Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Maya / Edition 1

by Allen J. Christenson

Overview

The Popol Vuh is the most important example of Maya literature to have survived the Spanish conquest. It is also one of the world’s great creation accounts, comparable to the beauty and power of Genesis.

Most previous translations have relied on Spanish versions rather than the original K’iche’-Maya text. Based on ten years of research by a leading scholar of Maya literature, this translation with extensive notes is uniquely faithful to the original language. Retaining the poetic style of the original text, the translation is also remarkably accessible to English readers.

Illustrated with more than eighty drawings, photographs, and maps, Allen J. Christenson’s authoritative version brings out the richness and elegance of this sublime work of literature, comparable to such epic masterpieces as the Ramayana and Mahabharata of India or the Iliad and Odyssey of Greece.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780806138398
Publisher:	University of Oklahoma Press
Publication date:	03/01/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	328
Sales rank:	306,529
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Allen J. Christenson is Associate Professor of Humanities, Classics, and Comparative Literature at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. He is the author of Art and Society in a Highland Maya Community: The Altarpiece of Santiago Atitlan.

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Popol Vuh

The Sacred Book of the Maya

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By Allen J. Christenson

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS

Copyright © 2003 Allen Christenson
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8061-3839-8

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CHAPTER 1

PREAMBLE

This is the beginning of the ancient traditions of this place called Quiché. Here we shall write. We shall begin to tell the ancient stories of the beginning, the origin of all that was done in the citadel of Quiché, among the people of the Quiché nation.

Here we shall gather the manifestation, the declaration, the account of the sowing and the dawning by the Framer and the Shaper, She Who Has Borne Children and He Who Has Begotten Sons, as they are called; along with Hunahpu Possum and Hunahpu Coyote, Great White Peccary and Coati, Sovereign and Quetzal Serpent, Heart of Lake and Heart of Sea, Creator of the Green Earth and Creator of the Blue Sky, as they are called.

These collectively are evoked and given expression as the Midwife and the Patriarch, whose names Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, the Protector and the Shelterer, Twice Midwife and Twice Patriarch, as they are called in Quiché traditions. They gave voice to all things and accomplished their purpose in purity of being and in truth.

This account we shall now write under the law of God and Christianity. We shall bring it forth because there is no longer the means whereby the Popol Vuh may be seen, the means of seeing clearly that had come from across the sea—the account of our obscurity, and the means of seeing life clearly, as it is said. The original book exists that was written anciently, but its witnesses and those who ponder it hide their faces.

Great is its performance and its account of the completion and germination of all the sky and earth—its four corners and its four sides. All then was measured and staked out into four divisions, doubling over and stretching the measuring cords of the womb of sky and the womb of earth. Thus were established the four corners, the four sides, as it is said, by the Framer and the Shaper, the Mother and the Father of life and all creation, the giver of breath and the giver of heart, they who give birth and give heart to the light everlasting, the child of light born of woman and the son of light born of man, they who are compassionate and wise in all things—all that exists in the sky and on the earth, in the lakes and in the sea.

THE PRIMORDIAL WORLD

This is the account of when all is still silent and placid. All is silent and calm. Hushed and empty is the womb of the sky.

These, then, are the first words, the first speech. There is not yet one person, one animal, bird, fish, crab, tree, rock, hollow, canyon, meadow, or forest. All alone the sky exists. The face of the earth has not yet appeared. Alone lies the expanse of the sea, along with the womb of all the sky. There is not yet anything gathered together. All is at rest. Nothing stirs. All is languid, at rest in the sky. There is not yet anything standing erect. Only the expanse of the water, only the tranquil sea lies alone. There is not yet anything that might exist. All lies placid and silent in the darkness, in the night.

All alone are the Framer and the Shaper, Sovereign and Quetzal Serpent, They Who Have Borne Children and They Who Have Begotten Sons. Luminous they are in the water, wrapped in quetzal feathers and cotinga feathers. Thus they are called Quetzal Serpent. In their essence, they are great sages, great possessors of knowledge. Thus surely there is the sky. There is also Heart of Sky, which is said to be the name of the god.

THE CREATION OF THE EARTH

Then came his word. Heart of Sky arrived here with Sovereign and Quetzal Serpent in the darkness, in the night. He spoke with Sovereign and Quetzal Serpent. They talked together then. They thought and they pondered. They reached an accord, bringing together their words and their thoughts. Then they gave birth, heartening one another. Beneath the light, they gave birth to humanity. Then they arranged for the germination and creation of the trees and the bushes, the germination of all life and creation, in the darkness and in the night, by Heart of Sky, who is called Huracan.

