The Death of Vucub-Caquix
Table of Contents
Vucub-Caquix had a large nantze tree and he ate the fruit of it.
Each day, he went to the tree and climbed to the top.
Hunahpú and Xbalanqué had seen that this fruit was his food.
They lay in ambush at the foot of the tree, hidden among the leaves.
Vucub-Caquix came straight to his meal of nantzes.
Instantly he was injured by a discharge from Hun-Hunahpú’s blowgun which struck him squarely in the jaw, and screaming, he fell straight to earth from the treetop.
Hun-Hunahpú ran quickly to overpower him, but Vucub-Caquix seized his arm and wrenching it from him, bent it back to the shoulder.
In this way Vucub-Caquix tore out Hun-Hunahpú’s arm. Surely the two youths did well in not letting themselves be defeated first by Vucub-Caquix.
Carrying Hun-Hunahpú’s arm, Vucub-Caquix went home, and arrived there nursing his jaw.
What has happened to you, my lord?
Two demons shot me with blowguns and dislocated my jaw. That is why my teeth are loose and pain me very much. But I have brought his arm, to put it on the fire. Let it hang there over the fire, for surely these demons will come looking for it.
Having thought it over, Hun-Hunahpú and Xbalanqué went to talk with:
- Zaqui-Nim-Ac, a very old man with snow-white hair
- Zaqui-Nima-Tziis, a very old woman
They were really very old and humble, already bent.
Come with us to Vucub-Caquix’s house to get our arm. We will follow you, and you shall tell them: ‘These with us are our grandchildren; their mother and father are dead; so they follow us everywhere we are given alms, for the only thing that we know how to do is take the worm from the teeth.’ In this way, Vucub-Caquix shall think we are boys and we shall also be there to advise you
The old persons agreed.
Then they went and found Vucub-Caquix reclining on his throne, screaming because his tooth pained him.
Where do you come from, grandparents?
We come looking for something to eat, honorable sir
What do you eat? Are those not your sons who are with you?
Oh, no, sir! They are our grandsons. But we are sorry for them and what is given to us, we share with them, sir
Meanwhile, the lord was suffering terrible pain from his tooth, and it was only with great difficulty that he could speak.
Have pity on me. What can you do? What can you cure?
Oh, sir! we only take the worm from the teeth, cure the eyes, and set bones.
Very well. Cure my teeth, which are really making me suffer day and night, and because of them and of my eyes I cannot be calm and cannot sleep. All of this is because two demons shot me with a pellet [from their blowgun] and for that reason I cannot eat. Have pity on me, then, tighten my teeth with your hands.
Very well, sir. It is a worm which makes you suffer. It will end when these teeth are pulled and others put in their place.
No, do not pull my teeth. Only through them am I a lord and all my ornaments are my teeth and my eyes.
We will put others of ground bone in their place.
But the ground bone was nothing but grains of white corn.
Very well, pull them out, come and relieve me
Then they pulled Vucub-Caquix’s teeth.
But in their place they put only grains of white corn, and these grains of corn shone in his mouth.
Instantly his features sagged and he no longer looked like a lord.
They removed the rest of his teeth which shone like pearls in his mouth.
Finally, they cured Vucub-Caquix’s eyes, piercing the pupils of his eyes, and they took all his riches.
But he felt nothing any more. He only watched, because at the advice of Hunahpú and Xbalanqué, they took from him all of the things of which he had been so proud.
Then Vucub-Caquix died. Hun-Hunahpú recovered his arm. Chimalmat, the wife of Vucub-Caquix, also perished.
In this way Vucub-Caquix lost his riches. The healer took all the emeralds and precious stones which had been his pride here on earth.
The old woman and the old man who did this were miraculous beings.
Having recovered the arm of Hun-Hunahpú, they put it in place, and it was all right again.
It was only to bring about the death of Vucub-Caquix that they did this, because it seemed wicked to them that he should become so arrogant.
The two youths went on, having in this way carried out the order of the Heart of Heaven.