And some said, turning to the tribes, when they spoke: "Who has seen those who bathe in the river every day? If they are Tohil, Avilix, and Hacavitz, then we shall overcome them first, and afterward, we shall begin the destruction of the priests and sacrificers." This, many of them said, when they talked.
"But how shall we overcome them?" they asked again.
"This shall be our way of overcoming them. Since they have the appearance of youths when they let themselves be seen in the water, then let two maidens who are really beautiful, and very lovely, go and provoke in them desire to possess them," they said.
"Very well. Let us go, then; let us find two beautiful maidens," they exclaimed, and then they went to find their daughters. And truly beautiful were the maidens.
Then they instructed the maidens: "Go, our daughters, go to wash clothes at the river, and if you see the three youths, undress before them, and if their hearts desire you, call to them. If they say to you, 'May we come to you?' answer, 'Yes.' And when they ask: 'Where do you come from, whose daughters are you?' tell them, 'We are daughters of the lords.'[328]
"Then you shall say: 'Give us a token of yours.' And if after they have given you something, they want to kiss your faces, really give yourselves to them. And if you do not give yourselves to them, we shall kill you. Afterward our hearts shall be satisfied. When you have the token, bring it here, and this shall be proof, in our judgment, that they were joined with you."
Thus spoke the lords when they advised the two maidens. Here are their names: Xtah was the name of one of the maidens, and the other was Xpuch.[329] And the two maidens, Xtah and Xpuch, were sent to the river, to the bathing place of Tohil, Avilix, and Hacavitz. This is what was decided by all the tribes.
They went at once, well adorned, and they were truly very beautiful when they went there where Tohil[330] was bathing, so that they would be seen, when they were washing. When they went, the lords were happy because they had sent their two daughters.
As soon as the latter arrived at the river, they began to wash. The two had already taken off their clothes and were bending over the stones when Tohil, Avilix, and Hacavitz came. They came there to the edge of the river and paused a moment, surprised to see the two young girls who were washing, and the girls became ashamed at the moment when Tohil came. But the two girls did not appeal to Tohil. And then he asked them: "Where did you come from?" Thus he asked the two maidens, and added: "What do you want that you come here to the edge of our water?"
And they answered: "The lords have sent us to come here. 'Go look at the faces of Tohil and speak with them,' the lords told us; and 'then bring proof that you have seen their faces.' they told us." Thus the two girls spoke, making known the purpose of their coming.
Well, what the tribes wanted was that the two maidens would be violated by the incarnation of Tohil.[331] But Tohil, Avilix, and Hacavitz said, speaking again to Xtah and Xpuch, as the two
[328] The chiefs of the tribes of Vucamag, who were enemies of the Quiché and fathers of the maidens, were called Rotzhaib, Uxab, Qibahá, and Quebat-Zunuhá, according to the Título de los Señores de Totonicapán.
[329] Are qui bi va Xtah u bi hun gapoh, Xpuch chicut u bi hunchic, in the original. Xtán is "girl" in Cakchiquel. Ichpoch also means "girl" in Náhuatl, according to Brasseur de Bourbourg. The Título de los Señores de Totonicapán adds a third maiden called Quibatzunah ("well arranged," or "polished"). It is more logical to believe that the mission sent out by the tribes was composed of three sirens, since the gods whom they were trying to seduce were three in number. Another version of the legend in the Título de Totonicapán is that Balam-Quitzé, Balam-Acab, and Mahucutah, and not the gods of the Cavec, were the youths whom they tried to tempt.
[330] Here Tohil again becomes a collective noun.
[331] According to the Quiché belief, these youths who appeared in the Bath of Tohil were the reincarnation of the gods in human form, their bodily representatives, their alter egos. The nagual was the person or animal into which the Indians could be transformed at will.
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