Sisimito I--Ox Witz Ha

by Henry W. Anderson

And to the presence in the room he said,

  ‘What writest thou?’–The vision raised its head,

  And with a look made of all sweet accord,

  Answer’d, ‘The names of those who loved the Lord.’

  ‘And is mine one?’ said Abou. ‘Nay, not so,’

  Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,

  But cheerly still; and said, ‘I pray thee, then,

  Write me as one that loves his fellow men.’

  The angel wrote, and vanish’d. The next night,

  It came again with a great wakening light,

  And show’d the names whom love of God had blest,

  And lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest.”

  I was finished and I bowed again, to the claps of Molly’s hands, the Nim-q’ij Guards, and the Halach Uinic, K’an II.

  “I don’t know the meaning of what you said,” K’an II acknowledged, as he stood by the door. “It is in a strange language.” He shrugged his shoulders then smiled. “But you sound a lot better than my priests.” He laughed quietly then stared at us, looking very troubled. He saw the medallion in Molly’s hand, walked in and bending over looked at it. He did not touch it. “I see that you have carved the image of your Ix Na Li Kawa on our ya’ax-chich.311 Perhaps, it is an omen.”

  Molly took the medallion and placed it over her head and around her neck.

  “It is good work,” commended the Halach Uinic. “Perhaps, when this is over, I will employ you as a Nim-q’ij Craftsman.” He smiled.

  Molly bowed her head and addressed the Halach Uinic. “I have a story to tell you, Halach Uinic.” I translated to Ke’kchi and he nodded so I continued translating as Molly spoke.

  “There is a prophecy that in one of the great western cities, one day in winter, one of the lowest subjects of the kingdom will hear beautiful music coming from a mountain called the Tepeyac Mountain.312 This man will be named Juan Diego. I know that is not a familiar name. He will go up the mountain and there he will see Mother Of God, Ix Na Li Kawa. On that first visit she will tell him, ‘I wish that a temple be built here quickly, so I may therein exhibit and give all my love, help, and protection, because I am your Merciful Mother, to you and to all the inhabitants of this land and all the rest who love me, invoke and confide in me. I will listen there to their lamentations, and remedy all their miseries, afflictions, and sorrows’. But Juan Diego is poor and cannot build a temple by himself. So, he will go to the highest of the priests and tell them the story. They will not believe him because they cannot accept that Ix Na Li Kawa would come to a poor man and not to an exalted priest.

  “The next day and the next, Juan Diego hears the music and goes up the mountain. The same thing happens.

  “On the fourth day, Juan Diego again hears the music and climbs the mountain. He is very preoccupied because his uncle is very sick and the medicine men have told him that his uncle will die. It is winter and all the vegetation is dead, but when he gets there, the mountain top is covered with beautiful flowers of a special type called Rosas de Castillas. Ix Na Li Kawa tells Juan Diego, ‘Hear me and understand well, my son the least, that nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. My son the least, this diversity of roses is the proof and the sign which you will take to the bishop. You will tell him in my name that he will see in them my wish and that he will have to comply to it’. Juan Diego gathers many of the flowers and place them in his tilma, which is a cloak sown from a coarse cloth made from the maguey plant313 and worn by the poor. He shows the flowers to the bishop and his priests and as he opens his tilma, there on the inside appears the most beautiful image of Ix Na Li Kawa, looking just as how Juan Diego had said she looked. The bishop’s attendants try to grasp the roses, but they cannot. At the time this is happening, Juan Diego’s uncle will be miraculously cured. His uncle states that he too had been visited by Ix Na Li Kawa and that she told him that she was to be called the Virgin of Guadalupe. The temple will take two years to build and within ten years, nine million people will be converted to the Faith of Ix Na Li Kawa. It is prophesied that the tilma will never deteriorate. It will always remain intact and carry the image of Ix Na Li Kawa. It is also prophesied that the eyes of Ix Na Li Kawa, on the tilma, will always show the images of the people who were with Juan Diego when he unveiled his tilma.”

