Fortuna

Fortuna

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Fortuna, by Enrique Perez Escrich
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Title: Fortuna
Author: Enrique Perez Escrich
Release Date: July 27, 2005 [EBook #16372]
Language: Spanish
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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=Heath's Modern Language Series=

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.
Entonces, de la encendida y húmeda lengua del perro caía gota a gota
ese sudor interno que, no encontrando paso por los cerrados poros de la
piel, se exhala por la boca.
El pobre animal parecía muy cansado y sus lijares se agitaban con
precipitada respiración. Luego emprendía de nuevo su marcha por
aquel largo camino solitario y abrasado.
De pronto se detuvo. Se hallaba en lo más alto de una cuesta, y a cien
metros de distancia, en el fondo de un valle, se veía un pueblo.[1] El
fatigado animal