VOCABULARY.

A prophecy of the priest Pech, which is perhaps the one here referred to, appears in several of the Books of Chilan Balam, and also Spanish translations of it in the Histories of Lizana and Cogolludo, and a French version in Brasseur’s report of theMission Scientifique au Mexique, etc.

The text is quite corrupt, but I insert it as I have emended it from a comparison of three copies.

U Than Ahau Pech Ahkin.

Tu kinil uil u natabal kine,Yume ti yokcab te ahtepal.Uale canɔit u katunil,Uchi uale hahal pul.Tu kin kue yoklal u kaba,In kubene yume.Ti a-uich-ex tu bel a uliah, Ahitza,U yum cab ca ulom.Than tu chun ahau Pech ahkin,Tu kinil uil can ahau katun,Uale tan hiɔil u katunil.

The Word of the lord Pech, the Priest.

At that time it will be well to know the tidings,Of the Lord, the ruler of the world.After four katuns,Then will occur the bringing of the truth.At that time one who is a god by his name,I deliver to you as a lord.Be your eyes on the road for your guest, Men of Itza,When the lord of the earth shall come.The word of the first lord, Pech, the priest,At the time of the fourth katun,At the end of the katun.

The only line in which I have taken much liberty with the text is the fifth, where, after the wordkue, one MS. reads:yok taa ba akauba, and another,yok lac kauba, neither of which is intelligible.

If the date assigned in these lines be a correct one, they were delivered by the prophet in 1469. It is not impossible. The words are obscure and the prediction so indistinct that it might quite well have been made by an official augur at that time.

MayaEnglish31. Nachi Cocom, head of the ancient and powerful Cocom family, ruled at Zotuta when Montejo made his settlement at Merida, and was a determined enemy of the Spaniards. He was defeated in 1542, in a sanguinary battle, and then accepted terms of peace. I have in my possession the copy of a survey which he made of the lands of the town of Zotuta in 1545, when he was evidently on good terms with the Conquerors.

MayaEnglish32. The names Chan, Catzim and Chul belong to wellknown ancient Yucatecan families, and many who bear them are still found among the natives (Berendt,Nombres Proprios en Lengua Maya,MS.)

The words Zacuholpatal Zacmutixtun are rendered by Avila as proper names, and I have followed his example. I have not found a satisfactory explanation of them.

MayaEnglish33. The dayOne Imixwas a day of peculiar sanctity in ancient Yucatan. Landa makes the rather unintelligible assertion that the count of their days, or their calendar, invariably commenced on that day (Relacion, p. 236).

Imix is the 18th day of the month, and it ispossiblythat it and the two following days were used for intercalary days.

More to the purpose of explaining the prophecy in the text is the statement of Francisco Hernandez, who, as reported by Bishop Las Casas, relates that in the mythology of the Mayas, the god or gods Bacab, those who support the four corners of the heaven and who are identified with the “year bearers” or Dominical days of the calendar, died on the day One Imix, and after three days came to life again. (Las Casas,Historia Apologetica de las Indias Occidentales, cap. CXXIII.) This has reference apparently to the intercalary days Imix, Ik, and Akbal, which were counted so as to allow the next Kin Katun period to begin onIKan. I have explained this theory fully in a paper, “Notes on the Codex Troano and Maya Chronology,” in theAmerican Naturalist, Sept. 1881. Naturally this was supposed by the Spanish missionaries to be a reference to Christian traditions.

Ca tip u chemob, when the ships were rocking;tipilrepresents the slipping and sliding movement of a partially submerged or hidden body; thus the beating of the heart and the pulse istipilac.Ca yumtah banderas ob, when the bannerswaved;yumtahis to swing to and fro as a hamack or a flag.Piixtahob, frompixitah, to unreel or reel off yarn, etc., from a spindle. I suppose it refers to letting go the anchor.

