Ay mancebo 2

From Morenika Izmirlia - Judeo-Spanish songs from Smyrna, 2020

The medieval story of the long gone husband who returns and, without making himself known, tests his wife's fidelity, is a well-known theme in European ballads. The Sephardic romance about The Return of the Husband (La vuelta del marido) unfolds through a long dialogue between the woman, who asks for news of her husband, and a young man who requires signs to recognize the one she is looking for, to which she answers with a full description (he is tall like a pine, straight like a lantern and like a mosque tower). This romance was popularized by the recording of the great first Sephardic singer Isaac Algazi, and this shortened version was stabilized due to the limited time that was possible on that record. The technique of repeating each textual line in the following melodic phrase allows only one woman to know the entire text, while the others can join in through repetition.

Text:

- Ay, mancebo,   ay mancebo,      ay, mancebo y tan gentil,
si para  Francia vos ibas,       al  mi amor saludés.
-  ¿Qué señas me dabas, dama.   si lo pueda conocer?
- El es alto como el pino,     derecho como un fener,
la su gargantica es alta    que parece un minaré,
en su mano, la  derecha,       una lanza lleva él,
que se lo mandó la reina,     que su namorado es.

Translation:
- Oh, young man, oh young man, oh, such a kind young man,
if you were to go to France, greet my beloved.
- Which signs can you give me so that I can know him?
- He is tall as a pine tree, straight as a flagpole,
his neck is so long it looks like a minaret,
in his right hand he carries a spear,
at the tip of the spear he has a rich crest
that was embroidered by the queen, who is his lover