The Kriol section is written below in standard English:
“Turn off the mother fuck light, Chiac. I want to sleep.”
“Kaloonte’I” reprimanded Yochi, hearing me referred to as ‘Chiac’.
Absolute quiet.
“I miss my corned-beef and noodles.”
Chirp-chirp.
“A Jungle Chow Mein would be good at this time.”
“What about the Tamarind Tang?”
“That too.”
Chirp-chirp. Chirp-chirp.
“Well I long to hear harp and marimba.”
Chirp-chirp. Chirp-chirp. Chirp-chirp.
“Well I long to eat one-two-three … four.” [Note: Wan-too-chree refers to rice and beans, stewed chicken, and potato salad.]
“Four?”
“Fried plantain … if you’re lucky. Not blogo.” [Note: Blogo is another species of plantain. It is not as popular a food as the regular plantain.]
“Oh!”
Chirp-chirp. Chirp-chirp. Chirp-chirp. Chirp-chirp.
I listened to the banter and my gold color faded.
“Thank God! Finally!”
“For what?”
“Black-out.”
“True.”
“Chiac turned off the electricity. I never thought I’d be thankful for a black-out.”
“Times change, boy.
Chirp-chirp.
“For true (Yes.).”
Chirp-chirp. Chirp-chirp.
“Go to sleep!”
Chirp-chirp. Chirp-chirp. Chirp-chirp.
Chuckle.
Chirp-chirp. Chirp-chirp. Chirp-chirp. Chir- chirp.
I fell asleep … almost happy.
[←184]
Tuucha’ is Maya for ‘monkey’. K’oy is the ‘Spider Monkey’. The Yucatan spider monkey is Ateles geoffroyi yucatanensis. Batz is the ‘Howler Monkey’.
[←185]
Qas Nim Woja’ is Maya for ‘very large flood’. Qas nim is Maya for ‘very large’; woja’ is Maya for ‘flood’ or ‘overflow of river’.
[←186]
Rum-p’ok (Ke’kchi) is Spondias radlkoferi Donn. Sm. Other names are hog plum (English), jobo (Spanish), puk (Mopan).
[←187]
A’kl (Ke’kchi Maya), Cecropia peltata L. is also known as ‘trumpet tree’ (English), guaruma, warumo (Spanish), cho-otz (Mopan Maya), po-hór
(Ke’kchi Maya). The dried, powdered, leaves are used by chicleros and bushmasters as a smoking tobacco.
[←188]
Cho-otz is Mopan Maya for the ‘trumpet tree’, Ceropia pelata L. It is also known as a’kl and po-hór in Ke’kchi Maya, guaramo and warumo in Spanish.
[←189]
Cuyche (Mopan), Pachira aquatic Aubl, is ‘provision bark’ (English). It is also known as bobo, Santo Domingo, sapoton (Spanish).
[←190]
Waha leaf: This is a large paddle-shaped leaf of the heliconia plant. The variety which has a white underside can be used to wrap meat and cook it, while the other varities are poisonous.
[←191]
Ix-anal and anal are Mopan names for Psychotria acuminate Benth. This is the female plant. The male plant is Psychotria tenuifolia Sw. It is also known as anal, and ‘dog’s tongue’ or lengua de perro in Spanish.
[←192]
K’ojol is Maya for ‘son of male’.
[←193]
Eztli is a Maya male name meaning ‘blood’. Ajch’o’j is Maya for ‘soldier’. Nabe Ajch’o’j is ‘First Warrior’.
[←194]
Nabe Ajch’o’j is Maya for First Warrior.
[←195]
Xochipepe is a Nahuatl male name meaning ‘flower-gatherer’.
[←196]
Nimalaj Achi is Maya for ‘Great Man’, in this case, ‘leader or chief’.
[←197]
Ah Puch is the God of Death.
