Various exploits of the twin brothers are narrated, chiefly—as we would interpret the figurative language—with the more savage tribes of the forests and mountains. From one of their captives whom they call a rat, they learned of the expedition of their father and uncle, and were brought into possession of their ball implements. The old ball-ground (probably battle-ground) of their fathers was resorted to by Hunahpu and Xbalanque, and when the Xibalban monarchs, Hun Came and Vukub Came, heard of their purposes, they were angered and sent a challenge to them as they had done to their ancestors. The message was delivered at the great-grandmother’s home, and the two chieftains, upon being acquainted with the news, returned to bid both mother and grandmother farewell. Before taking final leave, they planted in the centre of the house (probably the court) each a cane, which was endowed with the singular attribute of revealing to the family the fortunes of each of the brothers. The life and fate of each cane was inseparably connected with that of Hunahpu and Xbalanque. On their route to Xibalba the bloody river was passed and a stream called Papuhya; but, more wise than their predecessors, they took cunning precautions not to be deceived and sacrificed by the Xibalban monarchs. For this purpose, it is said, they sent an animal called Xan before them, equipped with a hair from Hunahpu’s leg, with which he pricked the princes and by their exclamations learned their names. Thus they detected the artificial wooden men whom we are told deceived their ancestors and made them the objects of ridicule.
By this strange personification we think we may understand that the father and the uncle of the two young heroes had treated with a couple of irresponsible Xibalbans who had been sent out to meet them, with the pretence that they were the kings, and when they had induced their enemies to enter the city, the true monarchs seized them and repudiated the action of the so-called wooden men, avowing no responsibility for their pledges. Hunahpu and Xbalanque avoided two other artifices of which their ancestors were the victims; one of these was a seat on a red-hot stone under the pretence that it was the seat of honor; the other was an ordeal in the “House of Gloom.”[344] The angry Xibalban kings then met them in a game of ball, but suffered a defeat. Hun Came and Vukub Came then requested the victors to give them four bouquets of flowers, which request was granted, the fortunate brothers themselves bearing them to the defeated kings. At their instance, however, the guards of the royal gardens committed Hunahpu and Xbalanque to the house of lances—the second of five ordeals common at Xibalba. Scarcely had this been done before a swarm of ants—allies of the brothers—came to their rescue, entered the royal gardens, bribed the lancers, released their leaders and punished the owls—guards of the Xibalban kings—by splitting their lips. The defeated monarchs began to realize the seriousness of the contest which was being waged against them. Hunahpu and Xbalanque were then subjected to ordeals in the houses of cold, of tigers, and of fire respectively, but without suffering harm. As we proceed, the account becomes more figurative than ever. In the next ordeal in the house of bats, we are told that Hunahpu’s head was cut off by the ruler of the bats, who, it seems, was recognized as of super-terrestrial origin. Strange to say, this violent proceeding did not prove fatal to Hunahpu; the animals assembled, came to the heroes’ relief, and by the strategic skill of the turtle and rabbit, at a great game of ball, the brothers came out of all the Xibalban ordeals unharmed.
The next act was designed as the beginning of the end of the great struggle. Xibalba had failed because the brutes were not its allies. The brothers were determined to show the haughty rival their personal greatness, and resorted to the use of their magical arts. After proper instructions to their sorcerers, Xulu and Pacam, Hunahpu and Xbalanque mounted a funeral pyre and endured a voluntary death. But their ashes and bones which were thrown into a river, rose instantly into life, assuming the shape of young men. Five days subsequent to this wonderful event they appeared in the form of man-fishes; and on the day following, the sorcery was complete, for the brothers now presented themselves in the form of “ragged old men, dancing, burning and restoring houses, killing and restoring each other to life, and performing other wonderful things. They were induced to exhibit their skill before the princes of Xibalba, killing and resuscitating the king’s dog, burning and restoring the royal palace. Then a man was made the subject of their art. Hunahpu was cut in pieces and brought to life by Xbalanque. Finally the monarchs of Xibalba wanted to experience personally the temporary death; Hun Came the highest was first killed, then Vukub Came, but life was not restored to them.”[345] The twin sons of the unfortunate Xibalban virgin, an outcast from her home, triumphed, their father and uncle were avenged, the warlike Xibalbans—the fierce, frightful-looking, owl-like, faithless, hypocritical tyrants, black and white, and with painted faces, as they are described—were overthrown forever. The ancestors of the victorious chieftains were then deified and given places in the sun and moon; while their allies, the enemies of Xibalba, were made stars in the firmament.
