HEAD-FLATTENING.
Among the Miztecs, the mother took hot baths for twenty days after delivery, at the end of which time a feast was held in honor of the goddess of the bath, the child sharing in the honors of the occasion.[229] They also gave the child a feast on its first birthday. Great care was exercised to make children hardy and strong, and no mother, however high in rank, allowed her child to be given to a nurse, unless her own health demanded such a step. The test of a wet nurse was to press out a drop of milk upon the nail, when if it did not run the milk was considered good.[230] No food was given to the child the first day, in order to create an appetite.[231] It was suckled for three years, in some places much longer;[232] and, during this time the mother adhered to a diet that would keep up the quality of the milk; many abstained from intercourse with their husbands for the same period, to prevent the possibility of another child interfering with the proper nurture of the first one. Another feast was given at the weaning of the child. Gomara mentions that a kind of head-flattening was practiced; he says that the infants were so placed in the cradle as not to allow the occiput to grow, for such a development was considered ugly.[233] Humboldt, however, says that the Aztecs never flattened the head. That it was practiced to a considerable extent in remote times by people inhabiting the country, seems to be shown by the deformed skulls found in their graves, and by the sculptured figures upon the ruins. Klemm states that the cradle consisted of a hard board to which the infant was bound in such a manner as to cause the malformation. The cradle among the poor Aztecs was generally of light cane, and could be tied to the back of the mother.[234]
CHAPTER VIII.
NAHUA FEASTS AND AMUSEMENTS.
Excessive Fondness for Feasts—Manner of Giving Feasts—Serving the Meal—Professional Jesters—Parting Presents to Guests—Royal Banquets—Tobacco Smoking—Public Dances—Manner of Singing and Dancing—The Neteteliztli—The Drama among the Nahuas—Music and Musical Instruments—Nahua Poetry—Acrobatic Feats—The Netololiztli, or 'Bird Dance'—Professional Runners—The Game of Tlactli—Games of Chance—The Patoliztli, or 'Bean Game'—Totoloque, Montezuma's Favorite Game.
FEASTS AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
The excessive fondness of the Aztecs for feasts and amusements of every kind seems to have extended through all ranks of society. Every man feasted his neighbor and was himself in turn feasted. Birthdays, victories, house-warmings, successful voyages or speculations, and other events too numerous to enumerate were celebrated with feasts. Every man, from king to peasant, considered it incumbent upon him to be second to none among his equals in the giving of banquets and entertainments, and as these involved the distribution of costly presents among his guests, it often happened that the host ruined himself by his hospitality; indeed, it is said that many sold themselves into slavery that they might be able to prepare at least one feast that would immortalize their memory.[235] Moreover the priests, with the subtle policy characteristic of their class, took advantage of this disposition to ordain long and frequent celebrations in honor of innumerable gods; in short, it is difficult to conceive what part of the year could have been saved for business from what seems to have been a continual round of merry-making.
The grandeur of the feast depended, of course, upon the wealth of the host, the rank of the guests, and the importance of the event celebrated. For many days before a noble or wealthy man entertained his friends, an army of servants were employed in sweeping the approaches to the house, decorating the halls and courts with branches and garlands, erecting chinamas, or arbors, and strewing the floors with flowers and sweet herbs; others prepared the table service, killed and dressed dogs, plucked fowls, cooked tamales, baked bread, ground cacao, brewed drinks, and manufactured perfumed cigarettes. Invitations were in the meantime sent to the guests. These on their arrival were presented with flowers as a token of welcome. Those of a superior condition to the host were saluted after the Aztec fashion by touching the hand to the earth and then carrying it to the lips. On some occasions garlands were placed upon the heads of the guests and strings of roses about their necks, while copal was burnt before those whom the host delighted specially to honor. While waiting for the meal the guests employed their time in walking freely about the place, complimenting their host on the tasteful manner in which the house was decorated, or admiring the fine shrubbery, green grass plats, well-kept flower-beds, and sparkling fountains in the gardens.
Dinner being announced, all took their seats, according to rank and age, upon mats or icpalli, stools, ranged close along the walls.[236] Servants then entered with water and towels, with which each guest washed his hands and mouth. Smoking-canes were next presented on molcaxetes, or plates, to stimulate the appetite. The viands, kept warm by chafing dishes, were then brought in upon artistically worked plates of gold, silver, tortoise-shell, or earthenware. Each person before beginning to eat threw a small piece of food into a lighted brazier, in honor of Xiuhtecutli, the god of fire,[237] probably by way of grace. The numerous highly seasoned dishes of meat and fish having been duly discussed, the servants cleared the tables and feasted upon the remains of the banquet in company with the attendants of the guests.[238] Vessels called teutecomatls, filled with chocolate, each provided with a spoon to stir the fluid with, were then brought on, together with water for washing the hands and rinsing the mouth. The women who were present on these occasions, although they sat apart from the men, received a kind of spiced gruel instead of cacao. The old people, however, were plied with octli, a very potent beverage, until they became drunk, and this was held to be an indispensable part of the ceremony.