Several centuries ago, before the discovery of America, the Aztecs lived in Mexico. Legend has it that they fed on the roots of plants that they found and the animals that they managed to hunt every day.
Their greatest desire was to eat corn, but they couldn’t because it grew hidden behind high and rugged mountains, impossible to cross.
One day, they asked for help from various gods and these, wishing to help humans, tried to separate the gigantic mountains so that they could pass and reach the corn. It was useless, because not even the gods, using all the strength they had, managed to move them.
Time passed and they were so desperate that they begged the great god Quetzalcoatl to do something. They needed corn to make flour, and with it to make bread. The god promised to give them a hand, for their power was immense.
Unlike the other gods, Quetzalcóatl did not want to try with force, but with ingenuity. Since he was a very intelligent god, he decided to transform into a little black ant. No one, neither men nor women, neither children nor the elderly, understood why it had become that little insect.
Wasting no time, he invited a red ant to accompany him on the hard journey of crossing the high mountains. For days and with great effort, the two little ants climbed the steep slope together until they reached the snowy summit. Once there, they began the descent to pass to the other side. It was a very long road and they arrived at their destination exhausted, but it was worth it. There were the golden ears of corn that their people so desired!
They approached the one that seemed more appetizing and from it, they extracted one of its yellow grains. Between the two of them, they started their way back with the corn kernel firmly clamped between their little jaws. If before the road had been tiring, the return was much more so. The load weighed a lot and their legs bent with every step, but for nothing in the world could they lose that granite the color of the sun.
The Aztecs enthusiastically received the ants, who arrived almost crawling and out of breath. How amazed they were when they saw that they had succeeded!
The black ant, who was actually the great god, thanked the red ant for helping him and promised that he would be generous to her. Then he gave the corn grain to the Aztecs, who ran to plant it with great care. The first corn plant came out of it in a short time and, from that plant, many others that in a few months populated the fields.
From then on, the Aztecs made bread to feed their children, who grew up healthy and strong. In gratitude to Quetzalcóatl they began to worship him and he became their most beloved god for the rest of time.
