THOMAS BECOMES A GOD
Little did I, plain Thomas Wingfield, gentleman, know, when I rose that
morning, that before sunset I should be a god, and after Montezuma the
Emperor, the most honoured man, or rather god, in the city of Mexico.
It came about thus. When I had breakfasted with the household of the
prince Guatemoc, I was led to the hall of justice, which was named the
“tribunal of god.” Here on a golden throne sat Montezuma, administering
justice in such pomp as I cannot describe. About him were his
counsellors and great lords, and before him was placed a human skull
crowned with emeralds so large that a blaze of light went up from them.
In his hand also he held an arrow for a sceptre. Certain chiefs or
_caciques_ were on their trial for treason, nor were they left long in
doubt as to their fate. For when some evidence had been heard they were
asked what they had to say in their defence. Each of them told his tale
in few words and short. Then Montezuma, who till now had said and done
nothing, took the painted scroll of their indictments and pricked it
with the arrow in his hand where the picture of each prisoner appeared
upon the scroll. Then they were led away to death, but how they died I
do not know.
When this trial was finished certain priests entered the hall clothed
in sable robes, their matted hair hanging down their backs. They were
fierce, wild-eyed men of great dignity, and I shivered when I saw them.
I noticed also that they alone made small reverence to the majesty of
Montezuma. The counsellors and nobles having fallen back, these priests
entered into talk with the emperor, and presently two of them came
forward and taking me from the custody of the guards, led me forward
before the throne. Then of a sudden I was commanded to strip myself of
my garments, and this I did with no little shame, till I stood naked
before them all. Now the priests came forward and examined every part
of me closely. On my arms were the scars left by de Garcia’s sword, and
on my breast the scarcely healed marks of the puma’s teeth and claws.
These wounds they scanned, asking how I had come by them. I told them,
and thereupon they carried on a discussion among themselves, and out of
my hearing, which grew so warm that at length they appealed to the
emperor to decide the point. He thought a while, and I heard him say:
“The blemishes do not come from within the body, nor were they upon it
at birth, but have been inflicted by the violence of man and beast.”
Then the priests consulted together again, and presently their leader
spoke some words into the ear of Montezuma. He nodded, and rising from
his throne, came towards me who stood naked and shivering before him,
for the air of Mexico is keen. As he advanced he loosed a chain of
emeralds and gold that hung about his neck, and unclasped the royal
cloak from his shoulders. Then with his own hand, he put the chain
about my throat, and the cloak upon my shoulders, and having humbly
bent the knee before me as though in adoration, he cast his arms about
me and embraced me.
“Hail! most blessed,” he said, “divine son of Quetzal, holder of the
spirit of Tezcat, Soul of the World, Creator of the World. What have we
done that you should honour us thus with your presence for a season?
What can we do to pay the honour back? You created us and all this
country; behold! while you tarry with us, it is yours and we are
nothing but your servants. Order and your commands shall be obeyed,
think and your thought shall be executed before it can pass your lips.
O Tezcat, I, Montezuma your servant, offer you my adoration, and
through me the adoration of all my people,” and again he bowed the
knee.
“We adore you, O Tezcat!” chimed in the priests.
Now I remained silent and bewildered, for of all this foolery I could
understand nothing, and while I stood thus Montezuma clapped his hands
and women entered bearing beautiful clothing with them, and a wreath of
flowers. The clothing they put upon my body and the wreath of flowers
on my head, worshipping me the while and saying, “Tezcat who died
yesterday is come again. Be joyful, Tezcat has come again in the body
of the captive Teule.”
Then I understood that I was now a god and the greatest of gods, though
at that moment within myself I felt more of a fool than I had ever been
before.
And now men appeared, grave and reverend in appearance, bearing lutes
in their hands. I was told that these were my tutors, and with them a
train of royal pages who were to be my servants. They led me forth from
the hall making music as they went, and before me marched a herald,
calling out that this was the god Tezcat, Soul of the World, Creator of
the World, who had come again to visit his people. They led me through
all the courts and endless chambers of the palace, and wherever I went,
man woman and child bowed themselves to the earth before me, and
worshipped me, Thomas Wingfield of Ditchingham, in the county of
Norfolk, till I thought that I must be mad.
