Los peces en el río Lyrics in Spanish and English

One of the most popular  Christmas carols written in Spanish is Los peces en el rà ­o, although it is little known outside of Spain and Latin America. It draws a contrast between between the fishes in the river, who are excited about the birth of the baby Jesus, and the Virgin Mary, who goes about doing the chores of daily life. According to the Valencian news site Las Provincias, both the author and composer of Los peces en el rà ­o, and even when it was written, are unknown. The song gained popularity in the second half of the 20th century, and the structure and tonality of the song show Arabic influence. The carol isnt standardized—some versions include several more verses than the ones listed below, and some of them vary slightly in the words used. Lyrics of one popular version are shown below along with a fairly literal English translation and a singable interpretation. Los peces en el rà ­o La Virgen se està ¡ peinandoentre cortina y cortina.Los cabellos son de oroy el peine de plata fina. ESTRIBILLO:Pero mira cà ³mo bebenlos peces en el rà ­o.Pero mira cà ³mo bebenpor ver a Dios nacido.Beben y bebeny vuelven a beber.Los peces en el rà ­opor ver a Dios nacer. La Virgen lava paà ±alesy los tiende en el romero,los pajarillos cantando,y el romero floreciendo. ESTRIBILLO La Virgen se està ¡ lavandocon un poco de jabà ³n.Se le han picado las manos,manos de mi corazà ³n. ESTRIBILLO The Fishes in the River (Translation of Los peces en el rà ­o) The Virgin is combing her hairbetween the curtains.Her hairs are of goldand the comb of fine silver. CHORUS:But look at how the fishesin the river drink.But look how they drinkin order to see God born.They drink and they drinkand they return to drink,the fishes in the river,to see God being born. The Virgin washes diapersand hangs them on the rosemary,the birdies singingand the rosemary blooming.flowering CHORUSThe virgin is washing herselfwith a little bit of soap.Her hands have been irritated,the hands of my heart. CHORUS The Fishes in the River (Singable Interpretation of Los peces en el rà ­o) The Virgin Mary combs her precious hairas she gives thanks for her baby.Even she cannot understand whyGod chose her to be a mother. CHORUS:But fishes in the river,they are so delighted.The fishes in the river,to see the birth of God.See how they swim and swimeand then they swim some more.The fishes in the river,to see the Savior born. The Virgin Mary washes swaddling clothesand hangs them on the rose bushWhile birds of the air sing in praiseand the roses begin their blooming. CHORUS The Virgin Mary washes precious hands,hands to take care of the babyHow Im in awe of those busy, busy hands,hands to take care of my Savior. CHORUS (English lyrics by Gerald Erichsen. All rights reserved.) Vocabulary and Grammar Notes Los peces en el rà ­o: In standard Spanish, only the first word of titles of songs and other compositions is capitalized, except for words that are always capitalized, such as proper nouns. Se està ¡ peinando is an example of a reflexive verb in a continuous or progressive tense. Peinar usually means to comb, rake, or cut something; in the reflexive form, it typically refers to combing ones hair. Entre is a common preposition usually meaning between or among. Cabellos is the plural of cabello, a lesser-used and more formal synonym of pelo, meaning hair. It can be used both as a reference to individual hairs or the entire head of hair. Cabello is related  to cabeza, a word for the head. Beber is a very common verb meaning to drink. Mira is a direct informal command from the verb mirar.  ¡Mira! is a very common way of saying, Look! Por is another common preposition. It is used in many ways, one of them, as here, to indicate the reason the motive or reason for doing something. Thus por ver can mean in order to see. Nacido is the past participle of nacer, meaning to be born. Vuelven comes from the verb volver. Although volver usually means to return, volver a is usually a way of saying that something occurs again. Romero comes from the Latin ros maris, from where English gets the word rosemary. Romero can also refer to a pilgrim, but in that case romero comes from the name of the city of Rome. Cantando and floreciendo (as well as peinando in the first line) are the gerunds of cantar (to sing) and florecer (to flower or bloom) respectively. They are used here as adjectives, which is uncommon in standard Spanish prose but is often done in poetry and picture captions. Pajarillo is a diminutive form of pà ¡jaro, the word for bird. It could refer to any small bird or a bird that is thought of affectionately. Se le han picado is an example of a reflexive verb used in a passive sense. The subject of the sentence (las manos) here follows the verb phrase; the sentence could be literally translated as the hands have bitten  themselves. Mano is one of the very few nouns that runs counter to the rules of gender by being feminine while ending in o.