CHAPTER IV.
THE 'TZIN'S FAREWELL TO QUETZAL'.
If I were writing history, it would delight me to linger over thedetails of Cortes' management after the arrest of Montezuma; for in themwere blent, fairly as ever before seen, the grand diversities of war,politics, and governmental administration. Anticipating interferencefrom the headquarters in Cuba, he exercised all his industry and craftto recommend himself directly to his Majesty, the Emperor Charles. Theinterference at last came in the form of a grand expedition underPanfilo de Narvaez; but in the interval,--a period of little more thanfive months,--he had practically reduced the new discovery topossession, as attested by numerous acts of sovereignty,--such, forinstance, as the coast of the gulf surveyed; colonies established;plantations opened and worked with profit; tribute levied: highofficials arrested, disseized, and executed; the collection and divisionof a treasure greater than ever before seen by Christians in the NewWorld; communication with the capital secured by armed brigantines onthe lakes; the cross set up and maintained in the _teocallis_; and last,and, by custom of the civilized world, most absolute, Montezuma broughtto acknowledge vassalage and swear allegiance to the Emperor; andwithal, so perfect was the administration of affairs, that a Spaniard,though alone, was as safe in the defiles between Vera Cruz andTenochtitlan as he would have been in the _caminos reales_ of old Spain,as free in the great _tianguez_ as on the quay of Cadiz.
Narvaez's expedition landed in May, six months after Cortes enteredTenochtitlan; and to that time I now beg to advance my reader.
Cortes himself is down in Cempoalla; having defeated Narvaez, he islingering to gather the fruits of his extraordinary victory. In thecapital Alvarado is commanding, supported by the Tlascalans, and aboutone hundred and fifty Christians. Under his administration, affairs havegone rapidly from bad to worse; and in selecting him for a trust sodelicate and important, Cortes has made his first serious mistake.
* * * * *
At an early hour in the evening Mualox came out of the sanctuary of hisCu, bearing an armful of the flowers which had been used in thedecoration of the altar. The good man's hair and beard were whiter thanwhen last I noticed him; he was also feebler, and more stooped; so thetime is not far distant when Quetzal' will lose his last and mostfaithful servant. As he was about to ascend the stairway of the tower,his name was called, and, stopping, he was overtaken by two men.
"Guatamozin!" he exclaimed, in surprise.
"Be not alarmed, father, but put down your burden, and rest awhile. Myfriend here, the lord Hualpa, has brought me news, which calls me away.Rest, therefore, and give me time for thanks and explanation."
"What folly is this?" asked Mualox, hastily, and without noticingHualpa's salutation. "Go back to the cell. The hunters are abroad andvigilant as ever. I will cast these faded offerings into the fire, andcome to you."
The 'tzin was in the guise of a paba. To quiet the good man's alarm, hedrew closer the hood that covered his head, remarking, "The hunters willnot come. Give Hualpa the offerings; he will carry them for you."
Hualpa took them, and left; then Mualox said, "I am ready to hear.Speak."
"Good father," the 'tzin began, "not long since, in the sanctuary there,you told me--I well remember the words--that the existence of my countrydepended upon my action; by which I understood you to prefigure for mean honorable, if not fortunate, destiny. I believe you had faith in whatyou said; for on many occasions since you have exerted yourself in mybehalf. That I am not now a prisoner in the old palace with Cacama andthe lord Cuitlahua is due to you; indeed, if it be true, as I was told,that the king gave me to Malinche to be dealt with as he chose, I oweyou my life. These are the greatest debts a man can be bound for; Iacknowledge them, and, if the destiny should be fortunate as we hope,will pay them richly; but now all I can give you is my thanks, and whatI know you will better regard,--my solemn promise to protect this sacredproperty of the holy Quetzal'. Take the thanks and the promise, and letme have your blessing. I wish now to go."
"Whither?" asked Mualox.
"To the people. They have called me; the lord Hualpa brings me theirmessage."
"No, you will not go," said the paba, reproachfully. "Your resolution isonly an impulse; impatience is not a purpose; and--and here are peace,and safety, and a holy presence."
"But honor, father,--"
"That will come by waiting."
"Alas!" said the 'tzin, bitterly, "I have waited too long already. Ihave most dismal news. When Malinche marched to Cempoalla, he left incommand here the red-haired chief whom we call _Tonatiah_. This, youknow, is the day of the incensing of Huitzil'--"
"I know, my son,--an awful day! The day of cruel sacrifice, itself adefiance of Quetzal'."
"What!" said Guatamozin, in angry surprise. "Are you not an Aztec?"
"Yes, an Aztec, and a lover of his god, the true god, whose return heknows to be near, and,"--to gather energy of expression, he paused, thenraised his hands as if flinging the words to a listener overhead,--"andwhom he would welcome, though the land be swimming in the blood ofunbelievers."
