Tenía yo, tenia yo,
tenía yo un viejo
que cavaba viñas,
viñas tan hermosas,
hinchidas de rosas.
Tenía yo, tenía yo,
tenía yo un asno,
que llevaba ‘l viejo
a cavar las viñas,
viñas tan hermosas,
hinchidas de rosas.
Tenía yo, tenía yo,
Tenía yo un palo que aharvaba el asno..
Tenía yo un fuego que quemaba al palo que aharvaba el asno..
Tenía yo la agua que amató al fuego que quemaba al palo…
Tenía yo un buey que bebiba la agua que amató al fuego….
Tena yo, tena yo un shojet que degolló al buey,
que bebiba ‘l agua
que mataba ‘l fuego
que quemaba ‘l palo
que aharvaba ‘l asno,
que llevaba ‘l viejo
a cavar las viñas,
viñas tan hermosas,
hinchidas de rosas.
I had, I had, I had an old man
who dug vineyards,
such beautiful vineyards,
full of roses.
I had, I had, I had a donkey,
that carried the old man
to dig the vineyards,
such beautiful vineyards,
full of roses.
I had, I had,
I had a stick that beat the donkey….
I had a fire that burned the stick that beat the donkey …
I had the water that extinguished the fire that burned the stick…
I had an ox that drank the water that extinguished the fire…
I had, I had a shochet (butcher) that slaughtered the ox,
that drank the water
that killed the fire
that burned the stick
that beat the donkey,
that carried the old man
to dig the vineyards,
such beautiful vineyards,
full of roses.
From Arboleras vol. 1 - Sephardic cancionero and coplas oral tradition,1996
Under the musical and artistic direction of Susana Weich-Shahk, in a renewed rendition of this accumulative song, the characters and their arrangement remind us of those of the song Had Gadya in the Hagada of Pesach.
This website was created by Orit Perlman with the collaboration and blessings of Dr. Susana Weich-Shahak in 2025