So after One Hunahpu dies his head remains in a tree, disguises as a calabash. In this passage, blood Moon hears about this tree and out of curiosity, she comes under it. She eventually gets pregnant and bares One Hunahpu’s child.
Much was said about blood moon’s identity, how she is the daughter of a lord named Blood Gatherer. The same sentence was repeated again and again. From a mortal and traditional and ethical view, we can assume that a child whose father is unknown and just pops out of nowhere is unacceptable. Especially when Blood Gatherer is actually the merchant lord of the underworld, someone with great dignity and significance, he would not let any bizarre events, in any way, “stain” his name. In my opinion, this repetition reveals they way Blood Gatherer is going to think about this child: “It really is a bastard you carry!”, and make his actions: “Take her away for sacrifice, you Military Keepers of the Mat. Bring back her heart in a bowl, so the lords can take it in their hands this very day.” somewhat understandable. Although I must say he took the extreme.
There’s also a very strong emphasis on the fruit, about how Blood Moon hears about people talking about it and came to the tree herself. If we connect the foreshadow “No one is to pick the fruit, nor is anyone to go beneath the tree” with the aftermath of her getting pregnant. The whole idea parallels with Eve and the forbidden fruit. Both women heard about this fruit from others. Words travels fast and can sometimes get off track; they both went to see this fruit. And as if seeing wasn’t enough, they had to possess it, and this is where trouble comes. I think the story teller is trying to make the point: curiosity killed the cat.
To product offspring One Hunahpu must trick, or I should say persuade Blood Moon into reaching out her hand. And normally persuading the normal way wouldn’t be as effective as persuading from the other way. One Hunahpu knows this that’s why he says, “Why do you want a mere bone, a round thing in the branches of a tree?” As pointed out earlier in the book, the bone looked just like a calabash among with the others, no significant characteristic pointed out that this isn’t just a fruit. However, this fruit talks, in a fruit’s point of view, trying to persuade others NOT to eat him. But the more people tell you that you don’t want something, the more likely you would be interested, and that is just human nature. It’s like the series of unfortunate events, when lemony snicket continuously tells us we should put the book down and pick up something merrier, we are so drowned to it and simply can’t. When One Hunahpu tells Blood Moon he is a mare bone and that she wouldn’t want something like that, the same logic applies. Sometimes telling someone what NOT to do is more effective then telling them what to do.
A child being delivered through saliva is considered a “bastard”, which, some call “a bad seed”. And bad seeds come from bad fruits, which is how, once again, the whole story connects.
Popol vuh is a bible like book. And bibles contain mythical stories, themes and features. One of the most important use and purpose of these stories is that, they show a picture of how ancient people see the truth of their surrounding world.
The writer is likely to believe that the center, the most important part of body was the head. And that’s why One Hunahpu could still speak; produce offspring with his head still in existence. As for the saliva, I think ancient people believed human can reproduce through the injection of saliva, instead of sperm. It must be the reason why they had the imagination and the audacity which we no longer have, to write a story like this.
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