Fortuna   By: Enrique Pérez Escrich (1829-1897)

FORTUNA

BY ENRIQUE PÉREZ ESCRICH

EDITED WITH NOTES, DIRECT METHOD EXERCISES, AND VOCABULARY BY ELIJAH CLARENCE HILLS PROFESSOR OF SPANISH IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AND LOUISE REINHARDT INSTRUCTOR OF MODERN LANGUAGES IN THE COLORADO SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL

D.C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO COPYRIGHT, 1920, 1922, BY D.C. HEATH & CO.

PRINTED IN U.S.A.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTORY FORTUNA NOTES EXERCISES ABBREVIATIONS VOCABULARY

INTRODUCTORY

Fortuna is probably the most popular dog story in Spanish. It makes pleasant reading, it holds the student's interest throughout, and its language is clear and simple.

The author of Fortuna , Enrique Pérez Escrich (1829 1897), was born in Valencia, Spain, but he went to Madrid when a young man. He was a prolific writer of popular stories. Both Fortuna and Tony , another dog story by the same author, are evidence that Pérez Escrich knew dogs and loved them. One can not read these stories without feeling greater admiration and respect for the dog, the best friend that man has among the animals. Fortuna also gives an interesting account of the adventures of a boy who is kidnapped and is finally rescued with the aid of the dog whom he had befriended and who thus undertook to pay his debt of gratitude.

For a brief account of the life and works of Pérez Escrich, see Julio Cejador y Frauca, Historia de la Lengua y Literatura Castellana , Vol. VIII (pages 56 57), Madrid, 1918.

In this edition of Fortuna some words and sentences have been omitted from the text because they were uninteresting and unimportant. In a few cases expressions have been left out because they were unusual and therefore not adapted to elementary instruction.

In the exercises there is an abundance of direct method material. Each of the exercises consists of four parts. The first part gives simple grammatical questions. The second contains idiomatic expressions to be committed to memory and to be used in the formation of sentences. The third part gives questions on the subject matter of the story which are to be answered in Spanish. And the fourth contains connected sentences to be translated from English into Spanish. Those teachers who prefer that the students in the elementary classes should not translate English into Spanish may postpone or omit altogether this part of the exercises if they wish to do so.

The language of Fortuna is so clear and simple that the story may be read to advantage in elementary classes. The notes, the direct method exercises and the vocabulary have been prepared with a view to the needs of beginners.

The editors are glad to take this opportunity of expressing their thanks to Professor Juan Cano, Mr. Antonio Alonso, and Miss Madre Merrill of Indiana University, and Dr. Alexander Green and Miss Ellen E. Aldrich of D.C. Heath and Company for their valuable assistance in the preparation of this book.

E.C.H. L.R.

FORTUNA

HISTORIA DE UN PERRO AGRADECIDO

POR

ENRIQUE PÉREZ ESCRICH

CAPÍTULO PRIMERO

=Sentenciado a muerte=

El sol caía de plano calcinando el blanco polvo de la carretera, y las hojas de los temblorosos álamos, que bordeaban el camino, habían suspendido su eterno movimiento, adormecidas bajo el peso de una temperatura agostadora.

Un perro de raza dudosa, lomo rojizo, orejas de lobo y prolongado hocico, caminaba con el rabo caído, la mirada triste, la boca abierta y la lengua colgante.

De vez en cuando se detenía a la sombra de un álamo y levantaba la cabeza como si venteara ese aire húmedo e imperceptible para los hombres, pero que al delicado olfato de la raza canina le indica la fuente o el codiciado charco donde apagar su sed.