The Gathering

La Tertulia

The other night I went to a party at Julia's placeLa otra noche fui de fiesta en casa de Julia
The family was already gathered thereSe encontraba ya reunida la familia
Mari Pepa, Felícitas, Luz, and OtiliaMari Pepa, Felícitas, Luz y Otilia
And Camila, who brightened up the gatheringY Camila, que alegraba la tertulia

While Lupe was feeding the baby his bottleMientras Lupe daba al niño su mamila
Doña Cleta asked Celia for a bottleDoña Cleta pidió un botella a Celia
She lined us trusted ones up in a rowNos formó a los de confianza dos en fila
And we toasted with charanda from MoreliaY brindamos con charanda de Morelia

Then Amelia put on the record playerDespués Amelia puso la vitrola
And we jumped into the dance, all tangled upY le tupimos a la danza, ahí, hechos bola
There was a cadet who was eyeing CheloHabía un cadete que celaba a Chelo
But the little minx was having a blast with GasparMás la canija con Gaspar se daba vuelo

Then they served us little jelly sandwichesDespués nos dieron sangüichitos de jalea
Some got punch and the sad ones got Coca-ColaA unos ponche y a los tristes Coca-Cola
Like a cat, she didn’t budge to serveComo la gata pa' servir ni se menea
I went to the kitchen with my trayPa' la cocina yo me fui con mi charola

There I ran into Ofelia's little friendsAí me encontré con los amiguitos de Ofelia
Who had smuggled in their tequilaQue a contrabando habían pasado su tequila
We downed a few shots by the sinkNos aventamos unas copas tras la pila
And almost got caught by AmeliaY por poquito, ya mero, nos cae Amelia

Then they asked Lola to singLuego pidieron que cantara Lola
And we endured: Here’s your farewellY soportamos: Ahí te doy la despedida
Then Aunt Cleta played the pianoDespués tía Cleta tocó la pianola
To keep her quiet, we gave a big round of applausePa' que no hablara le dimos buena aplaudida

I got bold and sang 'A Letter to Eufemia'Yo me hice fuerte y les canté Una carta a Eufemia
That I got a rooster and a monkey's teasing meQue me echo un gallo y un changuito me vacila
I was about to go for it, but Eugenia stopped meQue me le arranco, pero me detuvo Ugenia
Otherwise, I’d be in limbo waiting in lineSi no en el limbo ya estuviera haciendo fila

But the jelly was already settlingPero ya estaba digerida la jalea
So the general's wife was making a scenePos la mujer del general me hacía la bola
The nosy Carola brought the gossipFue con el chisme la metiche de Carola
And then the old man came in and the fight startedY vino el viejo y que comienza la pelea

It got chaotic, he pulled out his gunSe armó el relajo, sacó su pistola
I, being cautious, hid behind the pianoYo, precavido, me escondí tras la pianola
Julia came in, calling for CarolaVino la Julia, que llamó Carola
And we were taken to jail all tangled upY pa' la cárcel nos llevaron hechos bola