Chapter 8

“A Humble Man’s Predicament,” 1978

Antonio Veracruz was one of the most talented storytellers in Huitzilan, and his tale of “A Humble Man’s Predicament” describes the predicament of a protagonist that fits the Mestizos’ idea of the Nahuas as the “humble people” or gente humilde. His protagonist works for a powerful and mercurial patrón who is like Rogelio Carvallo, one of the wealthiest men in Huitzilan at the time Antonio Veracruz told his story in 1978. Rogelio Carvallo owned a great deal of land and could be very generous lending money, with only a verbal agreement, to bankroll projects in many parts of the southern Sierra Norte. He also lent money to Nacho to start a small store in Huitzilan after his marriage to Victoria.

Rogelio was known to have a temper and mistreat some of his workers. He reputedly provided the money to get Pedro Manzano out of jail, after Pedro had killed José Pescado and his mother, because Rogelio needed an enforcer. He liked to gamble and, during the first period of fieldwork (1968–1975), he wagered that his powerful mare could beat the swift horse of another man from Zapotitlán. The two staged a race in Zapotitlán, where streets were more level than those of Huitzilan, and Rogelio’s mare won by several lengths. A few years later, in the spring of 1978, Rogelio had a fierce argument with his nephew over the terms of their oral agreement regarding the sale of land. Their argument grew heated, and the two drew their pistols and fired, killing each other in front of Rogelio’s stately house near Calyecapan. Nahuas and Mestizos from every corner of Huitzilan paid their respects to Rogelio in the evening following the gunfight, and attended his funeral a few days later in the church in the center of town. Among the mourners were the UCI, led by Felipe Reyes Herrera, who crowded into the church along with everyone else for the funeral Mass. This was a tense moment in Huitzilan that sparked speculation on whether or not violence would erupt between the UCI and their enemies. It did not. The priest finished the Mass, the UCI joined in the funeral procession that passed by the Ixtahuatalix ejido on the way to the cemetery at the southern end of town, and they witnessed the burial of a very powerful man.

Antonio Veracruz told me his story a few months before the funeral. He was sixty-six at the time, living on the Ixtahuatalix ejido with Beatriz Pérez and her married son, daughter-in-law, and unmarried younger children. Antonio planted his corn on a small plot he owned and on another one he rented, both in the locality of Tecuanteco. He frequently worked as a wage laborer in the neighboring community of Zapotitlán.

Antonio’s protagonist is a humble man, perhaps like himself, who works for a big patrón who has the power of life and death over his workers. The patrón is angry because he is in the middle of a drought and he needs rain to water the crops on his land. He assembles his workers and asks if anyone knows when it will rain. The workers hear a humble man in the back say that rain is not far away. The workers present him to the patrón, who issues a life-and-death challenge: If it rains in four days, he will give him half of his property and, if not, he will go to the humble man’s house and put five bullets into him.

The reader might recognize the similarities between Antonio Veracruz’s story and the one Juan Hernández told about the rain god who also faced pressure to reveal when it would rain to end a drought. Juan’s protagonist was a rain god’s human companion who shared a quiyauhteotonalle, while the one in Antonio Veracruz’s story is an ordinary Nahua worker who has little recourse but to accept the wager imposed by his powerful patrón. The humble man escapes from his predicament with the aid of the rain gods, who bring an end to the drought. Antonio’s story is, among other things, a Nahua’s fantasy of becoming a wealthy and powerful patron, perhaps like Rogelio Carvallo.

To put Antonio’s story into a broader perspective, I shall compare how he describes the predicament of his protagonist with the ways that narrators in the more class-egalitarian community of Santiago Yaonáhuac, also in the southern Sierra Norte, described that of their protagonists in similar stories. Only one Mestizo family resided in Yaonáhuac when I carried out fieldwork in that community in the fall of 1977. A man from that family worked as the municipio secretary, and his knowledge of local laws gave him a measure of authority. However, there was no one in Yaonáhuac who had the wealth and power of Rogelio Carvallo, Antonio Aco, and Ponciano Bonilla in Huitzilan.

