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                             THE POPOL VUH

                     The Mythic and Heroic Sagas of
                     the Kichés of Central America


                                   By

                              LEWIS SPENCE



                    Published by David Nutt, at the
                 Sign of the Phoenix, Long Acre, London
                                  1908








PREFACE


The "Popol Vuh" is the New World's richest mythological mine. No
translation of it has as yet appeared in English, and no adequate
translation in any European language. It has been neglected to a
certain extent because of the unthinking strictures passed upon
its authenticity. That other manuscripts exist in Guatemala than
the one discovered by Ximenes and transcribed by Scherzer and
Brasseur de Bourbourg is probable. So thought Brinton, and the
present writer shares his belief. And ere it is too late it would
be well that these--the only records of the faith of the builders of
the mystic ruined and deserted cities of Central America--should be
recovered. This is not a matter that should be left to the enterprise
of individuals, but one which should engage the consideration of
interested governments; for what is myth to-day is often history
to-morrow.


LEWIS SPENCE.

July 1908.








THE POPOL VUH

[The numbers in the text refer to notes at the end of the study]


There is no document of greater importance to the study of the
pre-Columbian mythology of America than the "Popol Vuh." It is the
chief source of our knowledge of the mythology of the Kiché people of
Central America, and it is further of considerable comparative value
when studied in conjunction with the mythology of the Nahuatlacâ, or
Mexican peoples. This interesting text, the recovery of which forms one
of the most romantic episodes in the history of American bibliography,
was written by a Christianised native of Guatemala some time in the
seventeenth century, and was copied in the Kiché language, in which
it was originally written, by a monk of the Order of Predicadores, one
Francisco Ximenes, who also added a Spanish translation and scholia.

The Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, a profound student of American
archæology and languages (whose euhemeristic interpretations of
the Mexican myths are as worthless as the priceless materials he
unearthed are valuable) deplored, in a letter to the Duc de Valmy,
[1] the supposed loss of the "Popol Vuh," which he was aware had been
made use of early in the nineteenth century by a certain Don Felix
Cabrera. Dr. C. Scherzer, an Austrian scholar, thus made aware of
its value, paid a visit to the Republic of Guatemala in 1854 or 1855,
and was successful in tracing the missing manuscript in the library
of the University of San Carlos in the city of Guatemala. It was
afterwards ascertained that its scholiast, Ximenes, had deposited it
in the library of his convent at Chichicastenango, whence it passed
to the San Carlos library in 1830.

Scherzer at once made a copy of the Spanish translation of the
manuscript, which he published at Vienna in 1856 under the title
of "Las Historias del origen de los Indios de Guatemala, par el
R. P. F. Francisco Ximenes." The Abbé Brasseur also took a copy of
the original, which he published at Paris in 1861, with the title
"Vuh Popol: Le Livre Sacré de Quichés, et les Mythes de l'Antiquité
Américaine." In this work the Kiché original and the Abbe's French
translation are set forth side by side. Unfortunately both the Spanish
and the French translations leave much to be desired so far as their
accuracy is concerned, and they are rendered of little use by reason
of the misleading notes which accompany them.

The name "Popol Vuh" signifies "Record of the Community," and
its literal translation is "Book of the Mat," from the Kiché word
"pop" or "popol," a mat or rug of woven rushes or bark on which the
entire family sat, and "vuh" or "uuh," paper or book, from "uoch"
to write. The "Popol Vuh" is an example of a world-wide genre--a
type of annals of which the first portion is pure mythology, which
gradually shades off into pure history, evolving from the hero-myths
of saga to the recital of the deeds of authentic personages. It may,
in fact, be classed with the Heimskringla of Snorre, the Danish
History of Saxo-Grammaticus, the Chinese History in the Five Books,
the Japanese "Nihongi," and, so far as its fourth book is concerned,
it somewhat resembles the Pictish Chronicle.

The language in which the "Popol Vuh" was written, was, as has been
said, the Kiché, a dialect of the great Maya-Kiché tongue spoken at the
time of the Conquest from the borders of Mexico on the north to those
of the present State of Nicaragua on the south; but whereas the Mayan
was spoken in Yucatan proper, and the State of Chiapas, the Kiché was
the tongue of the peoples of that part of Central America now occupied
by the States of Guatemala, Honduras and San Salvador, where it is
still used by the natives. It is totally different to the Nahuatl,
the language of the people of Anahuac or Mexico, both as regards
its origin and structure, and its affinities with other American
tongues are even less distinct than the those between the Slavonic
and Teutonic groups. Of this tongue the "Popol Vuh" is practically
the only monument; at all events the only work by a native of the
district in which it was used. A cognate dialect, the Cakchiquel,
produced the "Annals" of that people, otherwise known as "The Book of
Chilan Balam," a work purely of genealogical interest, which may be
consulted in the admirable translation of the late Daniel G. Brinton.

The Kiché people at the time of their discovery, which was immediately
subsequent to the fall of Mexico, had in part lost that culture which
was characteristic of the Mayan race, the remnants of which have
excited universal wonder in the ruins of the vast desert cities of
Central America1. At a period not far distant from the Conquest the
once centralised Government of the Mayan peoples had been broken up
into petty States and Confederacies, which in their character recall
the city-states of mediæval Italy. In all probability the civilisation
possessed by these peoples had been brought them by a race from
Mexico called the Toltecs2, who taught them the arts of building
in stone and writing in hieroglyphics, and who probably influenced
their mythology most profoundly. The Toltecs were not, however, in
any way cognate with the Mayans, and were in all likelihood rapidly
absorbed by them. The Mayans were notably an agricultural people,
and it is not impossible that in their country the maize-plant was
first cultivated with the object of obtaining a regular cereal supply3.

Such, then, were the people whose mythology produced the body of
tradition and mythi-history known as the "Popol Vuh"; and ere we pass
to a consideration of their beliefs, their gods, and their religious
affinities, it will be well to summarise the three books of it which
treat of these things, as fully as space will permit, using for that
purpose both the French translation of Brasseur and the Spanish one
of Ximenes.




THE FIRST BOOK

Over a universe wrapped in the gloom of a dense and primeval night
passed the god Hurakan, the mighty wind. He called out "earth,"
and the solid land appeared. The chief gods took counsel; they were
Hurakan, Gucumatz, the serpent covered with green feathers, and
Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, the mother and father gods. As the result of
their deliberations animals were created. But as yet man was not. To
supply the deficiency the divine beings resolved to create mannikins
carved out of wood. But these soon incurred the displeasure of the
gods, who, irritated by their lack of reverence, resolved to destroy
them. Then by the will of Hurakan, the Heart of Heaven, the waters
were swollen, and a great flood came upon the mannikins of wood. They
were drowned and a thick resin fell from heaven. The bird Xecotcovach
tore out their eyes; the bird Camulatz cut off their heads; the bird
Cotzbalam devoured their flesh; the bird Tecumbalam broke their bones
and sinews and ground them into powder. Because they had not thought
on Hurakan, therefore the face of the earth grew dark, and a pouring
rain commenced, raining by day and by night. Then all sorts of beings,
great and small, gathered together to abuse the men to their faces. The
very household utensils and animals jeered at them, their mill-stones,
their plates, their cups, their dogs, their hens. Said the dogs and
hens, "Very badly have you treated us, and you have bitten us. Now we
bite you in turn." Said the mill-stones (metates [2]), "Very much were
we tormented by you, and daily, daily, night and day, it was squeak,
screech, screech, [3] for your sake. Now you shall feel our strength,
and we will grind your flesh and make meal of your bodies." And the
dogs upbraided the mannikins because they had not been fed, and tore
the unhappy images with their teeth. And the cups and dishes said,
"Pain and misery you gave us, smoking our tops and sides, cooking us
over the fire, burning and hurting us as if we had no feeling. Now it
is your turn, and you shall burn." Then ran the mannikins hither and
thither in despair. They climbed to the roofs of the houses, but the
houses crumbled under their feet; they tried to mount to the tops of
the trees, but the trees hurled them from them; they sought refuge in
the caverns, but the caverns closed before them. Thus was accomplished
the ruin of this race, destined to be overthrown. And it is said that
their posterity are the little monkeys who live in the woods.




