Lyrics and translation Hélio Ziskind - A História do Incêndio do Jequitibá de Carangola

A História do Incêndio do Jequitibá de Carangola

Um dia, chegaram nos homens
Procurando árvores pra cortar
Cortaram e levavam pra vender
Cortaram e levavam pra vender

Encontraram o Jequitibá de Carangola
Mas não cortaram, sabe por quê?
O tronco era muito grosso
Eles não tinham serra daquele tamanho
E mesmo que pudessem cortar
Não teriam força pra carregar
Até pra os cortadores de árvores, o Jequitibá era gigante
Até pra os cortadores de árvores, o Jequitibá era gigante

Cortaram toda a mata em volta
Só o gigante escapou
Passou um tempo, Carangola cresceu e o gigante cresceu mais ainda
Ficou famoso, muita gente veio ver

Olhavam pra ele, tiravam fotografias
Faziam poesias, brincavam perto dele
Abraçavam o seu tronco
Eram amigos do gigante

Olhavam pra ele, tiravam fotografias
Faziam poesias, brincavam perto dele
Abraçavam o seu tronco
Eram amigos do gigante

E até cuidaram dele, quando um dia, um galho caiu

()

Era um galho enorme, ficava lá no alto
Com as lesmas gigantes que moravam no Jequitibá
Comeram uma parte da madeira
E com um tempo... o galho quebrou e caiu
Blééhhh...
A terra tremeu

Arrancou um pedaço da casca e deixou um buraco no tronco
Os amigos vieram, montaram uma espécie de escada de ferro bem alta
E o professor de Biologia subiu até o buraco e fez o curativo
Passou uma espécie de tinta azul pra madeira não apodrecer

Foi bom, deu certo
Foi bom, Uuhhh...

Olhavam pra ele, tiravam fotografias
Faziam poesias, brincavam perto dele
Abraçavam o seu tronco
Eram amigos do gigante

()

Mas o gigante tinha um inimigo
Um inimigo mortal
E um dia, sexta-feira
Esse inimigo mortal foi até o Jequitibá
Jogou gasolina e pôs fogo
Pôs fogo e fugiu

Começou um incêndio como nunca se viu
Um incêndio numa árvore só
Um incêndio numa árvore só

A mata em volta intacta
Só o Jequitibá queimando...
A mata em volta intacta
Só o Jequitibá queimando...

Por sorte, naquele dia de azar
Um amigo tinha ido visitar o Jequitibá, e viu fogo
Voltou correndo
Avisou os amigos
Vieram todos, imediatamente
O fogo era enorme
O rio era longe
Apagar como?

Pegaram trator, jogaram terra no tronco
Terra pra abafar o fogo
Abraçaram a chamas, mas o fogo virou brasa
Mais a brasa foi queimando o tronco por dentro
Queimando e subindo, queimando e subindo
O tronco por dentro
A árvore estalava
Soltava fumaça, parecia uma chaminé

Era muito grave, precisavam de ajuda
Chamaram bombeiros, Polícia Florestal, jornal, televisão e começou
A luta da água contra o fogo...

()
Os homens vierem com o caminhão
Pipa... Pipa...
Enchia o caminhão do rio Carangola
Subiam a estradinha até o Jequitibá
Esguichavam, esguichavam o dia inteiro sem parar
Dez caminhões de água por dia
Esguichando de manhã até de noite
Três dias sem parar

E o fogo não apagava

O tempo que o caminhão levava para ir até o rio e voltar
O fogo já tinha crescido tudo de novo
E pra piorar
Começou a chover

A chuva não apagava o fogo
Mas a estrada virou lama
E o caminhão não conseguia mais subir

Os homens entristeceram
O fogo ia vencer
O Jequitibá ia queimar até morrer

Os homens entristeceram
O fogo ia vencer
O Jequitibá ia queimar até morrer

()

Quem espera, sempre alcança
(Três vezes salve a esperança)
Porque a chuva de repente parou
E os homens com a serra, abriam a janela e entraram no tronco

Dentro do tronco era quente como um forno, caia um pedaço de madeira
E o homem segurava uma mangueira apontada para o alto

Jogando água no coração do fogo
Jogando água no coração do fogo
Shhh...
Esguichando de manhã até de noite, três dias sem parar
Shhh...
Até que o fogo finalmente, apagou

()

Os amigos ficaram de boca aberta
O fogo tinha feito uma caverna
Cabiam oito homens dentro do tronco
Era uma caverna com paredes de carvão

Talvez quebrasse como um vento?
Talvez a seiva não pudesse mais subir?
Talvez o Jequitibá não fosse resistir

E os amigos inconformados perguntavam por quê?
Por quê?

