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Annals of the Cakchiquels, by Daniel G. Brinton

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Title: The Annals of the Cakchiquels

Author: Daniel G. Brinton

Release Date: March 8, 2007 [EBook #20775]

Language: English

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Transcriber's Note:

A number of typographical errors and inconsistencies have been maintained
in this version of this book. Typographical errors have been marked with a
[TN-#], which refers to a description in the complete list found at the
end of the text. A list of words that have been inconsistently spelled or
hyphenated is found at the end of the present text.

The following codes are used for characters that are not present in the 
character set used for this version of the
book.

[)a] a with breve
[=a] a with macron
[c] quatrillo, resembles a 4 with a tail
[c,] quatrillo with comma
[t] tresillo, resembles a reversed 3
[tz] resembles a tz drawn together

LIBRARY OF ABORIGINAL AMERICAN LITERATURE.

No. VI.

EDITED BY D. G. BRINTON

BRINTON'S LIBRARY OF ABORIGINAL AMERICAN LITERATURE. NUMBER VI.

THE ANNALS OF THE CAKCHIQUELS.

THE ORIGINAL TEXT, WITH A TRANSLATION, NOTES AND INTRODUCTION.

BY

DANIEL G. BRINTON

1885, Philadelphia

PREFACE.

Both for its historical and linguistic merits, the document which is
presented in this volume is one of the most important in aboriginal
American Literature. Written by a native who had grown to adult years
before the whites penetrated to his ancestral home, himself a member of
the ruling family of one of the most civilized nations of the continent
and intimately acquainted with its traditions, his work displays the
language in its pure original form, and also preserves the tribal history
and a part of the mythology, as they were current before they were in the
least affected by European influences.

The translation I offer is directly from the original text, and I am
responsible for its errors; but I wish to acknowledge my constant
obligations to the manuscript version of the late Abbé Brasseur (de
Bourbourg), the distinguished Americanist. Without the assistance obtained
from it, I should not have attempted the task; and though I differ
frequently from his renderings, this is no more than he himself would have
done, as in his later years he spoke of his version as in many passages
faulty.

For the grammar of the language, I have depended on the anonymous grammar
which I edited for the American Philosophical Society in 1884, copies of
which, reprinted separately, can be obtained by any one who wishes to
study the tongue thoroughly. For the significance of the words, my usual
authorities are the lexicon of Varea, an anonymous dictionary of the 17th
century, and the large and excellent Spanish-Cakchiquel work of Coto, all
of which are in the library of the American Philosophical Society. They
are all in MS., but the vocabulary I add may be supplemented with that of
Ximenes, printed by the Abbé Brasseur, at Paris, in 1862, and between them
most of the radicals will be found.

As my object in all the volumes of this series is to furnish materials for
study, rather than to offer finished studies themselves, I have steadily
resisted the strong temptation to expand the notes and introductory
matter. They have been limited to what seemed essentially necessary to
defining the nature of the work, discussing its date and authorship, and
introducing the people to whom it refers.

CONTENTS.

PAGE PREFACE, v

INTRODUCTION, 9 ETHNOLOGIC POSITION OF THE CAKCHIQUELS, 9 CULTURE OF THE
CAKCHIQUELS, 13 THE CAPITAL CITY OF THE CAKCHIQUELS, 21 COMPUTATION OF TIME, 28
PERSONAL AND FAMILY NAMES, 32 TRIBAL SUBDIVISIONS, 33 TERMS OF AFFINITY AND
SALUTATION, 34 TITLES AND SOCIAL CASTES, 35 RELIGIOUS NOTIONS, 39 THE CAKCHIQUEL
LANGUAGE, 48 THE ANNALS OF XAHILA, 53 SYNOPSIS OF THE ANNALS, 60 REMARKS ON THE
PRINTED TEXT, 62

THE ANNALS OF THE CAKCHIQUELS, by a Member of the Xahila Family, 66-194

NOTES, 195-200 VOCABULARY, 209 INDEX OF PROPER NAMES, 229

THE ANNALS OF THE CAKCHIQUELS.

INTRODUCTION.

Ethnologic Position of the Cakchiquels.

The Cakchiquels, whose traditions and early history are given in the
present work from the pen of one of their own authors, were a nation of
somewhat advanced culture, who occupied a portion of the area of the
present State of Guatemala. Their territory is a table land about six
thousand feet above the sea, seamed with numerous deep ravines, and
supporting lofty mountains and active volcanoes.  Though but fifteen
degrees from the equator, its elevation assures it a temperate climate,
while its soil is usually fertile and well watered.

They were one of a group of four closely related nations, adjacent in
territory and speaking dialects so nearly alike as to be mutually
intelligible. The remaining three were the Quiches, the Tzutuhils and the
Akahals, who dwelt respectively to the west, the south and the east of the
Cakchiquels.

These dialects are well marked members of the Maya linguistic stock, and
differ from that language, as it is spoken in its purity in Yucatan, more
in phonetic modifications than in grammatical structure or lexical roots.
Such, however, is the fixedness of this linguistic family in its
peculiarities, that a most competent student of the Cakchiquel has named
the period of two thousand years as the shortest required to explain the
difference between this tongue and the Maya.[10-1]

About the same length of time was that assigned since the arrival of this
nation in Guatemala, by the local historian, Francisco Antonio de Fuentes
y Guzman, who wrote in the seventeenth century, from an examination of
their most ancient traditions, written and verbal.[10-2] Indeed, none of
these affined tribes claimed to be autochthonous. All pointed to some
distant land as the home of their ancestors, and religiously preserved the
legends, more or less mythical, of their early wanderings until they had
reached their present seats. How strong the mythical element in them is,
becomes evident when we find in them the story of the first four brothers
as their four primitive rulers and leaders, a myth which I have elsewhere
shown prevailed extensively over the American continent, and is distinctly
traceable to the adoration of the four cardinal points, and the winds from
them.[10-3]

These four brothers were noble youths, born of one mother, who sallied
forth from Tulan, the golden city of the sun, and divided between them all
the land from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to the confines of Nicaragua, in
other words, all the known world.[11-1]

The occurrence of the Aztec name of the City of Light, Tulan (properly,
Tonatlan), in these accounts, as they were rehearsed by the early
converted natives, naturally misled historians to adopt the notion that
these divine culture heroes were "Toltecs," and even in the modern
writings of the Abbé Brasseur (de Bourbourg), of M. Désiré Charnay, and
others, this unreal people continue to be set forth as the civilizers of
Central America.

No supposition could have less support. The whole alleged story of the
Toltecs is merely an euhemerized myth, and they are as pure creations of
the fancy as the giants and fairies of mediæval romance. They have no
business in the pages of sober history.

The same blending of their most ancient legends with those borrowed from
the Aztecs, recurs in the records of the pure Mayas of Yucatan. I have
shown this, and explained it at considerable length in the first volume of
this series, to which I will refer the reader who would examine the
question in detail.[11-2]

There is a slight admixture of Aztec words in Cakchiquel. The names of one
or two of their months, of certain objects of barter, and of a few social
institutions, are evidently loan-words from that tongue. There are also
some proper names, both personal and geographical, which are clearly of
Nahuatl derivation. But, putting all these together, they form but a very
small fraction of the language, not more than we can readily understand
they would necessarily have borrowed from a nation with whom, as was the
case with the Aztecs, they were in constant commercial communication for
centuries.[12-1]

The Pipils, their immediate neighbors to the South, cultivating the hot
and fertile slope which descends from the central plateau to the Pacific
Ocean, were an Aztec race of pure blood, speaking a dialect of Nahuatl,
very little different from that heard in the schools of classic
Tezcuco.[12-2] But the grammatical structure and stem-words of the
Cakchiquel remained absolutely uninfluenced by this association.

Later, when the Spanish occupation had brought with it thousands of
Nahuatl speaking followers, who supplied the interpreters for the
conquerers, Nahuatl names became much more abundant, and were adopted by
the natives in addressing the Spaniards. Thus the four nations, whom I
have mentioned as the original possessors of the land, are, in the
documents of the time, generally spoken of by such foreign titles. The
Cakchiquels were referred to as Tecpan Quauhtemallan, the Quiches as
Tecpan Utlatlan, the Tzutuhils as Tecpan Atitlan, and the Akahals as
Tecpan Tezolotlan. In these names, all of them pure Nahuatl, the word
Tecpan means the royal residence or capital; Quauhtemallan (Guatemala),
"the place of the wood-pile;" Utlatlan, "the place of the giant cane;"
Atitlan, "the place by the water;"  Tezolotlan, "the place of the narrow
stone," or "narrowed by stones."[13-1]

These fanciful names, derived from some trivial local characteristic, were
not at all translations of the native tribal names. For in their own
dialects, Quiche, [c]iche, means "many trees;"  Tuztuhil, [c,]utuhil, "the
flowery spot;" Akahal, "the honey-comb;" and Cakchiquel, a species of
tree.

Culture of the Cakchiquels.

These four nations were on the same plane of culture, and this by no means
a low one. They were agriculturists, cultivating for food beans, peppers,
and especially maize. To the latter, indeed, they are charged with being
fanatically devoted. "If one looks closely at these Indians,"  complains
an old author, "he will find that everything they do and say has something
to do with maize. A little more, and they would make a god of it. There is
so much conjuring and fussing about their corn fields, that for them they
will forget wives and children and any other pleasure, as if the only end
and aim of life was to secure a crop of corn."[14-1]

In their days of heathenism, all the labors of the field were directed by
the observance of superstitious rites. For instance, the men, who always
did a large share of the field work, refrained from approaching their
wives for some days before planting the seed. Before weeding the patch,
incense was burned at each of the four corners of the field, to the four
gods of the winds and rains; and the first fruits were consecrated to holy
uses.[14-2]

Their fields were large and extremely productive.[14-3] In this connection
it is worth noting, in passing, that precisely Guatemala is the habitat of
the Euchlæna luxurians, the wild grass from which, in the opinion of
botanists, the Zea Mais is a variety developed by cultivation.

Cotton was largely cultivated, and the early writers speak with admiration
of the skill with which the native women spun and wove it into graceful
garments.[15-1] As in Yucatan, bees were domesticated for their wax and
honey, and a large variety of dye-stuffs, resins for incense, and wild
fruits, were collected from the native forests.

Like the Mayas and Aztecs, they were a race of builders, skillful masons
and stone-cutters, erecting large edifices, pyramids, temples, and
defensive works, with solid walls of stone laid in a firm mortar.[15-2]
The sites of these cities were generally the summits of almost
inaccessible crags, or on some narrow plain, protected on all sides by the
steep and deep ravines--barrancas, as the Spaniards call them--which
intersect the plateau in all directions, often plunging down to a depth of
thousands of feet. So located and so constructed, it is no wonder that
Captain Alvarado speaks of them as "thoroughly built and marvelously
strong."[15-3]

In the construction of their buildings and the measurements of their land,
these nations had developed quite an accurate series of lineal measures,
taking as their unit certain average lengths of the human body, especially
the upper extremity. In a study of this subject, published during the
present year, I have set forth their various terms employed in this branch
of knowledge, and compared their system with that in use among the Mayas
and the Aztecs.[16-1] It would appear that the Cakchiquels did not borrow
from their neighbors, but developed independently the system of
mensuration in vogue among them. This bears out what is asserted in the
Annals of Xahila, that their "day-breaking," or culture, was of
spontaneous growth.

The art of picture writing was familiar to all these peoples. It was
employed to preserve their national history, to arrange their calendar,
and, doubtless, in the ordinary affairs of life.[16-2] But I am not aware
that any example or description of it has been preserved, which would
enable us to decide the highly important question, whether their system
was derived from that of the Mexicans or that of the Mayas, between which,
as the antiquary need not be informed, there existed an almost radical
difference.

The word for "to write," is [c,]ibah, which means, in its primary sense,
"to paint;" ah[c,]ib, is "the scribe," and was employed to designate the
class of literati in the ancient dominion.  Painted or written records
were called [c,]ibanic.

They had a literature beyond their history and calendars. It consisted of
chants or poems, called bix, set orations and dramas.[17-1] They were said
or sung in connection with their ceremonial dances. These performances
were of the utmost importance in their tribal life. They were associated
with the solemn mysteries of their religion, and were in memory of some of
the critical events in their real or mythical history. This will be
obvious from the references to them in the pages of their Annals.

These chants and dances were accompanied by the monotonous beating of the
native drum, tun, by the shrill sound of reed flutes, xul, by the tinkling
of small metal bells, [c]alakan, which they attached to their feet, and by
rattles of small gourds or jars containing pebbles, known as zoch. Other
musical instruments mentioned, are the chanal, the whistle (pito, Dicc.
Anon.), and tzuy, the marimba, or something like it.

These nations were warlike, and were well provided with offensive and
defensive weapons. The Spanish writers speak of them as skilled archers,
rude antagonists, but not poisoning their weapons.[17-2] Besides the bow
and arrow, [c]ha, they used a lance, achcayupil,[18-1] and especially the
blow-pipe, pub, a potent weapon in the hands of an expert, the knowledge
of which was widely extended over tropical America. Their arrow points
were of stone, especially obsidian, bone and metal. Other weapons were the
wooden war club, [c]haibalche; the sling, ica[t]; the hand-axe, i[t]ah,
etc.

For defense, they carried a species of buckler, pocob, and a round shield
called çeteçic chee, "the circular wood." Over the body they wore a heavy,
quilted cotton doublet, the xakpota, which was an efficient protection.

They may all be said to have been in the "stone age," as the weapons and
utensils were mostly of stone. The obsidian, which was easily obtained in
that country, offered an admirable resource for the manufacture of knives,
arrow heads, awls, and the like. It was called chay abah, and, as we shall
see on a later page, was surrounded with sacred associations.

The most esteemed precious stones were the [c]ual, translated "diamond,"
and the xit, which was the impure jade or green stone, so much the
favorite with the nations of Mexico and Central America. It is frequently
mentioned in the Annals of Xahila, among the articles of greatest value.

Engraving both on stone and wood, was a prized art. The word to express it
was [c]otoh, and engraved articles are referred to as [c]otonic.

Although stone and wood were the principal materials on which they
depended for their manufactures, they were well acquainted with several
metals. Gold and silver were classed under the general name puvak, and
distinguished as white and yellow; iron and copper were both known as
[c]hi[c]h, and distinguished also by their color. The metals formed an
important element of their riches, and are constantly referred to as part
of the tribute paid to the rulers. They were worked into ornaments, and
employed in a variety of decorative manners.

The form of government of the four nations of whom I am speaking
approached that of a limited monarchy. There was a head chief, who may as
well be called a king, deriving his position and power through his birth,
whose authority was checked by a council of the most influential of his
subjects. The details of this general scheme were not the same at all
periods, nor in all the states; but its outlines differed little.

Among the Cakchiquels, who interest us at present, the regal power was
equally divided between two families, the Zotzils and the Xahils; not that
there were two kings at the same time, as some have supposed, but that the
throne was occupied by a member of these families alternately, the head of
the other being meanwhile heir-apparent.[19-1] These chiefs were called
the Ahpo-Zotzil and the Ahpo-Xahil; and their eldest sons were entitled
Ahpop-[c]amahay and Galel Xahil, respectively, terms which will shortly be
explained.

The ceremonial distinction established between the ruler and those nearest
him in rank, was indicated by the number of canopies under which they sat.
The ruler himself was shaded by three, of graded sizes, the uppermost
being the largest. The heir-apparent was privileged to support two, and
the third from the king but one. These canopies were elaborately worked in
the beautiful feathers of the quetzal, and other brilliant birds, and bore
the name of muh, literally "shade" or "shadow," but which metaphorically
came to mean royal dignity or state, and also protection,
guardianship.[20-1]

The seat or throne on which he sat was called tem, [c]hacat, and
[t]alibal, and these words are frequently employed to designate the
Supreme Power.

The ceremonies connected with the installation of a king or head chief,
are described in an interesting passage of the Annals, Sec. 41: "He was
bathed by the attendants in a large painted vessel; he was clad in flowing
robes; a sacred girdle or fillet was tied upon him; he was painted with
the holy colors, was anointed, and jewels were placed upon his person."
Such considerable solemnities point to the fact that these people were on
a much higher plane of social life than one where the possession of the
leadership was merely an act of grasping by the strongest arm.

Of the four nations, the Quiches were the most numerous and powerful. At
times they exercised a sovereignty over the others, and levied tribute
from them. But at the period of Alvarado's conquest, all four were
independent States, engaged in constant hostilities against each other.

There is no means of forming an accurate estimate of their number. All
early accounts agree that their territory was thickly populated, with
numerous towns and cities.[21-1] The contingent sent to Alvarado by the
Cakchiquel king, to aid in the destruction of Quiche, was four thousand
warriors in one body, according to Alvarado's own statement, though Xahila
puts it at four hundred. There are various reasons for believing that the
native population was denser at the Conquest than at present; and now the
total aboriginal population of the State of Guatemala, of pure or nearly
pure blood, is about half a million souls.

The Capital City of the Cakchiquels.

The capital city of the Cakchiquels is referred to by Xahila as "Iximche
on the Ratzamut." It was situated on the lofty plateau, almost on a line
connecting Gumarcaah, the capital of the Quiches, with the modern city of
Guatemala, about twelve leagues from the latter and eight from the former.
Its name, Iximche, is that of a kind of tree (che=tree) called by the
Spanish inhabitants ramon, apparently a species of Brosimium. Ratzamut,
literally "the beak of the wild pigeon," was the name given to the small
and almost inaccessible plain, surrounded on all sides by deep ravines, on
which Iximche was situated.  Doubtless, it was derived from some fancied
resemblance of the outline of the plain to the beak of this bird.

The capital was also called simply tinamit, the city (not Patinamit, as
writers usually give it, as pa is not an article but a preposition, in or
at); and by the Aztec allies of the conqueror Alvarado, Quauhtemallan,
"place of the wood-pile," for some reason unknown to us.[22-1] The latter
designation was afterwards extended to the province, and under the corrupt
form Guatemala is now the accepted name of the State and its modern
capital.

The famous captain, Pedro de Alvarado was the first European to visit
Iximche.  He entered it on April 13th, 1524 (old style). In his letter
describing the occurrence, however, he says little or nothing about the
size or appearance of the buildings.[22-2]

Scarcely more satisfactory are the few words devoted to it by Captain
Bernal Diaz del Castillo, who spent a night there the same year. He
observes that "its buildings and residences were fine and rich, as might
be expected of chiefs who ruled all the neighboring provinces."[23-1]

When the revolt of the Cakchiquels took place, soon afterwards, Iximche
was deserted, and was never again fully inhabited. The Spaniards ordered
the natives to settle in other localities, the fortifications of their
capital were demolished, and many of the stones carried away, to construct
churches and houses in other localities.

The next account we have of it dates from the year 1695, when the
historian and antiquary, Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzman, wrote a
detailed description of its ruins from personal inspection. The account of
this enthusiastic author is the only one which supplies any approximate
notion of what the city must have been in its flourishing period, and I
therefore translate it, almost entire, from the recently published edition
of his voluminous work, the Recordacion Florida.[23-2] His chapter will
throw light on several otherwise obscure passages in Xahila's narrative.

"Tecpan goathemala was a city of the ancient inhabitants, populous,
wonderful and impregnable, from the character of its position, situated in
this valley (of Chimaltenango), on an elevated and cool site. It lies
eight leagues in a straight line from New Guatemala. Around this ancient
and dismantled town, now falling into utmost decay, extends a deep ravine,
like a moat, plunging straight down to a depth of more than a hundred
fathoms. This ravine, or moat, is three squares in width from one
battlement or bank to the other, and they say that a good part of it was a
work of hands, for the security and defense of the city.

There is no other entrance than a very narrow causeway, which cuts the
ravine at a point a little north of west. The whole area of the space
where are these ancient ruins measures three miles from north to south and
two from east to west, and its complete circumference is nine miles. In
the heart and centre of this area was prominently erected that great city
of Tecpan goathemala.

"The whole surface of the soil in this ancient city seems to have been
artificially prepared, by means of a cement or mortar, laid by hand, to a
depth of three-fourths of a yard. Close to the brink of the ravine there
are the sumptuous ruins of a magnificent and stately edifice, in length a
hundred measured paces, and in width the same, thus forming a perfect
square, all of stone and mortar, the stone accurately cut with great
skill, polished and nicely adjusted. In front of this building is a great
square plaza, of much dignity and beauty; and on its northern side one can
still recognize and admire the ruins of a palace which, even in its broken
vestiges, reveals a real magnificence.

This royal edifice also has in front of it some squares as large and
spacious in their splendor as that which has already been mentioned.
Surrounding this remarkable structure, are a vast number of foundations,
which, according to tradition, and by what is obvious by examination, were
the houses and dwellings of nobles and of the great number of ahaguaes,
besides those who gave their constant attention to the king. In this
quarter or ward of the nobility, there are several wide and capacious
streets, which, as the foundations indicate, ran from east to west.

"Through the middle of the site of the city, from north to south, runs a
trench a fathom and a half in depth, and its battlements of stones laid in
mortar rise more than half a fathom in height. This trench divided the
city into two parts, leaving the residences of the chiefs and nobles on
the eastern side;  those of the common people to the west. The principal
street runs from the entrance of the city to the chief square of the
Temple, which is near the Palace; and from this main street others run
east and west, north and south, branching off from the main street, having
many dwellings upon them well arranged and located, and displaying the
high cultivation of the ancient rulers.

"Another broad street runs close to the main street, from the trench
mentioned, toward the east, for about a quarter of a league, ending at a
small hill which overlooks the town, on whose summit is a circular wall,
not unlike the curb of a well, about a full fathom in height. The floor
within is paved with cement, as the city streets. In the centre is placed
a socle or pedestal of a glittering substance, like glass, but of what
composition is not known.

"This circular structure was the tribunal or consistory of the Cakchiquel
Indians, where not only was public hearing given to causes, but also the
sentences were carried out. Seated around this wall, the judges heard the
pleas and pronounced sentences, in both civil and criminal causes. After
this public decision, however, there remained an appeal for its revocation
or confirmation. Three messengers were chosen as deputies of the judges,
and these went forth from the tribunal to a deep ravine, north of the
Palace, to a small but neatly fitted up chapel or temple, where was
located the oracle of the demon. This was a black and semi-transparent
stone, of a finer grade than that called chay (obsidian). In its
transparency, the demon revealed to them what should be their final
decision. If it was that the sentence should be confirmed, the accused was
immediately executed on the central pedestal mentioned, which also served
as a place of torture. If, on the other hand, nothing could be seen in the
transparency of the stone, the accused was forthwith discharged.

This oracle was also consulted in all their military undertakings; and war
was declared or not, as it seemed to dictate, as is stated both by
Spaniards and the oldest natives. But in the early days of our occupation,
when these facts came to the knowledge of the Reverend Bishop Don
Francisco Marroquin, of glorious memory, he gave orders that this stone
should be artistically squared, and he consecrated it and used it as an
altar stone, and at this day it is so employed on the grand altar of the
convent of San Francisco de Tecpan goathemala, and it is considered a
jewel of unusual beauty and value. The size of the stone is a full half
yard in each direction.

"The principal gate of this stronghold or citadel was upon the causeway
mentioned; and they say it was closed with two doors set in the solid
wall, the external one opening outward, the internal one inward, and both
were of the stone called chay. Thus, one of these doors backed up against
the other, as we sometimes see double doors in our prisons. They were
always guarded with double guards, one within, the other without, and
these guards were changed every seven days. In the open country, on the
other side of the ravine, there were a number of mounds, about a quarter
of a league apart, extending for a considerable distance. On these,
lookouts were constantly stationed, to give notice of the invasions of the
Quiches or of the Sotojil king."

The site of Iximche was visited in 1840 by the eminent American traveler,
John L. Stephens. He states that its position, the steep and profound
barranca, and the plain, "warrant the description given of it by Fuentes."
A century and a half had, however, almost erased the vestiges of human
life. "The ground was covered with mounds of ruins. In one place we saw
the foundations of two houses, one of them about one hundred and fifty
feet long by fifty feet broad."

Mr. Stephens was also fortunate enough to see and examine the mysterious
divining stone, preserved in the church of Tecpan Guatemala. But a great
disappointment awaited him. "This oracular slab is a piece of common
slate, fourteen inches by ten, and about as thick as those used by boys at
school, without characters of any kind upon it."[27-1]

A few years after Mr. Stephens' visit, the government of Guatemala
appointed a commission to survey and examine these ruins. They completed
their labors successfully, but I have been unable to learn that the
results were published, although they were written out and placed in the
governmental archives.[28-1]

Computation of Time.

I propose, in a future work, to discuss the methods of reckoning time in
use in Central America; but a brief explanation of that adopted by the
Cakchiquels is essential to a comprehension of their Annals.

The Cakchiquels were probably acquainted with the length of the year as
365 days; there is even some evidence that they allowed an intercalary day
every four years, by beginning the reckoning of the year one day earlier.

The beginning of their year is stated, by most authorities, to have been
on the day corresponding to our January 31st or February 1st, old style
(February 11th or 12th, new style).

The year was not divided into lunar months, as was the case with the
hunting tribes, but in a manner similar to the highly artificial and
complicated system that prevailed among the Mayas and Mexicans. This
allotted to the solar year twenty months of eighteen days each, leaving a
remainder of five days, which the Mexicans called nemontemi, insufficient;
the Mayas n yail kin, days of pain or of peril, and the Cakchiquels
[tz]api [t]ih, days of evil or days at fault; and which were not included
in the count of the months.[28-2]

Dates, however, were not assigned by a simple reference to days of the
month, but by days of the week; these weeks being of thirteen days each,
and including every day of the year. The week days were not named, but
numbered only.

As will be noted in the Annals, more importance was attached to the day on
which an occurrence took place than to the year. This is common with
untrained minds. Every citizen of the United States knows that George
Washington was born on the 22d of February; but it would puzzle a large
portion of them to be asked the year of his birth.

Names of the Cakchiquel Months.

Name. Signification.
1. Tacaxepual, Corn planting
2. Nabey tumuzuz, First of winged ants.
3. Rucan tumuzuz, Second of winged ants.
4. Çibix, Smoky, or clouds.
5. Uchum, Re-planting
6.  Nabey mam, First grandson.
7. Rucab mam, Second grandson.
8. Li[t]in[t]á, Soft to the hand.
9. Nabey to[t], First cacao harvest.
10. Rucab to[t], Second cacao harvest[TN-1]
11. Nabey pach, First incubation.
12. Rucab pach, Second incubation.
13. Tziquin [t]ih, Bird days.
14. Cakan, Red clouds.
15. Ibota, Mat rolling.
16.  Katic, Drying up.
17. Itzcal [t]ih, Bad road days.
18. Pariche, In the woods.

To appreciate the bearing of these names, one must remember that this is a
rural calendar, in which the months were designated with reference to
farming and household incidents. Thus, the "winged ants" referred to, are
a species that appear in March and April, shortly before the first of the
rainy season; the fourth month is cloudy or misty, from the frequent
rains; the first and second grandsons refer probably to the "suckers,"
which must be plucked from the growing corn; in the eighth month the earth
is moist, and must be kept, by tillage, "soft to the hand;" the others
have obvious rural allusions, down to the last, when the natives went "in
the woods" to gather fuel.

The names appear to be all in the Cakchiquel dialect, except the first,
Tacaxepual, the resemblance of which to the name of the second Mexican
month, Tlacaxipehualiztli, is too striking to be a coincidence, and
perhaps the seventeenth, Itzcal, which is very like the eighteenth of the
Mexican calendar, Izcalli; but if borrowed from the latter, two Cakchiquel
words, of similar sound but different meaning, have been substituted for
the original by the familiar linguistic principle of otosis or
paronomasia.

Names of the Cakchiquel Days.

Name. Name.
1. Imox,	11. Batz,
2. I[t],	12. Ee,
3. A[t]bal,    13. Ah,
4. Kat,        14. Yiz,
5. Can,        15. Tziquin,
6. Camey,      16. Ahmac,
7. Queh,       17. Noh,
8. Kanel,      18. Tihax,
9. Toh,        19. Caok,
10. Tzii,      20. Hunahpu,[TN-2]

The calendars in use were of two different kinds, the one called [c]hol
[t]ih, literally "the valuer or appraiser of days," which was employed
exclusively for astrological and divining purposes, to decide on which
were lucky and unlucky days; and may [t]ih, "the revolution or recurrence
of days,"  which was for chronological purposes.[31-1]

It will be noticed that in Xahila's Annals, every year ends on a day Ah,
and that each such closing day is numerically three less than the day Ah
terminating the preceding year. There are also obvious inconsistencies in
his identification of native dates with the Christian calendar; but these,
and the numerous difficult questions they suggest, would take me too far
afield to enter upon in the present introductory paragraphs. The object of
this volume is rather to furnish material for study than to undertake the
study itself.

