Eres chiquita y bonita y eres como yo te quiero, y eres campanita de oro en las manos de un platero. Cara de leche colada, apetite de limón, ya se que estás enfadada, vengo a pedirte perdón. Tienes una cara tal y un mirar tan diferente, en cada labio un coral y una perla en cada diente. De tu ventana a la mía me tirastes un limón, el limón cayó en el suelo y el agro en mi corazón. Bendita la claridad que de tu ventana sale y dice la vecindad: la luna ya está en la calle. La luna, para salir, le pide licencia al cielo y yo te la pido a tí, hermosísimo lucero. La calle te regare de confitura menuda, todos verán en la calle, yo vere en tu bonitura. More verses not in this recording: Anda, vete, mal fin tengas, no te quiero mal ninguno: hora de salud no tengas lo que vivas en el mundo. El zapato traigo roto, ¿con que le remendare? con esa lengua maldita que dice lo que no es. Anda y vete, fanfarrón, cara de negro tizón, pareces un escarabajo cuando sale del carbón. Anda, que te den, te de, que te den si no te han dado calenturitas tercianas y un dolor en el costado. Si me quieres, dímelo, si no, dime que me vaya, no me pongas al sereno que no soy cántaro de agua.
You are small and pretty and you are just as I want you, and you are a little golden bell in the hands of a silversmith. Face like soured milk, the appetite sour like a lemon, I already know you are angry, I come to ask your forgiveness. You have such a special face and such a different look, on each lip a coral and a pearl on each tooth. From your window to mine you threw me a lemon, the lemon fell to the ground and the bitterness into my heart. Blessed be the brightness that comes from your window and the neighbors say: the moon is already out in the street. The moon, before coming out, asks permission from the sky, and I ask it from you, most beautiful shining star. I will sprinkle the street before you with tiny sweets, everyone will see you in the street, I will see your beauty. More verses not in this recording: Go away, may you meet a bad end, though I wish you no harm, may you have not an hour of health for as long as you live in this world. I bring my shoe torn, with what shall I mend it? with that cursed tongue that says what is not true. Go away, braggart, face like a black coal, you look like a beetle when it crawls out of the charcoal. Go on, may they give you, give you, may they give you if they haven’t yet given you tertian fevers (malarial chills) and a pain in your side. If you love me, tell me
if not, tell me to go.
Don’t leave me out in the night air,
for I am not a water jug.
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc 2262/6 Referenced and notated in: La Boda Sefardi, Musica, texto y contexto, pg. 53, Editorial Alpuerto, 2007 Susana Weich-Shahak. In Morocco, one of the favorite pastimes for girls and young women was the matesha, a swing made from a rope tied either to the beams of a house or to the branches of a tree, with a cushion for sitting. Beyond being a simple amusement, the matesha played an important social role: young men of the community would gather to watch the girls swinging and, in this way, choose potential sweethearts. The jotaba, or matchmaker, would then arrange a meeting between the families of both sides. During these encounters, young men and women exchanged alternating sung verses. A suitor would begin by singing a verse expressing his affection, and if the young woman felt the same, she would respond with a “good” verse signaling acceptance (as in the first stanza of my example). If she did not return his feelings, she would answer with a verse rejecting his advances or mocking him.
This website was created by Orit Perlman with the collaboration and blessings of Dr. Susana Weich-Shahak in 2025