Nezahualcoyotl

“ One hundred years of successful government had made the Aztecs proud. Their enemies feared them. Surrounding nations sought their friendship for the sake of peace. The great house of Texcuco had allied itself with their king in marriage. Mingled in the veins of Montezuma with the savage blood of the worshippers of Huitzilopochtli, the terrible god of war, was a gentler strain of the delicate culture of the family of Nezahualcoyotl. ”

“ Who then would be his successor? "The gods," cried the priests, "must have victims ere you can have a son!" The king consented, but all in vain did the blood of slaughtered captives stain the altars of the gods. Never again did Nezahualcoyotl swerve from his enlightened faith. "These idols of wood and stone can neither hear nor feel," he solemnly declared, "much less could they make the heavens and the earth, and man, the lord of it. These must be the work of the all-powerful, unknown God, creator of the universe, on whom alone I must rely." ”

“ They were a great deal older than Nezahualpilli, and could not endure the thought of being reigned over by one so young. So they excited a rebellion. And here the meaner traits of Nezahualcoyotl showed themselves strongly in the son. Even as his father had caused the death of a brave captain, to gratify his lust, so did Nezahualpilli destroy one of his most valiant officers to save his own miserable life. The enemy had found out what armor the king would wear, and the rebel general had directed his men to seek out and capture or kill the wearer of this armor. ”

“ Nezahualcoyotl died in 1472. It was nearly half a century since he had rescued his throne from the usurper. He had raised his kingdom from the anarchy in which he found it to a brilliant station, and saw it, at the close of his life, growing stronger and going farther in the path of advanced civilization. ”

“ The narrative is based upon the Tezcucan historian, Ixtlilxochitl's, brief account of the overthrow of his ancestral government by Tezozomoc, the Tepanec king, in 1418; and its restoration, under Prince Nezahualcoyotl, eight or ten years later.
The wonderful experience of Nezahualcoyotl—Hungry Fox— (abbreviated, for convenience, to 'Hualcoyotl) is made the nucleus around which the story is woven. ”

“ Some two leagues distant, at Tezcotzinco, was the favourite residence of the sovereign; on a hill, “laid out in terraces, or hanging-gardens, having a flight of five hundred and twenty steps, many of them hewn in the natural porphyry. In the garden on the summit was a reservoir of water, fed by an aqueduct carried over hill and valley for several miles on huge buttresses of masonry. A large rock stood in the midst of this basin, sculptured with hieroglyphics representing the years of Nezahualcoyotl’s reign, and his principal achievements in each. ”

“ In the reign of Nezahualpilli, the son of Nezahualcoyotl, who were accounted the two wisest kings of Tezcuco, a suit sprang up between a rich and powerful noble and a poor man of the people. The judge decided against the poor man, who thereby lost what little he had, and was in danger of having to sell himself as a slave to procure subsistence for his family. ”

“ Nezahualcoyotl should be killed, if possible, during his funeral exercises, when he would probably be present. He died in 1427, naming Tayauh, one of his sons, as his successor on the Tepanec and Chichimec thrones, and charging him, after the Acolhua prince's death, to strive by every means in his power to make friends among his vassal lords, and to avoid all harsh measures. Maxtla, another son, seems to have had more ability and experience than his brother, but his father feared the consequence of his hasty temper and arbitrary manner, by which he had already made a multitude of enemies. ”

“ To this learned writer, Ixtlilxochitl, we owe these valuable remains of the monarch, and to the fact that he was his descendant, doubtless, is due the favorable picture that is drawn of this king.
We are told that Nezahualcoyotl delighted in the study of nature, and became a fair astronomer by studying the heavens. Such plants and animals as he could not keep alive at his court he caused paintings to be made of, by skilled native artists. These were seen by a learned Spanish naturalist, after the Conquest, who declared they were true to the life. ”

“ Restored to the throne of his fathers, Nezahualcoyotl allied himself with Mexico, and with the assistance of its monarch completely routed the remaining force of Maxtla, who was seized in the baths of Azcapozalco, haled forth and sacrificed, and his city destroyed. ”

