The Popol Vuh

1Over 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 J i ' ■ I ■ V mau was not. To supply the deficiency the divine beings resolved to create mannikins carved out of y 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 tlie mill-stones (metates*), "Very much were we tormented by you, and daily, daily, night and day, it was squeaky screechf screecliff for braising maize. t Tlio Kiche words are onomatopoetio — **hoii, holi, huql, huqi."

2218 I ^^ 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, " Paiin 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 bum." Then i*an 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 j caverns, but the caverns closed before them. Thus i 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 Mytu op Vukub-Oakix i, 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 YukubCakix. The name signifies ** Seven -times-thecolour-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 i 1 \ Yukub-Gakix's existence rendered unnecessary that of the sun and the moon, and this egoism so dis- !. gusted the gods that they resolved upon his over- : throw. His two sons, Zipacna and Cabrakan I (earth-heaper * (t) and earthquake), were daily ^ employed, the one in heaping up mountains, and [ ; the other in demolishing them, and these aUo i < incurred the wrath of the immortals. Shortly ^ . after the decision of the deities the twin hero-gods f , Hnn-Ahpu and Xbalanque came to earth with the V intention of chastising the arrogance of VukubCakix and his progeny.

3Now Yukub-Gakix 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 I ''^^injury to theft by hurling at Yukub-Cakix a dart ■ from a blow-pipe, which had the effect of precipi- ], tating him from the summit of the tree to the ( * Zipac signiiles " Cockspur," and I take the name to signify also *' Thro wer-up of earih." The connection is obvious.

4220 1 earth. He arose ia great wrath, bleeding pro« fusely from a severe wound in the jaw. HunAhpu then threw himself upon Yukub-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 t by the pain in his teeth and jaw he, in an access [: 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.

5But HunAhpu and Xbalanquewere 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 fathermother divinities, Xpiyacoc and Xmucane (4), dis- • guised for the nonce as sorcerers. These personages accompanied HunAhpu and Xbalanque to the abod(9 of Yukub-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 Ohimalmat. Hun-Ahpu's arm was [ 32X ;

61 , : • 'Jl •, w I recovered, re-affixed to his shoulder, and all ended satisfactorily for the hero-gods.

7But their mission \^as not yet complete. The sons of Yukub-Oakix, 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 deistined for the roof-tree of a house they were building. Whilst assisting them ho 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.

8But 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 neighbour* ing 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. I Of the family of boasters only Gabrakan 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 Gabrakan 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.

9The 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 concorning the history of their father. Xpiyacocand Xmucane, the father and mother deities, had two sons, Hunhun-Ahpu and Yukub-Hunahpu, the } 1^:

1010 THE POrOL VUII firat being, so far as can bo gathered, a bi-sexual personage. He had by a wife, Xbakiyalo, two sons, Ilunbatz and Ilunchouon, 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 Yoc, the messenger of Hurakan. Xbakiyalo having died, Hunhun*Ahpu and Yukub-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 mouarchs of that place, Hun-Came and Yukub-Camo, who, after consulting their counsellors, challenged the strangers to a game of ball^ with the object of defeating and disgracing them.

11For 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 Ninzor Carchah.* 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 ♦ Near Vera Pa». 17 caused unbounded merriment among the Xibalbans. Then they were thrust into the House of Qloom, 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.

12But one person in Xibalba had resolved to disobey the mandate. This was the virgin princess Xquiq (Blood), the daughter of Ouchumaquiq, 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 coagu* lated sap of the bloodwaiii.

13In her extremity Xquiq went for protection to the home of Xmucane, who now looked after the young Hunbatz and HunchoueA. Xmucane would D / I i:

1411 / not at first beliAvo 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.

15Shortly 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 ox 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 blowpipes, with which they shot birds and other small game. The ill-treatment which they received from Hunbatz and Hunchoucn 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 veneittble Xmucane, filled with grief at the metamorphosis and fiight 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 i of " H'un-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 f capital substitute for their own directing presence I ' upon the first day. Eoturning at night from jj hunting, they smeared their faces and hands with j \ dirt so that ,Xmucane might be deceived into I j imagining that they had been hard at work in the 1 1 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 i . removed. The twins resolved to watch for them '\- ' on the ensuing night, but despite all their efibrts • i ' 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.