THE MYTH OF VUKUB-CAKIX

After this catastrophe, ere yet the earth was quite recovered from
the wrath of the gods, there existed a man "full of pride," whose name
was Vukub-Cakix. The name signifies "Seven-times-the-colour-of-fire,"
or "Very brilliant," and was justified by the fact that its owner's
eyes were of silver, his teeth of emerald, and other parts of his
anatomy of precious metals. In his own opinion Vukub-Cakix's existence
rendered unnecessary that of the sun and the moon, and this egoism
so disgusted the gods that they resolved upon his overthrow. His two
sons, Zipacna and Cabrakan (earth-heaper [4] (?) and earthquake),
were daily employed, the one in heaping up mountains, and the
other in demolishing them, and these also incurred the wrath of
the immortals. Shortly after the decision of the deities the twin
hero-gods Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque came to earth with the intention of
chastising the arrogance of Vukub-Cakix and his progeny.

Now Vukub-Cakix had a great tree of the variety known in Central
America as "nanze" or "tapal," bearing a fruit round, yellow, and
aromatic, and upon this fruit he depended for his daily sustenance. One
day on going to partake of it for his morning meal he mounted to
its summit in order to espy the choicest fruits, when to his great
indignation he discovered that Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque had been before
him, and had almost denuded the tree of its produce. The hero-gods,
who lay concealed within the foliage, now added injury to theft by
hurling at Vukub-Cakix a dart from a blow-pipe, which had the effect
of precipitating him from the summit of the tree to the earth. He
arose in great wrath, bleeding profusely from a severe wound in the
jaw. Hun-Ahpu then threw himself upon Vukub-Cakix, who in terrible
anger seized the god by the arm and wrenched it from the body. He then
proceeded to his dwelling, where he was met and anxiously interrogated
by his spouse Chimalmat. Tortured by the pain in his teeth and jaw he,
in an excess of spite, hung Hun-Ahpu's arm over a blazing fire, and
then threw himself down to bemoan his injuries, consoling himself,
however, with the idea that he had adequately avenged himself upon
the interlopers who had dared to disturb his peace.

But Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque were in no mind that he should escape
so easily, and the recovery of Hun-Ahpu's arm must be made at all
hazards. With this end in view they consulted two venerable beings
in whom we readily recognise the father-mother divinities, Xpiyacoc
and Xmucane4, disguised for the nonce as sorcerers. These personages
accompanied Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque to the abode of Vukub-Cakix, whom
they found in a state of intense agony. The ancients persuaded him
to be operated upon in order to relieve his sufferings, and for his
glittering teeth they substituted grains of maize. Next they removed
his eyes of emerald, upon which his death speedily followed, as did
that of his wife Chimalmat. Hun-Ahpu's arm was recovered, re-affixed
to his shoulder, and all ended satisfactorily for the hero-gods.

But their mission was not yet complete. The sons of Vukub-Cakix,
Zipacna and Cabrakan, remained to be accounted for. Zipacna consented,
at the entreaty of four hundred youths, incited by the hero-gods,
to assist them in transporting a huge tree which was destined for the
roof-tree of a house they were building. Whilst assisting them he was
beguiled by them into entering a great ditch which they had dug for the
purpose of destroying him, and when once he descended was overwhelmed
by tree-trunks by his treacherous acquaintances, who imagined him
to be slain. But he took refuge in a side-tunnel of the excavation,
cut off his hair and nails for the ants to carry up to his enemies as
a sign of his death, waited until the youths had become intoxicated
with pulque because of joy at his supposed demise, and then, emerging
from the pit, shook the house that the youths had built over his body
about their heads, so that all were destroyed in its ruins.

But Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque were grieved that the four hundred
had perished, and laid a more efficacious trap for Zipacna. The
mountain-bearer, carrying the mountains by night, sought his
sustenance by day by the shore of the river, where he lived upon
fish and crabs. The hero-gods constructed an artificial crab which
they placed in a cavern at the bottom of a deep ravine. The hungry
titan descended to the cave, which he entered on all-fours. But a
neighbouring mountain had been undermined by the divine brothers,
and its bulk was cast upon him. Thus at the foot of Mount Meavan
perished the proud "Mountain Maker," whose corpse was turned into
stone by the catastrophe.

Of the family of boasters only Cabrakan remained. Discovered by the
hero-gods at his favourite pastime of overturning the hills, they
enticed him in an easterly direction, challenging him to overthrow a
particularly high mountain. On the way they shot a bird with their
blow-pipes, and poisoned it with earth. This they gave to Cabrakan
to eat. After partaking of the poisoned fare his strength deserted
him, and failing to move the mountain he was bound and buried by the
victorious hero-gods.




THE SECOND BOOK

Mystery veils the commencement of the Second Book of the "Popol
Vuh." The theme is the birth and family of Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque,
and the scribe intimates that only half is to be told concerning the
history of their father. Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, the father and mother
deities, had two sons, Hunhun-Ahpu and Vukub-Hunahpu, the first being,
so far as can be gathered, a bi-sexual personage. He had by a wife,
Xbakiyalo, two sons, Hunbatz and Hunchouen, men full of wisdom and
artistic genius. All of them were addicted to the recreation of
dicing and playing at ball, and a spectator of their pastimes was
Voc, the messenger of Hurakan. Xbakiyalo having died, Hunhun-Ahpu
and Vukub-Hunahpu, leaving the former's sons behind, played a game of
ball which in its progress took them into the vicinity of the realm
of Xibalba (the underworld). This reached the ears of the monarchs
of that place, Hun-Came and Vukub-Came, who, after consulting their
counsellors, challenged the strangers to a game of ball, with the
object of defeating and disgracing them.

For this purpose they dispatched four messengers in the shape of
owls. The brothers accepted the challenge, after a touching farewell
with their mother Xmucane, and their sons and nephews, and followed
the feathered heralds down the steep incline to Xibalba from the
playground at Ninxor Carchah. [5] After an ominous crossing over a
river of blood they came to the residence of the kings of Xibalba,
where they underwent the mortification of mistaking two wooden
figures for the monarchs. Invited to sit on the seat of honour,
they discovered it to be a red-hot stone, and the contortions which
resulted from their successful trick caused unbounded merriment
among the Xibalbans. Then they were thrust into the House of Gloom,
where they were sacrificed and buried. The head of Hunhun-Ahpu was,
however, suspended from a tree, which speedily became covered with
gourds, from which it was almost impossible to distinguish the bloody
trophy. All in Xibalba were forbidden the fruit of that tree.

But one person in Xibalba had resolved to disobey the mandate. This
was the virgin princess Xquiq (Blood), the daughter of Cuchumaquiq,
who went unattended to the spot. Standing under the branches gazing
at the fruit, the maiden stretched out her hand, and the head of
Hunhun-Ahpu spat into the palm. The spittle caused her to conceive,
and she returned home, being assured by the head of the hero-god that
no harm should result to her. This thing was done by order of Hurakan,
the Heart of Heaven. In six months' time her father became aware of
her condition, and despite her protestations the royal messengers
of Xibalba, the owls, received orders to kill her and return with
her heart in a vase. She, however, escaped by bribing the owls with
splendid promises for the future to spare her and substitute for her
heart the coagulated sap of the blood-wart.

In her extremity Xquiq went for protection to the home of Xmucane,
who now looked after the young Hunbatz and Hunchouen. Xmucane would
not at first believe her tale. But Xquiq appealed to the gods, and
performed a miracle by gathering a basket of maize where no maize grew,
and thus gained her confidence.

Shortly afterwards Xquiq became the mother of twin boys, the heroes
of the First Book, Hun-Ahpu, and Xbalanque. These did not find
favour in the eyes of Xmucane, their grandmother. Their infantile
cries aroused the wrath of this venerable person, and she vented
it upon them by turning them out of doors. They speedily took to
an outdoor life, however, and became mighty hunters, and expert in
the use of their blow-pipes, with which they shot birds and other
small game. The ill-treatment which they received from Hunbatz and
Hunchouen caused them at last to retaliate, and those who had made
their lives miserable were punished by being transformed by the divine
children into apes. The venerable Xmucane, filled with grief at the
metamorphosis and flight of her ill-starred grandsons, who had made
her home joyous with their singing and flute-playing, was told that
she would be permitted to behold their faces once more if she could
do so without losing her gravity, but their antics and grimaces caused
her such merriment that on three separate occasions she was unable to
restrain her laughter and the men-monkeys appeared no more. Hun-Ahpu
and Xbalanque now became expert musicians, and one of their favourite
airs was that of "Hun-Ahpu qoy," the "monkey of Hun-Ahpu."

