El Velorio

The Wake

El Velorio

Don Anacleto diedSe murió don Anacleto
Romualda's husbandEl marido e la Romualda
Poor thing was so fiercePobrecito era tan fiero
They woke him up facing backwardsQue lo velaron de espalda

The deceased was so tinyEra el finao tan chiquito
That the widow every now and thenQue la viuda a cada rato
Would go look for him in the streetIba a buscarlo a la calle
As the cat took him awayPues se lo llevaba el gato

He died like a little birdMurió como un pajarito
A relative lamentedSe lamentaba un pariente
Looking at the deceasedMirándolo al finadito
With a very mournful faceCon la cara muy doliente

And a drunkard upon hearingY un borracho al escucharlo
Commented to BonifacioLe comento al Bonifacio
I think this shortyPara mi que a este petizo
Was taken down with a blowLo bajaron de un ondazo

And around midnightY a eso de la medianoche
Don Miranda arrived with the musiciansLlegó don Miranda con los musiqueros
And the poor deceased with coffin and allY al pobre difunto con cajón y todo
They quickly put him inside the wardrobePronto lo metieron dentro del ropero
And right there the party startedY ahí nomás se armó el bailongo
They played dice until morningMovieron las tabas hasta la mañana
There was guitar playing and a big commotionHubo guitarreada y un gran batifondo
But nobody bothered the deceasedPero al finadito nadie molestó

A tipsy man entered the ranchUn mamao entró en el rancho
To see what was happeningPara ver lo qué pasaba
And seeing so much movementY al ver tanto movimiento
He thought they were having a partyPensó que estaban de farra

And seeing the candles litY al ver las velas prendidas
He wanted to poke his nose inQuiso meter las narices
And blowing them out he shoutedY soplándolas gritaba
Happy birthday to youQue los cumplas muy felices

Around midnightA eso de la medianoche
Don Miranda arrived with the musiciansLlegó don Miranda con los musiqueros
And the poor deceased with coffin and allY al pobre difunto con cajón y todo
They quickly put him inside the wardrobePronto lo metieron dentro del ropero
And right there the party startedY ahí nomás se armó el bailongo
They played dice until morningMovieron las tabas hasta la mañana
There was guitar playing and a big commotionHubo guitarreada y un gran batifondo
But nobody bothered the deceasedPero al finadito nadie molestó