Chilam Balam: Translation: XXII: A Book of Katun-Prophecies
XXII
(A BOOK OF KATUN-PROPHECIES)
(1. Frontispiece.)
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We have here a picture of the thirteen Lords of the Katuns. The blurred faces may signify that they are blindfolded. The crowns, crosses and manner of drawing are purely European, but they doubtless represent the idols set up in honor of each katun. Unfortunately no pre-Conquest representation of these figures has come down to us. Cf. Landa 1929, PP. 94-Too, also Appendix D. After thirteen Katuns the same series will always recur. |
3 Today, Wednesday, April 4th, 1832, I have recorded the name of Maria Isidora, daughter of Andres Balam and Maria Juana Xicum. 4
Today, Sunday, December 22d, 1833, I have recorded the name of Tomas, son of Andres Balam and Maria Xicum. God-father: José Maria Castañeda. God-mother: Manuela Marin.
Cura
. . . Justo Balam, Secretary. (Rubrica)
I, Pedro de Alcantara Briceño, resident of San Antonio. /
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(2. Historical introduction to the katun-prophecies.)
In Katun 13 Ahau the ship of the foreigners first appeared at Campeche. 1541 was the name of the year when they brought the news that the Maya men were to enter into Christianity, when the land of Tantun Cuzamil was established. They were there for half a year. Then they went to the seaport to the west and the people of Chikin-Chel 2 were put under tribute. It was the year 1542 when the district of Tihoo, Ichcanziho, 3 was established, in Katun 11 Ahau. The first governor was the Adelantado Don Francisco Montejo who was to appoint subjects 4 for the foreigners, mighty men. In the year 1542 tribute was introduced. A. D. 1545 was the year when the Padres arrived, four years after the arrival of the foreigners. Then it was that men were baptised from town to town by <the Padres>. When they first arrived the towns were distributed among them.
1544 was the year . . . six hundred years and seventy-five years after the town of Chichen Itzá was depopulated, 5 after its settlements were depopulated. <It was> eight hundred years and seventy years after the town of Uxmal was depopulated, after the people were driven out of its towns. 6
In the year 1537, on a day named 9 Cauac, was when the nobles gathered at the town of Mani to discuss fully whether they should go and bring the foreigners to their settlements because the head-chief had been killed. 7 These
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10 Kan 4 was the year-bearer when the seeker for a town passed. He was called Montejo, he who wrote down the towns. This was the year when the strangers in the land, the foreigners who ate annonas, passed. They were the first to distribute the towns. It was when the foreigners arrived that the "receivers" received them. 5 When they assembled at Campeche, when their ships came forth, then the nobles went to give gifts to them. There were thirteen "receivers of the foreigners." 6 After that they came to Ichcanziho. 9 Ahau was the katun. 7
✠ <This is> a record of the wisdom of the book in which is set down the course of the katun. Here it is published in the land of Nitun¢ala, Chactemal, Tahuaymil, Holtun Itzá, Chichinila, 8 in order that the charge of the course of the katun may be known, of each katun, whether it is good or bad. Thus it is written by the Holy Writer, the Evangelist, it is the word of the Lord of heaven and earth . . . it comes from on high. This was given to
htun Poot, Ah Mex-Cue Chan. 5
Behold, within seven score years Christianity will be introduced amid the clamor of the rulers, those who violently seize land <during> the katun. Then suddenly appears the wise man; then there is the examination of the katun. 6 Miserable is the face of Chac Chuen Coyi. 7 Then the Lord of the Church shall come. It is in the middle of the town of Tihoo. 8 It shall come from the East, from the North, from the West, from the South; the word of Christianity shall be heard in the 17th tun in order that Christianity may truly arise. /
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(3. The katun-prophecies.) 9
The Chapter of the year, the katun.
First: 11 Ahau, when the foreigners first established the country.
The first: Katun 11 Ahau was the beginning of the katun-count, the first katun. The katun was established at Ichcaanzihoo when the foreigners arrived. Red were the beards of the children of the sun, the bearded ones from
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FIG. 30--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.). |
heaven, the white wooden standard 4 that shall descend from heaven. A quarter of a league, a league away, 5 it approaches. You shall see the dawn of a new day, you shall see the mut-bird. 6 Oh! how there shall be intercession for us when they come. There shall come multitudes who gather stone and wood, 7 the worthless rabble 8 of the town. Fire shall flame up at the tips of their hands. There shall be sufficient poison and also ropes to hang their lords. 9 Oh Itzá! Your worship is of no avail with the true God who has descended. It is false in word and teaching. Niggard is the katun; scanty are its rains. Who would be the priest, who would be the prophet who would understand
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The second <katun>.
Katun 9 Ahau is the second katun of the count. The katun was established at Ichcaanzihoo. Then it was that the foreigners to the land received their tribute. Then it was that the fathers of our souls arrived. The scattered
 FIG. 31--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.). |
The third <katun>.
