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Indigenous Literature

Memories

  • by Gerardo Can Pat

K’a’ajsaj

K’aja’antech waa le úuch ka’ache’,
le te’e túun takekemo’one’,
ti’ u yoknal k’iinil eneroe’,
kin máan ximbal ta wotoche’.

Tu jool a taanaj tu yaak’abile’,
ka jok’ole’ex ka’ach baaxali’,
to’on takelem xi’ipalo’one’,
te’ k’iwiko’ ti’ k-bin tzibali’.

Ku k’a’ajalten xan le j-noolo’obe’,
u tzikbatik bix máaniko’obe’,
le ka’ach bin tu palalilo’obe’,
bey xan ti u tankelmilo’obe’.

K’aja’antech le jáax ka’a tin t’aneche’,
ka’a tin wa’ajtech en yakumeche’,
ma’ ta núukaj en t’aan ka’a binechi’,
tu ka’atene’ ti túun lúubechi’ .

Ti’ le jadzutz ba’alo’ob manja’anto’one’,
le úuch túun ka’ach in x-ba’aleche’,
mi’in wojel wa k’aja’antech juntéene’,
le áak’ab in k’ áat en bisech óok’ote’.

Tin wa’ajti’a yuume’ ma’ tu yóotaji’,
teche’ jo’op’ a chen kextik a wok’ol,
tin wilaj beyo’ ka’a yajchaj en lana,
mi’in wojel bix jo’ok’en ta taanaji’.

Bejla’e’ dzo’ok u jelpal tuláakal,
tu bin u xu’ulul to’on jujunp’íitil,
le ba’ax dza’abo’on k-beet wey yok’olkaabe’,
dzo’ok beetiko’ob le ba ‘alo’ob pajchajo’obe’.

To’one’ táan k-bin, dzoka’anto’on beyo’,
le tankelem paalo’ob ku lik’lo’obo’,
leti’ob úuch u yilko’ob ku beeto’ob,
le ba’axo’ob ma ‘pajchaj k-betik to’uno’.

 

Recuerdos

¿Recuerdas aquellos tiempos
cuando éramos jóvenes?
¿Recuerdas aquellas tardes de enero
en que visitaba tu casa?
Por las noches, en la puerta,
salíais todos a conversar.
Nosotros, los niños, allí nos
reunimos en medio de la plaza.

Recuerdo a los ancianos
que nos contaban sus aventuras.
Nos hicieron reír a todos,
alargando nuestras noches.

Al principio del año nos extendíamos por la noche,
pues era breve y el día largo.
Fue difícil despertar al siguiente amanecer
y completar nuestro trabajo en los campos.

¿Recuerdas la primera vez que te hablé?
¿Cuando te di mi promesa?
Hermosos son los recuerdos que hemos vivido
en nuestra pasada juventud.

Todas las cosas buenas que hicimos,
cuando eras mi novia.
¿Recordarás algo más?
¿La noche en que quise llevarte al baile?

Le pedí permiso a tu padre y me dijo que no.
Empezaste a sollozar,
cuando te vi me puse triste
y no sé cómo salí de tu casa.

Hoy todo ha cambiado.
Poco a poco vamos terminando
el trabajo que el mundo nos asignó.
Hemos avanzado tanto como hemos podido.

nos vamos Todo termina.
Ahora los jóvenes están creciendo.
Deben tratar de completar
las cosas que no terminamos.

Traducido por Arthur Dixon

De la colección de versos U k’aayilo’ob in puksi’ik’al / Cantos del corazón

Foto del archivo de la familia del autor, digitalizada por Emir Barbosa Kú.
  • Gerardo Can Pat

Gerardo Can Pat was a Maya poet, musician, photographer, videomaker, and researcher of his language and cultural traditions. He founded the musical group Fuerza Tropical, and he participated in several reunions of Maya writers before his death in 1994. Among his many publications are the two volumes Maya k’aayo’ob suuk bejla’ abeono’o’be and La nueva canción maya [The new Maya song], compilations of Maya songs that include their melodies as well as their lyrics. His work appears in various anthologies. Besides being the first published poet in Maya language, he was a committed student of traditional Maya music and literature, as well as the rituals and sacred festivals of his people. At the time of his death, he was working on a documentary about, and for, his people, including recordings of traditional festivals that he planned to project at workshops on religious expression and identity where his people could discuss their importance. He had a clear goal as a facilitator of artistic and intellectual development in his community; as he said, “composers continue emerging from the people who feel the need to create and recreate themselves in their culture.”

  • Arthur Malcolm Dixon
headshotarthurdixoncroppededited1

Photo: Sydne Gray

Arthur Malcolm Dixon is co-founder, lead translator, and Managing Editor of Latin American Literature Today. He has translated the novels Immigration: The Contest by Carlos Gámez Pérez and There Are Not So Many Stars by Isaí Moreno (Katakana Editores), as well as the verse collection Intensive Care by Arturo Gutiérrez Plaza (Alliteratïon). He also works as a community interpreter in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is a Tulsa Artist Fellow.

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