CHAPTER XVII
THE ARISING OF PAPANTZIN
On the morrow Papantzin died, and was buried with great pomp that
same evening in the burial-ground at Chapoltepec, by the side of
the emperor's royal ancestors. But, as will be seen, she was not
content with their company. On that day also, I learned that to be
a god is not all pleasure, since it was expected of me that I must
master various arts, and chiefly the horrid art of music, to which
I never had any desire. Still my own wishes were not allowed to
weigh in the matter, for there came to me tutors, aged men who
might have found better employment, to instruct me in the use of
the lute, and on this instrument I must learn to strum. Others
there were also, who taught me letters, poetry, and art, as they
were understood among the Aztecs, and all this knowledge I was glad
of. Still I remembered the words of the preacher which tell us
that he who increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow, and moreover I
could see little use in acquiring learning that was to be lost
shortly on the stone of sacrifice.
As to this matter of my sacrifice I was at first desperate. But
reflection told me that I had already passed many dangers and come
out unscathed, and therefore it was possible that I might escape
this one also. At least death was still a long way off, and for
the present I was a god. So I determined that whether I died or
lived, while I lived I would live like a god and take such
pleasures as came to my hand, and I acted on this resolve. No man
ever had greater or more strange opportunities, and no man can have
used them better. Indeed, had it not been for the sorrowful
thoughts of my lost love and home which would force themselves upon
me, I should have been almost happy, because of the power that I
wielded and the strangeness of all around me. But I must to my
tale.
During the days that followed the death of Papantzin the palace and
the city also were plunged in ferment. The minds of men were
shaken strangely because of the rumours that filled the air. Every
night the fiery portent blazed in the east, every day a new wonder
or omen was reported, and with it some wild tale of the doings of
the Spaniards, who by most were held to be white gods, the children
of Quetzal, come back to take the land which their forefather
ruled.
But of all that were troubled, none were in such bad case as the
emperor himself, who, during these weeks scarcely ate or drank or
slept, so heavy were his fears upon him. In this strait he sent
messengers to his ancient rival, that wise and severe man Neza, the
king of the allied state of Tezcuco, begging that he would visit
him. This king came, an old man with a fierce and gleaming eye,
and I was witness to the interview that followed, for in my quality
of god I had full liberty of the palace, and even to be present at
the councils of the emperor and his nobles. When the two monarchs
had feasted together, Montezuma spoke to Neza of the matter of the
omens and of the coming of the Teules, asking him to lighten the
darkness by his wisdom. Then Neza pulled his long grey beard and
answered that heavy as the heart of Montezuma might be, it must
grow still heavier before the end.
'See, Lord,' he said, 'I am so sure that the days of our empire are
numbered, that I will play you at dice for my kingdoms which you
and your forefathers have ever desired to win.'
'For what wager?' asked Montezuma.
'I will play you thus,' answered Neza. 'You shall stake three
fighting cocks, of which, should I win, I ask the spurs only. I
set against them all the wide empire of Tezcuco.'
'A small stake,' said Montezuma; 'cocks are many and kingdoms few.'
'Still, it shall serve our turn,' answered the aged king, 'for know
that we play against fate. As the game goes, so shall the issue
be. If you win my kingdoms all is well; if I win the cocks, then
good-bye to the glory of Anahuac, for its people will cease to be a
people, and strangers shall possess the land.'
'Let us play and see,' said Montezuma, and they went down to the
place that is called tlachco, where the games are set. Here they
began the match with dice and at first all went well for Montezuma,
so that he called aloud that already he was lord of Tezcuco.
'May it be so!' answered the aged Neza, and from that moment the
chance changed. For strive as he would, Montezuma could not win
another point, and presently the set was finished, and Neza had won
the cocks. Now the music played, and courtiers came forward to
give the king homage on his success. But he rose sighing, and
said:
'I had far sooner lose my kingdoms than have won these fowls, for
if I had lost my kingdoms they would still have passed into the
hands of one of my own race. Now alas! my possessions and his must
come under the hand of strangers, who shall cast down our gods and
bring our names to nothing.'
And having spoken thus, he rose, and taking farewell of the
emperor, he departed for his own land, where, as it chanced, he
died very shortly, without living to see the fulfilment of his
fears.
On the morrow of his departure came further accounts of the doings
of the Spaniards that plunged Montezuma into still greater alarm.
