THE STONE OF SACRIFICE
At length the morning broke and found me in a sorry plight, for my face
was swollen to the size of a pumpkin by the venom of the mosquitoes,
and the rest of my body was in little better case. Moreover I could not
keep myself still because of the itching, but must run and jump like a
madman. And where was I to run to through this huge swamp, in which I
could see no shelter or sign of man? I could not guess, so since I must
keep moving I followed the bank of the river, as I walked disturbing
many crocodiles and loathsome snakes. Now I knew that I could not live
long in such suffering, and determined to struggle forward till I fell
down insensible and death put an end to my torments.
For an hour or more I went on thus till I came to a place that was
clear of bush and reeds. Across this I skipped and danced, striking
with my swollen hands at the gnats which buzzed about my head. Now the
end was not far off, for I was exhausted and near to falling, when
suddenly I came upon a party of men, brown in colour and clothed with
white garments, who had been fishing in the river. By them on the water
were several canoes in which were loads of merchandise, and they were
now engaged in eating. So soon as these men caught sight of me they
uttered exclamations in an unknown tongue and seizing weapons that lay
by them, bows and arrows and wooden clubs set on either side with
spikes of flinty glass, they made towards me as though to kill me. Now
I lifted up my hands praying for mercy, and seeing that I was unarmed
and helpless the men laid down their arms and addressed me. I shook my
head to show that I could not understand, and pointed first to the sea
and then to my swollen features. They nodded, and going to one of the
canoes a man brought from it a paste of a brown colour and aromatic
smell. Then by signs he directed me to remove such garments as remained
on me, the fashion of which seemed to puzzle them greatly. This being
done, they proceeded to anoint my body with the paste, the touch of
which gave me a most blessed relief from my intolerable itching and
burning, and moreover rendered my flesh distasteful to the insects, for
after that they plagued me little.
When I was anointed they offered me food, fried fish and cakes of meal,
together with a most delicious hot drink covered with a brown and
foaming froth that I learned to know afterwards as _chocolate_. When I
had finished eating, having talked a while together in low tones, they
motioned me to enter one of the canoes, giving me mats to lie on. I
obeyed, and three other men came with me, for the canoe was large. One
of these, a very grave man with a gentle face and manner whom I took to
be the chief of the party, sat down opposite to me, the other two
placing themselves in the bow and stern of the boat which they drove
along by means of paddles. Then we started, followed by three other
canoes, and before we had gone a mile utter weariness overpowered me
and I fell asleep.
I awoke much refreshed, having slept many hours, for now the sun was
setting, and was astonished to find the grave-looking man my companion
in the canoe, keeping watch over my sleep and warding the gnats from me
with a leafy branch. His kindness seemed to show that I was in no
danger of ill-treatment, and my fears on that point being set at rest,
I began to wonder as to what strange land I had come and who its people
might be. Soon, however, I gave over, having nothing to build on, and
observed the scenery instead. Now we were paddling up a smaller river
than the one on the banks of which I had been cast away, and were no
longer in the midst of marshes. On either side of us was open land, or
rather land that would have been open had it not been for the great
trees, larger than the largest oak, which grew upon it, some of them of
surpassing beauty. Up these trees climbed creepers that hung like ropes
even from the topmost boughs, and among them were many strange and
gorgeous flowering plants that seemed to cling to the bark as moss
clings to a wall. In their branches also sat harsh-voiced birds of
brilliant colours, and apes that barked and chattered at us as we went.
Just as the sun set over all this strange new scene the canoes came to
a landing place built of timber, and we disembarked. Now it grew dark
suddenly, and all I could discover was that I was being led along a
good road. Presently we reached a gate, which, from the barking of dogs
and the numbers of people who thronged about it, I judged to be the
entrance to a town, and passing it, we advanced down a long street with
houses on either side. At the doorway of the last house my companion
halted, and taking me by the hand, led me into a long low room lit with
lamps of earthenware. Here some women came forward and kissed him,
while others whom I took to be servants, saluted him by touching the
floor with one hand. Soon, however, all eyes were turned on me and many
eager questions were asked of the chief, of which I could only guess
the purport.
