Tikal

“ On the whole I think that the architectural and artistic evidence supports the [341] early dates which appear on the stelæ, and I should place Tikal as perhaps the earliest Maya site of which we have definite knowledge, though it is evident that it was inhabited well on into later times when the Maya had become far more expert in stone-carving than when the first buildings were erected there. The neighbouring site of Naranjo bears certain similarities in plan to that of Tikal, and the reliefs are in very similar style. ”

“ We know that the worship of the sun was general with all the American tribes, and if at Tikal we call him the god of one particular race, it is owing to the details which surround him; both pyramids, temples, inscriptions, figures, and emblems particularise him, and give us the right to connect him with the religion of the Uplands and call him Toltec. ”

“ Zibalbay did not answer me, but, turning to the señor, he said:
“White Man, you have heard from your friend words that should touch you more deeply than any prayer. Will you still cling to your purpose, and take advantage of my daughter’s madness? If so, know that your triumph shall be short, for when, in some few hours, Tikal comes again, I will tell him all and give you over to his keeping to deal with as he wishes. Then Heaven help you, wanderer, for he is vengeful by nature, nor is that life likely to be long which bars the way between a ruler of men and the woman he would wed. ”

“ The arrival of the Toltecs in the south of Yucatan is thus placed beyond a doubt; but the explanation given of the abandonment of Chichen by its inhabitants is highly unsatisfactory. That exodus, produced by secondary causes, was determined by the still living tradition that establishments had been formed by their ancestors in the south of the peninsula, and that Tikal, which at that time was perhaps still standing, formed the chief centre. ”

“ In one way only has Tikal been able to pacify the tumult among the people, by declaring that the Lady Maya shall be produced before the Council of the Heart, in the Sanctuary of the Nameless god, upon the night of the Rising of Waters, being the first day when it is lawful for the Council to sit in the Sanctuary, and afterwards at dawn in the eyes of the whole city. The words of Zibalbay have taken a strange hold of the people, although they cried him down as he spoke them ”

“ The highest temples in the Mayan Area are those of Tikal that attain a total height of about 175 feet, counting pyramid and superstructure.
Massive Sculptural Art.
The decoration of Mayan buildings may be considered under three heads: first, interior decoration; second, façade decoration; third, supplementary monuments. In many temples at Yaxchilan, Tikal, etc., are found splendidly sculptured lintels of stone or wood. At Copan we see wall sculptures that adorn the entrance to the sanctuary and at Palenque finely sculptured tablets let into the rear wall of the sanctuary. ”

“ We know that the missionaries must have passed within twenty miles to the east of Tikál on their journeys between Tipu and Tayasal, that the Yucatan road on nearing the lake must have approached within the same distance to the south-west, and that Fray Antonio de Avendaño must have passed close by the site of the ruins when wandering through the forest from the neighbourhood of Tipu to Chuntuchí, but not one word has reached us from Spanish sources about the existence of a large and important centre of population and culture where the ruins of Tikál now stand. ”

“ Texts have been found carved on the wooden lintels of Tikal, molded in the stucco reliefs of Palenque, scratched on shells from Copan and Belize, etched on a bone from Wild Cane Key, British Honduras, engraved on metal from Chichen Itza, drawn on the plaster-covered walls of Kabah, Chichen Itza, and Uxmal, and painted in fiber-paper books. ”

“ At Palenque in the Cross Tablets we have the chief figures standing on dwarf crouching human forms. At Tikal, northeast of Lake Peten, a carved wooden lintel discovered by Mr. Maudslay depicts two figures standing on two crouching bodies which he believed to represent prisoners. Elsewhere in Mayan ruins the design prevails. Now in the Indian, Cambodian, and Javanese ruins recur again and again these crouching figures, acting as footstools for the chief personages of the sculpture. Sometimes they are human, sometimes apes or demons. ”

“ This weight is by the Burmese themselves called kyat, and is the hundredth part of the viss (q.v.) , being thus equivalent to about 11⁄4 rupee in value. The origin of the word tikāl is doubtful. Sir A. Phayre suggests that possibly it is a corruption of the Burmese words ta-kyat, "one kyat." On the other hand perhaps it is more probable that the word may have represented the Indian ṭakā (see TUCKA) . The word is also used by traders to Siam. But there likewise it is a foreign term; the Siamese word being bat. ”

