MARTÍN FIERRO FOR STUDENTS · THE RETURN · 1879
Canto 15 Explained: Old Vizcacha’s Advice: Survival, Judges, Cunning and Self-Interest
A source-linked English study guide alongside José Hernández’s original Spanish poem.
What happens in Canto 15?
The younger son recalls the advice given by his guardian Old Vizcacha, often while drinking. The sayings urge him to protect his own skin, court the favor of a judge, avoid drawing attention and choose advantageous company. Vizcacha also speaks distrustfully about women and recommends carrying weapons. These are Vizcacha's words as remembered by the boy, not moral instructions endorsed by the poem or by its author.
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 primer cuidao del hombrees defender el pellejo.Lleváte de mi consejo,fijáte bien en lo que hablo:el diablo sabe por diablo,pero más sabe por viejo."
"Hacéte amigo del juez;no le des de que quejarse;y cuando quiera enojarsevos te debés encoger,pues siempre es güeno tenerpalenque ande ir a rascarse."
"Yo voy donde me convieney jamás me descarrío;lleváte el ejemplo mío,y llenarás la barriga:aprendé de las hormigas:no van a un noque vacío."
Main characters and voices
Martín Fierro's younger son as narrator; Viejo Vizcacha as the speaker of the sayings. Fierro himself is not the speaker here.
Literary themes to identify
Survival and self-interest; cynical relations with authority; proverbs and folk wisdom; prudence versus opportunism; misogyny; ethical contrast with Fierro’s later advice.
Gaucho vocabulary in context
pellejo (skin, figuratively one's life); palenque (horse-tethering post, figuratively support); pulpero (rural trader); facón (large knife); cueva (den or refuge).
What to notice in the narration
The ethical contrast is not absolute, and isolated proverbs should be read with their speaker and scene. Vizcacha treats authority, danger and relationships as problems of personal advantage. Compare these exact stanzas with Canto XXXII, where Fierro urges solidarity, while remembering that Fierro too is a complicated narrator. The phrases belong to distinct characters, never to an undifferentiated 'José Hernández'.
Related reading: Compare Old Vizcacha and Martín Fierro's advice
Reading-comprehension and discussion questions
- Who reports Vizcacha's sayings, and under what circumstances?
- How does advice about befriending a judge reflect unequal social power?
- What distinction can you draw between reasonable caution and exploiting other people?
- How do Vizcacha's self-interested maxims compare with Fierro's counsel about brothers and loyalty?
- What prejudices appear in Vizcacha's views of women?
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 15, 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