The violence and incoherency astonished the 'tzin, and as he looked atthe paba fixedly, he was sensible for the first time of a fear that thegood man's mind was affected. And he considered his age and habits, hisdays and years spent in a great, cavernous house, without amusement,without companionship, without varied occupation; for the thinker, itmust be remembered, knew nothing of Tecetl or the world she made sodelightful. Moreover, was not mania the effect of long brooding overwrongs, actual or imaginary? Or, to put the thought in another form, hownatural that the solitary watcher of decay, where of all places decayis most affecting, midst antique and templed splendor, should make thecause of Quetzal' his, until, at last, as the one idea of his being, itmastered him so absolutely that a division of his love was no longerpossible. If the misgiving had come alone, the pain that wrung the 'tzinwould have resolved itself in pity for the victim, so old, so faithful,so passionate; but a dreadful consequence at once presented itself. By astrange fatality, the mystic had been taken into the royal councils,where, from force of faith, he had gained faith. Now,--and this was thedread,--what if he had cast the glamour of his mind over the king's, andsuperinduced a policy which had for object and end the peaceabletransfer of the nation to the strangers?
This thought thrilled the 'tzin indefinably, and in a moment his pitychanged to deep distrust. To master himself, he walked away; comingback, he said quietly, "The day you pray for has come; rejoice, if youcan."
"I do not understand you," said Mualox.
"I will explain. This is the day of the incensing of Huitzil', which,you know, has been celebrated for ages as a festival religious andnational. This morning, as customary, lords and priests, personages thenoblest and most venerated, assembled in the court-yard of the temples.To bring the great wrong out in clearer view, I ought to say, father,that permission to celebrate had been asked of _Tonatiah_, andgiven,--to such a depth have we fallen! And, as if to plunge us into ayet lower deep, he forbade the king's attendance, and said to the_teotuctli_, 'There shall be no sacrifice.'"
"No victims, no blood!" cried Mualox, clasping his hands. "Blessed beQuetzal'!"
The 'tzin bore the interruption, though with an effort.
"In the midst of the service," he continued, "when the yard was mostcrowded, and the revelry gayest, and the good company most happy andunsuspecting, dancing, singing, feasting, suddenly _Tonatiah_ and hispeople rushed upon them, and began to kill, and stayed not their handsuntil, of all the revellers, not one was left alive; leaders in battle,ministers at the altar, old and young,--all were slain![47] O such apiteous sight! The court is a pool of blood. Who will restore the flowerthis day torn from the nation? O holy gods, what have we done to meritsuch calamity?"
Mualox listened, his hands still clasped.
"Not one left alive! Not one, did you say?"
"Not one."
r /> The paba arose from his stooping, and upon the 'tzin flashed the oldmagnetic flame.
"What have you done, ask you? Sinned against the true and only god--"
"I?" said the 'tzin, for the moment shrinking.
"The nation,--the nation, blind to its crimes, no less blind to thebeginning of its punishment! What you call calamity, I call vengeance.Starting in the house of Huitzil',--the god for whom my god wasforsaken,--it will next go to the city; and if the lords so perish, howmay the people escape? Let them tremble! He is come, he is come! I knewhim afar, I know him here. I heard his step in the valley, I see hishand in the court. Rejoice, O 'tzin! He has drunk the blood of thesacrificers. To-morrow his house must be made ready to receive him. Gonot away! Stay, and help me! I am old. Of the treasure below I mightmake use to buy help; but such preparation, like an offering at thealtar, is most acceptable when induced by love. Love for love. So saidQuetzal' in the beginning; so he says now."
"Let me be sure I understand you, father. What do you offer me?" askedthe 'tzin, quietly.
"Escape from the wrath," replied Mualox.
"And what is required of me?"
"To stay here, and, with me, serve his altar."
"Is the king also to be saved?"
"Surely; he is already a servant of the god's."
Under his gown the 'tzin's heart beat quicker, for the question andanswer were close upon the fear newly come to him, as I have said; yet,to leave the point unguarded in the paba's mind, he asked,--
"And the people: if I become what you ask, will they be saved?"
"No. They have forgotten Quetzal' utterly."
"When the king became your fellow-servant, father, made he no terms forhis dependants, for the nation, for his family?"
"None."
Guatamozin dropped the hood upon his shoulders, and looked at Mualoxsternly and steadily; and between them ensued one of those struggles ofspirit against spirit in which glances are as glittering swords, and thewill holds the place of skill.
"Father," he said, at length, "I have been accustomed to love and obeyyou. I thought you good and wise, and conversant with things divine, andthat one so faithful to his god must be as faithful to his country; forto me, love of one is love of the other. But now I know you better. Youtell me that Quetzal' has come, and for vengeance; and that, in the fireof his wrath, the nation will be destroyed; yet you exult, and endeavorto speed the day by prayer. And now, too, I understand the destiny youhad in store for me. By hiding in this gown, and becoming a priest atyour altar, I was to escape the universal death. What the king did, Iwas to do. Hear me now: I cut myself loose from you. With my own eyes Ilook into the future. I spurn the destiny, and for myself will carve outa better one by saving or perishing with my race. No more waiting onothers! no more weakness! I will go hence and strike--"
"Whom?" asked Mualox, impulsively. "The king and the god?"
