Lucília do Carmo - Aquela Azenha Velhinha

Aquela azenha velhinha
Na margem da ribeirinha
Que por vales serpenteia
Foi testemunha impassível
Da tragédia mais horrível
Que houvera na minha aldeia

Naquela noite de inverno
O céu parecia um inferno
Estavam os astros em guerra
E a ribeira mal sustinha
A grande cheia que vinha
Pelas vertentes da serra

Vendo a ribeira a subir
O moleiro quis fugir
Levando o filho nos braços
Pela ponte carcomida
Já velhinha e ressequida
A desfazer-se em pedaços

Mas ai, a ponte quebrou-se
E o moleiro como fosse
Na cheia da ribeirinha
Levou o filho consigo
E nunca mais moeu trigo
Aquela azenha velhinha
J. Frederico de Brito (Fado da Azenha)

That old water mill

On the riverside

That through valleys snakes

He was an impassive witness

The most horrible tragedy

That there had been in my village

That winter night

The sky looked like hell

The stars were at war

And the brook hardly sustains

The big flood that came

From the hillsides

Seeing the river to climb

The miller wanted to escape

Carrying the child in his arms

By the rotten bridge

Already old and dry

Throwing it apart

But then, the bridge broke

And the miller as he was

In the flood of the riverside

He took the child with him.

And never again did wheat

That old water mill