Levantose el Rey a cazar

Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y5627a/19
Referenced and notated in: Moroccan Sephardic Romancero, pg. 174, Gaon Books, House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak.

This romance from North Morocco, 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. Her punishment is beheading. 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 Andeliko. 

Text:
Levantóse el rey a cazar   un lunes por la mañana
y fuera a ver a la reina    a ver cómo alboreaba.
Hallóla lavando el rostro,   de dormir se levantara,
en un espejo cristalino    mirando su linda cara,
dando gracias al Dios Padre     que tan linda la criara
y el rey, por jugar con ella,   con vara de oro la daba.
- Táte, táte, tú, Andalico,    mi polido enamorado,
tres hijos tuví contigo     y uno del rey, que son cuatro:
si el del rey viste a seda,   los tuyos, seda y brocado,
si el del rey come gallina,    los tuyos, gallina y pavo,
si el del rey bebe del tinto,   los tuyos, del tinto y claro,
si el del rey monta la mula,    los tuyos, mula y caballo.
Y alzó la cara la reina     y viera al rey a su lado.
- Perdón, perdón, mi señor rey,  por lo que yo he hablado,
que no sé si estaba loca      o es un sueño que he soñado.
- Dios te perdone, la reina,    que yo no te he perdonado.
La cabeza entre los hombros     al suelo se la ha arronĵado.

Translation:
The king rose early one Monday morning to hunt,
and went to see the queen as she awoke.
He found her washing her face, having risen from sleep,
gazing at her lovely face in a crystal mirror,
giving thanks to God the Father for creating her beauty.
And the king, teasing her, with a golden wand tapped her.
"Hold on, hold on, you, Andalico, my handsome lover,
I had three children with you and one with the king, which makes four:
If the king's son wears silk, yours wear silk and brocade,
if the king's son eats chicken, yours eat chicken and quail,
if the king's son drinks red wine, yours drink red and white wine,
if the king's son rides a mule, yours ride a mule and a horse."
And the queen raised her face and saw the king at her side.
"Forgive me, forgive me, my lord king, for what I have said,
I don't know if I was mad or if it was a dream I had."
"May God forgive you, the queen, for I have not forgiven you."
Her head, between her shoulders, fell to the ground.