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Here, then, are the generations and the order of all the rulers which began with our first grandfathers and our first fathers, Balam-Quitzé, Balam-Acab, Mahucutah, and Iqui-Balam, when the sun appeared, and the moon and the stars were seen.
Now, then, we shall give the beginning of the generations, the order of kingdoms from the beginning of their lineage, how the lords entered into power, from their accessions to their deaths: [we shall give] each generation of lords and ancestors, as well as the lord of the town, all and each of the lords. Here, then, the person 1 of each one of the lords of the Quiché shall be shown.
Balam-Quitzé, the root of those of Cavec.
Qocavib, second generation [of the line] of Balam-Quitzé. 2
Balam-Conaché, with whom the title of Ahpop began, third generation. 3
Cotuhá [I] and Iztayub, fourth generation. 4
Gucumatz and Cotuhá, [II] first of the marvelous kings, who were of the fifth generation. 5
Tepepul and Iztayul, of the sixth order. 6
Quicab and Cavizimah, of the seventh order of succession to the kingdom. 7
Tepepul and Iztayub, eighth generation.
Tecum and Tepepul, ninth generation. 8
Vahxaqui-Caam 9 and Quicab, tenth generation of kings.
Vucub-Noh and Cauutepech, eleventh order of kings. 10
Oxib-Queh and Beleheb-Tzi, the twelfth generation of kings. These were those who reigned when Donadiú came, and who were hanged by the Spaniards. 11
Tecum and Tepepul, who paid tribute to the Spaniards, they left sons, and the former were the thirteenth generation of kings. 12
Don Juan de Rojas and don Juan Cortés, the fourteenth generation of kings, were the sons of Tecum and Tepepul.
These are, then, the generations and the order of the kingdom of the lords Ahpop and Ahpop-Camhá of the Quiché of Cavec.
And now we shall name again the families. These are the Great Houses of each of the lords who followed the Ahpop and the Ahpop-Camhá. These are the names of the nine families of those of Cavec, of the nine Great Houses, 13 and these are the titles of the lords of each one of the Great Houses:
Ahau-Ahpop, one Great House. Cuhá was the name of this Great House.
Ahau-Ahpop-Camhá, whose Great House was called Tziquinahá.
Nim-Chocoh-Cavec, one Great House.
Ahau-Ah-Tohil, one Great House.
Ahau-Ah-Gucumatz, one Great House.
Popol-Vinac Chituy, one Great House.
Lolmet-Quehnay, one Great House.
Popol-Vinac Pahom Tzalatz Xcuxebá, one Great House.
Tepeu-Yaqui, one Great House.
These, then, are the nine families of Cavec. And very
numerous were the sons and vassals of the tribes which followed these nine Great Houses.
Here are the nine Great Houses of those of Nihaib. But first we shall give the lineage of the rulers of the kingdom. From one root only these names originated when the sun began to shine, with the beginning of light.
Balam-Acab, first grandfather and father.
Qoacul and Qoacutec, second generation.
Cochahuh and Cotzibahá, third generation.
Beleheb-Queh [I], 14 fourth generation.
Cotuhá, [I] fifth generation of kings.
Batza, sixth generation.
Iztayul, seventh generation of kings.
Cotuhá [II], eighth order of the kingdom.
Beleheb-Queh [II], ninth order.
Quemá, so called, tenth generation.
Ahau-Cotuhá, eleventh generation.
Don Cristóval, so called, who ruled in the time of the Spaniards.
Don Pedro de Robles, the present Ahau-Galel.
These, then, are all the kings who descended from the Ahau-Galel. Now we shall name the lords of each of the Great Houses.
Ahau-Galel, first lord of the Nihaib, head of one Great House.
Ahau-Ahtzic-Vinac, one Great House.
Ahau-Galel-Camhá, one Great House.
Nima-Camhá, one Great House.
Uchuch-Camhá, one Great House.
Nim-Chocoh-Nihaib, one Great House.
Ahau-Avilix, one Great House.
