Xbalanque

“ And from Utatlan, in the same region, in later centuries the Quiché capital, started Xbalanque and Hunahpu, the descendants of the two chieftains already named, to avenge the defeat of their ancestors, and to overthrow the proud kings of Xibalba. The young princes left behind them their mother and grand-mother, planting in their cabin two canes which were to indicate to those left at home their own fortune, to flourish with their prosperity, to wither at each misfortune, and to die should they meet the fate of their predecessors ”

“ Xbalanque's expedition and some subsequent occurrences are related by Torquemada, as follows: "After the people of the earth had multiplied and increased, it was made known that a god had been born in the province of Otlatla (Utatlan) , now known [545] as Vera Paz, thirty leagues from the capital called Quauhtemallan (Guatemala) , which god they named Exbalanquen. Of him it is related, among other lies and fables, that he went to wage war against Hell, and fought against all the people of that region and conquered them, and captured the king of Hell with many of his army. ”

“ The childhood of Hun-Apu and Xbalanque was full of such episodes as might be expected from these beings. We find, for example, that on attempting to clear a milpa (maize plantation) they employed magic tools which could be trusted to undertake a good day's work whilst they were absent at the chase. Returning at night, they smeared soil over their hands and faces, for the purpose of deluding Xmucane into the belief that they had been toiling all day in the fields. But the wild beasts met in conclave during the night, and replaced all the roots and shrubs which the magic tools had cleared away. ”

“ Now the young men, incited by Hun-Apu and Xbalanque, had dug a great ditch, which they pretended was to serve for the foundation of their new house. Into this they requested Zipacna to descend, and, scenting no mischief, the giant readily complied. ”

“ Xibalba was to the Kiche not a place of punishment, but a dark place of horror and myriad dangers. No wonder the Maya had what Landa calls “an immoderate fear of death” if they believed that after it they would be transported to such a dread abode!
With the object of proving their immortal nature to their adversaries, Hun-Apu and Xbalanque, first [227] arranging for their resurrection with two sorcerers, Xulu and Pacaw, stretched themselves upon a bier and died. Their bones were ground to powder and thrown into the river. ”

“ Meanwhile, the grandmother Xmucane at home watched the growth of the canes, and was filled alternately with grief and joy, as these withered and again became green according to the varying fortunes of the grandsons in Xibalba. [III-32] Finally, to return to Xibalba, Hunahpu and Xbalanque rendered the fitting funeral honors to their fathers who had perished there, but who now mounted to heaven and took their places as the sun and moon; and the four hundred young men killed by Zipacna became stars in the skies. Thus ends the second division of the National Book of the Quichés. ”

“ One only now remained, Cabrakan. "It is I who destroy the mountains," he said; but it was the will of Hurakan, 'the thunderbolt,' that his pride also should be humbled, and the order was given to Hunahpu and Xbalanque. They found him at his favorite employment of overturning the hills, enticed him eastward to exhibit his skill and overthrow a particularly high mountain which they claimed to have seen, killed a bird with their blowpipe on the way, and poisoned it with earth before it was given Cabrakan to eat. ”

“ Occasionally men are for some offense or stupidity changed to monkeys, or tribes allied with the self-styled reformers and civilizers prove false to their allegiance and return to the wild freedom of the mountains. It is difficult, if not impossible, to determine the meaning of that portion of the narrative which recounts the immaculate conception of the [185] princess Xquiq; but Brasseur, not without reason, sees in the birth of Hunahpu and Xbalanque from a Xibalban mother, an indication that the rival nations became more or less mixed by intermarriage. ”

“ HAVALITZ AND HACAVITZ.
ADVENTURES OF XQUIQ, HUN AHPU, AND XBALANQUE.
We now come to the heroes with whose adventures the Popol Vuh is chiefly occupied. From the union of the Grandfather and Grandmother who head the list of Quiché deities, proceeded two sons, Hunhun Ahpu and Vukab Hun Ahpu. [XI-48] They incur the suspicion and hatred of the princes of Xibalba, who plan their downfall and for this purpose invite them to their court, under the pretence of playing a game of ball with them. On their arrival they are subjected to various indignities and finally condemned to lose their heads. ”

