Note XI-36 — Chapter XI · GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.
Reading edition
Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh, p. 315, does not understand why Ximenez, Hist. Ind. Guat., p. 125, translates heaven and Xibalba as heaven and hell, but as both terms doubtless refer to provinces, or towns, it is better to retain the figurative name. Xibalba is, besides, derived from the same source as the Insomuch 'demon' of the Yucatecs. Brasseur translates: 'Chaque sept (jours) il montait au ciel et en sept (jours) il faisait le chemin pour descendre à Xibalba;' while Ximenez with more apparent correctness renders: 'Siete dias se subia al cielo y siete dias se iba al infierno.' In Quatre Lettres, p. 228, the Abbé explains Xibalba as hell. See also vol. ii., pp. 715-7, of this work.