16It was not long, however, until Hun-Came and 1 I . I* i 'I 1: a Vukub-Came, the princes of Xibalba, heai'd them at pky, and decided to lure them to the Underworld as they had lured their fathers. Messengers were despatched to the house of Xmucane, who, £lled with alarm, despatched a louse to carry the message to her grandsons. The lous e^, 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.

17Pursuing 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 tho 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 explana32S tions 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 fii*st ordeal of the House of Gloom. The Xibalbans were furious, and their wrath was by no means allayed when they found themselves be&ten at the game of ball to which they had challenged the brothers. Then Hun-Came and Yukub-Came oinlered 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 lancera 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.

18Then 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 I S ../ :r^ 'li S.

191^ head being cut off by Oamozotz, '< Euler of Bate," who suddenly appeared from above. V The beheading of Hun-Ahpu does not, however, ;appear to have terminated fatally, but owing to N^the unintelligible nature of the text at this junc-. y^ture, it is impossible to ascertain in what manner /^ I he was curedjof 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.

20But in order to further astound their *' hosts," Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque confided to two sorcerers named Xulu and PacaVrv ^^^^^ ^^^ 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 i 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 archenemies.

21Announcing their real names, the brothers proceeded to punish the princes of Xibalba. The g.ame 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.

22Xmucane, 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.

23The Third Book The beginning of the third book finds the gods once more in council. In the darkness they I \ \ communo concerning tho creation of man. The " , I Creator and Former made four perfect men. These ; beings were wholly created from yellow and white.

24\ \ i maize. Their names were Balam-Quitz6 (Tiger i. ! . 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 oi'dinory agents in the work of creation.

25Their creation was a miracle of the Former.* But Hurakan was not altogether satisfied with his handiwork. These men were too perfect They knew overmuch. Therefore the gods took V, 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.

26These were the ancestors of the Kichcs only. Then were created the ancestors of other peoples. They were ignorant of the methods of worship, j ' I ^^ and lifting ihoir eyes to heavon piuyed to tlie Creator, the Former, for peaceable lives and the return of the sun. But no sun came, and they grew uneasy. So they set our^or 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-Quitz6 received the god Tohil. BalamAgab received the god Avilix, and Mahucutah the god Hacavitz. Iqi-Balam received a gpd, but as he had no family his god is not taken into account in the native mythology. . ^ ^'r^k ^{t^k The Kichds now began to feel the want of ^firg^.^ and the god Tohil, the creator of 6re, 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 y those days was the chief necessity, for as yet there /^ was no sun.

27Tulan 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 23^ 7 ^ TO \ which they called Hacaviiz, after one of their gods, and here thoy rested, for here they had been instructed that they should sed 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.

28As he arose the three tribal gods were turned into stone, as were the gods — probably totems — connected with the wild animals. Then arose the ' As time progressed the first men grew old, and, impelled by visions, they began to ofiTer 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 Kichcs utterly routed their enemies. And the aliens became tributory to them.

29Now it came nigh the death-time of the fii*st 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 Kiches.

30The Fourth Book briDgs us down to what is /^ presumably hUtory. We say "presumably," bocause we have only the bai*e testimony of the " Popol Yuh " to go upon. We can note therein the evolution of the Kich^ 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 Kich^ monarchs are the same as those of the gods, it is .^ often difficult to discriminate between saga and history. J ^nterminabl^c onjiidt^ are the subject of most of bhis 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 Eich6 kings. Ho here traces the genealogies of the three royal houses of Cavek, Nihaib, and AhauKich^. 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 i-ecords 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 23S ^ \J ^ 1 .! i I t i:!

3128 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 Nimaquiche, fifth King of the Toltecs. ^* In performing this journey they expended many years and suffered exti^aordinary hardships." Nimaquich^ was succeeded by his son Aexopil, from whom was descended Kicab Tanub, the contemporaiy of Montezuma II. This does not at all agree with the " Popol Vuh " account.

32236 .(rmCOSMOGONY 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.

33But another and more important question arises in connection with the initial chapters of the "Popol Vuh" — those which give an account of the Kicbe creation-myth. Under the veneer of a37 r.^^ Biblical cosmogony the original myth would appear to bo the sum of more than one native creationstory. 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-Kich6 people were undoubtedly composed possessed divergent cosmogonies, which ■ were reconciled to one another in the later traditional versions of the " Popol Vuh."

