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"Romance da Mineta" - Medieval Portuguese ballad
The "Romance da Mineta" (The tale of Mineta) is the version from Trás-Montes of the popular ballad "O cego" (The blind man); "O Falso Cego" (The false blind man), also known as "O rei e a pastora" (The king and the shepherdess) and "Aninhas" (Little Anne), which dates back to medieval times. As for the name "Mineta", it most likely derives from the French name "Minette", which is an affectionate term for a person ("petite chatte"; "minou", meaning kitty), or is simply a name given to a girl or young woman. However, it must have fallen into disuse, as it is nowadays the term contains a sexual connotation.
The plot presents parallels with old Scottish ballads, such as the "Gaberlunzie man", suggesting the eventuality of its oral transmission by former sailors or other strangers. It's possible to suppose that the Portuguese sailors brought this story from Glasgow or Aberdeen, and from Viana or Oporto it was introduced in the Minho region where it is most common. Although the theme of the Portuguese ballad is much more romantic than that of the Scottish, there are similarities between the two ballads. In this version, a gentleman of high rank is disguised in the garb of a blind beggar, and speaks of love with a maiden of a much inferior birth who lived with her old mother. By agreement, more or less expressed between the two lovers, the latter presents himself by night at the door of the old woman with his whining.
He then begins to whimper and sing of his misfortune, so that the mother awakens from her slumber, who, in turn, takes pity and tells Mineta to wake up and give alms to the poor blind man (1:04). He, however, refuses, for he only wants to be put on the right path again, thus the mother asks her daughter to teach him (1:36), and so they both run away, as calmly as two lovers. Spinning homerically on her rattle, Mineta pretends to guide the blind poor man, even appearing to believe that he does not know where or what he is going to. Now showing her clear boredom (1:54), his disguise slowly begins to reveal itself, and at this she starts to mock him (2:59). At this point, the poor blind man's true identity is revealed, that is, that of a concealed earl, or in other versions a king or prince (3:47).
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