The Mexican Idea of the Creation
"In the year and in the day of the clouds," writes Garcia in his Origin
de los Indias, professing to furnish the reader with a translation
of an original Mixtec picture-manuscript, "before ever were years
or days, the world lay in darkness. All things were orderless, and
a water covered the slime and ooze that the earth then was." This
picture is common to almost all American creation-stories. [9]
The red man in general believed the habitable globe to have been
created from the slime which arose above the primeval waters, and
there can be no doubt that the Nahua shared this belief. We encounter
in Nahua myth two beings of a bisexual nature, known to the Aztecs
as Ometecutli-Omeciuatl (Lords of Duality), who were represented as
the deities dominating the genesis of things, the beginning of the
world. We have already become acquainted with them in Chapter II (see
p. 104), but we may recapitulate. These beings, whose individual names
were Tonacatecutli and Tonacaciuatl (Lord and Lady of our Flesh),
occupy the first place in the calendar, a circumstance which makes
it plain that they were regarded as responsible for the origin of all
created things. They were invariably represented as being clothed in
rich, variegated garments, symbolical of light. Tonacatecutli, the male
principle of creation or world-generation, is often identified with the
sun- or fire-god, but there is no reason to consider him as symbolical
of anything but the sky. The firmament is almost universally regarded
by American aboriginal peoples as the male principle of the cosmos,
in contradistinction to the earth, which they think of as possessing
feminine attributes, and which is undoubtedly personified in this
instance by Tonacaciuatl.
In North American Indian myths we find the Father Sky brooding upon
the Mother Earth, just as in early Greek creation-story we see the
elements uniting, the firmament impregnating the soil and rendering
it fruitful. To the savage mind the growth of crops and vegetation
proceeds as much from the sky as from the earth. Untutored man beholds
the fecundation of the soil by rain, and, seeing in everything the
expression of an individual and personal impulse, regards the genesis
of vegetable growth as analogous to human origin. To him, then, the
sky is the life-giving male principle, the fertilising seed of which
descends in rain. The earth is the receptive element which hatches
that with which the sky has impregnated her.
Ixtlilxochitl's Legend of the Creation
One of the most complete creation-stories in Mexican mythology is
that given by the half-blood Indian author Ixtlilxochitl, who, we
cannot doubt, received it directly from native sources. He states
that the Toltecs credited a certain Tloque Nahuaque (Lord of All
Existence) with the creation of the universe, the stars, mountains,
and animals. At the same time he made the first man and woman, from
whom all the inhabitants of the earth are descended. This "first
earth" was destroyed by the "water-sun." At the commencement of the
next epoch the Toltecs appeared, and after many wanderings settled
in Huehue Tlapallan (Very Old Tlapallan). Then followed the second
catastrophe, that of the "wind-sun." The remainder of the legend
recounts how mighty earthquakes shook the world and destroyed the
earth-giants. These earth-giants (Quinames) were analogous to the Greek
Titans, and were a source of great uneasiness to the Toltecs. In the
opinion of the old historians they were descended from the races who
inhabited the more northerly portion of Mexico.
Creation-Story of the Mixtecs
It will be well to return for a moment to the creation-story of the
Mixtecs, which, if emanating from a somewhat isolated people in the
extreme south of the Mexican Empire, at least affords us a vivid
picture of what a folk closely related to the Nahua race regarded
as a veritable account of the creative process. When the earth had
arisen from the primeval waters, one day the deer-god, who bore the
surname Puma-Snake, and the beautiful deer-goddess, or Jaguar-Snake,
appeared. They had human form, and with their great knowledge (that
is, with their magic) they raised a high cliff over the water, and
built on it fine palaces for their dwelling. On the summit of this
cliff they laid a copper axe with the edge upward, and on this edge
the heavens rested. The palaces stood in Upper Mixteca, close to
Apoala, and the cliff was called Place where the Heavens Stood. The
gods lived happily together for many centuries, when it chanced that
two little boys were born to them, beautiful of form and skilled
and experienced in the arts. From the days of their birth they were
named Wind-Nine-Snake (Viento de Neuve Culebras) and Wind-Nine-Cave
(Viento de Neuve Cavernas). Much care was given to their education,
and they possessed the knowledge of how to change themselves into
an eagle or a snake, to make themselves invisible, and even to pass
through solid bodies.
