El centauro de oro [English translation]

At last my Mexico has listened, Francisco Villa;

that your name would not remain forgotten.

With gold letters that will be seen forever

and make Durango and Chihuahua prouder.

Now all those birds understand their sorrows

and from this town your prayers will be heard.

They will see your name alongside the immortal ones

with gold letters in the most sacred halls.1

I cried, cried, cried at seeing that nothing was there

when I first saw2 your abandoned grave in Parral3.

I cried, cried, cried like those little birds

begging for Pancho Villa to be made immortal.

Now no one denies your valor, Pancho Villa;

in each letter of your name there is a battle,

there was a guarantee4 for you in each soldier

that fought in Zacatecas, Torreón5and Chihuahua.

Fly away goldfinches, tell Francisco Villa:

"That on his grave the mockingbirds keep watch

and their songs of joy are so strong

that they are echoed by the mountains and hills".

That time I cried, saying my prayers

when I first saw his abandoned grave in Parral.

Now I will sing, none shall hear my cry

because the Golden Centaur has been made immortal.

1. I understand it to be an enclosure of some kind or a building, but it makes sense that it would be on the walls of an important building (like a museum or historical site).2. lit. 'I came to know of'3. Parral is often associated with several historical figures, including Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa, who was assassinated on July 20, 1923, and initially buried there.4. for victory5. The Battle of Torreón: The Battle of Torreon became the single most important prize, which propelled Villa to the height of his career. His men captured heavy artillery, half-a-million rounds of ammunition, armored rail cars, eleven cannon including the future division mascot, the three inch "El Niño" (the little one), hundreds of rail cars, and an estimated forty locomotives. From this time on the División del Norte would travel by rail to the battlefields of Chihuahua City and Ciudad Juarez.

• Artist:Antonio Aguilar