The Popol Vuh is the most important example of Maya literature to have survived the Spanish Conquest, and is one of the world's greatest accounts of the creation, comparable to the beauty and power of Genesis. It describes the five creative attempts to form beings who could speak intelligently, remember their creators, and offer them appropriate words of reverence. Eventually, the virgin daughter of an underworld lord miraculously gave birth to twins who grew to defeat the lords of death, making it possible to populate the earth with humankind. This second volume provides a literal, line-by-line English translation of the Popol Vuh, capturing the beauty, subtlety, and high poetic language characteristic of K'iche'-Maya sacred writings. The K'iche' authors are much like composers of classical music who begin with a simple melody and then weave into it both complementary and contrasting harmonies to give the words a fullness of meaning and depth of expression. The fruits of ten years' research, these two volumes constitute a definitive record of one of the most sublime works of literature in the world, comparable with other great epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharat of India, or the Iliad and Odyssey of Greece.