THE BOOK OF CHILAM BALAM OF CHUMAYEL
BY RALPH L. ROYS [1933]

(Chapter) X "THE CREATION OF THE WORLD"

[Note: additional comments in parenthesis or brackets by me, from the Bolio translation, or added by Roys.]

(Introduction)

It is most necessary to believe this. These are the precious stones which our Lord, the Father, has abandoned. This was his first repast, this /balché/, with which we, the ruling men revere him here. Very rightly they worshipped as true gods these precious stones, when the true God was established, our Lord God, the Lord of heaven and earth, the true God.

Nevertheless, the first gods were perishable gods. Their worship came to its inevitable end. They lost their efficacy by the benediction of the Lord of Heaven, after the redemption of the world was accomplished, after the resurrection of the true God, the true Dios, when he blessed heaven and earth. Then was your worship abolished, Maya men. Turn away your hearts from your (old) religion.

(This is) the history of the world in those times, because it has been written down, because the time has not yet ended for making these books, these many explanations, so that Maya men may be asked if they know how they were born here in this country, when the land was founded.

(Katun 11-Ahau)

It was (Katun) 11 Ahau when the /Ah Mucenca/ [Bee Gods] came forth to blindfold the faces of the Oxlahun-ti-ku; [The Thirteen, Saturn] but they did not know his name, except for his older sister and his sons.

They said his face had not yet been shown to them also. This was after the creation of the world had been completed, but they did not know it was about to occur.

Then Oxlahun-ti-ku [Saturn] was seized by Bolon-ti-ku [The Nine, Jupiter].

Then it was that fire descended, then the rope descended, then rocks and trees descended. Then came the beating of (things) with wood and stone.

Then Oxlahun-ti-ku [Saturn] was seized, his head was wounded, his face was buffeted, he was spit upon, and he was (thrown) on his back as well. After that he was despoiled of his insignia and his smut.

Then shoots of the yaxum tree were taken. Also Lima beans were taken with crumbled tubercles, hearts of small squash-seeds, large squash-seeds and beans, all crushed.

He [Mars] wrapped up the seeds (composing) this first Bolon_¢_acab [Nine Lives, Mars], and went to the thirteenth heaven.

Then a mass of maize-dough with the tips of corn-cobs remained here on earth [then his skin and the tips of his bones fell here on the land].

Then its heart departed [escaped] because of Oxlahun-ti-ku [Saturn], but they did not know the heart of the tubercle was gone.

After that the fatherless ones, the miserable ones, and those without husbands were all pierced through [broken] [shot with large arrow shots]; they were alive though they had no hearts.

Then they were buried in the sands, in the sea.

There would be a sudden rush of water when the theft of the insignia [the Great Serpent was stolen] (of Oxlahun-ti-ku) [Saturn] occurred.

Then the sky would fall, it would fall down upon the earth, when the four gods, the four Bacabs, were set up, who brought about the destruction of the world.

Then, after the destruction of the world was completed, they placed (a tree) to set up in its order the yellow cock oriole.

Then the white tree of abundance was set up.

A pillar of the sky was set up, [the arch of heaven was raised] a sign of the destruction of the world;

that was the white tree of abundance in the north.

Then the black tree of abundance was set up (in the west) for the black-breasted /pi¢oy/ to sit upon.

Then the yellow tree of abundance was set up (in the south), as a symbol of the destruction of the world, for the yellow-breasted /pi¢oy/ to sit upon, for the yellow cock oriole to sit upon, the yellow timid /mut/.

Then the green tree of abundance [the Great Mother tree] was set up in the center (of the world) as a record of the destruction of the world.

(Katun 9-Ahau)

The plate of another katun was set up and fixed in its place by the messengers of their lord.

The red Piltec was set at the east of the world to conduct people to his lord.

The white Piltec was set at the north of the world to conduct people to his lord.

Lahun Chaan was set (at the west) to bring things to his lord.

The yellow Piltec was set (at the south) to bring things to his lord.

But it was (over) the whole world that Ah Uuc Cheknal [Fertize the Maize Seven Times, Venus] was set up.