34This would lead to the further supposition that the " Popol Vub " 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 lengthy and numerous instances of Indian feats of mnemonics are on record.

35It is worthy of notice that the Kich6 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 J the ocean and raised the earth to its surface.* 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.t The Zunis imagined that Awonar wilona, the AlUfather, so impregnated the waters that a scum appeared upon their surface which became the earth and sky,t 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 Kine 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 Bican Guaymis related, according to Melendez, that Noncomala waded into the water and met the water-nymph Eutbe, 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 creationmyth, which seems none the less possible when the fact of the ethnological unity among the American tribes is remembered. t Schoolcraftp "Indian Tribes,*' i. p. 266. I CuAhing, "Zujii Creation Mjtbs." 9 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 Goidelio hardy 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 com*"^ position that has passed through several stages of development ; that it is unquestionably of aboriginal origin ; and that it has only been infiuencod by European thought in a secondary and unessential manner. The very fact that it was composed in the Elich^ 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 Yuh " ; the twentieth century has as yet shown no signs of being able tc 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 i ' of that epoch was suj£ciently versed in Kiche i theology and history to compose in faultless Kich6 such a work as the " Popol Vuh," breathing as it does in every line an intimate and natural acquaintance with the antiquities of Guatemala.

36The "Popol Vuh" is not the only mythi-historical work composed by an aboriginal American. In Mexico Iztlilxochit], and in Peru Garcilasso de la Vega, wrote exhaustive treatises upon the history and customs of .their native countrymen i shortly after the conquests of Mexico and Peru, and ! hieroglyphic records, such as the *' Wallam Glum/' 1 Indians. In fact, the intelligence which fails to i regard the ** Popol Yuh " as a genuine aboriginal • > production must be more sceptical than critical.

37KiCH]^ AND Mexican Mythology I I . The connection of Kich6 and Mayan mythology j with that of Mexico is obvious, but not altogether j proven. It is possible that the main lines of the I three systems wore similar; that certain great I deities like Gucumatz were common to all, but t that the inclusion of local gods lent a voiy difj > ferent complexion to the three mythologies. It I : 35 also seems not unreasonable to suppose that the Kich6 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 practicaUy 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.

38243 :.^ ! i THE PANTHEON OF THE "POPOL VUH" It must be remembered that we are dealing with Kich6 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 Kich6 with Mayan deities; such an attempt would, indeed, assume the bulk .of a for' midable 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 afiinities in dealing with myths purely Kich6. This \ does not apply to the Kicho-Mexican aflinities.

39Mexican and Kich6 deities are mostly known i \ , quantities, but this cannot be paid of their Mayan j congenors. The reason for this is that until , '•' Mayan myth is reconciled with the evidence of the Mayan monuments no cei*titude can be ai'rived 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 considera244 tion of the Kich^ pantheon and its probable Mexican affinities.

40Almost 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 Kich6 cosmogomy. Those, we will remember, appeared in the myth of V ukubCakix 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." ♦ Deities who eai'ly arrest our attention are Tepeu, Gucumatz and Hurakan. The name of the first signifies ''king." According to Brinton this in .Kich6 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 Kich6 generic name for king can also be rendered '' syphilitic," especially as the name of the Mexican sun-god Nanahuatl has a similar significance.

41That Tepeu was a generative force, a creative deity, there can be no doubt, but strangely enough in certain passages of the '* Popol Yuh " we find J a8 THE roPOL vuii Iiim pmying to anil vondoring homagotollurakan, tlio ** Uoarb of lloavoii." Wo alno iiud tho lattor along with Xpiyacoe, Xnnioano and To^k)u jointly ami Hovorally roHponniblo for tho croaiion of tho mannikhiHy if not for tho wholo coHmologlcal Hohomo.

42; ThiH| of oourao, boarH out tho aAftuniplIon of a I OompoKlto oi'lghk of tho ermtlon-niyih in ilio "Popnl Vnh," but it iw novortholow htiango to iind JfuraUan, whom wo muHt rookon an ali6n deity, at tho lioad of thoso Olympio oounoIlH.

