Article suitable for Top Juniors and above

‘The Sinister Road: the Nine Levels of Mictlan’ by Gonzalo Zacaula Velázquez (1)

15th Apr 2023

Mexicolore contributor Gonzalo Zacaula Velázquez

We’re delighted to share with you this story by Nahua author of pre-Hispanic literature Gonzalo Zacaula Velázquez, from the town of Tecámac, Estado de México, associate of the Nahuatl teaching/cultural organisation Ce-Acatl (link below). Gonzalo has kindly given us permission to translate and upload his story and we’ve illustrated it with specially commissioned images by Steve Radzi of Mayavision (these start in ‘Chapter’ 2). The NOTES explain how the story fits - or doesn’t fit! - the illustrations/stages. Enjoy...

The guide sighed deeply – he only had one commission to fulfil: to deliver this poor wretch to the end of the most dangerous route of all time. A risky trip even for him, used as he was to the danger. As he eyed the poor soul – nervous, pale, frightened, disoriented, weak, insignificant - the passage seemed almost impossible. If he left him to his fate he would disappear instantly.
He sighed again, reflecting ‘Damn, they always give me the hardest jobs’. The crossing was scary enough as it was: bridging rivers running with boiling blood, facing Kisin’s armies of disease and contagion, and worst of all daring to disobey Popocatzin, Smoking Lord of the Shadows, cruel and pitiless, who had put a price on his head, he reflected bitterly.
‘Where are we? Who are you?’ asked the wretched soul.

The guide looked at him, perplexed. He didn’t want to talk about the dangerous passage: the going will be harder still if he doesn’t know what’s involved, he thought sadly. But he could hardly ignore such a question and he turned to look at the man with pity.
‘Forget my name, just call me Guide; I’ve been commissioned to carry you safe and sound to the other side of the river. To me you’re one more package – I’m just doing my job.’
‘Who commissioned you? I don’t remember anything, I just see blurred shadows. Was I taken prisoner? Who’s paying you to rescue me?’
‘Look friend, the less we talk the better. You’ll do as I say. The crossing is extremely dangerous; my duty is to take you to the end, but I’ll need your help. There are lots of hazards, if I lose you, believe me, you’ll never be found again, you’ll have to trust me, hold onto your bag, and do exactly as I tell you.’

‘I’m afraid, I don’t know who you are, and anyway, who asked you to help me – my boss, my family, my community? What do you mean I’m just a package? I’m wealthy and my family would pay good money to rescue me, I can assure you: I have a lot of money.’
The guide looked at him squarely, he felt pity and tried to reassure him.
‘Listen, if I wasn’t willing to do this, all the money in the world wouldn’t persuade me. This is my job. Don’t worry, I’ve been paid. And besides, I’ve done this trip many times, I’m a professional. Believe me when I say this isn’t going to be easy, but we can do it.’

NOTES:-
• The images relate more to the first stage on the journey (see Page 2): crossing a river, accompanied by a dog as guide. A faithful dog would often be sacrificed alongside its owner; if the family were too poor, a ceramic model of a dog would be buried with the deceased instead.
• Here Gonzalo is simply setting the scene, introducing Guide and Soul (‘Package’).

Picture sources:-
• Mural photo by Eva Sánchez Fernández/Mexicolore
• (Original) image scanned from our own copy of the ADEVA facsimile edition of the Codex Zouche-Nuttall, Graz, Austria, 1987
• Illustration ‘The Spirit of the dead Aztec is attacked by an Evil Spirit who scatters Clouds of Ashes’ by Gilbert James scanned from The Myths of Mexico and Peru by Lewis Spence (1913).

Aztec limerick no. 46: ode to Mictlan -
When your average Aztec died
Their soul faced a rough 4-year ride –
Over gorges, ‘cross rivers,
Winds that give icy shivers,
And mountains that move and collide...

Ce-Acatl website ‘Rumbo al Mictlán’ (children’s story, in Spanish) - Mexican government publication Mayavision website