Por causa do gigante
O homem do mal com a arma de fogo
Lutou com os homens do bem e suas espadas de água
O fogo morreu, talvez o gigante também
O fogo morreu, talvez o gigante também

The Story of the Jequitibá Fire in Carangola

One day, men arrived
Searching for trees to cut down
They cut and took them to sell
They cut and took them to sell

They found the Jequitibá of Carangola
But they didn't cut it, do you know why?
The trunk was too thick
They didn't have a saw that size
And even if they could cut it
They wouldn't have the strength to carry it
Even for tree cutters, the Jequitibá was a giant
Even for tree cutters, the Jequitibá was a giant

They cut down all the forest around it
Only the giant escaped
Time passed, Carangola grew and the giant grew even more
It became famous, many people came to see it

They looked at him, took pictures
They wrote poems, played near him
They hugged its trunk
They were friends of the giant

They looked at him, took pictures
They wrote poems, played near him
They hugged its trunk
They were friends of the giant

And they even took care of him, when one day, a branch fell

(...)

It was a huge branch, way up high
With the giant slugs that lived in the Jequitibá
They ate part of the wood
And after a while... the branch broke and fell
Blééhhh...
The earth shook

It ripped off a piece of bark and left a hole in the trunk
The friends came, they built a kind of tall iron ladder
And the Biology teacher climbed up to the hole and bandaged it
He put on a kind of blue paint so the wood wouldn't rot

It was good, it worked
It was good, Uuhhh...

They looked at him, took pictures
They wrote poems, played near him
They hugged its trunk
They were friends of the giant

(...)

But the giant had an enemy
A mortal enemy
And one day, Friday
This mortal enemy went to the Jequitibá
He threw gasoline and set it on fire
He set it on fire and ran away

A fire started like never seen before
A fire in a single tree
A fire in a single tree

The surrounding forest untouched
Only the Jequitibá burning...
The surrounding forest untouched
Only the Jequitibá burning...

Luckily, on that unlucky day
A friend had gone to visit the Jequitibá, and saw fire
He ran back
He warned his friends
They all came, immediately
The fire was huge
The river was far away
How to put it out?

They got a tractor, threw dirt on the trunk
Earth to stifle the fire
They embraced the flames, but the fire turned into embers
But the embers were burning the trunk from the inside
Burning and rising, burning and rising
The trunk from the inside
The tree was cracking
It was releasing smoke, it looked like a chimney

It was very serious, they needed help
They called firefighters, Forest Police, newspaper, television and it began
The fight of water against fire...

(...)
The men came with the truck
Pipa... Pipa...
They filled the truck from the Carangola River
They went up the little road to the Jequitibá
They sprayed, sprayed all day long without stopping
Ten trucks of water per day
Spraying from morning till night
Three days without stopping

And the fire wouldn't go out

The time it took the truck to go to the river and back
The fire had already grown all over again
And to make matters worse
It started to rain

The rain didn't put out the fire
But the road turned to mud
And the truck couldn't go up anymore

The men were saddened
The fire was going to win
The Jequitibá was going to burn to death

The men were saddened
The fire was going to win
The Jequitibá was going to burn to death

(...)

Whoever waits, always achieves
(Three times hail hope)
Because the rain suddenly stopped
And the men with the saw, opened the window and entered the trunk

Inside the trunk it was hot as an oven, a piece of wood was falling
And the man was holding a hose pointed upwards

Throwing water at the heart of the fire
Throwing water at the heart of the fire
Shhh...
Spraying from morning till night, three days without stopping
Shhh...
Until the fire finally, went out

(...)

The friends were open-mouthed
The fire had made a cave
Eight men could fit inside the trunk
It was a cave with walls of coal

Maybe it would break like a wind?
Maybe the sap couldn't go up anymore?
Maybe the Jequitibá wouldn't resist

And the disconsolate friends asked why?
Why?

Because of the giant
The evil man with the firearm
He fought with the good men and their water swords
The fire died, maybe the giant too
The fire died, maybe the giant too