The LEGEND OF THE CHOCOLATE TREE
A Mayan Folktale
Characters: Narrator 1, Narrator 2, Narrator 3, Kukulkán (coo-cool-KAHN), Balam (BA-luhm), Nicte (NIKT), Night Jaguar, Chac (CHOK), and Ixchel (ICKS-chul)
NARRATOR 1: A thousand years ago, in a jungle in present-day Mexico, there lived a king named Kukulkán who was also a god. He wore a cloak of colorful feathers like a bird’s, and his skin glistened in the sun like a jungle serpent’s. Each day, the god-king traveled all the way to Earth from his home in paradise. He often brought gifts to his people, the Maya.
NICTE: Kukulkán has brought us maize (MAYZ, corn) to make tasty tortillas, books to read, and a calendar to keep track of the seasons and stars. How can we thank him?
BALAM: Kukulkán lives in paradise, but spends most of his time on Earth, right? Let us make him a home on Earth. We can build a temple in the middle of our jungle city.
NARRATOR 1: The temple was shaped like a pyramid, with 91 steep steps to climb like a ladder to the sky. At the top was a stone house that faced the morning sky. Each dawn, Kukulkán would come down from the temple to watch over the people. Life was happy for the Maya by day, when Kukulkán ruled. But at night, his twin brother, the cool and fearsome Night Jaguar, shared the temple. He kept watch while the evening star shone.
NIGHT JAGUAR: The people do not need gifts. My brother should learn to keep the gods’ treasures in paradise.
NARRATOR 2: With the sunrise, Night Jaguar crept up the temple steps to sleep for the day. Meanwhile, Kukulkán awoke to find offerings of woven baskets full of fruit, vegetables, and other foods on his doorstep.
KUKULKÁN: The Maya work so hard to grow and share their food. I know just the thing to give them in return—but I will have to make a trip to get it.
NARRATOR 2: When the sun was high in the sky, Kukulkán spread his mighty wings and flew to paradise. He got there just in time for dinner and sat between Chac, god of the rain, and Ixchel, goddess of the moon.
CHAC: Welcome home. Have some papayas, mangoes, and tortillas.
IXCHEL: And try a foamy cup of chocolatl (cho-KO-lah-tul, a chocolate drink). It is sweetened with honey and spiced with chilies. A drink worthy of the gods!
KUKULKÁN: Now that you mention chocolatl, I have been thinking about the Maya. They are such good people, they deserve a special gift.
CHAC: (setting down his jade goblet) Such as….?
KUKULKÁN: A chocolate tree.
IXCHEL: (loudly) What? You want to give our finest treasure to the Maya? Then the people will have everything we gods enjoy in paradise!
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Adapted from The Legend of the Chocolate Tree, by Pat Betteley, ©️ by Cricket Media, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
How do you know this text is a drama?
There are characters that are important to the story.
There is a cast of characters and lines of dialogue.
There are lines of text that follow a rhyme scheme.
There are sentences and paragraphs.