[←198]
The Maya developed a unique mathematical system that used dots for units and bars for five units. They discovered and used the zero as well. The diagram below is from Unity Corps Research Library. (For diagram see NOTES # 198.)
[←199]
Lak’in is Maya for ‘east’.
[←200]
Tlilpotonqui is a Nahuatl male name meaning ‘feathered in black’.
[←201]
Ukab K’ojol is Maya for ‘Second Son’.
[←202]
K’awill Yopaat was also known as Ruler 5. The date of his accession is uncertain as is the date of his death, but he ruled around 653 AD.
[←203]
Xaman is Maya for ‘north’.
[←204]
Nohol is Maya for ‘south’.
[←205]
Q’än-jal is Ke’kchi for ‘soft yellow corn on the cob’.
[←206]
Wuch’ is Ke’kchi for ‘opossum’.
[←207]
Sib Juyub means ‘Smoke Hill’.
[←208]
Matlalihuitl is a Nahuatl male name meaning ‘blue-green feather’.
[←209]
Töt is Maya for ‘conch shell’. It is not to be mistaken with t’ot’ which is Maya for ‘vagina’.
[←210]
Achaq is Maya for ‘excrement (human, animal)’ or ‘buttocks’. Here it is used as an exclamation and as the cuss-word ‘shit’.
[←211]
Wo-ja’ is Maya for ‘flood’ or ‘over flow of river’.
[←212]
The Motagua (Ja’-nima’) river valley marks the Motagua Fault, the tectonic boundary between the North American and Caribbean Plates. The
Motagua Fault has been the source of several major earthquakes in Guatemala.
[←213]
Xwáay Ok’ol (La Llorona) is a creature of the Kechlaj Komon. Please see Appendix for a full describtion.
[←214]
Xwáay Kumätz (La Sirena) is a creature of the Kechlaj Komon. Please see Appendix for a full describtion.
[←215]
Q’eq Ja’ Wíinik (Negro de Agua) is a creature of the Kechlaj Komon. Please see Appendix for a full description.
[←216]
A boulder or ledge in the middle of a river or near the side can obstruct the flow of the river, and can also create a “pillow”; when water flows backwards upstream of the obstruction, or a “pour over” (over the boulder); and “hydraulics” or “holes” where the river flows back on itself—perhaps back under the drop—often with fearful results for those caught in its grasp. (Holes, or hydraulics, are so-called because their foamy, aerated water provides less buoyancy and can feel like an actual hole in the river surface.) If the flow passes next to the obstruction, an eddy may form behind the obstruction; although eddies are typically sheltered areas where boaters can stop to rest, scout or leave the main current, they may be swirling and whirlpool-like. As with hydraulics (which pull downward rather than to the side and are essentially eddies turned at a 90-degree angle), the power of eddies increases with the flow rate.
[←217]
In large rivers with high flow rates next to an obstruction, “eddy walls” can occur. An eddy wall is formed when the height of the river is substantially higher than the level of the water in the eddy behind the obstruction. This can make it difficult for a boater, who has stopped in that particular eddy, to reenter the river due to a wall of water that can be several feet high at the point at which the eddy meets the river flow.
[←218]
Raax Ch ‘ayom Puag is Maya for ‘Green Medallion’.
[←219]
Ixbach is the Maya name for the Plain Chachalaca, Ortalis ventula. Other names are Chachalaca Vetula, and Bach.
[←220]
Kuts is the Maya name for the Ocellated Turkey, Agriocharis ocellate. Other names are Guajolote Ocelado and Ucutz Ilchican. Belize is one of the few places in the world where it exists, and it is necessary to do all that is possible to conserve it.
[←221]
O’on is Maya for ‘iguana’.
[←222]
The kitam is the White Collared Peccary, a wild pig, Pecari tajacu.
[←223]
Eztli is referring to Copan (Oxwitik). The Quiriguá Kingdom was, from its very inception, part of a regional plan that put the Motagua Valley and its control of highlands-Caribbean trade within a Copan hegemony.
