O Romance de Diogo Soares

Diogo Soares
The great general
Known as the Galician
The man with deadly looks
Leading sixty thousand men
From foreign lands
Winning and fighting
For whoever pays more
Effective in his sermons
Intriguing indeed
He gained the sympathy
Of princes and samurais
He is already the governor
Of the kingdom of Pegu
Stronger than the king
Richer through masterful strokes

In that city
Lived a merchant
Named Mambogoá
Of endless fortune
And on that day
The wedding day
A daughter was marrying
Manica Mandarim
Diogo Soares passed by
Upon hearing of the celebration
He congratulated the bride and groom
And the beautiful bride
Offered him a ring
Thanking for the honor
With pure and sensual gestures
Then the Galician
Instead of keeping
The due decorum
He captured her and said thus
Oh beautiful maiden
You are mine, only mine
You belong to no one
To no one but me

Father Mambogoá
Seeing the brute
So harsh with his daughter
Hearing this astonishing insult
Raised his hands to the sky
Knees on the ground
In the portrait of pain
Begging and imploring in tears
I beg you Lord
Out of reverence to God
Whom you adore conceived
In the womb without blemish and sin
Do not take my daughter
Do not take my treasure
For I die of passion
I die so abandoned

But Diogo Soares
Ordered the killing of the groom
Who cried embracing
The frightened girl
Trembling
And the bride strangled
With a silk ribbon
Before the sensual Galician could possess her by force
The earth and the skies
Trembled with the screams
Of the women's crying
So terrifying they were
And father Mambogoá
Pleading through the streets
For justice against the murderer
Awakens the city in peace
Oh people, oh people
Come out like lightning
In the wrath of rains
In the gust of the lash
And let fire consume
His last days
And tear him apart
In the middle of the night

In less than a prayer
In a great uproar
For the love of the afflicted
The entire town joined the old man
With such fury
And thirst for vengeance
They dragged him imprisoned
Diogo Soares to the square
And the people clamored
For his vein to be
As empty of blood
As hell is full
And he ascended the scaffold
Kissing each step
Murmuring softly
The name of Jesus halfway

His son Baltasar Soares
Who came from home
Seeing his father
Being taken like this
Threw himself at his feet crying
And for a long time embraced
In the mortal embrace
Lord why do they take you
Cruel and vengeful
Lord why do they beat you
And why do they kill you dreadfully?
Ask my sins
They will tell you
That I am going away in such a way
That everything seems like a dream

And so many stones
Upon the suffering one
That he died roaring
The rosary of his sins
Soaked in the spit
Of men's hatred
Animal foam
Of all the famished dogs

The children and the young men
Brought his lifeless body
Through the streets
Dragged by the throat
And people gave alms
Offered to the children
Giving as if it were
A very pious and holy deed

Thus end the annals
Of the great general
Known as the Galician
The man with deadly looks