Sisimito II--Xibalba

by Henry W. Anderson

  “The game is similar in many respects to football, and we are all good football players. Each team has one side of the court and a team is either Red or Blue. The officials usually designate which color a team will play under. In our case, however, it has already been decided by the Lords of Xibalba that we will be the Red Team. Kish will be the Blue Team. We do not change sides at any time. There are two platforms above the side walls of the ballcourt. Ballgame Officials sit on the Red. The Lords and their guests sit on the Blue. On the Red Platform, you will see three markers on either end, one group for the Red team, one group for the Blue Team. Those poles are moveable and are removed before each game. When a team scores, one of the poles is placed in a hole on the relevant side of the platform. If the Red Team scores three times and, therefore, wins a game, the poles are taken out in preparation for the second game and a red flag is flown by the officials. If the Red wins two games, two flags are flown indicating that the Reds have won the match.

  “You will be amazed how quickly and forcibly the ol is returned from against the walls. You must always look out for the ol. If you’re hurt, play will not stop. No one will come to your aid. It just means that you’re jeopardizing your team’s chances of winning. The main idea is to keep the ol moving, at all times, between the members of your team and against your wall. You can use your opponent’s wall; that is not a foul. Just don’t score in their ring. Try to be at a sufficient distance away from the ring so that you can hit the wall at an angle which could, hopefully, make the ol ricochet into the hole. One can shoot the ol directly through the hole, but that is very difficult. When you score, play does not stop, unless it is the end of one game. Play only stops if the ol is fouled or a player drops it to the court or when three points are scored by one team. You will hear the drums roll when play is being stopped. You cease play immediately. An official will always shout the color of the team that gets the ol and play is resumed. Reds always start the ballgame and the game starts with bouncing the ol on the knee. You got all of that?” I asked.

  “Waach!” they answered.

  “Good. Now comes the important part. You cannot move the ol with your hands or feet. The only time the ol is touched with the hands or feet is at the beginning of play. I will always start. You can use your hips. The hips move the ol the best, but the maneuver requires a lot of practice which you don’t have time for. You can also use your wrists, your knees, your elbows, and your head. Now, Yochi, Ichik, and I will teach you the body movements necessary to carry out the maneuvers that will make you win the game. We will only show you a couple basic ones or you won’t learn anything. Ask any questions you need to.”

  “What happens if you win? What happens if you lose?” asked Choc. I looked to Yochi and indicated he should answer.

  “In Xibalba, one does not know. It is the will of the Death Gods. On U Wach Ulew, Pitz is often played casually for simple recreation, even by women and children. If it is a formal ballgame with great significance, the winners of the ballgame are treated as heroes and are given a great feast. The losers are usually sacrificed, at least the leader of the team. Again, that is not always the case. Now, let’s get ahead with what we have to do,” finished Yochi. “It is not good to think of winning or losing at this time.”

  We practiced for about two hours. The men had played all kinds of ballgames before, but they had never been called upon to use their hips. At first, they found the maneuvers difficult, but I explained to them that the maneuvers followed the basic movements of the human body. Once I had gotten that concept firmly cemented in their minds, and with the coaching from Yochi and Ichik, they began to learn. I kept reminding them, Think only of winning the game.

  Before leaving Ee’hoch’e’en Ja, we sat in a circle on the floor and Yochi and Ichik talked quietly about general aspects of the game, reminding them that they were Warriors and Warriors feared nothing.

