Chapter VII: Gods, Supernatural Beings, and Worship (1)

IMAGE OF TEZCATLIPOCA -- HIS SEATS AT THE STREET-CORNERS --
VARIOUS LEGENDS ABOUT HIS LIFE ON EARTH -- QUETZALCOATL -- HIS
DEXTERITY IN THE MECHANICAL ARTS -- HIS RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES
-- THE WEALTH AND NIMBLENESS OF HIS ADHERENTS -- EXPULSION FROM
TULLA OF QUETZALCOATL BY TEZCATLIPOCA AND HUITZILOPOCHTLI --
THE MAGIC DRAUGHT -- HUEMAC, OR VEMAC, KING OF THE TOLTECS, AND
THE MISFORTUNES BROUGHT UPON HIM AND HIS PEOPLE BY TEZCATLIPOCA
IN VARIOUS DISGUISES -- QUETZALCOATL IN CHOLULA -- DIFFERING
ACCOUNTS OF THE BIRTH AND LIFE OF QUETZALCOATL -- HIS GENTLE
CHARACTER -- HE DREW UP THE MEXICAN CALENDAR -- INCIDENTS OF
HIS EXILE AND OF HIS JOURNEY TO TLAPALLA, AS RELATED AND
COMMENTED UPON BY VARIOUS WRITERS -- BRASSEUR'S IDEAS ABOUT THE
QUETZALCOATL MYTHS -- QUETZALCOATL CONSIDERED A SUN-GOD BY
TYLOR, AND AS A DAWN-HERO BY BRINTON -- HELPS -- DOMENECH --
THE CODICES -- LONG DISCUSSION OF THE QUETZALCOATL MYTHS BY J.
G. MÜLLER.

In the preceding chapter I have given only the loftier view of Tezcatlipoca's nature, which even on this side cannot be illustrated without many inconsistencies. We pass now to relations evidencing a much meaner idea of his character, and showing him whom we have seen called invisible, almighty, and beneficent, in a new and much less imposing light. We pass, in fact, from the Zeus of Plato and Socrates to the Zeus of Hesiod and Homer.

Let us glance first at the fashion of his representation in the temples, though with little hope of seeing the particular fitness of many of the trappings and symbols with which his statue was decorated. His principal image, at least in the city of Mexico, was cut out of a very shining black stone, called iztli, a variety of obsidian--a stone valued, in consideration of its capabilities of cleavage, for making those long splinters, used as knives by the Aztecs, for sacrificial and other purposes. For these uses in worship, and perhaps indeed for its manifold uses in all regards, it was surnamed _teotetl_, divine stone. In places where stone was less convenient the image was made of wood. The general idea intended to be given was that of a young man; by which the immortality of the god was set forth. The ears of the idol were bright with ear-rings of gold and silver. Through his lower lip was thrust a little crystal tube, perhaps six inches long, and through the hollow of this tube a feather was drawn; sometimes a green feather, sometimes a blue, giving the transparent ornament the tint at one time of an emerald, at another of a turquoise. The hair--carved from the stone, we may suppose--was drawn into a queue and bound with a ribbon of burnished gold, to the end of which ribbon, hanging down behind, was attached a golden ear with certain tongues of ascending smoke painted thereon; which smoke was intended to signify the prayers of those sinners and afflicted that, commending themselves to the god, were heard by him. Upon his head were many plumes of red and green feathers. From his neck there hung down in front a great jewel of gold that covered all his breast. Bracelets of gold were upon his arms, and in his navel was set a precious green stone. In his left hand there flashed a great circular mirror of gold, bordered like a fan with precious feathers, green and azure and yellow; the eyes of the god were ever fixed on this, for therein he saw reflected all that was done in the world. This mirror was called _itlachia_, that is to say, the 'looker-on,' the 'viewer.' Tezcatlipoca was sometimes seated on a bench covered with a red cloth, worked with the likeness of many skulls, having in his right hand four darts, signifying, according to some, that he punished sin. To the top of his feet were attached twenty bells of gold, and to his right foot the fore-foot of a deer, to show the exceeding swiftness of this deity in all his ways. Hiding the shining black body, was a great cloak, curiously wrought in black and white, adorned with feathers, and fringed about with rosettes of three colors, red, white, and black. This god, whose decorations vary a little with different writers--variations probably not greater than those really existing among the different figures representing in different places the same deity--had a kind of chapel built to hold him on the top of his temple. It was a dark chamber lined with rich cloths of many colors; and from its obscurity the image looked out, seated on a pedestal, with a costly canopy immediately overhead, and an altar in front; not apparently an altar of sacrifice, but a kind of ornamental table, like a Christian altar, covered with rich cloth. Into this holy of holies it was not lawful for any but a priest to enter.

[Sidenote: WORSHIP OF TEZCATLIPOCA.]