Yacolatam, one Great House. 15
Nima-Lolmet-Ycoltux, one Great House.
These, then, are the Great Houses of the Nihaib; these were the names of the nine families of those of Nihaib, as they were called. Numerous were the families of each one of the lords, whose names we have given first.
Here, now, is the lineage of those of Ahau-Quiché, who were their grandfather and father.
Mahucutah, the first man.
Qoahau, name of the second generation of kings.
Caglacán.
Cocozom.
Comahcún.
Vucub-Ah.
Cocamel.
Coyabacoh.
Vinac-Bam.
These were the kings of those of the Ahau-Quiché; this is the order of their generations.
Here now are the tides of the lords who made up the Great Houses; there were only four Great Houses.
Ahtzic-Vinac-Ahau, title of the first lord, one Great House.
Lolmet-Ahau, second lord, a Great House.
Nim-Chocoh-Ahau, third lord, a Great House.
Hacavitz, fourth lord, a Great House.
Therefore, four were the Great Houses of the Ahau-Quiché.
There were, then, three Nim-Chocoh, who were like fathers [vested with authority] of all the lords of the Quiché. 16 The three Chocoh came together in order to make known the orders of the mothers, the orders of the fathers. 17 Great was the position of the three Chocoh.
There were, then, the Nim-Chocoh of those of Cavec, 18 the Nim-Chocoh of those of Nihaib, who was second, and the Nim-Chocoh-Ahau of the Ahau-Quiché, who was third. Each one of the three Chocoh represented his family.
And this was the life of the Quiché, because no longer can be seen [the book of the Popol Vuh] which the kings had in olden times, 19 for it has disappeared.
In this manner, then, all the people of the Quiché, which is called Santa Cruz, 20 came to an end.
182:1 p. 249 Literally, "the face," u vach.
182:2 The text in this place does not mention Qocaib, the son of Balam-Quitzé as the immediate successor of the latter. Nevertheless, Chapter 6 of this part refers to the return from the East of Qocaib, Qoacutec, and Qoahau and their arrival at Hacavitz, and it says literally that the three princes, who belonged to each of the three large divisions of the Quiché nation, "assumed again their rule of the tribes." it is possible that there may be an error in copying here, and that the name which was in the original Quiché manuscript, now lost, may have been that of Qocaib and not Qocavib.
182:3 Balam-Conaché, son of Qocavib and of the wife of his brother Qocaib. was legitimatized by the latter, and ruled in union with Beleheb-Qeh, 9 Deer, according to Chap. 7 of Part IV.
182:4 Cotuhá, a man whom the Título de Totonicapán says the Quiché found in the field hunting quail, and that having invited him to join them, he occupied the place of Iqui-Balam, who had died. Cotuhá ruled in company with Ixtayul, Náhuatl name which means "heart of flint." This was the son of Balam-Conaché.
182:5 U xe naual ahau. The root or beginning of the sorcerer kings, the marvelous kings, as Ximénez calls them. This Cotuhá was the second king of this name and was the father of Quicab, according to the Título de Totonicapán. In the time of these kings, the capital was moved to Gumarcaah, and the twenty-four families or great houses of the nobility were organized. The Título expressly declares that the nine large branches of the House of Cavec "came out from the House of the Prince Qocaib." Gucumatz and Cotuhá went to conquer the towns of the Pacific Coast, and, according to the Títulos de Ixcuin-Nihaib, "that chief [Gucumatz] being happy, and to please his soldiers, became an eagle and plunged into the sea, making a demonstration p. 250 of his conquest." Chapter 9 of this part also speaks of the metamorphosis of this king.
182:6 Tepetl pul, words in the Mexican language which mean "hill of stones."
182:7 Gag-Quicab, "of many arms," Ximénez interprets it. It may be that "of the hands of fire." Cavizimah, who adorns himself with points like lances or arrows (itz in Náhuatl), according to Ximénez. Quicab and Cavizimah were the great conquerors who subdued all the peoples of the interior of Guatemala, as Chapter 10 of this part relates in detail.