“ A remarkable native development of Mexican theism must be admitted, in so far as we may receive the native historian Ixtlilxochitl’s account of the worship paid by Nezahualcoyotl, the poet king of Tezcuco, to the invisible supreme Tloque Nahuaque, he who has all in him, the cause of causes, in whose star-roofed pyramid stood no idol, and who there received no bloody sacrifice, but only flowers and incense. ”

“ On the death of their king, the Mexicans raised to the throne Itzcoatl, a son of their first monarch, Acamapitzin, a brave, prudent, and just prince. This choice was offensive to Maxtlaton,—but to Nezahualcoyotl, on the contrary, it afforded the highest satisfaction. The new monarch, immediately on his elevation to the throne, resolved to unite all his forces with this prince against the tyrant Maxtlaton. On a certain occasion, he sent an ambassador to Nezahualcoyotl, named Montezuma, who, with another nobleman, was taken captive on the way, and carried to Chalco. ”

“ Most of the chiefs of the regions round about were, from policy, allied to the usurper, but the dethroned prince had friends, and the party on his side grew large as the tyranny of Maxtla and his oppressions caused defections among his followers. When the time came for a general rising, Nezahualcoyotl found himself at the head of a courageous band which gained in size and strength, until it seemed safe to attack the regular forces of Maxtla. In the battle which took place the tyrant was routed, and the true prince triumphant. ”

“ Sullenly the boy replied, "It is the king's wood, and death is the punishment for trespass."
"What kind of man is your king?" asked Nezahualcoyotl curiously.
"A very hard man," grumbled the boy, "who denies his people what God has given them."
What was the dismay of the boy when he was summoned next day to the palace and confronted with his monarch in whom he at once recognised the curious stranger! He soon found he had no cause to fear. Rewarding him for his honesty, the king declared that he intended henceforth to alter the severity of his forest laws. ”

“ The reign of Nezahualcoyotl is the most glorious period of the kingdom of Texcuco, and of all the kingdoms of Anahuac.
Its splendors have been confounded with those of the Aztec Court, and, as we see in the names now given to the ruins of the king's garden, even the name of the Montezumas is mixed up with the Texcucan annals. It is well, however, to keep the different dynasties distinct, in order to understand, when we come to the Conquest, the various parts these distinct peoples played in that exciting drama. ”

“ In the early part of the fifteenth century, nearly a hundred years from the foundation of the city, an event took place which created an entire revolution in the circumstances and, to some extent, in the character of the Aztecs. This was the subversion of the Tezcucan monarchy by the Tepanecs, already noticed. When the oppressive conduct of the victors had at length aroused a spirit of resistance, its prince, Nezahualcoyotl, succeeded, after incredible perils and escapes, in mustering such a force as, with the aid of the Mexicans, placed him on a level with his enemies. ”

“ Yet as a legend it retains its charm; and as history the graceful fabric need not be utterly destroyed while the monuments at Texcuco and the manuscripts of Nezahualcoyotl attest the existence of such a king and such a court. Until the diligent research of those explorers who are now busy in searching for the facts of early Mexican history, have fully established them, we may enjoy the tale of past magnificence upon the plateau of Anahuac. ”

“ Thus Tezcuco became the center of the education, science, and art of Anahuac, and was at this time the head of the three allied kingdoms. Nezahualcoyotl greatly encouraged agriculture, as well as all the productive arts. The royal palace and the edifices of the nobles were magnificent buildings, and were upon an enormous scale, the Spaniards acknowledging that they surpassed any buildings in their own country. ”

“ Nezahualcoyotl is said to have erected a temple to the Unknown God, and to have shown a marked preference for the worship of one deity. In one of his poems he is credited with expressing the following exalted sentiments: “Let us aspire to that heaven where all is eternal, and corruption cannot come. The horrors of the tomb are the cradle of the sun, and the dark shadows of death are brilliant lights for the stars.” ”

“ Tezcuco was taken possession of by Nezahualcoyotl as his ancient inheritance, and his confederate Itzcoatl placed the crown on his head. Together they made war north and south. Xochimilco, on the lake next south of Mexico, yielded; and the people of Chalco, which was on the most southern of the string of lakes, revolted and were suppressed more than once, as opportunities offered. The confederates crossed the ridge that formed the southern bound of the Mexican valley and sacked Quauhnahuac. ”