 FIG. 33--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) |
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The fourth <katun>.
 FIG. 34--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) |
 FIG. 35--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel M.S.) |
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The fifth katun. 1620.
Katun 3 Ahau was the fifth katun. The katun was established at Ichcaanzihoo. Ek-Cocah-mut 5 was its face to the rulers, to the wise men. Antichrist 6 was its face to the rulers. Fire shall flame up at the horn of the brockett
Behold, I am Katun 3 Ahau. My town of Ichcaanzihoo is founded. Behold, I am Caesar Augustus. 13 . . . I receive my donation in the heart of the forest / 14
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 FIG. 36--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) |
Katun I Ahau is the seventh 1 katun. The katun is established at Emal. 2 At that time Ix Puc-yola and Ox Ualacii 3 shall come. The rope shall descend, the cord 4 shall descend. There comes from heaven the word of the true path. Through it will come the fulfilment of the word of the Lord of heaven, the true word.
The dog 5 is its tidings; the vulture is its tidings. The flag is the second of the figures <drawn above>. The opossum is its face to the rulers. Thrice impeded are their thought and speech, thrice impeded their manhood, thrice impeded their flint knife among the rulers, among the wise men. Then came Hunpic-ti-ax 6 as an affliction, the jaguar and Canul 7 for an affliction. These were the eaters of their food, the destroyers of their crops, the boboch, 8 the destroyer of food. For seven years there is the affliction of Hunpic-ti-ax; for seven years there is the affliction of Canul. Then the justice of our Lord, God, shall descend upon carnal sin, upon the worthless rabble of the town, 9 upon the lewd rogue, the rascal. After that there shall come another word, another teaching, but the Maya men shall not admit it to their hearts. The word of God, the Father of Heaven, shall be sung among them that they may correct their ways, that they may turn their backs upon their evil ways, the usages among Maya men; but they will not wish /
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The second <katun>.
FIG. 37--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.)
 FIG. 38--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) |
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The third <katun>.
Katun 10 Ahau, the katun is established at Chable. 9 The ladder 10 is set up over the rulers of the land. The hoof shall burn; the sand by the seashore shall burn; the bird's nest shall burn. 11 The rocks shall crack <with the heat>; drought is the charge of the katun. It is the word of our Lord God the Father and of the Mistress of Heaven, 12 the portent 13 of the katun.
8 Ahau is the <next> fold, the fourth <katun>. /
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The fourth <katun>.
FIG. 39--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.). |
 FIG. 40--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) |
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The first <katun>. 5
 FIG. 41--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) |
 FIG. 42--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) |
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The third <katun>.
The judgment. 3
 FIG. 43--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) |
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(Page 101 is left blank in the Chilam Balam of Chumayel. It contains a note in a modern hand stating that a page of the book is missing here.) /
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Footnotes
144:3 Written in a different hand on a blank page.
144:4 Women retain their maiden names after marriage in Yucatan.
145:1 Written in still another hand.
145:2 Chikin-chel (lit. west woods) was the native province immediately to the south of Rio de Lagartos. Its chief city was Chauachá, a name also given to the entire province (Relaciones de Yucatan, II, p. 7).
145:3 Merida was founded on the site of an ancient city named Ichcanziho in the older narratives. At the time of the Spanish conquest it was called Tihoo, which still continues to be the Maya name of the capital.
145:4 Maya chinam, a word probably borrowed from the Nahuatl. It is defined by Pio Perez as "town," but it can also mean subjects, as in the Carta de diez caciques: "a chinamob tulacal cech ah-tepale," "all the subjects of Your Majesty" (Martinez, Ed. 1930, p. 59). The reference is probably to the establishment of encomiendas, but the towns may be meant.
145:5 Here probably a tun of 360 days is meant instead of a year of 365 days, although the latter is stated. No mention of the inhabitants of Chichen Itzá being driven out at this time has yet been noted.
145:6 This suggests the conquest of some ancient city at Uxmal long before the Xiu occupation of the site, but we know nothing of either conquerors or conquered.
145:7 In spite of the statement as it stands we believe that by 9 Cauac the name of the year is intended. As we have previously noted, the Xiu head-chief was murdered in a year 8 Cauac which lasted from the middle of 1536 to the middle of 1537. The following year was 9 Kan. This paragraph has been translated and there is a full discussion of the matter in Morley 1920, pages 478-487. Yucatan had been abandoned by the Spaniards, and in 1537 a small expedition under Godoy returned to Champoton (Molina Solís 1896, p. 551).
146:1 Ah-kin Euan, the priest Euan.