What most of all, however, must have served to bring the worship of Tezcatlipoca prominently before the people, were the seats of stone, built at the corners of the streets, for the accommodation of this god when he walked invisibly abroad. Mortal, born of woman, never sat thereon; not the king himself might dare to use them: sacred they were, sacred for ever, and always shadowed by a canopy of green boughs, reverently renewed every five days.[VII-1]

Lower and lower we must now descend from the idea of an almighty god, to take up the thread of various legends in which Tezcatlipoca figures in an anything but creditable light. We have already seen him described as one of those hero-gods whom the new-born Sun was instrumental in destroying;[VII-2] and we may suppose that he then ascended into heaven, for we find him afterward descending thence, letting himself down by a rope twined from spider's web. Rambling through the world he came to a place called Tulla, where a certain Quetzalcoatl--another, according to Sahagun, of the hero-gods just referred to--had been ruling for many years. The two engaged in a game of ball, in the course of which Tezcatlipoca suddenly transformed himself into a tiger, occasioning thereby a tremendous panic among the spectators, many of whom in the haste of their flight precipitated themselves down a ravine in the neighborhood into a river and were drowned. Tezcatlipoca then began to persecute Quetzalcoatl from city to city till he drove him to Cholula. Here Quetzalcoatl was held as chief god, and here for some time he was safe. But only for a few years; his indefatigable and powerful enemy forced him to retreat with a few of his adherents toward the sea, to a place called Tlillapa or Tizapan. Here the hunted Quetzalcoatl died, and his followers inaugurated the custom of burning the dead by burning his body.[VII-3]

The foregoing, from Mendieta, gives us a glimpse, from one point of view, of that great personage Quetzalcoatl, of whom we shall know much more anon, and whom in the meantime we meet again and again as the opponent, or rather victim of Tezcatlipoca. Let us consider Sahagun's version of the incidents of this strife:--

[Sidenote: QUETZALCOATL.]

Quetzalcoatl was, from very ancient times, adored as a god in Tulla. He had a very high _cu_[VII-4] there, with many steps up to it, steps so narrow that there was not room for a whole foot on any of them. His image was always in a recumbent position and covered with blankets. The face of it was very ugly, the head large and furnished with a long beard. The adherents of this god were all devoted to the mechanical arts, dexterous in working the green stone called chalchiuite, and in founding the precious metals; all of which arts had their beginning and origin with the said Quetzalcoatl. He had whole houses made of chalchiuites, others made of silver, others of white and red shells, others of planks, others of turquoises, and others of rich feathers. His adherents were very light of foot and swift in going whither they wished, and they were called _tlanquacemilhiyme_. There is a mountain called Tzatzitepetl on which Quetzalcoatl used to have a crier, and the people afar off and scattered, and the people of Anáhuac, a hundred leagues distant, heard and understood at once whatever the said Quetzalcoatl commanded. And Quetzalcoatl was very rich; he had all that was needful both to eat and to drink; maize was abundant, and a head of it was as much as a man could carry clasped in his arms; pumpkins measured a fathom round; the stalks of the wild amarinth were so large and thick that people climbed them like trees. Cotton was sowed and gathered in of all colors, red, scarlet, yellow, violet, whitish, green, blue, blackish, grey, orange, and tawny; these colors in the cotton were natural to it, thus it grew. Further it is said that in that city of Tulla, there abounded many sorts of birds of rich and many-colored plumage, the _xiuhtototl_, the _quetzaltototl_, the _zaquan_, the _tlauquechol_, and other birds that sang with much sweetness. And this Quetzalcoatl had all the riches of the world, of gold and silver, of green stones called chalchiuites, and of other precious things, and a great abundance of cocoa-nut trees of divers colors. The vassals or adherents of Quetzalcoatl were also very rich and wanted for nothing; they were never hungry; they never lacked maize, nor ate the small ears of it, but burned them like wood to heat the baths. It is said lastly that Quetzalcoatl did penance by pricking his legs and drawing blood with the spines of the maguey and by washing at midnight in a fountain called _xicapoya_;[VII-5] this custom the priests and ministers of the Mexican idols adopted.

There came at last a time in which the fortunes of Quetzalcoatl and of his people, the Toltecs, began to fail; for there came against them three sorcerers, gods in disguise, to wit Tezcatlipoca, Huitzilopochtli, and Tlacavepan, who wrought many deceits in Tulla. Tezcatlipoca especially prepared a cunning trick; he turned himself into a hoary-headed old man, and went to the house of Quetzalcoatl, saying to the servants there, I wish to see and speak to your master. Then the servants said, Go away, old man, thou canst not see our king, for he is sick, thou wilt annoy him and cause him heaviness. But Tezcatlipoca insisted, I must see him. Then the servants bid the sorcerer to wait, and they went in and told Quetzalcoatl how an old man without affirmed that he would see the king and would not be denied. And Quetzalcoatl answered, Let him come in, behold for many days I have waited for his coming. So Tezcatlipoca entered, and he said to the sick god-king, How art thou? adding further that he had a medicine for him to drink. Then Quetzalcoatl answered, Thou art welcome, old man, behold for many days I have waited for thee. And the old sorcerer spake again, How is thy body, and how art thou in health? I am exceedingly sick, said Quetzalcoatl, all my body is in pain, I cannot move my hands nor my feet. Then, answered Tezcatlipoca, behold this medicine that I have, it is good and wholesome and intoxicating; if thou will drink it, thou shalt be intoxicated and healed and eased at the heart, and thou shalt have in mind the toils and fatigues of death and of thy departure.[VII-6] Where, cried Quetzalcoatl, have I to go? To Tullantlapallan, replied Tezcatlipoca, where there is another old man waiting for thee; he and thou shall talk together, and on thy return thence thou shalt be as a youth, yea, as a boy. And Quetzalcoatl hearing these words his heart was moved, while the old sorcerer, insisting more and more, said, Sir, drink this medicine. But the king did not wish to drink it. The sorcerer, however, insisted, Drink, my lord, or thou wilt be sorry for it hereafter; at least rub a little on thy brow and taste a sip. So Quetzalcoatl tried and tasted it, and drank, saying, What is this? it seems to be a thing very good and savory; already I feel myself healed and quit of mine infirmity; already I am well. Then the old sorcerer said again, Drink once more, my lord, since it is good; so thou shall be the more perfectly healed. And Quetzalcoatl drank again, he made himself drunk, he began to weep sadly, his heart was eased and moved to depart, he could not rid himself of the thought that he must go; for this was the snare and deceit of Tezcatlipoca. And the medicine that Quetzalcoatl drank was the white wine of the country, made from the magueys that are called _teumetl_.

