La Tertulia

The Gathering

La Tertulia

The other night I went to a party at Julia's houseLa otra noche fui de fiesta en cas'e Julia
The family was already gatheredSe 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 gave 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 up those we trusted in two rowsNos 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 danced, all mixed upY le tupimos a la danza, ahí, hechos bola
There was a cadet who was jealous of CheloHabía un cadete que celaba a Chelo
But the little one was having fun with GasparMas la canija con Gaspar se daba vuelo

Then they gave us jelly sandwichesDespués nos dieron sangüichitos de jalea
Some had punch and the sad ones had Coca-ColaA unos ponche y a los tristes Coca-Cola
The cat doesn't even move 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 found Ofelia's little friendsAhí me encontré con los amiguitos de Ofelia
Who had smuggled in their tequilaQue a contrabando habían pasado su tequila
We had a few drinks behind the pileNos aventamos unas copas tras la pila
And we almost had Amelia fall overY por poquito ya mero nos cae Amelia

Then they asked Lola to singLuego pidieron que cantara Lola
And we endured: There I bid you farewellY soportamos: Ahí te doy la despedida
Then Aunt Cleta played the pianoDespués tía Cleta tocó la pianola
So she wouldn't talk, we gave her a good round of applausePa' que no hablara le dimos buena aplaudida

I gathered my courage and sang: The letter to EufemiaYo me hice fuerte y les canté: La carta a Eufemia
Which made me laugh and a little monkey teased meQue me echo un gallo y un changuito me vacila
I was about to start, but Eugenia stopped meQue me le arranco, pero me detuvo Ugenia
If not, I would already be in line in limboSi no en el limbo ya estuviera haciendo fila

But the jelly was already digestedPero ya estaba digerida la jalea
The general's wife was making a fuss over mePos la mujer del general me hacía la bola
It was Carola, the gossip, who caused troubleFue con el chisme la metiche de Carola
And the old man came and the fight beganY vino el viejo y que comienza la pelea

Chaos broke out, he pulled out his gunSe armó el relajo, sacó su pistola
I, cautious, hid behind the pianoYo, precavido, me escondí tras la pianola
Julia came, called CarolaVino la Julia, que llamó Carola
And they took us to jail, all mixed upY pa' la cárcel nos llevaron hechos bola