The brief description of their reckoning of time, given by Sanchez y Leon,
may be quoted: "They divided the year into 18 months, and each month into
20 days; but they counted only by nights, which they mentioned as dawns
(alboradas); the movements of the sun in the ecliptic governed their
calendar; they began their year forty days before ours; they celebrated
annually three great feasts, like Easters, at which periods both sexes
assembled together at night, and indulged in drunkenness and
wantonness."[31-2]

I think in this extract the author should have said that they began their
year 40 days later than ours, as this would bring his statement more into
conformity with other writers.

Personal and Family Names.

Among the Cakchiquels, each person bore two names; the first his
individual name, the second that of his family or chinamitl. This word is
pure Nahuatl, and means a place enclosed by a fence,[32-1] and
corresponds, therefore, to the Latin herctum, and the Saxon ton. As
adopted by the Cakchiquels, it meant a household or family of one lineage
and bearing one name, all of whom were really or theoretically descended
from one ancestral household. To all such was applied the term aca,
related or affined;[32-2] and marriage within the chinamitl was not
permitted. When a man of one chinamitl married into another, every male in
the latter became his brother-in-law, baluc, or son-in-law, hi.[32-3]

Each chinamitl was presided over by a recognized leader, the "head of the
house," whose title was ah[c,]alam, "the keeper of the tablets,"[32-4]
probably the painted records on which the genealogy of the family and the
duties of its members were inscribed.

The division of the early tribes into these numerous families was not
ancient, dating, according to tradition, from about a century and a half
before the Conquest.[32-5]

The family name was sometimes derived from a locality, sometimes from a
peculiarity, and at others from astrological motives.[33-1]

The personal name was always that of the day of birth, this being adopted
for astrological reasons. There was a fixed opinion that the temperament
and fortunes of the individual were controlled by the supposed character
of his birthday, and its name and number were therefore prefixed to his
family name. This explains the frequent occurrence in the Cakchiquel
Annals of such strange appellatives as Belehe Queh, nine deer; Cay Batz,
two monkey, etc.; these being, in fact, the days of the year on which the
bearers were born. They should be read, "the 9th Queh," "the 2d Batz,"
etc.

Tribal Subdivisions.

The chinamitl appears to have been the sub-gens. Besides it, there are
other words frequently recurring in the Annals referring to divisions of
the community, hay, home or household; [c]hob, sept or division; and
ama[t] tribe or city.

The first of these, hay, appears to be a general term applied to a
community, without necessarily implying relationship. An Indian, asked
where he is from, will answer in ah-hay vae, "I am of this place,"
referring to his village. Yet it is evident that in early times, all of
one village were considered to be related. The word hay, moroever,[TN-3]
does not signify a house as an edifice. In that sense the proper term is
ochoch.

The frequent references by Xahila to the seven tribes, or rather the seven
cities, vuk ama[t], and the thirteen divisions or provinces, oxlahuh
[c]hob, are not explained in the course of the narrative. These numbers
retained sacred associations, as they were adopted later to assign the
days of worship of their divinity (see Sec. 44).

Brasseur is of opinion that the thirteen divisions refer to the
Pokomams,[34-1] but that such a subdivision obtained among the Cakchiquels
as well, is evident from many parts of their Annals. The same division
also prevailed, from remote times, among the Quiches,[34-2] and hence was
probably in use among all these tribes. It may have had some superstitious
connection with the thirteen days of their week. The [c]hob may be
regarded as the original gens of the tribe, and the similarity of this
word to the radical syllable of the Nahuatl calp-ulli, may not be
accidental. I have elsewhere spoken of the singular frequency with which
we hear of seven ancestors, cities, caves, etc., in the most ancient
legends of the American race.[34-3]

Terms of Affinity and Salutation.

In the Cakchiquel grammar which I edited, I have given a tolerably full
list of the terms of consanguinity and affinity in the tongue (pp. 28,
29). But it is essential to the correct understanding of the text in this
volume, to recognize the fact that many such terms in Cakchiquel are, in
the majority of cases, terms of salutation only, and do not express actual
relationship.

Examples of this are the words tata, father, used by women to all adult
males;  and tee, mother, employed by both sexes in addressing adult women.
In Xahila's writings, we constantly find the words nimal, elder brother,
and cha[t], younger brother, inserted merely as friendly epithets. The
term mama, grandfather, almost always means simply "ancestor," or, indeed,
any member of an anterior generation beyond the first degree. This word
must not be confounded with mam (an error occurring repeatedly in
Brasseur's writings), as the latter means "grandchild;" and according to
Father Coto, it may be applied by a grandparent of either sex to a
grandchild of either sex.

Titles and Social Castes.

There are a number of terms of frequent recurrence in Xahila's text,
expressing the different offices in the government, rank in social life
and castes of the population, which offer peculiar difficulty to the
translator, because we have no corresponding expressions in European
tongues; while to retain them in the version, renders it less
intelligible, and even somewhat repulsive to the reader. I have thought it
best, generally, to give these terms an approximate English rendering in
my translation, while in the present section I submit them to a critical
examination.

The ordinary term for chief or ruler, in both the Cakchiquel and Maya
dialects, is ahau. Probably this is a compound of ah, a common prefix in
these tongues, originally signifying person, and hence, when attached to a
verb, conveying the notion of one accustomed to exercise the action
indicated; to a noun of place, a resident there; and to a common noun, a
worker in or owner of the article; and u, a collar, especially an
ornamental collar, here intended as a badge of authority. Ahau is,
therefore, "the wearer of the collar;" and by this distinction equivalent
to chief, ruler, captain, lord, king, or emperor, by all which words it is
rendered in the lexicons. It is not a special title, but a general term.

Scarcely less frequent is the term ahpop. This is a compound of the same
prefix ah, with the word pop, which means a mat. To sit upon such a mat
was a privilege of nobility, and of such dignitaries as were entitled to
be present at the national council; ahpop, therefore, may be considered as
equivalent to the German title Rath, counsellor, and appears to have been
used much in the same conventional manner.  In the Cakchiquel lexicons,
popoh is "to hold a council;" popol, a council; popoltzih, "to speak in
council," etc. All these are derived from the word pop, mat; from the mats
on which the councillors sat during their deliberations.

Personages of the highest rank, of the "blood royal," combined these
titles.  They were ahau ahpop, "lords of the council." Uniting the latter
title to the family names of the ruling house, the chief ruler was known
as Ahpo' Zotzil, and the second in rank and heir-apparent, as Ahpo' Xahil.
The oldest son of the former bore the title Ahpop-[c]amahay, which is
translated by the best authorities "messenger of the council," and
ordinarily was applied to an official who communicated the decisions of
the councils of one village to that of another.[37-1] Another title,
mentioned by Xahila, is ahpop-achi, the last word means man, vir.

A third article, which distinguished the higher classes, was the seat or
stool on which they sat during solemn ceremonies. This was called
[t]aalibal, an instrumental noun from the verb [t]al, to be visible or
prominent, persons so seated being elevated above, and thus distinguished
from others, from this the verbal form, [t]alel, was derived, meaning "he
who is prominent," etc., or, more freely, "illustrious,"
"distinguished."[37-2] The title ahpop [t]alel meant, therefore,
originally "he who is entitled to a mat and a stool," that is, in the
council chamber of his town.

Another official connected with the council was the orator appointed to
bring before it the business of the day. His title was ah uchan, from
ucheex, to speak, and it is translated by Spanish writers, the
"rhetorician, orator."[37-3] A similar personage, the ah tzih vinak, "the
man of words,"[37-4] was in attendance on the king, and, apparently, was
the official mouth-piece of the royal will. Still a third, known as the
lol-may, which apparently means "silence-breaker," was, according to the
dictionaries, "an envoy dispatched by the rulers to transact business or
to collect tributes."[38-1]

Very nearly or quite the same organization prevailed in the courts of
Quiche and Atitlan. The chiefs of the latter province forwarded, in 1571,
a petition to Philip II, in which they gave some interesting particulars
of their former government. They say: "The supreme ruler was called
Atziquinihai, and the chiefs who shared the authority with him, Amac
Tzutuhil. These latter were sovereigns, and acknowledged no superiors....
The sovereign, or king, did not recognize any authority above himself. The
persons or officers who attended at his court were called Lolmay,
Atzivinac, Galel, Ah-uchan. They were factors, auditors and treasurers.
Our titles correspond to yours."[38-2]

The name here applied to the ruler of the Tzutuhils, Atziquinahay, recurs
in Xahila's Annals. It was his family name, and in its proper form, Ah
[c,]iquin-i-hay, means "he who is a member of the bird family;"[38-3] the
bird being the totemic symbol of the ruling house.

While the nobles were distinguished by titles such as these, the mass of
the people were divided into well defined classes or castes. The warriors
were called ah-labal, from labal, war;  and they were distinguished from
the general male population, who were known as achi, men, viri. These were
independent freemen, engaged in peaceful avocations, but, of course, ready
to take up arms on occasion. They were broadly distinguished from the
tributaries, called ah-patan; the latter word meaning tax or tribute; and
still more sharply from the slaves, known as vinakitz, "mean men," or by
the still more significant word mun, hungry (Guzman, Compendio). The less
cultivated tribes speaking other tongues, adjoining the Cakchiquels, were
promiscuously stigmatized with the name chicop, brutes or beasts.

A well developed system of tribute seems to have prevailed, and it is
often referred to by Xahila. The articles delivered to the collectors were
gold, silver, plain and worked, feathers, cacao, engraved stones, and what
appear as singular, garlands ([c]ubul) and songs, painted apparently on
skins or paper.

Religious Notions.

The deities worshiped by these nations, the meaning and origin of their
titles, and the myths connected with them, have been the subject of an
examination by me in an earlier work.[39-1] Here, therefore, it will be
needless to repeat what I have there said, further than to add a few
remarks explanatory of the Cakchiquel religion in particular.

According to the Popol Vuh, "the chief god of the Cakchiquels was
Chamalcan, and his image was a bat."[40-1] Brasseur endeavored to trace
this to a Nahuatl etymology,[40-2] but there is little doubt it refers, as
do so many of the Cakchiquel proper names, to their calendar. Can is the
fifth day of their week, and its sign was a serpent;[40-3] chamal is a
slightly abbreviated form of chaomal, which the lexicons translate
"beauty" and "fruitfulness," connected with chaomar, to yield abundantly.

He was the serpent god of fruitfulness, and by this type suggests
relations to the lightning and the showers. The bat, Zotz, was the totem
of the Zotzils, the ruling family of the Cakchiquels; and from the extract
quoted, they seem to have set it up as the image of Chamalcan.

The generic term for their divinities, employed by Xahila, and also
frequently in the Popol Vuh, is [c]abuyl, which I have elsewhere derived
from the Maya chab, to create, to form. It is closely allied to the
epithets applied in both works to the Deity, [c,]akol, the maker,
especially he who makes something from earth or clay; bitol, the former,
or fashioner; [c]aholom, the begetter of sons; alom, the bearer of
children; these latter words intimating the bi-sexual nature of the
principal divinity, as we also find in the Aztec mythology and elsewhere.

The name [c]axto[c], the liar, from the verb [c]axto[c]oh, to lie, also
frequently used by Xahila with reference to the chief god of his nation in
its heathendom, may possibly have arisen after their conversion to
Christianity; but from the coincidence that the Algonkin tribes constantly
applied such seemingly opprobrious terms to their principal deity, it may
have arisen from a similar cycle of myths as did theirs.[41-1]

There are references in Xahila's Annals to the Quiche deities,
Exbalanquen, Cabrakan, Hunahpu, and Tohil, but they do not seem to have
occupied any prominent place in Cakchiquel mythology. Several minor gods
are named, as Belehe Toh, nine Toh, and Hun Tihax, one Tihax; these
appellations are taken from the calendar.

Father Pantaleon de Guzman furnishes the names of various inferior
deities, which serve to throw light on the Cakchiquel religion. Four of
these appear to be gods of diseases, Ahal puh, Ahal te[t]ob, Ahal xic, and
Ahál [t]anya; at least three of these second words are also the
designations of maladies, and ahal is probably a mistake of the copyist
for ahau, lord. As the gods of the abode of the dead, he names Tatan bak
and Tatan holom, Father Bones and Father Skull.

Another series of appellations which Guzman gives as of Cakchiquel gods,
show distinctly the influence of Nahuatl doctrines. There are Mictan
ahauh, lord of Mictlan, this being the name of the abode of darkness, in
Aztec mythology; Caueztan ahauh, probably Coatlan, lord of the abode of
serpents; Tzitzimil, the tzitzimime of the Aztecs; and Colele, probably
colotl, the scorpion, or tecolotl, the owl, which latter, under the name
tucur, is also mentioned by Xahila.[42-1]

Father Coto refers to some of their deities of the woods and streams. One
of these, the Man of the Woods, is famous throughout Yucatan and most of
Central America. The Spaniards call him Salonge, the Mayas Che Vinic, and
the Cakchiquels ru vinakil chee; both these latter meaning "the woods
man." What gives this phantom especial interest in this connection is,
that Father Coto identifies the woodsman with the Zaki[c]oxol, the white
fire maker, encountered by the Cakchiquels in Xahila's narrative (Sec.
21).[42-2]

I have narrated the curious folk-lore about the woodsman in another
publication, and need not repeat it here.[42-3] His second name, the White
Fire Maker, perhaps refers to the "light wood" or phosphorescence about
damp and decaying trees.

To the water-sprites, the Undines of their native streams, they gave the
name xulu, water-flies, or ru vinakil ya, the water people.

As their household gods, they formed little idols of the ashes from the
funeral pyres of their great men, kneading them with clay. To these they
gave the name vinak, men or beings (Coto).

Representations of these divinities were carved in wood and stone, and the
words chee abah, "wood and stone," usually mean, when they appear together
in Xahila's narrative, "idols or images in wood and stone."

The Stone God, indeed, is a prominent figure in their mythology, as it was
in their daily life. This was the sacred Chay Abah, the Obsidian Stone,
which was the oracle of their nation, and which revealed the will of the
gods on all important civil and military questions.

To this day, their relatives, the Mayas of Yucatan, attach implicit faith
to the revelations of the zaztun, the divining stone kept by their
sorcerers, and if it decrees the death of any one, they will despatch him
with their machetes, without the slightest hesitation.[43-1]

The belief was cherished by the rulers and priests, as they alone
possessed the power to gaze on the polished surface of the sacred block of
obsidian, and read thereupon the invisible decrees of divinity. (See
above, p. 25).

As the stone came from the earth, it was said to have been derived from
the under world, from Xibalbay, literally the unseen or invisible place,
the populous realm in Quiche myth, visited and conquered by their culture
hero, Xbalanque. Hence in Cakchiquel tale, the Chay Abah represented the
principle of life, as well as the source of knowledge.[43-2]

The Cakchiquel Annals do not pretend to deal with mythology, but from
various references and fragments inserted as history, it is plain that
they shared the same sacred legends as the Quiches, which were, in all
probability, under slightly different forms, the common property of the
Maya race. They all indicate loans from the Aztec mythology.

In the Cakchiquel Annals, as in the Popol Vuh and the Maya Chronicles, we
hear of the city of the sun god, Tulan or Tonatlan, as the place of their
origin, of the land Zuiva and of the Nonoalcos, names belonging to the
oldest cycles of myths in the religion of the Aztecs. In the first volume
of this series I have discussed their appearance in the legends of Central
America,[44-1] and need not refer to them here more than to say that those
who have founded on these names theories of the derivation of the Maya
tribes or their ruling families from the Toltecs, a purely imaginary
people, have perpetrated the common error of mistaking myth for history.
It is this error that renders valueless much that the Abbé Brasseur, M.
Charnay and others of the French school, have written on this subject.

Xahila gives an interesting description of some of their ancient rites
(Sec.  44). Their sacred days were the 7th and 13th of each week. White
resin was burned as incense, and green branches with the bark of evergreen
trees were brought to the temple, and burned before the idol, together
with a small animal, which he calls a cat, "as the image of night;" but
our domestic cat was unknown to them, and what animal was originally meant
by the word mez, I do not know.

He mentions that the priests and nobles drew blood with the spines of the
gourd tree and maguey, and elsewhere (Sec. 37) refers to the sacrifice of
infants at a certain festival.  The word for the sacrificial letting of
blood was [c,]ohb, which, by some of the missionaries, was claimed as the
root of the word [c]abuil, deity.

Human sacrifice was undoubtedly frequent, although the reverse has been
asserted by various historians.[45-1] Father Varea gives some curious
particulars. The victim was immolated by fire, the proper word being
[c]atoh, to burn, and then cut in pieces and eaten. When it was, as usual,
a male captive, the genital organs were given to one of the old women who
were prophetesses, to be eaten by her, as a reward for her supplications
for their future success in battle.[45-2] The cutting in pieces of
Tol[c]om, in the narrative of Xahila, has reference to such a festival.

Sanchez y Leon states that the most usual sacrifice was a child. The heart
was taken out, and the blood was sprinkled toward the four cardinal points
as an act of adoration to the four winds, copal being burned at the same
time, as an incense.[45-3]

A leading feature in their ceremonial worship was the sacred dance, or, as
the Spanish writers call it, el baile. The native name for it is xahoh,
and it is repeatedly referred to in the Annals. The legendary origin of
some of these dances, indeed, constitute a marked feature in its
narratives. They are mentioned by the missionaries as the favorite pastime
of the Indians; and as it was impossible to do away with them altogether,
they contented themselves with suppressing their most objectionable
features, drunkenness and debauchery, and changed them, at least in name,
from ceremonies in honor of some heathen god, to some saint in the Roman
calendar. In some of these, vast numbers of assistants took part, as is
mentioned by Xahila (Sec. 32).

Magic and divination held a very important place in Cakchiquel
superstition, as the numerous words bearing upon them testify. The form of
belief common to them and their neighbors, has received the name
Nagualism, from the Maya root na, meaning to use the senses. I have traced
its derivation and extension elsewhere,[46-1] and in this connection will
only observe that the narrative of Xahila, in repeated passages, proves
how deeply it was rooted in the Cakchiquel mind. The expression ru puz ru
naval, should generally be rendered "his magic power, his sorcery," though
it has a number of allied significations.  Naval as a noun means magician,
naval chee, naval abah, the spirit of the tree, of the stone, or the
divinity embodied in the idols of these substances.

Another root from which a series of such words were derived, was hal, to
change. The power of changing or metamorphosing themselves into tigers,
serpents, birds, globes of fire, etc., was claimed by the sorcerers, and
is several times mentioned in the following texts. Hence the sorcerer was
called haleb, the power he possessed to effect such transformations
halibal, the change effected halibeh, etc.

Their remarkable subjection to these superstitions is illustrated by the
word lab, which means both to divine the future and to make war, because,
says Ximenez, "they practiced divination in order to decide whether they
should make war or not."[47-1]

These auguries were derived frequently from the flight and call of birds
(as in the Annals, Secs. 13, 14, etc.), but also from other sources. The
diviner who foretold by grains of maize, bore the title malol ixim, the
anointer or consecrator of maize (Dicc. Anon[TN-4]).

The priesthood was represented by two high priests, elected for life by
the ruler and council. The one who had especial custody of religious
affairs wore a flowing robe, a circlet or diadem on his head ornamented
with feathers, and carried in his hand a rod, or wand. On solemn occasions
he publicly sacrificed blood from his ears, tongue, and genital organ.

His associate was the custodian and interpreter of the sacred books, their
calendars and myths, and decided on lucky and unlucky days, omens and
prognostics.

In addition to these, there were certain old men, of austere life, who
dwelt in the temples, and wore their hair in plaited strands around their
heads (trenzado en circulo), who were consulted on ordinary occasions as
diviners.[47-2]

The funeral rites of the Cakchiquels have been related at considerable
length by Fuentes, from original documents in the Pokoman[TN-5]
dialect.[48-1] The body was laid in state for two days, after which it was
placed in a large jar and interred, a mound being erected over the
remains. On the mound a statue of the deceased was placed, and the spot
was regarded as sacred. Father Coto gives somewhat the same account,
adding that these mounds were constructed either of stone or of the
adjacent soil, and were called cakhay or cubucak.[48-2] He positively
asserts that human sacrifices accompanied the interments of chiefs, which
is denied by Fuentes, except among the Quiches. These companions for the
deceased chief on his journey to the land of souls, were burned on his
funeral pyre. A large store of charcoal was buried with the corpse, as
that was supposed to be an article of which he would have special use on
his way.  Sanchez y Leon mentions that the high priest was buried in his
house, clothed and seated upon his chair. The funeral ceremonies, in his
case, lasted fifteen days.[48-3]

The Cakchiquel Language.

The Cakchiquel tongue was reduced to writing by the Spanish missionaries,
and therefore, in this work, as in all the MSS, the following letters are
used with their Spanish values,--a, b, c, ch, ç, e, i, l, m, n, o, p, q,
r, t, y.

The following are not employed:-

d, f, g, j, s, ñ, z.

The following are introduced, but with sounds differing from the Spanish: 

h. This is always a decided rough breathing or forcible expiration, like
the Spanish j, or the strong English h; except when it follows c or [c],
when it is pronounced as in the Spanish, cha, che, etc.

k. This has never the sound of c, but is a rough palatal, the mouth being
opened, and the tongue placed midway, between the upper and lower walls of
the oral cavity, while the sound is forcibly expelled.

v. This letter, whether as a consonant (v) or a vowel (u), is pronounced
separately, except when it is doubled, as in vuh (uuh), book or paper,
when the double vowel is very closely akin to the English w.

x. In Cakchiquel and its associated dialects, this letter represents the
sound of sh in the English words she, shove, etc.

Besides the above, there are five sounds occurring in the Cakchiquel,
Quiche and Tzutuhil, for which five special characters were invented, or
rather adopted, by the early missionary Francisco de la Parra, who died in
Guatemala, in 1560. They are the following:-

[c,] [c,]h [c] [t] [tz]

The origin and phonetic value of these, as given by the grammarian Torresano, 
are as follows:[49-1]-

[t] This is called the tresillo, from its shape, it being an old form of
the figure three, reversed, thus, [Illustration: Reversed 3]. It is the
only true guttural in the language, being pronounced forcibly from the
throat, with a trilling sound (castañeteando).

[c] From its shape this is called the cuatrillo, Parra having adopted for
it an old form of the figure 4. It is a trilled palatal, between a hard c
and k.

[c,] The name applied to this is, the cuatrillo con coma, or the 4 with a
comma. It is pronounced somewhat like the c with the cedilla, ç, only more
quickly and with greater force--ds or dz.

[tz] This resembles the "4 with a comma," but is described as softer, the
tongue being brought into contact with the teeth, exactly as tz in German.

[c,]h A compound sound produced by combining the cuatrillo with a forcible
aspirate, is represented by this sign.

Naturally, no description in words can convey a correct notion of these
sounds.  To learn them, one must hear them spoken by those to the
manner-born.

Dr. Otto Stoll, who recently made a careful study of the Cakchiquel when
in Guatemala, says of Parra's characters:

"The four new signs added to the European alphabet, by some of the old
writers on Cakchiquel (Parra, Flores), viz: [t], [c], [c,], [c]h, are but
phonetic modifications of four corresponding signs of the common alphabet.
So we get four pairs of sounds, namely:-

c and [c]; k and [t] ch and [c]h tz and [c,]

forming two series of consonants, the former of which represents the
common letters, and the latter their respective "cut letters," which may
be described as being pronounced with a shorter and more explosive sound
than the corresponding common letter, and separated by a short pause from
the preceding or following vowel."[51-1]

The late Dr. Berendt illustrated the phonetic value of such "cut" letters,
by the example of two English words where the same letter terminates one
word and begins the next, and each is clearly but rapidly pronounced,
thus, the [t] is pronounced like two gutteral[TN-6] ks in "break kettle;"
the [c] like the two cs in "magic candle,"[TN-7] etc.

There would appear to have been other "cut" letters in the old dialects of
Cakchiquel, as in Guzman we find the pp and thth, as in the Maya, but
later writers dropped them.

I may dispense with a discussion of the literature of the Cakchiquel
language, having treated that subject so lately as last year, in the
introduction to the Grammar of the Cakchiquel, which I then translated and
edited for the American Philosophical Society. As will be seen by
reference to that work, it is quite extensive, and much of it has been
preserved. I have examined seven dictionaries of the tongue, all quite
comprehensive; manuscript copies of all are in the United States. None of
these, however, has been published; and we must look forward to the
dictionary now preparing by Dr. Stoll, of Zurich, as probably the first to
see the light.

The Maya race, in nearly all its branches, showed its intellectual
superiority by the eagerness with which it turned to literary pursuits, as
soon as some of its members had learned the alphabet. I have brought
forward some striking testimony to this in Yucatan,[52-1] and there is
even more in Central America.

The old historians frequently refer to the histories of their own nations,
written out by members of the Quiche, Cakchiquel, Pokomam and Tzendal
tribes. Vasquez, Fuentes and Juarros quote them frequently, and with
respect. They were composed in the aboriginal tongues, for the benefit of
their fellow townsmen, and as they were never printed, most of them became
lost, much to the regret of antiquaries.

Of those preserved, the Popol Vuh or National Book of the Quiches, and the
Annals of the Cakchiquels, the latter published for the first time in this
volume, are the most important known.

The former, the "Sacred Book" of the Quiches, a document of the highest
merits, and which will certainly increase in importance as it is studied,
was printed at Paris in 1861, with a translation into French by the Abbé
Brasseur (de Bourbourg). He made use only of the types of the Latin
alphabet;  and both in this respect and in the fidelity of his
translation, he has left much to be desired in the presentation of the
work.

The recent publication of the Grammar also relieves me from the necessity
of saying much about the structure of the Cakchiquel language. Those who
wish to acquaint themselves with it, and follow the translation given in
this volume by comparing the original text, will need to procure all the
information contained in the Grammar. It will be sufficient to say here
that the tongue is one built up with admirable regularity on radicals of
one or two syllables. The perfection and logical sequence of its verbal
forms have excited the wonder and applause of some of the most eminent
linguists, and are considered by them to testify to remarkable native
powers of mind.[53-1]

The Annals of Xahila.

The MS. from which I print the Annals of the Cakchiquels, is a folio of 48
leaves, closely written on both sides in a very clear and regular hand,
with indigo ink. It is incomplete, the last page closing in the middle of
a sentence.

What is known of the history of this manuscript, is told us by Don Juan
Gavarrete, who, for many years, was almost the only native of Guatemala
interested in the early history of his country. He tells us in his
introduction to his translation of it, soon to be mentioned, that in 1844
he was commissioned to arrange the archives of the Convent of San
Francisco of Guatemala, by order of the Archbishop Don Francisco Garcia
Pelaez. Among the MSS. of the archives he found these sheets, written
entirely in Cakchiquel, except a few marginal glosses in Spanish, in a
later hand, and in ordinary ink. The document was submitted to several
persons acquainted with the Cakchiquel language, who gave a general
statement of its contents, but not a literal and complete
translation.[54-1]

When, in 1855, the Abbé Brasseur (de Bourbourg) visited Guatemala, Señor
Gavarrete showed him this MS., and the Abbé borrowed it for the purpose of
making a full version, doubtless availing himself of the partial
translations previously furnished. His version completed, he left a copy
of it with Señor Gavarrete, and brought the original with him to
Europe.[54-2] It remained in his possession until his death at Nice, when,
along with the rest of the Abbé's library, it passed into the hands of M.  
Alphonse Pinart. This eminent ethnologist learning my desire to include it
in the present series of publications, was obliging enough to offer me the
opportunity of studying it.

Previous to its discovery in Guatemala, in 1844, we have no record of it
whatsoever, and must turn to the document itself for information.