[Sidenote: TEZCATLIPOCA AS A PEDDLER.]

So Quetzalcoatl, whose fortunes we shall hereafter follow more particularly, set out upon his journey; and Tezcatlipoca proceeded further guilefully to kill many Toltecs, and to ally himself by marriage with Vemac, who was the temporal lord of the Toltecs, even as Quetzalcoatl was the spiritual ruler of that people. To accomplish these things Tezcatlipoca took the appearance of a poor foreigner, and presented himself naked, as was the custom of such people, in the market-place of Tulla, selling green chilly pepper. Now the palace of Vemac, the great king, overlooked the market-place, and he had an only daughter, and the girl, looking by chance among the buyers and sellers, saw the disguised god. She was smitten through with love of him, and she began to sicken. Vemac heard of her sickness and he inquired of the women that guarded her as to what ailed his daughter. They told him as best they could, how for the love of a peddler of pepper, named Toveyo, the princess had lain down to die. The king immediately sent a crier upon the mountain Tzatzitepec to make this proclamation: O Toltecs, seek me out Toveyo that goes about selling green pepper, let him be brought before me. So the people sought everywhere for the handsome pepper vender; but he was nowhere to be found. Then, after they could not find him, he appeared of his own accord one day, at his old place and trade in the market. He was brought before the king, who said to him, Where dost thou belong to? and Toveyo answered, I am a foreigner come here to sell my green pepper. Why dost thou delay to cover thyself with breeches and with a blanket? said Vemac. Toveyo answered that in his country such things were not in fashion. Vemac continued, My daughter longs after thee, not willing to be comforted by any Toltec; she is sick of love and thou must heal her. But Toveyo replied, This thing can in no wise be, kill me first; I desire to die, not being worthy to hear these words, who get my living by selling green pepper. I tell thee, said the king, that thou must heal my daughter of this her sickness; fear not. Then they took the cunning god, and washed him, and cut his hair, and dyed all his body, and put breeches on him and a blanket; and the king Vemac said, Get thee in and see my daughter, there where they guard her. Then the young man went in and he remained with the princess and she became sound and well; thus Toveyo became the son-in-law of the king of Tulla.

Then behold all the Toltecs being filled with jealousy and offended, spake injurious and insulting words against king Vemac, saying among themselves, Of all the Toltecs can there not to be found a man, that this Vemac marries his daughter to a peddler? Now when the king heard all the injurious and insulting words that the people spake against him, he was moved, and he spoke to the people saying, Come hither, behold I have heard all these things that ye say against me in the matter of my son-in-law Toveyo; dissimulate then; take him deceitfully with you to the war of Cacatepec and Coatepec, let the enemy kill him there. Having heard these words the Toltecs armed themselves, and collected a multitude, and went to the war, bringing Toveyo along. Arrived where the fighting was to take place, they hid him with the lame and the dwarfs, charging them, as the custom was in such cases, to watch for the enemy, while the soldiers went on to the attack. The battle began; the Toltecs at once gave way; treacherously and guilefully deserting Toveyo and the cripples, leaving them to be slaughtered at their post, they returned to Tulla and told the king how they had left Toveyo and his companions alone in the hands of the enemy. When the king heard the treason he was glad, thinking Toveyo dead, for he was ashamed of having him for a son-in-law. Affairs had gone otherwise, however, with Toveyo from what the plotters supposed. On the approach of the hostile army he consoled his deformed companions, saying, Fear nothing; the enemy come against us. but I know that I shall kill them all. Then he rose up and went forward against them, against the men of Coatepec and Cacatepec; he put them to flight and slew of them without number. When this came to the ears of Vemac, it weighed upon and terrified him exceedingly. He said to his Toltecs, Let us now go and receive my son-in-law. So they all went out with king Vemac to receive Toveyo, bearing the arms or devises called _quetzalapanecayutl_, and the shields called _xiuchimali_. They gave these things to Toveyo, and he and his comrades received them with dancing and the music of flutes, with triumph and rejoicing. Furthermore, on reaching the palace of the king, plumes were put upon the heads of the conquerors, and all the body of each of them was stained yellow, and all the face red; this was the customary reward of those that came back victorious from war. And king Vemac said to his son-in-law, I am now satisfied with what thou hast done and the Toltecs are satisfied; thou hast dealt very well with our enemies, rest and take thine ease. But Toveyo held his peace.

[Sidenote: TRIUMPH OF TEZCATLIPOCA.]

