30 MEXICO. 
he would return to comfort and direct them. Some said that he suddenly 
disappeared, others that he died on tlie sea-shore ; but however that may 
be, Quetzalcoatl teas consecrated as a god by the Toltecas of Cholula, and 
made chief guardian of their city, in the centre of which, in honor of 
him, they raised a great eminence on which they built a temple. Another 
eminence, surmounted by a temple, was afterward erected to him in 
Tula. From Cholula his worship was spread over the country, where he 
was adored as ' the god of the air.' He had temples in Mexico and 
elsewhere, and some nations, even the enemies of the Cholulans, had 
temples and priests dedicated to his worship in the city of Cholula, 
whither persons came from all parts of the land to pay their devotions 
and fulfil their vows. His festivals were great and extraordinary, espe- 
cially in Cholula. 
"In every fourth, or divine year, they were preceded by a rigid fast 
of eighty days, and by dreadful austerities practiced by the priests conse- 
crated to his worship. The Mexicans said, that Quetzalcoatl cleared the 
way for the ' god of the water,' because in these countries rain is gen- 
erally preceded by wind." 
The following singular story in relation to this divinity and certain 
services of his temple, is to be found in the Nat. and Mor. Hist, of 
Acosta, book v. chap. 30. 
" There was at this temple of Quetzalcoatl at Cholula, a court of rea- 
sonable greatness, in which they made great dances and pastimes with 
games and comedies, on the festival days of this idol ; for which purpose 
there was in the midst of this court a theatre of thirty feet square, very 
finely decked and trimmed — the which they decked with flowers that 
day — with all the art and invention that might be, being environed around 
with arches of divers flowers and feathers, and in some places there 
were tied many small birds, conies, and other tame beasts. After din- 
ner all the people assembled in this place, and the players presented 
themselves and played comedies. Some counterfeited the deaf and 
rheumatic ; others the lame ; some the blind and crippled which came 
to seek for cure from the idol. The deaf answered confusedly; the 
rheumatic coughed ; the lame halted, telling their miseries and griefs, 
wherewith they made the people to laugh. Others came tbrth in the form 
of little beasts, some attired like snails, others like toads, and some like 
lizards ; then meeting together they told their offices, and every one re- 
tirino- to his place, they sounded on small flutes, which was pleasant to 
hear. They likewise counterfeited butterflies and small birds of divers 
colors, which were represented by the children who Avere sent to the tem- 
ple for education. Then they went into a little forest, planted there for 
the purpose, whence the priests of the temple drew them forth with instru- 
ments of music. In the mean time they used many pleasant 'speeches, 
some in propounding, others in defending, wherewith the assistants were 
pleasantly entertained. This done, they made a masque, or mummery 
with all these personages, and so the feast ended." 