In his terror he sent for an astronomer, noted throughout the land
for the truth of his divinations. The astronomer came, and was
received by the emperor privately. What he told him I do not know,
but at least it was nothing pleasant, for that very night men were
commanded to pull down the house of this sage, who was buried in
its ruins.
Two days after the death of the astronomer, Montezuma bethought him
that, as he believed, I also was a Teule, and could give him
information. So at the hour of sunset he sent for me, bidding me
walk with him in the gardens. I went thither, followed by my
musicians and attendants, who would never leave me in peace, but he
commanded that all should stand aside, as he wished to speak with
me alone. Then he began to walk beneath the mighty cedar trees,
and I with him, but keeping one pace behind.
'Teule,' he said at length, 'tell me of your countrymen, and why
they have come to these shores. See that you speak truth.'
'They are no countrymen of mine, O Montezuma,' I answered, 'though
my mother was one of them.'
'Did I not bid you speak the truth, Teule? If your mother was one
of them, must you not also be of them; for are you not of your
mother's bone and blood?'
'As the king pleases,' I answered bowing. Then I began and told
him of the Spaniards--of their country, their greatness, their
cruelty and their greed of gold, and he listened eagerly, though I
think that he believed little of what I said, for his fear had made
him very suspicious. When I had done, he spoke and said:
'Why do they come here to Anahuac?'
'I fear, O king, that they come to take the land, or at the least
to rob it of all its treasure, and to destroy its faiths.'
'What then is your counsel, Teule? How can I defend myself against
these mighty men, who are clothed in metal, and ride upon fierce
wild beasts, who have instruments that make a noise like thunder,
at the sound of which their adversaries fall dead by hundreds, and
who bear weapons of shining silver in their hands? Alas! there is
no defence possible, for they are the children of Quetzal come back
to take the land. From my childhood I have known that this evil
overshadowed me, and now it is at my door.'
'If I, who am only a god, may venture to speak to the lord of the
earth,' I answered, 'I say that the reply is easy. Meet force by
force. The Teules are few and you can muster a thousand soldiers
for every one of theirs. Fall on them at once, do not hesitate
till their prowess finds them friends, but crush them.'
'Such is the counsel of one whose mother was a Teule;' the emperor
answered, with sarcasm and bitter meaning. 'Tell me now,
counsellor, how am I to know that in fighting against them I shall
not be fighting against the gods; how even am I to learn the true
wishes and purposes of men or gods who cannot speak my tongue and
whose tongue I cannot speak?'
'It is easy, O Montezuma,' I answered. 'I can speak their tongue;
send me to discover for you.'
Now as I spoke thus my heart bounded with hope, for if once I could
come among the Spaniards, perhaps I might escape the altar of
sacrifice. Also they seemed a link between me and home. They had
sailed hither in ships, and ships can retrace their path. For
though at present my lot was not all sorrow, it will be guessed
that I should have been glad indeed to find myself once more among
Christian men.
Montezuma looked at me a while and answered:
'You must think me very foolish, Teule. What! shall I send you to
tell my fears and weakness to your countrymen, and to show them the
joints in my harness? Do you then suppose that I do not know you
for a spy sent to this land by these same Teules to gather
knowledge of the land? Fool, I knew it from the first, and by
Huitzel! were you not vowed to Tezcat, your heart should smoke to-
morrow on the altar of Huitzel. Be warned, and give me no more
false counsels lest your end prove swifter than you think. Learn
that I have asked these questions of you to a purpose, and by the
command of the gods, as it was written on the hearts of those
sacrificed this day. This was the purpose and this was the
command, that I might discover your secret mind, and that I should
shun whatever advice you chanced to give. You counsel me to fight
the Teules, therefore I will not fight them, but meet them with
gifts and fair words, for I know well that you would have me to do
that which should bring me to my doom.'
Thus he spoke very fiercely and in a low voice, his head held low
and his arms crossed upon his breast, and I saw that he shook with
passion. Even then, though I was very much afraid, for god as I
was, a nod from this mighty king would have sent me to death by
torment, I wondered at the folly of one who in everything else was
so wise. Why should he doubt me thus and allow superstition to
drag him down to ruin? To-day I see the answer. Montezuma did not
these things of himself, but because the hand of destiny worked
with his hand, and the voice of destiny spoke in his voice. The
gods of the Aztecs were false gods indeed, but I for one believe
that they had life and intelligence, for those hideous shapes of
stone were the habitations of devils, and the priests spoke truth
when they said that the sacrifice of men was pleasing to their
gods.