146:2 Montejo established his headquarters for a time at ¢ibilkal, four leagues west or southwest of Merida, just prior to capturing the latter site in 1541. The mention here of an emissary from this town and the neighboring Caucel indicates that the assembly took place in 1541 and not in 1537. Molina Solís states that an embassy was sent from Mani to ¢ibilkal at this time (Molina Solís 1896, p. 624).
146:3 Where the edge of the page is torn, the title or official name of Tutul Xiu has been supplied from the Crónica de Oxkutzcab, page 66, apud Morley 1920, page 507. Here it is given as Ah Dun Tutul Xiu.
146:4 The year 10 Kan (lahun Kan) began in 1525 prior to Montejo's arrival and could not recur for fifty two years. Probably 13 Kan (oxlahun Kan) is intended. The latter year began in July 1541.
146:5 Nakuk Pech tells of accompanying such an embassy to the Spaniards at Campeche (Brinton 1882, p. 219).
146:6 The council at Mani which discussed going to meet the Spaniards was also composed of thirteen members. Possibly they were to be the actual ambassadors. Among the Maya thirteen had a symbolic meaning.
146:7 The events mentioned here occurred in Katun 11 Ahau and not in 9 Ahau.
146:8 Chactemal and Tahuaymil are both names given to the native province better known as Chetumal. It lies just north of British Honduras. Ah-uaymi is defined as an animal resembling the opossum (Motul). Holtun Itzá might be translated as "the gate of the Itzá." The district was the embarking point for considerable commerce with what is now the Republic of Honduras. Cf. Relaciones de Yucatan, II, page 179. There is a town named Chichimila a few miles south of Valladolid. There was also a town of Chactemal, or "Chetemal," located by Cogolludo (Bk. 9, Chap. 6) on what is now Chetumal Bay, three leagues east of the mouth of the Rio Hondo, called Nohukum by the Maya. This town was the capital of the native province of the same name and the residence of Nachan Can, the ruler or one of the rulers of the province (Herrera 1726, Dec. 3, book 4, chap. 2).
147:1 Written "Repuldoryo" in the text. Evidently the writer knew little Spanish.
147:2 The idea of a seal on a book was probably taken from the Spaniards, but the Maya were familiar with clay stamps used to decorate pottery and possibly also to mark designs on the human body.
147:3 This is the book mentioned on pages 13 and 29 of the Tizimin MS. and on page 115 of the Codex Perez. This book is stated to have been either written or copied on a day 11 Chuen, 18 Zac, February 15th, 1544.
147:5 Mention has already been made in this book of Holtun Balam and Ah Mex-cue. They appear to have been contemporaries of Hunac Ceel (Cf. pp. 69 and 74). Zacal Puc is probably the "Cacal Puc" referred to in the famous Valladolid law-suit of 1618 (Cf. Brinton 1882, p. 117). He was one of several leaders who came to found towns at Chichen Itzá, Bacalar and on the coast of Yucatan to the north. It is specifically stated that these men came from Mexico, and that they ruled in Yucatan for a long time. The period of their arrival is not recorded here, but we find the statement elsewhere that the Maya had been subject to certain Mexicans six hundred years prior to the Spanish Conquest (Aguilar 1892, p. 92).
147:6 Cf. p. 89, note 4. The reference is to the catechism which the chiefs were obliged to undergo every katun to prove that they held their positions legitimately.
147:7 Nothing is known of this personage. Coyi is a well-known family name among the Maya.
147:8 The Maya name for Merida.
147:9 Here we have the second and later series of katun-prophecies described in Appendix D.
148:1 A reference to the red beards of some of the Spaniards.
148:2 Maya, nicté, literally the Plumeria flower, and figuratively the carnal sin for which it was the symbol. Cf. page 104, note 15.
148:3 Here instead of the Maya word for circle, a ring is drawn. There is a stereotyped expression in Maya meaning the same thing: zac petahom canal, which frequently occurs in the prophecies and is usually associated with drought (p. 164). Here, as in Christian legends, it appears to be a halo encircling a celestial vision, the child Jesus, "the fair-skinned boy."
148:4 Maya, uaom che. The Spanish missionaries translated this as cross (Villagutierre 1701, p. 37). It was probably the symbolic tree of Maya mythology. According to the prophecy of Chilam Balam a bird was perched on it (Cf. p. 167).
148:5 Literally, the distance a cry can be heard, the distance after which the traveler sets down his pack and rests.
148:6 Maya, mut, may mean either news, or an unidentified bird of the Cracidæ family (Maler 1908, p. 132). In Chol, Chontal and Tzotzil mut is a general term meaning bird (Stoll 1884, p. 54). Cf. page 100, note 4.
148:7 Probably a reference to the construction of Spanish cities and churches with native labor.
148:8 Maya, zac ibteelob; the translation is doubtful, but certainly it is a term of contempt. Compare the use of the same expression on pages 155 and 156.