  I had decided to brief them on the escape plans after the practice rather than before as Kish had suggested so, when Yochi and Ichik were finished, I began. “I have some information to give you. I will be quick as there may be ears listening. There are plans to escape Xibalba. Whenever instructions are given, by Kish, Yochi, Ichik, and me, they must be followed without question as a soldier follows orders from his commanding officer. You must play the ballgame hard, as your lives depend on it, not as if your lives depend on it. After the game, I am not sure what will happen. A lot depends on the outcome … on many things. You can never be certain what the Lords will do. Kish states that irrespective of who wins, I must be able to convince the Lords that we should live. We will then be allowed to participate in the parade to the Courtyard of the Council Place of the Lords where the post-game festivities will take place. Listen carefully. You are to mingle in the crowd. Get refreshments, but eat and drink only very little. Appear to be participating so as not to give rise to suspicion, but at the same time you have to remain absolutely sober. There will be iztāc-octli, balche’, chukwa’,407 and a lot of k’uutz. There will even be cakes made with the Morning Glory flower used to make the ol; it is hallucinogenic. I know that a drink or two will not get you drunk, but refrain. You must be sober. Your mind must be absolutely clear.” I looked at them. They were absolutely attentive. “A guide, appearing to be a servant or a slave, will find each of you. You will know it is your guide because of a password. Do not follow or go with anyone unless he gives you the password. Once he gives you the password, you repeat it and do exactly what he says. Take his orders just as if the command was coming from me. Is that clear?” The men nodded. “The password is Ek Baläm has whistled. Commit it to memory.” I decided to tell them nothing else. “I have not told you everything because the less you know, the less you can give away if you are captured. If anything goes wrong, you will be tortured for information. No matter how good you are, when Buluc-Chabtan, God of War, Violence, and Death, and his torturers work you over, you will give up all you know. You won’t be able to stop yourself. Is everything clear?”

  “I must ask,” responded Robertson, “How do you plan to convince the Lords to let us live?”

  I chuckled, having feared that question would arise. I really didn’t know so I resorted to Kish. “There are only so many things I can tell you.” He looked puzzled for a moment then nodded.

  Is everything clear,” I repeated. They all nodded. I told them nothing about losing the ballgame.

  We returned to our quarters, sprinting at a moderate pace. Yochi and Ichik immediately ordered us to drink water and to eat. When we were done, they gave each of us a mug of liquid and we were soon asleep.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  THE

  BALLGAME: PITZ

  K’iin 8 - The Uinal of Yaxk’in’

  Monday, May 7, 1973

  Yochi and Ichik woke me and then the men. I went immediately to the pot and did my things, being urged by the men to finish as they once again stood in a line before me. We had gotten so used to each other in our new way of life that we had become absolutely comfortable with doing those necessities in front of each other. Of course, there were the usual jokes and ribbing, all part of the great camaraderie we had developed. Yochi and Ichik urged us to finish then had us drink ko’yem408 and eat fruit.

  As we were done, seven men and seven women came in, the men each carrying a large basket. They appeared to be servants rather than slaves as the men wore loincloths and the women úúks. Two naked slaves also came in and replaced the shit-pot with a clean larger one. The servants divided themselves into pairs, each pair a man and a woman, each pair selecting one of us after having us stand in single rank. As we stood, the women began rubbing us down, cleaning us with sweet smelling oil. As usual, they wanted me to take off the Green Scapular, but I refused. We all kept out heads very straight, not looking at each other, so if Teul had another tutuchci, or any of the other men, none of us were aware. The women then began to massage our muscles. I felt every muscle relax so much so that, as had happened at Oz W
itz Ha, not only my body felt light but also my mind; we were being readied for the ballgame. I must think only of winning the game.

  “Madafok!” cussed Teul. Had to be Teul to break the tranquility.

  “Tutuchci, Teul?” laughed Choco. “Can’t you control yourself?”

  “Quiet,” I ordered. “Don’t forget who we are. We are soldiers.” There was no response.

  We were rubbed down lightly with a cloth, leaving a thin film of oil on our skins that would shine in the red glow of Xibalba. As the women were finished, two young slave boys, just turning into manhood, came in with the game clothes and equipment in two large cuxtals. They did not acknowledge me and so I did not acknowledge them. The two boys selected some gaming gear and placed them in front of me and Yochi who had come to stand beside me. The other Warriors sorted out the remaining paraphernalia, one assigned Warrior taking out equipment for each member of my team.

