rld. We shall
mention two only--the repeated resuscitation of the chief heroes, who,
even when burnt and ground to powder and scattered on the water, are
born again as fish and changed into men; and the introduction of
animals endowed with reason and speech. As in the German tales,
certain peculiarities in the appearance and natural habits of animals
are frequently accounted for by events that happened 'once upon a
time'--for instance, the stumpy tail of the bear, by his misfortune
when he went out fishing on the ice--so we find in the American tales,
'that it was when the two principal heroes (Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque)
had caught the rat and were going to strangle it over the fire, that
_le rat commenca a porter une queue sans poil_. Thus, because a
certain serpent swallowed a frog who was sent as a messenger,
therefore _aujourd'hui encore les serpents engloutissent les
crapauds_.'

The story, which well deserves the attention of those who are
interested in the origin and spreading of popular tales, is carried on
to the end of the second book, and it is only in the third that we
hear once more of the creation of man.

Three attempts, as we saw, had been made and had failed. We now hear
again that before the beginning of dawn, and before the sun and moon
had risen, man had been made, and that nourishment was provided for
him which was to supply his blood, namely, yellow and white maize.
Four men are mentioned as the real ancestors of the human race, or
rather of the race of the Quiches. They were neither begotten by the
gods nor born of woman, but their creation was a wonder wrought by the
Creator. They could reason and speak, their sight was unlimited, and
they knew all things at once. When they had rendered thanks to their
Creator for their existence, the gods were frightened and they
breathed a cloud over the eyes of men that they might see a certain
distance only, and not be like the gods themselves. Then while the
four men were asleep, the gods gave them beautiful wives, and these
became the mothers of all tribes, great and small. These tribes, both
black and white, lived and spread in the East. They did not yet
worship the gods, but only turned their faces up to heaven, hardly
knowing what they were meant to do here below. Their features were
sweet, so was their language, and their intellect was strong.

We now come to a most interesting passage, which is intended to
explain the confusion of tongues. No nation,