Among the captives brought out for sacrifice at the same festival a year before, the one who possessed the finest form, the most agreeable disposition, and the highest culture, had been selected to be the mortal representative of the god till this day. It was absolutely necessary, however, that he should be of spotless physique, and, to render him still more worthy of the divine one whom he personated, the calpixques, under whose care he was placed, taught him all the accomplishments that distinguished the higher class. He was regaled upon the fat of the land, but was obliged to take doses of salted water to counteract any tendency toward obesity; he was allowed to go out into the town day and night, escorted by eight pages of rank dressed in the royal livery, and received the adoration of the people as he passed along. His dress corresponded with his high position; a rich and curiously bordered mantle, like a fine net, and a maxtli with wide, embroidered margin, covered his body; white cock-feathers, fastened with gum, and a garland of izquixuchitl flowers, encircled the helmet of sea-shells which covered his head; strings of flowers crossed his breast; gold rings hung from his ears, and from a necklace of precious stones about his neck dangled a valuable stone; upon his shoulders were pouch-like ornaments of white linen with fringes and tassels; golden bracelets encircled the upper part of his arms, while the lower part was almost covered with others of precious stones, called macuextli; upon his ankles golden bells jingled as he walked, and prettily painted slippers covered his feet.
Twenty days before the feast he was bathed, and his dress changed; the hair being cut in the style used by captains, and tied with a curious fringe which formed a tassel falling from the top of the head, from which two other tassels, made of feathers, gold, and tochomitl, and called aztaxelli, were suspended. He was then married to four accomplished damsels, to whom the names of four goddesses, Xochiquetzal, Xilonen, Atlatonan, and Huixtocioatl were given, and these remained with him until his death, endeavoring to render him as happy as possible. The last five days the divine honors paid to him became still more imposing, and celebrations were held in his honor, the first day in the Tecanman district, the second in the ward where the image of Tezcatlipoca stood, the third in the woods of the ward of Tepetzinco, and the fourth in the woods of Tepepulco; the lords and nobles gave, besides, solemn banquets followed by recreations of all kinds. At the end of the fourth feast, the victim was placed with his wives in one of the finest awning-covered canoes belonging to the king, and sent from Tepepulco to Tlapitzaoayan, where he was left alone with the eight pages who attended him during the year. These conducted him to the Tlacochcalco, a small and plain temple standing near the road, about a league from Mexico,[294] which he ascended, breaking a flute against every step of the staircase. At the summit he was received by the sacrificing ministers, who served him after their manner, and held up his heart exultingly to the sun; the body was carried down to the courtyard on the arms of priests, and the head having been cut off was spitted at the Tzompantli, or 'place of skulls;' the legs and arms were set apart as sacred food for the lords and people of the temple. This end, so terrible, signified that riches and pleasures may turn into poverty and sorrow; a pretty moral, truly, to adorn so gentle a tale.
After the sacrifice, the college youths, nobles, and priests commenced a grand ball for which the older priests supplied the music; and at sunset the virgins brought another offering of bread made with honey. This was placed upon clay plates, covered with skulls and dead men's bones, carried in procession to the altar of Tezcatlipoca, and destined for the winners in the race up the temple steps, who were dressed in robes of honor, and, after undergoing a lustration, were invited to a banquet by the temple dignitaries. The feast was closed by giving an opportunity to boys and girls in the college, of a suitable age, to marry. Their remaining comrades took advantage of this to joke and make sport of them, pelting them with soft balls and reproving them for leaving the service of the god for the pleasures of matrimony.[295] Tezcatlipoca's representative was the only victim sacrificed at this festival, but every leap-year the blood flowed in torrents.
FEAST OF HUITZILOPOCHTLI.
INCENSING OF HUITZILOPOCHTLI.
After this celebration commenced the festival in honor of the younger brother of Tezcatlipoca, Huitzilopochtli, the Mexican god of war. The priests of the god prepared a life-size statue like his original image, the bones of which were composed of mezquite-wood, the flesh of tzoalli, a dough made from amaranth and other seeds. This they dressed in the raiments of the idol, viz: a coat decorated with human bones, and a net-like mantle of cotton and nequen, covered by another mantle, the tlaquaquallo, adorned with feather-work, and bearing a gold plate upon its front; its wide folds were painted with the bones and members of a human being, and fell over a number of men's bones made of dough, which represented his power over death. A paper crown, very wide at the top and set with plumes, covered this head, and attached to its feather-covered summit was a bloody flint-knife, signifying his fury in battle. The image was placed upon a stage of logs, formed to resemble four snakes whose heads and tails protruded at the four corners, and borne by four of the principal warriors[296] to the temple of Huitznahuac, attended by a vast number of people, who sang and danced along the road. A sheet of maguey-paper, twenty fathoms in length, one in breadth, and one finger in thickness, upon which were depicted the glorious deeds of the god, was carried before the procession on the points of darts ornamented with feathers, the bearers singing the praises of the deity to the sound of music.[297] At sunset the stage was raised to the summit of the temple by means of ropes attached to the four corners, and placed in position. The paper painting was then rolled up in front of it, and the darts made into a bundle. After a presentation of offerings consisting of tamales and other food, the idol was left in charge of its priests. At dawn the next morning similar offerings, accompanied with incense, were made to the family image of the god at every house. That day the king himself appeared in the sacerdotal character. Taking four quails, he wrenched their heads off one after another, and threw the quivering bodies before the idol; the priests did the same, and then the people. Some of the birds were prepared and eaten by the king, priest, and principal men at the feast, the rest were preserved for another occasion. Each minister then placed coals and chapopotli incense[298] in his tlemaitl,[299] and wafted the disagreeable odor towards the idol. The ashes were then emptied from the censers into an immense brazier, called the tlexictli, or 'fire-navel.' This ceremony gave the name to the festival, which was known as the 'incensing of Huitzilopochtli.' The girls devoted to the service of the temple now appeared, having their arms and legs decorated with red feathers, their faces painted, and garlands of toasted maize on their heads; in their hands they held split canes, upon which were flags of paper or cloth painted with vertical black bars. Linking hands they joined the priests in the grand dance called toxcachocholoa. Upon the large brazier, round which the dancers whirled, stood two shield-bearers with blackened faces, who directed the motions. These men had cages of candlewood tied to their backs after the manner of women. The priests who joined in the dance wore paper rosettes upon their foreheads, yellow and white plumes on their heads, and had their lips and their blackened faces smeared with honey. They also wore undergarments of paper, called amasmaxtli, and each held a palm wand in his hand, the upper part of which was adorned with flowers, while the lower end was tipped with a ball, both balls and flowers being made of black feathers; the part of the wand grasped in the hand was rolled in strips of black-striped paper. When dancing, they touched the ground with their wands as if to support themselves. The musicians were hidden from view in the temple. The courtiers and warriors danced in another part of the courtyard, apart from the priests, with girls attired somewhat like those already described.
