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. 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.
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. 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.
From Decile a mi Amor, Judeo-Spanish songs from Tetuan, 2018. 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