First is Thunderbolt Huracan, second is Youngest Thunderbolt, and third is Sudden Thunderbolt. These three together are Heart of Sky. Then they came together with Sovereign and Quetzal Serpent. Together they conceived light and life:

"How shall it be sown? When shall there be a dawn for anyone? Who shall be a provider? Who shall be a sustainer?

"Then be it so. You are conceived. May the water be taken away, emptied out, so that the plate of the earth may be created—may it be gathered and become level. Then may it be sown; then may dawn the sky and the earth. There can be no worship, no reverence given by what we have framed and what we have shaped, until humanity has been created, until people have been made," they said.

Then the earth was created by them. Merely their word brought about the creation of it. In order to create the earth, they said, "Earth," and immediately it was created. Just like a cloud, like a mist, was the creation and formation of it.

Then they called forth the mountains from the water. Straightaway the great mountains came to be. It was merely their spirit essence, their miraculous power, that brought about the conception of the mountains and the valleys. Straightaway were created cypress groves and pine forests to cover the face of the earth.

Thus Quetzal Serpent rejoiced:

"It is good that you have come, Heart of Sky—you, Huracan, and you as well, Youngest Thunderbolt and Sudden Thunderbolt. That which we have framed and shaped shall turn out well," they said.

First the earth was created, the mountains and the valleys. The waterways were divided, their branches coursing among the mountains. Thus the waters were divided, revealing the great mountains. For thus was the creation of the earth, created then by Heart of Sky and Heart of Earth, as they are called. They were the first to conceive it. The sky was set apart. The earth also was set apart within the waters. Thus was conceived the successful completion of the work when they thought and when they pondered.

THE CREATION OF THE ANIMALS

Then were conceived the animals of the mountains, the guardians of the forest, and all that populate the mountains—the deer and the birds, the puma and the jaguar, the serpent and the rattlesnake, the pit viper and the guardian of the bushes.

She Who Has Borne Children and He Who Has Begotten Sons then asked:

"Shall it be merely solitary, merely silent beneath the trees and the bushes? It is well that there shall be guardians for them," they said.

Thus they considered and spoke together, and immediately were created the deer and the birds. Having done this, they then provided homes for the deer and the birds:

"You, deer, will sleep along the courses of rivers and in the canyons. Here you will be in the meadows and in the orchards. In the forests you shall multiply. You will walk on all fours, and thus you will be able to stand," they were told.

Then they established the homes of the birds, both small and great.

"You, birds, you will make your homes and your houses in the tops of trees, and in the tops of bushes. There you will multiply and increase in numbers in the branches of the trees and the bushes," the deer and the birds were told.

When this had been done, all of them received their places to sleep and their places to rest. Homes were provided for the animals on the earth by She Who Has Borne Children and He Who Has Begotten Sons. Thus all was completed for the deer and the birds.

THE FALL OF THE ANIMALS

Then it was said to the deer and the birds by the Framer and the Shaper, She Who Has Borne Children and He Who Has Begotten Sons:

"Speak! Call! Don't moan or cry out. Speak to one another, each according to your kind, according to your group," they were told—the deer, the birds, the pumas, the jaguars, and the serpents.

"Speak therefore our names. Worship us, for we are your Mother and your Father. Say this, therefore: 'Huracan, Youngest Thunderbolt, and Sudden Thunderbolt, Heart of Sky and Heart of Earth, Framer and Shaper, She Who Has Borne Children and He Who Has Begotten Sons.' Speak! Call upon us! Worship us!" they were told.

But they did not succeed. They did not speak like people. They only squawked and chattered and roared. Their speech was unrecognizable, for each cried out in a different way.

When they heard this, the Framer and the Shaper said, "Their speech did not turn out well."

And again they said to each other:

"They were not able to speak our names. We are their Framer and their Shaper. This is not good," said She Who Has Borne Children and He Who Has Begotten Sons to each other.

They were therefore told:

"You shall be replaced because you were not successful. You could not speak. We have therefore changed our word. Your food and your sustenance, your sleeping places and your places to rest, that which belonged to you, shall be in the canyons and the forests.

"Nevertheless, because you have not been able to worship us or call upon us, there will yet be someone else who may be a worshiper. We shall now make one who will give honor. Your calling will merely be to have your flesh eaten. Thus be it so. This must be your service," they were told. Thus were commanded the animals, both small and great, that were upon the face of the earth.

Then they wanted to test again their fate. They wanted to make another attempt. They wanted to try again to arrange for those who would worship them.

