The second division of the _Popol Vuh_ contains the account of two attempts at the overthrow of the great Xibalban monarchy, founded by Votan. The first of these proved unsuccessful and fatal to the enemies of the great power; the second, undertaken by the descendants of the defeated chieftains, resulted in the downfall of the empire of the Serpents or Votanites, and in the revenge of the death of the unsuccessful warriors. The account is provokingly figurative; different allies of each of the powers being spoken of as owls, wild beasts, rabbits, deer, rats, lice, ants, etc., a custom which has always prevailed among savage and semi-civilized nations. Savages of the forests are usually referred to as wild beasts in early tradition. Xibalba is so hated by its enemies that its usual title is the “infernal regions.”[342] Torquemada refers to it as _hell_, and its king as the king of the “shades.”[343] The hatred was intense, and the worst invectives were mild in the estimation of the enemies of the no doubt oppressive power. We have already given the account of creation in which Gucumatz (the Plumed Serpent) figured conspicuously. He, however, is seen to have acted at the word of Hurakan (“Heart of Heaven”). The closing paragraphs of the first division of the _Popol Vuh_ give some of the exploits of the young heroes Hunahpu and Xbalanque, who figure as the defendants of the worship of the Heart of Heaven. A certain Vucub-Cakix, who assumed to be the sun and god of the people, and who in his pride offended the Heart of Heaven, fell at their avenging hands. His sons Zipacna and Cabrakan, whose pride was as offensive to Hurakan as had been their father’s, shared the same fate; though the brothers lost four hundred of their allies in the undertaking, by Zipanca toppling over a house upon them while they were rejoicing at his supposed death in a pit in which they had buried him.