  “Are you saying, Xch’úup Xma’ K’aaba’,314 that in the future, all our gods will be defeated by this Ix Na Li Kawa?” asked the Halach Uinic. Molly did not answer, but she lowered her head and held on to the medallion. The Halach Uinic looked troubled and thoughtful as he walked back to the door. He did not turn, but remarked, “May our gods refuse to send you to Xibalba this k’iin and may your Ix Na Li Kawa help you. That would be an excellent arrangement. Not even my best diplomats could accomplish that.” He left and the guards once more blocked out the sunshine.

  Any frivolity and joy from the previous moments were taken away by the Halach Uinic’s last words. Once again, the dangers we were about to face filled our hearts.

  “Why does he call me Xch’úup Xma’ K’aaba’?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered, absentmindedly. “Perhaps, the Halach Uinic does not ask one’s name. It is offered to him.”

  “Xch’úup Xma’ K’aaba’. It’s strange, but I like it,” grinned Molly. We drank some water, laid down on the mats and waited.

  “When we were by the Hidden Valley Falls, when we were fucking, you called me Tristan.”

  Molly grew red in the face then, suddenly, she rolled over laughing.

  “What’s so fokin funny? I asked, perplexed at her reaction, not wanting to laugh at her peculiar behavior, at least, until I knew what was so amusing

  She sat up, looking at me, a smirk on her face. “Jealous?”

  “No!” I felt my face hot.

  She laughed again. “As a young girl growing up, I read the story of Tristan and Iseult. Have you read it?”

  “No! Why should I? I read only of my people.”

  She shook her head and I was going to listen to another fokin story.

  “Well, Tristan was a dashing young Celtic prince who went to another land to bring back Queen Iseult to marry the king. Tristan and Iseult accidentally drank a love potion and fell in love with each other. It is a sad story as Tristan is eventually killed and Iseult later disappears and is never heard of again.” She paused.

  “Well?”

  “I used to always tell myself that my first lover would be Prince Tristan. I don’t know how or why I reflected on Prince Tristan that night, but I did and, somehow, I said his name.”

  “Are you sorry it wasn’t him?” I asked, standing up.

  “Stephen! Stephen!” She looked at me with her large eyes. “What happened at the Hidden Valley Falls was beautiful. I wouldn’t have wanted it happen with anyone else. I still don’t know what it means, though. Please, let’s just cherish it, at this time.” She paused. “And, can’t you use another word other than … fucking?”

  I was baffled. “We fucked. That’s the word I know. Does it really matter what word we use? We fucked.” She looked down and shook her head slowly. I kicked the wall again … and waited for what was to come. Boy, was I foked up.

  There was a change of the guards and our regular guards returned. They looked in on us and smiled before taking their positions at the door. Shortly after, two female servants accompanied by four Nim-q’ij Guards came to the door. The guard who had always looked after Molly came in. “It is time for you to come, Xch’úup Xma’ K’aaba’.” I saw Molly hands tremble as she held on to the medallion. She leaned over me and kissed me on the lips. I started to get up, but she shook her head. She stood up and walked out the door. Her guard, the two servants and two of the Nim-q’ij Guards led her away from me.

  My guard came in. “Ke’kchi! It is time for you to come.” I got up. I couldn’t believe I was shaking. “Follow me, “he instructed and we left, the two othe
r Nim-q’ij Guards accompanying us.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Xicohtencatl.315 Your woman’s guard is Ehecatl.316

  We left the patio and walked westward in front of a medium-height temple, medium using the Halach Uinic’s temple as a reference. We turned south, passing beside another medium-height temple with several set of stairs and what looked like accommodations for living. I was surprised that I saw mainly Nim-q’ij Guards, those on duty, and not many civilians around.

  “Where is everybody?” I asked Xicohtencatl.

  “Most of our Warriors are in our defences around our city. Many of the able men, both from the outskirts and our city, are in secondary defensive lines as militia. They have been given arms and are to fight should a weakness develop in the primary lines. Most of the remaining women and children are in the central acropolis where there are festivities for Kukulcán. Others are entombing or burying their dead after the visit of Mahanamatz and his Kechelaj Komon last night. The Nobles are either in their residencies or at the festivities. We are going to the halaw near the Caana.”317

  Caana … Sky Place. “What’s the Caana?”

