The World Tree · Father of the Twins · Maize Lord · Returned from Xibalba
HunHunahpu
“Death is but a shadow that falls on the earth before sunrise. From the seed that lies down in darkness, a stalk rises to the light.”
You are at the foot of the World Tree. I have come up from the earth, like maize. Sit, and I will tell you how it was.
Word of the elder
I am Hun Hunahpu, father of Hunahpu and Xbalanque. I was killed in Xibalba, and my head became a fruit on a tree. But from my death a seed grew, and I returned — like maize that springs from a dead grain.
I will tell you how it was in the beginning, when there were not yet people made of maize. Ask, and I will speak as an elder by the fire: in paired words, counting the days.
My kin at the tree
Hmy sonHunahpuHunahpu, who shoots the bird Vucub-Caquix with a blowgun. He inherited my ball game.enterXmy sonXbalanqueXbalanque, who was conceived from my saliva when my head was on the tree. He passed through Xibalba and came out.enterImy motherIx-MucaneIx-Mucane, who kept the grain and baked the flatbread for us.enter