22 JOHN EEADE ON 



Grant us this, O Huiaean, enliglitened and fruitful, 

 Thou who comjjrehendest all things, great and small." ' 



" The strauge wild poetry of the Quiches," says Mr. Short, " cau ouly be fvilly enjoyed 

 by pursuing the unabridged account." The story of the creation is narrated in language 

 of inspired passion : — 



" This is how the heaven exists, how the Heart of Heaven exists : he, the God, whose name is 

 Qabauil. 



" His woi'd came in the dai-kness to the Lord, to Gucumatz, and it spoke with the Lord, with 

 Gucumatz. 



" They spoke together ; they consulted and planned ; they understood, they united in words and 

 plans. 



" As they consulted, the day appeared ; the white light came forth, mankind was produced. While 

 thus they held counsel about the growth of trees and vines, about life and mankind, in the darkness, 

 in the night, the oeation was biought about, by the heart of Heaven, whose name is Huracan. ..." 



" Gucumatz was filled with joy and cried aloud ; Blessed be thy coming, O Heart of Heaven, O 

 Hui'acan 1" '^ 



"We are reminded of the Spirit moving over the waters, of herb and tree, of fishes and 

 fowls, of beasts and men starting to life, at the vivifying touch, and of that day when " God 

 saw everything that he had made and behold, it was very good !" 



The Quiches, besides their wonderful National Book, have given to the world one of 

 the rare aboriginal dramas of America, which have been saved from destructiou. The 

 play in question, Rabinal Achi, is a ballet, and is clearly a development from those imita- 

 tive dances in which so many of the American races excelled.' 



The following passage from a sort of prophetic chant in one of the books of " Chilan 

 Balam " is reproduced in the notes to the Maya Chronicles " : — 



" Eat, eat, thou hast bread ; 



Drink, drink, thou hast water; 



On that day, dust possesses the earth, 



On that day a light is on the face of the earth. 



On that day, a cloud rises. 



On that day, a mountain rises. 



On that day, a strong man seizes the land. 



On that day, things fall to ruin, 



'As to the Quiche and Aztec origin-myths and the prayers to Huracan and Tezcatlipoca, IMr. H. H. Bancroft's 

 Native Eaces of the Pacific States (vol. iii. chaps, ii and vi) may be consulted with advantage. Of the Popol Vuh, 

 which was written by a Quiche in his own tongue not long after the (Conquest, and translated into Spanish by 

 Father Ximenes, Mr. Bancroft says that one consequence of the former fact would seem to be that "a tinge of 

 biblical expression, consciously or unconsciously to the Quiche who wrote it, inlluenced the form of the narrative." 

 At the same time, as the work also contains striking resemblances to expressions in the Edda and even the Veda, 

 he concedes that the coincidence may be accidental. So also as to the prayers handed down by Sahagun, while he 

 admits that " a certain amount of sophistication and adaptation to Christian ideas has crept into them," he deems 

 it "just as evident, on the other hand, that they contain a great deal that is original, indigenous and characteristic 

 in regard to the Mexican religion." 



'' American Hero Myths, pp. 210, 211, and Short's North Americans of Antiquity, pp. 212, 213. 



