Brinton.] uImJ [Nov. 4, 



The fatlier of these divinities was Hun-huu-ahpu, himself tlie son of the 

 original pair, Xpiyacoc and Xmucane. 



The A.bbe Brassear has taken pains to make this myth of the two 

 brothers appear to be of ISTahuatl origin. On the contrary, there is strong 

 evidence that it is essentially a Maya myth, and originally bore a close re- 

 lation to others prevailing in Yucatan. This evidence is found in the 

 pages of Father Hieronimo Roman, and I regard the version he gives of so 

 much interest that I will translate it from the third part of his extremely 

 scarce work Las Bepublicas del Mando, published at Salamanca in 1595. 



" Their tradition says that there were a husband and wife who were 

 ' • divine. Tiie man was called Xchel, and the woman Xtcamna. They 

 "considered these two father and mother, having three sons. The oldest 

 "together with some others grew arrogant, and desired to make creatures 

 "for themselves against the wish of the. father and mother; but they 

 "could not, because the work which came from their hands turned out to 

 "be only old earthenware fit for common purposes as for pots and pans, 

 "and other utensils of yet meaner uses. The younger sons who were 

 "called Huncheuen and Huuahan asked permission of their father and 

 "mother to make creatures, and they received it, their parents saying 

 "they might have it because they had demeaned themselves humbly. 

 ."They at first made the heavens and the plants, fire, air, water and 

 "earth. Then they made man from the earth. The others who pre- 

 " sumptuously tried to make creatures against the will of the parents 

 "were cast into the infernal regions. All the natives who are engaged 

 "in the arts, such as painters, weavers of feathers, sculptors, workers in' 

 "silver and gold, and the like, honor highly these two younger brothers, 

 "and ask their favor and aid in order to obtain skill in their arts and 

 "trades, but they do not believe them to be the highest divinity."* 



In this narrative Roman gives the name of Hun ahau ialian is an 

 obvious misprint), instead of Hunbatz ; and assigns to them as parents the 

 distinctively Maya divinities Itzamna, the mythical civilizer and discoverer 

 of picture writing, and Xchel, the goddess of medicine, childbirth, etc., 

 although he confuses the sex of the parents. It is an interesting proof of 

 the antiquity of the legend, and of its extension into the pure Maya speak- 

 ing communities, with whom probably it was a relic of very ancient myths 

 common to the Maya-Kiche stock. 



I have reserved for a special subject of discussion the relationship of 

 some of the names of divinities in the Popol Vuh to those of the Aztec 

 mythology. It is the received and favorite theory with many that the 

 civilization of Guatemala was at first a legacy from some Nahuatl speak- 

 ing race, either Toletcs or Aztecs. The substantial identity of the mytholo- 

 gies of the two peoples has also been assumed. How far the identity 

 extended, I shall now examine. 



* De la Republioa de las Indias Oceidentales. Lib. ii, cap xv. This extract is 

 also given by Garcia, Origen de los Indios, Lib. v, cap vi, but lie has completely 

 distorted the proper names. 



