El caballo blanco

por José Alfredo Jiménez

Este es el corrido del caballo blanco

que en un día Domingo feliz arrancara;

iba con la mira de llegar al norte

habiendo salido de Guadalajara.

Su noble jinete le quitó la rienda,

le quitó la silla y se fue a puro pelo;

cruzó como rayo tierras nayaritas

entre cerros verdes y lo azul del cielo.

A paso más lento llegó hasta Esquinapa

y por Culiacán ya se andaba quedando;

cuentan que en los Mochis ya se iba cayendo

que llevaba todo el hocico sangrando.

Pero lo miraron pasar por Sonora

y el valle del Yaqui le dio su ternura;

dicen que cojeaba de la pata izquierda

y a pesar de todo siguió su aventura.

Llegó hasta Hermosillo, siguió pa' Caborca

y por Mexicali sintió que moría,

subió paso a paso por la Rumorosa,

llegando a Tijuana con la luz del día.

Cumplida su hazaña se fue a Rosarito

y no quiso echarse hasta ver Ensenada.

Y este fue el corrido del caballo blanco

que salió un domingo de Guadalajara.

The White Horse

by José Alfredo Jiménez

This is the ballad of the white horse

that one Sunday started out happy;

he went with the intention of reaching the north

having left Guadalajara.

His noble rider took off the rein,

Took off the saddle and went bareback;

crossed like a flash lands of Nayarit *

between green hills and the blue of the sky.

At a much slower pace arrived at Esquinapa

and through Culiacán already walked haltingly

they say that in Mochis already he was falling --

that  he had his whole snout bleeding.

But they watched him pass through Sonora **

and the Yaqui Valley gave him its tenderness;

they say that he limped on his left leg

and despite everything continued his adventure.

He arrived in Hermosillo, continued to Caborca

and through Mexicali felt like he was dying,

came up step by step through the Rumorosa,

arriving in Tijuana with the light of the day.

Having completed his feat he left for Rosarito

and didn’t want to lie down until seeing Ensenada.

and this was the ballad of the white horse

that left one Sunday from Guadalajara.

* a Mexican state on the Pacific Coast just north of Guadalajara

** a Mexican state on the Gulf of California Coast bordering the United States