Brintou.] ^rfb [Sept. 2, 



An equally ancient and authentic myth makes Huitzilopochtli 

 one of four brothers, born at one time of the uncreated, bi-sexual 

 divinity, the God of our Life, Tonacatecutli, who looms dimly 

 at the head of the Aztec Pantheon. The brothers were the 

 black and the white Tezcatlipoca and the fair-skinned, bearded 

 Quetzalcoatl. Yet a third myth places the birthplace of Qaetz- 

 alcoatl directly in Tula, and names his mother, Chimalman, a 

 virgin, divinely impregnated, like Coatlicue, by the descending 

 spirit of the Father of AIL* 



Tula was not only the birthplace, but the scene of the highest 

 activity of all these greatest divinities of the ancient Nahuas. 

 Around the Coatepetl and on the shores of the Tollanatl — " the 

 Water of Tula " — as the stream is called which laves the base 

 of the hill, the mighty struggles of the gods took place which 

 form the themes of almost all Aztec m3thology. Tulan itself is 

 no longer the hamlet of rush houses at the foot of the Coatepec, 

 surmoimted by its pueblo of rough stone and baked brick. It is 

 a glorious city, founded and governed by Quetzalcoatl himself, 

 in his first avatar as Hueman, the strong-handed. "All its 

 structures were stately and gracious, abounding in ornaments. 

 The walls within were incrusted with precious stones or finished 

 in beautiful stucco, presenting the appearance of a rich mosaic. 

 Most wonderful of all was the temple of Quetzalcoatl. It had 

 four chambers, one toward the east finished in pure gold, another 

 toward the west lined with torquoise and emeralds, a third 

 toward the south decorated with all manner of delicate sea- 

 shells, and a fourth to the north resplendent with red jasper and 



four-hundred men and five women for him to eat. At the death of the women their 

 robes were preserved, and when the people carried these to the Coatepec, the five 

 women came again into being. One of these was Coatlicue, an imtouched virgin, who 

 after tour years of fasting placed a bunch of wliite feathers in her bosom, and fortliwith 

 became pregnant. She brought forth Huitzilopochtli completely armed, who at once 

 destroyed the Huitznahua. Father Duran translates all of this into plain history. His 

 account is that when the Aztecs had occupied ToUan for some time, and had fortified 

 the hill and cultivated the plain, a dissension arose. Que party, followers of Huitzilo- 

 pochtli, desire<l to move on ; the other, lieaded by a chieftain, Huitznaliua, insisted on 

 remaining. The former attacked the latter at night, massacred them, destroyed the 

 water-dams and buildings, and marched away (Hisforia dc las ladias dc Nueva Espana, 

 Tom. i, pp. 25, 26). According to several accounts, Huitznahua was the brother of 

 Huitzilopochtli. See my American Hero Mijths, p. 81. 



* I have discussed both these accounts in my American Hero Myths, chap, iii, and need 

 not repeat the authorities here. 



