PDF (Lo-Res) - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

376 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY NUMBER 23
"The trouble is, now I can't get them out," he said.
"Well, don't worry! Wait a minute, we'll get
them," said [the fishes].
Then it was those fishes, they were the ones who
brought those little sparrows out.
Then they came out. After he got them, he cut
open their breasts. He cut open their breasts. Now
there was an egg there.
Then he brought it to that princess. But that king
was just thrashing about, since his powers were
exhausted, you see. His powers were exhausted, you
see. He was just thrashing about.
"Well, adios, Eagle!" said that man again.
Then he arrived at the window—there where that
princess was still sitting. "Well, here is its egg," he
said when he arrived.
"Well, all right," she said. She took her egg, as we
say. It was as big as a chicken egg, as we say.
When that king came staggering in, she knocked
him on the head with that egg of hers. Then he died.
Then he died right away.
That king had some soldiers, as we say.
That woman begged permission to come down, as
we say—that princess. She begged permission from
[the king's] soldiers. "Well, see here, princess, well,
when you have asked for permission, I will pass by
quickly and scoop you up. I will turn myself into a
hawk," said that man.
"Well, all right," she said.
That princess begged permission and came down,
it seems, to the ground. Lord, that hawk appeared. It
passed by to scoop her up. He scooped her up the
way they catch their food, chicks, as we say. He
went on. They tried to shoot him, but he wasn't hit
by the bullets now. He wasn't hit by the bullets now.
That king died there and the princess, then, left. It
was that other man now, it seems, who took her
away, as we say. She went with another husband
now. He killed her husband, as we say.
He went to another town now since he had a wife
now—the one whom he was mad about, you see.
That's all I've heard. That's how it ends.
Rey's transformation of the dead cow into a dead mule is
either an inadvertence or a correction.
This tale is widely known in Europe and Latin America
(Aarne-Thompson 302, A. M. Espinosa, 1967, T141; Hansen,
1957:302). Typically, the hero is aided by grateful animals, who
enable him to secure the ogre's heart in the egg, dispatch the
ogre, and win the princess. In the New World the helpful
animals most commonly are ants, eagles or hawks, lions, and
tigers (Boas, 1920:17-24; A. M. Espinosa, 1911, Tl; Espinosa,
1914b:212-213; Parsons, 1932a:310-313; Paredes, 1970, T29; Radin,
1943:194-207; Reid, 1935:112-119; Robe, 1970, T35, T36;
Robe, 1971, T5; and Wheeler, 1943, T80, T112, T113, T115).
"K'usi, mu xa jta lok'el 7un," xi.
"Bweno, mu k'u xal 7avo7on malao j-likeluk ta
jsa7tikotik tal," xi la 7un.
7Ora, li ja7 xa la taj choyetik 7une ja7 xa la yik'
lok'el tal taj gurionsito 7une.
7Ora, lok' la tal 7un 7isjavbe la yo7on ti staik 7une
sjavbeik la li yo7on 7une ton xa la tey 7un.
Bweno, ja7 la yich'oj xa tal taj prinsesa 7une pero
taj rey 7une yech xa la vuk'ul chevel 7un komo laj xa
li spersatak chava7i to laj xa li spwersatak chava7i
7une yech xa la vuk'ul chevel 7un.
"Bweno, 7adyos, 7agila!" xi la ech'el taj taj vinik
noxtok 7une.
Bu, te la k'ot taj ta ventana taj ta buy taj prinsesa
chotol to 7une. "Bweno, h'7 me tal ston 7une," xi la
k'otel 7un.
"Bweno, stak'," xi la 7un. Yich' la taj ston xkaltik
j-p'ej la ta ton kaxlan xkaltik 7une.
Va7i 7un, k'al xvuk'laj k'otel taj taj rey xkaltik
7une 7ixchek'be la tzjol taj taj ston 7une, te xa la me
cham 7un te xa cham ta 7ora 7un.
Bweno, porke 7oy yajsolterotak xkaltik taj rey
7une.
Bweno pwes, sk'an la permiso yalel taj 7antz ya7el
xkaltik taj prinsesa 7une sk'anbe permiso
yajsolterotak 7une. "Bweno, k'el avil 7un, prinsesa,
bweno, ti mi 7ak'an permiso 7une ta me x7ech' jjopot
ta 7anil 7un xik me ta jpas jba 7un," xi la taj 7a taj
vinik 7une.
"Bweno, stak'," xi la 7un.
Bweno, 7isk'an permiso 7iyal ya7el taj ta balamil
taj prinsesa 7une, ke, tal la taj xike 7ech' la sjop sjop
ech'el k'u cha7al stzak sve7el vivich xkaltik, bat la, te
la ya7uk xa la 7ak'bat bala pero mu xa xtae ta bala
7un, mu xa xtae ta bala 7un, te la te nel taj rey 7une 7i
li prinsesae che7e bat ja7 yik' ech'el taj yan 7o vinik
xa ya7el xkaltik 7un yan xa 7o smalal bat xchi7uk 7un
ja7 smil komel li smalal xkaltik 7une.
Bweno, bat ta yan 7o jtek-lum xa 7un komo 7oy xa
yajnil ech'el ti vinik ti bu yaloj yo7on ta j-mek
chava7i 7une, ja7 nox yech i ka7yoj chak taj 7une ja7
yech 7ilaj 7o yech chak taj 7une.
The animals bestow on the hero a toenail, leg, hair or feathers.
So equipped, when he calls out "Dios y hormiga" or "Dios y un
buen leon," etc., he is transformed into that animal. The conquest
of the ogre in three Mexican versions begins with the
killing of a porcupine, from which springs a rabbit. When the
rabbit is killed, a dove flies out, and when the dove is killed, its
egg is removed. The egg, applied to the ogre's forehead, causes
his death and frees the princess (Reid, loc. cit; Wheeler, T113,
T115).
In Zinacantan, where equal distribution of food is considered
so important, it is fitting that the hero's fairness be rewarded, but
even this detail is basic to the European tale type.