Teja

“ With these words he closed the gates, without any regard to the large masses of people still outside.
An attempt of Hildebad to enter the camp without more ado was frustrated by the strong oaken palisades, which defied the spears and stones hurled at them.
Leaning on his sword, Hildebad cooled himself for a moment. Just then Teja, who, like the King and Totila, had long since dismounted, turned the corner of the wall, which he had been examining and measuring.
"This confounded wooden fortress!" cried Hildebad, as Teja came up. "Neither stone nor iron can do any good here." ”

“ Thou wilt surely renew the kingdom. Three victories call upon thee to take up the struggle. Remember thine oath. We are not yet defenceless. Shall we lay down our weapons? Shall we submit to treachery and tricks?"
"No," cried Totila, "that we will not. And it is well done to choose a king, as a sign of renewed hope. But here stands Earl Teja, worthier than I, of proved experience. Choose Teja!"
"No," said Teja, shaking his head, "it is thy turn first! Thy dying brother has sent thee this sword and crown. Wear them happily! If the kingdom can be saved, it is thou who canst save it ”

“ Exeunt the watchers.
(Bishop lets go the hands of the bridal pair, and turns back to Amalaberga.)
(Teja stands gloomy and brooding. Balthilda casts a shy imploring look around her. Painful silence.)
Ildibad (softly) .
Now must thou say something, King, to welcome thy young wife.
Teja (softly) .
Must I? (Taking one of the choir-boys by the nape of the neck.) Not so vehemently, boy; the smoke cometh up into our nostrils. What dost thou when thou wieldest not thy censer?
Boy.
I wield my sword, King.
Teja.
That is right. But make ye haste with wielding the sword, or ye may easily be too late. ”

“ Then followed, stretched upon his last shield, the spear of Cethegus still sticking in his breast, without helmet, his noble and pallid face framed by his long black locks--King Teja, covered with a purple mantle, and carried by four warriors. Behind him came Adalgoth and Gotho, and Adalgoth, softly striking his harp, sang in a low voice:
"Give place, ye peoples, to our march:
The doom of the Goths is sped!
No crown, no sceptre carry we,
We bear the noble dead. ”

“ And again I shall carry the shield and spear of my master, the King with the eagle eyes. And thus we shall live for all eternity in light and joy, the earth below and all its woes forgotten."
"A fine poem, old heathen!" said Totila, with a smile. "But if all this can no longer console us for actual and heart-rending suffering? Speak thou also, Teja, thou gloomy guest. What is thy opinion of our sorrows? Thy sword never fails us; why dost thou withhold thy words? What makes thy comforting harp dumb, thou singer of singers?" ”

“ They remained in the region more than six months, going southeastward down the river for 50 leagues, visiting the Cuitoas, Escanjaques, and Aijaos, and finally the Tejas. During their journey the party traversed, from north to south, a distance of 250 leagues, or, according to Posadas, from the latitude of Santa Fé in 37° to that of the Tejas in 28°. ”

“ Nearly eighty years after De Soto’s visit, on the borderline between tradition and history, came the ministration of Mother Maria de Jesus de Agreda, “the angel in blue,” teaching the Tejas tribes the Christian religion, in 1620. So great was the influence of this saintly woman that in 1690 the chief of the Tejas told Massanet that they wished to do as she had done, and even wanted to be buried in blue garments.
The first definite description of Nacogdoches and its aboriginal population is in the account of LaSalle’s visit here in 1685. ”

“ Interrogation is expressed by the letter e after the verb;—japtû pôé? are you a father? po being the verb. Negation is expressed by ojua, if it stands for 'no' alone, but if it is joined to a verb it is expressed by ajâm following the verb, and if the verb ends with a vowel, by yajâm. The Tejano is divided into several dialects which vary chiefly in the different pronunciation of some words: as for che they say chi, or so for se, cue instead of co, etc. The following soul-winning dogma with the translation is given as a specimen of the language. ”

