MARTÍN FIERRO FOR STUDENTS · THE RETURN · 1879
Canto 6 Explained: An Epidemic, an Act of Gratitude, and the Death of Sergeant Cruz
A source-linked English study guide alongside José Hernández’s original Spanish poem.
What happens in Canto 6?
Fierro recalls an epidemic of fever and smallpox in the Indigenous settlement. He describes suffering, fear and violent responses to illness, as well as the killing of a foreign captive accused of bringing disease. Fierro and Cruz come to the aid of the Indigenous man who had originally protected them, defend him against an attempted killing and care for him until his death. Cruz subsequently falls ill. Dying, he asks Fierro to find his abandoned son if he ever returns home. Fierro is overcome when his companion dies.
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.
Mostró noble corazón,cristiano anhelaba ser;la justicia es un deber,y sus méritos no callo:nos regaló unos caballosy a veces nos vino a ver.
Fuimos a estar a su ladopara ayudarlo a curar;lo vinieron a buscary hacerle como a los otros;lo defendimos nosotros,no lo dejamos lanciar.
"Si vuelve, búsquemeló",me repetía a media voz;"En el mundo eramos dos,pues él ya no tiene madre;que sepa el fin de su padrey encomiende mi alma a Dios".
Main characters and voices
Martín Fierro as narrator; Sergeant Cruz; the Indigenous man who helped the two companions; a foreign-born captive accused of spreading disease; Cruz's absent son.
Literary themes to identify
Epidemic and mortality; gratitude across social divisions; fear and scapegoating; friendship and care; death and a father's final request; narrator bias.
Gaucho vocabulary in context
virgüela (gauchesque spelling of viruela, smallpox); peste (epidemic or pestilence); gualicho (harmful magic or spell in this context); toldos (shelters or settlement); cautivo (captive); paisano (countryman).
What to notice in the narration
The man who saves and visits Fierro and Cruz is portrayed as generous; his actions complicate the poem's repeated blanket hostility toward Indigenous people. At the same time, Fierro relates frightening practices amid an epidemic and a killing driven by scapegoating. These are narrated incidents, not evidence that an entire people shared the same medical practices. Cruz's final request introduces the importance of his son for the later plot.
Reading-comprehension and discussion questions
- What act of help does Fierro attribute to the Indigenous man before the epidemic?
- Why do Fierro and Cruz decide to protect and care for him?
- What accusation is directed against the foreign captive, and what happens to him?
- What request does Cruz make for his son before he dies?
- Where does the canto complicate Fierro's other hostile generalizations about Indigenous people?
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 6, 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