in a moment the little humming-bird lighted on it and looked at him
curiously, as though obeying the will of some one. He did not touch it
nor attempt to move for a few moments. Then he said:
"Little brother, spend the remainder of thy days with me. I need thee
sorely, and have long waited for thy guidance."
In the meantime the wise men had given Mexi a cup of chocolate, not in
a thin liquid like we know it, but thick like a cold custard, and with
whipped goat's cream on top.
[Illustration: "THE HUMMING-BIRD ALIGHTED ON HIS FINGER"]
"Thou art kind," he said growing weaker and more faint all the
time, "to try to prolong a life already spent." Turning his eyes
toward the Golden Hearted he continued: "Lying next my heart thou wilt
find a bundle of mystery. Carry it without opening until the time of
thy departure from this strange land is at hand. Open then and thou
wilt find directions for thy special work."
He did not speak again and when they tried to rouse him there was a
smile of infinite peace on his face, but nothing save the lifeless
body was before them. The gentle, sweet spirit of the old man had gone
back to God.
"We will neither weep nor mourn for him," said the wise men to the
Golden Hearted. "It would not be his wish, and we will show our love
by obeying him."
And so they left him sleeping in a dell of ferns and mosses, in sight
of Anahuac, the land by the side of water, as its name indicates, and
continued their journey southward.
On the way the wise men found a little creature, looking like a black
currant with neither head, legs nor tail, so far as they could see. It
is fat and dark and round, but if you squeeze him his blood is a
brighter color than currant juice, and much more valuable because we
get cochineal red of one, and currant jelly from the other. It was in
the valley of Anahuac that the cochineal bug was first found, and it
lives on the leaves of the prickly pear, or tuna cactus--the common
kind with leaves shaped like a ham, and covered with long sharp
needles.
The young cochineal bugs are so stupid that they must be tied on the
leaves of the prickly pear to keep them from falling off and starving.
In this way, too, they keep dry and warm in winter, but as soon as
they are grown they are ruthlessly shaken to death and dried in the
sun. Then the queer, shriveled dead bugs are put up in bags and sold.
"In the hot lands far to the south, the woods are full of rare orchids
and other gems of the flower kingdom," said the Golden Hearted one day
after a search for plants by the wayside, "but the vanilla bean is the
only one fit for food. It will be well worth our while to study this
strange branch of husbandry as soon as possible."
It was a long time before they came to a place near the seashore where
a number of women were picking the ripe pods from vanilla vines which
overran the trees and shrubs completely. The younger women had on
bright-colored petticoats and gay scarfs over their long black hair,
and they were storing the bean pods in wide-mouthed baskets strapped
across their foreheads.
"What next do you do with these pods?" he asked of a young girl
passing him with a full basket.
"We carefully assort them and then plunge the packages into hot water,
before laying them out on mats to drain. For a week the beans are
exposed to the heat of the sun, laid between woolen blankets. After
this we pack them in ollas and keep them warm so as to promote
fermentation while drying. This makes them soft, pliable, free from
moisture, and of a dark chocolate color thickly frosted with
needle-like crystals of acid."
And to this day if you buy vanilla beans they come in packages wrapped
in silver foil, and have a delicious odor.
The bean is from six to nine inches long, and must be ground fine
before it can be used in making the chocolate we are all so fond of,
but it is dried and packed in the same manner as that described to the
Golden Hearted.
It was not many days after leaving the wooded plains, that the
travelers came in sight of four beautiful lakes with the frowning
cliffs of Chapultepec outlined against the sky. Always on the alert
for a sign the wise men said to each other in awe-stricken whispers:
"We must be near the place."
"Do you not see the rock with the flowering cactus!"
"And an eagle circling in the air with a serpent in its claws!"
"Oh! thou seen and unseen powers! search our hearts that thou mayst
know all our gratitude," cried the Golden Hearted, falling on his
knees and then prostrating himself on the ground, as did all the wise
men.
"I am Guatamo," said a voice, and when the Golden Hearted looked up, a
man old as Mexi stood blessing him. "Rise and receive word from thy
father, the king from whom I am come. Fear me not; these hands have
guided thy baby footsteps. Now must thou lend ear to my counsel."
The Golden Hearted was overjoyed to see some one from his father's
court, and also glad to know that his wanderings in search of the
place to honor the sun was over.
