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LIBRARY 

OF    THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 
Class 


WORKS  BY  DANIEL  G.  BRINTON,  M.D. 


AMERICAN  HERO-MYTHS.  A  study  in  the 
Native  Religions  of  the  Western  Continent.  8vo, 
cloth.  Price  $1.75 

THE  MYTHS  OF  THE  NEW  WORLD. 

A  Treatise  on  the  Symbolism  and  Mythology  of  the 
Red  Race  of  America.     8vo,  cloth.  Price  $2.00 

THE  RELIGIOUS  SENTIMENT.  A  Contri 
bution  to  the  Science  and  Philosophy  of  Religion. 
8vo,  cloth.  Price  $2.00 

THE  MAYA  CHRONICLES.  The  Original 
Texts  of  the  Pre-Columbian  Annals  of  Yucatan, 
with  translation  and  notes.  8vo,  paper.  Price  $3.00 

THE  NAMES  OF  THE  GODS  IN  THE 
KICHE  MYTHS.  A  Monograph  on  Central 
American  Mythology.  8vo.  paper.  Price  50  cts. 


FOR    S  A  LE    BY 

H.  C.  WATTS  &  CO.,  506  MINOR  ST., 

PHILADELPHIA. 


AMERICAN 


HEEO-MTTHS 


A  STUDY  IN  THE  NATIVE  RELIGIONS 
OF  THE  WESTERN  CONTINENT. 


BY 

DANIEL  G.  BRINTON,  M.D., 

MEMBER    OF   THE     AMERICAN     PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY;     THE    AMERICAN 

ANTIQUARIAN    SOCIETY  ;    THE   NUMISMATIC    AND    ANTIQUARIAN 
SOCIETY  OF  PHILA.,  ETC.;  AUTHOR  OF  ''THE  MYTHS  OF 
THE  NEW  WORLD;"   "  THE  RELIGIOUS  SENTI 
MENT,"  ETC. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

H.  C.  WATTS   &  CO., 

506  MINOR  STREET. 

1882. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  18S-J,  hv 

I).  G.  BRINTON,  M.D., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  I).  C. 


TO 

ELI    K.   PRICE,  ESQ., 

I'lll  SIDENT  OF  THE  NVMISM  ATTC  AND   ANTKjl'AKIAX 
SOCIETY  OF  PHILADELPHIA, 

WHOSE  EXT.IOHTKNKI)   IXTKKEST  HAS   I'd  Fi    MANY   YEAKS, 

AND  IN  MANY  WAYS,  • 

KCIITUF.RED   THE    PIJOUIJKSS   OF    KNOWLEDGE, 

THIS  VOLUME 

IS  RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED  BY 
*  THE  AUTHOR. 


120580 


PREFACE. 


This  little  volume  is  a  contribution  to  the  com 
parative  study  of  religions.  It  is  an  endeavor  to 
present  in  a  critically  correct  light  some  of  the 
fundamental  conceptions  which  are  found  in  the 
native  beliefs  of  the  tribes  of  America. 

So  little  has  heretofore  been  done  in  this  field 
that  it  has  yielded  a  very  scanty  harvest  for  pur 
poses  of  general  study.  It  has  not  yet  even  passed 
the  stage  where  the  distinction  between  myth  and 
tradition  has  been  recognized.  Nearly  all  histo 
rians  continue  to  write  about  some  of  the  Ameri 
can  hero-gods  as  if  they  had  been  chiefs  of  tribes 
at  some  undetermined  epoch,  and  the  effort  to  trace 
the  migrations  and  affiliations  of  nations  by  simi 
larities  in  such  stories  is  of  almost  daily  occurrence. 
How  baseless  and  misleading  all  such  arguments 
must  be,  it  is  one  of  my  objects  to  set  forth. 

At  the  same  time  I  have  endeavored  to  be  tem 
perate  in  applying  the  interpretations  of  mytholo- 

vii 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

gists.  I  am  aware  of  the  risk  one  runs  in  looking  at 
every  legend  as  a  light  or  storm  myth.  My  guiding 
principle  has  been  that  when  the  same,  and  that  a 
very  extraordinary,  story  is  told  by  several  tribes 
wholly  apart  in  language  and  location,  then  the 
probabilities  are  enormous  that  it  is  not  a  legend 
but  a  myth,  and  must  be  explained  as  such.  It  is 
a  spontaneous  production  of  the  mind,  not  a  remi 
niscence  of  an  historic  event. 

The  importance  of  the  study  of  myths  has  been 
abundantly  shown  of  recent  years,  and  the  methods 
of  analyzing  them  have  been  established  with  satis 
factory  clearness. 

The  time  has  long  since  passed,  at  least  among 
thinking  men,  when  the  religious  legends  of  the 
lower  races  were  looked  upon  as  trivial  fables,  or 
as  the  inventions  of  the  Father  of  Lies.  They  are 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  They  express,  in 
image  and  incident,  the  opinions  of  these  races  011 
the  mightiest  topics  of  human  thought,  on  the 
origin  and  destiny  of  man,  his  motives  for  duty 
and 'his  grounds  of  hope,  and  the  source,  history 
and  fate  of  all  external  nature.  Certainly  the 
sincere  expressions  on  these  subjects  of  even  hum 
ble  members  of  the  human  race  deserve  our  most 


PREFACE.  IX 

respectful  heed,  and  it  may  be  that  we  shall  dis 
cover  in  their  crude  or  coarse  narrations  gleams 
of  a  mental  light  which  their  proud  Aryan  brothers 
have  been  long  in  coming  to,  or  have  not  yet 
reached. 

The  prejudice  against  all  the  lower  faiths  in 
spired  by  the  claim  of  Christianity  to  a  monopoly 
of  religious  truth — a  claim  nowise  set  up  by  its 
founder — has  led  to  extreme  injustice  toward 
the  so-called  heathen  religions.  Little  effort 
has  been  made  to  distinguish-  between  their  good 
and  evil  tendencies,  or  even  to  understand  them. 
I  do  not  know  of  a  single  instance  on  this  conti 
nent  of  a  thorough  and  intelligent  study  of  a  native 
religion  made  by  a  Protestant  missionary. 

So  little  real  work  has  been  done  in  American 
mythology  that  very  diverse  opinions  as  to  its  in 
terpretation  prevail  among  writers.  Too  many  of 
them  apply  to  it  facile  generalizations,  such  as 
"heliolatry,"  "  animism, "  "ancestral  worship," 
"primitive  philosophizing,"  and  think  that  such  a 
sesame  will  unloose  all  its  mysteries.  The  result 
has  been  that  while  each  satisfies  himself,  he  con 
vinces  no  one  else. 

I  have  tried  to  avoid  any  such  bias,  and  have 


PREFACE. 


sought  to  discover  the  source  of  the  myths  I  hare 
selected,  by  close  attention  to  two  points :  first, 
that  I  should  obtain  the  precise  original  form  of 
the  myth  by  a  rigid  scrutiny  of  authorities  ;  and, 
secondly,  that  I  should  bring  to  bear  upon  it 
modern  methods  of  mythological  and  linguistic 
analysis. 

The  first  of  these  requirements  has  given  me  no 
small  trouble.  The  sources  of  American  history 
not  only  differ  vastly  in  merit,  but  many  of  them 
are  almost  inaccessible.  I  still  have  by  me  a  list 
of  books  of  the  first  order  of  importance  for  these 
studies,  which  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  in  any 
public  or  private  library  in  the  United  States. 

I  have  been  free  in  giving  references  for  the 
statements  in  the  text.  The  growing  custom  among 
historians  of  omitting  to  do  this  must  be  deplored 
in  the  interests  of  sound  learning.  It  is  better  to 
risk  the  charge  of  pedantry  than  to  leave  at  fault 
those  who  wish  to  test  an  author's  accuracy  or  fol 
low  up  the  line  of  investigation  he  indicates. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  have  exercised  moderation 
in  drawing  comparisons  with  Aryan,  Semitic, 
Egyptian  and  other  Old  World  mythologies.  It 
would  have  been  easy  to  have  noted  apparent  simi- 


PREFACE.  XI 

larities  to  a  much  greater  extent.  But  I  have 
preferred  to  leave  this  for  those  who  write  upon 
general  comparative  mythology.  §uch  parallel 
isms,  to  reach  satisfactory  results,  should  be  at 
tempted  only  by  those  who  have  studied  the 
Oriental  religions  in  their  original  sources,  and 
thus  are  not  to  be  deceived  by  superficial  resem 
blances. 

The  term  "  comparative  mythology"  reaches 
hardly  far  enough  to  cover  all  that  I  have  aimed 
at.  The  professional  mythologist  thinks  he  has 
completed  his  task  when  he  has  traced  a  myth 
through  its  transformations  in  story  and  language 
back  to  the  natural  phenomena  of  which  it  was  the 
expression.  This  external  history  is  essential. 
But  deeper  than  that  lies  the  study  of  the  influence 
of  the  myth  on  the  individual  and  national  mind, 
on  the  progress  and  destiny  of  those  who  believed 
it,  in  other  words,  its  true  religious  import.  I 
have  endeavored,  also,  to  take  some  account  of 
this. 

The  usual  statement  is  that  tribes  in  the  intellec 
tual  condition  of  those  I  am  dealing  with  rest  their 
religion  on  a  worship  of  external  phenomena.  In 
contradiction  to  this,  I  advance  various  arguments 


xn  PREFACE. 

to  show  that  their  chief  god  was  not  identified  with 
any  objective  natural  process,  but  was  human  in 
nature,  benignant  in  character,  loved  rather  than 
feared,  and  that  his  worship  carried  with  it  the 
germs  of  the  development  of  benevolent  emotions 
and  sound  ethical  principles. 
Media,  Pa.,  Oct.,  1882. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

PAftE 

Some  Kind  of  Religion  Found  among  all  Men — Classifica 
tions  of  Religions— The  Purpose  of  Religions — Religions 
of  Rite  and  of  Creed— The  Myth  Grows  in  the  First 
of  these — Intent  and  Meaning  of  the  Myth.  .  .  17 

Processes  of  Myth  Building  in  America— Personification, 
Paronyms  and  Homonyms — Otosis— Polyonomy — He- 
notheism  —  Borrowing  —  Rhetorical  Figures  —  Abstract 
Expressions— Esoteric  Teachings 21 

Outlines  of  the  Fundamental  American  Myth — The  White 
Culture-hero  and  the  Four  Brothers — Interpretation  of 
the  Myth — Comparison  with  the  Aryan  Hermes  Myth — 
— Wiih  the  Aryo-Semitic  Cadmus  Myth — With  Osirian 
Myths— The  Myth  of  the  Virgin  Mother— The  Interpreta 
tion  thus  Supported.  .  .  .--...  .  .27 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE    HERO-GODS    OF    THE    ALGONKINS    AND    IROQUOI8. 

§  1.      The  Algonkin  Myth  of  Michabo. 

The  Myth  of  the  Giant  Rabbit— The  Rabbit  Creates  the 
World— He  Marries  the  Muskrat— Becomes  the  All- 
Father—Derivation  of  Michabo— of  Wajashk,  the  Musk- 
rat— The  Myth  Explained— The  Light-God  as  God  of  the 
East— The  Four  Divine  Brothers— Myth  of  the  lluaio- 
chiris — The  Day-Makers — Michabo's  Contests  with  His 
Father  and  Brother— Explanation  of  These— The  Sym 
bolic  Flint  Stone — Michabo  Destroys  the  Serpent  King— 

'  Meaning  of  this  Myth— Relations  of  the  Light-God  and 
Wind-God— Michabo  as  God  of  Waters  and  Fertility- 
Represented  as  a  Bearded  Man. 

xiii 


XIV  CONTEXTS. 

§  2.     The  Iroquois  Myth  of  loskeha.  PAGE 

The  Creation  of  the  Earth- The  Miraculous  Birth  of  los 
keha — He  Overcomes  his  Brother  Tawiscara — Creates 
and  Teaches  Mankind — Visits  his  People — His  Grand 
mother  Ataensic — loskeha  as  Father  of  his  Mother — 
Similar  Conceptions  in  Egyptian  Myths— Derivation  of 
loskeha  and  Ataensic — loskeha  as  Tharonhiawakon,  the 
Sky  Supporter— His  Brother  Tawiscara  or  Tehotennhia- 
ron  Identified— Similarity  to  Algonkin  Myths.  .  .  53 

CHAPTER   III. 

THE   HERO-GOD   OF    THE   AZTEC    TRIBES. 

§  1.     The  Two  Antagonists. 

The  Contest  of  Quetznlcoatl  and  Tezcatlipoca — Quetzal- 
coat!  the  Light-God—Derivation  of  His  Name— Titles  of 
Tezcatlipoca  —  Identified  with  Darkness,  Night  and 
Gloom 63 

§  2.      Quetzalcoatl  the  God. 

Myth  of  the  Four  Brothers— The  Four  Suns  and  the  Ele 
mental  Conflict— Names  of  the  Four  Brothers.  .  .  73 

§  3.      Quetzalcoatl  the  Hero  of  Tula. 

Tula,  the  City  of  the  Sun— Who  were  the  Toltecs  ?— Tlap- 
allan  and  Xalac— The  Birth  of  the  Hero  God— His  Virgin 
Mother  Chimalmatl  —  His  Miraculous  Conception — 
Aztlan,  the  Land  of  Seven  Caves,  and  Colhuacan,  the 
Bended  Mount — The  Maid  Xochitl  and  the  Hose  Garden 
of  the  Gods— Quetzalcoatl  as  the  White  and  Bearded 
Stranger .  82 

The  Glory  of  the  Lord  of  Tula— The  Subtlety  of  the  Sorcerer 
Tezcatlipoca — The  Magic  Mirror  and  the  Mystic  Draught 
— The  Myth  Explained — The  Promise  of  Eejuvenation — 
The  Toveyo  and  the  Maiden— The  Juggleries  of  Tezcatli 
poca — Departure  of  Quetzalcoatl  from  Tula — Quetzalcoatl 
at  Cholula — His  Death  or  Departure — The  Celestial 
Game  of  Ball  and  Tiger  Skiu— Quetzalcoatl  as  the  Planet 
Venus.  .  02 


CONTENTS.  XV 

§  4.     Quetzalcoatl  as  Lord  of  the  Winds.  ,.AGK 

The  Lord  of  the  Four  Winds— His  Symbols,  the  Wheel  of 
the  Winds,  the  Pentagon  and  the  Cross— Close  Relation 
to  the  Gods  of  Kain  and  Waters— Inventor  of  the  Calen 
dar — God  of  Fertility  and  Conception — Recommends 
Sexual  Austerity— Phallic  Symbols— God  of  Merchants— 

,'  The  Patron  of  Thieves— His  Pictographic  Representa 
tions 120 

§  5.     The  Return  of  Quetzalcoatl. 

His  Expected  Re-appearance — The  Anxiety  of  Montezuma 
— His  Address  to  Cortes — The  General  Expectation — 
Explanation  of  his  Predicted  Ret  urn.  .  .  .133 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   HERO-GODS    OF   THE   MAYAS. 

Civilization  of  the  Mayas— Whence  it  Originated— Dupli 
cate  Traditions 143 

§  1.     The  Culture  Hero  Itzamna. 

Itzamna  as  Ruler,  Priest  and  Teacher— As  Chief  God  and 
Creator  of  the  World— Las  Casas'  Supposed  Christ  Myth 
—The  Four  Bacabs— Itzamna  as  Lord  of  the  Winds  and 
Rains— The  Symbol  of  the  Cross— As  Lord  of  the  Light 
and  Day — Derivation  of  his  Various  Names  .  .  .  146 

§  2.     The  Culture  Hero  Kukulcan. 

Kuculcan  as  Connected  with  the  Calendar— Meaning  of 
the  Name— The  Myth  of  the  Four  Brothers— Kukulcan's 
Happy  Rule  and  Miraculous  Disappearance —Relation  to 
Quetzalcoatl — Aztec  and  Maya  Mythology — Kukulcan  a 
Maya  Divinity — The  Expected  Return  of  the  Hero-god 
— The  Maya  Prophecies — Their  Explanation.  .  .  159 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE   QQICHUA    HERO-GOD   VIRACOCHA. 

PAGE 

Viracocha  as  the  First  Cause — His  name  Ilia  Ticci — Qqui- 
chua  Prayers — Other  Names  and  Titles  of  Viracocha  — 
His  "Worship  a  True  Monotheism — The  Myth  of  the  Four 
Brothers— Myth  of  the  Twin  Brothers 169 

Viracocha  as  Tunapa,  He  who  Perfects — Various  Incidents 
in  His  Life— Relation  to  Manco  Capac— He  Disappears 
in  the  West 182 

Viracocha  Rises  from  Lake  Titicaca  and  Journeys  to  the 
West— Derivation  of  His  Name — He  was  Represented  as 
White  and  Bearded — The  Myth  of  Con  and  Pachacamac 
— Contice  Viracocha — Prophecies  of  the  Peruvian  Seers 
The  White  Men  Called  Viracochas — Similarities  to  Aztec 
Myths 189 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  EXTENSION  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  TYPICAL  HERO- 
MYTH. 

The  Typical  Myth  found  in  many  parts  of  the  Continent — 
Difficulties  in  Tracing  it — Religious  Evolution  in  Amer 
ica  Similar  to  that  in  the  Old  World — Failure  of  Christi 
anity  in  the  Red  Race 203 

The  Culture  Myth  of  the  Tarascos  of  Mechoacan — That  of 
the  Kiches  of  Guatemala — The  Votan  Myth  of  the  Tzen- 
dals  of  Chiapas — A  Fragment  of  a  Mixe  Myth — The 
Hero-God  of  the  Muyscas  of  New  Granada — Of  the 
Tupi-Guaranay  Stem  of  Paraguay  and  Brazil— Myths 
of  the  Dene  of  British  America 208 

Sun  Worship  in  America— Germs  of  Progress  in  Amer 
ican  Religions — Relation  of  Religion  and  Morality — 
The  Light-God  a  Moral  and  Beneficent  Creation— His 
Worship  was  Elevating— Moral  Condition  of  Native 
Societies  before  the  Conquest — Progress  in  the  Definition 
of  the  Idea  of  God  in  Peru,  Mexico  and  Yucatan — Erro 
neous  Statements  about  the  Morals  of  the  Natives — Evo 
lution  of  their  Ethical  Principles.  .  .  .  .  .230 

INDEX,   ...  .241 


AMERICAN 


CHAPTER   I. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


SOME  KIND  OF  RELIGION  FOUND  AMONG  ALL  MEN  —  CLASSIFICATIONS  OF 
RELIGIONS—  THE  PURPOSE  OF  RELIGIONS—  RELIGIONS  OF  RITE  ANI> 
OF  CREED  —  THE  MYTH  GROWS  IN  THE  FIRST  OF  THESE  —  INTENT  AND 
MEANING  OF  THE  MYTH. 

PROCESSES  OF  MYTH-HUILDTNG  IN  AMERICA  —  PERSONIFICATION. 
PARONYMS  AND  HOMONYMS  —  OTOSIS  —  POLYONOMY  —  HENOTHEISM— 
BORROWING  —  RHETORICAL  FIGURES  —  ABSTRACT  EXPRESSIONS. 
ESOTERIC  TEACHINGS. 

OUTLINES  OF  THE  FUNDAMENTAL  AMERICAN  MYTH  —  THE  WHITE  CUL 

TURE-HERO    AND     THE    FOUR   BROTHERS—  INTERPRETATION  OF  Tin 

MYTH  —  COMPARISON  WITH   THE  ARYAN  HERMES  MYTH  —  WITH  THE 

ARYO-SEMITIC  CADMUS  MYTH  —  WITH   OSIRIAN   MYTHS—  THE  MYTH 

*OF  THE  VIRGIN  MOTHER  —  THE  INTERPRETATION  THUS  SUPPORTED. 

The  time  was,  and  that  not  so  very  long  ago,  when  it 
was  contended  by  some  that  there  are  tribes  of  men  with 
out  any  sort  of  religion;  nowadays  the  effort  is  to  show 
that  the  feeling  which  prompts  to  it  is  common,  even 
among  brutes. 

This  change  of  opinion  has  come  about  partly  through 
an  extension  of  the  definition  of  religion.     It  is  now  heldV 
to  mean  any  kind  of  belief  in   spiritual  or  extra-natural  i 
agencies.     Some  learned  men  say  that  we  had  better  drop 
the  word  "religion,"   lest  we   be    misunderstood.      They 
would  rather  use  "dai  monism,"  or  "supernatural  ism,"  or 

17 


18  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

other  such  new  term ;  but  none  of  these  seems  to  me  so 
wide  and  so  exactly  significant  of  what  I  mean  jis 
"religion." 

Al  1  now  agree  that  in  this  very  broad  sense  some  kind 
of  religion  exists  in  every  human  community.1 

The  attempt  has  often  been  made  to  classify  these  various 
faiths  under  some  few  general  headings.  The  scheme  of 
Auguste  Comte  still  has  supporters.  He  taught  that  man 
begins  with  fetich  ism,  advances  to  polytheism,  and  at  last 
rises  to  monotheism.  More  in '  vogue  at  present  is  the 
theory  that  the  simplest  and  lowest  form  of  religion  is 
individual ;  above  it  are  the  national  religions  ;  and  at  the 
summit  the  universal  or  world  religious. 

Comte's  scheme  has  not  borne  examination.  It  is  arti 
ficial  and  sterile.  Look  at  Christianity.  It  is  the  highest 
of  all  religions,  but  it  is  not  monotheism.  Look  at  Buddh 
ism.  In  its  pure  form  it  is  not  even  theism.  The  second 
classification  is  more  fruitful  for  historical  purposes. 

The  psychologist,  however,  inquires  as  to  the  essence, 
the  real  purpose  of  religions.  This  has  been  differently 
defined  by  the  two  great  schools  of  thought. 

All  religions,  says  the  idealist,  are  the  efforts,  poor  or 
noble,  conscious  or  blind,  to  develop  the  Idea  of  God  in 
the  soul  of  man. 

1  I  suppose  I  am  not  going  too  far  in  saying  "  all  agree  ;  "  for  I  think 
that  the  latest  study  of  this  subject,  by  Gustav  Roskoff,  disposes  of  Sir 
John  Lubbock's  doubts,  as  well  as  the  crude  statements  of  the  author 
of  Kraft  und  Stoff,  and  such  like  compilations.  Gustav  RoskofF, 
Das  Reti'jionswesen  der  Rohesteii  Naturvolker,  Leipzig,  1880. 


THE   ESSENCE   OF   RELIGION.  19 

No,  replies  the  rationalist,  it  is  simply  the  effort  of  the 
human  mind  to  frame  a  Theory  of  Things ;  at  first,  reli 
gion  is  an  early  system  of  natural  philosophy;  later  it 
becomes  moral  philosophy.  Explain  the  Universe  by 
physical  laws,  point  out  that  the  origin  and  aim  of  ethics 
are  the  relations  of  men,  and  we  shall'  have  no  more 
religions,  nor  need  any. 

The  first  answer  is  too  intangible,  the  second  too  narrow. 
The  rude  savage  does  not  philosophize  on  phenomena;  the 
enlightened  student  sees  in  them  but  interacting  forces: 
yet  both  may  be  profoundly  religious.  Nor  can  morality 
be  accepted  as  a  criterion  of  religions.  The  bloody  scenes 
in  the  Mexican  teocalli  were  merciful  compared  with  those 
in  the  torture  rooms  of  the  Inquisition.  Yet  the  religion 
of  Jesus  was  far  above  that  of  Huitzilopochtli. 

What  I  think  is  the  essence,  the  principle  of  vitality,  in 
religion,  and  in  all  religions,  is  their  supposed  control  over 
the  destiny  of  the  individual,  his  weal  or  woe,  his  good  or 
bad  ha£>,  here  or  hereafter,  as  it  may  be.  Rooted  infinitely 
deep  in  the  sense  of  personality,  religion  was  recognized  at 
the  beginning,  it  will  be  recognized  at  the  end,  as  the  one 
indestructible  ally  in  the  struggle  for  individual  existence. 
At  heart,  all  prayers  are  for  preservation,  the  burden  of 
all  litanies  is  a  begging  for  Life.  - 

This  end,  these  benefits,  have  been  sought  by  the  cults 
of  the  world  through  one  of  two  theories. 

The  one,  that  which  characterizes  the  earliest  and  the 
crudest  religions,  teaches  that  man  escapes  dangers  and 


20  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

secures  safety  by  the  performance  or  avoidance  of  certain 
actions.  He  may  credit  this  or  that  myth,  he  may  hold  to 
one  or  many  gods  ;  this  is  unimportant;  but  he  must  not 
fail  in  the  penance  or  the  sacred  dance,  he  must  not  touch 
that  which  is  taboo,  or  he  is  in  peril.  The  life  of  these 
cults  is  the  Deed,  their  expression  is  the  Kite. 

Higher  religions  discern  the  inefficacy  of  the  mere  Act. 
They  rest  their  claim  on  Belief.  They  establish  dogmas, 
the  mental  acceptance  of.  which  is  the  one  thing  needful. 
In  them  mythology  passes  into  theology ;  the  act  is  mea 
sured  by  its  motive,  the  formula  by  the  faith  back  of  it. 
Their  life  is  the  Creed. 

The  Myth  finds  vigorous  and  congenial  growth  'only  in 
the  first  of  these  forms.  There  alone  the  imagination  of 
the  votary  is  free,  there  alone  it  is  not  fettered  by  a  symbol 
already  defined. 

To  the  student  of  religions  the  interest  of  the  Myth  is 
not  that  of  ah  infantile  attempt  to  philosophize,  but  as  it 
illustrates  the  intimate  and  immediate  relations  which  the 
religion  in  which  it  grew  bore  to  the  individual  life.  Thus 
examined,  it  reveals  the  inevitable  destinies  of  men  and  of 
nations  as  bound  up  with  their  forms  of  worship. 

These  general  considerations  appear  to  me  to  be  needed 
for  the  proper  understanding  of  the  study  I  am  about  to 
make.  It  concerns  itself  with  some  of  the  religions  which 
were  developed  on  the  American  continent  before  its  dis 
covery.  My  object  is  to  present  from  them  a  series  of 
myths  curiously  similar  in  features,  and  to  see  if  one  simple 
and  general  explanation  of  them  can  be  found. 


MYTH-BUILDING.  .  21 

The  processes  of  myth-building  among  American  tribes 
were  much  the  same  as  elsewhere.  These  are  now  too 
generally  familiar -to, need  specification  here,  beyond  a  few 
which  I  have  found  particularly  noticeable. 

At  the  foundation  of  all  myths  lies  the  mental  process  of 
•personification,  which  finds  expression  in  the  rhetorical 
figure  of  prosopopeia.  The  definition  of  this,  however, 
must  be  extended  from  the  mere  representation  of  inani 
mate  things  as  animate,  to  include  also  the  representation  of 
irrational  beings  as  rational,  as  in  the  "  animal  myths,"  a 
most  common  form  of  religious  story  among  primitive 
people. 

Some  languages  favor  these  forms  of  personification  much 
more  than  others,  and  most  of  the  American  languages  do 
so  in  a  marked  manner,  by  the  broad  grammatical  distinc 
tions  they  draw  between  animate  and  inanimate  objects, 
which  distinctions  must  invariably  be  observed.  They 
cannot  say  "  the  boat  moves"  without  specifying  whether 
the  boat  is  an  animate  object  or  not,  or  whether  it  is  to  be 
considered  animate,  for  rhetorical  purposes,  at  the  time  of 
speaking. 

The  sounds  of  words  have  aided  greatly  in  myth  build 
ing.  Barnes  and  words  which  are  somewhat  alike  in  sound, 
paronyms,  as  they  are  called  by  grammarians,  may  be  taken 
or  mistaken  one  for  the  other.  Again,  many  myths  spring 
from  homonymy,  that  is,  the  sameness  in  sound  of  word» 
with  difference  in  signification.  Thus  contl,  in  the  Aztec 
tongue,  is  a  word  frequently  appearing  in  the  names  of 


22  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

divinities.  It  has  three  entirely  different  meanings,  to  wit, 
a  serpent,  a  guest  and  twins.  Now,  whichever  one  of 
these  was  originally  meant,  it  would  be  quite  certain  to  be 
misunderstood,  more  or  le-s,  by  later  generations,  and  myths 
would  arise  to  explain  the  several  possible  interpretations  of 
the  word — as,  in  fact,  we  find  was  the  case. 

Closely  allied  to  this  is  what  has  been  called  otosis.  This 
is  the  substitution  of  a  familiar  word  for  an  archaic  or 
foreign  one  of  similar  sound  but  wholly  diverse  meaning. 
This  is  a  very  common  occurrence  and  easily  leads  to  myth 
making.  For  example,  there  is  a  cave,  near  Chattanooga, 
which  has  the  Cherokee  name  Nik-a-jak.  This  the  white 
settlers  have  transformed  into  Nigger  Jack,  and  are  prepared 
with  a  narrative  of  some  runaway  slave  to  explain  the 
cognomen.  It  may  also  occur  in  the  same  language.  In 
an  Algonkin  dialect  missi  wabu  means  "the  great  light  of 
the  dawn;"  and  a  common  large  rabbit  was  called  missabo ; 
at  some  period  the  precise  meaning  of  the  former  words 
was  lost,  and  a  variety  of  interesting  myths  of  the  day 
break  were  transferred  to  a  supposed  huge  rabbit !  Rarely 
does  there  occur  a  more  striking  example  of  how  the 
deteriorations  of  language  affect  mythology. 

Aztlan,  the  mythical  land  whence  the  Aztec  speaking 
tribes  were  said  to  have  come,  and  from  which  they 
derived  their  name,  means  "  the  place  of  whiteness  ;"  but 
the  word  was  similar  to  Aztatlan,  which  would  mean  "the 
place  of  herons,"  some  spot  where  these  birds  would  love 
to  congregate,  from  azfatl,  the  heron,  and  in  after  ages,  this 


PROCESSES   OF    MYTH-BUILDING.  *2'.\ 

latter,  as  the  plainer  and  more  concrete  signification,  came 
to  prevail,  and  was  adopted  by  the  myth-makers. 

Polyonomy  is  another  procedure  often  seen  in  these 
myths.  A  divinity  has  several  or  many  titles ;  one  or 
another  of  these  becomes  prominent,  and  at  last  obscures  in 
a  particular  myth  or  locality  the  original  personality  of  the 
hero  of  the  tale.  In  America  this  is  most  obvious  in  Peru. 

Akin  to  this  is  what  Prof.  Max  M  filler  has  termed 
henotheism.  In  this  mental  process  one  god  or  one  form 
of  a  god  is  exalted  beyond  all  others,  and  even  addressed 
as  the  one,  only,  absolute  and  supreme  deity.  Such  ex 
pressions  are  not  to  be  construed  literally  as  evidences  of 
a  monotheism,  but  simply  that  at  that  particular  time 
the  worshiper's  mind  was  so  filled  with  the  power  and  \ 
majesty  of  the  divinity  to  whom  he  appealed,  that  he 
applied  to  him  these  superlatives,  very  much  as  he  would 
to  a  great  ruler.  The  next  day  he  might  apply  them  to 
another  deity,  without  any  hypocrisy  or  sense  of  logical 
contradiction.  Instances  of  this  are  common  in  the  A /tec 
prayers  which  have  been  preserved. 