148:9 Alternative translation: their fathers.
149:1 A term probably applied to the natives by the Toltec invaders. Cf. prophecy of Chilam Balam, page 169, note 1.
149:2 Maya, uuc Ahau; 11 Ahau (buluc Ahau) appears to be intended.
149:3 Maya, u tza cizin, a phrase often encountered. Tza is to harass with an importunate demand or with a law-suit.
149:5 A figure of speech meaning the coefficient of the day Ahau on which the katun ends.
149:6 Possibly Ah Mayapan, the man of Mayapan, is intended.
149:7 We have already noted a similar distortion of Christian teaching in these pages. Cf. page 107, note 2 and Appendix G.
150:1 Maya, hool-poop, literally "he who sits at the head of the mat." These scattered hamlets were destroyed by the missionaries after the Conquest and their inhabitants forced to live together in the towns where they could more easily be christianized. The practise was criticized in the reports of the encomenderos, as it caused a serious diminution of the native population. Cf. Relaciones de Yucatan, II, page 187.
150:2 Maya, yocol haa tac polob, literally "the water entered to our heads."
150:3 The image of the child Jesus, and not the Virgin, as the wording of the text might suggest.
150:4 Maya, chachac ek, the red stars. By chac ek the morning star is usually meant, probably the planet Venus. In the Venus table of the Dresden Codex the glyph for red is always prefixed to the Venus-sign. Here, however, the seven planets of medieval astronomy are plainly intended: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
150:5 Maya, taninah. The translator is not familiar with this word. The translation given is based on its resemblance to tanlah, meaning to serve.
150:6 It has already been noted on page 125, note 4, that the year preceding 1 Cuauac ended on a day 13 E¢nab, which could have fallen in 1568. This would be approximately the ninth year after the date given above as the beginning of Katun 9 Ahau.
150:7 On pages 8 and 9 of the Crónica de Oxkutzcab the Tutul Xiu ruler holds a fan as a symbol of authority.
151:1 Merida.
151:2 Yaxal Chac could be translated: the green rain-god. "Chaac was similarly a giant who taught agriculture, whom they afterward considered the god of bread, of water, of thunder and lightning" (Motul).
151:3 Avendaño tells us of similar katun-prophecies in the hieroglyphic books of the Itzá at Tayasal. Each was associated with an "idol," a priest and a locality. The so-called "face of the katun" is evidently that of the god himself as he appears in the heavens, possibly a constellation. Among the gods mentioned in a similar connection with the various katun-prophecies are the familiar names of Ah-Cocah-mut, Itzamna, Kinich Kakmo, Ekchuuah and Lahun Chan. Cf. Appendix D. The words supplied here are taken from Codex Perez, page 157 and the Tizimin MS. page 23.
151:4 The wise man mentioned here may be the priest of the katun-prophecy.
151:6 Supplied from Tizimin page 29.
151:7 Landa describes religious festivals at which the most unbridled license prevailed (Landa 1928, p. 156).
151:8 One of the conquerors, Juan Farfan, witnessed a number of pagan festivals and tells us that "as they went on dancing and singing, they gave to each of those who danced and sang a small cup <of balché> to drink. They gave it to them so frequently that they became drunk with it, and did and said so many extravagant things and made such grimaces that it was a sight to behold" (Relaciones de Yucatan, II, p. 188).
152:1 The charge, or burden, of the katun was its destiny, usually an unpleasant one.
152:2 Maya, Chibil, may mean either pain and affliction or being eaten or bitten. Early reports state that ceremonial cannibalism in connection with human sacrifice did not exist in northern Yucatan, but Avendaño ascribes the practise to the Itzá of Tayasal (Means 1917, p. 150).
152:3 Supplied from a parallel version of this prophecy (Tizimin, p. 30). We have noted a reference to the blindfolding of a god on page 99, and the Dresden Codex, page 56, contains a picture of a blindfolded god.
152:4 Probably the name of a divine patron of the crops. Kauil can mean food, and Itzamna-Kauil was a well-known sky-god.
152:5 Alternative translation: the four resting places at the four corners of the heavens, like the four corners at the crossroads where travelers set down their loads and rest. The same verb, hel, can mean either to change or to rest.
152:6 Supplied from Tizimin, page 30. The page is badly water-stained. The Motul dictionary states that there were four varieties of rattlesnakes, red, white, black and yellow.
152:7 Literally hole-opossum, Marmosa gaumeri Osgood, an opossum which burrows under stones and logs and has a small gray body. Like the other animals mentioned here, it symbolized certain warrior chiefs. Cf. Roys 1931, page 333, and Appendix F.
152:8 Chamal, a roll or tube of tobacco for smoking (Motul). The modern Maya believe in four supernatural protectors, the Balams, who move abroad at night. The shooting stars are believed to be glowing stumps of the cigar smoked by the Balams, which they throw away (Brinton 1890, p. 174). Chamal-¢utan is a small comet (Motul).