The divine twins were now old enough to undertake labour in
the field, and their first task was the clearing of a milpa or
maize-plantation. They were possessed of magic tools, which had the
merit of working themselves in the absence of the young hunters at
the chase, and those they found a capital substitute for their own
directing presence upon the first day. Returning at night from hunting,
they smeared their faces and hands with dirt so that Xmucane might
be deceived into imagining that they had been hard at work in the
maize-field. But during the night the wild beasts met and replaced
all the roots and shrubs which the brothers--or rather their magic
tools--had removed. The twins resolved to watch for them on the
ensuing night, but despite all their efforts the animals succeeded
in making good their escape, save one, the rat, which was caught
in a handkerchief. The rabbit and deer lost their tails in getting
away. The rat, in gratitude that they had spared its life, told them of
the glorious deeds of their great fathers and uncles, their games at
ball, and of the existence of a set of implements necessary to play
the game which they had left in the house. They discovered these,
and went to play in the ball-ground of their fathers.

It was not long, however, until Hun-Came and Vukub-Came, the princes of
Xibalba, heard them at play, and decided to lure them to the Underworld
as they had lured their fathers. Messengers were despatched to the
house of Xmucane, who, filled with alarm, despatched a louse to carry
the message to her grandsons. The louse, wishing to ensure greater
speed to reach the brothers, consented to be swallowed by a toad, the
toad by a serpent, and the serpent by the great bird Voc. The other
animals duly liberated one another; but despite his utmost efforts,
the toad could not get rid of the louse, who had played him a trick by
lodging in his gums, and had not been swallowed at all. The message,
however, was duly delivered, and the players returned home to take
leave of their grandmother and mother. Before their departure they
each planted a cane in the middle of the house, which was to acquaint
those they left behind with their welfare, since it would wither if
any fatal circumstance befel them.

Pursuing the route their fathers had followed, they passed the river
of blood and the river Papuhya. But they sent an animal called
Xan as avant courier with orders to prick all the Xibalbans with
a hair from Hun-Ahpu's leg, thus discovering those of the dwellers
in the Underworld who were made of wood--those whom their fathers
had unwittingly bowed to as men--and also learning the names of the
others by their inquiries and explanations when pricked. Thus they
did not salute the mannikins on their arrival at the Xibalban court,
nor did they sit upon the red-hot stone. They even passed scatheless
through the first ordeal of the House of Gloom. The Xibalbans were
furious, and their wrath was by no means allayed when they found
themselves beaten at the game of ball to which they had challenged
the brothers. Then Hun-Came and Vukub-Came ordered the twins to bring
them four bouquets of flowers, asking the guards of the royal gardens
to watch most carefully, and committed Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque to the
"House of Lances"--the second ordeal--where the lancers were directed
to kill them. The brothers, however, had at their beck and call a
swarm of ants, which entered the royal gardens on the first errand, and
they succeeded in bribing the lancers. The Xibalbans, white with fury,
ordered that the owls, the guardians of the gardens, should have their
lips split, and otherwise showed their anger at their third defeat.

Then came the third ordeal in the "House of Cold." Here the heroes
escaped death by freezing by being warmed with burning pine-cones. In
the fourth and fifth ordeals they were equally lucky, for they passed
a night each in the "House of Tigers" and the "House of Fire" without
injury. But at the sixth ordeal misfortune overtook them in the "House
of Bats." Hun-Ahpu's head being cut off by Camazotz, "Ruler of Bats,"
who suddenly appeared from above.

The beheading of Hun-Ahpu does not, however, appear to have terminated
fatally, but owing to the unintelligible nature of the text at this
juncture, it is impossible to ascertain in what manner he was cured
of such a lethal wound. This episode is followed by an assemblage
of all the animals, and another contest at ball-playing, after which
the brothers emerged uninjured from all the ordeals of the Xibalbans.

But in order to further astound their "hosts," Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque
confided to two sorcerers named Xulu and Pacaw that the Xibalbans
had failed because the animals were not on their side, and directing
them what to do with their bones, they stretched themselves upon a
funeral pile and died together. Their bones were beaten to powder and
thrown into the river, where they sank, and were transformed into young
men. On the fifth day they reappeared like men-fishes, and on the sixth
in the form of ragged old men, dancing, burning and restoring houses,
killing and restoring each other to life, with other wonders. The
princes of Xibalba, hearing of their skill, requested them to exhibit
their magical powers, which they did by burning the royal palace and
restoring it, killing and resuscitating the king's dog, and cutting a
man in pieces, and bringing him to life again. The monarchs of Xibalba,
anxious to experience the novel sensation of a temporary death,
requested to be slain and resuscitated. They were speedily killed,
but the brothers refrained from resuscitating their arch-enemies.

Announcing their real names, the brothers proceeded to punish the
princes of Xibalba. The game of ball was forbidden them, they were
to perform menial tasks, and only the beasts of the forest were they
to hold in vassalage. They appear after this to achieve a species of
doubtful distinction as plutonic deities or demons. They are described
as warlike, ugly as owls, inspiring evil and discord. Their faces
were painted black and white to show their faithless nature.

Xmucane, waiting at home for the brothers, was alternately filled
with joy and grief as the canes grew green and withered, according to
the varying fortunes of her grandsons. These young men were busied at
Xibalba with paying fitting funeral honours to their father and uncle,
who now mounted to heaven and became the sun and moon, whilst the four
hundred youths slain by Zipacna became the stars. Thus concludes the
second book.




THE THIRD BOOK

The beginning of the third book finds the gods once more in council. In
the darkness they commune concerning the creation of man. The Creator
and Former made four perfect men. These beings were wholly created
from yellow and white maize. Their names were Balam-Quitzé (Tiger
with the Sweet Smile), Balam-Agab (Tiger of the Night), Mahucutah
(The Distinguished Name), and Iqi-Balam (Tiger of the Moon). They
had neither father nor mother, neither were they made by the ordinary
agents in the work of creation. Their creation was a miracle of the
Former. [6]

But Hurakan was not altogether satisfied with his handiwork. These men
were too perfect. They knew overmuch. Therefore the gods took counsel
as to how to proceed with man. They must not become as gods (note here
the Christian influence). Let us now contract their sight so that
they may only be able to see a portion of the earth and be content,
said the gods. Then Hurakan breathed a cloud over their eyes, which
became partially veiled. Then the four men slept, and four women were
made, Caha-Paluma (Falling Water), Choimha (Beautiful Water), Tzununiha
(House of the Water), and Cakixa (Water of Aras or Parrots), who became
the wives of the men in their respective order as mentioned above.

These were the ancestors of the Kichés only. Then were created the
ancestors of other peoples. They were ignorant of the methods of
worship, and lifting their eyes to heaven prayed to the Creator,
the Former, for peaceable lives and the return of the sun. But no
sun came, and they grew uneasy. So they set out for Tulan-Zuiva,
or the Seven Caves, and there gods were given unto them, each man,
as head of a group of the race, a god. Balam-Quitzé received the
god Tohil. Balam-Agab received the god Avilix, and Mahucutah the god
Hacavitz. Iqi-Balam received a god, but as he had no family his god
is not taken into account in the native mythology.

The Kichés now began to feel the want of fire, and the god Tohil, the
creator of fire, supplied them with this element. But soon afterwards
a mighty rain extinguished all the fires in the land. Tohil, however,
always renewed the supply. And fire in those days was the chief
necessity, for as yet there was no sun.

