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Rabinal Achi: A Mayan Drama of War and Sacrifice
Here is one of the most important surviving works of pre-Columbian civilization, Rabinal Achi , a Mayan drama set a century before the arrival of the Spanish, produced by the translator of the best selling Popol Vuh .
The first direct translation into English from Quiché Maya, based on the original text, Rabinal Achi is the story of city-states, war, and nobility, of diplomacy, mysticism, and psychic journeys. Dennis Tedlock's translation is clear and vivid; more than that, it is rooted in an understanding of how the play is actually performed. Despite being banned for centuries by Spanish authorities, it survived in actual practice, and is still performed in the town of Rabinal today. Tedlock provides an introduction and commentary that explain the historical events compressed into the play, the Spanish influence on the Mayan dramatic tradition, and the cultural and religious world preserved in this remarkable play.
The first direct translation into English from Quiché Maya, based on the original text, Rabinal Achi is the story of city-states, war, and nobility, of diplomacy, mysticism, and psychic journeys. Dennis Tedlock's translation is clear and vivid; more than that, it is rooted in an understanding of how the play is actually performed. Despite being banned for centuries by Spanish authorities, it survived in actual practice, and is still performed in the town of Rabinal today. Tedlock provides an introduction and commentary that explain the historical events compressed into the play, the Spanish influence on the Mayan dramatic tradition, and the cultural and religious world preserved in this remarkable play.
- GenresPlaysRead For School
382 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1856
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* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author
Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.
See also: Anonymous
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 4, 2022
just bc it's homework due tomorrow, lol
i might read it again
i might read it again
August 15, 2019
DEATH IS AN HONORABLE WAY OUT
If you want to approach and understand Maya civilization you have to get into what still exists of its literature or literary works, apart from the monuments with all sorts of historical inscriptions, or the various decorations on walls inside buildings, or on everyday life objects. Unluckily Spanish Bishop Diego de Landa in July 1562 decided to burn all the codices. Only four survived out of what we may consider several thousand. The rest of the literature was mainly oral, a lot for performances, mostly with a religious dimension, hence ritualistic in the subject and in treatment. From what we can know – without any archaeological proof – a great number of such plays existed in all the autonomous or associated cities. Another capital text is the mythic mythological Popol Vuh. We have a version of it that was reconstituted from memory mostly between 1554 and 1558, hence after the taking over of Maya territory by the Spaniards, after a smallpox epidemic had first devastated the population, (It might have been the intention of the Spaniards who must have observed such epidemics in other areas since they had been in America for some time then, but they may even have interpreted it as the proof these people were not human since they died when seeing Spaniards, I mean Spanish Christian: some kind of divine punishment.) by Pedro de Alvarado in 1524. The play concerned here is a modern version inherited from older traditions and maintained in existence after the colonization in spite of a lot of resistance from the Spaniards who tried to control all forms of cultural life. They among other things imposed the Latin alphabet and transcribed the various Maya languages accordingly; then Catholicism with no escape possible in spite of some surviving clandestine religious practices in the mountains and away from the main cities. What is surprising is that the story of Jesus Christ sacrificed on a cross may have resonated among the Mayas as fit for them because, as we are going to see in this play, the practice of sacrificing the defeated leaders (mainly) of a close-by community expressing some enmity was extremely common. The higher-ranking the prisoner the better in glory for him and his family and community since the sacrificed person is an intercessor to the gods, and in prestige for the lord who performed the sacrifice. These wars were mostly limited in range because the Mayas had no domesticated animals to transport people or equipment and no carts with wheels. That’s the main difference with the Incas for instance who had domesticated lamas.
But wars between next-door neighbors were common to provide the prisoners needed for the various ritualistic religious sacrifices. These events were controlled and managed by the famous Tzolk’in calendar counting thirteen scores of days, hence 260. It was a tool used by scribes and priests (both being part of the ruling elite) to predict what was going to happen and to plan all celebrations and sacrifices necessary to get a good outcome in any situation. This point should deserve a tremendous discussion but the play here is not really concerned, at least directly, by this calendar. Yet the Lord performing the sacrifice is named Lord Five Thunder, which is probably the date of his birth according to the Tzolk’in calendar, I guess Jo Muluk and Muluk is the ninth day of the Tzolkin calendar. Note this Muluk day is associated with the Etz’nab’ day which is ten days away (both days included) and number 18. Note Lord Five Thunder speaks nine times (Muluk) and his prisoner, Cawek speaks 18 numbered times (Etz’nab’ as well as the 18 months of the Haab calendar of 360 days: 18 times 20 day months) plus a final short unnumbered intervention when sacrificed, which corresponds to the 19th five-day long month of Wayeb that brings the solar calendar to 365 days. These five extra days, this month of Wayeb is seen as very negative and inauspicious, and that corresponds perfectly with the sacrifice of the prisoner. That’s all I will say about the calendars, but this is structurally important. The two other characters who speak, Rabinal and the Slave, speak respectively 12 times and 5 times. Twelve is important in the play as we will see as a number attached to the power of Lord Five Thunder, and five has little value here though it is a basic number in the Maya numbering system whose base is Twenty seen as four groups of five. Four is also important in the play and thus is connected to the numbering system. Note the Tzolk’in and Haab calendars are based on months that have twenty days, the counting base of the Mayas. Five is, of course, the number of days of the Wayeb month and that fits a slave very well.