One  difficulty  encountered  in  Aryan  mythology  is  ex 
tremely  rare  in  America,  and  that  is,  the  adoption  of  for 
eign  names.  A  proper  name  without  a  definite  concrete  sig 
nificance  in  the  tongue  of  the  people  who  used  it  is  almost 
unexampled  in  the  red  race.  A  word  without  a  meaning 
was  something  quite  foreign  to  their  mode  of  thought.  One 
ofpurmosteminentstudentsMiasjustly said  :  "Every  Indian 

1 J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  Oil  the  Composition  of  Indian  Geo 
graphical  Names,  p.  3  (Hartford,  1870). 


V 


24  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

synthesis — names  of  persons  and  places  not  excepted — must 
preserve  the  consciousness  of  its  roots,  and  must  not  only 
have  a  meaning,  but  be  so  framed  as  to  convey  that  mean 
ing  with  precision,  to  all  who  speak  the  language  to  which 
it  belongs."  Hence,  the  names  of  their  divinities  can  nearly 
always  be  interpreted,  though  for  the  reasons  above  given 
the  most  obvious  and  current  interpretation  is  not  in  every 
case  the  correct  one. 

As  foreign  names  were  not  adopted,  so  the .  my thology 
of  one  tribe  very  rarely  influenced  that  of  another.  As  a 
rule,  all  the  religions  were  tribal  or  national,  and  their 
votaries  had  no  desire  to  extend  them.  There  was  little 
of  the  proselytizing  spirit  among  the  red  race.  Some  ex 
ceptions  can  be  pointed  out  to  this  statement,  in  the  Aztec 
and  Peruvian  monarchies.  Some  borrowing  seems  to  have 
been  done  either  by  or  from  the  Mayas ;  and  the  hero- 
myth  of  the  Iroquois  has  so  many  of  the  lineaments  of 
that  of  the  Algonkins  that  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  it 
was  wholly  independent  of  it.  But,  on  the  whole,  the  iden 
tities  often  found  in  American  myths  are  more  justly 
attributable  to  a  similarity  of  surroundings  and  impressions 
than  to  any  other  cause. 

The  diversity  and  intricacy  of  American  mythology 
have  been  greatly  fostered  by  the  delight  the  more  de 
veloped  nations  took  in  rhetorical  figures,  in  metaphor  and 
simile,  and  in  expressions  of  amplification  and  hyperbole. 
Those  who  imagine  that  there  was  a  poverty  of  resources 
in  these  languages,  or  that  their  concrete  form  hemmed  in 


ABSTRACT   EXPRESSIONS.  25 

the  mind  from  the  study  of  the  abstract,  speak  without 
knowledge.  One  has  but  to  look  at  the  inexhaustible 
synonymy  of  the  Aztec,  as  it  is  set,  forth  by  Olmos  or 
Sahagun,  or  at  its  power  to  render  correctly  the  refine 
ments  of  scholastic  theology,  to  see  how  wide  of  the  fact 
is  any  such  opinion.  And  what  is  true  of  the  Aztec,  is 
not  less  so  of  the  Qquichua  and  other  tongues. 

I  will  give  an  example,  where  the  English  language 
itself  falls  short  of  the  nicety  of  the  Qquichua  in  hand 
ling  a  metaphysical  tenet.  Cay  in  Qquichua  expresses  the 
real  being  of  things,  the  essentia ;  as,  runap  caynin,  the 
being  of  the  human  race,  humanity  in  the  abstract;  but  to 
convey  the  idea  of  actual  being,  the  existentia  as  united  to 
the  essentia,  we  must  add  the  prefix  cascan,  and  thus  have 
runap-cascan-caynin,  which  strictly  means  "the  essence 
of  being  in  general,  as  existent  in  humanity."1  I  doubt  if 
the  dialect  of  German  metaphysics  itself,  after  all  its  elabo 
ration,  could  produce  in  equal  compass  a  term  for  this  con 
ception.  In  Qquichua,  moreover,  there  is  nothing  strained 
and  nothing  foreign  in  this  example ;  it  is  perfectly  pure, 
and  in  thorough  accord  with  the  genius  of  the  tongue. 

I  take  some  pains  to  impress  this  fact,  for  it  is  an  im 
portant  one  in  estimating  the  religious  ideas  of  the  race. 
We  must  not  think  we  have  grounds  for  skepticism  if  we 
occasionally  come  across  some  that  astonish  us  by  their 

1  "  El  ser  existente  de  hombre,  que  es  el  modo  de  estar  el  primer 
ser  que  es  la  essentia  que  en  Dios  y  los  Angeles  y  el  hombre  es  modo 
personal."  Diego  Gonzalez  Holguin,  Vocabvlario  de  la  Lengva 
Qqichua,  o  del  Inca ;  sub  voce,  Cay.  (Ciudad  de  los  Reyes,  1608.) 


26  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

subtlety.  Such  arc  quite  in  keeping  with  the  psychology 
and  languages  of  the  race  we  are  studying. 

Yet,  throughout  America,  as  in  most  other  parts  of  the 
world,  the  teaching  of  religious  tenets  was  twofold,  the 
one  popular,  the  other  for  the  initiated,  an  esoteric  and  an 
exoteric  doctrine.  A  difference  in  dialect  was  assiduously 
cultivated,  .a  sort  of  "  sacred  language  "  being  employed  to 
conceal  while  it  conveyed  the  mysteries  of  faith.  Some 
linguists  think  that  these  dialects  are  archaic  forms  of  the 
language,  the  memory  of  which  was  retained  in  ceremonial 
observances;  others  maintain  that  they  were  simply  affecta 
tions  of  expression,  and  form  a  sort  of  slang,  based  on  the 
every  day  language,  and  current  among  the  initiated.  I  am 
inclined  to  the  latter  as  the  correct  opinion,  in  many  cases. 

Whichever  it  was,  such  a  sacred  dialect  is  found  in  almost 
all  tribes.  There  are  fragments  of  it  from  the  cultivated 
races  of  Mexico,  Yucatan  and  Peru  ;  and  at  the  -other  end 
of  the  scale  we  may  instance  the  Guaymis,  of  Darien, 
naked  savages,  but  whose  "  chiefs  of  the  law,"  we  are  told, 
taught  "  the  doctrines  of  their  religion  in  a  peculiar  idiom, 
invented  for  the  purpose,  and  very  different  from  the  com 
mon  language." 

This  becomes  an  added  difficulty  in  the  analysis  of  myths, 
as  not  only  were  the  names  of  the  divinities  and  of  localities 
expressed  in  terms  in  the  highest  degree  metaphorical,  but 

1  Franco,  Noticia  de  los  Indios  Guaymies  y  de  sus  Costumbres,  p. 
20,  in  Pinartj  Coleccion  de  Linguistica  y  Etnografia  Americana. 
Tom.  iv. 


THE   TYPICAL   AMERICAN    MYTH.  27 

they  were  at  times  obscured  by  an  affected  pronunciation, 
devised  to  conceal  their  exact  derivation. 

The  native  tribes  of  this  Continent  had  many  myths, 
and  among  them  there  was  one  which  was  so  prominent, 
and  recurred  with  such  strangely  similar  features  in  locali 
ties  widely  asunder,  that  it  has  for  years  attracted  my  at 
tention,  and  I  have  been  led  to  present  it  as  it  occurs  among 
several  nations  far  apart/ both  geographically  and  in  point 
of  culture.  This  myth  is  that  of  the  national  hero,  their  i 
mythical  civilizer  and  teacher  of  the  tribe,  who,  at  the  .same 
time,  was  often  identified  with  the  supreme  deity  and  the 
creator  of  the  world.  It  is  the  fundamental  myth  of  a  very 
large  number  of  American  tribes,  and  on  its  recognition 
and  interpretation  depends  the  correct  understanding  of 
most  of  their  mythology  and  religious  life. 

The  outlines  of  this  legend  are  to  the  effect  that  in  some 
exceedingly  remote  time  this  divinity  took  an  active  part 
in  creating  the  world  and  in  fitting  it  to  be  the  abode  of 
man,  and  may  himself  have  formed  or  called  forth  the 
race.  At  any  rate,  his  interest  in  its  advancement  was  such 
that  he  personally  appeared  among  the  ancestors  of  the 
nation,  and  taught  them  the  useful  arts,  gave  them  the 
maize  or  other  food  plants,  initiated  them  into  the  mysteries 
of  their  religious  rites,  framed  the  laws  which  governed 
their  social  relations,  and  having  thus  started  them  on  the 
road  to  self  development,  he  left  them,- not  suffering  death, 
but  disappearing  in  some  way  from  their  view.  Hence  it  was 
nigh  universally  expected  that  at  some  time  he  would  return. 


28  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

The  circumstances  attending  the  birth  of  these  hero-gods 
have  great  similarity.  As  a  rule,  each  is  a  twin  or  one  of 
four  brothers  born  at  one  birth  ;  very  generally  at  the  cost 
of  their  mother's  life,  who  is  a  virgin,  or  at  least  had  never 
been  impregnated  by  mortal  man.  The  hero  is  apt  to  come 
into  conflict  with  his  brother,  or  one  of  his  brothers,  and  the 
long  and  desperate  struggle  resulting,  which  often  involved 
the  universe  in  repeated  destructions,  constitutes  one  of 
the  leading  topics  of  the  myth-makers.  The  duel  is  not 
generally — not  at  all,  I  believe,  when  we  can  get  at  the 
genuine  native  form  of  the  myth — between  a  morally  good 
and  an  evil  spirit,  though,  undoubtedly,  the  one  is  more 
friendly  and  favorable  to  the  welfare  of  man  than  the 
other. 

The  better  of  the  two,  the  true  hero-god,  is  in  the  end 
triumphant,  though  the  national  temperament  represented 
this  variously.  At  any  rate,  his  people  are  not  deserted  by 
him,  and  though  absent,  and  perhaps  for  a  while  driven 
away  by  his  potent  adversary,  he  is  sure  to  come  back  some 
time  or  other. 

The  place  of  his  birth  is  nearly  always  located  in  the 
East ;  from  that  quarter  he  first  came  when  he  appeared  as 
a  man  among  men  ;  toward  that  point  he  returned  when 
he  disappeared;  and  there  he  still  lives,  awaiting  the 
appointed  time  for  his  reappearance. 

Whenever  the  personal  appearance  of  this  hero-god  is 
described,  it  is,  strangely  enough,  represented  to  be  that  of 
one  of  the  white  race,  a  man  of  fair  complexion,  with  long, 


THE   LIGHT   AS   GOD.  29 

flowing  beard,  with  abundant  hair,  and  clothed  in  ample 
and  loose  robes.  This  extraordinary  fact  naturally  suggests 
the  gravest  suspicion  that  these  stories  were  made  up 
after  the  whites  had  reached  the  American  shores,  and 
nearly  all  historians  have  summarily  rejected  their  authen 
ticity,  on  this  account.  But  a  most  careful  scrutiny  of  their 
sources  positively  refutes  this  opinion.  There  is  irrefrag 
able  evidence  that  these  myths  and  this  ideal  of  the  hero- 
god,  were  intimately  known  and  widely  current  in 
America  long  before  any  one  of  its  millions  of  inhabitants 
had  ever  seen  a  white  man.  Nor  is  there  any  difficulty  in 
explaining  this,  when  we  divest  these  figures  of  the  fanci 
ful  garbs  in  which  they  have  been  clothed  by  the  religious 
imagination,  and  recognize  what  are  the  phenomena  on 
which  they  are  based,  and  the  physical  processes  whose  his 
tories  they  embody.  To  show  this  I  will  offer,  in  the  most 
concise  terms,  my  interpretation  of  their  main  details. 

The  most  important  of  all  things  to  life  is  Light.  This 
the  primitive  savage  felt,  and,  personifying  it,  he  made 
Light  his  chief  god.  The  beginning  of  the  day  served,  by 
analogy,  for  the  beginning  of  the  world.  Light  comes  be 
fore  the  sun,  brings  it  forth,  creates  it,  as  it  were.  Hence 

the  Light-God  is  not  the  Sun-God,  but  his  Antecedent  and 

rx      > 
Creator. 

The  light  appears  in  the  East,  and  thus  defines  that  car 
dinal  point,  and  by  it  the  others  are  located.  These  points, 
as  indispensable  guides  to  the  wandering  hordes,  became, 
from  earliest  times,  personified  as  important  deities,  and  were 


30  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

identified  with  the  winds  that  blew  from  them,  as  wind  and 
rain  gods.  This  explains  the  four  brothers,  who  were  no 
thing  else  than  the  four  cardinal  points,  and  their  mother,  who 
dies  in  producing  them,  is  the  eastern  light,  which  is  soon  lost 
in  the  growing  day.  The  East,  as  their  leader,  was  also  the 
,  supposed  ruler  of  the  winds,  and  thus  god  of  the  air  and  rain . 
As  more  immediately  connected  with  the  advent  and  depar 
ture  of  light,  the  East  and  "West  are  twins,  the  one  of  which 
sends  forth  the  glorious  day-orb,  which  the  other  lies  in 
wait  to  conquer.  Yet  the  light-god  is  not  slain.  The  sun 
shall  rise  again  in  undiminished  glory,  and  he  lives,  though 
absent. 

By  sight  and  light  we  see  and  learn.  Nothing,  there 
fore,  is  more  natural  than  to  attribute  to  the  light-god  the 
early  progress  in  the  arts  of  domestic  and  social  life.  Thus 
light  came  to  be  personified  as  the  embodiment  of  culture 
and  knowledge,  of  wisdom,  and  of  the  peace  and  pros 
perity  which  are  necessary  for  the  growth  of  learning. 

The  fair  complexion  of  these  heroes  is  nothing  but  a 
reference  to  the  white  light  of  the  dawn.  Their  ample 
hair  and  beard  are  the  rays  of  the  sun  that  flow  from  his 
radiant  visage.  Their  loose  and  large  robes  typify  the  en 
folding  of  the  firmament  by  the  light  and  the  winds. 

This  interpretation  is  nowise  strained,  but  is  simply  that 
which,  in  Aryan  mythology,  is  now  universally  accepted  for 
similar  mythological  creations.  Thus,  in  the  Greek  Phoebus 
and  Perseus,  in  the  Teutonic  Lif,  and  in  the  Norse  Baldur, 
we  have  also  beneficent  hero-gods,  distinguished  by  their 


THE    HERMES    MYTH.  31 

fair  complexion  and  ample  golden  locks.  "  Amongst  the 
dark  as  well  as  amongst  the  fair  races,  amongst  those  who 
are  marked  by  black  hair  and  dark  eyes,  they  exhibit  the 
same  unfailing  tyj^e  of  blue-eyed  heroes  whose  golden  locks 
flow  over  their  shoulders,  and  whose  faces  gleam  as  with 
the  light  of  the  new  risen  sun."1 

Everywhere,  too,  the  history  of  these  heroes  is  that  of  a 
struggle  against  some  potent  enemy,  some  dark  demon  or 
dragon,  but  as  often  against  some  member  of  their  own 
household,  a  brother  or  a  father. 

The  identification  of  the  Light-God  with  the  deity  of  the 
winds  is  also  seen  in  Aryan  mythology.  Hermes,  to  the 
Greek,  was  the  inventor  of  the  alphabet,  music,  the  cultiva 
tion  of  the  olive,  weights  and  measures,  and  such  humane 
arts.  He  was  also  the  messenger  of  the  gods,  in  other 
words,  the  breezes,  the  winds,  the  air  in  motion.  His 
name  Hermes,  Hermeias,  is  but  a  transliteration  of  the 
Sanscrit  Sarameyas,  under  which  he  appears  in  the  Vedic 
songs,  as  the  son  of  Sarama,  the  Dawn.  Even  his  charac 
ter  as  the  master  thief  and  patron  saint  of  the  light-fin 
gered  gentry,  drawn  from  the  way  the  winds  and  breezes 
penetrate  every  crack  and  cranny  of  the  house,  is  abso 
lutely  repeated  in  the  Mexican  hero-god  Quetzalcoatl,  who 
was  also  the  patron  of  thieves.  I  might  carry  the  com 
parison  yet  further,  for  as  Sarameyas  is  derived  from  the 
root  sar,  to  creep,  whence  serpo,  serpent,  the  creeper,  so 

1  Sir  George  W.  Cox,  An  Introduction  to  the  Science  of  Compara 
tive  Mythology  and  Folk-Lore,  p.  17. 


32  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

the  name  Quetzalcoatl  can  be  accurately  translated,  "  the 
wonderful  serpent."  In  name,  history  and  functions  the 
parallelism  is  maintained  throughout. 

Or  we  can  find  another  familiar  myth,  partly  Aryan, 
partly  Semitic,  where  many  of  the  same  outlines  present 
themselves.  The  Argive  Thebans  attributed  the  founding  of 
their  city  and  state  to  Cadmus.  He  collected  their  ances 
tors  into  a  community,  gave  them  laws,  invented  the  alpha 
bet  of  sixteen  letters,  taught  them  the  art  of  smelting 
metals,  established  oracles,  and  introduced  the  Dyonisiac 
worship,  or  that  of  the  reproductive  principle.  He  subse 
quently  left  them  and  lived  for  a  time  with  other  nations, 
and  at  last  did  not  die,  but  was  changed  into  a  dragon  and 
carried  by  Zeus  to  Elysion. 

The  birthplace  of  this  culture  hero  was  somewhere  far  to 
the  eastward  of  Greece,  somewhere  in  "  the  purple  land  " 
(Phoenicia) ;  his  mother  was  "  the  far  gleaming  one"  (Tele- 
phassa);  he  was  one  of  four  children,  and  his  sister  was 
Europe,  the  Dawn,  who  was  seized  and  carried  westward 
by  Zeus,  in  the  shape  of  a  white  bull.  Cadmus  seeks  to 
recover  her,  and  sets  out,  following  the  westward  course  of 
the  sun.  "  There  can  be  no  rest  until  the  lost  one  is  found 
again.  The  sun  must  journey  westward  until  he  sees  again 
the  beautiful  tints  which  greeted  his  eyes  in  the  morning."1 
Therefore  Cadmus  leaves  the  purple  land  to  pursue  his 
quest.  It  is  one  of  toil  and  struggle.  He  has  to  fight  the 
dragon  offspring  of  Ares  and  the  bands  of  armed  men  who 
1  Sir  George  W.  Cox,  Ibid.,  p.  76. 


THE   CADMUS    MYTH.  33 

spring  from  the  dragon's  teeth  which  were  sown,  that  is, 
the  clouds  and  gloom  of  the  overcast  sky.  He  conquers, 
and  is  rewarded,  but  does  not  recover  his  sister. 

When  we  find  that  the  name  Cadmus  is  simply  tin- 
Semitic  word  bed  cm,  the  east,  and  notice  all  this  mythical 
entourage,  we  see  that  this  legend  is  but  a  lightly  veiled 
account  of  the  local  source  and  progress  of  the  light  of  day, 
and  of  the  advantages  men  derive  from  it.  Cadmus  brings 
the  letters  of  the  alphabet  from  the  e-ist  to  Greece,  for  the 
same  reason  that  in  ancient  Maya  myth  Itzamna,  "son  of 
the  mother  of  the  morning/'  brought  the  hieroglyphs  of 
the  Maya  script  also  from  the  east  to  Yucatan — because 
both  represent  the  light  by  which  we  see  and  learn. 

Egyptian  mythology  offers  quite  as  many  analogies  to 
support  this  interpretation  of  American  myths  as  do  the 
Aryan  god-stories.  * 

The  heavenly  light  impregnates  the  virgin  from  whom  is 
born  the  sun-god,  whose  life  is  a  long  contest  with  his 
twin  brother.  The  latter  wins,  but  his  victory  is  transient, 
for  the  light,  though  conquered  and  banished  by  the  dark 
ness,  cannot  be  slain,  and  is  sure  to  return  with  the  dawn, 
to  the  great  joy  of  the  sons  of  men.  This  story  the  Egyp 
tians  delighted  to  repeat  under  numberless  disguises.  The 
groundwork  and  meaning  are  the  same,  whether  the  actors 
are  Osiris,  Isis  and  Set,  Ptah,  Hapi  and  the  Virgin  Cow,  or 
the  many  other  actors  of  this  drama.  There,  too,  among  a 
j  brown  race  of  men,  the  light-god  was  deemed  to  be  not  of 

their  own   hue,  but  "  light  colored,  white  or  yellow,"  of 


34  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

comely  countenance,  bright  eyes  and  golden  hair.  Again, 
he  is  the  one  who  invented  the  calendar,  taught  the  arts, 
established  the  rituals,  revealed  the  medical  virtues  of 
plants,  recommended  peace,  and  again  was  identified  as  one 
of  the  brothers  of  the  cardinal  points.1 

The  story  of  the  virgin-mother  points,  in  America  as  it 
did  in  the  old  world,  to  the  notion  of  the  dawn  bringing 
forth  the  sun.  It  was  one  of  the  commonest  myths  in  both 
continents,  and  in  a  period  of  human  thought  when  mira 
cles  were  supposed  to  be  part  of  the  order  of  things  had  in 
it  nothing  difficult  of  credence.  The  Peruvians,  for  in 
stance,  had  large  establishments  where  were  kept  in  rigid 
seclusion  the  "  virgins  of  the  sun."  Did  one  of  these  violate 
her  vow  of  chastity,  she  and  her  fellow  criminal  were  at 
oiice  put  to  death  ;  but  did  she  claim  that  the  child  she 
bore  was  of  divine  parentage,  and  the  contrary  could  not 
be  shown,  then  she  was  feted  as  a  queen,  and  the  product  of 
her  womb  was  classed  among  princes,  as  a  son  of  the  sun. 
So,  in  the  inscription  at  Thebes,  in  the  temple  of  the  virgin 
•  goddess  Mat,  we  read  where  she  says  of  herself:  "My 
garment  no  man  has  lifted  up;  the  fruit  that  I  have  borne 
was  begotten  of  the  sun.7'2 

I  do  not  venture  too  much  in  saying  that  it  were  easy  to 
parallel  every  event  in  these  American  hero-myths,  every 

1  See  Dr.  C.  P.  Tiele,  History  of  the  Egyptian  Religion,  pp.  93;95, 
99,  et  al. 


oq  s^svsro."     Proclus,  quoted  by  Tiele,  ubi  suprj'i,  p.  204,  note. 


MYTHS    ARE    XOT    HISTORY.  :>,"> 

phase  of  character  of  the  personages  they  represent,  with 
others  drawn  from  Aryan  and  Egyptian  legends  long  familiar 
to  students,  and  which  now  are  fully  recognized  as  having 
in  them  nothing  of  the  substance  of  history,  but  as  pure 
creations  of  the  religious  imagination  working  on  the  pro 
cesses  of  nature  brought  into  relation  to  the  hopes  and  fears 
of  men. 

If  this  is  so,  is  it  not  time  that  we  dismiss,  once  for  all, 
these  American  myths  from  the  domain  of  historical  tradi 
tions?  Why  should  Ave  try  to  make  a  king  of  Itzamna,  an 
enlightened  ruler  of  Quetzalcoatl,  a  cultured  nation  of  the 
Toltecs,  when  the  proof  is  of  the  strongest,  that  every  one 
of  these  is  an  absolutely  baseless  fiction  of  mythology?  / 
Let  it  be  understood,  hereafter,  that  whoever  uses  these 
names  in  an  historical  sense  betrays  an  ignorance  of  the  sub 
ject  he  handles,  which,  were  it  in  the  better  known  field  of  ]  I/ 
Aryan  or  Egyptian  lore,  would  at  once  convict  him  of  not 
meriting  the  name  of  scholar.. 

In  European  history  the  day  has  passed  when  it  was 
allowable  to  construct  primitive  chronicles  out  of  fairy 
tales  and  nature  myths.  The  science  of  comparative 
mythology  has  assigned  to  these  venerable  stories  a 
different,  though  not  less  noble,  interpretation.  How- 
much  longer  must  we  wait  to  see  the  same  canons  of 
criticism  applied  to  the  products  of  the  religious  fancy 
of  the  red  race? 

Furthermore,  if  the  myths  oT  the  American  nations  are 
shown  to  be  capable  of  a  consistent  interpretation  by  the 


36  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

principles  of  comparative  mythology,  let  it  be  recognized 
that  they  are  neither  to  be  discarded  because  they  resemble 
some  familiar  to  their  European  conquerors,  nor  does  that 
similarity  mean  that  they  are  historically  derived,  the 
one  from  the  other.  Each  is  an  independent  growth,  but 
as  each  is  the  reflex  in  a  common  psychical  nature  of  the 
same  phenomena,  the  same  forms  of  expression  were  adopted 
to  convey  them. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   HERO-GODS   OF   THE    ALGONKINS    AND    IROQUOIS. 
I  1.     The  Algonkin  Myth  of  Michabo. 

THE  MYTH  OF  THE  GIANT  RABBIT — THE  RABBIT  CREATES  THE  WORLD 
— HE  MARRIES  THE  MUSKRAT — BECOMES  THE  ALL-FATHER — DERIVA 
TION  OF  MICHABO — OF  WAJASHK,  THE  MUSKRAT — THE  MYTH  EX 
PLAINED — THE  LIGHT-GOD  AS  GOD  OF  THE  EAST — THE  FOUR  DIVINE 
BROTHERS — MYTH  OF  THE  HUAROCHIRIS — THE  DAY-MAKERS — Mi- 
CHABO'S  CONTESTS  WITH  HIS  FATHER  AND  BROTHER — EXPLANATION  OK 
THESE — THE  SYMBOLIC  FLINT  STONE — MICHABO  DESTROYS  THE  SER 
PENT  KING — MEANING  OF  THIS  MYTH — RELATIONS  OF  THE  LIGHT- GOD 
AND  WiND-Goo — MICHABO  AS  GOD  OF  WATERS  AND  FERTILITY — REP 
RESENTED  AS  A  BEARDED  MAN. 

\  2.     The  Iroquois  Myth  of  loskeha. 

THE  CREATION  OF  THE  EARTH — THE  MIRACULOUS  BIRTH  OF  IOSKEHA 
— HE  OVERCOMES  HIS  BROTHER,  TAWISCARA — CREATES  AND  TEACHES 
MANKIND — VISITS  HIS  PEOPLE — His  GRANDMOTHER,  ATAENSIC — 
IOSKEHA  AS  FATHER  OF  HIS  MOTHER — SIMILAR  CONCEPTIONS  i IN- 
EGYPTIAN  MYTHS — DERIVATION  OF  IOSKEHA  AND  ATAENSIC — IOSKEHA 
AS  THARONHIAAVAKON,  THE  SKY  SUPPORTER — His  BROTHER  TAWIS 
CARA  OR  TEHOTENNHIARON  IDENTIFIED — SIMILARITY  TO  ALGONKIN 
MYTHS. 

Nearly  all  that  vast  area  which  lies  between  Hudson 
Bay  and  the  Savannah  river,  and  the  Mississippi  river 
and  the  Atlantic  coast,  was  peopled  at  the  epoch  of  the 
discovery  by  the  members  of  itwo  linguistic  families- — the 
Algonkins  arid  the  Iroquois.  They  were  on  about  the  same 
plaue  of  culture,  but  differed  much  in  temperament  and 
radically  in  language.  Yet  their  religious  notions  were 
not  dissimilar. 


37 


38  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

§  1.     The  AhjonUn  Myth  of  Michabo. 

Among  all  the  Algonkin  tribes  whose  myths  have  been 
preserved  we  find  much  is  said  about  a  certain  Giant 
Rabbit,  to  whom  all  sorts  of  powers  were  attributed.  He 
was  the  master  of  all  animals;  he  was  the  teacher  who  first 
instructed  men  in  the  arts  of  fishing  and  hunting;  he 
imparted  to  the  Algonkins  the  mysteries  of  their  religious 
rites;  he  taught  them  picture  writing  and  the  interpretation 
of  dreams ;  nay,  far  more  than  that,  he  was  the  original 
ancestor,  not  only  of  their  nation,  but  of  the  whole  race 
of  man,  and,  in  fact,  was  none  other  than  the  primal 
Creator  himself,  who  fashioned  the  earth  and  gave  life  to 
all  that  thereon  is. 

Hearing  all  this  said  about  such  an  ignoble  and  weak 
animal  as  the  rabbit,  no  wonder  that  the  early  missionaries 
and  travelers  spoke  of  such  fables  with  undisguised  con 
tempt,  and  never  mentioned  them  without  excuses  for  putting 
on  record  trivialities  so  utter. 

Yet  it  appears  to  me  that  under  these  seemingly  weak 
stories  lay  a  profound  truth,  the  appreciation  of  which  was 
lost  in  great  measure  to  the  natives  themselves,  but  which 
can  be  shown  to  have  been  in  its  origin  a  noble  myth, 
setting  forth  in  not  unworthy  images  the  ceaseless  and 
mighty  rhythm  of  nature  in  the  alternations  of  day  and 
night,  summer  and  winter,  storm  and  sunshine. 

I  shall  quote  a  few  of  these  stories  as  told  by  early 
authorities,  not  adding  anything  to  relieve  their  crude  sim 
plicity,  and  then  I  will  see  whether,  when  submitted  to  the 


MYTH    OF    CREATION".  39 

test  of  linguistic  analysis,  this  unpromising  ore  does  not 
yield  the  pure  gold  of  genuine  mythology. 

The  beginning  of  things,  according  to  the  Ottawas  and 
other  northern  Algonkins,  was  at  a  period  when  boundless 
waters  covered  the  face  of  the  earth.  On  this  infinite 
ocean  floated  a  raft,  upon  which  were  many  species  of  ani 
mals,  the  captain  and  chief  of  whom  was  Michabo,  the  Giant 
Rabbit.  They  ardently  desired  land  on  which  to  live,  so 
this  mighty  rabbit  ordered  the  beaver  to  dive  and  bring 
him  up  ever  so  little  a  piece  of  mud.  The  beaver  obeyed, 
and  remained  down  long,  even  so  that  he  came  up  utterly 
exhausted,  but  reported  that  he  had  not  reached  bottom. 
Then  the  Rabbit  sent  down  the  otter,  but  he  also  returned 
nearly  dead  and  without  success.  Great  was  the  disap 
pointment  of  the  company  on  the  raft,  for  what  better  divers 
had  they  than  the  beaver  and  the  otter  ? 

