Rabinal-Achi

C'at el uloc, vorom ahau, cakom ahau! Cuxere chi nabe vae mavi ca nu qizo u chayic u vixal, u cutamil ahau Chacachib, Zamanib, Cauk Rabinal!.... Ca cha curi nu tzih chuvach cah, chuvach uleu. Quehe mavi quïa tzih qu'in chau uq La. Cah, uleu chi qohe uq La, o Galel-Achi Rabinal-Achi!

Come out, you foul lord, you hateful lord! Will you be the first whose root and trunk I cannot cut down, lord of Chacachib and Zamanib, Cauk of Rabinal? So says my word before the sky, before the earth. I will not make long speeches with you. May sky and earth be with you, O Galel-Achi, Rabinal-Achi!

Eha! ahcarroc cah, ahcarroc uleu! Qui, pa tzih ca biih La? togobvachinak u vach tzih chi bixtah La chuvach cah, chuvach uleu, chi nu chi, chi nu vach. «In oyeu, in achi, ca cha curi tzih La. La apare at anomahinak-vi uloc chuvach chay, chuvach labal? ca cha ri tzih La.» La! in qo oyeu, la! in qo achi, xatalari alavi in anomahinak uloc chuvach chay, chuvach labal! Xavi ca cha na curi tzih La: «Ch'a hiquiba na u vach a huyubal, a tagahal, ca cha ri tzih La.» La! in qo oyeu, la! in qo achi! curi-ta x-ch'in hiquiba tacut u vach nu huyubal, nu tagahal! Mana calah in bozinak-vi tzala huyu, tzala tagah, xa in r'al zutz, xa in r'al mayul? Hulacha x-ch'in hiquiba nu huyubal, nu tagahal! ca-rah xa x-ch'iqo can cah, x-ch'iqo can uleu! Ca cha curi nu tzih chuvach cah, chuvach uleu. Quehe mavi quïa tzih koh tzihoyah uq La, ô Galel-Achi Rabinal-Achi. Cah, uleu chi qohe uq La!

Alas! Hear me, sky! Hear me, earth! Is this truly what your mouth says? Poor indeed are the words you have spoken before the sky and the earth, to my mouth and to my face. Your word calls me a brave man, a warrior, and then it asks, “Did you come fleeing from spear and war?” What! I am a brave man, I am a warrior, and I would have fled from spear and war? Your word says too, “Tell me the name of your mountains and your valleys.” What! I am a brave man, I am a warrior, and I would tell you the name of my mountains and my valleys? Is it not as clear as day that I was born on the side of a mountain, on the floor of a valley, that I am a child of the clouds, a child of the mist? Would I tell you my mountains and my valleys? Sooner let the sky and the earth pass away! So says my word before the sky, before the earth. We will not make long speeches with you, O Galel-Achi, Rabinal-Achi. May sky and earth be with you!

Ahcarroc cah, ahcarroc uleu! La ca cha curi tzih La chuvach cah, chuvach uleu. «Alata-cu qo-vi ri x-chi r'oquibeh, ri x-chi r'elebeh ri tzih, ri u chalinic ri mi-x-koh tzihoyah uq La chuvach cah, chuvach uleu. Are-ba chi r'elebeh, are x-ch'u kahibeh, rumal x-ch'a hiquiba, x-ch'a calahizah u vach a huyubal, u vach a tagahal: ve mavi x-ch'a calahizah, ta ca-rah cah, ta ca-rah uleu, xa at vahim, xa at perahim x-cat nu coh-ul chuvach v'ahaual, nu vinakil.» Ca cha curi tzih La chuvach cah, chuvach uleu. Caroh! at, cah, caroh! at, uleu! Ri bala x-ch'in hiquiba cut u vach nu huyubal, u vach nu tagahal? ri, yx, tapichol-on, tziquin? In r'oyeualal, in r'achihilal ri ahau ri Yaqui Cunen, ri Yaqui Chahul. La, ahau Balam-Achi, Balam-Quiche qui lahucutah kabinak-vi r'akanibal zutz, mayul, chi nu huyubal, chi nu tagahal. Alata cu qo-vi chu kahibeh, alata cu qo-vi ri x-chi r'elebeh va tzih, va u chalinic ri mi-x-oh tzihon uq La chuvach cah, chuvach uleu. Quehe cah, uleu chi qohe uq La, o Galel-Achi, Rabinal-Achi!

Alas, sky! Alas, earth! So this is what your word says before the sky and the earth: “There must be a way to draw out and bring forth the words of this speech we have spoken together before the sky and the earth. Bring them out, bring them down: you will tell me, you will make plain the name of your mountains and your valleys. If you do not, may the sky and the earth will it, I will bring you bound or in pieces before my lord, my master.” That is what your word says before the sky and the earth. Look on me, sky! Look on me, earth! To whom, then, would I tell the name of my mountains and my valleys? To you birds with bright yellow feathers? I am the valor, I am the courage of the lord of the Yaqui of Cunen, the Yaqui of Chahul. Yes, ten times Lord Balam-Achi, Balam-Quiche, has come down the stairway of cloud and mist into my mountains and my valleys. Where, then, is the way to draw out and bring forth the words of this speech we have spoken before the sky and the earth? So may sky and earth be with you, O Galel-Achi, Rabinal-Achi!