Bismarck daily tribune., 1908-11-28
A LESSON IN SPANISH.
How Tourists In Mexico Wrestle
With the Language.
A QUEER RESTAURANT ORDER.

~ sNSI-iA sb-StFNSatFihRH& - ShhS1hn
The Way an American Woman Shock.
| ed a Waiter With Demand For a
| Dish That the Cook Would Not Pre-
pare.
| Its no wonder that men. who go
from the States down to Mexico on
business do not get along better" said
returned New Yorker. 'They don't
study Spanish as they should In the
clubs half OF the stock stories are
about these half educated Americans
ut was in restaurant where only
| Spanish is spoken that party of
American tourists assembled. There
were woman and her two daughters
| and, of course. the attendant and pa
tient papa with the wad.
"I4et me order said the mater. 4
want to use my Spanish And she pro-
ceeded to pull out handy book Of
| conversation. Let me see,' scanning
the menu; we want oysters, I'm sure
A small fry for each would be just the
thing
Running her fingers through the
leaves, she found that chiquita' means
small and 'frita' means fry Perfect
ly simple. 'Chiquita fritas' would
mean small fries She held up her
! fingers to indicate four and said com
placently to the expectant and polite
waiter:
'Chiquitas fritas.'
"The walters eyes bulged out, and
his Latin politeness got shock. oh,
no, senora,' he cried as he backed
away; mo chiquitas fritasp
"sWhy notT returned the patron,
Don't you have emp for in her sur
prise she had fallen back on her YER
nacular. Then she remembered her
role and consulted her book. 4. 5..4.,
Nothing doing. No end Of gesticu-
lations on the part Of the waiter.
Nice country where one can't get
fried oysters piped the woman, and
she added, I wonder why?'
You can get 'em, ma'am,' said a
mans raucoEs voice at an adjoining
table. He continued: You ordered
fried babies. and they don't serve 'em
in this part Of the republic. The
word .chiquitas" means babies,
term of endearment, but you're all o.
Z. as to the fritas If you had asked
for "ostras fritas" the order would
have gone through all right
"And she ordered 'em, though she
looked daggers at the stranger, who
was New Yorker and had lived In
Mexico for twenty yeats.
1T was the same sort Of woman"
continued the traveller, ..who tried to
air her Spanish BY asking the amount
Of her bill after she had taken her
dinner in a restaurant In the City Of
Mexico. With bland smile she adj
dressed the head waiter with Como
muchoY intending to ask how much.
Now, the word como not only
means how but also i eat so that
the woman had remarked to the wait
er,I I eat q good deal:' This was as
much as to say that the dinner was so
good that she had eaten all or more
eAAslAh SAlOs sOuE1 III ldSI, IL Wa6 III
compliment and such compliment as
Is highly appreciated In any Latin
country.
With a deep bow the servitor ex-
pressed his delight that his humble
yiands should have found appreciation
In the sight of the most excellent
senora. 1t was expressed In the
choice phrases that SO readily lend
themselves on such occasions through
the Castilian tongue. s5
n But my lady didn't understand a
word OF the lingo. She meant busi-
ness, and she repeated In louder
tone: Como mucho? Como muchoY
She was sure of her correct Spanish,
but somehow she couldn't get the wait
er to do anything but bow and sscrape
and smile.
The puzzle was solved when the
proprietor, hearing the excited voices,
entered and learned that the lady
merely wanted to pay her bill. Had
she known that not Como muchog
but Que es la cuentaY (tWhat is the
5acconnt?1 is the correct expression she
would have been saved trouble and
modification.
Time and again United States con-
suls have set forth in federal publica-
lions the advantages OF real knowl-s
edge Of Spanish to the business man.
The need is growing more emphatic
with every day, as our relations In
trade are growing with Mexico daily.
But guess that federal publications
don't hit the people at large as a gem
eral rule.
One Of the easiest ways to learn a
foreign language is to read good nov
els in that tongue. You get so inter-
ested In the story that you just have to
go on to the end to. learn whether the
hero and heroine come out all right.
Students Of Spanish don't adopt
that method in New York, guess, for
you can't find amy Spanish novels on
the secondhand bookstore tables up
or down or across the city. The only
specimens have found have been
Spanish novels translated from the
French novels. 1t Is strange. too for