The Unconquered People of Arauco

No las damas, amor, no gentilezas de caballeros canto enamorados; ni las muestras, regalos, ni ternezas de amorosos afectos y cuidados: mas el valor, los hechos, las proezas de aquellos españoles esforzados que á la cerviz de Arauco, no domada, pusieron duro yugo por la espada.

Not ladies, love, not graces of knights in love do I sing; nor the signs, gifts, nor tendernesses of loving affections and cares; but the valor, the deeds, the feats of those strong Spaniards who on the neck of Arauco, not tamed, put a hard yoke by the sword.

I do not sing of ladies or of love, or of the graces of knights in love. I do not sing of the signs, gifts and tender words of lovers and their cares. I sing of the courage, the deeds and the exploits of those brave Spaniards. By the sword they put a hard yoke on the neck of Arauco,1 which had never been tamed.

1. The Mapuche lands south of the Biobío River in central Chile, which Ercilla calls the State of Arauco. The Spaniards called the people Araucanians.

Cosas diré tambien harto notables de gente que á ningun rey obedecen, temerarias empresas memorables que celebrarse con razon merecen; raras industrias, términos loables que mas los españoles engrandecen; pues no es el vencedor mas estimado de aquello en que el vencido es reputado.

I will also tell things very notable of a people who obey no king, rash memorable enterprises that deserve with reason to be celebrated; rare skills, praiseworthy ways, which make the Spaniards greater; for the victor is not more esteemed than that in which the vanquished is reputed.

I will also tell of remarkable things done by a people who obey no king. I will tell of daring and memorable deeds that rightly deserve to be celebrated, and of rare skill and praiseworthy conduct that make the Spaniards greater still. For the victor is valued only as highly as the vanquished is honored.

Chile, fértil provincia, y señalada en la region Antártica famosa, de remotas naciones respetada por fuerte, principal y poderosa: la gente que produce es tan granada, tan soberbia, gallarda y belicosa, que no ha sido por rey jamas regida, ni á extrangero dominio sometida.

Chile, fertile province and notable, famous in the Antarctic region, respected by remote nations as strong, principal and powerful: the people it produces is so excellent, so proud, gallant and warlike, that it has never been ruled by a king, nor subjected to foreign dominion.

Chile is a fertile province, well known and famous in the Antarctic region.2 Far-off nations respect it as strong, important and powerful. The people it produces are so fine, so proud, so gallant and so warlike that no king has ever ruled them, and they have never submitted to foreign rule.

2. The southern hemisphere. Europeans called the far south the Antarctic region.

Pues en este distrito demarcado, por donde su grandeza es manifiesta, está á treinta y seis grados el Estado que tanta gente extraña y propia cuesta: este es el fiero pueblo no domado que tuvo á Chile en tal estrecho puesta, y aquel que por valor y pura guerra hace en torno temblar toda la tierra.

Well, in this marked-out district, through which its greatness is manifest, lies at thirty-six degrees the State that costs so many people, foreign and its own: this is the fierce people, not tamed, that had Chile put in such straits, and that which by valor and pure war makes all the land around tremble.

In this land, whose greatness I have described, lies the State, at thirty-six degrees,3 that has cost so many lives, both strangers' and its own. These are the fierce people, never tamed, who put Chile in such great danger, and who by courage and sheer war make all the land around them tremble.

3. The latitude of Arauco, about 37 degrees south. Ercilla means it is the heart of the war.

Es Arauco, que basta, el cual sujeto lo mas de este gran término tenia, con tanta fama, crédito y conceto que del un polo al otro se extendia: y puso al español en tal aprieto cual presto se verá en la carta mia: veinte leguas contienen sus mojones, poséenla diez y seis fuertes varones.

It is Arauco, which [is enough to say], which held most of this great region subject, with such fame, credit and renown that it extended from one pole to the other; and it put the Spaniard in such straits as will soon be seen in my letter: twenty leagues its boundary stones contain; sixteen strong men possess it.

It is Arauco, and that name says enough. It held most of this great region subject, and its fame, credit and renown spread from one pole to the other. It put the Spaniards in such danger as my account will soon show. Its boundaries enclose twenty leagues,4 and sixteen strong men rule it.

4. A Spanish league was about 5–6 kilometers (3–3.5 miles).

De diez y seis caciques y señores es el soberbio estado poseido, en militar estudio los mejores que de bárbaras madres han nacido: reparo de su patria y defensores, ninguno en el gobierno preferido; otros caciques hay, mas por valientes son estos en mandar los preeminentes.

By sixteen caciques and lords the proud state is possessed, in military study the best that have been born of barbarian mothers: shelter of their homeland and defenders, none preferred in the government; other caciques there are, but for being brave these are the foremost in command.

