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Q’uq’ Kumatz (Snake with Quetzal’s feathers)
This is a tale that the Elder Mayas sages told. It has been told for hundreds of years, long before there was any written language. Some say that this is a tale about the creation and destruction of the Earth. Some other says that is a story about the Quetzal. Some other says that is a story about the ancient Maya’s culture. All say that it changes each time it is shared, but in every version there is an eve of destruction.
When the Gods created the Earth
They decided to put a guardian in there
His name was Quetzal.
He was a bird, with a very long tail,
And when he flies he seems like a winged snake.
He was in charge of keeping the balance in Earth.
Jaguars, monkeys, birds, snakes
All the creatures in the World were living in grace.
Every creature was dancing, singing
and praying for peace.
When the Gods saw the beautiful world, which the Quetzal was taking care of,
A new creature was born, and it was the man.
They thought this was an act of wisdom
But they didn’t hear the sorrow of the world.
This is how the man was standing on his two legs, and thinking
Like no other animal.
The Quetzal keeps everything in harmony
Until one day the man was hungry and tired of roots and grasses.
With his remarkable thinking the man created his own language,
The language of destruction and loneliness.
Day by day the man destroyed the harmony.
The harmony that the Quetzal was in charge.
Day by day the man was hungry and isolated.
When the Quetzal saw this he tried to talk with the man
But he has forgotten the animal language.
Quetzal was worried about the future of the Earth.
One day the man again tired of roots and grasses
Saw a little, lonely rabbit jumping around.
And the man had an idea. He was decided to hunt the rabbit.
When he finally did it and he tastes the flesh, he was hypnotized by his flavor.
This is how the man understood that he was superior to his brothers and sisters.
The world doesn’t belong to the Quetzal any more.
From that day on all animals lived in fear,
And all the happiness and peace that they used to have all flew away.
So as the Quetzal.
And so it is today
That we find difficult to understand among each other because of the ego of the man
And the world that we know today is getting worse every day,
And the Quetzal only is coming back when we all learn to live in peace once again.
