Some American Corn Gods 259 



creation has undoubtedly been influenced by the teachings of 

 Catholic missionaries, it presents us with tales told by the 

 Quiches through uncounted generations. The name means 

 literally "Book of the Mat." Its stories are those which were 

 told while the family sat on the mat together. It was entirely 

 natural that many of those stories should be concerned with 

 that which furnished old and young with their daily food. 



The four maize men were not the first men on earth. Be- 

 fore Tepeu made men of wood or of clay, at least two beings 

 had appeared with the dawn of the first day. These were the 

 First Father, and Xmucane, the First Mother. 



These demigods lived in the green land of Maya. To them 

 were born twin sons. The boys were strong, handsome and 

 skillful in all games. It was they who invented "pok-ta-pok," 

 the game of ball which was played in a paved court, and in 

 which the early Mexicans were amazingly proficient. The ball 

 used was made of solid rubber, about one foot in diameter. 

 Two players stood across the court from each other and kept 

 the ball in continuous motion, each trying to send it through 

 a ring at the end of the opposite court. It was against the rules 

 to use the hands to bat the ball. It must be volleyed from the 

 body. Diego Duran relates that the players he watched had 

 "such dexterity and skill that they, during one hour, suc- 

 ceeded in not stopping the flight of the ball from one end of 

 the court to the other without missing a single hit with their 

 buttocks/' 



The twin sons of Xmucane were playing this game one day 

 when their laughter reached the ears of the Lords of the Un- 

 derworld. These promptly dispatched four owls with a message 

 to the brothers to come and test their skill against that of the 

 champions of the House of Gloom. 



The brothers accepted the challenge. They bade farewell 

 to Xmucane who stood at the door of her house and watched 

 the owls carry her sons away. 



What happened in the Underworld is exactly what one 

 might expect. The Lords fell on the brothers and cut off their 



