Ante Un Libro Abierto

In Front of an Open Book

Ante Un Libro Abierto

There's a gray horse arrivingHay un tordillo al llegar
That gives its name to the partyQue le da nombre al partido
Of that beloved placeDe aquel pago tan querido
That is a pleasure to rememberQue da gusto recordar.

With that beautiful placeCon ese lindo lugar
That perpetuates a memoryQue un recuerdo perpetúa
Because until today it continuesPorque hasta hoy continua
Being named with praiseNombrándoselo entre halagos
To the great rider of the placeAl gran jinete del pago'
The Basque BerizertuaEl vasco berizertua
In the ranch the roansEn la estancia los overos
His memory is latentSu recuerdo esta latente
Like an imposing milestone waiting for the night watchmanComo un mojón imponente quedo esperando el nochero
The owl in the fieldLa lechuza en el potrero
Only left some lamentSolo dejo algún lamento
Waiting for the attentive lapwingEsperando el tero atento
He couldn't see his passingNo pudo ver su pasada
History of riding he leftHistoria'.. de jineteada dejo
As a testamentComo testamento''..

Already being somewhat oldYa siendo algo veterano
He told me about his trajectoryMe contó su trayectoria
And his time of gloryY de su tiempo de gloria
With spurs and whip in handDe espuela y rebenque en mano
Calm and gentle the countrymanTranquilo manso el paisano
Gave me a talk, a concertMe dio una charla un concierto
In the folkloric, he was an expertEn lo criollo era un experto
I, who could listen to himYo que lo pude escuchar'.
Got the impression of beingMe dio la impresión de estar
Sitting in front of an open bookSentado ante un libro abierto

In his long journeyEn su largo itinerario
He said that among other valuesContó que entre otros valores
He knew how to ride on flowersSupo montar en las flores
On the day of his centenaryEl día de su centenario
He had friends, not adversariesTuvo amigos no adversarios
That I must emphasizeEso si se lo subrayo
Remembering, he detailedRecordando les detallo
That in that long roadQue en ese largo camino
He measured himself with ArgentiniansSe midió con argentinos
And Uruguayan stalwartsY baluartes uruguayos

They say the Basque is goneDicen que el vasco se fue
I correct that phraseYa esa frase la corrijo
If in the faces of his childrenSi en el rostro de sus hijos
I have seen him more than onceLo he visto más de una vez
With the same simplicityCon su misma sencillez
And with his countryman styleY con su estampa campera
He carries the same flagLleva su misma bandera
I, who learned to respect themYo que aprendí a respetarlos
To Norma, the black one, and CarlosA norma el negro y al carlos
And to the sun of his companionY al sol de su compañera

I believe he has not goneYo creo que no se ha ido
I believe he is presentYo creo que esta presente
In his town and in his peopleEn su pueblo y en su gente
He is a thorn stuckEs un abrojo prendido
A great one is not forgottenUn grande no tiene olvido
And an old countryman saidY dijo un viejo campero
That early in the fieldQue temprano en el potrero
He saw a man passing byHa visto un hombre pasando
That was the Basque wanderingEse era el vasco rumbeando
To the ranch the roansA la estancia los overos.