The derivation of the name Yucatan here given is interesting, for several reasons. In the first place, it makes it evident that Pech did not believe it was an abbreviation of Yucalpeten (see ante, page255). Again, although it has very often been stated that the name arose from a misunderstanding of some native words by the Spaniards, there has been no uniformity of opinion as to what these words were. Several of the phrases suggested have been such as have no meaning in the Maya tongue; (see full discussions of the question in Eligio Ancona,Historia de Yucatan, Vol. I, pp. 219, 220, and Crescencio Carrillo,Historia Antigua de Yucatan, cap. V.) As given by Pech it is perfectly intelligible and good Maya. Without syncope it would be “Matan ca ubah a than” shortened to “Ma c’ubahthan,“We do not understand your speech.” Pech is in error, however, in supposing that the name arose on the arrival of Montejo; it was in use immediately after the expedition of Cordova (1517), and if Bernal Diaz was correct in his recollection, was applied to the land by the Indians Cordova brought back to Cuba with him from the Bay of Campeachy. (See Bernal Diaz,Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de Nueva España, cap. VII.)

MayaEnglish34. This is no doubt the same occurrence which is described at considerable length by Cogolludo,Hist. de Yucatan, Lib. III, cap. VI. But the details differ very much and the names of the messengers and the chief to whom they were sent are not identical. I believe this discrepancy can be explained, but it would extend this note too far to go into the subject here. The wordyacatunzabin, which Avila renders “endicha cueva,” seems a compound ofy,actun,zabin. The last is the name of the weasel;actunmeans both a cave and a stone house. By some it is supposed to be a compound ofac, tortoise, andtun, stone, a cave resembling a hollow tortoise shell.

MayaEnglish35.Yoklal maix u lukul yol nacomob, “porque no se cansaban los capitanes” (Avila).

MayaEnglish36. Pech adds a list of the names of Conquistadores which I have not inserted, as it is less complete than that found in Cogolludo.

MayaEnglish39.Ma u manbal cuntahbalob u cħinal; Avila translates this “that they shall not destroy”; but the wordcuntahbal, fromcun,cumtah, means that which is to be enchanted, andcħinalis the throwing of stones. I suppose, therefore, it refers to some act of shamanism the design of which was to injure a neighbor.

190-1See hisInforme acerca de las Ruinas de Mayapan y de Uxmal191-1“Chijcxulub: poner los cuernos; hacer cabron á uno:u chiicah bin u xulub u lak; diz que pusó los cuernos á su compañero ô proximo; que se aprobechó de su muger ô manceba,”Diccionario de Motul, MS.194-1Tekom.195-1nacon Cupul.196-1matanon.196-2Tipikal.198-1hauah.201-1cochlahal.201-2yokolcab.202-1tzolic.202-2xanhi.202-3utznac.203-1tubalob.204-1yotochob nacon.204-2tiobi.206-1aheɔil.206-2tiihil.206-3chunbez.207-1chunbez.207-2chabil.208-1ociha.208-2ezabil.208-3ɔiboltahob.209-1mulbaobe.210-1ocol cah.210-2panob.211-1a—ciil—ex.211-2yilahob.211-3tzimin.211-4ahactunob.211-5actunzabin.212-1ɔa uinalalob.212-2chiic.213-1tzoloc.214-1beltahob.

190-1See hisInforme acerca de las Ruinas de Mayapan y de Uxmal

191-1“Chijcxulub: poner los cuernos; hacer cabron á uno:u chiicah bin u xulub u lak; diz que pusó los cuernos á su compañero ô proximo; que se aprobechó de su muger ô manceba,”Diccionario de Motul, MS.

194-1Tekom.

195-1nacon Cupul.

196-1matanon.

196-2Tipikal.

198-1hauah.

201-1cochlahal.

201-2yokolcab.

202-1tzolic.

202-2xanhi.

202-3utznac.

203-1tubalob.

204-1yotochob nacon.

204-2tiobi.

206-1aheɔil.

206-2tiihil.

206-3chunbez.

207-1chunbez.

207-2chabil.

208-1ociha.

208-2ezabil.

208-3ɔiboltahob.

209-1mulbaobe.

210-1ocol cah.

210-2panob.

211-1a—ciil—ex.

211-2yilahob.

211-3tzimin.

211-4ahactunob.

211-5actunzabin.

212-1ɔa uinalalob.

212-2chiic.

213-1tzoloc.

214-1beltahob.

Ch.

Cħ

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