43; Ououmatss in ono and tho eamo with tho Nahuait tlncan — or, more properly speaking, Toltooan Qnet7«aIcohuat1. Tho namo iH oompounded from i two Kioh6 wor<lM 8lgi»ifying " Foathorod Horpont," and itii moaning in tho Nahtiatl is proolHoly tho Bamo, Ooncorning tho nature of tluH doity, there ^ is probably more differenco of opinion than in tho I 1 caseof any other known to comparative mythology. «J j ' , Strangely enough, although unquontionably an t alien in tho mythology of tho Azteoan branch of , tho Nahuatlacfl, ho bulks more largely in the myths of that people than in the legends of the Kichi^s.

44; I To tho A'/.too/l ho Hooms to havo appeared as a half-friondly Baal, to wor8hip or revile according • to the opportunism of national fortune. If be j . were here to be dealt with as his importance i demands tho limits of this monograph would \ speedily be surpassed. Although unquestionably I the same god to both Mexicans and Kich^, he had v.

45TtrK popoL vtni »o i\c(|Uiri)d A Nlgnifioanoo In Axiocau oycH quito out of all proportion to hm Kioh^ or Mayan importiuujo. To tho Axtomn mind ho wan a oulturo1101*0, unaltorably aM4ooiatOil with tho Mnn,anil with tho orlginH of thoir olviliHatlon. To tho ToHooh ho wiiH tho ''Man of tho Hinip** tho travotloi'i who, with Hti\irin Imnd, HyinbollHod tho (Iiiily Journey of tho Bim-Kod. In all llkolihooil QiuitMiloohuatl wim ovolvoil uiK)n Moxioan mil hy tho Toltooii, povhapM adoptod from Homo oldor cultuH by thorn. J£o wa8 at loast worahippod soduloualy by aboriginal or pro-A%tcoan tribes in Anahuac. Mr. Pay no writofl : * ** Tho faot that tho wornhip of Quotxnloohuatl undor tho namo of Ououlcan or Guc^umat/. wan oxtonHlvoly pi*ovalont in Yucatan and (Jontral Amorica, whilo no traoo is found of tho worship of Tozcatlipoca, strongly suggests that the founders of tho Oontral American puoblos (tho Toltocs) woro, in faot, dovotoos of Quotzaloohuatl, who preferred exile and adventure in strange lands to acoeptinga religious innovation which was intolerable to them."

46That Quotzaloohuatl was not an aboriginal MayaKich6 deity is proved by the relative importance granted him by a people — the AztecH— to whom he was alien; and that they regarded him as the aboriginal god of Anahuac par excelknoe is indi£- putable.

47• "History of the New World." ™...^.../:

48JIurakan, the winged creative power, is the wind of the tempest.** In the ^ Popol Yuh '' 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 Azteca as the life-breath.t Elsewhere we have hinted that Tezcatlipoca may have been an ice-god. j: 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. § 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 Yuh," 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 CakulhaHurakan (lightning), Ohipi-Cakulha (lightningflash), and Raza-Oakulha (track*of-the-lightning).

49' * Oviedo, <'Hi8toria del I'Indie/' Ub. vi. cap. Ui. t SahaguD, lib. ii. ch. ii. j « Mythologies of Ancient Mexico and Pern "(" Religions Ancient and Modern " series).

50§ Ofiedo, Brassenr de Boarbonrg. V Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque, who appear in the firat myth pro|)er — that of the destruction of Vukub-Oakix, 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 Nahuatlacd, 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 Abb6 Brasseur de Bourbourg so justly observes, "these names are so symbolic in character that their absolute elucidation is impossible." Xbalanque signifies " Little Tiger."

51. " The gods of the Kich6s were legion," but the foregoing list embraces practically all the deities proper with whom we have to deal in the " Popol Vuh."

52The Vukub-Oakix Myth The outstanding point of interest in the myth of Vukub-Oakix and his two sons is its terrestrial ./■ \ i I 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, Yukub-Gakiz 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 maisse 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 Yukub-Oakix'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.

