Quen Santa María quisér defender By: Alfonso X el Sabio, King of Castile and León




Number of Voices: 1
Voicings: S , A , T , B
Date: 13th century
Language: Galician-Portuguese
Tags: cantiga Cantigas de Santa Maria religious Mary translation


﻿Lyrics Direct Translation Poetic Translation
Como Santa Marﾃｭa guareceu o pintor que o dﾃｩmo quisﾃｩra matar porque o pintava feo. How Holy Mary saved the painter whom the devil had tried to kill because he painted him ugly.
Quen Santa Marﾃｭa quisﾃｩr defender, The devil can do no harm If Holy Saint Mary keeps watch over you,
non lle pﾃｳd' o dﾃｩmo nﾃｯﾃｺn mal fazer. to the one Holy Mary defends. The Devil no mischief or damage can do.
E dest' un miragre vos quﾃｩro contar Concerning this, I wish to relate And here is a miracle done by the Saint
de como Santa Marﾃｭa quis guardar a miracle of how Holy Mary saved That proves this is true: How She heard the complaint
un sﾃｩu pintor que punnava de pintar a painter of Hers who tried to paint Her That came from a painter who, when he would paint,
ela mui fremos' a todo sﾃｩu poder. as beautiful as he could. Would paint Her as lovely for people to view.
E ao dﾃｩmo mais feo d' outra ren He always painted the devil uglier He painted the Devil as ugly as sin,
pintava el sempr'; e o dﾃｩmo porﾃｪn than anything else. Therefore the devil As ugly as anything ever has been.
lle disse: "Por que me t?es en desdﾃｪn, said: "Why do you hold me in disdain, "Why hate me?" the Devil soon asked in chagrin,
ou por que me fazes tan mal parecer and why do you make me look so bad・Eｦ "And why make me look bad to all who come through?"
A quantos me veen?" E el diss' entﾃｴn: "[・Eｦ]to all who see me?"The painter said:r The painter said, "I thought that you understood!
Esto que ch' ﾃｩu faﾃｧo ﾃｩ con gran razﾃｴn, "I do this to you with reason, I do this the same reason anyone would.
ca tu sempre mal fazes, e do ben non for you always do evil and will never You always do evil and never do good,
te quﾃｩres per nulla ren entrameter. have anything to do with good." And from your great evil your ugliness grew."
Pois est' ouve dit', o dﾃｩmo s' assannou When he said this, the devil got angry The Devil got angry and couldn't sit still.
e o pintor fﾃｨrament' am?aﾃｧou and threatened to kill the painter He threw a big fit and he threatened to kill
de o matar, e carreira lle buscou and sought a way The painter who said this, and with wicked will,
per que o fezﾃｩsse mui cedo morrer. to make him die quickly. He looked for the chance to let mischief ensue.
Porend' un dﾃｭa o espreitou alﾃｭ Therefore, one day he spied him there, And one day he spied him at work in the church.
u estava pintando, com' aprendﾃｭ, as I learned, as he was painting A portrait of Mary was near to his perch.
a omagen da Virgen, segund' oﾃｭ, the image of the Virgin. He made her so fair that a scrupulous search
e punnava de a mui ben compﾃｵer, He tried to compose it very well, as I am told, [・Eｦ] Would never find any so lovely and true.
Por que parecesse mui fremos' assaz. [・Eｦ]so that She would appear very beautiful. The Devil, in whom every wickedness lies,
Mais entﾃｴn o dﾃｩm', en que todo mal jaz, However, then the devil, in whom all evil lies, Used devilish skill to make windstorms arise,
trouxe tan gran vento como quando faz caused a great wind to blow, as when Just like when a thunderstorm darkens the skies.
mui grandes torvﾃｵes e que quﾃｩr chover. a thunderstorm draws near. He stirred up the wind, and it blew and it blew.
Pois aquel vento na igreja entrou, That wind entered the church and knocked down The wind came inside and went whirling around.
en quanto o pintor estava deitou to the ground the platform on which the painter It whooshed past the stand where the painter was found
en tﾃｩrra; mais el lﾃｳg' a Virgen chamou, was standing. However, he called on the Virgin, And knocked the whole platform straight down to the ground.
Madre de Dﾃｩus, que o v?ﾃｩss' acorrer. Mother of God, to come to his rescue. He screamed, ・E・EMary, save me, or else I am through!・E・E
E ela lﾃｳgo tan tﾃｳste ll' acorreu She came to his aid at once She saved him at once and did not let him fall,
e fez-lle que eno pinzﾃｩl se sofreu and made him hang on to the brush For he held a paintbrush, fine-pointed and small.
con que pintava; e porﾃｪn non caeu, with which he was painting, and so he did not fall She made that brush stick and stay there on the wall.
nen lle pﾃｳd' o dﾃｩm' en ren empeecer. nor could the devil harm him in any way. The Devil had lost, for it stuck there like glue.
E ao gran son que a madeira fez The people came at once at the loud crash So crash went the timbers, and everyone came
v?ﾃｩron as gentes lﾃｳgo dessa vez, the falling timbers made, To see what had happened and who was to blame.
e viron o dﾃｩmo mais negro ca pez and they saw the devil blacker than pitch They all saw the Devil run out in his shame,
fogir da igreja u s' ﾃｭa perder. flee from the church where he met his defeat. As black as the night, but now red-blushing too.
E ar viron com' estava o pintor Then they saw how the painter Then they saw the painter stuck there on the wall.
colgado do pinzﾃｩl; e porﾃｪn loor was hanging by his brush, and they gave thanks They gave thanks and praises that he did not fall
dﾃｩron aa Madre de Nﾃｳstro Sennor, for this to the Mother of Our Lord, To Her who gave birth to the Lord above all,
que aos sﾃｩus quﾃｩr na gran coita valer. who assists Her own in time of great trouble. Who helps when Her people cry out for Her to.
Alfonso X el Sabio, King of Castile and Leﾃｳn Alfonso. Songs of Holy Mary of Alfonso X, the Wise: A Translation of the Cantigas de Santa Maria. Trans. Kathleen Kulp-Hill. Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2000. Print.