In  the  midst  of  their  distress  the  (female)  muskrat  came 
forward  and  announced  her  willingness  to  make  the  attempt. 
Her  proposal  was  received  with  derision,  but  as  poor  help 
is  better  than  none  in  an  emergency,  the  Rabbit  gave  her 
permission,  and  down  she  dived.  She  too  remained  long, 
very  long,  a  whole  day  and  night,  and  they  gave  her  up  for 
lost.  But  at  length  she  floated  to  the  surface,  unconscious, 
her  belly  up,  as  if  dead.  They  hastily  hauled  her  on  the 
raft  and  examined  her  paws  one  by  one.  In  the  last  one 
of  the  four  they  found  a  small  speck  of  mud.  Victory  ! 
That  was  all  that  was  needed.  The  muskrat  was  soon 
restored,  and  the  Giant  Rabbit,  exerting  his  creative  power, 


40  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

moulded  the  little  fragment  of  soil,  and  as  he  moulded  it, 

O  /  " 

it  grew  and  grew,  into  an  island,  into  a  mountain,  into  a 
country,  into  this  great  earth  that  we  all  dwell  upon.  As 
it  grew  the  Babbit  walked  round  and  round  it,  to  see  how 
big  it  was ;  and  the  story  added  that  he  is  not  yet  satisfied  ; 
still  he  continues  his  journey  and  his  labor,  walking  forever 
around  and  around  the  earth  and  ever  increasing  it  more 
and  more. 

The  animals  on  the  raft  soon  found  homes  on  the  new 
earth.  But  it  had  yet  to  be  covered  with  forests,  and  men 
were  not  born.  The  Giant  Rabbit  formed  the  trees  by 
shooting  his  arrows  into  the  soil,  which  became  tree  trunks, 
and,  transfixing  them  with  other  arrows,  these  became 
branches ;  and  as  for  men,  some  said  he  formed  them  from 
the  dead  bodies  of  certain  animals,  which  in  time  became 
the  "totems"  of  the  A 1  go n kin  tribes;  but  another  and 
probably  an  older  and  truer  story  was  that  he  married  the 
muskrat  which  had  been  of  such  service  to  him,  and  from 
this  union  were  born  the  ancestors  of  the  various  races  .of 
mankind  which  people  the  earth. 

Nor  did  he  neglect  the  children  he  had  thus  brought  into 
the  world  of  his  creation.  Having  closely  studied  how 
the  spider  spreads  her  web  to  catch  flies,  he  invented  the 
art  of  knitting  nets  for  fish,  and  taught  it  to  his  descend 
ants  ;  the  pieces  of  native  copper  found  along  the  shores 
of  Lake  Superior  he  took  from  his  treasure  house  inside 
the  earth,  where  he  sometimes  lives.  It  is  he  who  is  the 
Master  of  Life,  and  if  he  appears  in  a  dream  to  a  person 


DERIVATION    OF    MICH  ABO.  41 

in  clanger,  it  is  a  certain  sign  of  a  lucky  escape.  He  con 
fers  fortune  in  the  chase,  and  therefore  the  hunters  invoke 
him,  and  offer  him  tobacco  and  other  dainties,  placing  them 
in  the  clefts  of  rocks  or  on  isolated  boulders.  Though 
called  the  Giant  Rabbit,  he  is  always  referred  to  as  a  man, 
a  giant  or  demigod  perhaps,  but  distinctly  as  of  human 
nature,  the  mighty  father  or  elder  brother  of  the  race.1 

Such  is  the  national  myth  of  creation  of  the  Algonkin 
tribes,  as  it  has  been  handed  down  to  us  in  fragments  by 
those  who  first  heard  it.  Has  it  any  meaning  ?  Is  it  more 
than  the  puerile  fable  of  savages  ? 

Let  us  see  whether  some  of  those  unconscious  tricks  of 
speech  to  which  I  referred  in  the  introductory  chapter 
have  not  disfigured  a  true  nature  myth.  Perhaps  those 
common  processes  of  language,  personification  and  otosis, 
duly  taken  into  account,  will  enable  us  to  restore  this 
narrative  to  its  original  sense. 

In  the  Algonkin  tongue  the  word  for  Giant  Rabbit  is 
Missabos,  compounded  from  mitchi  or  missi,  great,  large, 
and  wabos,  a  rabbit.  But  there  is  a  whole  class  of  related 
words,  referring  to  widely  different  percept  ions,  which  sound 
very  much  like  wabos.  They  are  from  a  general  root  wab, 
which  goes  to  form  such  words  of  related  signification  as 
wabij  he  sees,  waban,  the  east,  the  Orient,  wabish,  white, 

1  The  writers  from  whom  I  have  taken  this  myth  are  Nicolas  Perrot, 
Memoire  sur  les  Meurs,  Coustumes  et  Rdligion  den  Sauvages  de 
I'  Aiin'rique  Scptentrionale,  written  by  an  intelligent  layman  who  lived 
among  the  natives  from  1665  to  J699;  and  the  various  Relations  des 
Jesuites,  especially  for  the  years  1667  and  1670. 


42  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

bidaban  (bid-waban),  the  dawn,  wdban,  daylight,  wasseia, 
the  light,  and  many  others.  Here  is  where  we  are  to  look 
for  the  real  meaning  of  the  name  Missabos.  It  originally 
meant  the  Great  Light,  the  Mighty  Seer,  the  Orient,  the 
Dawn — which  you  please,  as  all  distinctly  refer  to  the  one 
original  idea,  the  Bringer  of  Light  and  Sight,  of  knowledge 
and  life.  In  time  this  meaning  became  obscured,  and  the 

O  ' 

idea  of  the  rabbit,  whose  name  was  drawn  probably  from 
the  same  root,  as  in  the  northern  winters  its  fur  becomes 
white,  was  substituted,  and  so  the  myth  of  light  degene 
rated  into  an  animal  fable. 

I  believe  that  a  similar  analysis  will  explain  the  part 
which  the  muskrat  plays  in  the  story.  She  it  is  who  brings 
up  the  speck  of  mud  from  the  bottom  of  the  primal  ocean, 
and  from  this  speck  the  world  is  formed  by  him  whom  we 
now  see  was  the  Lord  of  the  Light  and  the  Day,  and  sub 
sequently  she  becomes  the  mother  of  his  sons.  The  word 
for  muskrat  in  Algonkin  is  wajashk,  the  first  letter  of 
which  often  suffers  elision,  as  in  nin  nod-ojashkwe,  I  hunt 
muskrats.  But  this  is  almost  the  word  for  mud,  wet  earth, 
soil,  ajishki.  There  is  no  reasonable  doubt  but  that  here 
again  otosis  and  personification  came  in  and  gave  the 
form  and  name  of  an  animal  to  the  original  simple 
statement. 

That  statement  was  that  from  wet  mud  dried  by  the  sun 
light,  the  solid  earth  was  formed  ;  and  again,  that  this  damp 
soil  was  warmed  and  fertilized  by  the  sunlight,  so  that  from 
it  sprang  organic  life,  even  man  himself,  who  in  so  many 


THE   SACRED    EAST.  43 

mythologies   is  "the  earth   born,"   homo  ab  Juimo,   liomo 
chamaigenes.1 

This,  then,  is  the  interpretation  I  have  to  offer  of  the  cos- 
mogonical  myth  of  the  Algonkins.  Does  some  one  object 
that  it  is  too  refined  for  those  rude  savages,  or  that  it 
smacks  too  much  of  reminiscences  of  old-world  teachings? 
My  answer  is  that  neither  the  early  travelers  who  wrote  it 
down,  nor  probably  the  natives  who  told  them,  understood 
its  meaning,  and  that  not  until  it  is  here  approached  by 
modern  methods  of  analysis,  has  it  ever  been  explained. 
Therefore  it  is  impossible  to  assign  to  it  other  than  an  in 
digenous  and  spontaneous  origin  in  some  remote  period  of 
Algonkin  tribal  history. 

After  the  darkness  of  the  night,  man  first  learns  his 
whereabouts  by  the  light  kindling  in  the  Orient;  wander 
ing,  as  did  the  primitive  man,  through  pathless  forests, 
without  a  guide,  the  East  became  to  him  the  first  and  most 
important  of  the  fixed  points  in  space;  by  it  were  located 
the  West,  the  North,  the  South  ;  from  it  spread  the  wel 
come  dawn ;  in  it  was  born  the  glorious  sun  ;  it  was  full  of 
promise  and  of  instruction  ;  hence  it  became  to  him  the 
home  of  the  gods  of  life  and  light  and  wisdom. 

As  the    four   cardinal   points  are  determined   by  fixed 

1  Mr.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull  has  pointed  out  that  in  Algonkin  the 
words  for  father,  ash,  mother,  okas,  and  earth,  ohke  (Narragansct 
dialect),  can  all  be  derived,  according  to  the  regular  rules  of  Algonkin 
grammar,  from  the  same  verbal  root,  signifying  "to  come  out  of,  or 
from. ' ;  ( Note  to  Roger  Williams'  Key  into  the  Language  of  America, 
p.  56).  Thus  the  earth  was,  in  their  language,  the  parent  of  the  race, 
and  what  more  natural  than  that  it  should  become  so  in  the  myth  also? 


44  AMERICAN    HERO  MYTHS. 

physical  relations,  common  to  man  everywhere,  and  are 
closely  associated  with  his  daily  motions  and  well  being.1"1 
they  became  prominent  figures  in  almost  all  early  myths, 
and  were  personified  as  divinities.  The  winds  were  classi 
fied  as  coming  from  them,  and  in  many  tongues  the  names 
of  the  cardinal  points  are  the  same  as  those  of  the  winds 
that  blow  from  them.  The  East,  however,  has,  in  regard 
to  the  others,  a  pre-eminence,  for  it  is  not  merely  the  home 
of  the  east  wind,  but  of  the  light  and  the  dawn  as  well. 
Hence  it  attained  a  marked  preponderance  in  the  myths  ;  it 
was  either  the  greatest,  wisest  and  oldest  of  the  four  brothers, 
who,  by  personification,  represented  the  cardinal  points  and 
the  four  winds,  or  else  the  Light-God  was  separated  from 
the  quadruplet  and  appears  as  a  fifth  personage  governing 
the  other  four,  and  being,  in  fact,  the  supreme  ruler  of  both 
the  spiritual  and  human  worlds. 

Such  was  the  mental  processes  which  took  place  in  the 
Algonkin  mind,  and  gave  rise  to  two  cycles  of  myths,  the 
one  representing  Wabuu  or  Michabo  as  one  of  four  brothers, 
whose  names  are  those  of  the  cardinal  points,  the  second 
placing  him  above  them  all. 

The  four  brothers  are  prominent  characters  in  Algonkin 
legend,  and  we  shall  find  that  they  recur  with  extraordinary 
frequency  in  the  mythology  of  all  American  nations. 
Indeed,  I  could  easily  point  them  out  also  in  the  early 
religious  conceptions  of  Egypt  and  India,  Greece  and 
China,  and  many  other  old-world  lands,  but  I  leave  these 
comparisons  to  those  who  wish  to  treat  of  the  principles 
of  general  mythology. 


THE    FOUR    BROTHERS.  45 

According  to  the  most  generally  received  legend  these 
«four  brothers  were  quadruplets — born  at  one  birth — and 
their  mother  died  in  bringing  them  into  life.  Their  names 
are  given  differently  by  the  various  tribes,  but  are  usually 
identical  with  the  four  points  of  the  compass,  or  something 
relating  to  them.  Wabun  the  East,  Kabun  the  West, 
Kabibonokka  the  North,  and  Shawano  the  South,  are,  in 
the  ordinary  language  of  the  interpreters,  the  names  ap 
plied  to  them.  Wabun  was  the  chief  and  leader,  and 
assigned  to  his  brothers  their  various  duties,  especially  to 
blow  the  winds. 

These  were  the  primitive  and  chief  divinities  of  the 
Algonkin  race  in  all  parts  of  the  territory  they  inhabited. 
When,  as  early  as  1610,  Captain  Argoll  visited  the  tribes 
who  then  possessed  the  banks  of  the  river  Potomac,  and 
inquired  concerning  their  religion,  they  replied,  "  We  have 
five  gods  in  all ;  our  chief  god  often  appears  to  us  in  the 
form  of  a  mighty  great  hare ;  the  other  four  have  no 
visible  shape,  but  are  indeed  the  four  winds,  which  keep 
the  four  corners  of  the  earth." 1 

Here  we  see  that  Wabun,  the.  East,  was  distinguished 
from  Michabo  (missi-wabun),  and  by  a  natural  and  trans 
parent  process,  the  eastern  light  being  separated  from  the 
eastern  wind,  the  original  number  four  was  increased  to 
five.  Precisely  the  same  differentiation  occurred,  as  I  shall 
show,  in  Mexico,  in  the  case  of  Quetzalcoatl,  as  shown  in 
his  Yoel,  or  Wheel  of  the  Winds,  which  was  his  sacred 
pentagram. 

1  William  Strachey.  Historic  of  Travaile  into  Virginia,  p.  98. 


46  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

Or  I  will  further  illustrate  this  development  by  a 
myth  of  the  Huarochiri  Indians,  of  the  coast  of  Pern. 
They  related  that  in  the  beginning  of  things  there  were 
five  eggs  on  the  mountain  Condorcoto.  In  due  course  of 
time  these  eggs  opened  and  from  them  came  forth  five  fal 
cons,  who  were  none  other  than  the  Creator  of  all  things, 
Pariacaca,  and  his  brothers,  the  four  winds.  By  their 
magic  power  they  transformed  themselves  into  men  and 
went  about  the  world  performing  miracles,  and  in  time 
became  the  gods  of  that  people.1 

These  striking  similarities  show  with  what  singular 
uniformity  the  religious  sense  developes  itself  in  localities 
the  furthest  asunder. 

Returning  to  Michabo,  the  duplicate  nature  thus  assigned 
him  as  the  Light-God,  and  also  the  God  of  the  Winds  and 
the  storms  and  rains  they  bring,  led  to  the  production  of 
two  cycles  of  myths  which  present  him  in  these  two  differ 
ent  aspects.  In  the  one  he  is,  as  the  god  of  light,  the 
power  that  conquers  the  darkness,  who  brings  warmth  and 
sunlight  to  the  earth  and  knowledge  to  men.  He  was  the 
patron  of  hunters,  as  these  require  the  light  to  guide  them 
on  their  way,  and  must  always  direct  their  course  by  the 
cardinal  points. 

The  morning  star,  which  at  certain  seasons  heralds  the 
dawn,  was  sacred  to  him,  and  its  name  in  Ojibway  is  Waba- 

1  Doctor  Francisco  de  Avila,  Narrative  of  the  Errors  and  False 
Gods  of  the  Indians  of  Huarochiri  (1608).  This  interesting  docu 
ment  has  been  partly  translated  by  Mr.  C.  B.  Markham,  and  pub 
lished  in  one  of  the  volumes  of  the  Hackluyt  Society's  series. 


THE    BIRTH    OF    MICHABO.  47 

nave/,  from  Waban,  the  east.  The  rays  of  light  are  his 
servants  and  messengers.  Seated  at  the  extreme  east,  u  at 
the  place  where  the  earth  is  cut  off/'  watching  in  his  medi 
cine  lodge,  or  passing  his  time  fishing  in  the  endless  ocean 
which  on  every  side  surrounds  the  land,  Michabo  sends 
forth  these  messengers,  who,  in  the  myth,  are  called  Giji- 
gouai,  which  means  l<  those  who  make  the  day,"  and  they 
light  the  world.  He  is  never  identified  with  the  sun,  nor 
was  he  supposed  to  dwell  in  it,  but  he  is  distinctly  the 
impersonation  of  light.1 

In  one  form  of  the  myth  he  is  the  grandson  of  the  Moon, 
his  father  is  the  West  Wind,  and  his  mother,  a  maiden  who 
has  been  fecundated  miraculously  by  the  passing  breeze,  dies 
at  the  moment  of  giving  him  birth.  But  he  did  not  need 
the  fostering  care  of  a  parent,  for  lie  was  born  mighty  of 
lirub  and  with  all  knowledge  that  it  is  possible  to  attain." 
Immediately  he  attacked  his  father,  and  a  long  and  des 
perate  struggle  took  place.  "  It  began  on  the  mountains. 
The  West  was  forced  to  give  ground.  His  son  drove  him 
across  rivers  and  over  mountains  and  lakes,  and  at  last,  he 
came  to  the  brink  of  the  world.  '  Hold  ! '  cried  he,  '  my 
son,  you  know  my  power,  and  that  it  is  impossible  to  kill 

1  See  H.  R.  Schoolcraft,  Indian  Tribes,  Vol.  v,  pp.  418.  419.      de 
lations  dcs.Jcsuites\  1634,  p.  14,  1637,  p.  46. 

2  Inthe  Ojibway  dialect  of  the  Algonkins,  the  word  for  day,  sky  or 
heavm,  is  gijig.     This  same  word  as  a  verb  means  to  !•«.•  an  adult,  to 
be  ripe  (of  fruits),  to  be  finished,  complete.     Rev.  Frederick  Bara-a.  .1 
Dictionary  of  the  Otchijm-i;  Lamjuinje,  Cincinnati,  1853.     This  se<  in 
to  correspond  with  the  statement  in  the  myth. 


48  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

me/  '•      The   combat  ceased,  the  West  acknowledging  the 
supremacy  of  his  mighty  son.1 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  err  in  recognizing  under  this 
thin  veil  of  imagery  a  description  of  the  daily  struggle 
between  light  and  darkness,  day  and  night.  The  maiden  is 
the  dawn  from  whose  virgin  womb  rises  the  sun  in  the 
fullness  of  his  glory  and  might,  but  with  his  advent  the, 
dawn  itself  disappears  and  dies.  The  battle  lasts  all  day, 
beginning  when  the  earliest  rays  gild  the  mountain  tops, 

and    continues    until    the    West   is    driven   to   the   edir* 

• 

of  the   world.     As   the   evening   precedes   the   morning,  rj 

/  so  the  West,  by  a  figure  of  speech,  may  be  said  to  fertilize  the 
/x 

Dawn. 

In  another  form  of  the  story  the  West  was  typified  as  a 
flint  stone,  and  the  twin  brother  of  Michabo.  The  feud 
between  them  was  bitter,  and  the  contest  long  and  dreadful. 
The  face  of  the  land  was  seamed  and  torn  by  the  wrestling 
of  the  mighty  combatants,  and  the  Indians  pointed  out  the 
huge  boulders  on  the  prairies  as  the  weapons  hurled  at 
each  other  by  the  enraged  brothers.  At  length  Michabo 
mastered  his  fellow  twin  and  broke  him  into  pieces.  He 
scattered  the  fragments  over  the  earth,  and  from  them 
grew  fruitful  vines. 

A  myth  which,  like  this,  introduces  the  flint  stone  as  in 

some  way  connected  with  the  early  creative  forces  of  nature, 

recurs  at  other  localities  on  the  American  continent  very 

remote  from  the  home  of  the  Algonkins.     In  the  calendar 

1  H.  R.  Schoolcraft,  Algic  Researches,  vol.  i,  pp.  135,  et  seq. 


THE    FLINT-STONE.  49 

of  the  Aztecs  the  day  and  god  Tecpatl,  the  Flint-Stone, 
held  a  prominent  position.  According  to  their  myths  such 
a  stone  fell 'from  heaven  at  the  beginning  of  things  and 
broke  into  sixteen  hundred  pieces,  each  of  which  became  a 
god.  The  Hun-pic-tok,  Eight  Thousand  Flints,  of  the 
Mayas,  and  the  Toh  of  the  Kiches,  point  to  the  same  asso 
ciation.1 

Probably  the  association  of  ideas  was  not  with  the  flint 
as  a  fire-stone,  though  the  fact  that  a  piece  of  flint  struck 
with  a  nodule  of  pyrites  will  emit  a  spark  was  not  un 
known.  But  the  flint  was  everywhere  employed  for  arro 
and  lance  heads.  The  flashes  of  light,  the  lightning,  any 
thing  that  darted  swiftly  and  struck  violently,  was  com 
pared  to  tne  hurtling  arrow  or  the  whizzing  lance.  Espe 
cially  did  this  apply  to  the  phenomenon  of  the  lightning. 
The  belief  that  a  stone  is  shot  from  the  sky  with  each 
thunderclap  is  shown  in  our  word  "  thunderbolt,"  and  even 
yet  the  vulgar  in  many  countries  point  out  certain  forms  of 
stones  as  derived  from  this  source.  As  the  refreshing  rain 
which  accompanies  the  thunder  gust  instills  new  life  into 
vegetation,  and  covers  the  ground  parched  by  summer 
droughts  with  leaves  and  grass,  so  the  statement  in  the 
myth  that  the  fragments  of  the  flint-stone  grew  into  fruit 
ful  vines  is  an  obvious  figure  of  speech  which  at  first 
expressed  the  fertilizing  effects  of  the  summer  showers. 

In  this  myth  Michabo,  the  Light-God,  was  represented  ^ 

1  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg,  Dissertation  sur  les  Mythes  dc  I'  Anti<]_nit<- 
Americaine,  %  vn. 

4 


50  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

to  the  native  mind  as  still  fighting  with  the  powers  of 
Darkness,  not  now  the  darkness  of  night,  but  that  of  the 
heavy  and  gloomy  clouds  which  roll  up  the  sky  and  blind 
the  eye  of  day.  His  weapons  are  the  lightning  and  the 
thunderbolt,  and  the  victory  he  achieves  is  turned  to  the 
good  of  the  world  he  has  created. 

This  is  still  more  clearly  set  forth  in  an  Ojibway  myth. 
It  relates  that  in  early  days  there  was  a  mighty  serpent, 
king  of  all  serpents,  whose  home  was  in  the  Great  Lakes. 
Increasing  the  waters  by  his  magic  powers,  he  began  to 
flood  the  land,  and  threatened  its  total  submergence.  Then 
Michabo  rose  from  his  couch  at  the  sun-rising,  attacked 
the  huge  reptile  and  slew  it  by  a  cast  of  his  dart.  He 
stripped  it  of  its  skin,  and  clothing  himself  in  this  trophy 
of  conquest,  drove  all  the  other  serpents  to  the  south.1  As 
it  is  in  the  south  that,  in  the  country  of  the  Ojibways,  the 
lightning  is  last  seen  in  the  autumn,  and  as  the  Algonkins, 
both  in  their  language  and  pictography,  were  accustomed  to 
assimilate  the  lightning  in  its  zigzag  course  to  the  sinuous 
motion  of  the  serpent,2  the  meteorological  character  of  this 
myth  is  very  manifest. 

1 H.  R.  Schoolcraft,  Algic  Researches,  Vol.  i,  p.  179,  Vol.  n, 
p.  117.  The  word  animikig  in  Ojibway  means  "  itthunders  and  light 
nings;"  in  their  myths  this  tribe  says  that  the  West  Wind  is  created 
by  Animiki,  the  Thunder.  (Ibid.  Indian  Tribes,  Vol.  v,  p.  420.) 

2  When  Father  Buteux  was  among  the  Algonkins,  in  1Q37,  they  ex- 

'.    plained  to  him  the  lightning  as  "a  great  serpent  which  the  Manito 

vomits  up."     (Relation  de  la  Nouvelle   France,    An.  1637,  p.  53.) 

According  to  John  Tanner,  the  symbol  for  the  lightning  in  Ojibway 

pictography  was  a  rattlesnake.     (Narrative,  p.  351.) 


TRANSFORMATIONS    OF    DEITIES.  51 

Thus  we  see  that  Michabo,  the  hero-god  of  the  Algon- 
kins,  was  both  the  god  of  light  and  day,  of  the  winds  and 
rains,  and  the  creator,  instructor  and  teacher  of  mankind. 
The  derivation  of  his  name  shows  unmistakably  that  the 
earliest  form  under  which  he  was  a  mythological  existence 
was  as  the  light-god.  Later  he  became  more  familiar  as 
god  of  the  winds  and  storms,  the  hero  of  the  celestial  war 
fare  of  the  air-currents. 

This  is  precisely  the  same  change  which  we  are  enabled 
to  trace  in  the  early  transformations  of  Aryan  religion. 
There,  also,  the  older  god  of  the  sky  and  light,  Dyaus,  once 
common  to  all  members  of  the  Indo-European  family, 
gave  way  to  the  more  active  deities,  Indra,  Zeus  and  Odin,  ./ 
divinities  of  the  storm  and  the  wind,  but  which,  after  all, 
are  merely  other  aspects  of  the  ancient  deity;  and  occupied 
his  place  to  the  religious  sense.1  It  is  essential,  for  the 
comprehension  of  early  mythology,  to  understand  this  two 
fold  character,  and  to  appreciate  how  naturally  the  one 
merges  into  and  springs  out  of  the  other. 

1  This  transformation  is  well  set  forth  in  Mr.  Charles  Francis  Keary's 
Outlines  of  Primitive  Belief  Among  the  Indo-European  Races  (London, 
1882),  chaps,  iv,  vir.  He  observes:  "The  wind  is  a  far  more  physical 
and  less  abstract  conception  than  the  sky  or  heaven ;  it  is  also  a  more 
variable  phenomenon  ;  and  by  reason  of  both  these  recommendations 
the  wind-god  superseded  the  older  Dyaus.  *  *  *  Just  as  the_chief  - 
god  c>n;n>ec<>.  having  descendedj,o_be  ji_divinity_  of  storm,  was  not  J\ 
content  to  remain  only  that,  but  grew  again  to  some  likeness  of  the 
older  Dyaus,  so  Odhinn  came  to  absorb  almost  all  the  qualities  which 
belong  of  right  to  a  higher  god.  Yet  he  did  this  without  puttin.tr  off  his 
proper  nature.  He  was  the  heaven  as  well  as  the  wind  ;  In-  was  tin- 
All-father,  embracing  all  the  earth  and  looking  down  upon  mankind." 


52  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

In  almost  every  known  religion  the  bird  is  taken  as  a 
symbol  of  the  sky,  the  clouds  and  the  winds.  It  is  not 
surprising,  therefore,  to  find  that  by  the  Algonkins  birds 
were  considered,  especially  singing  birds,  as  peculiarly 
sacred  to  Michabo.  He  was  their  father  and  protector. 
He  himself  sent  forth  the  east  wind  from  his  home  at  the 
sun-rising;  but  he  appointed  anjnyl  to  create  the  north 
wind,  which  blows  from  the  realms  of  darkness  and  (3pTcT; 
while  that  which  is  wafted  from  the  sunny  south  is  sent  by 
the  butterfly.1 

Michabo  was  thus  at  times  the  god  of  light,  at  others  of 
the  winds,  and  as  these  are  the  rain-bringers,  he  was  also  at 
times  spoken  of  as  the  god  of  waters.  He  was  said  to  have 
scooped  out  the  basins  of  the  lakes  and  to  have  built  the 
cataracts  in  the  rivers,  so  that  there  should  be  fish  preserves 
and  beaver  dams.2 

In  his  capacity  as  teacher  and  instructor,  it  was  he  who 
had  pointed  out  to  the  ancestors  of  the  Indians  the  roots 
and  plants  which  are  fit  for  food,  and  which  are  of  value 
as  medicine;  he  gave  them  fire,  and  recommended  them 
never  to  allow  it  to  become  wholly  extinguished  in  their 
villages:  the  sacred  rites  of  what  is  called  the  meday  or 
ordinary  religious  ceremonial  were  defined  and  taught  by 
him  ;  the  maize  was  his  gift,  and  the  pleasant  art  of  smok 
ing  was  his  invention.3 

1H.  R.  Schoolcraft,  Algic  Researches,  Vol.  i,  p.  216.  Indian 
Tribes,  Vol.  v.  p.  420. 

2  "Miciiabou,  le  Dieu  des  Eaux,''  etc.     Charlevoix,  Journal  His- 
torique,  p.  281  (Paris,  1721). 

3  John   Tanner,    Narrative  of  Captivity  and  Adventure,  p.   351. 
Schoolcraft,  Indian  Tribes,  Vol.  v,  p.  420,  etc. 


THE    BEARDED    HERO.  53 

A  curious  addition  to  the  story  was  told  the  early  Swed 
ish  settlers  on  the  river  Delaware  by  the  Algonkin  tribe 
which  inhabited  its  shores.  These  related  that  their  various 
arts  of  domestic  life  and  the  chase  were  taught  them 
long  ago  by  a  venerable  and  eloquent  man  who  came  to 
them  from  a  distance,  and  having  instructed  them  in  what 
was  desirable  for  them  to  know,  he  departed,  not  to  another 
region  or  by  the  natural  course  of  death,  but  by  ascending 
into  the  sky.  They  added  that  this  ancient  and  beneficent 
teacher  wore  a  long  beard.1  We  might  suspect  that  this  last 
trait  was  thought  of  after  the  bearded  Europeans  had  been 
seen,  did  it  not  occur  so  often  in  myths  elsewhere  on  the 
continent,  and  in  relics  of  art  finished  long  before  the  dis 
covery,  that  another  explanation  must  be  found  for  it. 
What  this  is  I  shall  discuss  when  I  come  to  speak  of  the 
more  Southern  myths,  whose  heroes  were  often  *"  white  and 
bearded  men  from  the  East." 

§  2.     The  Iroquois  Myth  of  loskeha.2 
The  most  ancient  myth  of  the  Iroquois   represents  this 
earth  as  covered   with  water,  in  which  dwelt  aquatic  ani 
mals  and  monsters  of  the  deep.     Far  above  it  were  the 

1  Thomas  Campanius  (Holm),  Description  of  the  Province  of  New 
Sweden,  book  iii,  ch.  xi.     Campanius  does  not  give  the  name  of  the 
hero-god,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  the  "  Great  Hare." 

2  The  sources  from  which  I  draw  the  elements  of  the  Iroquois  hero- 
myth  of  loskeha  are  mainly  the  following:   Relations  de  la  Nouvelle 
France,  1636,  1640,  1671,  etc.     Sagard,  Histoire  du  Canada,  pp.  4">1, 
452  (Paris,  1636)  ;  David  Cusick,  Ancient  History  of  the  Six  Nations, 
and  manuscript  material  kindly  furnished  me  by  Horatio  Hale,  Esq., 
who  has  made  a  thorough  study  of  the  Iroquois  history  and  dialects. 


54  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

heavens,  peopled  by  supernatural  beings.  At  a  certain 
time  one  of  these,  a  woman,  by  name  Ataensic,  threw  her 
self  through  a  rift  in  the  sky  and  fell  toward  the  earth. 
What  led  her  to  this  act  was  variously  recorded.  Some 
said  that  it  was  to  recover  her  dog  which  had  fallen  through 
while  chasing  a  bear.  Others  related  that  those  who  dwelt 
in  the  world  above  lived  off  the  fruit  of  a  certain  tree; 
that  the  husband  of  Ataensic,  being  sick,  dreamed  that  to 
restore  him  this  tree  must  be  cut  down;  and  that  when 
Ataensic  dealt  it  a  blow  with  her  stone  axe,  the  tree  sud 
denly  sank  through  the  floor  of  the  sky,  and  she  precipi 
tated  herself  after  it. 

However  the  event  occurred,  she  fell  from  heaven 
down  to  the  primeval  waters.  There  a  turtle  offered  her 
his  broad  back  as  a  resting-place  until,  from  a  little  mud 
which  was  brought  her,  either  by  a  frog,  a  beaver  or  some 
other  animal,  she,  by  magic  power,  formed  dry  land  on 
which  to  reside. 

