The Fair God; or, The Last of the 'Tzins: A Tale of the Conquest of Mexico

y around the idol, before which they bowed. Then he took a light from the altar, and conducted them

a considerable distance; nevertheless, they submitted themselves entirely to their guide, who went forward without hesitancy. At last he stopp

begun, with chambers to lie under the bed of the lake? Especially, do you not remember the declaration that, in some of those chambers,

r it," sai

, and I will show yo

stepped into the

ing under the eastern

OF SANDA

and they followed h

re in one of the chambers m

apartment. He would have thought it a great natural cavern but for the floor smoothly paved with alte

are rooms through which we might go till, in stormy weath

time they a

f a king, is your heart str

a made n

flashed to where, in prouder state, your pyramids rise. You never thought the gray pile yo

ght so, I nev

did not notice

not on their especial glories, which as frequently lie in the earth and sea as in the air and heavens. O mighty king! You crush the worm under your sandal, never thi

s!" said

ock the mines and visited valleys with

dreamin

hen; let

before a great, arched doorway, throu

your souls

and could see only the floor covered with grains of gold large a

ed that a god had been here. Look up, O king!

of flowers, wrought in gold, some of them large as shields, and garnished with jewels that burned with star-like fires. Between the columns, up and down ran rows of brazen tables, bearing urns and vases of the royal metals, higher than tall men, and carved all over with gods in bas-relief, not as hideous caricatures, but beautiful as love and Grecian skill could make them. Between the vases and urns there were heaps of rubies and pearls and brilliants, among

king, before you were born. And here is the wealth of which I spoke. If it so confounds you, how much more will the other mystery! I ha

bloodless, and it had now

pire is at hand, and that every wind of the earth is full sown

tyle, were hierograms and sculptured pictures of men, executed apparently by the same hand that chiselled the statues in the room. The g

"which begins here, and continues around th

his hand, and th

s followers. The letters record the time of the march from the north. Obs

le, they moved on

See, he stands with lifted javelin, his foot on the breast of a prostrate foe. His follower

before the

n the midst of his warriors; no doubt the crown he i

use, sufficiently identified the wanderers. Greatly was the royal inspector troubled. And as the paba slowly conducted him from panel to panel, he forgot the treasure with which the chamber was stored. What he read was the story of his race, the record

t panel on the south

ing on the western wall will commence a third. Here the king stands on a rock; a priest points him to an eag

ba pas

palaces. The king reclines on a

e it is before an altar, offering a sacrifice of fruits and flowers. It is Quetzal'! In

g time. Some distance on, the figure again appeared, stepping into a canoe, while the people, temples, and palaces of the city were behin

was illustrative of some incident memorable in the Aztecan history. And the reviewers w

eps of a temple. Montezuma paused before it amazed, and Guatamozin for the fir

ezuma's head. In the third cartoon, he was with the army, going to battle. In the f

Mualox; "but you have not yet forgotten the gladness of your first conquest. Here

rtoon there was an additional figure crowned and in nequen. When

g of all this: here

slave the number of ci

hile, and rep

ehind us, all the writing is of the past; this is Montezuma and Tenochtitlan as they are: the present is before us! Could the hand that set this chamber and carved these

to comprehend the writing, and thrill with fast-co

hing that the sculptors and jewellers in my palace cannot do. Would you h

above him a canopy; his nobles and the women of his household around him; at h

or prophecy,-beho

ing," repli

-morrow? Since it was ordered, could you

narch's face s

saw yourself, your people an

ger on the representation o

g with a curse. All you have heard about his promise to return is true. He himself has written the very day, and here it is.

ands high, but exquisitely wrought. With ter

ed. I said I would give you t

ualox: I

! In the last day he will seek to stay my vengeance; he will call together his people; there will be combat in Te

appy monarch. "No, no!

other; this

y passed, and interpreted. Now the king turned to the norther

-morrow, but it will be as

tzal' finished this chapter, his task was done; he had recorded the last day of perfect glory, and ceased to write because,

shook wi

morrow,-comes not during the celebration,-I swear to level this temple, and let the lake

m the splendid chamber up to the azoteas of the ancient house. As t