Quien tuviera tal fortuna

Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: NSA Y 3997/7 
Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Marruecos, pg. 192, Editorial Alpuerto, Pardes Publishing House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak.

It is another ballad widely disseminated throughout the Hispanic world. Originally a Carolingian theme (the Frankish dynasty and its associated empire, culture, and art from roughly 751 to 987 CE), it draws inspiration from the love affair between Emma, Charlemagne’s daughter, and his secretary Einhard (from whom the name Gerineldo derives).

A queen secretly invites Girineldo, a handsome servant or knight, to meet her at midnight. He climbs into the castle, they make love, and fall asleep. The king discovers them but, fearing the consequences of punishing either one - guilt or longing if he kills the queen, political ruin if he kills Girineldo - chooses silence and spares them, covering the fault to preserve his realm. Since this is a women’s genre, the final line is especially revealing: como la mujer que tapa las faltas de su marido (“as a wife who hides the faults of her husband”), expressing an ideal of women’s socially accepted discretion and forbearance.

Lyrics:
Quién tuviera tal fortuna    para ganar lo perdido
como tuvo Girineldo    mañanita de domingo:
limpiando paños de seda    para darle al rey vestido,
mirándole está  la reina    desde su alto castillo.
- Girineldo, Girineldo,    mi caballero florido,
quién te me diera esta noche   tres horas a mi servicio.-
- Como soy vuestro criado,   señora, burláis conmigo.-
- No me burlo, Girineldo,    que de veras te lo digo.-
- ¿A qu' hora vendré, señora,  y a qu' hora daré‚ al castillo-
- Y a eso de la medianoche,   cuando canta el gallo primo,
y a esas horas son las doce,   cuando el rey está dormido.-
Dieron las doce y la una     y Girineldo no ha venido.
- Malhayas tú, Girineldo,    quien amor puso contigo:
medianoche ya es pasada     y tú no había venío.-
Ella en estas palabras,    Girineldo dió al castillo.
- Girineldo, Girineldo,   ¿quién era ese atrevido,
qu'a dos horas de la noche   viene a batir al castillo?-
- Girineldo soy, señora,    que vengo a lo prometido.-
Púsole escalera de oro,   por ella subió al castillo.
Entre besos y abrazos   lo[s] dos quedaron dormido[s].
Ellos en el dulce sueño,     el buen rey que ha consentido;
encontró a los do[s] durmiendo   como mujer y marido.
- ¿Qué haré‚ de mí, mezquino,      qué haré‚ de mí, paisano?
si matara yo a la reina,   viviré‚ con su suspiro,
si matara a  Girineldo,   mi reino 'stará  perdido;
más vale que yo me calle,   y no le diga nada a ninguno,
como la mujer que tapa    las faltas de su marido.

Translation
Who could have such fortune to win back what was lost,
as Girineldo had on Sunday morning:
cleaning silk cloths to give the king a robe,
the queen watches him from her high castle.
– Girineldo, Girineldo, my handsome knight,
oh that I had you this night three hours at my service.
– Since I am your servant, lady, you mock me.
– I do not mock, Girineldo; truly I tell you so.
– At what hour shall I come, lady, and at what hour to the castle?
– Around midnight, when the cock first crows,
and then it is the twelfth hour, when the king is asleep.
Twelve and one chimed and Girineldo had not come.
– Cursed be you, Girineldo, who sows love with me:
midnight has already passed and you had not come.
At these words Girineldo went to the castle.
– Girineldo, Girineldo, who is this bold one
that at two hours of the night comes to knock at the castle?
– I am Girineldo, lady; I come as promised.
She set him a ladder of gold; by it he climbed into the castle.
Between kisses and embraces the two fell asleep.
While they slept the good king – having given consent –
found the two sleeping like husband and wife.
– What shall I do, wretched me, what shall I do, fellow?
If I were to kill the queen, I would live with her sigh;
if I were to kill Girineldo, my kingdom would be lost;
better that I keep silent, and tell no one a word,
as a wife who hides the faults of her husband.