Tulan was a place of misfortune to man, for not only did he suffer from
cold and famine, but here his speech was so confounded that the first
four men were no longer able to comprehend each other. They determined
to leave Tulan, and under the leadership of the god Tohil set out
to search for a new abode. On they wandered through innumerable
hardships. Many mountains had they to climb, and a long passage
to make through the sea which was miraculously divided for their
journey from shore to shore. At length they came to a mountain which
they called Hacavitz, after one of their gods, and here they rested,
for here they had been instructed that they should see the sun. And
the sun appeared. Animals and men were transported with delight. All
the celestial bodies were now established. But the sun was not as it
is to-day. He was not strong, but as reflected in a mirror.

As he arose the three tribal gods were turned into stone, as were the
gods--probably totems--connected with the wild animals. Then arose
the first Kiché city.

As time progressed the first men grew old, and, impelled by visions,
they began to offer human sacrifices. For this purpose they raided
the villages of the neighbouring peoples, who retaliated. But by the
miraculous aid of a horde of wasps and hornets the Kichés utterly
routed their enemies. And the aliens became tributory to them.

Now it came nigh the death-time of the first men, and they called
their descendants together to hearken unto their last counsels. In the
anguish of their hearts they sang the Kamucu, the song "We see," that
they had sung when it first became light. Then they took leave of their
wives and sons, one by one. And suddenly they were not. But in their
place was a huge bundle, which was never unfolded. And it was called
the "Majesty Enveloped." And so died the first men of the Kichés.




THE FOURTH BOOK

The Fourth Book brings us down to what is presumably history. We say
"presumably," because we have only the bare testimony of the "Popol
Vuh" to go upon. We can note therein the evolution of the Kiché
people from a comparatively simple and pastoral state of society to
a political condition of considerable complexity. This account of the
later periods is extremely confused, and as the names of many of the
Kiché monarchs are the same as those of the gods, it is often difficult
to discriminate between saga and history. Interminable conflicts are
the subject of most of this book, and by the time the transcriber
reached the twelfth chapter he seems to have tired of his labours
and to have made up his mind to conclude with a genealogical list of
the Kiché kings. He here traces the genealogies of the three royal
houses of Cavek, Nihaib, and Ahau-Kiché. The state of transition and
turmoil in which the country was for many years after the conquest
must have tended to the disappearance of native records of any kind,
and our author does not appear to have been as well versed in the
history of his country which immediately preceded his own time as he
was in her mythology and legends. According to a tradition recited by
Don Domingo Juarros in his "History of the Kingdom of Guatemala," the
Toltecs emigrated from the neighbourhood of Tula in Mexico by direction
of an oracle, in consequence of the great increase of population in
the reign of Nimaquiché, fifth King of the Toltecs. "In performing
this journey they expended many years and suffered extraordinary
hardships." Nimaquiché was succeeded by his son Aexopil, from whom
was descended Kicab Tanub, the contemporary of Montezuma II. This
does not at all agree with the "Popol Vuh" account.








COSMOGONY OF THE "POPOL VUH"


The cosmogony of the "Popol Vuh" exhibits many signs of Christian
influence, but it would be quite erroneous to infer that such influence
was of a direct nature; that is, that the native compiler deliberately
infused into the original narrative those outstanding features of the
Christian cosmogony, which were undoubtedly quite familiar to him. The
resemblance which is apparent between the first few chapters of the
"Popol Vuh" and the creation-myth in Genesis is no more the result of
design than was the metamorphosis of King Arthur's Brythonic warriors
into Norman knights by the jongleurs. The inclusion of obviously
Christian elements was undoubtedly unconscious. A native Guatemalan,
nurtured in the Christian faith, could, in fact, quite be expected
to produce an incongruous blending of Christian and pagan cosmogony
such as is here dealt with.

But another and more important question arises in connection with
the initial chapters of the "Popol Vuh"--those which give an account
of the Kiché creation-myth. Under the veneer of Biblical cosmogony
the original myth would appear to be the sum of more than one native
creation-story. We have here a number of beings, each of whom appear
in some manner to exercise the function of a creator, and it might be
gathered from this that the account now before us was produced by the
fusion and reconciliation of more than one legend connected with the
creation--a reconciliation of early rival faiths. We have to guide
us in this the proved facts of a composite Peruvian cosmogony. The
ruling Inca caste skilfully welded together no less than four early
creation-myths, reserving for their own divine ancestors the headship
of the heavens. And it is not unreasonable to believe that the diverse
ethnological elements of which the Maya-Kiché people were undoubtedly
composed possessed divergent cosmogonies, which were reconciled to
one another in the later traditional versions of the "Popol Vuh."

This would lead to the further supposition that the "Popol Vuh" is
a monument of very considerable antiquity. The fusion of religious
beliefs is, even with savages, a work of many generations. It would
be rash to attempt to discover any approximate date for the original
conception of the "Popol Vuh." The only version which we possess is
that now under review, and as the lack of an earlier version makes
comparison impossible, we are thus without the guidance with which
the criteria of philology would undoubtedly furnish us. That the Mayan
civilisation was of very considerable antiquity is possible, although
no adequate proof exists for the assumption. This much is certain: that
at the period of the Conquest written language was still in a state
of transition from the pictographic to the phonetic-ideographic stage,
and that therefore no version of the "Popol Vuh" which had been fixed
by its receiving literary form could have long existed. It is much more
probable that it existed for many generations by being handed down from
mouth to mouth--a manner of literary preservation exceedingly common
with the American peoples. The memories of the natives of America were
and still are matter for astonishment for all who come into contact
with them. The Conquistadores were astounded at the ease with which
the Mexicans could recite poems and orations of stupendous length,
and numerous instances of Indian feats of mnemonics are on record.

It is worthy of notice that the Kiché myth embodies the general
aboriginal idea of creation which prevailed in the New World. In many
of them the central idea of creation is supplied by the brooding
of a great bird over the dark primeval waste of waters. Thus the
Athapascans thought that a mighty raven, with eyes of fire and wings
whose clapping was as the thunder, descended to the ocean and raised
the earth to its surface. [7] The Muscokis believed that a couple
of pigeons, skimming the surface of the deep, espied a blade of
grass upon its surface, which slowly evolved into the dry land. [8]
The Zuñis imagined that Awonawilona, the All-father, so impregnated
the waters that a scum appeared upon their surface which became the
earth and sky. [9] The Iroquois said that their female ancestor,
expelled from heaven by her angry spouse, landed upon the sea, from
which mud at once arose. The Mixtecs imagined that two winds--those
of the Nine Serpents and the Nine Caverns--under the guise of a bird
and a winged serpent respectively, caused the waters to subside and the
land to appear. The Costa Rican Guaymis related, according to Melendez,
that Noncomala waded into the water and met the water-nymph Rutbe, who
bore him twins, the sun and moon. In all these accounts, from widely
divergent nations, it is surprising to note such unanimity of belief;
and when the tenacity of legend is borne in mind, it is perhaps not
too rash to state a belief in an original American creation-myth,
which seems none the less possible when the fact of the ethnological
unity among the American tribes is remembered.

It is by no means difficult to satisfactorily prove the genuine
American character of the "Popol Vuh." In its case reading is
believing. Macpherson, in his preface to the first edition of the poems
of Ossian, says of an "ingenious gentleman" that ere he had read the
poems he thought and remarked that a man diffident of his abilities
might well ascribe these compositions to a person living in a remote
antiquity; but when he had perused them his sentiments were changed. He
found they abounded too much with those ideas that only belong to an
early state of society to be the work of a modern poet. However this
may apply to the reputed compositions of the Goidelic bard, there can
be no doubt that it can be used with justice as regards the "Popol
Vuh." To any one who has given it a careful examination it must be
abundantly evident that it is a composition that has passed through
several stages of development; that it is unquestionably of aboriginal
origin; and that it has only been influenced by European thought in a
secondary and unessential manner. The very fact that it was composed
in the Kiché tongue is almost sufficient proof of its genuine American
character. The scholarship of the nineteenth century was unequal to
the adequate translation of the "Popol Vuh"; the twentieth century
has as yet shown no signs of being able to accomplish the task. It
is, therefore, not difficult to credit that if modern scholarship is
unable to properly translate the work, that of the eighteenth century
was unable to create it; no European of that epoch was sufficiently
versed in Kiché theology and history to compose in faultless Kiché
such a work as the "Popol Vuh," breathing as it does in every line
an intimate and natural acquaintance with the antiquities of Guatemala.