182:8 Ximénez says that in the time of these kings, the Cakchiquel (previously subdued by Quicab) rebelled. According to the Annals of the Cakchiquel, the Quiché were overcome by them in Iximché, and their kings were made prisoners and they were obliged to surrender their gods.
182:9 Eight Vines. As Brasseur de Bourbourg observes, it is the translation of the Mexican name Chicuey Malinalli, tenth day of the Aztec calendar. During the reign of these princes, according to Ximénez, it happened that a Cakchiquel Indian, whom the Quiché remember in their dance called Quiché-Vinac, and who was probably the son of the Cakchiquel king, came at night to shout insults at the Quiché king. When at last they captured him and were on the point of sacrificing him, he announced the arrival of the Spaniards in these words: "Know that a time must come when you will despair because of the disasters which will fall upon you; and this mama caixon ["old bitter one," a nickname directed at the Quiché king] must also die; and know that some men dressed, and not naked like us, armed from head to foot, will destroy these buildings, which will become the homes of owls and wildcats and all this grandeur of the court shall cease."
182:10 Vucub-Noh, 7 Noh, a day of the calendar. Cauutepech, "adorned with rings," says Ximénez, because this king used to wear such ornaments.
182:11 Oxib-Queh, 3 Deer; Beleheb-Tzi, 9 Dog: These are days of the calendar. The Mexicans called King Beleheb-Tzi, Chiconavi-Ocelotl, which is to say, 9 Jaguar, and from these is derived the name of Chignauicelut which the Spaniards gave him. Donadiú, or Tonatiuh, the sun, in Náhuatl, was the name which the Mexicans gave to the Spanish conqueror, Pedro de Alvarado, who destroyed the Quiché kingdom and burned their kings.
182:12 Tecum, "heaped up." This king must not be confused with the general-in-chief of the Quiché army who appeared fighting at the front of his troops against the Spaniards. The fate of King Tecum, is not known, but Tepepul is King Sequechul of whom the Libro de Cabildo and the chroniclers of the Conquest speak, who reigned from 1524 to 1526. After the insurrection of the Indians in 1526, he was imprisoned until 1540, and in this latter p. 251 year, Alvarado hanged him together with the Cakchiquel king Belehé-Qat, whom the Spaniards called Sinacán.
182:13 Are u binaam vi beleheh chinamit chi Caviquib beleheb. The four last words are lacking in the transcription made by Brasseur de Bourbourg.
182:14 Beleheb-Quih in the original, through evident error. In Chapter 7 of this part the correct version of this name appears as Beleheb-Queh, 9 Queh, a day of the calendar.
182:15 In the original the name of Nimá-Camhá appears twice, and those of Utzampop-Zaclatol and Nima Lolmet-Ycoltux, which appear in Chapter 8 of this Part IV are not included at all.
182:16 Queheri e cahauixel rumal ronohel ahauab Quiché. The Nim-Chocoh (Great Chosen or Great Counsellors) were the dignitaries charged with proclaiming and executing the decisions of the government. E alanel, "those who give birth," the text calls them.
182:17 E alanel, e u chuch tzih e u cahau tzih, literally, "those who proclaim the word of the mothers, the word of the fathers."
182:18 Ximénez, in his translation, supplies this line omitted in the original, surely through an error made in the transcription from the Quiché text.
182:19 The sentence from this place in the original is as follows: rumal mahabi chi ilbal re qo nabe oher cumal ahauab, and is evidently garbled. It is easily completed, however, by comparing it with two other sentences of the text, one from the preamble which says: rumal ma-habi chic ilbal re Popo Vuh, and one from Chapter 11 of Part IV which reads: Xax qu'etaam vi qo cut ilbal re, qo vuh, Popol Vuh u bi cumal. The author ends his work by explaining again that he had to write it because the ancient book no longer exists in which the kings read the past and the future of their people.
182:20 As has been said in another place, it was Bishop Marroquín who baptized with the name of Santa Cruz the Spanish city which replaced the ancient Quiché capital.