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They roasted him over the fire. He was well-done.
They turned him over from side to side. They used
up lots of logs for him. I don't know if it was six logs
or eight logs or what that were used up so that he
would be well-done. He was cooked. They set him
afire. They put kerosene on him, so that he would
die. Die for good. There aren't any now. Once you
couldn't go anywhere. You couldn't go out, not for
getting firewood nor for getting water. You could at
this hour, but if it reached three o'clock, four
o'clock, you couldn't go anywhere. At eight o'clock
[in the morning] you couldn't go anywhere. At nine
o'clock then you usually could. But just if it were
nearby. If it were far away, you couldn't, since it
was dark under the trees. They would just be squatting
[there]. There were lots and lots of Spooks long
ago.
You see how tricky the ones who were crossed
with people turned out! Bad, bad, wicked. They stole
so often. The things they did were so wicked. All
they ate was chicken. Just chickens, just turkeys,
they would go and steal from the houses. Long ago
they would reach Chiapa. They would steal [things]
and bring them in crates. Long ago it was different.
The Chiapanecs would go selling bread in crates. I
don't know if you have seen the crates. They stacked
the bread in them. The whole crate. [The Spook]
returned to the lady's house. He ate chicken. Yes!
"I'll be back, I'm going to get food for you," he
said—that lady was told.
"All right," she said.
He left. He went to get it—that crate. He returned.
The poor thing didn't know he would die. "Let him
get used to us. Come on, we'll get him used [to us],"
they said. He got used to them. So he went to get
bread. He brought a crate of that bread. Just good
bread.
So they made his coffee for him. He drank his
coffee. Then he stretched his legs and went out. He
landed on a little sharpened stake. There he stayed!
So the Spooks have disappeared to this day. Now
there aren't any Spooks. You never hear of them
now. There are very few left now, only where a
road is being made or if something is being constructed
somewhere. Then you hear tell of Spooks,
highwaymen. But you don't see them much anymore
like you did long ago. Long ago you couldn't even
go outside. It was scary because we were killed by
Spooks.
In this latter day version of how the progeny of a Spook and a
Zinacantec woman were eradicated, Tonik provides many of the
same details as in the opening and closing scenes of "The Spook
and the Comadre" (T71), but the drama is greatly heightened.
This is not a third or fourth hand story, but purportedly was a
play-by-play, word-for-word description, told to Tonik by the
TONIK NIBAK 267
sbakubtasik ta k'ok' 7un ta7aj lek 7un, xjoyij ta j-jot
xjoyij ta j-jot, lek 7iyak'beik sk'echobal, mu jna7 mi
vak-p'ej k'echob mi vaxak-p'ej k'echob k'u la xi laj
yo7 ti ta—7aj 7o lek 7une, ta7aj 7un stijanbeik
sk'ak'al 7un yak'beik la kas 7un, yo7 ti cham 7oe,
cham 7o ta j-moj 7un ch'abal xa lavi 7une, 7a ti
vo7nee che7e mu stak' bu xibatti—k mu stak'
xilok'otik mi si7bejuk mi ja7bejuk, stak' la x7elan
7ora Ii7e, pero mi sta 7oxib 7ora chanib 7ora mu xa
stak' bu xibattik, ta vaxakib 7ora mu stak' bu xibattik,
ta baluneb ja7 stak'tak'tik xa, pero ti mi nopol nox
noxtok 7une, mi nome mu stak', mu stak' ja7 li
7ik'-kuja—n li yolon te7 7un, naka la ja7 xok'ajtik,
batz'i 7animal la ti j7ik'al vo7nee.
Va7i x7elan manyoso xa lok' ti ti krusado xa ta
krixchano 7une, chopol chopol manyoso tol x7elk'aj,
tol tol manyoso k'usi xispas, naka ka—xlan la tzti7 ta
j-mek 7un taje, naka la kaxlan naka la tuluk' chba
yelk'an tal ta naetik, 7a la ti vo7nee chk'ot la k'al
Soktom ta la xelk'an tal ta garlo, 7a ti vo7nee che7e
j-chop 7o, 7a li kaxlan vaj chba xchon i jsoktometike
ta garlo, 7a li mu jna7 mi 7o xavil 7a li kolol te7e, ja7
te tzlatzik ech'el li kaxlan vaje, sjunul la, sjunul la
kolol te7 7un te yul tzna taj jmeme7tik 7isti7 kaxlan
7une. "Te chital chba jsa7 tal 7ave7elik," yu7n la xi
7un. Taj 7a li x7utat taj jmeme7tik 7une.
"Teyuk," xi la 7un.
Va7i 7un, bat la 7un ba la ssa7 tal 7un ja7 taj j-p'ej
la kolol te7 7iyul 7une mu sna7 mi te chcham i povre
7une. "Nopuk ku7untik Ia7 jnopestik," xiik la 7un.
Nop yu7unik 7un ja7 taj 7a ssa7 tal kaxlan vaj, jun la
kolol te7 taj kaxlan vaj yich'oj tale naka la lekik
kaxlan vaj.
Va7i 7un, ja7 ta 7ismeltzanbe skajve, yuch' skajve,
ja7 taj xach' sba lok'el 7un lek 7i7och ta 7unin 7unin
7anbil te7 7un, te kom 7o 7un, lavi yo7 li ch'ay 7o li
j7ik'al k'al tana 7une, ch'abal xa j7ik'al 7un, mu xa bu
xka7itik tana 7un, smelol xa bu mi 7o tzmeltzaj be mi
7o bu 7oy tzmeltzaj k'u tzmeltzaj ja7 xa 7o xvinaj
x7ale li j7ik'ale, li jmak-bee, pero mu xa bu mas
xkiltik chak k'u cha7al ti vo7nee, 7a taj vo7nee mi
ja7uk la xalok' ta pana, xi7el sba yu7n chilajotik ta
j7ik'al.
very woman who sat with the Spook, fed, and killed him!
The heroine remarks that she thinks her visitor is only a
countryman pretending to be a Spook, presumably to allay his
suspicions so that he will lower his guard. While the Spook is in
the midst of his meal, the tension is increased by Tonik's brief
allusion, "The tip was sharpened," for everyone knows what