He came from the seventh stratum of the earth, when he came to fecundate Itzam-kab-ain [Earth], when he came with the vitality of the angle between earth (and) heaven [while the sky rubbed the earth] [he came while the earth and sky were being cleaned].

They moved among the four lights, among the four layers of the stars. The world was not lighted; there was neither day nor night nor moon.

Then they perceived that the world was being created. Then creation dawned upon the world.

(Katun 7-Ahau)

During the creation thirteen infinite series [the infinite rungs of the ladder of time] (added) to seven [and seven moons] was the count of the creation of the world.

Then a new world dawned for them.

The two-day throne was declared, the three-day throne [the reign of the second period, the reign of the third period was felt].

Then began the weeping of Oxlahun-ti-ku [Saturn] (this is in error, it should read Bolon-ti-ku, Jupiter) [the three gods began to cry]. They wept in this reign.

The reign became red; the mat became red; [because of them] the first tree of the world was rooted fast [became red].

The entire world was proclaimed by Uuc-yol-zip [The Deer God, the Moon]; but it was not at the time of this reign that Bolon-ti-ku [Jupiter] wept. (This is located wrong. It should follow Katun 7-Ahau, above.)

(Katun 5-Ahau)

Then came the counting of the mat in its order.

Red was the mat on which Bolon-ti-ku [Jupiter] sat. His buttock is sharply rounded, as he sits on his mat. [In the same way the Nine Gods wept.]

Then descended greed from the heart of the sky, greed for power, greed for rule.

Then the red foundation was established; the white foundation of the ruler was established; the black foundation was established; the yellow foundation was established.

Then the Red Ruler was set up, he who was raised upon the mat, raised upon the throne.

The White Ruler was set up, he who was raised upon the mat, raised upon the throne.

The Black Ruler was set up, he who was raised upon the mat, raised upon the throne.

The Yellow Ruler was set up, he who was raised upon the mat, raised upon the throne.

As a god, it is said; whether or not gods, their bread is lacking, their water is lacking.

There was only a portion (of what was needed) for them to eat together ... but there was nowhere from which the quantity needed for existence could come.

Compulsion and force were the tidings, when he was seated (in authority); compulsion was the tidings, compulsion by misery; it came during his reign, when he arrived to sit upon the mat ...

(the following likely Katun 8-Ahau)

Suddenly on high fire flamed up. The face of the sun was snatched away, taken from earth.

This was his garment in his reign. This was the reason for mourning his power, at that time there was too much vigor.

At that time there was the riddle for the rulers.

(following needs to be in Katun 2-Ahau)

The planted timber was set up. Perishable things are assembled at that time.

The timber of the grave-digger is set up at the crossroads, at the four resting places.

Sad is the general havoc, at that time the butterflies swarmed.

(Katun 3-Ahau)

Then there came great misery, when it came about that the sun in Katun 3 Ahau was moved from its place for three months.

After three years it will come back into place in Katun 3 Ahau. Then another katun will be set (in its place).

(Katun 1-Ahau)

The /ramon/ fruit is their bread, the /ramon/ fruit is their drink; the /jícama cimarrona/ is their bread, the /jícama cimarrona/ is their drink; what they eat and what they drink.

The /ix-batun/, the /chimchim-chay/, are what they eat.

These things were present here when misery settled, father, in Tun 9.

(Katun 13-Ahau)

At that time there were the foreigners. The charge (of misery) was sought for all the years of (Katun) 13 Ahau.

(Katun 11-Ahau)

Then it was that the lord of (Katun) 11 Ahau spread his feet apart.

Then it was that the word of Bolon_¢_acab [Mars] descended to the tip of his tongue.

(Katun 9-Ahau)

Then the charge of the katun was sought; nine was its charge when it descended from heaven. Kan was the day when its burden was bound to it.

Then the water descended, it came from the heart of the sky for the baptism of the House of Nine Bushes.

With it descended Bolon Mayel [Nine Fragrances]; sweet was his mouth and the tip of his tongue. Sweet were his brains.

Then descended the four [two] mighty supernatural jars [bats], this was the honey of the flowers.