53I * Book II. coumented 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 Kichds with the aboriginal people of the district they afterwards inhabited is not unlikely. Although the opinion of Brasseur that Xibalba was a prehistonc state which had Palenque for its capital is an exaggeration of whatsover kernel of fact may be contained in the myth, yet it is not unlikely that the Abbe, who so often astonishes without illuminating, has in this instance come ^ — r* . THE POPOL VUH near the truth. The cUff-dvellings of Mexico nnd Colorado have of late years aroused speculation as to the aboriginal or directly prehistoric peoples of these regions. The "Popol Yuh" definitely describes Xibalba as the metropolis of an " Underworld " ; and with such examples as that of the Cliff Palace Caiion in Colorado before us, it is difiicult 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 PhilsB. It is then not unrea«onnb1o to suppose that in a more northerly home the Kich^s 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, Xibal ba . 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 25^ y I r I I r ,1 with their idea of the dual nature of supernatural beings.* The transcriber of the "Popol Vuh*' makes this clear so far as Kichd 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, HunCame and Yukub-Came : ** In the old times they did not have much power. They were but annoyers and opposers of men, and, in truth, tkei/ were not regarded as gods" If not regarded as gods, then, what were they ?

54" The devil," says CogoUudo 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 preChristian American mythology. says Brinton, 'Hhe Quiche 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 Gogol] udo 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."

55The 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 caveor 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 / J; ir I I I THE POPOL VUH [• I / inhabitants of the country they had conquered I / could readily be multiplied. To be tricked the j. barbarian regards as a mortal indignity, as witness the wrath of Thor in Jotunheim, comparable with { the sensitiveness of Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque I lest they should be outwitted by the Xibalbans. t \' TuE Harrtinq of Xibalba K The doings of Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque, in \ Xibalba, may be regarded either as theSache^ account of the adventures of two veritable heroes /^ in a new land, or as the visitation of divine beings I ' to Hades for the express purpose of conquering J ; death. But by the period of the formation of the^ ! myth it is probable that Xibalba had become con- { founded with the Place of the Dead, and was 'I regarded as a fit theatre for the prodigies of craft ; Y and valour of the young hero-gods. The Kich6 I Hades had, in fact, evolved from the old northern home, exactly as had the Mexican Mictlan, which, although a subtermnean 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 ; f of corn we put under the earth grow up and r ' become living tbingn/' is the noble and touching reply of a chi^f to the interrogation of a Moravian Brother, regarding the native belief in immortality/ Man must have the example of the godsy 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.

56It 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 tioned 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 fenrcompelling than the picture of Dante. r f • if ii \ ' The American peoples are at one in their belief in a Paradise, a Place of Joy, if not of Eeward. 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 npt 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 must defend itself from the attacks of a savage dog.*^ The Ghepewayan 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 suo, towards which all these voyages are made. U THE K)POL VUH \ 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 Ajnerica 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 pi^eierved 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.

57The 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 tbA Xibalbans, but Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque in v. 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, D I each of two or three players. It was, in fact, not unlike hookey. This game of ball between the Powers of Jjight and the Powers of Darkness is somewhat reminiscent of that between Ormuzd and Ahriman in Pornian myth. The game of tlachtli had a nymbolio voforonco to Htollur motions/ \ » Wo arc lioro engaged with tho problom whioli the origin of man prosontod to tho Kich^ mind, and wo shall find that its solution boars a remarkable likeness to that of similar American myths. We seldom hear of one fii*st -createdj>eing. 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-bom. 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 Hockies. In the centre of Nunne Ohaha, the High Hill, was a cavern, the house of the Master of Breath, whence came the Ohoctaws. The Peruvians came from Pacari Tambu, the House of the Dawn, near Cuzco, and an ancient legend of the AztecH states that they came from F. H. Cufthing ia **Amer. Anthropologist,** 1892, p. 358 \i Chicomoztoo, the Soven OavernSi to the north of Mexico, We find the first Mayan men Rpeodily engaged in migmtion. Such must always bo the life of the unsottloil and unngtioultuml Mwngo. Ho multiplioH. (IoiIh are givou to eacli tnl)0. Thoao ho bcMU'M t() a now country. In fact wo Imvo a <Mmiiijot(ijni<autioii-JUiythJn Jiho ThhJ lUntk of tho *U\>|tol Vuh," attil thoro ai*o not wanting Hi'gnM to nhow that thm nn*gn\tion took placo fi*om tiiu cohl north to tho warm south. Tlio princi^ial item of proof in favour of such a theory is, of course, tha statement tliat the sun was **not at 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 A>«tec4n 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 :