The title given it by Brasseur, and adopted by Gavarrete, Memorial de
Tecpan Atitlan, was purely factitious, and, moreover, is misleading. It
was, indeed, written at the town of Tzolola or Atitlan, on the lake of
that name, the chief city of the Tzutuhils; but its authors were
Cakchiquels; its chief theme is the history of their tribe, and it is only
by the accident of their removal to Atitlan, years after the Conquest,
that its composition occurred there. I have, therefore, adopted for it, or
at least that portion of it which I print, the much more appropriate name,
The Annals of the Cakchiquels.

I say "for that portion of it," because I print but 48 out of the 96 pages
of the original. These contain, however, all that is of general interest;
all that pertains to the ancient history of the nation. The remainder is
made up of an uninteresting record of village and family incidents, and of
a catalogue of births, baptisms and marriages. The beginning of the text
as printed in this volume, starts abruptly in the MS.  after seventeen
pages of such trivialities, and has no separate title or heading.

The caption of the first page of the MS. explains the purpose of this
miscellaneous collection of family documents. That caption is

[Illustration: Cross]

VAE MEMORIA CHIRE [C]HAOH.

THIS IS THE RECORD FOR THE PROCESS.

The word memoria is the Spanish for a record, memoir or brief, and the
Cakchiquel [c]haoh, originally contention, revolt, was, after the
Conquest, the technical term for a legal process or lawsuit. These papers,
therefore, form part of the record in one of those interminable legal
cases in which the Spanish law delighted.

The plaintiffs in the case seem to have been the Xahila family, who
brought the action to recover some of their ancient possessions or
privileges, as one of the two ruling families of the Cakchiquel nation;
and in order to establish this point, they filed in their plea the full
history of their tribe and genealogy of their family, so far as was known
to them by tradition or written record. It belongs to the class of legal
instruments, called in Spanish law Titulos, family titles. A number of
such, setting forth the descent and rights of the native princes in
Central America, are in existence, as the Titulo de Totonicapan, etc.

The date of the present rescript is not accurately fixed. As it includes
the years 1619-20, it must have been later than those dates. From the
character of the paper and writing, I should place it somewhere between
1620 and 1650.

In his Advertencia to his translation of it, Señor Gavarrete asserts that
the document is in the handwriting of one of the native authors. This is
not my opinion. It is in the small, regular, perfectly legible hand of a
professional scribe, a notarial clerk, no doubt, thoroughly at home in the
Cakchiquel language, and trained in the phonetic characters, introduced
with such success by Father Parra, as I have already mentioned. The centre
lines and catch-words are in large, clear letters, so as to attract the
eye of the barrister, as

VAE MEMORIA CHIRE VINAK CHIJ.

THIS IS THE STATEMENT OF THE TORTS.

or,

VAE MEMORIA [T]ANAVINAKIL.

THIS IS A RECORD OF THE WITNESSES.

The document is made up of the depositions and statements of a number of
members of the Xahila family, but that around which the chief interest
centres, and that which alone is printed in this volume, is the history of
his nation as written out by one of them who had already reached adult
years, at the epoch of the first arrival of the Spaniards, in 1524.
Unfortunately, his simple-hearted modesty led him to make few personal
allusions, and we can glean little information about his own history.

The writer first names himself, in the year 1582, where he speaks of "me,
Francisco Ernantez Arana."[57-1] The greater part of the manuscript,
however, was composed many years before this. Its author says that his
grandfather, the king Hun Yg, and his father, Balam, both died in 1521,
and his own marriage took place in 1522. As it was the custom of his
nation to marry young, he was probably, at the time, not over 15 years of
age.[57-2]

That Francisco Ernantez was not the author of the first part of the
document seems evident. Under the year 1560 occurs the following entry:-

"Twenty days before the Feast of the Nativity my mother died; soon after,
my late father was carried off (xchaptah) while they were burying my
mother; my father took medicine but once before we buried him. The pest
continued to rage for seven days after Easter; my mother, my father, my
brother and my sister died this year."

It could not, of course, be the son of Balam, who died in 1521, who wrote this.

Under 1563 the writer mentions:-

"At this time my second son Raphael was born, at the close of the fourth
year of the fourth cycle after the revolt."

The last entry which contains the characteristic words ixnu[c]ahol, "you
my children," occurs in the year 1559, and is the last given in my
translation. My belief is that the document I give was written by the
father of Francisco Ernantez Xahila. The latter continued it from 1560 to
1583, when it was taken up by Francisco Diaz, and later by other members
of the Xahila family.

The Abbé Brasseur was of the opinion that these Annals carry the record of
the nation back to the beginning of the eleventh century, at least. A
close examination of the account shows that this is not the case.
Gagavitz, the earliest ruler of the nation, can easily be traced as the
ancestor in the eighth remove, of the author. The genealogy is as
follows:-

1. Gagavitz, "he who came from Tulan."

2. His son, Cay Noh, who succeeded him.

3. Citan Qatu, son of Cay Noh, who also ruled.

4. His son, Citan Tihax Cablah, who does not seem to have enjoyed the
leadership. It was regained by

5. His son, Vukubatz, by the aid of the Quiche king, Quikab.[TN-8]

6. Oxlahuh Tzii, eldest son of Vukubatz, died A. D., 1509.

7. Succeeded by his eldest son, Hun Yg, who died, together with his eldest
son Balam, the father of the author, in the year 1521.

Allowing to these seven who outlived their parents an average survival of
twenty years, we are carried back to about the year 1380, as that on which
the migration, headed by Gagavitz, began its wanderings, little more,
therefore, than the length of two lives as protracted as that of the
author himself. This result is that generally obtained by a careful
scrutiny of American traditions. They very rarely are so far-reaching as
has usually been supposed. Anything spoken of as more than three or four
generations distant, may safely be assumed as belonging to myth, and not
to history.

It was the expressed intention of the Abbé Brasseur to edit the original
text with his translation, but this he did not live to accomplish. He
incorporated numerous extracts from it in his Histoire des Nations
Civilisées du Mexique et de l'Amerique Centrale, and added a few
paragraphs in the original at the end of the first volume of that work;
but these did not give much idea of the document as a whole.

When, with the aid of the previous partial translations and the assistance
of some intelligent natives, he had completed a version into French, of
that portion composed by the first two writers he gave a copy of it to Don
Juan Gavarrete. This antiquary translated it into Spanish, and published
it serially, in the Boletin de la Sociedad Economica de Guatemala,
beginning with No. 29, September, 1873, and continuing to No. 43.

Copies of this publication are, however, so scarce that I have been unable
to learn of a complete file, even in Guatemala. The dissolution of the
Sociedad Economica by order of the late President Barrios, scattered the
copies in its own archives.

Synopsis of the Annals of Xahila.

The work opens with a statement that the writer intends to record the
ancient traditions of his tribe, as handed down from their early heroes,
Gagavitz and Zactecauh. He begins with a brief genealogical table of the
four sub-tribes of the Cakchiquels (Secs. 1-3), and then relates their
notions of the creation of man at one of the mythical cities of Tulan, in
the distant west (4, 5). Having been subjected to onerous burdens in
Tulan, they determine to leave it, and are advised to go by their oracles
(6-14).

They cross the sea, proceeding toward the east, and arrive at a land
inhabited by the Nonoualcats, an Aztec people (15-17). Their first action
is formally to choose Gagavitz and Zactecauh as their joint rulers
(18-19), and under their leadership they proceed to attack the
Nonoualcats. After a severe conflict the Cakchiquels are defeated, and are
obliged to seek safety in further wanderings. At length they reach
localities in Guatemala (20). At this point an episode is introduced of
their encounter with the spirit of the forests, Zakiqoxol (21, 22).

They meet with various nations, some speaking a totally different
language;  others, as the Mams and Pokomams, dialects of their own. With
the last mentioned they have serious conflicts (23-29). During one of
their journeys, Zactecauh is killed by falling down a ravine (30). An
episode here relates the traditional origin of one of their festivals,
that in honor of Gagxanul, "the uncoverer of the fire" (31, 32).

Their first arrival at Lake Atitlan is noted (33), and the war that they
waged with the Ikomags (34). Here an episode describes the traditional
origin of the festival of Tolgom (35-37). A peaceful division of the lake
with the Tzutuhils is effected, and marriages take place between the
tribes (38).

The Cakchiquels, Quiches and Akahals now settle permanently in their
towns, and develop their civilization (39, 40). They meet with numerous
hardships, as well as internal dissensions, the chief Baqahol at one time
obtaining the leadership. They succeed in establishing, however, family
life and a fixed religious worship, though in almost constant war with
their neighbors (41-46).

Gagavitz, "he who came from Tulan," dies, and is followed by Cay Noh and
Cay Batz (47). These acknowledge the supremacy of Tepeuh, the king of the
Quiches, and are sent out by him to collect tribute from the various
tribes. They are seduced and robbed by the Tzutuhils, and conceal
themselves in a cave, out of fear of Tepeuh. He forgives them, however,
and they continue in power until their death (49-59).

After this, a period of strife follows, and the names of four successive
rulers are mentioned, but none of the occurrences of their reigns (60-66).

The narrative is resumed when Qikab, king of the Quiches, orders the
Cakchiquels to settle at the town of Chiavar. He appoints, as their
rulers, the warriors Huntoh and Vukubatz. A revolt agains[TN-9] Qikab,
headed by his two sons, results in his defeat and death (67-81). During
this revolt, a contest between the Cakchiquels takes place, the close of
which finds the latter established in their final stronghold, the famous
fortress of "Iximche on the Ratzamut" (82-85).

At the death of Huntoh and Vukubatz, they are succeeded by Lahuh Ah and
Oxlahuh Tzii, who carry on various wars, and especially defeat the Quiches
in a general engagement, which is vividly described (86-93). They also
conquer the Akahals, killing their king Ichal, and the Tzutuhils, with
their king Caoke (94-98).

During their reign, a sanguinary insurrection occurred in Iximche, of such
importance that the author adopts its date as the era from which to reckon
all subsequent events (99-104). This date corresponded to the year 1496,
A. D.(?)

The following years are marked by a series of unimportant wars, the
outbreak of a destructive pestilence, and finally, in 1524, twenty-eight
years after the Insurrection, by the arrival of the Spanish forces under
Alvarado (105-144).

The later pages are taken up with an account of the struggles between the
natives and the whites, until the latter had finally established their
supremacy.

Remarks on the Printed Text.

In printing the MS. of Xahila, I have encountered certain difficulties
which have been only partially surmounted. As the Cakchiquel, though a
written, is not a printed tongue, there has no rule been established as to
the separation of verbs and their pronominal subjects, of nouns and their
possessive pronouns, of the elements of compound particles, of tense and
mode signs, etc. In the MSS. the utmost laxity prevails in these respects,
and they seem not to have been settled points in the orthography of the
tongue.

The frequent elisions and euphonic alterations observable in these
compounds, prove that to the native mind they bore the value of a single
word, as we are aware they did from a study of the structure of this class
of languages.

I have, therefore, felt myself free to exercise in the printed page nearly
the same freedom which I find in the MS. At first, this will prove
somewhat puzzling to the student of the original, but in a little while he
will come to recognize the radical from its augment without difficulty.

Another trouble has been the punctuation. In the original this consists
principally of dashes and commas, often quite capriciously distributed.
Here also, I have been lax in reducing the text to the requirements of
modern standards, and have left much latitude to the reader to arrange it
for himself.

Capital letters are not often used in the original to distinguish proper
names, and as the text has been set up from a close copy of the first
text, some irregularities in this respect also must be anticipated.

The paragraphs numbered in the text are distinctly marked in the original,
but are not numbered there. The numerals have been added for convenience
of reference.

FOOTNOTES:

[10-1] Dr. Otto Stoll, Zur Ethnographie der Republik Guatemala, p. 157
(Zurich, 1884), on the phonetic laws which have controlled the divergence
of the two tongues, Cakchiquel and Maya.  See the same writer in his
"Supplementary Remarks on a Grammar of the Cakchiquel Language,"
translated by Dr. D. G. Brinton, in Proceedings of the American
Philosophical Society, for 1885.

[10-2] Recordacion Florida, Discurso Historial, Natural, Material, Militar
y Politico del Reino de Goathemala. Lib. II, Chap. I.

[10-3] Myths of the New World, p. 181; American Hero-Myths, pp. 44, 73,
80, 162, etc.

[11-1] "Cuatro generosos mancebos, nobles hermanos," says Fuentes y
Guzman, Recordacion Florida, Lib. I, Cap. II. The story of the four
brothers who settled Guatemala is repeated by Torquemada, Monarchia
Indiana, Lib. XI, Cap. XVII, and other writers.

[11-2] The Maya Chronicles, 109-122 (Library of Aboriginal American
Literature, Vol. I). For the evidence of the wholly mythical character of
the Toltecs, and of their "King,"  Quetzalcoatl, see my American
Hero-Myths, Chapter III. (Philadelphia, 1882).

Sanchez y Leon, quoting apparently some ancient Cakchiquel refrain, gives
as the former name of their royal race, ru tzutuh Tulan, the Flower of
Tulan, which wondrous city he would place in Western Asia. Apuntamientos
de la Historia de Guatemala, p. 2.

[12-1] Herrera observes of the natives of Guatemala, that the Nahuatl
tongue was understood among them, though not in use between themselves.
"Corre entre ellos la lengua Mexicana, aunque la tienen particular."
Historia de las Indias Occidentales, Dec. IV, Lib. VIII, Cap. VIII.

[12-2] I have in my possession the only grammar of this dialect probably
ever written: Arte de la Lengua Vulgar Mexicana de Guatemala, MS., in a
handwriting of the eighteenth century, without name of author.

[13-1] The four names are given in this form in the Requête de Plusieurs
Chefs Indiens d' Atitlan à Philippe II, 1571, in Ternaux-Compans, Recueil
des Pièces relatives a la Conquête du Mexique, p. 419. The spelling of the
last is there Tecocitlan. For their analysis, see Prof. Baschmann,[TN-10]
Ueber die Aztekischen Ortsnamen, p. 719.

[14-1] "Si bien se advierte, todo cuanto hacian y decian, era en orden al
maiz, que poco faltó para tenerlo por Dios, y era, y es, tanto el encanto
y embelezo que tienen con las milpas que por ellas olvidan hijos y muger y
otro cualquiera deleite, como si fuera la milpa su ultimo fin y
bienaventuranza." Chronica de la S. Provincia del Santissimo Nombre de
Jesus de Guattemala, Cap. VII. MS. of the seventeenth century, generally
known as the Cronica Franciscana.

[14-2] See Francisco Ximenez, Las Historias del Origen de los Indios de
esta Provincia de Guatemala, p. 191. (Ed. Scherzer, London and Vienna,
1857).

[14-3] Their first conqueror, the truculent Captain Pedro de Alvarado,
speaks of the muy grandes tierras de panes, the immense corn fields he saw
on all sides. Relacion hecha per Pedro de Alvarado á Hernando Cortéz, in
the Biblioteca de Autores Españoles, Tom. XXII, p. 459.

[15-1] "Hay mucho algodon, é son las mugeres buenas hilanderas é haçen
gentiles telas dello." Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdés, Historia
General y Natural de las Indias, Par.  III, Lib. III, Cap. IV. "De la
fertilidad de la tierra é gobernacion de Guatimala."

[15-2] "Son muy dados á edificar, y en lo que hoy vemos erigido de los
antiguos, reconocemos ser máquinas soberbias." Fuentes y Guzman,
Recordacion Florida, Lib. II, Cap. I.

[15-3] "Esta ciudad es bien obrada y fuerte á maravilla." Relacion de
Pedro de Alvarado, in Bib. de Autores Españoles, Tom. XXII, p. 459. So
Herrera wrote from his authorities: "En Utlatan (i. e., the city of
Gumarcaah, capital of the Quiches), havia muchos, i mui grandes templos de
sus dioses, de maravillosos edificios." Historia de las Indias
Occidentales, Dec. III, Lib. IV, Cap. XIX.

[16-1] The Lineal Measures of the Semi-Civilized Nations of Mexico and
Central America, by D. G. Brinton, in Proceedings of the American
Philosophical Society, and separately.

[16-2] "En la Provincia de Utlatan, junto á Guatemala, se averiguò por las
Pinturas, que los Naturales tenian de sus antiguedades, demas de
ochocientos años, etc." Herrera, Historia de las Indias Occidentales, Dec.
III, Lib. IV, Cap. XVIII.

[17-1] "Son amigos de hacer colloquios y decir coplas en sus bailes."
Thomas Coto, Vocabulario de la Lengua Cakchiquel. MS. sub voce, Poesia.

[17-2] "Son flecheros y no tienen hierba." Oviedo, Historia General de
Indias, Par. III, Lib. III, Cap. IV.

[18-1] This word is doubtful, as I do not find it in the dictionaries, and
judge of its meaning from its derivation and context. See the Vocabulary.
Sanchez y Leon speaks of the "very long lances pointed with flint," used
by these people. Apuntamientos de la Historia de Guatemala, p. 27.

[19-1] The statement of Gavarrete, in his notes to Sanchez y Leon,
Historia de Guatemala, p. 3, that the Xahils and Zotzils were two branches
of the ruling family, the one residing at Iximche, the other at Solola,
rests on a misapprehension, as will be seen from the Annals published in
this volume.

[20-1] It is interesting in this connection to observe how widespread was
the symbolic significance of the canopy, or sun shade, as a mark of
dignity. The student of Shakspeare will recall the lines in his 125th
sonnet-

"Were it aught to me I bore the canopy, With my extern the outward honouring;"

while the ethnologist may consult Richard Andree's suggestive essay, Der
Schirm als Würdezeichen, in his Ethnographische Parallelen und Vergleiche,
p. 250 (Stuttgart, 1878).

[21-1] Alvarado writes "La tierra es muy poblada de pueblos muy recios."  
Relacion, etc., ubi suprá, p. 459. The following extract is quoted from
Las Casas, Historia Apologetica, MS., by Mr. Squier, in his notes to
Palacio:-

"En el Reyno de Guatemala, en la parte que va por la Sierra, estaban
ciudades de caba muy grandes, con maravillosos edificios de cal y canto,
de los cuales yo vi muchos; y otros pueblos sin numero de aquellas
sierras."

Sanchez y Leon states that there were, in all, thirty independent native
states in the former confines of Guatemala. Historia de Guatemala, p. 1.

[22-1] On the derivation of Guatemala, see Buschmann, Ueber die
Aztekischen Ortsnamen, p. 719. That this is probably a translation of the
Cakchiquel Molomic chee, which has the same meaning, and is a place-name
mentioned in the Annals, I shall show on a later page.

[22-2] See the Otra Relacion hecha por Pedro de Albarado à Hernando
Cortes, printed in the Bibliotheca de Autores Españoles, Tom. XXII, p.
460.

[23-1] Bernal Diaz, Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva España,
Cap.  CXCIII.

[23-2] Historia de Guatemala, ô Recordacion Florida, Lib. XV, Cap. V. The
Recordacion was first printed at Madrid, 1882-83, edited by Don Justo
Zaragoza, as one of the numbers of the Biblioteca de los Americanistas.

[27-1] Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan, Vol.
II, Chap. IX. I am inclined to believe that the original stone, evidently
supposed to be of great value, had been stolen, and this piece of slate
substituted. It was sewed up in a bag, which makes the supposition
probable, as it offered facility to conceal the theft.

[28-1] They are referred to by the Archbishop Garcia Pelaez, in these words: 

"Los planos y vistas tomadas por el comisionado y el informe que las
acompaña, muestran vestijios de adoratorios, fortificaciones y trazas de
edificios, calles y plazas ajustadas à dimensiones y con elecion de
materias en su estructura."--Memorias para la Historia del Antiguo Reyno
de Guatemala. Por Don Francisco de Paula Garcia Pelaez, Tom. I, p. 15,
(Guatemala, 1851).

[28-2] The names applied to these intercalary days are analyzed
differently by various authorities. For the etymology given of nemontemi,
I have followed M. Remi Simeon, in his notes to Dr. Jourdanet's
translation of Sahagun's Historia de Nueva España; the Cakchiquel [tz]api
is undoubtedly from [tz]ap, fault, evil, crime.

[31-1] May is allied to the verb meho, to go somewhere and return again.
Hence may came to mean a cycle of years, months or days.

[31-2] Apuntamientos de la Historia de Guatemala, p. 28.

[32-1] "Chinamitl, seto o cerca de cañas," from chinantia, to build a
fence, to enclose.--Molina, Vocabulario de la Lengua Mexicana.

[32-2] Torresano, in his Arte de la Lengua Cakchiquel, MS., gives this
word as ca, which indicates its probable derivation from the verb cae, to
join together, to unite, "those united by a common tie."

[32-3] Coto, Vocabulario de la Lengua Cakchiquel, MS., sub voce, Cuñado.

[32-4] Coto, u. s., s. v. Alguaçil. The word [c,]alam is now applied to
the canvas or tablets on which are painted the saints in the churches. It
also means a box or chest.--Dicc.  Cakchiquel Anon.

[32-5] See Brasseur, Hist. du Mexique et l' Am. Cent., Tom. II, pp.
489-90.

[33-1] "Tienen tambien renombres de sus chinamitales ò parcialidades que
tambien son de signos vel nombres señalados, como Xahila, etc."--Coto,
Vocabulario, MS., s. v. Renombre.

[34-1] Hist. du Mexique, Tom. II, p. 84.

[34-2] Their names are given in the Titulos de la Casa de Ixcuin Nehaib,
p. 3.  They are called "pueblos principales, cabezas de calpules." The
Nahuatl word, calpulli, here used, meant the kinsfolk actual and adopted,
settled together. They were the gentes of the tribe. See Ad. F.  
Bandelièr, On the Social Organization and Mode of Government of the
Ancient Mexicans, for a full explanation of their nature and powers.

[34-3] The Lenâpé and their Legends, p. 139.

[37-1] Father Coto, in his MS., Vocabulario Cakchiquel, gives the
rendering "mandadero," and states that one was elected each year by the
principals of each chinamitl, to convey messages.  He adds: "Usan mucho de
este nombre en el Pueblo Atitlan."

[37-2] Compare my edition of the Cakchiquel Grammar, p. 58. Brasseur
translates this title erroneously, "decorated with a bracelet."--Hist. des
Nations Civilisées, etc., Tome. II, p.  515.

[37-3] "El retorico, platico." Pantaleon de Guzman gives the fuller form,
naol ah uchan, which means "he who knows, the master of
speech."--Compendio de Nombres en Lengua Cakchiquel, MS.

[37-4] Usually written by ellipsis, atzih vinak. Brasseur translates it
"distributor of presents," but it appears to be from tzih, word, speech.
The vocabularies are, as usual, very unsatisfactory. "Atzijh vinak,
Principal deste nombre."--Dicc. Cakchiquel Anon.

[38-1] Dicc. Cakchiquel Anon,[TN-11] MS., sub voce.

[38-2] Requète de Plusieurs Chefs Indiens d'Atitlan à Philippe II, in
Ternaux-Compans, Recueil de Pièces relatives à la Conquête du Mexique, p.
418.

[38-3] Not "of the bird's nest," "ceux du nid de l'oiseau," as Brasseur
translates it (Hist. du Mexique, Tome. II, p. 89), nor "casa de la
águila," house of the eagle, as it is rendered by Fuentes y Guzman,
Recordacion Florida, Tom. I, p. 21. [c,]iquin is the generic term for
bird.

[39-1] The Names of the Gods in the Kiche Myths of Central America, in the
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 1881.

[40-1] "Chamalcan u bi qui gabauil Cakchequeleb, xa Zotz u
vachibal."--Popol Vuh, p. 224.

[40-2] Hist. des Nations Civ. du Mexique, Tom. II, p. 173.

[40-3] "El quinto Cam, esto es; amarillo, pero su significado es
culebra."--Ximenez, Las Historias del Origen de los Indios de Guatemala,
p. 215. There are two errors in this extract. The name is not Cam, but
Can, and it does not mean yellow, which is [t]an.

[41-1] I have suggested an explanation of this strange term to apply to
the highest and most beneficent of their divinities, in a short article in
the American Antiquarian, 1885, "The Chief God of the Algonkins in his
Character as a Cheat and a Liar."

[42-1] Pantaleon de Guzman, Compendio de Nombres en Lengua Cakchiquel, MS.
On the rôle of the Tzitzimime in Aztec mythology see my American
Hero-Myths, p. 78.

[42-2] "Al duende que anda en los montes llaman ru vinakil chee vel
çaki[c]oxol."--Coto, Vocabulario, MS., s. v. Monte. Zak, white; [c]ox, to
make fire. Brasseur's translation, "Le blanc abime de feu," is
indefensible.

[42-3] See a paper entitled "The Folk Lore of Yucatan," contributed by me
to the Folk-Lore Journal, Vol. I, 1883.

[43-1] For an interesting note on the zaztun, see Apolinar Garcia y
Garcia, Historia de la Guerra de Castas en Yucatan, p. XXIV (folio,
Merida, 1865).

[43-2] For the derivation of Xibalbay, and for the myths referred to in
the text, see my article, before referred to, The Names of the Gods in the
Kiche Myths, pp. 27, 28.

[44-1] The Maya Chronicles, pp. 110, 111. Vol. I of the Library of
Aboriginal American Literature.

[45-1] Brasseur, Juarros, Fuentes y Guzman, etc.

[45-2] Thomas Coto, Vocabulario de la Lengua Cakchiquel, MS., 1651. Sub
voce, Sacrificar hombres, quoting Varea.

[45-3] "Sacandole el corazon y asperjando, con la sangre de la victima á
los cuatro vientos cardinales."--Apuntamientos de la Historia de
Guatemala, p. 26.

[46-1] The Names of the Gods in the Kiche Myths, pp. 21, 22.

[47-1] "Labah, agorar y guerrear, porque agoraban si la hacian ô
no."--Ximenez, Vocabulario de las Tres Lenguas, sub voce.

[47-2] These particulars are from the work of Jose Sanchez y Leon,
Apuntamientos de la Historia de Guatemala, pp. 26, 27.

[48-1] Recordacion Florida, Lib. IX, Cap. VII.

[48-2] Vocabulario de la Lengua Cakchiquel, MS. (1651).

[48-3] Apuntamientos de la Historia de Guatemala, p. 27.

[49-1] Fr. Estevan Torresano, Arte de la Lengua Cakchiquel, MS., in my
possession.

[51-1] Supplementary Remarks to the Grammar of the Cakchiquel Language,
edited by D. G. Brinton.--Proceedings of the American Philosophical
Society, 1885.

[52-1] See The Maya Chronicles, p. 67, and note.

[53-1] "Die bewundernswürdige Feinheit und consequente Logik in der
Ausbildung des Maya Zeitwortes setzt eine Kultur voraus, die sicherlich
weit ueber die Zeiträume hinaus zurückreicht, welche man bis jetzt
geneight war, der Amerikanischen Civilization zuzuschreiben."--Otto Stoll,
Zur Ethnographie der Republik Guatemala, s. 148 (Zurich, 1884). Compare
the remarks of Wilhelm von Humboldt on the Maya conjugation, in his essay
on the American verb, as published in my Philosophic Grammar of the
American Languages, as set forth by Wilhelm von Humboldt, pp. 35-39
(Philada., 1885).

[54-1] Gavarrete's words are, "Pasó por manos de muchos personas versadas
en los idiomas indigenos sin que pudiese obtenerse una traduccion integra
y exacta de su testo, habiendo sido bastante, sin embargo, lo que de su
sentido pudo percibirse, para venir en conocimiento de su grande
importancia historica."--Boletin de la Sociedad Economica.

[54-2] The Abbé says that Gavarrete gave him the original (Bibliothêque
Mexico-Guatemalienne, p. 14). But that gentleman does not take to himself
credit for such liberality. He writes "El testo original quedó sin embargo
en su poder," etc. Ubi suprá.

[57-1] As the slight aspirate, the Spanish h, does not exist in the
Cakchiquel alphabet, nor yet the letter d,the[TN-12] baptismal name
"Hernandez," takes the form "Ernantez."

[57-2] "Se casan muy niños," says Sanchez y Leon, speaking of the
natives.--Apuntamientos de la Historia de Guatemala, p. 24.

THE ANNALS

OF

THE CAKCHIQUELS.

BY

A MEMBER OF THE XAHILA FAMILY.

