Que yo como viejo lloro,
Y tu como ausente callas.
Romancero General, 1602, f. 46.
But it was printed as early as 1593.
[208] This is evidently among the older ballads. The earliest printed copy of it that I know is to be found in the “Flor de Romances,” Novena Parte, (Madrid, 1597, 18mo, f. 45,) and the passage I have translated is very striking in the original:—
Cansadas ya las paredes
De guardar en tanto tiempo
A un hombre, que vieron moço
Y ya le ven cano y viejo.
Si ya sus culpas merecen,