  “That’s this complex we are in. It includes the Nim-q’ij Temple of the Halach Uinic”. He was quiet for a while. “You will be taught how to play Pitz and I hope you are a quick learner.” The other guards laughed. Again, it was not a hostile laugh. We were passing the Caana to my left and directly in front of me were two structures surrounded by Nim-q’ij Guards.

  Xicohtencatl pointed to the one on my right. “That is the halaw.” “For your safety, the Halach Uinic has seen fit to have it cleared of the public. You and your teammates will practice alone.”

  To the left of the ballcourt, the halaw, stood a low building I assumed was used to seat the Nobles. The court itself was rectangular in shape, running north to south for about one hundred feet, the width about twenty-five feet, the ends open. The eastern and western margins were made up of sloping walls, angled about forty-five degrees. Each rose to a platform where there was a thatched roof. About midway on the sloping walls was a stone ring, the goal, set vertically about fifteen feet off the ballcourt. One goal was red, on the east, and the other blue, on the west. In the middle of the court were two young men dressed in scanty jaguar skin loincloths.

  My three Nim-q’ij Guards took me on to the court and then one walked to either end of the court while Xicohtencatl dropped off to one side. The entire court was surrounded by Nim-q’ij Guards, displaying their handsome ocelot uniforms … protecting me. I had played football all my life. I was always on a team in the village, at school, anywhere football was played. In the army, I was on the British Honduras Volunteer Guard Team as the fullback. So, I knew football. It was just that I had never played it on a stone court and the goal was never so small, nor was it a circular goal with a hole in it. I was also quite a trickster with the ball. I could bounce it repeatedly off my knees, drop it down to my ankles, toss it up with my head, have it fall back to my shoulders and then to my knees or ankles again. Whenever I showed off my expertise, the muchachitas would open up their eyes … their mouths … their everything. I was pretty good at all sports, including a little basketball. I did play that game on a hard court, but the hoop was the other way around, horizontal and at each end of the court, not vertical and in the middle. I approached the two men on the court. One of them handed me a ball. It was somewhat bigger than a cricket ball and, although made from rubber, was just as hard.

  “Ke’kchi,” said the one that had handed me the ball. “I am Bo and this is Choj.”

  “Bo and Choj,” I repeated.

  “Yes. Bo and Choj are our nicknames, but we prefer them. We were told that you do not know to play Pitz, but I must ask, have you played Pitz before?” asked Bo.

  “No.” There was a murmur from the surrounding guards.

  “Don’t you play Pitz in Pusilhá?”

  I was caught off-guard so I improvised. “I was trained in politics. I had no time for games.”

  Bo laughed out loudly. “That doesn’t follow. You didn’t even watch the games?”

  “No.”

  “So, you know absolutely nothing about the game?”

  I nodded.

  Bo shook his head and the guards looked on with new interest. “I don’t know how you can be a Noble and know nothing of the ballgame.” Bo’s disbelief was very evident. He stopped and looked at my soiled pants. “You are a Noble, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, Bo!” was my immediate response.

  “Good. Only Nobles can play ceremonial games, unless special permission is given.” He pointed to my pants, having a mischievous expression. And what are those?”

  “These are my pants.”

  “Pants? Don’t know them. Too much weave. Are you sure it’s not a woman’s dress?” I smiled, not knowing how to answer. He laughed then became thoughtful. “You don’t know to play Pitz. You use strange words. You wear pants … and yet, everyone wants you dead.” He shook his head. “I will not think on the things you just told me or I may feel inclined to kill you myself. I will simply try to explain the Ti-pitziil,318 quickly.”

  “What’s the Ti-pitziil?”

  “Maybe I should kill you now, then you would have to be replaced. Then we probably won’t lose and be killed on the altar.” He sighed. “The Ti-pitziil is the action of play.” He pointed to the ball. “That is the Ol.319 I’ll try not to confuse you more than you obviously are; feel free to interrupt me. There are two teams, each having three players. The game is violent as it is a symbol of the battle between darkness and light, a reenactment of the death and rebirth of Kinich Ahau, the sun god. Normally we play this to increase our harvest. This k’iin, however, we play for Kukulcán. It is different. The losers are likely to be sacrificed in his honor by the winners.”