And after this, Toveyo adorned all his body with the rich feathers called _tocivitl_, and commanded the Toltecs to gather together for a festival, and sent a crier up to the top of the mountain, Tzatzitepec, to call in the strangers and the people afar off to dance and to feast. A numberless multitude gathered to Tulla. When they were all gathered Toveyo led them out, young men and girls, to a place called Texcalapa, where he himself began and led the dancing, playing on a drum. He sang too, singing each verse to the dancers, who sang it after him, though they knew not the song before hand. Then was to be seen there a marvelous and terrible thing. From sunset till midnight the beat of the countless feet grew faster and faster; the tap, tap, tap of the drum closed up and poured into a continual roll; the monotonous song rose higher, wilder, till it burst into a roar. The multitude became a mob, the revel a riot; the people began to press upon and hustle each other; the riot became a panic. There was a fearful gorge or ravine there, with a river rushing through it called the Texcaltlauhco; a stone bridge led over the river. Toveyo broke down this bridge as the people fled; grim corypheus of this fearful revel, he saw them tread and crush each other down, under-foot, and over into the abyss. They that fell were turned into rocks and stones; as for them that escaped, they did not see nor think that it was Toveyo and his sorceries had wrought this great destruction; they were blinded by the witchcraft of the god, and out of their senses like drunken men.

Far from being satisfied with the slaughter at Texcalapa, Tezcatlipoca proceeded to hatch further evil against the Toltecs. He took the appearance of a certain valiant man called Teguioa, and commanded a crier to summon all the inhabitants of Tulla and its neighborhood to come and help at a certain piece of work in a certain flower-garden (said to have been a garden belonging to Quetzalcoatl.). All the people gathered to the work, whereupon the disguised god fell upon them, knocking them on the head with a _coa_.[VII-7] Those that escaped the _coa_ were trodden down and killed by their fellows in attempting to escape; a countless number was slain; every man that had come to the work was left lying dead among the trodden flowers.

[Sidenote: TEZCATLIPOCA DEAD.]

And after this Tezcatlipoca wrought another witchcraft against the Toltecs. He called himself Tlacavepan, or Acexcoch, and came and sat down in the midst of the market-place of Tulla, having a little manikin (said to have been Huitzilopochtli) dancing upon his hand. There was an instant uproar of all the buyers and sellers and a rush to see the miracle. The people crushed and trod each other down, so that many were killed there; and all this happened many times. At last the god-sorcerer cried out, on one such occasion, What is this? do you not see that you are befooled by us? stone and kill us. So the people took up stones and killed the said sorcerer and his little dancing manikin. But when the body of the sorcerer had lain in the market-place for some time it began to stink and to taint the air, and the wind of it poisoned many. Then the dead sorcerer spake again, saying, Cast this body outside the town, for many Toltecs die because of it. So they prepared to cast out the body, and fastened ropes thereto and pulled. But the talkative and ill-smelling corpse was so heavy that they could not move it. Then a crier made a proclamation, saying, Come all ye Toltecs, and bring ropes with you, that we may drag out and get rid of this pestilential carcass. All came accordingly, bringing ropes, and the ropes were fastened to the body, and all pulled. It was utterly in vain. Rope after rope broke with a sudden snap, and those that dragged on a rope fell and were killed when it broke. Then the dead wizard looked up and said, O Toltecs, a verse of a song is needed; and he himself gave them a verse. They repeated the verse after him, and, singing it, pulled all together, so that with shouts they hauled the body out of the city; though still not without many ropes breaking and many persons being killed as before. All this being over, those Toltecs that remained unhurt returned every man to his place, not remembering anything of what had happened, for they were all as drunken.

Other signs and wonders were wrought by Tezcatlipoca in his rôle of sorcerer. A white bird called Yztaccuixtli, was clearly seen flying over Tulla, transfixed with a dart. At night also, the sierra called Zacatepec burned, and the flames were seen from far. All the people were stirred up and affrighted, saying one to another, O Toltecs, it is all over with us now; the time of the end of Tulla is come; alas for us, whither shall we go?

Then Tezcatlipoca wrought another evil upon the Toltecs: he rained down stones upon them. There fell also, at the same time, a great stone from heaven called _techcatl_; and when it fell the god-sorcerer took the appearance of an old woman, and went about selling little banners in a place called Chapultepecuitlapilco, otherwise named Vetzinco. Many then became mad and bought of these banners and went to the place where was the stone Techcatl, and there got themselves killed; and no one was found to say so much as, What is this that happens to us? they were all mad.

Another woe Tezcatlipoca brought upon the Toltecs. All their victuals suddenly became sour, and no one was able to eat of them. The old woman, above mentioned, took up then her abode in a place called Xochitla[VII-8], and began to roast maize; and the odor of the roasted maize reached all the cities round about. The starving people set out immediately, and with one accord, to go where the old woman was. They reached her instantly, for here it may be again said, that the Toltecs were exceedingly light of foot, and arrived always immediately whithersoever they wished to go. As for the Toltecs that gathered to the sham sorceress, not one of them escaped, she killed them every one.[VII-9]

[Sidenote: IMAGE OF QUETZALCOATL.]

