In the fire the scroll he threw,
And the messenger he slew.
Woe is me, Alhama! etc.
Ginés Pérez de Hita states that this ballad was originally written in Arabic, and that the inhabitants of Granada were forbidden to sing it. Possibly the romance was suggested by some Arabic song on the loss of Alhama.
[64] Primavera (Apéndices), No. 18.
[65] Published at Sevillo in 1588, and reprinted at Jaén in 1867.
[66] Primavera, No. 71; Durán, No. 1039.
[67] Primavera, No. 79; Durán, No. 1073.
[68] See M. R. Foulché-Delbosc’s edition (Macon, 1904), p. 189.
Aquel que tu vees con la saetada,