Una pastora yo ami Una ija ermoza De mi chikes ke l'adori Mas k'eya no ami Un dia ke estavamos En la guerta asentados Le dishe yo por ti mi flor Me muero d'est' amor En los sus brazos m’apretó un bezo de amor me dio, me respondió y con dulzor sos chico para amor. M'engrandesi i la bushki Otro tomo i la pedri Se olvido i me desho Ma yo siempre la bushko
A shepherdess I loved
A beautiful daughter
Of my parents who adored her
But more than her I did not love One day when we were
Sitting in the garden
I told her: for you, my flower,
I die of this love In her arms she pressed me
A kiss of love she gave me,
She answered me and with sweetness:
You are too young for love. I grew up and searched for her
She took another and I lost her
She forgot and left me
But I always search for her
From Morenika Izmirlia - Judeo-Spanish songs from Smyrna, 2020
This Ladino cantiga comes from a Greek musical that was translated into Judeo-Spanish and performed in Izmir in 1903. The musical itself was adapted from an earlier Greek play written by Coromilas in 1891, which was based on a poem by Georgios Zalokostas. Thus, the Ladino version is part of a chain of adaptations moving from Greek poetry to theater, then to musical performance in the Ottoman Sephardi world.
This website was created by Orit Perlman with the collaboration and blessings of Dr. Susana Weich-Shahak in 2025