El Señor in Spanish, with English translation

No tenía más consuelo temporal la viuda del capitán Jiménez que la hermosura de alma y de cuerpo que resplandecía en su hijo. No podía lucirlo en paseos y romerías, teatros y tertulias, porque respetaba ella sus tocas; su tristeza la inclinaba a la iglesia y a la soledad, y sus pocos recursos la impedían, con tanta fuerza como su deber, malgastar en galas, aunque fueran del niño. Pero no importaba: en la calle, al entrar en la iglesia, y aun dentro, la hermosura de Juan de Dios, de tez sonrosada, cabellera rubia, ojos claros, llenos de precocidad amorosa, húmedos, ideales, encantaba a cuantos le veían. Hasta el señor Obispo, varón austero que andaba por el templo como temblando de santo miedo a Dios, más de una vez se detuvo al pasar junto al niño, cuya cabeza dorada brillaba sobre el humilde trajecillo negro como un vaso sagrado entre los paños de enlutado altar; y sin poder resistir la tentación, el buen místico, que tantas vencía, se inclinaba a besar la frente de aquella dulce imagen de los ángeles, que cual un genio familiar frecuentaba el templo.

The widow of Captain Jiménez had no earthly comfort except the beauty of soul and body that shone in her son. She could not show him off at promenades and festivals, theatres and social gatherings, because she respected her widow's veils; her sadness drew her to the church and to solitude, and her meagre means prevented her, with as much force as her duty, from squandering money on finery, even though it was for the boy. But it did not matter: in the street, as he entered the church, and even inside it, the beauty of Juan de Dios, with his rosy complexion, blond hair, clear eyes, full of loving precocity, moist and ideal, enchanted all who saw him. Even the lord Bishop, an austere man who walked through the temple as if trembling with holy fear of God, more than once stopped as he passed the boy, whose golden head shone above the humble little black cassock like a sacred vessel among the mourning altar cloths; and unable to resist temptation, the good mystic, who had conquered so many, bent down to kiss the forehead of that sweet image of the angels, who, like a familiar genius, haunted the temple.

Los muchos besos que le daban los fieles al entrar y al salir de la iglesia, transeúntes de todas clases en la calle, no le consumían ni marchitaban las rosas de la frente y de las mejillas; sacábanles como un nuevo esplendor, y Juan, humilde hasta el fondo del alma, con la gratitud al general cariño, se enardecía en sus instintos de amor a todos, y se dejaba acariciar y admirar como una santa reliquia que empezara a tener conciencia.

The many kisses the faithful gave him as they went in and out of the church, passersby of every kind in the street, did not wear down or wither the roses of his forehead and cheeks; rather they lent them a new splendor, and Juan, humble to the depths of his soul, with his gratitude toward the general affection, grew ardent in his instinct to love everyone, and let himself be caressed and admired like a holy relic beginning to become conscious.

Su sonrisa, al agradecer, centuplicaba su belleza, y sus ojos acababan de ser vivo símbolo de la felicidad inocente y piadosa al mirar en los de su madre la misma inefable dicha. La pobre viuda, que por dignidad no podía mendigar el pan del cuerpo, recogía con noble ansia aquella cotidiana limosna de admiración y agasajo para el alma de su hijo, que entre estas flores, y otras que el jardín de la piedad le ofrecía en casa, iba creciendo lozana, sin mancha, purísima, lejos de todo mal contacto, como si fuera materia sacramental de un culto que consistiese en cuidar una azucena.

His smile, as he gave thanks, multiplied his beauty a hundredfold, and his eyes had just become living symbols of innocent and pious happiness as they gazed into his mother's, the same ineffable joy. The poor widow, who out of dignity could not beg for bread for the body, eagerly gathered that daily alms of admiration and affection for her son's soul, who, among these flowers and others the garden of piety offered her at home, kept growing lush, spotless, most pure, far from all harmful contact, as if he were sacramental matter in a worship that consisted in tending a lily.

Con el hábito de levantar la cabeza a cada paso para dejarse acariciar la barba, y ayudar, empinándose, a las personas mayores que se inclinaban a besarle, Juan había adquirido la costumbre de caminar con la frente erguida; pero la humildad de los ojos quitaba a tal gesto cualquier asomo de expresión orgullosa.

By dint of the habit of raising his head at every step to let himself be stroked on the chin, and of helping, standing on tiptoe, the older people who bent down to kiss him, Juan had acquired the custom of walking with his forehead held high; but the humility of his eyes took from that gesture any trace of proud expression.