At  the  time  she  fell  from  the  sky  she  was  pregnant,  and 
in  due  time  was  delivered  of  a  daughter,  whose  name,  un 
fortunately,  the  legend  does  not  record.  This  daughter  grew 
to  womanhood  and  conceived  without  having  seen  a  man, 
for  none  was  as  yet  created.  The  product  of  her  womb  was 
twins,  and  even  before  birth  one  of  them  betrayed  his  rest 
less  and  evil  nature,  by  refusing  to  be  born  in  the  usual 
manner,  but  insisting  on  breaking  through  his  parent's  side 
(or  armpit).  He  did  so,  but  it  cost  his  mother  her  life. 
Her  body  was  buried,  and  from  it  sprang  the  various  vege- 


THE    TWIN    BROTHERS.  55 

table  productions  which  the  new  earth  required  to  fit  it  for 
the  habitation  of  man.  From  her  head  grew  the  pumpkin 
vine;  from  her  breast,  the  maize ;  from  her  limbs,  the  bean 
and  other  useful  esculents. 

Meanwhile  the  two  brothers  grew  up.  The  one  was 
named  Jpskeha,  He  went  about  the  earth,  which  at  that 
time  was  arid  and  waterless,  and  called  forth  the  springs 
and  lakes,  and  formed  the  sparkling  brooks  and  broad 
rivers.  But  his  brother,  the  troublesome  Tawiscara,  he 
whose  obstinacy  had 'caused  their  mother's  death,  created 
an  immense  fros:  which  swallowed  all  the  water  and  left  the 

o 

earth  as  dry  as  before.  loskeha  was  informed  of  this  by 
the  partridge,  and  immediately  set  out  for  his  brother's 
country,  for  they  had  divided  the  earth  between  them. 

Soon  he  came  to  the  gigantic  frog,  and  piercing  it  in  the 
side  (or  armpit),  the  waters  flowed  out  once  more  in  their 
accustomed  ways.  Then  it  was  revealed  to  loskeha  by  his 
mother's  spirit  that  Tawiscara  intended  to  slay  him  by 
treachery.  Therefore,  when  the  brothers  .met,  as  they  soon 
did,  it  was  evident  that  a  mortal  combat  was  to  begin. 

Now,  they  were  not  men,  but  gods,  whom  it  was  impos 
sible  really  to  kill,  nor  even  could  either  be  seemingly  slain, 
except  by  one  particular  substance,  a  secret  which  each  had 
in  his  own  keeping.  As  therefore  a  contest  with  ordinary 
weapons  would  have  been  vain  and  unavailing,  they  agreed 
to  tell  each  other  Avhat  to  each  was  the  fatal  implement  of 
war.  loskeha  acknowledged  that  to  him  a  branch  of  the 
wild  rose  (or,  according  to  another  version,  a  bag  filled 


56  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

with  maize)  was  more  dangerous  than  anything  else; 
and  Tawiscara  disclosed  that  the  horn  of  a  deer  could  alone 
reach  his  vital  part. 

They  laid  off  the  lists,  and  Tawiscara,  having  the  first 
chance,  attacked  his  brother  violently  with  a  branch  of  the 
wild  rose,  and  beat  him  till  he  lay  as  one  dead  ;  but  quickly 
reviving,  loskeha  assaulted  Tawiscara  with  the  antler  of  a 
deer,  and  dealing  him  a  blow  in  the  side,  the  blood  flowed 
from  the  wound  in  streams.  The  unlucky  combatant  fled 
from  the  field,  hastening  toward  the  west,  and  as  he  ran 
the  drops  of  his  blood  which  fell  upon  the  earth  turned  into 
.flint  stones.  loskeha  did  not  spare  him,  but  hastening 
after,  finally  slew  him.  He  did  not,  however,  actually  kill 
him,  for,  as  I  have  said,  these  we're  beings  who  could  not 
die;  and,  in  fact,  Tawiscara  was  merely  driven  from  the 
earth  and  forced  to  reside  in  the  far  west,  where  he  became 
ruler  of  the  spirits  of  the  dead.  These  go  there  to  dwell 
when  they  leave  the  bodies  behind  them  here. 

loskeha,  returning,  peaceably  devoted  himself  to  peo 
pling  the  land.  He  opened  a  cave  which  existed  in  the 
earth  and  allowed  to  come  forth  from  it  all  the  varieties  of 
animals  with  which  the  woods  and  prairies  are  peopled.  In 
order  that  they  might  be  more  easily  caught  by  men,  he 
wounded  everyone  in  the  foot  except  the  wolf,  which  dodged 
his  blow;  for  that  reason  this  beast  is  one  of  the  most  difficult 
to  catch.  He  then  formed  men  and  gave  them  life,  and 
instructed  them  in  the  art  of  making  fire,  which  he  himself 
had  learned  from  the  great  tortoise.  Furthermore  he  taught 


THE    KINDLY   IOSKEHA.  57  * 

them  how  to  raise  maize,  and  it  is,  in  fact,  loskeha  himself 
who  imparts  fertility  to  the  soil,  and  through  his  bounty 
and  kindness  the  grain  returns  a  hundred  fold. 

Nor  did  they  suppose  that  he  was  a  distant,  invisible,  un 
approachable  god.  No,  he  was  ever  at  hand  with  instruction 
and  assistance.  Was  thereto  be  a  failure  in  the  harvest,  he 
would  be  seen  early  in  the  season,  thin  with  anxiety  about 
his  people,  holding  in  his  hand  a  blighted  ear  of  corn.  Did 
a  hunter  go  out  after  game,  he  asked  the  aid  of  loskeha, 
who  would  put  fat  animals  in  the  way,  were  he  so  minded. 
At  their  village  festivals  he  was  present  and  partook  of 
the  cheer. 

Once,  in  1640,  when  the  smallpox  was  desolating  the 
villages  of  the  Hurons,  we  are  told  by  Father  Lalemant 
that  an  Indian  said  there  had  appeared  to  him  a  beautiful 
youth,  of  imposing  stature,  and  addressed  him  with  these 
words:  "Have  no  fear;  I  am  the  master  of  the  earth, 
whom  you  Hurons  adore  under  the  name  loskeha.  The 
French  wrongly  call  me  Jesus,  because  they  do  not  know 
me.  It  grieves  me  to  see  the  pestilence  that  is  destroying 
my  people,  and  I  come  to  teach  you  its  cause  and  its  rem 
edy.  Its  cause  is  the  presence  of  these  strangers ;  and  its 
remedy  is  to  drive  out  these  black  robes  (the  missionaries), 
to  drink  of  a  certain  water  which  I  shall  tell  you  of,  and 
to  hold  a  festival  in  my  honor,  which  must  be  kept  up  all 
night,  until  the  dawn  of  day." 

The  home  of  loskeha  is  in  the  far  East,  at  that  part  of 
the  horizon  where  the  sun  rises.  There  he  has  his  cabin, 


58  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

and  there  he  dwells  with  his  grandmother,  the  wise  Ataen- 
sic.  She  is  a  woman  of  marvelous  magical  power,  and  is 
capable  of  assuming  any  shape  she  pleases.  In  her  hands 
is  the  fate  of  all  men's  lives,  and  while  loskeha  looks  after 
the  things  of  life,  it  is  she  who  appoints  the  time  of  death, 
and  concerns  herself  with  all  that  relates  to  the  close  of  ex 
istence.  Hence  she  was  feared,  not  exactly  as  a  maleficent 
deity,  but  as  one  whose  business  is  with  what  is  most 
dreaded  and  gloomy. 

It  was  said  that  on  a  certain  occasion  four  bold  young 
men  determined  to  journey  to  the  sun-rising  and  visit  the 
great  loskeha.  They  reached  his  cabin  and  found  him 
there  alone.  He  received  them  affably  and  they  con 
versed  pleasantly,  but  at  a  certain  moment  he  bade  them 
hide  themselves  for  their  life,  as  his  grandmother  was 
coming.  They  hastily  concealed  themselves,  and  immedi 
ately  Ataensic  entered.  Her  magic  insight  had  warned  her 
of  the  presence  of  guests,  and  she  had  assumed  the  form  of  a 
beautiful  girl,  dressed  in  gay  raiment,  her  neck  and  arms 
resplendent  with  collars  and  bracelets  of  wampum.  She 
inquired  for  the  guests,  but  loskeha,  anxious  to  save  them, 
dissembled,  and  replied  that  he  knew  not  what  she  meant. 
She  went  forth  to  search  for  them,  when  he  called  them 
forth  from  their  hiding  place  and  bade  them  flee,  and  thus 
they  escaped. 

It  was  said  of  loskeha  that  he  acted  the  part  of  husband 
to  his  grandmother.  In  other  words,  the  myth  presents 
the  germ  of  that  conception  which  the  priests  of  ancient 


THE   SELF-RENEWING    GOD.  59 

Egypt  endeavored  to  express  when  they  taught  that 
Osiris  was  "  his  own  father  and  his  own  son/7  that  he  was 
the  "self-generating  one/7  even  that  he  was  "  the  father  of 
his  own  mother."  These  are  grossly  materialistic  expres 
sions,  but  they  are  perfectly  clear  to  the  student  of  myth 
ology.  They  are  meant  to  convey  to  the  mind  the  self- 
renewing  power  of  life  in  nature,  which  is  exemplified  in 
the  sowing  and  the  seeding,  the  winter  and  the  summer, 
the  dry  and  the  rainy  seasons,  and  especially  the  sunset  and 
sunrise.  They  are  echoes  in  the  soul  of  man  of  the  cease 
less  rhythm  in  the  operations  of  nature,  and  they  become  the 
only  guarantors  of  his  hopes  for  immortal  life.1 

Let  us  look  at  the  names  in  the  myth  before  us,  for  con 
firmation  of  this.  loskeha  is  in  the  Oneida  dialect  of  the 
Iroquois  an  impersonal  verbal  form  of  the  third  person 
singular,  and  means  literally,  "  it  is  about  to  grow  white/7 
that  is,  to  become  light,  to  dawn.  Ataensie  is  from  the 
root  aouen,  water,  and  means  literally,  "she  who  is  in  the 
water.'72  Plainly  expressed,  the  sense  of  the  story  is  that 
the  orb  of  light  rises  daily  out  of  the  boundless  waters 

1  Such  epithets  were  common,  in  the  Egyptian  religion,  to  most  of  the 
gods  of  fertility.     Amun,  called  in  some  of  the  inscriptions  "the  soul 
of  Osiris,"  derives  his  name  from  the  root  men,  to  impregnate,  to 
beget.     In  the  Karnak  inscriptions  he  is  also  termed  "the  husband  of 
his  mother."     This,  too,  was  the  favorite  appellation  of  Chem,  who 
was  n  form  of  Horos.     See  Dr.  C.  P.  Tiele,  History  of  the  Egyptian 
Religion,  pp.  124,  146.  149,  150,  etc. 

2  I  have  analyzed  these  words  in  a  note  to  another  work,  and  need 
not  repeat  the  matter  here,  the  less  so,  as  I  am  not  aware  that  the 
etymology   has  been  questioned.     See  Myths  of  the  Neiv  World.  2d 
Ed.,  p.  183,  note. 


60  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

which  are  supposed  to  surround  the  land,  preceded  by  the 
dawn,  which  fades  away  as  soon  as  the  sun  has  risen.  Each 
day  the  sun  disappears  in  these  waters,  to  rise  again  from 
them  the  succeeding  morning.  As  the  approach  of  the  sun 
causes  the  dawn,  it  was  merely  a  gross  way  of  stating  this 
to  say  that  the  solar  god  was  the  father  of  his  own  mother, 
the  husband  of  his  grandmother. 

The  position  of  loskeha  in  mythology  is  also  shown  by 
the  other  name  under  which  he  was,  perhaps,  even  more 
familiar  to  most  of  the  Iroquois.  This  is  Tharonhia- 
wakon,  which  is  also  a  verbal  form  of  the  third  person,  with 
the  dual  sign,  and  literally  means,  "He  holds  (or  holds  up) 
the  sky  with  his  two  arms."1  In  other  words,  he  is  nearly 
allied  to  the  ancient  Aryan  Dyaus,  the  Sky,  the  Heavens, 
especially  the  Sky  in  the  daytime. 

The  signification  of  the  conflict  with  his  twin  brother  is 
also  clearly  seen  in  the  two  names  which  the  latter  likewise 

1  A  careful  analysis  of  this  name  is  given  by  Father  J.  A.  Cuoq, 
probably  the  best  living  authority  on  the  Iroquois,  in  his  Lexique  de  la 
Langue  Iroquoise,  p.  180  (Montreal,  1882).  Here  also  the  Iroquois 
followed  precisely  the  line  of  thought  of  the  ancient  Egyptians.  Shu, 
in  the  religion  of  Heliopolis,  represented  the  cosmic  light  and  warmth, 
the  quickening,  creative  principle.  It  is  he  who,  as  it  is  stated  in  the 
inscripiions,  "  holds  up  the  heavens,"  and  he  is  depicted  on  the  monu 
ments  as  a  man  with  uplifted  arms  who  supports  the  vault  of  heaven, 
because  it  is  the  intermediate  light  that  separates  the  earth  from  the 
sky.  Shu  was  also  god  of  the  winds  ;  in  a  passage  of  the  Book  of  the 
Dead,  he  is  made  to  say  :  "I  am  Shu,  who  drives  the  winds  onward  to 
the  confines  of  heaven,  to  the  confines  of  the  earth,  even  to  the  confines 
of  space."  Again,  like  loskeha,  Shu  is  said  to  have  begotten  himselfin 
the  womb  of  his  mother,  Nu  or  Nun,  who  was,  like  Ataensic,  the 
goddess  of  water,  the  heavenly  ocean,  the  primal  sea.  Tiele,  History 
of  the  Egyptian  Religion,  pp.  84-86. 


THE    FLIXT-STONE,    AGAIN.  61 

bears  in  the  legends.  One  of  these  is  that  which  I  have 
given,  Tawiscara,  which,  there  is  little  doubt,  is  allied  to 
the  root,  tiokaras,  it  grows  dark.  The  other  is  Tehotenn- 
hiaron,  the  root  word  of  which  is  kannh'a,  the  flint  stone. 
This  name  he  received  because,  in  his  battle  with  his 
brother,  the  drops  of  blood  which  fell  from  his  wounds 
were  changed  into  flints.1  Here  the  flint  had  the  same 
meaning  which  I  have  already  pointed  out  in  Algonkin 
myth,  and  we  find,  therefore,  an  absolute  identity  of  mytho 
logical  conception  and  symbolism  between  the  two  nations. 

Could  these  myths  have  been  historically  identical  ?  It 
is  hard  to  disbelieve  it.  Yet  the  nations  were  bitter 
enemies.  Their  languages  are  totally  unlike.  These 
same  similarities  present  themselves  over  such  wide  areas 
and  between  nations  so  remote  and  of  such  different  culture, 
that  the  theory  of  a  parallelism  of  development  is  after  all 
the  more  credible  explanation. 

The  impressions  which  natural  occurrences  make  on 
minds  of  equal  stages  of  culture  are  very  much  alike. 
The  same  thoughts  are  evoked,  and  the  same  expressions 
suggest  themselves  as  appropriate  to  convey  these  thoughts 
in  spoken  language.  This  is  often  exhibited  in  the  identity 
of  expression  between  master-poets  of  the  same  generation, 
and  between  cotemporaueous  thinkers  in  all  branches  of 
knowledge.  Still  more  likely  is  it  to  occur  in  primitive 
and  uncultivated  conditions,  where  the  most  obvious  forms 

1  Cuoq,  Lexqiue  de  la  Langite  Iroquoiser\y.  180,  who  gives  a  full 
analysis  of  the  name. 


62  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

of  expression  are  at  once  adopted,  and  the  resources  of  the 
mind  are  necessarily  limited.  This  is  a  simple  and  reason 
able  explanation  for  the  remarkable  sameness  which  pre 
vails  in  the  mental  products  of  the  lower  stages  of  civiliza 
tion,  and  does  away  with  the  necessity  of  supposing  a 
historic  derivation  one  from  the  other  or  both  from  a 
common  stock. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   HERO-GOD   OF   THE   AZTEC   TRIBES. 

§  1.     The  Two  Antagonists. 
THE  CONTEST  OF  QUETZALCOATL  AND   TEZCATLIPOC  A— QUETZALCOATL 

THE   LlGHT-GoD — DERIVATION     OF    HIS     NAME — TlTLES    Of   TfiZCAT- 

LIPOCA — IDENTIFIED  WITH  DARKNESS,  NIGHT  AXD  GLOOM. 
\  2.     Quetzalcoatl  the  God. 

MYTH  OF   THE    FOUR    BROTHERS— THE  FOUR  SUNS   AND    THE   ELE 
MENTAL  CONFLICT — NAMES  OF  THE  FOUR  BROTHERS. 
|  3.     Quetzalcoatl  the  Hero  of  Tula. 

TULA  THE  CITY  OF  THE  SUN— WHO  WERE  THE  TOLTECS? — TLAPALLAN 
AND  XALAC— THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  HERO-GOD— His  VIRGIN  MOTHER, 
CHIMALMATL — His  MIRACULOUS  CONCEPTION— AZTLAN,  THE  LAND 
OF  SEVEN  CAVES,  AND  COLHUACAN,  THE  BENDED  MOUNT — THE 
MAID  XOCHITL  AND  THE  ROSE  GARDEN  OF  THE  GODS  —  QuETZAL- 
COATL  AS  THE  WHITE  AND  BEARDED  STRANGER. 

THE  GLORY  OF  THE  LORD  OF  TULA— THE  SUBTLETY  OF  THE  SOR 
CERER,  TEZCATLIPOCA — THE  MAGIC  MIRROR  AND  THE  MYSTIC 
DRAUGHT— THE  MYTH  EXPLAINED— THE  PROMISE  OF  REJUVENA 
TION—THE  TOVEYO  AND  THE  MAIDEN— TlIE  JUGGLERIES  OF  TEZ 
CATLIPOCA— DEPARTURE  OF  QUETZALCOATL  FROM  TULA — QUETZAL 
COATL  AT  CIIOLULA— His  DEATH  OR  DEPARTURE— THE  CELESTIAL 
GAME  OF  BALL  AND  TIGER  SKIN— QUETZALCOATL  AS  THE  PLANET 
VENUS. 

§  4.     Quetzalcoatl  as  Lord  of  the  Winds. 

THE  LORD  OF  THE  FOUR  WINDS — His  SYMBOLS  THE  WHEEL  OF  THE 
WINDS,  THE  PENTAGON  AND  THE  CROSS— CLOSE  RELATION  TO  THE 
GODS  OF  RAIN  AND  WATERS — INVENTOR  OF  THE  CALENDAR— GOD 
OF  FERTILITY  AND  CONCEPTION — RECOMMENDS  SEXUAL  AUSTERITY 
—  PHALLIC  SYMBOLS— GOD  OF  MERCHANTS — THE  PATRON  OF 
THIEVES — His  PICTOGRAPHIC  REPRESENTATIONS. 
|  5.  The  Return  of  Quetzalcoatl. 

His  EXPECTED  RE-APPEARANCE — THE  ANXIETY  OF  MONTEZUMA — 
His  ADDRESS  TO  CORTES— THE  GENERAL  EXPECTATION — EXPLA 
NATION  OF  His  PREDICTED  RETURN. 

63 


64  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

I  now  turn  from  the  wild  hunting  tribes  who  peopled 
the  shores  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  fastnesses  of  the 
northern  forests  to  that  cultivated  race  whose  capital  city  was 
in  the  Valley  of  Mexico,  and  whose  scattered  colonies  were 
found  on  the  shores  of  both  oceans  from  the  mouths  of  the 
Rio  Grande  and  the  Gila,  south,  almost  to  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama.  They  are  familiarly  known  as  Aztecs  or  Mexi 
cans,  and  the  language  common  to  them  all  was  the 
NaJmatl,  a  word  of  their  own,  meaning  "  the  pleasant 
sounding." 

Their  mythology  has  been  preserved  in  greater  fullness 
than  that  of  any  other  American  people,  and  for  this  reason 
I  am  enabled  to  set  forth  in  ampler  detail  the  elements  of 
their  hero-myth,  which,  indeed,  may  be  taken  as  the  most 
perfect  type  of  those  I  have  collected  in  this  volume. 
§  1.  The  Two  Antagonists. 

The  culture  hero  of  the  Aztecs  was  Quetzalcoatl,  and 
the  leading  drama,  the  central  myth,  in  all  the  extensive 
and  intricate  theology  of  the  Nahuatl  speaking  tribes  was 
his  long  contest  with  Tezcatlipoca,  "  a  contest/'  observes  an 
eminent  Mexican  antiquary,  "  which  came  to  be  the  main 
element  in  the  Nahuatl  religion  and  the  cause  of  its  modi 
fications^  and  which  materially  influenced  the  destinies  of 
that  race  from  its  earliest  epochs  to  the  time  of  its  destruc 
tion."1 

The  explanations  which  have  been  offered  of  this  strug- 

1  Alfredo  Chavero,  La  Piedra  del  Sol,  in  the  Anales  del  Museo 
National  de  Mexico,  Tom.  n,  p.  247. 


THE   GOD   OF   THE   EAST.  65 

gle  have  varied  with  the  theories  of  the  writers  propounding 
them.     It  has  been  regarded  as  a  simple  historical  fact ;  as 
a  figure  of  speech  to  represent  the  struggle  for  supremacy 
between  two  races;  as  an  astronomical  statement  referring 
to  the  relative  positions  of  the  planet  Venus  and  the  Moon  ; : 
as  a  conflict  between   Christianity,   introduced    by    Saint! 
Thomas,  and  the  native  heathenism ;  and  as  having  other 
meanings  not  less  unsatisfactory  or  absurd. 

Placing  it  side  by  side  with  other  American  hero-myths, 
we  shall  see  that  it  presents  essentially  the  same  traits,  and 
undoubtedly  must  be  explained  in  the  same  manner.  All 
of  them  are  the  transparent  stories  of  a  simple  people,  to 
express  in  intelligible  terms  the  daily  struggle  that  is  ever 
going  on  between  Day  and  Night,  between  Light  and 
Darkness,  between  Storm  and  Sunshine. 

Like  all  the  heroes  of  light,  Quetzalcoatl  is  identified 
with  the  East.  Pie  is  born  there,  and  arrives  from  there, 
and  hence  Las  Casas  and  others  speak  of  him  as  from 
Yucatan,  or  as  landing  on  the  shores  of  the  Mexican  Gulf 
from  some  unknown  land.  His  day  of  birth  was  that 
called  Ce  Acatl,  One  Reed,  and  by  this  name  he  is  often 
known.  But  this  sign  is  that  of  the  East  in  Aztec 
symbolism.1  In  a  myth  of  the  formation  of  the  sun  and 
moon,  presented  by  Sahagun,'  a  voluntary  victim  springs 
into  the  sacrificial  fire  that  the  gods  have  built.  They  know 
that  he  will  rise  as  the  sun,  but  they  do  not  know  in  what 

1  Chavero,  Anales  del  Museo  National  de  Mexico,  Tom.  n,  p.  14. 
243. 

^Historia  de  las  Cosas  de  Nueva  Espaiia,  Lib.  vn,  cap.  n. 


66  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

part  of  the  horizon  that  will  be.  Some  look  one  way,  some 
another,  but  Quetzalcoatl  watches  steadily  the  East,  and  is 
the  first  to  see  and  welcome  the  Orb  of  Light.  He  is  fair 
in  complexion,  with  abundant  hair  and  a  full  beard, 
bordering  on  .the  red,1  as  are  all  the  dawn  heroes,  and 
like  them  he  was  an  instructor  in  the  arts,  and  favored 
peace  and  mild  laws. 

His  name  is  symbolic,  and  is  capable  of  several  equally 
fair  renderings.  The  first  part  of  it,  quefzalli,  means 
literally  a  large,  handsome  green  feather,  such  as  were  very 
highly  prized  by  the  natives.  Hence  it  came  to  mean,  in 
an  adjective  sense,  precious,  beautiful,  beloved,  admirable. 
The  bird  from  which  these  feathers  were  obtained  was  the 
quetzal-tototi  (tototl,  bird)  and  is  called  by  ornithologists 
Trogon  splendens. 

The  latter  part  of  the  name,  coatl,  has  in  Aztec  three 
entirely  different  meanings.  It  means  a  guest,  also  twins, 
and  lastly,  as  a  syncopated  form  of  cohuatl,  a  serpent. 
Metaphorically,  cohuatl  meant  something  mysterious,  and 
hence  a  supernatural  being,  a  god.  Thus  Montezuma, 
when  he  built  a  temple  in  the  city  of  Mexico  dedicated  to 
the  whole  body  of  divinities,  a  regular  Pantheon,  named 
it  Coatecalli,  the  House  of  the  Serpent.2 

Through  these  various  meanings  a  good  defence  can  be 

1  "La  barba  longa  entre  cana  y  roja  ;  el  cabello  largo,  muy  llano." 
Diego  Duran,  Historia,  in  Kingsborough,  Vol.  vin,  p.  260. 

2  "  Coatecalli,   que  quiere  decir   el   templo   de   la  culebra,  quo  sin 
metafora  quiere  decir  templo  de  diversos  dioses."     Duran,  Historia  de 
las.Indias  de  Nueva  Espana,  cap.  LVIII. 


MEANING   OF    QUETZALCOATL.  67 

made  of  several  different  translations  of  the  name,  and 
probably  it  bore  even  to  the  natives  different  meanings  at 
different  times.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the  original 
sense  was  that  advocated  by  Becerra  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  adopted  by  Veitia  in  the  eighteenth,  both 
competent  Aztec  scholars.1  They  translate  Quetzalcoatl  as 
"  the  admirable  twin,"  and  though  their  notion  that-  this 
refers  to  Thomas  Didymus,  the  Apostle,  does  not  meet  my 
views,  I  believe  they  were  right  in  their  etymology.  The 
reference  is  to  the  duplicate  nature  of  the  Light-God  as 
seen  in  the  setting  and  rising  sun,  the  sun  of  to-day  and 
yesterday,  the  same  yet  different.  This  has  its  parallels 
in  many  other  mythologies.2 

The  correctness  of  this  supposition  seems  to  be  shown  by 
a  prevailing  superstition  among  the  Aztecs  about  twins, 
and  which  strikingly  illustrates  the  uniformity  of  mytho 
logical  conceptions  throughout  the  world.  All  readers  are 
familiar  with  the  twins  Romulus  and  Remus  in  Roman 
story,  one  of  whom  was  fated  to  destroy  their  grandfather 
Amulius;  with  Edipus  and  Telephos,  whose  father  Laios, 

1  Becerra,  Felicidad  de  Mejico,  1685,  quoted  in   Veitia,   Historia 
del  Origen  de  las  Gentes  que  poblaron  la  America  Septentrional,  cap. 

XIX. 

2  In  the  Egyptian  "  Book  of  the  Dead,''  Ra,  the  Sun-God,  says,  "I 
am   a   soul  and  its  twins,"  or,    "My  soul  is  becoming  two  twins.'' 
"  This  means  that  the  soul  of  the  sun-god  is  one,  but,  now  that  it  is 
born  again,  it  divides  into  two  principal  forms.     Ra  was  worshipped 
at  An,  under  his  two  prominent  manifestations,  as  Turn  the  primal 
god,  or  more  definitely,  god  of  the  sun  at  evening,  and  as  Harmachis, 
god  of  the  new  sun,  the  sun  at  dawn."     Tiele,  History  of  the  Egyptian 
Religion,  p.  80. 


68  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

was  warned  that  his  death  would  be  by  one  of  his  children ; 
with  Theseus  and  Peirithoos,  the  former  destined  to  cause 
the  suicide  of  his  father  Aigeus ;  and  with  many  more  such 
myths.  They  can  be  traced,  without  room  for  doubt,  back 
to  simple  expressions  of  the  fact  that  the  morning  and  the 
evening  of  the  one  day  can  only  come  when  the  previous 
day  is  past  and  gone ;  expressed  figuratively  by  the  state 
ment  that  any  one  day  must  destroy  its  predecessor.  This 
led  to  the  stories  of  "  the  fatal  children/7  which  we  find  so 
frequent  in  Aryan  mythology.1 

The  Aztecs  were  a  coarse  and  bloody  race,  and  carried 
out  their  superstitions  without  remorse.  Based,  no  doubt, 
on  this  mythical  expression  of  a  natural  occurrence,  they 
had  the  belief  that  if  twins  were  allowed  to  live,  one  or  the 
other  of  them  would  kill  and  eat  his  father  or  mother ; 
therefore,  it  was  their  custom  when  such  were  brought  into 
the  world  to  destroy  one  of  them.2 

We  shall  see  that,  as  in  Algonkin  story  Michabo  strove 
to  slay  his  father,  the  West  Wind,  so  Quetzalcoatl  was  in 
constant  warfare  with  his  father,  Tezcatlipoca-Camaxtli, 
the  Spirit  of  Darkness.  The  effect  of  this  oft-repeated 
myth  on  the  minds  of  the  superstitious  natives  was  to  lead 
them  tq  the  brutal  child  murder  I  have  mentioned. 

It  was,  however,  natural  that  the  more  ordinary  meaning, 
"the  feathered  or  bird-serpent/7  should  become  popular, 

1  Sir  George  W.  Cox,  The  Science  of  Comparative  Mythology  and 
Folk  Lore,  pp.  14,  83,  130,  etc. 

2  Geronimo  de  Mendieta,  Historia  Eclesiastica  Indiana.     Lib.  n, 
cap.  xix. 


THE   GOD   TEZCATLIPOCA.  69 

and  in  the  picture  writing  some  combination  of  the  serpent 
with  feathers  or  other  part  of  a  bird  was  often  employed  as 
the  rebus  of  the  name  Quetzalcoatl. 

He  was  also  known  by  other  names,  as,  like  all  the 
prominent  gods  in  early  mythologies,  he  had  various  titles 
according  to  the  special  attribute  or  function  which  was 
uppermost  in  the  mind  of  the  worshipper.  One  of  these 
was  Papachtic,  He  of  the  Flowing  Locks,  a  word  which 
the  Spaniards  shortened  to  Papa,  and  thought  was  akin  to 
their  title  of  the  Pope.  It  is,  however,  a  pure  Nahuatl 
word,1  and  refers  to  the  abundant  hair  with  which  he  was 
always  credited,  and  which,  like  his  ample  beard,  was,  in 
fact,  the  symbol  of  the  sun's  rays,  the  aureole  or  glory  of 
light  which  surrounded  his  face. 

