anger, destroyed the idol of the horse and also the tolerance of the Itzas.
“Having returned to the guest house, and having rested a little from the toil of the Spiritual Battle and of breaking the Idol, the Religious went to see Canek, who, although he already knew what had happened in the Temple, and though they themselves spoke of it to him, did not say a word about it, nor did he show anger on account of it. So that the other Indians, seeing their Lord calm, became entirely appeased, and spoke no more of the affair to the Padres. But it is true that the Canek did not leave off wondering that they should have dared to do such a thing as that.
The Padres Urge the Itzas to be Christians. “He made them sit down on something which was like a small throne and on which he was wont to sit himself; it was then raised and placed in the midst of them, and being thus raised, the Padres discoursed for a long time concerning the affairs of God and the Holy Catholic Faith….
They Refuse because the Appointed Time has not Come. They told the Canek that a previous Canek had promised Cortes to receive Christianity. “… Canek replied: That the time had not yet arrived in which their ancient Priests had prophesied to them they were to relinquish the worship of their Gods; because the Period in which they then were was Oxahau, which means Third Period[1] … and so they asked
- ↑ The prophecies spoken of by Avendaño (pp. 22, 23) are interesting. They are those of Patzin Yaxun, of Nahau Pec, of Ahkukil-Chel, of Ahnupuc-Tun, and of Chilan-Balam, High-priest of Tixcacayoc Cabich in Mani. The text of all of them is given by Villagutierre and by Cogolludo; translations appear in Fancourt and many other places. We may believe that no matter when the events took place which gave rise to the present versions of the prophecies, the versions themselves probably grew up among the Itzas between 1524 and 1618, for, as we have seen, the Canek of Cortes's day displayed no aversion to the proposed introduction of Christianity among his subjects. It is not denied that a foundation in fact may have existed for the belief that the seers of northern Yucatan foretold some calamity; the present contention is merely that the prophecies which the Itzas had in mind when they told Padre Fuensalida that the time for their conversion had not yet come were of comparatively recent origin among them. The Catholic character of the phraseology is too obvious to dwell upon. Cf. Villagutierre, p. 35 ff.; Cogolludo, p. 96 ff.; Fancourt, 1854, p. 57 ff.;
