Tlatonac

“ Between that town and Tlatonac are open plains—and," added Philip, dryly, "the armies of the Republic!"
"Certainly. But let us presume, for the sake of argument, that Xuarez makes three simultaneous attacks. With his regular army on the plains, with the Indians from the north on Tlatonac—and from the sea by a bombardment from the war-ships."
"Dios!" muttered Garibay, biting his fingers; "that man is a general."
"The troops of the Republic will conquer everywhere," said Don Alonzo, gravely. ”

“ Blind security is not wise. Por todos Santos, Señores," cried Garibay, rising to his feet in his excitement, "see how this man has already succeeded. Acauhtzin, the most important town next to the capital, is in his hands, our fleet has gone over entirely to his side; and have you forgotten the treachery of Marina and Pepe. A full plan of the fortifications of Tlatonac is before him. If he can do this much, he can do more. Till the end, I shall support the Republic, and resist a possible Dictator; but do not sneer at Xuarez! I tell you he is a great man!" ”

“ Between Tlatonac and Acauhtzin are nothing but mountains—no roads, no open spaces. All giant hills, terrible precipices, a few paths made by Indians, and inhospitable deserts, where the land happens to be flat for a few miles. How then can Xuarez convey his army to the capital in that direction?"
"True, true! And most of his soldiers are dragoons."
"Certainly, he could attack Tlatonac with Indians who are used to their rugged country; but savages, as Xuarez well knows, can do little or nothing against trained troops. In conjunction with his own army, they can do something ”

“ Here was the last stronghold of the old gods, driven from the table-lands of Anahuac; here smoked anew those altars overturned by the Conquistadores; here shrieked the victim on the terrible stone of sacrifice; and here was the shrine of the famous Opal, the Chalchuih Tlatonac, the very mention of which thrilled the hearts of all far and wide with superstitious dread.
The sacred city was admirably situated for all purposes. Nothing could be more beautiful than this majestic work of man, set like a jewel within the green circle of the forest-clad mountains. ”

“ There was no doubt that the war had begun badly for the Junta, but this was the fault of President Gomez. A more obstinate man never existed, and having made up his mind that Xuarez would attack Tlatonac without delay, he had foolishly withdrawn the garrison from Janjalla, Puebla de los Naranjos, Chichimec, and other towns, for the protection of the capital. It was in vain that Don Miguel, warned by his son, represented that it was more than probable Xuarez would attack Janjalla first, in order to concentrate his troops in the south, and so march them across the plains to Tlatonac. ”

“ The next event, and the only one particularly recorded in the reign of Chalchiuh Tlatonac, was his marriage. Realizing the importance of providing for heirs that the dynasty might be perpetuated, he left the choice of a wife entirely to his subjects, much to their satisfaction, as indicating a desire on the part of royalty to please the people. The choice fell upon a beautiful daughter of Acapichtzin. The latter had himself been a favorite candidate for royal honors when a kingdom was first proposed, and was thus rewarded by seeing his daughter raised to the dignity of first Toltec queen. ”

“ The campaign would probably be conducted as theorised by Don Rafael. Xuarez would first capture Janjalla, march his troops northward across the plains to effect a conjunction with the Indians before the walls of Tlatonac, and then bring his war-ships up to the capital. In this way the city would be assaulted on both sides: bombarded by the war-ships, and stormed by the regular troops of the Opposidores and the Indian tribes.
"I must escape," thought Duval, as he restlessly tossed and turned on his couch. "This last order of the Opal will send an Indian army to the walls of Tlatonac. ”

“ Go! Go, and carry back to Tlatonac my defiance and that of Acauhtzin. Sail away under your opal flag, caballeros, and I promise you my guns will respect your vessel. Adios. Go!"
He pointed imperiously down the hall to where the great doors stood wide open, and, headed by Don Alonzo, the deputation retired. Rafael was biting his lips with rage, and Garibay was swearing under his breath. The exit was scarcely dignified or worthy of the greatness of the Republic.
"I never felt so mean in my life," whispered Philip to Tim. "What a beast the man is!" ”

