Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition Of The Mayan Book Of The Dawn Of Life And The Glories Of [Paperback]

Popol Vuh,the Quiché Mayan book of creation, is not only the most important text in the native languages of the Americas, it is also an extraordinary document of the human imagination. It begins with the deeds of Mayan gods in the darkness of a primeval sea and ends with the radiant splendor of the Mayan lords who founded the Quiché kingdom in the Guatemalan highlands. Originally written in Mayan hieroglyphs, it was transcribed into the Roman alphabet in the sixteenth century.
This new edition of Dennis Tedlock's unabridged, widely praised translation includes new notes and commentary, newly translated passages, newly deciphered hieroglyphs, and over forty new illustrations.Dennis Tedlockis McNulty Professor of English and Research Professor of Anthropology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is the coeditor ofAmerican Anthropologistand the author of several books.Chapter 1

This is the beginning of the Ancient Word, here in this place called Quiché. Here we shall inscribe, we shall implant the Ancient Word, the potential and source for everything done in the citadel of Quiché, in the nation of Quiché people.

And here we shall take up the demonstration, revelation, and account of how things were put in shadow and brought to light by

the Maker, Modeler,

named Bearer, Begetter,

Hunahpu Possum, Hunahpu Coyote,

Great White Peccary, Coati,

Sovereign Plumed Serpent,

Heart of the Lake, Heart of the Sea,

plate shaper, bowl shaper, as they are called,

also named, also described as

the midwife, matchmaker

named Xpiyacoc, Xmucane,

defender, protector,

twice a midwife, twice a matchmaker,

as is said in the words of Quiché. They accounted for everything -- and did it, too -- as enlightened beings, in enlightened words. We shall write about this now amid the preaching of God, in Christendom now. We shallãÉ