Brinton.l bZ4: [Xov. 4, 



ing they signify. " He of the green cTisli, " "He of the green cup." Thus 

 Ximenez gives them, and adds that forms of speech with rax signify 

 things of beauty, fit for Iviugs and lords, as are briglitly colored cups and 

 dishes. 



Rax is the name of the colors blue and green, "which it is said by many 

 writers, cannot be distinguished apart by these Indians ; or at least that 

 they have no word to express the difference. Bax, by extension, says 

 Ximenez {Oramatica de la Lengua Quiche, p. 17), means strong, rough, 

 violent, etc. Coming immediately after the names "Soul of the Lake," 

 " Soul of the Sea," it is possible that the " blue plate " is the azure surface 

 of the iropical sea. 



In the second paragraph I have quoted the narrator introduces us to 

 "the Ancestress {iyom), the ancestor (mamom), bj'' name Xpiyacoc, 

 Xmucane." These were prominent figures in Kiche mythology; they 

 were the embodiments of the paternal and maternal powers of organic 

 life ; they were invoked elsewhere in the Popol Vuh to favor the germina- 

 tion of seeds (p. 20), and, the creation of mankind ; they are addressed 

 as "ancestress of the sun, ancestress of the light" (p. 18). The old man, 

 Xpiyacoc, is spoken of as the master of divination by the tsite, or sacred 

 beans (p. 23) ; the old woman, Xmucane, as she who could forecast days 

 and Seasons {ahgih) ; they were the parents of those mighty ones "whose 

 name was Ahpu," masters of magic (p. 09). From this ancient couple, 

 Ximenez tells us the native magicians and medicine men of his day claimed 

 to draw their inspiration, and they were especially consulted touching the 

 birth of infants, in Avhicli they were still called upon to assist in spite of 

 the eflbrts of the padres. It is clear throughout that they represented 

 mainly the peculiar functions of the two sexes. 



. Their names perhaps belonged to an archaic dialect and the Kiches 

 either could not or would not explain them. Brasseur does not offer any 

 etymology, and all that Ximenez says is that Xmucane means tomb or 

 grave (entierro o fosa), deriving it fi'om the verb tin muk, I bury. 



In most or all of the languages of this stock the root miik or muc means 

 to cover or cover up {encubrir). In Maya the passive form of the verbal 

 noun is mucaan, of which the Diccionario de Motul* gives the translation 

 "cosa que esta encubierta 6 enterrada," the second meaning arising 

 naturally from the custom of covering the dead body with earth, and in- 

 dicated that the mortuary rites among them were by means of interment ; 

 as, indeed, we are definitely informed by Bishop Landa.f The feminine 

 prefix and the terminal euphonic «: give precisely X-mucaan-e, meaning 

 " She who is covered up," or buried. 



But while etymologically satisfactory, the appropriateness of this deri- 



* The Diccionario de Mutid is the most complete dictionary of the Maya ever 

 made. It d.ites from about 159J and has its name from the towii of Motul, 

 Yucatan, where it was written. The author is unlinown. Only two copies of it 

 are in existence, one, very carefully made, with numerous notes, by Dr. Bereudt, 

 is in my posse<^sion. It is a thick 4to of 15U0 pages. 



t lisiucioii de laa Cosas de Yucatan, I XXXIII. 