“ The remains of some of the works of the departed emperor still exist, near Tezcoco, in the limits of the city that yet bears its name. A few miles distant from the ancient city are the ruins of Tezcosingo, the pleasure retreat of Nezahualcoyotl and his son. There is there a reservoir hollowed from solid rock, near which is a stone bench or seat, and into which a pipe once conducted water from an aqueduct. ”

“ The allied army sallied forth to the encounter, but was driven back, and the city of Tenochtitlan was about to fall into the hands of Maxtla, when the three chiefs, Nezahualcoyotl, Itzcoatl and Motecuhzoma, followed by their bravest warriors, plunged into the thickest of the fray, and by the fury of their attack caused the Tepanecs to flee with all haste. ”

“ Nezahualpilli is said to have inherited all the good qualities of his father. Like Nezahualcoyotl he was a patron of the arts and sciences, but is reported to have given his chief attention to astrology, passing many nights in reading the stars from a lofty observatory erected for the purpose in the grounds of his palace. Sorcerers and magicians were always welcome at his court, whither they were often summoned both to advise the monarch on affairs of state and to impart to him a knowledge of their arts. ”

“ The Mexicans [391] began to find their condition critical; Maxtla expected to be at an early date in possession of the Aztec strongholds, and deferred until after such success all offensive operations against Nezahualcoyotl; the besieged Aztecs naturally looked towards the Acolhua prince for assistance against their common foe. Here the national prejudices of the original native authorities, followed by Spanish writers, begin to appear in the historic annals. ”

“ Torquemada, i. 235-6. This smacks of an elaboration of the Quetzalcoatl promise. Nezahualcoyotl, the wise Tezcucan monarch, who died in 1472, left poems in which chroniclers have discovered vague allusions to a coming race. The reader may, perhaps, be equally fortunate if he examine the specimens of his poems given in Native Races, ii. 494-7. His son Nezahualpilli, equally celebrated as a just king and a philosopher, versed in the occult arts, revealed to Montezuma that, according to his astrologic investigations, their towns would within a few years be destroyed and their vassals decimated. ”

“ The most curious of all the vestiges of Nezahualcoyotl's garden is a round reservoir for water at an elevation of eighty or one hundred feet. It is about five feet across and three feet deep. Channels led from it in all directions to water and refresh the terrace-gardens below.
The country all about is full of artificial embankments, reservoirs and aqueducts for leading water about, and developing the attractions of the place. ”

“ While Nezahualcoyotl was still residing in Mexico, a desperate attempt was made to retrieve the defeat at Azcapuzalco, by Coyuhuacan, the strongest of the remaining Tepanec provinces. The rulers of this province applied for aid to all the lords in the region, picturing the danger that hung over all from the Aztec power and ambition; but for some reason, probably fear of the new alliance, all refused to take part in the war, and the Tepanecs were left to fight their own battles. They began by robbing and insulting Mexican market-women visiting their city for purposes of trade ”

“ But since fighting and conquest had ceased, such victims were exceedingly scarce. Nezahualcoyotl would allow none but prisoners of war to be sacrificed in his dominions, arguing that such forfeited their lives by being defeated, and that it made but little difference to them whether they died on the field of battle or on the sacrificial altar. Moreover, only strong soldiers were believed to be acceptable to the gods in such an emergency; the sickly and famishing plebeians and slaves could not by their worthless lives avert the divine wrath. ”

“ An ode, still extant, of Nezahualcoyotl, in its Castilian version, bears testimony to the singular union of the three powers. "The people will remember only the good deeds of the three-headed government that ennobled the Empire.”—Cantares del Emperador. Nezahualcoyotl, MS.
Page 18 (1) .—See the plans of the ancient and modern capital, in Bullock's Mexico, first edition. The original of the ancient map was obtained by that traveller from the collection of the unfortunate Boturini: if, as seems probable, it is the one indicated on page 13 of his Catalogue, I find no warrant for Mr. ”