This was agreeable to
all, and accordingly the work was begun. The handfuls of earth caught up
hurriedly from the tops of the mountains below as they were driven off by
the rising flood were taken to the cardinal points and deposited in the
same relative positions, an equal distance apart, as were the submerged
mountains from which the earth had been taken. First Si{~COMBINING BREVE~}snajini, the White
Mountain, was made in the east; then Tsotzilh, the Blue Mountain, in the
south; next Dokooeslit, the Yellow Mountain, in the west, and lastly
Depe{~COMBINING BREVE~}nsa, the Black Mountain, in the north. Having yet portions of each
handful of earth remaining, two more mountains, called Choili and
Tzilhnuhodihli, were made near the point of emergence in the middle of the
rectangle formed by the creation of the other four. To give each mountain
color, white shell, turquoise, abalone, and jet were used for those at the
cardinal points, while the middle two were colored with a mixture of all
these substances.
When the mountains were finished and the people looked about, it was
proposed that a sky should be made to cover the earth. "But," said one,
"what of the earth itself; is it not too small to furnish food for the
people who shall later come to live upon it?" None had thought of this,
but reflection, followed by a discussion, brought them all to the one
opinion--they would enlarge the earth and at the same time spread the sky
above.
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