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Table of Contents
Rabinal Achi Part IV
Overview
The Rabinal Achí, a Mayan drama of war and sacrifice, which is found in Alcheringa was typically performed without a script. It was initially written down and completed, after 12 days, on January 25th, 1856 in gratitude to Abbot Brasseur de Bourbourg's healing of Bartolo Ziz's wife in the town of Rabinal located in the highlands of Guatemala. Rabinal Achi, “Man of Rabinal” is one of the play's two titles. The other is Xajoj Tun, “Dance of the Trumpets.” The second name can be attributed to the fact that the characters dance to the music of trumpets whenever they are not participating in the dialogue.
The text included in Alcheringa is the French-American poet Nathaniel Tarn's translation from the original Quiché and French edition of Brasseur de Bourbourg, Paris, 1862 and the Spanish edition of L. Cardoza y Aragón, Guatemala, 1929-1930.
Characters
Man of Rabinal= A warrior in the service of Great Chief Five Rain, (aka Lord Five Thunder) who rules the Rabinal nation from a fortress on a mountaintop
Eagle and Jaguar= These two characters, who are named for the sources of their spiritual powers, guard the boundaries of Great Chief Five Rain's (Lord Five Thunder's) court and kingdom
The Mother of Quetzal Feathers= The unmarried daughter of Great Chief Five Rain (Lord Five Thunder)
Lady= The wife of Great Chief Five Rain (Lord Five Thunder)
A slave, Ixok Mun
Cawek of the Forest People= A rebel warrior from the neighboring Quiché nation captured by the Man of Rabinal and brought before the court of Chief Five Rain (Lord Five Thunder) who consequently loses his head after being given recognition of his status of nobility
Translations of Terms in Alcheringa Reading in Order of Appearance
**Quiché-Achí= ** Quiché Man
Hobtoh Rabinal-Rahaual= Great Chief Five Rains
Salutation repeated several times when the Quiché man speaks= Cala-Achí! (Hail- Man!) Ha! Aha! Yeha! (Hail!) Ahau! (Chief) Wow! Achí! (Man) I: Quiché-Achí (Quiché-Man) Balam-Achí (Sorcerer-Man) Balam-Quiché (Sorcerer-Quiché) Rahaual-Quiché-Vinak Quiché-Vinak (High chief-Quiché-(Human) Being Quiché-(Human) Being)
Oyeu Achí!= Brave man!
Galel Achí! Eminent man!
Vinak= (Human) being
Rahaual Cavek Quiché Vinak= High Chief Cavek Quiché (Cavek-Quiché is one of the tribes of the Quiché people) (Human) Being
Cavek Quiché Vinak!= Cavek-Quiché (one of the tribes of the Quiché) (Human) Being!
Quiché Vinak!= Quiché (human) being!
Commentary
“The play portrays Lord Five Thunder and Man of Rabinal as loyal supporters of an old order that has been disrupted by the unauthorized actions of Cawek.” (Tedlock 3)
In the end, Cawek accepts defeat, confesses to multiple offenses, and accepts his death. “This is an important point, because one of the recurrent themes running through the literature on the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica is that their attitude toward life was and still is fatalistic.” (Tedlock 4)
Context
According to Dennis Tedlock in his book Rabinal Achi: A Mayan Drama of War and Sacrifice, “The early missionaries intervened in Mayan theater on a massive scale, substituting Christian hymns for Mayan songs or suppressing traditional productions altogether.” However, Rabinal Achi is a descendent of one of the most popular plays to be produced in the early colonial period. (2)
When Europeans introduced their plays, they also introduced writing down a script. The first scripts of the Rabinal Achi, which have since been discarded or lost, go as far back as the 16th century.
Bibliography
Tedlock, Dennis. Rabinal Achi : A Mayan Drama of War and Sacrifice. Oxford University Press, 2003. EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-com.proxy-iup.klnpa.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=146927&site=ehost-live.
Tedlock, Dennis. 2000 Years of Mayan Literature. University of California Press, 2010. EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-com.proxy-iup.klnpa.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=826638&site=ehost-live.
