Page:Mexico as it was and as it is.djvu/288

Rh It lies due east and west, and is ten feet six inches in length by five feet in breadth. The material is granite, and though the sculpture on the northern and upper sides is very faint, yet, on the side facing the south, it is quite as distinct as represented in the drawing. The dark shade B is a hollow, three inches deep at the sides, and six at the top and bottom. In looking at this stone one might imagine that it had been a pillar, thrown down accidentally on its side; but the exact east and west position—precisely in the centre of the group of tumuli—would seem to forbid such an idea. It is said, that all who sit or recline on this singular fragment are immediately seized with a fainting fit; and, although we had heard of this remarkable property of the relic, we forgot to test the truth of it.

Clavigero tells us, that in the principal temple of Teotihuacan there dwelt constantly four priests, who were remarkable for the virtue and austerity of their lives. Their dress was of the most ordinary stuffs, and their food was confined to a loaf of maize, weighing two ounces, and a cup of atollé or gruel of the same grain.

Every night two of these devotees kept watch—offering incense, singing hymns to the gods, and shedding their blood on the stones of the temple. Their fastings and vigils continued for four years, except during a monthly festival, when they were permitted to indulge in as much food as they desired; but, while preparing for this enjoyment, they were obliged to undergo additional mortifications. At the end of four years they retired from the temple, and an equal number supplied their places, to go through the same rites and sufferings—and, in honor thereof, to receive the same homage and respect both from the people and their sovereign.

But high as was the recompense of their virtues, the punishment of vice, or of a violation of chastity, was proportionably severe. If the crime was proved after strict investigation, the culprit was beaten to death—his body burned—and his ashes scattered to the winds.

There is a singular tradition in regard to the reappearance of the Sun and Moon after the regeneration and multiplication of the human race, which I will here recount to you.

Omecihuatl—the wife of the god Ometeuctli—after having borne many children in heaven, happened once to bring forth a knife of flint, which enraged offspring flung to earth—when lo! from its fragments, sprang seven hundred heroes! Immediately they petitioned their mother to give them power to create men for their servants. But she disdained to her children, and sent them to the god of Hell, who, she declared, would furnish them with a bone of one of the men who had perished in the final destruction of the races. This fragment she ordered them to