The speech of the animals could not be understood. Because of the way they were made, they were not successful. Therefore their flesh was brought low. They were made to serve. The animals that were on the face of the earth were eaten and killed.

THE CREATION OF THE MUD PERSON

Thus there was another attempt to frame and shape man by the Framer and the Shaper, by She Who Has Borne Children and He Who Has Begotten Sons:

"Let us try again before the first sowing, before the dawn approaches. Let us make a provider, a sustainer for us. How shall we then be called upon so that we are remembered upon the face of the earth? We have already made a first attempt with what we have framed and what we have shaped. But we were not successful in being worshiped or in being revered by them. Thus, let us try again to make one who will honor us, who will respect us; one who will be a provider and a sustainer," they said.

Then was the framing, the making of it. Of earth and mud was its flesh composed. But they saw that it was still not good. It merely came undone and crumbled. It merely became sodden and mushy. It merely fell apart and dissolved. Its head was not set apart properly. Its face could only look in one direction. Its face was hidden. Neither could it look about. At first it spoke, but without knowledge. Straightaway it would merely dissolve in water, for it was not strong.

Then said the Framer and the Shaper:

"We have made a mistake; thus let this be merely a mistake. It cannot walk, neither can it multiply. Then let it be so. Let it be merely left behind as a thing of no importance," they said.

Therefore they undid it. They toppled what they had framed, what they had shaped.

Then they said again:

"How then will we truly make that which may succeed and bear fruit; that will worship us and that will call upon us?" they asked.

Then they thought again:

"We shall merely tell Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, Hunahpu Possum and Hunahpu Coyote, 'Try again a divination, a shaping,'" said the Framer and the Shaper to each other.

Then they called upon Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, and in this manner were the seers addressed: "Grandmother of Day, Grandmother of Light!" In this way, they were addressed by the Framer and the Shaper, for these are the names of Xpiyacoc and Xmucane.

THE CREATION OF THE EFFIGIES OF CARVED WOOD

Huracan, along with xkSovereign and Quetzal Serpent, then spoke to the Master of Days and the Mistress of Shaping, they who are seers:

"It shall be found; it shall be discovered how we are to create shaped and framed people who will be our providers and sustainers. May we be called upon, and may we be remembered. For it is with words that we are sustained, O Midwife and Patriarch, our Grandmother and our Grandfather, Xpiyacoc and Xmucane. Thus may it be spoken. May it be sown. May it dawn so that we are called upon and supported, so that we are remembered by framed and shaped people, by effigies and forms of people. Hearken and let it be so.

"Reveal your names, Hunahpu Possum and Hunahpu Coyote, Great She Who Has Borne Children and Great He Who Has Begotten Sons, Great Peccary and Great Coati, Jeweler and Worker in Precious Stones, Sculptor and Wood Worker, Creator of the Green Earth and Creator of the Blue Sky, Incense Maker and Master Artist, Grandmother of Day and Grandmother of Light. Thus shall you all be called by that which we shall frame and shape. Cast grains of maize and tz'ite to divine how what we shall make will come out when we grind and chisel out its mouth and face in wood," so it was said to the Masters of Days.

The Toltecs were a skillful people;
all of their works were good, all were exact,
all well made and admirable.

Their houses were beautiful, with turquoise mosaics,
the walls finished with plaster,
clean and marvelous houses, which is to say
Toltec houses, beautifully made,
beautiful in everything ...

Painters, sculptors, carvers of precious stones,
feather artists, potters, spinners, weavers,
skillful in all they made....

The Toltecs were truly wise;
they conversed with their own hearts....
They played their drums and rattles;
They were singers, they composed songs
and sang them among the people;
They guarded the songs in their memories,
they deified them in their hearts. (León-Portilla 1980, 207)

Thus began the divination ceremony, the casting of grains of maize and of tz'ite, the revelation of days and of shaping. Then spoke the one Grandmother and the one Grandfather to them.

For this was the Grandfather, the Master of the Tz'ite, Xpiyacoc by name. And this was the Grandmother, the Mistress of Days and Mistress of Shaping who is at the foot, who is called Xmucane.

Thus they began to speak, to carry out their divination ceremony:

"May it be discovered. May it be found. Say it! Our ears hear you. Speak! Tell it! May the tree be found that is to be carved and chiseled out by the Framer and the Shaper. If this is to be the provider and the sustainer, then may it now be sown that the dawn may come. You, grains of maize, and you, tz'ite; you, days, and you, the shaping—you are called, you are summoned." Thus it was said to the grains of maize and the tz'ite, to the days and the shaping.