The "Popol Vuh" is not the only mythi-historical work composed by an
aboriginal American. In Mexico Ixtlilxochitl, and in Peru Garcilasso
de la Vega, wrote exhaustive treatises upon the history and customs of
their native countrymen shortly after the conquests of Mexico and Peru,
and hieroglyphic records, such as the "Wallam Olum," are not unknown
among the North American Indians. In fact, the intelligence which
fails to regard the "Popol Vuh" as a genuine aboriginal production
must be more sceptical than critical.




KICHÉ AND MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY

The connection of Kiché and Mayan mythology with that of Mexico is
obvious, but not altogether proven. It is possible that the main lines
of the three systems were similar; that certain great deities like
Gucumatz were common to all, but that the inclusion of local gods
lent a very different complexion to the three mythologies. It also
seems not unreasonable to suppose that the Kiché people must have
been more liable to influence from the south, that is, from the north
of South America. The inclusion of an Antillean deity (Hurakan) in
their pantheon practically proves that they were, and their relative
proximity to the Caribs--the great maritime race of America--leads
to the assumption that they may have been influenced by those roving
merchants and sailors more or less profoundly. This, however, can
only be matter for surmise, and, however strong the probabilities
seem in favour of such a theory, proof is wanting to strengthen it.








THE PANTHEON OF THE "POPOL VUH"


It must be remembered that we are dealing with Kiché and not with
Mayan mythology. Although the two had much in common, it would be most
unsafe in the present state of knowledge to attempt to identify Kiché
with Mayan deities; such an attempt would, indeed, assume the bulk of
a formidable treatise. Scholarship at the present time hesitates to
designate the representations of Mayan gods on the walls of "buried"
cities otherwise than by a letter of the alphabet, and it is therefore
wise to thoroughly ignore the question of Mayan affinities in dealing
with myths purely Kiché. This does not apply to the Kiché-Mexican
affinities. Mexican and Kiché deities are mostly known quantities,
but this cannot be said of their Mayan congenors. The reason for
this is that until Mayan myth is reconciled with the evidence of
the Mayan monuments no certitude can be arrived at. This cannot
well be achieved until the Mayan hieroglyphs give up their secret,
a contingency of which there is no immediate likelihood. Bearing
this in mind, we may proceed to a brief consideration of the Kiché
pantheon and its probable Mexican affinities.

Almost at the beginning we encounter a pair of masculine-feminine
beings of a type nearly hermaphroditic, named Xpiyacoc and Xmucane,
who are credited with a considerable share of the creation of organic
life in the Kiché cosmogony. These, we will remember, appeared in
the myth of Vukub-Cakix and elsewhere. The first appears to apply
to the paternal function, whilst the name Xmucane is derived from
words signifying "feminine vigour." The Mexican equivalents of these
gods were probably Cipactonatl and Oxomoco, the "father and mother
gods." [10]

Deities who early arrest our attention are Tepeu, Gucumatz and
Hurakan. The name of the first signifies "king." According to Brinton
this in Kiché applies to rulership chiefly, inasmuch as the conjugal
prowess often ascribed to monarchs by savage people is concerned. A
creative faculty is obviously indicated in the name, but Brinton
assumes that this Kiché generic name for king can also be rendered
"syphilitic," especially as the name of the Mexican sun-god Nanahuatl
has a similar significance.

That Tepeu was a generative force, a creative deity, there can be no
doubt, but strangely enough in certain passages of the "Popol Vuh"
we find him praying to and rendering homage to Hurakan, the "Heart
of Heaven." We also find the latter along with Xpiyacoc, Xmucane
and Tepeu jointly and severally responsible for the creation of the
mannikins, if not for the whole cosmological scheme. This, of course,
bears out the assumption of a composite origin of the creation-myth in
the "Popol Vuh," but it is nevertheless strange to find Hurakan, whom
we must reckon an alien deity, at the head of these Olympic councils.

Cucumatz is one and the same with the Nahuatlacan--or, more properly
speaking, Toltecan Quetzalcohuatl. The name is compounded from two
Kiché words signifying "Feathered Serpent," and its meaning in the
Nahuatl is precisely the same. Concerning the nature of this deity,
there is probably more difference of opinion than in the case of any
other known to comparative mythology. Strangely enough, although
unquestionably an alien in the mythology of the Aztecan branch of
the Nahuatlacâ, he bulks more largely in the myths of that people
than in the legends of the Kichés. To the Aztecâ he seems to have
appeared as a half-friendly Baal, to worship or revile according to
the opportunism of national fortune. If he were here to be dealt with
as his importance demands the limits of this monograph would speedily
be surpassed. Although unquestionably the same god to both Mexicans
and Kichés, he had acquired a significance in Aztecan eyes quite out
of all proportion to his Kiché or Mayan importance. To the Aztecan
mind he was a culture-hero, unalterably associated with the sun,
and with the origins of their civilisation. To the Toltecs he was the
"Man of the Sun," the traveller, who, with staff in hand, symbolised
the daily journey of the Sun-god. In all likelihood Quetzalcohuatl
was evolved upon Mexican soil by the Toltecs, perhaps adopted from
some older cultus by them. He was at least worshipped sedulously
by aboriginal or pre-Aztecan tribes in Anahuac. Mr. Payne writes:
[11] "The fact that the worship of Quetzalcohuatl under the name of
Cuculcan or Gucumatz was extensively prevalent in Yucatan and Central
America, while no trace is found of the worship of Tezcatlipoca,
strongly suggests that the founders of the Central American
pueblos (the Toltecs) were, in fact, devotees of Quetzalcohuatl,
who preferred exile and adventure in strange lands to accepting a
religious innovation which was intolerable to them."

That Quetzalcohuatl was not an aboriginal Maya-Kiché deity is proved
by the relative importance granted him by a people--the Aztecâ--to
whom he was alien; and that they regarded him as the aboriginal god
of Anahuac par excellence is indisputable.

Hurakan, the winged creative power, is the wind of the tempest. [12]
In the "Popol Vuh" he is designated "The Heart of Heaven." He is
parallel with if not identical to the Aztecan deity Tezcatlipoca, who
in his variant of Yoalli-ehecatl (the Wind of Night) was supplicated
by the Aztecâ as the life-breath. [13] Elsewhere we have hinted that
Tezcatlipoca may have been an ice-god. [14] Mr. Payne sees in him an
elaboration of the vision of death in a polished "scrying"-stone,
which seems possible but scarcely probable. Hurakan was in all
likelihood derived from an original deity of the Antilles. [15]
The term "hurricane" is said to have originated from the name of
this god, and although the direct evidence for this is scanty, other
circumstances place the connection beyond reasonable doubt. Hurakan is
also alluded to in the "Popol Vuh," as "The Strong Serpent," and "He
who hurls below," referring to his presence in the lightning. Brinton
is of opinion that the name Hurakan signifies "giant," but the
sequence of proof is not altogether convincing. Hurakan had the
assistance of three demiurges, named respectively Cakulha-Hurakan
(lightning), Chipi-Cakulha (lightning-flash), and Raxa-Cakulha
(track-of-the-lightning).

Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque, who appear in the first myth proper--that
of the destruction of Vukub-Cakix, are certainly "of the gods," but
seem to be only demi-gods. They are constantly alluded to as "young
men." Brasseur de Bourbourg, who saw in the Vukub-Cakix myth the
struggle between the Toltecs and the invading Nahuatlacâ, believed
these hero-gods to be equivalents of Tezcatlipoca and Nanahuatl,
but the resemblance appears to exist merely in the martial character
of the deities, and is hardly noticeable in other details. Hun-Ahpu
would appear to signify "The Master," but Brinton translates the name
as "Magician." It may have a reconciliatory translation as "Adept." A
variant is the name of his father Hun-Hun-Ahpu, "Each-one-a-Magician,"
and some confusion is apparent in the Vukub-Cakix myth between the
two names; but as the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg so justly observes,
"these names are so symbolic in character that their absolute
elucidation is impossible." Xbalanque signifies "Little Tiger."

"The gods of the Kichés were legion," but the foregoing list embraces
practically all the deities proper with whom we have to deal in the
"Popol Vuh."




