The Zapotec Are a native town of the south of Mexico, concretely in what today is the south of the states of Oaxaca, Puebla and Guerrero.
This indigenous group dates back to pre-Columbian times, when it was of great importance in the region, with a great cultural development in which its fully developed writing system can be highlighted.
Zapotec vase
At present there are about 800,000 zapotecas scattered in Mexico and the United States who have watched to keep fresh and intact their culture and language and transmit it to the new generations.
It is for this reason that at present there are many Zapotec literary pieces, among which poems stand out.
Popular Poems Zapotec and its Spanish Translation
Then we leave some texts of Zapotec poems in their original language, and translated into Spanish.
1- Xtuí
Gula'qui 'xtuxhu
Beeu guielúlu
Ne bichuugu 'xtuí nucachilú
Ndaani 'xpidola yulu'.
Bina 'guiehuana' daabilú '
Of ra guixiá dxaapahuiini 'nuu ndaani' guielulu '.
Shame
Put the edge
Of the moon over your eyes
And cut short the shame that hides
In your ground marble.
Cries buried mirrors
Until the girl disappears.
2- Guielú dani guí
Ndaani 'ti le' yuze zuguaa
Cagaañe guidxilayú ne dxita ñee:
Head naa
Naa ridide 'nisiaase' luguiá 'ti za guiba'
Ne riuaabie 'nu nuume.
Volcano eye
In the arena a bull
Dig the world with hooves:
Wait for me
I spend asleep on a cloud
And I throw myself.
3- Yoo lidxe '
Dxi guca 'nahuiini' guse 'ndaani' na 'jñaa biida'
Sica beeu ndaani 'ladxi'do' guibá '.
Luuna 'stidu xiaa ni biree ndaani' xpichu 'yaga bioongo'.
Gudxite nia 'strompi'pi' bine 'laa za,
Ne guie 'sti matamoro gúca behua xiñaa bitua'dxi riguíte nia' ca bizana '.
Sica rucuiidxicabe benda buaa lu gubidxa zacaca gusidu lu daa,
Galaa i lagadu rasi belecrú.
Cayaca gueta suquii, cadiee doo ria 'ne guixhe, cayaca guendaró,
Kayaba nisaguie guidxi layú, rucha'huidu dxuladi,
Ne ndaani 'ti xiga ndo'pa' ri de'du telayú.
First house
I fell asleep in my grandmother's arms
Like the moon in the heart of heaven.
The bed: cotton that came out of the pochote fruit.
I made the trees of oil, and I sold my friends
Like guachinango the flower of the flamboyant.
As the shrimp dried in the sun, we lay on a blanket.
Above our eyelids slept the star cross.
Commissaire tortillas, dyed yarns for hammocks,
The food was made with the happiness of the drizzle on the earth,
We beat the chocolate,
And in an enormous jícara they served us the dawn.
4- Ni náca ne reedasilú naa
Ti mani 'nasisi napa xhiaa ne riguite.
Ti ngueengue rui 'diidxa' ne riabiri guidiladi,
Naca 'ti badudxaapa' huiini 'biruche dxiña cana gutoo ne qui nindisa ni
Ti dxita bere yaase 'riza guidilade' ne rucuaani naa.
Rucaa xiee ti yoo beñe zuba cue 'lidxe',
Naca 'layú ne guirá lidxi.
Ti bandá 'gudindenecabe,
Timati 'nalase' zuguaa chaahui'gala gui'xhi 'ró.
Ti bacuxu 'sti nisa, sti yaga guie', cadi sti binni.
Naca 'tini bi'na' Xabizende.
Naca 'ti bereleele bitixhie'cabe diidxa' gulené.
What I am, what I remember
A freedom that frolics and has not become ugly.
The sensitivity of a talking parrot,
I am the girl who drops the cocadas and does not lift them,
A black hen's egg walks me and wakes me up.
I'm a nose that smells the adobe of the house opposite
A patio and all their houses.
A scolded photograph,
A thin line in the middle of the jungle.
A flower for water, for other flowers and not people.
I am a resin that St. Vincent wept.
I am a curassow who drowned his song in another language.
5- Given
Pa ñanda niniá 'luguiaa
Xa badudxaapa 'huiini' nayati guielú,
Niziee ': ti chalupa stibe,
Ti duubi 'nutiee sica ti pe'pe' yaase ',
Chupa neza guelaguidi ñapa send noguchi ruzaani '
Ne dxiña biadxi dondo ñó guenda stibe xa'na 'ti yaga bioongo'.
Nuzuguaa 'jmá guie' xtiá ne guie 'daana' ra lidxibe,
Nga nga ñaca xpidaanibe
I will not teach you anything
Ñanaxhii gupa naxhi cayale gasi guidiladibe.
Dadaist
If I could go to the market
With the girl with the pale eyes,
I would buy it: a lottery game,
A feather of the color of the dark jicaco,
Sandals with gold buckles
And for his nahual to eat under a ceiba tree,
The acidic thickness of the plums.
He would upholster his house with bunches of basil and cordoncillo,
That would be his huipil
And everyone who looked at her
He wanted it by the permanent dew of his body.
6- Stir
Bisa'bi cabee naa '
Cue 'ti bitoope dxa' birí naxhiñaa ndaani '
Ra caru 'gúcani de ni bidié ne nisa roonde' xti 'gueta biade.
Lú stir 'bizaacabe xhuga ne ti guiiba', gudaañecabe lú yaga
Nor bisiganinecabe binni nayaase 'guidiladi ni rini' sucks neza diiidxa '.
Bixelecabe chiqué ne ni ti guidxi qui nuchiña laacabe.