"Bring it to a conclusion, O Heart of Sky. Do not punish them further. Do not cause any more suffering for Sovereign and Quetzal Serpent," they said.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Popol Vuh by Allen J. Christenson. Copyright © 2003 Allen Christenson. Excerpted by permission of UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

List of Illustrations,
Acknowledgments,
Translator's Preface,
Introduction,
Quiché History,
Precolumbian Popol Vuh,
Authors of the Popol Vuh,
History of the Popol Vuh Manuscript,
The Poetic Nature of the Popol Vuh,
Orthography and Pronunciation Guide,
Popol Vuh Text,
Preamble,
The Primordial World,
The Creation of the Earth,
The Creation of the Animals,
The Fall of the Animals,
The Creation of the Mud Person,
The Creation of the Effigies of Carved Wood,
The Fall of the Effigies of Carved Wood,
The Pride of Seven Macaw Before the Dawn,
The Fall of Seven Macaw and His Sons,
The Defeat of Seven Macaw,
The Deeds of Zipacna and the Four Hundred Boys,
The Defeat of Zipacna,
The Defeat of Cabracan,
The Tale of the Father of Hunahpu and Xbalanque,
The Deeds of One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu Above Xibalba,
The Summons of One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu to Xibalba,
The Descent of One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu into Xibalba,
The Maiden Lady Blood and the Tree of One Hunahpu,
The Ascent of Lady Blood from Xibalba,
Lady Blood and the Miracle of the Maize,
Hunahpu and Xbalanque in the House of the Grandmother,
The Fall of One Batz and One Chouen,
Hunahpu and Xblanque in the Maizefield,
Hunahpu and Xbalanque Discover the Gaming Things,
The Summons of Hunahpu and Xbalanque to Xibalba,
Hunahpu and Xbalanque Receive the Summons to Xibalba,
The Descent of Hunahpu and Xbalanque into Xibalba,
Hunahpu and Xbalanque in the House of Cold,
Hunahpu and Xbalanque in the House of Jaguars,
Hunahpu and Xbalanque in the House of Fire,
Hunahpu and Xbalanque in the House of Bats,
The Head of Hunahpu is Restored,
The Deaths of Hunahpu and Xbalanque,
The Resurrection of Hunahpu and Xbalanque,
The Summons of Hunahpu and Xbalanque Before the Lords,
Hunahpu and Xbalanque Dance Before the Lords of Xibalba,
The Defeat of the Lords of Xibalba,
The Miraculous Maize of Hunahpu and Xbalanque,
The Apotheosis of the Sun, Moon, and Stars,
The Creation of Humanity,
The Discovery of Maize,
The First Four Men,
The Miraculous Vision of the First Men,
The Gratitude of the First Men,
The Displeasure of the Gods,
The Creation of the Mothers of the Quiché Nation,
The Arrival at Tulan,
The Progenitors Receive their Gods,
The Progenitors Leave Tulan,
The Nations Ask for their Fire,
The Nations Are Deceived into Offering Themselves,
The People Gather on the Mountain Chi Pixab,
Their Suffering on the Mountain Chi Pixab,
The Progenitors Await the First Dawn,
The Appearance of the First Dawn,
Offerings Are Made to the Gods,
The Sacrificial Killings Begin,
The Nations Plot to Seduce the Gods,
The Seduction of Lady Lust and Lady Wailing,
The Nations Are Defeated by the Painted Robes,
The Nations Are Humiliated,
The Nations Are Defeated,
The Deaths of the Four Progenitors,
The Sons of the Progenitors Journey to Tulan,
The Sons Receive Authority to Rule,
The Migrations of the Quichés,
The Foundation of Chi Izmachi,
The Foundation of Cumarcah,
The Titles of the Cavec Lords,
The Titles of the Nihaib Lords,
The Titles of the Ahau Quiché Lords,
The Titles of the Zaquic Lords,
The Glory of the Lords of Cumarcah,
The Victories of Lord Quicab,
The Quichés Garrison the Conquered Regions,
The Titles Given to Those Who Were Ennobled,
The Names of the Gods' Houses,
The Prayer of the Lords to their Gods,
The Generations of Quiché Lords,
The Dynasty of Cavec Quiché Lords,
The Great Houses of the Cavec Lords,
The Dynasty of Nihaib Lords,
The Great Houses of the Nihaib Lords,
The Dynasty of Ahau Quiché Lords,
The Great Houses of the Ahau Quiché Lords,
The Three Great Stewards as Mothers of the Word,
Notes,
Bibliography,
Index,
Maps,