The Sacrifice

On the fifth day they appeared again and were seen in the water by the people. Both had the appearance of fish-men; when those of Xibalba saw them, after having hunted them all over the river.

And the following day, two poor men presented themselves with very old-looking faces and of miserable appearance, [and] ragged clothes, whose countenances did not commend them. So they were seen by all those of Xibalba.

And what they did was very little. They only performed the dance of the puhuy [owl or churn-owl], the dance of the cux [weasel], and the dance of the iboy [armadillo], and they also danced the xtzul [centipede] and the chitic [that walks on stilts] .

Furthermore, they worked many miracles.

They burned houses as though they really were burning and instantly they were as they had been before. Many of those of Xibalba watched them in wonder.

Presently, they cut themselves into bits. They killed each other. The first one whom they had killed stretched out as though he were dead, and instantly the other brought him back to life.

Those of Xibalba looked on in amazement at all they did, and they performed it, as the beginning of their triumph over those of Xibalba.

Presently word of their dances came to the ears of the lords Hun-Camé and Vucub-Camé. Upon hearing it they exclaimed: “Who are these two orphans? Do they really give you so much pleasure?”

“Surely their dances are very beautiful, and all that they do,” answered he who had brought the news to the lords.

Happy to hear this, the [lords] then sent their messengers to call [the boys] with flattery. " ‘Tell them to come here, tell them to come so that we may see what they do; that we may admire them and regard them with wonder,’ this the lords said. ‘So you shall say unto them,’ " this was told to the messengers.

They arrived at once before the dancers and gave them the message of the lords.

“We do not wish to,” the [boys] answered, “because, frankly, we are ashamed. How could we not but be ashamed to appear in the house of the lords with our ugly countenances, our eyes which are so big, and our poor appearance? Do you not see that we are nothing more than some [poor] dancers?

What shall we tell our companions in poverty who have come with us and wish to see our dances and be entertained by them? How could we do our dances before the lords? For that reason, then, we do not want to go, oh, messengers,” said Hunahpú and Xbalanqué.

Finally, with downcast faces and with reluctance and sorrow they went; but for a while they did not wish to walk, and the messengers had to beat them in the face many times, when they led them to the house of the lords.

They arrived, then, before the lords, timid and with head bowed; they came prostrating themselves, making reverences and humiliating themselves. They looked feeble, ragged, and their appearance was really that of vagabonds when they arrived.

They were questioned immediately about their country and their people; they also asked them about their mother and their father.

“Where do you come from?” [the lords] said.

“We do not know, Sir. We do not know the faces of our mother and father; we were small when they died,” they answered, and did not say another word.

“All right. Now do [your dances] so that we may admire you. What do you want? We shall give you pay,” they told them.

“We do not want anything; but really we are very much afraid,” they said to the lord.

“Do not grieve, do not be afraid. Dance! And do first the part in which you kill yourselves; burn my house, do all that you know how to do. We shall marvel at you, for that is what our hearts desire. And afterwards, poor things, we shall give help for your journey,” they told them.

Then they began to sing and dance. All the people of Xibalba arrived and gathered together in order to see them. Then they performed the dance of the cux, they danced the puhuy, and they danced the iboy.

And the lord said to them: “Cut my dog into pieces and let him be brought back to life by you,” he said to them.

“Very well,” they answered, and cut the dog into bits. Instantly they brought him back to life. The dog was truly full of joy when he was brought back to life, and wagged his tail when they revived him.

The Lord said to them then: “Burn my house now!” Thus he said to them. Instantly they put fire to the lord’s house, and although all the lords were assembled together within the house, they were not burned. Quickly it was whole again, and not for one instant was the house of Hun-Camé destroyed.

All of the lords were amazed, and in the same way the [boys’] dances gave them much pleasure.

Then they were told by the lord: “Now kill a man, sacrifice him, but do not let him die,” he told them.

“Very well,” they answered. And seizing a man, they quickly sacrificed him, and raising his heart on high, they held it so that all the lords could see it.

Again Hun-Camé and Vucub-Camé were amazed. A moment afterward the man was brought back to life by them [the boys], and his heart was filled with joy when he was revived.

The lords were astounded.

“Sacrifice yourselves now, let us see it! We really like your dances!” said the lords.

“Very well, Sirs,” they answered.

They proceeded to sacrifice each other. Hunahpú was sacrificed by Xbalanqué; one by one his arms and his legs were sliced off; his head was cut from his body and carried away; his heart was torn from his breast and thrown onto the grass. All the Lords of Xibalba were fascinated. They looked on in wonder, but really it was only the dance of one man; it was Xbalanqué.

“Get up!” he said, and instantly [Hunahpú] returned to life. They [the boys] were very happy and the lords were also happy. In truth, what they did gladdened the hearts of Hun-Camé and Vucub-Camé, and the latter felt as though they themselves were dancing.

Then their hearts were filled with desire and longing by the dances of Hunahpú and Xbalanqué; and Hun-Camé and Vucub-Camé gave their commands.

“Do the same with us! Sacrifice us!” they said. “Cut us into pieces, one by one!” Hun-Camé and Vucub-Camé said to Hunahpú and Xbalanqué.

“Very well; afterward you will come back to life again. Perchance, did you not bring us here in order that we should entertain you, the lords, and yours sons, and vassals?” they said to the lords.

And so it happened that they first sacrificed the one, who was the chief and [Lord of Xibalba], the one called Hun-Camé, king of Xibalba.

When Hun-Camé was dead, they overpowered Vucub-Camé, and they did not bring either of them back to life.

The people of Xibalba fled as soon as they saw that their lords were dead and sacrificed. In an instant both were sacrificed. And this they [the boys] did in order to chastise them. Quickly the principal lord was killed. And they did not bring him back to life.

And another lord humbled himself then, and presented himself before the dancers. They had not discovered him, nor had they found him. “Have mercy on me!” he said when they found him.

All the sons and vassals of Xibalba fled to a great ravine, and all of them were crowded into this narrow, deep place. There they were crowded together and hordes of ants came and found them and dislodged them from the ravine. In this way [the ants] drove them to the road, and when they arrived [the people] prostrated themselves and gave themselves up; they humbled themselves and arrived., grieving.

In this way the Lords of Xibalba were overcome. Only by a miracle and by their [own] transformation could [the boys] have done it.