I shall draw on the comparison between the two communities to consider how ethnic hierarchy in Huitzilan appears to have contributed to Antonio Veracruz’s false consciousness, based on his identification with his aggressor. In 1978, a story from Huitzilan about a man who wins a bet with his patrón and acquires half the rich man’s property seemed to be a delusional fantasy. However, what gives me pause in reaching this conclusion is Antonio’s subtle sense of humor and his satirical characterization of the powerful Mestizo patrón who looks so much like Rogelio Carvallo. Moreover, Antonio Veracruz was among the many narrators who also told the trickster tale of “Rabbit and Coyote,” which is the Nahua version of Brer Rabbit and a thinly veiled criticism of class and ethnic hierarchy. I shall return to Antonio’s complicated social consciousness following the English translation and the Nahuat original versions of Antonio Veracruz’s story.

1. They say there was a man who had workers.
2. That is how he was working.
3. He was working.
4. He had a lot of workers.
5. And he was working on a big project.
6. And one afternoon he thought about how hot it was.
7. So he gathered his workers and asked them, “Well now, with all of these workers here, is there anyone who knows?
8. Can any of you tell me when it will rain?
9. Because right now we are working [and] working.
10. But we cannot do anything and we shall not have a crop because it is so hot.
11. And it does not look like it is going to rain.
12. And everything is very dry.”
13. “Well,” someone told him, “we do not know.
14. We are working.
15. Give us work, boss.
16. We are working but we do not know.
17. Only God knows.”
18. “It is very, very urgent that you remember who knows [when it will rain],” insisted the patron.
19. And a little man in the back spoke.
20. He appeared to be ill.
21. He looked like a fool.
22. And he said, “Rain is not far away.
23. One sees the sun shining; the sun is hot.
24. But tomorrow or the next day there will be clouds.
25. There will be rain.
26. Rain will come in two, three days.
27. It will be here.”
28. His companions said, “Well now boss, there is one here who was heard [saying something about the rain].
29. He says it will not be long before it rains.”
30. “Who said that?
31. Who knows [when it will rain]?”
32. “Here he is.”
33. They made that man, who was hiding in the back, come forward.
34. He was the one who looked like a fool.
35. He looked ill.
36. The boss asked him, “Is it true that you know when it is going to rain?
37. Is [the rain] not far off?”
38. “Well, I do not know.
39. But one always says it will start to cloud up tomorrow or the next day [and] then it will rain.
40. Right now it is hot, but when it clouds up, no one knows for sure if the rain comes or not.
41. But rain, it is not far away.”
42. This is what the boss said in reply.
43. “So then, if it really does rain, I shall wait and hold my patience for three days, even four days.
44. In three days if it rains, it rains.
45. If it does not rain in three days, but if it rains within four days, then fine.
46. And if not, if it does not rain, I want you to know that I shall go to your house and shoot five bullets into you.
47. And if it does rain, then all these things I have, everything—I have houses, I have pack animals, I have crops, I have whatever, beasts of burden, I have land—half of it will be yours.”
48. The humble man heard him, and the other workers heard him.
49. “As for witnesses,” the boss said, “I say in front of all of you that half of what I have will be his if it rains in three or four days.”
50. And if not, all of you are hearing that I shall shoot him in his own house.”
51. So then that man thought, he went home and thought about whether or not it would rain.
52. The next morning he saw that it was very clear.
53. It was another beautiful day.
54. It was a sunny day.
55. The next day was the same.
56. It was clear in the morning.
57. The sun was hot.
58. It was the same sun.
59. For two days.
60. For three days.
61. Again he saw it was a beautiful day.
62. It was clear.
63. The sun was hot.
64. It did not look as if it would rain.
65. There were no clouds.
66. “Well,” he thought to himself, “now what am I going to do?
67. It has been three days now.
68. And the agreement is for [it to rain] now or tomorrow.
69. If it does not rain, my boss will come and shoot me.”
70. It had been three days.
71. It would be four days the next morning.
72. It was morning.
73. He got up in the morning and said to his wife, “Get up now.
74. Make my tortillas.
75. I know I have to go now or just wait for my boss.
76. But I am not going to wait for him because the agreement is he will shoot me.”
77. His wife asked, “But why will he shoot you?
78. He is your boss!”
79. “No matter, but we know he is going to shoot me.
