[Maya]
[English]28. The town Conah Itza, or Con Ahitza, Con of the Itzas, may refer to the seaport, Coni, the eastern coast, where Montejo landed on his first expedition. Bishop Toral did not arrive in Yucatan until 1562, so the mention of him proves that this narrative was written after that date.
[Maya]
[English]29. No such person as Juan de Montejo is known.
[Maya]
[English]30. Yocol peten; so it is first spelled in the original manuscript, and afterwards altered to Yucalpeten. This latter occurs as a name applied to the peninsula, or a portion of it, in a number of passages of the Book of Chilan Balam of Chumayel. These have been quoted by the Canon Crescencio Carrillo in a recent work (Historia Antigua de Yucatan, pp. 137, 140, Merida, 1882), to support his view that the name Yucatan is an abbreviation of Yucalpeten.
Apart from the difficulty of explaining such an extensive abbreviation, which is not at all in the spirit of the Maya tongue, the words of Pech in this section and § 33 conclusively prove that the two names are entirely distinct in origin. Carrillo is of opinion that yucal should be divided into y, u, cal, and he translates the name “la perla de la garganta de la tierra ò continente.” This appears far-fetched. Yocal is probably merely yoc hail, upon the water (il, determinative ending denoting what water); hence yocal peten, the region upon the water, applied to Yucatan or some part of its coast district. The h is nearly mute and frequently elided, as in ocola (ocol haa) to baptize.
A prophecy of the priest Pech, which is perhaps the one here referred to, appears in several of the Books of Chilan Balam, and also Spanish translations of it in the Histories of Lizana and Cogolludo, and a French version in Brasseur’s report of the Mission Scientifique au Mexique, etc.
The text is quite corrupt, but I insert it as I have emended it from a comparison of three copies.
U Than Ahau Pech Ahkin.
Tu kinil uil u natabal kine,
Yume ti yokcab te ahtepal.
Uale canɔit u katunil,
Uchi uale hahal pul.
Tu kin kue yoklal u kaba,
In kubene yume.
Ti a-uich-ex tu bel a uliah, Ahitza,
U yum cab ca ulom.
Than tu chun ahau Pech ahkin,
Tu kinil uil can ahau katun,
Uale tan hiɔil u katunil.
The Word of the lord Pech, the Priest.