(Bodleian MS., Oxford)
With regard to the lighter side of life it would not be going too far to state that nearly all of the amusements of the Mexicans possessed a religious significance. It is true that the lords maintained jesters and tumblers, and that the performances of conjurers, as mentioned above, were much appreciated. But the national game, tlaxtli, was closely connected with the worship of the gods, and the tlaxtli-courts both at Mexico and in Michoacan were generally associated with temples. The ground-plan of a tlaxtli-court resembled a double T, as may be seen from Fig. [30], which is taken from a manuscript. The game was played with a rubber ball, and the end walls constituted the goals which were protected by opposing teams of players. At the centre of each side wall, near its upper edge, was fixed a stone ring, the aperture a little greater than the diameter of the ball, and if the latter could be hit so as to pass through the ring, a victory was claimed. The walls were forty or fifty feet long, and twenty or thirty feet apart, and the whole court was carefully plastered. The area was divided by a line, which the ball had to cross for the throw to count; it is not stated whether this line was longitudinal or transverse, but probability seems to favour the latter. The MSS. often show the two ends of the court distinguished by different colours, though it is only fair to state that they almost as often show it quartered. The players wore special gauntlets, but the most esteemed variety of the game was that in which they were not allowed the use of their hands at all, but struck the ball with their hips, protected by means of a leather shield attached to the girdle. A variety of gods are pictured in association with the tlaxtli-court, principally Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, Xochiquetzal and Xochipilli, and in the court connected with the great temple to Uitzilopochtli stood the statues of the gods Oappatzan and Amapan to which sacrifices were made. Seler conjectures that the flight of the ball in its esoteric significance referred to the movements of the moon. The game was usually played for stakes, which often ran very high, and it also served to settle disputed questions, as in the case where Montecuzoma, differing from Nezahualpilli as regards the interpretation of certain omens, challenged him to a game of tlaxtli and was defeated. The origin of the game is discussed later (pp. 302–303).
Other amusements, of a more secular nature, were the game called patolli, played with “men” on a board bearing a cruciform diagram, and tololoque, a variety of dice. Both these were played for stakes.
Fig. 31.—Carved wooden gong (teponaztli).
(British Museum)
Music was not highly developed, and there was but little variety in the musical instruments throughout the valley. Rattles of gourd or pottery were common, but the principal instrument of percussion was the gong, teponaztli, formed of a hollow cylinder of wood with two tongues, each of a different note, which were struck with beaters, sometimes headed with rubber. The teponaztli was often beautifully carved, and played an important part in religious ceremonies and dances (Fig. [31]). Drums, ueuetl, with skin membranes were also in common use, while instruments of a rather special nature consisted of tortoise carapaces (or their facsimiles in gold), struck with a stick, and serrated bones rubbed with short rods (see p. 103). Wind instruments appear to have been few in variety; conches, provided apparently with a wooden mouthpiece, like those of the New Zealanders, were sounded in most religious ceremonies, and quantities of whistles and ocarinas have been discovered. The finger-holes do not exceed four in number, and are frequently less in the case of instruments of the flageolet type. Whistles were of frequent use in war, for the purpose of giving signals. Whether the Mexicans, like the tribes of the north-west coast of America, were acquainted with reed instruments is uncertain, at any rate none are known to exist; it is quite possible that they were known, but that the reeds, constructed of perishable materials, have not survived until our time. Singing was another important accompaniment of religious ceremonies, and there were specially trained temple choirs under the control of responsible officials. Many of the hymns have been preserved, and illustrate well the poetical cast of Mexican thought. A species of primitive drama was said to exist, recited on a terrace in the market-place or temple-court. Dancing was highly developed, and every feast had its ceremonial dance which was carried out with great solemnity and decorum. In some cases the dancers formed large circles, the members of each belonging to one sex and rank. In others, the sexes mingled, and in others again the dancers performed in pairs, with their arms round one another’s waists or necks. The last method seems to have been the privilege of the upper classes. In combined figures a long garlanded rope was held by the dancers, who moved their bodies and limbs in unison, as in Peru, while occasionally they danced in threes, two women and one man or two men and one woman.
PLATE XII
Photo. C. B. Waite