The Popol Vuh

Vukub-Cakix’s K'iche': "Seven Macaw." A monstrous bird-demon of the underworld who adorned himself with silver, gold, and jewels to mimic the brilliance of the sun and moon during the dark age before the first true dawn. existence rendered unnecessary that of the sun and the moon, and this egoism so disgusted the gods that they resolved upon his overthrow. His two sons, Zipacna The "Earth-Heaper"; a giant associated with the creation of mountains. and Cabrakan The "Earthquake"; a giant who shook the mountains down. (earth-heaper * (?) and earthquake), were daily employed, the one in heaping up mountains, and the other in demolishing them, and these also incurred the wrath of the immortals. Shortly after the decision of the deities the twin hero-gods Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque The central protagonists of the Popol Vuh. Hun-Ahpu represents the blowgunner/hunter (often linked to the Sun), and Xbalanque represents the "Jaguar-Sun" (often linked to the Moon). came to earth with the intention of chastising the arrogance of Vukub-Cakix and his progeny.

Narrative transition to the demon's habits.

The setting of the ambush.

Now Vukub-Cakix had a great tree of the variety known in Central America as “nanze” or “tapal,” The Byrsonima crassifolia, a tropical tree bearing small, yellow, aromatic fruits. 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 injury to theft by hurling at Vukub-Cakix a dart from a blow-pipe, which had the effect of precipitating him from the summit of the tree to the

* Note on Zipac: Zipac original: "Zipac" signifies “Cockspur,” and I take the name to signify also “Thrower-up of earth.” The connection is obvious. The translator here links the scratching of a cockspur to the digging or heaping of earth by the giant.