"He is not my god," said the 'tzin, interrupting him in turn. "The enemyof my race is my enemy, whether he be king or god. As forMontezuma,"--at the name his voice and manner changed,--"I will gohumbly, and, from the dust into which he flung them, pick up his royalduties. Alas! no other can. Cuitlahua is a prisoner; so is Cacama; andin the court-yard yonder, cold in death, lie the lords who might withthem contest the crown and its tribulations. I alone am left. And as toQuetzal',--I accept the doom of my country,--into the heart of hisdivinity I cast my spear! So, farewell, father. As a faithful servant,you cannot bless whom your god has cursed. With you, however, be all thepeace and safety that abide here. Farewell."
"Go not, go not!" cried Mualox, as the 'tzin, calling to Hualpa, turnedhis back upon him. "We have been as father and son. I am old. See howsorrow shakes these hands, stretched toward you in love."
Seeing the appeal was vain, the paba stepped forward and caught the'tzin's arm, and said, "I pray you stay,--stay. The destiny followsQuetzal', and is close at hand, and brings in its arms the throne."
Neither the tempter nor the temptation moved the 'tzin; he called Hualpaagain; then the holy man let go his arm, and said, sadly, "Go thyway,--one scoffer more! Or, if you stay, hear of what the god willaccuse you, so that, when your calamity comes, as come it will, you maynot accuse him."
"I will hear."
"Know, then, O 'tzin, that Quetzal', the day he landed from Tlapallan,took you in his care; a little later, he caused you to be sent intoexile--"
"Your god did that!" exclaimed the 'tzin. "And why?"
"Out of the city there was safety," replied Mualox, sententiously; in amoment, he continued, "Such, I say, was the beginning. Attend to whathas followed. After Montezuma went to dwell with the strangers, the kingof Tezcuco revolted, and drew after him the lords of Iztapalapan,Tlacopan, and others; to-day they are prisoners, while you are free.Next, aided by Tlalac, you planned the rescue of the king by force inthe _teocallis_; for that offence the officers hunted you, and have notgiven over their quest; but the cells of Quetzal' are deep and dark; Icalled you in, and yet you are safe. To-day Quetzal' appeared amongstthe celebrants, and to-night there is mourning throughout the valley,and the city groans under the bloody sorrow; still you are safe. A fewdays ago, in the old palace of Axaya', the king assembled his lords, andthere he and they became the avowed subjects of a new king, Malinche'smaster; since that the people, in their ignorance, have rung the heavenswith their curses. You alone escaped that bond; so that, if Montezumawere to join his fathers, asleep in Chapultepec, whom would soldier,priest, and citizen call to the throne? Of the nobles living, how manyare free to be king? And of all the empire, how many are there of whom Imight say, 'He forgot not Quetzal''? One only. And now, O son, ask youof what you will be accused, if you abandon this house and its god? orwhat will be forfeit, if now you turn your back upon them? Is there ameasure for the iniquity of ingratitude? If you go hence for any purposeof war, remember Quetzal' neither forgets nor forgives; better that youhad never been born."
By this time, Hualpa had joined the party. Resting his hand upon theyoung man's shoulder, the 'tzin fixed on Mualox a look severe and steadyas his own, and replied,--"Father, a man knows not himself; still lessknows he other men; if so, how should I know a being so great as youclaim your god to be? Heretofore, I have been contented to see Quetzal'as you have painted him,--a fair-faced, gentle, loving deity, to whomhuman sacrifice was especially abhorrent; but what shall I say of himwhom you have now given me to study? If he neither forgets nor forgives,wherein is he better than the gods of Mictlan? Hating, as you have said,the sacrifice of one man, he now proposes, you say, not as a process ofages, but at once, by a blow or a breath, to slay a nation numberingmillions. When was Huitzil' so awfully worshipped? He will spare theking, you further say, because he has become his servant; and I can findgrace by a like submission. Father,"--and as he spoke the 'tzin's mannerbecame inexpressibly noble,--"father, who of choice would live to be thelast of his race? The destiny brings me a crown: tell me, when your godhas glutted himself, where shall I find subjects? Comes he in person orby representative? Am I to be his crowned slave or Malinche's? Once forall, let Quetzal' enlarge his doom; it is sweeter than what you call hislove. I will go fight; and, if the gods of my fathers--in this hourbecome dearer and holier than ever--so decree, will die with my people.Again, father, farewell."
Again the withered hands arose tremulously, and a look of exceedinganguish came to the paba's help.
"If not for love of me, or of self, or of Quetzal', then for love ofwoman, stay."
Guatamozin turned quickly. "What of her?"
"O 'tzin, the destiny you put aside is hers no less than yours."
The 'tzin raised higher his princely head, and answered, smilingjoyously,--
"Then, father, by whatever charm, or incantation, or virtue of prayeryou possess, hasten the destiny,--hasten it, I conjure you. A tomb wouldbe a palace with her, a palace would be a tomb without her."
And with the smile still upon his face, and the resolution yet in hisheart, he again, and for the last tim
e, turned his back upon Mualox.
FOOTNOTES:
[47] Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva Esp. Gomara, Cronica. Prescott, Conq. of Mexico.