To interpret fully this figurative account requires further knowledge, which it is hoped ultimately may come to light. The beheading of Hunahpu in the house of bats may signify the loss of the most important division of his army; for when the “animals” came to his relief—by which we understand the less civilized tribes of the country—he obtained a victory. The closing paragraphs of the account indicate that a long and tiresome warfare brought the brothers repeated victories, but not the entire overthrow of Xibalba; and that stratagem was resorted to—a stratagem no more improbable or difficult to understand than that of the wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks at Troy. The stratagem was at last successful, and Xibalba, of the Votanites—we suppose the empire of the Chanes—fell. The war seems to have been one of religion in part, for Hurakan, “Heart of Heaven,” inspired the contest, and Gucumatz, “the Plumed Serpent,” one of his associate though minor deities, was the god of Hunahpu and Xbalanque. The wicked Xibalbans were puffed up against the Heart of Heaven, would not accept the true faith, and hence their overthrow before the advancing power of a new religion.[346] It is certain that the conquerors of Xibalba (which was no doubt Palenque) were near neighbors, who had been closely allied to the great power. Bancroft is of the opinion that they were the Tzequiles, who arrived during Votan’s absence and introduced new ideas of government and religion among his people.[347] Garcia Pelaez, in his Memorias, agrees with Juarros in calling them Carthaginians, and states that they arrived in that region about four hundred years before Christ, founded Tulan, the present Ococingo, and overthrew ancient Culhuacan or Palenque.[348] Brasseur de Bourbourg says that the Nahuas, coming into Mexico by sea at the south [i. e., in the south central region] slowly moved toward the north, to the regions bordering on California, and also spreading their civilization across the Usumacinta River, went into Yucatan and even Guatemala. This he thinks occurred in the year 174 of our era; Xibalba was at the height of her power, but was overthrown in the revolution and conquest.[349] While we do not attach much certainty to the Abbé’s date, still we think that the fall of Xibalba was due to Nahua influences brought to bear upon the ancestors of the Quichés. The old religion and civilization of the Votanites were compelled to yield to the vigorous and warlike power which brought with it a religion which has ever commended itself to the senses and impulses of semi-civilized peoples. The worship of the sun-symbol of the Heart of Heaven was destined to supplant all other faiths.
It will be remembered that Quetzalcoatl was the leader and deity of the Nahuas, and that in their language his name signified “plumed serpent,” while Gucumatz, leader and patron deity of the Xibalban conquerors has precisely the same significance in the Quiché language. Utatlan upon the Guatemalian highlands was doubtless the point from which the allied forces under the brothers descended the precipitous road to the Usumacinta region below. It is probable that the Nahuas had lived for some time in the country, had reached it in their migrations by water along the Gulf coast, and spread their population to quarters both north and south of the point at which they entered. They may have been permitted to settle in the country without molestation, and in time to have united their forces with the rivals of Xibalba for the overthrow of a power which was the dread of the entire Central American region. The crumbling though wonderful ruins of Palenque are the sole vestiges which are left to us of a grand capital and noble empire, and these offer us nothing but the sealed histories which are graven in hieroglyphics upon its walls. Subsequently the Maya-Quiché nations divided and extended their language in three directions; one division journeyed toward Guatemala, another toward Mexico, and another into Yucatan; the latter region has ever remained a peculiarly Maya country. Las Casas states that some of the Guatemalians had a legend of their origin, to the effect that a divine pair of beings had thirteen sons (but by comparison with other authors, namely, Roman in Garcia, and Bancroft, vol. iii, pp. 74–5, it is clear that the writer designed to write three—tres—instead of thirteen—trece), or rather three sons. The eldest was puffed up in his own conceit, and attempted to create man against the will of his parents, but failed, except that he was able to produce vessels of the meaner sort. The younger sons, who exhibited quite a different spirit, were granted the privilege, and after creating the sun and moon and stars, created the first man and woman, the progenitors of the human race.[350] Las Casas adds, “They have among them knowledge of the flood and of the end of the world. They call it ‘butic,’ a name which signifies a flood of many waters. They also believe that another ‘butic’ and judgment will come, not of water but of fire. They hold that certain persons who escaped from the flood populated their land; these were called the Great Father and Great Mother.”