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her mother-in-law's death. "Now there is no one to
hold my child. Now there is no one to bring up my
little girl. My little girl is still so young," said the
woman when her mother-in-law died. She was more
grief-stricken when her mother-in-law died. When
her [mother-in-law's] husband died she didn't miss
him, but [when] her mother-in-law [died] she was
heartbroken. The woman cried and cried. She went
to tell her father, "I don't know what to do. There's
no one to carry my child. I'm not used to carrying
my child. When I went to draw water, when I went
to get firewood, [as if she were] my mother and
father, she took my children for me. But now there is
no one to carry them for me, now there is no one to
hold our chidren for me."
"Never mind, daughter, if there isn't anyone to
carry them. There's no problem. You don't have to
have [more] children. Tell your husband. See what
kind of medicine you can get, I guess."
"I shouldn't have [more] children. There's no one
to bring them up for me," she told her husband.
But you see the man grew angry about it. "If that's
the way it is, if you don't want any children, it's
better if I move away. I'll go see where I'll throw
myself in a ravine!" said the man.
But the man went hunting. Then a deer passed by.
He meant to shoot at it.
But he was concentrating, looking to see where
the deer was, where it went. The man fell into a
ravine. It was a deep ravine. He was there in the
ravine where he had fallen. Then on the third day his
wife went looking for him. It was hard to find him.
He was stinking when they found him. He was
brought to where she was.
But he just came to his funeral. The poor man died
there. He hadn't a chance to speak to his wife or to
his child [before] he died.
In typical Zinacantec fashion, confusing to an English
speaker, the girl addresses her mother-in-law as me7, "mother,"
and the boy addresses his father-in-law as tot, "father."
When Romin Teratol, listening to the tape of this tale, reached
the episode of the angry husband who turned over in bed and
stuck out his rear at his wife, he burst out laughing and remarked
"that's just what Tonik's husband must have done to her!"
The elaborate discussion of gracious living and visiting with
one's in-laws sounds like a wish-fulfillment for Tonik, whose
children invariably made disastrous matches. Tonik described to
me with righteous indignation her son's wife who was so stingy
that, when Tonik paid her a visit, she would slaughter a chicken
and serve only a few mouthfuls of chicken broth to her motherin-law,
while she served herself a huge bowlful: quite unlike
Tonik, who always dished out the food equally! Tonik brought
up one of her grandchildren herself, until that daughter-in-law of
hers reclaimed it, sending the constables to drag off her protesting
granddaughter. Months later Tonik's daughter-in-law paid a
visit. Tonik killed a chicken, and everyone sat around the table
having a pleasant time, exchanging no harsh words. After the
TONIK NIBAK 169
xa buch'u stz'ites ti kunen tzeb lavi bik'it to kom i
kunen tzebe," xi la ti 7antz ti k'al 7icham ti yalib
me7el 7une. Ja7 la mas k'ux 7iya7i ti cham ti yalib
me7el 7une, 7a la ti k'al 7icham ti smalale, ja7 la muk'
sna7, yan ti yalib me7ele, batz'i k'ux la ta yo7on
7i7ok' la ta j-mek ti 7antze. 7A to la yalbe ti stote,
"Mu jna7 k'u ta jnop mu buch'u skuch li kole, ja7 li
mu nopemuk xka7i jkuch kole, 7a ti k'al chibat ta
ja7beje, chibat ta si7beje, jme7 jtot chiyik'be komel ti
koltake, yan 7un Ii7e mu xa buch'u xiskuchbe 7un,
mu xa buch'u xispetbeik i kol 7une."
"Yiluk yil, tzeb, mi mu xa buch'u skuche, 7a li mu
k'usi, mu xa pwersauk xa7alaj, 7albo lamalale, k'elo
kik k'usi poxal xasa7."
"Mu xa 7altikuk xi7alaj mu xa buch'u xistz'itesbe,"
xut la ti smalal.
Bu ti vinik 7une, kap 7o la 7un. "7A ti mi x7elan
mu xa xak'an 7avole, mas lek ta jk'ej jba ech'el
vo7on, chibat jk'el bu ba jten jba ta ch'en!" xi la ti
vinik 7une.
Bu ti vinik 7une, bat la ta tuk'avil 7un, lajeltza
7ech' la j-kot te7tikil chij, ba la stuk'a ti chal 7une.
Va7i 7un, ja7 la batem ta yo7on sk'elel buy ti
te7tikil chij bu chbat 7une, p'aj la ta ch'en ti vinik
7une, toj tuch'el la snuk' 7ik'ot 7un, toj k'asel la ti
snuk' 7une, p'aj ta ch'en 7une, yu7un toyol ti ch'en
7une, te xa 7a li yo7 ti ch'en ya7el p'ajem 7une, ja7 to
la ti ta yoxibal k'ak'al ba ssa7el yu7un ti yajnil 7une,
vokol xa la tae, tu xa la tae, tal ti yo7 buy 7une.
K'usi 7un, naka xa tal smukel 7un, te cham ti prove
vinik 7une, muk' xa sk'opon ti yajnile, ti xch'amal
7icham 7une.
meal was over, her daughter-in-law stood up, said her goodbyes
and left, never to return.
This serpentine tale is best taken on faith with a pinch of grass,
for too serious scrutiny leads to despair. Tonik's creative sense
seems unperturbed by the inconsistencies and overlapping
themes that she presents here, in the notably similar Tale 78, and
in a third account she related to Victoria Bricker. This last
combines elements from the first two and adds a few more
ingredients. In brief summary, a princess goes to the river to
wash her hair. She is accompanied by her father, who discovers
a beautiful flower. He longs to pick it, but a huge snake is coiled
around its stem. Thunderbolt appears and promises him the
flower in exchange for his daughter. The king protests that
Thunderbolt must be a Ladino and will surely beat his daughter,
but he relents when Thunderbolt picks the flower for him. The
princess departs with Thunderbolt, and a new bud grows on the
stem. When Princess and Thunderbolt are bathing together,
Thunderbolt warns her to hide her head in the sand, because
lightning is about to strike. She disobeys and is badly burned.
Thunderbolt rubs her with cotton and cures her, but rebukes her