The play in this book is about a very serious story in Maya society and historically based. There was a war between the Maya Quiché alliance and the Maya Rabinal alliance. We could only, have alliances because of the absence of draught animals and carts. The Quiché alliance had been at the time of the events expanding its territory at the expense of the Rabinal alliance. The play starts when the Rabinal alliance is able to reverse this encroaching movement, and they stop it for one and capture Cawek, the main military leader of the Quiché alliance. Then most of the play takes place between this event and the sacrifice, to speak in Maya terms, of the prisoner, the leader of the armed forces. No mention of the other fighters though we cannot even imply whether they were made prisoners, they had all been executed, or they had all been sent back home. The subject then is the treatment of this particular high-ranking prisoner. It is clear – as we know it, and it will be confirmed all along in the play – he will be sacrificed, which means beheaded and dismembered. His head, or rather cranium will be turned into a calabash, that is to say, a drinking vessel that will be adorned with inscriptions on both sides, if not all around the top edge or more. Things inscribed on such calabashes are the name of the prisoner who was beheaded, the name and eventually, date of the Lord who made him his prisoner and some other more or less florid detail about these events and people. But he will also be dismembered because his arm bones and his leg bones will be used, the former to be the handle of a metal rattle and the latter to be used to play the slit drum.
The play casts some light on the Maya society, or at least the elite of this society, both political and military elite. On the military side a high-ranking officer is defined in value by six items:
1- an ax as the symbol of his political position, often associated with the shield, but not used for fighting;
2- a shield and a weapon that is never specified as a symbol or symbols of his military position;
3- a bracelet,
4- an armband,
5- paint specified as white in the play,
6- and a gourd of tobacco, all this latter four as symbols of his social position.
We can note the tobacco is used for various rituals and hence has a religious dimension. We know this elite has slaves at their disposal and there are women, wives, or whatever, in the background. One young one is considered as being the “Mother of Quetzal Feathers” or the “Mother of Glistening Green.” The Quetzal Feathers are sacred in many ways and denote a very high position, and the glistening Green is jade, in fact not green since it is blue-green, both hues covered with one word in Maya “yax.” This woman in the play is maybe the daughter of Lord Five Thunder and she is to be married one day so that Cawek is imagined as a father-in-law, a son-in-law or a brother-in-law according to the solution chosen for this marriage. At the end, Cawek will dance with her but all that remains platonic since he is going to be sacrificed in just a few minutes.
The Lord of a Maya community is in a way defined by a set of attributes.
1. First, “his twelve elder brothers / his twelve younger brothers” who are not twenty-four because Maya does not have a generic word for brother and only has one for “elder brother” and another for “younger brother.” They are defined as “workers of metal” and “workers of jade.”
2. Second, “his twelve golden Eagles / Golden Jaguars.” This time there might be twenty-four because eagles and jaguars are two different words, “kot” and “b’alam.”
3. Third, “the bench adorned with metal / raiment adorned with metal,” defined in the second indirect presentation as “the bench adorned with metal / the seat adorned with metal / the throne adorned with metal.” First, there is a fair chance this metal might be gold or silver. For gold we can only find the compound “k’an tuun” or “k’an tun” which means “yellow stone.” Jade was a lot more valuable in Maya society and it was vastly used for knives and other sacrificial objects, and for jewels.
4. Fourth, “his twelve drinks / his twelve poisons / Quick Hummingbird by name / the mead that burns / bites / sweetens / delights.” The elite practiced extreme alcoholism with simple drinking, till they lost consciousness or started vomiting. They practiced another type of ingestion, through the rectum and in this case, there was no vomiting, and once again the inebriation could be extreme, maybe, lethal. A drink of that type could be proposed to a man about to be sacrificed, though this reduced the consciousness of the sacrificed person, and that meant a loss of value on both sides.
5. Fifth, “the double warp / the tamped weft / the weaving tightly done / the work of my mother / my lady.” This work is performed by either the mother or the wife of Lord Five Thunder. From various decorations on cups, mugs, or on walls (frescoes) we know the fabric produced by this weaving was colorful and light.