[Cross]

1. VAE XTINU[c,]IBAH HALAL QUITZIH HE NABEY

[original deleted]

[Cross]

1. Here I am going to write a few of the sayings of our earliest fathers
and ancestors, those who begot men of old, before the hills and plains
here were inhabited; then only rabbits and birds were here, they say, when
they took possession of the hills and plains, they, our fathers and
ancestors from Tulan, oh my children.

2. And I shall write the sayings of our earliest fathers and ancestors,
Gagavitz the name of one, Zactecauh the name of the other; and these are
the sayings they spake as we came from the other side of the sea, from the
land of Tulan, where we were brought forth and begotten by our mothers and
our fathers, oh my children, as said of old the fathers, the ancestors,
Gagavitz and Zactecauh by name, the two heroes who came from Tulan and
begot us, the Xahila.

3. These are the names of the houses and clans of Gekaquch, Bagahola and
Cibakihay. 1. Qatun and Qhutiah by name, begat Bagahola. 2. Tzanat and
Guguchom by name, begat those of Gekaquch. 3. The chief Daqui and the
chief Ghahom begat those of Cibakihay. Thus we were four clans when we
came from Tulan, we, the Cakchiquel people, as we are told, oh my
children. Those of Cavek, Totomay and Xurcah by name, also married and
begat; also those of Quehay, Loch and Xet by name, married and begat;
those of Pak, Telom, Qoxahil and Qobakil by name, also married and begat;
and also those of Ykomag married; and these four divisions which thus
married are the tribes so-called.

4. These are the sayings of Gagavitz and Zactecauh, and these are the very
words which Gagavitz and Zactecauh spoke: "Four men came from Tulan; at
the sunrise is one Tullan, and one is at Xibalbay, and one is at the
sunset; and we came from this one at the sunset; and one is where is God.
Therefore there are four Tulans, they say, oh our sons; from the
sunsetting we came, from Tullan, from beyond the sea; and it was at Tullan
that arriving we were brought forth, coming we were produced, by our
mothers and our fathers, as they say.

5. "And now is brought forth the Obsidian Stone by the precious Xibalbay,
the glorious Xibalbay, and man is made by the Maker, the Creator; the
Obsidian Stone was his sustainer, when man was made in misery, and when
man was formed; he was fed with wood, he was fed with leaves; he wished
only the earth; he could not speak, he could not walk; he had no blood, he
had no flesh; so say our fathers, our ancestors, oh you my sons. Nothing
was found to feed him; at length something was found to feed him. Two
brutes knew that there was food in the place called Paxil, where these
brutes were, the Coyote and the Crow by name. Even in the refuse of maize
it was found, when the brute Coyote was killed as he was separating his
maize, and was searching for bread to knead, (killed) by the brute Tiuh
Tiuh by name; and the blood of the serpent and the tapir was brought from
within the sea by means of Tiuh Tiuh, with which the maize was to be
kneaded; the flesh of man was formed of it by the Maker, the Creator; and
well did they, the Maker and the Creator, know him who was born, him who
was begotten; they made man as he was made, they formed man as they made
him, so they tell. There were thirteen men, fourteen women; they talked,
they walked, they had blood, they had flesh. They married, and one had two
wives. Therefore the race copulated, this race of old, as they tell, oh
our sons. They brought forth daughters, they brought forth sons, those
first men. Thus men were made, and thus the Obsidian Stone was made, for
the enclosure of Tullan; thus we came to where the Zotzils were at the
gates of Tullan; arriving we were born, coming we were produced, coming we
gave the tribute, in the darkness, in the night, oh our sons." Thus spoke
Gagavitz and Zactecauh, oh my sons, and what they said has not been
forgotten. They are our great ancestors; these are the words with which
they encouraged us of old.

6. Then we were ordered to come by our mothers and fathers, we the
thirteen divisions and the seven tribes, the thirteen divisions of
warriors; and we came to Tulan in the darkness and the night, and coming
gave our tribute; they took tribute from the warriors of the seven tribes;
they were drawn up in order on the left of Tulan where were the people of
the seven tribes; on the right-hand of Tulan were arranged the warriors.
First the tribute was taken from the seven tribes, next the tribute was
taken from the warriors. But it was only jade and silver, and green
feathers worked and sewed together, together with articles painted and
articles sculptured, and for gifts, flutes, songs, astrological calendars
and reckoning calendars, fine and common cacao; only such riches were paid
in Tulan, and the only riches the warriors bore from Tulan were their
bows, their bucklers and their rounded shields.

7. Then to our mothers and fathers it was commanded and said: "You, my
sons, you, my daughters, these are your burdens which you shall sustain
and maintain." So spoke the Obsidian Stone. "There are your hills and
plains; there, beyond the ocean, are your hills and plains, oh you my
sons, there it is that you shall lift up your faces. These are the burdens
which I shall give you, your riches, your majesty;" thus it was said to
the thirteen divisions, the seven tribes, to the thirteen divisions of
warriors, and then was given them the wood and stone which deceive; as
they descended from Tulan and Xibalbay, were given to them the wood and
stone (idols), as related those our first fathers and ancestors Gagavitz
and Zactecauh. These, in truth, were their burdens, and these were their
very words.

8. They say that the seven tribes arrived first at Tulan, and we the
warriors followed, having taken up the tributes of all the seven tribes
when the gate of Tulan was opened.

9. The Tzutuhils were the first of the seven tribes who finished coming to
Tulan, and then we the warriors came, as they say. Then it was said to our
fathers and mothers, then we were commanded: "Oh, you, you my daughters,
you my sons, I shall give you your riches, your majesty, I shall give you
your distinction, your sovereignty, your canopy, your royal throne;
because you have carried the rounded shield as your riches, the bow, the
buckler, the feathers, the war paint. If you have paid as tribute jade,
silver, feather stuffs, if you have paid articles painted, articles
sculptured, astrological calendars, reckoning calendars, flute songs,
songs hated of you because the seven tribes paid this tribute, yet you
shall in turn take it, you shall receive more than others, you shall lift
up your face. I shall not give you their sovereignty, of which you have
borne the burden; truly their fortune is great; do not hate them; also do
you be great, with wealth of rounded shields. Sleep not, sit not, my
daughters, my sons, I will give you the power, to you the seven rulers, in
equal shares, and your bows, your bucklers, your majesty, your power, your
sovereignty, your canopy, your royal seat; these are your first
treasures." Thus it was spoken to the Quiche men, when the thirteen
divisions of warriors arrived at Tulan. And first came the Quiche men;
they acquitted themselves of their tribute in the first month; then
arrived their companions one after another, by their families, their
clans, their tribes, their divisions, in sequence, and the warriors, until
the whole of them had finished arriving in Tulan.

10. Those of Rabinal came, the Zotzil men came, the Tukuchee came, the
Tuhalahay, the Vuchabahay, the Ahqhumilahay, the Lamagi came, the Cumatz,
the men of Akahal came, the Tucuru ended it; and thus all are given. After
that came thirteen warriors, we the Bacah Pokoh, and the Bacah Xahil; one
of us went first, and one followed after; the first Bacah was Bacah Pok,
who went first, and we followed after, we the Bacah Xahil, as was said by
our first fathers, our ancestors, oh you our sons. Already the seven
villages had come, and some time after began the coming of the
warriors.--Then we came, we the Cakchiquel men. Truly, we were the last,
as we arrived at Tulan, and there was not another remaining when we came,
as said Gagavitz and Zactecauh; we were ordered to come thus: "These are
your houses, these your clans;" they said to Gekaquch, Baqahol, and
Cibakihay: "These are your head chiefs, even one head chief, and one
official messenger;" thus they said to Gekaquch, Baqahol, and Cibakihay.
"Bring forth daughters, bring forth sons, marry one another, ye rulers,"
said they. Therefore those were mothers and ancestors. But the first, the
first came the Cibakihay, then came the Baqahol, and then came the
Gekaquch, the first clans.

11. Thus, therefore, came we, the rulers, and then we were ordered by our
mothers and fathers: "Go, my daughters, go, my sons, your houses, your
clans, have departed. Not thus shalt thou always follow, thou, the
youngest son; truly, great shall be thy fortune, and thou shalt be
maintained, as is said by the idols called, the one, Belehe Toh, the other
Hun Tihax, to whom we say each pays tribute," as is related.

12. Then they put on their bows, their shields, their lances, their
feathers, and their paint, given (as a defence) against the bugs, the
dirt, the boding owls, the blackness, the rain, the fogs, the clouds; then
we were commanded: "Great shall be your burden; sleep not, sit not, be not
cast down, you, my sons; you shall be rich, you shall be powerful; let
your rounded shields be your riches, your bows, your bucklers. If you have
given as tribute jade, silver, feather work, hated songs, on that account
they shall be given you; you shall receive more than others; you shall
lift up your face; for jade, silver, painted articles, engraved articles,
all the seven nations have paid as tribute; but there, in those hills you
shall lift up your faces, there is a refuge for all of you, there you
shall lift up your faces, your bows, your bucklers. One shall be your
first chief, and one his junior, of you the thirteen warriors, you the
thirteen princes, you the thirteen equal chiefs, to whom I shall give the
bows and bucklers. Soon you shall lift up your face and have your burden,
your bows and bucklers; there is war there toward the east, at the place
called Zuyva; there you shall go, there is the place for your bucklers
which I shall give you, you indeed, you my sons." So it was spoken to us
when we came to Tullan, before the warriors of the seven villages; and
when we arrived at Tullan, truly our coming was terrifying, with our
accompaniments against the bugs, the dirt, the clouds, the fogs, the mud,
the darkness, the rain, when we entered Tulan.

13. And soon the divination began with them. A bird called "the guard of
the ravine," began to complain within the gate of Tulan, as we were going
forth from Tulan. "You shall die, you shall be lost, I am your portent,"
said this brute to us. "Do you not believe me? Truly your state shall be a
sad one." Thus spake to us this brute, as is related.

14. Then another bird called "the owl," seated on a red tree, complained
and said thus: "I am your portent," he said. "You are not our portent,
although you would like to be," we answered this owl. Such were the
messengers who gave them their idols, said our fathers, our ancestors of
old.  Then another bird called the parroquet complained in the sky, and
said: "I am your portent; ye shall die."  But we said to the brute, "Do
not speak thus; you are but the sign of spring. You wail first when it is
spring;  when the rain ceases, you wail." Thus we spoke to him.

15. Then we arrived at the sea coast. There were gathered together the
warriors of all the seven villages at the sea. A great number perished,
devoured by sorrow. "There is no means of passing, nor is it told of any
one who has passed the sea," said all the warriors of the seven villages.
"Who can, who will find means to pass the sea? In thee alone, my brother,
in thee alone have we hope," said they all. We said to them, "You may go
on; you may be first. Who will find the means of crossing, while we are
here?" All of us spoke thus, and then all of them said: "Have pity on us,
our brother, since we are all stretched on the shore of the ocean without
seeing our hills and plains. As soon as we were asleep, we were conquered,
we the two oldest sons, we the chiefs and guides of the warriors of the
seven villages, oh my brother. Would that we had passed, and could see the
burdens given us by our mothers and fathers, oh my brother!" So they
spoke. At that time the Quiche nation had increased. Our ancestors,
Gagavitz and Zactecauh, said: "We said to them, 'we suffer also, our
brother, we do not live stretched out on the shore of the ocean, where we
cannot see our mountains where they are, as you say, oh you warriors, you
people of the seven villages. We shall pass over at once. Thus we spoke;
and soon all of them rejoiced.'"

16. Now there was a red tree, our staff, which we had taken in passing
from the gate of Tulan, and therefore we are called the Cakchiquel people,
oh our sons, said Gagavitz and Zactecauh.  The root of this, our staff,
was pushed into the sand of the sea, and soon the sea was separated from
the sand, and for this the red tree served which we brought from Tulan.
Soon the sand was as a line, and we passed out; it became wide above the
sea and below the sea. Then all rejoiced, when they saw sand in the sea,
and many counseled together. "There indeed is our hope, we must gather
together on these first lands," they said;  "here only can we arrange
ourselves since leaving Tulan."

17. They rushed forth and passed across the sand, and following one
another we came to the shore of the sea, and we arrived at the edge of the
water. Then all the seven villages began to fear, and all the warriors
spoke, and then the seven tribes spoke: "Do you not see our burdens? Yet
it is not long since we lifted up our faces with you, ye rulers, ye
warriors; did we not come from the sun rising with you, that we might seek
our hills and valleys? Have you not seen the burden, the green feathers,
the garlands?"  So spake the seven tribes, and commanded and said, "It is
well," and the seven tribes took counsel what to do.  Afterwards they went
on to the place Deoçacvancu; and then they all went on to another place
called Meahauh. There many gathered together; having thus arrived at
Meahauh, they thence departed for the place called Valval Xucxuc, and
there they rested. There many gathered together, and departing they
arrived at the place called Tapcu Oloman.

18. Then all gathered together there, and we took counsel there, said our
fathers and ancestors, Gagavitz and Zactecauh; and it was after we had
arrived there that we first unloosed our burdens. All the warriors said:
"Whom shall we make to be our head, we the masters of arms, the masters of
booty, the assignors of tribute, oh thou, our younger brother, and thou,
our older brother?" So said they to us.  Then we said to them: "It is but
a little while that we looked to make war, and already we are prepared,
our standards are ready, our burdens are loosed; they are the burdens
which were given us by our mothers and fathers; here are our standards; I,
I am the Sage." Thus we spoke when we unloosed our burden, our loads of
maize, our standards, our paints, bows, shields, and double-headed lances.

19. Thus we showed ourselves before the face of all; first we adorned
ourselves with our bows, our shields, our two-headed lances, our feathers,
our paints; we put them all on, and we said to them, "On with you, you our
younger brothers, you our elder brothers, truly this war is certain, we
must enter upon it, we must test our bows, our shields. It makes little
difference which way we go; choose ye the road," said we to them. "It is
not for us to choose the road," said they. "Choose thou the road, thou our
younger brother, thou our teacher," said they to us. Then we chose the
road, and we told it to them. All of us then gathered together, and soon
we met face to face a party of warriors, called those of Nonovalcat and
those of Xulpit. They were on the border of the ocean; they were there in
their boats.

20. Truly it was fearful, the arrow-shooting and the fighting; but soon
they were routed by us, and half the fighting was in the boats. When those
of Nonovalcat and Xulpit had been routed, all the warriors spoke: "How
shall we cross over the sea, our younger brother?" they asked. And we said
to them: "We shall cross in the boats, while our battle is not yet known."
Then we entered into the boats of those of Nonovalcat; when we came from
the east then we entered them. Truly, it was fearful in the town and
houses of those of Zuyva, there in the east; for when we entered at the
furthest house, they could not understand how we had entered. Truly, it
was fearful there among the houses; truly, the noise was great, the dust
was oppressive; fighting was going on in the houses, fighting with the
dogs, the wasps, fighting with all. One attack, two attacks we made, and
we ourselves were routed, as truly they were in the air, they were in the
earth, they ascended and they descended, everywhere against us, and thus
they showed their magic and their sorcery. All the warriors, each one by
himself, returned to the place, Tapcu Oloman; we gathered together in
sadness, there where we had put on our feathers, where we had adorned
ourselves, oh you our children, as was related by Gagavitz and Zactecauh.
When we asked each other where our salvation was, it was said to us by the
Quiche men: "As it thundered and resounded in the sky, truly in the sky
must our salvation be;" so they said, and therefore the name Tohohil was
given to them. The Zotzil nation said that really there was salvation in
the mouth of an ara, and so the name Cakix was given to them. We, the
Cakchiquels, we said: "Truly, in the middle of the valley lies our
salvation, entering there into the earth." Therefore the name was given,
Chitagah.  Another, who said salvation was in the water, was called
Gucumatz. The Tukuche said salvation was in a town on high, so they were
called Ahcicamag. The Akahals said, "We may be saved in a honeycomb,"
therefore they were called Akalahay. Thus all received their names. Do not
believe, however, that many were saved.  Do not forget that all these
names came from the east. But the Evil One scattered us abroad, said
Gagavitz and Zactecauh. Thus we spoke when we turned about in our hills
and valleys: "We lately took up our bows and shields, if anywhere there
was war; let us now seek our hills and valleys." Thus we spoke. Then we
were scattered about in many places; then we all went forth, each division
its own way, each family its own way.  Then a return was made to the place
Valval Xucxuc, and they passed on to the places called Meme and Tacna, and
they arrived at the places called Zakiteuh and Zakiquva. They went on to
Meahauh and Cutamchah, and there they turned about and came to the places
called Zakihuyu and Tepacuman. Then it was they could see their own hills
and vales; and they came to the place called Togohil, where the Quiche men
made a beginning.  As they returned to Pantzic and Paraxon, we made a
beginning, oh you our children, as said our first fathers and ancestors,
Gagavitz and Zactecauh. Such were the hills and vales through which we
passed and turned about. "Let not the praise due us for these our words
cease, nor let it be forgotten that truly to you we gave the places we
passed over." Thus spoke of old our fathers and our ancestors.

21. These are the places over which they passed to Popoabah, whence they
descended to Qhopiytzel, among the broken rocks, among the great trees;
then they descended to Mukulicya (the hidden waters) and Molomic Chee (the
stacked-up wood). There they met the Qoxahil and the Qobakil, as they were
named, at the places called Chiyol and Chiabak, there they met them, the
only survivors of the Bacah, by their magic power. When they met them,
they asked and said, "Who art thou?" Qoxahil and Qobakil answered: "O thou
our lord, do not kill us; I am thy brother, thy elder brother. We two
alone remain from the Bacah Pok and the Bacah Xahil. I am the servant of
your throne, your sovereignty, O thou our lord." So spoke they. Then spoke
Gagavitz and Zactecauh: "Thou art not of our house; thou art not of our
tribe." But later it was said by the tribes: "Truly thou art our brother,
our elder." They are those called Telom and Cakibak. When they went forth
from Chiyol and Chiabak, twice they turned their steps and passed between
the mountain ranges to the fire, to Hunahpu; and they met face to face in
the spirit of the forest, the fire called Zakiqoxol. Truly, this Zakiqoxol
kills many men. Truly, he is fearful, a robber, they say.

22. Going on, they arrived in the middle of the woods at a fire built by
one guarding the road, and it was made by Zakiqoxol. "Who are these boys
whom we see?" said he. Then were sent forward the Qoxahil and the Qobakil,
with their mysterious vision and magical power; they spoke when they
arrived. One of them spoke, not many [at once], as it was truly terrible
to look upon, and he said: "Let us see what kind of a hideous mole are
you?" So said Gagavitz and Zactecauh. Thus they spoke when they saw him,
and they said: "Who art thou? We shall kill thee. Why is it that thou
guardest the road here?" So they said and spoke thus. Then he said: "Do
not kill me; I, who am here, I am the heart of the forest." Thus he spoke,
and then asked that he might clothe himself. "They shall give to thee
wherewith to clothe thyself"  [said they]. Then they gave him wherewith to
clothe himself, a change of garment, his blood-red cuirass, his blood-red
shoes, the dying raiment of Zakiqoxol. By this means he saved himself,
descending into the forest. Then there was a disturbance among the trees,
among the birds; one might hear the trees speak and the birds call. They
said, when one listened: "What is this that we hear? Who is this?" said
they. And the branches of the trees in the forest murmured, and the tigers
and birds called one to another. Therefore that spot is called [c]hitibal,
"The Place of Disquiet."

23. They departed thence. Once for all we shall mention the names of these
various places: Belehchigag, Belehchi Hunahpu, Xecuh, Xetocoy, Xeuh,
Xeamatal Chii, Tzunun Choy, Mount Xecucu, Mount Tzunun, Xiliviztan,
Zunpancu, Tecpalan, Tepuztan. They then descended to Cholamag and
Zuchitan. Truly, the language there was difficult, and the barbarians
alone knew to speak their language. We inquired only of the barbarians,
Loxpin and Chupichin, and we said to them when we arrived: "Vaya, vaya,
ela, opa." They were surprised when we spoke their language to those of
Cholamag, and many of them were frightened, but we received only good
words.

24. They went to the places, Meme and Tacna, for the second time. They
could not speak well, hence the name Mem. Truly, they were good people.
They spoke to mock us, and we remained to learn their language. They said
to us: "Thou our lord, remain with us; we are thy elder and younger
brother; abide with us," said they. They wished us to forget our speech,
but our heart was as a stone when we arrived with them.

25. These were also a part of the names of the places: they went to
Zakiteuh and Zakiqua, the midst of Tubinal, the midst of Chacachil,
Tzulahauh which reaches to the sky, the midst of Nuüxor, the midst of
Moinal, the midst of Carchah. They passed over with the sons of Valil and
the sons of Tzunun. They went forth from Merac and Nacxit. Truly this one
(Nacxit) was a great lord, and the vassals who aided him to seize the
sovereignty were themselves rulers and chieftains. He invested Orbaltzam,
and said that his name should be Cinpual Taxuch. Truly he finished by
making himself the most dear of all men to all the warriors by the words
spoken to all by this lord Nacxit: "You have come to be the stone
framework, the support of my house; I will give to you sovereignty, and
give you Cinpuval Taxuch." So said he to all the warriors. "I have not
placed the stones of the others," so said he to them. And thus they came
to erect the stone framework. Therefore, Nacxit completed the appointment
of a companion in the sovereignty, and they cried out aloud with joy.

26. Then they met those of Mimpokom and Raxchich, at the place called
Tzaktzuy.  They met all the subjects of the Pokomams. They dance their
ballet, but it is without deers, without birds, without pheasants, without
the trappers and their nets. The subjects of Raxchich and Mimpokon gather
together; but the seven nations look on at a distance. They sent out the
brute Zakbim as a spy; and on our side were summoned the Qoxahil and the
Qobakil, magicians, enchanters. On their departure, they were told:  "Let
us see who are approaching, and if we are to fight." So it was said. Those
of Mukchee arrived, but they were in no great number, nor had they come to
spy out. The signal was given by Zakbin, while Huntzuy came into line.
"Now I see them," they said. "This is really a wonderful thing, a
wonderful dance they are making;  there are many under the trees." So
spoke they on arriving. Thus said Gagavitz and Zactecauh to their
companions:  "Let us take up our arms if we are to fight." Immediately all
took up their bows and shields, and thus arrayed showed themselves to the
Pokomams. At once terror struck the Pokomams, and ours rushed forth to
seize them in their disorder.

27. Then they encountered the two, Loch and Xet by name; they encountered
them there at the foot of the mountains Cucu and Tzunun. These said when
they were encountered, "Do not kill us, O thou our lord; we will be the
servants of your throne, of your power." So they said, and entered at once
as vassals, each one carrying the bows and drums. Going on, a return was
made, and they were hindered by some calabash vines, and were ensnared and
scattered. Therefore, that place was called Tzaktzuy, and the Ahquehay
took it as their sign, that is, those first fathers and ancestors who
brought forth the Ahquehay. This is why they took it, it is said, and such
is the name of the place. They chose a portion of the tribe, oh you my
children, and truly thus it was that our first fathers and ancestors
brought us forth and gave us existence--us, the Cakchiquel people.

28. Then they went forth to meet those at the place Oronic Cakhay, and all
the warriors of the seven villages arrived. Then spoke Gagavitz and
Zactecauh to the Quiche men: "Let us all go to the place. Let us conquer
the glory of all the seven villages of Tecpan, let us weaken their hearts;
do thou count their faces, do thou stand here at the place Cakhay; I shall
enter the place Cakhay; I shall conquer them;  their heart shall be
weakened; there, in the place, they shall be conquered, where they never
before were conquered." Thus they spake when they ordered the slaughter,
when they were in Cakhay; then it began with all of them in the place, and
their hearts were weakened. But on account of the defence with water, and
the defence with cinders, they could not enter the place, and their hearts
were weakened. Then it was said: "O thou lord, I will give thee the
venison and the honey. I am the lord of the venison, the lord of the
honey; but I have not passed because of the cinders," it was said. Thus
the venison and the honey were protected by means of the cinders. They
went from there to Tunacotzih, "the sounding stone." There Loch and Xet
made trial of the bows and drums, and they beat their drums; therefore the
name of that spot is Tunacotzih, "the Drum-beating."

29. At this time they met the Cavek under the great pines, at the place
called Ximbalxug. They heard the plaint of the doves beneath the great
pines; the enchantment of the Cavek.  Gagavitz and Zactecauh said: "Who
art thou? What is that we hear?" Then said Loch and Xet: "They are our
vassals, oh our lord, they obey us." They began to show their burdens;
bird nets, maguey, tools for making shoes, were their burdens--no other
burdens, for their houses were of deer skins and hides; hence they were
called Ahquehay. Then they carried the nets to the woods; they caught
doves in them beneath the great pines, and they brought many of these
doves caught in the nets, and said: "Oh our lord, do not slay us." "Who
art thou?" was asked. They answered: "We have been ruined by the Quiche
men, we your brother, your kinsman, we the Cavek; they have diminished
their regal dignity." So spoke they, and gave many gifts, they the fathers
and ancestors of the Cavek. There were two heroes, Totunay the name of
one, Xurcah of the other, the vassals of Cavek Paoh; they were addressed
by Gagavitz: "Thou art the fourth of our tribes, Gekaquch, Baqahol, Cavek,
and Cibakihay." Thus he addressed them: "Truly thou art my brother, my
kinsman." Thus he spoke to those of Ahquehay: "Thou art counted in my
tribe, thy vassalage shows that thou art of our ancient home, no longer
art thou a vassal nor carriest the net. The Caveks are received, and form
part of our tribe." So spoke of yore our fathers and ancestors, oh my
children, and we must not forget the words of these rulers.

The Victory of Our Forefathers, After One Had Died.

30. Having arrived at the place, Qhopiytzel, Gagavitz said to Zactecauh:
"Let us cross this ravine." "Good," said he. Gagavitz first crossed, and
then Zactecauh wished to cross. But he did not cross, but fell into the
ravine. Thus died one of our ancestors, and their possessions were
divided; but the other, that is, Gagavitz, brought us forth--us, the
Xahila.

31. They then arrived at the white hills called Teyocuman, coming there
for the second time. There they saw the fire of the mountain called
Gagxanul. Truly it was frightful to see the fire coming from the mountain,
the fire shooting forth afar off. No one could say how it could be passed
by, as the mountain Gagxanul was on fire for a whole year, after which
fire did not come forth. When all the warriors of the seven villages had
arrived at the foot of the mountain, no one spoke; truly, they grieved at
heart, nor could one say how the fire could be captured. They could but go
on hoping. When he arrived at the mountain they spoke to our ancestor,
Gagavitz, and all the warriors said to him: "Thou our brother, thou hast
arrived, thou in whom is our hope. Who will go down to the capture of this
fire? Who will descend for us, who are seeking our fortune, oh thou our
brother?" So said all; and we replied: "Who of you wishes that I shall try
my fortune? He has a heart of a hero, that fears not. I will go first."
Thus spoke Gagavitz to them: "You must not fear so soon." Truly, the fire
of the mountain was terrible. Then there was one named Zakitzunun, who
wished to go with him.  "I will go with you," said Zakitzunun, speaking to
Gagavitz. Then they were armed and their ornaments put upon them. But the
two said together: "There is no use of bows or shields." They laid them
aside; they took pointed instruments and dug a trench, and they placed by
the water those banana trees called raxah. When these things were in
order, they entered first with their heads, then with their necks, then
with their arms, with their hands, with their feet, so as to destroy the
fire, as they said. Then Gagavitz descended into the fire, while
Zakitzunun conducted the water to the fire, and the green grass and maize
mixed with the water flowed upon the fire. Truly, it was fearful when it
descended into the mountain, when it scattered the fire of the mountain,
when the smoke burst forth afar and darkness and night entered on the
scene. All who were at the foot of the mountain fled, as they were greatly
frightened. Gagavitz remained in the mountain. The day drew to a close,
and their courage died in their hearts. The fire was captured, but it was
not captured for them. A few sparks of the fire descended from the
mountain. It reached some, but it did not reach them. Then he came from
within the mountain. Truly, his face was terrible when he came from within
the mountain Gagxanul. All the warriors of the seven villages said: "Truly
his power, his knowledge, his glory and his majesty are terrible.  He
died, and yet he has come down." So said they.

