Mi nuera, mi nuera 3

Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc2486/12
Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Marruecos, pg. 215, Editorial Alpuerto, Pardes Publishing House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak.

"The Husband in Disguise" (El Marido Disfrazado), a ballad preserved among the Sephardic Jews of Alcazarquivir, Morocco. In the story, the mother-in-law tests her daughter-in-law’s fidelity by forcing her to sew and light the household fire. While the young wife works, the mother-in-law seizes the moment to tempt her with a handsome page who carries “flame”- a word that blurs the boundary between the fire needed for the hearth and the young man’s own burning allure. The bride rejects his advances, barricades herself in her bedroom, and collapses onto her bed - only to discover that the disguised page is none other than her own husband, who has cooporated with his mother. The rhythmic scheme consists of four binary units and one ternary unit, that is, 2+2+2+2+3, in 11/8 time.

Text:
Mi nuera, mi nuera,   mi nuera garrida,
tejerís las cintas     de vuestras camisas
que vuestros iguales   ya las tienen tejidas
y tú, la mi nuera,    tapada y dormida.
-Yo no tengo flama    ni quien me la diera.
A tu puerta un paje    que flama tuviera.
-Por tu vida, el paje,   dame de tu flama,
que una suegra tengo     que a voces me mata.
- Me das un besito      te dare de mi flama.
- Mal caballero seras,    que por una flama,
 y un beso me has pedido.
Entrose en su casa     como mujer honrada,
Cerróse la puerta     con cuatro candados
y una chapa encima,
Por su maravilla  al paje mirara
Metióse en la cama    y al paje encontrara.
- Que no entró por puerta    ni por la ventana,
 - tú me l’has traído,   ah, la vieja mala.
- Yo te lo he probado   por ver si eras honrada:
Yo soy tu marido,    y tú, su mujer honrada.

Translation:
- My daughter-in-law, my daughter-in-law, my lovely daughter-in-law,
you will weave the ribbons for your shirts
for your peers already have them woven
and you, my daughter-in-law, covered and asleep.-
- I have no flame nor anyone to give me one.-
- At your door is a page who has flames.
- For your life, page, give me some of your flame
for I have a mother-in-law who is shouting at me to death.-
- Give me a little kiss, I will give you some of my flame.-
- You are a cruel man, for you have asked me for a flame
and a kiss.-
She went into her house like an honorable woman,
closed her door with four padlocks
and a metal clasp on top.
To her wonder she saw at the page,
who entered neither through the door nor window.
- You brought him to me, you wicked old woman. -
- I tested you to see if you were honest. -
- I am your husband, and you are my honest wife.