echaron a correr
broke into a runEchar a plus an infinitive can mark the sudden start of an action; echar a correr means starting to run.
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El ratón de la corte y el del campo
B2 · Chapter 2 of 3 · Edition 1
Un lujo que exige vigilancia
A luxury that demands vigilance
Adapted from El ratón de la corte y el del campo, by Félix María Samaniego.
La llegada de la despensera acabó bruscamente con su alegría. Al oírla, los ratones echaron a correr y se agazaparon entre las provisiones. El miedo les hizo perder el rumbo. Lo que unos instantes antes parecía un paraíso de comodidad se había convertido en una trampa de la que era urgente salir.
En la confusión encontraron un pasadizo abierto a dentelladas. Se precipitaron hacia él y consiguieron escapar atropelladamente. El campesino salió a salvo, aunque el susto le había quitado por completo las ganas de continuar el banquete. Aquella salida improvisada revelaba algo que la abundancia había ocultado: su tranquilidad dependía de que nadie entrara en la despensa.
Hasta entonces había comparado únicamente los alimentos de la corte con los del campo. Ahora debía incluir en la comparación el temor, la vigilancia y la posibilidad de no escapar la próxima vez. Por atractivo que fuera el queso, su sabor no podía separarse de las condiciones en que lo comía. La experiencia le obligaba a revisar su primera impresión.
The pantry keeper’s arrival brought their joy to an abrupt end. Hearing her, the mice started running and crouched among the provisions. Fear made them lose their way. What a few moments earlier had seemed a paradise of comfort had become a trap they urgently needed to leave.
In the confusion they found a passage gnawed open with teeth. They rushed towards it and managed to escape in a scramble. The country mouse got out safely, although the fright had completely taken away his desire to continue the feast. That improvised exit revealed something abundance had hidden: their peace depended on nobody entering the pantry.
Until then, he had compared only the food at court with the food in the country. Now he had to include fear, vigilance and the possibility of not escaping next time in the comparison. However attractive the cheese might be, its flavour could not be separated from the conditions in which he ate it. The experience forced him to reconsider his first impression.
Key Phrases
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a dentelladas
by biting and gnawingA dentelladas describes using repeated bites. Here the mice made the passage with their teeth.
Por atractivo que fuera
however attractive it might bePor plus an adjective, que and the subjunctive concedes a quality without letting it change the conclusion.
Original source and edition
Adapted from El ratón de la corte y el del campo, by Félix María Samaniego.
Spanish prose adaptations by Read Spanish Daily. These versions retell one fable; they are not the original verse or the complete collection.
Fábulas en verso castellano, volume I, book I, fable VIII. Madrid: Oficina de Cano, 1818, pages 9–10. Original Spanish text in the public domain.
Original source and edition →