After a time these youthful gods decided to make an offering and a
sacrifice to their ancestors. Taking incense vessels made of clay,
they filled them with tobacco, to which they set fire, allowing it to
smoulder. The smoke rose heavenward, and that was the first offering
(to the gods). Then they made a garden with shrubs and flowers,
trees and fruit-bearing plants, and sweet-scented herbs. Adjoining
this they made a grass-grown level place (un prado), and equipped
it with everything necessary for sacrifice. The pious brothers lived
contentedly on this piece of ground, tilled it, burned tobacco, and
with prayers, vows, and promises they supplicated their ancestors to
let the light appear, to let the water collect in certain places and
the earth be freed from its covering (water), for they had no more
than that little garden for their subsistence. In order to strengthen
their prayer they pierced their ears and their tongues with pointed
knives of flint, and sprinkled the blood on the trees and plants with
a brush of willow twigs.
The deer-gods had more sons and daughters, but there came a flood in
which many of these perished. After the catastrophe was over the god
who is called the Creator of All Things formed the heavens and the
earth, and restored the human race.
Zapotec Creation-Myth
Among the Zapotecs, a people related to the Mixtecs, we find a similar
conception of the creative process. Cozaana is mentioned as the creator
and maker of all beasts in the valuable Zapotec dictionary of Father
Juan de Cordova, and Huichaana as the creator of men and fishes. Thus
we have two separate creations for men and animals. Cozaana would
appear to apply to the sun as the creator of all beasts, but, strangely
enough, is alluded to in Cordova's dictionary as "procreatrix," whilst
he is undoubtedly a male deity. Huichaana, the creator of men and
fishes, is, on the other hand, alluded to as "water," or "the element
of water," and "goddess of generation." She is certainly the Zapotec
female part of the creative agency. In the Mixtec creation-myth we can
see the actual creator and the first pair of tribal gods, who were also
considered the progenitors of animals--to the savage equal inhabitants
of the world with himself. The names of the brothers Nine-Snake and
Nine-Cave undoubtedly allude to light and darkness, day and night. It
may be that these deities are the same as Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl
(the latter a Zapotec deity), who were regarded as twins. In some
ways Quetzalcoatl was looked upon as a creator, and in the Mexican
calendar followed the Father and Mother, or original sexual deities,
being placed in the second section as the creator of the world and man.
The Mexican Noah
Flood-myths, curiously enough, are of more common occurrence among
the Nahua and kindred peoples than creation-myths. The Abbé Brasseur
de Bourbourg has translated one from the Codex Chimalpopoca, a work
in Nahuatl dating from the latter part of the sixteenth century. It
recounts the doings of the Mexican Noah and his wife as follows:
"And this year was that of Ce-calli, and on the first day all was
lost. The mountain itself was submerged in the water, and the water
remained tranquil for fifty-two springs.
"Now toward the close of the year Titlacahuan had forewarned the
man named Nata and his wife Nena, saying, 'Make no more pulque,
but straightway hollow out a large cypress, and enter it when in the
month Tozoztli the water shall approach the sky.' They entered it,
and when Titlacahuan had closed the door he said, 'Thou shalt eat
but a single ear of maize, and thy wife but one also.'
"As soon as they had finished eating, they went forth, and the water
was tranquil; for the log did not move any more; and opening it they
saw many fish.
"Then they built a fire, rubbing together pieces of wood, and they
roasted fish. The gods Citallinicue and Citallatonac, looking below,
exclaimed, 'Divine Lord, what means that fire below? Why do they thus
smoke the heavens?'
"Straightway descended Titlacahuan-Tezcatlipoca, and commenced to
scold, saying, 'What is this fire doing here?' And seizing the fishes
he moulded their hinder parts and changed their heads, and they were
at once transformed into dogs."
The Myth of the Seven Caverns
But other legends apart from the creation-stories of the world pure
and simple deal with the origin of mankind. The Aztecs believed that
the first men emerged from a place known as Chicomoztoc (The Seven
Caverns), located north of Mexico. Various writers have seen in these
mythic recesses the fabulous "seven cities of Cibola" and the Casas
Grandes, ruins of extensive character in the valley of the river Gila,
and so forth. But the allusion to the magical number seven in the myth
demonstrates that the entire story is purely imaginary and possesses
no basis of fact. A similar story occurs among the myths of the Kiche
of Guatemala and the Peruvians.
