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
“‘O miserable me! if perchance you had not found it,’ said Sipacua. ‘I
will go and show you where there are plenty of birds; you will shoot them
with the blow-gun. I alone know where they are, and in return for them I
will go under the rock.’
“‘And shall you truly be able to catch it? Do not make us return for no
purpose; because we tried to catch it, and could not, because we crawled
in on our bellies and it bit us; and so by a trifle we could not catch
it. So it will be well for you to go in pursuit tail-end first.’
“‘It is well,’ said Sipacua.
“And then they went with him to the gulch, and the crab was lying on his
side, and his shell was very bright-colored; and here under the valley
was the secret of the youths. ‘Hurrah!’ said Sipacua, joyfully; and he
wished to eat it, for he was dying with hunger. And he tried to enter
lying down; but the crab rose up, and he at once retreated. And the
youths said to him,—
“‘Didn’t you catch it?’
“‘I didn’t catch it, I just missed it; but as it has gone up high, it
will be well for me to enter head first.’
“And immediately he crawled in head first; and when he had got in all
but his knees, the mountain toppled down and fell quietly down upon his
breast, and he returned no more. And Sipacua became stone. And thus was
Sipacua conquered by the youths Hunahpu and Xbalanque; and they tell that
in ancient times it was he who made the mountains, this elder son of
Vucub-caquix. Under the mountain which is called Meaban he was overcome,
and only by a miracle was he conquered; and now will we tell of the other
who was puffed up with pride.
“The third fellow who was arrogant, the second son of Vucub-caquix, who
was called Cabracan, used to say, ‘I am the one who destroys mountains.’
“And so it came to pass that Hunahpu and Xbalanque declared that
they would put an end to Cabracan. Then Huracan, Chipa-caculha, and
Raxa-caculha spoke unto Hunahpu and Xbalanque, saying that the second son
of Vucub-caquix must be destroyed also.
“‘This have I commanded, because he does evil upon the earth; because he
makes himself very great; and this ought not so to be. Arise now, and
seek him towards the sunrise.’ So spoke Huracan to the two youths.
“‘It is well,’ they replied, ‘and it seems good to us to risk. There is
no danger. Is not your greatness, O Heart of Heaven, above all?’ Thus
spoke the two youths in reply to Huracan, and at the very time Cabracan
was shaking the mountains. Hardly had he shaken them a little, kicking
with his feet on the ground (then he was breaking the mountains great and
small), when the two youths met him and asked,—
“‘Where are you going, boy?’
“‘I am not going anywhere,’ he replied; ‘I am only here shaking the
mountains, and I shall always be shaking them.’
“Then said Cabracan to Hunahpu and Xbalanque, ‘What do you come here for?
I don’t recognize you, nor do I know what you are here for. What are your
names?’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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