University of New Mexico | Latin American & Iberian Institute
K’iche’ Maya Oral History Project No. 043 | 00:11:56 minutes
A Pretentious Couple was Punished A married couple was very hard working and puritanical. They worked hard and had no vices. They believed the other people were wasting their time going to church on Sundays when they could be working. When they went to market, they would criticize others for drinking alcohol. One day, when they were old, they went to market. While they were there they saw people drinking, and they seemed very happy. The old couple decided to try some alcohol. But they were not accustomed to drinking, and so they got very drunk. They tried to return to their house, but they kept falling into the wheat fields that were planted alongside the road. As they tried to stand up they would grab hold of the wheat and uproot it. In their efforts to stand up they destroyed two cuerdas (1/2 acre) of wheat. They were arrested and sent to jail. Since they were very old, they couldn’t bear being incarcerated, and they both died in jail. The moral of the story is that we should not judge others because we don’t know what errors we may commit. Una pareja pretensiosa fue castigada Había una pareja que era muy trabajadora, pero a la vez muy puritano. Ellos trabajaban duro y no tenían vicios. Ellos creían que la gente perdía su tiempo cuando iban a la iglesia en vez de ir al campo a trabajar. Cuando la pareja iba al mercado, criticaban a la gente por tomar alcohol. Un día cuando eran ya ancianos, fueron al mercado como era su costumbre. Allá encontraron a algunas personas borrachas. Los viejos vieron que los borrachos estaban bien felices, y por fin ellos decidieron a probar el alcohol. Como no estaban acostumbrados a tomar, se pusieron bien borrachos. Querían regresar a su casa, pero a cada rato se caían entre el trigo que estaba sembrada a la orilla del camino. Ellos agarraban el trigo tratando de levantarse, pero así arrancaban el trigo. Por fin destruyeron dos cuerdas de trigo. Fueron arrestados y encarcelados. Ellos eran muy ancianos y no aguantaron estar en la cárcel, y los dos murieron allá. La moraleja de este cuento es que no debemos juzgar a nuestros prójimos porque no sabemos qué errores podamos cometer.
UNM
LATIN AMERICAN & IBERIAN INSTITUTE
Project Background The stories and rituals included in this collection were collected between 1968 and 1973. All of them are narrated in the K’iche’ Maya language of Guatemala with almost all of the narrators speaking the Nahualá-Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán dialect of that language. Collected and recorded by Dr. James Mondloch Transcribed by Miguel Guarchaj Ch’o’x and Diego Guarchaj Funding and support provided by The UNM Latin American and Iberian Institute and the US Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center grant. Title page image provided courtesy of Dennis G. Jarvis Usage rights Copyright © 2011 The University of New Mexico, Latin American and Iberian Institute. All Rights Reserved. You may print, reproduce and use the information in, and retrieve files containing publications or images from, The University of New Mexico’s WWW documents for non-commercial, personal, or educational purposes only, provided that you (i) do not modify such information, and (ii) include any copyright notice originally included with such information and this notice in all such copies. Alternative formats In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the information contained herein is available in alternative formats upon request. Additional information about this project is available online http://laii.unm.edu/kiche Correspondence should be directed to The University of New Mexico Latin American & Iberian Institute 801 Yale Boulevard NE / MSC02 1690 1 University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131-0001 Phone: (505) 277-2961 Fax: (505) 277-5989 E-mail:
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