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288 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY NUMBER 23
This same plot, considerably abbreviated—substituting agouti
meat for venison and lacking the elaborate cooking scene and
final exoneration of the husband, was recorded in Chenalho
(Guiteras-Holmes, 1961:261). A similar drama is described in
Tenejapa (Stross, 1973, T8). But the story is not restricted to
Chiapas. The Ixil recount the sad fate of a dog who tattles on his
mistress and pays with his life, while his disillusioned master
abandons his home (Shaw, 1972:118-119). In Panajachel is told
the following: A merchant, advised by his friends of his wife's
infidelity, spies on the two lovers. When the man feels nature's
call, his mistress advises him to take advantage of a hole in the
wall that her husband always uses. Her canny husband wields his
blade and then has two sausages made; one of pork and the
other, of course. The woman complains that she is too sick to
cook, and so her husband prepares the meal. She tastes the
delicacy and is driven by thirst, gulping the water till her belly
bursts. Under their bed is found a body, but after a brief
investigation, the husband is found quite innocent (Tax, 1950,
T49). Two slightly varying Chorti tales stress the husband's lack
of manliness. In the first, a henpecked salesman is counseled by
his neighbors. He lies in wait by the door, while the couple feasts
and makes love. Then he lops off the lover's protruding penis.
As in Tonik's account, the wife drags her lover's body "like a
dog" to a ravine, where she dumps it (Fought, 1972:235-240). In
the second narrative the travelling man even makes the tortillas
and sleeps on the floor, while his wife cavorts in bed with her
lover. Following his neighbor's advice, he waits until they are
asleep, slips in, does the deed, and slips out with the trophy. His
wife buries the corpse under the hearth. Two weeks later her
husband returns and offers her some salted "venison." After she
has praised its flavor, her husband reveals his trick and puts her
to shame (Fought, 249-254).
The subplot to Tonik's tale explains why today's dogs are
dumb beasts. The Totonacs also believe that dogs once spoke
(Ichon, 1969:57). In a tale from Chamula the dog was struck
dumb for revealing to his master's father his master's illicit affair
(Gossen, T2). Again, in Panajachel, it is said that dogs used to
tattle on their mistresses, and so had their heads and tails
changed around (Tax, 1950:2674). In the stories from Chenalho
There used to be a boy once. He was an orphan.
He didn't know how to work. With [the help of] a
little burden he grew up. With [the help of] a little
burden he reached manhood. It was wherever he
found someone who wanted their ba—sket carried,
[who wanted] their co—rn gruel carried when they
sold their corn gruel, or whatever is sold by the
Ladinas. That was how he supported himself. That's
how the little porter reached manhood. So he didn't
know how to work. He didn't know how to hoe. He
didn't know how to clear the land. He didn't know
how to do the work, because he grew up as an
orphan. Maybe ten years passed like that in the place
where he was brought up, where he ate. [Ten years]
had passed when the owner of the house where he
grew up died. It was there where he a—te and drank
and reached manhood.
A Ring and a Drink
T87
and Tenejapa, mentioned above, the dog's mouth is turned into
an anus (Guiteras-Holmes, loc. cit.; Stross, loc. cit).
But lurking behind the cheating wife and tattling dog is the
mischievous deer that plays dead only to rush away at the
hunter's approach. The man's failure as a hunter is mysteriously
linked to his failure as a husband. Following the deer into the
folk literature of Middle America, the pursuer soon becomes
caught in a thicket of murderous themes. Recall the poor man
who goes hunting in a desperate attempt to rid himself of his
Charcoal Cruncher wife's head, stuck tight to his shoulder.
When a deer passes by, her head leaps onto its back and is
carried off to its eventual demise. From the Popoloca comes a
tale of children killing their father and feeding his flesh to their
mother, who thinks it is deer liver (Johnson and Johnson,
1939:221). And the Mixe tell of two children who murder their
grandfather and feed his testicles to their grandmother, saying
that they are deer liver. The children later become sun and moon
(Miller, 1956; T3, T4). Mixtecs recount the adventures of two
boys who, when told by their mother to take their father his
food, shoot him down. Their father, in fact a deer, is skinned by
them and his flesh is fed to their mother. They, too, become sun
and moon (Dyk, 1959:10-12). Also suggestive is a Kekchi tale
from, Belize in which three boys are brought up by their
grandmother, who secretly has a tapir for a lover. She
gives all their food to her lover, dropping the bones beneath
their hammocks—tricking them into believing that they have
eaten the meat themselves. But a trogon tells them the truth, and
so they trap and kill the tapir. They feed the tapir's penis to their
grandmother. She suspects a plot and goes to get water. Eventually
two of the boys turn their brother into a monkey and kill
their grandmother. Later they become the sun and Venus (J. E.
Thompson, 1930:120-121).
So what first seemed to be a story chronicling the infidelity of
a humble corn farmer's wife and the tale-telling of his dog was,
at least at one time, part of a cosmic epic that must have rivalled
the tale of the three brothers and the honey tree! Unfortunately
we cannot even guess the religious significance that this tale
might have had. See also T26 and notes.
7Oy to 7ox la jun krem ti vo7ne me7on la, mu la
sna7 x7abtej, 7unen 7ikatzil la te xch'i 7o, 7unen
7ikatzil la sta 7o vinikal, ti bu la sta ti jun buch'u
sk'an kuchbel ech'el smo—ch, kuchbel ech'el yu—1 ti
k'al chchon yule, k'u chchon ti jxinulanetike, ja7 la
yech 7ive7 7o, ja7 la yech ti 7unen j7ikatznom ti
k'utikuk sta vinikal, ja7 la ti mu sna7 ti x7abtej, mu
sna7 ti svok' 7osil, mu sna7 sboj 7osil, mu sna7 k'u
chcha71e ti yabtele, yu7un la me7on ch'i, lok' nan
lajuneb jabil ti k'usi xi bu tz'itesat, ti k'usi xi bu ve7,
lok' la ti cham la ti yajval na ti bu ch'i 7une, ja7 xa la
ti bu xve—7 xuch' vo7 sta vinikal.