6. Sixth, “kept safe / … the Mother of Quetzal Feathers / Mother of Glistening Green / of jade / of precious beads.” I have already said who this young lady is, though I am not sure she is necessarily the daughter of Lord Five Thunder.
This long list of attributes is reinforced by a Presentation phrase: “they are here…” once and then “Also here, of course…” five times, total six. In each case the adverb “Perhaps…” introduces a hypothetical possibility for the prisoner to be in contact with these attributes, as a favor, but he might be able to improve them or make “them reach perfection.” One “perhaps” per item, except the last one that carries three “Perhaps” and we need here a longer quotation: “Perhaps this is the brave / Perhaps this is the man / who will be the first to show / her mouth / her face / who will come to dance her round and round … / Perhaps this is the brave / who will become a father- or son-in-law / a brother-in-law.” Of course, the translation of these kinship terms does not help. There is no reference to the law. Maya society was not a state of law based on a rule of law, but rather, in this case, it was based on traditions and rites, the famous marriage rules envisaged for example by Claude Levi-Strauss in Elementary Structures of Kinship (1969). The book, page 308, tries to clarify what it means, and I must say it is not simple.
A prisoner is supposed to be treated with respect, provided he behaves properly, hence with humility and respect. If he does that, he is entitled to request and get the following items.
1- Food and drink, and he requires the twelve drinks/twelve poisons. He gets one drink, meaning clearly that twelve is not the number of different drinks but it has another meaning, in one calabash which is a human cranium. First, he drinks four long draughts, one in each cardinal direction, to the East first, counterclockwise to the West second, clockwise to the North third, and counterclockwise to the South fourth. And then he discusses the identity of the skull as coming from his grandfather or his father (hence the war between Quiché and Rabinal is nothing new) and he imagines his own skull being used by his descendants and his grandsons (hence the war between Quiché and Rabinal is not finished). But that leads him into imagining what his arm bone will become, the handle of a metal rattle, and what his leg bone will become, the stick of a slit drum.
2- He requests then “the double warp / the tamped weft / the weaving tightly done / the work of [Lord Five Thunder’s] mother / [Lord Five Thunder’s] lady.” And he gets it. He wraps himself in so that it looks like an apron and paces and struts on the stage and finally dances. That gives him the occasion to level gross remarks at the musicians inviting them “to mouth my flute,” and “to mouth my slit drum,” and then to “play my Mexican flute / my Mexican slit drum.”
3- That’s when he requires the “Mother of Quetzal Feathers / Mother Glistening Green / of jade / of precious beads.” And he dances with her, without ever touching her, as the Slave says, “Just dance her on and on, sir / dance her round and round, sir.”
4- That leads him to his next request for “the twelve Golden Eagles / Golden Jaguars / who will be my companions / on the last day / the last night.” Cawek finds them rather harmless. “There are some with nary a tooth / some with nary a claw / But then you, sir, have to see my own / at my mountain / my valley / They are devastating when they stare / they are devastating when they gaze / they are devastating when they scream / when they click / their teeth, their claws.” This should lead me to specify the value of this name Cawek, very close to Kawak, the 19th day of the Tzolk’in calendar. 19 is a reference to the 19th month, Wayeb, as we have seen, but it is also the last but one day of the Tzolk’in calendar, meaning that one more day and the twenty-base will be completed with “Ajaw,” “Lord” and reaching 20, the number k’al, Cawek will jump into the void of the end and he will have nothing else, “min” meaning “zero” since the set of twenty will become one unit at the next higher level. In other words, here, Cawek is oscillating between the end of a set composite unit and non-entity, non-existence except as a calabash, a handle or a stick, in other words, death, but death is another problem.
5- That leads him to his last request which is of course out of reach. “Now give me / thirteen score days / thirteen score nights / I have yet to say farewell / to the face of my mountain / the face of my valley.” He is asking for a leave of 260 days and nights, a full Tzolk’in cycle. That is refused and he has to deliver his last un-numbered speech, his nineteenth speech, “Wayeb,” that leads to his sacrifice, or “Kawak” just before “Ajaw,“ and he becomes the real lord by dying gracefully, and then “k’al–min” (twenty-zero) and starting all over again as everyday artifacts. No soul, no reincarnation. We can see how the numbering system, the Tzolk’in calendar (both based on 20) and the Haab calendar (based on 18 +1) are intricately interwoven into that symbolism. [...]
Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU
If you want to approach and understand Maya civilization you have to get into what still exists of its literature or literary works, apart from the monuments with all sorts of historical inscriptions, or the various decorations on walls inside buildings, or on everyday life objects. Unluckily Spanish Bishop Diego de Landa in July 1562 decided to burn all the codices. Only four survived out of what we may consider several thousand. The rest of the literature was mainly oral, a lot for performances, mostly with a religious dimension, hence ritualistic in the subject and in treatment. From what we can know – without any archaeological proof – a great number of such plays existed in all the autonomous or associated cities. Another capital text is the mythic mythological Popol Vuh. We have a version of it that was reconstituted from memory mostly between 1554 and 1558, hence after the taking over of Maya territory by the Spaniards, after a smallpox epidemic had first devastated the population, (It might have been the intention of the Spaniards who must have observed such epidemics in other areas since they had been in America for some time then, but they may even have interpreted it as the proof these people were not human since they died when seeing Spaniards, I mean Spanish Christian: some kind of divine punishment.) by Pedro de Alvarado in 1524. The play concerned here is a modern version inherited from older traditions and maintained in existence after the colonization in spite of a lot of resistance from the Spaniards who tried to control all forms of cultural life. They among other things imposed the Latin alphabet and transcribed the various Maya languages accordingly; then Catholicism with no escape possible in spite of some surviving clandestine religious practices in the mountains and away from the main cities. What is surprising is that the story of Jesus Christ sacrificed on a cross may have resonated among the Mayas as fit for them because, as we are going to see in this play, the practice of sacrificing the defeated leaders (mainly) of a close-by community expressing some enmity was extremely common. The higher-ranking the prisoner the better in glory for him and his family and community since the sacrificed person is an intercessor to the gods, and in prestige for the lord who performed the sacrifice. These wars were mostly limited in range because the Mayas had no domesticated animals to transport people or equipment and no carts with wheels. That’s the main difference with the Incas for instance who had domesticated lamas.
But wars between next-door neighbors were common to provide the prisoners needed for the various ritualistic religious sacrifices. These events were controlled and managed by the famous Tzolk’in calendar counting thirteen scores of days, hence 260. It was a tool used by scribes and priests (both being part of the ruling elite) to predict what was going to happen and to plan all celebrations and sacrifices necessary to get a good outcome in any situation. This point should deserve a tremendous discussion but the play here is not really concerned, at least directly, by this calendar. Yet the Lord performing the sacrifice is named Lord Five Thunder, which is probably the date of his birth according to the Tzolk’in calendar, I guess Jo Muluk and Muluk is the ninth day of the Tzolkin calendar. Note this Muluk day is associated with the Etz’nab’ day which is ten days away (both days included) and number 18. Note Lord Five Thunder speaks nine times (Muluk) and his prisoner, Cawek speaks 18 numbered times (Etz’nab’ as well as the 18 months of the Haab calendar of 360 days: 18 times 20 day months) plus a final short unnumbered intervention when sacrificed, which corresponds to the 19th five-day long month of Wayeb that brings the solar calendar to 365 days. These five extra days, this month of Wayeb is seen as very negative and inauspicious, and that corresponds perfectly with the sacrifice of the prisoner. That’s all I will say about the calendars, but this is structurally important. The two other characters who speak, Rabinal and the Slave, speak respectively 12 times and 5 times. Twelve is important in the play as we will see as a number attached to the power of Lord Five Thunder, and five has little value here though it is a basic number in the Maya numbering system whose base is Twenty seen as four groups of five. Four is also important in the play and thus is connected to the numbering system. Note the Tzolk’in and Haab calendars are based on months that have twenty days, the counting base of the Mayas. Five is, of course, the number of days of the Wayeb month and that fits a slave very well.
The play in this book is about a very serious story in Maya society and historically based. There was a war between the Maya Quiché alliance and the Maya Rabinal alliance. We could only, have alliances because of the absence of draught animals and carts. The Quiché alliance had been at the time of the events expanding its territory at the expense of the Rabinal alliance. The play starts when the Rabinal alliance is able to reverse this encroaching movement, and they stop it for one and capture Cawek, the main military leader of the Quiché alliance. Then most of the play takes place between this event and the sacrifice, to speak in Maya terms, of the prisoner, the leader of the armed forces. No mention of the other fighters though we cannot even imply whether they were made prisoners, they had all been executed, or they had all been sent back home. The subject then is the treatment of this particular high-ranking prisoner. It is clear – as we know it, and it will be confirmed all along in the play – he will be sacrificed, which means beheaded and dismembered. His head, or rather cranium will be turned into a calabash, that is to say, a drinking vessel that will be adorned with inscriptions on both sides, if not all around the top edge or more. Things inscribed on such calabashes are the name of the prisoner who was beheaded, the name and eventually, date of the Lord who made him his prisoner and some other more or less florid detail about these events and people. But he will also be dismembered because his arm bones and his leg bones will be used, the former to be the handle of a metal rattle and the latter to be used to play the slit drum.
