They might sound like a Maya version of the Marx Brothers, but this is the nickname of Hun Batz and Hun-Chowen, the ill-fated sons of sporty Hun Hunahpu and his wife Xbaquiyalo.

They started off as highly-regarded creative kids; artistic, musical and full of knowledge. They were top of the class in everything. Until one day Hun Hunahpu their dad introduced them to the game of soccer. Suddenly school was forgotten, homework was ignored and daily ball game practice became their only interest.

One day dad went off to the Underworld to play an away match, but never returned. After many moons, some strange Underworld girl called Xquic popped up with two kids and demanded a place in the family.

It turned out that after the ill-fated match, Hun Hunahpu had managed to father two more children — the Hero Twins. These new step-brothers were dashing, daring, brave, resourceful and cunning. Naturally the Monkey Twins hated them.

The daily football matches became a hotbed of argument, vicious tackling and constant fouls. The Monkey Twins used every dirty trick in the codex, and pretty soon the Hero Twins decided to send them off the pitch for good.

The Monkey Twins were lured to a particular tree and told there was a nice collection of juicy birds up there. So up they climbed expecting a dinnertime treat. But as they climbed, the tree grew taller and taller. They couldn’t get down; they could only go up. There was no escape.

“What can we do?” they cried. “Loosen your belts,” suggested the Hero Twins, “and loop them around the tree to help you climb down.” But this was a trick. The dangling belts became tails and Hun Batz and Hun-Chowen discovered that they’d turned into monkeys. Howler monkeys to be precise.

Because of their former skills they were much venerated, and everyone tried not to laugh, but grandmother Xmucane got the giggles and they fled in embarrassment.

So where are they now? We understand the Monkey Twins continue to sign autographs and are currently looking for a lucrative contract in sports commentary like all the other ex-soccer game apes.

Share this page Cite this article

Article last revised on May 16, 2019 by Rowan Allen.
Editors: Peter J. Allen, Chas Saunders

References: Coming soon.

Permissions page

---