Page:The Annals of the Cakchiquels.djvu/210

204 are fastened; while taꜭh I have not found at all. Guzman gives the expression, titil ꜫana abah, caka uleuh xak, with the explanation, "Colores con que ungian los señores," and Ah titil, etc., "Señores ungidos de estos colores quando eran puestos en señorios." (Compendia de Nombres en Lengua Cakchiquel, MS., 170-4.)

ꜫu ꜫu cot; cot, eagle; ꜫuꜫ, the general term for various species of quetzals, birds with brilliant green plumage. The reference seems to be to one of the magical metamorphoses of Ꜫaꜫavitz.

42. The difficulties experienced in their first endeavors to adopt a sedentary and agricultural life are described.

chicop ꜭuch, the "zopilote," or carrion vulture. Possibly this refers to a gens so designated.

43. In this paragraph the writer expresses himself with great directness.

ꜭa chimin, etc. As my translation differs considerably from Brasseur's, I add his: "En se mariant ils firent l'euvre de la chair vraiment trop grande. Etant entrés pour se baigner, ils y rompirent leur nature et gaspillèrent leur semence. Beaucoup y entrèrent dit-on, pour compléter l'euvre charnelle, on la commit une seconde fois, le jeu s'y établit absolument, et l'on forniqua par devant et par derrière."

44. This section offers an important description of the ancient methods of worship.

ꜭaxtoꜭ. See the Introduction, p. 40.

mez, the house cat, but as this animal was not known to the natives before the Conquest, some other animal must be intended.

holom ocox, "head fungus." I follow Brasseur in translating this the maguey thorns, without being able to justify it.

Chay Abah. See Introduction, p. 43.

46. Whitewashing the interior of hollow trees with lime from the excrements of birds and tigers, sounds so extraordinary that we may suspect a mythical sense in the paragraph.

chi ꜭohom, from ꜭoh, to dance the sacred dances in their religious rites, "the place of the sacred ceremonies."

Cay Noh, Two Noh, Cay Batz, Two Batz, named after the days of their birth. See Introduction, p. 33.

47. The same who came from Tulan. Therefore, from the beginning of the narrative to the present passage, merely the adult life of one man has elapsed.