"This is not a promising outlook," said Guatamo, "but in the parchment
scroll thou wilt find ample instructions to drain and render this a
garden spot of exceeding loveliness. Hasten thy task since thy father
is no longer living, and thy native land longs to see thee again."
Acting upon this advice the Golden Hearted and the wise men set to
work at once to build the city, and to teach the willing natives to
cultivate the land, and to make handsome mosaics out of the
bright-colored feathers of the birds found in the forests in such
numbers. Of course the birds were not killed to get their feathers,
but in the royal gardens there were thousands of them kept during the
moulting season, and then the feathers were picked up and assorted for
use. Not only could they make perfect representations of birds and
animals with them, but whole landscape scenes, including mountains,
sea and sky. When finished it was necessary to touch them to know that
feathers instead of paint had been used.
"The Nahuas have come from Aztlan, the white country, and must be
obeyed," was the word carried from one tribe to the other by the
runners, and the wise men could only smile when they heard themselves
called Nahuas, or wizards. The simple natives thought them capable of
performing miracles because they were wise in the arts and knew how to
heal the sick. The name of the Golden Hearted became Quetzalcoatl, the
plumed serpent in their language, but we must remember that he wore
the Quetzal plumes in his head-dress, the same as a king wears a gold
and jeweled crown, and that a serpent in many of the languages of the
ancient people meant a very wise man. In English we would say that the
Golden Hearted was the wise king, which was not only true but a very
simple name for him. The wonderful city he built was called
Tenochtitlan, which signified "in honor of the sun," as his father had
commanded him to do, and on the spot where it stood is the City of
Mexico to-day. We shall hear very interesting things about the
teocalli, or temple he built in Tenochtitlan, when we come to the
story of "Montezuma and the Paba," for this is one of the most famous
places in the new world, and no one can afford to be ignorant of its
traditions and history.
[Illustration]
Cholula, the Sacred City
It was in the Tonituah, or great sun age, that the wise men and the
Golden Hearted built the Memento for Generations, on the plains of
Puebla. It is not so high, but is twice as long as any other pyramid
in the world, and is truncated, that is to say, it has four terraces
which are reached by long circular staircases. On top there is an acre
of ground on which once stood a wonderful teocalli or temple, built by
the wise men, and dedicated to the Golden Hearted. Each generation
added something to the beauties of the Sacred City, Cholula, which
sprang up near the pyramid, and for all time it will be one of the
most wonderful things ever done by primitive men, who did not have our
kind of implements to work with.
The Golden Hearted lived in Cholula twenty years, and during that time
he taught so many men how to make fine filigree work in gold and
silver that there were whole streets filled with them, and the
ornaments they made were famous for delicacy of design and finish.
There was also a mountain of outcry, where the laws enacted by him
were proclaimed by runners, but it is difficult to say whether this
was Orizaba, with her conical snow-capped head far to the east, or
whether it was huge Popocatepetl, or his twin sister who stood like
colossal sentinels to guard the enchanted regions.
"It is necessary to construct a calendar stone, so that the people
will know when to hold festivals, and what ceremonies to perform,"
said the son of Guatamo to the Golden Hearted, one day while the long
line of men were passing bricks by hand from the lower to the upper
terrace of the pyramid which they were trying to finish.
"I have been thinking about it," he replied, "and have decided to ask
a certain old woman, and her husband, to help select the signs."
"Be sure to make them plain to the people and appropriate to the
subject," said the son of Guatamo, who had now become the chief
adviser of the Golden Hearted. All of the wise men were still called
Nahuas, or wizards, and the Golden Hearted was their plumed serpent,
or wise king.
In the evening of that day, the Golden Hearted approached the hut of a
famous soothsayer and story-teller--the old woman he wished to consult
about the calendar. Standing in front of the door of the hut he said:
"A humble applicant claims thy assistance in a matter of great import
to thy fellows now and for all time. Wilt thou kindly hear me?"
"Since it is always for thy brothers and never for thyself thou art
constrained to invoke aid, I am honored by thy confidence," she said.
"I have long been expecting thee."
"Then thou knowest that I wish to invent a calendar which can be cut
in enduring stone?" he asked, considerably surprised that she should
already know his thoughts.
