Mas ariba y mas ariba

Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc 1332/21 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Oriente, pg. 63, Editorial Alpuerto, 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak.

The ballad recounts the mysterious murder of Giovanni (Juan) Borgia, Duke of Gandia, a favorite of Pope Alexander VI, in Rome on June 15, 1497. His body was found in the Tiber River. Given the date and location of the event which was after the expulsion, this ballad was included in the Sephardic repertoire by being either brought to the Ottoman region by those who had previously passed through Italy or imported by later-arriving converts. The detailed description of the corpse's rich attire emphasizes that the murder was not for the purpose of robbery but for political reasons, based on the rivalry between Pope Alexander VI's two sons, John, on the side of the Spanish, and Caesar on the side of the French. This ballad is not preserved in the oral tradition of the Iberian Peninsula, and it can be said that Sephardic texts are the only living example of this ballad in oral tradition, although it was printed in sheets in the 16th and 15th centuries and also included in the 16th century songbooks.

Text
Más ariba y más ariba, en la civdad de Silivría,
ah había pescadores, pescando sus proberías.
Vieron vinir tres en caballo, haciendo gran polvería,
vinieron cerca del río, a la mar lo echarían.
Echó ganchos y gancheras por ver lo que le salía:
le salió un duque de oro, hijo del rey parecía.
Si se lo traan vivo, hombres grandes los haría,
si se lo traan muerto, sus presentes les haría.
Camisa de Holanda lleva, cabezón de sirma y perla,
anillo lleva en el dedo cien probes ricos hacía.

Translation
Further up and further up, in the city of Silivria,
there were fishermen, fishing for their poor livlihood
They saw three men coming on horseback, making a great haul,
they came near the river, they would throw him into the sea.
He cast hooks and grappling hooks to see what he would get:
a duke of gold emerged, the king's son it seemed.
If they brought him alive, he would make great men of them;
if they brought him dead, he would make them presents.
He wore a shirt from Holland, on his head silver and pearl,
A ring on his finger that could make a hundred poor men rich