The Sacrificed Princess
Coming to semi-historical times, we find a variety of legends connected
with the early story of the city of Mexico. These for the most part
are of a weird and gloomy character, and throw much light on the dark
fanaticism of a people which could immolate its children on the altars
of implacable gods. It is told how after the Aztecs had built the city
of Mexico they raised an altar to their war-god Huitzilopochtli. In
general the lives rendered to this most sanguinary of deities
were those of prisoners of war, but in times of public calamity he
demanded the sacrifice of the noblest in the land. On one occasion
his oracle required that a royal princess should be offered on the
high altar. The Aztec king, either possessing no daughters of his
own or hesitating to sacrifice them, sent an embassy to the monarch
of Colhuacan to ask for one of his daughters to become the symbolical
mother of Huitzilopochtli. The King of Colhuacan, suspecting nothing
amiss, and highly flattered at the distinction, delivered up the girl,
who was escorted to Mexico, where she was sacrificed with much pomp,
her skin being flayed off to clothe the priest who represented the
deity in the festival. The unhappy father was invited to this hideous
orgy, ostensibly to witness his daughter's deification. In the gloomy
chambers of the war-god's temple he was at first unable to mark the
trend of the horrid ritual. But, given a torch of copal-gum, he saw
the officiating priest clothed in his daughter's skin, receiving the
homage of the worshippers. Recognising her features, and demented
with grief and horror, he fled from the temple, a broken man, to
spend the remainder of his days in mourning for his murdered child.
The Fugitive Prince
One turns with relief from such a sanguinary tale to the consideration
of the pleasing semi-legendary accounts of Ixtlilxochitl regarding
the civilisation of Tezcuco, Mexico's neighbour and ally. We have seen
in the sketch of Nahua history which has been given how the Tecpanecs
overcame the Acolhuans of Tezcuco and slew their king about the year
1418. Nezahualcoyotl (Fasting Coyote), the heir to the Tezcucan throne,
beheld the butchery of his royal father from the shelter of a tree
close by, and succeeded in making his escape from the invaders. His
subsequent thrilling adventures have been compared with those of the
Young Pretender after the collapse of the "Forty-five" resistance. He
had not enjoyed many days of freedom when he was captured by those
who had set out in pursuit of him, and, being haled back to his native
city, was cast into prison. He found a friend in the governor of the
place, who owed his position to the prince's late father, and by means
of his assistance he succeeded in once more escaping from the hostile
Tecpanecs. For aiding Nezahualcoyotl, however, the governor promptly
paid the penalty of death. The royal family of Mexico interceded for
the hunted youth, and he was permitted to find an asylum at the Aztec
court, whence he later proceeded to his own city of Tezcuco, occupying
apartments in the palace where his father had once dwelt. For eight
years he remained there, existing unnoticed on the bounty of the
Tecpanec chief who had usurped the throne of his ancestors.
Maxtla the Fierce
In course of time the original Tecpanec conqueror was gathered to
his fathers, and was succeeded by his son Maxtla, a ruler who could
ill brook the studious prince, who had journeyed to the capital
of the Tecpanecs to do him homage. He refused Nezahualcoyotl's
advances of friendship, and the latter was warned by a favourably
disposed courtier to take refuge in flight. This advice he adopted,
and returned to Tezcuco, where, however, Maxtla set a snare for his
life. A function which took place in the evening afforded the tyrant
his chance. But the prince's preceptor frustrated the conspiracy, by
means of substituting for his charge a youth who strikingly resembled
him. This second failure exasperated Maxtla so much that he sent a
military force to Tezcuco, with orders to despatch Nezahualcoyotl
without delay. But the same vigilant person who had guarded the
prince so well before became apprised of his danger and advised him
to fly. To this advice, however, Nezahualcoyotl refused to listen,
and resolved to await the approach of his enemies.
A Romantic Escape
When they arrived he was engaged in the Mexican ball-game of
tlachtli. With great politeness he requested them to enter and to
partake of food. Whilst they refreshed themselves he betook himself
to another room, but his action excited no surprise, as he could be
seen through the open doorway by which the apartments communicated
with each other. A huge censer, however, stood in the vestibule,
and the clouds of incense which arose from it hid his movements from
those who had been sent to slay him. Thus obscured, he succeeded
in entering a subterranean passage which led to a large disused
water-pipe, through which he crawled and made his escape.