80. Just for what I said.
81. And it does not look like it is going to rain.
82. Make my tortillas, and I am going.”
83. So then she gave him his tortillas early that morning, and early, early he went out of the house and left.
84. He left in a hurry.
85. He did not know where he was going.
86. He just went.
87. He just picked a road.
88. He did not know where he was going.
89. So then he went on, he went on, he went on until he came to a gully in a forest.
90. He came upon a sparrow hawk.
91. The sparrow hawk called out to him, “José! José! José!”
92. “What ‘José’!?
93. That is not me.
94. You do not know where I am going.
95. Do not screech at me anymore.
96. Do not call out to me, and if you do, I shall throw a rock at you.”
97. The sparrow hawk continued; “José, José, what makes you sad?
98. Where are you going?”
99. “I know where I am going,” he said to the sparrow hawk.
100. But the humble man did not know.
101. “No,” the sparrow hawk said, “and I know very well where you are going.”
102. “Not true,” the humble man said to the sparrow hawk.
103. “How would you know?
104. If you know, tell me and if not, I shall hit you with a rock.”
105. “Well you,” the sparrow hawk said, “are going because of this worry you carry with you.
106. But do not worry about where you are going.
107. You are going because you think your boss is going to shoot you because it is not going to rain.
108. But he is not going to shoot you,” the sparrow hawk said.
109. “Right now,” the bird said to him, “you will arrive at a place where you will also look for water.
110. You are just about there,” the sparrow hawk said.
111. “Really?” the man asked.
112. “It is true.”
113. “Well then, tell me,” the humble man said to the sparrow hawk, “where [is this place].”
114. “That hill over there, just go there right away.
115. Make a turn, and there will be a big rock.
116. And just turn your head.
117. From there you will take [another] road.
118. Go on it.
119. You will see a big house in the distance.
120. You will arrive there.
121. And that is where the water is.
122. And that is where the person, whom you are looking for, will be.
123. Just go there.
124. Just go.
125. He found that big standing rock.
126. He just turned around.
127. He was going down another good road.
128. He went on down that road and saw a house, but it was a big house.
129. “Good,” he thought to himself, “well, there it is.
130. Now I am going to see if it is true.”
131. He went on.
132. He went on.
133. And he arrived to find a woman grinding on the metate [grinding stone].
134. She was alone.
135. She was just grinding on the metate.
136. He went over to greet her.
137. “Oh, my son,” she said, “why did you come here?
138. What brought you here?”
139. None of my children from earth comes here.
140. How amazing that you, my child, have come here!”
141. “Well, I have come,” he said to her, “because I am worried.
142. The reason I have come is because the day has arrived when my boss is going to shoot me.
143. I am worried because it does not look as if it is going to rain.”
144. “Oh,” she replied, “but they will not shoot you for that reason.”
145. She said to him, “Now sit down and wait for my brothers because they are not here.
146. They went visiting but they will return soon.
147. You need to talk to them.”
148. Good, he took a seat.
149. He sat down for a while until those boys came home.
150. They were all naked.
151. They were not wearing any clothes.
152. Four of them came.
153. But they were all wet with their sweat.
154. They were tired out.
155. And as soon as they arrived, the man stood up.
156. Right away they went over and greeted him.
157. They said, “How is it possible you have come here!
158. We do not see any Christians from earth paying us a visit.
159. How amazing that you have come!”
160. “Well, I have come because I spoke with my boss, we spoke where we were working.
161. And he wanted to know when it was going to rain.
162. It was very hot, everything was dried out, and we could not work.
163. I have come to you because my boss wants to shoot me after asking us when it is going to rain.
164. None of my companions told him.
165. We do not know when it will rain.
166. It might rain tomorrow or it might rain the next day.
167. But we do not know.
168. And I was standing in the rear.
169. I just said when it will rain.
170. ‘Rain is not far away just because today we see a beautiful sunny day—it is beautifully clear—but tomorrow or the next day will be cloudy.
171. The rain will come.
172. It is not far away.’
173. That is what I said.
174. Afterwards, my companions handed me over to my boss as someone who knows when it will rain.
175. Then my boss made a wager with me that there really will be rain in three or four days.
176. If it rains within this period, then he is going to love me.
177. And if not, he is going to kill me.”
178. “Uh hu,” they said.
179. “But they will not kill you,” one of them said to him, “let it rain right away if he wants it to rain.
