Guatemala : $b the land of the quetzal; a sketchBrigham, William Tufts
History
Guatemala : $b the land of the quetzal; a sketch
Brigham, William Tufts
Central America -- Bibliography; Guatemala -- Antiquities; Guatemala -- Description and travel
“This is, or was, the cause of the destruction of Vucub-caquix by the
two young men. Hunahpu, so was called the one, and the other was called
Xbalanque: these moreover were gods, and therefore that arrogance seemed
evil to them, in that it claimed superiority to the Heart of Heaven; and
they said, the two young men: ‘It will not be right to let this go on,
for men will not live here on earth; and so we will try to shoot him with
the blow-gun (_cerbatana_) when he is eating: we will shoot him and
disable him; and then will be dispersed his riches, his precious stones,
and his emeralds, which are the foundation of his greatness;’ and so
said the youths, each one with his blow-gun on his shoulder. Now, that
Vucub-caquix had two sons: the elder was called Sipacua, and the second
was called Cabracan, and their mother was named Chimalmat. She was the
wife of Vucub-caquix. And that son of his, Sipacua, whose pasture-ground
was great mountains, that one moreover in one night before dawn made
the mountain called Hunahpupecul, Yaxcanulmucamob, Hulisnab, because in
a night Sipacua made a mountain; and his brother Cabracan (this is, of
two feet) used to move and shake the mountains both great and small. And
so moreover these two sons of Vucub-caquix became proud; and thus said
Vucub-caquix: ‘Know ye that I am the sun.’ ‘And I am the maker of the
earth,’ said Sipacua; ‘and I,’ said Cabracan, ‘am he who moves the earth,
I will demolish all the world.’ And thus the sons of Vucub-caquix became
arrogant even as their father was arrogant; and this seemed evil in the
sight of the two youths, Hunahpu and Xbalanque. Nevertheless our first
fathers and mothers were not yet created, and thus the two youths plotted
the death of Vucub-caquix, of Sipacua, and of Cabracan.
“And here follows the telling of the blow the two youths gave to
Vucub-caquix, and how each one was destroyed by his arrogance.
“This Vucub-caquix had a tree of _nances_, because that was his only
food; and every day he climbed the tree to eat the fruit. This Hunahpu
and Xbalanque had observed that it was his food; and they lay in ambush,
the two youths, under the tree hidden among the leaves of the grass.
And then came Vucub-caquix; and while he was yet climbing the tree,
Hunahpu fired a shot which was well aimed, and hit him in the jaw; then,
groaning, he fell to the ground. And as soon as Hunahpu saw Vucub-caquix
fall, he sprang with the greatest promptitude to catch him. Then
Vucub-caquix seized Hunahpu’s arm and tore it off at the shoulder; and
then Hunahpu let Vucub-caquix go; and so the youths had the best of it,
for they were not beaten by Vucub-caquix, who ran home carrying Hunahpu’s
arm, but holding his broken jaws.
“‘What has happened to you?’ said Chimalmat to her husband Vucub-caquix.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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