The 400 Boys- Maya GroupCollective"The Star Youths"
Also known as: Motz
Description
Four hundred youths felled a tree for their house beam and could not lift it. Zipacna carried it alone. They tried to kill him for that. He killed them instead, pulling down their house while they feasted, and they rose into the sky as the Pleiades.
Mythology & Lore
The Great Log
In the Popol Vuh, the 400 Boys were a company of youths building a great house. They felled an enormous tree to serve as the ridge beam, but the log was so massive that all four hundred together could not lift it. The giant Zipacna happened upon them and offered to carry it alone. He hoisted the log onto his shoulders and walked it to the building site without effort.
The 400 Boys decided he had to die. They dug a deep pit and called Zipacna to help excavate further. As he descended, they released the massive beam into the hole.
The Side Tunnel
Zipacna had anticipated them. He dug a side tunnel at the bottom of the pit, and the log crashed down harmlessly. He cut his own hair and had ants carry the clippings upward so the 400 Boys would see the insects and believe they were consuming his corpse.
Convinced of their success, the 400 Boys brewed drink and held a feast inside the house they had built over the pit. When they were deep in their revelry, Zipacna struck. He rose from beneath the earth and pulled down the entire structure. All four hundred died at once. They rose to the sky and became the Motz, the Pleiades.
The Crab Beneath the Mountain
The Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, avenged them. They fashioned a false crab and placed it at the base of a mountain. Zipacna loved crabs. He reached beneath the mountain to seize it, and the twins brought the mountain down on top of him. He turned to stone.
Relationships
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