“ The inhabitants, almost to a man, had become soldiers, and flattered by the women, dressed in gaudy uniforms, excited by frequent draughts of aguardiente, they fancied themselves invincible. Every evening fireworks were let off in the principal squares, bands of soldiers marched nightly through the streets, singing the national song of the opal; and at times the enthusiasm arose to such a pitch that the whole city was convulsed with a delirium of joy. In the opinion of Tlatonac, the rebel Xuarez was already conquered. ”

“ In view of the message from Xuarez, the Junta had been hastily convened, and now the great hall of the palace was crowded with deputies waiting to hear the words of the Padre.
Owing to the influence of Don Miguel, which was supreme in Tlatonac, Jack and Philip were admitted to the meeting, and they, in company with Tim, who was present by virtue of his office, watched the scene with great interest. It is not every day that one has the chance of seeing the naked machinery of the Government. ”

“ There must be ten thousand soldiers shut up in Tlatonac, and his Excellency evidently intends to keep them there till Xuarez and his victorious troops arrive before the walls."
"Very likely the Indians are before the walls now, and are waiting for Xuarez to join them."
"It's not improbable. Things don't look promising for the Junta, and all because they let Gomez muddle the business. See, the rebels are marching up to the sea-gate. It is now noon. Before sundown they will be within the walls, and masters of the city." ”

“ Our country is so mountainous that, save on the plains, there is but little use for cavalry. The seat of the war will be at Acauhtzin, and there the land is all mountains. Consequently the infantry will be of most service up yonder. If, however, the enemy come south to Tlatonac and Janjalla, our cavalry can meet them in the open plains surrounding these towns."
"Don Hypolito will certainly come south," said Jack, sagely. "He will not wait for the Republic to send troops up to Acauhtzin, but embark his troops on the war-ships, and try his fortunes down in this direction. ”

“ In all that land of warriors there was none so famed as Tlahuicol. To all men he was known as the Tlascalan; but ever to himself and to Huetzin, his son, he whispered that he was Tlahuicol the Toltec. For years he had been the dreaded war-chief of the dauntless little mountain republic of Tlascala, which, alone of all those now occupying the land of Anahuac, had resisted the all-conquering Aztec arms, and retained its freedom. ”

“ Those who were drowned, struck by lightning, or who perished by certain diseases such as dropsy or leprosy, found a home in the terrestrial paradise Tlalocan, the home of the god Tlaloc, where food-plants and flowers flourished in miraculous fertility and summer was perpetual. ”

“ This was Tlalocan, the realm of the god of rains and waters, the terrestrial paradise, [247] whence flowed all the rivers of the earth, and all the nourishment of the race. The diseases of which persons died marked this destination. Such as were drowned, or struck by lightning, or succumbed to humoral complaints, as dropsies and leprosy, were by these tokens known to be chosen as the subjects of Tlaloc. To such, said the natives, “death is the commencement of another life, it is as waking from a dream, and the soul is no more human but divine (teot) .” ”

“ It does not appear that the Toltecs consummated the sacrifice by devouring the flesh of the victim. This seems to have been the only exception to the blameless character of the Toltec rites. Tlaloc was the oldest deity in the Aztec mythology, in which he found a suitable place. Yet, as the knowledge of him was originally derived from the Toltecs, it cannot be denied that this people, as Ramirez says, possessed in their peculiar civilization the germs of those sanguinary institutions which existed on so appalling a scale in Mexico. See Ramirez, Notas y Esclarecimientos, ubi supra. ”

“ Codex Borgia.—Sheet 14: In this place the body-paint of Tlaloc is green, although, as a rule, it is black elsewhere. The face is half-black, half-yellow. The eye and lip-bands are blue. The head is crowned with white heron-feathers, such as are worn by the octli gods. A fillet surrounds the forehead, and from this spring four rosettes, which may symbolize the four quarters from which the rain falls. The headdress and its accompanying ornaments are painted in alternate stripes, green and white, sprinkled with liquid rubber. ”

