Popol Vuh

Xpiyacoc and Xmucane have two sons named One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu. One Hunahpu and his wife, Xbaquiyalo, also have two sons of their own, named One Batz and One Chouen. Seven Hunahpu has no wife or children, but accompanies One Hunahpu as a close friend and servant. Together, One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu are great thinkers who pass on their talents to One Batz and One Chouen. As a result, One Batz and One Chouen possess multiple artistic abilities from music to metalwork.

One Hunahpu, Seven Hunahpu, One Batz, and One Chouen would play dice and ball every day above Xibalba, the underworld. Their game-playing causes so much noise through their stomping and shouting that they incite the ire of the lords of Xibalba, One Death and Seven Death. They feel that their ruckus is disrespectful to the underworld, so they plan to invite the four gods to Xibalba to play ball and defeat them at their own game. One Death and Seven Death gather together a council of other underworld lords that include Flying Scab and Gathered Blood (who inflict blood-related illnesses), Pus Demon and Jaundice Demon (who cause pus and jaundice), Bone Staff and Skull Staff (who bear staffs made of people they have starved to death), Sweeping Demon and Stabbings Demon (who punish people who fail to clean the back and front of their houses), and Lord Wing and Packstrag (who cause people to suddenly die on the road). Together, the council decides to defeat One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu in dice and ball with plans to steal their leathers, yokes, arm protectors, headdresses, and face masks.

By this time, Xbaquiyalo has passed away. Due to Xbaquiyalo’s death, One Batz and One Chouen stay behind when One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu are eventually called to Xibalba. Throughout the course of these events, Falcon, who is the messenger of Heart of Sky, has been flying back and forth between earth and Xibalba, reporting on what he sees to his master. This story also mentions the eventual defeat of One Batz and One Chouen by Hunahpu and Xbalanque.

The messenger owls of the Xibalba lords, who are named Arrow Owl, One Leg Owl, Macaw Owl, and Skull Owl, fly to earth to deliver a message to One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu. In their message, they state that their lords admire their dice and ball game greatly and that they must come to Xibalba with their fine garments and game equipment to play with them. One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu agree to go to Xibalba, but ask to return home briefly to tell their mother, Xmucane, of their plans.

At home, Xmucane is grieving the loss of her husband, Xpiyacoc, who has just passed away. One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu tell their mother that they must leave under the Xibalban lords’ orders. They leave behind their rubber game ball, which they tie above the house. Xmucane cries, afraid that something bad might happen to them. One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu promise that they will not die.

The messenger owls guide One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu into Xibalba. They manage to evade getting stung by Scorpion River. They do not drink from Blood River when they pass it, so they survive passing through it as well. They also pass through Pus River unscathed. However, when they reach a crossroad of four possible paths, which is an ominous ancient Maya sign, they are halted momentarily. The four roads are Red Road, Black Road, White Road, and Yellow Road. The Black Road tells One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu that he is the correct road to take. One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu listen to The Black Road and proceed down its path. This turns out to be an ominous path to take, and it foreshadows One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu’s end.

One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu arrive at the council place of the lords of Xibalba. There, One Death and Seven Death have created effigies of themselves. One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu greet the effigies, believing them to be the true lords of Xibalba. One Death and Seven Death burst into laughter, having tricked the two brothers. Then the lords of Xibalba invite One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu to sit on a bench, which is just a hot stone. When One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu sit down on the bench, they are immediately scalded. One Death and Seven Death laugh once again.

Next, they tell the two brothers to go to the house where they will stay and wait for someone to deliver a torch and cigars to them. Sure enough, someone eventually arrives with a burning torch and lit cigars. The courier instructs One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu to return the torch and cigars to the lords of Xibalba fully intact. However, since the torch and cigars are lit when they arrive, the brothers have already failed this trial. When they appear before One Death and Seven Death who demand the return of the cigars and torch, One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu explain that both have already been used. As the brothers have failed this trial, One Death and Seven Death demand they die by sacrifice.

At the Crushing Ballcourt, a round ball made entirely of blades cuts One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu to death. One Hunahpu is decapitated and the rest of his body is buried under the Crushing Ballcourt with Seven Hunahpu. One Death and Seven Death decide to hang One Hunahpu’s head on a tree. Over time, this tree bears fruit that is indistinguishable from One Hunahpu’s head. The lords of Xibalba order that no one eat from the tree, as it is difficult to tell One Hunahpu’s head from the other fruit.

Later, One Hunahpu’s progeny, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, will embark on these same trials and succeed. His sons will redeem his death.