The story of someone who began life as we know it and was born when the world was still young when there was flora and fauna that no longer exists today. The place where he was born could provide him with all the comforts and conveniences that an ordinary man needs. However, the Mayan gods had brought this being made of corn to life after unsuccessfully attempting to create the first man in the world from clay and stone.
The first man, made of clay, succumbed to the heat. When the gods had plans for him, the sun shone brighter than ever, and his body began to dry up, becoming rigid. Gradually, he lost mobility until his legs were anchored to the ground, and his crossed arms were glued to his chest. Upon noticing this, the gods started a new project.
The second man, made of stone, seemed to handle the dangers of the new and hostile world very well. His body was very resilient, and his limbs were very strong, so he soon built a shelter that kept him safe from animals, the daytime heat, and the nighttime cold. However, when he decided to explore beyond what his stone eyes allowed him to see and ventured into the jungle undergrowth, he stumbled and fell into a cenote. He had never tried to swim before, and his heavy stone body sank to the bottom, where there was no help, and he died.
The gods, despite being sad and discouraged, did not stop trying to populate the world with a being capable of surviving the countless dangers, someone who would think ahead about the risks and could solve the problems that arose on the way. That’s how they decided to gather all the corn from the land. They harvested it, shucked it, ground it, and with an elaborate ritual, they created the first man made of corn.
This man had advantages over the previous two, as his body was more resistant to both cold and heat, he was lighter, and above all, he could see and understand everything. He navigated the dangers in simple ways because, in addition to his strength, he had intelligence, which allowed him to create a shelter resilient to the challenging world of that time. He learned to satisfy his basic needs, to sow for a constant food supply, and to hunt for the skin and meat of animals.
The gods believed that this man had overcome all known dangers by then, but one day, the man without a name realized he was alone. He had no one to talk to or share food with, like the other beings that inhabited the earth.
Days passed, but this new feeling persisted, and he couldn’t fully understand it. It was a pain similar to hunger and cold, but neither fire nor the juiciest meat could alleviate this mysterious feeling.
The gods noticed the condition that afflicted this man and tried to help him by giving him someone to share words with.
After several weeks of feeling the same way and finding no relief, one day he woke up to the surprise of a voice greeting him and asking his name, to which he didn’t know how to respond. The gods had created the first woman in the world, who would henceforth share her days with the man without a name. The gods warned the corn man about the strength of this new marvelous being and her ability to give life and protection to more men like him, so he must respect, care for, and venerate her as a creator of life. And so, the corn man, who never had a name, stopped feeling alone and began to populate the world, giving rise to new problems and emotions that would be solved by men of another time.
TYT Newsroom