Turning, without remark for the present, from Tezcatlipoca, of whose life on earth the preceding farrago of legends is all that is known, let us take up the same period in the history of Quetzalcoatl. The city of Cholula was the place in which this god was most honored, and towards which he was supposed to be most favorably inclined; Cholula being greatly given to commerce and handicraft, and the Cholulans considering Quetzalcoatl to be the god of merchandise. As Acosta tells: "In Cholula, which is a commonwealth of Mexico, they worshipt a famous idoll which was the god of marchandise, being to this day greatly given to trafficke. They called it Quetzaalcoalt. This idoll was in a great place in a temple very hie: it had about it, golde, silver, jewells, very rich feathers, and habites of divers colours. It had the forme of a man, but the visage of a little bird, with a red bill, and above a combe full of wartes, having ranckes of teeth, and the tongue hanging out. It carried vpon the head, a pointed myter of painted paper, a sithe in the hand, and many toyes of golde on the legges; with a thousand other foolish inventions, whereof all had their significations, and they worshipt it, for that hee enriched whome hee pleased, as Memnon and Plutus. In trueth this name which the Choluanos gave to their god, was very fitte, although they vnderstood it not: they called it Quetzaalcoalt, signifying colour of a rich feather, for such is the divell of covetousnesse."[VII-10]

Motolinia gives the following confused account of the birth as a man, the life, and the apotheosis of this god. The Mexican Adam, called Iztacmixcoatl by some writers, married a second time.[VII-11] This second wife, Chimamatl by name, bore him, it is said, an only son who was called Quetzalcoatl. This son grew up a chaste and temperate man. He originated by his preaching and practice the custom of fasting and self-punishment; and from that time many in that country began to do this penance. He never married, nor knew any woman, but lived restrainedly and chastely all his days. The custom of sacrificing the ears and the tongue, by drawing blood from these members, was also introduced by him; not for the service of the devil but in penitence for the sins of his speech and his hearing: it is true that afterward the demon misappropriated these rites to his own use and worship. A man called Chichimecatl fastened a leather strap on the arm of Quetzalcoatl, fixing it high up near the shoulder; Chichimecatl was from that time called Acolhuatl, and from him, it is said, are descended those of Colhua, ancestors of Montezuma and lords of Mexico and Coluacan. This Quetzalcoatl is now held as a deity and called the god of the air; everywhere an infinite number of temples has been raised to him, and everywhere his statue or picture is found.[VII-12]

According to the account of Mendieta, tradition varied much as to the facts of the life of Quetzalcoatl. Some said he was the son of Camaxtli, god of hunting and fishing, and of Camaxtli's wife Chimalma. Others make mention only of the name of Chimalma, saying that as she was sweeping one day she found a small green stone called chalchiuite, that she picked it up, became miraculously pregnant, and gave birth to the said Quetzalcoatl. This god was worshiped as a principal deity in Cholula, where, as well as in Tlaxcala and Huejotzingo, there were many of his temples. We have already had one legend from Mendieta,[VII-13] giving an account of the expulsion from Tulla and death of Quetzalcoatl; the following from the same source gives a different and more usual version of the said expulsion:--

[Sidenote: DEPARTURE OF QUETZALCOATL.]

Quetzalcoatl came from the parts of Yucatan (although some said from Tulla) to the city of Cholula. He was a white man, of portly person, broad brow, great eyes, long black hair, and large round beard; of exceedingly chaste and quiet life, and of great moderation in all things. The people had at least three reasons for the great love, reverence, and devotion with which they regarded him: first, he taught the silversmith's art, a craft the Cholulans greatly prided themselves on; second, he desired no sacrifice of the blood of men or animals, but delighted only in offerings of bread, roses and other flowers, of perfumes and sweet odors; third, he prohibited and forbade all war and violence. Nor were these qualities esteemed only in the city of his chiefest labors and teachings; from all the land came pilgrims and devotees to the shrine of the gentle god. Even the enemies of Cholula came and went secure, in fulfilling their vows; and the lords of distant lands had in Cholula their chapels and idols to the common object of devotion and esteem. And only Quetzalcoatl among all the gods was preëminently called Lord; in such sort, that when any one swore, saying, By Our Lord, he meant Quetzalcoatl and no other; though there were many other highly esteemed gods. For indeed the service of this god was gentle, neither did he demand hard things, but light; and he taught only virtue, abhorring all evil and hurt. Twenty years this good deity remained in Cholula, then he passed away by the road he had come, carrying with him four of the principal and most virtuous youths of that city. He journeyed for a hundred and fifty leagues, till he came to the sea, in a distant province called Goatzacoalco. Here he took leave of his companions and sent them back to their city, instructing them to tell their fellow citizens that a day should come in which white men would land upon their coasts, by way of the sea in which the sun rises; brethren of his and having beards like his; and that they should rule that land. The Mexicans always waited for the accomplishment of this prophecy, and when the Spaniards came they took them for the descendants of their meek and gentle prophet, although, as Mendieta remarks with some sarcasm, when they came to know them and to experience their works, they thought otherwise.

Quetzalcoatl is further reported by Mendieta to have assisted in drawing up and arranging the Mexican Calendar, a sacred book of thirteen tables, in which the religious rites and ceremonies proper to each day were set forth, in connection with the appropriate signs. It is said that the gods having created mankind, bethought themselves that it would be well if the people they had made had some writings by which they might direct themselves. Now there were, in a certain cave at Cuernavaca, two personages of the number of the gods, and they were man and wife, he Oxomoco and she Cipactonal; and they were consulting together. It appeared good to the old woman that her descendant Quetzalcoatl should be consulted. The Cholulan god thought the thing of the calendar to be good and reasonable; so the three set to work. To the old woman was respectfully allotted the privilege of choosing and writing the first sign; she painted a kind of water-serpent called _cipactli_, and called the sign _Ce Cipactli_, that is "a serpent." Oxomoco, in his turn wrote "two canes," and then Quetzalcoatl wrote "three houses;" and so they went on till the whole thirteen signs of each table were written out in their order.[VII-14]

[Sidenote: THE SUN CALLS QUETZALCOATL.]

