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A Mayan Tale - Where Did Men Come From? Ancient America

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A Mayan Tale - Where Did Men Come From?
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Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 3 to 5
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	2.65

Vocabulary

challenging words:

contemplate, descendents, expansive, gouge, heartless, mangle, nonsense, devour, flesh, material, punishment, time, perfectly, hearing, otherwise, emergency

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A Mayan Tale - Where Did Men Come From? By Vickie Chao

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¹     A long, long time ago, the Mayas said the world was quiet and empty. Back then, an expansive sky and a vast ocean were all the world had. There was no earth. There were no trees. There were no flowers. There were no animals. And there were no men.
 
²     One day, the gods got together. They talked and talked. They all agreed that the world was too empty. They needed to make some changes. So they made the earth. They made mountains and valleys. They made trees. Then they made animals. They created deer. They created birds. They created snakes. They created pumas. And they created jaguars. After they were done, they were very pleased with their work. But they soon realized that they had made a big mistake -- animals could not speak and praise the gods. Sure, they could make noises. But they could not understand each other, let alone worship the gods together.
 
³     Disappointed, the gods told the animals that they would make other beings and have them as animals' new masters.
 
⁴     Once that was decided, the gods used mud to create the first human being. Right away, they saw that they did not use the right material. Mud, as it turned out, was too soft. It kept melting away and did not have any strength. Men made of mud could not move their heads. They could not stand straight. They spoke only nonsense. And they could not have children.
 
⁵     Disappointed, the gods decided to scratch the design and try again.

Paragraphs 6 to 15:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

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