“ Zibalbay might yet come back, and then——”
“Zibalbay will never come back, husband, or the Lady Maya either. They have perished in the wilderness long ago. For her I am sorry, because she was so lovely and different from other great ladies; but I do not grieve much for him, for he was a hard taskmaster to us common people; also he was stingy. Why, Tikal has given more feasts during the last ten months than Zibalbay gave in as many years; moreover, he has relaxed the laws so that we poor women may now wear ornaments like our betters;” ”

“ Tiki, who worshipped ‘the little maiden’ as if she were a divine being, and, when she spoke to him in his own tongue, replied invariably with a mixture of acquired politeness and native poetry, half comical, half grand to listen to, had made himself and me thoroughly uneasy about that taepo he had seen in Cazotl’s boat. With the wisdom of a savage, who, long accustomed to intertribal wars, knows almost intuitively when he is being tracked, if not why, Tiki had it firmly fastened in his mind that the people on the yacht ought to be watched. ”

“ The men, too, who work in the gardens or drive the henequen wagons wear nothing but the breech-cloth and soup-plate straw hats.
Ticul, which we reach in about three hours, is architecturally as uninteresting as are all these Yucatecan towns. It has an air of considerable prosperity, the majority of the houses being of stone, the flat-faced, flat-roofed type which is so monotonous in Spanish America. Its centre is a great plaza, a rambling square of grass, one side of which is occupied by the church and monastery. The church is a fine one as far as size goes, and is in good preservation. ”

“ Tickler to give him an account of how he came to be so comfortably situated. "Honestly, your excellency," replied Mr. Tickler, "though it cannot be said of me that I have faults as a critic, I confess to have weaknesses which are strong in the nature, as it is called; and these weaknesses run to making love, which is a passion with me."
"Pray, sir," interrupted the general, with a nod, "remember that men of your profession cannot lay exclusive claim to this, for it is common to the soldier, and indeed the very best proof of his gallantry." ”

“ Tiki-pu looked after the blinds, and mended the paper window-panes, which were often broken when the apprentices threw their brushes and mahl-sticks at him. Also he strained rice-paper over the linen-stretchers, ready for the painters to work on; and for a treat, now and then, a lazy one would allow him to mix a colour for him. Then it was that Tiki-pu's soul came down into his finger-tips, and his heart beat so that he gasped for joy. ”

“ And as they were pursuing their journey to Philadelphia, Tickler turned to the general, saying:
"Though I may have violated the laws of friendship in this little matter between me and my landlady, I at least breathe freer, and know that I am an honest man. But! heaven save me, sir, if we should get shivered to splinters on this road, (which I am told is one celebrated for the dexterity with which it performs such acts,) what would be said of me by my enemies, for I have enough, and many of them are as good critics as can be found!" ”

“ One nice globe-trotting old lady, anxious, like me, to conciliate the natives, was having a cup of chocolate at Peliti's, and she insisted on sending out to see if the tikka-gharry wallah would like a cup!
A tikka-gharry is a thing like a victoria, hired by the hour. There are first, second, and third class tikka-gharries. The first class have two horses, the second one horse, and the third is closed, and, having no springs, is a terrible vehicle indeed. ”

“ There are about a thousand fighting men; the people are perpetually at feud; the country is very easily accessible from British territory.
Tikari is a valley lying to the south of Nandihar, and between it and Agror in British territory. It is about eight miles long, four broad, and lies at an elevation of about 4500 feet. There are only some 400 fighting men. Supplies in Tikari are plentiful, with the exception of fuel, and water is abundant. The men of Tikari have not been troublesome neighbours. ”

“ During the whole time of our residence at Uxmal, and until my forced visit to Ticul, and fortunate intimacy with the cura Carillo, I had not even heard of the existence of such a place. It was absolutely unknown; and the Indians who guided us having conducted us to these buildings, of all the rest seemed as ignorant as ourselves. They told us, in fact, that these were all; but we could not believe them; we felt confident that more lay buried in the woods, and, tempted by the variety and novelty of what we saw, we determined not to go away until we had discovered all. ”