"Yes," she said, "and so well do I understand thy wishes and needs
that I have the first sign ready for thee." Motioning him to follow
her into an inner room, she showed him a water-snake she had painted
on a piece of parchment, and continued:
"Make it the sign of the serpent, the symbol of wisdom, since thou art
come to teach brotherhood to all our tribes."
A queer hunchbacked old man sat huddled up in a corner looking over a
set of parchment leaves lying on a table before him, and muttering to
himself in a low tone.
"My husband must make the next selection," said the old crone, going
up to him and taking a paper out of his hands. "He makes it two
cones," she continued, examining the design closely.
"Now it is my turn to choose," said the Golden Hearted, "and I will
select the three houses from this pile, and make that the third sign."
They took turns about until twelve signs were chosen, then the Golden
Hearted said:
"I will make the last design myself, but not until my time of
departure is at hand."
"Before going, do not forget to inscribe the face of the pyramid, and
also to explain its import fully," said the story-teller as the Golden
Hearted was leaving her hut.
"Thou art better able than I am to tell the hidden significance of
that wonderful pile," he answered.
"But it is thy duty; shirk it not," she said with decision.
Not long afterward he called all the workmen and their families
together and said:
"There has now come a time in my life when I must live in seclusion
away from the thoughts and occupations of my associates. But before
going up on top of the pyramid to live alone until the altars in its
temples are ready to receive the sacred fire, I will tell you why we
have tarried so long and made such a wonderful structure. It is really
a pillar of the Cosmos, or world, and is a center of fire which is the
essence of all life."
The name pyramid means a place of fire or a volcano, and the Goddess
Pele, of the native Hawaiians, is the spirit of the volcano.
"A pyramid," continued the Golden Hearted, "is the ideal form of the
principle of stability because it cannot be destroyed. An earthquake
will not shake it down, nor can it be set on fire. Being so big at the
bottom and so heavy it is secure from floods of water, nor can the
wind possibly blow it over. Neither time nor the elements will have
any influence on this cunningly constructed pile, and for this reason
it is like a noble character, which no adverse circumstance ever
changes."
Approaching the front of the pyramid, he pulled down a cloth hanging
over the inscription cut in symbols on the face of a huge piece of
granite.
BEFORE THE LIGHT WAS OBSCURED THIS MEMENTO FOR GENERATIONS
WAS BUILT BY SERPENT KINGS. THEY WERE SCATTERED OVER THE
EARTH TO CARRY TRUTH AND WISDOM. THEY WILL COME AGAIN TO
RECEIVE THE TREASURES HIDDEN IN MY BOWELS. THEN ALL MEN
WILL SPEAK AND HEAR THE GREAT IMPERISHABLE TRUTH.
The next morning the Golden Hearted called his little band of wise men
around him and said:
"In the Bundle of Wonderful Things given me by Guatamo, I find my
father's final command. It imposes seclusion upon me in this spot. The
temple requires a central spire and I shall build and cover it with
pure gold. Go thou to the valley and make thy life apart from me. I
love thee well, and shall miss thee sadly, but I have need to be
alone."
"What wilt thou have us do?" asked the son of Guatamo.
"Go thou amongst thy fellows and teach them the arts of peace. Show
them how to coax fertility anew out of the soil, and strengthen civil
power until I call thee."
It was several months before the spire was finished, and then it
required several days to make a llama of beaten silver as an emblem of
suffering innocence to put on the altar. The llama seated upon the
back of an eagle was rescuing a rabbit from the fangs of a
rattlesnake.
"This quaint symbol shall represent the unequal conflict between the
good and bad things in life, but the llama compelling the serpent to
give up its prey means that good shall finally triumph," said the
Golden Hearted, to himself, as he put the offering in place on the
altar.
"I have only a few days more in this beautiful spot, then must I
return to good King Cocomos, my life-long friend and follower. Well
indeed has he kept his promise to me, and not only are his subjects
blessed with all the arts of civilization, but they are a shining
example to other less favored races. I must offer a fitting
sacrifice," he continued, "on this newly erected altar before I go."
There were eight altars in the temple on top of the pyramid, and at
sunset on the last day of his stay, the Golden Hearted placed the
llama on the one facing the east. At the same time the son of Guatamo
headed a procession of wise men at the base of the pyramid, who slowly
climbed to the top. They performed sacrifice on each terrace as they
ascended, and did not reach the temple until midnight.