To these devils the king went for counsel through the priests, and
now this doom was on them, that they must give false counsel to
their own destruction, and to the destruction of those who
worshipped them, as was decreed by One more powerful than they.
Now while we were talking the sun had sunk swiftly, so that all the
world was dark. But the light still lingered on the snowy crests
of the volcanoes Popo and Ixtac, staining them an awful red. Never
before to my sight had the shape of the dead woman whose
everlasting bier is Ixtac's bulk, seemed so clear and wonderful as
on that night, for either it was so or my fancy gave it the very
shape and colour of a woman's corse steeped in blood and laid out
for burial. Nor was it my phantasy alone, for when Montezuma had
finished upbraiding me he chanced to look up, and his eyes falling
on the mountain remained fixed there.
'Look now, Teule!' he said, presently, with a solemn laugh; 'yonder
lies the corse of the nations of Anahuac washed in a water of blood
and made ready for burial. Is she not terrible in death?'
As he spoke the words and turned to go, a sound of doleful wailing
came from the direction of the mountain, a very wild and unearthly
sound that caused the blood in my veins to stand still. Now
Montezuma caught my arm in his fear, and we gazed together on
Ixtac, and it seemed to us that this wonder happened. For in that
red and fearful light the red figure of the sleeping woman arose,
or appeared to rise, from its bier of stone. It arose slowly like
one who awakes from sleep, and presently it stood upright upon the
mountain's brow, towering high into the air. There it stood a
giant and awakened corpse, its white wrappings stained with blood,
and we trembled to see it.
For a while the wraith remained thus gazing towards the city of
Tenoctitlan, then suddenly it threw its vast arms upward as though
in grief, and at that moment the night rushed in upon it and
covered it, while the sound of wailing died slowly away.
'Say, Teule,' gasped the emperor, 'do I not well to be afraid when
such portents as these meet my eyes day by day? Hearken to the
lamentations in the city; we have not seen this sight alone.
Listen how the people cry aloud with fear and the priests beat
their drums to avert the omen. Weep on, ye people, and ye priests
pray and do sacrifice; it is very fitting, for the day of your doom
is upon you. O Tenoctitlan, queen of cities, I see you ruined and
desolate, your palaces blackened with fire, your temples
desecrated, your pleasant gardens a wilderness. I see your
highborn women the wantons of stranger lords, and your princes
their servants; the canals run red with the blood of your children,
your gateways are blocked with their bones. Death is about you
everywhere, dishonour is your daily bread, desolation is your
portion. Farewell to you, queen of the cities, cradle of my
forefathers in which I was nursed!'
Thus Montezuma lamented in the darkness, and as he cried aloud the
great moon rose over the edge of the world and poured its level
light through the boughs of the cedars clothed in their ghostly
robe of moss. It struck upon Montezuma's tall shape, on his
distraught countenance and thin hands as he waved them to and fro
in his prophetic agony, on my glittering garments, and the terror-
stricken band of courtiers, and the musicians who had ceased from
their music. A little wind sprang up also, moaning sadly in the
mighty trees above and against the rocks of Chapoltepec. Never did
I witness a scene more strange or more pregnant with mystery and
the promise of unborn horror, than that of this great monarch
mourning over the downfall of his race and power. As yet no
misfortune had befallen the one or the other, and still he knew
that both were doomed, and these words of lamentation burst from a
heart broken by a grief of which the shadow only lay upon it.
But the wonders of that night were not yet done with.
When Montezuma had made an end of crying his prophecies, I asked
him humbly if I should summon to him the lords who were in
attendance on him, but who stood at some distance.
'Nay,' he answered, 'I will not have them see me thus with grief
and terror upon my face. Whoever fears, at least I must seem
brave. Walk with me a while, Teule, and if it is in your mind to
murder me I shall not grieve.'