The play casts some light on the Maya society, or at least the elite of this society, both political and military elite. On the military side a high-ranking officer is defined in value by six items:
1- an ax as the symbol of his political position, often associated with the shield, but not used for fighting;
2- a shield and a weapon that is never specified as a symbol or symbols of his military position;
3- a bracelet,
4- an armband,
5- paint specified as white in the play,
6- and a gourd of tobacco, all this latter four as symbols of his social position.
We can note the tobacco is used for various rituals and hence has a religious dimension. We know this elite has slaves at their disposal and there are women, wives, or whatever, in the background. One young one is considered as being the “Mother of Quetzal Feathers” or the “Mother of Glistening Green.” The Quetzal Feathers are sacred in many ways and denote a very high position, and the glistening Green is jade, in fact not green since it is blue-green, both hues covered with one word in Maya “yax.” This woman in the play is maybe the daughter of Lord Five Thunder and she is to be married one day so that Cawek is imagined as a father-in-law, a son-in-law or a brother-in-law according to the solution chosen for this marriage. At the end, Cawek will dance with her but all that remains platonic since he is going to be sacrificed in just a few minutes.
The Lord of a Maya community is in a way defined by a set of attributes.
1. First, “his twelve elder brothers / his twelve younger brothers” who are not twenty-four because Maya does not have a generic word for brother and only has one for “elder brother” and another for “younger brother.” They are defined as “workers of metal” and “workers of jade.”
2. Second, “his twelve golden Eagles / Golden Jaguars.” This time there might be twenty-four because eagles and jaguars are two different words, “kot” and “b’alam.”
3. Third, “the bench adorned with metal / raiment adorned with metal,” defined in the second indirect presentation as “the bench adorned with metal / the seat adorned with metal / the throne adorned with metal.” First, there is a fair chance this metal might be gold or silver. For gold we can only find the compound “k’an tuun” or “k’an tun” which means “yellow stone.” Jade was a lot more valuable in Maya society and it was vastly used for knives and other sacrificial objects, and for jewels.
4. Fourth, “his twelve drinks / his twelve poisons / Quick Hummingbird by name / the mead that burns / bites / sweetens / delights.” The elite practiced extreme alcoholism with simple drinking, till they lost consciousness or started vomiting. They practiced another type of ingestion, through the rectum and in this case, there was no vomiting, and once again the inebriation could be extreme, maybe, lethal. A drink of that type could be proposed to a man about to be sacrificed, though this reduced the consciousness of the sacrificed person, and that meant a loss of value on both sides.
5. Fifth, “the double warp / the tamped weft / the weaving tightly done / the work of my mother / my lady.” This work is performed by either the mother or the wife of Lord Five Thunder. From various decorations on cups, mugs, or on walls (frescoes) we know the fabric produced by this weaving was colorful and light.
6. Sixth, “kept safe / … the Mother of Quetzal Feathers / Mother of Glistening Green / of jade / of precious beads.” I have already said who this young lady is, though I am not sure she is necessarily the daughter of Lord Five Thunder.
This long list of attributes is reinforced by a Presentation phrase: “they are here…” once and then “Also here, of course…” five times, total six. In each case the adverb “Perhaps…” introduces a hypothetical possibility for the prisoner to be in contact with these attributes, as a favor, but he might be able to improve them or make “them reach perfection.” One “perhaps” per item, except the last one that carries three “Perhaps” and we need here a longer quotation: “Perhaps this is the brave / Perhaps this is the man / who will be the first to show / her mouth / her face / who will come to dance her round and round … / Perhaps this is the brave / who will become a father- or son-in-law / a brother-in-law.” Of course, the translation of these kinship terms does not help. There is no reference to the law. Maya society was not a state of law based on a rule of law, but rather, in this case, it was based on traditions and rites, the famous marriage rules envisaged for example by Claude Levi-Strauss in Elementary Structures of Kinship (1969). The book, page 308, tries to clarify what it means, and I must say it is not simple.
A prisoner is supposed to be treated with respect, provided he behaves properly, hence with humility and respect. If he does that, he is entitled to request and get the following items.
1- Food and drink, and he requires the twelve drinks/twelve poisons. He gets one drink, meaning clearly that twelve is not the number of different drinks but it has another meaning, in one calabash which is a human cranium. First, he drinks four long draughts, one in each cardinal direction, to the East first, counterclockwise to the West second, clockwise to the North third, and counterclockwise to the South fourth. And then he discusses the identity of the skull as coming from his grandfather or his father (hence the war between Quiché and Rabinal is nothing new) and he imagines his own skull being used by his descendants and his grandsons (hence the war between Quiché and Rabinal is not finished). But that leads him into imagining what his arm bone will become, the handle of a metal rattle, and what his leg bone will become, the stick of a slit drum.
