Part III, I - VII Summary

I: Perhaps a year or two has passed. The chapter opens with a letter, written to Venancio by Luis Cervantes. Luis has left the band. He is broke and wishes for Venancio to leave the band to partner with him in the opening of a restaurant. We learn in the letter that Pancracio and Manteca killed each other in a fight over gambling, and that Blondie killed himself. These events were some time ago.

Meanwhile, Demetrio and his band still walk the earth, but they seem worn down and exhausted, with Anastasio especially unable to articulate why they fight anymore. A poet named Valderrama has joined with them, who tells jokes and stories and is somewhat of an intellectual. They enter the sierra, and townspeople flee at their coming. Demetrio orders the escaped townspeople run...