I made no answer, but followed him as he led the way down the
darkest of the winding paths that run between the cedar trees,
where it would have been easy for me to kill him if I wished, but I
could not see how I should be advantaged by the deed; also though I
knew that Montezuma was my enemy, my heart shrank from the thought
of murder. For a mile or more he walked on without speaking, now
beneath the shadow of the trees, and now through open spaces of
garden planted with lovely flowers, till at last we came to the
gates of the place where the royal dead are laid to rest. Now in
front of these gates was an open space of turf on which the
moonlight shone brightly, and in the centre of this space lay
something white, shaped like a woman. Here Montezuma halted and
looked at the gates, then said:
'These gates opened four days since for Papantzin, my sister; how
long, I wonder, will pass before they open for me?'
As he spoke, the white shape upon the grass which I had seen and he
had not seen, stirred like an awakening sleeper. As the snow shape
upon the mountain had stirred, so this shape stirred; as it had
arisen, so this one arose; as it threw its arms upwards, so this
one threw up her arms. Now Montezuma saw and stood still
trembling, and I trembled also.
Then the woman--for it was a woman--advanced slowly towards us, and
as she came we saw that she was draped in graveclothes. Presently
she lifted her head and the moonlight fell full upon her face. Now
Montezuma groaned aloud and I groaned, for we saw that the face was
the thin pale face of the princess Papantzin--Papantzin who had
lain four days in the grave. On she came toward us, gliding like
one who walks in her sleep, till she stopped before the bush in the
shadow of which we stood. Now Papantzin, or the ghost of
Papantzin, looked at us with blind eyes, that is with eyes that
were open and yet did not seem to see.
'Are you there, Montezuma, my brother?' she said in the voice of
Papantzin; 'surely I feel your presence though I cannot see you.'
Now Montezuma stepped from the shadow and stood face to face with
the dead.
'Who are you?' he said, 'who wear the shape of one dead and are
dressed in the garments of the dead?'
'I am Papantzin,' she answered, 'and I am risen out of death to
bring you a message, Montezuma, my brother.'
'What message do you bring me?' he asked hoarsely.
'I bring you a message of doom, my brother. Your empire shall fall
and soon you shall be accompanied to death by tens of thousands of
your people. For four days I have lived among the dead, and there
I have seen your false gods which are devils. There also I have
seen the priests that served them, and many of those who worshipped
them plunged into torment unutterable. Because of the worship of
these demon gods the people of Anahuac is destined to destruction.'
'Have you no word of comfort for me, Papantzin, my sister?' he
asked.
'None,' she answered. 'Perchance if you abandon the worship of the
false gods you may save your soul; your life you cannot save, nor
the lives of your people.'
Then she turned and passed away into the shadow of the trees; I
heard her graveclothes sweep upon the grass.
Now a fury seized Montezuma and he raved aloud, saying:
'Curses on you, Papantzin, my sister! Why then do you come back
from the dead to bring me such evil tidings? Had you brought hope
with you, had you shown a way of escape, then I would have welcomed
you. May you go back into darkness and may the earth lie heavy on
your heart for ever. As for my gods, my fathers worshipped them
and I will worship them till the end; ay, if they desert me, at
least I will never desert them. The gods are angry because the
sacrifices are few upon their altars, henceforth they shall be
doubled; ay, the priests of the gods shall themselves be sacrificed
because they neglect their worship.'
Thus he raved on, after the fashion of a weak man maddened with
terror, while his nobles and attendants who had followed him at a
distance, clustered about him, fearful and wondering. At length
there came an end, for tearing with his thin hands at his royal
robes and at his hair and beard, Montezuma fell and writhed in a
fit upon the ground.
Then they carried him into the palace and none saw him for three
days and nights. But he made no idle threat as to the sacrifices,
for from that night forward they were doubled throughout the land.
Already the shadow of the Cross lay deep upon the altars of
Anahuac, but still the smoke of their offerings went up to heaven
and the cry of the captives rang round the teocallis. The hour of
the demon gods was upon them indeed, but now they reaped their last
red harvest, and it was rich.
Now I, Thomas Wingfield, saw these portents with my own eyes, but I
cannot say whether they were indeed warnings sent from heaven or
illusions springing from the accidents of nature. The land was
terror-struck, and it may happen that the minds of men thus smitten
can find a dismal meaning in omens which otherwise had passed
unnoticed. That Papantzin rose from the dead is true, though
perhaps she only swooned and never really died. At the least she
did not go back there for a while, for though I never saw her
again, it is said that she lived to become a Christian and told
strange tales of what she had seen in the land of Death.*
* For the history of the resurrection of Papantzin, see note to
Jourdanet's translation of Sahagun, page 870.--AUTHOR.