When all had gazed their fill supper was served, a rich meal of many
strange meats, and of this I was invited to partake, which I did,
seated on a mat and eating of the dishes that were placed upon the
ground by the women. Among these I noticed one girl who far surpassed
all the others in grace, though none were unpleasing to the eye. She
was dark, indeed, but her features were regular and her eyes fine. Her
figure was tall and straight, and the sweetness of her face added to
the charm of her beauty. I mention this girl here for two reasons,
first because she saved me once from sacrifice and once from torture,
and secondly because she was none other than that woman who afterwards
became known as Marina, the mistress of Cortes, without whose aid he
had never conquered Mexico. But at this time she did not guess that it
was her destiny to bring her country of Anahuac beneath the cruel yoke
of the Spaniard.
From the moment of my entry I saw that Marina, as I will call her, for
her Indian name is too long to be written, took pity on my forlorn
state, and did what lay in her power to protect me from vulgar
curiosity and to minister to my wants. It was she who brought me water
to wash in, and a clean robe of linen to replace my foul and tattered
garments, and a cloak fashioned of bright feathers for my shoulders.
When supper was done a mat was given me to sleep on in a little room
apart, and here I lay down, thinking that though I might be lost for
ever to my own world, at least I had fallen among a people who were
gentle and kindly, and moreover, as I saw from many tokens, no savages.
One thing, however, disturbed me; I discovered that though I was well
treated, also I was a prisoner, for a man armed with a copper spear
slept across the doorway of my little room. Before I lay down I looked
through the wooden bars which served as a protection to the window
place, and saw that the house stood upon the border of a large open
space, in the midst of which a great pyramid towered a hundred feet or
more into the air. On the top of this pyramid was a building of stone
that I took to be a temple, and rightly, in front of which a fire
burned. Marvelling what the purpose of this great work might be, and in
honour of what faith it was erected, I went to sleep.
On the morrow I was to learn.
Here it may be convenient for me to state, what I did not discover till
afterwards, that I was in the city of Tobasco, the capital of one of
the southern provinces of Anahuac, which is situated at a distance of
some hundreds of miles from the central city of Tenoctitlan, or Mexico.
The river where I had been cast away was the Rio de Tobasco, where
Cortes landed in the following year, and my host, or rather my captor,
was the _cacique_ or chief of Tobasco, the same man who subsequently
presented Marina to Cortes. Thus it came about that, with the exception
of a certain Aguilar, who with some companions was wrecked on the coast
of Yucatan six years before, I was the first white man who ever dwelt
among the Indians. This Aguilar was rescued by Cortes, though his
companions were all sacrificed to Huitzel, the horrible war-god of the
country. But the name of the Spaniards was already known to the
Indians, who looked on them with superstitious fear, for in the year
previous to my being cast away, the hidalgo Hernandez de Cordova had
visited the coast of Yucatan and fought several battles with the
natives, and earlier in the same year of my arrival, Juan de Grigalva
had come to this very river of Tobasco. Thus it came about that I was
set down as one of this strange new nation of Teules, as the Indians
named the Spaniards, and therefore as an enemy for whose blood the gods
were thirsting.
I awoke at dawn much refreshed with sleep, and having washed and
clothed myself in the linen robes that were provided for me, I came
into the large room, where food was given me. Scarcely had I finished
my meal when my captor, the _cacique_, entered, accompanied by two men
whose appearance struck terror to my heart. In countenance they were
fierce and horrible; they wore black robes embroidered with mystic
characters in red, and their long and tangled hair was matted together
with some strange substance. These men, whom all present, including the
chief or _cacique_, seemed to look on with the utmost reverence, glared
at me with a fierce glee that made my blood run cold. One of them,
indeed, tore open my white robe and placed his filthy hand upon my
heart, which beat quickly enough, counting its throbs aloud while the
other nodded at his words. Afterwards I learned that he was saying that
I was very strong.
Glancing round to find the interpretation of this act upon the faces of
those about me, my eyes caught those of the girl Marina, and there was
that in them which left me in little doubt. Horror and pity were
written there, and I knew that some dreadful death overshadowed me.
Before I could do anything, before I could even think, I was seized by
the priests, or _pabas_ as the Indians name them, and dragged from the
room, all the household following us except Marina and the _cacique_.