180. He did not want it to rain before because he got angry if he saw that it rained.
181. If it rained, he was not able to work.
182. He wanted it to be sunny so he could work.
183. Now that it is sunny, let him work.
184. Why can’t he work?
185. He does not like the rain.
186. He gets angry and swears at the rain.
187. But do not worry.
188. It is going to rain now.
189. Do not worry.
190. Go right now.
191. Take this cloak.
192. Go outside and climb up on top of the house.
193. Go right away, right away.”
194. And right away he went.
195. “We just have to take a bath.”
196. And right away he went.
197. They gave him a cloak, and he came home.
198. And he saw them sprinkling themselves with the water.
199. But the water was pulling him.
200. But he did not see where water there was taking him.
201. The water was pulling him.
202. He went into the water.
203. And that man came home.
204. He did not even know how he came home.
205. He was gone for a long time.
206. But he came back.
207. He did not know when he knew he was home.
208. And it rained, it began as just a little sprinkle on the house.
209. There was wind.
210. And a lot of hail fell.
211. But it was a big beautiful rainstorm.
212. It was within four days.
213. Now the man was inside his house.
214. As for what he did, he liked the rain.
215. Now that it was raining, the next day would make five days, [and] the boss ordered the workers back to work.
216. They worked.
217. The boss sent for him.
218. His boss did not cut [shoot] him.
219. Instead, the boss ordered the workers to find flowers and adorn all of the hacienda owner’s house.
220. And all along the road.
221. They put an arc of flowers all the way to the houses of the workers.
222. They also adorned their houses.
223. And in the morning they butchered cattle, sheep, and pigs.
224. They prepared a big feast and held a dance.
225. And they went to bring that man.
226. They went to bring him and they arrived at the hacienda owner’s house.
227. They placed him where they had adorned an altar as if he were a saint.
228. They adorned everything.
229. And they went to get him in the evening.
230. They sent for all of the workers and musicians and for some rockets.
231. They went to bring him.
232. They went to bring him and seat him [at a table].
233. They went to get him and carry him in their arms as if he were God.
234. They came bearing him in their arms.
235. Together with his wife.
236. They brought all of them.
237. They came to the hacienda owner’s house.
238. There they joked with him and they placed him on the altar.
239. And they also placed his wife there and they lined up all of their children on the ground.
240. Well then, they brought the man and his wife and children, and the hacienda owner shot off rockets outside the house, and the musicians played music inside the house, and the guests danced.
241. It was as if he were a god.
242. They danced.
243. Afterward they lowered the man from the altar and they also danced with him.
244. They danced with him beautifully, beautifully as if he were our hacienda owner.
245. From there, yes.
246. They put him into a beautiful chair and sat him at a beautiful table.
247. And the humble man, his wife and family started eating with the boss and all of the workers.
248. They ate the meat with gusto.
249. From there, yes.
250. The boss announced, “Now, yes, just as we spoke with this man in front of you yesterday and the day before, now, in front of you, know that everything will be divided evenly.
251. Half of the land belongs to me, and half belongs to him together with the house and half of the animals.
252. The store of corn, half of it is his.
253. Now in front of all of you, he will take what we divide, and we shall put it in writing.
254. And no one will be upset that half belongs to him.”
255. So then, that is what they did.
256. From there, yes.
257. They stayed [at the hacienda owner’s house] and began dancing.
258. There was a dance.
259. They danced all day and all night.
260. The made a fiesta.
261. The fiesta ended, and there that man stayed.
262. The hacienda owner gave him that house, some of which belonged to him and some to the hacienda owner.
263. From there. Yes.
264. They gave him all of the animals.
265. They gave him all of the land that belonged to him.
266. And he stayed there and afterwards he began to work the animals and the land.
267. Then he began to be a big hacienda owner.
268. He became like a boss.
269. He was also a hacienda owner.
270. He began doing great work.
271. And that is how it was.
272. It was a good thing.

1. Pues quihtoa nihon tacat quinpiya taquehualmeh.
2. Tequititoc ihcon.
3. Tequititoc.
4. Miac taquehual quinpixtoc.
5. Huan quichiutoc huei tequit.
6. Huan ce tonal tiotaquito quinemili por tel tatotonia.
7. Entonces quintahtolti taquehualmeh den quincentili huan quinilia, “Pos axcan ten nihin yetoqueh taquehualmeh, ahmo ce me nanquimati?
