Story in Spanish About the Poinsettia

Improve your Spanish this holiday season with this story about the poinsettia, the rare U.S holiday tradition that originated south of the border.   La flor de Nochebuena Durante la temporada navideà ±a, la flor de Nochebuena es muy popular en Estados Unidos. Pero muchos no saben que la flor es originaria de Mà ©xico. En espaà ±ol, la flor tiene muchos nombres como la flor de Nochebuena, la flor de Pascua, la flor de fuego, la estrella de Navidad y la corona de los Andes. Los indà ­genas mexicanos la llamaban cuetlazochitl, que significa la flor de pà ©talos resistentes como el cuero. Para los aztecas, la flor roja era sà ­mbolo de la sangre de los sacrificios que ofrendaban al sol. En los EEUU, la flor es conocida como la poinsettia en honor de Joel Poinsett, botà ¡nico y el primer embajador estadounidense a Mà ©xico. En Mà ©xico hay una leyenda sobre la flor. Se dice que habà ­a una nià ±a muy pobre que lloraba porque no tenà ­a regalo para dar al nià ±ito Jesà ºs en el altar de su iglesia. Un à ¡ngel escuchà ³ sus oraciones, y le dijo que cortara las ramas de algunas plantas cerca del camino. Cuando llegà ³ la nià ±a al altar, al contacto con sus là ¡grimas, de las ramas brotaron bellas flores rojas y resplandecientes. Eran las primeras flores de Nochebuena. Ya tenà ­a regalo adecuado para el nià ±ito Jesà ºs. Translation With Grammar and Vocabulary Notes Durante la temporada navideà ±a,During the Christmas season, Navideà ±o  is the adjectival form of  Navidad, the word for Christmas. The  feminine form  is used here  because  temporada  is feminine. la flor de Nochebuena es muy popular en Estados Unidos.the poinsettia is very popular in the United States. Nochebuena, a combination of  noche  (night) and  buena  (good) is the word used for Christmas Eve. Although the phrase  flor de Nochebuena  could be translated literally as Christmas Eve flower, doing so would not be as clear here as using the English name of the flower. Pero  muchos  no  saben  que la flor es originaria de Mà ©xico.But many dont know the flower is originally from Mexico. The phrase  ser originario de  is frequently used to indicate where something originates. Note that  originario  (or the feminine form,  originaria,  in the original sentence here) is an adjective, not an adverb as in the English translation. Note also that the word  que  is left untranslated in English. In this case, it could have been translated as that, a word often omitted in English. But in Spanish,  que  is essential. En espaà ±ol, la flor tiene muchos nombresIn Spanish, the flower has many names como la flor de Navidad, la flor de Pascua, la flor de fuego, la estrella de Navidad y la corona de los Andes.such as the Christmas flower, the  Pascua  flower, the fire flower, the Christmas star and the crown of the Andes. The word  Pascua  originally referred to the Jewish Passover. In Christianity, it came later to refer to Easter, whose timing is theologically connected with Passover. Los indà ­genas mexicanos la llamaban  cuetlazochitl,The natives of Mexico called it  cuetlazochitl, Indà ­gena, meaning an indigenous person, is one of those unusual words that end in  -a  in both masculine and feminine forms. In the above sentence,  la  is used to mean it because it refers to a feminine noun,  la flor. If the reference had been to a masculine noun,  lo  would have been used. que significa la flor de pà ©talos resistentes como el cuero.which means the flower with petals tough like leather. Note that in Spanish, the period comes outside the  quotation marks, the opposite of what is done in U.S. English. Note also that the  de  in the definition is translated as with, even though  de  typically is translated as of. This provides a more natural translation. Para los aztecas, la flor roja era sà ­mbolo del sangre de los sacrificios que ofrendaban al Sol.For the Aztecs, the red flower was a symbol of the blood of the sacrifices they offered to the sun. The verbs in this sentence are in the  imperfect tense, as is usually the case with verbs that refer to events or repeated actions that occur over a long period of time. En los EEUU, la flor es conocida como la  poinsettia  en honor de Joel Poinsett, botà ¡nico y el primer embajador estadounidense a Mà ©xico.In the U.S., the flower is known as the poinsettia in honor of Joel Poinsett, a botanist and first U.S. ambassador to Mexico. EEUU  is the abbreviation for  Estados Unidos. See how the letters are doubled as is often done in an  abbreviation of a plural noun. En Mà ©xico hay una leyenda sobre la flor.In Mexico there is a legend about the flower. Hay  is a form of  haber  that is very commonly used to mean there is. The past tense, as in the following sentence, is  habà ­a. Se dice que habà ­a una nià ±a muy pobreIt is said that there was a very poor girl Se  dice, a  reflexive  form of  decir, is a common way of saying it is said or they say. que lloraba porque no tenà ­a regalo para dar al nià ±ito Jesà ºs en el altar de su iglesia.who cried because she didnt have a gift to give to the baby Jesus on the altar of her church. Nià ±ito  is a  diminutive  form of  nià ±o, a word for boy. Un à ¡ngel escuchà ³ sus oraciones, y le dijo que cortara las ramas de algunas plantas cerca del camino.An angel heard her prayers and told her to cut the branches of the plants near the path. The verb  cortara  is in the  imperfect subjunctive  form, because the  subjunctive  form typically is used with  commands and requests  that follow  que. The  le  in this sentence is an  indirect object pronoun; to cut the branches is what the angel said, but the girl is whom the angel told it to. Cuando llegà ³ la nià ±a al altar, al contacto con sus là ¡grimas, de las ramas brotaron bellas flores rojas y resplandecientes.When the girl arrived at the altar, upon contact with her tears beautiful and brilliant red flowers came forth from the branches. Use of  al  followed by an noun, seen here in the phrase  al contacto, is a common way of saying in Spanish that something occurs as the result of another event. Also note how the word order in this sentence is different than what it would be in English. Eran las primeras flores de Nochebuena.These were the first poinsettias. The translation of They were ... also could have been used. As the  subject is often omitted  in Spanish sentences, you can let context determine the smoothest translation. Ya tenà ­a regalo adecuado para el nià ±ito Jesà ºs.Now she had a suitable gift for the baby Jesus. Ya  is a very common adjective whose translation varies widely depending on the context. The adjective  adecuado  is obviously related to the English adequate (making it a  cognate) but doesnt have the same connotation.