152:9 A space in the text indicates that the Maya compiler found the text he copied illegible. The space is followed by the words bot (to pay) and bat (hatchet, hail) which are not translated here.
152:10 Xulab: defined as certain stinging ants (Motul). They move in batallions, have long legs, are found in dry places and destroy the leaves of plants (Pacheco Cruz 1919, p. 50). Their sting caused an eclipse of the moon (Aguilar 1900, p. 83).
152:11 Chac uayah-cab, described as a red stinging ant which lives underground (Pacheco Cruz 1919, p. 50). The translator does not understand the connection between these insects and the diviners rattle. Compare the mention of "coagulated blood on the red rosette of the rattle" on page 90 of the present work.
153:1 Ah-pic is a species of Hemiptera (Martinez' note to Motul). It is described as a flying cimex, so it appears to be a blood-sucking insect.
153:2 The meaning of this expression is uncertain. Och is the opossum, and tolil difficult to translate in this context. There was a certain dance called "ix tolil."
153:3 For the figurative use of the word, kinkajou, see Appendix F.
153:4 Alternative translation: to collect the debts of the world. Uaymil was another name for the native province of Chetumal, or Chactemal, in southeastern Yucatan, just north of what is now British Honduras.
153:5 Literally, the Black Cocah-mut. Yax-Cocah-mut was one of the regents of the Muluc Years (Landa 1929, p. 28). The name is spelled Yax-Cocay-mut in the Tizimin MS. (p. 25) which might be translated as "the green fire-fly bird." Avendaño saw at Tayasal a mask set in a stone column which he identified as Ah-Cocah-mut. "I came to recognize it, since I had already read about it in their old papers and had seen it in their Anahtes, which they use, which are books of the barks of trees, polished and covered with lime, in which by painted figures and characters, they have foretold their future events. By which means I knew that there was found in the said Peten Itzá the said idol of Yaxchecab, that of Cocahmut, that of Ytzimna (Itzamna) Kauil, which means "horse of the devil" (Bowditch, unpublished translation p. 67. Avendaño, original MS., f. 29 r.). Yax-Cocah-mut is probably one of the names of Itzamna. None of the hieroglyphic prophecies has survived, but it is evident that the present series follows the original model.
153:6 Written "Antachristo" in the text.
154:1 Possibly a reference to the firing of a pistol, which may have looked like the horn of a brockett or that of a goat to the natives.
154:2 Maya, haylahom u keuel chac-bolay. This expression evidently has the same figurative meaning as that of zin balam (literally "spread the jaguar") which is defined as "to fight or to go to war" (Motul).
154:3 The Maya word pek primarily means a dog, and among its rather numerous secondary meanings are water-tank, chills and fever, and a certain skin disease. We might conclude that the "tidings," or fortunes, of the katun were chills and fever; but the statement following that it was a period of drought suggests rather that people were obliged to use the stagnant water of the tanks, when the rains failed. It is also quite possible that pek, the dog, had a symbolic meaning unknown to us, perhaps merely that the news is bad.
154:4 Literally, white or pale profit. "Zac, in composition with certain expressions, diminishes their significance and denotes a certain imperfection" (Motul).
154:5 The precise significance of these figures of speech is nowhere explained. We find it rain from a rabbit sky" (thul caan chacil) associated with a period of drought on page 1 of the Tizimin MS.
154:6 Maya thelen chacil. Thilen chacil would mean interrupted rains.
154:7 The zil is reported as an unidentified variety of palm (Martínez letter). ceremonial significance is unknown, but the Tizimin version of this prophecy treats it as a misfortune (Tizimin MS., p. 30).
154:8 Ox chuylah u xuthen, or ox chuilah xotem, is a stereotyped phrase which Brinton has translated: "three generations hang there" (on the tree). An alternative translation would be: the diminished remainder are driven far away. Cf. Brinton 1882, page 127.
154:9 Maya, ox cuchlahom yal max, is another stereotyped phrase. Cuch-chimal means to be defeated in war, i. e. to bear one's shield on one's back in retreat. Chimal, however, is a borrowed Nahuatl word, and we find the original Maya expression only in the verb, maax-cinah, to employ a shield in defense, and its derivative maax, a man who defends himself well with his shield. Yal max could be a little shield.
154:10 At a time of civil disorder and revolution we found the "havoc" occurring in the courtyards of the nobles (p. 91, note 7). Now, however, there is defeat in war. Possibly the retreating soldiers are ambushed at a cross-road. The Tizimin version adds the detail that flies swarm, presumably over the corpses (Tizimin, p. 30).
154:11 Alternative translation: the masters of the katun.