8. Ahmo nechmaca razon quemanyan quiyahuiz?
9. Porque yequintzin titequititoqueh, tequititoqueh.
10. Pero ahmo hueli tei ticchihuah huan ahmo hueli tehza mochihua tatoc porque totonic telcenca.
11. Huan ahmo neciz cox quiyahuiz.
12. Huan ta tel huayic ya.”
13. “Bueno,” telia occequin, “ahmo ticmatih tehhan.
14. Titequititoqueh.
15. Techmaca in tequit patron.
16. Titequititoqueh pero tehhan ahmo ticmatih.
17. Solo Dios quimati.”
18. “De repente cimi, cimi nan talnamictoqueh [talnamiquiliztoqueh] cualli acza quimatoz.”
19. Huan quitelia tacuitapan ce tacatzin.
20. Moittaya yazqui cococoxque.
21. Que neztoc tonto motta.
22. Huan yeh quihtoa, “Quiyahuit ahmo huehca yetoc.
23. Ce quitta tonatoc; tatotonia.
24. Pero mozta o huipta motalilia mixti.
25. Ompon yetoc quiyahuit.
26. Quiyahuit ome, eyi tonal.
27. Ompon yetoc.”
28. Bueno quihtoqueh nihon compañeros, “Pos axcan patron, nican ce caquiztic.
29. Quihtoa que ahmo huehcahua quiyahuiz.”
30. “A ver aconi nihon quihtoa?
31. Aconi quimatoc?”
32. “Nican yetoc.”
33. Quitoquia non tacat den tacuitapan ichtatoya.
34. Motta ya tonto.
35. Cocoxqueh motta.
36. Quilia, “Melauh,” quilia, “teh ticmatoc ca quiyahuiz ya.
37. Ahmo huehcahua?”
38. “Pos ahmo nicmati.
39. Pero siempre ihcon ce quihtoa pehua tamixtemiqui mozta ozo huipta, ompa yetoc in quiyahuit.
40. Yequintzin tatotonia pero cuan tamixtemi, ahmo acah quimati cox huitza quiyahuit cox ahmo.
41. Pero quiyahuit, ahmo huehca yetoc.”
42. Icuin quihto.
43. “Entonces, como melauh quiyahuiz, nimtzch[i]ya huan nimitzpiyalia1 pacencia eyi tonal, hasta nahui tonal.
44. Eyi tonal como quiyahui, quiyahui.
45. Ai ahmo quiyahui tech nahui tonal, como quiyahui, cualli.
46. Quilia, “Huan como ahmo, como ahmo quiyahui, xicmati,” quilia, “nyaz tech mochan huan nimitzmacatiuh [nimitzmacati] macuil tiros.
47. Huan como quiyahui, entonces huan axcan de cosas nicpiya, nochi, nicpiya calli, nicpiya tatol2 [tatoc], nicpiya den yazqui, tapialmeh, nicpiya talmeh, parejo tahco moaxca.”
48. Bueno, cayic ya huan quicaqueh in taquehualmeh.
49. “Huan testigos,” quilia, “namoixco nochi niquihtoa ca tahco neh noaxca como quiayhui tech eyi tonal, nahui tonal.
50. Huan como ahmo, pero nochi ta cactoqueh tech ichan nimacatiuh [nimacati].”
51. Entonces monemiliaya non tacat ya, yahqui ichan huan monemilia cox quiyahuiz o cox ahmo.
52. Non cualcan quittac ihcon yec taquizac.
53. Cualtzin ceppa.
54. Ce tonal chicahuac tona.
55. Mozta occeppa ihcon.
56. Cualcan taquiztoc.
57. Tona chicahuac.
58. Tona ihcon parejo.
59. Ome tonal.
60. Eyi tonal.
61. Ceppa quitta ihcon cualtzin.
62. Taquizac.
63. Tonac chicahuac.
64. Ahmo motta cox quiyahuiz.
65. Ahmo tei mixti.
66. “Bueno,” quitmolia, “toni nicchihuati?
67. Eyi tonal ya.
68. Huan trato ya ca axcan ozo mozta.
69. Como ahmo quiyahui, huitza nopatron huan nechmacaqui.”
70. Eyi tonal.
71. Ca nahui tonal cualcan.
72. Cualcan.
73. Cualcan mehuac huan quilia in cihuat, “Axcan xmehua.
74. Pos xtali notaxcal.
75. Neh nicmati can nyo porque zayoh axcan nichya nopatron.
76. Pero ahmo nichyati porque trato axcan nechmacaquiuh.”
77. Quilia, “Pero que ye mitzmacaz?
78. Ta mopatron!”
79. “Mazqui pero tehhan ticmatih que ye pero nechmacaquiuh.
