149. Un hombre muy pobre

University of New Mexico | Latin American & Iberian Institute
K’iche’ Maya Oral History Project
No. 149 | 00:00:00
A Very Poor Man
There was a young man who was very poor because he was lazy and did not want to work. His wife scolded him for being
so lazy. He assured her that he would find work. He found an old book that he wanted to use in his new work. He then
went and stole some turkeys. He hid them in an empty oven. Later the women who owned the turkeys came looking for
them. They asked the young man if he had seen their turkeys. He told them he had not, but that he was a very good diviner,
and could divine for them with his magic book where their turkeys were. He began questioning the book and hitting it with
a stick so it would tell him where the turkeys were. He told the women that the book finally spoke to him and said the turkeys could be found in the empty oven. The women went to the oven and there they found their turkeys. They thanked the
diviner and paid him for his services. Later the young man went and stole some horses from some white men. He hid them
in a canyon. When the men were in search of their horses they met the women whose turkeys had been stolen. The women
told the men about the diviner who had found their turkeys for them. Immediately the men went to the diviner and asked
for his help in locating their stolen horses. Again the young man took out his book and began striking it until it finally told
him where the horses were. He told the men to go to a canyon and there they would find their horses. So the men went,
and just as the diviner had said, there they found their horses. They returned to the diviner to express their gratitude and to
pay him handsomely. Later the men loaded up their horses and went to Guatemala City to sell their goods. When they arrived they heard that some of the president’s money had been stolen. They told the president about the famous diviner, and
the president summoned him to help recover the stolen money. When the diviner was on his way to meet the president the
woman who had stolen the money had heard of the diviner’s fame and took a liking to him. When the diviner arrived to
meet the president he was unable to divine where the stolen money was, so the president had him thrown in jail. The woman
who had stolen the money went to the jail and told the diviner where she had hidden the money. Then the diviner asked to
see the president again. He told the president that when he first arrived he was too nervous to divine where the stolen money
was. But now that he was feeling better, he and his book had come to tell the president where his money was hidden. Just
as before, he began striking and questioning the book. Finally the book “told” him that the money was hidden under some
firewood. The president sent the police to look for the money. Sure enough it was under the firewood just as the diviner had
said. The president praised the young man, and announced that he was the best of all the diviners.
Un hombre muy pobre
Había un joven que era muy pobre porque no quiso trabajar. Su esposa lo regañó por ser tan haragán. El le aseguró a ella
que encontrara trabajo. El fue a traer un libro viejo para usar en su trabajo. Luego él se fue a robar dos pavos. Los escondió
en un horno viejo. Después las dueñas de los pavos llegaron con el muchacho a preguntar si él había visto a los pavos. El les
dijo que no, sin embargo les dijo que él era un buen zahorí, y les podía ayudar a encontrar sus pavos. Entonces sacó su libro
y empezó a interrogarlo y a pegarlo con una ramita para que dijera dónde estaban los pavos. Por fin les dijo a las mujeres que
el libro finalmente le había informado que los pavos estaban en un horno viejo. Inmediatamente las mujeres fueron adonde
era el horno, y allí encontraron sus pavos. Luego volvieron con el zahorí a agradecerlo por haberles ayudado a encontrar sus
pavos perdidos. Ellas le pagaron por sus servicios. Después el muchacho se fue a robar los caballos de algunos comerciantes
ladinos. Los escondió en un barranco. Entonces los hombres estaban buscando sus caballos cuando se encontraron con
las dueñas de los pavos. Ellas les dijeron a los señores que fueran con el zahorí que les ayudó a ellas. Inmediatamente ellos
fueron a pedir la ayuda del zahorí a encontrar sus caballos. Otra vez el muchacho sacó su libro viejo y empezó a interrogarlo
y a pegarlo para que dijera dónde estaban los caballos perdidos. Finalmente el libro adivinó donde estaban los caballos. Los
hombres se fueron al barranco, y allí encontraron sus caballos. Luego ellos volvieron con el zahorí a agradecerle y pagarlo
por haberles ayudado. Después los hombres fueron a la Ciudad de Guatemala a vender su mercadería. Al llegar allí oyeron que una cantidad del dinero del presidente fue robada. Ellos fueron con el presidente a informarlo del famoso zahorí.
Inmediatamente el presidente llamó al zahorí que llegara a su despacho. Cuando el zahorí entraba a la ciudad, la mujer que
había robado el dinero del presidente lo vio y le cayó muy bien a ella. Cuando el joven zahorí llegó con el presidente no le
pudo adivinar dónde estaba el dinero robado. El presidente se enojó, y encarceló al zahorí. Cuando oyó la ladrona que el
zahorí que le encantó estaba encarcelado, ella se fue a decirle que había escondido el dinero debajo de un montón de leña.
Inmediatamente el zahorí fue de nuevo con el presidente, y con la ayuda de su libro mágico, pudo informarle al presidente
donde estaba escondido su dinero. Inmediatamente la policía fue a recuperar el dinero robado. Por fin el presidente anunció
que aquel muchacho zahorí era lo mejor de todos los zahoríes.
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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