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"Ah, go see me, then, I can't say anything myself.
Speak to the Earth [Lord]. Enter the cave here!" said
the woman. Then the woman vanished. The man
went. He entered the cave. He met [another] man on
the way. He continued. He passed on by.
"Go talk to the Earth [Lord]. It's whatever he
himself says," the [other] man said. [The husband]
continued. He arrived and spoke to the Earth
[Lord]. It seemed as if there was sunlight there, but
who knows where it was. The man was startled. He
was panic-stricken.
"How can I get out of here?" asked the man.
"What did you come looking for? You should
have just talked [to me] up above," said the Earth
[Lord]. He let him go, but the man went mad. He
went crazy. The man is still alive. Now he is fine.
The expression chonbil ta balamil, "sold to the Earth [Lord],"
means that the man's wife died from witchcraft. The Earth
Lords have many attributes. They are "owners" of caves and
springs, lords of rain, and wind, guardians of vegetation and the
riches of the earth. Like the European devil they bestow both
treasure and death. The Earth Lords are envisioned as thunder-
There is a girl named Lolen. They say she doesn't
like men. She doesn't like to be spoken to by men nor
does she want to be with men. She scolds them. She
hits them. They go to speak to her when she goes to
watch the sheep.
She was seen once, lying on her back under a tree.
She was sticking beeswax up herself. That calmed
her desire, because she didn't like men, or something.
She doesn't like men because it is known that children
are born.
But the beeswax leaves nothing behind. That's
why she does it by herself. And she was seen another
When I asked Romin if there were any tales that were not told
in the presence of women, he responded with eight stories
(T132-T139). The majority of these are gossip. I have censored
Once there was a Long Hair in a big cave at Juteb
Chauk [Bit of Thunderbolt]. He held up the trucks.
They were bringing cargo. They were bringing
thread. They were bringing muslin. They were
bringing everything that is for sale here, here in San
Cristobal. But the Long Hair held up the trucks.
Then he led them into his cave. He had a big cave.
ROMIN TERATOL
Not Men—Beeswax
T133
Long Hair
T104
"7Aa, ba k'elon che7e, vo7one mu k'u xu7 xkal,
k'opono li 7ajvalile, 7ochan ech'el Ii7 ta ch'ene!" xi la
ti 7antz 7une. 7A ti 7antze, te la 7isak-ch'ay, 7ibat la
ti vinike, 7i7och la ech'el ta ch'en, 7isnup la ta be jun
vinik, 7ibat 7ijelav ech'el.
"Ba k'opono li 7ajvalile, ja7 ti k'u xi stuke," xi la ti
vinike. 7Ibat la, 7ik'ot la sk'opon ti 7ajvalile, 7oy xa
la k'ak'al yilel, pero jna7tik xa buy, 7ich'ay xch'ulel,
7ixi7 la ta j-mek, li vinike.
"K'u xi chilok' 7un Ii7e?" xi la ti vinike.
"K'u ch7och tal 7asa7, Ie7 no 7ox lak'opoj ta
7ak'ol yechuke," xi la ti 7ajvalile. 7Ilok'esat la tal
pero 7ipas la ta chuvaj, 7ipas ta loko, 7ich'i to ti
vinike lavie lek xa la 7un.
bolts, serpents, and fat, rich, Ladino ranchers. In this case an
Earth Lord has been persuaded by an enemy's prayers and
offerings in some remote cave to take the woman's soul as a
servant. When her period of service has ended, her soul will be
freed for the final judgment.
time, too. She had an old dog. The male dog was
sticking its head up her skirt. And they say that she
has grown used to the dog. "It has seen its meal,"
they say. "She probably calms her desire with her
old male dog," they say. That's the story the people
tell, that she sticks beeswax up herself, that she has
grown used to her male dog, too. It sticks its nose
way up her skirt. Then that male dog was wagging
its tail. It was seen from the distance. Because it was
seen where, lying on her back, face up, she stuck that
beeswax up herself. That's the way it is, they say.
from this account the last name of Romin's unnatural neighbor.
The community's disgust with her behavior is clearly communicated
by Romin. See also T134, T135, and their notes.
Bweno, 7a ti vo7nee, 7oy la jun jnatikil jol te ta
jun muk'ta ch'en ta Juteb Chauk, ta smak ta be ti
karoetike, ta xich' tal 7ikatziletik, ta xich' tal no, ta
xich' tal manta, ta xich' tal skotol k'usitik 7oy ta
schonel H7 toe, H7 ta Jobele, pero ti jnatikil jol 7une,
ja7 te ta smak ta be ti karoetike, te ta xik' ochel ta
sch'en, 7oy jun smuk'ta ch'en.
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