A Thrilling Pursuit
For a season Nezahualcoyotl evaded capture by hiding in the hut of a
zealous adherent. The hut was searched, but the pursuers neglected to
look below a heap of maguey fibre used for making cloth, under which
he lay concealed. Furious at his enemy's escape, Maxtla now ordered a
rigorous search, and a regular battue of the country round Tezcuco was
arranged. A large reward was offered for the capture of Nezahualcoyotl
dead or alive, along with a fair estate and the hand of a noble lady,
and the unhappy prince was forced to seek safety in the mountainous
country between Tezcuco and Tlascala. He became a wretched outcast,
a pariah lurking in caves and woods, prowling about after nightfall in
order to satisfy his hunger, and seldom having a whole night's rest,
because of the vigilance of his enemies. Hotly pursued by them, he
was compelled to seek some curious places of concealment in order to
save himself. On one occasion he was hidden by some friendly soldiers
inside a large drum, and on another he was concealed beneath some
chia stalks by a girl who was engaged in reaping them. The loyalty
of the Tezcucan peasantry to their hunted prince was extraordinary,
and rather than betray his whereabouts to the creatures of Maxtla
they on many occasions suffered torture, and even death itself. At a
time when his affairs appeared most gloomy, however, Nezahualcoyotl
experienced a change of fortune. The tyrannous Maxtla had rendered
himself highly unpopular by his many oppressions, and the people in the
territories he had annexed were by no means contented under his rule.
The Defeat of Maxtla
These malcontents decided to band themselves together to defy
the tyrant, and offered the command of the force thus raised to
Nezahualcoyotl. This he accepted, and the Tecpanec usurper was
totally defeated in a general engagement. Restored to the throne of
his fathers, Nezahualcoyotl allied himself with Mexico, and with the
assistance of its monarch completely routed the remaining force of
Maxtla, who was seized in the baths of Azcapozalco, haled forth and
sacrificed, and his city destroyed.
The Solon of Anahuac
Nezahualcoyotl profited by the hard experiences he had undergone,
and proved a wise and just ruler. The code of laws framed by him was
an exceedingly drastic one, but so wise and enlightened was his rule
that on the whole he deserves the title which has been conferred upon
him of "the Solon of Anahuac." He generously encouraged the arts,
and established a Council of Music, the purpose of which was to
supervise artistic endeavour of every description. In Nezahualcoyotl
Mexico found, in all probability, her greatest native poet. An ode
of his on the mutability of life displays much nobility of thought,
and strikingly recalls the sentiments expressed in the verses of
Omar Khayyám.
Nezahualcoyotl's Theology
Nezahualcoyotl is said to have erected a temple to the Unknown God,
and to have shown a marked preference for the worship of one deity. In
one of his poems he is credited with expressing the following exalted
sentiments: "Let us aspire to that heaven where all is eternal, and
corruption cannot come. The horrors of the tomb are the cradle of
the sun, and the dark shadows of death are brilliant lights for the
stars." Unfortunately these ideas cannot be verified as the undoubted
sentiments of the royal bard of Tezcuco, and we are regretfully
forced to regard the attribution as spurious. We must come to such a
conclusion with very real disappointment, as to discover an untutored
and spontaneous belief in one god in the midst of surroundings so
little congenial to its growth would have been exceedingly valuable
from several points of view.
The Poet Prince
We find Nezahualcoyotl's later days stained by an act which was
unworthy of such a great monarch and wise man. His eldest son, the heir
to the crown, entered into an intrigue with one of his father's wives,
and dedicated many passionate poems to her, to which she replied with
equal ardour. The poetical correspondence was brought before the king,
who prized the lady highly because of her beauty. Outraged in his most
sacred feelings, Nezahualcoyotl had the youth arraigned before the
High Court, which passed sentence of death upon him--a sentence which
his father permitted to be carried out. After his son's execution he
shut himself up in his palace for some months, and gave orders that
the doors and windows of the unhappy young man's residence should be
built up so that never again might its walls echo to the sound of a
human voice.
