I. La torre de la catedral
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Clarín’s novel, adapted for A2
La Regenta La Regenta
Leopoldo Alas “Clarín”
This is a retelling of Leopoldo Alas “Clarín”’s novel La Regenta in simple Spanish, not the original text: MovaReader wrote this adaptation for readers who look for La Regenta in Spanish but cannot yet manage the complete B2 novel. It is the same story of Ana Ozores, her confessor Fermín de Pas and the seducer Álvaro Mesía, one you can actually finish at A2. In the catalog it is A2: about 9,600 words, 8 words per sentence on average, 2-3 hours of reading. Its fourteen chapters follow both volumes of the 1884-1885 novel, from the siesta in Vetusta and the telescope on the cathedral tower to the end of the story.
- A2
- 9 602 words
- 2-3 hours
Will this text hold?
A1
Earlier
At A1 the past tenses will stop you: the story runs in the pretérito indefinido and imperfecto (subía, miraba, dijo, se fue), with the odd pluperfect (había nacido), and the novel has more characters and places than the A1 tales.
A1A2
This text
Just right for A2: short sentences, 8 words on average, the past tenses you already know, and words like Magistral or Provisor are explained by the text itself.
Check this passageB1
With room to spare
At B1 it is an easy 2-3 hours to learn the plot; then you can take on the complete La Regenta in the catalog, level B2: about 302,200 words, 19 words per sentence.
Start readingThe average sentence has 8 words, against 5-7 in the Spanish A1 adaptations and 11-12 in B1; next to it on the A2 shelf are A Christmas Carol (9 words) and the adapted Don Quixote (10). The story runs in the pretérito indefinido and imperfecto, often with the pluperfect (había sido, había conquistado), and the subjunctive turns up in the characters’ lines: Si yo tuviera aquí una bomba, ¡Ojalá llueva!. A word of 9 letters or more comes up about once in 36 words (2.8%), as in the adapted Don Quixote, and the most frequent are Magistral, siguiente and the name Celedonio. Church and legal words are explained by the text the first time they appear: the regent of the Audiencia is “el jefe de los jueces de la ciudad”. The difficulty is even: each of the 14 chapters has 7-9 words per sentence. The complete novel stands at B2 in the catalog: 19 words per sentence and one long word in eleven. Hence A2. This is the catalog’s assessment, not a certificate.
- 9 602
- words
- 8
- words in an average sentence
- 2-3
- hours of reading
MovaReader. Project Gutenberg
What it is about, without the ending
Vetusta, an old grey city in the north of Spain, sleeps through the afternoon. Canon Fermín de Pas, the most powerful priest in town, looks over the roofs through a telescope from the cathedral tower, and it is to him that old don Cayetano hands over the confession of Ana Ozores, whom everyone calls la Regenta. Ana is twenty-seven, eight years married to the kind and much older don Víctor Quintanar, childless, and so bored in the gloomy city that she suffers fits of nerves. Fermín wants to be her guide to God; Álvaro Mesía, president of the Casino and the local Don Juan, sets out to seduce her slowly and patiently; and Petra the maid sees everything and says nothing. Between the cathedral, the theatre and the balls, Vetusta watches and gossips. Which of the two men Ana chooses, and what it costs, the book tells.
Compare two places
La Regenta
X. Los pies descalzos
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Choose an underlined word.
How to read the opening
The first sentence, La heroica ciudad dormía la siesta, is Clarín’s own, kept word for word. The whole passage is in the imperfecto (dormía, empujaba, corrían, llegaba, parecía): not events but a picture that goes on, so read it as “was sleeping”, “kept pushing”, “were blowing about”. Heroica is ironic here: the “heroic” city is asleep in the middle of the day.
How to read the procession
Salió (pretérito indefinido) says Ana came out once; llevaba, iba, caminaba (imperfecto) describe how she was all the way. Cuando había un charco, se metía means “whenever there was a puddle, he stepped into it”: the teacher did it again and again. After para que the verb goes into the subjunctive: para que ella no se mojara los pies, “so that she would not get her feet wet”.
Chapters
Translation while you read
The book stays free on every plan. Reader, €1 a month, removes the daily limit on words and sentences.
Reader
€1 a month
Reader helps in chapter V, where Álvaro’s power is summed up as Así, mandara quien mandara, don Álvaro siempre tenía poder: translating the whole sentence shows that mandara quien mandara means “whoever was in charge”.
ReaderIf this book is not the one
Spanish books A1 Earlier La Regenta Another book by the same author B2 La Regenta The complete novel this retelling is based on: both volumes of 1884-1885, about 302,200 words, 19 words per sentence and one long word in eleven, level B2. With the plot already known from the adaptation, Clarín’s own language is easier to take on. B2 Don Juan Tenorio Zorrilla’s play, which Ana goes to see in chapter VII and whose hero Vetusta compares Álvaro Mesía to. A prose retelling with dialogue, one step harder: level B1, about 12,600 words, 11 words per sentence, one long word in 22. B1
All books at this level
Before you read
Is this the original or a learner adaptation?
This is a MovaReader adaptation, not the original text: Leopoldo Alas “Clarín”’s novel La Regenta, published in two volumes in 1884-1885, retold in simple Spanish. The language and length have changed: 14 chapters and about 9,600 words, 8 words per sentence on average, while the complete novel of 30 chapters is about 31 times longer. The main scenes of both volumes remain: Fermín de Pas with his telescope on the cathedral tower, Ana’s childhood night in a boat with Germán, the aunts and her marriage to don Víctor, the evening of Don Juan Tenorio, Saint Teresa, the Casino ball, the Good Friday procession, the downpour at the Vivero. Most of Vetusta’s townspeople (Bermúdez, Ronzal, the bishop, the Infanzón family), the politics and the intrigues of the cathedral chapter are cut, and Clarín’s long inner monologues have become the characters’ short thoughts. The complete novel is in the catalog too: La Regenta, both volumes, at level B2.
Is there an audiobook?
There is no audiobook of this adaptation in MovaReader. The page is for reading: tap an unfamiliar word to see its translation, here mostly words like catalejo, confesonario or descalza.
Can I translate a whole sentence?
Yes, with the Reader plan. Sentences here are short, 8 words on average, so you will seldom need it: mostly where the characters speak in conditions, like don Víctor on the Casino balcony: Si yo tuviera aquí una bomba, se la tiraba al señor Magistral. Single words are translated for free, up to a daily limit.
How many hours does it take?
About 2-3 hours, reading with translations of new words rather than at a native speaker’s pace. The book has 14 chapters of about 690 words on average, 7-11 minutes each: the shortest is X, 527 words, the longest II, 1,270.
Where does the text get easier?
The difficulty is even: each of the 14 chapters averages 7-9 words per sentence. Only long words vary: in chapter VII, the evening at the theatre, one word in 62 has 9 letters or more, and in chapter VIII, where Ana reads Saint Teresa, one in 24.
Will my place in the book be saved?
Yes, once you sign in, the reader remembers your place and the words you opened. Each chapter also opens on its own from the contents on this page, for example VII, where Ana goes to the theatre to see Don Juan Tenorio.