His  fair  complexion  was,  as  usual,  significant  of  light.      ^^ 
This  association  of  ideas  was  so  familiar  among  the  Mexicans 
that  at  the  time  of  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  they  sought  out 
the  whitest  men  and  women  they  could  find,  and  sacrificed 
them,  in  order  to  pacify  the  sun.2 

His  opponent,  Tezcatlipoca,  was  the  most  sublime  figure 
in  the  Aztec  Pantheon.  He  towered  above  all  other  gods, 
as  did  Jove  in  Olympus.  He  was  appealed  to  as  the  creator 
of  heaven  and  earth,  as  present  in  every  place,  as  the  sole 
ruler  of  the  world,  as  invisible  and  omniscient. 

The  numerous  titles  by  which  he  was  addressed  illustrate 


1  "  Papachtic,  guedejudo  ;  Papachtli,  guedeja  o  vodija  de  capellos, 
o  de  otra  cosa  assi.';     Molina,   Vocabulario  de  la  Lengua  Mexicana. 
sub  voce.      Juan  de  Tobar,  in  Kingsborough,  VoL  vni,  p.  259,  note. 

2  Mendieta,  Historia  Edesiastica  Indiana,  Lib.  n}  cap.  xvi. 


70  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

the  veneration  in  \yhich  he  was  held.  His  most  common 
name  in  prayers  was  TUlaoauan,  We  are  his  Slaves.  As 
believed  to  be  eternally  young,  he  was  Telpochtli,  the 
Youth  ;  as  potent  and  unpersuadable,  he  was  Moyocoyatzin, 
the  Determined  Doer  ;*  as  exacting  in  worship,  Monenegui, 
He  who  Demands  Prayers;  as  the  master  of  the  race, 
Teyocoyani,  Creator  of  Men,  and  Teimatini,  Disposer  of 
Men.  As  he  was  jealous  and  terrible,  the  god  who  visited 
on  men  plagues,  and  famines,  and  loathsome  diseases,  the 
dreadful  deity  who  incited  wars  and  fomented  discord,  he 
was  named  Yaotzin,  the  Arch  Enemy,  Yaotl  neeoc,  the 
Enemy  of  both  Sides,  Moquequeloa,  the  Mocker,  Nezaual- 
pilli,  the  Lord  who  Fasts,  Tlamatzineatl,  He  who  Enforces 
Penitence;  and  as  dark,  invisible  and  inscrutable,  he  was 
-  Yoalli  ehecatl,  the  Night  Wind.2 

He  was  said  to  be  formed  of  thin  air  and  darkness ;  and 
when  he  was  seen  of  men  it  was  as  a  shadow  without 
substance.  He  alone  of  all  the  gods  defied  the  assaults  of 
time,  was  ever  young  and  strong,  and  grew  not  old  with 
years.3  Against  such  an  enemy  who  could  hope  for 
victory  ? 

1  Moyocoyatzin,  is  the  third  person  singular  of  yocoya,  to  do,   to 
make,  with  the  reverential  termination  tzin.     Sahagun  says  this  title 
was  given  him  because   he  could  do  what  he  pleased,  on  earth  or  in 
heaven,  and  no  one  could  prevent  him.     (Historia  de  Nueva  Espafia, 
Lib.  in,  cap.  n. )     It  seems  to  me  that,  it  would  rather  refer  to  his 
demiurgic,  creative  power. 

2  All   these  titles  are  to  be  found  in  Sahagun,  Historia  de  Nueva 
Esparia. 

3  The  description  of  Clavigero  is  worth  quoting  :     "  TEZCATLIPOCA  : 
Questo  era  il  maggior  Dio,  che  in  que  paesi  si  adorava,  dopo  il  Dio 


M  KAN  ING    OF    TEZCATLIPOCA.  71 

The  name  "  Tezcatlipoca"  is  one  of  odd  significance.  If' 
means  The  Smoking  Mirror.  This  strange  metaphor  has 
received  various  explanations.  The  mirrors  in  use  among 
the  Aztecs  were  polished  plates  of  obsidian,  trimmed  to  a 
circular  form.  There  was  a  variety  of  this  black  stone 
called  lezcapoctli,  smoky  mirror  stone,  and  from  this  his 
images  were  at  times  made.1  This,  however,  seems  too 
trivial  an  explanation. 

Others  have  contended  thatTezcatlipoca,  as  undoubtedly 
the  spirit  of  darkness  and  the  night,  refers,  in  its  meaning, 
to  the  moon,  which  hangs  like  a  bright  round  mirror  in  the 
sky,  though  partly  dulled  by  what  the  natives  thought  a 
smoke.2 

I  am  inclined  to  believe,  however,  that  the  mirror 
referred  to  is  that  first  and  most  familiar  of  all,  the  surface 
of  water ;  and  that  the  smoke  is  the  mist  which  at  night 
rises  from  lake  and  river,  as  actual  smoke  does  in  the  still 
air. 

As  presiding  over  the  darkness  and  the  night,  dreams 
and  the  phantoms  of  the  gloom   were  supposed  to  be  sent 
by  Tezcatlipoca,  and   to  him  were  sacred   those  animals        . 
which  prowl  about  at  night,  as  the  skunk  and  the  coyote.8 

invisible,  o  Supremo  Essere  Era  il  Dio  della  Providenza,  1'  anima 
del  Mondo,  il  Creator  del  Cielo  e  della  Terra,  ed  il  Signer  di  tutle  le 
cose.  Rappresentavanlo  tuttora  giovane  per  significare,  che  non  s' 
invecchiava  mai,  nfe  s?  indeboliva  cogli  anni. ' '  Storia  Antica  di  Jfessico, 
Lib.  vi,  p.  7. 

1  Sahagun.  Historia,  Lib.  n,  cap.  xxxvn. 

2  Anales  del  Mnsco  National,  Tom.  n,  p.  257. 

3  Sahagun,  Historia,  Lib.  vi,  caps,  ix,  xi,  xn. 


72  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

Thus  his  names,  his  various  attributes,  his  sacred  animals 
and  his  myths  unite  in  identifying  this  deity  as  a  primitive 
personification  of  the  Darkness,  whether  that  of  the  storm 
or  of  the  night.1 

This  is  further  shown  by  the  beliefs  current  as  to  his 
occasional  appearance  on  earth.  This  was  always  at  night 
and  in  the  gloom  of  the  forest.  The  hunter  would  hear  a 
sound  like  the  crash  of  falling  trees,  which  would  be  nothing 
else  than  the  mighty  breathings  of  the  giant  form  of  the 
god  on  his  nocturnal  rambles.  Were  the  hunter  timorous 
he  would  die  outright  on  seeing  the  terrific  presence  of  the 
god ;  but  were  he  of  undaunted  heart,  and  should  rush 
upon  him  and  seize  him  around  the  waist,  the  god  was 
helpless  and  would  grant  him  anything  he  wished.  "  Ask 
what  you  please/7  the  captive  deity  would  say,  "  and  it  is 
yours.  Only  fail  not  to  release  me  before  the  sun  rises. 
For  I  must  leave  before  it  appears."2 

1  Senor  Alfredo  Chavero  believes  Tezcatlipoca  to  have  been  originally 
the  moon,  and  there  is  little  doubt  at  times  this  was  one  of  his  symbols, 
as  the  ruler  of  the  darkness.     M.  Girard  de  Rialle,  on  the  other  hand, 
claims  him  as  a  solar  deity.     "  II  est  la  personnification  du  soleil  sous 
son  aspect  eorrupteuretdestructeur,ennemides  hommesetde  la  nature." 
La  Mythologie  Comparer,  p,  334  (Paris,  1878).     A  closer  study  of  the 
original  authorities  would,  I  am  sure,  have  led  M.  de  Rialle  to  change 
this  opinion.     He  is  singularly  far  from  the  conclusion  reached  by  M. 
Ternaux-Compans,  who  says:   "Tezcatlipoca   fut  la  personnification 
du  bon  principe."     Essai  sur  la  Th^ogonie  Mexieaine,  p.  23   (Paris, 
1840).     Both  opinions  are  equally  incomplete.     Dr.  Schultz-Sellack 
considers  him  the  "^Wassergptt,"  and  assigns  him  to  the  North,  in  his 
essay,  Die  Amerikanischen  Goiter  der  Vier  Welfgegenden,  Zeitschrift 

\fur  Ethnologic,  Bd.  XT,  1879.     This  approaches  more  closely  to  his 
Urue  character. 

2  Torquemada,  Monarquia  Indiana,  Lib.  xiv,  cap.  xxii. 


THE    FOUR   BROTHERS.  73 

§  2.      Quetzalcoatl  the  God. 

In  the  ancient  and  purely  mythical  narrative,  Quetzal 
coatl  is  one  of  four  divine  brothers,  gods  like  himself,  born 
in  the  uttermost  or  thirteenth  heaven  to  the  infinite  and 
uncreated  deity,  which,  in  its  male  manifestations,  was 
known  as  Tonaca  tecutli,  Lord  of  our  Existence,  and  Tzin 
teotlj  God  of  the  Beginning,  and  in  its  female  expressions  as 
Tonaca  clhuatl,  Queen  of  our  Existence,  Xochiqudzal,  Beau 
tiful  Rose,  Citlallicue,  the  Star-skirted  or  the  Milky  Way, 
CitlalatonaCj  the  Star  that  warms,  or  The  Morning,  and 
Chieome  coatl,  the  Seven  Serpents.1 

Of  these  four  brothers,  two  were  the  black  and  the  red 
Tezcatlipoca,  and  the  fourth  was  Huitzilopochtli,  the  Left 
handed,  the  deity  adored  beyond  all  others  in  the  city  of 
Mexico.  Tezcatlipoca — for  the  two  of  the  name  blend 
rapidly  into  one  as  the  myth  progresses — was  wise  beyond 
compute ;  he  knew  all  thoughts  and  hearts,  could  see  to  all 
places,  and  was  distinguished  for  power  and  forethought. 

At  a  certain  time  the  four  brothers  gathered  together  and 
consulted  concerning  the  creation  of  things.  The  work 
was  left  to  Quetzalcoatl  and  Huitzilopochtli.  First  they 

1  The  chief  authorities  on  the  birth  of  the  god  Quetzalcoatl,  are 
Ramirez  de  Fuen-leal  Historia  de  los  Mexicanos  por  sus  Pinturas, 
Cap.  i,  printed  in  the  Anales  del  Museo  Nacional ;  the  Codex  Tetteria.no- 
Remensis,  and  the  Codex  Vaticanus,  both  of  which  are  in  Kings- 
borough's  Mexican  Antiquities. 

The  usual  translation  of  Tonaca  tecutli  is  u  God  of  our  Subsistence,' ' 
to,  our,  naca,  flesh,  tecutli,  chief  or  lord.  It  really  has  a  more  subtle 
meaning.  Naca  is  not  applied  to  edible  flesh — that  is  expressed  by 
the  word  nonoac — but  is  the  fle.sh  of  our  own  bodies,  our  life,  existence. 
See  Anales  de  Cuaulititlan,  p.  18,  note. 


74  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

made  fire,  then  half  a  sun,  the  heavens,  the  waters  and  a 
certain  great  fish  therein,  called  Cipactli,  and  from  its  flesh 
the  solid  earth.  The  first  mortals  were  thejnan^^i^actonal, 
and  the  woman,  Oxomuco,1  and  that  the  son  born  to  them 
might  have  a  wife,  the  four  gods  made  one  for  him  out  of 
a  hair  taken  from  the  head  of  their  divine  mother,  Xochi- 
quetzal. 

Now  began  the  struggle  between  the  two  brothers,  Tez- 
catlipoca  and  Quetzalcoatl,  which  was  destined  to  destroy 
time  after  time  the  world,  with  all  its  inhabitants,  and  to 
plunge  even  the  heavenly  luminaries  into  a  common  ruin. 

The  half  sun  created  by  Quetzalcoatl  lighted  the  world 
but  poorly,  and  the  four  gods  came  together  to  consult 
about  adding  another  half  to  it.  Not  waiting  for  their 
decision,  Tezcatlipoca  transformed  himself  into  a  sun, 
whereupon  the  other  gods  filled  the  world  with  great  giants, 
who  could  tear  up  trees  with  their  hands.  When  an  epoch 
of  thirteen  times  fifty-two  years  had  passed,  Quetzalcoatl 
seized  a  great  stick,  and  with  a  blow  of  it  knocked  Tezcat- 

1  The  names  Cipactli  and  Cipactonal  have  not  been  satisfactorily 
analyzed.  The  derivation  offered  by  Sen  or  Chavero  (Anales  del  Musco 
National,  Tom.  IT,  p.  116),  is  merely  fanciful ;  tonal  is  no  doubt  from 
tona,  to  shine,  to  warn  ;  and  I  think  cipactli  is  a  softened  form  with 
the  personal  ending  from  chipauac,  something  beautiful  or  clear. 
Hence  the  meaning  of  the  compound  is  The  Beautiful  Shining  One. 
Oxomuco,  which  Chavero  derives  from  xomitl,  foot,  is  perhaps  the 
v.  same  as  Xmukane,  the  mother  of  the  human  race,  according  to  the 
Popol  Vuh,  a  name  which,  I  have  elsewhere  shown,  appears  to  be  from 
a  Maya  root,  meaning  to  conceal  or  bury  in  the  ground.  The  hint  is 
of  the  fertilizing  action  of  the  warm  light  on  the  seed  hidden  in  the 
soil.  See  The  Names  of  the  Gods  in  the  Kiche  Myths,  Trans,  of  the 
Amer.  Phil.  Soc.  1881. 


THE    CONTEST   OF   THE    BROTHERS.  75 

lipoca  from  the  sky  into  the  waters,  and  himself  became 
sun.  The  fallen  god  transformed  himself  into  a  tiger,  and 
emerged  from  the  waves  to  attack  and  devour  the  giants 
with  which  his  brothers  had  enviously  filled  the  world 
which  he  had  been  lighting  from  the  sky.  After  this,  he 
passed  to  the  nocturnal  heavens,  and  became  the  constella 
tion  of  the  Great  Bear. 

For  an  epoch  the  earth  flourished  under  Quetzalcoatl  as 
sun,  but  Tezcatlipoca  was  merely  biding  his  time,  and  the 
epoch  ended,  he  appeared  as  a  tiger  and  gave  Quetzalcoatl 
such  a  blow  with  his  paw  that  it  hurled  him  from  the  skies. 
The  overthrown  god  revenged  himself  by  sweeping  the 
earth  with  so  violent* a  tornado  that  it  destroyed  all  the 
inhabitants  but  a  few,  and  these  were  changed  into  monkeys. 
His  victorious  brother  then  placed  in  the  heavens,  as  sun, 
Tlaloc,  the  god  of  darkness,  water  and  rains,  but  after  half 
an  epoch,  Quetzalcoatl  poured  a  flood  of  fire  upon  the  earth, 
drove  Tlaloc  from  the  sky,  and  placed  in  his  stead,  as  sun, 
the  goddess  Chalchiutlicue,  the  Emerald  Skirted,  wife  of 
Tlaloc.  In  her  time  the  rains  poured  so  upon  the  earth 
that  all  human  beings  were  drowned  or  changed  into  fishes,  >< 
and  at  last  the  heavens  themselves  fell,  and  sun  and  stars 
were  alike  quenched. 

Then  the  two  brothers  whose  strife  had  brought  this 
ruin,  united  their  efforts  and  raised  again  the  sky,  resting 
it  on  two  mighty  trees,  the  Tree  of  the  Mirror  (tezcaqua- 
huitl)  and  the  Beautiful  Great  Rose  Tree  (quetzalveixocMtl),    , 
on   which   the  concave   heavens  have  ever  since  securely 


76  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

rested ;  though  we  know  them  better,  perhaps,  if  we  drop 
the  metaphor  and  call  them  the  "  mirroring  sea  "  and  the 
"  flowery  earth/7  on  one  of  which  reposes  the  horizon,  in 
whichever  direction  we  may  look. 

Again  the  four  brothers  met  together  to  provide  a  sun  for 
the  now  darkened  earth.  They  decided  to  make  one, 
indeed,  but  such  a  one  as  would  eat  the  hearts  and  drink 
the  blood  of  victims,  and  there  must  be  wars  upon  the  earth, 
that  these  victims  could  be  obtained  for  the  sacrifice.  Then 
Quetzalcoatl  builded  a  great  fire  and  took  his  son — his  son 
born  of  his  own  flesh,  without  the  aid  of  woman — and  cast 
him  into  the  flames,  whence  he  rose  into  the  sky  as  the  sun 
which  lights  the  world.  When  the  Light-God  kindles  the 
flames  of  the  dawn  in  the  orient  sky,  shortly  the  sun  emerges 
from  below  the  horizon  and  ascends  the  heavens.  Tlaloc, 
god  of  waters,  followed,  and  into  the  glowing  ashes  of  the 
pyre  threw  his  son,  who  rose  as  the  moon. 

Tezcatlipoca  had  it  now  in  mind  to  people  the  earth,  and 
he,  therefore,  smote  a  certain  rock  with  a  stick,  and  from  it 
issued  four  hundred  barbarians  (ehiehimeoa).1  Certain  five 
goddesses,  however,  whom  he  had  already  created  in  the 
eighth  heaven,  descended  and  slew  these  four  hundred,  all 
but  three.  These  goddesses  likewise  died  before  the  sun 
appeared,  but  came  into  being  again  from  the  garments 

1  The  name  Chichimeca  has  been  a  puzzle.  The  derivation  appears 
to  be  from  chichi,  a  dog,  mecatl,  a  rope.  According  to  general 
tradition  the  Chichimecs  were  a  barbarous  people  who  inhabited 
Mexico  before  the  Aztecs  came.  Yet  Sahagun  says  the  Toltecs  were 
the  real  Chichimecs  (Lib.  x,  cap.  xxix).  In  the  myth  we  are  now 
considering,  they  were  plainly  the  stars. 


THE    FOUR    HUNDRED    YOUTHS.  77 

they  had  left  behind.  So  also  did  the  four  hundred 
Chichimecs,  and  these  set  about  to  burn  one  of  the  five 
goddesses,  by  name  Coatlicue,  the  Serpent  Skirted,  because 
it  was  discovered  that  she  was  with  child,  though  yet 
unmarried.  But,  in  fact,  she  was  a  spotless  virgin,  and 
had  known  no  man.  She  had  placed  some  white  plumes 
in  her  bosom,  and  through  these  the  god  Huitzi[onochtli 
entered  her  body  to  be  born  again.  When,  therefore,  the 
four  hundred  had  gathered  together  to  burn  her,  the  god 
came  forth  fully  armed  and  slew  them  every  one. 

It  is  not  hard  to  guess  who  are  these  four  hundred  youths 
slain  before  the  sun  rises,  destined  to  be  restored  tpjjfe  and 
yet  again  destroyed.     The  veil  of  metaphor  is  thin  which 
thus  conceals  to  our  mind  the  picture  of  the  myriad  stars 
quenched  every  morning  by  the  growing  light,  but  return 
ing  every  evening  to  their  appointed  places.     And  did  any 
doubt  remain,  it  is  removed  by  the  direct  statement  in  the  - 
echo  of  this  tradition   preserved   by  the  Kiches  of  Gua-  x \ 
temala,  wherein  it  is  plainly  said   that  the  four  hundred     L 
youths  who  were  put  to  death  by  Zipacna,  and  restored  to 
life  by  Hunhun  Ahpu,  "  rose  into  the  sky  and  became  the  *""     / ' i  a 
stars  of  heaven/'1 

Indeed,  these  same  ancient  men  whose  explanations  I 
have  been  following  added  that  the  four  hundred  men 
whom  Tezcatlipoca  created  continued  yet  to  live  in  the 
third  heaven,  and  were  its  guards  and  watchmen.  They 
were  of  five  colors,  yellow,  black,  white,  blue  and  red,  which 

1  Popol  Vuh,  Le  Livre  Sacre  des  Quiches,  p.  193. 


78  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

in  the  symbolism  of  their  tongue  meant  that  they  were 
distributed  around  the  zenith  and  to  each  of  the  four  car 
dinal  points.1 

Nor  did  these  sages  suppose  that  the  struggle  of  the 
dark  Tezcatlipoca  to  master  the  Light-God  had  ceased ;  no, 
they  knew  he_was  biding  his  time,  with  set  purpose  and  a 
fixed  certainty  of  success.  They  knew  that  in  the  second 
heaven  there  were  certain  frightful  women,  without  flesh  or 
bones,  whose  names  were  the  Terrible,  or  the  Thin  Dart- 
Throwers,  who  were  waiting  there  until  this  world  should 
end,  when  they  would  descend  and  eat  up  all  mankind.2 
Asked  concerning  the  time  of  this  destruction,  they  re 
plied  that  as  to  the  day  or  season  they  knew  it  not,  but  it 
would  be  "  when  Tezcatlipoca  should  steal  the  sun  from 
/  heaven  for  himself";  in  other  words,  when  eternal  night 
should  close  in  upon  the  Universe.3 

The  myth  which  I  have  here  given  in  brief  is  a  promi 
nent  one  in  Azteo  cosmogony,  and  is  known  as  that  of  the 
Ages  of  the  World  or  the  Suns.  The  opinion  was  widely 

1  See  H.  de  Cliarencey,  Des  Couleurs  Conside'rees  comme  Symboles 
des  Points  de  V Horizon  chez  les  Peuples  du  Nouveau  Monde,  in  the 
Actes  de  la  Societt  Philologiques,  Tome  vi.  No.  3. 

2  These  frightful  beings  were  called  the  Tzitzimime,  a  word  which 
Molina  in  his  Vocabulary  renders  "  cosa  espantosa  6  cosa  de  aguero." 
For  a  thorough  discussion  of  their  place  in  Mexican  mythology,  see 
Anales  del  Museo  National^  Tom.  n,  pp.  358-372. 

3  The  whole  of  this  version  of  the  myth  is  from  the  work  of  Ramirez 
de  Fuen-leal,  which  I  consider  in  some  respects  the  most  valuable  au 
thority  we  possess.     It  was  taken  directly  from  the  sacred  books  of 
the  Aztecs,  as  explained  by  the  most  competent  survivors  of  the  Con 
quest. 


THE    FOUR   AGES.  79 

accepted  that  the  present  is  the  fifth  age  or  period  of  the 
world's  history ;  that  it  has  already  undergone  four 
destructions  by  various  causes,  and  that  the  present  period 
is  also  to  terminate  in  another  such  catastrophe.  The 
agents  of  such  universal  ruin  have  been  a  great  flood,  a 
world-wide  conflagration,  frightful  tornadoes  and  famine,  ( 
earthquakes  and  wild  beasts,  and  hence  the  Ages,  Suns  or 
Periods  were  called  respectively,  from  their  terminations, 
those  of  Water,  Fire,  Air  and  Earth.  As  we  do  not  know 
the  destiny  of  the  fifth,  the  present  one,  it  has  as  yet  no 
name. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  go  into  the  details  of  this  myth, 
the  less  so  as  it  has  recently  been  analyzed  with  much 
minuteness  by  the  Mexican  antiquary  Chavero.1  I  will 
merely  point  out  that  it  is  too  closely  identified  with 
a  great  many  similar  myths  for  us  to  be  allowed  to  si.ek  an 
origin  for  it  peculiar  to  Mexican  or  even  American  soil. 
We  can  turn  to  the  Tualati  who  live  in  Oregon,  and  they 
will  tell  us  of  the  four  creations  and  destructions  of  man 
kind  ;  how  at  the  end  of  the  first  Age  all  human  beings 
were  changed  into  stars ;  at  the  end  of  the  second  they 
became  stones ;  at  the  end  of  the  third  into  fishes ;  and  at  the 
close  of  the  fourth  they  disappeared,  to  give  place  to  the  tribes 
that  now  inhabit  the  world.2  Or  we  can  read  from  the 

1  Alfredo   Chavero,  La  Piedra  del  Sol,  in  the  Anales  del  Museo 
National,  Tom.  i,  p.  353,  et  seq. 

2  A.  S.  Gatschet,  The  Four  Creations  of  Mankind,  a  Tualati  myth, 
in  Transactions  of  the  Anthropological  Society  of  Washington,  Vol. 
i,  p.  60  (1881). 


80  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

cuneiform  inscriptions  of  ancient  Babylon,  and  find  the  four 
destructions  of  the  race  there  specified,  as  by  a  flood,  by 
wild  beasts,  by  famine  and  by  pestilence.1 

The  explanation  which  I  have  to  give  of  these  coinci 
dences — which  could  easily  be  increased — is  that  the  num 
ber  four  was  chosen  as  that  of  the  four  cardinal  points, 
and  that  the  fifth  or  present  age,  that  in  which  we  live, 
is  that  which  is  ruled  by  the  ruler  of  the  four  points,  by 
the  Spirit  of  Light,  who  was  believed  to  govern  them,  as, 
in  fact,  the  early  dawn  does,  by  defining  the  relations  of 
space,  act  as  guide  and  governor  of  the  motions  of  men. 

All  through  Aztec  mythology,  traditions  and  customs, 
we  can  discover  this  ancient  myth  of  the  four  brothers, 
the  four  ancestors  of  their  race,  or  the  four  chieftains  who 
led  their  progenitors  to  their  respective  habitations.  The 
rude  mountaineers  of  Meztitlan,  who  worshiped  with  par 
ticular  zeal  Tezcatlipoca  and  Quetzalcoatl,  and  had 
inscribed,  in  gigantic  figures,  the  sacred  five  points,  symbol 
of  the  latter,  on  the  side  of  a  vast  precipice  in  their  land, 
gave  the  symbolic  titles  to  the  primeval  quadruplet  ; — 

Ixcuin,  He  who  has  four  faces. 

Hueytccpati,  the  ancient  Flint-stone. 

Tentelemic,  the  Lip-stone  that  slays. 

Nanacatltzatzi,  He  who  speaks  when  intoxicated  with 
the  poisonous  mushroom,  called  nanacatl. 

These  four  brothers,  according  to  the  myth,  were  born  of 

1  Paul  Haupt,  Der  Keilinschriftliche  Sintfluthbericht,  p.  17  (Leip 
zig,  1881). 


THE    FOUR    BROTHERS.  81 

the  goddess,  Hueytonantzin,  which  means  "  our  great, 
ancient  mother/'  and,  with  unfilial  hands,  turned  against 
her  and  slew  her,  sacrificing  her  to  the  Sun  and  offering 
her  heart  to  that  divinity.1  In  other  words,  it  is  the  old 
story  of  the  cardinal  points,  defined  at  daybreak  by  the 
Dawn,  the  eastern  Aurora,  which  is  lost  in  or  sacrificed  to 
the  Sun  on  its  appearance. 

Of  these  four  brothers  I  suspect  the  first,  Ixcuin,"he  who 
looks  four  ways/'  or  "has  four  faces/Ms  none  other  than 
Quetzalcoatl,2  while  the  Ancient  Flint  is  probably  Tezcat- 
lipoca,  thus  bringing  the  myth  into  singularly  close  relation 
ship  with  that  of  the  Iroquois,  given  on  a  previous  page. 

Another  myth  of  the  Aztecs  gave  these  four  brothers  or 
primitive  heroes,  as  :— 

Huitzilopochtli. 

Huitznahua. 

Itztlacoliuhqui. 

Pantecatl. 

Of  these  Dr.  Schultz-Sellack  advances  plausible  reasons 
for  believing  that  Itztlacoliuhqui,  which  was  the  name  of  a 

1  Gabriel  de  Chaves,  Relation  de  la  Provincia  de  Meztitlan,  1556, 
in  the  Colecion  de  Documentos  Ineditos  delArchivo  de  Indias,  Tom.  iv, 
pp.  535  and  536.      The  translations  of  the  names  are  not  given  by 
Chaves,  but  I  think  they  are  correct,  except,  possibly,  the  third,  which 
maybe  a  compound  oftentetl,  lipstorie,  temictli,  dream,  instead  of  with 
temicti,  slayer. 

2  Ixcuina  was   also   the   name  of  the   goddess  of  pleasure.      The 
derivation  is  from  ixtti,  face,  cui,   to  take,  and  na,   four.     See  the 
note  of  MM.  Jourdanet  and  Simeon,  to  their  translation  of  Sahagun, 
Histona.  p.  22. 


82  AMERICAN    HERO- MYTHS. 

certain  form  of  head-dress,  was  another  title  of  Quetzalcoatl ; 
and  that  Pantecatl  was  one  of  the  names  of  Tezcatlipoca.1 
If  this  is  the  case  we  have  here  another  version  of  the 
same  myth. 

§  3.   Quetzalcoatl,  the  Hero  of  Tula. 

But  it  was  not  Quetzalcoatl  the  god,  the  mysterious 
creator  of  the  visible  world,  on  whom  the  thoughts  of  the 
Aztec  race  delighted  to  dwell,  but  on  Quetzalcoatl,  high 
priest  in  the  glorious  city  of  Tollan  (Tula),  the  teacher  of 
the  arts,  the  wise  lawgiver,  the  virtuous  prince,  the  master 
builder  and  the  merciful  judge. 

Here,  again,  though  the  scene  is  transferred  from  heaven 
to  earth  and  from  the  cycles  of  other  worlds  to  a  date  not 
extremely  remote,  the  story  continues  to  be  of  his  contest 
with  Tezcatlipoca,  and  of  the  wiles  of  this  enemy,  now 
diminished  to  a  potent  magician  and  jealous  rival,  to  dis 
possess  and  drive  him  from  famous  Tollan. 

No  one  versed  in  the  metaphors  of  mythology  can  be 
deceived  by  the  thin  veil  of  local  color  which  surrounds  the 
myth  in  this  its  terrestrial  and  historic  form.  Apart  from 
its  being  but  a  repetition  or  continuation  of  the  genuine 
ancient  account  of  the  conflict  of  day  and  night,  light  and 
darkness,  which  I  have  already  given,  the  name  Tollan  is 
enough  to  point  out  the  place  and  the  powers  with  which 
the  story  deals.  For  this  Tollan,  where  Quetzalcoatl  reigned, 

1  Dr.  Schultz  Sellack,  Die  Amerikanischen  Goiter  der  Vier  Welt- 
gegenden  und  Hire  Tempel  in  Palenquej'm  the  Zdtschrift  fur  Etfi 
nologie,  Bd.  xi,  (1879). 


