76. La pipitera conversa (Bosanski Instrumentalni i Pjevački Terzett)

A rare song about a young Jewish woman “becoming Turk,” a subject found in other songs in Ladino (e.g. Attias 1972, nos. 134 and 135 both from Sarajevo) reflecting social anxieties among Sephardic Jews related to the specter of conversion by young Jewish women. Only one fragmentary version from Turkey was recorded from oral tradition and it shares the first stanza and the refrain with this version (see PF 080/24). The refrain (with similar music) can be found in versions of the song El huésped del sábado (Levy 1959-1973, vol. III, nos. 74-75, vol. IV, no. 23; PF 228/03) that is combined with a very different version of La pipitera conversa (Díaz-Mas 1994, no. 16). We were unable to transcribe the second stanza due to the overwhelming instrumental section that obscures the singers beyond recognition.

Y la hija del pipitero

turca se hizo por entero.

Oyeme a mí, sienteme a mí

Deja la tu madre y ven con mi.

[?]

[Oyeme a mí, sienteme a mí]

Deja la tu madre y ven con mi.