[188-3] And Father Lizana has preserved in the original
Maya tongue several such foreboding chants. Doubtless he has adapted
them somewhat to proselytizing purposes, but they seem very likely to be
close copies of authentic aboriginal songs, referring to the return of
Zamna or Kukulcan, lord of the dawn and the four winds, worshipped at
Cozumel and Palenque under the sign of the cross. An extract will show
their character:--
"At the close of the thirteenth Age of the world,
While the cities of Itza and Tancah still flourish,
The sign of the Lord of the Sky will appear,
The light of the dawn will illumine the land,
And the cross will be seen by the nations of men.
A father to you, will He be, Itzalanos,
A brother to you, ye natives of Tancah;
Receive well the bearded guests who are coming,
Bringing the sign of the Lord from the daybreak,
Of the Lord of the Sky, so clement yet powerful."[189-1]
The older writers, Gomara, Cogolludo, Villagutierre, have taken pains to
collect other instances of this presentiment of the arrival and
domination of a white race.
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