“ Pope wrote bitterly of Cato's little senate at Button's, and said there had been underhand dealing in the writing of Tickell's version: ‘Tickell himself, who is a very fair man, has since, in a manner, as good as owned it to me.’ Years afterwards, in the dedication of the ‘Drummer’ to Congreve (1722) , Steele, who was then annoyed with Tickell, spoke of him as ‘the reputed translator of the first book of “Homer;”’ but the Tickell papers prove that without doubt Tickell really wrote the version issued in his name (Miss Aikin, Life of Addison, ii. 127–33) . ”

“ Tickler had been harshly dealt with. "Friend Tickler!" exclaimed the general, "being a man of strong understanding, it is not becoming of you to take these trifles so to heart. And you are mistaken if you set it down to those young gentlemen, for I can swear it was done by the Tutack robbers, who were bent on having your money. But remember, that the more fortitude you display during the assaults of your enemies, the better will you be prepared to enjoy the luxuries that are in store for us both. Pray remember what glory there is in being a great diplomatist, which I warrant to make you. ”

“ Hupene, the old Tohunga, squats muttering on the floor beside his carved ancestor Tiki.
Tiki is a god who in the dim long ago helped to build the world, and whose carved image is now supporting the middle pillar of the house. His eyes of pawa-shell, which once commanded in the ten Heavens and were full of fire and wisdom, glisten out of the silent twilight; they stare far, far into the darkness, which Hine-nui-te-po is slowly spreading over the world, Hine-nui-te-po, the Great Mother of Night, who at one time was young and beautiful, and gave life to Nature. ”

“ She breaks into sudden tremblings and sobbings. Tikipu turns and looks at her earnestly: round her as she stands the light gradually grows bright. She stretches her hands pleadingly towards him for the last time.
Tiki. Mee-Mee! Mee-Mee! What have you done to yourself? Don’t look at me like that! Don’t look at me like that! Your eyes are beautiful, Mee-Mee! Shut them or I shall go blind!
Mee. Ah! It come! It come! Say, Tiki! you is wantin’ somebody to help you?
Tiki. My whole life is a want, Mee-Mee! If you come with me you will lose everything!
Mee. I got not’ing to lose, Tiki. ”

“ On a rock at one of the sources of the Eastern Tigris near Karkar we see his image hewn in relief. He wears the tall cap or kidaris; the hair and beard are long and curled; the robe falls in deep folds to the ancles. The inscription runs: "By the grace of Asshur, Samas and Bin, the great gods, my lords, I, Tiglath Pilesar, am ruler from the great sea of the west land (mat acharri) to the lake of the land of Nairi. Three times I have marched to the land of Nairi." [52] The first subjugation of this district could not, therefore, have been complete. ”

“ The baboo loves the ticca-gharry because the baboo knows not mercy and gets a long ride, yea and seven of his kind with him, for threepence. Calcutta people hate it for reasons which are perhaps obvious. And for another. The ticca-gharry directly aids and abets Government in its admirable system for the valuation of society, represented, as has been seen, by the Accountant-General. A person who habitually drives in a ticca-gharry is not likely on the face of it to be in receipt of more than a very limited income, and is thus twice gazetted as not being a particularly desirable person to know. ”

“ Stretcher, thoughtfully.
"Faith of my father," resumed Tickler, folding his arms, "I see nothing to be astonished at, for I take it any simpleton may set up for a statesman, and if he have but a fair mixture of the knave to throw in, he may carry the gifts of the government in his breeches pockets; also, if the devil do not carry him off in one of his pranks, he will no doubt distinguish himself as a foreign minister." Here Mr. Tickler paused for a moment, and then bid the gentleman of the five newspapers, and all the administration, to remember that these remarks were made in confidence. ”

“ Gussy, you don’t know progress when you see it. Tickler is the greatest invention since language. Bar none, it’s the greatest instrument ever devised for integrating a man into all phases of his environment. Under the present routine a newly purchased tickler first goes to government and civilian defense for primary patterning, then to the purchaser’s employer, then to his doctor-psycher, then to his local bunker captain, then to him. ”