“ It was necessary to rush back and commence a violent and acrimonious dispute as to Page 30whether the letter of the contract had been fulfilled and the mules had gone “as far as they could reasonably be expected to go.” The truth was, the Tejadas were terrified at approaching mysterious Coropuna. They were sure it would take revenge on them by destroying their mules, who would “certainly die the following day of soroche.” We offered a bonus of thirty soles—fifteen dollars—if they would go on for another hour, and threatened them with all sorts of things if they would not. ”

“ They usually call these people Teyas or brave men, just as the Mexicans say chichimecas or braves, [491] for the Teyas whom the army saw were brave. These knew the people in the settlements, and were friendly with them, and they (the Teyas of the plains) went there to spend the winter under the wings of the settlements. The inhabitants do not dare to let them come inside, because they can not trust them. Although they are received as friends, and trade with them, they do not stay in the villages over night, but outside under the wings. ”

“ We encamped among the bones of the dead; no space could be found free from them; and on the 23d, at six in the morning, full of horror at this miserable spectacle, we set out for Teawa: this was the seventh day from Ras el Feel. After an hour's travelling we came to a small river, which still had water standing in some considerable pools, although its banks were perfectly destitute of any kind of shade.
At three quarters after seven in the evening we arrived at Teawa, the principal village and residence of the Shekh of Atbara, between three and four miles from the ruins of Garigana. ”

“ The people are of almost the same sort and appearance as the Teyas. They have villages like those in New Spain. The houses are round, without a wall, and they have one story like a loft, under the roof, where they sleep and keep their belongings. The roofs
Zuñi court, showing 'balcony' are of straw. ”

“ Teig said afterwards, that of all the wonderful things he saw that night, that was the most awful to him. His hair stood upright on his head like the bristles of a pig, the cold sweat ran off his face, and then came a tremour over all his bones, until he thought that he must fall.
But after a while he became bolder, when he saw that the second corpse remained lying quietly there, and he threw in the clay on it again, and he smoothed it overhead and he laid down the flags carefully as they had been before. "It can't be that he'll rise up any more," said he. ”

“ Teig could not answer him.
"Teig O'Kane," says he, "the third time, isn't it lucky and timely that we met you?"
But Teig remained silent, for he was afraid to return an answer, and his tongue was as if it was tied to the roof of his mouth.
The little grey man turned to his companions, and there was joy in his bright little eye. "And now," says he, "Teig O'Kane hasn't a word, we can do with him what we please. Teig, Teig," says he, "you're living a bad life, and we can make a slave of you now, and you cannot [Pg 71] withstand us, for there's no use in trying to go against us. Lift that corpse." ”

“ The wee man clapped it on his head, crying:
"I wish I was in Spain!" and—whist—up the chimney he went, and away out of sight.
It happened just as I am telling it. Another wee man called for his cap, and away he went after the first. And then another and another until the room was empty and Teig sat alone again.
"By my soul," said Teig, "I'd like to thravel that way myself! It's a grand savin' of tickets an' baggage; an' ye get to a place before ye've had time to change your mind. Faith there is no harm done if I thry it." ”

“ Teig saw scores of them as he looked down the ditch of a street.
"What is the meanin' o' those shoes? " he asked the fairies.
"Ye poor lad!" answered the wee man next to him; "are ye not knowing anything? This is the Gift Night of the year, when every man gives to his neighbour."
A child came to the window of one of the houses, and in her hand was a lighted candle. She was singing as she put the light down close to the glass, and Teig caught the words:
"Open your door an' greet ye the stranger— For ye mind that the wee Lord had naught but a manger. Mhuire as truagh!" ”

“ It happened just before the time when we were dismissed for the day, and I found Teraji waiting for me. He told me that he wished to speak to me right after supper, and I knew at once that my sword would be required. So I hastened to Kanagawa, and had no difficulty in securing speech with you. After you had given me my swords, I told you to be at our yashiki here the next day, and returned to the yadoya, where I found Teraji, standing motionless in the shadow of a house. ”