2- He requests then “the double warp / the tamped weft / the weaving tightly done / the work of [Lord Five Thunder’s] mother / [Lord Five Thunder’s] lady.” And he gets it. He wraps himself in so that it looks like an apron and paces and struts on the stage and finally dances. That gives him the occasion to level gross remarks at the musicians inviting them “to mouth my flute,” and “to mouth my slit drum,” and then to “play my Mexican flute / my Mexican slit drum.”
3- That’s when he requires the “Mother of Quetzal Feathers / Mother Glistening Green / of jade / of precious beads.” And he dances with her, without ever touching her, as the Slave says, “Just dance her on and on, sir / dance her round and round, sir.”
4- That leads him to his next request for “the twelve Golden Eagles / Golden Jaguars / who will be my companions / on the last day / the last night.” Cawek finds them rather harmless. “There are some with nary a tooth / some with nary a claw / But then you, sir, have to see my own / at my mountain / my valley / They are devastating when they stare / they are devastating when they gaze / they are devastating when they scream / when they click / their teeth, their claws.” This should lead me to specify the value of this name Cawek, very close to Kawak, the 19th day of the Tzolk’in calendar. 19 is a reference to the 19th month, Wayeb, as we have seen, but it is also the last but one day of the Tzolk’in calendar, meaning that one more day and the twenty-base will be completed with “Ajaw,” “Lord” and reaching 20, the number k’al, Cawek will jump into the void of the end and he will have nothing else, “min” meaning “zero” since the set of twenty will become one unit at the next higher level. In other words, here, Cawek is oscillating between the end of a set composite unit and non-entity, non-existence except as a calabash, a handle or a stick, in other words, death, but death is another problem.
5- That leads him to his last request which is of course out of reach. “Now give me / thirteen score days / thirteen score nights / I have yet to say farewell / to the face of my mountain / the face of my valley.” He is asking for a leave of 260 days and nights, a full Tzolk’in cycle. That is refused and he has to deliver his last un-numbered speech, his nineteenth speech, “Wayeb,” that leads to his sacrifice, or “Kawak” just before “Ajaw,“ and he becomes the real lord by dying gracefully, and then “k’al–min” (twenty-zero) and starting all over again as everyday artifacts. No soul, no reincarnation. We can see how the numbering system, the Tzolk’in calendar (both based on 20) and the Haab calendar (based on 18 +1) are intricately interwoven into that symbolism. [...]
Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU
March 18, 2019
Una interesante aproximación dramática por parte de una cultura ajena al teatro occidental, a las normas de la poética aristotélica, pero con un aura bastante fresca. Por momentos recuerda a los espejos de príncipe, solamente que enfocado a guerreros.
May 27, 2020
Impresionante.
August 29, 2023
the most respectful argument i have ever read lmao
June 12, 2024
Rabinal Achí" es una obra literaria y teatral de origen maya del siglo XV. Su lenguaje puede ser bastante difícil de comprender para el lector. Pero a la ves es interesante por la trama que se centra en conflictos políticos y culturales, así como en la representación de rituales de la tradiciones mayas.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 7, 2017
Sumamente difícil de entender. Sería necesario conocer más acerca del contexto de esta obra
November 11, 2022
Rabinal es el lugar, la comarca, el clan en el que se desarrolla este breve ballet dramático. Achí es el título, quizá el cargo de los dos protagonistas de la obra, y su significado sería algo así como “Caballero”. Si fuésemos estrictos la obra quizá debió llamarse Rabinal Queché.
En varios lugares he leído que esta es la única sobreviviente entre las numerosas obras de teatro civil o religioso que existieron entre las culturas prehispánicas, cuya desaparición fue impuesta en el proceso de la conquista. El hecho y modo por el cual esta persiste, vive y se representa en nuestros días, es casi tan interesante como el propio tema de la obra.
Llegada al conocimiento del abate Brasseur, -inquieto encargado eclesiástico en la región de Rabinal a mediados del siglo XIX-, esta obra olvidada, callada con cierto temor incluso, pudo ser rescatada por el azar: habiendo provisto la salud a un viejo actor que conocía el libreto a detalle, y en pago por su servicio como médico improvisado, se facilitaron los medios al abate para que la transcribiese.
