apibal, the active form in the next line, means “that which shuts up,” i. e., gates or doors. It will be remembered (see ante, p. [26]) that the gates of Iximche were constructed partly of, or ornamented with, obsidian, and the same is supposed here of the gates of the mythical city or place of Tulan.
ki-kan; our burden, our tribute. The passage seems to indicate that they left their former country to escape subjection.
oh qui tzih; the passage may be translated “theirs were the words which incited us,” i. e., to revolt and to depart.
[6.] The articles mentioned as paid in the tribute, have been described in the Introduction (see p. [39]).
[7.] “So spoke the Obsidian Stone,” i. e., the sacred oracle, referred to as the final arbiter. See anté, p. [26].
“The wood and stone which deceive,” that is, the idols of wood and stone which they worshiped.
[8.] This paragraph is obscure, and the numerous erasures in Brasseur’s translation indicate the difficulty he found in discovering its meaning.