58''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 ^^.^.^'^i 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 Ouitlavacas, the fifth the Mallinalcas, the sixth the OhicimocaS| the sovonth the Topanociis, the eighth the !Matlatzincas. It is there where they were founded in Oolhuacan. 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 thorn the god ♦ Vitzillopochtli, which they had adopted for tlioir god. . . • They camo out of four placoH, wlion t)ioy wont forward travollittg thtH way. . • • Thoi*o the eight tribos opened up our road by waUi\" Wo find a similar myth in the Wallam Olum, or painted records of the Lenape Indians. ''After the flood/' says this record, *' tlio Lonapo with tho manly turtle boingH dwelt close together at tho cave house and dwelling of Talli. • . . Tiioy saw that tho snake land was bright and wealthy. Having all agreed, they wont over the water of the frozen sea to possess the land. It was wonderful when they all wont over the smooth deep water of been interpolated hy the Mexican scribes, as no Mexican word for ** devil" exists. The scribe was, of course, under priestly influence ; hence the "diablo.'* vl the frozen sea at the gap of snake sea in the great ocean "(5).

59We 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 tho Ohi-Pixab of the " Popol Vuh " to liritish Columbia, and thence by easy stages to Central America. And the Third Book of tho <' Popol Vuh " may be the distant echo of a mighty wave of colonisation, whoso sound swept the entire surface of the New World.

60Eauly Spanish AuTiions and thk <' Vovou Vuii ** It cannot bo sivid that tho oarly Hpaninli authorM upon tho adiurs of Yucatan oithor oorrobomto or discredit tho contents of the ** Popol Vuh " in nny way. To begin with, Landn, Cogolludo, and Las Casos confine themselves more to YucaUm proper than iu Quatonialai and tlioir remarks upon native boh'of, in ko far as thoy ilhiBtmto the '^ Popol Vuh " at all, are really roforonccH to Mayan myths. I*alivcios is ntongre in his roforcnccs to any native beliefs, and the works of all four are so coloured by the phantasies of medieval 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 f are, however, most valuable for the study of standing of the " Popol Vuh " and of Kich^ mythology in general, knowledge of Mayan mytl'i is necessaiy.

61Evidence of Metrical Composition y There is not wanting evidence to show that, ; like mos6 barbarous compositions which depended i for their popularity upon the ease with which they could be memorised, the " Popol Vuh " was originj : ; ally composed in metre. Passages here and there show a decided metrical tendency, as :

62" Ama x-u ch'ux ri Vuch Ve, x-cha ri mama. j ; Ta chi xaqQinic ' ' • Qaate ta chi gekumnrchic • . ! . Cahmnl xaquin ri mama ,' ' Ca xaquin-Vach '* ca clia vinak vacamic. f which is translated :

63^ i , ! "Is the dawn about to be 7 ! - Yes, answered the old man.

64' \ ', ^ Then he spread apart his legs. i I ;) Again the darkness appeared.

65Four times the old man spread his legs. Novir the opossum spreads his legs " — Say the people.* \.l emblematic of sunrise.

66262 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 chai^cterisiic of nearly all savage dance-poetry. Father Goto, 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 Nordens^kjold 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 { Yuh " appears to have been unable to recollect the 1 precise rhythm of the whole, many passages attest its original odic character.

67NoTK.— The pronaDoialion of to in Kicbe equals sft. CU is pronounced bard, as in the Scottish *' loch," and o hard, like k.

68Y The various worlu which contain notices of the *' Popol Vuh" and the kindred questions of Mayan and Kichu 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 Siunish priests and colonists of thesixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries.

69I The work on the subject which is most easily obtained, and indeed the only work which gives the original Kicho text, is that of the Abbe Bras^eur de Bourbourg, '* Vuh Popol : Le livre sacr^ de Qaiobes et les mythes do Tantiquite Amuricaine." The Kiche 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.

70Ximenes' 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 Indies de Guatemala, par el R. P. F. Francisco Ximenes (Vienna, 1856), and of the second, ** El Popol Vuh," (San Salvador t : i :

711 = - \ I" ! ' ]905). This exhausts the list of works written exclusive!/ oonoerning the '*PopolVuh/' 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 Kiche mythology, or which, among other matter, historical or political, refer to it in any way. Ihe most important of these are :

72Db. Otto Stoll— ^'Eihnographie der Republik Guatemala." *< Ethnologie der Indianer Stilmme von Guatemala.*' ScHEii2.ER~*' Dip Indianer von Santa Calalina Istlavacan."