Una vez recopilada, redactada y traducida, -incluyendo con la música-, haciendo gala de conocerla logra formar una compañía para representarla, un 25 de enero, como sucede hasta el día de hoy. Publicada originalmente en francés, fue posteriormente traducida al español e integrada a la tradición literaria guatemalteca.
La obra se compone de cuatro actos. El primero de ellos constituye más de la mitad de la obra, y en él, los Caballeros de Rabinal y de Queché, preso este por aquel, ponen en contexto la disputa territorial entre ambos clanes y los hechos en los que el de Queché ha agraviado a al pueblo de Rabinal infligiéndole numerosos estragos. Viendo que no tiene escapatoria, el de Queché trata de sobornar al de Rabinal para obtener su libertad, pero no logra más que este interceda ante el jefe Cinco-Lluvia.
Los actos segundo y tercero son muy breves. En el segundo acto Cinco-Lluvia niega clemencia al de Queché; en el tercero el de Rabinal hace entrar al de Queché a la presencia de Cinco-Lluvia. En el último acto, el de Queché solicita varias mercedes previas a su sacrificio, sentencia a la que se hace acreedor: todas le son concedidas y de todas expresa que ninguna está a su altura. Finalmente solicita un plazo de 260 días para despedirse “de sus montañas, de sus valles”, periodo tras el cual regresa a cumplir su castigo.
Otro aspecto notable que se señala de esta muy breve obra es que la temática, el estilo y en general todo lo que en ella se expone es totalmente prehispánico: no existe en ella ningún elemento de procedencia europea.
Cuesta un poco habituarse al estilo de los diálogos. En cada parlamento, la voz repite casi textualmente lo que su interlocutor expresó previamente. El estilo recurre a fórmulas y figuras que reemplazan los términos más sencillos “a mi boca, a mi faz” significa “a mi”; “bajo el cielo, sobre la tierra” para decir “aquí”. Los tres personajes que menciono son prácticamente los únicos que intervienen. Algunos participan con una línea, los más simplemente figuran o participan en las danzas.
En varios lugares he leído que esta es la única sobreviviente entre las numerosas obras de teatro civil o religioso que existieron entre las culturas prehispánicas, cuya desaparición fue impuesta en el proceso de la conquista. El hecho y modo por el cual esta persiste, vive y se representa en nuestros días, es casi tan interesante como el propio tema de la obra.
Llegada al conocimiento del abate Brasseur, -inquieto encargado eclesiástico en la región de Rabinal a mediados del siglo XIX-, esta obra olvidada, callada con cierto temor incluso, pudo ser rescatada por el azar: habiendo provisto la salud a un viejo actor que conocía el libreto a detalle, y en pago por su servicio como médico improvisado, se facilitaron los medios al abate para que la transcribiese.
Una vez recopilada, redactada y traducida, -incluyendo con la música-, haciendo gala de conocerla logra formar una compañía para representarla, un 25 de enero, como sucede hasta el día de hoy. Publicada originalmente en francés, fue posteriormente traducida al español e integrada a la tradición literaria guatemalteca.
La obra se compone de cuatro actos. El primero de ellos constituye más de la mitad de la obra, y en él, los Caballeros de Rabinal y de Queché, preso este por aquel, ponen en contexto la disputa territorial entre ambos clanes y los hechos en los que el de Queché ha agraviado a al pueblo de Rabinal infligiéndole numerosos estragos. Viendo que no tiene escapatoria, el de Queché trata de sobornar al de Rabinal para obtener su libertad, pero no logra más que este interceda ante el jefe Cinco-Lluvia.
Los actos segundo y tercero son muy breves. En el segundo acto Cinco-Lluvia niega clemencia al de Queché; en el tercero el de Rabinal hace entrar al de Queché a la presencia de Cinco-Lluvia. En el último acto, el de Queché solicita varias mercedes previas a su sacrificio, sentencia a la que se hace acreedor: todas le son concedidas y de todas expresa que ninguna está a su altura. Finalmente solicita un plazo de 260 días para despedirse “de sus montañas, de sus valles”, periodo tras el cual regresa a cumplir su castigo.
Otro aspecto notable que se señala de esta muy breve obra es que la temática, el estilo y en general todo lo que en ella se expone es totalmente prehispánico: no existe en ella ningún elemento de procedencia europea.
Cuesta un poco habituarse al estilo de los diálogos. En cada parlamento, la voz repite casi textualmente lo que su interlocutor expresó previamente. El estilo recurre a fórmulas y figuras que reemplazan los términos más sencillos “a mi boca, a mi faz” significa “a mi”; “bajo el cielo, sobre la tierra” para decir “aquí”. Los tres personajes que menciono son prácticamente los únicos que intervienen. Algunos participan con una línea, los más simplemente figuran o participan en las danzas.