[351] In Yucatan the origin traditions point directly to an eastern and foreign source for the population. The early writers report that the natives believed their ancestors to have crossed the sea by a passage which was opened for them.[352] It was also believed that part of the population came into the country from the West. Lizana says that the smaller portion of the population, the “little descent,” came from the East, while the greater portion, “the great descent,” came from the West.[353] Cogolludo disagrees with this view, and considers the eastern colony as the larger; a view which is not likely to be true. The author himself is not quite certain as to what he thinks upon the subject, and contradicts himself squarely on the same page, as to the direction from which Zamna, the Yucatanic culture-hero, is said to have come.[354] Señor Orozco y Berra, thinks that the Yucatanic population came from the north-east (from Florida), by way of Cuba and the islands adjacent.[355] The culture-hero, Zamna, the author of all civilization in Yucatan, is described as the teacher of letters and the leader of the people from their ancient home. His relation to the people and his office of priest and deity combined—the fact that he was the leader of a colony from the East, that he named all the divisions of the land, all the towns, coasts, bays and rivers—identifies him with Votan or rather with one of his disciples or associates. Cogolludo’s statement, first that he came from the West, may be true of the direction from which he came into Yucatan; and the statement that he came from the East, may refer to the original migration by which he in company with Votan reached Chiapas and from thence entered the peninsula on the north-east. He was the founder of the capital city of Mayapan, and after a long life died and was buried at Izamal.[356] This became a shrine for pilgrims and was visited for centuries afterwards by religious devotees in large numbers. Zamna is supposed to have founded the oldest royal house in Yucatan—that of the Cocomes.[357] The second culture-hero, of whom mention is made by all the early writers, was Cukulcan (meaning plumed serpent, precisely the same as Quetzalcoatl), who entered the country from the West and settled at Chichen-Itza.[358] Landa is not certain whether he preceded or followed the Itzas. His celibacy, general purity of morals, and the advanced character of his teachings, seem to identify him with the Nahua culture-hero, Quetzalcoatl, and it is believed, with reason, that he appeared in Yucatan after his mysterious disappearance in the province of Goazacoalco. For some unknown reason, Cukulcan left Chichen-Itza after a residence there of ten years. Herrera states that he had two brothers who remained in Chichen-Itza, while Cukulcan went to Mayapan. He describes all as practising the purest asceticism. After the disappearance of Cukulcan, temples were erected to his memory and he was worshiped as a god.[359] The date of his residence in Yucatan is a matter of considerable dispute, Cogolludo placing it in the twelfth century, Herrera in the ninth, Brasseur de Bourbourg in the eleventh, and Bancroft in the second. To fix dates on no better data than such legends is folly. It is probable, however, that Cukulcan was the culture-hero Quetzalcoatl, who was the teacher of the Nahua nations and figured as the introducer of the fine arts, of purity of morals, of confessional ceremonies and a humane and enlightened system of religion at Cholula, and afterwards disappeared toward the East upon the waters of the Gulf. With the rule of the Cocomes and the annals of that remarkable branch of the Chiapan family, composed of Maya and Nahua elements known as the Tutul Xius, we have nothing to do in this work.[360] Las Casas, in examining the doctrine of Hunab Ku, “the only God” among the Yucatecoes, who is described as the father of Zamna, discovered a most striking Christ myth; one which conforms so closely to the gospel account of Christ’s birth and ministry that we must conclude that either some foreigner must have been cast upon the coast after the Christian era began, bringing the gospel with him, or that one of two views is true, namely, that the Fathers fabricated the story, or that the natives, expecting favor of their conquerors, endeavored to harmonize their belief with that which was being taught them. Las Casas tells us of their belief in a Trinity consisting of Izona, the Father; Bacab, the Son, and Echuah, the Holy Ghost.[361] The Son was born of the Virgin Chibirias, and was rejected of men, was scourged and crucified on a tree with cross-arms; he descended into the regions of the dead, but rose again on the third day, and finally ascended to heaven. In fact the story is the Apostles’ Creed without the “Credo,” and is probably as much the work of the credulous and imaginative Spanish Fathers as of the designing natives. The story ought to be repudiated without question. It only remains for us to submit the question to the reader, whether the Maya peoples are not of transatlantic origin, as we believe the facts in this chapter indicate.