THE    CITY   OF   TULA.  83 

is  not  by  any  means,  as  some  have  supposed,  the  little  town 
of  Tula,  still  alive,  a  dozen  leagues  or  so  northwest  from  ' 
the  city  of  Mexico ;    nor  was  it,  as  the   legend    usually 
stated,  in  some  undefined  locality  from  six  hundred  to  a 
thousand  leagues  northwest  of  that  city;  nor  yet  in  Asia, 
as  some   antiquaries  have  maintained  ;  nor,  indeed,  any 
where  upon  this  weary  world ;    but  it  was,  as  the  name 
denotes,  and  as  the  native  historian  Tezozomoc  long  since 
translated  it,  where  the  bright  sun  lives,  and  where  the  god     ^ 
of  light  forever  rules  so  long  as  that  orb  is  in   the  sky. 
Tollan  is  but  a  syncopated  form  of  Tonatlan,  the  Place  of  ^ 
the  Sun.1 

It  is  worth  while  to  examine  the  whereabouts  and  char 
acter  of  this  marvelous  city  of  Tollan  somewhat  closely, 
for  it  is  a  place  that  we  hear  of  in  the  oldest  myths  and 
legends  of  many  and  different  races.  Not  only  the  Aztecs, 
but  the  Mayas  of  Yucatan  and  the  Kiches  and  Cakchi- 
quels  of  Guatemala  bewailed,  in  woful  songs,  the  loss  to 

1  "  Tonalan,  6  lugar  del  sol,"  says  Tezozomoc  (Cronica  Mexicana, 
chap.  i).  The  full  form  is  Tonatlan,  from  tona,  u  hacer  sol,"  and 
the  place  ending  tlan.  The  derivation  from  tollin,  a  rush,  is  of  no 
value,  and  it  is  nothing  to  the  point  that  in  the  picture  writing  Tollan 
was  represented  by  a  bundle  of  rushes  (Kingsborough,  vol.  vi,  p.  177, 
note),  as  that  was  merely  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  the  picture 
writing,  which  represented  names  by  rebuses.  Still  more  worth 
less  is  the  derivation  given  by  Herrera  (Historia  de  las  Indias 
Occidentales,  Dec.  in,  Lib.  u,  cap.  xi),  that  it  means  u  Lugar  de 
Tuna''  or  the  place  where  the  tuna  (the  fruit  of  the  Opuntia)  is  found  ; 
inasmuch  as  the  word  tuna  is  not  from  the.  Aztec  at  all,  but  belongs 
to  that  dialect  of  the  Arawack  spoken  by  the  natives  of  Cuba  and 
Haiti. 


84  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

j  them  of  that  beautiful  land,  and  counted  its  destruction  as 
a  common  starting  point  in  their  annals.1  Well  might  they 
regret  it,  for  not  again  would  they  find  its  like.  In  that 
land  the  crop  of  maize  never  failed,  and  the  ears  grew  as 
long  as  a  man's  arm  ;  the  cotton  burst  its  pods,  not  white 
only,  but  naturally  of  all  beautiful  colors,  scarlet,  green, 
blue,  orange,  what  you  would  ;  the  gourds  could  not  be 
clasped  in  the  arms  ;  birds  of  beauteous  plumage  filled  the 

,  air  with  melodious  song.  There  was  never  any  want  nor 
poverty.  All  the  riches  of  the  world  were  there,  houses 
built  of  silver  and  precious  jade,  of  rosy  mother  of  pearl 
and  of  azure  turquoises.  The  servants  of  the  great  king 
Quetzalcoatl  were  skilled  in  all  manner  of  arts ;  when  he 
sent  them  forth  they  flew  to  any  part  of  the  world  with 
infinite  speed;  and  his  edicts  were  proclaimed  from  the 
summit  of  the  mountain  Tzatzitepec,  the  Hill  of  Shouting, 
by  criers  of  such  mighty  voice  that  they  could  be  heard  a 
hundred  leagues  away.2  His  servants  and  disciples  were 
called  "  Sons  of  the  Sun"  and  "Sons  of  the  Clouds." :! 

Where,  then,  was  this  marvelous  land  and  wondrous 
city  ?  Where  could  it  be  but  where  the  Light-God  is  on  his 
throne,  where  the  life-giving  sun  is  ever  present,  where  are 

1  The  Books  of  Chilan  Balam,  of  the  Mayas,  the  Record  from  Tec- 
pan  Atitlan,  of  the  Cakchiquels,  and  the  Popol  vuh.  National  Book, 
of  the  Kiches,  have  much  to  say  about  Tulan.  These  works  were  all 
written  at  a  very  early  date,  by  natives,  and  they  have  all  been  pre 
served  in  the  original  tongues,  though  unfortunately  only  the  last  men 
tioned  has  been  published. 

-  Saliagun.  Historia,  Lib.  m,  cap.  in. 

3  Duran,  Historia  de  los  Indios,  in  Kingsborough,  vol.  vin,  p.  267. 


THE    FOUR   TULAXS.  85 

the  mansions  of  the  day,  and  where  all  nature  rejoices  in 
the  splendor  of  its  rays  ? 

But  this  is  more  than  in  one  spot.  It  may  be  in  the 
uppermost  heavens,  where  light  is  born  and  the  fleecy  clouds 
swim  easily ;  or  in  the  west,  where  the  sun  descends  to  his 
couch  in  sanguine  glory ;  or  in  the  east,  beyond  the  purple 
rim  of  the  sea,  whence  he  rises  refreshed  as  a  giant  to  run 
his  course  ;  or  in  the  underworld,  where  he  passes  the  night. 

Therefore,  in  ancient  Cakchiquel  legend  it  is  said: 
"  Where  the  sun  rises,  there  is  one  Tulan  ;  another  is  in  S' 
the  underworld  ;  yet  another  where  the  sun  sets  ;  and  there 
is  still  another,  and  there  dwells  the  God.  Thus,  O  my 
children,  there  are  four  Tulans,  as  the,. ancient  men  have 
told  us."1 

The  most  venerable  traditions  of  the  Maya  race  claimed 
for  them  a  migration  from  "  Tollan  in  Zuy  va."  "  Thence 
came  we  forth  together,"  says  the  Kiche  myth,  "  there  was 
the  common  parent  of  our  race,  thence  came  we,  from 
among  the  Yaqui  men,  whose  god  is  Yolcuat  Quetzalcoat." v 
This  Tollan  is  certainly  none  other  than  the  abode  of 
Quetzalcoatl,  named  in  an  Aztec  maunscript  as  Zivena 

1  Francisco  Ernantez  Arana  Xahila,  Memorial  de  Tecpan  Atitlan, 
MS.  in  Cakchiquel,  in  my  possession. 

2  Le  Popol  Vuli,  p.  247.     The  name  Yaqui  means  in  Kiche  civilized 
or  polished,  and  was  applied  to  the  Aztecs,  but  it  is,  in  its  origin,  from 
an  Aztec  root  yauli,  to   go,  whence  yaque,  travelers,  and  especially   . 
merchant?.     The  Kiches  recognizing  in  the  Aztec  merchants  a  superior 
and  cultivated  class  of  men,  adopted  into  their  tongue  the  name  which 
the  merchants  gave  themselves,  and  used  the  word  in  the  above  sense. 
Compare  Sahagun,  Historia  de  Nu&va  Espana,  Lib.  ix,  cap.  xn. 


86  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

vitzcatl,  a  word  of  uncertain  derivation,  but  applied  to  the 
highest  heaven. 

Where  Quetzalcoatl  finally  retired,  and  whence  he  was 
expected  back,  was  still  a  Tollan — Tollan  Tlapallan — and 
Montezuma,  when  he  heard  of  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards, 
exclaimed,  "  It  is  Quetzalcoatl,  returned  from  Tula." 

The  cities  which  selected  him  as  their  tutelary  deity 
were  named  for  that  which  he  was  supposed  to  have  ruled 
over.  Thus  we  have  Tollan  and  Tollantzinco  ("  behind 
Tollan ")  in  the  Valley  of  Mexico,  and  the  pyramid 
Cholula  was  called  "  Tollan-Cholollan,"  as  well  as  many 
other  Jollans  and  Tulas  among  the  Nahuatl  colonies. 

The  natives  of  the  city  of  Tula  were  called,  from  its 
name,  the  Tolteca,  which  simply  means  "  those  who  dwell 
in  Tollan."  And  who,  let  us  ask,  were  these  Toltecs  ? 

They  have  hovered  about  the  dawn  of  American  history 
long  enough.  To  them  have  been  attributed  not  only  the 
primitive  culture  of  Central  America  and  Mexico,  but  of 
lands  far  to  the  north,  and  even  the  earthworks  of  the  Ohio 
Valley.  It  is  time  they  were  assigned  their  proper  place, 
and  that  is  among  the  purely  fabulous  creations  of  the 
imagination,  among  the  giants  and  fairies,  the  gnomes  and 
sylphs,  and  other  such  fancied  beings  which  in  all  ages  and 
nations  the  popular  mind  has  loved  to  create. 

Toltec,  Toltecatl,1  which  in  later  days  came  to  mean  a 

1  Toltecatl,  according  to  Molina,  is  "  oficial  de  arte  mecanica  6 
maestro,"  (Vocabulario  de  la  Lengua  Mexicana,  s.  v.).  This  is  a 
secondary  meaning.  Veitia  justly  says,  "  Toltecatl  quiere  decir  artifice, 
porque  en  Thollan  comenzaron  a  ensenar,  aunque  a  Thollan  llamaron 
Tula,  y  por  decir  Toltecatl  dicen  Tuloteca"  (Historia,  cap.  xv). 


WHO    WERE   THE   TOLTECS  ?  87 

skilled  craftsman  or  artificer,  signifies,  as  I  have  said,  an 
inhabitant  of  Tollan — of  the  City  of  the  Sun — in  other 
words,  a  Child  of  Light.  Without  a  metaphor,  it  meant 
at  first  one  of  the  far  darting,  bright  shining  rays  of  the 
sun.  Not  only  does  the  tenor  of  the  whole  myth  show 
this,  but  specifically  and  clearly  the  powers  attributed  to 
the  ancient  Toltecs.  As  the  immediate  subjects  of  the  God 
of  Light  they  were  called  "  Those  who  fly  the  whole  day 
without  resting,"1  and  it  was  said  of  them  that  they  had 
the  power  of  reaching  instantly  even  a  very  distant  place. 
When  the  Light-God  himself  departs,  they  too  disappear, 
and  their  city  is  left  uninhabited  and  desolate. 

In  some,  and  these  I  consider  the  original  versions  of 
the  myth,  they  do  not  constitute  a  nation  at  all,  but  are 
merely  the  disciples  or  servants  of  Quetzalcoatl.2  They 
have  all  the  traits  of  beings  of  supernatural  powers.  They 
were  astrologers  and  necromancers,  marvelous  poets  and 
philosophers,  painters  as  were  not  to  be  found  elsewhere  in 
the  world,  and  such  builders  that  for  a  thousand  leagues 
the  remains  of  their  cities,  temples  and  fortresses  strewed 
the  land.  "  When  it  has  happened  to  me/'  says  Father 
Duran,  "  to  ask  an  Indian  who  cut  this  pass  through  the 

1  Their  title  was  Tlanqua  cemilhuiquej  compounded  of  tlanqna,  to 
set  the  teeth,  as  with  strong  determination,  and  cemilhuitia,  to  run 
during  a  whole  day.     Sahagun,  Historia,  Lib.  in,  cap.  in,  and  Lib. 
x,  cap.  xxix ;  compare  also  the  myth  of  Tezcatlipoca  di-guised  as  an 
old  woman  parching  corn,  the  odor  of  which  instantly  attracted  the 
Toltecs,  no  matter  how  far  off  they  were.     When  they  came  she  killed 
them.     Id.  Lib.  in,  cap.  xi. 

2  "  Discipulos,"  Duran,  Historia,  in  Kingsborough,  vol.  vm,  p.  260. 


AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

mountains,  or  who  opened  -that  spring  of  water,  or  who 
built  that  old  ruin,  the  answer  was,  *  The  Toltecs,  the  dis 
ciples  of  Papa.7 " l 

They  were  tall  in  stature,  beyond  the  common  race  of 
men,  audit  was  nothing  uncommon  for  them  to  live  hun 
dreds  of  years.  Such  was  their  energy  that  they  allowed 
no  lazy  person  to  live  among  them,  and  like  their  master 
they  were  skilled  in  every  art  of  life  and  virtuous  beyond 
the  power  of  mortals.  In  complexion  they  are  described 
as  light  in  hue,  as  was  their  leader,  and  as  are  usually  the 
personifications  of  light,  and  not  the  less  so  among  the 
dark  races  of  men.2 

When  Quetzalcoatl  left  Tollan  most  of  the  Toltecs  had 
already  perished  by  the  stratagems  of  Tezcatlipoca,  and 
those  that  survived  were  said  to  have  disappeared  on  his 
departure.  The  city  was  left  desolate,  and  what  became 
of  its  remaining  inhabitants  no  one  knew.  But  this  very 
uncertainty  offered  a  favorable  opportunity  for  various 
nations,  some  speaking  Nahuatl  and  some  other  tongues,  to 
claim  descent  from  this  mysterious,  ancient  and  wondrous 
race. 

The  question  seems,  indeed,  a  difficult  one.  When  the 
Light-God  disappears  from  the  sky,  shorn  of  his  beams  and 
bereft  of  his  glory,  where  are  the  bright  rays,  the  darting 
gleams  of  light  which  erewhile  bathed  the  earth  in  re 
fulgence  ?  Gone,  gone,  we  know  not  whither. 

1  Ibid. 

2  For  the  character  of  the  Toltecs  as  here  portrayed,  see  Ixtlilxo- 
chitl.  Relaciones  Historicas,  and  Veitia,  Historia,  passion. 


TLA  PALL  AN.  89 

The  original  home  of  the  Toltecs  was  said  to  have  been 
in  Tlapallan — the  very  same  Red  Land  to  which  Quetzal 
coatl  was  fabled  to  have  returned  ;  only  the  former  was 
distinguished  as  Old  Tlapallan — Hue  Tlapallan — as  being 
that  from  which  he  and  they  had  emerged.  Other  myths 
called  it  the  Place  of  Sand,  Xalac,  an  evident  reference  to 
the  sandy  sea  strand,  the  same  spot  where  it  was  said  that 
Quetzalcoatl  was  last  seen,  beyond  which  the  sun  rises  and 
below  which  he  sinks.  Thither  he  returned  when  driven 
from  Tollan,  and  reigned  over  his  vassals  many  years  in 
peace.1 

We  cannot  mistake  this  Tlapallan,  new  or  old.  Whether 
it  is  bathed  in  the  purple  and  gold  of  the  rising  sun  or  in 
the  crimson  and  carnation  of  his  setting,  it  always  was,  as 
Sahagun  tells  us,  with  all  needed  distinctness,  "  the  city  of 
the  Sun,"  the  home  of  light  and  color,  whence  their  leader, 
Quetzalcoatl  had  come,  and  whither  he  was  summoned  to 
return.2 

The  origin  of  the  earthly  Quetzalcoatl  is  variously  given  ; 
one  cycle  of  legends  narrates  his  birth  in  Tollan  in  some 
extraordinary  manner;  a  second  cycle  claims  that  he  was 
not  born  in  any  country  known  to  the  Aztecs,  but  came  to 
them  as  a  stranger. 

1  "  Se  niatio  (Quetzalcoatl)  la  tierra  adentro  hasta  Tlapallan  6  segun 
otros  Huey  Xalac,  antigua  patria  de  sus  antepasados,  en  donde  vivio 
muchos  ailos."     Ixtlilxochitl,  Relaciones  Historicas,  p.  394,  in  Kings- 
borough,  vol.  ix.     Xalac,  is  from  xalli,  sand,  with  the  locative  ter 
mination.     In  Nahuatl  xalli  aquia,  to  enter  the  sand,  means  to  die. 

2  "  Dicen  que  camino  acia  el  Oriente,  y  quo  se  fue  a  la  ciudad  del 
Sol,  llamada  Tlapallan,  y  fue  llamado  del  sol."     Libro.  vm,  Prologo. 


90  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

Of  the  former  cycle  probably  one  of  the  oldest  versions 
is  that  he  was  a  son  or  descendant  of  Tezcatlipoca  himself, 
under  his  name  Camaxtli.  This  was  the  account  given  to 
the  chancellor  Ramirez,1  and  it  is  said  by  Torquemada  to 
have  been  the  canonical  doctrine  taught  in  the  holy  city  of 
Cholollan,  the  centre  of  the  worship  of  Quetzalcoatl.2  It  is 
a  transparent  metaphor,  and  could  be  paralleled  by  a 
hundred  similar  expressions  in  the  myths  of  other  nations. 
The  Night  brings  forth  the  Day,  the  darkness  leads  on  to 
the  light,  and  though  thus  standing  in  the  relation  of  father 
and  son,  the  struggle  between  them  is  forever  continued. 

Another  myth  represents  him  as  the  immediate  son  of 
the  All-Father  Tonaca  tecutli,  under  his  title  Citlallatonac, 
the  Morning,  by  an  earth-born  maiden  in  Tollan.  In  that 
city  dwelt  three  sisters,  one  of  wljom,  an  unspotted  virgin, 
was  named  Chimalman.  One  day,  as  they  were  together, 
the  god  appeared  to  them.  Chimalman's  two  sisters  were 
struck  to  death  by  fright  at  his  awful  presence,  but  upon 
her  he  breathed  the  breath  of  life,  and  straightway  she 
conceived.  The  son  she  bore  cost  her  life,  but  it  was  the 
divine  Quetzalcoatl,  surnamed  Topiltcin,  Our  Son,  and, 
from  the  year  of  his  birth,  Ce  Acatl,  One  Reed.  As  soon 
as  he  was  born  he  was  possessed  of  speech  and  reason  and 

1  Ramirez  de  Fuen-leal,  Hist,  de  los  Mexicanos,  cap.  vm. 

2  Monarquia  Indiana,  Lib.  vi,  cap.  xxiv.     Camaxtli  is  also  found 
in  the  form  Yoamaxtli ;  this  shows  that  it  is  a  compound  of  maxtli, 
covering,    clothing,    and   ca,  the    substantive   verb,  .or   in   the   latter 
instance,  yoalli,  night;  hence  it  is,  "the  Mantle,"  or,  "the  garb  of 
night"   ("la  faja  nocturna,"  Anales  del  Museo   National,  Tom.  n, 
p.  363). 


THE   VIRGIN   MOTHER.  91 

wisdom.  As  for  his  mother,  having  perished  on  earth,  she 
was  transferred  to  the  heavens,  where  she  was  given  the  hon 
ored  name  Chalchihnitzli,  the  Precious  Stone  of  Sacrifice.1 

This,  also,  is  evidently  an  ancient  and  simple  figure  of 
speech  to  express  that  the  breath  of  Morning  announces  the 
dawn  which  brings  forth  the  sun  and  disappears  in  the 
act. 

The  virgin  mother  Chimalrnan,  in  another  legend,  is  said 
to  have  been  brought  with  child  by  swallowing  a  jade  or 
precious  green  stone  (cJiatchihuitl) ; 2  while  another  averred 
that  she  was  not  a  virgin,  but  the  wife  of  Camaxtli  (Tez- 
catlipoca) ; 3  or  again,  that  she  was  the  second  wife  of  that 
venerable  old  man  who  was  the  father  of  the  seven  sons 
from  whom  all  tribes  speaking  the  Nahuatl  language,  and 
several  who  did  not  speak  it  (Otomies,  Tarascos),  were 
descended.4  This  latter  will  repay  analysis. 

All  through  Mexico  and  Central  America  this  legend  of 
the  Seven  Sons,  Seven  Tribes,  the  Seven  Caves  whence 
they  issued,  or  the  Seven  Cities  where  they  dwelt,  con 
stantly  crops  out,  To  that  land  the  Aztecs  referred  as 

1  Codex  Vaticanus,  Tab.  x  ;  Codex  Tdleriano-Remensis,  Pt.  n,  Lam. 
n.     The  name  is  from  chalchihuitl,  jade,  and  vitztli,  the  thorn  used  to 
pierce  the  tongue,    ears  and  penis,  in  sacrifice.     Chimalman t    more 
correctly,  Chimalmatl,  is  from  chimatti,  shield,  and  probably,  matlalin, 
green. 

2  Mendieta,  Historia  Eclesiastica  Indiana,  Lib.  n,  cap.  vi. 

3  Ibid. 

4  Motoliuia,  Historia  de  los  Indios  de  Nueva   Espana,  Epistola 
Proemial,    p.    10.     The   first   wife   was  Ilancueitl,  from   ilantli,   old 
woman,  and  cueitl,  skirt.     Gomara,  Conquista  de  Mejico,  p.  432. 


92  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

their  former  dwelling  place.  It  was  located  at  some  in 
definite  distance  to  the  north  or  northwest — in  the  same 
direction  as  Tollan.  The  name  of  that  land  was  signifi 
cant.  It  was  called  the  White  or  Bright  Land,  Aztlan.1 
In  its  midst  was  situated  the  mountain  or  hill  Colhuacan 
the  Divine,  Teoc&lhuaQan?  In  the  base  of  this  hill  were 
the  Seven  Caverns,  Ckicomoztoc,  whence  the  seven  tribes 
with  their  respective  gods  had  issued,  those  gods  includ 
ing  Quetzalcoatl,  Huitzilopochtli  and  the  Tezcatlipocas. 
There  continued  to  live  their  mother,  awaiting  their  return. 
The  lord  of  this  land  and  the  father  of  the  seven  sons  is 
variously  and  indistinctly  named.  One  legend  calls  him 
the  White  Serpent  of  the  Clouds,  or  the  White  Cloud  Twin, 
Iztac  Mixcoatl?  Whoever  he  was  we  can  hardly  mistake 
the  mountain  in  which  or  upon  which  he  dwelt.  Colhua 
can  means  the  bent  or  curved  mountain.  It  is  none  other 
than  the  Hill  of  Heaven,  curving  down  on  all  sides  to  the 
horizon ;  upon  it  in  all  times  have  dwelt  the  gods,  and  from 

1  The  derivation  of  Aztlan  from  aztatl,  a  heron,  has  been  rejected  by 
Buschmann  and  the  best  Aztec  scholars.     It  is  from  the  same  root  as 
iztac,  white,  with  the  local  ending  tlan,  and  means  the  White  or  Bright 
Land.     See   the    subject  discussed  in  Buschmann,  Ueber   die  Atzek- 
ischen  Ortsnamen.  p.  612,  and"  recently  by  Senor  Orozco  y  Berra,  in 
Anales  del  Museo  Nacional,  Tom.  n,  p.  56. 

2  Colhuacan,  is  a  locative  form.     It  is  usually  derived  from  coloa,  to 
curve,  to  round.     Father  Duran  says  it  is  another  name  for  Aztlan  : 
"  Estas   cuevas   son   en    Teoculacan,  que  por  otro  nombre  se   llama 
Aztlan."     Historia  de  los  Ifidios  de  Nueva  Esparto,,  Lib.  i,  cap.  i. 

Teo  is  from  teotl,  god,  deity.  The  description  in  the  text  of  the 
relations  of  land  and  water  in  this  mythical  land,  is  also  from  Duran' s 
work. 

3  Mendieta,  Historia  Eclesiastica  Indiana,  Lib.  n,  cap.  xxxni. 


COLHUACAX.  93 

it  they  have  come  to  aid  the  men  they  favor.  Absolutely 
the  same  name  was  applied  by  the  Choctavvs  to  the  myth 
ical  hill  from  which  they  say  their  ancestors  first  emerged 
into  the  light  of  day.  They  call  it  Nane  Waiyah,  the 
Bent  or  Curved  Hill.1  Such  identity  of  metaphorical  ex 
pression  leaves  little  room  for  discussion. 

If  it  did,  the  other  myths  which  surround  the  mystic 
mountain  would  seem  to  clear  up  doubt.  Colhuacaii,  we 
arc  informed,  continued  to  be  the  residence  of  the  great 
\  Mother  of  the  Gods.  On  it  she  dwelt,  awaiting  their  re 
turn  from  earth.  No  one  can  entirely  climb  the  mountain, 
for  from  its  middle  distance  to  the  summit  it  is  of  fine  and 
slippery  sand  ;  but  it  has  this  magical  virtue,  that  who 
ever  ascends  it,  however  old  he  is,  grows  young  again,  in 
proportion  as  he  mounts,  and  is  thus  restored  to  pristine 
vigor.  The  happy  dwellers  around  it  have,  however,  no 
need  of  its  youth  restoring  power  ;  for  in  that  land  no  one 
grows  old,  nor  knows  the  outrage  of  years.2 

When  Quetzalcoatl,  therefore,  was  alleged  to  be  the  son 
of  the  Lord  of  the  Seven  Caves,  it  was  nothing  more  than 
a  variation  of  the  legend  that  gave  him  out  as  the  son  of 
the  Lord  of  the  High  Heavens.  They  both  mean  the  same 
tiling.  Chimalman,  who  appears  in  both  myths  as  his 
mother,  binds  the  two  together,  and  stamps  them  as 

1  See  my  work,  The  Myths  of  the  New  World,  p.  242. 

2  "En  esta  tierra  nunca  envejecen   los  hombres.  Este 


cerro   tiene   esta  virtud,  que  el  que  ya  viejo  se  quiere  remozar, 
hasta   donde   le  parece,  y  vnrlv»>  de  la  edad  que  quiere.''     Duran,  in 
Kingsborough,  Vol.  vm,  p.  201. 


94  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

identical,  while  Mixcoatl  is  only  another  name  for 
Tezcatlipoca. 

Such  an  interpretation,  if  correct,  would  lead  to  the  dis 
missal  from  history  of  the  whole  story  of  the  Seven  Cities 
or  Caves,  and  the  pretended  migration  from  them.  In 
fact,  the  repeated  endeavors  of  the  chroniclers  to  assign  a 
location  to  these  fabulous  residences,  have  led  to  no  result 
other  than  most  admired  disorder  and  confusion.  It  is  as 
vain  to  seek  their  whereabouts,  as  it  is  that  of  the  garden 
of  Eden  or  the  Isle  of  Avalon.  They  have  not,  and  never 
had  a  place  on  this  sublunary  sphere,  but  belong  in  that 
ethereal  world  which  the  fancy  creates  and  the  imagina 
tion  paints. 

A  more  prosaic  account  than  any  of  the  above,  is  given 
by  the  historian,  Alva  Ixtilxochitl,  so  prosaic  that  it  is 
possible  that  it  has  some  grains  of  actual  fact  in  it.1  He 
tells  us  that  a  King  of  Tollan,  Tecpancaltzin,  fell  in  love 
with  the  daughter  of  one  of  his  subjects,  a  maiden  by  name 
Xochitl,  the  Eose.  Her  father  was  the  first  to  collect 
honey  from  the  maguey  plant,  and  on  pretence  of  buying 
this  delicacy  the  king  often  sent  for  Xochitl.  He  accom 
plished  her  seduction,  and  hid  her  in  a  rose  garden  on  a 
mountain,  where  she  gave  birth  to  an  infant  son;  to  the  great 
anger  of  the  father.  Casting  the  horoscope  of  the  infant, 
the  court  astrologer  found  all  the  signs  that  he  should  be 
the  last  King  of  Tollan,  and  should  witness  the  destruction 

1  Ixtlilxoehitl,  Relaciones  Historicas,  p.  330,  in  Kingsborough, 
Vol.  ix. 


THE   ROSE   GARDEN   OF   THE   GODS.  95 

of  the  Toltec  monarchy.  He  was  named  Meconetzin,  the 
Son  of  the  Maguey,  and  in  due  time  became  king,  and  the 
prediction  was  accomplished.1 

In  several  points,  however,  this  seemingly  historic  nar 
rative  has  a  suspicious  resemblance  to  a  genuine  myth  pre 
served  to  us  in  a  certain  Aztec  manuscript  known  as  the 
Codex  Teller  iano-Remensis.  This  document  tells  how 
Quetzalcoatl,  Tezcatlipoca  and  their  brethren  were  at  first 
gods,  and  dwelt  as  stars  in  the  heavens.  They  passed  their 
time  in  Paradise,  in  a  Rose  Garden,  Xochit/ycacan  ("  where 
the  roses  are  lifted  up  ") ;  but  on  a  time  they  began  pluck 
ing  the  roses  from  the  great  Rose  tree  in  the  centre  of  the 
garden,  and  Tonaca-tecutli,  in  his  anger  at  their  action, 
hurled  them  to  the  earth,  where  they  lived  as  mortals. 

The  significance  of  this  myth,  as  applied  to  the  daily  de 
scent  of  sun  and  stars  from  the  zenith  to  the  horizon,  is  too 
obvious  to  need  special  comment ;  and  the  coincidences  of 
the  rose  garden  on  the  mountain  (in  the  one  instance  the 
Hill  of  Heaven,  in  the  other  a  supposed  terrestrial  eleva 
tion)  from  which  Quetzalcoatl  issues,  and  the  anger  of  the 
parent,  seem  to  indicate  that  the  supposed  historical  relation 
of  Ixtlilxochitl  is  but  a  myth  dressed  in  historic  garb. 

The  second  cycle  of  legends  disclaimed  any  miraculous 
parentage  for  the  hero  of  Tollan.  Las  Casas  narrates  his 

1  In  the  work  of  Ramirez  de  Fnen-leal  (cap.  vm),  Tecatlipoca  is 
said  to  have  been  the  discoverer  of  pulque,  the  intoxicating  wine 
of  the  Maguey.  In  Meztitlan  he  was  associated  with  the  gods  of  this 
beverage  and  of  drunkenness.  Hence  it  is  probable  that  the  name 
Meconetzin  applied  to  Quetzalcoatl  in  this  myth  meant  to  convey  that 
he  was  the  son  of  Tezcatlipoca. 


96  AMERICAN   HERO  MYTHS. 

arrival  from  the  East,  from  some  part  of  Yucatan,  he 
thinks,  with  a  few  followers,1  a  tradition  which  is  also 
repeated  with  definitiveness  by  the  native  historian,  Alva 
Ixtlilxochitl,  but  leaving  the  locality  uncertain.2  The 
historian,  Veytia,  on  the  other  hand,  describes  him  as 
arriving  from  the  North,  a  full  grown  man,  tall  of  stature, 
white  of  skin,  and  full-bearded,  barefooted  and  bareheaded, 
clothed  in  a  long  white  robe  strewn  with  red  crosses,  and 
carrying  a  staff  in  his  hand.3 

Whatever  the  origin  of  Quetzalcoatl,  whether  the  child 
of  a  miraculous  conception,  or  whether  as  an  adult  stranger 
he  came  from  some. far-off  land,  all  accounts  agree  as  to  the 
greatness  and  purity  of  his  character,  and  the  magnificence 
of  Tollan  under  his  reign.  His  temple  was  divided  into  four 
apartments,  one  toward  the  East,  yellow  with  gold ;  one 
toward  the  West,  blue  with  turquoise  and  jade  ;  one  toward 
the  South,  white  with  pearls  and  shells,  and  one  toward 
the  North,  red  with  bloodstones;  thus  symbolizing  the 
four  cardinal  points  and  four  quarters  of  the  world  over 
which  the  light  holds  sway.4 

1  Torquemada,  Monarquia  Indiana,  Lib.  vr.  cap.  xxiv.  This  was 
apparently  the  canonical  doctrine  in  Cholula.  Mendieta  says :  "El 
dios  6  idolo  de  Cholula,  llamado  Quetzalcoatl,  fue  el  mas  celebrado  y 
tenido  por  mejor  y  mas  digno  sobre  los  otro  dioses,  segun  la  reputa- 
cion  de  todos.  Este,  segun  sus  historias  (aunque  algunos  digan  que 
de  Tula)  vino  de  las  partes  de  Yucatan  a  la  ciudad  de  Cholula."  His- 
toria  Eclesiastica  Indiana,  Lib.  n,  cap.  x. 