At the same time that the representative of Tezcatlipoca was chosen, the year before, another youth was appointed to represent Huitzilopochtli, to whom was given the name of Ixteocale, that is, 'eyes of the lord of the divine house.'[300] He always associated with the other doomed one of Tezcatlipoca, and shared his enjoyments; but, as the representative of a less esteemed god, he was paid no divine honors. His dress was characteristic of the deity for whom he was fated to die. Papers painted with black circles covered his body, a mitre of eagle-feathers, with waving plumes and a flint knife in the centre adorned his head, and a fine piece of cloth, a hand square, with a bag called patoxin above it, was tied to his breast; on one of his arms he had an ornament made of the hair of wild beasts, like a maniple, called imatacax, and golden bells jingled about his ankles. Thus arrayed he led the dance of the plebeians,[301] like the god conducting his warriors to battle. This youth had the privilege of choosing the hour of his death, but any delay involved the loss to him of a proportionate amount of glory and happiness in the other world. When he delivered himself up to the sacrificers, they raised him on their arms, tore out his heart, beheaded him, and spitted the head at the place of skulls. After him several other captives were immolated, and then the priests started another dance, the atepocaxixilihua, which lasted the remainder of the day, certain intervals being devoted to incensing the idol. On this day the male and female children born during the year were taken to the temple and scarified on the chest, stomach, and arms, to mark them as followers of the god.
The feast in honor of Quetzalcoatl, as it was celebrated during this month in Cholula, and the feast of the following month, called Etzalqualiztli, dedicated to the Tlalocs, or rain gods, the reader will find fully described in the next volume.[302]
SMALL FEAST OF THE LORDS.
The next month was one of general rejoicing among the Nahuas, and was for this reason called Tecuilhuitzintli, or Tecuilhuitontli, 'small feast of the lords.' The nobles and warriors exercised with arms to prepare for coming wars; hunting parties, open-air sports, and theatricals divided the time with banquets and indoor parties; and there was much interchanging of roses out of compliment. Yet the amusements this month were mostly confined to the lower classes, the more imposing celebrations of the nobility taking place in the following month. The religious celebrations were in honor of Huixtocihuatl, the goddess of salt, said to have been a sister to the rain gods, who quarreled with her, and drove her into the salt water, where she invented the art of making salt. Her chief devotees were, of course, the salt-makers, mostly females, who held a ten-days' festival in her temple, singing and dancing every evening from dusk till midnight in company with the doomed captives. They were all adorned with garlands of a sweet-smelling herb called iztauhiatl, and danced in a ring formed by cords of flowers, led by some of their own sex; the music was furnished by two old men. The female who represented the goddess and was to die in her honor danced with them, generally in the centre of the circle, and accompanied by an old man holding a beautiful plume, called huixtopetlacotl; if very nervous she was supported by old women.[303] She was dressed in the yellow robes of the goddess, and wore on her head a mitre surmounted by a number of green plumes; her huipil and skirt with net covering were worked in wavy outlines, and bordered with chalchiuites; ear-rings of gold in imitation of flowers hung from her ears; golden bells and white shells held by straps of tiger-skin, jingled and clattered about her ankles; her sandals were fastened with buttons and cords of cotton. On her arm she bore a shield painted with broad leaves, from which hung bits of parrot-feathers, tipped with flowers formed of eagle-plumage; it was also fringed with bright quetzal-feathers. In her hand she held a round bludgeon, one or two hands broad at the end, adorned with rubber-stained paper, and three flowers, at equal distances apart, filled with incense and set with quetzal-feathers; this shield she flourished as she danced. The priests who performed the sacrifice were dressed in an appropriate costume; on the great day, the priests performed another and solemn dance, devoting intervals to the sacrifice of captives, who were called Huixtoti in honor of the deity. Finally, towards evening, the female victim was thrown upon the stone by five young men, who held her while the priests cut open her breast, pressing a stick or a swordfish-bone against her throat to prevent her from screaming. The heart was held up to the sun and then thrown into a bowl. The music struck up and the people went home to feast.[304]
GREAT FEAST OF THE LORDS.