The Lacandon song of the Jaguar

The Lacandon Song of the Jaguar

PHILLIP and MARY BAER

Summer Institute of Linguistics

The song^ given below is sung by the Lacandon Indians of Chiapas
when a person meets a jaguar (tigre) on the trail in the jungle. The
rhythm of the song is imitative of the walk of the jaguar. It is believed
that when the animal hears the song it will go away.

THE SONG

1. jujuntsit in jitik in wok 2. jujuntsit in jitik in k'Ab 3. tan u
pek in nej 4. tin wu'uyaj u tar a k'ay ch'iknach 5. netak in wenen
6. tin kAshtaj u pachtAkih che? 7. oken tin wenen yokor jenen che?
8. tu yek'er in nok' tu yek'er in k'Ab 9. tu yek^er in shikin.

LITERAL TRANSLATION

1. Each I lift-up my back- feet 2. Each I lift-up my front-feet 3.
Continually it moves my tail 4. I heard it come your voice very-far 5.
Very-almost I sleep 6. I looked-for its back-fell tree 7. Went-I I slept
on fallen tree 8. Its stripes my hide its stripes my front-feet 9. Its
stripes my ears.

FREE TRANSLATION

I pick up each of my feet and let them fall on the trail. My tail moves. I
heard your voice come from a distance. I am sleepy. I searched for a fallen tree
to go to sleep. I went to sleep on the fallen tree. My hide and feet and ears
are striped.

1 Dictated by Mateo Garcia of the Petha (Pelha) region.

Baer, Phillip and Mary Baer 1948. "The Lacandon song of the jaguar'
TIalocan 2: 376.