La reina Jerifa mora 2

Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y5773/32
Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Marruecos pg. 115, Editorial Alpuerto, Pardes Publishing House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak.

This North Moroccan romanse centered on themes of captivity and identity during the era of the Spanish Christian - Moorish wars. The story, preserved in the oral traditions of Spain, explores the emotional recognition between two long-lost sisters. One, now a queen and once a Christian captive herself, asks for a Christian slave to be brought to her. The Moors who she sends to do this for her, kill the Count Flores who was the husband of her slave to be. Both women are pregnant and give birth on the same day, the queen to a daughter and the slave to a son. The midwives secretly exchange the newborns, giving the son to the queen. Later, the queen overhears the slave singing a lullaby to her daughter, expressing that if the child were hers, she would name her after her lost sister, the very name of the queen. This moment of recognition leads to a heartfelt reunion, and the sisters embrace and depart to their homeland.

Text:
La reina Jerifa mora,     la que mora en la Almería,
dice que tiene deseo   de una cristiana cautiva.
Los moros, como lo oyeron,  de repente se partía[n]:
de ellos parten para Francia,  y  de ellos para la Almería.
Se encontró con  conde Flores      que a la condesa traía,
libro de oro en la su mano,     las adoraciones hacía 
pidiendo iba al Dió  del cielo     que la diera hijo o hija
para heredar a sus bienes,    que heredero no tenía.
Ya matan al conde Flores    que a la condesa traía,
se la llevan de presente    a la reina de Almería.
- Tomís, señora, esta esclava,  la esclava que vos querías,
que no es mora ni es christina,    ni es echada a la malicia,
que es condesa y es marquesa,   señora de gran valía.
- Tomís, señora, estas llaves,    de la espensa y la cocina.
- Yo, las tomaré,  señora,     por la gran desdicha mía:
ayer, condesa y marquesa,     hoy tu, esclava en la cocina.
Quiso Dios y la fortuna:     las dos quedaron encinta
Y van meses y vienen meses   las dos paren en un dia:
La esclava tuviera un niño   la reina tuvo una niña.
Las perras de las comadres,   para ganar su platica,
dieron el niño a la reina    y a la infanta dan la niña.
Un día estando la esclava    con su niña la cocina
con lagrimas de sus ojos    lavó la cara a la niña.
- Ay, mi niña de mi alma,    ay, mi niña de mi vida,
quién te me diera en mis tierras,  en mis tierras de Almería:
que la cautivaron moros   dias de Pasqua Florida
cogiendo rosas y flores  en la huerta de Almeria
por tu vida, la mi esclava    repite esta cantarsica
- Yo la repiteré, señora,    por la gran desdicha mía:
- ¿Qué señas tiene tu hermana,   qué señas ella tenía?
- Tiene un lunar en el pecho,   debajo de la tetilla.
Siete vueltas le daria…  Y de ahi se conocieron   
que eran hermanas queridas  Se cogieron de la mano
Y se fueron para Almeria.

Translation
Queen Jerifa the Moor, she who dwells in Almería,
says that she desires a Christian slave.
When the Moors heard this, at once they departed:
some set off for France, and some for Almería.
They came upon Count Flores, who was bringing the countess,
a golden book in her hand, saying her prayers,
asking God in heaven to grant her son or daughter
to inherit his goods, for he had no heir.
They kill Count Flores, who was bringing the countess,
and they take her as a gift to the queen of Almería.
- Take, my lady, this slave, the slave you desired,
she is neither Moor nor Christian, nor given to wickedness,
she is a countess and a marchioness, a lady of great worth.
- Take, my lady, these keys, of the pantry and the kitchen.
- I will take them, my lady, for my great misfortune:
yesterday a countess and marchioness, today, your slave in the kitchen.
God and fortune so willed it: both became with child,
months go by and months return, both give birth on one same day:
the slave bore a boy, the queen bore a girl.
The wicked midwives, to earn some payment,
gave the boy to the queen and to the princess they gave the girl.
One day the slave was with her child in the kitchen,
with tears from her eyes she washed the child’s face.
- Oh my child of my soul, oh my child of my life,
had I given birth to you in my lands, my lands of Almería:
the Moors captured you on days of Eastertide,
gathering roses and flowers in the orchard of Almería.
For your life, my slave repeat this little song,
- I will repeat it, my lady, for my great misfortune:
- What signs does your sister bear, what marks did she have?
- She has a mole upon her chest, beneath the nipple.
She turned her seven times… and so they recognized
that they were beloved sisters; they took each other by the hand
and they went off to Almería.