Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: NSA Yc1096/18 Referenced and notated in: Romansero Sefardi de Oriente, pg. 107, Editorial Alpuerto S.A. 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak This is a partial rendition of this romance, where the husband leaves his wife. It has a widespread geographical distribution in Sephardic culture, sung in both areas of the Mediterranean with sililar melodies. The poet Israel Najara used this melody for several of his Hebrew religious poems, indicating its incipit in each poem. 'Doblones' were a type of Spanish gold coin, first minted in Spain and its colonies, used widely from the 16th to 19th centuries. Text: - ¿De qué lloras, blanca niña? ¿de qué lloras, blanca flor? - Lloro por tí, caballero, que te vas y me dejás: me dejás niña y muchacha, chica de la poca edad, tengo hijicos chiquiticos, lloran y demandan pan. - Metió la mano en su pecho, cien doblones ya le da. - ¿Esto para que m' abasta, para vino o para pan ? Translation: - Why are you crying, white girl? Why are you crying, white flower? - I cry for you, sir, because you are leaving and abandoning me: you are leaving me a girl and a young woman, a girl of little age, I have little children, they cry and demand bread. He put his hand in his pocket, and gave her a hundred doubloons. - Is this enough for me, for wine or for bread?
This website was created by Orit Perlman with the collaboration and blessings of Dr. Susana Weich-Shahak in 2025