Well now, Hun-Hunahpú had begotten two sons; the first was called Hunbatz and the second Hunchouén.[83]
The mother of the two sons was called Xbaquiyalo.[84] Thus was the wife of Hun-Hunahpú called. As for the other son, Vucub-Hunahpú, he had no wife; he was single.
By nature these two sons were very wise, and great was their wisdom; on earth they were soothsayers of good disposition and good habits. All the arts were taught to Hunbatz and Hunchouén, the sons of Hun-Hunahpú. They were flautists, singers, shooters with blowguns, painters, sculptors, jewelers, silversmiths; these were Hunbatz and Hunchouén.[85]
Well, Hun-Hunahpú and Vucub-Hunahpú did nothing but play dice and ball A day long; and when the four got together to play ball, one pair played against the other pair.
And Voc,[86] the messenger of Huracán, of Chipi-Caculhá, of Raxa-Caculhá came there to watch them, but Voc did not stay far from the earth nor far from Xibalba,[87] and in an instant he went up to heaven to the side of Huracán.
They were still here on earth when the mother of Hunbatz and Hunchouén died.
And having gone to play ball on the road to Xibalba, they were overheard by Hun-Camé and Vucub-Camé, the lords of Xibalba.[88]
"What are they doing on earth? Who are they who are making the earth shake, and making so much noise? Go and call them! Let them come here to play ball. Here we will overpower them!
Brinton (The Native Calendar of Central America and Mexico) took these and other facts from various Indian calendars which date back to the seventeenth century and from the Geografía by Francisco Gavarrete.
[83] Brasseur de Bourbourg incorrectly translates this passage as follows: Or, ces Hunhun-Ahpu étaient deux; ils avaient engendré deux fils légitimes, et le nom du premier né [était] Hunbatz et Hunchouén le nom du second. As is seen farther on, Hunbatz and Hunchouén were only the sons of Hun-Hunahpú and Xbaquiyalo, his wife. Hun-Batz, 1 monkey, is the eleventh day of the Quiché calendar; Hun-Chouén, also, 1 Chuén, 1 monkey, is the eleventh day of the Maya calendar. Note that, with the exception of the indication that the names of the parents of Hunahpú and Xbalanqué will be given, these heroes are not mentioned again until their birth is announced in Chapters of Part II. There the other half of the history is told, but in this part the reader is left intentionally in the dark.
[84] Xbaquiyalo, "of the fastened bones," according to Ximénez. It might also be "of the uneven bones."
[85] A chuen, in Maya, means "artisan." Diccionario de Motul.
[86] To the place where they played ball, pa hom in the original. Voc or Vac, the hawk, came to watch them. In speaking of the Maya of Yucatán, Bishop Landa, says that "they played ball, and also with beans they played a game-like dice."
[87] Chi-Xibalba. In ancient times, says Father Coto, this name Xibalbay meant the devil, or the dead, or visions which appeared to the Indians. It has the same meanings in Yucatán. Xibalba was the devil, and xibil is to disappear like a vision or a phantom, according to the Diccionario de Motul. The Maya performed a dance which they called Xibalba ocot, or "dance of the demon." The Quiché believed that Xibalba was the underground region inhabited by the enemies of man.
[88] Hun-Camé, 1 dead; Vucub-Camé, 7 dead; are days of the calendar. The Quiché hierarchy had frequently the numbers one to seven.
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