Xa'na 'dani beedxe'
Biyube 'ti guisu dxa' guiiba yaachi
Ti núchibi dxiibi xtinne '
Ne ti nisa candaabi 'bixhiá ndaani' bíga 'guielua'
Guira xixe guie 'huayuuya' lu sa 'guiidxi.
Table
I was abandoned
Next to a crab full of red ants
Later they were dust to paint with the baba of the cactus.
Of the table scratched with gouges: woodcut that crossed the silence
On bilingual skins and brunettes.
There was distance back then
Geography did not benefit the word.
Under the tiger's hill
I searched for a treasure to tame the fear
And an igneous liquid wiped from my left eye
All the flowers I've seen in May.
7- Lu ti nagana
Lu ti neza
Sucks on
Nagu'xhugá
Zuguaa '.
Tobi laughs
Nadxii naa,
Xtobi ca
Nadxiee laa
Nisaguié,
Nisaguié,
Gudiibixendxe
Ladxiduá '.
Gubidxaguié ',
Gubidxaguié ',
Binduuba 'gu'xhu'
Ndaani 'bizaluá'.
Doubt
On a road
That forks,
Confused
I find myself.
This
Loves Me,
I love her.
Rain,
Rain,
Wash with great care
My soul.
Sun in bloom,
Sun in bloom,
Spread the smoke
Of my eyes.
8- Biluxe
Biluxe
Ne ngasi nga laani.
Lu neza zadxaagalulu '
Ca ni bidxagalu cou '
Biol.
Guclu 'bandá' xtube;
Ti bi'cu ', ti bihui,
Ti binni.
Gasti 'zadxaa
Ne laaca ca bigose
Guxhuuna 'Íquelu'
Gusiquichi Ique badunguiiu
Bichaabe lii.
Ne laaca decheyoo
Bizucánelu 'laabe
Gusicabe guendarusiaanda 'xtube.
Gasti 'zadxaa.
Lii siou 'nga zusácalu'
Guidxilayu ma qui gapa
Xiñee guireexieque,
Ma qui gapa xiñee
Quiidxi guendanabani.
Ne zoyaalu 'guendanabani xtilu',
Ladxido'lo zapapa
Bia 'qui guchendaxhiaasi layú,
Ne nalu 'ne ñeelu'
Zusiaandu 'laaca',
Qui zánnalu paraa zuhuaalu ',
Ne nisi lulu ', nisi nalu'
Zaniibihuati guides 'ne guete'.
It's over
It's over
and that's it.
On your steps you will find
The very things that you found
during the days
That you were his shade;
A dog, a pig,
a person.
Nothing will change
And the same zanates
They got your head dirty
To whiten the youth
That took your place.
And behind the house
Where they lay
She will settle his forgetfulness.
Nothing will change,
However you will suppose
That does not make sense anymore
The movement of the earth,
There are no longer any reasons
To suffer life.
And you will bite your manhood,
Your heart will vibrate
With wings about to hit the ground,
And your arms and legs
You will put them into oblivion,
Lost on your site
You will find yourself moving silly
Eyes and arms from north to south.
9- Guielú dani guí
Ndaani'ti le 'yuze zuguaa
Cagaañe guidxilayú ne dxita ñee:
Head naa
Naa ridide 'nisiaase' luguiá 'ti za guiba'
Ne riuaabie'ra nuume.
Eye of Volcano
In the arena a bull
Dig the world with hooves:
Wait for me
I spend asleep on a cloud
And I throw myself.
10- Bidóo Bizáa
Bixhóoze dúu née rigola
Lí bizáa lúu guiráa níi:
Xiixi zíizi née naróoba.
Gubíidxa née stúuxu quiráati,
Béeu née cáahui quiráati,
Be it gui guibáa.
Bíinu cáa níisa dóo née guíigu,
Nisa Layúu dáagu née Níisa Píi.
Caa dáani née guiée,
Bidxíiña née bennda,
Máani ripáapa née búupu,
Bíi, dxíi, biáani,
Bandáa, láadxi doo.
Binni láaze née béedxe guéenda,
Léempa néexhe náa née guéeu níidi.
Bizáa lúu guennda nacháahui née guennda xhíihui,
Ráa dxíiba lúu náa née raáa bidíiñe,
Guennda nayéeche née guennda gúuti,
Guennda nabáani née guennda nanaláadxi náaca xcuáa.
Jnáadxi dúu líi Bidóo Záa:
Náupa náiru cáa xníiru íiza.
God the Creator
Master and lord
That you created everything:
The simple and great things.
The sun with its eternal rays,
The moon of infinite shadows,
The stars, the sky.
You made the seas and the rivers,
The lagoons and the puddles.
Mountains and flowers,
The deer and the fish,
The birds and the foam,
The wind, the day, the light,
The shadows, the soul.
The weak man and the skilled tiger,
The cunning rabbit and the foolish coyote.
You created goodness and evil,
The triumph and the defeat,
Joy and death,
Life and hate together.
We love you, Zapotec God:
The first of the first ages.
References
- Pueblo Zapoteco, Zapotec Culture and Zapotec Languages. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org
- David Gutiérrez. Zapotec poetry, innovative language. Recovered from capitalmexico.com.mx
- María de los Ángeles Romero Frizzi (2003). Zapotec writing: 2,500 years of history. Conaculta. Mexico.
- Poem in Zapotec. Recovered from mexicanisimo.com.mx
- Poems of love of the Zapotec language. Víctor Terán. Recovered from zocalopoets.com
- Zapotec-Spanish bilingual poetry. Natalia Toledo. Recovered from lexia.com.ar
- Poem in Zapotec language. Recovered from seriealfa.com.