An Annotated Translation of a Colonial Yucatec Manuscript:
On Religious and Cosmological Topics by a Native Author

(The Fifteen Signs Before Final Judgment, or Xot Kin)
ms. p.101-5

Highly popular in medieval Europe, the fifteen signs preceding judgment appear in diverse works, from The Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine to a rhymed version by Gonzalo de Berceo, a contemporary of Alfonso X.⁸⁵  The Church prohibited speculation concerning the precise date of the Apocalypse; literature detailing the final fifteen days indulged fascination with the topic without violating this proscription.

For millennarian Franciscans who came to the New World in the sixteenth century, the end times seemed imminent. The second coming had been delayed to give all humankind the chance to hear the gospel; the conversion of the Indians satisfied that requisite.⁸⁶  Easter Sunday, the day of Christ’s resurrection, presages His return when He will descend to earth surrounded by the instruments of His passion.

Apocalyptic belief has persisted among the conservative Cruzob Maya, who have resisted outside control from government and religious authorities.⁸⁷  When Paul Sullivan spent time in Tuzik between 1978 and 1980, he was shown a handwritten copy of the fifteen signs which he recognized from his earlier study of a photo-copy of the Chilam Balam of Tuzik.⁸⁸  After a lapse of hundreds of years, these signs remain remarkably similar to the ones here. Concern with the final days and Christ’s imminent return inspires oral tradition as well. Nikolai Grube recorded the words of Cecilio Can Canul, former guardian of the sacred books of Tixcacal Guardia, "But mu xantal, very soon, there will be the return of Christ, the folding of the years, the folding of the era will occur. Christ will connect, the Maya Christ will connect, the kuxa'an suum, the living rope, to the sky again; then the sacred crosses will be so close they will all start to speak."⁸⁹  The reconnection of all crosses in the world is predicted here in the thirteenth sign when "the crosses will shine forth, those in the forests as in the towns, and their faces will light up like the sun."

The recording of cataclysmic events within a structured temporal sequence characterizes indigenous Maya genres, both the katun counts, and stories of previous world endings like those in the Popol Vuh. Thus the fifteen signs provided new information in a form somewhat familiar to a Maya audience. Ironically, the millennarian beliefs taught by the Franciscans⁹⁰  have not only endured, but have provided a source of identity and resistance for the Cruzob Maya, who have considered themselves God’s chosen people, guardians of the living crosses which will announce Christ’s return.⁹¹

Tilic U chicancunic ah bolon pixan San Jheronimo = hach ah miatz -              [p.101]
In which blessed Saint Jerome, really a wise man, gives the signs,

chican ychil U yunil Kulem Dzib.
recorded within his book of holy scripture;

heklay chicul noh mactzil. bin Vchuc tu Kinil.
these signs of great wonder will occur on the day,

ca bin Vchuc haay cabil. tumenel Ca yumil ti Dios Lae
when the end of the world will occur, because of our lord God,

ca bin xotoc U kin bal caah tunil⁹²  Lae =
when He will judge this world in its entirety,

hool hun tzuc chican ti hunil Kulen Dzib Lae⁹³ ====================
fifteen-fold, recorded in this book of sacred writing.

1. tu hunppel U Kiⁿⁱl. binil likebal⁹⁴  = KaKnab -
1. On the first day, the ocean is going to be rising,

bay bin LiKebal canale.
thus it will be rising on high.

ca Kal V sapal. bin manebal. yokol U nuctacil cheob =
Two-score arm lengths, it will be passing above the great trees,

maix tan. U lubul. ti eDzlic tu cuchil -
nor are they falling, there submerged in place -

bay bin pactabal yahau nohoch mul. Uayx nohoch uitze =
thus he will be seen, the lord of the great mound, or the great mountain.⁹⁵

2. tu cappel U Kinil - U sappal yalil KaKnab =
2. On the second day, the water of the ocean dries up,

ti maix tux yilabal - yalile ----------------
then nowhere is seen its water.