'2Historia  Chichimeca,  cap.  i. 

*Historia,  cap.  xv. 

4  Sahagun,  Lib.  ix,  cap.  XXTX. 


THE   BATH    OF    QUETZALCOATL.  97 

Through  the  midst  of  Tollan  flowed  a  great  river,  and 
upon  or  over  this  river  was  the  house  of  Quetzalcoatl. 
Every  night  at  midnight  he  descended  into  this  river  to 
bathe,  and  the  place  of  his  bath  was  called,  In  the  Painted 
Vase,  or,  In  the  Precious  Waters.  For  the  Orb  of  Light 
dips  nightly  into  the  waters  of  the  World  Stream,  and  the 
painted  clouds  of  the  sun-setting  surround  the  spot  of  his 
ablutions. 

I  have  said  that  the  history  of  Quetzalcoatl  in  Tollan  is 
but  a  continuation  of  the  conflict  of  the  two  primal  brother 
gods.  It  is  still  the  implacable  Tezcatlipoca  who  pursues 
and  finally  conquers  him.  But  there  is  this  significant 
difference,  that  whereas  in  the  elemental  warfare  portrayed 
in  the  older  myth  mutual  violence  and  alternate  destruction 
prevail,  in  all  these  later  myths  Quetzalcoatl  makes  no 
effort  at  defence,  scarcely  remonstrates,  but  accepts  his 
defeat  as  a  decree  of  Fate  which  it  is  vain  to  resist.  He 
sees  his  people  fall  about  him,  and  the  beautiful  city 
sink  into  destruction,  but  he  knows  it  is  the  hand  of 
Destiny,  and  prepares  himself  to  meet  the  inevitable  with 
what  stoicism  and  dignity  he  may. 

1  The  name  of  the  bath  of  Quetzalcoatl  is  variously  given  as  Xica- 
poyan,  from  xicalli,  vases  made  from  gourds,  and  poyan,  to  paint 
(S'lhagun,  Lib.  in,  cap.  in) ;  Chalchiuhapan,  from  atl,  water  pew,  in, 
and  chalchiuitl,  precious,  brilliant,  the  jade  stone  (id.,  Lib.  x,  cap. 
xxix)  ;  and  Atecpanamochco,  from  atl,  water,  tecpan,  royal,  amochtli. 
any  shining  white  metal,  as  tin,  and  the  locative  co,  hence,  In  the 
Shining  Royal  Water  (Anales  de  Cuauhtitlan,  p.  21).  These  names 
are  interesting  as  illustrating  the  halo  of  symbolism  which  surrounded 
the  history  of  the  Light-God. 


98  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

The  one  is  the  quenching  of  the  light  by  the  darkness  of 
the  tempest  and  the  night,  represented  as  a  struggle ;  in  the 
other  it  is  the  gradual  and  calm  but  certain  and  unavoidable 
extinction  of  the  sun  as  it  noiselessly  sinks  to  the  western 
horizon. 

The  story  of  the  subtlety  of  Tezcatlipoca  is  variously 
told.  In  what  may  well  be  its  oldest  and  simplest  version 
it  is  said  that  in  his  form  as  Camaxtli  he  caught  a  deer 
with  two  heads,  which,  so  long  as  he  kept  it,  secured  him 
luck  in  war  ;  but  falling  in  with  one  of  five  goddesses  he 
had  created,  he  begat  a  son,  and  through  this  act  he  lost 
his  good  fortune.  The  son  was  Quetzal coatl,  surnamed  Ce 
Acatl,  and  he  became  Lord  of  Tollan,  and  a  famous 
warrior.  For  many  years  he  ruled  the  city,  and  at  last 
began  to  build  a  very  great  temple.  While  engaged  in  its 
construction  Tezcatlipoca  came  to  him  one  day  and  told  him 
that  toward  Honduras,  in  a  place  called  Tlapallan/  a  house 
was  ready  for  him,  and  he  must  quit  Tollan  and  go  there  to 
live  and  die.  Quetzalcoatl  replied  that  the  heavens  and  stars 
had  already  warned  him  that  after  four  years  he  must  go 
hence,  and  that  he  would  obey.  The  time  past,  he  took 
with  him  all  the  inhabitants  of  Tula,  and  some  he  left  in 
Cholula,  from  whom  its  inhabitants  are  descended,  and 
some  he  placed  in  the  province  of  Cuzcatan,  and  others  in 
Cempoal,  and  at  last  he  reached  Tlapallan,  and  on  the 
very  day  he  arrived  there,  he  fell  sick  and  died.  As  for 
Tula,  it  remained  without  an  inhabitant  for  nine  years.1 

1  Ramirez  de  Fuen-leal,  Historia  de  los  Mexicanos  por  sus  Pinturas, 
cap.  vni. 


THE    FATE   OF    QUETZALCOATL.  99 

A  more  minute  account  is  given  by  the  author  of  the 
Annals  of  Cuauhtitlan,  a  work  written  at  an  early  date,  in 
the  Aztec  tongue.  He  assures  his  readers  that  his  narrative 
of  these  particular  events  is  minutely  and  accurately 
recorded  from  the  oldest  and  most  authentic  traditions. 
It  is  this  : — 

When  those  opposed  to  Quetzalcoatl  did  not  succeed  in 
their  designs,  they  summoned  to  their  aid  a  demon  or 
sorcerer,  by  name  Tezcatlipoca,  and  his  assistants.  He 
said  :  "  We  will  give  him  a  drink  to  dull  his  reason,  and 
will  show  him  his  own  face  in  a  mirror,  and  surely  he  will 
be  lost."  Then  Tezcatlipoca  brewed  an  intoxicating 
beverage,  the  pulquej  from  the  maguey,  and  taking  a  mirror 
he  wrapped  it  in  a  rabbit  skin,  and  went  to  the  house  of 
Quetzalcoatl. 

"  Go  tell  your  master/7  he  said  to  the  servants,  "  that  I 
have  come  to  show  him  his  own  flesh." 

"  What  is  this?"  said  Quetzalcoatl,  when  the  message  was 
delivered.  "What  does  he  call  my  own  flesh?  Go  and 
ask  him." 

But  Tezcatlipoca  refused.  "  I  have  not  come  to  see  you, 
but  your  master,"  he  said  to  the  servants.  Then  he  was 
admitted,  and  Quetzalcoatl  said  : — 

"  Welcome,  youth,  you  have  troubled  yourself  much. 
Whence  come  you  ?  What  is  this,  my  flesh,  that  you 
would  show  me  ?" 

"  My  Lord  and  Priest,"  replied  the  youth,  "I  come  from 
the  mountain-side  of  Nonoalco.  Look,  now,  at  your  flesh  ; 


100  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

know  yourself ;  see  yourself  as  you  are  seen  of  others ;"  and 
with  that  he  handed  him  the  mirror. 

As  soon  as  Quetzalcoatl  saw  his  face  in  the  mirror  he 
exclaimed : — 

"  How  is  it  possible  my  subjects  can  look  on  me  without 
affright  ?  Well  might  they  flee  from  me.  How  can  a  man 
remain  among"  them  filled  as  I  am  with  foul  sores,  his  face 
wrinkled  and  his  aspect  loathsome?  I  shall  be  seen  no 
more;  I  shall  no  longer  frighten  my  people." 

Then  Tezcatlipoca  went  away  to  take  counsel,  and  return 
ing,  said: — 

"  My  lord  and  master,  use  the  skill  of  your  servant.  I 
have  come  to  console  yon.  Go  forth  to  your  people.  I 
will  conceal  your  defects  by  art." 

"Do. what  you  please,"  replied  Quetzalcoatl.  "  I  will 
see  what  my  fate  is  to  be." 

Tezcatlipoca  painted  his  cheeks  green  and  dyed  his  lips 
red.  The  forehead  he  colored  yellow,  and  taking  feathers 
of  the  quechol  bird,  he  arranged  them  as  a  beard.  Quetzal 
coatl  surveyed  himself  in  the  mirror,  and  rejoiced  at  his 
appearance,  and  forthwith  sallied  forth  to  see  his  people. 

Tezcatlipoca  withdrew  to  concoct  another  scheme  of  dis 
grace.  With  his  attendants  he  took  of  the  strong  pulque 
which  he  had  brewed,  and  came  again  to  the  palace  of  the 
Lord  of  Tol Ian.  They  were  refused  admittance  and  asked 
their  country.  They  replied  that  they  were  from  the 
Mountain  of  the  Holy  Priest,  from  the  Hill  of  Tollan. 
When  Quetzalcoatl  heard  this,  he  ordered  them  to  be 


THE   TEMPTATION.  101 

admitted,  and  asked  their  business.  They  offered  him  the 
pulque,  but  he  refused,  saying  that  he  was  sick,  and,  more- 
over,  that  it  would  weaken  his  judgment  and  might  cause 
his  death.  They  urged  him  to  dip  but  the  tip  of  his  finger 
in  it  to  taste  it ;  he  complied,  but  even  so  little  of  the  magic 
liquor  overthrew  his  self  control,  and  taking  the  bowl  he 
quaffed  a  full  draught  and  was  drunk.  Then  these  per 
verse  men  ridiculed  him,  and  cried  out : — 

"  You  feel  finely  now,  my  son ;  sing  us  a  song ;  sing, 
worthy  priest." 

Thereupon  Quetzalcoatl  began  to  sing,  as  follows:— 

"My  pretty  house,  my  coral  house,  K 

]  call  it  Zacuan  by  name  ; 
And  must  I  leave  it,  do  you  say  ? 

Oh  my,  oh  me,  and  ah  for  shame."1 

As  the  fumes  of  the  liquor  still  further  disordered  his 
reason,  he  called  his  attendants  and  bade  them  hasten  to 
his  sister  ^Quetzalpatlatl,  who  dwelt  on  the  Mountain 
Nonoalco,  and  bring  her,  that  she  too  might  taste  the  divine 
liquor.  The  attendants  hurried  off  and  said  to  his  sister  :— 

"  Noble  lady,  we  have  come  for  you.  The  high  priest 
Quetzalcoatl  awaits  you.  It  is  his  wish  that  you  come  and 
live  with  him.'7 

1  The  original  is — 

Quetzal,  quetzal,  no  calli, 

Zacnan,  no  callin  tupach 
No  callin  nic  yacahuaz 

An  ya,  an  ya,  an  quilmach. 
Literally — 

Beautiful,  beautiful  (is)  my  house 
Zacuan,  my  house  of  coral ; 
My  house,  I  must  leave  it. 
Alas,  alas,  they  gay. 

Zacuan,  instead  of  being  a  proper  name,  may  mean  a  rich  yellow 
feather  from  the  bird  called  zacuantototl. 


102  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

She  instantly  obeyed  and  went  with  them.  On  her 
arrival  Quetzalcoatl  seated  her  beside  him  and  gave  her  to 
drink  of  the  magical  pulque.  Immediately  she  felt  its 
influence,  and  Quetzalcoatl  began  to  sing,  in  drunken 

fashion — 

"  Sister  mine,  beloved  mine, 

Quetzal — petlatl — tzin, 
Come  with  me,  drink  with  me, 
'Tis  no  sin,  sin,  sin." 

Soon  they  were  so  drunken  that  all  reason  was  forgotten  ; 
they  said  no  prayers,  they  went  not  to  the  bath,  and  they 
sank  asleep  on  the  floor.1 

Sad,  indeed,  was  Quetzalcoatl  the  next  morning. 

"  I  have  sinned,"  he  said ;  "  the  stain  on  my  name  can 
never  be  erased.  I  am  not  fit  to  rule  this  people.  Let  them 
build  for  me  a  habitation  deep  under  ground ;  let  them  bury 
my  bright  treasures  in  the  earth  ;  let  them  throw  the 
gleaming  gold  and  shining  stones  into  the  holy  fountain 
where  I  take. my  daily  bath." 

All  this  was  done,  and  Quetzalcoatl  spent  four  days  in 

1  It  is  not  clear,  at  least  in  the  translations,  whether  the  myth 
intimates  an  incestuous  relation  between  Quetzalcoatl  and  his  sis 
ter.  In  the  song  he  calls  her  "  Nohueltiuh,"  which  means,  strictly, 
"  My  elder  sister  ;"  but  Mendoza  translates  it  "  Querida  esposa  mia." 
Quetzal  petlatl  means  u  the  Beautiful  Carpet,"  petlatl  being  the  rug  or 
mat  used  on  floors,  etc.  This  would  be  a  most  appropriate  figure  of 
speech  to  describe  a  rich  tropical  landscape,  "  carpeted  with  flowers," 
as  we  say  ;  and  as  the  earth  is,  in  primitive  cosmogony,  older  than  the 
sun,  I  suspect  that  this  story  of  Quetzalcoatl  and  his  sister  refers  to 
the  sun  sinking  from  heaven,  seemingly,  into  the  earth.  "  Los  Na- 
hoas,"  remarks  Chavero,  "figuraban  la  tierra  en  forma  de  un  cua- 
dril&tero  dividido  en  pequefios  quatros,  lo  que  semijaba  una  estera, 
petlatl''  (Anales  del  Museo  National,  Tom.  n,  p.  248). 


QUETZALCOATL    VANQUISHED.  103 

his  underground  tomb.  When  he  came  forth  lie  wept  and 
told  his  followers  that  the  time  had  come  for  him  to  depart 
for  Tlapallan,  the  Red  Land,  Tlillan,  the  Dark  Land,  and 
TIatlallan,  the  Fire  Land,  all  names  of  one  locality. 

He  journeyed  eastward  until  he  came  to  a  place  where 
the  sky,  and  land,  and  water  meet  together.1  There  his 
attendants  built  a  funeral  pile,  and  he  threw  himself  into 
the  flames.  As  his  body  burned  his  heart  rose  to  heaven, 
and  after  four  days  became  the  planet  Venus.2 

That  there  is  a  profound  moral  significance  in  this  fiction 
all  will  see ;  but  I  am  of  opinion  that  it  is  accidental  and  ad 
ventitious.  The  means  that  Tezcatlipoca  employs  to  remove 
Quetzalcoatl  refer  to  the  two  events  that  mark  the  decline 
of  day.  The  sun  is  reflected  by  a  long  lane  of  beams  in 
the  surface  waters  of  lake  or  sea ;  it  loses  the  strength 
of  its  rays  and  fails  in  vigor;  while  the  evening  mists,  the 
dampness  of  approaching  dewfall,  and  the  gathering  clouds 
obscure  its  power  and  foretell  the  extinction  which  will 
soon  engulf  the  bright  luminary.  As  Quetzalcoatl  cast  his 
shining  gold  and  precious  stones  into  the  water  where  he 
took  his  nightly  bath,  or  buried  them  in  underground  hid 
ing  places,  so  the  sun  conceals  his  glories  under  the  waters, 
or  in  the  distant  hills,  into  which  he  seems  to  sink.  As  he 

1  Designated  in  the  Aztec  original  by  the  name  Teoapan  Ilhuica- 
atenco,  from  teotl,  divine,  atl,  water,  pan,  in  or  near,  ilhuicac,  heaven, 
atenco,  the  waterside:   "Near  the  divine  water,  where  the  sky  meets 
the  strand." 

2  The  whole  of  this  account  is  from  the  Auales  de  Cuauhtitlan,  pp. 
16-22. 


104  AMERICAN    HERO- MYTHS. 

disappears  at  certain  seasons,  the  Star  of  Evening  shines 
brightly  forth  amid  the  lingering  and  fading  rays,  rising, 
as  it  were,  from  the  dying  fires  of  the  sunset. 

To  this  it  may  be  objected  that  the  legend  makes  Quet- 
zalcoatl  journey  toward  the  East,  and  not  toward  the  sunset. 
The  explanation  of  this  apparent  contradiction  is  easy. 
The  Aztec  sages  had  at  some  time  propounded  to  them 
selves  the  question  of  how  the  sun,  which  seems  to  set  in  the 
West,  can  rise  the  next  morning  in  the  East  ?  Mungo  Parke 
tells  us  that  when  he  asked  the  desert  Arabs  this  conundrum, 
they  replied  that  the  inquiry  was  frivolous  and  childish,  as 
being  wholly  beyond  the  capacities  of  the  human  mind. 
The  Aztecs  did  not  think  so,  and  had  framed  a  definite 
theory  which  overcame  the  difficulty.  It  was  that,  in  fact, 
the  sun  only  advances  to  the  zenith,  and  then  returns  to 
the  East,  from  whence  it  started.  What  we  seem  to  see  as 
the  sun  between  the  zenith  and  the  western  horizon  is,  in 
reality,  not  the  orb  itself,  but  only  its  brightness,  one  of  its 
accidents,  not  its  substance,  to  use  the  terms  of  metaphysics. 
Hence  to  the  Aztec  astronomer  and  sage,  the  house  of  the 
sun  is  always  toward  the  East.1 

We  need  not  have  recourse  even  to  this  explanation.  The 
sun,  indeed,  disappears  in  the  West;  but  his  journey  must 
necessarily  be  to  the  East,  for  it  is  from  that  point  that  he 
always  cumes  forth  each  morning.  The  Light-God  must 
necessarily  daily  return  to  the  place  whence  he  started. 

The  symbols  of  the  mirror  and  the  mystic  drink  are  per- 
1  Ramirez  de  Fuen-leal,  Hisioria,  cap.  xx,  p.  102. 


THE   MAGIC   MIRROR.  105 

fectly  familiar  in  Aryan  sun-myths.  The  best  known  of 
the  stories  referring  to  the  former  is  the  transparent  tale  of 
Narcissus  forced  by  Nemesis  to  fall  in  love  with  his  own 
image  reflected  in  the  waters,  and  to  pine  away  through  un 
satisfied  longing;  or,  as  Pausanias  tells  the  story,  having 
lost  his  twin  sister  (the  morning  twilight),  he  wasted  his  life 
in  noting  the  likeness  of  his  own  features  to  those  of  his 
beloved  who  had  passed  away.  "The  sun,  as  he  looks 
down  upon  his  own  face  reflected  in  a  lake  or  sea,  sinks  or 
dies  at  last,  still  gazing  on  it."1 

Some  later  writers  say  that  the  drink  which  Quetzalcoatl 
quaffed  was  to  confer  immortality.  This  is  not  stated  in 
the  earliest  versions  of  the  myth.  The  beverage  is  health- 
giving  and  intoxicating,  and  excites  the  desire  to  seek 
Tlapallan,  but  not  more.  It  does  not,  as  the  Soma  of  the 
Vedas,  endow  with  unending  life. 

Nevertheless,  there  is  another  myth  which  countenances 
this  view  and  explains  it.  It  was  told  in  the  province  of 
Meztitlan,  a  mountainous  country  to  the  northwest  of  the 
province  of  Vera  Cruz.  Its  inhabitants  spoke  the  Nahuatl 
tongue,  but  were  never  subject  to  the  Montezumas.  Their 
chief  god  was  Tezcatlipoca,  and  it  was  said  of  him  that  on 
one  occasion  he  slew  Ometochtli  (Two  Rabbits),  the  god  of 
wine,  at  the  latter's  own  request,  he  believing  that  he  thus 
would  be  rendered  immortal,  and  that  all  others  who  drank 
of  the  beverage  he  presided  over  would  die.  His  death, 
they  added,  was  indeed  like  the  stupor  of  a  drunkard,  who, 

1  Sir  George  A.  Cox,  The  Science  of  Mythology  and  Folk  Lore,  p.  96. 


106  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

after  his  lethargy  has  passed,  rises  healthy  and  well.  In 
this  sense  of  renewing  life  after  death,  he  presided  over  the 
native  calendar,  the  count  of  years  beginning. with  Tochtli, 
the  Rabbit.1  Thus  we  see  that  this  is  a  myth  of  the  return 
ing  seasons,  and  of  nature  waking  to  life  again  after  the  cold 
months  ushered  in  by  the  chill  rains  of  the  late  autumn. 
The  principle  of  fertility  is  alone  perennial,  while  each 
individual  must  perish  and  die.  The  God  of  Wine  in 
Mexico,  as  in  Greece,  is  one  with  the  mysterious  force  of 
reproduction. 

No  writer  has  preserved  such  numerous  traditions  about 
the  tricks  of  Tezcatlipoca  in  Tollan,  as  Father  Sahagun. 
They  are,  no  doubt,  almost  verbally  reported  as  he  was 
told  them,  and  as  he  wrote  his  history  first  in  the  Aztec 
tongue,  they  preserve  all  the  quaintness  of  the  original 
tales.  Some  of  them  appear  to  be  idle  amplifications  of 
story  tellers,  while  others  are  transparent  myths.  I  shall 
translate  a  few  of  them  quite  literally,  beginning  with  that 
of  the  mystic  beverage. 

The  time  came  for  the  luck  of  Quetzalcoatl  and  the 
Toltecs  to  end ;  for  there  appeared  against  them  three  sor 
cerers,  named  Vitzilopochtli,  Titlacauan  and  Tlacauepan,2 
who  practiced  many  villanies  in  the  city  of  Tullan.  Titla- 

1  Gabriel  de  Chaves,  Relation  de  la  Proviruda  de  Meztitlan,  1556, 
in    the    Colecion  de  Documentos   Ineditos  del   Archivo    de   Indicts, 
Tom.  iv,  p.  536. 

2  Titlacauan  was  the  common  name  of  Tezcatlipoca.     The  three 
sorcerers  were  really  Quetzalcoatl' s  three  brothers,  representing  the 
three  other  cardinal  points. 


THE   WILES   OF   TEZCATLIPOCA.  107 

caiuin  be^an  them,  assuming  the  disguise  of  an  old  man 
of  small  stature  and  white  hairs.  With  this  figure  he 
approached  the  palace  of  Quetzaleoatl  and  said  to  the  ser 
vants  : — 

"  I  wish  to  see  the  King  and  speak  to  him." 

"  Away  with  you,  old  man ;"  said  the  servants.  "  You 
cannot  see  him.  He  is  sick.  You  would  only  annoy 
him." 

"  I  must  see  him/7  answered  the  old  man. 

The  servants  said,  "  Wait,"  and  going  in,  they  told 
Quetzalcoatl  that  an  old  man  wished  to  see  him,  adding, 
"'  Sire,  we  put  him  out  in  vain  ;  he  refuses  to  leave,  and 
says  that  he  absolutely  must  see  you."  Quetzalcoatl 
answered  : — 

"  Let  him  in.  I  have  been  waiting  his  coming  for  a  long 
time." 

They  admitted  the  old  man  and  he  entered  the  apartment 
of  Quetzalcoatl,  and  said  to  him  : — 

"  My  lord  and  son,  how  are  you  ?  I  have  with  me  a 
medicine  for  you  to  drink." 

"  You  are  welcome,  old  man,"  replied  Quetzalcoatl.  "I 
have  been  looking  for  your  arrival  for  many  days." 

"  Tell  me  how  you  are,"  asked  the  old  man.  "  How  is 
your  body  and  your  health  ?" 

"  I  am  very  ill,"  answered  Quetzalcoatl.  "  My  whole 
body  pains  me,  and  I  cannot  move  my  hands  or  feet." 

Then  the  old  man  said  : — 

"  Sire,  look  at  this  medicine  which  I  bring  you.     It  is 


108  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

good  and  healthful,  and  intoxicates  him  who  drinks  it. 
If  you  will  drink  it,  it  will  intoxicate  you,  it  will  heal 
you,  it  will  soothe  your  heart,  it  will  prepare  you  for  the 
labors  and  fatigues  of  death,  or  of  your  departure." 

"Whither,  oh  ancient  man,"  asked  Quetzalcoatl, 
"Whither  must  I  go?" 

The  old  man  answered  : — 

"  You  must  without  fail  go  to  Tullan  Tlapallan,  where 
there  is  another  old  man  awaiting  you ;  you  and  he  will 
talk  together,  and  at  your  return  you  will  be  transformed 
into  a  youth,  and  you  will  regain  the  vigor  of  your  boy 
hood." 

When  Quetzalcoatl  heard  these  words,  his  heart  was 
shaken  with  strong  emotion,  and  the  old  man  added : — 

"  My  lord,  drink  this  medicine." 

"  Oh  ancient  man,"  answered  the  king,  "I  do  not  want  to 
drink  it." 

"  Drink  it,  my  lord,"  insisted  the  old  man,  "  for  if  you 
do  not  drink  it  now,  later  you  will  long  for  it ;  at  least, 
lift  it  to  your  mouth  and  taste  a  single  drop." 

Quetzalcoatl  took  the  drop  and  tasted  it,  and  then  quaffed 
the  liquor,  exclaiming  : — 

"  What  is  this?  It  seems  something  very  healthful  and 
well-flavored.  I  am  no  longer  sick.  It  has  cured  me.  I 
am  well." 

"  Drink  again,"  said  the  old  man.  "  It  is  a  good  medi 
cine,  and  you  will  be  healthier  than  ever." 

Again  did  Quetzalcoatl  drink,  and  soon  he  was  intoxi- 


THE   TOYEYO.  109 

cated.  He  began  to  weep ;  his  heart  was  stirred,  and  his 
mind  turned  toward  the  suggestion  of  his  departure,  nor 
did  the  deceit  of  the  old  sorcerer  permit  him  to  abandon 
the  thought  of  it.  The  medicine  which  Quetzalcoatl  drank 
was  the  white  wine  of  the  country,  made  of  those  magueys 
call  teometl.1 

This  was  but  the  beginning  of  the  guiles  and  juggleries  of 
Tezcatlipoca.  Transforming  himself  into  the  likeness  of 
one  of  those  Indians  of  the  Maya  race,  called  Toveyome?\\z 
appeared,  completely  nude,  in  the  market  place  of  Tollan, 
having  green  peppers  to  sell.  Now  Huemac,  who  was 
associated  with  Quetzalcoatl  in  the  sovereignty  of  Tollan 
(although  other  myths  apply  this  name  directly  to  Quetzal 
coatl,  and  this  seems  the  correct  version),3  had  an  only  daughter 
of  surpassing  beauty,  whom  many  of  theToltecs  had  vainly 
sought  in  marriage.  This  damsel  looked  forth  on  the 
market  where  Tezcatlipoca  stood  in  his  nakedness,  and  her 
virginal  eyes  fell  upon  the  sign  of  his  manhood.  Straight- 

1  From  teotl,  deity,  divine,  and  metl,  the  maguey.     Of  the  twenty- 
nine  varieties  of  the  maguey,  now  described  in  Mexico,  none  bears 
this  name  ;  but  Hernandez  speaks  of  it,  and  says  it  was  so  called 
because  there  was  a  superstition  that  a  person  soon  to  die  could  not 
hold  a  branch  of  it ;  but  if  he  was  to  recover,  or  escape  an  impending 
danger,  he  could  hold  it  with  ease  and  feel  the  better  for  it.     See 
Nieremberg,    Historia  Naturce,  Lib.   xiv,    cap.    xxxii.     "  Teomatl, 
vita3  et  mortis  Index." 

2  Toveyome  is  the  plural  of  toveyo,  which  Molina,  in  his  dictionary, 
translates  "foreigner,  stranger."     Sahagun  says  that  it  was  applied 
particularly  to  the  Huastecs,  a  Maya  tribe  living  in  the  province  of 
Panuco.     Historia,  etc.,  Lib.  x,  cap.  xxix,  \  8. 

3  Huemac  is  a  compound  ofuey,  great,  and  maitl,  hand.    Tezozomoc, 
Duran,  and  various  other  writers  assign  this  name  to  Quetzalcoatl. 


110  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

way  an  unconquerable  longing  seized  her,  a  love  so  violent 
that  she  fell  ill  and  seemed  like  to  die.  Her  women 
told  her  father  the  reason,  and  he  sent  forth  and  had  the 
false  Toveyo  brought  before  him.  Huemac  addressed 
him  : — 

"  Whence  come  you  ?" 

"  My  lord,"  replied  the  Toveyo,  "  I  am  a  stranger,  and 
I  have  come  to  sell  green  peppers." 

"  Why,"  asked  the  king  "  do  you  not  wear  a  maxtli 
(breech-cloth),  and  cover  your  nakedness  with  a  garment?" 

"  My  lord,"  answered  the  stranger,  u  I  follow  the  cus 
tom  of  my  country." 

Then  the  king  added  : — 

"  You  have  inspired  in  my  daughter  a  longing  ;  she  is 
sick  with  desire;  you  must  cure  her." 

"  Nay,  my  lord,"  said  the  stranger,  "  this  may  not  be. 
Rather  slay  me  here  ;  I  wish  to  die ;  for  I  am  not  worthy 
to  hear  such  words,  poor  as  I  am,  and  seeking  only  to  gain 
my  bread  by  selling  green  peppers." 

But  the  king  insisted,  and  said :  — 

,    "  Have  no  fear ;  you  alone  can  restore  my  daughter ; 
you  must  do  so." 

Thereupon  the  attendants  cut  the  sham  Toveyo's  hair; 
they  led  him  to  the  bath,  and  colored  his  body  black ;  they 
placed  a  maxtli  and  a  robe  upon  him,  and  the  king  said  : — 

"  Go  in  unto  my  daughter." 

Tezcatlipoca  went  in  unto  her,  and  she  was  healed  from 
that  hour. 


THE   FATAL    FESTIVAL.  Ill 

Tims  did  the  naked  stranger  become  the  son-in-law  of 
the  great  king  of  Tula.  But  the  To! tecs  were  deeply 
angered  that  the  maiden  had  given  his  black  body  the  pre 
ference  over  their  bright  forms,  and  they  plotted  to  have 
him  slain.  He  was  placed  in  the  front  of  battle,  and  then 
they  left  him  alone  to  fight  the  enemy.  But  he  destroyed 
the  opposing  hosts  and  returned  to  Tula  with  a  victory  all 
the  more  brilliant  for  their  desertion  of  him. 

Then  he  requited  their  treachery  with  another,  and  pur 
sued  his  intended  destruction  of  their  race.  He  sent  a 
herald  to  the  top  of  the  Hill  of  Shouting,  and  through 
him  announced  a  magnificent  festival  to  celebrate  his 
victory  and  his  marriage.  The  Toltecs  swarmed  in  crowds, 
men,  women  and  children,  to  share  in  the  joyous  scene. 
Tezcatlipoca  received  them  with  simulated  friendship. 
Taking  his  drum,  he  began  to  beat  upon  it,  accompanying 
the  music  with  a  song.  As  his  listeners  heard  the  magic 
music,  they  became  intoxicated  with  the  strains,  and  yield 
ing  themselves  to  its  seductive  influence,  they  lost  all 
thought  for  the  future  or  care  for  the  present.  The  locality 
to  which  the  crafty  Tezcatlipoca  had  invited  them  was 
called,  The  Rock  upon  the  Water.1  It  was  the  summit  of 
a  lofty  rock  at  the  base  of  which  flowed  the  river  called, 
By  the  Rock  of  Liglit.2  When  the  day  had  departed  and 
midnight  approached,  the  magician,  still  singing  and 

1  Texcalapan,   from   texcalli,   rock,   and  apan,  upon  or   over  the 
water. 

2  Texcaltlauhco,  from  texcalli,  rock,  tlaulli,  light,  and  the  locative 
ending  co,  by,  in  or  at. 


112  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

dancing,  led  the  intoxicated  crowd  to  the  brink  of  the 
river,  over  which  was  a  stone  bridge.  This  he  had  secretly 
destroyed,  and  as  they  came  to  the  spot  where  it  should 
have  been  and  sought  to  cross,  the  innumerable  crowd 
pressing  one  upon  the  other,  they  all  fell  into  the  water  far 
below,  where  they  sank  out  of  sight  and  were  changed 
into  stones. 