32. Therefore, when he had arrived they seated him on the throne, and
truly made much of him, and all said: "Oh our brother, you have conquered
the fire of the mountain; you have reduced for us the fire. Ye are two
heroes; one is the first hero, and one follows him. Ye are our heads, our
chiefs." So said all the warriors of the seven villages to Gagavitz. Then
he said to them: "The heart of the mountain has come as my slave, my
captive, oh you my brethren, my kinsmen." When the heart of the mountain
is opened, the fire separates from the stone, even the stone called Gak
Chog. It is not a green stone, and there are thirteen others with it, and
hence comes the dance called "the heart of the mountain Gagxanul." They
say this dance is executed violently, with many troops (of dancers), nor
can one count those who join the noise.

33. They went from there and passed over to Cecic Ynup, as it is called,
and they rowed on the lake. There was no ceiba tree rooted in the soil,
nor did they go under a ceiba tree, but they went upon the water.
Therefore, they called that place Cecic Ynup, "the buried Ceiba." And they
passed on to the place called Qalalapacay. There they twined the leaves of
the anonas for the royal seat.  Therefore, they called that place
Qalalapacay, "anona garlands." So say our ancestors.

The Conquest of the Ikomagi.

34. Then they saw at a distance those called the Cakixahay and the
Qubulahay, subjects of the Ikomagi. They were captured after they had been
routed by a surprise, when they were not far from a place called
Chigalibal. They were pardoned when they arrived, and our warriors
extended their hands to them. Hence that place was called Chigalibal. They
said, in yielding: "I am your brother, your elder. You are the conquerors.
We are the subjects of your throne and your power. I swear it before these
who are my subjects." Thus spoke the Ikomagi, and thus their subjects, the
Cakixahay and the Qubulahay. Thus did Ikomag submit and save his life.
With them the Zotzils brought forth those fathers and elders, the
Ahpozotzils named Qulavi Zochoh and Qulavi Qanti. But only their families,
not their vassals, proceeded therefrom.

35. After this they arrived at the place Qakbatzulu, where they met the
one named Tolgom. Truly, terror was there, and the place Qakbatzulu
trembled. At first all the warriors began to arrive; but fear was upon
them lest they should there meet death. When he (Gagavitz) reached there,
all the warriors said: "Thou arrivest, our brother. What is this? Truly it
is fearful." So said they; and to them said our ancestor, Gagavitz: "Who
are ye, oh warriors? Let us look at his face. Can we not fight? Have we
not bows and shields to effect an entrance, oh you who are my brethren?"
So he spoke, and he sent all the warriors to seize Tolgom. Then they said:
"What speech is this, oh brother? Is it not said that a great terror is
there? Go thou and see." So said they all. Then he went forth to see
Tolgom, and truly he arrived at the place of the terror and where the hill
trembled. At once he cried to Tolgom: "Who art thou? Thou art neither my
brother nor my elder.  Who art thou? This very day I shall slay thee."
Instantly was Tolgom filled with fear, and he replied: "I am the son of
the Mud that Quivers. This is my house where I dwell, oh my lord." So he
said. "Go forth from here and live elsewhere," was it answered to Tolgom.
Then he submitted and was made prisoner, and his body was taken with him.
Gagavitz said to the warriors and the seven towns when Tolgom gave himself
up: "We have made this spot glorious. Show forth the face of my prisoner,
my captive. We will adorn and sacrifice my captive. We will be friends
with him and stand in front of him, and thus celebrate the name of this
spot, Qakbatzulu, as it is called by a joking people, oh chieftains." Such
were the words addressed to all the warriors.

36. Therefore, they spoke thus: "Our brother, one child is the first and
another the second among us. Hereafter we shall make this appear before
the council, we the thirteen warriors. We will give to thee thy canopy,
thy royal seat, thy carpet, thy throne, with power. These shall be called
the two children of the Zotzil Tukuches, but thou shalt be the first man
among the Ahpozotzils and the Ahpoxahils. They shall call thee forth to
act; thou shalt be first among the warriors, thy brothers and thy elders,
the Bacah Pok and the Bacah Xahils. They shall name thee equal to any in
power and majesty, oh my brother." Thus they said, and his head was lifted
above the others, and he was given the power by the Ahpozotzils and the
Ahpoxahils, but not by us, the Zotzil Tukuches, nor by our brother and
elder, the Bacah Pok and the Bacah Xahil, my children. Our fathers and
ancestors said of old: "We have been chosen by the warriors in their great
skill and wisdom; their bows and shields have created us." It was thus
that our ancestors were first exalted by overcoming the greatness and the
birth of many.

37. Then began the execution of Tolgom. He arrayed himself and entered
suddenly. His arms were extended in front of a tree, to be shot with
arrows. A dance was begun by all the warriors, while Tolgom began his
song. They still danced, when they commenced to shoot their arrows. But
not one of the arrows reached the cord; for it was far to the tree where
he was shot at, on the hill Qakbatzulu, where they shot at him and where
all the arrows fell. At length the arrow of our ancestor Gagavitz was
discharged. It passed rapidly over the place named Cheetzulu, and pierced
Tolgom. All the warriors then slew him, some arrows piercing, him from
near and others from afar. The man being thus killed, a great stream of
blood came forth behind the tree. His body was cut in pieces and divided
among all the seven towns. This gift and this sacrifice of his death were
what founded the festival of (the month) Uchum. At that festival all were
equal; there was eating and drinking; little children were killed by being
shot with arrows, their heads being adorned with elder flowers, as his
substitute, as if they were Tolgom, as say our fathers of yore, oh my
children. In this manner we obtained power with the Zotzil Tukuches, by
knowledge and occult science, by power and majesty; thus did our fathers
and ancestors, we the Cakchiquels, lift our heads above others, nor our
ancestors lower their glory and their birth.

38. When they were on the hill Qakbatzulu, they threw a part of the body
of Tolgom into the lake. Thus began the festival of "throwing the nose of
Tolgom." Then, it is said, there was heard a noise in the waters, and at
its passage all were terrified when there were these movements in the
waters of the lake. Many on these occasions assembled at the spot called
"the common baths" (Payanchocol). They practiced many magic arts. Nine
zapotes were found at the spot called Chitulul. At that time the warriors
began their passage over the lake. Gagavitz followed them with his sister,
named Chetehauh. They established themselves, and settled on the point
called after the god Abah. A little while after the arrival of Gagavitz,
truly a fearful thing took place when he entered the water, having changed
himself into Zutzucumatz. It suddenly darkened on the water, a wind rose,
and a white cloud rested on the surface, making a circuit of the water in
the lake. They desired to remain there; but it was first necessary to
reduce the power of the Tzutuhils.  All the seven nations looked about and
then descended to the water. Those who were there then said to the
children of the Ahtziquinahay: "We have scarcely made the circuit of this
lake of ours, this sea, oh my brother. But let one-half of the lake be
yours, and one-half of the fruits, of the wild geese, of the crabs, of the
fish." Thus he spoke, and the others took counsel: "It is well my brother,
that the half of the lake be ours, and a half of thy fruits, of thy wild
geese, of thy crabs, of thy fish, a half of thy acorns, and a half of thy
bananas be ours, and of all living things you kill in or below the
waters." Thus did the Ahtziquinahay reply to them. Then they separated and
went away, but soon returned, desiring to obtain wives, for none of them
were married, owing to the absence of women; neither their mothers nor
sisters having accompanied them. They said: "Where speaks my girl? Whom
shall I take as wife? Truly, let us go forth and seek where there is said
to be a war for hearts." They put on their armor, and were really terrible
when they went forth in search of women. The Tzutuhils were frightened,
and to them the Cakchiquels said: "Whom shall I take for my woman? Who has
declared war against my heart?" So they spoke to the Tzutuhil people, to
the women of Tzununa. Thereupon the Ahtziquinahay spoke to them: "My lord,
my brother, my elder, here indeed is thy maiden. You have divided with us
the waters; half of the lake is thine, half is ours." Thus he spoke, and
his warriors were afflicted at his words, when the Ahtziquinahay spoke
thus in conclusion. Then Gagavitz, our ancestor, said: "Who of you comes
to take wives? It were well that you remain with the organs of women. But
I hear thy words, oh my brother; their victory is by the organs of their
women. Remaining, I shall do this." Thus he spoke to the Ahtziquinahays.
In this manner, say our elders, the lake was divided, and in this manner
our brother and elder remained with the Tzutuhils. None other of ours
remained. Our first fathers and ancestors, Gagavitz and Zactecauh, passed
on, and went back to the darkness and the night. At that time their dawn
had not yet come; but not long after they did this it began to shine. They
went upon the mountain Pulchich, and thence they set out.

This Is Their Day-Breaking.

39. The first who went forth were Gekaquch, Baqahol, Cibakihay and Cavek,
who came together. You were the first, oh my house, oh my tribe, to bring
about our day-breaking, our ancient nation, some time before the dawn. "Go
forth," was said to them. Then they came to the place where their dawn was
to be, to the mountains named Pantzic, Paraxone, Cinahihay, Pacibakul, and
Pa Cavek and Quehil. There their dawn appeared, there they built houses,
there took place the marriage of their chief named Nimahay.  The first who
built houses were those who came first, the Gekaquch, the Cibakihay and
the Cavek. The last who arrived was Baqahol, and they had already
commenced to build when he arrived. After he had come, Baqahol said to
Gekaquch: "I, I am king, I received you." So said he to Gekaquch. At his
arrival he had ardently desired the leadership. The others answered him:
"Thou! no, thou art not our king; we do not wish you to be our king." So
said they to him. Then he showed them a precious stone and said: "I will
give you this precious stone carved with four feet, and hands and toes, if
I am your chief." So he said. But that suited them not. Then he began to
build himself a stronghold, and in a little while the labor was completed,
for he ardently desired power and coveted it. For this reason his
constructions were destroyed by the Chuluc Balam sent by Gagavitz, because
Gagavitz liked it not that Baqahol desired the leadership. Therefore the
constructions were destroyed by the animals Chuluc Balam when Gagavitz
came to the places called Puhuhil and Paraxone, each of which was clothed
with changing green. After that he arrived on Pantzic and Paraxone, and on
his arrival the day-breaking took place.

40. The sun had already risen, said our fathers and ancestors of old; the
dawn had appeared, when were formed the families of Gekaquch, Cibakihay,
Cavek and Ahquehay. Baqahol had not been well received, as he had forced
the families to accept him as their ruler. When he forced them to this,
they said: "I shall not go forth to meet you, Baqahol. Do you not come to
say: 'I am the chief, I say it?' And do you not come to show your precious
stone to the eyes of the families? Have you not called youself[TN-15] the
Counselor Baqahol? And have you not called yourself the head of our
house?" Thus they spoke; but those who were with him answered: "No one has
said, 'I am the head of your house.'" "Be thou our ruler," they cried, and
thus he succeeded.

41. Immediately they gave him, as their chief, the signs of royalty. They
seated him on the seat and royal throne. They washed him in the bath, the
painted vessel. They clothed him with the robe, the girdle and green
ornaments. He received the colors, the yellow stone, the paint, the red
earth, and thus he obtained the signs of royalty from the other families
and tribes, as said our ancestors, oh my children. Thus was constituted
the family by us the ahpop; all the warriors did likewise in the place of
their dawn; thus was established the royalty by the families and tribes.
They became more numerous in the place where their dawn had appeared.
Three tribes of our nation had seen the dawn appear, the Zotzils, the
Cakchiquels and the Tukuches. As to the Akahals they were but a little
distance from the place when the dawn appeared to the three nations. At
the spot called Tohohil the Quiches saw their dawn, and those of Rabinal
saw it shine at the spot Zamaneb, and the Tzutuhils sought to see their
dawn at Tzala. But their labors had not been completed by this tribe when
the sun arose. They had not as yet finished drawing their lines in Tzala
when it rose in the sky, precisely above the place Geletat. It continued
to spread its light along its course, and at last set at the place called
Xepoyom. Immediately the warriors quit those places without finishing
their labors, and they all agreed to go and dwell on the borders of the
lake. At that time the tribes were filled with terror when the eagle with
green plumage passed through the sky, Gucucot, the enchanter, and sadness
covered the tribes like a shadow when they heard him pass in the sky. Thus
he appeared to the women of Tzununa, of Tzolola, of Ahachel and of Vayza.
He soared above the shore and half the people went with him.

The Sufferings That They Endured During Their Sojourn Here.

42. Truly it was a time of suffering when we came to establish ourselves
in our places, said our ancestors of old, oh my children. There was
nothing to eat and there was no relish for what had been brought along,
nor was there material for clothing. All was lacking; we lived on the bark
of trees and we rested our hearts under the shadow of our lances. At that
time the people began to prepare the soil for the planting of corn; the
woods were cleared and the brush burned, to prepare for the planting. Thus
we came to have a little to eat, and we worked in the bark of trees and
the maguey. When there was still some food the vultures passed in the air.
At first they took a bird; then they ate some of our food, say the people;
but none of them remained when they came.

They Took Wives.

43. The Tukuches having arrived and settled, our ancestor Gagavitz married
Gomakaa, our first ancestress, who brought us forth--us, the Xahila. Many
others also married; for there had been a stringent prohibition with
regard to marriage; so that when they went in to bathe, their organs gave
way and they spilled their seed.

Many were thus prohibited, it is said, and the prohibition was made a second 
time, because they had carnal
relations both naturally and unnaturally, as the old traditions say.

44. Then also they began to adore the Demon. On each seventh and
thirteenth day an offering was made to him of fresh resin, and freshly
gathered green branches and new bark; and also of a cat, the image of
night, which were burned before him. To these were added thorns of the
gourd tree with which they drew blood from their ears. They had not yet
began the worship of the great idol of the ancient Chay Abah. It is said
that the worship of the Demon increased with the face of our prosperity.
Afterwards the principal idols were set up, as said of yore our father and
ancestor Gagavitz, at the time they approached Pantzic, Paraxone,
Cinahihay, Pacibaqul, Pacavek and Quehil.

45. At that time some of the natives of the places called Cupilcat and
Canalakam, offered combat when they (the Cak.) had arrived before their
city. Withdrawing from before the city (our men) entered a very dense
woods where those of Cupilcat were destroyed. Others arrived at the spot
to continue the battle, and some calling to others, they entered the dense
woods, before their city, and then these men of Cupilcat and Canalakam
were destroyed by our ancestor. There the family of Baqahol began its
fame, and the name of the place became celebrated. Cimahihay and Motzoray,
the only two said to have survived, abandoned the place; and another from
Cupilcat came to Quiche and there met his death.

46. Having abandoned Pantzic and Paraxone they arrived at the forest
called Chiqohom, and there suffered some deprivations. But they made
dwellings in the trees, each choosing a tree and whitewashing its interior
with lime obtained from the excrements of eagles and tigers. When they
were settled there, they set up the idols of the Demon and Chay Abah; and
in the house of the Demon were placed parroquets and parrots. Therefore
they called that place Chiqohom. After having lived there awhile, Gagavitz
begat two infants, the first named Caynoh, the second Caybatz, both boys.

47. At that time the king Gagavitz died, the same who came from Tulan; his
children, our ancestors, Caynoh and Caybatz, were still very young when
their father died. They buried him in the same place where their dawn
appeared, in Paraxone.

48. Thus were the two boys left. Then Gekaquch, Baqahol and Cibakihay
arriving, said to them: "We have come; we are your mothers and sisters; we
are here, we the Galel Xahil and the Ahuchan Xahil, as we are called; we
are your Galel; we are your Ahpop." Thus many of them came and spoke, not
remembering the sign of Zactecauh, who had died in the ravine of
Qhopiytzel. Thus spoke many of our fathers and ancestors, oh my children.

49. The first who ruled with glory was Tepeuh, the king of Cauke. Cuztum
and Chixnal were the names of his strongholds. The magic power of Tepeuh
inspired terror, he caused the mountain to tremble where he lived, and all
the tribes paid tribute to Tepeuh.

50. Now these Galel Xahil and Ahuchan Xahil caused these words to be
carried by Gekaquch and Baquhol: "The Galel Xahil and Ahuchan Xahil say
thus, 'Let Caynoh and Caybatz go forth first as our tribute, for as for
us, we are the rulers.'" So said they to the clans. And the boys were sent
with the message for the clans.

Their Interview With Tepeuh.

51. Our ancestors Caynoh and Caybatz came to Tepeuh. They entered alone
while the Galel Xahil and Ahucham Xahil remained alone without,[TN-16]
When they reached the presence of Tepeuh: "Who are you?" was said to them
by Tepeuh. "We are the sons of Gagavitz," replied Caynoh and
Caybatz."[TN-17] Tepeuh marveled greatly when he heard their words:
therefore they were strengthened by Tepeuh as theywere humble before him.

52. They were then sent by Tepeuh to collect the tribute, and they went
forth to take the tribute from the tribes. No one of the many people died
while they were taking the tribute.  Truly all feared the magic power and
wisdom of Caynoh and Caybatz. Where they were at night it shone like fire,
and there was trembling as of an earthquake. Therefore all the people were
in fear when they came among them, and they were given all things by the
people when they came to take tribute. Quite to the far East they were
paid what they demanded, precious metals and spun stuff as they demanded,
by the tribes from whom they took tribute. Mighty were their words.
Therefore by these actions they became the sons of Tepeuh, and by them
truly they became illustrious.

They Are Given Women.

53. At length they arrived to collect the tribute from the Ahtziquinahay,
who are also descended from our ancestor. They came to where the
Ahtziquinahay were with their women, and designating what they desired,
they designated metals and spun stuff. When they came, the Ahtziquinahay
said (among themselves): "Let us make these messengers of Tepeuh our
sons-in-law. Truly their magic power is terrible. But we will give them
women, and we will take back what they have designated." So they said, and
none of the chiefs went forth to Caybatz and Caynoh. These were
frightened, lest some should come during the night and the treasures they
had collected be stolen by the daughters of the chiefs. And indeed, these
did come secretly and stole the jar of treasures while (the brothers)
slept. They were the daughters of the chiefs Zunçunqun, Ganel, Mayahauh
and Puciahauh. Caynoh and Caybatz took them as wives; Bubatzo was the name
of one, Icxiuh of the other. Our ancestors not seeing their treasure were
filled with fear. They cried out: "You have indeed, ruined us, oh ye
Ahtziquinahay! Tepeuh will be angered against us." They answered: "Be not
frightened. We shall give you wives; you shall be our sons-in-law; we will
do you no evil; you will go speak to Tepeuh and nothing will be said to
you." Then wives were given to them, and they went to speak with Tepeuh.
But they did not reach there, they feared to come before Tepeuh; so they
hid themselves in a cavern, and they retired into the cavern. The place
where they hid was called by Caynoh Pecparupec (a cave within a cave).

The Search For Them.

54. Then they were sought for by the tribe. "We seek our rulers. Where are
they? We are truly afflicted; for we have heard their voices. Neither
their mothers nor their fathers wish to leave them!" so spoke Gekaquch,
Baqahol, Cavek and Cibakihay concerning Caynoh and Caybatz. At length they
searched in the cavern, and those who had spoken met them coming: "We seek
you, oh our rulers, and truly we are unhappy," said they. Caynoh and
Caybatz answered: "We shall not come if your rulers, the Galel and
Ahucham, are not there. Who would be with us? Are we not humbled if we
return before Tepeuh? We shall not come that they may kill us. Let them
take these words, that we may go forth and be reconciled with Tepeuh.  
Then we will come." So said they, and immediately it was carried to the
people. A messenger was sent to report to Tepeuh. When Tepeuh heard the
report he rejoiced, and the Cakchiquels rejoiced, and the Zotzil Tukuches
and the Ahtziquinahay rejoiced. Then they went forth to seek our
ancestors.

The Arrival Again at the Woods Chigohom.

55. Returning, they arrived together, where were their wives. Therefore
all the tribes rejoiced on seeing their faces, when they returned.
Immediately they caused to be hanged and executed the Galel Xahil and
Ahucham Xahil, and all their fame perished with them.

56. Then they entered in possession of the royal power. Caynoh was made
Ahpop Xahil, and Caybatz was made Ahpop Qamahay. Both were kings, and
their words were as one, when they assumed the royal power.

57. Caynoh and Caybatz begat sons and daughters. The first had four sons
and the second five sons, making nine sons begotten by Caynoh and Caybatz.
Terrifying was the fame of the magic power and wisdom of Gagavitz,
Zactecauh, Caynoh and Caybatz.

58. Then Caynoh and Caybatz spoke thus: "Strong is now our royal power; we
hold the rulership from our fathers; let our two sons partake of our
power." So said they. Then a son of Caynoh was placed in possession of
power and was made Ahuchan Xahil, and a son of Caybatz was placed on the
throne and was made Galel Xahil. Thus we had four rulers, we the Xahila,
and our royal power was established in the presence of our ancestors.

Death of Caynoh and Caybatz.

59. After the Galel Xahil and the Ahuchan Xahil had taken possession, the
kings died. Immediately their posterity succeeded. Two by two they entered
into power, and the two sons of the sons of Caynoh received homage as
Ahpop Xahil and Ahuchan Xahil; the two sons of the chief Caybatz took
possession and received the homage of their subjects as Ahpop Qamahay and
Galel Xahil. Thus was the monarchy established during the time of the
children of Caynoh and Caybatz. They were our first ancestors who
established the royalty, O my children; but one mother only and one father
only brought us forth, us, the Xahila.

60. They received homage, they received presents; for the towns and places
were beyond number which were theirs. Then multiplied the daughters and
sons of the nine sons begotten by the kings Caynoh and Caybatz. When,
however, the king Citan Qatu died, the royal power was split up among our
fathers and ancestors; there were then many chiefs and the power was
divided.

61. There were the sons of Qoxahil and Qobakil, and the children of the
Galel Xahil and the Ahuchan Xahil, and the sons of Ahcupilcat, of whom our
ancestors had spared life and granted a dwelling place. These made an
opposition to the sons of the king Caynoh. The children of Qoxahil and
Qobakil having begun to rule, the sons of the Ahuchan Xahil, who had been
hanged, opposed the king, and began to rule as Ahuchan.

62. Against the Ahpop Qamahay Xahil was the Galel Xahil, son of
Ahcupilcat;  also the sons of the Galel Xahil who was with Caynoh and
Caybatz and accompanied them to Tepeuh. They had lived in the sovereignty
of the Ikomagi, a nation whose name is from their city, their principal
city.

63. At that time they abandoned the place where their dawn had appeared
and they all returned to Pantzic and Paraxone; they left Cimahihay,
Panche, Chiqohom, Chiavar, and Tzupitagahi, following the valleys of the
river. The names of the places that they received homage from in this
journey are the towns Zahcah, Petze, Utzupa, Ginona, Galaah, Puzbal,
Zaliqahol, Nimzakahpec, Yutcum, Calla, Chuvi Xilom, Molinxot, Pachalicbak,
Chuti tinamit, where the Akahal nation had greatly increased, and where,
in the towns of Ochal or Qabouil Civan, the king Ychalcan Chicumcuvat,
chief of the Akahals, reigned with majesty.

64. Our ancestors then arrived at the town Ochal. They made themselves
liked by the Akahals, and founded there four towns. The Akahal nation had
not previously been divided; but at that time they all made a choice and
chose to effect a division of the nation. It was at this time that they
abandoned the town of Ochal, which was in the warm district, and sought
the highland plain, when the sons of Ychalcan came to Xepakay Seated on
the roots, under the shade of a ceiba tree, they ate chile, and had
shellfish and fish, as they liked. Then the people of the place, coming
above the plain, sought to hang the sons of the king for their temerity;
for they aimed to surpass the greatness of their father, and for that
reason the chiefs wished their death. But these princes, making a night
attack, routed the people at Panah, at Chiholom and at Xepakay, under the
ceiba tree. The Akahals rejoiced at the arrival of the princes on the
plain. In consequence of this event, the Akahals separated, and they left
the town of Ochal, and accompanied our ancestors, and established
themselves at Zakiqahol and Nimcakahpec.

Here I shall write

65. The names of our ancestors who received the homage and presents of a
great number of towns after the death of the king Citan Qatu when our
ancestors publicly took the government.

66. The chief Citan Qatu ruled, the son of the chief Caynoh, to whom were
mystic power and wisdom. Then ruled the chief Qotbalcan. The chief Alinam
ruled. Next ruled the chief Xttamer Zaquentol. Then followed in power
Qhiyoc Queh Ahgug. In his reign the chief and Galel Xahil Xulu Qatu
gathered together the Quiche nation, desiring that war should be declared
against those who were attacking Ginona, and were engaged against the town
Ginona. For this reason the chief Xuluqatu was sent by the chiefs
Chiyocqueh and Ttah ttah Akbal, who then reigned, to say that no mercy
should be shown to the chiefs who commanded the forces of the enemy, but
that the people should be spared.

67. Then the king Qikab said to the chiefs: "Go back again to your town at
Chiavar." Thus spoke the king Qikab.

Their return to Chiavar.

68. It was by command of the king Qikab that our ancestors returned to the
city of Chiavar and Tzupitagah. All the towns were occupied by the nation,
therefore they came with the chiefs when these removed to Chiavar by order
of Qikab.

69. The chief Xitayul Hax was then reigning. The town of Chiavar was
peopled during the reign of Xitayul Hax.

70. At that time also the chief Xiquitzal had power. They dwelt in the
towns of Chiavar and Tzupitagah. The king Qikab ruled with majesty over
all the kingdom at the towns Gumarcaah and Izmachi, and all the people
paid him tribute.

71. For him the thirteen divisions of warriors assembled at Gumarcaah, and
they prepared their bows and shields. The tribes, great and small, and all
the dwellers in the ravines were conquered, nor did it cost the Quiches
anything. The thirteen divisions of warriors conquered the towns, and thus
was increased the glory of the king Qikab.

72. But half of the chiefs would not listen to the words of our ancestors
which had been spoken to them; they forgot the order which had been given
to spare the Zotzil Tukuches, and not to show mercy to the chiefs, and
thus they dimmed the royal power.

73. Those who were then ruling were Rahamun and Xiquitzal, and among the
warriors were our ancestors Huntoh and Vukubatz. They were famous warriors
and made war under the orders of the king Qikab. At that time our ancestor
Vukubatz was at Bogoiya and Huntoh was at Xequizche. These men of old,
mighty rocks, had gone forth to war, to wage glorious war with those of
Chiholom, where reigned the chief Ychal Amullac, ruler of the Akahals.

These Obtain The Royalty.

74. After these things our ancestors Huntoh and Vukubatz reigned, seizing
the power and majesty. When they obtained the royalty, the king Qikab was
still reigning, and he had mercy on the Zotzil Tukuches.

75. This chief, our ancestor, Vukubatz, had as father Citan Tihax Cablah,
who was the son of the king Citan Qatu and Tihax Cablah. The latter let
the power pass to our ancestor, and the king Caynoh and the king Citan
Qatu thus obtained the power. Our ancestor, summoned by the king Qikab and
by all the chiefs and leading men, from all parts, was placed in the royal
power, and thus our ancestors Vukubatz and Huntoh were then the two kings.

76. When our ancestors had taken possession of the royalty, they settled
the towns of Chiavar and Tzupitagah. Truly the king Qikab ruled with great
glory when our ancestors Huntoh and Vukubatz reigned. Those warriors
inspired terror, nor were their histories forgotten, and the fame was
recalled of our first fathers and ancestors, Gagavitz, Zactecauh, Caynoh,
Caybatz, and Citan Qatu. Truly there were magic power and wisdom in our
ancestors Huntoh and Vukubatz; they assumed glory and majesty. Truly many
were the cities and peoples who submitted to them, and over whom they had
triumphed with the king Qikab and all the warriors. For this great monarch
inspired terror throughout the seven nations, and his warriors carried war
in all directions; and therefore great was the glory of the king Qikab.
These are all the towns which they had conquered before the insurrection
broke out which the Quiches made against their king Qikab:-

The Names Of All The Towns.

77. Halic Vitaum Lahub Beleh Cuihay Xubabal [t]a[t]alyx Hultucur
[c]ama[t]ekum Chi[c]otuk Chicakyu[t] Coha Ah[c,]uruya Çutum [c]hixnal
Molobak Tox[c]omine Tuhallahay Vchabahay Ah[c]humilahay Lama[t]i Cumatz
Rapak Chichah Vxa.[TN-18] Ahalquil Molomic Abah Nimpokom Nacuxcux
Bulbuxiya Panah

78. All these towns were conquered by Huntoh and Vukubatz, and by the king
Qikab, when our ancestors settled at Chiavar and made that town.

