A La Luz Del Candil

May I have your permission, Mr. Commissioner?
Excuse me if I come in so poorly dressed,
I am a stranger and I have fallen into the rosary,
Bringing in the reins a good entripao.
Perhaps you think I am a thug,
I am an honest gaucho through and through,
I am not a drunkard nor am I a cattle rustler;
Mr. Commissioner... I am a criminal!...

Arrest me, sergeant,
And put me in chains!...
If I am a delinquent,
May God forgive me!

I used to be a good countryman,
My name is Alberto Arenas.
Sir... they betrayed me,
And I killed them both!
My woman was wicked,
My friend was a scoundrel;
When I went to another land
The unfaithful one humiliated me.
The proof of infamy
I carry in my suitcase:
My woman's braids
And his heart!

Stand up, sergeant, I don't back down!...
I want them to know the truth in full...
The night was dark as a wolf's mouth;
Witness, all alone, the light of a candle.
In the end, almost nothing: a kiss in the shadows...
Two bodies fell, and a curse;
And there, commissioner, if you are not amazed,
I found two sheaths for my knife.

Arrest me, sergeant,
And put me in chains!...
If I am a delinquent,
May God forgive me!

Stand up, sergeant, I don't back down!...
I want them to know the truth in full...
The night was dark as a wolf's mouth;
Witness, all alone, the light of a candle.
In the end, almost nothing: a kiss in the shadows...
Two bodies fell, and a curse;
And there, commissioner, if you are not amazed,
I found two sheaths for my knife.

Arrest me, sergeant,
And put me in chains!...
If I am a delinquent,
May God forgive me!