La última grela

The Last Tough Guy

La última grela

From the depths of things and wrapped in a shawlDel fondo de las cosas y envuelta en una estola
of cold, with the gesture of someone who has died a lot,de frío, con el gesto de quien se ha muerto mucho,
will come the last tough guy, fatal, slick, and alone,vendrá la última grela, fatal, canyengue y sola,
tapping through the dark pampa of cigarette butts.taqueando entre la pampa tiniebla de los puchos.

With wine and bread from the saddest tango that ArolasCon vino y pan del tango tristísimo que Arolas
silenced next to the tired mud of his forehead,callara junto al barro cansado de su frente,
the bandoneons and violins will give him his real mass,le harán su misa rea los fueyes y las violas,
tapping softly, so mysteriously.zapando a la sordina, tan misteriosamente.

They will bid farewell to his weariness, his cough, his melodrama,Despedirán su hastío, su tos, su melodrama,
the pale blondes from a Tuñón tale,las pálidas rubionas de un cuento de Tuñón,
and behind the sleepless doorways, the ladiesy atrás de los portales sin sueño, las madamas
with tragic manes will say his last rites.de trágicas melenas dirán su extremaunción.

And a muffled clearing of the throat and nonsense,Y un sordo carraspeo de esplín y de macanas,
tangoing in his soul will burn his voice,tangueándole en el alma le quemará la voz,
and mute and on his knees he will sell himself without desire,y muda y de rodillas se venderá sin ganas,
lifeless, and for two bucks, to the mercy of God.sin vida, y por dos pesos, a la bondad de Dios.

He will bring forgetfulness with him; and there in the trash heapsTraerá el olvido puesto; y allá en los trascartones
of dawn, evil, in mourning, with four dark kisses,del alba el mal, de luto, con cuatro besos pardos,
will make a cross of laughter and a chorus of old thievesle hará una cruz de risas y un coro de ladrones
very old his strange stories in slang.muy viejos sus extrañas novelas en lunfardo.

How lonely the tough guy will go, so last and so strange,Qué sola irá la grela, tan última y tan rara,
his big sad eyes deceived by fate,sus grandes ojos tristes trampeados por la suerte,
will be on the worn-out tablecloth of his face,serán sobre el tapete raído de su cara,
the two mournful aces loaded with death.los dos fúnebres ases cargados de la muerte.