In this way, then, occurred the loss of their grandeur and the decadence of their empire.
And this was what Hunahpú and Xbalanqué did.[236]
Meanwhile, the grandmother was crying and lamenting before the reeds which they had left planted. The reeds sprouted, then they dried up when [the boys] were consumed in the bonfire; afterward [the reeds] sprouted again. Then the grandmother lighted the fire and burned incense before the reeds in memory of her grandchildren. And the grandmother's heart filled with joy when, for the second time, the reeds sprouted. Then they were worshiped by the grandmother, and she called them the Center of the House, Nicah [the center] they were called.
"Green reeds growing in the plains" [Cazam Ah Chatam Uleu] was their name. And they were called the Center of the House and the Center, because in the middle of the house they planted the reeds. And the reeds, which were planted, were called the plains, Green Reeds growing on the plains. They also were called Green Reeds because they had resprouted. This name was given them by Xmucané [given] to those [reeds] which Hunahpú and Xbalanqué left planted in order that they should be remembered by their grandmother.
Well, now, their fathers, those who died long ago, were Hun-Hunahpú and Vucub-Hunahpú. They also saw the faces of their fathers there in Xibalba and their fathers talked with their descendants, that is the ones who overthrew those of Xibalba.
And here is how their fathers were honored by them. They honored Vucub-Hunahpú; they went to honor him at the place of sacrifice of the ball-court.[237] And at the same time they wanted to make Vucub-Hunahpú's face. They hunted there for his entire body, his mouth, his nose, his eyes. They found his body, but it could do very little.[238] It could not pronounce his name, this Hunahpú.[239] Neither could his mouth say it.
And here is how they extolled the memory of their fathers, whom they had left there in the place of sacrifice at the ball-court: "You shall be invoked," their sons said to them, when they fortified their heart. "You shall be the first to arise, and you shall be the first to be worshiped by the sons of the noblemen, by the civilized vassals. Your names shall not be lost. So it shall be!" they told their fathers and thus consoled themselves. "We are the avengers of your death, of the pains and sorrows which they caused you."
Thus was their leave-taking, when they had already overcome all the people of Xibalba.
[235] Ahmoxvach, Ahlatzab. Other synonyms which mean originators of evil, wicked, evildoers, oppressors.
[236] Among the legends which Bishop Bartolomé de las Casas gathered in Verapaz, there is one of a god who had been born in that province and who was called Exbalanquén. "They say of him, among other tales," says the chronicler, "that he went to the inferno to make war, fought with all the people there, overcame them, and seized the king and many of his army. On his return to earth, Exbalanquén brought the king of the inferno with him, but when they were a few steps from the surface, he [the king] begged not to be taken up and giving him a kick he [Exbalanquén] said to him: 'Go back and let yours be all that is rotten and cast away and stinks.'" Las Casas adds that "in Verapaz, Exbalanquén was not received with the feasting and songs which he wished, and he therefore went to another kingdom, where he was received in a manner pleasing to him, and they say that this vanquisher of the inferno began to sacrifice men." Apologética Historia de las Indias, Chap. CXXIV, p. 330. It is too bad that this historian has not transcribed in his work the "other fables" which the people of Verapaz told, and which possibly coincided with the legends contained in the Popol Vuh, judging from this version of the deeds of Exbalanquén or Xbalanqué.
[237] Pucbal-Chah.
[238] Xa cu zcaquin chic x-cha tah vi xere, in the original.
[239] Hunahpuil in the original, probably by a lapsus calami. Brasseur de Bourbourg thought that this was a plural form and that it meant the union of the Hunahpú, but it is evident that the text refers to Vucub-Hunahpú, that is, the second of the Hunahpú. As will be seen, the two young heroes found only the head of Vucub-Hunahpú buried in the ball-court, and spoke only with it. It must be remembered that the head of Hun-Hunahpú was taken from his body and fastened in the branches of the calabash tree where it was confused with the fruit of the tree.
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