MARTÍN FIERRO FOR STUDENTS · THE RETURN · 1879
Canto 13 Explained: The Younger Son's Childhood, Inheritance and Guardianship
A source-linked English study guide alongside José Hernández’s original Spanish poem.
What happens in Canto 13?
A different son of Martín Fierro begins telling his story. He recalls the family being scattered after the loss of its head and says that an aunt eventually took him in, cared for him and made him the heir to her cattle and sheep. When she died, a judge intervened, declaring him too young to manage the property and arranging a guardian. The young man describes his subsequent poverty and the loss of security. His account leads directly toward the appointment of the man called Viejo Vizcacha.
Original verses: three passages worth studying
The following stanzas are taken directly from the repository's original-text corpus, without modernization. Explanations elsewhere on this page are interpretation, not translation.
El que vive de ese modode todos es tributario;falta la cabeza primarioy los hijos que él sustentase dispersan como cuentascuando se corta el rasario.
En mí todo su cuidadoy su cariño ponía;como a un hijo me queríacon cariño verdadero,y me nombró de herederode los bienes que tenía.
Era hombre de mucha labia,con mas leyes que un dotor,me dijo: "Vos sos menor,y por los años que tienesno podés manejar bienes;voy a nombrarte un tutor."
Main characters and voices
Martín Fierro's younger son as first-person speaker; the caring aunt; a judge who controls the inheritance; a manager or guardian introduced through the legal arrangement.
Literary themes to identify
Family separation; care and intergenerational bonds; inheritance and legal power; childhood vulnerability; dependence on guardians.
Gaucho vocabulary in context
tía (aunt); heredero (heir); rodeo (herd of cattle in this context); majada (flock of sheep); tutor (guardian); chiripá (wrapped garment).
What to notice in the narration
This canto begins the younger son's testimony, not a further chapter of the father's imprisonment. It offers a contrast between care freely given by the aunt and the institutional guardianship imposed after her death. We should not claim that the text proves a particular legal fraud beyond what the young narrator reports and suspects.
Related reading: Compare Vizcacha's later advice with Fierro's
Reading-comprehension and discussion questions
- What happens to children when the family is dispersed, according to the opening image?
- How does the aunt change the younger son's life?
- What property does she leave him?
- What reason does the judge give for assigning a guardian?
- What warning signs appear before Viejo Vizcacha enters the story?
Support answers with details from the original canto. Different interpretations may be justified if the quoted passages and narrative context support them.
Sources and further reading
Primary source: José Hernández, La vuelta de Martín Fierro (1879), Canto 13, reproduced from the site's structured Spanish corpus. Summary and questions are original English educational commentary, not quoted authorial explanations.
Original canto · Summary of both parts · Character guide · All study guides