The Queen with a Hundred Lovers
In his History of the Chichimeca Ixtlilxochitl tells the following
gruesome tale regarding the dreadful fate of a favourite wife of
Nezahualpilli, the son of Nezahualcoyotl: When Axaiacatzin, King of
Mexico, and other lords sent their daughters to King Nezahualpilli,
for him to choose one to be his queen and lawful wife, whose son
might succeed to the inheritance, she who had the highest claims among
them, for nobility of birth and rank, was Chachiuhnenetzin, the young
daughter of the Mexican king. She had been brought up by the monarch
in a separate palace, with great pomp, and with numerous attendants,
as became the daughter of so great a monarch. The number of servants
attached to her household exceeded two thousand. Young as she was,
she was exceedingly artful and vicious; so that, finding herself
alone, and seeing that her people feared her on account of her rank
and importance, she began to give way to an unlimited indulgence of
her power. Whenever she saw a young man who pleased her fancy she gave
secret orders that he should be brought to her, and shortly afterwards
he would be put to death. She would then order a statue or effigy of
his person to be made, and, adorning it with rich clothing, gold, and
jewellery, place it in the apartment in which she lived. The number
of statues of those whom she thus sacrificed was so great as to almost
fill the room. When the king came to visit her, and inquired respecting
these statues, she answered that they were her gods; and he, knowing
how strict the Mexicans were in the worship of their false deities,
believed her. But, as no iniquity can be long committed with entire
secrecy, she was finally found out in this manner: Three of the young
men, for some reason or other, she had left alive. Their names were
Chicuhcoatl, Huitzilimitzin, and Maxtla, one of whom was lord of
Tesoyucan and one of the grandees of the kingdom, and the other two
nobles of high rank. It happened that one day the king recognised on
the apparel of one of these a very precious jewel which he had given
to the queen; and although he had no fear of treason on her part it
gave him some uneasiness. Proceeding to visit her that night, her
attendants told him she was asleep, supposing that the king would
then return, as he had done at other times. But the affair of the
jewel made him insist on entering the chamber in which she slept;
and, going to wake her, he found only a statue in the bed, adorned
with her hair, and closely resembling her. Seeing this, and noticing
that the attendants around were in much trepidation and alarm, the
king called his guards, and, assembling all the people of the house,
made a general search for the queen, who was shortly found at an
entertainment with the three young lords, who were arrested with
her. The king referred the case to the judges of his court, in order
that they might make an inquiry into the matter and examine the parties
implicated. These discovered many individuals, servants of the queen,
who had in some way or other been accessory to her crimes--workmen who
had been engaged in making and adorning the statues, others who had
aided in introducing the young men into the palace, and others, again,
who had put them to death and concealed their bodies. The case having
been sufficiently investigated, the king despatched ambassadors to the
rulers of Mexico and Tlacopan, giving them information of the event,
and signifying the day on which the punishment of the queen and her
accomplices was to take place; and he likewise sent through the empire
to summon all the lords to bring their wives and their daughters,
however young they might be, to be witnesses of a punishment which
he designed for a great example. He also made a truce with all the
enemies of the empire, in order that they might come freely to see
it. The time having arrived, the number of people gathered together
was so great that, large as was the city of Tezcuco, they could
scarcely all find room in it. The execution took place publicly, in
sight of the whole city. The queen was put to the garrotte (a method
of strangling by means of a rope twisted round a stick), as well as
her three gallants; and, from their being persons of high birth, their
bodies were burned, together with the effigies before mentioned. The
other parties who had been accessory to the crimes, who numbered more
than two thousand persons, were also put to the garrotte, and burned
in a pit made for the purpose in a ravine near a temple of the Idol
of Adulterers. All applauded so severe and exemplary a punishment,
except the Mexican lords, the relatives of the queen, who were much
incensed at so public an example, and, although for the time they
concealed their resentment, meditated future revenge. It was not
without reason, says the chronicler, that the king experienced this
disgrace in his household, since he was thus punished for an unworthy
subterfuge made use of by his father to obtain his mother as a wife!
This Nezahualpilli, the successor of Nezahualcoyotl, was a monarch
of scientific tastes, and, as Torquemada states, had a primitive
observatory erected in his palace.
The Golden Age of Tezcuco
The period embraced by the life of this monarch and his predecessor may
be regarded as the Golden Age of Tezcuco, and as semi-mythical. The
palace of Nezahualcoyotl, according to the account of Ixtlilxochitl,
extended east and west for 1234 yards, and for 978 yards from north
to south. Enclosed by a high wall, it contained two large courts, one
used as the municipal market-place, whilst the other was surrounded
by administrative offices. A great hall was set apart for the special
use of poets and men of talent, who held symposiums under its classic
roof, or engaged in controversy in the surrounding corridors. The
chronicles of the kingdom were also kept in this portion of the
palace. The private apartments of the monarch adjoined this College
of Bards. They were gorgeous in the extreme, and their description
rivals that of the fabled Toltec city of Tollan. Rare stones and
beautifully coloured plaster mouldings alternated with wonderful
tapestries of splendid feather-work to make an enchanting display of
florid decoration, and the gardens which surrounded this marvellous
edifice were delightful retreats, where the lofty cedar and cypress
overhung sparkling fountains and luxurious baths. Fish darted hither
and thither in the ponds, and the aviaries echoed to the songs of
birds of wonderful plumage.
