La Mandinga
Los Cantores de Salavina
The Mandinga
Who’s seen a black devil
On a pale mule?
Said an old musician
Who wandered in Salamanca.
To the beat of his guitar,
Making the strings ring,
He remembered the wild nights
Of Loreto and Salavina.
Of his old little horse, of his dark pony,
The sound of the dams and the song of the coyotes.
(Chorus)
The Mandinga of the Sierras,
"Quitilipi" with his flute,
And this witch from Chacarera
Dancing in Salamanca.
They ask me where I come from
With my dark little horse.
Speak up, sly heart,
Why have you gone mute?
An old man said: ["I’m not scared 'cause I’m a gentle man,
But if they come looking for me, I’ll sting like a thorn tree."]
I’m like the carob tree,
Ripe fruit on my branches.
When the coyote sings to me, I carry it in my soul.
