then tell him something about your feathered friends. Have you
forgotten the hermit of the woods with its rainbow plumes three feet
long and its gay scarlet breast?"
The name of this bird is the Quetzal, and it lives on the high
mountain tops all alone and is only about the size of a pigeon.
When the Golden Hearted finished singing and the dancers were all
standing still, a bright-faced boy approached and said, "We have an
answer to our own question, good prince."
"Say on, my little man, I am listening to you."
"It is the Quetzal, the rarest bird in the world, and the most perfect
and beautiful of all feathered creatures. With its brilliant luster
plumes I crown you Lord of the Sacred Tunkel, as a reward for your
sweet singing. May the children of every land know and love you as we
do."
The Golden Hearted was much surprised and pleased with his new crown
and ever after wore the feathers of the Quetzal in his head dress. So
long as he remained in Nachan, he was called the Lord of the Sacred
Tunkel because he could play so well upon this queerly-shaped guitar.
The Stars' Ball
It was not so very long after the children had crowned him Lord of the
Sacred Tunkel until the Golden Hearted planned to have them all with
him again. He made up his mind to spend his lifetime teaching because
he thought that was the most useful thing he could do, but he was
determined to make the lessons for the children as pleasant as
possible. He and the wise men taught the older people how to divide
the days into weeks, months and years, and how to make a calendar, and
all about the sun and the moon and the stars, but this was too hard
for the children. So he decided to take them up on the roof of the
Temple of the Sun in the moonlight and tell them some simple pretty
story about the sky at night.
In that country, the houses were built with flat roofs covered with
red tiles, and there was either a ladder or a winding staircase from
the ground, so it was not much trouble to get up on the roof. In fact,
many of the dwellings had beautiful potted plants up there, and it was
really a pleasant place to go of a warm summer evening. This night
there was not a breath of air, and the children did not need anything
on their heads nor any wraps. Only around the lower edges of the sky
were there clouds and these were soft and white like big piles of
cotton. The whole heavens looked like a bright blue veil thickly
sprinkled with diamonds. It was very still and quiet and there were so
many flowers in bloom that the very atmosphere was fragrant with them.
In the mill pond close by the frogs croaked, and around the eaves of
the houses the crickets and katydids were singing an evening hymn.
It was just a lovely night to go out and nearly every one was in the
street. The doors and windows were wide open, and the people went
about bareheaded and laughed and chatted to their heart's content.
"The goodness of this perfect night be upon my little friends," said
the prince, when he came up on the roof of the Temple and found a lot
of children he knew. "I have invited you to witness the stars' ball
to-night, but before we begin, I must introduce you to the most
prominent ones."
Then he pointed out the milky way with its millions of stars that
looked like little pin heads in a band of light because they were so
far away. Below the handle of the big dipper, and off to one side was
the north star. Jupiter with his broad dark bands and tiny moons was
there, and so was Saturn with his three rings. Over in another place
was Mars twinkling and batting his eyes as if he wanted to fight
something. The Dog Star was still lower down and quite by himself.
"I will first make you acquainted with the big-faced, silver moon,"
said the prince. "She is sailing along as if she were in a great
hurry, but there will be time enough for you to see the man up there
if you look sharp about it."
The children knew there was not a surely man in the moon so they all
laughed and clapped their hands and then threw kisses at the beautiful
queen of the night.
"I cannot show you Mercury, the messenger of the sun, because he is
such a sleepy head he has already gone to bed. He never stays up long
after the sun goes down, but he is an industrious little fellow and
often gets up first in the morning."
The children thought that was a very funny way to speak of a star, but
they saw the prince was in a good humor and they enjoyed listening to
what he said.
"Venus is our evening star," he continued, pointing to the brightest
object in the western sky, "and she is winking and smiling at us. Look
closely now, and see if you can find her."