A Fairy Villa
According to Ixtlilxochitl, the king's villa of Tezcotzinco was a
residence which for sheer beauty had no equal in Persian romance,
or in those dream-tales of Araby which in childhood we feel to be
true, and in later life regretfully admit can only be known again by
sailing the sea of Poesy or penetrating the mist-locked continent of
Dream. The account of it which we have from the garrulous half-blood
reminds us of the stately pleasure-dome decreed by Kubla Khan on the
turbulent banks of the sacred Alph. A conical eminence was laid out in
hanging gardens reached by an airy flight of five hundred and twenty
marble steps. Gigantic walls contained an immense reservoir of water,
in the midst of which was islanded a great rock carved with hieroglyphs
describing the principal events in the reign of Nezahualcoyotl. In
each of three other reservoirs stood a marble statue of a woman,
symbolical of one of the three provinces of Tezcuco. These great
basins supplied the gardens beneath with a perennial flow of water,
so directed as to leap in cascades over artificial rockeries or
meander among mossy retreats with refreshing whisper, watering the
roots of odoriferous shrubs and flowers and winding in and out of the
shadow of the cypress woods. Here and there pavilions of marble arose
over porphyry baths, the highly polished stone of which reflected the
bodies of the bathers. The villa itself stood amidst a wilderness of
stately cedars, which shielded it from the torrid heat of the Mexican
sun. The architectural design of this delightful edifice was light and
airy in the extreme, and the perfume of the surrounding gardens filled
the spacious apartments with the delicious incense of nature. In this
paradise the Tezcucan monarch sought in the company of his wives repose
from the oppression of rule, and passed the lazy hours in gamesome
sport and dance. The surrounding woods afforded him the pleasures of
the chase, and art and nature combined to render his rural retreat
a centre of pleasant recreation as well as of repose and refreshment.
Disillusionment
That some such palace existed on the spot in question it would be
absurd to deny, as its stupendous pillars and remains still litter
the terraces of Tezcotzinco. But, alas! we must not listen to the
vapourings of the untrustworthy Ixtlilxochitl, who claims to have
seen the place. It will be better to turn to a more modern authority,
who visited the site about seventy-five years ago, and who has given
perhaps the best account of it. He says:
"Fragments of pottery, broken pieces of obsidian knives and arrows,
pieces of stucco, shattered terraces, and old walls were thickly
dispersed over its whole surface. We soon found further advance
on horseback impracticable, and, attaching our patient steeds to
the nopal bushes, we followed our Indian guide on foot, scrambling
upwards over rock and through tangled brushwood. On gaining the
narrow ridge which connects the conical hill with one at the rear,
we found the remains of a wall and causeway; and, a little higher,
reached a recess, where, at the foot of a small precipice, overhung
with Indian fig and grass, the rock had been wrought by hand into
a flat surface of large dimensions. In this perpendicular wall of
rock a carved Toltec calendar existed formerly; but the Indians,
finding the place visited occasionally by foreigners from the capital,
took it into their heads that there must be a silver vein there, and
straightway set to work to find it, obliterating the sculpture, and
driving a level beyond it into the hard rock for several yards. From
this recess a few minutes' climb brought us to the summit of the
hill. The sun was on the point of setting over the mountains on the
other side of the valley, and the view spread beneath our feet was
most glorious. The whole of the lake of Tezcuco, and the country and
mountains on both sides, lay stretched before us.
"But, however disposed, we dare not stop long to gaze and admire,
but, descending a little obliquely, soon came to the so-called bath,
two singular basins, of perhaps two feet and a half diameter, cut
into a bastion-like solid rock, projecting from the general outline
of the hill, and surrounded by smooth carved seats and grooves,
as we supposed--for I own the whole appearance of the locality
was perfectly inexplicable to me. I have a suspicion that many of
these horizontal planes and grooves were contrivances to aid their
astronomical observations, one like that I have mentioned having been
discovered by de Gama at Chapultepec.
"As to Montezuma's Bath, it might be his foot-bath if you will, but
it would be a moral impossibility for any monarch of larger dimensions
than Oberon to take a duck in it.
"The mountain bears the marks of human industry to its very apex,
many of the blocks of porphyry of which it is composed being quarried
into smooth horizontal planes. It is impossible to say at present
what portion of the surface is artificial or not, such is the state
of confusion observable in every part.
