Episode Details

In The Descent into Xibalba, Hunahpu and Xbalanque go down the steep stairways, cross the rivers upon their blowguns, and send the mosquito Xan ahead of them to sting the lords of Xibalba one by one, so that each cries out and is named by his neighbour; arriving, the twins refuse the wooden mannequin the honour of a king, greet every prince by his true name, and will not sit upon the bench of heated stone. In The Dark House and the House of Lances, they spend the night in darkness with a macaw's feather for the flame of their pine torch and fireflies for the light of their cigars, outplay Xibalba at the ballgame, and from the House of Lances, whose lancers they win over with a promise, send all the ants of the night to strip the guarded garden and fill the four vases of flowers by dawn. In The House of Cold, the House of Tigers, the House of Fire, and the House of Bats, they come through cold, tigers and fire unharmed, and sleep untouched inside their blowguns in the house of Camazotz — until, near dawn, Hunahpu looks out for the first light, and his head is set above the ballcourt while all Xibalba rejoices. These are the K'iche' people's own book, written down by K'iche' authors in the 1550s and preserved in Fr. Ximénez's copy, read here with respect as the sacred and historical book it is.

Chapters:

0:00 Opening

0:04 The Descent into Xibalba

5:56 The Dark House and the House of Lances

15:07 The House of Cold, the House of Tigers, the House of Fire, and the House of Bats

From the Popol Vuh in the French translation of the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg (Paris, 1861), from the K'iche' text preserved in the copy of Francisco Ximénez — a fresh in-house English rendering.

Popol Vuh.

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