years before this. Its author
says that his grandfather, the king Hun Yg, and his father, Balam, both
died in 1521, and his own marriage took place in 1522. As it was the
custom of his nation to marry young, he was probably, at the time, not
over 15 years of age.[57-2]
That Francisco Ernantez was not the author of the first part of the
document seems evident. Under the year 1560 occurs the following
entry:--
"Twenty days before the Feast of the Nativity my mother died; soon
after, my late father was carried off (xchaptah) while they were burying
my mother; my father took medicine but once before we buried him. The
pest continued to rage for seven days after Easter; my mother, my
father, my brother and my sister died this year."
It could not, of course, be the son of Balam, who died in 1521, who
wrote this.
Under 1563 the writer mentions:--
"At this time my second son Raphael was born, at the close of the fourth
year of the fourth cycle after the revolt."
The last entry which contains the characteristic words _ixnu[c]ahol_,
"you my children," occurs in the year 1559, and is the last given in my
translation. My belief is that the document I give was written by the
father of Francisco Ernantez Xahila. The latter continued it from 1560
to 1583, when it was taken up by Francisco Diaz, and later by other
members of the Xahila family.
The Abbe Brasseur was of the opinion that these _Annals_ carry the
record of the nation back to the beginning of the eleventh century, at
least. A close examination of the account shows that this is not the
case. Gagavitz, the earliest ruler of the nation, can easily be traced
as the ancestor in the eighth remove, of the author. The genealogy is as
follows:--
1. Gagavitz, "he who came from Tulan."
2. His son, Cay Noh, who succeeded him.
3. Citan Qatu, son of Cay Noh, who also ruled.
4. His son, Citan Tihax Cablah, who does not seem to have enjoyed the
leadership. It was regained by
5. His son, Vukubatz, by the aid of the Quiche king, Quikab.[TN-8]
6. Oxlahuh Tzii, eldest son of Vukubatz, died A. D., 1509.
7. Succeeded by his eldest son, Hun Yg, who died, together with his
eldest son Balam, the father of the author, in the year 1521.
Allowing to these seven who outlived their parents an average survival
of twenty years, we are carried back to about the year 1380, as that on
which the migration, headed by Gagavitz, began its wanderings, little
more, therefore, tha
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