"By what means nations unacquainted with the use of iron constructed
works of such a smooth polish, in rocks of such hardness, it is
extremely difficult to say. Many think tools of mixed tin and copper
were employed; others, that patient friction was one of the main means
resorted to. Whatever may have been the real appropriation of these
inexplicable ruins, or the epoch of their construction, there can be
no doubt but the whole of this hill, which I should suppose rises
five or six hundred feet above the level of the plain, was covered
with artificial works of one kind or another. They are doubtless
rather of Toltec than of Aztec origin, and perhaps with still more
probability attributable to a people of an age yet more remote."
The Noble Tlascalan
As may be imagined regarding a community where human sacrifice was
rife, tales concerning those who were consigned to this dreadful fate
were abundant. Perhaps the most striking of these is that relating to
the noble Tlascalan warrior Tlalhuicole, who was captured in combat
by the troops of Montezuma. Less than a year before the Spaniards
arrived in Mexico war broke out between the Huexotzincans and the
Tlascalans, to the former of whom the Aztecs acted as allies. On
the battlefield there was captured by guile a very valiant Tlascalan
leader called Tlalhuicole, so renowned for his prowess that the mere
mention of his name was generally sufficient to deter any Mexican
hero from attempting his capture. He was brought to Mexico in a cage,
and presented to the Emperor Montezuma, who, on learning of his name
and renown, gave him his liberty and overwhelmed him with honours. He
further granted him permission to return to his own country, a boon
he had never before extended to any captive. But Tlalhuicole refused
his freedom, and replied that he would prefer to be sacrificed to the
gods, according to the usual custom. Montezuma, who had the highest
regard for him, and prized his life more than any sacrifice, would
not consent to his immolation. At this juncture war broke out between
Mexico and the Tarascans, and Montezuma announced the appointment
of Tlalhuicole as chief of the expeditionary force. He accepted the
command, marched against the Tarascans, and, having totally defeated
them, returned to Mexico laden with an enormous booty and crowds of
slaves. The city rang with his triumph. The emperor begged him to
become a Mexican citizen, but he replied that on no account would he
prove a traitor to his country. Montezuma then once more offered him
his liberty, but he strenuously refused to return to Tlascala, having
undergone the disgrace of defeat and capture. He begged Montezuma
to terminate his unhappy existence by sacrificing him to the gods,
thus ending the dishonour he felt in living on after having undergone
defeat, and at the same time fulfilling the highest aspiration of his
life--to die the death of a warrior on the stone of combat. Montezuma,
himself the noblest pattern of Aztec chivalry, touched at his request,
could not but agree with him that he had chosen the most fitting fate
for a hero, and ordered him to be chained to the stone of combat,
the blood-stained temalacatl. The most renowned of the Aztec warriors
were pitted against him, and the emperor himself graced the sanguinary
tournament with his presence. Tlalhuicole bore himself in the combat
like a lion, slew eight warriors of renown, and wounded more than
twenty. But at last he fell, covered with wounds, and was haled by the
exulting priests to the altar of the terrible war-god Huitzilopochtli,
to whom his heart was offered up.
The Haunting Mothers
It is only occasionally that we encounter either the gods or
supernatural beings of any description in Mexican myth. But
occasionally we catch sight of such beings as the Ciuapipiltin
(Honoured Women), the spirits of those women who had died in childbed,
a death highly venerated by the Mexicans, who regarded the woman
who perished thus as the equal of a warrior who met his fate in
battle. Strangely enough, these spirits were actively malevolent,
probably because the moon-goddess (who was also the deity of evil
exhalations) was evil in her tendencies, and they were regarded as
possessing an affinity to her. It was supposed that they afflicted
infants with various diseases, and Mexican parents took every
precaution not to permit their offspring out of doors on the days when
their influence was believed to be strong. They were said to haunt
the cross-roads, and even to enter the bodies of weakly people, the
better to work their evil will. The insane were supposed to be under
their especial visitation. Temples were raised at the cross-roads in
order to placate them, and loaves of bread, shaped like butterflies,
were dedicated to them. They were represented as having faces of
a dead white, and as blanching their arms and hands with a white
powder known as tisatl. Their eyebrows were of a golden hue, and
their raiment was that of Mexican ladies of the ruling class.
