Page:Young Folks History Of Mexico.pdf/163

 Rh (see Chap. II.). His image was carved from teotl (divine stone), like polished black marble; it was ornamented with gold and gems. Stone seats were placed at the corners of the streets for that god to rest on when he came to earth.

Huitzilopochtli, or Mexitli, was the god of war, the "Mexican Mars." He was the deity most highly honored by the Aztecs, to whom they offered most of the terrible sacrifices spoken of in the preceding pages. By referring to the first migration of the Aztecs, you will see that he was created during that journey. He was said by some to have been born of a woman named Coatlicue, whose children prepared to kill her before this last child should be born. They were about putting her to death when Huitzilopochtli sprang at once into existence, fully armed, with a spear in his right hand, a shield on his left arm, a crest of green feathers on his head, and his legs adorned with feathers. He fell upon the would-be murderers with such fury that he soon killed them all; and after that he was known as the "terrible god." It was in his honor that the first temple of Tenochtitlan was built, at the foundation of the city, in 1325, after he had conducted his followers to the spot.

Ometencli and Omecihuatl were the names of a god and goddess who dwelt in a magnificent city in the heavens, from which they watched over the world and gave to mortals what they asked of them.

Cihuacohuatl, the woman serpent, was believed to have been the first woman in the world that had children, and she always had twins.

Tonatricli and Meztli were deifications of the sun and moon. The pyramids of Teotihuacan were dedicated to them; and of this place, and the primitive people once assembled there, they relate a pretty fable. It seems