80. Zayoh por nin tahtol icuin niquihto.
81. Huan ahmo neci cox quiyahuiz.
82. Xtali notaxcal huan nyo.”
83. Entonces quimaaque in taxcal cualcan huan cualcan, cualcan chicoquizac huan yahqui.
84. Yohui elihuiz.
85. Ahmo quimati can yohui.
86. Ihcon yohui.
87. Ihcon quicuic non ohti.
88. Ahmo quimati can yohui.
89. Entonces yohui za, yohui za, yohui za ihcon, huan cahcito ce cuauhtah, atahuit ihcon.
90. Cahcito ce cuixin.
91. Quilia, “José! José! José!”
92. “Que ‘José’!?” quilia.
93. “Ahmo motequiuh,” quilia.
94. “Ahmo ticmati can nyo.
95. Ahmo cachi nechtzahtzili.
96. Ahmo xinechtzahtzili,” quilia, “huan como ta, nimitztamotaz ca in tet.”
97. Ai yeh queman cachi quinotza, “José, José, toni mitzyolcocoa?
98. Can tyo?”
99. “Neh nicmati can nyo,” quilia.
100. Ahmo can quimati.
101. “Ahmo,” quilia, “huan neh cualli nicmatoc,” quilia, “can tyo.”
102. “Ahmo melauh,” quilia.
103. “Quen ticmatoc?
104. Como ticmatoc, tinechili huan como ahmo, nimtzmacaz ca tet.”
105. “Pos teh,” quilia, “tyo porque nin telnamiquiliz ticuica.
106. Pero ahmo xmonemili3 can tyo.
107. Teh tyo,” quilia, “porque timonemilia por in ahmo quiyahui huan mopatron mitzmacati.
108. Pero ahmo mitzmacati,” quilia.
109. “Yequintzin,” quitquilia, “tiahci,” quitquilia, “campa no tictemoa non at,” quitquilia.
110. “Ya mero tiahciz,” quitquilia.
111. “Melauh?” quilia.
112. “Ye melauh.”
113. “Pues entonces, [xi]nechili,” quilia, “can.”
114. Yequintzin zayoh nihon lomita, tyo icuin.
115. Icuin tictemaca vuelta huan yetoc ce huei telaja4 yetoc.
116. Huan zayoh icuin tiquixquepa5.
117. Ompa icuin ticuiti ce ohti.
118. Icuin calaqui.
119. Ihcon tiontachaa6 yetoc ce huei calli.
120. Ompa ye ahci.
121. Huan ompa yetoc non at.
122. Huan ompa yetoc aquin quintemoa.
123. De ompa yohui za.
124. Yohui za.”
125. Cahcito quit non telaja ihcatoc huei.
126. Zayoh quit quiquepato.
127. Cualli ohti yatoc ceppa.
128. Icuin calaquito huan non tachaac ce calli yetoc pero huei calli yetoc.”
129. Bueno,” quitmolia, “pos ompa ya ne.
130. Axcan niquittati cox ompa melauh ya.”
131. Ihcon yohui.
132. Ihcon yohui.
133. Huan de ahcic, cahcito quit ce nanita tixtoc.
134. Icelti yetoc.
135. Tixtoc za.
136. Quitahpaloto.
137. “Ay hijo,” quilia, “que ye tihualla?”
138. Quilia, “Toni ticuito nican?”
139. Quilia, “Nican,” quilia, “ahmo acah huitza,” quilia, “de talticpac nopilhuan.
140. Quemach teh tihualla noconiuh!” quilia.
141. “Pos nihualla,” quilia, “porque nicualcui tanemili[l].
142. Icuin, huan icuin ica nihualla porque nopatron yetoc, ehoc tonal axcan nechmacati.
143. Zayoh ca nihin tanemili[l] timocauhqueh huan ahmo neci cox quiyahuiz.”
144. “Eh,” quitquilia, “pero ca nihon,” quitquilia, “ahmo mitzmacazqueh.”
