72 pages 2 hours read

Anonymous

Popol Vuh

Nonfiction | Scripture | Adult | Published in 1554

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Section 5Chapter Summaries & Analyses

“Hunahpu and Xbalanque in the House of the Grandmother” Summary

Hunahpu and Xbalanque are born, rising from the mountains. Since they are not born inside the house, Xmucane, One Batz, and One Chouen regard the newborns with suspicion. When they are brought home, Xmucane orders them to sleep outside on an anthill since they make too much noise. Then, out of jealousy, One Batz and One Chouen put the babies on top of a thornbush. Despite these abuses, Hunahpu and Xbalanque do not get angry. They continue to bear the ill treatment from their grandmother and older brothers, who refuse them food. Every time that Hunahpu and Xbalanque bring home birds they have shot with their blowguns, One Batz and One Chouen would take the birds from them, leaving them without food.

One day, Hunahpu and Xbalanque intentionally return home without any birds, angering Xmucane. They tell their grandmother that the birds they have shot are stuck in a tree and ask that One Batz and One Chouen help them with retrieval. Their older brothers agree. Together, they proceed towards Yellow Tree. Hunahpu and Xbalanque shoot at the birds in the tree but none of them land on the ground. They ask their older brothers to climb to the top of the tree to retrieve the shot birds.