Beginning Of The Revolt Against Qikab.

79. Then began a revolt against the king Qikab by the Quiche men; the
family of the king was the cause of the contest. The family of the king
perished with many of the people. The Quiches would not promise the homage
as vassals which he asked of them. They wished that the roads should be
free to the Quiche people, which the king would not grant. Therefore many
of the people disliked the king and they would not pay him their dues. For
this reason the Quiches turned against the king and his glory diminished.

80. The two sons of the king were already distinguished. Tatayac was the
name of the one, Ah Itza the name of the other. Chituy and Quehnay were
the two sons of these princes. These took the part of the Quiches, and the
king was thus opposed to his own sons, who incited the people not to pay
their dues, already irritated on account of their subjection; and thus it
came that the king was against his own sons. Thus Tatayac and Ahitza were
opposed to their father, for they coveted the royal power, and desired the
precious stones, the metals, the slaves and people of their father. At
this time there was a council of the Quiches against the warriors
maintained by the king, and they began to put to death all those of the
first rank in the royal service.

81. These are the names of those of the royal service: Herech, Tagunun,
Xhutzuy, Eventec, Azacot, Camachal. Then all the populace and the heads of
the tribes assembled together. His people did not assemble around the king
that they might not be killed, and the houses of the rulers were entered
by the people and the rulers were slain by the people; not by order of the
king; for the king was then in the village of Panpetak. The populace there
wished also to kill the king. But the orders of his sons prevailed in the
royal house at Panpetak. The king Qikab humbled himself before the people.
Therefore the people began again to kill those of the house of Xahil.
Again the king humbled himself before the people, trying to appease them
with his precious stones and metals. He gave up the power of the rulers to
the people and divided with them his royal rights. The heart of the king
Qikab was bruised by his sons Tatayac and Ah Itza, by that which they had
done. Therefore the royal glory perished at the hands of the people of all
the classes, and the thirteen divisions and the powers they held were
given up, and the glory of the Quiches was extinguished in the revolt
against the orders of the king Qikab. Then perished the ancient glory of
the nation, O you my children; for since then the people acted, and the
king is made such by the people. Truly they had then pity for the king,
for the thirteen tribes having obtained the power, the contest of the
Quiches was ended; but when it was near its end, it suddenly broke out
anew among our fathers.

Another Revolt Follows.

82. Then another revolt began against the four leaders--Huntoh, Vukubatz,
Chuluc and Xitamal Queh. It was a woman who was the occasion of this
revolt with the Zotzils Tukuches, a woman named Nimapam Xcacauh, and she
caused the revolt. This woman had come to sell bread in the town of
Gumarcah, and one of the guards of the Quiche prince had tried to take the
bread from her by force; the woman had refused to give up the bread to the
guard, and the man was driven away with a stick by the woman. Then they
wished to take and kill the man on account of this woman, Nimapan Xcacauh.
Therefore the contest was started by the Quiches; the Quiches wished that
the woman should be killed. But the woman was not surrendered to the
Quiches by our ancestors Huntoh and Vucubatz.[TN-20] The Quiches,
therefore, wished to humble these princes, and they wished to make the
king Qikab do this. In anger the Quiches called a council and said: "Only
the Ahpozotzils and the Ahpoxahils have obtained the glory and the power;
let us kill them, for only Huntoh and Vukubatz have glory." Thus did the
people speak to our ancestors. They wished to tempt the king Qikab to
harass and slay the Zotzil Tukuches. But the king would not listen to the
words of the Quiches. Truly the heart of the ruler was with Huntoh and
Vukubatz. For truly great was the knowledge of Qikab and marvelous the
power of this ruler. Not only was he a king in majesty, but also he
overawed by his learning and the depth of his spirit, derived from Tullan.
Therefore when the people saw his wisdom, they sought not to instruct him;
they troubled not his majesty nor accepted the words of the king, but
pursued alone the war which they had wished.

The Orders which were Given to the Rulers.

83. Then the king sent his messenger to announce to the rulers that the
Quiches had resolved on the death of the Zotzil Tukuches. At the same time
he sent to the rulers that they should come during the night, and the king
Qikab spoke in these terms to the rulers Huntoh and Vukubatz: "It is
neither the beginning nor the end of this war made against us, O my
children. It has been seen what they have done to me. They have robbed me
of my slaves, my family, my treasures, my precious metals. They wish to do
the same with you. Go forth, therefore, my children, my younger brothers,
my elder brothers." Then he gave his orders: "The lot is cast. Cease at
once from the exercise of a power which you should share with me.  
Abandon this city to the revolted populace. Let your words no more be
heard, my children. Go to where you can establish yourselves, to Iximche,
on the Ratzamut. Build there houses and a city, and construct a road on
which all the people may pass and rest. Abandon Chiavar. As for you,
people, if you succeed, may my words come to you as a curse." Thus spoke
the king Qikab to our ancestors. Then the commands were given to the
rulers, and the words of the king were sent to our ancestors. Nor did the
Quiches oppose them.

This is When they Went Forth from Chiavar.

84. It was on the 13th day of the month Yg that they abandoned the town of
Chiavar, when our ancestors were forced to leave Chiavar and Tzupitagah.
On the 13th Yg they descended, burning many roads. On the 1st Akbal they
halted, still burning the roads, which made twice that they burned them,
after which they established the town of Iximche, on the Ratzamut; they
founded the town of Iximche; then settled there our ancestors Huntoh,
Vukubatz, Chuluc and Xitamal Queh, these four rulers, the sovereigns of
the Cakchiquel people. As soon as they were settled, they placed
themselves in readiness for war with the Quiches, and our ancestors built
a stronghold. All the people rejoiced at the establishment of the city by
these illustrious heroes, the rulers Huntoh and Vukubatz; for they had
fought on the side of the king Qikab. Therefore all the warriors of the
seven nations rejoiced. The Quiches could do nothing more, and soon all
the cities recovered their power. Messengers of the seven nations came to
the Ahpozotzils and the Ahpoxahils, and all the warriors said: "You have
done well to leave Chiavar, my brother, my elder; well done, Ahpozotzil
and Ahpoxahil; you have done well to come here to Iximche. There was but
one brave man with Cavek and the Quiches, there was but one royal heart
with them; but hereafter he will not go to war with the Quiches." Such was
the speech of all the seven nations when they came to visit the rulers.
All the warriors of the seven nations gave their words, when the city of
Iximche was founded, that they would separate from the Quiches and would
not form an alliance with them. Therefore, my children, when our ancestors
founded the city of Iximche, the war of the Quiches against the
Cakchiquels had not begun. They had but gazed at each other. Our ancestors
first took the sword in hand. When war was declared against the Quiches by
our ancestors Huntoh and Vukubatz, the people of Qizqab had inhabited for
a long time the towns of Chakihya and Xivanul, and our people were settled
at Xechibohoy and at Xechituh. Soon after the Quiches were established,
two of their strongholds were seized by our ancestors; Qizqab having been
killed by our ancestors at Xechituh, the Quiches abandoned Chakihya and
Xivanul. The Quiches were frightened at seeing the war begin with the
death of Qizqab at Xechituh by the orders of the rulers. The Quiches then
went down to the streams of those of Xivanul and of Chakihya, which are
called at present San Gregorio and Santo Thomas.

85. Then the rulers Huntoh and Vukubatz assigned to the chiefs of the
seven nations all their tributaries, that is to say, the people of Popoya,
Pancag, Holom, Mixco and Tamyac, all of whom were Pokomams; as for those
on the plains, the subjects of Itziyule, Xeabah and Zakquchabah, the two
rulers, Huntoh and Vukubatz, reserved these for themselves. The seven
nations and the chiefs were subjected to a tribute. There were four
rulers, but the two named Chuluc and Xitamal Queh were not important. Soon
afterwards our ancestors were called majesties by all those of the seven
nations, at the time that the city of Iximche was founded. Thus
disappeared the glory of the Quiches, said our fathers and ancestors, O my
children.

How the Rulers Died.

86. The first who died was the ruler Huntoh; then the ruler Vukubatz died.
Our ancestors had enlarged the city when they died.

87. Then began to reign the ruler Lahuh Ah, first of the sons of the ruler
Huntoh.

88. At the same time reigned the ruler Oxlahuh Tzii, oldest son of the
king Vukubatz. These are the nine rulers begotten by our ancestor, the
chief Cibakihay:--Ximox was the name of the wife of Vukubatz; Oxlahuh Tzii
was her eldest son; the chief Cablahuh Batz was the second; Chopena Tohin
was the third; Chopena Tziquin Uqa was the fourth. These last two
ancestors perished in battle.  Chopena Tohin was slain at the place called
Tukuru Cakixala, and Panatacat was the spot where fell Chopena Tziquin
Uqa. Chopena Queh was the fifth; Nima Ahin was the sixth; Xavi Ahin was
the name of the seventh, and Caok and Qatu were the two others. All these
ancestors of ours were equally illustrious.

89. These kings, our ancestors, Oxlahuh tzii, and Lahuh ah, truly they
frightened by their bravery, they frightened by their knowledge, for they
had not forgotten the words of their fathers and ancestors. The hearts of
their subjects were calm when these princes assumed the power, and they
exerted authority and control. They had made many and great wars when the
king Lahuh ah died. Then came the king named Cablahuh Tihax, oldest son of
the king Lahuh ah; but Oxlahuh tzii continued to reign, Cablahuh Tihax
ruling jointly with him. In truth, the glory of these rulers was not fully
established until after the death of Qikab, when the magician-ruler of
Quiche and the Quiches recommenced the war with the Cakchiquels. At that
time there ruled at Quiche Tepepul and Iztayul, and the Quiches regarded
with jealousy the city of Iximche. At that time there occurred a great
famine, brought about by great cold, which had destroyed the harvests in
the month Uchum, and the harvests were lost through this cold. For this
reason, say our ancestors, the food was all consumed. A fugitive
Cakchiquel informed the Quiches of this, bringing to the Quiches the news
of this famine: and this man said: "Truly, it is a great famine, and the
people cannot suffer the pains of this hunger." So he said on arriving
among the Quiches. Therefore the death of the Cakchiquels was decided on
by the Quiches, and destruction was in their hearts.

What Took Place.

90. Then took place the defeat at the town of Gumarcaah and the
humiliation of all the princes. They brought out their god Tohohil and the
people came in crowds; the multitude was innumerable; it was not merely in
battalions of eight thousand and sixteen thousand men, but they came by
villages and districts. They came in battle array, with their bows, their
armor and their weapons, their brilliant plumes, their shining circlets,
their head decorated with crowns of gold and precious stones; this was the
manner of their coming.

91. It was on the day 10th Tzy that occurred the destruction of the
Quiches at Iximche; but the news of it had not yet reached our ancestors,
Oxlahu[TN-21] tzii and Cablahuh Tihax, when the Quiches came to destroy
the Zotzil Tukuches. A fugitive came bearing to the chiefs the news that
they were to be slain: "Day after to-morrow they will slay you. All the
Quiche nation will come to slay and destroy the people of the city, which
they will enter by force; truly their entry will be terrible, for they are
many more than eight thousand or sixteen thousand men." Thus spoke this
fugitive when he arrived among the Cakchiquels. The chiefs immediately
assembled in council and said: "Listen! It is a good thing that we are to
measure ourselves against the Quiches." Thus spoke the chiefs. Immediately
they sent forth messengers. One division of the people formed and went
forth to meet the Quiches, and the inhabitants alone went forth to battle.
They went by the main road to the summit of the mountain, burning
everything on the way.  They met in conflict the battalions from Tibaqoy
and Raxakan, and closed the road to those of Galeah, of Pazaki uleuh and
Ginoma.

92. Then all the men took up their bows, their shields and various
weapons, awaiting the arrival of the enemies.

The Destruction of the Quiches.

93. When the dawn appeared, they (the Quiches) descended from the hills,
the cries and shouts of war broke forth, the banners were displayed; then
were heard the drums, the trumpets and the conches of the combatants.
Truly this descent of the Quiches was terrible. They advanced rapidly in
rank, and one might see afar off their bands following one another,
descending the mountain. They soon reached the banks of the river, the
houses by the water. They were followed by the chiefs Tepepul and Iztayul,
accompanying the god. Then it was that the battalions met. Truly the
encounter was terrible. The cries and the shouts, the noise of the drums,
the trumpets and the conches resounded, mingled with the enchantments of
the heroes. The Quiches were routed in all directions, not one fought,
they were put to flight and delivered over to death, and no one could
count their slain. A great number of them were taken prisoners, together
with the kings Tepepul and Iztayul, who delivered up their god. Thus the
Galel-achi, the Ahpop-achi, the grandson and son of the chief jeweler, the
treasurer, the secretary and the chief engraver and all the people were
put to the sword. The Quiches who were then killed by the Cakchiquels were
not counted by eight thousand or sixteen thousand; so said our fathers and
ancestors, O my children. Such were the deeds of the kings Oxlahuh Tzy and
Cablahuh Tihax, as also of Vooymox and Rokelbatzin. Thus, and not
otherwise, did they make glorious the city of Iximche.

The Death of the Chief Ychal (Amolac, Lahuh Noh, and Chicumcuat).

94. Meanwhile the Akahals occupied the towns Holom, Guguhuyu and Qaxqan,
having for king Ychal Amollac. Messengers were sent to him by the kings
Oxlahuh tzii and Cablahuh Tikax, with the order that he should come down,
and they said: "Let the bravery of the king be made manifest to our
ancients, let us measure with him our bows and our shields. The Quiches
wished to try their arms against our ravine and our city, and we have
dealt with the Quiches. Let us now try this one in war; let the king come
and show his valor." Thus did they say and sent this word to Ychal. The
heart of the king was soon resolved. "Let it be according to the desire of
the Ahpozotzils and Ahpoxahils. I will increase my strength and I will go
and show them all my valor. I will go alone; I will see what is the place
of the Cakchiquels; I will go down to make war with the descendants of my
grandfather." Thus spoke the king Ychal to the messengers.

95. The chiefs rejoiced when the words of Ychal reached them, and the
chiefs took counsel in words against Ychal: "It is well that he be hidden
from the light, that we disobey not the Demon on account of Ychal." Thus
spoke the princes. Then his death was resolved upon by our
ancestors--Hunahpu Tzian, Nimazahay, Ahciqahuh, Qhooc Tacatic, Tzimahi
Piaculcan and Xumak Cham, who were envious of his person on account of the
riches that he had, and the height to which he had raised his courage.

96. Then the king Ychal went forth, and a great number of distinguished
warriors went with the king. He was profound in knowledge, and he left
these words to his house: "Whether I return, or whether I do not return,
my death is at hand." The king departed, saying these words. When it was
known that the king was on the road, the people came to carry him on their
shoulders. When he heard them he said:  "Look to your walls; look to your
lime and your war paint; be prepared and your arms at hand, that you
appear not cast down before the Zotzil Tukuches." Thus he spoke to his
warriors, and they returned in midway to their houses and villages. The
chief came on the day 10th Noh.

97. His face was sorrowful as he entered the city of Iximche, where they
were consulting of his death. It had been decided upon by the chiefs when
he came. At his arrival he was called to the council, but no sooner was he
entered than he was slain, and his brave companions with him. His cup
bearer was seized as soon as he entered, and was slain, as of the Akahal
nation. Thus perished Ychal Amolac at Iximche. These are the names of the
warriors who perished with him, all distinguished men: Zoroch, Hukahic,
Tameltoh, Huvurahbix, Vailgahol; thus they were called, these noble men,
who went forth to die with him. Thus it came that the city of Holom was
conquered, as also the towns of Qaxqan, Ralabalyq, Guguhuyu and Vukucivan,
where dwelt many people of the Akahal nation. All the towns finished by
yielding to the arms of the kings Oxlahuh tzy and Cablahuh Tihax. Desiring
to repeople Xerahapit, the Akahal nation were transferred there, and there
they bewailed their dead.

The Death of Caoke.

98. At Paraxtunya, Belehe gih by name was chief. He had made an alliance
with the chief Voocaok, the Ahtziquinahay. Caoke was inclined to war, and
war was in his heart. Having built a stronghold with ditches, Belehe gih
desired the supreme power. The kings Oxlahuh tzy and Cablahuh Tihax
learning these preparations for war, said: "Truly there is an evil mind in
the chiefs Ahtziquinahay and Belehe gih. They have turned war toward us,
and the chief Caoke has already in his heart assumed the supreme power.
Let us give them war." So said the chieftains, and from that time the
death of Caoke was resolved upon. Warriors set out to slay him. But Caoke
was brave, and, far from yielding, thirteen times he descended from his
town and for thirteen days endeavored to save his life. Finally the town
of Paraxtunya having been assaulted, it was captured by our ancestors
Oxlahuh tzy and Cablahuh Tihax, who put to death all whom we have named.

Then the Revolt Took Place at Iximche.

99. A question of land was the real cause of the struggle, when the
Akahals strove with the Tukuches, because the harvests of the Akahals had
been destroyed by the Tukuches. Those who beat the persons injuring the
harvests were seized at the point of Chiqib, the place where this took
place among those men of old.

100. The judges in this affair were the kings Cablahuh Tihax and Oxlahuh
tzy, for the Tukuches; and for the Akahals, the Tukuche chief called Cay
Hunahpu, the head chief Cavek, and the chiefs Qiriayu and Toxqomnoh. One
could see in Cay Hunahpu the demeanor of supreme power, and he had many
vassals; but the Ahpopzotzils and the Ahpopxahils refused to deliver up to
him the Akahals to be slain. For already in his heart Cay Hunahpu had
resolved to destroy the Akahals. For this reason there was a revolt
against Cablahuh Tihax and Oxlahuh tzy, by the instigation of Cay Hunahpu;
for this chief disliked the Ahpopzotzil and the Ahpopxahil, and would have
liked to rule alone. Thus the revolt spread among the chiefs. The chief
Cay Hunahpu desired the revolt; for this chief Cay Hunahpu had resolved in
his heart the revolt, and he could not be satisfied until he had forced
the kings Oxlahuh tzy and Cablahuh Tihax to humble themselves that he
might become great. Then these princes did humble themselves, that there
should not be a conflict between their people, and they grieved deeply.
Thus did Cay Hunahpu frighten these two kings;  but he could not be
satisfied without using violence.

101. The day of the revolt was appointed by this chief, Cay Hunahpu, and
on this day, 11th Ah, the revolt broke out. Then the Tukuches were drawn
out of the city, to the other side of the river, and all the Tukuche
warriors went there also, that they might enter the city; but the warriors
of the kings Cablahuh Tihax and Oxlahuh tzy opposed them. One division of
warriors was enough to drive them off, encouraged by the words of the
kings, a division from Xechipeken; and these of Xechipeken, with their
ruler the counselor Cinahitoh, distinguished themselves by their bravery.

The Destruction of the Tukuches, who were, in fact, Massacred.

102. When the dawn appeared on the day 11th Ah, the Tukuches began on the
opposite side from the city, and the drums and trumpets of the chief Cay
Hunahpu were heard. Then the warriors armed, and displayed their brilliant
feathers and shining banners, and gold and precious stones. Then it began
on the other side of the river, and truly it was terrible for the number
of the Tukuches, who could not be counted by eight thousands nor by
sixteen thousands. The battle began before the city, at the end of the
bridge where Chucuybatzin, placed at the head of the struggle by the
Tukuches, had brought the fighting.  There were four women who had armed
themselves with lances and bows, and taken part in the battle, fully equal
to four young men. The arrows launched by these heroines struck the very
mat of Chucuybatzin. Truly it was a terrible revolt which the chiefs made
of old. The chiefs of the battle afterwards set up the images of these
women before the buildings of the Zotzils and the Xahils, whence these
women had gone forth. As they departed, there suddenly appeared a division
in the high road near the deep trenches. It rapidly scattered the warriors
of Tibaqoy and Raxakan on the high road. Only two of the men fell in this
encounter, and he who led them beyond the city to prolong the combat was
the same who had gained the previous victory, the counselor Cinahitoh of
Xechipeken.

103. Then began a general attack on the Tukuches; they were cut to pieces
at once; no one resisted; the rout was complete; men, women and children
were given up to slaughter. The chief Cay Hunahpu was slain; the chiefs
Tziriniyu and Toxqom Noh all perished, as well as their fathers and
children. Immediately those of Tibaqoy and Raxakan retired, partly to
Quiche, partly among the Tzutuhils. They mingled with their subjects and
were thus dispersed. Such was the destruction of the Tukuches, in old
times, O my children. It was our ancestors Oxlahuh tzy and Cablahuh Tihax
who, on the day 11th Ah, undertook and accomplished the dispersion of the
Tukuches.

104. Thirty-one days after the revolt, as the Quiches desired to destroy
those of Tibaqoy, these Tukuches removed to Chiavar and put to death the
Quiches, who yielded in a battle at a place named Yaxontzui, on the day
9th Caok.

105. On the 36th day after the revolt Cinahitoh perished, because he
coveted the position of the orator Ahmoxnay. Cinahitoh wished to exercise
the power alone, above the chieftains, therefore Cinahitoh was condemned
by all the chiefs, and his death was carried into effect in the city on
the day 11th Can.

106. One year less ten days after the revolt was hanged the chief orator
Ahmoxnay on the day 11th Akbal. This chief perished because he had stopped
the messengers of the ruler.

The day 8 Ah was one year after the Revolt.

107. It was not much less than two years after the defeat of the Tukuches,
when the Tzutuhils were defeated at Zakcab on the day 1st Ahmak. The
Tzutuhils were cut to pieces and their rulers Nahtihay and Ahqibihay were
slain. Only Vookaok, the Ahtziquinahay, could not be conquered, and he
tried his fortune against the Cakchiquels.

The day 5 Ah was two years after the Revolt.

The day 2 Ah was three years after the Revolt.

108. On the day 3 Queh there was a revolt in Quiche. The Tukuches went to
take part, and joined in the revolt in Quiche.

The day 12 Ah completed the fourth year after the Revolt.

109. During the fifth year those of Mixco were put to death; being
tributaries of the king Cablahuh Tihax, they wished to make themselves
independent. On the day 7 Camay, the town of Mixco was taken and its
inhabitants slain by the chiefs.

110. At the same time were put to death the Yaquis of Xivico, because they
had taken part with the king Vookaok, Chief of the Akahals, this nation of
the Akahals having begun to lift itself before the town, desiring to
obtain power.

111. Six days were wanting to complete five years from the revolt when the
Akahals were cut in pieces before the town, with their king, because they
wished to be independent of the town.

The 9 Ah completed the fifth year after the Revolt.

The 6 Ah completed the sixth year after the Revolt.

On the 3 Ah there were seven years from the Revolt.

112. In the eighth year after the revolt, the Tzutuhils were defeated by
those of Xeynup and Xepalica; they were slaughtered, Zakbin and Ahmak
having perished in the action on the day 13 Ahmak.

On the day 13 Ah there were eight years from the revolt.

On 10 Ah there were nine years from the revolt.

113. Twelve days were lacking to complete the tenth year after the revolt
when the Cakchiquels put on their shields on account of the king our
ancestor, Oxlahuh tzy; for truly he showed great power in making all the
seven nations come to Iximche, which he did on the day 8 Imox.

The day 7 Ah completed the tenth year after the Revolt.

On 4 Ah there were eleven years from the Revolt.

On 1 Ah there were twelve years.

On 11 Ah there were thirteen years from the revolt (of the Ahpozotzils).

114. On the day 13 Tziquin died the princess Vooqueh who had married Lahuh
Tihax, son of Qikab. Little was lacking to complete the fourteenth year
after the Revolt when the king our ancestor Oxlahuh tzy also died. He died
on the day 13 Ahmak. Truly this king had made himself feared by his power;
never was his power or his grandeur diminished; he undertook many wars and
conquered many cities. These are the children he begat:-

115. Hunyg was the name of his first son, and he obtained the power when
the king Oxlahuh tzy his father died, and all four of the tribes gave
their consent that Hunyg should be chief.  Vakaki Ahmak was the name of
the second son; Noh was the third; Beleheqat the fourth; Imox the fifth,
Maku Xguhay was the name of the queen, wife of the king Oxlahuh tzy. She
had three children, oldest of whom was the king Hunyg. He had also two
other wives, each of whom was mother of part of the children of the king;  
and the mother of the king (Hunyg) had also Beleheqat.

The day 8 Ah completed the 14th year after the Revolt.

116. Then died the king Cablahuh Tihax; this king died on the day 4 Ey.

The day 5 Ah completed the 15th year after the revolt.

117. Then began also to reign the king Lahuh Noh, eldest son of the king
Cablahuh Tihax. At this time the Yaquis of Culuacan were received by the
kings Hunyg and Lahuh Noh. The Yaquis arrived on the day 1 Toh, sent by
the king Modeczumatzin, king of the Mexicans.

118. And we ourselves saw these Yaquis of Culuacan when they arrived; and
they came in old times in great number, these Yaquis, O my children,
during the reign of our ancestor Hunyg and Lahuh Noh.

The day 2 Ah completed the 16th year after the Revolt.

119. During the year the war broke out afresh with the Quiches. On the day
8 Ganel Quiche was entered and taken when Hunyg our ancestor was ruling, a
great counselor and ancient man, when the war entered Quiche. O my
children. Those who began this war at Quiche were the old men, the
counselor Balam, the counselor Ygich, and the noble Qatu; and many Quiches
perished through them. But not thus did our fathers and ancestors acquire
their power.

The day 12 Ah completed the 17th year after the Revolt.

The day 9 Ah completed the 18th year after the Revolt.

120. During this year the beasts and doves came out of the forests, and on
the day 3 Caok the doves passed over the city of Iximche, and truly it was
terrifying to see the beasts.

121. One hundred days after the doves had been seen to come from the
woods, the locusts came. It was on the day 2 Yg that they passed over the
city, and really it was terrifying to see them pass.

122. About that time nine persons perished in a fire at Iximche; on the
day 4 Camey the city was injured by fire. The king Hunyg was at the time
absent on the other side of the river; our fathers and ancestors were also
absent. But when the city burned, we saw it all, we, my children.

The day 8 Ah completed the 19th year after the Revolt.

123. During the year the Quiche men were destroyed near the river of the
Tzotzils, by our ancestors; a great number of other principal men were
conquered when this war occurred.

124. The Quiches were again beaten and suffered loss at Mukche, because
they entered there. A great number of their principal counselors and
nobles were lost; many were put to death slowly, and many were taken
prisoners by our ancestors.

The day 3 Ah completed one cycle after the death of the revolted Tukuches.

With the day 13 Ah, another year was completed.

125. During this year they took up their shields on the Cakhay on account
of the king Lahuh Noh. On the day 8 Ganel the fortress was occupied and
truly the chiefs made their great power felt. All those of the seven
nations came with Hunyg and Lahuh Noh, to make war, and it was also made
by the ancients, the Counselor Balam and the Galel-achi Qatu.

A second year was completed on the day 10 Ah, after the Revolt.

126. During this year the Quiches were again defeated by our fathers and
ancestors. The battle was gained by the arms and the bravery of those of
Cokolahay, whose divisions met face to face the leader of the Quiches and
his warriors. There was slain Yaxonkik son of the Prince Ahpoptuh. Many
warriors were slain; therefore great was the majesty of our ancestors, O
my children; and they also made many prisoners in this great war of which
we speak.

On the day 7 Ah, was completed the third year of the second cycle after
the Revolt.

On the day 4 Ah was completed the fourth year after the Revolt.

127. In the course of the fifth year the pestilence began, O my children.
First there was a cough, then the blood was corrupted, and the urine
became yellow. The number of deaths at this time was truly terrible. The
Chief Vakaki Ahmak died, and we ourselves were plunged in great darkness
and great grief, our fathers and ancestors having contracted the plague, O
my children.

On the day 1 Ah there were one cycle and 5 years from the Revolt, and the
pestilence spread.

128. In this year the pestilence spread, and then died our ancestor Diego
Juan.  On the day 5 Ah war was carried to Panatacat by our ancestor, and
then began the spread of the pestilence. Truly the number of deaths among
the people was terrible, nor did the people escape from the pestilence.

129. Forty were seized with the sickness; then died our father and
ancestor; on the day 14 Camey died the king Hunyg, your grandfather.