[←224]
The people of Succotz, Belize, tell that some years ago they searched for the body of a man who had drowned in the Mopan River, and on the third day, they found the body of the dead man stretched out on the floor of a cave under the river. Seated on the man’s stomach was
Negro de Agua (Q’eq Ha’ Wíinik). From Characters and Caricatures in Belizean Folklore.
[←225]
Jul is Maya for ‘cave, hole, perforation, grave’.
[←226]
Sutbal-ja’ is Maya for ‘whirlpool’.
[←227]
Ralxik is Maya for ‘large snake’. It may refer to the Culebron which is the Big Snake or King Snake, a mythological creature of culture and rural tradition in Chile and parts of Argentina.
[←228]
Chakik’at is Maya for ‘hurricane’.
[←229]
U K’ux Kaj, Heart of Sky, also referred to as Huracán (Spanish) and Hunraqan (Maya) ‘one legged’, is the Ke’kchi god of wind, storm, fire, and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating humanity. He also caused the Great Flood after the second generation of humans angered the gods. He supposedly lived in the windy mists above the floodwaters and repeatedly invoked “earth” until land came up from the seas.
[←230]
A ‘sieve’ is a narrow empty space that water flows through between two obstructions, usually rocks. Water is forced through the sieve, resulting in higher velocity flow which forces water up and creates turbulence.
[←231]
In the sixth or seventh century, a natural disaster, a volcanic eruption or severe hurricane, led to a devastating flood of the valley that buried the whole classic surface of Quirigua beneath a deep layer of river silt.
[←232]
The Tzak Huli may refer to some evocation of the great lord, K’ahk’ Uti’ Witz K’awiil, for the K’atun-ending ceremony. A k’atun is a period of 7,200 days.
[←233]
K’ahk’ Uti’ Witz K’awiil was the twelfth king of Copan. He was also known as Smoke Imix, Smoke-Jaguar, Smoke-Jaguar Imix-Monster, and K’ahk’ Nab K’awil. Born 11 November 604(?), his accession was 5 February 628 and his death 15 June 695. His son was Waxaklajuun Ubaah K’awiil(?).
[←234]
Altar L is fairly crudely worked and dates to 653. The text bears the name of King K’awiil Yopaat and also mentions “Smoke Imix”, the 12th king of Copan. The altar is a rhyolite disk 1 metre (39 in) in diameter and 0.25 metres (10 in) thick. The sculptural style of this altar is unique, and shows affinities with the distant site of Caracol (Ox Witz Ha) in Belize.
[←235]
Saq-puaq is Maya for ‘silver’.
[←236]
Yayauhqui is a Nahuatl unisexual name meaning ‘black smoking mirror’.
[←237]
King Tiliw Chan Yopaat of Quiriguá did go to war with Copan in 738 and scored a military victory. When the greatest king of Copan, Uaxaclajuun Ub’aah K’awiil, also known as 18 Rabbit, was defeated, he was captured and then sacrificed in the Great Plaza at Quiriguá. Before this, Quiriguá was a vassal state of Copan, but it maintained its independence afterwards. The ceremonial architecture at Quiriguá is quite modest, but the site’s importance lies in its wealth of sculpture, including the tallest stone monument sculpture ever erected in the New World.
Stela E stands in the northern half of the Great Plaza. This stela was dedicated on 24 January 771 by K’ak’ Tiliw Chan Yopaat. Its total shaft measures 10.6 meters (35 ft) in height, including the buried portion holding it in place, which measures just under 3 meters (10 ft). This enormous monolith is the largest stone ever quarried by the ancient Maya and weighs approximately 65 tons, it may even be the largest free-standing worked monolith in the New World. In 1917 this stela, already tilting away from vertical, finally fell over completely after heavy rains, although it remained unbroken. In 1934 an attempt was made to raise the stela using a winch and steel cables, during which the cables snapped and the monolith fell and was broken into two pieces, which have since been joined back together using concrete. That stela bears portraits of K’ak’ Tiliw Chan Yopaat on its front and back. (Wikipedia)
[←238]
Krus-be is Maya for ‘crossroad’.