Then they placed me in a litter and carried me down the hill
Chapoltepec, and along causeways and through streets, till we came to
the great square of the temple. Before me went heralds and priests,
after me followed pages and nobles, and ever as we passed the
multitudes prostrated themselves till I began to understand how
wearisome a thing it is to be a god. Next they carried me through the
wall of serpents and up the winding paths of the mighty _teocalli_ till
we reached the summit, where the temples and idols stood, and here a
great drum beat, and the priests sacrificed victim after victim in my
honour and I grew sick with the sight of wickedness and blood.
Presently they invited me to descend from the litter, laying rich
carpets and flowers for my feet to tread on, and I was much afraid, for
I thought that they were about to sacrifice me to myself or some other
divinity. But this was not so. They led me to the edge of the pyramid,
or as near as I would go, for I shrank back lest they should seize me
suddenly and cast me over the edge. And there the high priest called
out my dignity to the thousands who were assembled beneath, and every
one of them bent the knee in adoration of me, the priests above and the
multitudes below. And so it went on till I grew dizzy with the worship,
and the shouting, and the sounds of music, and the sights of death, and
very thankful was I, when at last they carried me back to Chapoltepec.
Here new honours awaited me, for I was conducted to a splendid range of
apartments, next to those of the emperor himself, and I was told that
all Montezuma’s household were at my command and that he who refused to
do my bidding should die.
So at last I spoke and said it was my bidding that I should be suffered
to rest a while, till a feast was prepared for me in the apartments of
Guatemoc the prince, for there I hoped to meet Otomie.
My tutors and the nobles who attended me answered that Montezuma my
servant had trusted that I would feast with him that night. Still my
command should be done. Then they left me, saying that they would come
again in an hour to lead me to the banquet. Now I threw off the emblems
of my godhead and cast myself down on cushions to rest and think, and a
certain exultation took possession of me, for was I not a god, and had
I not power almost absolute? Still being of a cautious mind I wondered
why I was a god, and how long my power would last.
Before the hour had gone by, pages and nobles entered, bearing new
robes which were put upon my body and fresh flowers to crown my head,
and I was led away to the apartments of Guatemoc, fair women going
before me who played upon instruments of music.
Here Guatemoc the prince waited to receive me, which he did as though
I, his captive and companion, was the first of kings. And yet I thought
that I saw merriment in his eye, mingled with sorrow. Bending forward I
spoke to him in a whisper:
“What does all this mean, prince?” I said. “Am I befooled, or am I
indeed a god?”
“Hush!” he answered, bowing low and speaking beneath his breath. “It
means both good and ill for you, my friend Teule. Another time I will
tell you.” Then he added aloud, “Does it please you, O Tezcat, god of
gods, that we should sit at meat with you, or will you eat alone?”
“The gods like good company, prince,” I said.
Now during this talk I had discovered that among those gathered in the
hall was the princess Otomie. So when we passed to the low table around
which we were to sit on cushions, I hung back watching where she would
place herself, and then at once seated myself beside her. This caused
some little confusion among the company, for the place of honour had
been prepared for me at the head of the table, the seat of Guatemoc
being to my right and that of his wife, the royal Tecuichpo, to my
left.
“Your seat is yonder, O Tezcat,” she said, blushing beneath her olive
skin as she spoke.
“Surely a god may sit where he chooses, royal Otomie,” I answered;
“besides,” I added in a low voice, “what better place can he find than
by the side of the most lovely goddess on the earth.”
Again she blushed and answered, “Alas! I am no goddess, but only a
mortal maid. Listen, if you desire that I should be your companion at
our feasts, you must issue it as a command; none will dare to disobey
you, not even Montezuma my father.”
So I rose and said in very halting Aztec to the nobles who waited on
me, “It is my will that my place shall always be set by the side of the
princess Otomie.”
At these words Otomie blushed even more, and a murmur went round among
the guests, while Guatemoc first looked angry and then laughed. But the
nobles, my attendants, bowed, and their spokesman answered:
“The words of Tezcat shall be obeyed. Let the seat of Otomie, the royal
princess, the favoured of Tezcat, be placed by the side of the god.”
