The Disobedient Son

Mayan Folktale translated from Q'anjob'al Maya language of Guatemala by Fernando Peñalosa.

There was once a boy who was rude and wouldn't obey his mother. He would go out for a walk, without having eaten. He wouldn't come back until late, about ten or eleven o'clock at night. At ten o'clock his mother was still waiting up and worrying about him.

"What have you been doing, son?" his mother asked him. "I'm going to bed because it's late and I have just been waiting for you. You don't pay any attention to anything I tell you. I'm going to send you to your godfather. You don't pay any attention to what I tell you. The boy's mother went to see her compadre* the priest

"Compadre, what can be done about your godson? He is quite a scoundrel and doesn't obey me. You're a priest, and you can counsel and discipline this godson of yours; I can't do anything with him. This godson of yours is a rascal, compadre. Let him come to stay here with you to see if he will learn to behave."

"All right, comadre, have him come here. Why shouldn't he do what I tell him? I'm indeed a priest. I'll teach my godson to work. Don't worry, comadre, my godson is going to obey me." The woman said to her son:

"Go with your godfather, my son. He'll teach you. Since you won't obey me, go and work there."

"All right, mother, I'll go to my godfather's. Since I'm not of any use to you, I'll go and work with my godfather."

"I have come, godfather. What can I do for you? 'Go stay with your godfather', my mother said. That's why I came here to you. My mother is the one who sent me. 'Go to your godfather, you're no longer of any use to me,' my mother said."

"All right, godson," the priest said to him, "You're going to work for me."

"All right, godfather, I'm going to work. I'm going to do whatever you tell me to do; everything you tell me, I will do, godfather."

"All right. Now I'm going to tell you something," said the priest. "Godson, tomorrow morning early you're going to sweep; at three o'clock in the morning. I'm not going to awaken you, I'm just telling you now."

"All right," said the boy. At dawn he went and swept. When he was finished sweeping he went to tell his godfather the priest.

"Godfather, I've finished sweeping all of the church. So I've come to tell you."

"All right, godson, I'm glad you've finished. Now rest." Another day passed and the godfather gave him his next task:

"Now godson, I'm going to tell you what you have to do tomorrow morning. You're going to ring the bell at six o'clock. I want you to ring three times and when you're finished, come and tell me and I'll go to say Mass."

"All right," said the boy. When the next day was over the boy went to ring the bell. He went to tell his godfather:

"Godfather, I rang the bell three times. It's time to get up and go and say Mass," he told his godfather.

"All right," said the godfather. Another day was over and the priest spoke once more to the godson:

"Now I'm going to tell you once more what you have to do tomorrow."

"All right," said the boy.

"Ring the bell again early at three o'clock in the morning."

"All right," said the boy. The boy got up and remembered to ring the bell. He went to ring the bell in the belfry, but the priest, his godfather, had given the boy a test. He had left a skeleton in the belfry. The boy got there at three o'clock in the morning and found a skeleton standing in his way. He said to the skeleton:

(Boy encounters skeleton)
"Get out of my way! I'm coming to ring the bell. Don't get in my way. Get out of my way, for my godfather sent me to ring the bell. Get out of my way or I'll kill you!" He didn't get out of the way, he didn't move and he didn't answer. "Answer, or do you want me to kill you?" the boy asked the skeleton. "If for the third time you don't answer me, I'm going to smash you to pieces. That's what you want. That's why you got in my way, so now you're going to die. I'm going to throw you all the way down from here." And he pushed the skeleton out of the belfry. When he had smashed the skeleton he rang the bell and came down from the belfry. He went to his godfather's bedroom and knocked on the door to awaken him. The godfather woke up and answered the door:

"What is it?" the priest asked the boy.

"Get up, I've already rung the bell," the boy told the priest. The priest heard this and was surprised.

"Oh, did you ring the bell?" asked the priest.

"Yes, I rang the bell, godfather," the boy said.

"Didn't you see anything in the belfry?" asked the priest.

"Yes, godfather," the boy answered, "I saw something."

"What did you see?" the priest asked the boy.

"I saw someone who was standing in my way who wouldn't let me get by to ring the bell," the boy answered.

"Oh, so what did you do?" asked the priest. "Weren't you afraid of him?

"No, godfather."

"So what did you do?"

"I pushed him and he fell and broke into pieces on the floor."

"Oh, your mother told me the truth about you being a rascal," the priest said to the boy. "So you weren't afraid of him. You're a rascal of a godson. Rest. Tomorrow you will work once more." Another day came and his godfather called the boy:

"Now godson, I'm going to tell you what you're going to do tonight. You're going to take care of the sexton, who is very ill. He's about to die," the priest told the boy. "I'm tired of taking care of him."

"All right, Godfather, I'll do everything you tell me to, I'm not afraid," the boy said.