“ A cloudy sky flecked with rain shows the partial descent of the serpent-like showers, and the maize-plants beneath him stand in heavy puddles of water. The southern aspect of Tlaloc (that on the lower left) is painted red, and the helmet-mask is in vulture form, as in consonance with the sign of the fourth calendar division. From a cloudless sky dart the conventional sun-rays as described in the second picture, but [239] beneath the foot of the divinity are representations of the maize-plant run to seed. Small animals, the faces of which bear some resemblance to a death’s-head, devour them. ”

“ Although there is no personage of all the Maya pantheon more easy to recognize in the form of a statue than Tlaloc, there is great difficulty in being certain of all the hieroglyphs which relate to him. There is every reason to believe that in Yucatan, as in Mexico, there was a family of rain-gods, Tlalocs, and the distinguishing signs of the several members are almost impossible of separation, so long as we know so little of the special functions of each member of this family. ”

“ Tlalocan, the lowermost heaven, is a sort of terrestrial paradise for others. Mictlan is, however, the common abode of the dead, and the wretched soul can reach it only after a journey set with horrors. ”

“ Tlaloc was the god of rain and moisture. In a country such as Mexico, where the success or failure of the crops depends entirely upon the plentiful nature or otherwise of the rainfall, he was, it will be readily granted, a deity of high importance. It was believed that he made his home in the mountains which surround the valley of Mexico, as these were the source of the local rainfall, and his popularity is vouched for by the fact that sculptured representations of him occur more often than those of any other of the Mexican deities. ”

“ It requests Tlaloc to assist the god of earth with rain, so that the vegetables and plants may grow and not perish. It also asks that the rain may be of the kind which assists growth, and that it be not accompanied by hail or lightning, the usual manifestation of the wrath of the Tlaloquê. “You who are gods of the water, who dwell at the east, west, north, and south of the world, who inhabit the subterranean places, the air, the mountains and the profound caverns, hasten to the consolation of man.” ”

“ It would seem that from an early period a people of settled and agricultural habits occupied the Mexican Plateau. These were probably relatively aboriginal to the Toltecs and may have been of Otomi or Tarascan blood, and to them I would refer the original foundation of a rain-cult having Tlaloc as its principal deity. Tlaloc was unquestionably one of the most venerable gods of Mexico, indeed he is the only god who can be identified with certainty in the remains of pre-Nahuan date at Teotihuacan. ”

“ One was called “The nine Abodes of the Dead,” where the ordinary mass of mankind were said to go and forever abide. The second was paradise, Tlalocan, the dwelling-place of the Tlalocs, the gods of fertility and rain. It was full of roses and fruits. No pain was there, and no sorrow. Scorching heat and cold were alike unknown. Green fields, rippling brooks, balmy airs and perpetual joy, filled the immortal days of the happy souls in Tlalocan. Those who were destined for its Elysian years were divinely designated by the diseases or accidents of which they died. ”

“ Tlalco's nature was to plot and work by hidden means; but he could rejoice in the downright blows of the warrior, who fought openly against those of whom he was the secret enemy. Though he did not meet Tlahuicol, nor even learn that he, too, was a Toltec, until the very hour of the latter's death, he made himself familiar with every event of the great warrior's career. He augmented the prestige of the Tlascalan war-chief by originating, and spreading, the prophecy that through Tlahuicol should Huitzil fall. ”

“ Thus Tlaloc combined two aspects, a beneficent and a terrible; and this is not unnatural, for rain in Mexico is more often than not accompanied by thunder, and the fertilizer is therefore also the smiter. As the god of fertility maize belonged to him, though not altogether by right, for according to one legend he stole it after it had been discovered by other gods concealed in the heart of a mountain. ”

“ Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicue [36]
The rain-god, Tlaloc, was less important in myth than in cult. He was a deity of great antiquity, and a mountain, east of Tezcuco, bearing his name, was said to have had from remote times a statue of the god, carved in white lava. His especial abode, Tlalocan, supposed to be upon the crests of hills, was rich in all foods and was the home of the maize-goddesses; and there, with his dwarf (or child) servants, Tlaloc possesses four jars from which he pours water down upon the earth. One water is good and causes maize and other fruits to flourish ”