The beginning of this ballad in the complete copy from the Saragossa Romancero shows that it was composed before clocks were known.
[190] The forced alliteration of the first lines, and the phraseology of the whole, indicate the rudeness of the very early Castilian:—
Yo mera mora Morayma,
Morilla d’un bel catar;
Christiano vino a mi puerta,
Cuytada, por me enganar.
Hablome en algaravia,
Como aquel que la bien sabe:
“Abras me las puertas, Mora,
Si Ala te guarde de mal!”