[Illustration: "AN OLD-FASHIONED ALMANAC"]
When all the children had seen her, the Golden Hearted turned to
another part of the heavens and said, "Here is old Father Time, who
frowns and scowls, and finally grinds the life out of our bodies." He
was speaking about Saturn because it rolls and tumbles one way while
its three rings whirl around the other way, and all the people in
olden times believed that the stars could give good or bad luck and
could make our lives long or short. There were a number of this
kind of fortune tellers among the wise men, so of course the prince
knew what they thought about the stars. The children understood it
too, and when he pointed out Saturn, they said to each other in a
whisper, "It is the death star; let us hope it will not shine upon us
nor upon those we love."
"If we have need to fear the Master of Time, we have every reason to
love the broad-belted planet with its sturdy little companions. It has
been rightly named 'The Beneficent,'" said the prince--indicating the
position of Jupiter among the stars. "Its children pop in and out
behind it as if they were playing hide and seek."
For ages people thought that Jupiter gave them good luck and made them
wise, tender and kind. This is why the children said, "The big, white,
shining star has a heart like our prince."
Mars is the nearest planet to us, and he sputters and fumes as if he
really had as bad a temper as these people credited him with. All the
wars and troubles they had came from him, they said, and the children
did not care to look at him very long. He gives out a beautiful red
light, while Jupiter is bluish white, and the Dog Star has all colors
like the rainbow.
"Now," said the prince, "I will show you the most important group in
the sky. It is the Pleiades, directly over our heads at this time.
There are seven of these sisters, and the pale, dim one is the center
of the whole system of stars because all the rest of them circle
around her."
Then he explained to them how each star and planet, as well as the
earth, turns over and over of its own accord, besides going around the
sun in a very wide circle. All the stars are wonderful tumblers and
they spin around just like tops, and this whirling motion was what
made the prince say that they were having a ball. When they twinkled
and sparkled, he said they were dancing.
As soon as he sat down, one of the children got the Sacred Tunkel, and
then some took hold of his hands, others held on to his mantle and
still others put their arms around his neck and begged him to sing for
them. He did not wish to refuse them, but he did not know any song
suitable for the occasion so he made this up as he went along:
Oh! the stars one and all
They had a great ball
One night way up in the sky;
They invited the earth
To join in their mirth
But it feared to go up so high.
No fiddler had they
Their music to play,
And the stars were afraid 'twould fail;
But the man in the moon
He whistled a tune
And the comet kept time with his tail.
They danced and they danced,
And they pranced and they pranced,
Till the moon said 'twas all he desired,
For his lips were so sore
He could whistle no more,
And the comet began to get tired.
So they faded away
In the dim light of day
The moon and the stars from the ball.
But, sad to relate,
Next night they were late,
And came near not shining at all.
[Illustration]
The National Book
Because it is possible for persons to do both good and evil in their
lives, and to think good and bad thoughts, the wise men and the Golden
Hearted studied how to keep these ideas before the people all the
time. In those days, the natives of that country had no books and no
way of writing and it was necessary to select some familiar object to
represent the meaning of many things. Whatever is used for such a
purpose, is called a symbol.
The hippopotamus, the crocodile and the tapir are to this day said to
be symbols of humanity because they have two natures. They can live in
the water or on the land, and search for food either in the day or
night time. Of the three animals, the wise men selected the tapir
because it is a shy, inoffensive creature, not much larger than a
sheep and lives on green grasses and herbs. During the day it sleeps
quietly in the water or on the bank of a stream and at night comes on
land to get food. When its coat is dry, it is of a dark brown color,
but when wet, it is black and shining. A tapir looks very much like a
fat donkey except that its ears are not so long and its nose not quite
so stumpy. At Nachan the wise men raised great herds of them as an
example and illustration of our good and bad self.
The Golden Hearted realized that he must do more than found a large
city and teach the children, so he had a Dark House built away under
ground where he could store treasures and all the records of his
journey. This was a secret passageway, and in its halls and labyrinths
he had quantities of statuary and pottery put for safe keeping. While
this was being done, he wrote a book called in his language "The Popol
Vuh" but we would say it is a national book because it tells all about
the beginning of the world and is divided into four parts. It is a
most singular story, and has been translated so we can read it for
ourselves. It is said to be the oldest book in America, and the Golden
Hearted kept an order of wise men in the Dark House underground to
guard it from one generation to another.