Let us now take up again the narrative of Sahagun, at the point where Quetzalcoatl, after drinking the potion prepared by Tezcatlipoca, prepares to set off upon his journey. Quetzalcoatl, very heavy in heart for all the misfortunes that this rival god was bringing upon the Toltecs, burned his beautiful houses of silver and of shell, and ordered other precious things to be buried in the mountains and ravines. He turned the cocoa-nut trees into a kind of trees that are called _mizquitl_; he commanded all the birds of rich plumage, the quetzaltototl, and the xiuhtotl, and the tlauquechol, to fly away and go into Anáhuac, a hundred leagues distant. Then he himself set out upon his road from Tulla; he traveled on till he came to a place called Quauhtitlan, where was a great tree, high and very thick. Here the exile rested, and he asked his servants for a mirror, and looked at his own face. What thoughts soever were working in his heart, he only said, I am already old. Then he named that place Vevequauhtitlan, and he took up stones and stoned the great tree; and all the stones he threw sank into it, and were for a long time to be seen sticking there, from the ground even up to the topmost branches. Continuing his journey, having flute-players playing before him, he came to a place on the road where he was weary and sat down on a stone to rest. And looking toward Tulla, he wept bitterly. His tears marked and ate into the stone on which he sat, and the print of his hands, and of his back parts, was also found therein when he resumed his journey. He called that place Temacpalco. After that he reached a very great and wide river, and he commanded a stone bridge to be thrown across it; on that bridge he crossed the river, and he named the place Tepanoaya. Going on upon his way, Quetzalcoatl came to another place, where certain sorcerers met and tried to stop him, saying, Whither goest thou? why dost thou leave thy city? to whose care wilt thou commend it? who will do penance? Quetzalcoatl replied to the said sorcerers, Ye can in no wise hinder my going, for I must go. They asked him further, Whither goest thou? He said, To Tlapalla. They continued, But to what end goest thou? He said, I am called and the sun calls me. So the sorcerers said, Go then, but leave behind all the mechanical arts, the melting of silver, the working of precious stones and of masonry, the painting, feather-working, and other crafts. And of all these the sorcerers despoiled Quetzalcoatl. As for him, he cast into a fountain all the rich jewels that he had with him; and that fountain was called Cohcaapa, and it is so named to this day.

Quetzalcoatl continued his journey; and there came another sorcerer to meet him, saying, Whither goest thou? Quetzalcoatl said, To Tlapalla. The wizard said, Very well; but drink this wine that I have. The traveler answered, No: I cannot drink it; I cannot so much as taste it. Thou must drink, said the grim magician, were it but a drop; for to none of the living can I give it; it intoxicates all, so drink. Then Quetzalcoatl took the wine and drank it through a cane. Drinking, he made himself drunk; he slept upon the road; he began to snore; and when he awoke, he looked on one side and on the other, and tore his hair with his hands. And that place was called Cochtoca.

Quetzalcoatl going on upon his way and passing between the sierra of the volcano and the snowy sierra, all his servants, being hump-backed and dwarfs, died of cold in the pass between the said mountains. And Quetzalcoatl bewailed their death bitterly and sang with weeping and sighing. Then he saw the other snowy sierra, which is called Poyauhtecatl and is near Tecamachalco; and so he passed by all the cities and places, leaving many signs, it is said, in all the mountains and roads.[VII-15] It is said further that he had a way of crossing the sierras whereby he amused and rested himself at the same time: when he came to the top of a mountain he used to sit down, and so seated, let himself slide down the mountain-side to the bottom. In one place he built a court for ball-play, all of squared stone, and here he used to play the game called _tlachtli_.[VII-16] Through the midst of this court he drew a line called the _telcotl_; and where that line was made the mountain is now opened with a deep gash. In another place he cast a dart at a great tree called a _pochutl_, piercing it through with the dart in such wise that the tree looked like a cross; for the dart he threw was itself a tree of the same kind.[VII-17] Some say that Quetzalcoatl built certain subterranean houses, called _mictlancalco_; and further, that he set up and balanced a great stone, so that one could move it with one's little finger, yet a multitude could not displace it. Many other notable things remain that Quetzalcoatl did among many peoples; he it was that named all the places and woods and mountains. Traveling ever onward, he came at last to the sea-shore, and there commanded a raft to be made of the snakes called _coatlapechtli_. Having seated himself on this raft as in a canoe, he put out to sea, and no man knows how he got to Tlapallan.[VII-18]

Torquemada gives a long and valuable account of Quetzalcoatl, gathered from many sources, which cannot be overlooked. It runs much as follows:--The name Quetzalcoatl means Snake-plumage, or Snake that has plumage--and the kind of snake referred to in this name, is found in the province of Xicalanco, which is on the frontier of the kingdom of Yucatan as one goes thence to Tabasco. This god Quetzalcoatl was very celebrated among the people of the city of Cholula, and held in that place for the greatest of all. He was, according to credible histories, high priest in the city of Tulla. From that place he went to Cholula, and not, as Bishop Bartolomé de las Casas says in his _Apologia_, to Yucatan; though he went to Yucatan afterwards, as we shall see. It is said of Quetzalcoatl that he was a white man, large bodied, broad-browed, great-eyed, with long black hair, and a beard heavy and rounded.[VII-19] He was a great artificer, and very ingenious. He taught many mechanical arts, especially the art of working the precious stones called chalchiuites, which are a kind of green stone highly valued, and the art of casting silver and gold. The people, seeing him so inventive, held him in great estimation, and reverenced him as king in that city; and so it came about that, though in temporal things the ruler of Tulla was a lord named Huemac,[VII-20] yet in all spiritual and ecclesiastical matters Quetzalcoatl was supreme, and as it were chief pontiff.