154:12 The text is unsatisfactory and the translation here is uncertain. Also the manuscript is water-stained. One mutilated sentence has been left untranslated: "nomal Ytza e . . . talii."
154:13 Written "Ceçar Agustoe" in the original. A discussion of the use of this name will be found on page 157, note 2.
154:14 There is a break in the text here indicating that one or more pages are missing.
155:1 This is the sixth katun. The reason for starting a new count here is not apparent.
155:2 On page 82 it was implied that Emal was another name for Izamal, and the same city may be meant here, but there is another Emal on the northern coast of Yucatan.
155:3 Written Ix Puc-yol-ha and Ix Ual-icim on page 25 of the Tizimin MS.
155:4 Perhaps a reference to the "living rope" (cuxan zum), which is a road suspended in the sky and extending from Tulum and Cobá to Chichen Itzá and Uxmal (Tozzer 1907, p. 153).
155:6 Literally, eight thousand warts. Possibly a disease and not a personage is meant.
155:7 Canul is probably a reference to an important family of Nahua origin. They settled in the province of Ah Canul after the fall of Mayapan. Landa. calls them Mexican mercenaries.
155:8 The boboch is identified by Pio Perez as a fabulous animal, but he gives no particulars.
155:9 Cf. p. 148, note 8.
155:10 During the colonial period the most famous shrine in Yucatan was that of the Virgin of Izamal, where many cures were performed. Here, however, we are reminded of Zubuy-kak, the Fire-Virgin, who was the goddess of little girls. She was said to be the deified daughter of a ruler, a member of an order of virgins or nuns who served the gods (Lizana 1893, ff. 39-40).
155:11 Hunab-ku was "the only living and true god, also the greatest of the gods of the people of Yucatan" (Motul 1930, p. 404).
155:12 Written "Yglesia" in the text.
156:2 Maya, ah bentana, and written ah bentena on page 158. The name has not been identified. Possibly the rendering should be: the obedience of the men of Bentana <to> the foreigners <and to> the word of God.
156:3 This translation is inferred from the three contexts in which it occurs. Cf. page 148, note 8, and page 155, note 9.
156:4 Maya, ah mektan. Cf. Brinton 1882, page 124, note 3. These prophecies abound in references to a time when an avenging ruler will come and punish certain immoral and oppressive chieftains who are designated as birds or animals. Cf. Appendix F.
156:5 On page 92 we have noted this punishment in connection with the upstart chief who is not of the proper lineage. The Dresden Codex (p. 3) depicts a bird tearing the eye from a sacrificial victim.
156:6 Maya, u cuyil cab, literally the moth in the hive. Any bee-keeper is familiar with the results of this phenomenon. A very similar phrase, yilkil cah, the moth of the town, has the figurative meaning: "a great rascal, like the moth of the town, who incites it to riot and destroys it" (Motul). It is an interesting commentary on the vicissitudes of civic life in ancient Yucatan.
156:7 Maya, xotom ahau, the ruler who cuts, or the ruler who appraises and judges.
156:8 Maya, koch, which means either guilt or the sickness which is the punishment of guilt. It can also mean a burden or obligation.
156:9 Uaymil is another name for the Province of Bacalar in southeastern Yucatan.
156:10 Here the town of Emal on the north coast is evidently meant. We are reminded of the mounds found on the seashore in that region.
156:11 Probably the end or turn of the katun is meant.
156:12 Here the meaning of the Maya phrase, tix ucham ua pani, is doubtful. It may be an archaic expression, but it seems more like a corruption of the original text.
156:13 Cf. page 79, note 2. These are all stereotyped phrases.
157:1 Among the Maya wars, whether civil or foreign, appear to have ended by driving the conquered into the forest.
157:2 We are unable to explain this allusion, but it is of interest to note that in the Tizimin version of the preceding prophecy we find the name of Ah Uuc-yol-zip substituted for that of Cæsar Augustus in what is practically the same statement; "ti taliob tan yol che ti ual tu kamic u matan Ah Uuc-yol-zip uale." Tizimin, page 30. Ah Uuc-yol-zip might be the modern Zip, or protector of the deer, to whom Dr. Redfield still finds the hunters making offerings.
157:5 Translation doubtful. The text might be rendered either: ¢i-¢il, flayed, or ¢i¢-il, overcome in a contest.
157:6 Cf. p. 89, note 5. The use of this word is of ethnological interest, as the riddle is supposed to have been absent from aboriginal culture in America, and first introduced by Europeans. Already in the Sixteenth Century Motul dictionary we find the word used here, naatal-nat, defined: "enigma, o que es cosi cosa dezirla."
157:8 Maya, okolal. It seems likely that ocolal is intended, which would give the passage the meaning: there is an inquiry into their faith.