The Popul Vuh
This is the beginning of the history of things which came to pass long
ago; of the division of the earth, the property of all; its origin and
its foundation, as well as the narrative of our life in the land of
shadows, and of how we saw the light. It is the first book written in
the olden times, but its view is hidden from him who sees and thinks.
Behold the first word and the first discourse. There was as yet no
man, nor any animal, nor bird, nor fish, nor crawfish, nor any pit,
nor any ravine, nor green herb, nor any tree.
Nothing was but the firmament.
The face of the earth had not yet appeared--only the peaceful sea and
all the space of heaven. There was nothing yet joined together,
nothing that clung to anything else; nothing that balanced itself,
that made the least rustling, that made a sound in the heaven. There
was nothing that stood up; nothing but silence and darkness and night
time.
Alone were those that engender, those that give being; they were upon
the waters like a growing light. They consulted together and
meditated; they mingled their words and their opinions.
"Earth!" they said, and on the instant it was formed; like a cloud of
fog was its beginning.
Then the mountains rose over the water like great lobsters. In an
instant the mountains and plains were visible and the cypress and the
pine trees appeared.
The Heart of Heaven cried out and said:
"Blessed be thy coming. Our work and our labor has accomplished its
end."
The earth and its vegetation having appeared, it was peopled with the
various forms of animal life. And the makers said to the animals,
"Speak now our name. Honor Him who begets and Him who gives
being. Speak, call on us, salute us."
[Illustration: "BEHOLD THE FIRST WORD"]
But the animals could not answer. They could only cluck and croak,
each murmuring after its kind in a different manner.
This displeased the creators, and they said to the animals:
"Inasmuch as ye cannot praise us, neither call upon our names, your
flesh shall be humiliated. It shall be broken with teeth. Ye shall be
killed and eaten."
The first man was made of clay, but he was watery, had no strength and
could not turn his head. His face looked one way all the time. He was
given a language, but he had no intelligence, so he was consumed in
water.
"Let us make an intelligent being who shall adore and invoke us," said
the Thunderbolt and the Lightning Flash.
It was decided that a man should be made of wood and a woman of a kind
of pith. They were made but the result was in no wise satisfactory.
They moved about perfectly well it is true; they increased and
multiplied and peopled the world with little wooden manikins like
themselves, but the heart and intelligence were wanting. They had no
memory of their Maker; they lived like the beasts and forgot the Heart
of Heaven. They had neither blood nor substance, nor moisture nor fat.
Their cheeks were shriveled; their feet and hands dried up.
Then was the Heart of Heaven very wroth, and he sent ruin and
destruction upon these ingrates. He rained upon them night and day
with a thick resin and the earth was all dark.
The men went mad with terror. They tried to mount up on the roofs, but
the houses fell with them. They tried to climb the trees, but the
trees shook them from their branches. They tried to hide in the caves
and dens of the earth, but these closed against them.
Then their heads were cut off, and their bones broken and bruised, and
their eyes picked out by the birds, and their flesh eaten by wild
beasts.
Thus were they all devoted to chastisement and destruction save only a
few who were preserved as memorials of the wooden men. These now exist
in the forests as little apes.
In the night the gods counseled together again. "Of what shall we make
man?" they said.
Then the Creator made four perfect men out of white and yellow corn.
The name of the first one was The Tiger With the Sweet Smile, the
second one was called The Tiger of the Night, the third one was The
Distinguished Name, and the fourth was The Tiger of the Moon. They had
neither father nor mother, but their coming into existence was a
miracle wrought by the special intervention of Him who is
pre-eminently the Creator.
At last were there found men worthy of their origin and their destiny.
Verily the gods looked on beings who could see with their eyes and
handle with their hands and understand with their hearts. Grand of
countenance and broad of limb, the four sires of our race stood up
under the white rays of the morning star.
Their great, clear eyes swept rapidly over all. They saw the woods,
the rocks, the lakes and the sea; the mountains and the valleys, and
they gazed up into heaven not knowing what they had come so far to do.
