A satire of two Asturians in a Madrid newspaper from 1845

Abstract

El Espectador was a weekly newspaper, satirical and critical of power, that was published in Madrid between 1841 and 1848. Three volumes from 1845 included in their pages, from May 26 to June 9, a kind of theatrical work with dialogues in three acts, in octosyllabic verse and in Asturian. From left-wing positions and based on the Asturian nationality of the «protagonists» and the narrator, the work censors the surrender of the two main characters, famous Asturian politicians of the moment, Besugu Traga-treses and Lorito Tricolor, to the authoritarian and right-wing government of Narváez, his corruption and, in the case of Lorito Tricolor, the betrayal of his ideals to allow himself to be bought. Unfortunately we do not have the newspaper of June 2, where the «second act» appeared. We transcribe the other two.