Here ends the second scroll with the sign of
a skull set with turquoise stones,
which is the symbol of
Coatlicue, the Goddess
of Death.
III
Here begins the third scroll with the sign of a man in a black canoe, which is the symbol of a soul crossing the Lake of Death.
And no one dared awake the king—
He slept—to him it seemed
White vapor covered everything,
And through its rifts there gleamed
A figure striding through the mist;
Dimly he saw the head,
The white skull set with turquoise stones,
The goddess of the dead.
Now at the hour before the dawn,
When owlets cease to call,
He put a cloak of black skins on
And walked forth from the hall,
Across the terrace, down the stair,
Along an empty street,
Where the lone watchman felt his hair
Rise at the soundless feet.
But to the dying king it seemed
As though he moved with ease
Upon a journey he had dreamed—
No weight above his knees—
So from his house he passed away,
Down to the stony strand
Where the black water of the lake
Whimpered against the land.
And there he hailed a boatman dim
Who gave a toothless scream
And motioned to wade out to him;
Cold as a mountain stream
He felt the lake rise to his chin;
It seemed to strike him through
And freeze his heart—but he plunged in,
And clutched the black canoe.