  “Warriors!” shouted Yochi. “I will name the Pitz equipment. It is good that you know the names.” He showed us a black loincloth. “This is your loincloth.” One was placed by each of our feet by our attending servant. Next, Yochi held up a heavily padded hip protector, circular and covered with black animal pelt. “This is the tz’um and it will be placed over the loincloth and rest on your hips. You will also wear a yoke.” He showed us a circular belt carrying a glyph. “The yoke is wooden, better for you as it is lighter than the ones made from stone.” Next, he showed us black gloves that ended in a black padded wrist, forearm, and elbow protector. There were also black protectors for our knees. “Those are your kipachq’ab’s,” continued Yochi. We were then given black lej-xajäbs. “You will be dressed by the Warrior that stands by you. Let’s begin.” Everything was expertly secured. Lastly, we were fitted with helmets made from black pelt and lined with pliable but tough bark, possibly moho409. “That is your pix’om” Yochi added. As soon as that was done, the Warriors stood aside and all the servants left.

  “Why are we in black?” grumbled Choc, to no one in particular. “When I see black in this place I think of death, evil, grief, mystery. Nothing good.” He shook his head. “I thought we were the Red Team.

  “Where do you think we are, Choc?” asked Robertson, chuckling. “Trickery and deceit. You aren’t in Jalacte.” Choc looked completely miserable.

  “But it’s true. When I see black, I think of bering grong410 and ded pipl,”411 concurred Rhys. “I’d prefer red as my family and I go way back with the Red.”412 I looked up at Rhys, not believing that he could think about politics when we were in a heap of fok. But then that’s my pipl.

  “Did you know that the color black is made up of three colors of which one is magenta, a light purplish red,” announced Robertson, heartily. So, even though we are the color black, we still have the red.” He looked around at us, smiling boyishly. “The other two colors are cyan, which is a greenish blue, and yellow.” Once again, we all stared at him.

  “You know, Medic?” uttered Choc. “One day, somebody is just going to choke you. And you know what too, Medic? It will all be your fault.”

  Yochi had ignored the interruption, but suddenly continued. “Normally, but nothing is normal in Xibalba, there are between two and five players on each team. We are seven. The ballcourt runs from east to west. Our team is dressed in black and you will stand on the west side of the ballcourt. Black is the color of Zac-Cimi, God of the West. The other team will dress in red. Red is the color of Hobnil, God of the East.” Yochi looked at me and nodded.

  “Well, Men. Instead of blue and red we’ll have black and red, and instead of us being Red we’ll be Black. This is Xibalba. We’ll just make sure that only black flags fly and we do that by scoring into our black goal. Remember! It’s not like football where you score into your opponent’s goal.” I felt guilty at not telling my men the truth, that we would have to lose the game, but I needed them to walk onto that ballcourt with all the enthusiasm they could muster. I had also changed the game plan with respect to when I would tell them we were to lose the ballgame. I knew they would definitely object and I hoped I didn’t have to order them. I decided not to tell them when we arrived at the ballcourt, but wait and see how the ballgame was proceeding. Only if we were winning, then I would issue the instructions. I really didn’t think I would have to as I honestly believed that the Lords of Xibalba wanted us to remain in Xibalba, not sacrificed, and would use whatever trickery and deceit they could to unnerve us and make us lose. They would definitely put their best and most experienced team against us.

  We waited, telling the jokes that Warriors told as we sat on the table and stools, unable to sit comfortably on the floor because of the game equipment. Of course, the issue of Teul’s encounter with the need for mes-bél was once again discussed with much embellishment.

  Yochi called his men together and he, Ichik, and the other seven guards stood facing us. They hit their chest shouting “Waach!” The time had come.

  We got off the stools, the table, and stood, looking as if adrift on some calm but menacing sea. All of a sudden, the gravity of the situation had hit us and we were all lost, momentarily. Yochi and his men must have seen what happened to us for they hit their chest again, shouting, “Waach! Waach! Waach!” We immediately responded.

  “Warriors!” I shouted. “Let’s get out of this fokin place called Xibalba.”

  I bent my head and held out my arms and we quickly locked ourselves in a circle. “We are never stronger than when we are one!” we shouted. “Ixca junes maka ka metzev!”