Now I found myself in a great square or market place bordered by many
fine houses of stone and lime, and some of mud, which was filling
rapidly with a vast number of people, men women and children, who all
stared at me as I went towards the pyramid on the top of which the fire
burned. At the foot of this pyramid I was led into a little chamber
hollowed in its thickness, and here my dress was torn from me by more
priests, leaving me naked except for a cloth about my loins and a
chaplet of bright flowers which was set upon my head. In this chamber
were three other men, Indians, who from the horror on their faces I
judged to be also doomed to death.
Presently a drum began to beat high above us, and we were taken from
the chamber and placed in a procession of many priests, I being the
first among the victims. Then the priests set up a chant and we began
the ascent of the pyramid, following a road that wound round and round
its bulk till it ended on a platform at its summit, which may have
measured forty paces in the square. Hence the view of the surrounding
country was very fine, but in that hour I scarcely noticed it, having
no care for prospects, however pleasing. On the further side of the
platform were two wooden towers fifty feet or so in height. These were
the temples of the gods, Huitzel God of War and Quetzal God of the Air,
whose hideous effigies carved in stone grinned at us through the open
doorways. In the chambers of these temples stood small altars, and on
the altars were large dishes of gold, containing the hearts of those
who had been sacrificed on the yesterday. These chambers, moreover,
were encrusted with every sort of filth. In front of the temples stood
the altar whereon the fire burned eternally, and before it were a
hog-backed block of black marble of the size of an inn drinking table,
and a great carven stone shaped like a wheel, measuring some ten feet
across with a copper ring in its centre.
All these things I remembered afterwards, though at the time I scarcely
seemed to see them, for hardly were we arrived on the platform when I
was seized and dragged to the wheel-shaped stone. Here a hide girdle
was put round my waist and secured to the ring by a rope long enough to
enable me to run to the edge of the stone and no further. Then a
flint-pointed spear was given to me and spears were given also to the
two captives who accompanied me, and it was made clear to me by signs
that I must fight with them, it being their part to leap upon the stone
and mine to defend it. Now I thought that if I could kill these two
poor creatures, perhaps I myself should be allowed to go free, and so
to save my life I prepared to take theirs if I could. Presently the
head priest gave a signal commanding the two men to attack me, but they
were so lost in fear that they did not even stir. Then the priests
began to flog them with leather girdles till at length crying out with
pain, they ran at me. One reached the stone and leapt upon it a little
before the other, and I struck the spear through his arm. Instantly he
dropped his weapon and fled, and the other man fled also, for there was
no fight in them, nor would any flogging bring them to face me again.
Seeing that they could not make them brave, the priests determined to
have done with them. Amidst a great noise of music and chanting, he
whom I had smitten was seized and dragged to the hog-backed block of
marble, which in truth was a stone of sacrifice. On this he was cast
down, breast upwards, and held so by five priests, two gripping his
hands, two his legs, and one his head. Then, having donned a scarlet
cloak, the head priest, that same who had felt my heart, uttered some
kind of prayer, and, raising a curved knife of the flint-like glass or
_itztli_, struck open the poor wretch’s breast at a single blow, and
made the ancient offering to the sun.
As he did this all the multitude in the place below, in full view of
whom this bloody game was played, prostrated themselves, remaining on
their knees till the offering had been thrown into the golden censer
before the statue of the god Huitzel. Thereon the horrible priests,
casting themselves on the body, carried it with shouts to the edge of
the pyramid or _teocalli_, and rolled it down the steep sides. At the
foot of the slope it was lifted and borne away by certain men who were
waiting, for what purpose I did not know at that time.
Scarcely was the first victim dead when the second was seized and
treated in a like fashion, the multitude prostrating themselves as
before. And then last of all came my turn. I felt myself seized and my
senses swam, nor did I recover them till I found myself lying on the
accursed stone, the priests dragging at my limbs and head, my breast
strained upwards till the skin was stretched tight as that of a drum,
while over me stood the human devil in his red mantle, the glass knife
in his hand. Never shall I forget his wicked face maddened with the
lust for blood, or the glare in his eyes as he tossed back his matted
locks. But he did not strike at once, he gloated over me, pricking me
with the point of the knife. It seemed to me that I lay there for years
while the _paba_ aimed and pointed with the knife, but at last through
a mist that gathered before my eyes, I saw it flash upward. Then when I
thought that my hour had come, a hand caught his arm in mid-air and
held it and I heard a voice whispering.
