Explore "The Nine Guardians" by Rosario Castellanos on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Those who first knew this land said in their own tongue, "Chactajal", which means "The Place of Much Water".
The voice of the big shepherd river sounds from far away as it calls to the little tributaries. At their sources they are hidden, but they turn up later, gliding between the mossy mountain rocks, opening up their beds and ploughing the plain patiently. But even at their sources they have names, long, liquid names-Canchanibal, Tzaconejá -which they surrender and lose so that the Jataté shall be enriched in power and lordship.