Romance do Mascarado

Masked Man's Romance

Romance do Mascarado

It was a dapple gray, the malabruja I speak of to youEra tordilho o malabruja que lhes falo
Stirred up, I don't know by whom and rejected by a fewBulido não sei de quem e por uns quantos refugado
Maneco Rosa, the black man of the bastos, that's his nameManeco Rosa, se chama o negro dos bastos
Who comes supporting the blow of this so-called Masked ManQue vem escorando o golpe desse tal de Mascarado

A fierce fight, body to body, mano a manoPeleia braba, corpo a corpo, mano a mano
Whoever can more cries less and luck asks for a betQuem pode mais chora menos e a sorte pede bolada
When the fate of a sly one and a tamerQuando o destino de um sotreta e um domador
Gets entangled in the pastures at the mouth of a trailFica enredado nos pastos da boca de uma picada

It was right at the step that leads to the back fieldsFoi bem no passo que da pra o campo dos fundos
That the masked dapple gray wanted to trip ManecoQue o tordilho mascarado quis dá um tombo no Maneco
Almost stumbled when it dragged with forceQuase que embolca quando se arrastou com força
As it got scared of the culero that made noise in the fringesPois se assustou do culero que fez barulho nos flecos

Like a cat lassoed by the neckIgual a um gato laçado pelo pescoço
It dragged itself looking for the turn leaning on the pacesSe arrastou buscando a volta se escorando nas ponteadas
If it weren't for the black man holding the basto's handleNão fosse o negro leva a mão na aba do basto
It would have planted the fig tree right at the mouth of the trailTinha plantado a figueira bem na boca da picada

It was right at the step that leads to the back fieldsFoi bem no passo que da pra o campo dos fundos

I was told by Lasca that the dapple gray was a rogueMe disse o lasca que o tordilho era veiáco
And that these days it had given a hard time to a white boyE que esses tempos tinha dado um garreio num moço branco
Even Talquino, who in surprise withstands some jumpsInté o Talquino que no susto aguenta uns pulo
In a move by the masked one, almost got dizzyNum golpe do mascarado quase que fica lunanco

The work is tough and the turn gets uglyA lida é bruta e a volta se para feia
When the world falls apart in a tangled corralQuando o mundo se desmancha num corcóvio chamarreado
Time passes but Maneco doesn't loosen upO tempo passa mas o Maneco não frouxa
Because the bit he tightens always stays tightPorque o bocal que ele arrocha se queda sempre apertado

The same was putting on a saddle and also luckA mesma tava bota culo e também sorte
Old Caetano said he was a tough IndianDizia o velho Caetano que era um índio macharrão
It was when the black man threw his body backFoi quando o negro atirou o corpo pra trás
To show that a pair of spurs is not just decoration on the legsPra mostrar que um par de espora não é enfeite nos garrão

The dapple gray was kicking up dustVinha o tordilho escabelando macega
Kicking the dogs, handling the doorknobsDando coice nos cachorro manoteando as maçaneta
The dun was more steady, like a fenceSe vinha o pardo mais firme de quem um palanque
He shouted and cracked the whip and buckled with the rosettesDava um grito e um rebencaço e ajorjava com as roseta

The same was putting on a saddle and also luckA mesma tava bota cula e também sorte