3. tu yoxppel U Kinil. binil hokebal yalil ba^lob KaKnab.
3. On the third day, the things of the ocean will be coming forth,

tulacal y. U nuctacilob = y = U meheniltacilob. Cayob.
all of them, both the great and the small among the fishes,

ti tatah auat.⁹⁶  U beelteob. tu hunali Dios. ohel_____
there they make unknown cries; by God alone they are known.

4. tu canppel. U Kinil. bin emLahac - KiKob tu le cheob. yt. xiuoob =              [p.102]
4. On the fourth day, blood will descend from the leaves of trees and plants,

bayx Licil yalic bin U molbaob - U yabal. tulacal chichoob.
so too it says that they will gather themselves, the multitude of all the birds,

ti okol. ti matan U hanalob. mayx yukicob haa.
crying out without eating or drinking water;

chenbeel auat okolix bin U beelteob
only cries of lament will they make,

yoklal tumen U tal yumilbil. ti xot Kin = Uay ti bal caah. yoKol cabe ------------------
because of the coming of the lord for judgment, here in the world on earth.

5. tu hoppel U Kinil = binil hom elec⁹⁷  yalil KaKnab -
5. On the fifth day, the waters of the ocean will smolder,

bin ylabac hach ti bantzil u Kakile = bay bin elbal lab coob Lay haa Loe =
its truly terrible fire will be seen as they will be burning, these waters then.

6. tu Vacppel U Kinil. binil hubebal. tulacal bal meyahaanob.
6. On the sixth day, they will be destroyed, all the things that have been wrought;

bin ban Lahac. bay paKob yt. hecenbal meyahaan Uay ti Lume = tix u KiniLoe =
they will all fall, thus walls and whatever has been wrought here on earth, on that day;

binil Vchuc Uchebal peec ti caan. hach Kam. tulacal bin Vyic Lae
it will occur because of a sound in heaven, really loud; everyone will hear this.

7. tu Vucppel U kinil - bin uchebal U moltanba Uinicob.
7. On the seventh day will be occurring the gathering together of men,

ti tatah auatob = Uay ti bal cah ti Lume =
unintelligibly they cry out, here in the world on earth,

y. balcheob - bin U paKte cun U baob. yt Vincob              [p.103]
and the beasts will join together with the men,

ti tatah auat ti maix. ti ma uchac U uatal tu yocob ti Lum.
unintelligibly they cry out, unable to stand on their feet on the earth.

8. tu Vaxacppel U Kinil binil Uchebal -
8. On the eighth day will be occurring,

U naptanba. nucuch tunichob. tu batanbaob y. u mehenil.
the smashing of great stones among themselves, together with the small ones,

binix can can⁹⁸  buhacob. y.yx mehen tunichob
and they will loudly shatter, and also the small stones,

binnix can can buhac tulacal -
and they will loudly shatter, all of them.

9. tu bolon piz⁹⁹  U Kinil binil hokebal yuchul bin taxac U hool che. yt Lum -
9. On the ninth day the coming forth of His power will level the tops of trees with earth,

binic¹⁰⁰ pecnac Lum. bin yumbanac lum = bal mentabilob tulacal. bin buhlahac ----
the earth will move; the earth will quake; things made, all of them, will break apart.