"All right," said the godfather, "at nine o'clock tonight it will be your turn to take care of the sexton by the altar. That's where he is."

"All right, godfather, I'll go and take care of him." The boy went to where the sexton was and spoke to him:

"Are you really sick?" the boy asked the sexton.

"Yes, I'm very sick, I feel like I'm going to die," the sexton told him.

"If you please, I'm going to take care of you," the boy said to the sexton. The sexton was complaining loudly, and the boy would go every so often to see him:

"Oh, you're dying," the boy told the sexton.

"I feel like I'm dying," the sexton told the boy.

"Poor thing, you had better die right away. You're just suffering. I better kill you once and for all so that you will be relieved of your suffering," the boy said to the sexton.

"Not yet, later on," the sexton said to the boy.

"No, I'm telling you that you're going to die now, for it's hard taking care of you," the boy said to the sexton. "You're going to have to forgive me, but I'm going to wring your neck."

(Boy tends sick sacristan)
"No," said the sexton.

"Oh yes I am, give me your neck, because you're going to die right now; you're just suffering. He wrung the sexton's neck. When the boy saw that the sexton had died, he went to tell his godfather. He came to his godfather's bedroom and knocked on the door:

"Get up, godfather." The priest got up and opened his door. "Hurry up godfather," the boy said, "come quickly." The boy went into the priest's bedroom. "Godfather, come with me quickly, I killed the sexton."

"Oh, why did you kill him? He wasn't sick."

"I killed him because he was suffering so much."

"Why did you kill him? He was perfectly all right."

"I'm the one who took his life."

"Oh, you bad godson, my sexton was fine, he wasn't sick," the priest told the boy again.

"So why did you send me to do that job?" the boy asked his godfather.

 "You're not a good godson," said the priest. "My sexton was fine. He wasn't sick, but you didn't have anything to do. That's why I looked for a job you could do. I didn't know you were going to kill him. Now you're going to take a letter to a certain place. It will take you four years to get there."

"All right, godfather," said the boy, "I'll go. But first make me an iron rod with pincers and I'll take it along as my companion."

"All right." The letter was written and handed to the boy for him to take to that place, to the underworld.

"You're going right now," the priest told the boy. As the priest believed the boy was stupid he thought he was gone for good.

The boy took the letter and came to the place where he was supposed to deliver it. It was that place in the underworld where the devil lived. The boy arrived with the letter, came to his house and knocked on the door.

"Is the master here?" the boy asked the doorman.

"No, the master isn't here. Wait for him," he told the boy.

"All right, I have a letter to deliver," the boy said to the doorman. "Wait for him, sit down in this chair."

"I'm not going to sit down. This chair is bad. I'm going to stand for a while. When is the devil coming?"

"He's coming right away."

"I'm going to wait for him a little while longer. If he doesn't come, can I leave this letter with you?"

"Yes, you can," said the doorman.

"All right, here's his letter. Give me the answer."

"I'm not going to give you an answer; only the little devil who's in the dormitory can. I'll go bring the little devil," said the doorman.

"Go ahead and he himself will answer."

"All right," said the doorman. The little devil came to where the boy had the master's letter.

"You're going to give me an answer, because the master isn't in. That's why you're going to give me an answer."

"All right," said the little devil. "Wait a minute." As he was just saying that and not giving him an answer, the boy became angry:

"Are you going to give it to me or not?"

"Wait a moment longer," said the little devil.

"Are you going to give it to me or not?"

"Wait another moment."

"Now, are you going to give me the answer or not? Oh, aren't you ever going to give me the answer? I better take you back as an answer. Now, come with me."

"I won't go," said the little devil. You're not the one giving the orders around here."

"Come with me!" said the boy as he seized the little devil's ear with the pincers and took him by the hand. The boy set off and came back to his godfather four years after having left to take the letter. He came back one night and awakened his godfather.

"Oh," the godfather was taken aback when he saw that the boy had returned.

"Who are you?" the priest asked the boy.

(Little Devil)
"It's me, godfather, it's me. Get up right away, for I have brought you your answer. Get up right away." The priest was perplexed, because he thought that the boy was never going to return. He got up and opened the door. When he saw the boy he was frightened.

"Here's your answer, godfather. Here I brought you your answer, because the master wasn't there. That's why I brought you this little devil as your answer."

* The term compadre refers to the godfather of one's child or the father of one's godchild. The term comadre refers to the godmother of one's child or the mother of one's godchild.

This folktale reprinted from Tales and Legends of the Q'anjob'al Maya, published by Yax Te' Press, copyright 1995. This 178 page book is illustrated and may be ordered from Yax Te' Foundation, 3520 Coolheights Drive, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275, U. S. A. for $10.95 postpaid if you mention the FolkArt.com™. (Foreign postage add $2.00).

Yax Te' Foundation
c/o Fernando Peñalosa
3520 Coolheights Drive
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275-6231
U. S. A.

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