[136] No es fuera de propósito recordar aquí las semejanzas notables que presentan los argentinos con los árabes. En Argel, en Orán, en Máscara y en los aduares del desierto, ví siempre a los árabes reunidos en cafés, por estarles prohibido el uso de los licores, apiñados en derredor del cantor, generalmente dos que se acompañan de la vihuela a duo, recitando canciones nacionales plañideras como nuestros tristes. La rienda de los árabes es tejida de cuero y con azotera, como las nuestras; el freno de que usamos es el freno árabe, y muchas de nuestras costumbres revelan el contacto de nuestros padres con los moros de la Andalucía. De las fisonomías no se hable: algunos árabes he conocido que jurara haberlos visto en mi país.--EL AUTOR. (=Orán=, port in Algeria. =Máscara=, town in Algeria, to the southeast of Orán. =azotera=. In Argentina reins are often made long enough so that the ends may be used as a whip; these constitute the =azotera=. =no se hable=, _let us not speak_.) [137] =con ser=, _though being_. [138] =no está libre de=..., _is not free from having some accounts to settle with the police_. [139] =lo del rapto=, _the story of the abduction_. [140] =el poncho=. The poncho used by the gauchos is a thick woolen blanket of oblong shape, with a slit in the center so that it may fall over the wearer's shoulders. It is an inseparable accouterment of the gaucho. It is his winter coat, his raincoat, and his shield to boot, for in his dueling, to which he is much given, the gaucho fights with the knife in one hand and the poncho wrapped around the other hand and arm. [141] =se veía salir=, _there was seen emerging_. [142] =tomado de la cola=, _clinging to the tail_. [143] =la sangrienta lucha=, _i.e._, the struggle between the unitarians and federalists. V. Introduction. [144] =Andando esta historia=, _As this history goes on_. [145] =En el capítulo primero=, _i.e._, of the author's _Facundo_, from which this and the preceding selection are taken. [146] =No se olvide=, _Let it not be forgotten_. [147] =que en éstos=. Translate as if it were =y que en éstos=. [148] =a su tiempo=, _at the proper time_. [149] =ocupa=. The subject is =labrador=. [150] =lo variado=, _the variety_. [151] =Todo lo contrario=, _Just the opposite_. [152] =Los límites de la propiedad no están marcados=. Later on, when Sarmiento became president, he introduced wire fences to indicate the boundary lines of the _estancias_. [153] =aunque no sepan qué hacerse=, _though they may not know what to do with themselves_. [154] =la corbata=. To a gaucho the cravat is the mark of the city man. [155] =El año 41=, _i.e._, 1841. [156] =¡Cómo me ha de ir!= _How do you suppose!_