This late 19th or early 20th century episode in the history of San Pedro Chenalho, a village in the highlands of Chiapas, is told by one a scribe, Manuel Arias. As a village scribe, his role is to chronicle events and transmit written communications between relatives, between community members and between the local village and the outside authorities. In this fragment, he recalls a village scribe who abused this power and betrayed his community, a familiar theme in the history of the subjugation of Native American cultures.