Afterwards this was always done, except when I ate with Montezuma
himself. Moreover the princess Otomie became known throughout the city
as “the blessed princess, the favoured of Tezcat.” For so strong a hold
had custom and superstition upon this people that they thought it the
greatest of honours to her, who was among the first ladies in the land,
that he who for a little space was supposed to hold the spirit of the
soul of the world, should deign to desire her companionship when he
ate. Now the feast went on, and presently I made shift to ask Otomie
what all this might mean.
“Alas!” she whispered, “you do not know, nor dare I tell you now. But I
will say this: though you who are a god may sit where you will to-day,
an hour shall come when you must lie where you would not. Listen: when
we have finished eating, say that it is your wish to walk in the
gardens of the palace and that I should accompany you. Then I may find
a chance to speak.”
Accordingly, when the feast was over I said that I desired to walk in
the gardens with the princess Otomie, and we went out and wandered
under the solemn trees, that are draped in a winding-sheet of grey moss
which, hanging from every bough as though the forest had been decked
with the white beards of an army of aged men, waved and rustled sadly
in the keen night air. But alas! we might not be alone, for after us at
a distance of twenty paces followed all my crowd of attendant nobles,
together with fair dancing girls and minstrels armed with their
accursed flutes, on which they blew in season and out of it, dancing as
they blew. In vain did I command them to be silent, telling them that
it was written of old that there is a time to play and dance and a time
to cease from dancing, for in this alone they would not obey me. Never
could I be at peace because of them then or thereafter, and not till
now did I learn how great a treasure is solitude.
Still we were allowed to walk together under the trees, and though the
clamour of music pursued us wherever we went, we were soon deep in
talk. Then it was that I learned how dreadful was the fate which
overshadowed me.
“Know, O Teule,” said Otomie, for she would call me by the old name
when there were none to hear; “this is the custom of our land, that
every year a young captive should be chosen to be the earthly image of
the god Tezcat, who created the world. Only two things are necessary to
this captive, namely, that his blood should be noble, and that his
person should be beautiful and without flaw or blemish. The day that
you came hither, Teule, chanced to be the day of choosing a new captive
to personate the god, and you have been chosen because you are both
noble and more beautiful than any man in Anahuac, and also because
being of the people of the Teules, the children of Quetzal of whom so
many rumours have reached us, and whose coming my father Montezuma
dreads more than anything in the world, it was thought by the priests
that you may avert their anger from us, and the anger of the gods.”
Now Otomie paused as one who has something to say that she can scarcely
find words to fit, but I, remembering only what had been said, swelled
inwardly with the sense of my own greatness, and because this lovely
princess had declared that I was the most beautiful man in Anahuac, I
who though I was well-looking enough, had never before been called
“beautiful” by man, woman, or child. But in this case as in many
another, pride went before a fall.
“It must be spoken, Teule,” Otomie continued. “Alas! that it should be
I who am fated to tell you. For a year you will rule as a god in this
city of Tenoctitlan, and except for certain ceremonies that you must
undergo, and certain arts which you must learn, none will trouble you.
Your slightest wish will be a law, and when you smile on any, it shall
be an omen of good to them and they will bless you; even my father
Montezuma will treat you with reverence as an equal or more. Every
delight shall be yours except that of marriage, and this will be
withheld till the twelfth month of the year. Then the four most
beautiful maidens in the land will be given to you as brides.”
“And who will choose them?” I asked.
“Nay, I know not, Teule, who do not meddle in such mysteries,” she
answered hurriedly. “Sometimes the god is judge and sometimes the
priests judge for him. It is as it may chance. Listen now to the end of
my tale and you will surely forget the rest. For one month you will
live with your wives, and this month you will pass in feasting at all
the noblest houses in the city. On the last day of the month, however,
you will be placed in a royal barge and together with your wives,
paddled across the lake to a place that is named ‘Melting of Metals.’
Thence you will be led to the _teocalli_ named ‘House of Weapons,’
where your wives will bid farewell to you for ever, and there, Teule,
alas! that I must say it, you are doomed to be offered as a sacrifice
to the god whose spirit you hold, the great god Tezcat, for your heart
will be torn from your body, and your head will be struck from your
shoulders and set upon the stake that is known as ‘post of heads.’”
