SPD: One of Martin Fierro’s Best!

My husband mentioned that I should include some Argentinian proverbs.  The ones I can think of come from our national book, the “Martín Fierro“, written by José Hernández.  Martin Fierro is a novel in verse, detailing the life of the gaucho with that name during the 19th century, told mostly in his own words . It’s written in gaucho language, so even Argentinians need a dictionary to read it. The most famous stanza from it is one that my parents quoted to me all the time when I was growing up. But these are very wise words that go beyond a family.

Los hermanos sean unidos,
ésa es la ley primera,
porque si entre ellos se pelean,
los devoran los de afuera.

In the original:

Los hermanos sean unidos,
Porque ésa es la ley primera.
Tengan unión verdadera
En cualquier tiempo que sea-
Porque si entre ellos pelean
Los devoran los de ajuera.

In translation:

Siblings (or brothers) be united,
this is the first of laws,
because if the fight among themselves,
they are devoured by outsiders

1 Comment

  1. Aalap Vyas

    Thanks a lot. I found this quote in a video of a song named build a home from Cinematic Orchestra and had been looking for its translations.
    I guess some spanish lessons wouldn’t hurt me.
    Keep up the good work :)!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

© 2024 I Say!

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