[Sidenote: SWIFTNESS OF THE SERVANTS OF QUETZALCOATL.]

It is feigned by those that seek to make much of their god that he had certain palaces made of green stone like emeralds, others made of silver, others of shells, red and white, others of all kinds of wood, others of turquoise, and others of precious feathers. He is said to have been very rich, and in need of nothing. His vassals were very obedient to him, and very light of foot; they were called tlanquacemilhuique. When they wished to publish any command of Quetzalcoatl, they sent a crier up upon a high mountain called Tzatzitepec, where with a loud voice he proclaimed the order; and the voice of this crier was heard for a hundred leagues distance, and farther, even to the coasts of the sea: all this is affirmed for true. The fruits of the earth and the trees flourished there in an extraordinary degree, and sweet singing birds were abundant. The great pontiff inaugurated a system of penance, pricking his legs, and drawing blood and staining therewith maguey thorns. He washed also at midnight in a fountain called Xiuhpacoya. From all this, it is said, the idolatrous priests of Mexico adopted their similar custom.

[Sidenote: QUETZALCOATL LEAVES MARKS ON A STONE.]

While Quetzalcoatl was enjoying this good fortune with pomp and majesty, we are told that a great magician called Titlacahua [Tezcatlipoca], another of the gods, arrived at Tulla. He took the form of an old man, and went in to see Quetzalcoatl, saying to him, My lord, inasmuch as I know thine intent and how much thou desirest to set out for certain distant lands, also, because I know from thy servants that thou art unwell, I have brought thee a certain beverage, by drinking which thou shalt attain thine end. Thou shalt so make thy way to the country thou desirest, having perfect health to make the journey; neither shalt thou remember at all the fatigues and toils of life, nor how thou art mortal.[VII-21] Seeing all his projects thus discovered by the pretended old man, Quetzalcoatl questioned him, Where have I to go. Tezcatlipoca answered, That it was already determined with the supreme gods, that he had to go to Tlapalla, and that the thing was inevitable, because there was another old man waiting for him at his destination. As Quetzalcoatl heard this, he said that it was true, and that he desired it much; and he took the vessel and drank the liquor it contained. Quetzalcoatl was thus easily persuaded to what Tezcatlipoca desired, because he wished to make himself immortal and to enjoy perpetual life. Having swallowed the draught he became beside himself, and out of his mind, weeping sadly and bitterly. He determined to go to Tlapalla. He destroyed or buried all his plate and other property and set out. First he arrived at the place, Quauhtitlan, where the great tree was and where he, borrowing a mirror from his servants, found himself "already old." The name of this place was changed by him to Huehuequauhtitlan, that is to say, "near the old tree, or the tree of the old man;" and the trunk of the tree was filled with stones that he cast at it. After that he journeyed on, his people playing flutes and other instruments, till he came to a mountain near the city of Tlalnepantla, two leagues from the city of Mexico, where he sat down on a stone and put his hands on it, leaving marks embedded therein that may be seen to this day. The truth of this thing is strongly corroborated by the inhabitants of that district; I myself have questioned them upon the subject, and it has been certified to me. Furthermore we have it written down accurately by many worthy authors; and the name of the locality is now Temacpalco, that is to say "in the palm of the hand."

Journeying on to the coast and to the kingdom of Tlapalla, Quetzalcoatl was met by the three sorcerers, Tezcatlipoca and other two with him, who had already brought so much destruction upon Tulla. These tried to stop or hinder him in his journey, questioning him, Whither goest thou? He answered, To Tlapalla. To whom, they inquired, hast thou given the charge of thy kingdom of Tulla, and who will do penance there? But he said that that was no longer any affair of his and that he must pursue his road. And being further questioned as to the object of his journey, he said that he was called by the lord of the land to which he was going, who was the sun.[VII-22] The three wizards seeing then the determination of Quetzalcoatl, made no further attempt to dissuade him from his purpose, but contented themselves with taking from him all his instruments and his mechanical arts, so that though he departed those things should not be wanting to the state. It was here that Quetzalcoatl threw into a fountain all the rich jewels that he carried with him; for which thing the fountain was called from that time Cozcaapan, that is to say, "The water of the strings or chains of jewels." The same place is now called Coaapan, that is to say, "In the snake-water," and very properly, because the word Quetzalcoatl means "feathered snake." In this way he journeyed on, suffering various molestations from those sorcerers, his enemies, till he arrived at Cholula where he was received (as we in another part say),[VII-23] and afterward adored as god. Having lived twenty years in that city he was expelled by Tezcatlipoca. He set out for the kingdom of Tlapalla, accompanied by four virtuous youths of noble birth, and in Goatzacoalco, a province distant from Cholula toward the sea a hundred and fifty leagues, he embarked for his destination. Parting with his disciples, he told them that there should surely come to them in after times, by way of the sea where the sun rises, certain white men with white beards, like him, and that these would be his brothers and would rule that land.

After that the four disciples returned to Cholula, and told all that their master and god had prophesied when departing. Then the Cholulans divided their province into four principalities and gave the government to those four, and some four of their descendants always ruled in like manner over these tetrarchies till the Spaniard came; being, however, subordinate to a central power.

[Sidenote: QUETZALCOATL SWEPT THE ROADS.]

