La Sifrina de Puerto Rico

The Sifrina from Puerto Rico

La Sifrina de Puerto Rico

I don't know why my destinyNo sé por qué mi destino
Always grabs me and takes me straightSiempre me agarra y me llava derechito
Where I don't want to go and even if I wanted, I can'tDonde no quiero y aunque quisiera no puedo
Reach higher where the fruits are ripeLlegar más alto donde hay frutos maduritos
Even though I don't grab enough, I settle for a littleQue aunque no agarro bastante, me conformo con poquito

That's why I want to tell youPor eso quiero contarles
The big disappointment I had in Puerto RicoEl chasco grande que me llevé en Puerto Rico
A girl with a snobby faceUna muchacha con carita de sifrina
Asked another, 'Where is that dark-skinned guy from?'Preguntó a otra ¿de dónde era ese choco?
And since she saw me polished, she thought I was richY como me vio pulío pensaba que yo era rico

Knowing she liked itSabiendo que le gustaba
She made everything easy for me like a low-hanging mangoTodo me lo puso fácil igual que mango bajito
Me, a tourist in loveYo turista enamorado
And a little tipsy, I fell into the trap gentlyY un poco pasao de tragos caí en la trampa mansito

I told her I hadYo le dije que tenía
In my land a paradiseEn mi tierra un paraíso
A farm with lots of cattleHato con mucho ganado
And everything was beautifulY aquello todo bonito
Purebred horsesCaballos de pura sangre
Worth a hundred thousand and someQue valian cien mil y pico
And in Calabozo del GuaricoY en calabozo del guarico
I had a tremendous buildingTenía tremendo edificio

Listening to my liesOyendome los embustes
She said: 'My dear, my loveMe dijo: Ya mi amorcito
When I go to VenezuelaCuando vaya a Venezuela
I'll definitely visit youSeguro que te visito
But before I leavePero anttes de que yo salga
I'll let you know firstPrimero te comunico
And when I arrive in your townY cuando llegue a tu pueblo
I'll ask around and then find youPregunto y luego te ubico

When I returnedCuando llegué de regreso
I went to the mountain where I have my little ranchSalí hacia el monte donde tengo mi ranchito
But it didn't even cross my mindPero por mi mente ni siquiera me pasaba
That it's not far from here to Puerto RicoQue no está lejos desde aquí hasta Puerto Rico
And that planes fly back and forth there every little whileY que los aviones vuelan pa'llá y pa'cá ca' ratico

Exactly a week laterJustamente a la semana
I was hanging my hammockEstaba yo guindando mi chinchorrito
And a helicopter was flying almost on the roofY un elicoptero volaba casi en el techo
Of the palm ranch I have in ConuquitoDel rancho de palma que tengo en el conuquito
And in the yard, I had left some plantains roastingY en el patio había dejado asando unos topochitos

What a surprise it wasCual sería mi gran sorpresa
When I saw the snob land in that thingCuando vi que la sifrina aterrizó en ese bicho
I thought of running awayYo pensé irme corriendo
But how could I when the girl had already seen me?¿Pero como hacía si ya la muchacha me había visto?

When I tried to runCuando yo salí corriendo
I stumbled and fell to the groundMe enredé y caí en el piso
And the blessed snobY la bendita sifrina
If they knew what she didSi supieran lo que hizo
She beat me to the groundMe cayó a palo en el suelo
And said to me, 'Look, boyY me decía mira chico
I came to collect the bread ovenVine a cobrarte el pan de horno
That I sold you in Puerto RicoQue te vendí en Puerto Rico

When you went to the mineCuando fuiste a minación
You swore you were richMe juraste que eras rico
Today that I come to your placeHoy que yo vengo a la tuya
I discover you're a poor guyDescubro que eres un limpio
And you wanted to marry a snobY querias casar sifrina
You've got your eye on the wrong oneTe quedado el ojo arizco
I'm leaving for my landMe largo para mi tierra
And don't be so naive!¡Y no sea usted tan safrisco!

At that time, I hadYo en ese tiempo tenía
Working on the farm some old menAllá en el fundo trabajando a unos viejitos
My namesake Don Santiago MaldonadoA mi tocayo don santiago maldonado
Montano and Alvaro, Betancour and AgapitoMontano y alvaro, betancour y agapito
And Black Manuel Toledo, they called him 'Tabaquito'Y el negro manuel toledo que le decían: Tabaquito

When they came from the mountainCuando llegaron del monte
And found me dragging on the floorY me encontraron arrastrando por el piso
They asked if that girl was a ChineseMe preguntaron si esa chica era un china
So karate that she kicked me even in the beakTan karateka que me pateó hasta en el pico
And she said to them, 'Shut up, black chorizo-colored men'Y ella les dijo: Se callan negros color de chorizo

Guilty were open MayoraCulpabre aberto mayora
Valerio and Don Miguel Mora who talked to her for a whileValerio y don Miguel mora que le hablaron un ratico
Saying: 'That singerDiciendole: Ese cantante
Every time he records, he sells fifteen million records'Cada vez que graba vende quince millones de discos

When the snob leftCuando se fue la sifrina
I was commenting to myselfYo comentaba solito
I should have asked for foodLe hubiera pedío comida
I don't even have a little bitYo no tengo ni un poquito
I had a sardineMe quedaba una sardina
And a box of crackersY una caja de diablito
And a very hard salted breadY un pan salado muy duro
Just to take a biteComo pa darle un mordisco

I hear that the snobMe cuentan que la sifrina
When she arrived in Puerto RicoCuando llegó a Puerto Rico
Told her familyLe comentó a su familia
That I was a poor crazy guyQue yo era un pobre loquito
Who only had in the jungleQue solo tenía en la selva
A ranch full of liceUn rancho lleno de piojitos
And a group of old workersY un grupo de obreros viejos
Dead of hunger and skinnyMuertos del habré y flaquitos