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388 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY NUMBER 23
was that younger brother, then, who is Our Lord in
Heaven, as we say. The sun, as we say. As for those
elder brothers of his, they became food. They became
food. That's how I've heard that.
This tightly expressed tale illustrates the central tenet of
Zinacantec moral philosophy that food must be shared equally.
They arrived to bathe. They arrived to bathe in
the stream—those three doves.
[A man] stole from one of them. They had taken
their clothes off, as we say. It was their feathers, as
we say. That man stole the clothes. He went and hid
them.
Now the two [other doves] didn't have their
clothes stolen. They left.
Then the first one was left behind. The man spoke
to her. The bird turned into a person, as we say. "But
if you are looking for your clothes, here are your
clothes!" said that man. They talked to each other.
That girl was the mistress of the river, as we say. "I
really would love to marry you. I have lost my heart
to you," said that man.
"All right, that's fine," said that woman. "But
[only] at nighttime. I don't want us to see each
other's faces." It was just a question of their sleeping
together, it seems, as we say. He wasn't to see her
face. No!
She went. That woman was taken to his house, as
we say. She slept there. But he didn't see her face.
They were together just in the dark. Who knows if
she was beautiful. Who knows what the woman's
face was like. "But, hell, but why does it seem I can't
look?" said that man. He bought a candle, a match.
Now it was probably when she had fallen asleep.
"But what is her face like? I guess I'll look!" said that
man. He looked at her face. He lit his candle. He
looked at her face. Sonofabitch, the child's face was
really beautiful, as we say. Oh, that wife of his felt
the candle wax drip on her. Ah, she got mad. Lord,
they didn't even get married. There was nothing you
could do. That woman changed houses, it seems. She
went to her father's and mother's.
"Well now, look here! Take care of yourself!
There's absolutely nothing we can do after what you
did to me. But what we had agreed, then, was that
we would never look at each other's faces, we would
just be together in the dark," said that girl.
"Now, after that, look after yourself!" she said. He
was thrown over. Ooh, the man cried and cried over
Journey to Irdivolveres
T172
sbankiltak 7une, ja7 taj ve71il xa 7ikom 7une, ve71il
xa la 7ikom 7un, ja7 yech ka7yoj chak taj a7a.
Because of their stinginess, the older brothers become food for
their younger brother. See also T13 and notes; T155.
Te la chk'ot 7atinuk chk'ot 7atinuk ta 7uk'um taj
7ox-kot paloma 7une.
Bweno, li jun 7une 7iyelk'anbe slok'oj sk'u7
xkaltik 7une, 7iyelk'anbe taj sk'u7 ba snak'be taj jun
vinik 7une.
7Ora, li cha7-kot 7une muk' x7elk'anbat sk'u7
7une, bat la 7un.
7Ora, li jun 7une 7ikom 7un 7isk'opon li vinik 7une
7ipas ta krixchano xkaltik li mut 7une. "Pero ti mi
yu7n ja7 chasa7 Iak'u7e Ii7 Iak'u7e!" xi la taj vinik
7une. 7Isk'opon to sbaik 7un, yajval nab xa xkaltik
taj tzeb 7une. "Batz'i yu7n slok'el ko7on chakik' mu
k'u yech ti ko7one," xi la taj vinik 7une.
"Bweno, stak'," xi taj 7antz 7une. "Pero ta
7ak'ubaltik 7une mu me jk'an jk'elbe jba jsattik 7un."
Yu7n me ja7 nox ti chchi7in ta vayel ya7el xkaltike
mu7yuk tzk'elbe ssat ch'abal.
Bweno, bat la 7ik'at ech'el ta sna taj 7antz chkaltik
7une te chvay la 7un, pero mu7nuk tzk'elbe li ssate
yu7un ja7 nox chchi7in sbaik ta 7ak'ubaltike, mu
jna7tik mi leklek sba mu jna7tik k'u x7elan ti ssat ti
7antz 7une. "Pero, kavron, pero k'u yu7un ti batz'i
mu jk'el ya7el 7une?" xi la taj, xi la taj, xi la taj 7a li
vinik 7une. Sman la jun skantela jun serio.
7Ora, k'al 7itzake la ta vayel nan 7une, "Pero k'u
x7elan ti ssate ta jk'el kik!" xi la taj vinik 7une.
7Isk'elbe la ti ssat 7une stzan la skantela sk'elbe la li
ssat 7une, puta leklek la sba ta j-mek ti jun li ninya
xkaltik 7une, 7aj, ya7i la taje p'aj la xxuch'al kantela
ta yo7 taj yajnil 7une, 7a sok 7o la sjol 7un ke mi
ja7uk xik' sbaik yu7n xa mu k'u 7acha71e ba la
xk'exta sna ya7el ba la sta stot sme7 taj 7antz 7une ba
sta stot sme7 7un, mu jna7 k'usi, 7Irdivolveres sbi taj
sna taj stot chkaltik 7une.
"Bweno, tek 7il avil k'el aba komel 7un batz'i mu
k'u jpastik li x7elan 7acha71eone yan ti kaltike che7e
yu7n mu muk' bu ta jk'elbe jba jsattik ja7 nox li ta
jchi7in jbatik ta 7ak'ubaltike," xi la taj tzeb 7une.
"7Ora, Ie7 7une k'el aba komel 7un!" xi la 7un.
Jipat la komel 7un, jii, ch7ok' la ta j-mek ti vinik ti