January 13, 2022
I think the text alone was interesting, but the analysis in part two brings the book up another star. Understanding this story, including the historical and mythological context, is crucial to enjoying it. I found Cawek to be an incredibly complex character. One of the prompts for my Mesoamerican literature paper is "Is Cawek a tragic hero?" It's hard to say, because all the crimes he's accused of he readily admits to! There's no doubt that Cawek committed all these actions against the Rabinal, and he doesn't seem particularly remorseful about them either, so why is he so compelling anyway? Why do I want to be on his side? Why am I tempted to write some Cawek fanfiction (there's a thesis topic right there haha). Anyway, I am so glad to be taking this class.
May 8, 2019
An amazing, sensitive piece of scholarship about a marvelously powerful masterpiece of collective, multi-generational, living and evolving ritual art. Illuminating for any understanding of the development of any dramatic tradition and a huge spotlight on the realities of the fusion of oral and literary art from Homer to modern times.
A wonderful book!
A wonderful book!
January 7, 2025
Una obra que le canta a las montañas, a los valles, a los animales, a la tierra y al cielo.
Las metáforas sobre los antiguos conflictos entre Achís y Kichés resumidos en la captura y el juicio justo de Kawek Kiché, Achí Kiché.
La narración es poética, cíclica y sin duda me abrió la mente a un panorama diferente para volver a apreciar la puesta teatral.
Las metáforas sobre los antiguos conflictos entre Achís y Kichés resumidos en la captura y el juicio justo de Kawek Kiché, Achí Kiché.
La narración es poética, cíclica y sin duda me abrió la mente a un panorama diferente para volver a apreciar la puesta teatral.
November 28, 2020
La obra dramática sobre el conflicto entre los hombres del Rabinal y los Queché es ya patrimonio inmaterial de la humanidad declarado por la UNESCO. Leerlo es revivirlo, pero verlo es experimentarlo. Lo único trágico es que esta edición esté en inglés.
November 13, 2019
Really interesting and easy to read. Wish that he had expanded on the effects of colonialism a bit more, but it's a great read.
April 9, 2021
En un principio puede ser difícil de leer, con el tiempo se facilita.
October 28, 2021
read for theatre literature class
February 6, 2023
This is a great play to read for a Spanish class and to do some interesting research due to the type of play this is.
August 18, 2025
Me quedo con la necesidad del guerrero de morir con dignidad, despidiendose de la forma más honrosa posible y pidiendo que sus últimos deseos sean cumplidos.
September 25, 2025
sometimes readings that are homework are just not as enjoyable :/
solid plot tho! dance > violence
solid plot tho! dance > violence
December 25, 2025
fascinating, yet frustrating
February 26, 2020
No entendí mucho, y las constantes repeticiones de frases me dieron sueño jajaja
Read
July 30, 20241850
Chatgpt: The 19th-century transcription of the "Rabinal Achí" is considered relatively faithful to the 15th-century original. Abbé Charles-Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg transcribed the play as dictated by Bartolo Ziz of Rabinal. Ziz's rendition was based on a manuscript written in K'iche' using the Roman alphabet during the colonial period, which he knew from memory. This text is believed to closely follow the original oral traditions, as Ziz was deeply familiar with the play's content and performance.
The most recent translations and interpretations, like those by Dennis Tedlock, draw from Brasseur's text, a more recent handwritten copy, and modern performances, attempting to reconstruct the original as accurately as possible.
Chatgpt: The 19th-century transcription of the "Rabinal Achí" is considered relatively faithful to the 15th-century original. Abbé Charles-Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg transcribed the play as dictated by Bartolo Ziz of Rabinal. Ziz's rendition was based on a manuscript written in K'iche' using the Roman alphabet during the colonial period, which he knew from memory. This text is believed to closely follow the original oral traditions, as Ziz was deeply familiar with the play's content and performance.
The most recent translations and interpretations, like those by Dennis Tedlock, draw from Brasseur's text, a more recent handwritten copy, and modern performances, attempting to reconstruct the original as accurately as possible.
January 6, 2017
Esta es una versión clara, casi cristalina, del único libro 100 % prehispánico que conocemos en América: el «Rabinal Achí o Danza del tun» («Xajoj tun» en achí). Adaptarlo a un lenguaje moderno, simplificar las figuras retóricas y eliminar las anáforas (reiteraciones) del texto original fue una ardua misión ejecutada excelentemente por Stephanie Burckhard. Nos enorgullecemos de presentar un texto de fácil lectura los lectores del siglo XXI.
August 19, 2011
No leì el de este autor, ni en inglès. Pero querìa agregarlo. Difìcil de entender al principio.
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