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346 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY NUMBER 23
Once there was . . . they saw that there was a bell
there. They noticed that it was like [the stump of] a
pine tree.
They thought it was a pine tree, since they saw the
redness. They tried to chop it down.
But you see it struck off sparks. They saw that it
was metal, not wood. They looked at it. They had
thought it was pine, because it was just like pine. The
redness showed, it seems.
They looked at it. "This is a bell!" they said, since
it's rim was above ground.
They went to make the announcement it seems.
Men came to dig it up. They were going to dig it up.
The work began. The work began. They were
going to dig up the bell. They had almost gotten it.
Very little was needed for it to come out.
But you see, all the men went down to the stream.
They went to drink water. When they finished
drinking the water the bell had sunk more and more.
It's hole was deeper and deeper, too, so that it
couldn't come out.
They prayed. They just offered candles and prayed
and so on. But it never, it never ... it went in very
deep because they had abandoned it. They abandoned
it. They forgot it. They went to drink water.
What they should have done, what they should have
done, then, was to have sent an order for the water
to be carried up the mountain. They should have
drunk it there. But they went to the stream. All the
workers went. They went to drink water. When they
returned it had sunk down deeper in the bottom [of
the pit].
Little by little it was left that way. They didn't get
it. It disappeared. It went in there. They abandoned
it. They couldn't dig it out anymore. That's the way
it was left. But it was a very deep hole that they dug.
But they never got it. It went in. It stayed there.
They never . . . they abandoned it. They were worn
out. They saw that it went on sinking, went on
sinking. There was no way for them to dig it out.
When they saw it before, the top of the bell was
much more visible.
But you see, when they were distracted and went
to drink water, maybe [the bell] didn't like that.
They abandoned it. They abandoned it. Maybe its
soul was taken by a robber. It was taken by a robber.
It just disappeared, it seems. They couldn't dig it out.
Manvel lays the blame for the loss of the bell quite explicitly
on the workers who abandoned it. Unlike other versions
(T76, T114, T157), the bell does not fly off in the sky but
merely sinks into the ground. But lest it be assumed that this is a
Why the Bell Sank
T91
7A li vo7nee che7e, 7oy la, 7iyil la ti 7oy la te jun
kampanae, te to 7ox pasuk kwenta k'u cha7al toj.
Bweno, xak' la tojuk, komo yil ti tzoje, 7isboj 7ox
la 7un.
Pero buy, 7itil la 7un, 7iyil ti tak'in mu te7uk,
7isk'elik ti xak' la tojuk yu7un komo ko7ol k'u cha7al
toj tzoj yilel xvinaj la 7un.
Va7i 7un, 7iskelik 7une. "7A H7e kampanae!" xiik
la. Komo te la li schikin ta sba li lum 7une.
Bweno, ba la yal ya7el mantal, ba la xtal viniketik
sjok' 7un, tzjok'ik 7ox 7un.
Bweno, 7och 7abtel 7un, 7och la 7abtel 7un,
tzjok'ik i kampana 7ox 7une, jutuk xa la sk'an staik xa
7ox 7un jutuk xa sk'an xlok' 7ox ta j-mek.
Buy 7un, skotol la viniketik 7iyalik ta 7uk'um, ba
la yuch'ik vo7 7un, k'al laj yuch' vo7e mas xa, mas
xa, 7a li 7iyal li kampana noxtoke, mas xa, mas xa nat
sch'enal noxtok 7un, yo7 ti muk' xlok' 7o 7une.
Bweno, 7iyalik 7un, naka xa la 7iyak'beik kantela
spasbeik sresal k'ustik 7un, pero mu xa bu, mu xa bu,
7i7och la ech'el ta j-mek porke yu7un 7iyiktaik 7un,
7iyiktaik, ch'aybat sjolik 7un, ba la yuch'ik vo7,
yechuke, 7a ti yechuke che7e, 7istakik mantal 7imuy
ech'el li vo7 ta vitze, te yuch'ik ti yechuke, yan Ie7e
batik k'al 7uk'um, bat la skotol li j7abtejeletike, ba
yuch'ik vo7 7un, k'al 7iyul tal 7une, ta schak 7une
mas xa nat yalem noxtok 7un.
Va7i 7un, te k'un 7ikom 7o yech 7un, muk' staik,
ch'ay 7un, te 7och ech'el te, yiktaik komel, mu xa
stak' jok'el 7un, te kom 7o yech 7un, pero nat ch'en
7isjok'ik ta j-mek pero muk' 7ox bu staik, te 7och
ech'el te la kom 7o 7un, muk' xa bu yiktaik 7o, te la
lubik 7un, yil yak chyal yak chyale, mu xa k'u xut
sjok' 7un, k'al 7iyilik to 7oxe, mas to 7ox te ta sba to
7ox, lek xvinaj to 7ox kampanae.
Pero bu la 7un, k'alal 7ich'ay yo7onik 7a yuch'ik
vo7e, mu nan sk'an yech, 7iyiktaik 7iyiktaik, bat nan
ta j7elek' sch'ulel 7un, bat ta j7elek' 7un, solel
7ich'ay ya7el 7un, muk' staik ta jok'el 7un.
"natural" event, Manvel reminds his listeners that perhaps the
bell's "soul" was stolen. See also T76, T114, T157, and their
notes.