  “Ichik will lead,” said Yochi. “You will line up just as you did in the Cavern of Trials except that Teul will take Waach’s place in the formation. You will walk with me at the end of the column, Waach. There will be three of my Warriors on either side and one behind Waach and me.”

  “I will walk beside Taat,” asserted Teul. “Choco will walk beside Choc. Rhys beside Medic. If that’s okay, Waach … Yochi.”

  Yochi nodded. “Let’s get into formation and march,” he ordered.

  We walked out of the room into the bright red light of daytime Xibalba, the thin film of oil on our skin developing a red glow, all except for me who still retained the golden hue I had received in K’íilkab Ja. We proceeded up the steps to the Chamber of the Council Place of the Lords, to a completely empty chamber. We followed Ichik through the main door, down the stairs, and into the large courtyard that narrowed into the Chúumuk Sacbeob leading through the city of Xibalba and beyond its gates. There were no Xibalbans about.

  “Okay, Warriors. Let’s march. Rhys. Set the pace,” I commanded. Rhys picked up the pace, giving the count. Yochi and his men, Taat and Choc, were not used to marching the way we did, but they kept up as best they could, not breaking the formation. We marched into the large and well-ordered city of Xibalba, a city of grey and black. There were no trees in Central Xibalba, but there were gardens, curiously shaped rocks arranged in various patterns of which some were spouting smoke and others fire. Yet, other than a faint smell of sulfur, the air was not heavy, smoky, or difficult to breathe. It was clear with a tinge of red.

  Ichik raised his hand and Rhys called a ‘halt’. It wasn’t a very proficient ‘halt’. “The large temple on your left is the Temple Home of Hun-Came. The smaller one on your right is the Temple Home of Vucub-Came,” he informed us. “The five smaller temples going east of Vucub-Came’s temple home each have a residence on either side of them. Those are the homes of the ten Demon Lords. The Guards and Warrior barracks and parade grounds are behind the temples, and beyond are many residencies where the citizens live. There are also more citizen residencies beyond the temples, on both sides of the Chúumuk Sacbeob. As we march, on our left we’ll come to the Xibalba Ballcourt after which there’s the market place. I am not just giving you a tour, Warriors. You must remember where every building is. Remember, for when you are contacted at the celebrations and hear the password, it will be nighttime in Xibalba. If you lose your guide, you will need to k
now where you are in order to proceed to the gates.” He looked at Rhys and Robertson then nodded to Taat. “I will give you time to translate, but be quick. We must be on our way. Taat briefed them and we resumed our march.

  “The ballcourt is not far up ahead,” advised Yochi. He pointed to an open-ended amphitheater further down and on our left. “We turn and take the sacbeob between the two fire columns. We go straight onto the ballcourt and take our places on the Western End of Zac-Cimi.

  We continued marching until we came adjacent to the two fire columns, which were actually large stone cauldrons filled with flaming rocks shooting up dancing flames at short intervals. Between them was a raised sacbeob that led to the ballcourt. I noted an empty Xibalba Marketplace just beyond. Everyone, even the merchants, had left for the game.

  The raised sacbeob divided into three, one going west, one going east, and the other straight ahead to a doorway under the southern section of the amphitheater. We continued on the western sacbeob until we reached the western limit of the open-ended ballcourt. It was nerve-racking, yet exciting, to see the ballcourt directly in front of us. On both northern and southern sides were stone seating tiers rising about one hundred treads above a platform that exceeded the ballcourt’s length at either end. The tiers were filled with citizens and the platforms with game officials and dignitaries. I did not see the Red Team.

  The Xibalba Ballcourt was much more imposing and built differently than the one I had played on in Ox Witz Ha. From each platform descended a vertical wall along its full length, forming two sides or flanks. The walls were about fourteen feet high and carried a stone ring where the horizontal and vertical midpoints intersected. From the base of that wall was a small level platform, about seven feet wide, running its entire length. From there descended a sloping wall, about seven feet also, that reached down to the floor of the ballcourt. I estimated the playing area to be about three hundred feet by seventy-five feet.