145. Quitquilia, “Axcan,” quitquilia, “ximotali huan xquinch[i]ya nocnihuan porque ahmo yetoqueh.
146. Yahctoqueh cecco calpanotoh, pero ma ehocahuan.
147. Yehhan tiquinnonotzaz.”
148. Bueno, ompon motali.
149. Motali ce ratillo huan que huitzeh, quit, non telpocameh.
150. Nochi xixitatziqueh.
151. Ahmo quipiyah tilman.
152. Nahuin huitzeh.
153. Pero nochi ayohqueh7 ica netonti8 za.
154. Ciuhtihuitzeh9 [ciahtihuitzeh].
155. Huan que ehoqueh, niman quiquetzac nin tacat.
156. Niman quinamiquitoh huan quintahpaloah ya.
157. Quilia, “Quemach,” quitquilia, “nican tihualla!
158. Ahmo nican tiquittah ce cristiano talticpac ma techcalpano.
159. Quemach tihualla!”
160. Pos nihualla,” quitquilia, “porque nopatron ihuan nimonotzac, timonotztoyah campa te tequitih.
161. Huan ma tahtani xa ca quimati quemanyan quiyahuiz.
162. Tel tatotonia huan nochi ca tel huayic huan ahmo hueli tequitih.
163. Pos nihualla,” quilia, “namehhan porque nopatron quinequia nechmacaz por techtahtoltia quemanyan quiyahuiz.
164. Huan companyeros ahmo acah quilia.
165. Quilia que ahmo ticmatih quemanyan quiyahuiz.
166. Quiyahuiz mozta ozo huipta, quiyahuiz.
167. Pero ahmo ticmatih tehhan quemanyan.
168. Huan neh tacuitapan niyetoya.
169. Zayoh niquihto quemanyan quiyahuiz.
170. Quiyahuit ahmo huehca yetoc porque tiquittah cualtzin tonatoc, cualtzin taquiztoc, pero mozta ozo huipta motaliz in mixti.
171. Quiyahuit ompon yetoc.
172. Ahmo huehca yetoc.’
173. Icuin niquihto.
174. Después nechtema[c]tiqueh10 nocompañeros ica nicmatoc quemanyan quiyahuiz.
175. Entonces nechmaca nopatron ma niquiliz melauh quiyahuiz in eyi tonal, nahui tonal.
176. Como quiyahui, entonces nechtazohtati.
177. Huan como ahmo, nechmictiti.”
178. “Uh hu,” quilia.
179. “Pero ahmo ihcon mitzmiquitizqueh,” quitquilia “que ma ca quiyahuiz como quinequi quiyahuiz,” quilia, “yequintzin.
180. Yeh ahmo quinequi quiyahuiz porque quittac que quiyahuiz, yeh cualani.
181. Yeh, como quiyahui, ahmo hueli tequiti.
182. Yeh quinequi ma tona para tequitiz.
183. Pos axcan tona, ma tequiti.
184. Que ye nen ahmo hueli tequiti?
185. Yeh ahmo cuellita quiyahuit.
186. Yeh cualani huan cuihuicaltia11 [cuicuitahuiltia] in quiyahuit.
187. Pero ahmo ximoyolcoco,” quilia.
188. Axcan quiyahuiti.
189. Ahmo ximonemiliti,” quitquilia.
190. “Xyo niman.
191. Xcuica nin manga.
192. Huan tyaz icalteno huan xtamota ahco tech in calli.
193. Pero niman, niman xyo ya.”
194. Huan niman ompon yohue.
195. “Zayoh ma timaltican.”12
196. Huan niman ombon yohue.
197. Quimaaqueh [quimaqueh] non ce manga huan hualla.
198. Huan yehha zayoh quinittac motepeuhqueh tech in at.
199. Pero tilantoc in at.
200. Pero niyoh quittac can t[il]antoc in at.
201. Tilantoc ce at.
202. Ompa calaquito.
203. Huan yeh hualla non tacat.
204. Niyoh si quiera momac cuenta queniuh hualla.
205. Yahqui huehcahuac.
206. Pero hualla.
207. Ahmo quimati cuac quimatic yetoc ichan ya.
208. Huan ce quiyahuiz quit cox tepitzin za pehuac pero hasta quixixintinili13 in calli.
209. Ta ehecat.
210. Huan miac tezihuit14 [tetzahuit] huetzic.
211. Pero huei quiyahuit cualli.
212. Itech in nahui tonal.
213. Axcan tacat yetoc ichan ya.
214. Bueno, den quichihuac, cuellitac quiyahuic.
215. Axcan den quiyahuic ya, para mozta, itech macuil tonal, ceppa de nohon taquehualmeh quinpiya, quinahuati ya ma tequiti.
