The Spanish reading room
One sentence of «Las medias de los flamencos»
—No se preocupen de nada, sino de una sola cosa: bailen toda la noche, bailen sin parar un momento, bailen de costado, de pico, de cabeza, como ustedes quieran; pero no paren un momento, porque en vez de bailar van entonces a llorar.
“Do not worry about anything except one single thing: dance all night, dance without stopping for a moment, dance sideways, on your beaks, on your heads, however you like; but do not stop for a moment, because instead of dancing you will then be weeping.”
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
—Aquí están las medias— les dijo la lechuza.
“Here are the stockings,” the owl said to them.
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| No | no | no, not (adv.) |
| se | se | himself, herself, themselves (reflexive); stands in for le before lo/la (se la dieron — they gave it to her); one, people (se ve — one sees) (pron.) |
| preocupen | preocupar | to worry (v.) |
| de | de | of, from (prep.) |
| nada | nada | nothing (pron.) |
| sino | sino | but, except (no … sino — only, nothing but) (conj.) |
| una | un | a, an, one (indef. art.) |
| sola | solo | single, sole (adj.) |
| cosa | cosa | thing (n., f.) |
| bailen | bailar | to dance (v.) |
| toda | todo | all, every; everything (adj./pron.) |
| la | el | the (def. art., f.); also her, it (object pron., before a verb) |
| noche | noche | night (n., f.) |
| sin | sin | without (prep.) |
| parar | parar | to stop; pararse — to stand up (v.) |
| momento | momento | moment (n., m.) |
| costado | costado | side (n., m.) |
| pico | pico | beak; peak (n., m.) |
| cabeza | cabeza | head (n., f.) |
| como | como | as, like; since (conj./adv.) |
| ustedes | usted | you all — the everyday plural «you» in Latin America, friendly or polite alike (vosotros is not used here) (pron.) |
| quieran | querer | to want; to love (v.) |
| pero | pero | but (conj.) |
| porque | porque | because (conj.) |
| en | en | in, on, at (prep.) |
| vez | vez | time, occasion; una vez — once; a veces — sometimes (n., f.) |
| van | ir | to go (v.) — its preterite fue, fui, fueron is shared with ser, to be, so «se fue» is «he went» and «fue una noche larga» is «it was a long night» |
| entonces | entonces | then, at that time (adv.) |
| a | a | to; at; on (prep.) |
| llorar | llorar | to cry, weep (v.) |
Read «Las medias de los flamencos» in the room Every word glossed where it stands, the English a tap away. The whole tale is free and asks for no account.