“ This is, or was, the cause of the destruction of Vucub-caquix by the two young men. Hunahpu, so was called the one, and the other was called Xbalanque: these moreover were gods, and therefore that arrogance seemed evil to them, in that it claimed superiority to the Heart of Heaven; and they said, the two young men: ‘It will not be right to let this go on, for men will not live here on earth ”

“ It was decided that one of their number, Xolotl, should descend to Mictlan, the realm of the dead, and bring thence a bone of the perished race. The fragments of this they sprinkled with blood, and on the fourth day it grew into a youth, the father of the present race.258-1 The profound mystical significance of this legend is reflected in one told by the Quichés, in which the hero gods Hunahpu and Xblanque succumb to the rulers of Xibalba, the darksome powers of death. Their bodies are burned, but their bones are ground in a mill and thrown in the waters, lest they should come to life. ”

“ At first Xmucane would not credit her story, but upon Xquiq appealing to the gods a miracle was performed on her behalf, and she was permitted to gather a basket of maize where no maize grew to prove the authenticity of her claim. As a princess of the Underworld, it is not surprising that she should be connected with such a phenomenon, as it is from deities of that region that we usually expect the phenomena of growth to proceed. ”

“ One striking specialty this district has, however; and from the train windows we watch closely for a specimen. This is the shepherd on stilts, the Xicanque, immortalized by Rosa Bonheur and mentioned by many travelers. He is peculiar to this region; perched on these wooden supports, at a perilous height above the ground, he stalks gravely over the landscape, enabled to behold a horizon of triple range and to outstride the fleetest of his vagrant flock. ”

“ Ballinger's establishment she sought a roundabout satisfaction in depreciating her savoir faire.
"I said from the first that we ought to have had a subject ready. It's what always happens when you're unprepared. Now if we d only got up Xingu——"
The slowness of Mrs. Plinth's mental processes was always allowed for by the Club; but this instance of it was too much for Mrs. Ballinger's equanimity.
"Xingu!" she scoffed. "Why, it was the fact of our knowing so much more about it than she did—unprepared though we were—that made Osric Dane so furious. ”

“ The Quiché traditions, then, point clearly to, 1st, [186] the existence in ancient times of a great empire somewhere in Central America, called Xibalba by its enemies; 2d, the growth of a rival neighboring power; 3d, a long struggle extending through several generations at least, and resulting in the downfall of the Xibalban kings; 4th, a subsequent scattering,—the cause of which is not stated, but was evidently war, civil or foreign,—of the formerly victorious nations from Tulan, their chief city or province ”

“ That head, clothed round with hell-faced night,
⁠Bare now before her here.
And Balen smote therewith the dead
Dark felon's body through, and said
Aloud, 'With even this truncheon, red
With baser blood than brave men bled
⁠Whom in thy shameful hand it slew,
Thou hast slain a nobler knight, and now
It clings and cleaves thy body: thou
Shalt cleave again no brave man's brow,
⁠Though hell would aid anew.'
And toward his host he turned and spake ”

“ And 'Where,' quoth Balen, 'rides the king?'
But softer spake the seer: 'Abide,
Till hither toward your spears he ride,
Where all the narrowing woodland side
Grows dense with boughs that cling.'
There in that straitening way they met
The wild Welsh host against them set,
And smote their strong king down, ere yet
His hurrying horde of spears might get
Fierce vantage of them. Then the fight
Grew great and joyous as it grew,
For left and right those brethren slew,
Till all the lawn waxed red with dew
More deep than dews of night. ”

“ Ballinger said with an air of indulgent irony: “Mrs. Roby always has the knack of making a little go a long way; still, we certainly owe her a debt for happening to remember that she’d heard of Xingu.” And this was felt by the other members to be a graceful way of cancelling once for all the club’s obligation to Mrs. Roby.
Even Mrs. Leveret took courage to speed a timid shaft of irony. “I fancy Osric Dane hardly expected to take a lesson in Xingu at Hillbridge!” ”

