Page:Stone of the Sun.djvu/73

 number 9; the characters of the tonalámatl known as the quecholli or acompañados de la noche close in that period a complete round, since in the last day there are superposed two characters in accordance with the invariable practice of the arrangers of that book. The same result is not secured at the end of 104 years, because in 37,960 days seven quecholli remain, it being necessary that this cycle repeat itself four times in order that the important and mysterious nocturnal characters should combine with the diurnal in a harmonious manner. And this is a new confirmation of the special importance which the Indians attributed to the great period; in it, all the chronological elements combined:

New we may understand why the cycle of 416 years is found repeatedly stamped upon the relief. Although the movements of the sun and Venus are adjusted every 104 years, that is to say, the planet finds itself then in the same relative position to the principal star (for example, at the beginning of its heliacal as the morning or in the first day of its apparition as evening star); on the other hand, the calendars of the one and the other celestial body are not rigorously equal, just as also they are equal each eight years; it being necessary that 416 (260 Venus) years shall pass for initiating themselves with Cipactli on the same day and with the numeral 1, the two bodies occupying the same relative position as they had before in the firmament. This is the reason why the sign Cipactli appears in the heel strap of the so-called piernas colosales (“colossal legs") of Tula, two pairs of which monoliths present eight knots or tyings, that is to say, precisely 416 years, since each tying has the value 52. The heel strap symbolizes the support, the basis of the entire cyclical edifice, the initial character of which is Cipactli at the same time the “lords of the night” close a complete round, and the tonalámatl finds itself exactly contained (584 times) in the period.

Admirable combination of observations, which prove no less patience and perspicacity than knowledge and genius in the people who made the basis of their chronology from such phenomenon.