10. tu lahun piz U Kinil - binil hokebal Uinicob - ma ohelan tub likulob -
10. On the tenth day men will come forth, unknown whence they come,

ti cahob tulacal bin mancob bay calanobe. ma Uchac U thanob batanbaob.bobil te¹⁰¹
to the towns they all will pass as if drunk, unable to speak among themselves as they are.

y. bin yanac hach sahacil ti uincob tumen mactzil.
and there will be great fear among men because of the marvel,

binix ticinnac¹⁰² Uinic tumen U tuculicob. Lae ------------------------------------------
and men will riot because of their thoughts.

ij¹⁰³ .tu buluc piz U Kinil.              [p.104]
11. On the eleventh day,

binil hoKebal U bacel cimenob. yanob yalan Lume =
the bones of the dead that are underground will be coming forth,

binix hetlahac mucNalob.¹⁰⁴
and the tombs will open,

binix muchlac V bacelob yok mucNal.
and the bones will mound up on top of the tombs;

ti yuklah ti cab. bin uchbal lae¹⁰⁵ ---------------------------------------------------
everywhere on earth this will be happening.

12.tu lahca piz U kinil. binil kaxebal kik
12. On the twelfth day, it will be raining blood,

yt. bin banlahac ekob. tu nak caan lae
and all the stars will fall from the face of the sky,

tix V kinil U molicuba balcheob ti chakan.
and on that day the beasts gather themselves on the plain;

tulacal baalcheob. bin hun molac ti tatah auatob.
all the beasts will gather as one to cry out,

he balcheilob sihnalob Uay ti Lum tumen Diose -----------------------------------------
these beasts created here on earth by God.

13. tu yox Lahun piz U Kinil binil V yanac. U than hom = ti caan =
13. On the thirteenth day there will be the speaking of a trumpet from heaven,

bay U than U homil.
thus speaks the trumpet:

ca u lohah balcah ca yumil = ca cimi ti cilich cruze =
Our Lord redeemed the earth when He died on the blessed cross;

Layli u Kinil binil Lembanac cruzob yannicob ti Kax - bay ych cahobe=
only on this day the crosses will shine forth, those in the forests, as in the towns,

binix sasilac u pacat bay kine
and their faces will light up like the sun;¹⁰⁶

bin u sunt tulacal
they will return, all of them,

tijx tun u chembel. cimil uinic tulacal bin lah cimebal              [p.105]
then when they are just dying; men all will be dying;

cuxanob. tac ti hopci cimile --
the living, even then they begin to die.

14. tu canlahun piz u kinil. binil emec canil kak.
14. On the fourteenth day, fire will descend from heaven,

tu can tukil caan. ca bin emec.
from the four corners of heaven it will descend,

uchebal u yelel caan y. luum. tusinil = y. kaknab -
so that heaven and earth burn everywhere, and also the ocean,

binix taxac. lum. ti hun yuklah cab lae
and the land will be levelled then everywhere on this earth.

15. tu hoolhun piz u kinil. binil emec angel. yt. hoom.
15. On the fifteenth day an angel will descend with a trumpet.

sur xite mortui¹⁰⁷ = likenex cimenex cix u than
"Surgite mortui": Arise, you dead ones - so it speaks,

tij tun bin caput cuxLac cimenob - tulacal.
so then they will live again, the dead, all of them,

bay cimentacob. hoppci balcahile uchebal u mucticob. u xot Kin ca yumil ti Dios =
so the deaths began on earth in order that our lord God gather them for judgment,

Ca bin emec. tij tun u kinil.¹⁰⁸
when He will descend then on His day,

Ca bin emec Ca yumil ti Jhesu christo =
when He will descend, our lord Jesus Christ,

ti bakan u pach. y. canil uinicob -.y. angelesob u yetemel
surrounded by both the heavenly people and the angels descending with Him.

Lay cilich cruz. V machmae ca caput cuxlah hij =
Here is the blessed cross He has grasped and again lived,

y. siprina = y. hisopo - y. suum - bayx lansa = y. pocbil¹⁰⁹ kix.
and the cypress and hysop and the cord; thus also, the lance and crown of thorns,

.y. crabos¹¹⁰. baahcij u cilich kab - y. u cilich oc lae
and the nails which nailed His blessed hand and His blessed foot here,

y - tula^cal pasçionob = ca bin emec ti xot kine =              [p.106]
and all the "passions"¹¹¹ that will descend at the judgment.

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