“ A slope formed at the base of a cliff by material falling from above. Tanos (táh-nos) . Applied to various groups of people who inhabited the country east of the Rio Grande south of the San Ildefonso-Tesuque Tewa region. Tewa (tay-wa) . Language spoken by certain Pueblo Indians; they are: San Ildefonso, Nambe, Tesuque, Santa Clara and San Juan. tewatu (tay-wa-too) . “Tewa beans”; pinto beans. Tiguex (tee-wesh) . Province of prehistoric Indian villages on the banks of the Rio Grande between Bernalillo and Albuquerque, a distance of about seventeen miles. ”

“ We had starved and grown lean in the hills. Now we ate and slept. At such a time a warrior grows sluggish and his wits become dull and the sight of a shapely woman is not unwelcome.
This is the tale. There be few to tell it, for many in Khanjut died quickly and went to paradise or to the devil, after the coming of Krishna Taya.
The days had became still and the warmth of the sun tranquil, as Autumn spread. its arms over the hills of Badakshan. The sheep from the hills were pasturing in the valley as Jani Beg, in his camp at Balkh, sought out the tent of Krishna Taya. ”

“ He was thereupon put in chains, and the company continued its arduous march with guides whom the Teyas supplied. Scarcity of water was the greatest privation they suffered. Intense thirst afflicted man and beast, and buffalo meat was all they had with which to appease their hunger, for the supplies of maize were exhausted.
The Teyas advised Coronado to return; they assured him that nearly forty days’ march would still be required to reach Quivira, and that the scarcity of water and of vegetable food would destroy his little army on the way. ”

“ Teig was filled with a great wonderment, entirely, when he saw the fairies, but when they saw him they laughed.
"We are takin' the loan o' your cabin this night, Teig," said they. "Ye are the only man hereabout with an empty hearth, an' we're needin' one."
Without saying more, they bustled about the room making ready. They lengthened out the table and spread and set it; more of the Good People trooped in, bringing stools and food and drink. The pipers came last, and they sat themselves around the chimney-piece a-blowing their chanters and trying the drones. ”

“ Some of the Tewa have told me that in their folktales their people did not emerge from the same sípapû as the Hopi, but from a sípapû to the east. Although some of the priests say that all people came from the middle of the earth, from one sípapû, others believe that each pueblo has its own ancestral geographical opening. The idea has been localized by environment, as is so often the case with modified legends. ”

“ Would it not be more likely that the so-called “little strong people” might have feared attacks during the night by the Keres to the south who had been driven from their Canyon homes? Tyuonyi was “the oasis of the Pajarito” and the Tewas did not intend to be driven from their fertile valley. Some lurking band could have crept over the south cliff when all was quiet—while Tewas were resting peacefully below. And the attackers were quiet too, with their moccasined feet, like the mountain lion which creeps upon a fawn. A falling rock or the crackling of a dead branch would be a dead give-away. ”

“ Even King Gorilla could not refrain from saying, "Well! my little fellow! what do you want?" Telinga replied, "Your Majesty, did not you send word to all the Tribes that any one might compete?" "Yes, I did," he answered. And Telinga said, "Then I, Telinga, small as I am, I shall try." The King replied, "I will keep my royal word. You may try." "But, Your Majesty," asked Telinga, "is it required that the barrel must be drank at one draught? May I not, between each mouthful, take a very short rest out in the grass?" ”

“ Trejago knew far too much about these things, as I have said. No Englishman should be able to translate object-letters. But Trejago spread all the trifles on the lid of his office-box and began to puzzle them out.
A broken glass-bangle stands for a Hindu widow all India over; because, when her husband dies, a woman's bracelets are broken on her wrists. Trejago saw the meaning of the little bit of the glass. ”

“ These village settlements extended for three days. This was called Cona. Some Teyas, [79] as these people are called, went with the army from here and traveled as far as the end of the other settlements with their packs of dogs and women and children, and then they gave them guides to proceed to a large ravine where the army was. They did not let these guides speak with the Turk, and did not receive the same statements from these as they had from the others. These said that Quivira was toward the north, and that we would not find any good road thither. After this they began to believe Ysopete. ”