Los peregrinos piden posada: el villancico “En Nombre del Cielo”
Posted: December 24, 2011 Filed under: English, Spanish | Tags: Christmas carols and songs Comments Off on Los peregrinos piden posada: el villancico “En Nombre del Cielo”_____
En Nombre del Cielo
José:
En Nombre del Cielo
os pido posada,
Pues no puede andar
mi esposa amada.
Huesped:
Aquí no es mesón,
Sigan adelante,
Yo no puedo abri,
No sea algún tunante.
José:
No seas inhumano,
Tennos caridad.
Que el Díos de los Cielos
Te lo premiará.
Huesped:
Ya se pueden ir
Y no molestar,
Porque si me enfado
Los voy a apalear.
José:
Mi esposa es María,
Es Reina del Cielo,
Y madre va a ser
Del Divino Verbo.
Huesped:
¿Eres tú, José?
¿Tu esposa es María?
¡Entren, peregrinos,
No los conocía!
_____
In the Name of Heaven
(Pray Give Us Lodging)
Joseph:
Pray, give us lodging, dear sir,
in the Name of Heaven,
All day since morning to travel we’re given,
Mary, my wife, is expecting a child,
She must shelter this night,
Let us in ! Let us in !
Host:
You cannot stop here,
I won’t make of my house an inn,
I do not trust you, your story is thin.
Rob me you might – then run away
— find somewhere else you can stay,
Go away ! Go away !
Joseph:
Please show us pity ! Your heart can’t be this hard !
Look at poor Mary, so worn and so tired !
We are most poor but I’ll pay what I can
— God will reward you, good man,
Let us in ! Let us in !
Host:
You try my patience, I’m tired and must rest,
I’ve told you nicely – but still you insist.
If you don’t stop this bother, I’ll fix you
— I guarantee !
Go away ! Go away !
Joseph:
Sir, I must tell you, my wife is
The Queen of Heaven,
chosen by God to deliver His Son.
JESUS is coming to earth on this eve
(O Heaven, make him believe !)
Let us in ! Let us in !
Host:
Joseph, dear Joseph – O how am I so blind ?
Not to know you and The Virgin so fine !
Enter, blesséd pilgrims, my house is your own
— Praise be to God on His throne !
Please come in ! Please come in !
_____
A Christmas tradition in rural México and especially
its Indigenous towns, “Las Posadas” – “The Lodgings” –
re-enacts Joseph and pregnant Mary’s search for shelter
(and a birthing place for Jesus) along the road to
Bethlehem.
Participants in the Posada procession go from house to
house singing call-and-response verses till the Gospel
story is fulfilled. This community ritual is a kind of
novena, and for the devout it requires nine days of
“posadas” in order to properly arrive at the precious
hour of Christmas Eve which, in Spanish, is called
Noche Buena (“Holy Night”).
“En Nombre del Cielo” is a classic Mexican carol.
Zócalo Poets 