*Elders 1 and 2
*Narrators 1, 2, 3 (N1, N2, N3)
*Hunter, a demigod
*Jaguar Moon, Hunter’s twin brother
Mosquito
Flying Scab, Chief Lord, Skull Scepter, lords of the underworld
All Lords, to be read by a group
Grandmother
Xulu [shool], a seer (someone who predicts the future)
Owl
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Into the Underworld
A thrilling story from Maya mythology
Art By Juan Carlos Ribas
CHARACTERS
PROLOGUE
Library of Congress
Popol Vuh
Elder 1: All civilizations have stories they tell to explain the world.
Elder 2: This is one of ours. It’s a story of how time came to be.
Elder 1: It comes from the Popol Vuh [POH-pul VOO], or the Book of the People.
Elder 2: What people, you may ask?
Elder 1: The Maya people. We have lived in what is now Mexico and Central America for thousands of years.
Elder 2: So let us go back to a time of magic.
Elder 1: A time before the moon and the sun.
Elder 2: A time before time itself.
SCENE 1
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N1: Two twin brothers are resting in a cornfield.
N2: Around them, enchanted tools work the soil.
Hunter: Look! My magic shovel works so hard.
Jaguar Moon (laughing): My rake too!
N3: A mosquito lands on Hunter’s arm.
N1: He’s about to crush it, when—
Mosquito: Don’t kill me! If you let me live, I will tell you a secret.
Jaguar Moon: What secret?
Mosquito: You were never meant to be farmers.
Hunter: What do you mean?
Mosquito: Your father and uncle were great ballplayers. Your grandmother hid the truth from you. She fears that if you play ball, you will end up like them.
Jaguar Moon: What happened?
Mosquito: Their ball playing was so noisy, it angered the lords of the underworld. They summoned your father and uncle to play a match. Your father and uncle . . . never returned.
N2: The twins look at each other.
Hunter: That won’t happen to us.
Jaguar Moon: Never.
Hunter: Let’s play ball!
N3: The twins go to a ball court. There are stone rings on two sides of the court.
Mosquito: To win, you must be the first to get the ball through the ring. But you can’t use your hands or feet.
N1: The twins hit the ball back and forth using their elbows, thighs, hips, and knees.
N2: They race up and down the court.
N3: Meanwhile, in the underworld, the lords grow angry.
Flying Scab: What is that awful noise above?
Chief Lord: Someone is playing ball again!
Skull Scepter: How dare they!
Flying Scab: Where is our owl?
N1: A giant owl swoops in.
Chief Lord (to the owl): Summon them.
Flying Scab: Tell them we challenge them to a game.
Skull Scepter: They will be rewarded if they can beat us.
Chief Lord: The reward being . . . death!
All Lords: Ha ha ha ha ha!
N2: The owl flies off.
SCENE 2
N3: Later, in their hut, the twins pack for the underworld.
N1: Their grandmother looks nervous.
Grandmother: You have angered the lords!
Hunter: They are not angry. They want to play us.
Grandmother: Foolish boy.
Jaguar Moon: Do not worry. We will beat them.
Grandmother: I cannot lose you as I lost my sons!
N2: Hunter begins digging holes in the ground.
Hunter: We will plant cornstalks here in the hut.
Jaguar Moon: As long as the corn grows, you will know we are safe.
Hunter: If the stalks die, so have we.
SCENE 3
N3: The twins walk down the stairs to the underworld.
N1: They arrive at the lords’ throne room.
Chief Lord: Welcome!
Hunter: We have come to play ball.
Chief Lord: First we must see if you are worthy.
N2: The lords lead the twins to a dark hut.
Flying Scab: This is the House of Darkness. You must spend the night here.
Skull Scepter: Here is the test: Take this candle. Keep it burning all night. In the morning, return it unburnt.
Flying Scab: If you fail, you will die.
N3: The twins go inside.
Hunter (quietly): Fireflies, we need you!
N1: Dozens of fireflies fly in and land on the tip of the candle.
Jaguar Moon (whispering): How flamelike you look.
N2: Outside the House of Darkness, the lords smile.
Chief Lord: The candle is burning. They shall fail.
Art By Juan Carlos Ribas
The Game
The ball game pok-ta-pok is one of the oldest known team ball games in the world. It was played across what is now Mexico and Central America starting in 1650 b.c.
SCENE 4
N3: In the morning, the twins walk out with the candle.
Skull Scepter: It is unburnt! How?
Chief Lord (to himself): These twins may be more clever than we thought.
N1: The lords lead the twins to another hut.
Chief Lord: This is the House of Knives.
Flying Scab: Survive until tomorrow morning. Then greet us with fresh flowers.
Jaguar Moon: Very well.
N2: The twins enter the hut. Sharp knives fly through the air, trying to slice them.
Hunter: Stop, knives!