“ Being wrapt in darkness deep as hell
And silence dark as shame.' 'Ah, well,'
Said Balen, 'is that he? the spell
⁠May be the sorcerer's bane.'
Then Balen gazed upon him long,
And thought, 'If here I wreak my wrong,
Alive I may not scape, so strong
The felon's friends about him throng;
⁠And if I leave him here alive,
This chance perchance may life not give
Again: much evil, if he live,
He needs must do, should fear forgive
⁠When wrongs bid strike and strive.' ”

“ It is expressly stated in the Popol Vuh, however, that the inhabitants of Xibalba are not gods, but beings of a supernatural character who delight in bringing evil upon men and stirring up strife between nations. There are many points about the “harrying” of Xibalba by the two heroes mentioned above which seem to suggest that the original Xibalba was situated in a region at that time inhabited by the Kakchiquel. ”

“ In no mythology is the understanding between god and man so clearly defined as in the Nahuan, and in none is its operation better exemplified.
Xipe
Xipe (The Flayed) was widely worshipped throughout Mexico, and is usually depicted in the pinturas as being attired in a flayed human skin. At his special festival, the "Man-flaying," the skins were removed from the victims and worn by the devotees of the god for the succeeding twenty days. He is usually represented as of a red colour. ”

“ Look you, Chalcan: the ’tzin loved the princess, and was contracted to her, and now comes this banishment just the day before the valley is called to witness her betrothal to the Tezcucan. Certainly, it would ill become the ’tzin to be a guest at such a banquet.”
“I understand,” said Xoli, with a cunning smile. “It was to save his pride that he was banished.”
“If to be a Chalcan is to be so stupid, I thank the gods for making me what I am!” cried Maxtla, impatiently. “What cares the great king for the pride of the enemy he would humble! The banishment is a penalty,—it is ruin.” ”

“ If you do not do me right, O king, you are not fit to reign, or to call yourself a knight.’
Thus spake Ximena, and the king sat silent and pondered her words. ‘I cannot punish Don Rodrigo, either by imprisonment or death,’ he said to himself, ‘for my nobles would not suffer it; I must find some other way to satisfy Ximena.’ Then turning to her, he bade her go home, and added that no damsel should have cause to complain that wrong had been done them at his hands. ”

“ Die all of you and confer life upon the stars.” The wind then offered to discharge the function of immolating [46] the gods and slew them one by one. Only Xolotl refused to die, and begged for life, weeping so sorely that his eyes dropped out. When those who were to make the sacrifice laid hold of him he fled and concealed himself in a field of maize, where he changed himself into a stalk of that plant having two feet (roots) such as the peasants call xolotl. ”

“ Plinth dogmatically.
“Ah, it’s dangerous to, in Xingu. Even at the start there are places where one can’t. One must just wade through.”
“I should hardly call it wading,” said Mrs. Ballinger sarcastically.
Mrs. Roby sent her a look of interest. “Ah—you always found it went swimmingly?”
Mrs. Ballinger hesitated. “Of course there are difficult passages,” she conceded.
“Yes; some are not at all clear—even,” Mrs. Roby added, “if one is familiar with the original.”
“As I suppose you are?” Osric Dane interposed, suddenly fixing her with a look of challenge. ”

“ Many, to enjoy Xavier’s friendship, renounced their profligate habits, and fell back to the paths of virtue. But it is a gratuitous assertion, and contradicted by Xavier himself, that the aspect of the town was changed by his predications and catechisings. We repeat it again—no man has the power to work such miracles. After Xavier had spent twelve months in Goa, he heard that the pearl fishermen on the coast of Malabar were poor and oppressed. ”

“ Xavier should come and re-establish the Christian religion, which had flourished of old in India. Xavier has no difficulty whatever in perusing the ancient characters, whether Indian or Hebrew, in which this prophecy is expressed. He forthwith takes up a hand-bell, assembles all the little boys around him, explains to them the creed, and baptizes them—but his great delight was to marry the Indians to their mistresses.
From Goa he speeds to Cape Comorin, to the fishing coast, to the kingdom of Travancore. His greatest anxiety, on arriving in any country, is to quit it. ”