Monti di Mola [English translation]

1In the mountains of Mola, at dawn,

a greyish-coated2 donkey was grazing.

In the mountains of Mola, at dawn,

a young boy, handsome and dark-haired, was cutting branches.

And their eyes met while they were looking for water.

And the water dripped from their faces, together with drool.

And the donkey had sea-colored eyes.

And the mistral came out of the boy’s nostrils.

And she moaned contentedly ‹heehaw heehaw heehaw heehaw›.

He answered mispronouncing «hawhee hawhee hawhee hawhee».

«Oh my beauty, moon donkey.

My beauty, woolen pillow.

Oh my beauty, white good fortune.»

‹Oh my beauty, you burn my eyes.

My beauty, carnival of kisses.

Oh my beauty, you sew my heart.›

Great love, first-time love.

The bee is sucking all the honey from this myrtle.

Child love, every-hour love.

Mossy is the clapper of this heart.

But nothing can be done, nothing, in Gallura,

that they don’t come to know within an hour.

Indeed, an ugly old woman hiding in the bushes,

crying and looking, was saying to herself, drooling:

‟Lucky her, oh goodness what a handsome man.

Lucky her, young and dark-haired.

Lucky her, I’ll die alone.

Lucky her, I remember well.

Lucky her, more than once.

Lucky her, wretched old age.”

Great love, first-time love.

The bee is sucking all the honey from this myrtle.

Child love, every-hour love.

Mossy is the clapper of this heart.

And the whole village primped for the wedding.

The priest himself wore his robe.

But the donkey and the man couldn’t get married,

for the documents revealed they were first cousins.

And she moaned contentedly ‹heehaw heehaw heehaw heehaw›.

He answered mispronouncing «hawhee hawhee hawhee hawhee».

1. This song is in the Gallurese dialect, a dialect spoken in Gallura, Sardinia, where the author lived for many years.

‟Monti di Mola” is the region best known as ‟Costa Smeralda” {Emerald Coast}, in the North of Sardinia.2. musteddino = dark gray-brown.

From mustela = weasel.

• Artist:Fabrizio De André
• Album:Le nuvole (1990)