157:9 Chakan was the name of the native province or geographical division in which Merida was founded. We have no record of any outstanding family ruling there, as the Xius, Chels, Cocoms, Cupuls, Peches, Cochuahs and Canuls ruled in other provinces. Nor do we know of any war in Chakan in a Katun 1 Ahau. The battle fought by Montejo near Merida in 1541 took place in Katun 11 Ahau; also the actual fight was just over the border of Chakan in the Province of Ceh Pech. The Can family is said to have been predominant in the Province of Chetumal (Chactemal), and there was an uprising of the natives there in 1636, which lasted all during the Katun 1 Ahau which ensued. Very little fighting occurred, however (Cogolludo 1868, Book 11, Chap. 12).
157:10 Maya, kakal mozon chac, lit. parched or fiery whirlwind storm. Dr. Redfield reports that the kakal-mozon ik (wind) is a disease bringing wind which comes from cenotes and caves containing water. It is summoned by whistling to burn the fields when cleared for planting.
157:12 The following two words, yibnel cab, have not been translated. Ibnel is defined as "a cloth or net, or else the placenta in which the fetus is wrapped at birth. Item, the umbilical cord of the fetus at birth" (Motul). Cab could mean honey, hive, town, region, world, low and red earth.
158:1 Alternative translation: the army is not ruined, etc. This does not fit the context.
158:2 Maya, ¢utul¢util. The word also means peddling something from house to house. For a reference to Antichrist, cf. page 79, note 6.
158:3 A term applied to the Spaniards.
158:4 Maya, tu muk, literally: at the suffering or endurance, etc.
158:5 Cf. Appendix F, for the significance of this animal. The preceding reference is obscure.
158:7 As noted on page 120, this period was distinguished for its epidemic of yellow fever rather than for any conspicuous outbreak of smallpox.
158:8 Probably a reference to the story of Antonio Martínez. Cf. p. 123, and p. 157, note 7.
158:9 This katun is really the seventh in the series.
158:10 This place-name has survived only as the name of a hacienda in the Department of Izamal. It is, however, frequently associated with Mayapan in these pages and may be another name for this city.
158:11 Yaxal Chuen appears to be an important deity and probably a constellation as well. The name might be translated as the green or first artisan. We find on pp. 23, 24 of the Codex Peresianus a glyph composed of the elements, yax and chuen, which may refer to this deity (Gates 1910, p. 30). These are the pages containing the figures which represent the thirteen divisions of the Maya zodiac.
158:12 The text appears to be corrupt here.
158:13 Maya, hunac ah-menil. Among the modern Maya ah-men means sorcerer.
158:14 As a result of the five years of famine, 1650 to 1654, enormous numbers of Indians had left their towns and were scattered in the forests. In 1652 an unsuccessful attempt had been made by the Spanish authorities to bring them back to their homes, but it seems likely that during the following katun they gradually returned to their homes. Cf. Molina Solís 1910, p. 231.
159:1 Cf. Appendix F.
159:2 The golden gates (u puertail takin) are probably the gilded gates to the chancel of the church. The town marriages perhaps refer to the marriages of many people at one time, when the people had returned to the towns after living for some years in the forests and mating without ecclesiastical sanction. Can-kaz-na, here translated as the official building, means literally "the house of four apartments."
159:3 The return to the towns meant also a return to the regulations governing the Indians. One such law regarding dress reads: "that all shall manage to wear footgear, at least hemp sandals" (Cogolludo 1868, book 5, chap. 19).
159:4 Maya, nicte katun, literally the katun of the Plumeria flower. Cf. page 104, note 15. This is the fourth katun-prophecy in which we find this reference; the others were Katuns 11, 7 and 5 Ahau.
159:5 Maya, conbil, also means that which is for sale.
159:6 We are reminded of the "Nine Mountains" mentioned on page 139.
159:7 Maya, chac ek, the morning star. (Motul.) Cf. p. 150, note 4. In Mexican mythology we find a close association between Quetzalcoatl and the planet Venus.
159:8 The text reads pa hool chace, which we have rendered as Pap-hool-chac and which is probably the Ppappholchac mentioned by Lizana, who translates it "casa de las cabezas y rayos." It was the name of one of the pyramids at Izamal and was said to be the dwelling of the priests of the gods (Lizana 1893, p. 5).
159:9 Chablé was a town of some importance in the district of Bacalar at the time of the Conquest, but it was already depopulated in Cogolludo's time (Cogolludo 1868, Book 2, chap. 6). Berendt lists a port of that name in Yucatan, also a town in Tabasco (Berendt, Nombres proprios en lengua Maya). It is still a family name in Yucatan.
159:10 A possible alternative translation could be: the ladder is forcibly broken over, etc. We do not know the significance of the ladder among the Maya, possibly one is intended in the accompanying picture. We find a picture of a ladder on page 34 of the Dresden Codex in connection with a ceremony said to represent a human sacrifice.