130. But two days afterward died our father, the Counselor Balam, one of
the ancients, O my children. The ancients and the fathers died alike, and
the stench was such that men died of it alone. Then perished our fathers
and ancestors. Half the people threw themselves into the ravines, and the
dogs and foxes lived on the bodies of the men. The fear of death destroyed
the old people, and the oldest son of the king died at the same time as
his young brother. Thus did we become poor, O my children, and thus did we
survive, being but a little child--and we were all that remained. Hence
the putting aside of our claims.

Names of (our) Ancestors, Sons of the King.

131. The counselor Balam, the oldest son of the king Hunyg, was already
distinguished before the face of the chieftains when he died by the great
plague.

132. Ahmak was the name of the second son. His son is Don Pedro Solis.
Tohin was the third. There is no record of him, as he died with the king
and our three fathers.

133. Our father Francisco, the counselor Tzian, was the fourth son.

134. Balam was the fifth son; there is no record of him.

135. Ahtzalam Hunahpu was the sixth son. He was saved from the plague with
our three other ancestors. As for us, we were then little children, and we
all escaped, and we saw all the pestilence, O my children. These are the
names of our female ancestors: the first wife of king Hunyg was the queen
Chuvytzut; she had three sons, our father, the father of Don Pedro Solis,
and Tohin, who left no children. The queen Chuvytzut being dead, the queen
Xgekaqueh, the female Ahtziquinahay, took her place. She was the mother of
the Counselor Tzian Balam, and these were her two children.

136. A hundred days after the death of the kings Hunyg and Lahuh Noh,
there were elected as kings Cahi Ymox and Belehe Qat, on the day 1 Can.
For Belehe Qat alone remained. As for us we were little boys and our
elders did not choose any of us. Tzian and Balam, the only other
descendants of Hunyg, were also young. Belehe Qat was therefore chosen to
rule but only as heir apparent, the orator Baqahol declaring that it was
not proper that he should take the supreme rule. The honor of the royalty
was decreed to Belehe Qat; but the orator Baqahol desired that the real
chief should be our ancestor Tzian;  therefore he entered into power.

What Took Place in the Sixth Year.

137. Twenty days after the chiefs began to rule there was an insurrection
against the Ahtziquinahay. It occurred on the day 10 Queh, and the chiefs
Ahtziquinahay and Qicihay went to Iximche on account of the revolt, coming
to raise soldiers.

138. Twelve of the Tzutuhil villages were destroyed by the Tzotzil
Tukuches on the day 11 Ymox and the Tzutuhils were slain. Very many were
taken prisoners. Therefore the Tzutuhils in fear of death were made to
give up their treasures and the town of Xepoyom was taken. Then returned
the chiefs Tepepul Ahtziquinahay and Tzizihay to their homes.

139. At that time the people of Xecaka abah, all of whom had been driven
forth, were aided by the Cakchiquels. Many Tzutuhils also came to the
villages to make war against the Ahtziquinahay, and those of Pacaval, and
wished to join forces, their warriors having been provoked by the people
of Pacaval.

140. On the day 9 Batz there was slaughter at the rock of Lakam at
Chitulul.  Not many warriors took part. Only the men of Belehe qat and
Cahi Ymox were engaged.

On the day 11 Ah there were 26 years from the Revolt.

141. Then was completed one year since our fathers and ancestors died of
the plague.

142. In this year we married your mother, O my children, one year after
the death of your grandfather. We took her to wife on the day 12 Toh.

On the day 8 Ah was completed the 7th year from the Revolt.

143. During this year the Quiche war ceased; the Quiche war ceased on the
11th.

On the day 5 Ah was the eighth year of the first cycle.

The Arrival of the Castilians at Xetulul.

144. It was during this year that the Castilians arrived. Forty-nine years
have passed since the Castilians came to Xepit and Xetulul. On the day 1
Ganel the Quiches were destroyed by the Castilians. Tunatiuh Avilantaro,
as he was called, conquered all the towns. Their countenances were
previously unknown and the people rendered homage to sticks and stones.

145. On their arrival at Xelahub, the Quiche nation was routed and
destroyed.  All of them had hastened there to oppose the Castilians; and
there the Quiche nation was destroyed, in front of Xelahub.

146. He then went to the city Gumarcaah, and there came before him the
chiefs, the king and the next in rank, and tribute was paid by the
Quiches; and the chiefs suffered many torments from Tunatiuh.

147. On the day 4 Qat three chiefs, the king and the next in rank were
burned alive by Tunatiuh, nor was the heart of Tunatiuh satisfied with
war. Soon a messenger from Tunatiuh came to the chiefs that they should
send him warriors: "Let the warriors of the Ahpozotzils and Ahpoxahils
come to the slaughter of the Quiches!" So spoke the messenger of Tunatiuh
to the chiefs. Immediately the words of Tunatiuh were published, and 400
men went forth to the slaughter of the Quiches; but they were only those
of the city, the other warriors refusing to obey the chiefs. Only three
times did the warriors go forth to enforce the tribute on the Quiches;
then we also were taken by Tunatiuh, O my children.

How They Now Came to Iximche.

148. It was on the day 1 Hunahpu when the Castilians arrived at Iximche
with their chief, Tunatiuh. The people went forth to meet Tunatiuh with
the chiefs Belehe Qat and Cahi Ymox.  Good was the heart of Tunatiuh when
he entered the city with the chiefs. There was no fighting and Tunatiuh
rejoiced when he entered Iximche. Thus did the Castilians enter of yore, O
my children; but it was a fearful thing when they entered; their faces
were strange, and the chiefs took them for gods. We, even we, your father,
saw them when they first set foot in Iximche, at the palace of Tzupam,
where Tunatiuh slept.  The chief came forth, and truly he frightened the
warriors; he came from his chamber and called the rulers:  "Why do you
make war with me, when I also can make it?" said he. "Not at all. Why
should so many warriors find their death? Do you see any pitfalls among
them?" So replied the chiefs, and he went to the house of the chief
Chicbal.

149. Then Tunatiuh agreed to join the chiefs in their wars, and the chiefs
said to him:--"O thou God, we have two wars, one with the Tzutuhils, one
at Panatacat." Thus spake the chiefs.  Only five days after, Tunatiuh went
forth from the capital. Then the Tzutuhils were conquered by the
Castilians. It was the day 7 Camey that the Tzutuhils were destroyed by
the Castilians.

150. Twenty-five days afterwards Tunatiuh went forth from the capital to
Cuzcatan going there to destroy Atacat. On the day 2 Queh, Atacat was
slain by the Castilians, with all his warriors. There went with Tunatiuh
all his Mexicans to this battle.

151. On the day 10 Hunahpu he returned from Cuzcatan. He had been absent
only 40 days to make the conquest at Cuzcatan when he returned to the
capital. Then Tunatiuh asked for a daughter of one of the chiefs, and she
was given to Tunatiuh by the chiefs.

A Demand for Money is made.

152. Then Tunatiuh began to ask the chiefs for money. He wished that they
should give him jars full of precious metals, and even their drinking cups
and crowns. Not receiving anything, Tunatiuh became angry and said to the
chiefs: "Why have you not given me the metal? If you do not bring me the
precious metal in all your towns, choose then, for I shall burn you alive
and hang you." Thus did he speak to the chiefs.

153. Then Tunatiuh cut from three of them the gold ornaments they wore in
their ears. The chiefs suffered keenly from this violence, and wept before
him. But Tunatiuh was not troubled, and said: "I tell you that I want the
gold here within five days. Wo to you if you do not give it. I know my
heart." So said he to the chiefs. The word was then given. The chiefs
gathered together all their metals, those of the parents and children of
the king, and all that the chiefs could get from the people.

154. While they were gathering the gold for Tunatiuh, a priest of the
Demon showed himself: "I am the lightning; I will destroy the Castilians."
So said he to the chiefs. "I will destroy them by fire. When I beat the
drum let the chiefs come forth and go to the other bank of the river. This
I shall do on the day 7 Ahmak." Thus did this priest of the Demon speak to
the chiefs. Truly the chiefs thought that they should trust in the words
of this man. It was when they were gathering the gold that we went forth.

How We went forth from the City.

155. The day 7 Ahmak was that of the going forth. They deserted the city
of Iximche on account of the priest of the Demon, and the chiefs left it.
"Yes, truly, Tunatiuh shall die," said they. "There is no more war in the
heart of Tunatiuh, as he now rejoices in the gold given him." Thus it was
that our city was abandoned on the day 7 Ahmak on account of a priest of
the Demon, O my children.

156. But what the chiefs did was soon known to Tunatiuh. Ten days after we
had left the city, war was begun by Tunatiuh. On the day 4 Camey began our
destruction. Then began our misery.  We scattered in the forests; all our
towns were taken, O my children; we were slaughtered by Tunatiuh. The
Castilians entered the city and they arrived as to a deserted spot. From
that time the Castilians were hated by the Cakchiquels. They made
trenches, they dug pitfalls, that the horses might be killed, and war was
waged by their men. Many men of the Castilians were slain, and many horses
killed in the pitfalls. The Quiches and Tzutuhils were destroyed and all
their villages ruined by the Cakchiquels. Only thus did the Castilians let
them live, and only thus were they let live by all the villagers. One
hundred and eighty days after the desertion of the city of Iximche was
completed the ninth year (of the second cycle).

On the day 2 Ah was completed the 29th year after the Revolt.

157. During the tenth year the war continued with the Castilians. But the
Castilians having received aid in this tenth year at Xepau, carried on the
war with such vigor that they destroyed the forces of the nation.

158. Tunatiuh then went forth from Xepau, and so harassed us that the
people would not come before him. There were lacking one hundred and
twenty days to complete two years since we had abandoned the capital, now
deserted, when Tunatiuh came there on his march in order to set fire to
the city. On the day 4 Camey, two years less six months after the
beginning of the war, he set fire to the capital and returned.

On the day 12 Ah was completed the 30th year after the Revolt.

159. In the course of this year we breathed for a little, as did also the
kings Cahi Ymox and Belehe Qat. They had not lost all hope before the
Castilians, and they maintained themselves at Holombalam, O my children.

160. One year and twenty days had passed since the places had been made
desolate by Tunatiuh, when the Castilians arrived at Chiixot. On the day 1
Caok our slaughter by the Castilians began. They fought with the nation
and persisted in war. Death ravaged us again, but the whole country
continued to refuse tribute. There was not much lacking of the 31st year
after the revolt when they came to Chiixot.

On the day 9 Ah was completed the 31st year after the Revolt.

161. In the course of the following year, while the Castilians were
engaged in war, Chiixot was abandoned. Then Bulbuxya was occupied by the
Castilians. During this year the war was continued, but the whole country
refused the tribute.

The Beginning of the Tribute.

162. Three hundred days after Chiixot was taken, began the payment of
tribute to the Captain by Chinta Queh. It was here at Tzolola, on the day
6 Tzi, that the tribute began. At that time was born my son. Diego Pabo
Cotanoh. Thou wert born, O my son, on that day, 6 Tzi, on which the
tribute began. Deep, indeed, were the sufferings we underwent to escape
from the wars, and twice we were on the point of losing our life.

On the day 6 Ah was completed the 32d year after the Revolt.

163. It was two years less one hundred and twenty days after the beginning
of the tribute when died the chief Ahtun cuc Tihax. He died on the day 6
Akbal. The chiefs Ahpopzotzil and Ahpopxahil had not yet submitted.

On the day 3 Ah was completed the 33d year.

164. In the course of this year the chiefs Ahpopzotzil and Ahpopxahil came
before Tunatiuh. For eighty-six days these chiefs had hid in the woods.
Not only did they wish to come forth, but their labors and sufferings were
known to Tunatiuh, and the memory of these chiefs came to Tunatiuh. On the
day 7 Ahmak the chiefs decided to come forth. When they arrived at
Paruyaal chay, many chiefs, all the fathers of the chiefs and their sons,
and a multitude of people accompanied the chiefs. On the day 8 Noh they
reached Panchoy. Then Tunatiuh rejoiced with the chiefs, when their faces
were seen again before Tunatiuh.

On the day 13 Ah was completed the 36th year after the revolt.

[I append the translation of the remainder of what I believe to be the original 
work (see Introduction, page
58); but as its contents are of little general interest, I omit the text.]

165. During this year frightful imposts were levied; they paid gold and
silver before the face of Tunatiuh, and there were demanded as tribute
five hundred men and five hundred women to go to the gold washings; all
the people were busy seeking gold. Five hundred men and five hundred women
were also demanded by Tunatiuh to aid in building Pangan for his princely
residence. All that, yes, all that, we ourselves witnessed, O my children.

On the 10th Ah was completed the 35th year after the Revolt.

166. Forty days were lacking to complete three years from the date of the
submission of the kings when Belehe Qat died. He died on the 7th Queh,
when employed in washing for gold and silver. As soon as he was dead
Tunatiuh set to work to appoint his successor. The prince Don Jorge was
appointed by the sole command of Tunatiuh. There was no council held nor
assembly to confirm him. Tunatiuh gave his orders to the princes and they
obeyed him; for, truly, he made himself feared.

On the 7th Ah was completed the 36th year after the revolt.

167. Three hundred and forty days after the death of Belehe Qat the
princes were forced to place Don Jorge in possession of the throne. His
father was Don Juan Xuares.

Oh[TN-23] the 4th Ah was completed the 37th year after the revolt.

168. In the course of this year the king Cahi Ymox Ahpozotzil withdrew and
went to inhabit the capital. He intended to separate from the others,
because the tribute had been imposed on all the chiefs, even on the king
himself.

On the 1st Ah was completed the 38th year after the revolt.

169. During this year Tunatiuh departed for Castile, making new conquests
on his road. Thus he destroyed those of Tzutzumpan and of Choloma; and
many other towns were destroyed by Tunatiuh. There occurred an unheard of
event at Tzutzumpan. I saw Hunahpu tremble a litle[TN-24] while before the
prince Mantunalo arrived here. Tunatiuh went to Castile, leaving
Tzutzumpan.

On the 11th Ah was completed the 39th year after the revolt.

170. In the course of the year, on the 11th Noh, Prince Mantunalo arrived.
The prince Mantunalo arrived to relieve the nation from its sufferings;
the washing for gold and silver promptly ceased, and the tribute of young
men and women ceased; the burnings alive and the hangings ceased, and,
indeed, all the various acts of violence of the Castilians and the imposts
which they had forcibly laid upon us. The roads were once more frequented
by travelers when the Prince Mantunalo arrived, as they had been eight
years before, when the imposts were first laid upon us, O my children.

On the 8th Ah was completed the 40th year after the revolt.

On the 5th Ah was completed the first year of the third cycle.

171. Before the close of the second year of the third cycle, the prince
Tunatiuh arrived, landing at Porto Cavayo. When Tunatiuh came back from
Castile with the position of commander, each of us went before him to
receive him, O my children. It was then that he killed with his sword the
Ah-tzib Caok on account of his lineage; it was on the day 11 Ahmak that he
killed the Ah-tzib.

On the day 2 Ah was completed the second year of the third cycle.

172. One hundred and twenty days after the death of Ahtzib and of the
return of Tunatiuh to Panchoy, the prince Mantunalo departed, leaving
Tunatiuh in command. Two hundred and sixty days after his return, Tunatiuh
hanged the king Ahpozotzil Cahi Ymox, on the day 13 Ganel. They hanged
with him Quixavit Caok, by order of Tunatiuh.

On the day 12 Ah was completed the third year of the third cycle.

173. Two hundred and eighty days after the execution of the king
Ahpozotzil he hanged Chuvy Tziquinu, prince of the city, who had angered
him. They hanged him on the day 4 Can at Paxaya. They seized him on the
road and executed him secretly. Seventeen other chiefs were hanged at the
same time. On the day 4 Ig[TN-25] the chief Chicbal, who had caused the
death of Chuvy Tziquinu, was hanged in his turn, and with him Nimabah and
Quehchun. Meanwhile, Tunatiuh had left for Xuchipillan, appointing as his
lieutenant and to see to the hangings, Don Francisco, who attended to
them. One hundred days after the prince Chicbal had been hanged, came the
news that Tunatiuh had met his death at Xuchipillan.

On the day 9 Ah was completed the fourth year of the third cycle after the
revolt.

174. In the course of this year there was a great disaster which destroyed
the Castilians at Panchoy. On the day 2 Tihax the waters burst from the
mountain Hunahpu, rushing out from the interior of the mountain, and
enveloped the Castilians in destruction. The wife of Tunatiuh was then
drowned.

When Our Instruction Began.

One hundred and sixty days after this disaster there arrived at our house
our fathers of St. Dominic, Brother Pedro Anculo and Brother Juan de
Torres. They arrived from Mexico on the day 12 Batz, and we began to
receive instruction from our fathers of St. Dominic. Then also appeared
the Doctrina in our language. Our fathers, Brother Pedro and Brother Juan
were the first who taught us the word of God. Until that time the word and
the commandments of God were unknown to us; we had lived in darkness, for
no one had spoken to us of the doctrine of God. There were also the
fathers of St. Francis, Father Alamicer and Father Clerico, with those of
St. Dominic, who spoke to us. They translated the Doctrina into our
language, and we were soon instructed by them.

On the day 6 Ah was completed the fifth year of the third cycle.

On the day 3 Ah was completed the sixth year of the third cycle after the
revolt.

On the day 13 Ah was completed the seventh year.

175. In the course of the year our fathers of St. Dominic separated from
those of St. Francis, on account of ashes; the latter went away. Ashes
were not given by our Fathers of St.  Dominic; therefore, those of St.
Francis went away.

On the day 10 Ah was completed the 8th year of the third cycle.

On the day 7 Ah was completed the 9th year of the third cycle after the
revolt.

176. In the course of the year the licentiate Don Juan Roxer arrived.

They Begin to Group the Houses.

One hundred and six days after they had really begun to teach us the word
of God, then they commenced to gather together the houses in groups, by
order of the ruler, Juan Roser, and the people came forth from their caves
and ravines. On the day 7 Caok the capital was repeopled, and we were
there with all the tribes.

On the day 4 Ah was completed the 10th year of the third cycle after the
revolt.

On the day 1 Ah was completed the 11th year of the third cycle after the
revolt.

177. In the course of the year the President Cerrado arrived, while the
licentiate Pedro Ramirez was still here. When he arrived he condemned the
Castilians; he set free the slaves and prisoners of the Castilians,
diminished by one-half the imposts, put an end to forced labor, and
obliged the Castilians to pay all for their work, little or great. This
Prince Cerrado truly solaced the afflictions of our nation; for I, myself,
O my children, was a witness of the many miseries which we endured.

On the day 11 Ah was completed the 12th year of the third cycle.

On the day 8 Ah was completed the 13th year of the third cycle.

178. In the course of the year died the Ahtzib Juan Perez; he died on the
day 12 Tihax. Eighty days after the death of the Ahtzib, there was an
eruption of the mountain Chigag; it was on the day 9 Ah that the fire
appeared in the mountain.

On the day 5 Ah was completed the 14th year of the third cycle.

179. During this year arrived the iron bell; it came from the emperor of
Castile; it reached us on the day 3 Hunahpu, which was on a Friday. Twenty
days after the arrival of the iron bell, the licentiate Ramirez tried to
kill the prince bishop at Pangan, the governor Cerrado being present. The
door of the church was forced by Ramirez. This took place on a day 2 Can,
on a Thursday. One hundred and sixty days after these leaders had come to
blows at Pangan, all our fathers of St. Francis and St. Dominic came to
blows in their turn at Xelahub, the former having tried to wrest Xelahub
from the Dominicans.

On the day 2 Ah was completed the 15th year of the third cycle.

180. In the course of this year the locusts (grasshoppers) reappeared. It
was on the day 12 Tziquin, the day after the Visitation, that the
grasshoppers came. They passed over all parts of the country, and we saw
them with you, my children.

On the day 12 Ah was completed the 16th year of the third cycle.

181. During the course of this year arrived the President Doctor Quexata;
it was on a day 2 Hunahpu that that ruler arrived here, coming from
Mexico. They were celebrating the feast of the circumcision. The governor
Cerrado was here when he arrived. When the Doctor Quexata had almost
arrived, the President Cerrado died. There was but little between them.
Then the Doctor Quexata died. He did not condemn any one, because he had
no time. But the ruler Cerrado condemned (the Castilians), for he did what
was right. About the same time died the chief Don Francisco Ahpozotzil; it
was on the day 1 Can, a Monday, the 14th day of the month October, that he
died. It was in this year that he died that the nativity of our Saviour
Jesus Christ came on the day 1 Batz.

On the day 9 Ah was completed the 17th year of the third cycle.

182. Forty days after the death of the chief Don Francisco, died our
Father Fray Domingo de Vico in Acalan. Truly, with great tortures was he
put to death by the tribe. Twenty days after the death of our father in
Acalan, Father Fray Francisco de la Para was exiled by the bishop and the
ruler Ramirez. This took place on Easter day.

On the day 6 Ah was completed the 18th year of the third cycle.

183. At this time died Alonzo de Pazon, the day 12 Ganel.

In the 13th month of the year, the day of Sanctiago at Pangan occurred on
the day 1 Tziquin. On that day the Castilians at Pangan had great
rejoicings, because on that day was inaugurated as supreme monarch over in
Castile the Emperor Don Peliphe. There were then three rulers, the Prince
Ramirez, the Doctor Mercia and Louaisa. They held court at Panchoy. In the
14th month of the year, after this day of Sanctiago, there came an order
from Ramirez. He imposed a tribute on members of the nobility among the
people. He also made provision for the surplusage of the tribute. There
had never been a surplus under the chiefs; it was known to be stolen, but
no one knew by whom. The maize tax was reduced and that of roast fowls,
and none of the chiefs could steal anything from the surplus. This order
of Ramirez was promulgated on the day of St. Francis, a Monday, the day 7
Camey. Twenty days after the promulgation of the order of Ramirez, the
Book of the Doctrina was published, on the day of Saints, a Monday; but
many would not accept the Doctrina, but refused it.

On the day 3 Ah was completed the 19th year of the third cycle after the
revolt.

184. The Alcaldes in the year 1557 were Don Juan Juarez and Don Francisco
Fez.

In the course of the year an incursion was made to destroy the Lacantuns.
It was on the day 5 Ey that the ruler Ramirez sallied forth as general,
and Don Martin went also as general, twenty days before the close of the
third cycle.

Don Juan Juarez and Francisco Pez Martin were chosen as Alcaldes, to issue
orders. (Note by a later writer: These were the first Alcaldes, and with
them began the elections.)

On the day 13 Ah was completed the third cycle since the Revolt was made.
The third cycle was completed in the year 1558.

185. When we were in the eleventh month of the year, a President Royal
arrived, on the day 3 Qat. When he arrived at Pangan on 1 Akbal, Don Diego
Pez was inaugurated as chief by the ruler Ramirez.

Six months after the arrival of the President at Pangan, began here again
the pestilence which had formerly raged among the people. It came from a
distance. It was truly terrible when this death was sent among us by the
great God. Many families bowed their heads before it. The people were
seized with a chill and then a fever; blood issued from the nose; there
was a cough, and the throat and nose were swollen, both in the lesser and
the greater pestilence. All here were soon attacked. These maladies began,
O my children, on the day of the Circumcision, a Monday, and as I was
writing, we also were attacked with the disease.

Diego Ernandez Xahil and Francisco Ernandez Galel Bagahol were Alcaldes in
the year 1559.

The first year of the fourth cycle since the revolt was completed on the
day 10 Ah.

NOTES.

1. The author begins by stating his purpose in a few lines.

xtinu[c,]ibah, future of [c,]ibah, to write, originally to paint.

xeboço, past tense, third person, plural, of the absolute form of boç,
here, as often, used actively. Compare Gram., p. 49.

la[t]abex, passive of la[t]abeh, to inhabit, to settle.

huyu ta[t]ah, hills and plains, or, the interior and the coast; an
expression meaning the whole country.

que cha, they say, used as the French on dit, indicating that the writer
is reporting the words of another.

ki, an intensive or affirmative particle, thrown in to add strength to the
expression.

ka tata, our fathers, ka mama, our grandfathers and ancestors more remote
than fathers. These terms are to be understood in a general sense.

yx nu qahol, you my sons, or yx ka qahol, you our sons, intimates that
this account was prepared for the family of the writer.

pa Tulan. The prep. pa (before a vowel pan) means in, at, to, and from.  
Torresano (MS. Gram.) renders it by the Latin ad, pro, absque, ab, de, e,
ex. Brasseur translates these words "being still in Tulan," which does not
make sense.

2. [t]a[t]avitz, Zactecauh. Both these names of the ancestral heroes of
the Cakchiquels appear to be partly Nahuatl. [t]a[t] is "fire," and Zak is
"white," both Cakchiquel words, but vitzli, thorn, and techatl, the stone
of sacrifice, are Nahuatl.

[c]haka palouh, the other side of the sea. The word palouh appears to be
derived from the verb paloh, to lift onesself up, to rise, referring to
the waves.

pe vi, and vi pe; on the use of the particle vi, see Grammar, p. 63.

pa Tulan ru bi huyu, from the country or place called Tulan. The word huyu
usually means hill or mountain; but it is frequently used in the vague
sense of "place," "locality."

achij, men, viri, not homines, which latter is vinak.

Xahila, a plural form. The name maybe derived from xahoh, to dance in the
sacred or ceremonial dances; or from ahila, to reckon or number.

3. chinamit, the sub-gens. On this see the Introduction. The our[TN-26]
referred to include the Xahila, mentioned in the previous paragraph. These
four, the Xahila, the Gekaquch, the Baqahol, and the Cibaki, formed the
tribe; the remaining four, the Caveki, the Ah Queh, the Ah Pak, and the
Ykomagi, were of the same lineage, but not in the confederacy.

Daqui; the letter d does not occur either in Cakchiquel or Nahuatl. The
foreign aspect of some of these names seems to point to an ancient
influence of some allophyllic tongue.

4. He [c]a [c]oh, etc. The writer here states that he gives the exact
words of the ancient tradition. He probably wrote the text from some
antique chant, which had been handed down from his ancestors. The
quotation begins at the words Cahi xpe, and continues to near the close of
the next paragraph, where the words xecha can ri [t]a[t]avitz, the above
spoke Gagavitz, etc., mark its termination. This is one of the most
obscure passages in the book. The original text is given by Brasseur among
his pièces justificatives, in the appendix to the first volume of his
Hist. du Mexique. A comparison with his translation will show that in
several important constructions I differ from him.

The mythological references to Tulan, [c]abouil, the Chay Abah, Xibilbay,
etc., have been discussed in the Introduction. The passage corresponds to
the first chapter of the third book of the Popol Vuh.

Tulan, Tullan; these variations are in the original.

5. The particle tan, with which the paragraph opens, throws the narrative
into the "historical present," for the sake of greater vividness. The verb
[c,]ak, as at present used, means to make bricks, etc., out of earth.

xtiho; translated by Brasseur, "the trial was made;" but it is the
imperfect passive of tih, which means "to give to another something to eat
or drink."

xaki, plural of xak, generic word for leaf.

utiuh, koch; besides these, two other animals are named in the Popol Vuh.

achak is the general word for excrement, either of men or brutes; also,
refuse, waste products in general.

tiuh tiuh is the name of a small variety of hawk. "El gavilan pequeño."
Guzman, Compendio de Nombres en Lengua Cakchiquel. MS.

mani [c]a x[c]hao, "and he talked not." The connective [c]a, like navipe,
and pe, all three of which may usually be translated by "and," is not
placed at the beginning of the clause.  [c]ha is to speak in the general
sense; hence, [c]habal, a language. Synonyms of this are tin cha, I say;
tin tzihoh, I speak words, I harangue; tin biih, I name, I express myself;
and quin ucheex, I tell or say, especially used in repeating what others
have said (Coto, Vocabulario). These words are of frequent use in the
text.

Rubanic chay abah ri [c,]apal, etc.; this obscure passage was, I think,
entirely misunderstood by Brasseur. The word [c,]apal is derived from the
neuter form [c,]ape of the active tin [c,]apih, I shut up or enclose, and
means "that which is shut up," lo cerrado, and [c,]apibal, the active form
in the next line, means "that which shuts up," i. e., gates or doors. It
will be remembered (see ante, p. 26) that the gates of Iximche were
constructed partly of, or ornamented with, obsidian, and the same is
supposed here of the gates of the mythical city or place of Tulan.

ki-kan; our burden, our tribute. The passage seems to indicate that they
left their former country to escape subjection.

