The major lesson learned from the Mayan story Rabbit and His Cap of Antlers is that people have a hard time letting go of their material possessions, even in the spiritual world. From the story, we learn that the rabbit, which represents a Mayan, is an assimilated fellow who also passes as being very smart. The Mayan is pleased with the king, representing the Spanish viceroy (Miguel, & Q’anjob’al, n.d.). The king gives the Mayan a cap of antlers, a sign of power, which his other brother, the deer, is taken away from him. The bigger Mayan is full of greed; he is selfish, corrupt, hungry, and does not qualify as a good leader in the traditional Mayan setting. Once the big brother takes overpower, the smaller brother runs to the king for help (Miguel, & Q’anjob’al, n.d.). The rabbit is asked to betray his other brothers to get the help he needs. He does that, but his betrayal not only results in empowering the king but makes the king chase the smaller Mayan.
When considering such stories, the concerns that come to mind are the levels of treachery and betrayal used to seek power. The king, who represents the invader, takes advantage of manipulating the Mayans. Since the king cannot directly subdue the Mayans, he uses one of their own to pacify those opposing the rule of the conquistadores (Miguel, & Q’anjob’al, n.d.). Even as the king takes advantage of the small Mayan position, he has no intention of honoring his word. Instead, he takes the material wealth presented to him and chases the Mayan away (Miguel, & Q’anjob’al, n.d.). In historical context, the story passes as evidence by showing the Spanish assimilated the Mayans such that they could not win by betraying their forms of leadership.
Reference
Miguel, P., & Q’anjob’al, M. (n.d.). Rabbit stories: Rabbit and his cap of antlers. Web.