Delante del rey Leon

Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement:Yc2287/21
Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Marruecos, pg. 67, Editorial Alpuerto, Pardes Publishing House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak.

This is a partial version of a romance based on the epic poem El Cid, where he killed Jimena Gomez's father in a dual. The romance picks up at the scene where Jimena goes before the king to demand justice for the murder of her father. The king's solution is for them to marry.

Text:
Delante del rey León,     Jimena salió una tarde;
demandando iba justicia:    que quién la mató a su padre.
Y reye que ésto no juzgue    no debía de arreinare,
ni comer pan a manteles,     ni con la reina holgare.

Translation:
Before King Leon, Jimena went out one afternoon;
she demanded justice: who killed her father.
And the king who does not judge this should not reign,
nor eat bread at table, nor enjoy leisure with the queen.