Camilo Álvarez de Castro.
Source: Real Academia Galega.

18.   Prejudice     (Roxiña cal sol dourado)

Background

"Roxiña cal sol dourado" is related to "Lass of the Green Mountain" (poem #14).

De Castro dedicated "Roxiña cal sol dourado" to the cantor of the cathedral of Salamanca, Camilo Álvarez de Castro. This man was the only favourable critic of Cantares Gallegos. He wrote a letter to Rosalía de Castro, dated November 12, 1864, which was "full of affection and praise for the Galician poetess." He wrote his letter in the Galician language, a very unusual thing to do at the time,

What songs, Rosalía! See, I turn them over and over as is done to flour in the sieve, and I dare not touch them, for they are carnations and would wither and lose their aroma should I touch them. After these Cantares of yours I consider you a meiga (N.T. a good witch, a wizardess) [...] and be neither sated nor silent until everybody shouts, "Maybe it's true what this wizardess says about the treasures of Galicia!"

De Castro's books of poetry succeeded in making Galicians wish to rescue their language from oblivion. As the letter explained,

I arrived to the banks of the Tormes (N.T. the river that skirts the Castilian city of Salamanca) but I did not forget the Miño (N.T. the main river of Galicia). Nor did I forget the language of my parents and grandparents telling me stories in the kitchen, watching sparks dart and the dough boil in the hearth and cinders fly upward like snowflurries to the trammel chain by the light of the oil lamp [...] That is why I read your Cantares as a hungry man eats bread, as the butterflies kiss the flowers.

Translator's Note

Some verses of "Roxiña cal sol dourado" are reverse sentences (1.1.5-7, 1.2.6-7, 1.4.5-7, 2.2.3-4, 2.5.3-4). Such sentences sacrifice logical sequencing in order to obtain rhyme or to proffer a deliberately prolix style. For example the translated sentence, "So white (her feet) they resembled two snowflakes in repose dazzling in the light of day" (1.5-7) reads in the original, "A snowflake in repose dazzling in the light of day her foot so white resembled." Reverse sentences often translate poorly into English without being rearranged.

Affectionate Diminutives

• airiños. Dim. and pl. of "aire" (air, wind). There are two possible interpretations. The first and most common weighs the intensity of the wind and would translate as "light winds" or "breezes." The second views the wind with affection and would translate as "beloved winds" or "sweet winds." The context endorses the first interpretation, "breezes."
• arboriño. Dim. of "arbore" (tree). There are two possible interpretations. The first evaluates the age of the tree or its size and delivers the translation, "sapling," employed here. The second supposes an affectionate regard for the flowering tree. The choice is really a coin toss.
• auguiña. Dim. of "auga" (water) translated "tranquil water" to complement the clause, "which the wind ruffles." Other options: fine water, serene water.
• campiño. Dim. of "campo" (field) translated "handy...patch" because the field is an object of affection for being a convenient place for drying the laundry. Another option: nifty field.
• coitadiños. Dim. and pl. of "coitado" (unfortunate, shy) translated "poor timid ones." Another option: retiring, shy ones.
• delgadiña. Dim. of "delgada" (thin) translated "slender" (attractively thin). Other options: slim, svelte, trim.
• festiñas. Dim. and pl. of "festa" (celebration, party) translated "fun tricks" because the compound phrase, "facerlle festiñas," normally tabs playing with a baby to make it smile or laugh.
• fontiña. Dim. of "fonte" (fountain) translated "dear fountain." Other options: brook, popular stream. A typical "fountain" of the Galician countryside consisted of a pipe incrusted in rock to serve as a spout for human consumption and a sink underneath to serve as a watering hole for the cattle. It is not clear whether this is what "fontiña" means here or simply a stream.
• mañanciña (early morning hours). Not an affectionate diminutive.
• meniñas. Pl. of meniña (girl, lass). Not an affectionate diminutive.
• olliños. Dim. and pl. of "ollo" (eye) translated "lovely...eyes."
• ondiñas. Dim. and pl. of "onda" (wave) translated "ripples." Other appropriate options: gentle waves, small undulations (of the braids).
• ovelliña. Dim. of "ovella" (lamb) translated "poor lamb" because the girl is afflicted.
• paniños. Dim. and pl. of "pano" (linen) translated "household linen" because the affectionate diminutive precludes expensive linen. Other options: common fabrics, everyday linen.
• paxariños. Dim. and pl. of "paxaro" (bird) translated "little birds." The phrase connotes size and affection.
• peitiño. Dim. of "peito" (breast, chest) translated "poor breast."
• peniña. Dim. of "pena" (grief, sorrow) translated "intimate grief." Another option: secret sorrow.
• roxiña. Dim. of "roxa" (blonde, flaxen, any colour from gold to light chestnut) translated "pretty and blonde." Other options: cute and blonde, delightfully golden, lovely and flaxen. Incidentally roxa curiously denotes the colour purple in the Portuguese language.
• veiriña. Dim. of "veira" (wayside) translated "green...wayside" because De Castro loved vegetation.

Explanation of some words, terms or expressions

co branco pé descalzado (1.1.4). The literal translation, "with the white foot unshod," is ambiguous in the English language, the girl is neither lame nor do her feet differ in colour, hence the better translation is, "with her white feet unshod." In tandem the translation turns De Castro's "copo de neve pousado" (1.1.5) into "two fallen snowflakes" (1.1.6).

cimbréase con folgura (1.4.6). De Castro uses the present tense ("sways") where the narrative's flow requires the past tense ("swayed"). The translation opts for the past tense.

cántanlle o doce a... la... lala (2.2.6). An alalá is a distinct type of traditional song.

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