THE VUKUB-CAKIX MYTH

The outstanding point of interest in the myth of Vukub-Cakix and his
two sons is its terrestrial significance. That they were of the earth
as truly as were the Jotuns of Scandinavian mythology there can be no
doubt. Like the Jotuns or the Titans, Vukub-Cakix and his progeny are
made from the earth, and the parent giant is a living representation of
its surface. Xpiyacoc and Xmucane remove his emerald teeth, and replace
them with maize grains--surely a mythical interpretation or allegory of
the removal of the green virgin turf of the earth, and its replacement
by the maize seed. It is further worthy of notice that the maize is
placed in Vukub-Cakix's mouth by divine beings. In the third book of
the "Popol Vuh" it is stated that the gods gave maize to man. It was,
indeed, brought to earth from heaven by the sacred animals.




BOOK II. COMMENTED UPON

The Second Book of the "Popol Vuh" is the most interesting of the four
from a mythological point of view. That it treats of the dealings of
the Kichés with the aboriginal people of the district they afterwards
inhabited is not unlikely. Although the opinion of Brasseur that
Xibalba was a prehistoric state which had Palenque for its capital is
an exaggeration of whatsoever kernel of fact may be contained in the
myth, yet it is not unlikely that the Abbé, who so often astonishes
without illuminating, has in this instance come near the truth. The
cliff-dwellings of Mexico and Colorado have of late years aroused
speculation as to the aboriginal or directly prehistoric peoples of
these regions. The "Popol Vuh" definitely describes Xibalba as the
metropolis of an "Underworld"; and with such examples as that of the
Cliff Palace Cañon in Colorado before us, it is difficult to think that
allusion is not made to some such semi-underground abode. There the
living rock has been excavated to a considerable distance, advantage
being taken of a huge natural recess to secure greater depth than
could possibly have been attained by human agency, and in this immense
alcove the ruins of a veritable city may still be seen, almost as well
preserved as in the days of its evacuation, its towers, battlements
and houses being as well marked and as plainly discernible as are the
ruins of Philæ. It is then not unreasonable to suppose that in a more
northerly home the Kichés may have warred with a race which dwelt in
some such subterranean locality. A people's idea of an "otherworld"
is often coloured by the configuration of their own country.

One thing is certain: a hell, an abode of bad spirits as distinguished
from beneficent gods, Xibalba was not. The American Indian was
innocent of the idea of maleficent deities pitted in everlasting
warfare against good and life-giving gods until contact with the
whites coloured his mythology with their idea of the dual nature of
supernatural beings. [16] The transcriber of the "Popol Vuh" makes
this clear so far as Kiché belief went. Dimly conscious that the
"Popol Vuh" was coloured by his agency with the opinions of a lately
adopted Christianity, he says of the Lords of Xibalba, Hun-Came and
Vukub-Came: "In the old times they did not have much power. They
were but annoyers and opposers of men, and, in truth, they were not
regarded as gods." If not regarded as gods, then, what were they?

"The devil," says Cogolludo of the Mayas, "is called by them Xibilba,
which means he who disappears or vanishes." The derivation of Xibalba
is from a root meaning "to fear" from which comes the name for a
ghost or phantom. Xibalba was, then, the Place of Phantoms. But it
was not the Place of Torment, the abode of a devil who presided over
punishment. The idea of sin is weak in the savage mind; and the idea
of punishment for sin in a future state is unknown in pre-Christian
American mythology.

"Under the influence of Christian catechising," says Brinton, "the
Quiché legends portray this really as a place of torment, and its
rulers as malignant and powerful; but as I have before pointed out they
do so protesting that such was not the ancient belief, and they let
fall no word that shows that it was regarded as the destination of the
morally bad. The original meaning of the name given by Cogolludo points
unmistakably to the simple fact of disappearance from among men, and
corresponds in harmlessness to the true sense of those words of fear,
Scheol, Hades, Hell, all signifying hidden from sight, and only endowed
with more grim associations by the imaginations of later generations."

The idea of consigning elder peoples, who have been displaced in the
land to an underworld, is not uncommon in mythology. The Xibalbans,
or aborigines, were perhaps cave- or earth-dwellers like the
Picts of Scottish folk-lore, gnomeish, and full of elvish tricks,
as such folk usually are. Vanished people are, too, often classed
with the dead, or as lords of the dead. It is well known, also,
that legend speedily crystallises around the name of a dispossessed
race, to whom is attributed every description of magic art. This
is sometimes accounted for by the fact that the displaced people
possessed a higher culture than their invaders, and sometimes,
probably, by the dread which all barbarian peoples have of a religion
in any way differing from their own. Thus the Norwegians credited the
Finns--their predecessors in Norway--with tremendous magical powers,
and similar instances of respectful timidity shown by invading races
towards the original inhabitants of the country they had conquered
could readily be multiplied. To be tricked the barbarian regards
as a mortal indignity, as witness the wrath of Thor in Jotunheim,
comparable with the sensitiveness of Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque lest they
should be outwitted by the Xibalbans.




THE HARRYING OF XIBALBA

The doings of Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque, in Xibalba, may be regarded
either as the Kiché account of the adventures of two veritable heroes
in a new land, or as the visitation of divine beings to Hades for
the express purpose of conquering death. But by the period of the
formation of the myth it is probable that Xibalba had become confounded
with the Place of the Dead, and was regarded as a fit theatre for the
prodigies of craft and valour of the young hero-gods. The Kiché Hades
had, in fact, evolved from the old northern home, exactly as had the
Mexican Mictlan, which, although a subterranean locality, was also,
and separately, a northern country. A complete Place of the Dead
had been established, and the gods, to show their contempt of death,
must descend thereto and emerge triumphant. The idea of metempsychosis
was known to the American aboriginal mind. "We Indians shall not for
ever die; even the grains of corn we put under the earth grow up and
become living things," is the noble and touching reply of a chief
to the interrogation of a Moravian Brother, regarding the native
belief in immortality. [17] Man must have the example of the gods,
if he wishes to live in peace and quiet assurance of immortality. And
just as we believe that our God descended into Hell and vanquished Sin
and Death, so did these simple people gain strength to face Eternity
from the thought that they had been preceded in the dark journey by
the Immortals.

It is evident that the divine brothers feared ridicule, and profiting
from the disasters of their father and uncle made sure of knowing
the names of the chief Xibalbans ere they set out. In like manner
they avoided making an obeisance to the dummy figures to which their
predecessors had bowed so profoundly. The American savage, grave
and reserved, cannot abide ridicule. He shrinks from it in a manner
which a less self-regarding or a more self-assured people cannot
comprehend. The other tests--the "House of Tigers," and the "House
of Cold," and the various torments mentioned in the Second Book are
much what might be expected from a barbarian idea of death--no more
horrible, perhaps, than the European idea of Hell in the Middle Ages,
certainly not more fear-compelling than the picture of Dante.

The American peoples are at one in their belief in a Paradise, a Place
of Joy, if not of Reward. Their Hades appears to have been reserved
almost entirely for the unillustrious. Paradise in some American
mythologies, notably in that of Mexico, and perhaps in that of Peru,
is nothing more than a preserve of the great; the poor might not
enter therein, no more than might the coward pass the gates of the
Norse Valhalla. It was to Mictlan or Supay, then, that the popular
mind turned. How did the American peoples regard this drear abode? To
enter it one must cross a deep and swift river by means of a bridge
formed of a slender tree, said the Hurons and Iroquois to the first
missionaries. On this frail passage the soul must defend itself from
the attacks of a savage dog. [18] The Chepewayan Athapascans told
of a great water which the soul must cross in a stone canoe; the
Chilians, of a western sea, where toll must be given to an evil hag,
who plucked out an eye if payment were not forthcoming; the Algonquins,
of a stream bridged by an enormous snake. The Aztecs called this river
Chicunoapa, the Nine Rivers, where the departed must pay toll to a
dog and a dragon. It will be recollected that the brothers in the
"Popol Vuh," cross a river of blood. This almost certainly alludes
to the ocean under the red beams of the setting sun, towards which
all these voyages are made.

