Citas de ¿La dama o el tigre?

10 citas célebres de The Lady, or the Tiger? (1882), de Frank R. Stockton, palabra por palabra, con su significado y su procedencia.

11 min de lectura

1. 1

   In the very olden time there lived a semi-barbaric king, whose ideas, though somewhat polished and sharpened by the progressiveness of distant Latin neighbors, were still large, florid, and untrammeled, as became the half of him which was barbaric.

   Significado: The king combines a thin layer of civilization with an extravagant, unrestricted barbaric nature.

   NarratorPárrafo 1Copia
2. 2

   He was greatly given to self-communing, and, when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done.

   Significado: The king consults only himself, so his personal wishes become unquestioned decisions.

   NarratorPárrafo 1Copia
3. 3

   This was the king’s semi-barbaric method of administering justice. Its perfect fairness is obvious.

   Significado: The narrator ironically praises a justice system that lets chance decide punishment rather than evidence.

   NarratorPárrafo 7Copia
4. 4

   But gold, and the power of a woman’s will, had brought the secret to the princess.

   Significado: The princess uses wealth and determination to discover which door conceals each possible outcome.

   NarratorPárrafo 13Copia

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5. 5

   Her right arm lay on the cushioned parapet before her. She raised her hand, and made a slight, quick movement toward the right. No one but her lover saw her.

   Significado: The princess secretly signals her chosen door to her lover.

   NarratorPárrafo 17Copia
6. 6

   Without the slightest hesitation, he went to the door on the right, and opened it.

   Significado: The young man trusts the princess completely and opens the door she indicated.

   NarratorPárrafo 18Copia
7. 7

   Now, the point of the story is this: Did the tiger come out of that door, or did the lady?

   Significado: The narrator shifts attention from the young man’s action to the unresolved consequences of the princess’s choice.

   NarratorPárrafo 19Copia
8. 8

   Think of it, fair reader, not as if the decision of the question depended upon yourself, but upon that hot-blooded, semi-barbaric princess, her soul at a white heat beneath the combined fires of despair and jealousy. She had lost him, but who should have him?

   Significado: Readers must judge the choice through the princess’s jealousy and despair rather than their own preferences.

   NarratorPárrafo 20Copia
9. 9

   Her decision had been indicated in an instant, but it had been made after days and nights of anguished deliberation.

   Significado: The princess’s quick gesture results from prolonged emotional struggle, not a sudden impulse.

   NarratorPárrafo 25Copia
10. 10

    And so I leave it with all of you: Which came out of the opened door,—the lady, or the tiger?

    Significado: The narrator leaves readers to decide whether the princess chose her lover’s survival or his death.

    NarratorPárrafo 26Copia

Preguntas sobre estas citas

Which came out of the door in The Lady, or the Tiger?

The story never reveals the outcome. The princess knows what each door conceals and directs her lover right, but readers must decide whether love or jealousy governs her choice.

Why does the narrator call the king’s justice fair?

The praise is ironic: identical doors offer equal uncertainty, but chance cannot establish guilt or innocence. Even survival forces the accused into a marriage regardless of personal wishes.