HEAVEN BORN MERIDA AND ITS DESTINY - Histomesoamericana

28 INTRODUCTION
Act 9. Seating of the Katun. It appears that seven lords may have been
seated: Mutecpul (as Jaguar), Can Ul, Uayom Ch'ich', Nunil, Chable, Hoi
Tun Balam, and Yaxum. (At least three of these are characters in "The Fall
of Mayapan": Can Ul, Uayom Ch'ich', and Chable.)
Act 10. Seating the Yearbearers. Five lords are named: Hoi Tun Ake,
Zabac Na, Hoi Tun Balam, Pochek Ix Tz'oy (a Xiu from Copo, presumably
the Spokesman), and Chac Te. If Pochek Ix Tz'oy was the Spokesman, the
other four were presumably the Ba Cabs.
Act 11. Pacing. The 7 Pacers appear and survey and seat the lands.
Act 12. Dawn. The text doesn't say so, but presumably the mats (lordships)
were counted; then tribute was collected.
Act 13. Sacrifice. This is acted out as a scene from "The Fall of Mayapan,"
the victim being cast as Mex Cue, who was thrown into the cenote
of Chichen Itza by Hunac Ceel in 8 Ahau (1451). Cau Ich apparently replaced
Mex Cue as governor of Mayapan at that time.
Act 14. Examination. No feast is mentioned but presumably there was
one. The examination is rather obliquely referred to, and there is reference
to another scene from "The Fall of Mayapan," apparently relating to the
birth of Mex Cue.
Act 15. The Word. The word of the katun is announced by the impersonator
of Mex Cue, presumably as a Jaguar of 8 Ahau.
Act 16. Penance. There is only a fleeting allusion to suffering, but it
comes at the right point and presumably represents the penance of the
yearbearers, here played as Mex Cue, Cau Ich, Hunac Ceel, and the sun
priest of Coba, all of them real people of 8 Ahau.
Act 17. Commemoration. What are commemorated are not only the fall
of Mayapan but also the beginning of the calendar round in 1529 (which
would have been the time for the induction of the Jaguar designate for the
1539 ceremonial being described here) and an eclipse.
Act 18. Counting. The text alludes briefly to the writing of the katun
history for 13 Ahau, now ended.
Act 19. Farce. In this case the farce is called "Centipedes and Gnats,"
presumably a burlesque of the pesky military orders.
Act 20. Sermon. The text peters out in the midst of dire predictions of
war and bloodshed.
The ceremonial of the may in chapter 12 is that for 11 Ahau in 1539.
Another version is given in more fragmentary form in chapter 46 for the
11 Ahau of 1824. Five of the thirteen acts are-omitted. The circuit (act 8)
is probably taken for granted. The seating of the yearbearers (act 10) may
be omitted in honor of the impending calendar round celebration, which
fell in 1841, later in the same katun. (This is referred to in line 6284.) The
pacing (act 11) may have been deferred because land titles were still under
negotiation (line 6462). The counting (act 18), like the circuit, is often
taken for granted. It is possible that the farce (act 19) is referred to, but
out of order (line 6287). The remaining eight acts are alluded to in order
as indicated in the translation. The commemoration (act 17) enacts the
story of Antonio Martinez, a latter-day prophet who identifies himself