CHAPTER VI.
TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN OF THE NAHUA NATIONS.
The Early Inhabitants of Mexico—Quinames—Miztecs and Zapotecs—Totonacs and Huastecs—Olmecs and Xicalancas—The Nahuas—The Cholula Pyramid—Its Origin Explained in the Duran MS.—No Relation to a Flood—Ixtlilxochitl’s Deluge Tradition—The first Toltecs—The Codex Chimalpopoca Account—The Discovery of Maize—Sahagun’s Origin of the Nahuas—They came from Florida—Their Settlement in Tamoanchan—Their Migrations—Hue Hue Tlapalan—Its Location, according to the Sources—Not Identical with Tlapallan de Cortés—Not in Central America—Probably in the Mississippi Valley—Beginning of the Toltec Annals—The Chichimecs not Nahuas—The Nahuatlacas—The Aztecs—Aztlan—As Described by Early Writers—Aztec Migration—Aztec Maps—Señor Ramirez on Migration Maps—The Seven Caves—Three Claims for the Location of Aztlan—The Culture Hero—Quetzalcoatl.
IN considering the origin of the Nahua nations, especially of the Toltecs and Aztecs, it is common to look upon the former as the first inhabitants of Mexico. Such a conclusion is, however, erroneous, since the Toltecs were preceded in Central-Southern Mexico, and even in Anahuac, both by people of different extraction from themselves and by scattering tribes of their own linguistic family, the Nahua. Of the former class, the most conspicuous are the so-called Quinametin (or Quinames), otherwise known as giants. These fierce and powerful people were encountered by the Olmecs, the first Nahuas to colonize the region north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. All the early writers refer to them in terms which indicate that they were disposed to accept the existence of a race of giants as a fact. Veytia and Clavigero, however, are convinced that the report is not to be accepted literally. The widest possible difference of opinion as to their origin and relationship to existing tribes prevails with different authors. All agree, however, that they were the first inhabitants of the country. These cruel monsters, addicted to the most disgusting vices, the terror of the immigrating peoples, at last met their fate, according to Ixtlilxochitl, in a great convulsion of nature which shook the earth and caused the mountains and volcanoes to swallow up and kill them.[362] It is probable that this account was figurative. Duran says they were destroyed by the Tlascaltecs while eating.[363] Veytia attributes the destruction to the Olmec chiefs, who made a feast for their enemies and when they were stupid and drunken fell upon them and slew them. We think that in this allusion to the giants, “the first inhabitants of the land,” we see the Votanic colonists from Xibalba that are supposed to have penetrated Anahuac at an early day. They may not have carried any special degree of refinement with them from their old home, and if they did, they probably lapsed into a state of semi-barbarism. Their power as a people, their enmity to the immigrants, and their traditional connection with the hated and all-powerful Xibalba, may have won for them the name of giants because of the fear that was entertained of them; or, as Mr. Bancroft thinks, they may not have been savages at all, but a civilized branch of the Xibalbans, carrying on the warfare in the North which had been waged farther South.[364] It is quite probable that we have here a figurative allusion, from a Nahua standpoint, to the fall of the Xibalban power itself—the new-world Babylon, which, like the old, may have met its fate during a drunken revel.[365]