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318 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY NUMBER 23
her]. Three lengths of rope went into the cave. Ooh,
it was hard getting the woman out.
But you see, "Nanita! Nanita!" said the horrible
Spook coming up hanging on to her skirt. Her child
[was clinging] to the hem of her skirt.
Pull it off with your hand, niece! Throw it off! It's
on the hem of your skirt. Don't you bring up the
spawn of your companion in deviltry!" said her
uncle.
"All right, uncle," she said. With one hand she
held on to the rope, with the other hand she grabbed
it and threw it down. That "Nani—ta!" could still be
heard inside the cave from that horrible baby Spook.
Then the woman came out. So then they took her
away. They went to leave her at her home. They
looked for the girl's house. They went to leave her at
her home.
The poor girl had already begun to swell up. It
was a sign of her having been submerged in water.
Who knows how many days—she was submerged
for a long time in water. Because it seems that her
dirt had washed off. Her face was completely white.
That's what the face of that poor girl was like.
But she didn't last long. It was only three months
and three weeks that she was alive. She died. She
just reached home and died. For the girl's swelling
had already begun. It was because the horrible
Spook's prick was so long. His prick was six feet
long. That's why she told her uncle, "Come, take me
out!" Because she knew she was dying. The swelling
had already begun. She just reached home and died.
This account of the Spook's attempts to win the cooperation
of the venerable saint of Zinacantan, St. Sebastian, or alternatively
of his younger brother, St. Lawrence, patron of Zinacantan,
or failing that, of the patron saint of Chamula, St. John,
so that they will provide him with company is perhaps Tonik's
most masterful narrative. St. Sebastian's suggestion, that St. John
might contribute some of his children because he has so many, is
a true reflection of the much higher population of Chamulans. It
is a widely held belief of Zinacantecs that their patron saint
guards his children with far greater zeal than does St. John.
riata 7i7och ti ta yut ch'en 7une, jii, vokol la me lok'
tal ti 7antz 7une.
Bu xavil, "Nanita, nanita!" xi la ti mu j7ik'ale. Jipil
tal ta stzek taj yol ta sti7 stzek taj yol 7une.
"Tzako lok'el tak'ob, jun nich'on, jipo lok'el H7 ta
sti7il 7atzeke, mu xa 7avik' talel stz'unbal li
7achi7iltak ta pukujale!" xi la ti sjun tot 7une.
"Yechuk, jun tot," xi la. Jun xa la sk'ob stzakoj ti
ch'ojone, jun la sk'ob xi tzak 7isten yalel 7une. Ja7 taj
"Nani—ta!" xi to la xvinaj ta yut ti ch'en ti mu k'ox
j7ik'al 7une.
Va7i 7un, ja7 xa la lok' tal ti 7antz 7une, ja7 7o la
yik'ik ech'el 7un, ba la yak'ik sna 7un, ssa7beik la bu
sna ti tzeb 7une, ba la yak'ik ti ta sna 7une.
Va7i, k'u cha7al 7a ti prove tzeb 7une, yech xa la
likemik situbel, pasuk kwenta xa la yu7un yu7un 7a li
ja7 la yilel ti buy tz'ajal ta vo7, jna7tik jayib k'ak'al
7anima buy tz'ajal ta vo7, yu7un xa lok'em ya7el ti
yik'ubal, solel xa sak ta j-mek la ti ssat 7une, ja7 la
yech ti ssat taj prove tzeb.
Bu yu7un, muk' xa la jal xbat 7un, yo 7oxib xa la
7u xchi7uk 7oxib xemana 7ikuxi 7un, 7icham la 7un,
naka la k'ot chamuk ti ta sna 7une, ja7 la chlik 7o xa
situbel ti tzeb 7une, ja7 la ti toj nat yat ti mu j7ik'al
7une, chib la metro ti yat 7une. Yech'o la xal ti jun
tot, "La7, 7ik'on!" xut i sjun tot 7une. Yu7un la
chcham xa cha7i 7un, likem xa la situbel 7un, naka xa
la chk'ot chamuk tzna.
It is not clear to me whether the Chamulan girl was rescued
by her uncle or whether the man was simply a fellow countryman,
for among Chamulans men would normally be addressed
by the term jun tot, "uncle."
Tonik gives her story an authentic ring by putting in the
Chamulan girl's mouth words from the Chamulan dialect such as
7oronone for "heart" rather than Zinacantec 7o7one, and
ve7ikutik for "eat" rather than ve7ikotik.
The opening acts of this epic are outlined in Tale 68, while the
final act appeared in modified form in Tale 145.