[Tango-L] El Ciruja

[TangoDC.com]

Hi Ruddy,

Many thanks for your post-- I found it very helpful. Thanks too for the 
encouragement; it always lights an extra match under my ass to see that 
someone else is actually interested in the devil-cote details of this 
stuff. (And again, I welcome critiques, comments, disagreements, 
questions, or whatever-- so don't refrain, and don't feel any need to 
hedge.)

I've read a few notes about the use of lunfardo in "El ciruja" before, 
but your etymology was entirely new to me... I hadn't thought of the 
stick. "Bum" was just a placeholder in my note, until I found something 
more particular than Viviana's original suggestion (ciruja = "schlep"), 
or until I could check if my own ("ragpicker") was more to the point. 
Now that you've filled in some blanks for me, I'll finish up my research 
and re-post the lyric when it's ready.

One further question though, if you don't mind... Viviana and I went 
over the lyric, word by word, after my recitation. She found one other 
item for me to double-check: the term "engrupida." In context, Vivi 
suggested the translation "She thought she was big shit [with the pimp 
she hung out with]." I haven't found any other support for the reading, 
however, although my instincts incline me to side with her. Any thoughts?

Thanks again,

Jake Spatz
Washington, DC

p.s. Does anyone know what happened to the GARDEL server? It has been 
acting rather strange for the past few months (e.g., not allowing 
searches, parsing accented characters oddly). It's here, in case you 
need the address: http://argentina.informatik.uni-muenchen.de/tangos/


Ruddy Zelaya wrote:
> 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 
>
> ==================================================================================  
> 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. 
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