Creation of the Sun and the Moon

by B. Traven

A Mexican legend about a young Indian hero named Chicovaneg who saves mankind by rekindling the sun after it has been extinguished by evil spirits

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1936

About the author

B. Traven was the pen name of a German novelist, whose real name, nationality, date and place of birth and details of biography are all subject to dispute. A rare certainty is that B. Traven lived much of his life in Mexico, where the majority of his fiction is also set—including his best-known work, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1927), which was adapted as the Academy Award nominated film of the same name in 1948.
Virtually every detail of Traven's life has been disputed and hotly debated. There were many hypotheses on the true identity of B. Traven, some of them wildly fantastic. Most agree, that Traven was Ret Marut, a German stage actor and anarchist, who supposedly left Europe for Mexico around 1924. There are also reasons to believe that Marut/Traven's real name was Otto Feige and that he was born in Schwiebus in Brandenburg, modern day Świebodzin in Poland. B. Traven in Mexico is also connected with Berick Traven Torsvan and Hal Croves, both of whom appeared and acted in different periods of the writer's life. Both, however, denied being Traven and claimed that they were his literary agents only, representing him in contacts with his publishers.
B. Traven is the author of twelve novels, one book of reportage and several short stories, in which the sensational and adventure subjects combine with a critical attitude towards capitalism, betraying the socialist and even anarchist sympathies of the writer. B. Traven's best known works include the novels The Death Ship from 1926 and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre from 1927, in 1948 filmed by John Huston, and the so-called Jungle Novels, also known as the Caoba cyclus (from the Spanish word caoba, meaning mahogany), a group of six novels (including The Carreta, Government), published in the years 1930-1939, set among Mexican Indians just before and during the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century. B. Traven's novels and short stories became very popular as early as the interwar period and retained this popularity after the war; they were also translated into many languages. Most of B. Traven's books were published in German first and their English editions appeared later; nevertheless the author always claimed that the English versions were the original ones and that the German versions were only their translations. This claim is not taken seriously.

Reviews

[Teresa Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compré este libro porque uno de sus cuentos sirvió para realizar la película "Días de Otoño". El cuento se llama "Frustración" y sentí deseos de leerlo debido a mi gusto por la película. No me decepcionó. Si acaso me hubiera gustado que fuera un poco más detallado, tiene muy pocas páginas. Me gustaron todas las historias/crónicas pero considero que le faltó extensión a "Una ceremonia apenas pospuesta".

[Eugenia Santacruz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alejen a Traven de Chiapas y de los pueblos originarios, por favor.

[Judy M Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

lovely folklore

A sweet tale about the triumph of good over evil, resulting in the creation of the sun and moon. Claims Mexican origin.

[Steve Carter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Traven.
There are many better stories in The Night Visitor. With this I found the male heroics off putting.
I don’t think the tale is worthy of an individual volume like this but see how is was considered marketable in the USA land of Ayn Rand rugged individualism.
I did have fun reading it aloud to my partner though.

[Oxana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was advised to read this book. I've read 2 stories already. I like a lot, that they are short, but full of sense.