Andarleto 1

Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc 1097/13+16
Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Oriente, pg. 132, Editorial Alpuerto, 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak.

This is a partial version of the romance, La reina adúltera ("The Adulterous Queen"), recounts the story of a queen who believes she is confiding in her lover, unaware that it is her husband the King, who is actually listening. In her speech, she describes the ways in which she favors her lover’s children over the King’s, a motif common in Jewish versions of this romansa, suggesting a transgression that goes beyond adultery alone. The narrative is rooted in medieval French sources involving King Chilperic, his wife Fredegunda, and her lover Landarice, known by various names in Sephardic ballad tradition, and here called Andaleto. When the King forgives her with a “coral necklace,” the gesture alludes ironically to her execution by beheading. There are versions of this romansa in the North Moroccan tradition as well.

Lyrics: 
- Andarleto, mi Andarleto,    mi polido enamorado
màs te quero y màs te amo  que al rey con su reinado.
Dos hijicos de ti tengo    y dos del rey que son cuatro:
los del rey van a la guerra,   y los tuyos al mi lado.

Translation:
Andarleto, my Andarleto, my handsome beloved,
I love you, I adore you, more than the king with all his kingdom. 
Two sons I have from you, and two from the king, that makes four;
the king’s go off to war, but yours stay by my side.