MHE_Rdg_Wonders_LvRdr_G6_Beyond_U2W3_08.pdf

PAIREDREADHistorical FictionChihuls Secretby David Murphyby David Murphyillustrated by Ron Himlerillustrated by Ron HimlerBooks Made from BarkProgram:CR 14Component:LRG6 U2 W3 BPDFVendor:Learning MediaGrades:6CV_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 2CV_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 224/01/12 11:30 AM24/01/12 11:30 AMSTRATEGIES&SKILLSComprehensionStrategy:Make PredictionsSkill:Point of ViewVocabulary StrategyConnotations and DenotationsVocabularyalcove,commerce,domestic,exotic,fluent,stifling,upheaval,utmost Content StandardsSocial StudiesHistory*The total word count is based on words in the running text and headings only.Numerals and words in captions,labels,diagrams,charts,and sidebars are not included.Word Count:3,097*Program:CR 14Component:LRG6 U2 W3 BPDFVendor:Learning MediaGrade:6Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies,Inc.All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means,or stored in a database or retrieval system,without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies,Inc.,including,but not limited to,network storage or transmission,or broadcast for distance learning.Send all inquiries to:McGraw-Hill EducationTwo Penn PlazaNew York,New York 10121ISBN:978-0-02-119256-4MHID:0-02-119256-1Printed in the United States.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DOC 15 14 13 12 11 10 AIFCIBC_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 2IFCIBC_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 230/01/12 9:12 AM30/01/12 9:12 AMPAIREDREADChihuls Secretby David Murphyby David Murphyillustrated by Ron Himlerillustrated by Ron HimlerChapter 1An Unchanging World.2Chapter 2Turning the Key.7Chapter 3A Remarkable Discovery.14Respond to Reading.16Books Made from Bark .17Focus on Genre .20Essential QuestionWhat was life like for people in ancient cultures?Program:CR 14Component:LRG6 U2 W3 BPDFVendor:Learning MediaLevel:70001_008_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 1001_008_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 130/01/12 9:14 AM30/01/12 9:14 AMChapter 1An Unchanging WorldWhen my slave brought my breakfast,the Morning Star was fading.I sank to my knees before the shrine to Itzamna,the son of our creator,and then hastened to the window to watch the day begin.This was my favorite time in Tikal.Our house stood on a hillside between the village and the ruler Halach Uinics temple,and I loved looking out over the thatched roofs,watching smoke rise from the freshly lit fires,the familiar domestic scene of women making tortillas,the men heading toward the fields.A group of hunters were gathering,and I wondered if they would be successful,and if so,whether my father would be chosen to give thanks.As I spread honey on my tortillas and drank a mug of frothing chocolate,I raised my eyes to the heavens.The stars had departed now but would return when night fell.I wondered where they went each day.This story takes place around the year 700 C.E.,when the Mayan empire was at its strongest.Mayan culture was divided into classes:kings and nobles at the top,artisans and government workers in the middle,and farmers and unskilled workers below them.At the very bottom were those captured in war and enslaved.The characters in this story are from the artisan class.2Program:CR 14Component:LRG6 U2 W3 BPDFVendor:Learning MediaLevel:70(bkgd)Wetzel&Company001_008_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 2001_008_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 230/01/12 9:14 AM30/01/12 9:14 AMNot long ago,my father told me about the heavens.“The heavens are held up by four bacabs,Chihul,”he said,“each a different color:white to the north,black to the west,yellow to the south,and red to the east.These bacabs are like giant trees,and their canopies meet in the center,where there is a green tree.In every tree there dwells a bird of the same color.”When I asked my father how he knew this,he smiled his mysterious smile and shook his head.“Chihul,why must you always question everything?You are 12 tun old now.Soon you will marry,and let us hope the gods will bless you with a son.He,not you,will become fluent in the language of the scribes.”My fathers name is Ulok.He is kind and wise,with soft,dark eyes,and a gray beard that he is very proud of.Halach Uinic granted my father the privilege of growing a beard after he prophesied the appropriate day for our city to go to war and we won a great battle.3Program:CR 14Component:LRG6 U2 W3 BPDFVendor:Learning MediaLevel:70001_008_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 3001_008_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 330/01/12 9:14 AM30/01/12 9:14 AMI dont see my father often.He spends his days in the Scribes Room,which is guarded by soldiers from Captain Nacoms army,or at Halach Uinics pyramid,supervising the carving of the inscriptions to record the details of his dynasty.My brother,Uachac,tells me that at night,our father uses instruments to plot the movements of the moon and the stars,filling page after page of beaten bark with his calculations.Uachac is apprenticed to my father,but he has no