MARTÍN FIERRO FOR STUDENTS · THE RETURN · 1879
Canto 23 Explained: Picardía's Winnings, a Corrupt Officer and a Growing Feud
A source-linked English study guide alongside José Hernández’s original Spanish poem.
What happens in Canto 23?
Picardía describes winning a traveling merchant's belongings through gambling. A police officer then threatens to take him to the barracks because gambling is prohibited and forces him to share the gains. Picardía portrays the officer as extorting people and using official authority for private benefit, but he admits his own victory depended on tricks. He later mocks the officer during public encounters, and their hostility deepens after an exchange involving a woman. By the end Picardía fears punishment and keeps out of sight.
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.
¡Lo hubieran visto afligidollorar por las chucherías!"Me gañao con picardía",decía el gringo y lagrimiaba,mientras yo en un poncho alzabatodita su mercheria.
Se me presentó a esigirla multa en que había incurrido,que el juego estaba prohibido,qus iba a llevarme al cuarteltuve que partir con éltodo lo que había alquirido.
Ahi se enredó la madejay su enemistá conmigo;se declaró mi enemigo,y, por aquel cumplimiento,ya sólo buscó el momentode hacerme dar un castigo.
Main characters and voices
Picardía as the storyteller; a traveling Italian merchant; a police officer associated with the local court; a woman present during the dispute; neighbors whose allegations Picardía reports.
Literary themes to identify
Cheating and extortion; power and hypocrisy; police corruption as narrated; public ridicule and retaliation; responsibility and self-justification.
Gaucho vocabulary in context
mercachifle (traveling merchant); cuartel (barracks); partida (police party); pulpero (rural merchant); juzgado (court or magistrate's office); ñato (nickname referring to a flat or short nose).
What to notice in the narration
Two forms of wrongdoing are juxtaposed: the character's rigged gaming and the officer's alleged abuse of power. The text does not absolve Picardía merely because the officer is also presented critically. The escalating conflict prepares the reader for his subsequent experiences.
Reading-comprehension and discussion questions
- How does Picardía acquire the merchant's belongings?
- On what pretext does the officer demand a share?
- Why is Picardía's complaint about injustice morally complicated?
- How does his mocking intensify the dispute?
- Which accusations against the officer are direct observations and which are attributed to what neighbors said?
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 23, 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