The Popol Wuj is one of the most important sources of our knowledge of Mayan culture. It tells the tale of the gods as they make the world, and their unsuccessful attempts to create man, before finally succeeding with grains of corn. It relates the adventures of the heroes Junajpu and Xb'alanke, and tells of mythological characters who build and destroy mountains, old women who laugh to the beat of drums and flutes, and K'iche' villages who ask the gods for help in facing the cold. Besides its importance as a historical document, its stories give us a vision of life and the world which is still current in the daily affairs of contemporary Mayan villages.