Can someone give me a quick summary of the beginning of Vuelva Usted Manana by Larra?

Question

I read about 10 pages of it but cannot understand most of it. Please help! What does the foreigner want with the narrator??? Why is he there? If you have read it, please help. Thanks!

Answer 1

Here's the text that's most important for you: Un extranjero de éstos fué el que se presentó en mi casa, provisto de competentes cartas de recomendación para mi persona. Asuntos intrincados de familia, reclamaciones futuras, y aun proyectos vastos concebidos en París de invertir aquí sus cuantiosos caudales en tal cual especulación industrial o mercantil, eran los motivos que a nuestra patria le conducían.

this part indicates that the foreigner desires to invest some money in something in Spain, perhaps property. He also has questions of genealogy in a sense, in that he seems to have some blood connection to Spain and he's trying to verify it...Larra tries to tell him that those kinds of things are not quickly done in Spain. The foreigner insists that it'll only take him a few days to clear up everything, and Larra tells him over and over that he'll be lucky to do it all in several months...that he should just give it up now. But the foreigner insists, and Larra takes him from place to place to show him how it'll be...everyone saying "come back tomorrow...." and so on. It's soooo funny when you get the gist of the story and get into the stark differences between the Spanish culture and the French and American cultures which are more punctual in their business orientation. Hope this helps! If you need more info, let me know: [e-mail]. I teach Spanish and my degree is in Spanish lit.. :-)

Answer 2

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larra