interest in the reading and writing of a scribe.He wants to join the army,to die a heros death,and to live forever in stories.I wish that I had been born a boy and could choose my own life.However,my father says our lives are governed by the gods,and to stray from our ordained roles is to invite their anger.After breakfast,I joined my mother,Bulac,in the Sewing Room,where the wives and daughters of the scribes were making a richly decorated cloth for the temples table.I know how long it takes for a woman to bear a child,and I also know how many children my mother has borne and my own birth date.I have calculated that her age must be between 30 and 32 tun.4Program:CR 14Component:LRG6 U2 W3 BPDFVendor:Learning MediaLevel:70001_008_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 4001_008_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 430/01/12 9:14 AM30/01/12 9:14 AMDespite her age,my mother does not fear death,nor should she.She will have an honorable burial,unlike the peasants whose bodies lie beneath the floor of the house.She will want for nothing in the Otherworld,the underworld where the gods,spirits,and our dead ancestors live.A scribes family tomb is large enough to accommodate jewels,weapons,ornaments,clothing,and sufficient servants to care for every need.I love to study my mothers face.She has cross-eyes,and her forehead is high and flat.Patterns of jade and obsidian glimmer where they are set into her perfectly pointed teeth.She has enormous earrings and wears a topaz ring in her left nostril,and her skin is patterned with a multitude of tattoos.Her thick braids weave about her head.When I look at her tattoos,I cannot help but wonder if being so patterned causes pain because soon I will have my appointment with the tattooist.My mother and father have explained that having the images of our gods and our world tattooed on my body will ensure my life is one of inner peace and prosperity.5Program:CR 14Component:LRG6 U2 W3 BPDFVendor:Learning MediaLevel:70001_008_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 5001_008_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 530/01/12 9:14 AM30/01/12 9:14 AM“Ah,Chihul,”said my mother.“So good of you to join us.We have been discussing when it would be right for you to marry.”“But I dont want to marry,”I said.“I want to become a scribe.”The older women hissed and scornfully shook their heads,but some of the younger women gave me sympathetic looks.My friend Lamak gently touched my arm.My mothers dark eyes flashed as she stabbed her needle into the cloth.“Why are you so stubborn,Chihul?”she asked.“You know that women do not become scribes.You will marry a prince!Then,Hunab Ku willing,your father will become High Priestthe Ah Kin.As the daughter of the High Priest,your sons and the sons of their sons shall follow him for all time.Now,Ill hear no more about thisjoin us and take up your needle.”I said nothing more about wanting to be a scribe,but my mothers words“for all time”echoed in my mind.“All time”was immeasurable!It set me wondering.Why do we measure time in the way we do?Of course,kin is easythats measured by the setting and rising of the sunbut what about uinal and tun?How do they fit with the movements of the sun,the stars,and the moon?6Program:CR 14Component:LRG6 U2 W3 BPDFVendor:Learning MediaLevel:70001_008_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 6001_008_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 630/01/12 9:14 AM30/01/12 9:14 AMChapter 2Turning the KeyAt the end of the meal that evening,my father announced that he would retire to bed early.The sky was wrapped in a cloak of gray,preventing him from studying the stars,which is his custom on clear nights.Suddenly an outrageous thought rushed into my head.When everyone had gone to bed and all was quiet,I slipped from the house.Silent as a jaguar,I crept up the alley that leads to the temple.I crossed the courtyard,making sure I kept to the shadows,and climbed the flight of narrow stone stairs used by the slaves to bring food and chocolate to the Scribes Room.Embers from a dying fire glowed in the grate in the alcove.I blew on them softly until I was able to ignite a torch,which I carried across the room.My heart thumped in my throat,my ears strained for the slightest sound,and my body was poised for flight like a quivering deer.There was a huge stone table on which lay scrolls of beaten bark,each tied with a strand of flax.I untied a scroll and saw that it was covered in small square markings with rounded corners.Inside each square were drawn the jaws,hands,eyes,and ears of people and of animals,together with designs that I could not decipher.7Program:CR 14Component:LRG6 U2 W3 BPDFVendor:Learning MediaLevel:70001_008_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 7001_008_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 730/01/12 9:14 AM30/01/12 9:14 AMProgram:CR 14Component:LRG6 U2 W3 BPDFVendor:Learning MediaLevel:708001_008_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 8001_008_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 830/01/12 9:14 AM30/01/12 9:14 AMI rested my torch within a stone hoop and tried to make sense of the