[←239]
A chultun (plural: chultunob’ or chultuns) is a bottle-shaped underground storage chamber built by the pre-Columbian Maya in southern Mesoamerica. While many were constructed to collect water, not all may have served that purpose. Some chultuns may have been used for storage of perishable comestibles or for the fermentation of alcoholic beverages. Experimental research conducted in the 1960s by Mayanist Dennis E. Puleston demonstrated that chultuns around Tikal were particularly effective for long term storage of ramon nuts (Brosimum alicastrum). When used to collect water, their entrances were surrounded by plastered aprons which guided rainwater into them during the rainy seasons. Most of these archaeological features likely functioned as cisterns for potable water.
[←240]
T’uyul is the Maya name for the ‘North Star’, ‘Pole Star’ in the constellation Ursa Minor.
[←241]
Qas Nim Ha’ is Maya for ‘very large lake’ and in the Sisimito Series is the name given to Lake Izabal in Guatemala. Qas nim is the Maya adjective for ‘very large’; ha’ is the Maya noun for ‘lake’ or ‘pond’. Lake Izabal is also known as Golfo Dulce. It is the largest lake in Guatemala with a surface area of 227.6 square miles and a maximum depth of 59 feet. The Polochic River is the largest river that drains into the lake. Lake Izabal, which is only about three feet above sea level, drains into the Gulf of Honduras of the Caribbean Sea through the navigable Rio Dulce and the smaller Golfete Dulce.
[←242]
Zactun Nim-ja’ is the Sarstoon River that separates southern Belize from Guatemala.
[←243]
Hach-k’ek’en Ajchaq’e is the name used for the Belize folklore creature, the Waari Massa. Hach-k’ek’en is the Lacandon Maya name for the ‘waari’, Tayassu pecari. Massa means ‘master’. Please see Appendix for a full description.
[←244]
A ‘deadfall’ is a jumble of fallen trees and branches.
[←245]
Shotjraaz, shooz, saks are Kriol for ‘shirt, brief, shoes, socks’.
[←246]
K’oy is Maya for ‘Spider Monkey’. The Yucatan spider monkey is Ateles geoffroyi yucatanensis.
[←247]
T’ix is Maya for ‘tapir’.
[←248]
Masat is Ke’kchi for ‘deer’.
[←249]
Pumpu’ is Mopan for the Blow Fly. It is also known as the common green bottle fly, Phaenicia sericata or Lucilia sericata, and is found in most areas of the world.
[←250]
Nojinaq-ik’ is Ke’kchi for ‘full moon’. Please note that on May 17, 1973, there was indeed a full moon. All phases of the moon in the Sisimito Series are correct.
[←251]
Gwaava is Kriol for ‘swelling’. It also refers to the guava tree and fruit, Psidium guajava.
[←252]
K’o-chuq’ab Kiäqiq’-jab is Ke’kchi for ‘Strong Hurricane’.
[←253]
Tochtli is a Nahuatl male name meaning ‘rabbit’.
[←254]
Chuchqajaw Rech Tinimit is the head priest-shaman of an entire town.
[←255]
Nabeal K’ojol: Nabeal is Maya for ‘firstborn’, K’ojol is Maya for ‘son of male’.
[←256]
Nabeal Mial is Maya for ‘firstborn daughter’. The Maya female name Sacnite means ‘Little Flower’.
[←257]
&n
bsp; Ukab Mial for ‘secondborn daughter’. The Nahuatl female name Xochitl means ‘Flower’.
[←258]
Atl is a Maya male name meaning ‘water’.
[←259]
Chalchiuhtlicue is the Goddess of Running Water.
Sisimito III--Topoxte Page 77