The Golden Hearted was alone in the great dark structure intently
watching the constellation of the Pleiades directly overhead. As
Alcyone, the dim star in the center of the group, approached the
zenith, he sprang forward with a glad cry and vigorously swinging a
copper hammer made the sparks fly from a piece of flint. The son of
venerable Guatamo held the bit of cotton over it and carefully nursed
the fire into a blaze. As the light streamed up toward the heavens
shouts of joy and triumph burst forth:
"Once more the children of men receive a direct ray from the
spiritual sun! Awake! awake! and hear the glad tidings!"
Runners with torches lighted at the blazing beacon sped in every
direction carrying the cheering element to all parts of the country.
Long before sunrise it was brightening the altars and hearthstones in
every house. The Golden Hearted prayed before the eastern altar, and
then took an affectionate farewell of the young priest of the Order of
Quetzalcoatl left in charge, but before descending, he gazed long at
the matchless scenery below. Soft spring verdure lay on all sides, and
he drew courage and inspiration from that fact. At the foot of the
pyramid he said:
"Be of good cheer. A long era of peace and prosperity is for thee and
thine. Let this knowledge be thy secret refuge lest thou be tempted to
depart from the way. Grieve not for me, in the fullness of time I will
come again."
Then he set out for the Kingdom of Tlapalla, accompanied by four
youths of noble birth. At the water's edge he took leave of them
saying:
"Guard well the temple and the sacred fires, for when I come again, I
will bring disciples with me who shall possess and rule the land."
When the four youths returned to Cholula and told all their master had
said to them, the people divided their province into four
principalities and gave the government to the four young nobles. Ever
after, four of the descendants of these youths continued to rule as
priests of the Order of Quetzalcoatl in the sacred city until the
Spaniards came, which we will know all about when we read the story
of "El Dorado, the Golden."
One of the first things done by the noble youths when they became
rulers was to make a statue of the Golden Hearted in a reclining
position, because they said that he had gone to sleep in the bosom of
the sun. When the wind blew they said he was sweeping the roads, and
that he was the god of fertility. Not any place else in the new world
was there so much reverence and respect paid to a statue as to this
one of the Golden Hearted which was for ages kept in the temple he
built on the top of the pyramid. For hundreds of miles around people
came to do reverence to it, and even if it did have a black face, the
ancient Aztecs always called him their "Fair God." And to this day the
calendar stone and many other wonderful things in Mexico are said to
have been made by him.
[Illustration: THE TORCH BEARERS]
Tulla, the Hiding Nook of the Snake
No doubt you remember that the wise men built a Dark House in Nachan
to hold the National Book, and such other treasures as the Golden
Hearted did not wish to carry with him. And you also remember that he
left a number of wise men in charge, and that he promised to return.
The great pyramid at Cholula was not all finished, but it was far
enough along so he could leave the son of Guatamo to go on with the
work while he paid a visit to his old friends in Nachan.
When he arrived there, he found a splendid city having whole houses of
silver, others of turquoise, some of white and red shells and some of
rich feathers. Cotton grew there in all colors, so it was not
necessary to dye it, and the people were rich and prosperous. A great
and mighty king ruled them, but he finally grew jealous because the
people seemed to think that all their good fortune came from obeying
the commands given them by the Golden Hearted when he visited them as
a mere youth.
They did everything in their power to honor the good prince. When he
promulgated a new law, they ran to the mountain tops and proclaimed it
in a loud voice, and then the swift-footed couriers dashed through the
country with lighted torches and repeated it to every one they met.
One day a young man came to him and said:
"Good prince, be on your guard. The king no longer loves you."
"Why do you say this to me?" asked the Golden Hearted.
"Because I know he plots to injure you. He is angry because you are
helping the wise men build Tulla. He calls it the Hiding Nook of the
Snake to show contempt for you."
"Again I ask why do you say such things to me?" There was so much
reproach in the tones of the voice of the Golden Hearted that the
young man hung his head and stammered:
"Forgive me, but I wanted you to know there is danger for you here,
and I am ready to serve you faithfully."