  The other young man spoke. “Bo and I were specially chosen for this game by the Halach Uinic. We are from the Tijoxel Ja and are among his closest followers. You understand what I’m saying?” I nodded. “He has not told us anything about you except that you and your woman are outlanders, that you most probably lied to him about Pusilhá, that you like to say the strange word ‘fok’, and that we must win the ballgame,” remarked Choj, quietly. “The priests will want us to lose.” My face was burning. They knew I had lied.

  “As there is very little time for you to learn,” interjected Bo. “Choj and I will try to carry the game. We are quite good at it, but there will be times when we must have your help. We will not have time to practice with uniforms …”

  “Are there special clothes … equipment, we will use?” I interrupted.

  “Yes! The uniforms help greatly and at least you won’t be wearing that ‘pants’. I looked down at my pants wondering why it was suddenly so offensive. “But practice to speak quietly, Ke’kchi. The Nim-q’ij Guards are loyal to the Halach Uinic, but, in these times, one never knows. Even the abix that has been harvested and burned may still have ears that live and listen.” Bo shook his head. “You really don’t know one fok about this game, do you?” He was grinning. “Did I use the word correctly?”

  I said nothing. I was again dumbstruck. Bo knew how to say fok and had used it appropriately. The word must be spreading like a wildfire in the Mountain Pine Ridge320 on a windy day.

  Bo was still grinning. “Yes, I’m using your word, Ke’kchi. Actually, all the scholars in the Tijoxel Ja are using the new word … your word. It’s fok this and fok that. Fok everything. We don’t know what it means, but everybody’s foking. Anyway, the dressing ceremony will take place at the baths near the Nim-q’ij Temple where you and your woman are held. The purpose of the uniform will be plain to see. If there’s anything else you need to know, we’ll explain then.

  “The intent of the game is to propel the ol through your halaw ring, the goal. You get one point when you score. There is a possible five points in each game. Whichever team scores three points first, wins the game. Two or three games are played in a match.
Whichever team wins two games first, wins the match. That is the end of play. If there is to be a sacrifice, the victors will march the losers to that altar over there … You can see it, can’t you?” He stopped for a moment and pulled me over to the southern end of the court. The guards began laughing at the demonstration, but I knew that Bo was only trying to impress upon me the serious situation we were in. He pointed to a group of buildings to the southeast of where I stood. There was a residential complex on both side of a medium height temple. “You notice that on top of that temple there is no thatch roof. That’s because an altar sits there. It is upon that altar that the priests will lay you down and take out your heart. You will still be alive when they show it to you. Your heart will still be beating when they show it to you. You will be able to hear the shouts from the people below as they too see your heart. So, we don’t want to lose. Choj and I are not quite ready yet to see our heart beating outside our body. Come. Let’s go back to the center of the halaw.”

  As I walked behind my two teammates and coaches, I had to fight delirium from taking over my mind. Choj saw the look on my face. “You must Think only of winning the game. You have to concentrate only on the ol and your goal. If you think on anything else, you will lose the game. And then, shortly after, you will lose your heart and we will lose ours. The Halach Uinic would not be pleased.”

  “Each team has one side of the halaw,” explained Bo. “You are either red or blue. The officials designate which color you will play under. We do not change sides at any time. If you look at the platforms above the walls, you will see three markers.” I looked and I could see three tall thin decorated columns about seven feet in height on each side. “Those markers are moveable and are removed before each game. When a team scores, one of the markers is placed in its appropriate hole. If the red team wins a game, the markers are removed and a red flag is flown by the officials on the red side. 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 and no one will come to your aid. It just means that you are 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 goal. Try to be at a sufficient distance away from the goal so that you can hit the wall at an angle which will make the ol ricochet into the hole. One can shoot the ol directly through the hole, but it is very difficult. When you score, the game does not stop, unless it is the end of one game. The game only stops if the ol is fouled, goes out of bounds, is dropped, rolls on the Halaw, or when three points are scored by one team. You will hear the drums roll when the game is being stopped. You must cease play immediately. Then, the ol goes to the other team. An official will always shout the color of the team that gets the ball. Reds always start the ballgame and the game starts with bouncing the ol on the knee. You got all of that?” asked Bo.