N3: The knives go still.
Jaguar Moon: Ants! Come to us!
N1: An army of ants appears.
Hunter: Go into the garden and bring us flowers.
N2: The lords sit outside the House of Knives.
Chief Lord: They will soon be chopped to bits!
N3: The lords do not notice the ants coming out of the hut.
SCENE 5
N1: The next morning, the lords find the brothers alive and well.
Jaguar Moon: Here are your flowers.
Flying Scab: How is this possible?
Hunter: Can we play ball now?
Chief Lord: There’s one final task: the House of Jaguars.
N2: The boys are thrown into a hut of hungry jaguars.
Hunter: Do not eat us. We will get you something tastier.
N3: The twins use magic to make a pile of fresh bones appear. The jaguars feast.
N1: Outside, the lords listen.
Skull Scepter: Do you hear that? It’s the crunch of their bones!
N2: But the twins emerge from the hut unharmed.
Skull Scepter: What?!
Jaguar Moon (smiling): Shall we finally play ball?
N3: Everyone makes their way to a ball court. The twins stand at one end. The lords stand at the other.
N1: Chief Lord throws his ball toward the boys. A dagger emerges from it as it travels through the air.
N2: The boys duck.
Hunter: I am starting to think that these lords want to kill us.
Jaguar Moon: Whatever gives you that idea?
N3: Hunter tosses his ball and whacks it down the court.
N1: The game goes on for hours. But then—
N2: Thud!
N3: Chief Lord sends the ball through the ring.
Flying Scab: We beat you! But you played bravely.
Skull Scepter: Please join us for a feast.
SCENE 6
N1: The twins talk quietly.
Hunter: They are sure to kill us no matter what.
Jaguar Moon: Yes. But we can still win.
N2: They summon Xulu, the seer.
Hunter: Soon we will die.
Jaguar Moon: Tell the lords to grind up our bones into fine dust.
Hunter: Then they must scatter that dust over the river.
Xulu: I will do as you ask.
N3: Xulu leaves.
Jaguar Moon: Will this work?
Hunter: I believe the dust of our bones will come together and we will rise again.
N1: The boys walk into the feast with confidence.
Flying Scab: It’s the guests of honor!
Hunter: We are no fools.
N2: The boys grab hands and jump into a giant bonfire.
N3: The lords break into cheers.
All Lords: Hooray! They are gone at last!
Skull Scepter (shouting): Xulu, you are needed!
N1: Xulu appears.
Flying Scab: The brothers are dead.
Xulu: You must grind their bones into fine dust. Scatter that dust over the river.
Skull Scepter: We will do as you say.
Art By Juan Carlos Ribas
The Underworld
In Maya myths, the underworld is a scary place. It has nine levels and is known as Xibalba [shee-BAHL-bah], or place of fear.
SCENE 7
N2: Up on Earth, the cornstalks have died.
N3: Grandmother sits in the hut, weeping.
N1: But then, slowly, the cracked brown leaves turn green.
Grandmother: What’s this? My grandsons live again?
N2: In the underworld, the twins emerge from the river wearing disguises.
Jaguar Moon: Our plan worked!
N3: The twins wander the underworld, performing magic.
N1: Crowds gather and cheer.
N2: Soon the owl swoops in.
Owl: The lords of the underworld have heard of your magic. They wish to meet you.
Hunter (quietly): Just as expected.
N3: The owl leads the twins to the throne room. The lords do not recognize them.
Skull Scepter: Please show us your mighty magic!
Flying Scab: Yes! Can you destroy a living thing and bring it back?
N1: Hunter reaches into his brother’s chest and pulls out his beating heart. Jaguar Moon falls to the ground dead.
All lords: Gasp!
N2: Hunter returns the heart to Jaguar Moon’s chest. His brother stands back up.
Chief Lord: Incredible!
Flying Scab: Try it on me!
Skull Scepter: No, me!
Chief Lord: Me first!
Jaguar Moon: There’s time enough for all of you.
EPILOGUE
Elder 1: Can you guess what happened next?
Elder 2: The twins destroyed the lords . . . and did not bring them back to life.
Elder 1: Then the twins returned to Earth and rose up into the sky.
Elder 2: Hunter became the sun.
Elder 1: Jaguar Moon became the moon.
Elder 2: And that is how the first day dawned.
Elder 1: Time—as we know it—began.
ACTIVITY:
Make Inferences
An inference is something that is not stated but can be figured out from clues in the text.
What to do: Read the question below. Then gather clues from the text. Those clues will help you make an inference to answer the question.
The Question: Why didn’t the twins’ father and uncle return from the underworld?
The Clues:
Something Chief Lord says about his plans for the twins is
Something the lords try to do to the twins is
Something the twins have in common with their father and uncle is
The Answer: From the information above, I can infer that
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