ated}} with this animal, and one of Cortés' sick horses which he left among the natives was installed in a temple and worshipped as such. Unfortunately the poor animal did not long survive its deification, being unable to adapt itself to a diet of chickens and flowers, the offerings made to it in all good faith by the natives.
Like the Aztec, the Maya and cognate tribes believed that more than one creation had taken place, and we find the tradition of a great deluge which put an end to the age immediately preceding this. In the Quiché legend, Hunahpu, Gukumatz and Hurakan are the creating-gods; "Earth," said they, and immediately the earth was formed. 'Then the animals were created, and various functions were distributed among them, but the gods were not satisfied, because the animals were speechless and could not praise them. So man was made from clay, but he was without intelligence and the gods destroyed him. 'Then came the third creation; after consultation with Xpiyakok and Xmukane, the creators made men from wooden images, but these too were without intelligence and paid no worship to the divine powers; so the majority were destroyed by a great flood, while many perished at the hands of the animals and domestic utensils which revolted against them, the few survivors becoming monkeys. At this point the Popol Vuh relates the story of the two heroes Hunahpu (not the Hunahpu mentioned as the creator) and Xbalanque. They are first introduced as the slayers of a kind of Titan, Vukub Kakix, and his two sons, Kabrakan and Zipakna. It is said that the eyes of Vukub Kakix were of silver, his body of precious metals, and his teeth inlaid with gems, and he became so haughty that he usurped the power of the sun. The two heroes robbed the tree, whence he was accustomed to obtain his food, of its fruit, and when he ascended into the branches, blew at him through a magical blow-gun, which dealt destruction without ammunition, and he fell and broke
