Page:The Mastering of Mexico.djvu/191

Rh the land produced was served, and from time to time they brought him cacao frothed in cups of pure gold.

The monarch was served at dinner after this manner:—The chair on which he sat was rather low, but beautifully carved and cushioned. The table, also low, was covered with a white cloth and napkin. Four very neat and beautiful women first brought water in a sort of pitcher for his hands, and then they held basins below to catch the water and presented him towels to dry his hands. Two other women brought maize bread—served as was all his food on red or black Cholulan earthenware—and as soon as he began to eat they placed before him a gold-painted screen so that no one might watch him eating. Four elderly caciques, however, came in, and with these Montezuma conversed from time to time. Sometimes he would favor them by giving them a plate of what tasted best to him, but they ate standing with veneration and not looking at his face. These grey-haired elders, we learned, were his nearest of kin and counsellors and chief justices. While the monarch was at table the men on guard in the halls never spoke aloud nor made any kind of noise.

Sometimes during his dining he would have in deformed persons very small of stature, who jested and went through antics for his amusement; and at other times buffoons to enliven him with their witty sayings; and then again dancers and singers, for