Page:A Study of the Manuscript Troano.djvu/143

Rh and that the one at the left represents Itzamna, whom I believe to be a distinct personage from Kukulcan. I have been unable to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion in regard to the opposite or left-hand figures on the other plates, except that on Plate XXIII, which I think represents the god of death.

We will now turn to the upper division of Plate XXIII and examine some of the figures contained in it. Near the left margin is the figure of a headless trunk marked with dotted lines and little circles; on it is the symbol of Caban and the figure of a machete. It is probable that this represents the body of the "dead man" which Landa says was carried during the festival of the Cauac years, as the dotted lines and circlets thereon correspond with that borne by the Chac in the upper division of Plate 28 of the Codex. As the festival of the Cauac years was observed during the closing days of the Ix years—those with which, according to the theory I have advanced, the lustres, ahaues, and cycles closed—I think it probable this figure is intended to signify the close of one of these periods, possibly the first, as this appears to be the idea signified in the Codex. I am fully aware of the difficulty of reconciling this explanation with the fact that this figure appears on the plate in the Codex which apparently refers to the Muluc years and is marked by the terminal days of the Kan years. But this fact will not warrant the rejection of my interpretation, as the error, if there is one, relates to the order in which I have arranged the years. I would also suggest that it is possible the calendars of the two works are not precisely alike—one may commence the series with a different year from that with which the other begins; in fact, the order of the plates in the two works seems to indicate this. It can scarcely be doubted that 25 of the Codex corresponds with XX of the Manuscript, yet that in the Codex is first while that of the Manuscript is the last of the four (the order here being, as I have shown, the reverse of the paging). The year in which the figure appears, according to the Manuscript, corresponds with Landa's statement, while that of the Codex does not. If we decide that the series of years commenced with Kan and ended with Cauac, the interpretation would still agree with the Manuscript and Landa, as then we would have to suppose that Plate XXIII refers chiefly to the close of the Cauac and commencement of the Kan years.