[Tango-L] El Ciruja

[Ruddy Zelaya]

Hola Naifas y Garabos! 
I would like to talk a bit about the tango 'El Ciruja'... at the risk of sounding pedantic :-) 
My hope is that some of you may find it interesting. Jake, feel free to use this email as you see fit. 
It is not intended as a criticism on your translation or anything of the sort. In fact, I would like to 
commend you for providing this service to your community. Doing an accurate translation is hard 
work sorely undervalued by those who have never attempted one. Moreover, this particular tango 
requires an amount of knowledge beyond the grasp of most people (let alone a gringo ;-)    
Kudos for given it a shot. 

Best regards to y'all. 
-- ruddy 

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El Ciruja is considered to be one of the best examples of lunfardo-inspired tangos ever written. 
The tango was a result of a bet between the lyricist, the singer and later actor Francisco Alfredo Marino, 
and the composer, bandoneonist Ernesto de la Cruz. Turns out that sometime in 1926 Marino said to de la Cruz,  
"I'll bet you that I can write a song that could be a complete sampler of low-class words [un muestrario completo 
de palabras arrabaleras]" De la Cruz is said to have replied, "I'll bet you that if you write the lyrics I can write the 
music and turn them into a hit". Now, the remarkable thing is that neither man were "low-class". Both were a
ccomplished musicians and in no way participated in the lifestyle described in the lyrics. Nevertheless, they 
managed to do it and both of them won... and so did we. 

The lunfardo word 'ciruja' is derived  from the Spanish word 'cirujano' by apocope 
(http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=apocope).  Of course, the lunfardo meaning is not quite the same 
as the Spanish, nevertheless Jake was closer to the mark than even he suspects as you will see shortly. 
Cirujano = surgeon. That's a fact that can be verified on any Spanish to English dictionary. 
A 'ciruja', however, is not a surgeon and it is *not* a bum as incorrectly stated on this list. 
A bum is a tramp, vagrant, lazy or shiftless person. A ciruja is a person that has a job, albeit a very humble one. 
Their job consisted in going through the garbage dumps picking up the refuse that could be salvaged, recycled or 
traded for money. The origin of the word has to do with the fact that cirujas used a stick with a nail attached to 
one end with which to impale and pick up the refuse from the ground. A surgeon's scalpel could be described as 
a stick with a sharp blade attached to the end, giving rise to the sarcastic similarity. 
Another possibility is that the origin of the simile is that cirujas collected bones from garbage dumps and slaughter 
houses to sell to soap factories. The relationship between bones and the medical field needs no further explanation.  

Anyway, the bottom line is that the word ciruja seems to be a cruel gibe on the word cirujano. The lunfardo word 
for bum or vagrant, by the way, is 'linyera'. 
[sources: Asi Nacieron Los Tangos (This is how the tangos were born) by Francisco Garcia Jimenez; 
Nuevo Diccionario Lunfardo (New Lunfardo Dictionary) by Jose Gobello;www.todotango.com online lunfardo dictionary;
VOX Diccionario Actual de la Lengua Española;Las Letras del Tango, Antologia Cronologica 1900-1980 by Eduardo Romano;
Letras de Tango, Seleccion 1897-1981, Vol. I, by Jose Gobello] 

El Ciruja 
Lyrics: Francisco A. Marino 
Music: Ernesto de la Cruz 

Como con bronca, y junando                   As if angry, and glancing 
de rabo de ojo a un costado,                 from the corner of an eye to the side, 
sus pasos ha encaminado                      his steps he set out 
derecho pa'l arrabal.                        straight for the suburb. 
Lo lleva el presentimiento                   A forefeeling tells him 
de que, en aquel potrerito,                  that, in that little lot, 
no existe ya el bulincito                    it exists no more the little house 
que fue su único ideal.                      that was his only ideal. 

Recordaba aquellas horas de garufa           He remembered the hours of revelry 
cuando minga de laburo se pasaba,            when he didn't have a job, 
meta punguia, al codillo escolaseaba         pickpocketing, gambling at cards 
y en los burros se ligaba un metejón;        and winning big at the racetrack; 
cuando no era tan junao por los tiras,       when he wasn't as known to the police, 
la lanceaba sin tener el manyamiento         he would woe her without knowing 
una mina le solfeaba todo el vento           that the woman was stealing all his money 
y jugó con su pasión.                        and toyed with his passion. 

Era un mosaico diquero                       She was a young attractive girl 
que yugaba de quemera,                       that worked burning garbage at the dump, 
hija de una curandera,                       daughter of a [female] phony doctor, 
mechera de profesión;                        shoplifter by profession; 
pero vivía engrupida                         but she lived infatuated 
de un cafiolo vidalita                       with a young pimp 
que le pasaba la guita                       to whom she would give the money 
que le shacaba al matón.                     that she stole from el ciruja. 

Frente a frente, dando muestras de coraje,   Face to face, given signs of courage, 
los dos guapos se trenzaron en el bajo,      the brawlers fought down by the port, 
y el ciruja, que era listo para el tajo,     and el ciruja, who was good with the knife, 
al cafiolo le cobró caro su amor...          made the pimp pay dearly for his love... 
Hoy, ya libre'e la gayola y sin la mina,     Today, freed from jail and without the girl, 
campaneando un cacho'e sol en la vedera,     seeing a ray of sunshine on the road, 
piensa un rato en el amor de su quemera      thinks a little while about the love of his burning-girl 
y solloza en su dolor.                       and sobs in his pain.