#no actual script because my scanner isn't plugged in

[kiragecko]

#i love this#especially how nobody except possibly the sumerian#which didn't give a literal translation#had a word for 'cage' available#having to substitute for 'tiger' is just geography#but 'cage' is the social construct the poem centers on#so having to talk around it really#elevates the translation exercise philosophically speaking - via @whetstonefires

I love that too! Classical Maya has a LOT to say about taking captives! People got honorifics based on how many people they'd taken hostage during battles! But, as far as I know, there wasn't a specific building type for holding captives.

There were also domesticated animals! And places to store them! But I haven't found any specific words for such structures.

I could have translated 'cage' into 'enclosure/room', especially since that seems to be closely related to 'bind/tie'. But the word seems to have had a much more neutral meaning.

Captives were tied up, not kept in secure rooms, as far as I can tell. If I translated this again, I might try "He has escaped his bonds!" or "He has destroyed his bonds!"

But that would necessitate changing "he has come out", as well. And Classic Maya doesn't talk that much about "freeing". I could say "he has escaped/fled/left", but that it also a different feel.

Translation really asks you to consider your own assumptions about meaning, and how they map to multiple other options.

So, a new translation:

he-destroy/loose-ed-[it] his-noose the-jaguar yes-yes escape-d-[he] the-jaguar his-write-ing master-Na'el 6-year youth¹

Transliteration:

ʔu-sat-aw ʔu-le’ ʔu-balahm xt xt lok'-ooy ʔu-balahm ʔu-tz'ib-aal Aj-Naʔel wak-tun ch'ok

Character Transliteration (ALL CAPS are characters that stand for full words, lower case are syllabic):

u-sa-ta-wa u-le ʔu-BALAM-la-ma xa-ta-xa-ta LOK'-yi ʔu-BALAM-ma ʔu-tz'i-ba-li AJ-na-ʔe-le 6-TUN-ni CH'OK

¹ Thank you @archiloquacious for this translation!

The Tiger Poem in Classical Maya!

The Tiger He has destroyed his cage Yes Yes The tiger is out By Nael, Age 6

Literal translation:

he-destroyed his-captive-place the-jaguar yes-yes he-came.out the-jaguar his-writing master-Na'el man[of]-6-years

Transliteration:

ʔu-jomow ʔu-baaknal ʔu-balahm xt xt Joyoy ʔu-balahm ʔu-tz'ibaal Aj-Naʔel Aj-6-habiy

Character Transliteration (ALL CAPS are characters that stand for full words, lower case are syllabic):

ʔu-jo-mo-wa ʔu-ba-ki-NAL ʔu-BALAM-la-ma xa-ta-xa-ta jo-JOY-yi ʔu-BALAM-ma ʔu-tz'i-ba-li AJ-na-ʔe-le AJ-6-HAB-bi-ya

[Image shows the poem written in 2 columns of Maya glyph blocks. A diagram shows the reading order (which is complex). All the posts text is also included on the image.

End ID.]