103. Cómo se sabe que las montañas tienen dueños

University of New Mexico | Latin American & Iberian Institute
K’iche’ Maya Oral History Project
No. 103 | 00:07:48 minutes
How it is Known that the Mountains have Owners
This story tells how the people learned that the mountains have owners that live in them, and that they are the owners of
all the animals in the forests. The story tells of a poor man who went to the mountains to work. He was very discouraged
because he worked very hard, but despite his efforts he could barely feed his wife and children. He was sitting alone on the
mountain crying, when a white man came and asked him what he was crying about. The poor man told him his problems.
The white man then took him into the mountain where he had a beautiful home. The poor man then realized that the white
man was the Owner of the Mountain. Upon entering the mountain, he saw all sorts of animals that the Owner kept in a
corral, but let out to roam at night – dogs, snakes, jaguars, wild pigs, etc. The Owner of the Mountain wanted the poor man
to stay there in the mountain forever, but he refused since he had a wife and children to care for. As the man was leaving
the mountain the Owner gave him a book to take home. Upon arrival at his house the man put the book in a chest. Later,
when he opened the chest he was amazed to see that the book had turned into a pile of money. He then became rich. He
bought land and built a good house for his family. This is how the people learned that the mountains have owners that can
help them if they are in need.
Como se sabe que las montañas tienen dueños
En este cuento Matías explica cómo la gente aprendió que las montañas tienen dueños que viven a adentro de ellas. Esos
Dueños de las Montañas también son dueños de todos los animales selváticos. El cuento habla de un hombre pobre que fue
al campo a trabajar. El estaba bien desanimado porque aunque trabajaba duro, no podía ganar suficiente para mantener a
su familia. El pobre estaba sentado en la montaña llorando cuando un ladino llegó, y le preguntó porque lloraba. Entonces
el pobre le contó sus problemas al ladino. Luego el ladino lo llevó al pobre hombre adentro de una montaña donde tenía
una casa bonita. Entonces el pobre se dio cuenta de que el ladino era el Dueño de la Montaña. Adentro de la montaña
el hombre vio muchas clases de animales – perros, jaguares, jabalís, culebras, etc. El Dueño de la Montaña quería que el
hombre se quedara con él para siempre en la montaña, pero el pobre no quiso porque tenía que proveer por su esposa y sus
hijos. Cuando salía el hombre de adentro de la montaña el Dueño le regaló un libro. Al llegar a su casa el hombre guardó
el libro en un cofre. Después al abrir el cofre se asombró cuando descubrió que el libro se había convertido en un montón de
dinero. El hombre llegó a ser rico. Con el dinero compró terreno y construyó una buena casa para su familia. Así la gente
aprendió que las montañas tienen dueños y ellos los puedan ayudar si tienen necesidades.
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
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