Their hearts were filled with love, obedience and fear. Lifting up
their eyes, they returned thanks saying:
"Hail! O Creator, Thou that lovest and understandest us! We offer up
our thanks. We have been created--abandon us not, forsake us not! Give
us descendants and a posterity as long as the light endures. Give us
to walk always in an open wood in a path without snares; to lead quiet
lives free of all reproach."
But the Gods were not wholly pleased with this thing. Heaven, they
thought, had overshot its mark. These men were too perfect; knew,
understood and saw too much.
"What shall we do with man now?" they said. "This that we see is not
good. Let us contract man's sight so he may see only a little of the
surface of the earth and be content."
Thereupon, the Heart of Heaven breathed a cloud over the pupils of the
eyes of the men, and a veil came over each eye as when one breathes on
the face of a mirror. Thus was the globe of the eye darkened, nor was
that which was far off clear to it any more.
Then they fell asleep and when they woke up, the gods had brought each
one of them a wife. They lived tranquilly together for a long time
waiting for the rising of the sun, because they had nothing but the
morning star for a light.
But no sun came, and the four men and their families grew uneasy.
"We have no one to watch over us, no one to guard our symbols," they
said. So they all set out for the Seven Caves.
Poor wanderers. They had a cruel way to go, many forests to penetrate,
many high mountains to climb, and a long passage to make through the
sea. Much hail and cold rain fell on their heads, and when their fires
all went out they suffered from hunger as well as cold.
At last they came to a mountain and here they rested. While there they
were told that the sun was coming very soon. Then they shook their
incense pans and danced for very gladness. As the sun commenced to
advance, the animals, great and small, were filled with delight. They
raised themselves to the surface of the waters, they fluttered in the
ravines, and gathering at the edge of the mountains, turned their
heads together toward that part from which the sun came.
The lion and the tiger roared, and the first bird that sang was the
Quetzal. All the animals were beside themselves at the sight. The
eagle and the kite beat their wings, and the men prostrated
themselves on the ground.
The sun and the moon and the stars were all established. Yet was not
the sun the same as now. His heat wanted force, and he was but as a
reflection in a mirror. Nevertheless he dried up and warmed the
surface of the earth and answered many good ends.
There was another wonder when the sun rose. The tribal gods who had
punished these poor people so were turned into stone. And so were all
the mammoth lions, tigers, vipers, and other fierce and dangerous
animals.
[Illustration: THE TAPIR]
Manco-Capac, the Powerful One
"It is time for us to go away from this place," said the wise men to
the Golden Hearted one day when they were finishing the Dark House,
where they were going to leave the National Book.
"Why do you think so?" asked the prince, laying down an axe made of
copper and tin which he was sharpening for one of the workmen.
"Because we have yet to find the spot where the gold wedge your
father, the king, gave you will sink into the earth of its own
accord."
"That is to be in the Place of Gold, and among the Children of the
Sun."
"Yes; and we are not far from the country known as the "Four Quarters
of the World" where they live. We must go to them at once, and there
we will build Cuzco, and make it the navel or center of all their
possessions. Under the name of Manco-Capac, the powerful one, you will
be the first Inca or ruler, and your banner will be a rainbow, to show
that you serve the Children of the Sun."
The Golden Hearted did not wish to become a ruler but he did not see
how he could refuse obedience to the faithful old wise men, so he
said:
"I will go with you and do as you say, but tell me how you intend to
build this wonderful city of Cuzco?"
"You must not feel that we compel you to go," said the wise men,
looking ready to cry, because they thought the young prince was not
pleased with them. "It was your father's command, and our promise to
him."
"I know that," said the prince impatiently, "but how are you going to
make Cuzco the center of everything?"
"By building the streets on the four points of the compass, and by
connecting it with royal roadways to the four corners of the kingdom.
We shall have no trouble doing so, for our reports say that the
natives are mild and gentle, and that there are stones in that country
as broad and long as a room."