squares.Feeling frustrated,I turned to another scroll.This one was covered from top to bottom with row upon row of dots and dashes.Although I could not understand the markings,there seemed to be a logic and order to them.I lit one torch after another and gazed far into the night,puzzling over their meaning.And then it suddenly became clear.It was as if I had turned a key and unlocked a door into a new and exotic world!There were never more than four dots in a horizontal row before they were replaced by a dash,so could the dots possibly signify the numbers one to four,and a dash the number five?A dash with a dot above it could be six,but in that case,what would a dot with a dash above it be?My brain felt as if it was burning with the fire of discoverythere had to be an answer!Then I saw a dot above another marking that looked like a cocoa bean.What if there was another number,apart from one to nine?A number that changed everything.The dots and dashes must have had a hypnotic effect because my eyes became as heavy as stones,and try as I might,my lids kept drooping.Suddenly I heard a voice harsh but familiar.I snapped upright,cold with fear,and searched frantically for somewhere to hide,but it was too late.9Program:CR 14Component:LRG6 U2 W3 BPDFVendor:Learning MediaLevel:70009_016_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 9009_016_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 930/01/12 9:15 AM30/01/12 9:15 AMMy father had come into the room and stood there for a moment,his eyes as dark as obsidian.When he spoke,his voice was as hard as the table on which my weary head had been resting.“What is the meaning of this outrage,Chihul?”he demanded.“Im sorry,Father,”I said.“I just wanted to know.”“Know what?”“How”I gulped.“How you calculate the time to plant the crops,to build a pyramid,to go to war,to give thanks for the harvest.”“Your brother Uachac is the one who should be here.You trespass where you should not!”His anger sparked something within me,and my words burst forth.“Why should only Uachac be allowed here and not me?Hes only interested in fighting!I dont want to spend all my days sewing with the women.Cant you see how stifling that would be?”I couldnt seem to stop talking.“I want to know things!How long have we been here?How long does it take for the moon goddess to return?And what is the mystery of the Morning Star?”My father said nothing,but his face spoke for him.I could see the conflict in his eyes;usually as soft as melted chocolate,they were now gazing stonily into mine.To distract him,I turned back to the scroll.10Program:CR 14Component:LRG6 U2 W3 BPDFVendor:Learning MediaLevel:70009_016_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 10009_016_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 1030/01/12 9:15 AM30/01/12 9:15 AM“Theres something here that I dont understand,”I said.“If the dots are one to four and the dash is five,what does the cocoa bean signify?”“You figured out what the dots and dashes mean all by yourself?”My father took a step back as if seeing me in a new light.He watched me for another moment,a strange new look in his eyes.“Very well,Chihul,”he said.“If it will keep you from pestering me,I will explain everything.”He could not hide the hint of a smile on his lips,and I knew that he wanted to teach me as much as I wanted to learn.“On one condition,”he added.“You must promise me solemnly to tell no one about this.”I nodded my assent,hiding my excitement.“Let us begin with the numbers,”he said,pointing to the scroll with his thin fingers.“You see the vertical columns?Each represents an increase of 20,and a dot above another dot is 21.A dot above two dots is 22,a dot above a bar is 25,and the shell is zero.Many baktun ago,a great scribe discovered that everything begins and ends with zero.”11Program:CR 14Component:LRG6 U2 W3 BPDFVendor:Learning MediaLevel:70009_016_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 11009_016_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 1130/01/12 9:15 AM30/01/12 9:15 AM“What is a baktun?”I asked.“And what is a katun?”“A baktun is 20 katun and a katun is 20 tun.”My father smiled mischievously.“So,Chihul,tell me thisif there are 20 kin in one uinal,and 18 uinal in one tun,how many kin are there in one katun?”“Seven thousand,two hundred,”I said almost immediately,surprising even myself.“Remarkable,quite remarkable.”My father rolled up that scroll and turned to the scroll with the square markings.“These are the symbols we use to tell our stories,and each symbol represents a word.For example,if we want to say something is big,we might show rain because the word for rain is chak and so is the word for big.If we want to show the fourth month of the Haab year,we show a bat because“the fourth month of the year is sutz and so is a bat,”I interrupted.In truth,I did not find the symbols as interesting as the calculations.12Program:CR 14Component:LRG6 U2 W3 BPDFVendor:Learning MediaLevel:70009_016_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 12009_016_CR14_LR_G6_U2W3L70_B_119256.indd 1230/01/12 9:15 AM30/01/12 9:15 AM“Please tell me about the calendars.”“In the Haab calendar,”explained my father,“each uinal has 20 kin.Ther