Now when I heard this dreadful doom I groaned aloud and my knees
trembled so that I almost fell to the ground. Then a great fury seized
me and, forgetting my father’s counsel, I blasphemed the gods of that
country and the people who worshipped them, first in the Aztec and Maya
languages, then when my knowledge of these tongues failed me, in
Spanish and good English. But Otomie, who heard some of my words and
guessed more, was seized with fear and lifted her hands, saying:
“Curse not the awful gods, I beseech you, lest some terrible thing
befall you at once. If you are overheard it will be thought that you
have an evil spirit and not a good one, and then you must die now and
by torment. At the least the gods, who are everywhere, will hear you.”
“Let them hear,” I answered. “They are false gods and that country is
accursed which worships them. They are doomed I say, and all their
worshippers are doomed. Nay, I care not if I am heard—as well die now
by torment as live a year in the torment of approaching death. But I
shall not die alone, all the sea of blood that your priests have shed
cries out for vengeance to the true God, and He will avenge.”
Thus I raved on, being mad with fear and impotent anger, while the
princess Otomie stood terrified and amazed at my blasphemies, and the
flutes piped and the dancers danced behind us. And as I raved I saw
that the mind of Otomie wandered from my words, for she was staring
towards the east like one who sees a vision. Then I looked also towards
the east and saw that the sky was alight there. For from the edge of
the horizon to the highest parts of heaven spread a fan of pale and
fearful light powdered over with sparks of fire, the handle of the fan
resting on the earth as it were, while its wings covered the eastern
sky. Now I ceased my cursing and stood transfixed, and as I stood, a
cry of terror arose from all the precincts of the palace and people
poured from every door to gaze upon the portent that flared and blazed
in the east. Presently Montezuma himself came out, attended by his
great lords, and in that ghastly light I saw that his lips worked and
his hands writhed over each other. Nor was the miracle done with, for
anon from the clear sky that hung over the city, descended a ball of
fire, which seemed to rest upon the points of the lofty temple in the
great square, lighting up the _teocalli_ as with the glare of day. It
vanished, but where it had been another light now burned, for the
temple of Quetzal was afire.
Now cries of fear and lamentation arose from all who beheld these
wonders on the hill of Chapoltepec and also from the city below. Even I
was frightened, I do not know why, for it may well be that the blaze of
light which we saw on that and after nights was nothing but the
brightness of a comet, and that the fire in the temple was caused by a
thunderbolt. But to these people, and more especially to Montezuma,
whose mind was filled already with rumours of the coming of a strange
white race, which, as it was truly prophesied, would bring his empire
to nothingness, the omens seemed very evil. Indeed, if they had any
doubt as to their meaning, it was soon to be dispelled, in their minds
at least. For as we stood wonder-struck, a messenger, panting and
soiled with travel, arrived among us and prostrating himself before the
majesty of the emperor, he drew a painted scroll from his robe and
handed it to an attendant noble. So desirous was Montezuma to know its
contents, that contrary to all custom he snatched the roll from the
hands of the counsellor, and unrolling it, he began to read the picture
writing by the baleful light of the blazing sky and temple. Presently,
as we watched and he read, Montezuma groaned aloud, and casting down
the writing he covered his face with his hands. As it chanced it fell
near to where I stood, and I saw painted over it rude pictures of ships
of the Spanish rig, and of men in the Spanish armour. Then I understood
why Montezuma groaned. The Spaniards had landed on his shores!
Now some of his counsellors approached him to console him, but he
thrust them aside, saying:
“Let me mourn—the doom that was foretold is fallen upon the children of
Anahuac. The children of Quetzal muster on our shores and slay my
people. Let me mourn, I say.”
At that moment another messenger came from the palace, having grief
written on his face.
“Speak,” said Montezuma.
“O king, forgive the tongue that must tell such tidings. Your royal
sister Papantzin was seized with terror at yonder dreadful sight,” and
he pointed to the heavens; “she lies dying in the palace!”
Now when the emperor heard that his sister whom he loved was dying, he
said nothing, but covering his face with his royal mantle, he passed
slowly back to the palace.
And all the while the crimson light gleamed and sparkled in the east
like some monstrous and unnatural dawn, while the temple of Quetzal
burned fiercely in the city beneath.
Now, I turned to the princess Otomie, who had stood by my side
throughout, overcome with wonder and trembling.
“Did I not say that this country was accursed, princess of the Otomie?”
“You said it, Teule,” she answered, “and it is accursed.”
Then we went into the palace, and even in this hour of fear, after me
came the minstrels as before.