The hero-gods in the myth voluntarily succumb to the power of the
Lords of Death, and after being burned their bones are ground in a
mill and thrown into the waters. The belief was almost universal in
America that the soul resided in the bones. The bones were the basis
of the man. Flesh would readily perish, but would return to clothe
this more lasting foundation. So in many tribes the bones of the dead
were carefully preserved. In all Central American countries the bones
of distinguished persons were preserved in temples or council-houses
in the small chests made of cane mentioned by the chroniclers of
De Soto's expedition. This, too, may possibly have been the origin
of mummification in Peru. In Egypt all the members and intestines
must be preserved, in Peru only the bones. The state of comparative
desiccation in which most Peruvian mummies are discovered proves
that the preservation of the flesh or organs was not regarded as
a necessity.

The game of ball figures very largely throughout the Third Book. The
father and uncle of the young hero-gods were worsted in their
favourite sport by the Xibalbans, but Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque in their
turn vanquish the Lords of the Underworld. This may have resembled
the Mexican game of tlachtli, which was played in an enclosed court
with a rubber ball between two opposite sides, each of two or three
players. It was, in fact, not unlike hockey. This game of ball
between the Powers of Light and the Powers of Darkness is somewhat
reminiscent of that between Ormuzd and Ahriman in Persian myth. The
game of tlachtli had a symbolic reference to stellar motions. [19]




BOOK III. COMMENTED UPON

We are here engaged with the problem which the origin of man
presented to the Kiché mind, and we shall find that its solution
bears a remarkable likeness to that of similar American myths. We
seldom hear of one first-created being. In the creation-myths of the
New World four brothers are usually the progenitors of the human
race. Man in these myths is nearly always earth-born. He and his
fellows emerge from some cavern or subterranean place, fully grown
and fully armed. Thus the Blackfoot Indians emerged from Nina-stahu,
a peak in the Rockies. In the centre of Nunne Chaha, the High Hill,
was a cavern, the house of the Master of Breath, whence came the
Choctaws. The Peruvians come from Pacari Tambu, the House of the Dawn,
near Cuzco, and an ancient legend of the Aztecâ states that they came
from Chicomoztoc, the Seven Caverns, to the north of Mexico.

We find the first Mayan men speedily engaged in migration. Such must
always be the life of the unsettled and unagricultural savage. He
multiplies. Gods are given to each tribe. These he bears to a new
country. In fact we have a complete migration myth in the Third
Book of the "Popol Vuh," and there are not wanting signs to show
that this migration took place from the cold north to the warm
south. The principal item of proof in favour of such a theory is,
of course, the statement that the sun was "not at first born," and
that at a later stage of the journey, when his beams appeared upon
the horizon, it was as a weaker and dimmer luminary that he seemed to
the wanderers than in after years. The allusion to "shining sand,"
by the aid of which they crossed rivers, may mean that they forded
them when covered with ice. The whole myth is so strikingly akin to
the Aztecân migration-myth given in the Mexican MS. in the Boturini
Collection (No. 14, sec. viii.) that we cannot refrain from appending
a short passage from the latter:

"This is the beginning of the record of the coming of the Mexicans
from the place called Aztlan. It is by means of the water that
they came this way, being four tribes, and in coming they rowed in
boats. They built their huts on piles at the place called the Grotto
of Quinevayan. It is there from which the eight tribes issued. The
first tribe is that of the Huexotzincos, the second tribe the Chalcas,
the third the Xochimilcas, the fourth the Cuitlavacas, the fifth the
Mallinalcas, the sixth the Chicimecas, the seventh the Tepanecas,
the eighth the Matlatzincas. It is there where they were founded in
Colhuacan. They were the colonists of it since they landed there,
coming from Aztlan.... It is there that they soon afterwards went
away from, carrying before them the god [20] Vitzillopochtli, which
they had adopted for their god.... They came out of four places,
when they went forward travelling this way.... There the eight tribes
opened up our road by water."

We find a similar myth in the Wallam Olum, or painted records of the
Lenape Indians. "After the flood," says this record, "the Lenape with
the manly turtle beings dwelt close together at the cave house and
dwelling of Talli.... They saw that the snake land was bright and
wealthy. Having all agreed, they went over the water of the frozen
sea to possess the land. It was wonderful when they all went over
the smooth deep water of the frozen sea at the gap of snake sea in
the great ocean"5.

We thus see that the Third Book of the "Popol Vuh" is a migration
saga of a type not uncommon in America. Asiatic tribes may have come
down from the Chi-Pixab of the "Popol Vuh" to British Columbia, and
thence by easy stages to Central America. And the Third Book of the
"Popol Vuh" may be the distant echo of a mighty wave of colonisation,
whose sound swept the entire surface of the New World.




EARLY SPANISH AUTHORS AND THE "POPOL VUH"

It cannot be said that the early Spanish authors upon the affairs of
Yucatan either corroborate or discredit the contents of the "Popol
Vuh" in any way. To begin with, Landa, Cogolludo, and Las Casas
confine themselves more to Yucatan proper than to Guatemala, and
their remarks upon native belief, in so far as they illustrate the
"Popol Vuh" at all, are really references to Mayan myths. Palacios
is meagre in his references to any native beliefs, and the works of
all four are so coloured by the phantasies of mediæval theology that,
although interesting, they possess little real value. So far, in fact,
as they throw light upon the "Popol Vuh" they might be safely ignored,
and they are only given as works of reference in the bibliography
for the sake of completeness. They are, however, most valuable for
the study of Mayan mythology proper, and for complete understanding
of the "Popol Vuh" and of Kiché mythology in general, knowledge of
Mayan myth is necessary.




EVIDENCE OF METRICAL COMPOSITION

There is not wanting evidence to show that, like most barbarous
compositions which depended for their popularity upon the ease with
which they could be memorised, the "Popol Vuh" was originally composed
in metre. Passages here and there show a decided metrical tendency, as:


   "Ama x-u ch'ux ri Vuch
    Ve, x-cha ri mama.
    Ta chi xaquinic
    Quate ta chi gekumarchic
    Cahmul xaquin ri mama
    Ca xaquin-Vuch" ca cha vinak vacamic.


which is translated:


   "Is the dawn about to be?
    Yes, answered the old man.
    Then he spread apart his legs.
    Again the darkness appeared.
    Four times the old man spread his legs.
    Now the opossum spreads his legs"--
    Say the people. [21]


The first line almost scans in iambics (English style), and the
fifth is perfect, except for the truncation in the fourth foot. The
others appear to us to consist of that alternation of sustained
feet--musically represented by a semibreve--with pyrrhics, which
is characteristic of nearly all savage dance-poetry. Father Coto,
a missionary, observes that the natives were fond of telling long
stories and of repeating chants, keeping time to them in those dances
of which all the American aboriginal peoples appear to have been so
fond--and still are, as Baron Nordenskjöld has recently discovered in
the Aymara country. These chants were called nugum tzih, or "garlands
of words," and although the native compiler of the "Popol Vuh" appears
to have been unable to recollect the precise rhythm of the whole,
many passages attest its original odic character.



Note.--The pronunciation of x in Kiché equals sh. Ch is pronounced
hard, as in the Scottish "loch," and c hard, like k.








BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX


The various works which contain notices of the "Popol Vuh" and the
kindred questions of Mayan and Kiché mythology are so difficult of
access to the majority of readers that it has been thought best to
divide them into two classes: (1) those which can be more or less
readily purchased, and which are, naturally, of more recent origin;
and (2) those which are not easy to come by, and which, generally
speaking, are the work of Spanish priests and colonists of the
sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries.




I

The work on the subject which is most easily obtained, and indeed the
only work which gives the original Kiché text, is that of the Abbé
Brasseur de Bourbourg, "Vuh Popol: Le livre sacré de Quichés et les
mythes de l'antiquité Américaine." The Kiché text was translated by
the assistance of natives into French, and the translation is more
or less inaccurate. The notes and introduction must be read by the
student with the greatest caution. It was published at Paris in 1861.

