079. Un viajero vence a los asesinos negros

University of New Mexico | Latin American & Iberian Institute
K’iche’ Maya Oral History Project
No. 079 | 00:17:08 minutes
A Traveler Defeats the Black Murderers (see no. 99)
A long time ago the government let some killers and thieves out of prison. The authorities told them they
were to be set free on the condition that they would go out and kill people and bring back their heads to the
government. The leader of the killers was a black man. There were ten in his group. They made their home
in the forest, but would assault and kill the people on the roads. Finally a man and his son went on a trip.
The man armed his son with a magic dagger that knew how to fight. They tied the dagger to a pole. When
the two encountered the group of thieves, they began to fight with them. One by one, the man and his son
with the help of the dagger killed most of the killers. Finally the leader of the killers was summoned from
his hideout. He came to fight with the man and his son, but he too was killed. Before he died he told the
man where he and his companions had hidden their loot. The two went and found the money and objects
that had been stolen, and they became rich. They also freed the other travelers from the threat of the killers.
This all happened when the government began to install electric lights, and for some reason they needed
human heads for that project.
Un viajero vence a los asesinos negros (véase no. 99)
Hace mucho tiempo el gobierno les dio su libertad a algunos asesinos que estaban encarcelados. Las autoridades les dijeron a los presos que los soltarían bajo de una condición: tenían que ir a matar gente y
traer sus cabezas a las autoridades. El jefe de los asesinos era un hombre negro. Había diez hombres en su
grupo de matones. Ellos hicieron su campamento en un bosque, y desde allí salían a matar a la gente en los
caminos. Por fin un hombre acompañado por su hijo fueron de viaje. El hombre le armó a su hijo con un
puñal mágico que sabía pelear. Cuando el hombre y su hijo encontraron a los ladrones empezaron a pelar
con ellos. Uno por uno el hombre y su hijo, con la ayuda del puñal mágico los mataron a los asesinos. Por
fin fue llamado el jefe de los asesinos. El llegó a pelear con el hombre y su hijo, pero también lo mataron a
él. Pero antes de morir el jefe les dijo al hombre y su hijo donde él y sus compañeros habían escondido su
botín. Los dos se fueron y encontraron el dinero y los otros objetos robados. Con eso ellos llegaron a ser
ricos. Además los rescataron a los otros viajeros del peligro de los asesinos. Todo eso sucedió cuando el
gobierno empezó a instalar luces eléctricas, y por alguna razón necesitaba cabezas humanas en el proyecto.
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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