159:11 Extensive forest fires have never been reported from Yucatan, and we probably have here only an exaggerated description of extreme heat and drought.
159:12 Maya, u colel caan, a term usually applied to the Holy Virgin.
159:13 Maya, u ye katun, literally, that which the katun sets before us. U yekabtun would mean an offering of precious stone.
160:1 Maya, ah nunob, a term applied several times to the Itzá in these pages. This would indicate a foreign origin for the Itzá.
160:2 This reference to Kinich Kakmo is capable of two explanations. It may be merely a reference to the god of this name as the idol or presiding deity of the katun. It is very possible, however, that it is a historical allusion to the man, Kinich Kakmo, who was later deified. Gaspar Antonio Chi collaborated with Cristóbal Sánchez in writing a report which states that "in course of time the inhabitants of the said town (Izamal) were conquered by Kak-u-pacal and a hundred valorous captains formerly of the town of Mayapan, and that those who founded this place were called Kinich-Kabul, Kinich Kakmo and others from whom descend the Xool, Mo and Coyi <families>, Indians so named in this province" (Relaciones de Yucatan, I, pp. 119-120). Mo or Moo (parrot) is still a common family name among the Maya, and it will be noted that it is one of the elements of the name, Kinich Kakmo, which means sun-eyed fire-parrot. Cf. p. 141, note 2.
160:3 Supplied from the Tizimin version of this prophecy which is more complete (Tizimin p. 32). One of the objects in the accompanying picture may be intended for a shield and two arrows.
160:4 Supplied from Tizimin (p. 32). The Maya pak, here translated as wall, can also mean a water-tank. Motul, Spanish-Maya portion. This is the only mention of the episode of cementing human heads into a wall that we find anywhere. Possibly what is meant is that a tzompantli was erected, and the stakes transfixing the heads were set in a wall of masonry.
160:5 For the accounts of the sojourn of the Itzá at Chakanputun see page 136 and page 141, note 4. Chakanputun is generally believed to be the modern Champoton in southwestern Yucatan. The translator is uncertain whether or not to accept this identification, as excellent reasons could be cited both for and against it.
161:1 It is suggested here that at Uxmal they erected stelæ as katun monuments.
161:2 The reference is probably to the idol of the katun.
161:3 Here doubtless referring to the introduction of certain erotic religious festivals like the one described by Landa (1928, p. 156).
161:4 The Tizimin version of this prophecy substitutes the expression "u kochob (the punishment of their guilt) shall descend," instead of "God the Father."
161:5 Here the count recommences for no apparent reason. The feathers in the picture no doubt represent Kukulcan, or Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent. The stars in the picture may refer to the four Venus periods of the Dresden Codex. It will be recalled that the Mexicans believed that Quetzalcoatl became the planet Venus after his death.
161:6 This agrees with the Maya chronicles which place the second occupation of Chichen Itzá by the Itzá in a Katun 4 Ahau which fell in the Tenth Century A.D. (Appendix H).
161:7 Cf. page 63, note 6, and page 121, note 4.
161:8 Nothing is known of this personage. Kante is a tree which yields a yellow dye.
161:10 This statement is important as it enables us to date the beginning of the worship of Kukulcan at Chichen Itzá which was accompanied by a number of new architectural features at that city. Cf. Landa 1928, pages 62-68, and Relaciones de Yucatan, I, page 121. The Tizimin version of this prophecy is even more explicit than the Chumayel, for it says: "Kukulcan shall come with the Itzá." Although Torquemada (Book 3, chap. 7) says that Quetzalcoatl went to "Onohualco," a term comprising Tabasco, Campeche and Yucatan, the writer is inclined to doubt that the Kukulcan who came to Chichen Itzá in the Tenth Century was the actual culture-hero, who is supposed to have lived about the Seventh Century. Like the Kukulcan mentioned in the Tizimin (p. 23) in connection with the Hunac Ceel episode about 1200 A.D., this was probably also a ruler who bore as a title the name of the deified hero.
162:1 Probably Maya Cuzamil, Mayapan, is intended as stated in the following prophecy.
162:2 Alternative translation: Its bread, water and temple are halved.
162:3 Written juicio in the text.
162:4 Kinchil Coba. Cf. page 134, note 5.
162:6 A space is left in the text indicating that the Maya compiler was unable to read a few words in the manuscript which he was copying. What is meant by the "two-day men" is uncertain. Cf. page 83, note 6.
162:7 Maya, tu lobol kik. "Bad blood" is associated with dysentery in the Maya medical manuscripts. Cf. Roys 1931, page 38.
163:1 The text is water-stained and illegible here.
163:2 Literally, the jaguars, probably a reference to the pagan priests of the Itzá. Many renegade Christians fled to the Itzá at Tayasal during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.