The proud State is held by sixteen caciques5 and lords. In the study of war they are the best ever born of barbarian mothers. They are the shield and defenders of their homeland, and none of them ranks above the others in governing. There are other caciques, but these sixteen are first in command because of their courage.

5. A Taíno word for "chief" that the Spaniards used for local leaders all over the Americas.

En lo que usan los niños en teniendo habilidad y fuerza provechosa, es que un trecho seguido han de ir corriendo por una áspera cuesta pedregosa; y al puesto y fin del curso revolviendo le dan al vencedor alguna cosa: vienen á ser tan sueltos y alentados que alcanzan por aliento los venados.

What they make the children do, once they have useful skill and strength, is that they must go running a continuous stretch up a rough, stony slope; and turning back at the post and end of the course, they give the winner some thing: they come to be so nimble and long-winded that they overtake deer by breath.

As soon as the boys are old enough and strong enough, they must run without stopping up a rough, stony slope. They turn at the post at the end of the course, and the winner is given a prize. They become so quick and so strong of wind that they can run down deer.6

6. Ercilla means a hunter's deer. Running down deer on foot showed great endurance.

Y desde la niñez al ejercicio los apremian por fuerza y los incitan, y en el bélico estudio y duro oficio, entrando en mas edad, los ejercitan: si alguno de flaqueza dá un indicio, del uso militar le inhabilitan; y al que sale en las armas señalado conforme á su valor le dan el grado.

And from childhood they press them by force and urge them to exercise, and in the warlike study and hard office, entering into more age, they train them: if anyone gives a sign of weakness, they disqualify him from military use; and to the one who comes out distinguished in arms, according to his valor they give him the rank.

From childhood they drive and urge them to train. As they grow older, they drill them in the study and hard trade of war. If any boy shows a sign of weakness, they bar him from war. But the one who stands out in arms is given rank according to his courage.

Los cargos de la guerra y preeminencia no son por flacos medios proveidos, ni van por calidad, ni por herencia, ni por hacienda y ser mejor nacidos; mas la virtud del brazo y la excelencia, esta hace á los hombres preferidos; esta ilustra, habilita, perficiona y quilata el valor de la persona.

The offices of war and preeminence are not provided by weak means, nor do they go by rank, nor by inheritance, nor by wealth and being better born; but the virtue of the arm and excellence, this makes men preferred; this ennobles, qualifies, perfects and assays the worth of the person.

Commands in war and high rank are not handed out by weak means. They do not go by rank or inheritance, or by wealth or noble birth. It is strength of arm and excellence that raise men up. These alone bring honor, fit a man to lead, perfect him, and test his worth, as gold is tested.

En fin, el hado y clima de esta tierra, si su estrella y pronóstico se miran, es contienda, furor, discordia, guerra, y á solo esto los ánimos aspiran: todo su bien y mal aquí se encierra; son hombres que de súbito se airan, de condicion feroces, impacientes, amigos de domar extrañas gentes.

In short, the fate and clime of this land, if its star and forecast are looked at, is strife, fury, discord, war, and to this alone the spirits aspire: all its good and ill is enclosed here; they are men who suddenly grow angry, of fierce, impatient condition, friends of taming foreign peoples.

In short, look at the stars and the omens of this land. Its fate and nature are strife, fury, discord and war, and these are all its people long for. All their good and all their evil lie in this. They are men who flare up in a moment, fierce and impatient by nature, and fond of conquering other peoples.

Son de gestos robustos, desbarbados, bien formados los cuerpos y crecidos, espaldas grandes, pechos levantados, recios miembros, de nervios bien fornidos; ágiles, desenvueltos, alentados, animosos, valientes, atrevidos, duros en el trabajo, y sufridores de frios mortales, hambres y calores.

They are of robust faces, beardless, the bodies well formed and tall, large backs, raised chests, stout limbs, of sinews well built; agile, nimble, spirited, courageous, brave, daring, hard in labor, and enduring of mortal colds, hungers and heats.

Their faces are strong and beardless. Their bodies are well formed and tall, with broad backs, deep chests, and stout, sinewy limbs. They are agile, quick, spirited, courageous, brave and daring. They are tough in hard work and can bear deadly cold, hunger and heat.

No ha habido rey jamas que sujetase esta soberbia gente libertada, ni extrangera nacion que se jactase de haber dado en sus términos pisada; ni comarcana tierra que se osase mover en contra y levantar espada: siempre fue exenta, indómita, temida, de leyes libre y de cerviz erguida.

There has never been a king who subjected this proud freed people, nor foreign nation that boasted of having set foot in its boundaries; nor neighboring land that dared to move against it and raise a sword: always it was exempt, untamed, feared, free of laws and of upright neck.

No king has ever subdued this proud, free people. No foreign nation has ever boasted of setting foot within their borders, and no neighboring land has dared to move against them or raise a sword. They have always been free, untamed and feared, bound by no laws, holding their heads high.