[c]oh qui tzih; the passage may be translated "theirs were the words which
incited us," i. e., to revolt and to depart.

6. The articles mentioned as paid in the tribute, have been described in
the Introduction (see p. 39).

7. "So spoke the Obsidian Stone," i. e., the sacred oracle, referred to as
the final arbiter. See anté, p. 26.

"The wood and stone which deceive," that is, the idols of wood and stone
which they worshiped.

8. This paragraph is obscure, and the numerous erasures in Brasseur's
translation indicate the difficulty he found in discovering its meaning.

9. [c]holloh tacaxepeval rikan [c]eche; Brasseur translates this:
"Malheureux etaient[TN-27] les fils et les vassaux des Quiches." I take
the word tacaxepeval to be the name of the first month in the Cakchiquel
calendar (see anté, p. 29); and [c]olloh means "to divest ourselves of, to
get rid of."

13. This and the following section describes the efforts of certain
inimical powers, under the guise of birds, to obstruct and deceive the
Cakchiquels. The chahalçivan is a small bird which builds in the rocky
sides of the ravines, and is called by the Spaniards by a literal
translation, "El guarda barranca," the gully-guard. The tucur is the owl;
this name being apparently an abbreviation of the Nahuatl tecolotl. The
bird called [c]anixt is the Spanish cotorra, a small species of parrot.
(Guzman, Compendio de Nombres, MS.)

On the word labalinic, see Introduction, p. 47.

14. The owl sat on the red tree, the caka chee, whence, as we learn later,
the tribe derived its name, Cakchiquel--a doubtful derivation.

Chee abah, wood and stone; understood to refer to the idols of these
substances.

Ça[t]ih, for Cak[t]ih, the spring. Father Coto has the following under the
words: "Estio vel verano, Çak[t]ih; pa çak [t]ih, en el estio vel verano.
Y nota que los que nosotros decimos en saliendo el verano, o que quando
para, estos lo entrinden al contrario; porque decin, mixel çak [t]ih, mani
chic ru [t]ih hab, ya salió el verano, no ay mas aguero."

16. The cak chee, red tree, is translated by Father Guzman, "arbol de
carreta."  The legendary derivation of the name Cakchiquel from this is
doubtful. [c]hamey may mean something more than staff; it is applied to
the staff of office, the bâton de commandement carried by the alguacils,
etc.

The whole paragraph is obscure, but seems to describe their leaving the
sandy shore of the sea, passing out of sight of land, then coming in sight
of it again, and going ashore.

17. The word ikan, burden, here as elsewhere, is usually translated by
Brasseur, "tribute."

18. Ah chay, literally, "master of obsidian." As this stone was largely
used for arrow heads and other weapons, the expression in this connection
seems to mean "master of arms." Ah [c]am, from [c]am, to take, seize.
Brasseur construes these words as in apposition to vach: "Whom shall we
make our master of arms," etc.

Etamayom, from the root et, mark, sign; etamah, to know, to be skilled in
an art; etamayom, he who knows (see Grammar, pp. 27, 56). Brasseur's
rendering, "le Voyant," is less accurate.  See his translation of this
passage in the Hist. du Mexique, Tome II, p. 92.

[c]okikan; Brasseur gives to this the extraordinary rendering, "parfumés
d'ambre." But Coto states that it was the term applied to the loads of
roasted maize, which were the principal sustenance of the natives on their
journeys.

19. The narration continues in the words of the ancestral heroes, who
speak in the first person, plural.

Nonovalcat, Xulpit; the first of these names is decidedly Nahuatl, and
recurs in the Maya Chronicles. See Introduction, p. 44. The second is
clearly of Maya origin. These localities are located by Brasseur on the
Laguna de Terminos, near the mouth of the Usumacinta.

20. Having defeated their enemies in the field, the Cakchiquels seized
their boats and ventured an attack on the town, in which they were
repulsed.

Zuyva; this famous name in Aztec mythology, was also familiar to the Maya
tribes. (See The Maya Chronicles, p. 110.) The term ah zuyva seems here
employed as a general term for the Nahuatl-speaking nations. (See above,
p. 44.)

Ca[c]; I do not find this word in any dictionary; perhaps it is for
ca[c,], a variety of wasp.

"When we asked each other," etc. Here follow some fragments of legends,
explaining the origin of the names of the tribes. They are quite
imaginary.

Tohohil, from tohoh, to resound in the water and the sky (sonar el rio y
el ayre, Dicc. Cak. Anon.); not clangor armorum, as Brasseur translates
it, but sounds of nature. Tohil was the name of the principal Quiche
divinity, and was supposed by Brasseur and Ximenez to be an abbreviated
form of Tohohil.  But I have given reasons for supposing it to mean
"justice," "equity," and this legend was devised to explain it, when its
true etymology had become lost. (See my Names of the Gods in the Kiche
Myths, p. 23.)

Cakix; the bird so called, the Ara macao, of ornithologists, was one of
the totemic signs of the Zotzil families of the Cakchiquels. The author
here intimates that the name Cakchiquel is from cakix and chi, month,
forgetting that he has already derived it from cak chee (Sec. 16).

Chita[t]ah; "in the valley."

[t]u[t]cumatz; see notes on Sec. 38.

Ahcic ama[t]; "the town on high," built on some lofty eminence.

Akahal; the derivation suggested is from akah, a honey-comb or wasp's
nest.

Çaker. This is an important word in Xahila's narrative. It is derived from
çak, white; hence, çaker, to become white; also, to dawn, to become light;
metaphorically, of persons to become enlightened or civilized. The active
form, çakericah, means to inform, to acquaint with, to instruct.

21. Nima [c]oxom, nima chah, Brasseur translates, "great ravines, enormous
oaks;" ch[)a]h is oak, ch[=a]h, ashes; [c]ox, to strike fire, to clash
stones together. [c]hopiytzel, "the bad place where the flesh is torn from
the body," referring probably to sharp stones and thorns. Popo abah, the
Council Stone.

Molomu chee, "wood gathered together or piled up." It is noteworthy that
this, which seems to be the name of a place, means in Cakchiquel the same
as Quauhtemallan, Guatemala, in Nahuatl.  Perhaps the Aztec allies of
Alvarado merely translated the Cakchiquel name of the country. (See
Introduction, p. 22, note.)

Xahun chi lol; a difficult phrase, translated by Brasseur, "le dernier
rejeton;" lol is applied to a condition of desertion and silence, as that
of an abandoned mill or village. On halebal, see Introduction, p. 46.

On Zaki[c]oxol, and the conflict with him, see the Introduction, p. 42.

22. Ru chahim; Brasseur translates this phrase, "between the fire and the
ashes," taking chahim from ch[=a]h, ashes. But I take it to be from the
verb chahih, to guard, as later in the paragraph the question is asked:
"Nak rumal tachahih bey?" "Why guardest thou the road?"

xcha [c]a ok xul; "aprés qu'il eut parlé, il joua sur la flute." Brasseur.
The Abbé here mistook the preterit of ul to arrive, for the noun xul, a
flute.

ru [c]ux huyu. The ambiguity of the word huyu, here, as often, offers
difficulty in ascertaining the precise sense of the original. It means
mountain or hill, woods or forest, or simply place or locality. While
[c]ux, means literally "heart," it also has the sense, "soul, spirit."
(Coto, Vocabulario, MS. s. v. Corazon.) Hence, the phrase may be
translated "the Spirit of the Forest," or "of the Mountain."  Brasseur
prefers the latter, while I lean to the former.

roqueçam, from the root oc, to enter; applied to garments "that which is
entered," or put on. Compare our slang expression, "to get into one's
clothes."

xahpota, see Introduction, p. 18.

23. Yukuba, to string out; hence, to name seriatim. The last four names
given are clearly Nahuatl, as is also Zuchitan. This indicates that the
Cakchiquels, in their wanderings, had now entered the territory of the
Pipils, of the Pacific slope.

Cholama[t]; "the tribe of the Chols," or "of the corn fields." The Chols
were a Maya tribe, who lived around Palenque (see Stoll, Ethnographie der
Rep. Guatemala, pp. 89-93), but the reference in the text is not to them,
nor yet to the Mams, as Brasseur thought, but to a nation speaking a
non-Maya tongue.

Vaya vaya ela opa. I have given several reasons for the opinion that these
words are in the Xinca language. See my essay On the Xinca Indians of
Guatemala, in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 1885.

24. Mem, dumb, silent, incapable of speech. Tin memuh vi, I am dumb, I
keep silence; given in the text as the origin of the nomen gentile, Mam.
The Mams speak a dialect of the Maya, probably scarcely intelligible to
the Cakchiquels. They at present dwell in the northwestern districts of
the Republic of Guatemala. See Stoll, Ethnographie der Rep. Guatemala, pp.
164-5.

25. Nacxit. On this passage Brasseur builds his theory of the formation of
a great Toltec empire in Central America, about the close of the eleventh
century (Hist. des Nations Civilisèes[TN-28] du Mexique, Tom. II, pp.
101-5). He explains Nacxit as the last two syllables of Topiltzin Acxitl,
a title of Quetzalcoatl. Cinpual Taxuch is undoubtedly from the same
tongue. Orbal tzam, Bored Nose, the pendent from the nose being apparently
a sign of dignity, as the pierced ears of the Incas.

vapal abah, "the lintel stone," here used in the metaphorical sense of
"the corner stone."

26. The description of the dance of the Pokomams, leads us to suppose that
the author means it was a war dance. The Pokomams dwell at present in the
southeastern part of the Republic of Guatemala.

chicop Çakbim; the savage or barbarian Zakbim. See Introduction, p. 39.

27. Tzaktzuy. Brasseur translates "Château des Citrouilles," mistaking
tzak for [c,]ak, as he does throughout the passage; tzuy means also cup or
gourd, and the name may be rendered either "the ensnaring cup," or "vine."
Possibly it refers to a scene of drunkenness.

ri retal; the sign or mark. Brasseur translates it "limit" or "landmark"
of the Ahquehays. These were one of the noble families of the Quiche
stock.

28. Oronic Cakhay, "the Red House of the Nobles," said by Brasseur to be a
hill, one league west of the modern village of Rabinal.

Tecpan, "the royal house." See Introduction, p. 13.

[c,]umah chi qui [c]ux; Brasseur translates these words, "cuirassés sur la
poitrine," and says this was the name of the Pokomams (Hist. Mex., II, p.
126). [c,]uum is leather or skin, and [c]ux is heart; but [c,]umah, and
later, x[c,]umax, is a verb, signifying to lower, to depress.

"The venison and honey." This sentence is apparently a gibe or jeer,
addressed by the defenders of Cakhay to Gagavitz after his attack on their
city had been repulsed.

29. Ah queh hay, "those of the deer (skin) houses."

xakoti[c]en a titil a [t]ana abah. Brasseur translates, "il ne nous est
resté que les vieilles femmes et les pierres dejà hautes." This
illustrates how far he is from the correct meaning at times.  For these
words, see notes to Sec. 41.

30. Xhachatah qui vach. Brasseur gives this literally, "leurs faces
ensuite se divisèrent;" but vach means also "fruit, results, possessions,"
and so I render it.

31. [t]a[t] xanul, "the uncoverer of fire." This is supposed by Brasseur
to be the name of a volcano, and the whole episode to refer to a pretended
miracle. See his Hist. Mexique, Vol. II, pp. 166-7. He calls the passage

"fort difficile," which it certainly is.

32. Çakcho[t]. "Brulé à blanc," is Brasseur's translation, but I cannot
verify it. No such stone is mentioned in Guzman's list of Cakchiquel names
of stones. It would seem that there were fourteen chief performers in the
dance of [t]a[t] xanul,[TN-29] and that they took the name of certain
stones.

34. Chi [t]alibal, "at the seat;" but the author chooses to derive it from
[t]a, hand, which is a doubtful etymology.

35. The episode of Tolgom, his capture and death, is explained by
Brasseur, suo more, as the destruction of the ruler of an independent
tribe on the shores of Lake Atitlan.

[c]habak Nicnic, the quivering mud, perhaps the quicksand. This strange
name adds to the obscurity of the legend.

[c]akbatzulu. The punning explanation of this name refers to its
similarity to [c]ak, to place in front of another; also to shoot with
arrows, or to stone. Its real derivation seems to be [c]akba, from
[c]akaba, to reveal, disclose, and tzulu, to embrace, sleep together.
(Compare chee tzulu, later on.)

37. His song, i. e., his death song.

Chee tzulu, "the interlaced trees."

Uchum, the fifth month of the Cakchiquel calendar. See Introduction, p.
29.

38. Ri tzam tzakbal Tol[c]om, "throwing the extremities of Tolgom." The
reference to this festival is too slight to enable us to understand it.

Chi tulul, "at the zapote trees."

Qabouil Abah, "the Stone God," possibly the Chay Abah before referred to.

Çu[c,]u cumatz; the latter is the generic term for snake, but the meaning
of the prefix is uncertain. Perhaps it should read çuxçu, to move in
spiral lines, as is described in the text. This miraculous form was one of
Gagavitz's metamorphoses.

Nak ruma tiqui [c]am, etc. These words of the hero Gagavitz are not easy
to translate. They seem to chide the Cakchiquels for their weakness in
seeking women, and to announce his intention to remain among the
Tzutuhils.

ru [c]hac pe ri ne[c][=a]h coon; perhaps this should be translated, "the
organs of the women have conquered."

39. Çakeribal, civilization, their becoming civilized. On the meaning of
this word see note to Sec. 20.

abah [c]uval; the precious stone offered by Ba[c]ahol as the price of
royalty, indicates that such carved gems were in high esteem. [c]uval is
translated by Guzman and others, "diamond;" but it was probably native
jade.

Chuluc balam, literally "tiger piss," the name of a common medicinal
plant, used in Guatemala as a diuretic (Guzman). In this connection it
either means the totem of a gens, or refers to a magic rite. The former
seems to be indicated by the term chicop (see Introd. p. 39).

xahun chi raxon ru halebal, a punning allusion to the name of the hill
Paraxone. Brasseur translates it "qui possédent l'un et l'autre ces
oiseaux bleus enchanteurs."

40. The sun had risen, etc. All these expressions are to be understood
metaphorically, with reference to the growing civilization of the tribes.

41. The description of the installation of Ba[c]ahol as head chief, is an
interesting passage. Unfortunately, several of the terms used are not
found in the dictionaries, at least with any appropriate meaning. Thus,
paz is now applied to the swathing bands of infants; cuçul is the cradle
or bundle in which infants are fastened; while ta[c]h I have not found at
all. Guzman gives the expression, titil [t]ana abah, caka uleuh xak, with
the explanation, "Colores con que ungian los señores," and Ah titil, etc.,
"Señores ungidos de estos colores quando eran puestos en señorios."
(Compendio de Nombres en Lengua Cakchiquel, MS., 170-4.)

[t]u[t]u cot; cot, eagle; [t]u[t], the general term for various species of
quetzals, birds with brilliant green plumage. The reference seems to be to
one of the magical metamorphoses of [t]a[t]avitz.[TN-30]

42. The difficulties experienced in their first endeavors to adopt a
sedentary and agricultural life are described.

chicop [c]uch, the "zopilote," or carrion vulture. Possibly this refers to
a gens so designated.

43. In this paragraph the writer expresses himself with great directness.

[c]a chimin, etc. As my translation differs considerably from Brasseur's,
I add his: "En se mariant ils firent l'euvre de la chair vraiment trop
grande. Etant entrés pour se baigner, ils y rompirent leur nature et
gaspillèrent leur semence. Beaucoup y entrèrent dit-on, pour compléter
l'euvre charnelle, on la commit une seconde fois, le jeu s'y établit
absolument, et l'on forniqua par devant et par derrière."

44. This section offers an important description of the ancient methods of
worship.

[c]axto[c]. See the Introduction, p. 40.

mez, the house cat, but as this animal was not known to the natives before
the Conquest, some other animal must be intended.

holom ocox, "head fungus." I follow Brasseur in translating this the
maguey thorns, without being able to justify it.

Chay Abah. See Introduction, p. 43.

46. Whitewashing the interior of hollow trees with lime from the
excrements of birds and tigers, sounds so extraordinary that we may
suspect a mythical sense in the paragraph.

chi [c]ohom, from [c]oh, to dance the sacred dances in their religious
rites, "the place of the sacred ceremonies."

Cay Noh, Two Noh, Cay Batz, Two Batz, named after the days of their birth.
See Introduction, p. 33.

47. The same who came from Tulan. Therefore, from the beginning of the
narrative to the present passage, merely the adult life of one man has
elapsed.

48. On the positions of the [t]alel and ahuchan, see Introduction, p. 37.

ret ri Çactecauh, "the sign of Zactecauh." The precise meaning of this
expression escapes me.

[c]hopiytzel. See Sec. 30 for the occurrence alluded to.

49. Tepeuh is identified by Brasseur with the king Itztayul, of the
Quiches (Hist. Mexique, II, p. 485). He considers it a Nahuatl word, but I
have elsewhere maintained that it is from the Maya-Cakchiquel root tep,
filled up, abundantly supplied. See The Names of the Gods in the Kiche
Myths, pp. 11, 12. It is a term often applied to their Supreme Being.

52. Cakbrakan, the god of the earthquake. The myths concerning him are
given in the Popol Vuh.

Quite to the far East, literally, "and even to the sunrise."

ba[c,]bal, anything drawn out in threads, gold thread, cotton thread, etc.
If the word is to be construed adjectively, puak ba[c,]pal would mean
"worked metal."

56. Ahpop Xahil, etc.; on the meaning of these titles, see the
Introduction, p.  36-7.

63. Ya [c]otox ul; [c]ot, to chisel, engrave, originally to cut into;
hence, applied to the deep valleys or cañons which the rivers cut into the
soil.

Ochal or Qabouil Çivan; the latter name means "the god of the ravine." The
location of this city is unknown, except that it was near the Pacific. The
general position of the Akahals was to the east of the Cakchiquels. See
Brasseur, Hist. Mexique, Tom. II, pp. 502, 530.

64. Me[t]enalah huyu, a town in the warm district, the tierra caliente,
near the southern or Pacific coast.

chuvi vi te, etc. The translation is doubtful. I follow Brasseur.

66. The names of the four rulers here inserted seem to be of those who
held the power after Citan Qatu. Why the author does not relate any
incidents of their lives is uncertain. Perhaps they did not belong to his
family, and as he was writing rather a family than a national history, he
omitted them for this reason. Compare Sec. 75.

67. The Quiche king, Qikab, is frequently mentioned in the Popol Vuh. His
full name was [t]a[t]-[c]i-[t]ab, The Many Hands of Fire.

79. They wished that the roads should be free; rambey akan, "la franchise
des chemins." I do not find the expression in the dictionaries.

83. Mixutzin malo, "the augury is finished." The malol ixim was the augur
who divined the future by throwing up grains of corn, and forecasting from
the relative positions they assumed on falling. See Introd., p. 47.

cunum cachak, a term of contempt; literally "their genitals, their dung."

The Ratzamut. See Introd., p. 21.

84. Burning many roads; destroying the houses and crops behind them.

90. hu chuvy, ca chuvy; in the numeral system of the Cakchiquels a chuvy
is 8000, but the expression is frequently, as here, to be taken
figuratively, like our "myriads."

93. ah-xit, etc. On these titles see the Introduction, pp. 18, 19.

94. Vica[t] nu mam, "the leaves or branches of my ancestor," referring to
the fact that the Cakchiquels were of the same blood as the Akahals.

96. Çakli[c]ahol, etc. This rendering, which is Brasseur's, I am unable to
verify.

tok relic chic ahauh lahuh noh; perhaps this should read, "then came the
chief Lahuh Noh." So Brasseur translates it.

102. There were four women, etc. This curious passage is so differently
translated by Brasseur, that I add his rendering:-

"Quatre femmes alors s'étant révetues de cottes de mailles,
ensanglantèrent leurs arcs et prirent part à la bataille; elles s'étaient
accompagnés de quatres jeunes gens et leurs flêches allèrent frapper au
milieu du tapis de Chucuybatzin, lancés qu' elles étaient par ces
héros.... Le capitaine de bataille exposa ensuite les nudités de ces
femmes devant les murailles des Zotziles et des Xahiles d'ou ces femmes
étaient sorties."

The future student will decide between these very diverse explanations of
the text.

106. Stopped the messengers of the ruler. The translation is doubtful.

109. The people of Mixco or Mixcu were Pokomams. (See Sec. 85.)

110. The Yaquis of Xivico; the Yaquis were Aztecs. It is the Nahuatl
yaqui, merchants, as it was in this capacity that they first became known
to the tribes of Guatemala.

117. This year, 1511 of our era, appears to have been the first of
official relations between the Aztecs and the tribes of Guatemala.

118. The author speaks of himself for the first time. It may be presumed
that it was one of his earliest recollections.

120. The doves; possibly flights of wild pigeons.

124. Hu may; on the reckoning of time see the Introduction, p. 31.

127. [c]hac, the pestilence. Brasseur translates this "la maladie
syphilitique." The vowel is long, [c]haac. It is a word applied to any
eruptive disease, to the whole class of exanthemata. From the symptoms, I
am inclined to believe that it was an epidemic of malignant measles, a
disease very fatal to the natives of Central America.

128. Diego Juan. Why this Spanish name is given, I cannot explain.
Brasseur gets over the difficulty by translating "le pére de Diego Juan,"
but this is not the sense of the original.  Of course, tata and mama are
here used in their vague sense, as expressions of courtesy. See
Introduction, p. 35.

144. Pedro de Alvarado, called the Adelantado, a Spanish title formerly
given to a governor of a province, and by his Mexican allies, Tonatiuh,
the Sun or Sun-God, reached the city of Gumarcaah, or Utlatlan in the
early spring of 1524.

147. Were burned alive. "As I knew their evil intentions, and to keep the
people quiet, I burned them, and ordered their city razed to its
foundation," writes Alvarado to Cortes.  Relacion, etc.

400 men. Alvarado writes cuatro mil hombres, "four thousand men."

148. The palace of Tzupam. Perhaps the palace described by Fuentes. See
Introduction, p. 24. Alvarado speaks of the friendly reception he met
with: "I could not have been more warmly welcomed to the house of my
father." Otra Relacion, etc. His first visit was for eight days, April
11-19, 1524.

Pa hul, etc. This obscure passage is translated by Brasseur in his MS. as
follows: "Vous avez vu la-bas leur tombeau qui est au milieu des autres;"
whereas, in his Hist. du Mexique, Tom.  IV, p. 651, he translates the
whole of this reply of the Cakchiquel king by these words: "Eh quoi!
aurais-je envoyé mes guerriers et mes braves mourir pour vous et chercher
un tombeau à Gumarcaah, si j'avais eu des intentions si perfides!"

This comparison will illustrate how differently he construed the passage,
and also what excessive license he took with his authorities.

171. The order assigning the Oidor Alonso de Maldonado to take charge of
Guatemala, is dated Oct. 27, 1535, and he arrived there in the following
May.

On his return from Spain, Alvarado landed at Puerto de Caballos, April 4,
1539, and reached the city of Guatemala Sept. 16th of the same year.

"On account of his lineage," Ruma ru chinamital; the expression is not
clear.

173.[TN-31] "Prince of the city," Ahauh pa tinamit; see Sec. 168. Cahi
Imox and others had returned to settle in Iximche, and their actions had
become suspicious.

173. Francisco de Alvarado was either the uncle or cousin of Don Pedro.

The Adelantado died July 5, 1541, from an injury received while attacking
the stronghold of Nochistlan.

174. This disaster occurred on the night of Sept. 10-11th, 1541.

The mission referred to is mentioned by Torquemada, Monarquia Indiana,
Lib.  XIX, Cap. XIV. Pedro de Angulo and his companion reached Guatemala
in 1539.

175. "On account of ashes," Ruma chah; Brasseur translates this
expression, "á cause de billevesées."

176. Juan Rogel was one of the "oidores."

177. Alonso Lopez Cerrato entered upon his duties in Guatemala May 26,
1548.

179. Pedro Ramirez de Quiñones. The actor in this attempt was one of the
oidores. Bancroft, who refers to the quarrel between the Governor and
Bishop Marroquin, does not satisfactorily explain it. See his Hist. of
Central America, Vol. II, pp. 326-7. On Ramirez, see Juarros, Hist.
Guatemala, Tom. I, pp. 235-6.

181. Antonio Rodriguez de Quezada took possession of the Presidency of
Guatemala Jan. 14, 1554, and retained it till his death in November, 1558;
he was succeeded by Pedro Ramirez. (Comp. Juarros, I, p. 255, with
Bancroft, Hist. Cent. Am., II, p. 358, who says 1555.)

181.[TN-32] "There was but little between them," Xa [c]a halal qui cohol
ahauh;  this expression is not clear. There appears to be considerable
vagueness in the writer's chronology in this passage.

"He did not condemn any one, because he had no time," Mani xuban ru
[t]atbaltzih, mani xyaloh; an ignorant statement, since he held the
Presidency about four years.

The reading of the last sentence is doubtful.

182. Vico was killed in the summer of 1555.

184. The expedition against the Lacandons took place early in 1559.

VOCABULARY.

[deleted]

Transcriber's Note

The following typographical errors and inconsistencies have been maintained in 
this version of the book.

Typographical errors:

TN-1 29 Second cacao harvest should read Second cacao harvest.
TN-2 30 20.  Hunahpu, should read 20. Hunahpu.
TN-3 33 moroever should read moreover
TN-4 47 Dicc. Anon should read Dicc. Anon.
TN-5 48 Pokoman should read Pokomam
TN-6 51 gutteral should read guttural
TN-7 51 magic candle should read magic candle
TN-8 58 Quikab should read Qikab
TN-9 61 agains should read against
TN-10 13, fn. 1 Baschmann should read Buschmann
TN-11 38, fn. 1 Cakchiquel Anon should read Cakchiquel Anon.
TN-12 57, fn. 1 d,the should read d, the
TN-13 88 ahpop[c]amahay. ha should read either ahpop[c]amahay, ha or
ahpop[c]amahay. Ha
TN-14 110 Ba[c]ahol the h was printed upside down in the original.
TN-15 111 youself should read yourself
TN-16 119 without, should read without.
TN-17 119 Caybatz." should read Caybatz.
TN-18 133 Vxa. should read Vxa
TN-19 136 achiha. maqui should read either achiha; maqui or achiha. Maqui
TN-20 139 Vucubatz should read Vukubatz
TN-21 147 Oxlahu tzii should read Oxlahuh tzii
TN-22 148 vinak. hucumah should read either vinak. Hucumah or vinak,
hucumah
TN-23 188 Oh should read On
TN-24 189 litle should read little
TN-25 190 Ig should read Yg
TN-26 196 our should read four
TN-27 197 etaient should read étaient
TN-28 201 Civilisèes should read Civilisées
TN-29 202 [t]a[t] xanul should read [t]a[t] xanul
TN-30 204 [t]a[t]avitz should read [t]a[t]avitz
TN-31 208 173. should read 172.
TN-32 208 181. The second 181 should not appear, it refers to the same
section as the preceding pargraph
TN-33 209 mayor. should read mayor."
TN-34 209 Ah-[c,]ib, should read Ah-[c,]ib.
TN-35 212 Anon). should read Anon.).
TN-36 215 p, 64 should read p. 64
TN-37 217 etc should read etc.
TN-38 218 mountain should read mountain.
TN-39 218 To put one should read To put to one
TN-40 219 she it should read she, it
TN-41 219 Tak (first listing) is out of alphabetical order
TN-42 222 See Xa should read See Xa
TN-43 223 Asieñto should read Asiento
TN-44 223 [t]ana abah is out of alphabetical order
TN-45 224 [c]iyaley is out of alphabetical order
TN-46 225 [t]a[t] should read [t]a[t],
TN-47 225 [c]hacbal is out of alphabetical order
TN-48 229 106, should read 106.
TN-49 231 194 should read 184

Inconsistent spelling:

anté / ante halebal / halibal

Inconsistent hyphenation:

Ahtzib / Ah-tzib Ahuchan / Ah-uchan calpulli / calp-ulli honeycomb / honey-comb 
kikan / ki-kan

End of Project Gutenberg's The Annals of the Cakchiquels, by Daniel G. Brinton