The Annals of the Cakchiquels Part 18

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 G.o.d, 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 (gra.s.shoppers) reappeared.

It was on the day 12 Tziquin, the day after the Visitation, that the gra.s.shoppers came. They pa.s.sed 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 circ.u.mcision. 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 n.o.bility 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 G.o.d. 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 Circ.u.mcision, 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.

_xeboco_, past tense, third person, plural, of the absolute form of _boc_, here, as often, used actively. Compare _Gram._, p. 49.

_la[t]abex_, pa.s.sive 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_. Bra.s.seur 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.