056. Un hombre pobre recibió riquezas del Méjicano en la montaña

University of New Mexico | Latin American & Iberian Institute
K’iche’ Maya Oral History Project
No. 056 | 00:11:42 minutes
A Poor Man Received Riches from a Mexican in the Mountain
There once was a poor man who wanted to be a dancer in the traditional Mexican dance that was being
held in his town. However, he could not afford to purchase the expensive costume he would need for the
dance, nor could he contribute to the cost of the fiesta. He was very sad and he went to the hills to cry.
There he met a white man. This man was the lord of the mountain. The poor man told the lord his problem. The lord told him he would provide the costume and all the money and supplies he would need to
participate in the dance. The lord told the man that he would provide all of those things on condition that
the man and his wife would give their child to him when it was born. The man agreed. The lord then took
the man into the mountain where a bunch of beautiful dance costumes were stored. The poor man picked
out a beautiful costume, and took it home with him. He convinced his wife that they would give the baby
to the lord as soon as it was born. However, when the baby was born the couple broke their promise and
did not give the baby to the lord of the mountain. Later when the man was dancing, a whirlwind came
down and picked him up. It took him up into the sky, and then let him drop to earth. He splattered on the
ground and died. The same thing happened to the man’s wife, their child, and their relatives for not keeping
their promise with the lord of the mountain.
Un hombre pobre recibió riquezas del Mejicano en la montaña
Había un hombre pobre que quería ser bailarín en un baile tradicional llamado Méjicano que se llevaría a
cabo en su pueblo. Sin embargo, él no tuvo los recursos necesarios para comprar su traje y cubrir los gastos
de la fiesta. El se puso bien triste, y se fue a la montaña a llorar. Allí se encontró con un hombre ladino.
Ese hombre era el dueño de la montaña. El pobre le contó su problema. El dueño le dijo que él proveería
el traje para el baile y el dinero para pagar todos los gastos de la fiesta si el pobre y su esposa le regalaran al
dueño de la montaña su hijo cuando naciera. El hombre y su mujer su pusieron de acuerdo. El pobre entró
en la montaña con el dueño, y escogió un buen traje para el baile. Pero cuando nació el niño, la pareja no le
regalaron el nené como habían prometido. Luego cuando el hombre estaba bailando, un toronado vino y
lo llevó al cielo. Después el pobre cayó al suelo aplastado y se murió. La esposa, el hijo, y otros miembros
de la familia encontraron la misma suerte por no cumplir con la promesa que le hicieron al dueño de la
montaña.
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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