When he and the wise men started to make the journey over the
mountains, they put all of their belongings on the backs of the
llamas--a kind of little camel not much larger than a sheep and which
is used in that country to-day for pack animals, instead of burros or
mules. They put the load on the llama's back without any girt or pack
saddle, and its long, bushy wool holds all the things in place. It has
a sharp-pointed, horny toe like a hook, which it fastens in the steep
rocks, and then it can climb over rough places without much trouble.
When a llama gets angry he does not spit like an ordinary camel, but
lies down like a stubborn mule. No matter what you do to him, he will
not budge an inch, and then the load has to be taken off, and he must
be coaxed and fed before he will go any farther.
One day the wise men and the Golden Hearted came to a wide rocky chasm
in the side of the mountain hundreds of feet deep, having a
swift-running river at the bottom. There were so many sharp rocks
sticking up and the water dashed over them so fast that it was all in
a white foam, and nothing could have swam across it. The native
servants and workmen did not know what to do.
"How are we to cross this deep canyon?" they asked.
"We will help you make a suspension bridge," said the wise men.
"But we have no tools"--they began.
"You have your two hands and some copper axes and that is sufficient."
"We can fell trees and bring stones, but there are not enough to span
such a dangerous place," they said, still doubtful about the outcome.
"Take your axes and cut all the maguey you can find," said the wise
men. "Bring it here and pile it up; then we will tell you what next to
do."
The wise men and the Golden Hearted made some heavy clubs out of the
hard wood they found growing near by. With these in a short time they
beat the maguey until its fibers fell apart in coarse strands, which
the sun dried. Then they helped the natives braid it into heavy, thick
ropes. When they got enough of these made, they wove them together
into a stout cable chain, long enough to stretch across the river.
"What shall we do with the ends?" asked the natives. "We cannot tie
them to a tree."
"Certainly not, but you can gather big and little stones for us,"
answered the wise men.
[Illustration: A SUSPENSION BRIDGE]
With these they built immense buttresses on the bank of the river,
wide at the bottom and narrow at the top so they would not tumble down
nor slip into the waters. Of course they had to leave holes in the
sides to fasten the cables into. It took several strands to make the
bridge wide enough, and even then the natives were afraid they would
fall into the water.
"We need a railing at each side," they said.
"Very well; make one out of the ropes," said the wise men. When this
was done the natives were still unwilling to try to go across.
"We cannot take a single step. Our feet get tangled in the meshes of
the cable."
"Overcome this by making some rough boards and laying them all the way
over."
It was indeed a novel suspension bridge, for when the planks were put
onto the cable it sagged in the middle and swayed forth and back in
the wind like a swing. Imagine how frightened the natives must have
been at first, but in that mountainous country they never build any
other kind of bridges and they use them now all of the time.
"In this open stretch of valley and plain we will plant sweet-smelling
trees and shrubs by the roadside so that travelers may be refreshed by
the shade and enjoy the perfume, and we will also teach the Children
of the Sun to build tambos or post houses," said the Golden Hearted,
when once they were over the mountains. This they did at every point
where they stopped to rest, and at each one they left a band of
chasquis, or runners in charge. The word chasqui means "one who makes
an exchange," and these men and boys not only carried the news like
our postmen and messengers, but they traded news with each other and
with every one else they met. Before allowing any of the runners to go
out the Golden Hearted said: "I will make you keepers of the Quippos,
or knotted cords. The red ones mean war, or other bad news, while the
white ones are for peace and prosperity. In the springtime if the
crops are good, you must carry bands of green cords. If you wish to
spread the reports of gold and silver use that kind of quippo, so that
the people seeing you far off may know the import of your message.
Count them always by tens and twenties, and use diligence and care to
be accurate and quick in your calculations."
This was a queer kind of arithmetic but it was astonishing how soon
the boys learned it. In after years there were bands of strolling
singers and poets who went about the country, and they used the
quippos to recall the things they wanted to remember, such as the
brave deeds of their ancestors and the names of their heroes. So long
as the inhabitants of this country were called Children of the Sun,
they had no other books and they trained young men to be experts in
reading them. The language of the Quippos is said to be very correct
and elegant.