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down. Pushed now on a little dolly, he would go to
eat. His meal already served out. He was lifted into
his bed when he died. He was buried. His wife
buried him, it seems. He died. The poor old man
died. That boy, too, was left. After his father died, it
seems, he buried his father, it seems. That boy
choked on the never-ending cane liquor. He got
drunk in the cantina. They went to get the boy and
bring him back from the place where it seems he
choked on the cane liquor. He was carried back on a
board. He was carried by four people from the
cantina where they had gone to pick him up. They
came back to bury him.
What's the use, son,
You got what you deserved!
You wanted to get drunk.
You wanted to drink.
So you asked to die the way you did.
So you asked to perish the way you did.
If you had done as your father told you,
If you had done as your late father told you,
You wouldn't have had anything at all to worry
about now.
We would have had what we needed,
But now, because of you, I am wretched,
I am miserable, the way you died where you did.
What's the use,
We'll get your coffin.
After I bury you,
After I shroud you,
It will all be over,
said his mother. The end.
This tale, very reminiscent of "The Poor Woodcutter" (T77,
T144), similarly shows Tonik's failure to distinguish clearly
between Our Lord and the Earth Lord, as man's benefactor. The
phrase "the earth was alive" means that the man's resting place
was a place where the Earth Lord's presence was manifest.
Much of the dialogue in this story slips in and out of couplet
form, but is so irregular that I have placed the bulk of it in prose
format, allowing the punctuation to convey the phrasing.
The moral to this story is a rather peculiar one for Zinacantan,
where there is a high value placed on social drinking, a tolerance
for drunkenness, and a strict idea of reciprocity in gift-giving. It
is true, Zinacantec women scoff at men's tendency to assign a
sacred quality to cane liquor, and men themselves are highly
TONIK NIBAK
When Saint Christopher Came
T88
Once there was a hill. They came upon Our Holy
Father there, St. Christopher is his name. He is living
here now, it seems, here on the hill [in San Cristobal].
He was carrying his little child up on his shoulder.
He came holding his little walking stick. He came
nearer and nearer. He passed by, walking closer and
closer.
But you see the awful path he found just went
295
petbil xa chmuy ta stem ti k'al 7icham 7une, muk
7un, mukvan ti yajnil ya7el 7une, laj 7un, cham ti
prove mol 7une, ja7 xa taj krem noxtok 7une, 7a taj
k'alal 7ikom laj chamuk ti stot ya7ele, muk ya7el ti
stot 7une, 7a taj kreme, jik'av la ta labal trago 7un,
yakub ta kantina, 7a ti kreme 7a la stzakel la tal ti yo7
buy ya7el ti buy ti jik'av ta trago 7une, ta 7a li temal
te7 xa ya7el kuchbil tal 7un, chan-vo7 yajval 7ikuche
tal ti yo7 buy 7a stamel tal ta kantina 7une, tal la
smukel 7un.
Yiyil, krem,
Sa7bil 7avu7un,
7Ak'anuk xayakub,
7Ak'anuk xavuch',
Ja7 xa chak'an la x7elan lachame,
Ja7 xa chak'an la x7elan lalaje,
7A ti yu7unuk 7ach'unbe smantal tatote,
7Ach'unbe smantal ti 7anima 7atote,
Mu k'u xana7 tana 7un bi 7a,
7Oy k'u 7oy ku7untik,
Yan 7un H7e 7abol jba,
7Utz'7utz' jba 7avu7un x7elan bu nachame,
Yech te k'alal,
Jsa7tik 7akajonal,
Laj jmukot,
Laj jpixot,
Laj 7o k'op bi!
xi la ti sme7e. Laj 7o.
critical of habitual drinkers, but to petition the bride without a
jug in hand and then celebrate a dry wedding is almost inconceivable.
Another foreign element is the man's possession of
sheep and his care for them in the meadow, elements always in
the women's realm. Oxen, too, are not normal Zinacantec
possessions.
I have translated ch'um as "pumpkin"; actually these are not
pumpkins but cushaws, large dull orange squashes that take
various shapes. Though this squash is not familiar to most
Americans, it was once an important crop in Appalachia.
Although workers were paid with corn and beans in the past,
this is no longer standard practice.
7A ti vo7ne 7oy 7a li j-p'ej vitz te la nupe ti
jch'ul-tottike San-kixtoval sbi, lavi Ii7 xa nakal ya7el
H7 ta vitze.
Va7i 7un, 7a li skajanoj la tal ta snekeb yunen
ch'amal stamoj la tal yunen nam-te7, tal la, tal la,
7ech' la tal ta be, chanav la tal chanav la tal.
Bu xavil, 7a la ti mu bee naka la jobelaltik sta la tal