What was said did not please the priest, for suddenly he howled aloud
and made a dash towards me to kill me, but again his arm was caught
before the knife fell. Then he withdrew into the temple of the god
Quetzal, and for a long while I lay upon the stone suffering the
agonies of a hundred deaths, for I believed that it was determined to
torture me before I died, and that my slaughter had been stayed for
this purpose.
There I lay upon the stone, the fierce sunlight beating on my breast,
while from below came the faint murmur of the thousands of the
wondering people. All my life seemed to pass before me as I was
stretched upon that awful bed, a hundred little things which I had
forgotten came back to me, and with them memories of childhood, of my
oath to my father, of Lily’s farewell kiss and words, of de Garcia’s
face as I was hurled into the sea, of the death of Isabella de
Siguenza, and lastly a vague wonder as to why all priests were so
cruel!
At length I heard footsteps and shut my eyes, for I could bear the
sight of that dreadful knife no longer. But behold! no knife fell.
Suddenly my hands were loosed and I was lifted to my feet, on which I
never hoped to stand again. Then I was borne to the edge of the
_teocalli_, for I could not walk, and here my would-be murderer, the
priest, having first shouted some words to the spectators below, that
caused them to murmur like a forest when the wind stirs it, clasped me
in his blood-stained arms and kissed me on the forehead. Now it was for
the first time that I noticed my captor, the _cacique_, standing at my
side, grave, courteous, and smiling. As he had smiled when he handed me
to the _pabas_, so he smiled when he took me back from them. Then
having been cleansed and clothed, I was led into the sanctuary of the
god Quetzal and stood face to face with the hideous image there,
staring at the golden censer that was to have received my heart while
the priests uttered prayers. Thence I was supported down the winding
road of the pyramid till I came to its foot, where my captor the
_cacique_ took me by the hand and led me through the people who, it
seemed, now regarded me with some strange veneration. The first person
that I saw when we reached the house was Marina, who looked at me and
murmured some soft words that I could not understand. Then I was
suffered to go to my chamber, and there I passed the rest of the day
prostrated by all that I had undergone. Truly I had come to a land of
devils!
And now I will tell how it was that I came to be saved from the knife.
Marina having taken some liking to me, pitied my sad fate, and being
very quick-witted, she found a way to rescue me. For when I had been
led off to sacrifice, she spoke to the _cacique_, her lord, bringing it
to his mind that, by common report Montezuma, the Emperor of Anahuac,
was disturbed as to the Teules or Spaniards, and desired much to see
one. Now, she said, I was evidently a Teule, and Montezuma would be
angered, indeed, if I were sacrificed in a far-off town, instead of
being sent to him to sacrifice if he saw fit. To this the _cacique_
answered that the words were wise, but that she should have spoken them
before, for now the priests had got hold of me, and it was hopeless to
save me from their grip.
“Nay,” answered Marina, “there is this to be said. Quetzal, the god to
whom this Teule is to be offered, was a white man,[4] and it may well
happen that this man is one of his children. Will it please the god
that his child should be offered to him? At the least, if the god is
not angered, Montezuma will certainly be wroth, and wreak a vengeance
on you and on the priests.”
[4] Quetzal, or more properly Quetzalcoatl, was the divinity who is
fabled to have taught the natives of Anahuac all the useful arts,
including those of government and policy. He was white-skinned and
dark-haired. Finally he sailed from the shores of Anahuac for the
fabulous country of Tlapallan in a bark of serpents’ skins. But before
he sailed he promised that he would return again with a numerous
progeny. This promise was remembered by the Aztecs, and it was largely
on account of it that the Spaniards were enabled to conquer the
country, for they were supposed to be his descendants. Perhaps
Quetzalcoatl was a Norseman! _Vide_ Sagas of _Eric the Red_ and of
_Thorfinn Karlsefne_.—AUTHOR.
Now when the _cacique_ heard this he saw that Marina spoke truth, and
hurrying up the _teocalli_, he caught the knife as it was in the act of
falling upon me. At first the head priest was angered and called out
that this was sacrilege, but when the _cacique_ had told him his mind,
he understood that he would do wisely not to run a risk of the wrath of
Montezuma. So I was loosed and led into the sanctuary, and when I came
out the _paba_ announced to the people that the god had declared me to
be one of his children, and it was for this reason that then and
thereafter they treated me with reverence.