This Quetzalcoatl was god of the air, and as such had his temple, of a round shape and very magnificent. He was made god of the air for the mildness and gentleness of all his ways, not liking the sharp and harsh measures to which the other gods were so strongly inclined. It is to be said further that his life on earth was marked by intensely religious characteristics; not only was he devoted to the careful observance of all the old customary forms of worship, but he himself ordained and appointed many new rites, ceremonies, and festivals for the adoration of the gods; and it is held for certain that he made the calendar. He had priests who were called quequetzalcohua, that is to say "priests of the order of Quetzalcoatl." The memory of him was engraved deeply upon the minds of the people, and it is said that when barren women prayed and made sacrifices to him, children were given them. He was, as we have said, god of the winds, and the power of causing them to blow was attributed to him as well as the power of calming or causing their fury to cease. It was said further that he swept the road, so that the gods called Tlaloques could rain: this the people imagined because ordinarily a month or more before the rains began there blew strong winds throughout all New Spain. Quetzalcoatl is described as having worn during life, for the sake of modesty, garments that reached down to the feet, with a blanket over all, sown with red crosses. The Cholulans preserved certain green stones that had belonged to him, regarding them with great veneration and esteeming them as relics. Upon one of these was carved a monkey's head, very natural. In the city of Cholula there was to be found dedicated to him a great and magnificent temple, with many steps, but each step so narrow that there was not room for a foot on it. His image had a very ugly face, with a large and heavily bearded head. It was not set on its feet but lying down, and covered with blankets. This, it is said, was done as a memorial that he would one day return to reign. For reverence of his great majesty, his image was kept covered, and to signify his absence it was kept lying down, as one that sleeps, as one that lies down to sleep. In awaking from that sleep, he was to rise up and reign. The people also of Yucatan reverenced this god Quetzalcoatl, calling him Kukulcan, and saying that he came to them from the west, that is from New Spain, for Yucatan is eastward therefrom. From him it is said the kings of Yucatan are descended, who call themselves Cocomes, that is to say "judges or hearers."[VII-24]

[Sidenote: CLAVIGERO ON QUETZALCOATL.]

Clavigero's account is characteristically clear and comprehensible. It may be summed up as follows:--

Among the Mexicans and other nations of Anáhuac, Quetzalcoatl was accounted god of the air. He is said to have been sometime high-priest of Tulla. He is described as having been white--a large, broad-browed, great-eyed man, with long black hair and thick beard. His life was rigidly temperate and exemplary, and his industry was directed by the profoundest wisdom. He amassed great treasure, and his was the invention of gem-cutting and of metal-casting. All things prospered in his time. One ear of corn was a man's load; and the gourds, or pumpkins, of the day were as tall as one's body. No one dyed cotton then, for it grew of all colors; and all other things in like manner were perfect and abundant. The very birds in the trees sang such songs as have never since been heard, and flashed such marvelous beauties in the sun as no plumage of later times could rival. Quetzalcoatl had his laws proclaimed from the top of the hill Tzatzitepec, (mountain of outcry), near Tulla, by a crier whose voice was audible for three hundred miles.

All this, however, was put an end to, as far as Tulla was concerned, by Tezcatlipoca, who, moved perhaps by jealousy, determined to remove Quetzalcoatl. So the god appeared to the great teacher in the guise of an old man, telling him it was the will of the gods that he betake himself to Tlapalla, and administering at the same time a potion, the effect of which was to cause an intense longing for the said journey. Quetzalcoatl set out and, having performed many marvels on the way, arrived in Cholula. Here the inhabitants would not suffer him to go farther, but persuaded him to accept the government of their city; and he remained with them, teaching many useful arts, customs, and ceremonies and preaching against war and all other forms of cruelty. According to some, he at this time arranged the divisions of the seasons and the calendar.

Having lived twenty years in Cholula, he left, still impelled by the subtle draught, to seek this imaginary city of Tlapalla. He was no more seen of men, some said one thing and some another; but, however he might have disappeared, he was apotheosized by the Toltecs of Cholula, who raised him a great mound and built a sanctuary upon it. A similar structure was erected to his honor at Tulla. From Cholula his worship as god of the air spread over all the country; in Yucatan the nobles claimed descent from him.[VII-25]

[Sidenote: BRASSEUR ON QUETZALCOATL.]

The ideas of Brasseur with regard to Quetzalcoatl have their roots in and must be traced back to the very first appearing of the Mexican religion, or of the religion or religions by which it was preceded; so that to arrive at those ideas I must give a summary of the abbé's whole theory of the origin of that creed. He believes that in the seething and thundering of volcanoes a conception of divinity and of supernatural powers first sprang up in the mind of the ancestors of the Mexicans. The volcanoes were afterwards identified with the stars, and the most terrific of all, Nanahuatl or Nanahuatzin,[VII-26] received the honors of apotheosis in the sun. Issued from the earth of the Crescent (Brasseur's sunken island or continent in the Atlantic),[VII-27] personified in the antique Quetzalcoatl, prototype of priests and of sacerdotal continence, he is thus his son and identifies himself with him; he (the divinity, Tylor's "Great Somebody") is the model of sages under the name of Hueman and the prototype of kings under that of Topiltzin. Strange thing to find united in one being, personalities so diverse! King, philosopher, priest par excellence, whose virtues serve as a rule to all the priests of the pagan antiquity, and, side by side with all that, incontinence and passion deified in this invalid, whose name even, "the syphilitic," is the expression of the abuse he has made of the sex.