Una Matica de Ruda
traditional
None Provided
Judeo-spanish Lyrics
Una matica de ruda
Una matica de flor
Hija mia mi querida
Dime a mi quen te la dio
Me la dio un mancevico
Que di mi s'enamoro
Correction: Que de mi s'enomoro
More lyrics:
Hija mia mi querida
No t'eches a la perdicion
Mas vale un mal marido
Que un mancevo de amor
Mal marido, la mi madre
Un pilisco y la maldicion
Mancevo de amor, la mi madre
Una mansana y el buen limon
Translation
A sprig of rue
A flowering sprig
My dear daughter,
Tell me, who gave it to you
It was given me by a lad
Who fell in love with me
My dear daughter
Don't fall into ruin
It's better to have a bad husband
Than a young lover
A bad husband, mother,
Is a pinch and a curse
A young lover, mother
Is like a (ripe) apple and a (fragrant) lemon
clip here from The Art of Judeo- Spanish Song In the translation of the last stanza, I put words in parentheses that are not part of the literal translation but would explain the meaning better to an American audience that lacks the cultural context to understand "like an apple and a lemon" to be a complimentary erotic description! Submitted by Shana Winokur: [email protected] Another comment: This, one of the most popular of all Sephardic wedding songs, has survived in nearly all the Sephardic colonies, with very diverse tunes. All of the different versions feature one basic element which never changes: the wine rue twig, which deflects the "evil eye" and is therefore meant to bring the newly weds luck.
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Added December 12th, 1999