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three almuds. But that was because I had some
myself. [The corn growing] in my little yard was
already ripening. It grew. The holy corn was turning
yellow.
"Well, give me two or three almuds of you corn
and take the land here," said my father.
"Fine, take it!" I told him. Me, what else could I
do, since they were my parents?
Well, sir, I supported them. The Ixtapanecs, Ooh,
they asked favors. Hell, they had the money, but
what good was it? Me, I had planted irrigated fields
at Vunal.
So then I went to guard my corn with a shotgun
and a machete. There were two or three friends,
long-panted ones [Ixtapanecs]. I was standing guard
with them. The corn ripened. I carried it [still] on the
cob. But the robbers were killing people. If you met
Ixtapanecs on the way they killed you.
Me, I didn't want to be killed. Because I was
prepared when I travelled. There were three or four
of us. We got together when we travelled during the
famine. Not even here [in San Cristobal] was it [any
better]. God, it was punishment!
Now the Ladinos here, they haven't taken it to
heart yet. Punishment will come, you'll see when,
what year, it comes again. They step on the corn.
They throw it out. They eat it on the cob.
You see we had grown arrogant because we came
to offer them [corn] for the money we could get.
Well, you'll see, on whatever day it is, the chastisement
is yet to come, you'll see!
Me, I felt the punishment. But tortillas, they
weren't for sale anywhere then. "That's the end of
them, some other day." There weren't even wheat
buns or rolls. Ooh, [they sold them] for two bits, but
they were this big! But we couldn't get filled up with
those, either. We couldn't eat tortillas anymore. You
would eat them, but on the sly. You would eat
secretly, yes indeed! There wasn't anybody who ate.
Everybody [ate] corn tassels. The Chamulans [ate]
fern root. Twice my parents ate banana root.
"Do you want to eat?" my mother asked me.
"Hand it to me, I guess I'll eat some," I told her.
"But it isn't edible. Don't eat any more, you'll just
die," I told my parents, because I had some [corn] of
my own. Me, I was kind to my parents. I was kind to
my older brother. I was kind to my older sister, all of
them, because I had some [corn] of my own. Me, I
had a lot stored away. That's why! But I wasn't
punished. My father sold his. He wasn't careful. Me,
I was scared. Long ago, then, it was a stiff punishment.
Ooh, for everybody! Whoever had any [corn],
then, pai—d one quart for a week [of work]. Who
knows if a quart would give enough to eat for two
days. Who knows if it would be eaten in one or two
XUN VASKIS 139
7ich'i 7un, k'anub i ch'ul-7ixim 7une.
"Bweno, 7ak'bon xa chibuk 7oxibuk 7almul
lavixime, 7ich'o li balamil Ii7e!" xi ti jtot.
"Bweno, 7ich'o!" xkut 7un. Vo7one mu jay-lok'el
komo jtot komo jme7.
Bweno, senyor, bweno 7ijmak'lin 7un, 7a li
jnibaketike che7e, jii, chal vokol, tak'ine karajo 7oy
pero k'usi 7un, vo7one 7o jtz'unoj 7ulbal ta Vunal.
7Iday, ba jchabi ti kixime, jun jtuk' jun jmachita,
7oy te cha7-vo7 7ox-vo7 kamikotak jnat-vexetik ja7
ta jchabi xchi7uk, 7ixime 7ik'anube, 7ikean ta vojton,
pero ja7 ti j7elek'e, yu7un xmilvan bu xanup ta be li
jnibaketike, yu7un chasmil.
Bweno, vo7one mu jk'an milel porke listo
chixanav 7oy 7ox-vo7 chan-vo7otikotik jtzoboj
jbatikotik chixanavotikotik ti vi7naltik 7une, mi
ja7uk i Ii7e che7e, dyos, kastiko!
7Ora, li jkaxlanetik Ii7e, mu xa yu7unuk ta yo7on
k'al tana ta to xtal li kastikoe, te xak'el avil k'u 7ora
jabilal xtok xk'ot, 7a li 7ixime che7e, tzpatz' ta tek'el,
tzch'ay ta sk'ux.
K'usi ta jtoy 7o jbatikotike xa 7oxe che7e, ja7 li
xtal jpak'alinbetikotike, ja7 li tak'in ta jtatikotike.
Bweno pwes, chak'el avil 7un ja7 ti k'usi k'ak'ale,
ja7 to ta xtal to tzitzel xak'el avil.
Bweno, li vo7one che7e, 7ika7i tzitzel, pero 7a li
vaje che7e, mu xa bu xchone. "Laj sk'oplal yan to
k'ak'al." Mi ja7uk simita mi ja7uk kaxlan vaj, jii, chib
tak'in pero xi smuk'ule, pero mi ja7uk chinojotik 7o
noxtok, 7a li vaje che7e, mu xa xu7 jve7tik, ve7an
pero ta mukul, mukul xave7, 7eso si, mu xa much'u
sve7 skotol krixchano, naka tz'utuj, 7a li jchamu7e
che7e jol tzib, 7a ti jme7 jtote che7e, sve7 cha7-ten
jol Io7bol.
"Mi chave7?" xiyut i jme7.
"7Ixik, ta jve7 ka7tik," xkut 7un. "Pero mu stak'
ve7el, mu xa xave7 na me chaman," xkut i jme7e,
xkut i jtote. Porke 7oy ku7un, vo7one 7ijk'uxubin ti
jme7 jtote, jbankil 7ijk'uxubin, 7i jvix 7ijk'uxubin,
skotol ta j-mek porke yu7un 7o ku7un, 7a li vo7one
che7e, 7oy jnak'oj 7ep, yech'o, pero muk' bu kich'
kastiko 7une, 7a ti jtote che7e, 7ixchon muk'
stuk'ulan sba, vo7one Iixi7, ti vo7ne che7e, tol
kastiko, jii, skotol krixchano ta j-mek, much'u 7o
yu7une che7e, jun kwarto pero jun xemana tzto—j,
jna7tik mi sve7 chibuk k'ak'al jun kwarto, mi sve7
van mu jna7tik mi jun mi chib k'u cha7al sve7 ju-moj
ve7ele, vo7ne che7e, tol kastiko ta j-mek, ta to xtal