| "And here is the dawning and showing of
the sun, moon, and stars. And Jaguar Quitze, Jaguar Night, Not Right
Now, and Dark Jaguar were overjoyed when they saw the sun carrier. It
came up first. It looked brilliant when it came up, since it was ahead
of the sun.
After that they unwrapped their copal incense, which came from the east, and there was triumph in their hearts when they unwrapped it. They gave their heartfelt thanks with three kinds at once: Mixtam Copal is the name of the copal brought by Jaguar Quitze. Cauiztan Copal, next, is the name of the copal brought by Jaguar Night. Godly Copal, as the next one is called, was brought by Not Right Now. The three of them had their copal, and this is what they burned as they incensed the direction of the rising sun. They were crying sweetly as they shook their burning copal, the precious copal. After that they cried because they had yet to see and yet to witness the birth of the sun. And then, when the sun came up, the animals, small and great, were happy. They all came up from the rivers and canyons; they waited on all the mountain peaks. Together they looked toward the place where the sun came out. So then the puma and jaguar cried out, but the first to cry out was a bird, the parrot by name. All the animals were truly happy. The eagle, the white vulture, small birds, great birds spread their wings, and the penitents and sacrificers knelt down. They were overjoyed, together with the penitents and sacrificers of the Tams, the Ilocs. And the Rabinals, Cakchiquels, those of Bird House. And the Sweatbath House, Talk House, Quiba House, those of Yokes House. And the Mexican Sovereigns - however many tribes there may be today. There were countless peoples, but there was just one dawn for all tribes. And then the face of the earth was dried out by the sun. The sun was like a person when he revealed himself. His face was hot, so he dried out the face of the earth. Before the sun came up it was soggy, and the face of the earth was muddy before the sun came up. And when the sun had risen just a short distance he was like a person, and his heat was unbearable. Since he revealed himself only when he was born, it is only his reflection that now remains. As they put it in the ancient text, "The visible sun is not the real one... " (Popol Vuh) |
