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404 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY NUMBER 23
"Poke it in!" he was told. Lord, he poked it in!
Sonofabitch, but yes, indeed, the blood certainly
flowed! Who knows what horrible length his tool
was! She was screaming now. She was screaming
now since it was probably long, you see. Who knows
what his tool was like, you see. He was an evil
animal, you see. Lord, it was discovered. He was
going to be arrested and jailed.
But he wasn't arrested or jailed. He fled again. He
went to another town, too. And he just did the same.
He just kept deceiving people like that. That's what
happened. That's how the tale ends, like that.
The "Bear's Son," sharing many motifs with Beowulf, is
widespread in Europe, especially in Scandinavia. It occurs in
India and North Africa and among North American Indian
groups (Barakat, 1965:330-331). It has been reported frequently
among Mexicans living in the United States (Colgrave,
1951:409-413; A. M. Espinosa, 1911, T12: Goodwyn,
1953:143-154; Paredes, 1970, T29; Rael, 1957, T232). In Mexico
there are versions from Chihuahua (Barakat, ibid.), Jalisco (Mason,
1914:176-179; Wheeler, 1943, T93-T96), Guadalajara
(Robe, 1970, T34), Mitla (Radin and Espinosa, 1917, T108;
Radin, 1943:22-30), and Tehuantepec (Boas, 1912:241-245) in
Oaxaca, and in Chiapas—Chamula (Gossen, T75).
Rey's story, like other Mexican versions, conforms quite
closely to the Aarne-Thompson tale type 301 and to Spanish
tales (A. M. Espinosa, T133-T135). Emphasizing the similarities
with Rey's story, I will try to make a composite of the other
Mexican tales:
(1) A woman, abducted by a bear, gives birth to a son, half
bear and half boy.
(2) Bear's Son escapes by pushing a heavy rock from the
cave's entrance. (His magical growth and his mother's return to
town are not featured.)
(3) He kills his tormentors in school, and is forced to drop out.
(His learning abilities are not mentioned.)
"Tijanbo!" x7utat la 7un. Ke, stijanbe la, puta pero
7eso si lok' la ch'ich' ka7uktik 7un a7a, na7tik k'u sil
natil yabtejeb 7un a7a, x7avet xa la 7un, x7avet xa la
7un komo nat nan chava7i na7tik k'u x7elan yabtejeb
chava7i ti pukuj chon chava7i to, kere, 7ana 7i
7ivinaj la 7un, ta 7ox la stzakat ta chukel taj 7une.
Buy, muk' stzak ta chukel 7ijatav la noxtok bat ta
yan 7o jtek-lum noxtok 7un, bat ta yan 7o jtek-lum
noxtoke, 7i ja7 no la yech tzpas naka la puro
cho7vanej tzpas chak taj 7une, k'u x7elan bat 7o
yech 7un, ja7 yech 7ich'ay 7o yech kwento chak taj
7une.
(4) He requests a heavy stave.
(5) He meets up with three friends (not two). They usually are
giants with special abilities and names like Mountain Mover, River
Gulper.
(6) They grow very thirsty. With the aid of a long rope, Bear's
Son descends into a deep well.
(7) He discovers three (not two) beautiful girls. He may have
to rescue them by first killing serpents or devils.
(8) He lifts the girls out. When he, himself, tries to get out, he
is either abandoned or suspects his companions' good will and
ties a rock to the rope.
(9) He battles a Negro, sometimes identified as Lucifer, cuts
off his ear, and escapes from the well by biting the Negro's ear
and so compelling his assistance.
From here on Rey's tale takes an unusual turn. Customarily,
Bear's Son, with the aid of the Negro's ear, tracks down his
former companions, denounces them, and wins one or all
three of the princesses for himself. Rey's Rabelaisian conclusion
adds a fresh dimension to this ancient epic.
The very existence of an early Spanish loanword, TOSOV, for
"bear" in Chiapas, far from bears' native habitat and where it is
not likely that travelling circuses would have ventured, is
mysterious. Perhaps this tale holds the key.
When the Guatemalans Were Blown Sky-High
T159
There is another one, too, a tale, as we call it, too.
In Guatemala, of course! It seems the people used to
arrive [there] long ago. They died there. They were
given cane liquor to drink. When they got drunk,
then [the Guatemalans] sharpened up a knife blade
well. Their balls would be cut off.
They were fattened. There in Guatemala. They
were fattened like pigs. Yes!
They were fattened. Ooh, it seems that lots of the
elders of long ago were lost, as we say. Many were
lost—those it seems, who couldn't be Thunderbolt
or anything. [Just] some of them [were strong]. They
didn't all have the same power long ago.
The elders chose several from among each other.
7O la j-tos xtok skwenta kwento xkaltik noxtok
7un, 7a li ta Watemala la bi 7a, ta xk'ot ta xk'ot ti
krixchanoetik ya7el ti vo7ne 7une, te chlaj ta la
x7ak'bat yuch'ik trago, 7i mi yakubik la 7une, ja7 7o
la chjux lek ye kuchilu 7un, ta la xlok'bat sbek' yat
7un.
Va7i 7un, te la chjup'esat 7un taj ta Vatemala
7une, chjup'esat k'u cha7al k'u cha7al chitom. Jii7!
Chjup'esat la 7un, ji, 7ep xa la ta j-mek 7ich'ay,
ch'ay ya7el ya7el ti vo7ne moletik xkaltik 7ep i
ch'aye ti bu mu sna7ik ya7el mu sna7ik ya7el chauk
k'usi ya7el j-lom 7une, mu parejouk sna7ik ti vo7ne
7une.
Va7 7un, 7ist'uj la sba ech'el ti moletik ti ti jay-vo7