The Return of Papantzin [10]
One of the weirdest legends in Mexican tradition recounts how
Papantzin, the sister of Montezuma II, returned from her tomb to
prophesy to her royal brother concerning his doom and the fall of
his empire at the hands of the Spaniards. On taking up the reins
of government Montezuma had married this lady to one of his most
illustrious servants, the governor of Tlatelulco, and after his death
it would appear that she continued to exercise his almost viceregal
functions and to reside in his palace. In course of time she died,
and her obsequies were attended by the emperor in person, accompanied
by the greatest personages of his court and kingdom. The body was
interred in a subterranean vault of his own palace, in close proximity
to the royal baths, which stood in a sequestered part of the extensive
grounds surrounding the royal residence. The entrance to the vault
was secured by a stone slab of moderate weight, and when the numerous
ceremonies prescribed for the interment of a royal personage had been
completed the emperor and his suite retired. At daylight next morning
one of the royal children, a little girl of some six years of age,
having gone into the garden to seek her governess, espied the Princess
Papan standing near the baths. The princess, who was her aunt, called
to her, and requested her to bring her governess to her. The child
did as she was bid, but her governess, thinking that imagination had
played her a trick, paid little attention to what she said. As the
child persisted in her statement, the governess at last followed her
into the garden, where she saw Papan sitting on one of the steps of
the baths. The sight of the supposed dead princess filled the woman
with such terror that she fell down in a swoon. The child then went to
her mother's apartment, and detailed to her what had happened. She at
once proceeded to the baths with two of her attendants, and at sight
of Papan was also seized with affright. But the princess reassured
her, and asked to be allowed to accompany her to her apartments,
and that the entire affair should for the present be kept absolutely
secret. Later in the day she sent for Tiçotzicatzin, her major-domo,
and requested him to inform the emperor that she desired to speak
with him immediately on matters of the greatest importance. The man,
terrified, begged to be excused from the mission, and Papan then
gave orders that her uncle Nezahualpilli, King of Tezcuco, should
be communicated with. That monarch, on receiving her request that
he should come to her, hastened to the palace. The princess begged
him to see the emperor without loss of time and to entreat him to
come to her at once. Montezuma heard his story with surprise mingled
with doubt. Hastening to his sister, he cried as he approached her:
"Is it indeed you, my sister, or some evil demon who has taken your
likeness?" "It is I indeed, your Majesty," she replied. Montezuma and
the exalted personages who accompanied him then seated themselves,
and a hush of expectation fell upon all as they were addressed by
the princess in the following words:
"Listen attentively to what I am about to relate to you. You have seen
me dead, buried, and now behold me alive again. By the authority of
our ancestors, my brother, I am returned from the dwellings of the
dead to prophesy to you certain things of prime importance.
Papantzin's Story
"At the moment after death I found myself in a spacious valley, which
appeared to have neither commencement nor end, and was surrounded
by lofty mountains. Near the middle I came upon a road with many
branching paths. By the side of the valley there flowed a river of
considerable size, the waters of which ran with a loud noise. By the
borders of this I saw a young man clothed in a long robe, fastened with
a diamond, and shining like the sun, his visage bright as a star. On
his forehead was a sign in the figure of a cross. He had wings, the
feathers of which gave forth the most wonderful and glowing reflections
and colours. His eyes were as emeralds, and his glance was modest. He
was fair, of beautiful aspect and imposing presence. He took me by the
hand and said: 'Come hither. It is not yet time for you to cross the
river. You possess the love of God, which is greater than you know
or can comprehend.' He then conducted me through the valley, where
I espied many heads and bones of dead men. I then beheld a number
of black folk, horned, and with the feet of deer. They were engaged
in building a house, which was nearly completed. Turning toward the
east for a space, I beheld on the waters of the river a vast number
of ships manned by a great host of men dressed differently from
ourselves. Their eyes were of a clear grey, their complexions ruddy,
they carried banners and ensigns in their hands and wore helmets on
their heads. They called themselves 'Sons of the Sun.' The youth who
conducted me and caused me to see all these things said that it was
not yet the will of the gods that I should cross the river, but that I
was to be reserved to behold the future with my own eyes, and to enjoy
the benefits of the faith which these strangers brought with them;
that the bones I beheld on the plain were those of my countrymen who
had died in ignorance of that faith, and had consequently suffered
great torments; that the house being builded by the black folk was an
edifice prepared for those who would fall in battle with the seafaring
strangers whom I had seen; and that I was destined to return to my
compatriots to tell them of the true faith, and to announce to them
what I had seen that they might profit thereby."
Montezuma hearkened to these matters in silence, and felt greatly
troubled. He left his sister's presence without a word, and, regaining
his own apartments, plunged into melancholy thoughts.
Papantzin's resurrection is one of the best authenticated incidents
in Mexican history, and it is a curious fact that on the arrival
of the Spanish Conquistadores one of the first persons to embrace
Christianity and receive baptism at their hands was the Princess Papan.