Book: The Girl from Chimel
Author: Rigoberta Menchu and Dante Liano
ISBN-13: 978-0-88899-666-4
U$1.00-B-0.0046743907-BE-214
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Chapter 1: The Girl from Chimel
1.
Rigoberta is the name of the little girl.
2.
Chimel is the name of the village when it is large.
3.
Laj Chimel is the name of the village when it is small.
4.
Don Benjamin Aguare is a wise elder from Chimel.
Chapter 2: My Grandfather
1.
Rigoberta's grandfather arrived to Chimel about 100 years ago.
2.
Rigoberta's grandfather got to Chimel by walking.
3.
Chiquimula is a village.
4.
Chiquimulas are people from Chiquimula.
5.
Chiquimula means goldfinch.
6.
Don Juan Us Chic is another Chimel elder.
7.
Rigoberta's grandfather found a delightful girl.
8.
Yes, Rigoberta's grandfather asked for the girl's hand in marriage.
9.
The girl's parents said no to Rigoberta's father.
10.
Answers will vary
11.
Yes, Chimel has a river.
12.
Yes, Chimel's river had fish.
13.
Frogs and snakes ate the crabs in Chimel.
14.
Yellow, black, red, and white are the colors of the four corners of the universe.
15.
Grandmother wanted to build 100 houses and 100 cornfields.
16.
Ajaw is the Maker and Creator of all.
17.
Rigoberta's grandfather founded the village of Chimel.
Chapter 3: My Grandfather's Stories
1.
Their grandfather said Ajaw made them from different corn and wanted them to be different like the landscape.
2.
Answers will vary
3.
The Mayan and Spaniard tales are alike because people are alike.
4.
Hell is the place where the devil lives.
5.
Xib'ab'a is the place where the evil lords live.
6.
Luis says "hell begins in Xib'ab'a.
7.
Answers will vary
8.
Jun aj Pu and Ix B'alam Kej are the names of the two boys that lived long ago.
9.
The two boys protected cornfields.
10.
The tail fell off when it tried to escape from Jun aj Pu.
11.
The mouse gets its bulging eyes from Ix B'alam Kej grabbing it by its throat and squeezing tightly.
12.
The mouse lost all the hair on its tail when it got away from Ix B'alam Kej.
13.
Grandfather liked telling stories from Pop Vuh.
14.
The book is from his Mayan ancestors.
Chapter 4: The Wandering Piglet
1.
Mom took a piglet as a pet.
2.
Mom took care of piglet by bathing him in the river and walking him everywhere she went.
3.
Ajaw lived in the Chimel mountains.
4.
The nahualas or spirits live with Ajaw.
5.
Spirits are nuhualas.
6.
You hear coyotes howling in the distance.
7.
Mom ran after the coyote.
8.
Yes, mother was successful in saving the piglet.
Chapter 5: The Plants and the Forest
1.
Flowers, tree leaves, mosses and lichens have a language of their own.
2.
Flowers, tree leaves, mosses and lichens listen and understand when you speak to them.
3.
Rigoberta's mom gave her herbal teas.
4.
Chipilin is a sweet-tasting plant.
5.
Hot broth from the altenxa plant is what you would take if you had a stomachache.
6.
Xew xew gets rid off headaches and eye strain.
7.
Saq ixog is good for stomachaches.
8.
Chila-cayote leaves heal foot injuries.
9.
K'a q'eyes cured colds and flus.
10.
Sik'aj helps get worms out of your stomach.
11.
Grandparents taught mother plant knowledge.
12.
Midwife was mother's vocation.
Chapter 6: Grandfather and the Cornfield
1.
The little man was not bigger than 2 feet tall.
2.
Answers will vary
3.
Nahual is a source of power.
4.
Duende is a good spirit.
5.
Answer will vary
6.
Animals are greedy like people.
7.
Answers will vary
Chapter 7: The Story Behind My Name
1.
Laj Mi'n was Rigoberta's name as a baby.
2.
Chuch Mi'n will be Rigoberta's name when she is respected and have some knowledge about life.
3.
Mi'n is one way to say domingo or Sunday in K'iche.
4.
Mi'n means having the best in life.
5.
Rigoberta takes great pleasure in living.
6.
Rigoberta is an optomist.
7.
Don Vicente is Rigoberta's dad father.
8.
The clerk wouldn't register Li Mi'n because he felt the name didn't exist.
9.
The clerk gave Rigoberta her name.
10.
Li Mi'n was registered as Rigoberta because she was born on Saint Rigoberto's Day.
11.
Beta or Tita is Rigoberta's nickname.
12.
Laj Mi'n or Mi'n are other names that Rigoberta's family calls her at home.
Chapter 8: The Story of My Birth
1.
She placed part of Rigoberta's umbilical cord as a necklace for Rigoberta to wear. Once it dried and fell off it was a form as "thanks" to Mother Earth.
2.
Mother burns the cord to be born again and thank nature.
3.
Rigoberta's mother buries the cord to bind her to nature.
4.
Rigoberta's mother feel that when we leave the earth, we feel sadness because part of us stays behind as part of the air, the water, and the ground.
5.
The nahual is the creature we are born with.
6.
Chuch qajaw is the name of the nahual's spiritual leaders.
7.
The nahual can be a tiger, lion, coyote, bear, puma, will boar, robin redbreast, swan, stork, gazelle, pig, mouse, and fox.
8.
Answers will vary
Chapter 9: When I Was a Little Girl in Chimel...
1.
Patrocinio is Rigoberta's brother.
2.
Panela is chunky, hard brown sugar.
3.
Panela was eaten with blackberries.
4.
Rigoberta's family cultivated honey.
5.
Rigoberta's village during rainy season ate mushrooms.
Chapter 10: The Curse of the Bees
1.
Answers will vary
2.
Mama burned a substance to ward off evil spirits.
3.
The substance is called "Pom."
4.
Bees are sacred in Rigoberta's village.
5.
The escape of the bees led to an evil curse.
Chapter 11: The Story of the River That Changed Its Course
1.
You had to cross a coffee field to reach the river in Chimel.
2.
War began and the river disappeared.
3.
No, the river doesn't run through Chimel today.
4.
The river can return by an act of kindness.
Chapter 12: The Sacred Mountain
1.
Blackberries, strawberries, raspberries were available in the mountain.
2.
Rigoberta said that the plum tree leaves are sweet.
3.
An owl is the tukur or k'urpup.
4.
A sanate is a bird that imitates the song of other birds.
5.
The sanate bird eats the newly planted corn kernels.
6.
Bird songs was the type of music in Rigoberta's childhood.
7.
Rigoberta ate tortillas with black beans, guacamole or green peppers when she reached the top of the mountain.
Chapter 13: When I Was A Girl
1.
Answers will vary
2.
Answers will vary
3.
Answers will vary
