Long ago, it is told, there lived a brave warrior named Popocatépetl, who loved a beautiful princess named Iztaccíhuatl, daughter of one of the great rulers of that land. Her father promised the warrior her hand in marriage if he returned victorious from a great battle he had to fight to defend his people.

Popocatépetl went off to war with a heart full of hope, leaving his beloved waiting eagerly for his return. But another warrior, jealous of his love for the princess, spread a false rumor that Popocatépetl had been killed in battle.

Iztaccíhuatl was overcome with grief at the loss of her beloved, and fell so ill from sorrow that she died before ever learning the truth. When Popocatépetl returned home victorious from the war, he found that his beloved had passed away forever, and his heart shattered with deep grief.

Popocatépetl carried his beloved's body in his arms and climbed to the top of a nearby mountain, laying her there gently. Then he knelt beside her, holding a torch, determined to remain by her side forever as her eternal guardian.

It is said the gods, moved by his great devotion, transformed the two of them into towering, snow-capped mountains: Iztaccíhuatl became a peaceful, stretched-out peak resembling a sleeping woman, and Popocatépetl became a volcano standing guard beside her, still breathing smoke from time to time, forever faithful to his beloved.