[CAMPBELL] THE ANCIENT LITERATURE OF AMERICA 57 



their lives. But, in a supernuturul way, Xquie, the daughter of one of 

 the thirteen princes of Xibalba, became the mother of Hunahpu and 

 Exbahmque, sons of the murdered Hunahj^u. Prior to their bii'th she 

 had left Xibalba, and had cast herself upon the protection of the mother 

 and sons of the dead Hunahpu, who treated her and her children harshly. 

 But these children grew up, endowed with marvellous power and wis- 

 dom, every juggling feat ever performed by the most accomplished of 

 Oriental wizards being imputed to them. They first showed their skill 

 by transforming their half-brothei-s into monkeys, whose appearance was 

 so grotesque that their grandmother Xmucane, though grieving over 

 their metamorphosis, was compelled to laugh at their grimaces, where- 

 upon they left in dudgeon and betook themselves to the woods. Then 

 the wonderful children cultivated the ground, while, night after night, 

 wild beasts came and destro^^ed their work. They kept watch accord- 

 ingly, and, one night, caught a mouse, which, like Manawyddan, son of 

 Llyr, in the Welsh Mabinogi, they were about to torture in revenge for 

 the injuries committed, when, begging for life, it told them that agricul- 

 ture was not for such as them ; let them take up the ball-playing in 

 which their father and uncle had fallen. The lads, who remind one of 

 the Epigoni returning to Thebes to avenge their fathers, hurled the ball 

 towards Xibalba, after bidding farewell to their mother and grandmother. 

 Once on their way, the creatures did their bidding ; the Xans, small 

 stinging gnats, were their spies, and the birds called Molay carried them 

 over the rivers. When the}'- arrived in the hated land they were shut up 

 by the thirteen of Xibalba in a place of darkness, which they filled with 

 light. A game of lacrosse took place next day, and the brothers were 

 victorious. Again, inclosed in a house in which sharp flint knives 

 revolved, they by magic made them cease their deadly revolutions; and, 

 when commanded to fill four vases with rare flowers in that place of 

 horrors, they called in the aid of the ants Zanpopos, who, in spite of the 

 precautions of the royal guards, cut down the choicest blossoms in the 

 gardens of the kings and brought them to the prisoners. They then 

 passed the ordeals of the house of ice, the house of tigers, and that of 

 fire ; but, in the house of the bats, Hunahpu lost his head, so that 

 Exbalanque had to provide him with a new one. Then followed the 

 most astounding prodigies. A funeral pyre was lit ; the brothers threw 

 themselves upon it and were burned to ashes. The joyous Xi bal bans 

 threw the ashes into the river, and, five days after, two youths of great 

 beaut};, but with fishes' tails, disported themselves in its stream and 

 mocked the thirteen councillors. Afterwards they appeared in the 

 streets of the city as old men clothed in tatters, dancing wild dances, 

 burning houses and restoring them, killing each other and coming to 

 life again. Summoned before the princes, they came and repeated their 

 miraculous juggleries, putting many people to death and reviving them. 



