The princess and the beetle

The princess and the beetle

This is the legend of a beautiful princess whose hair resembled the wings of 

a swallow. She was called Cuzán, the Maya word for this bird. She was also 

the favorite daughter of Ahnú Dtundtunxcaán, the Great Lord who was 

submerged in the skies.

As soon as Cuzán was old enough for marriage, her father arranged a union 

with the son of Halach Uinic of the great city of Nan Chan.

Her fiancé was the prince Ek Chapat, future lord of the kingdom. But one day, when the 

princess went to thank her father for the treasures he had plundered in a 

recent war which he had given to her, she found her father accompanied by 

a  handsome  youth  named  Chalpol,  which  means  red  head,  so  named 

because of his flaming red hair.

From that moment on, their souls were trapped in a bond of fire. They 

swore to never forget each other, and they passionately pledged their love 

under the sacred ceiba tree, where the gods heard their mortal pleas. When 

the king found out that Chalpol was his daughter’s lover, 

the king ordered him to be put to death. Cuzán begged her father not to kill him, promising 

she would never see him again and that she would obediently accept her 

role as wife of the prince of Nan Chan.

In the solitude of her bedroom, the princess walked t

he path of mystery. 

During the silence of the night, she was called to present herself to Halach. 

Then a wizard appeared, offering her a beetle, saying: “Cuzán, here is your 

beloved Chalpol. Your father granted him his life, but asked me to change 

him into an insect for having the audacity to love you.” The princess took 

him into her hands, and said these words to him: “I will never leave you and 

I will keep my promise.”

The best jeweler of the kingdom covered him with precious stones and 

attached a fine gold chain to his tiny foot. As soon as it was ready, she 

attached  it  to  her  chest  and  said:  “Maquech,  you  are  a  man,  hear  my 

heartbeat, you will live here always. I have sworn to the gods to never forget 

you.”  And  she  added:  “Maquech,  the  gods  have  never known a  love  as 

intense and alive as this which consumes my soul.”

That  is  how  the  princess  Cuzán  and  her  beloved  Chalpol,  who  became 

maquech, loved each other through the passage of all time.