Then there grew up for it the red unfolded calyx, the white unfolded calyx, the black unfolded calyx and the yellow unfolded calyx, those which were half a palm (broad) and those which were a whole palm (in breadth).

Then there sprang up the five-leafed flower, the five drooping (petals), the cacao (with grains like) a row of teeth, the /ix-chabil-tok/, the little flower, Ix Macuil Xuchit, the flower with the brightly colored tip, the /laurel/ flower, and the limping flower.

After these flowers sprang up, there were the vendors of fragrant odors, there was the mother of the flowers.

Then there sprang up the bouquet of the priest, the bouquet of the ruler, the bouquet of the captain; this was what the flower-king bore when he descended and nothing else, so they say.

It was not bread that he bore.

Then it was that the flower sprang up, wide open, to introduce the sin of Bolon-ti-ku [Jupiter].

three years was the time when he said he did not come to create Bolon_¢_acab [Mars] as the god in hell.

Then descended Ppizlimtec to take the flower; he took the figure of a humming-bird with green plumage on its breast, when he descended.

Then he sucked the honey from the flower with nine petals.

Then the five-petaled flower took him for her husband, Thereupon the heart of the flower came forth to set itself in motion.

Four-fold was the plate of the flower, and Ah Kin Xocbiltun was set in the center.

(The Thirteen)

At this time Oxlahun-ti-ku [Saturn] came forth, but he did not know of the descent of the sin of the mat, when he came into his power.

The flower was his mat, the flower was his chair.

He sat in envy, he walked in envy. Envy was his plate, envy was his cup. There was envy in his heart, in his understanding, in his thought and in his speech.

Ribald and insolent was his speech during his reign. At that time his food cries out, his drink cries out, from the corner of his mouth when he eats, from the back of his claw when he bites his food.

He holds in his hand a piece of wood, he holds in his hand a stone.

Mighty are his teeth; his face is that of Lahun Chan, as he sits.

Sin is (in) his face, in his speech, in his talk, in his understanding (and in) his walk.

His eyes are blindfolded. He seizes, he demands as his right, the mat on which he sits during his reign.

Forgotten is his father, forgotten is his mother, nor does his mother know her offspring.

The heart is on fire alone in the fatherless one who despises his father, in the motherless one.

He shall walk abroad giving the appearance of one drunk, without understanding, in company with his father, in company with his mother.

There is no virtue in him, there is no goodness in his heart, only a little on the tip of his tongue.

He does not know in what manner his end is to come; nor does he know what will be the end of his reign, when the period of his power shall terminate.

(The Nine)

This is Bolon-ti-ku [Jupiter].

(Like that of) Bolon Chan is the face of the ruler of men, the two day occupant of the mat and throne.

He came in Katun 3 Ahau.

After that there will be another lord of the land who will establish the law of another katun, after the law of the lord of Katun 3 Ahau shall have run its course.

(Katun 1-Ahau ?)

At that time there shall be few children; then there shall be mourning among the Itza who speak our language brokenly.

Industry (and) vigor finally take the place, in the first tun (of the new katun), of the sin of the Itzá who speak our language brokenly.

It is Bolon-ti-ku [Jupiter] who shall come to his end (with) the law of the lord of Katun 3 Ahau.

Then the riddle of the rulers of the land shall end the law of the katun.

Then those of the lineage of the noble chiefs shall come into their own, with the other men of discretion and with those of the lineage of the chiefs.

Their faces had been trampled on the ground, and they had been overthrown by the unrestrained upstarts of the day and of the katun, the son of evil and the offspring of the harlot, who were born when their day dawned in Katun 3 Ahau.

Thus shall end the power of those who are two-faced toward our Lord God.

(End of the Katuns)

But when the law of the katun shall have run its course, then God will bring about a great deluge again which will be the end of the world.

When this is over, then our Lord Jesus Christ shall descend over the valley of Jehoshaphat beside the town of Jerusalem / where he redeemed us with his holy blood.

He shall descend on a great cloud to bear true testimony that he was once obliged to suffer, stretched out on a cross of wood.

Then shall descend in his great power and glory the true God who created heaven and earth and everything on earth. He shall descend to level off the world for the good and the bad, the conquerors (and) the captives.

(end)