Story

Once upon a time there was a brave and strong warrior. He loved to go hunting and often chased through the woods after animals. On one of his hunting trips he reached a lake and to his great surprise saw a beautiful woman before him, rowing a boat. The warrior fell so much in love that he returned to the same spot on many occasions in the hope of seeing her again. It was all in vain, however, as all he saw were the gleaming waters of the lake. Thus, he sought advice from a witch, who told him:

—You will never see her again unless you turn yourself into a dove.

—I only want to see her again!

—If you become a dove you will never regain your human form.

—I only want to see her again!

—If that is what you want you shall have your desire.

And the witch thrust a thorn into his neck and with that the young man became a dove. He flew up and went to the lake and settled on a branch. After a little while he saw the woman and, unable to contain himself, he lay down by her feet and caressed her a thousand times. The woman took him in her hands and, petting him, took out the thorn from his neck. She should never have done it! The dove dropped his head and collapsed dead. Seeing this, the woman, in desperation thrust the same thorn into her neck and at once became a dove. From that day on she has mourned the death of her dove.

Since the beginning of their civilization, approximately 3,000 years ago, the Maya have related stories, legends and fables about mythical beings and the laws of nature. These tales are drawn either from both individual and collective experiences or imaginary ones. Today, they help us to understand a very different way of life and being, as well as allow us to enter one of history's most mysterious cultures. The following fable is by an unknown author and of unknown date. However, its location can be placed exactly in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and is called The Maya's Sadness.

One day, all the animals drew near to a Maya man and said to him:

—We do not like to see you so sad. Ask us for whatever you wish and you shall have it.

The man said:

—I want to be happy.

The owl responded:

—Who knows what happiness is? Ask us for something more concrete.

—Well then, continued the man, I want to have good sight.

The vulture replied:

—You shall have mine.

—I want to be strong.

The jaguar said:

—You shall be strong like me.

—I wish to be able to walk without tiring.

The deer replied:

—I will give you my legs.

—I want to be able to forecast the arrival of the rains

The nightingale said:

—I will let you know with my song.

—I want to be astute.

And the fox said:

—I shall teach you.

—I long to be able to climb the trees.

The squirrel responded:

—I will give you my claws.

—I want to be able to see in the dark.

And the cat said:

—I will lend you my eyes.

—I want to be able to recognize medicinal plants.

And the serpent responded:

—Ah, this is my domain, because I know all the plants. I will mark them for you in the fields and woods.

Hearing the words of the snake, the man left. Then, the owl said to all the animals:

—Now the man knows much more and is able to do many things, but he will always be sad.

—Poor animals! Poor animals!

Taken from Tales and Legends of Ancient Yucatan by Ermilo Abreu Gуmez, published by the Fondo de Cultura Econуmica, Mexico.

Once upon a time, a good but unfortunate man decided to sell his soul to the devil to get himself out of his troubles. He invoked Kizin and when he had him there, face to face, he told him what he wanted. Kizin liked the idea of taking away the soul of a good man.

In exchange for his soul the man asked for seven things: one for each day of the week. For the first day he asked for money, and straight away his pockets were filled with gold. On the second day he wanted good health, and it was granted. On the third day he was hungry and asked for food, and ate until busting. On the fourth day he asked for women and was surrounded by the most beautiful women imaginable. On the fifth day he wanted power and lived like a local ruler On the sixth day he wanted to travel and in a jiffy he visited a thousand places.

Then Kizin said to him:

—And now what do you want? Think carefully, as it is your last day.

—Now, I just want to satisfy one whim.

—Tell me, and I will grant you it.

—I want to wash these black beans here, until they turn white.

—That's easy— said Kizin

And he began to wash the beans, but as they did not turn white he thought to himself: "This man has deceived me and I have lost a soul. So that this doesn't happen again, from now on there will be black beans, white beans, yellow beans and red beans.