73MOller — "Gcschichte der Amerikanischen Urreliglon " (1855).

74E. Forstemann— '* Commentary on the Maya Manuscript/' in the Koyal Public Library of Dresden. Translation from the German by S. Wesselhoeft and A. M. Farker (Harvard University, 1906). E. Skler — " Uber den Ursprung der Mittelamerikan Kulturen"(1902). *<Ein Wintersemester in Mexico nnd Yucatan" (1903). P. SCHELLHAS — <* Representation of Deities of the M&ya Manuscripts," translated by S. Wesselhoeft and A. M. Parker (Cambridge, Mass., 1904). Cyrus Thomas— "The Maya Year," Washington, 1894.

75"Notes on Maya and Mexican Manuscripts." W. FEWKES-."The God *D' in the Codex Cortesianus," (Washington, 1895).

76AU these works relato more or less entirely to Mayan u mythology, and are chiolly valuable as illustratiog the connection between the Kich6 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 fame time to Mayan and Kicbo mythology.

77The brief es»iy of the late Professor Max Miiller 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 i*, indeed, chiefly concerned with the authenticity and nature of North American picture-drawings.

78II The principal works of the older Spanish authors,which in any way relate to the myths of Maya-Kiche peoples, are :

79Las Cabas—** Uistoria de los Indias" (1552).

80CoaoLLVDO— " Historia de Yucathan *' (1688).

81DiBuo D£ Landa— " Relacion de los Cosas de Yucatan'* (translated into French, and edited by Brasseur).

82XiMENES— " Escolias k los Ilistorias del origin de los Indies "(<?*>«'. 1725).

83Palaoios— "Description de la Provincia de Guate- . mala*' (in the collection of Ternaux-Compans).

84JuAimos— "Historia de Guatimala/' I i M:

85Note 1. (Pago 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-djnastic buildings of Egypt would appear quite recent. But that they were abandoned not long before the Columbian era is now generally admitted, ike Winsor's " Narrative and Critical History of America," chap, lii., 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 leHs than two thousand years.

86N0TS2. (Page 8) Payne has made it abundantly clear to our mind that the original seat of the Nahuatlacil (which included both Toltecs and Aztecs) was in British Columbia (ne his *" History of America,** vol. ii. p. ZlZct »eq,). 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 G2 i\ { ' maizo plant. The knowledge of this staple, he infers, spread rapidly among the northern peoples, and induced them to hasten their routhern colonisation, bat it does not appear to us probable that this would be an inducement to a Favage 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 Kone, 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 (J.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.

87Note 3. (Page l>) The authorities for tte settlement of the Toltecs in Yucatan are the Tezcucan chronicler Ixtiilxochitl, and Torquemada, who both allege that the immigrants went to Campeachy and the south.

88Note 4. (Page 13) There appear to be grounds for believing that the parent deities Xpiyacoo 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 d I the latter it often represented in the i>ap7ri as having a woman sitting opposite to him. She does not, however, appear to be at all analogous to Messrs. Forstemann and Schellhas's ** Goddess I," whom I take to represent the Mayan equivalent of Xmncane, and who wears on her head the knotted serpent, a reptile oharacteristio of Qaetzaloohuatl.

89KOTB 5. (Page 53) Tlie Wallam-Olum (painted records) of the Leni Lenape Indians have often been called into question as regards their antheuticity, but the evidence of Lederer, Humboldt, Heckewelder, Tanner, Loskiel, Beatty, and Rafincsque, 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 verso, 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 linguistio form where I Beveral words are welded into one. There are several ^ scries, one of which records the doings of the tribes i immediately subsequent to the Creation. Another series | relates to their doings in America, and consists of seven f songs, four of sixteen verses of four words each, and | ' three of twenty verges of three words each "It begins | at the arrival in America," says Bafinesque ("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. i I f ] I I ]' i-_i Printed by Ballantvnk A* Co. Limitbd T*viitock Street, Coveat Garden, London ^ \ %Jt rT» ■-■;^ H i 09C o A'.'r J97, 3 019 4 ^"-"WTft&wcfr-^