006. Un muchacho les ganó a los ladrones con su máscara

University of New Mexico | Latin American & Iberian Institute
K’iche’ Maya Oral History Project
No. 006 | 00:06:42 minutes
A Boy Won Against the Thieves with His Mask
A young man went to Totonicapán to buy his clothes for the fiesta of Concepción. He bought a mask that looked like a
devil. Upon his return to his home he had to spend the night in the forest. He met six men. He didn’t know they were
thieves. They had stolen twelve horses. He asked the men if he could sleep near them that night. During the night he put
on his devil’s mask because the bugs were biting him. The thieves decided to rob and kill him, but when they looked at him
sleeping, he had the appearance of a devil. They were frightened, and screaming they ran away. The young man awakened.
He heard them yelling and he thought a wild animal was after them. So he ran after them. Then he heard them say that the
devil was chasing them. He realized they were running from him. He returned to where they were sleeping, and found the
twelve horses. He then realized the six men were thieves. He took the horses to the courthouse in Totonicapán. The owners
went to claim them, and gave the young man a reward.
Un muchacho les ganó a los ladrones con su máscara
Un joven se fue a Totonicapán a comprar ropa para una fiesta. Allá compró una máscara que tenía la cara de un diablo. De
regreso, tuvo que pasar la noche en el bosque. El encontró a seis hombres allá en el bosque. No sabía que eran ladrones.
Los ladrones habían robado doce caballos. El muchacho les pidió que pasara la noche con ellos. El muchacho no podía
dormir por la presencia de muchos sancudos. Por fin se tapó su cara con la máscara para que los sancudos no le pudieran
picar. Cuando el muchacho se durmió, los ladrones iban a matarlo y robar sus cosas. Cuando se le acercaron al muchacho
se asustaron. Vieron que ya se había convertido en diablo. Gritando, ellos se huyeron. El muchacho, al oir los gritos, se
despertó. El pensaba que los hombres se huían de una fiera. El también se asustó y se fu huyendo detrás de los hombres. Al
rato el muchacho oyó cuando hablaban los ladrones. Ellos dijeron que se huían de un diablo. Entonces el muchacho se dio
cuenta de que a él le tenían miedo. El regresó donde iban a pasar la noche con los ladrones, y allí encontró los caballos que
se habían robado. El llevó los caballos a la municipalidad en Totonicapán. Las autoridades anunciaron a los vecinos que se
habían recuperado algunos caballos robados. Los dueños llegaron a reclamar sus caballos, y le dieron una recompensa al
muchacho por haber recuperado sus caballos.
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/kmp
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: [email protected]
Web: http://laii.unm.edu