontraba petulante, egoísta, necio, pagado de sí mismo.
Entre padre e hijo existía una incompatibilidad absoluta, completa, no podían estar conformes en nada. Bastaba que uno afirmara una cosa para que el otro tomara la posición contraria.

The younger brother, Luisito, four or five years old,
was a sickly child.
The mutual affections of the family were curious. Don
Pedro preferred Alejandro and Luis, behaved to Margarita
as if she were grown up, was indifferent towards
Pedro, and almost hated Andres because he would not
accept his authority. The natural affections of a father
were in his case hidden very deep.
Alejandro shared his father's likes and dislikes; Margarita
preferred Pedro and Luisito, esteemed Andres
and respected her father. Pedro was mainly indifferent:
he felt a certain affection for Margarita and Luisito and
a great admiration for Andres. As to Andres himself, he
ANDRES HURTADO AND HIS FAMILY 17
liked Pedro and Margarita, although he was always
quarrelling with the latter; he despised Alejandro and
almost hated his father; he found him insupportable,
vain, egoistic, foolish, and conceited.
The temperaments of father and son were utterly incompatible;
they could agree in nothing; one of them
had only to affirm a thing for the other to deny it forthwith.