Ximenes' translation into Spanish of the "Popol Vuh" and that of
Gavarrete are about of equal value, rather inaccurate, and accompanied
by scanty notes. The title of the first is "Las Historias del Origin
de los Indios de Guatemala, par el R. P. F. Francisco Ximenes (Vienna,
1856), and of the second, "El Popol Vuh," (San Salvador 1905). This
exhausts the list of works written exclusively concerning the "Popol
Vuh." The other works of Brasseur and those of Brinton contain more or
less numerous allusions to it, but references to it in standard works
of mythology are exceedingly rare. The only other works which have a
bearing upon the subject are those upon Mayan and Kiché mythology,
or which, among other matter, historical or political, refer to it
in any way. The most important of these are:


Dr. Otto Stoll--"Ethnographie der Republik Guatemala."

---- "Ethnologie der Indianerstämme von Guatemala."

Scherzer--"Die Indianer von Santa Catalina Istlavacan."

Müller--"Geschichte der Amerikanischen Urreligion" (1855).

E. Förstemann--"Commentary on the Maya Manuscript," in the Royal Public
Library of Dresden. Translation from the German by S. Wesselhoeft
and A. M. Parker (Harvard University, 1906).

E. Seler--"Über den Ursprung der mittelamerikanischen Kulturen" (1902).

---- "Ein Wintersemester in Mexico und Yucatan" (1903).

---- "Codex Fejerváry-Mayer" (Berlin, 1901).

P. Schellhas--"Representation of Deities of the Maya Manuscripts,"
translated by S. Wesselhoeft and A. M. Parker (Cambridge, Mass., 1904).

Cyrus Thomas--"The Maya Year," Washington, 1894.

---- "Notes on Maya and Mexican Manuscripts."

W. Fewkes--"The God 'D' in the Codex Cortesianus," (Washington, 1895).


All these works relate more or less entirely to Mayan mythology,
and are chiefly valuable as illustrating the connection between the
Kiché and Mayan mythologies. It must be understood that this is not a
list of works relating to Mayan antiquities, but only a list of such
works as refer at the tame time to Mayan and Kiché mythology.

The brief essay of the late Professor Max Müller upon the "Popol
Vuh" is of little or no value except as a statement in favour of its
authenticity. It gives little or no information concerning the work,
and is, indeed, chiefly concerned with the authenticity and nature
of North American picture-drawings.




II

The principal works of the older Spanish authors, which in any way
relate to the myths of Maya-Kiché peoples, are:

Las Casas--"Historia de los Indias" (1552).

Cogolludo--"Historia de Yucathan" (1688).

Diego de Landa--"Relacion de los Cosas de Yucatan" (translated into
French, and edited by Brasseur).

Ximenes--"Escolias à los Historias del origèn de los Indios" (Circa,
1725).

Palacios--"Description de la Provincia de Guatemala" (in the collection
of Ternaux-Compans).

Juarros--"Historia de Guatimala."








NOTES


NOTE 1. (PAGE 8)

Much that is absurd has been written concerning the antiquity of
the ruined cities of Central America, and some authors have not
hesitated to place their foundation in an antiquity beside which
the pre-dynastic buildings of Egypt would appear quite recent. But
that they were abandoned not long before the Columbian era is now
generally admitted. See Winsor's "Narrative and Critical History of
America," chap, iii., and the works of Charnay, Maler, Maudslay,
and Gordon, for modern opinion upon the subject; also the various
monographs contained in the more recent volumes of the U.S. Bureau of
Ethnology's annual report. That a very respectable antiquity belongs
to several sites is, however, certain; and competent authorities have
not hesitated to ascribe to some of the ruins an age of not less than
two thousand years.




NOTE 2. (PAGE 8)

Payne has made it abundantly clear to our mind that the original
seat of the Nahuatlacâ (which included both Toltecs and Aztecs) was
in British Columbia (see his "History of America," vol. ii. p. 373
et seq.). He thinks they there occupied a position southerly to that
of the Athapascan stock, and were probably the first northern people
to come into contact with tribes possessed of the maize plant. The
knowledge of this staple, he infers, spread rapidly among the northern
peoples, and induced them to hasten their southern colonisation, but
it does not appear to us probable that this would be an inducement to a
savage flesh-eating people averse to a life of agricultural labour. The
whole question of pre-historic American migration, and of the gradual
civilisation by maize of the peoples who came within its zone, is most
admirably discussed in vol. xix. of "The History of North America," by
W. J. Magee and Cyrus Thomas (Philadelphia, George Barrie and Sons),
published March 1908. The knowledge contained in this work is the
outcome of a lifetime's labour in the U.S. Bureau of Ethnology, and
its learned authors have undoubtedly produced a monumental treatise
which it will take many a generation of research to supersede, if,
indeed, that is possible.




NOTE 3. (PAGE 9)

The authorities for the settlement of the Toltecs in Yucatan are the
Tezcucan chronicler Ixtlilxochitl, and Torquemada, who both allege
that the immigrants went to Campeachy and the south.




NOTE 4. (PAGE 13)

There appear to be grounds for believing that the parent deities
Xpiyacoc and Xmucane are but derivations from Gucumatz, and represent
the male and female attributes of that god. In the "Popol Vuh"
they are spoken of as being "covered with green feathers," the usual
description of Gucumatz; but it is, of course, possible that they may
have received some of his attributes in the general jumble of myths
which, we have attempted to show, exists in the first book. Gucumatz,
it will be remembered, is Quetzalcohuatl in another form, and the
latter is often represented in the papyri as having a woman sitting
opposite to him. She does not, however, appear to be at all analogous
to Messrs. Förstemann and Schellhas's "Goddess I," whom I take to
represent the Mayan equivalent of Xmucane, and who wears on her head
the knotted serpent, a reptile characteristic of Quetzalcohuatl.




NOTE 5. (PAGE 53)

The Wallam-Olum (painted records) of the Leni Lenape Indians have
often been called into question as regards their authenticity, but
the evidence of Lederer, Humboldt, Heckewelder, Tanner, Loskiel,
Beatty, and Rafinesque, all of whom professed to have seen them,
rather discounts such unbelief in their existence. They consisted
of picture-writings, or hieroglyphs, each of which applied to a
whole verse, or many words. The ideas were, in fact, amalgamated in a
compound system, and bear exactly the same relation to written language
as the American tongues did to spoken language; that is, they were
of an agglutinative type, a linguistic form where several words are
welded into one. There are several series, one of which records the
doings of the tribes immediately subsequent to the Creation. Another
series relates to their doings in America, and consists of seven
songs, four of sixteen verses of four words each, and three of twenty
verses of three words each "It begins at the arrival in America," says
Rafinesque ("The American Nations"), "and is continued without hardly
any interruption till the arrival of the European colonists towards
1600." But this second series is a mere meagre catalogue of kings.








FOOTNOTES


[1] Mexico, Oct. 15, 1850.

[2] Large hollowed stones used by the women for bruising maize.

[3] The Kiché words are onomatopoetic--"holi, holi, huqi, huqi."

[4] Zipac signifies "Cockspur," and I take the name to signify also
"Thrower-up of earth." The connection is obvious.

[5] Near Vera Paz.

[6] Hurakan.

[7] "History of the Fur Trade," Mackenzie, p. 83.

[8] Schoolcraft, "Indian Tribes," i. p. 266.

[9] Cushing, "Zuñi Creation Myths."

[10] See note at end.

[11] "History of the New World."

[12] Oviedo, "Historia del l'Indie," lib. vi. cap. iii.

[13] Sahagun, lib. ii. ch. ii.

[14] "Mythologies of Ancient Mexico and Peru" ("Religions Ancient
and Modern" series).

[15] Oviedo, Brasseur de Bourbourg.

[16] See Brinton, "Myths of the New World," chap. ii.

[17] Loskiel, "Ges. der Miss. der evang. Brüder."

[18] "Rel. de la Nouv. France," 1636.

[19] J. W. Fewkes in Jour. Amer. Folk-lore, 1892, p. 33; F. H. Cushing
in "Amer. Anthropologist," 1892, p. 303 et seq.

[20] In the Mexican text the Spanish word "diablo" has been
interpolated by the Mexican scribes, as no Mexican word for "devil"
exists. The scribe was, of course, under priestly influence; hence the
"diablo."

[21] This passage obviously applies to a descriptive dance emblematic
of sunrise.






End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Popol Vuh, by Lewis Spence

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