K'otk'owach

Cuando los hombres de madrea no cumplen con sus deberes espirituales, ecológicos y prácticos en la faz de la tierra, los creadores Tz'aqol, B'itol mandan que sean destruidos, tal como fueron aniquilados los primeros hombres de barro. Los agentes de esta destrucción horrífica son precisamente una serie de cuatro deidades-animales: K'otk'owach, Kamalotz', Kotzb'alam y Tukum B'alam, quienes se especializan en la destrucci´ón de un aspecto particular de la existencia humana: la cara, la cabeza, el cuerpo y los huesos, respectivamente. Conforme observa Sam Colop (2008: 38n39), K'otk'owach "literalmente" quiere decir "'escarbador de cara."

In his literal poetic translation, scholar Allen J. Christenson (2003: line 710n25) notes, that Ximénez's manuscript calls the deity xe cotco vach, "which appears to be a scribal error. I agree with Edmonson in reading the line as Xe[pe] K'otk'o[l] Wach, which is grammatically and contextually more consistent with the remainder of the section." He therefore translates the deity's name as "Chislers of Faces." K'otk'owach, Kamalotz', Kotzb'alam, and Tukum B'alam, are the four agents of destruction who, at the request of Tz'aqol, B'itol annilate the women and men made of wood. This second generation of humans learned some of the lessons from the people of mud, but has not fully understood their responsibilities to respect their creators -- or the other beings created by them. For this, they are destroyed in a spectacular, horrific fashion, with specific deities dedicated to the destruction of their faces (K'otk'owach), heads (Kamalotz'), bodies (Kotzb'alam), and bones (Tukum B'alam).