216. Ya tequitic.
217. Quitanic.
218. Ahmo cotonic.
219. Pero ma quitemocan xochit huan nochi tachihchihuati ichan non haciendero.
220. Huan nochi tech in ohti.
221. Nochi quitaliqueh in arco xochit hasta ichan ne taquehual.
222. No tachihchihuatoh.
223. Huan cualcan ta mictiqueh ica cuacuahuehmeh, ica borregos, ica pitzomeh.
224. Quichiuhqueh miac tapalol huan mochihuati baile.
225. Huan quicuiti ne tacat.
226. Quicuiti huan quiehcoltizqueh tech ichan ne haciendero.
227. Campa quitalizqueh, quichihchiuhqueh ce altar quemeh yazquia ce santo.
228. Nochi tachihchiuhqueh.
229. Huan entonces tiotac quicuito ya.
230. Quintitanic nochi taquehualmeh huan tatzotzonanih huan cohete.
231. Yahqueh quicuitoh.
232. Quicuitoh huan quehqueltiqueh15 [quiehualtiqueh].
233. Quicuitoh pero imaco quicualcui ihcon quemeh casi como Dios.
234. Ihcon huallaqueh imaco.
235. Huan nochi ca in cihuat.
236. Nochi ihcon cualcuih.
237. Hualliuqueh ichan non haciendero.
238. Ompa quehqueltiqueh huan quitaliqueh ne tech in altal.
239. Huan in cihuat no ompa quitaliqueh huan in nochi in pipil quintecpanqueh16 ya talpan.
240. Pos entonces ompa quiquecoltiqueh17 [quiehcoltiqueh] huan quitalia, quitalia in cohete calan huan tatzotzona calictic huan m[o]ihtotiah.
241. Yeh quemeh dios yetoc.
242. M[o]ihtotiqueh.
243. Zatepan hasta quintemohuiqueh18 huan yeh no quiihtotiqueh in tacat.
244. Nochi quiihtotiqueh cualtzin, cualtzin quemeh toteeco19 yazquia.
245. Ompa quemah.
246. Quitaliqueh tech ce cualli silla huan ce cualli mesa.
247. Huan peuqueh tacua nochi ca in patron, nochi ca in taquehualmeh.
248. Tacuaqueh cualli ca in nacatzin.
249. Huan ompa quemah.
250. Tanahuati ya in patron ica, “Axcan quemeh namoixteno nen tinonotzqueh [timonotzqueh] in yalhua huan yalhuipta ica nin tacat, axcan ceppa namoixteno xicmatocan ca motaxeloti parejo.
251. Tahco noaxca tal huan tahco yeaxca ca nochi calli yetoc huan tahco yeaxca tapialmeh.
252. Tzinti quemeh yazqui yetoc herencia, pero parejo tahco yeaxca.
253. Axcan quincuic namoixteno titaxeloah huan titacuiloah ya.
254. Huan ahmo acah tacuemeloa20 oc tahco yeaxca ya.”
255. Pos entones, pos ihcon quichiuhqueh.
256. Ompa quemah.
257. Mocauqueh huan peuhqueh, peuhqueh m[o]ihtotiyayah ihcon.
258. Oncac baile ya.
259. Ce tonal ce yohual parejo mihtotitoqueh.
260. Mochiuhtoc ilhuit.
261. Tamic in ilhuit huan ompon mocauh ya nihon tacat.
262. Quitamactiliqueh ya ca nican calli, yeaxca callimeh cequin huan cequin yeaxca patron.
263. Ompa quemah.
264. Nochi tapialmeh quimactiliqueh.
265. Nochi tal quimactiliqueh ca nican ya nihon yeaxca yazqui.
266. Huan ompa mocauh huan zatepan pehuac tequiti ica itapialhuan huan ica ital.
267. Entonces pehuac cachi huei iteeco ya.
268. Ceppa mocahuac quemeh yetoc in patron.
269. Ne no haciendero.
270. Ceppa yeh pehuac huei tequiti.
271. Huan yehha za ihcon.
272. Cualli ya.21