The Golden Hearted made no reply, but taking a thoroughly-dried cactus
needle from a shelf, stuck it through his ears and was beginning to
pierce his tongue when the young man sprang forward and caught his
hand.
"Why, good prince," he cried in a startled voice, "do you maltreat
your poor ears and tongue? It is I who have spoken evil, not you."
"But I listened, and that is an offense against the Good Law. Do you
think I will not punish myself for disobedience?"
"Oh," said the young man, with tears streaming down his face, "the
sight of blood makes my heart ache, and I, too, will be punished." And
with that he stuck cactus needles through his ears and tongue.
"My friend," said the Golden Hearted, "I thank you for your kind
thought of me, but I must beautify Tulla even if it does displease the
king, and he is right in calling it the Hiding Nook of the Snake,
because it will be a treasure-house of the wisdom inherited from the
philosophers and wise men of your race. You should always bear in mind
that a serpent is a symbol of wisdom, and not a thing to despise. The
king compliments me, even though he knows it not."
The young man went out of the room with the thorns still sticking in
his ears, and when he spat blood, his companions said:
"Why does your mouth bleed?" and he answered:
"Because I have been speaking evil of some one."
"Open your mouth and let us see," they said.
"It is only needful to examine the tongue. I have pierced it with the
sharp needle of the cactus."
"Who gave you leave to do such a thing?"
"No one," he answered, "but when the Good Prince inflicted that
penalty on himself for merely hearing what I said, I could do no less
than follow his example."
"And we will do likewise," they said, and in after years, every
devotee of the teachings of the Golden Hearted punished himself in
this manner for evil speaking or listening to others saying unkind
things of a fellow creature.
Of course we know that the king really was jealous of the Golden
Hearted, and was determined that he should not stay long in Tulla,
which bade fair to rival his own city with which it was connected by
the secret passageway containing the Dark House. During the years of
his absence, the wise men left in Nachan had been at work on this
wonderful city, and it was very beautiful indeed, even before the
Golden Hearted saw it at all. When he came the inhabitants received
him with great rejoicing, and then the king of Nachan began to be
afraid that he would have too great a following.
The king had no excuse to fight the Golden Hearted, because he always
put his fingers in his ears when they talked of war in his presence,
and under no circumstances would he have been made king himself. He
only wanted to teach and help the people in a peaceable and kind way.
The king knew all this, but he was uneasy and wanted the Golden
Hearted to go away. So he hired a native wizard to play a cunning
trick upon the Golden Hearted. Disguising himself as one of the wise
men, the wizard went to his house and said to his servant:
"I wish to see and speak to your master."
"Go away, old man, you cannot see the prince for he is sick. You will
annoy him and cause him heaviness."
"But I must see him," persisted the pretended old man.
"Wait a moment and I will ask him," said the servant, and he went and
told the Golden Hearted that a strange old man was determined to see
him.
"Let him come in," said the sick man.
Tottering up to the bedside as if he were very feeble, the intruder
said with well-feigned sympathy:
"How are you, my lord? Here is a medicine I have brought for you."
[Illustration: "HERE IS MEDICINE FOR YOU"]
"You are welcome; I have been expecting you for many days," and the
Golden Hearted held out his hand in a friendly manner.
"How is your body, and how is your health?" again asked the visitor,
seating himself by the bedside.
"I am exceedingly sick. All my body is in pain, and I cannot move my
hands nor my feet."
"The medicine I have is good and wholesome. If you will drink it you
will be healed and eased at heart." As he said this, the wizard held
up a small silver cup and put a white powder in it. "Drink this and
you will then have in mind the toils and fatigues of death, and of
your departure."
"Where have I to go?" cried his listener in surprise.
"To Tlapalla (which was their name for the Happy Island), where The
Old Man of the Sea is waiting for you. He has much to tell you, and
when you return you will be young and handsome. Indeed you will be a
mere boy again." Seeing that the Golden Hearted merely stared at him,
he said: "Sir, drink this medicine."
But the sick man did not wish to do so.
"Drink, my lord, or you will be sorry for it hereafter," urged the
wizard.
"No, no; I will not drink it."
"At least rub some on your brow and taste a sip." So the Golden
Hearted drank a little to try it, saying:
"What is this? It seems to be a thing very good and savory. Already I
feel myself healed. I am well."