Is  it  pushing  symbolism  too  far  to  attempt  an  interpre 
tation  of  this  fable,  recounted  with  all  the  simplicity  of  the 
antique  world,  with  greater  directness,  indeed,  than  I  have 
thought  wise  to  follow  ? 

I  am  strongly  inclined  to  regard  it  as  a  true  myth,  which, 
in  materialistic  language,  sets  forth  the  close  of  the  day 
and  the  extinction  of  the  light.  May  we  not  construe  the 
maiden  as  the  Evening  Twilight,  the  child  of  the  Day  at  the 
close  of  its  life  ?  The  blqckjoyer  with  whom  she  is  fatally 
enamored,  is  he  not  the  Darkness,  in  which  the  twilight 
fades  away  ?  The  countless  crowds  of  Toltecs  that  come 
to  the  wedding  festivities,  and  are  drowned  before  mid 
night  in  the  waters  of  the  strangely  named  river,  are  they 
not  the  infinitely  numerous  light-rays  which  are  quenched 
in  the  world-stream  when  the  sun  has  sunk,  and  the  gloam 
ing  is  lost  in  the  night  ? 

May  we  not  go  farther,  and  in  this  Rock  of  Light  which 
stands  hard  by  the  river,  recognize  the  Heavenly  Hill 
which  rises  beside  the  World  Stream  ?  The  bright  light 
of  one  day  cannot  extend  to  the  next.  The  bridge  is 
broken  by  the  intervening  night,  and  the  rays  are  lost  in 
the  dark  waters. 


THE    POWER   OF   LOVE.  113 

But  whether  this  interpretation  is  too  venturesome  or 
not,  we  cannot  deny  the  deep  human  interest  in  the  story, 
and  its  poetic  capacities.  The  overmastering  passion  of 
love  was  evidently  as  present  to  the  Indian  mind  as  to 
that  of  the  mediaeval  Italian.  In  New  as  well  as  in 
Old  Spain  it  could  break  the  barriers  of  rank  and  over 
come  the  hesitations  of  maidenly  modesty.  Love  clouding 
the  soul,  as  night  obscures  the  day,  is  a  figure  of  speech, 
used,  I  remember,  by  the  most  pathetic  of  Ireland's 
modern  bards  : — 

"  Love,  the  tyrant,  evinces, 

Alas  !  an  omnipotent  might ; 
He  treads  on  the  necks  of  princes, 
He  darkens  the  mind,  like  night.''1 

I  shall  not  detail  the  many  other  wiles  with  which  Tez- 
catlipoca  led  the  Toltecs  to  their  destruction.  A  mere 
reference  to  them  must  suffice.  He  summoned  thousands 
to  come  to  labor  in  the  rose-garden  of  Quetzalcoatl,  and 
when  they  had  gathered  together,  he  fell  upon  them  and 
slew  them  with  a  hoe.  Disguised  with  Huitzilopochtli,  he 
irritated  the  people  until  they  stoned  the  brother  gods  to 
death,  and  from  the  corrupting  bodies  spread  a  pestilential 
odor,  to  which  crowds  of  the  Toltecs  fell  victims.  He 
turned  the  thought  of  thousands  into  madness,  so  that 
they  voluntarily  offered  themselves  to  be  sacrificed.  By 
his  spells  all  articles  of  food  soured,  and  many  perished  of 
famine. 

At  length  Quetzalcoatl,  wearied  with   misfortune,  gave 

1  Clarence  Mangan,  Poems,  "The  Mariner's  Bride." 


114  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

orders  to  burn  the  beautiful  houses  of  Tollan,  to  bury  his 
treasures,  and  to  begin  the  journey  to  Tlapallan.  He  trans 
formed  the  cacao  trees  into  plants  of  no  value,  and  ordered 
the  birds  of  rich  plumage  to  leave  the  land  before  him. 

The  first  station  he  arrived  at  was  Quauhtitlan,  where 
there  was  a  lofty  and  spreading  tree.  Here  he  asked  of 
his  servants  a  mirror,  and  looking  in  it  said :  "  I  am 
already  old/'  Gathering  some  stones,  he  cast  them  at  the 
tree.  They  entered  the  wood  and  remained  there. 

As  he  journeyed,  he  was  preceded  by  boys  playing  the 
flute.  Thus  he  reached  a  certain  spot,  where  he  sat  upon  a 
stone  by  the  wayside,  and  wept  for  the  loss  of  Tollan. 
The  marks  of  his  hands  remained  upon  the  stone,  and  the 
tears  he  dropped  pierced  it  through.  To  the  day  of  the  Con 
quest  these  impressions  on  the  solid  rock  were  pointed  out. 

At  the  fountain  of  Cozcapan,  sorcerers  met  him,  minded 
to  prevent  his  departure: — 

"  Where  are  you  going?"  they  asked.  "  Why  have  you 
left  your  capital  ?  In  whose  care  is  it  ?  Who  will  per 
form  the  sacred  rites  ?" 

But  Quetzalcoatl  answered  : — 

"  You  can  in  no  manner  hinder  my  departure.  I  have 
no  choice  but  to  go." 

The  sorcerers  asked  again  :  "Whither  are  you  going?" . 

"  I  am  going,"  replied  Quetzalcoatl,  "  to  Tlapallan.  I 
have  been  sent  for.  The  Sun  calls  me." 

"  Go,  then,  with  good  luck,"  said  they.  "  But  leave 
with  us  the  art  of  smelting  silver,  of  working  stone  and 


THE   DRUNKEN   GOD.  115 

wood,  of  painting,  of  weaving  feathers  and  other  such 
arts." 

Thus  they  robbed  him,  and  taking  the  rich  jewels  he 
carried  with  him  he  cast  them  into  the  fountain,  whence  it 
received  its  name  Cozcapan,  Jewels  in  the  Water. 

Again,  as  he  journeyed,  a  sorcerer  met  him,  who  asked 
him  his  destination  : — 

"I  go,"  said  Quetzalcoatl,  "  to  Tlallapan." 

"And  luck  go  with  you,"  replied  the  sorcerer,  "but 
first  take  a  drink  of  this  wine." 

"No,"  replied  Quetzalcoatl,  "  not  so  much  as  a  sip." 

"  You  must  taste  a  little  of  it,"  said  the  sorcerer,  "  even 
if  it  is  by  force.  To  no  living  person  would  I  give  to 
drink  freely  of  it.  I  intoxicate  them  all.  Come  and 
drink  of  it." 

Quetzalcoatl  took  the  wine  and  drank  of  it  through  a 
reed,  and  as  he  drank  he  grew  drunken  and  fell  in  the 
road,  where  he  slept  and  snored. 

Thus  he  passed  from  place  to  place,  with  various  adven 
tures.  His  servants  were  all  dwarfs  or  hunchbacks,  and 
in  crossing  the  Sierra  Nevada  they  mostly  froze  to  death. 
By  drawing  a  line  across  the  Sierra  he  split  it  in  two  and 
thus  made  a  passage.  He  plucked  up  a  mighty  tree  and 
hurling  it  through  another,  thus  formed  a  ^ross.  At 
another  spot  he  caused  underground  houses  to  be  built, 
which  were  called  Mictlancalco,  At  the  House  of  Dark 
ness. 

At   length  he  arrived  at  the  sea  coast  where  he  con- 


116  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

structed  a  raft  of  serpents,  and  seating  himself  on  it  as  in 
a  canoe,  he  moved  out  to  sea.  No  one  knows  how  or  in 
what  manner  he  reached  Tlapallan.1 

The  legend  which  appears  to  have  been  prevalent  in 
Cholula  was  somewhat  different.  According  to  that, 
Quetzalcoatl  was  for  many  years  Lord  of  Tollan,  ruling 
over  a  happy  people.  At  length,  Tezcatlipoca  let  himself 
down  from  heaven  by  a  cord  made  of  spider's  web,  and, 
coming  to  Tollan,  challenged  its  ruler  to  play  a  game  of 
ball.  The  challenge  was  accepted,  and  the  people  of  the 
city  gathered  in  thousands  to  witness  the  sport.  Suddenly 
Tezcatlipoca  changed  himself  into  a  tiger,  which  so 
frightened  the  populace  that  they  fled  in  such  confusion 
and  panic  that  they  rushed  over  the  precipice  and  into 
the  river,  where  nearly  all  were  killed  by  the  fall  or 
drowned  in  the  waters. 

Quetzalcoatl  then  forsook  Tollan,  and  journeyed  from 
city  to  city  till  he  reached  Cholula,  where  he  lived  twenty 
years.  He  was  at  that  time  of  light  complexion,  noble 
'stature,  his  eyes  large,  his  hair  abundant,  his  beard  ample 
and  cut  rounding.  In  life  he  was  most  chaste  and  honest. 
They  worshiped  his  memory,  especially  for  three  things  : 
first,  because  he  taught  them  the  art  of  working  in  metals, 
which  previous  to  his  coming  was  unknown  in  that  land  ; 
secondly,  because  he  forbade  the  sacrifice  either  of  human 

1  These  myths  are  from  the  third  book  of  Sahagun's  Historia  de 
las  Cosas  de  Nueva  Espana.  They  were  taken  down  in  the  original 
Xahuatl,  by  him,  from  the  mouth  of  the  natives,  and  he  gives  them 
word  for  word,  as  they  were  recounted. 


QUETZALCOATL   AT   CHOLULA.  117 

beings  or  the  lower  animals,  teaching  that  bread,  and  roses, 
and  flowers,  incense  and  perfumes,  were  all  that  the  gods 
demanded ;  and  lastly,  because  he  forbade,  and  did  his 
best  to  put  a  stop  to,  wars,  fighting,  robbery,  and  all  deeds 
of  violence.  For  these  reasons  he  was  held  iu  high  esteem 
and  affectionate  veneration,  not  only  by  those  of  Cholula, 
but  by  the  neighboring  tribes  as  well,  for  many  leagues 
around.  Distant  nations  maintained  temples  in  his  honor 
in  that  city,  and  made  pilgrimages  to  it,  on  which  journeys 
they  passed  in  safety  through  their  enemy's  countries. 

The  twenty  years  past,  Quetzalcoatl  resumed  his  journey, 
taking  with  him  four  of  the  principal  youths  of  the  city. 
When  he  had  reached  a  point  in  the  province  of  Guazacoalco, 
which  is  situated  to  the  southeast  of .  Cholula,  he  called 
the  four  youths  to  him,  and  told  them  they  should 
return  to  their  city ;  that  he  had  to  go  further  ;  but  that 
they  should  go  back  and  say  that  at  some  future  day  white 
and  bearded  men  like  himself  would  come  from  the  east, 
who  would  possess  the  land.1 

Thus  he  disappeared,  no  one  knew  whither.  But  another- 
legend  said  that  he  died  there,  by  the  seashore,  and  they 
burned  his  body.  Of  this  event  some  particulars  are  given 
by  Ixtlilxochitl,  as  follows:2 — 

Quetzalcoatl,  surnamed  Topiltzin,  was  lord  of  Tula.  At 
a  certain  time  he  warned  his  subjects  that  he  was  obliged 

1  For  this  version  of  the  myth,  see  Mendieta,  Historia  Eclesiastica 
Indiana,  Lib.  n,  caps,  v  and  x. 

2  Ixtlilxochitl,    Relaciones  Historicas,   p.    388,    in   Kingsborough, 
vol.  ix. 


118  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

to  go  "to  the  place  whence  comes  the  San/1  but  that  after 
a  term  he  would  return  to  them,  in  that  year  of  their 
calendar  of  the  name  Ce  Aca'l,  One  Reed,  which  returns 
every  fifty-two  years.  He  went  forth  with  many  followers, 
some  of  whom  he  left  in  each  city  he  visited.  At  length  he 
reached  the  town  of  Ma  Tlapallan.  Here  he  announced 
that  he  should  soon  die,  and  directed  his  followers  to 
burn  his  body  and  all  his  treasures  with  him.  They 
obeyed  his  orders,  and  for  four  days  burned  his  corpse, 
after  which  they  gathered  its  ashes  and  placed  them  in  a 
sack  made  of  the  skin  of  a  tiger. 

The  introduction  of  the  game  of  ball  and  the  tiger  into 
the  story  is  not  so  childish  as  it  seems.  The  game  of  ball 
was  as  important  an  amusement  among  the  natives  of  Mexico 
and  Central  America  as  were  the  jousts  and  tournaments 
in  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages.1  Towns,  nations  and  kings 
were  often  pitted  against  each  other.  In  the  great  temple 
of  Mexico  two  courts  were  assigned  to  this  game,  over  which 
a  special  deity  was  supposed  to  preside.2  In  or  near  the 
market  place  of  each  town  there  were  walls  erected  for  the 
sport.  In  the  centre  of  these  walls  was  an  orifice  a  little 

1  Torquemada  gives  a  long  but  obscure  description  of  it.  Monarquia 
Indiana,  Lib.  xiv,  cap.  xii. 

2Nierembergk  "  De  septuaginta  et  octo  partibus  niaximi  templi 
Mexicani,"  in  his  Historia  Natures,  Lib.  vin,  cap.  xxn  (Antwerpt, 
1635).  One  of  these  was  called  "The  Ball  Court  of  the  Mirror," 
perhaps  with  special  reference  to  this  legend.  "  Trigesima  secunda 
Tezcatlacho,  locus  erat  ubi  ludebatur  pil£l  ex  gumi  olli,  inter  templa." 
The  name  is  from  tezcatl,  mirror,  tlachtli,  the  game  of  ball,  and 
locative  ending  co. 


THE    HEAVENLY    BALL-PLAY.  119 

larger  than  the  ball.  The  players  were  divided  into  two 
parties,  and  the  ball  having  been  thrown,  each  party  tried 
to  drive  it  through  or  over  the  wall.  The  hand  was  not 
used,  but  only  the  hip  or  shoulders. 

From  the  earth  the  game  was  transferred  to  the  heavens. 
As  a  ball,  hit  by  a  player,  strikes  the  wall  and  then  bounds 
back  again,  describing  a  curve,  so  the  stars  in  the  northern 
sky  circle  around  the  pole  star  and  return  to  the  place  they     * 
left.     Hence  their  movement  was  called  The  Ball-play  of  v,  x 
the  Stars.1 

A  recent  writer  asserts  that  the  popular  belief  of  the 
Aztecs  extended  the  figure  to  a  greater  game  than  this.2  The 
Sun  and  Moon  were  huge  balls  with  which  the  gods  played 
an  unceasing  game,  now  one,  now  the  other,  having  the 
better  of  it.  If  this  is  so,  then  the  game  between  Tezcat- 
lipoca  and  Quetzalcoatl  is  again  a  transparent  figure  of 
speech  for  the  contest  between  night  and  day. 

The  Mexican  tiger,  the  ocelotl,  was  a  well  recognized 
figure  of  speech,  in  the  Aztec  tongue,  for  the  nocturnal 
heavens,  dotted  with  stars,  as  is  the  tiger  skin  with  spots.3 
The  tiger,  therefore,  which  destroyed  the  subjects  of  Quet 
zalcoatl — the  swift-footed,  happy  inhabitants  of  Tula — 
was  none  other  than  the  night  extinguishing  the  rays  of 

1  "  Citlaltlachtli,'1'1  from  citlalin,  s^ar,  and  tlachtli,  the  game  of  ball.        ^ 
Alvarado  Tezozomoc,  Cronica  Mexicana,  cap.  LXXXII.     The  obscure 
passage  in  which  Tezozomoc  refers  to  this  is  ingeniously  analyzed  in 

the  Anales  del  Museo  National,  Tom.  n,  p.  388. 

2  Anales  del  Museo  National,  Tom.  n,  p.  367. 

3  "  Segun  los  Anales  de  Cuauhtitlan  el  ocelotl  es  el  cielo  manchado         / 
de  estrellas,  como  piel  de  tigre."     Anales  del  Mas.  Nac.,  n,  p.  254. 


120  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

the  orb  of  light.  In  the  picture  writings  Tezcatlipoca 
appears  dressed  in  a  tiger's  skin,  the  spots  on  which  rep 
resent  the  stars,  and  thus  symbolize  him  in  his  character  as 
the  god  of  the  sky  at  night. 

The  apotheosis  of  Quetzalcoatl  from  the  embers  of  his 
funeral  pyre  to  the  planet  Venus  has  led  several  distin 
guished  students  of  Mexican  mythology  to  identify  his 
whole  history  with  the  astronomical  relations  of  this  bright 
star.  Such  an  interpretation  is,  however,  not  only  contrary 
to  results  obtained  by  the  general  science  of  mythology,  but 
it  is  specifically  in  contradiction  to  the  uniform  statements  of 
the  old  writers.  All  these  agree  that  it  was  not  till  after 
he  had  finished  his  career,  after  he  had  run  his  course  and 
disappeared  from  the  sight  and  knowledge  of  men,  that  he 
was  translated  and  became  the  evening  or  morning  star.1 
This  clearly  signifies  that  he  was  represented  by  the  planet 
in  only  one,  and  that  a  subordinate,  phase  of  his  activity. 
We  can  readily  see  that  the  relation  of  Venus  to  the  sun, 
and  the  evening  and  morning  twilights,  suggested  the 
pleasing  tale  that  as  the  light  dies  in  the  west,  it  is,  in  a 
certain  way,  preserved  by  the  star  which  hangs  so  bright 
above  the  horizon. 

§  4.  Quetzalcoatl  as  Lord  of  the  Winds. 

As  I  have  shown  in  the  introductory  chapter,  the  Light- 
God,  the  Lord  of  the  East,  is  also  master  of  the  cardinal 
points  and  of  the  winds  which  blow  from  them,  and  there 
fore  of  the  Air. 

1  Codex  Tdleriano-Remensis,  plate  xiv. 


THE   WHEEL    OF   THE    WINDS.  121 

This  was  conspicuously  so  with  Quetzalcoatl.  As  a 
divinity  he  is  most  generally  mentioned  as  the  God  of  the 
Air  and  Winds.  He  was  said  to  sweep  the  roads  before 
Tkloc  j ,  god  of  the  rains,  because  in  that  climate  heavy 
down-pours  are  preceded  by  violent  gusts.  Torquemada 
names  him  as  "God  of  the  Air,"  and  states  that  in 
Cholula  this  function  was  looked  upon  as  his  chief  attri 
bute,1  and  the  term  was  distinctly  applied  to  him  Nanihe- 
hecatli,  Lord  of  the  four  Winds. 

In  one  of  the  earliest  myths  he  is  called  Yahualli  ehecatl, 
meaning  "the  Wheel  of  the  Winds,"2  the  winds  being 
portrayed  in  the  picture  writing  as  a  circle  or  wheel,  with 
a  figure  with  five  angles  inscribed  upon  it,  the  sacred  pen 
tagram.  His  image  carried  in  the  left  hand  this  wheel, 
and  in  the  right  a  sceptre  with  the  end  recurved. 

Another  reference  to  this  wheel,  or  mariner's  box,  was  in 
the  shape  of  the  temples  which  were  built  in  his  honor  as 
god  of  the  winds.  These,  we  are  informed,  were  completely 
circular,  without  an  angle  anywhere.3 

1  Sahagun,  Historia,  Lib.  I,  cap.  v.  Torquemada,  Monarquia 
Indiana,  Lib.  vi,  cap.  xxiv. 

a  "  Que9alcoatl  y  por  otro  nombre  yagualiecatl."    Ramirez  de  Fuen- 
leal,  Historia,  cap.  i.      Yahualli  is  from  the  root  yaual  or  youal,  cir 
cular,  rounding,  and  was  applied  to  various  objects  of  a  circular  form 
The  sign  of  Quetzalcoatl  is  called  by  Sahagun,  using  the  native  word, 
"el  Yoel  de  los  Vientos"  (Historia,  ubi  supra). 

3  "  Se  llaman  (a  Quetzalcoatl)  Senor  de  el  Viento  *  *  *  A 
este  le  hacian  las  yglesias  redondas,  sin  esquina  ninguna. "  Codex 
Telleriano-Remensis.  Parte  n,  Lam.  n.  Describing  the  sacred 
edifices  of  Mexico,  Motolinia  says  :  "  Habio  en  todos  los  mas  de  estos 
grandes  patios  un  otro  templo  que  despues  de  levantada  aquella  capa 


122  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

Still  another  symbol  which  was  sacred  to  him  as  lord  of 
the  four  winds  was  the  Cross.  It  was  not  the  Latin  but 
the  Greek  cross,  with  four  short  arms  of  equal  length. 
Several  of  these  were  painted  on  the  mantle  which  he 
wore  in  the  picture  writings,  and  they  are  occasionally 
found  on  the  sacred  jades,  which  bear  other  of  his  symbols. 

This  has  often  been  made  use  of  by  one  set  of  writers 
to  prove  that  Quetzalcoatl  was  some  Christian  teacher  ; 
and  by  others  as  evidence  that  these  native  tales  were  of  a 
date  subsequent  to  the  Conquest.  But  a  moment's  consid 
eration  of  the  meaning  of  this  cruciform  symbol  as  revealed 
in  its  native  names  shows  where  it  belongs  and  what  it 
refers  to.  These  names  are  three,  and  their  significations 
are,  "The  Rain-God,"  "The  Tree  of  our  Life,"  "The 
God  of  Strength."1  As  the  rains  fertilize  the  fields  and 
ripen  the  food  crops,  so  he  who  sends  them  is  indeed  the 
prop  or  tree  of  our  subsistence,  and  thus  becomes  the  giver 
of  health  and  strength.  No  other  explanation  is  needed, 
or  is,  in  fact,  allowable. 

quadrada,  hecho  su  altar,  cubrianlo  con  una  pared  redonda,  alta  y 
cubierta  con  su  chapital.  Este  era  del  dios  del  aire,  cual  dijimos  tener 
su  principal  sella  en  Cholollan,  y  en  toda  esta  provincia  habia  mucho 
de  estos.  A  este  dios  del  aire  llamab  in  en  su  lengua  Quetzalcoatl," 
Historia  de  los  Indios,  Epistola  Proemial.  Compare  also  Herrera, 
Historia  de  las  Indias  Occidentals,  Dec.  n,  Lib.  vn,  cap.  xvn,  who 
describes  the  temple  of  Quetzalcoatl,  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  and  adds 
that  it  was  circular,  ''porque  asi  como  el  Aire  anda  al  rededor  del 
Cielo,  asi  le  hacian  el  Templo  redondo." 

1  The  Aztec  words  are  Quiahuiil  teotl,  quiahuitl,  rain,  teotl,  god  ; 
Tonacaquahuitl,  from  to,  our,  naca,  flesh  or  life,  quahuitl,  tree ; 
Chicahualizteotl,  from  chicahualiztli,  strength  or  courage,  and  teotl, 
god.  These  names  are  given  by  Ixtlilxochitl,  Historia  chichimeca, 
cap.  i. 


THE   CROSS   SYMBOL.  123 

The  winds  and  rains  come  from  the  four  cardinal 
points.  This  fact  was  figuratively  represented  by  a  cruci 
form  figure,  the  ends  directed  toward  each  of  these. 
The  God  of  the  Four  Winds  bore  these  crosses  as  one  of 
his  emblems.  The  sign  came  to  be  connected  with  fertility, 
reproduction  and  life,  through  its  associations  as  a  symbol 
of  the  rains  which  restore  the  parched  fields  and  aid  in  the 
germination  of  seeds.  Their  influence  in  this  respect  is 
most  striking  in  those  southern  countries  where  a  long  dry 
season  is  followed  by  heavy  tropical  showers,  which  in  a 
few  days  change  the  whole  face  of  nature,  from  one  of 
parched  sterility  to  one  of  a  wealth  of  vegetable  growth. 

As  there  is  a  close  connection,  in  meteorology,  between 
the  winds  and  the  rains,  so  in  Aztec  mythology,  there 
was  an  equally  near  one  between  Quetzalcoatl,  as  the 
god  of  the  winds,  and  the  gods  of  rain,  Tlaloc  and  his 
sister,  or  wife,  or  mother,  Chalchihuitlicue.  According  to 
one  myth,  these  were  created  by  the  four  primeval  brother- 
gods,  and  placed  in  the  heavens,  where  they  occupy  a  large 
mansion  divided  into  four  apartments,  with  a  court  in  the 
middle.  In  this  court  stand  four  enormous  vases  of  water, 
and  an  infinite  number  of  very  small  slaves  (the  rain  drops) 
stand  ready  to  dip  out  the  water  from  one  or  the  other 
vase  and  pour  it  on  the  earth  in  showers.1 

Tlaloc  means,  literally,  "The  wine  of  the  Earth/'2  the 


1  Ramirez  de  Fuen-leal,  Historia  de  los  Mexicanos,  cap.  n. 

2  Tlalli,  earth,  oc  from  octli,  the  native  wine  made  from  the  maguey, 
enormous  quantities  of  which  are  consumed  by  the  lower  classes  in 


124  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

figure  being  that  as  man's  heart  is  made  glad,  and  his 
strength  revived  by  the  joyous  spirit  of  wine,  so  is  the  soil 
refreshed  and  restored  by  the  rains.  Tlaloc  tecutli,  the 
Lord  of  the  Wine  of  the  Earth,  was  the  proper  title  of  the 
male*  divinity,  who  sent  the  fertilizing  showers,  and  thus 
caused  the  seed  to  grow  in  barren  places.  It  was  he  who 
gave  abundant  crops  and  saved  the  parched  and  dying 
grain  after  times  of  drought.  Therefore,  he  was  appealed  to 
as  the  giver  of  good  things,  of  corn  and  wine ;  and  the 
name  of  his  home,  Tlalocan,  became  synonymous  with  that 
of  the  terrestrial  paradise. 

His  wife  or  sister,  Chalchihuitlicue,  She  of  the  Emerald 
Skirts,  was  goddess  of  flowing  streams,  brooks,  lakes  and 
rivers.  Her  name,  probably,  has  reference  to  their  limpid 
waters.1  It  is  derived  from  chalchihuill,  a  species  of  jade  or 
precious  green  stone,  very  highly  esteemed  by  the  natives 
of  Mexico  and  Central  America,  and  worked  by  them  into 
ornaments  and  talismans,  often  elaborately  engraved  and 
inscribed  with  symbols,  by  an  art  now  altogether  lost.2 
According  to  one  myth,  QuetzalcoatFs  mother  took  the 
name  of  chalehiuitl  "  when  she  ascended  to  heaven  ;"3  by 

Mexico  at  this  day,  and  which  was  well  known  to  the  ancients. 
Another  derivation  of  the  name  is  from  tlalli,  and  onoc,  being,  to  be, 
hence,  "  resident  on  the  earth."  This  does  not  seem  appropriate. 

1  From  chalchihuitl,  jade,  and   cueitl,  skirt  or  petticoat,  with  the 
possessive  prefix,  i,  her. 

2  See  E.  Gr.  Squier,  Observations  on  a   Collection  of  Chalchihuitls 
from    Central   America,   NeW  York,    1869,   and    Heinrich   Fischer, 

Nephrit  und  Jadeit  nach  Hirer  Urgeschichtlichen  und  Ethnographi- 
schen  Bedeutung,  Stuttgart,  1880,  for  a  full  discussion  of  the  subject. 

3  Codex  Telleriano-Remensis,  Pt.  n,  Lam.  n. 


THE   INVENTOR   OF   THE   CALENDAR.  125 

another  he  was  engendered  by  such  a  sacred  stone ; l  and 
by  all  he  was  designated  as  the  discoverer  of  the  art  of 
cutting  and  polishing  them,  and  the  patron  deity  of  workers 
in  this  branch.2 

The  association  of  this  stone  and  its  color,  a  bluish  green 
of  various  shades,  with  the  God  of  Light  and  the  Air,  may 
have  reference  to  the  blue  sky  where  he  has  his  home, 
or  to  the  blue  and  green  waters  where  he  makes  his 
bed.  Whatever  the  connection  was,  it  was  so  close  that  the 
festivals  of  all  three,  Tlaloc,  Chalchihuitlicue  and  Quetzal- 
coatl,  were  celebrated  together  on  the  same  day,  which  was 
the  first  of  the  first  mouth  of  the  Aztec  calendar,  in  Feb 
ruary.3 

In  his  character  as  god  of  days,  the  deity  who  brings 
back  the  diurnal  suns,  and  thus  the  seasons  and  years, 
Quetzalcoatl  was  the  reputed  inventor  of  the  Mexican 
Calendar.  He  himself  was  said  to  have  been  born  on  Ce 
Acatl,  One  Cane,  which  was  the  first  day  of  the  first  month, 
the  beginning  of  the  reckoning,  and  the  name  of  the  day 
was  often  added  to  his  own.4  As  the  count  of  the  days 

1  See  above,. page  91. 

2  Torquemada,  Monarquia  Indiana,  Lib.  vi,  cap.  xxiv. 

3  Sahagun,  Historia,  Lib.  n,  cap.  i.    A  worthy  but  visionary  Mexican 
antiquary,  Don  J.  M.  Melgar,  has  recognized    in  Aztec   mythology 
the  frequency  of  the  symbolism  which  expresses  the  fertilizing  action 
of  the  sky  (the  sun  and  rains)  upon  the  earth.     He  thinks  that  in  some 
of  the  manuscripts,  as  the  Codex  Borgia,  it  ia  represented  by  the  rabbit 
fecundating  the  frog.     See  his  Examen  Comparative  entre  los  Signos 
Simbolicos  de  las  Teogonias  y  Cosmogonias  atitiguas  y  los  que  existen 
en  los  Manuscritos  Mexicanos,  p.  21  (Vera  Cruz,  1872). 

4  Codex  Vaticanus,  PI.  xv. 


126  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

really  began  with  the  beginning,  it  was  added  that  Heaven 
itself  was  created  on  this  same  day,  Ce  Acatl.1 

In  some  myths  Quetzalcoatl  was  the  sole  framer  of  the 
Calendar;  in  others  he  was  assisted  by  the  first  created 
pair,  Cipactli  and  Oxomuco,  who,  as  I  have  said,  appear  to 
represent  the  Sky  and  the  Earth.  A  certain  cave  in  the 
province  of  Cuernava  (Quauhnauac)  was  pointed  out  as 
the  scene  of  their  deliberations.  Cipactonal  chose  the  first 
name,  Oxomuco  the  second,  and  Quetzalcoatl  the  third, 
and  so  on  in  turn.2 

In  many  mythologies  the  gods  of  light  and  warmth  are, 
by  a  natural  analogy,  held  to  be  also  the  deities  which 
preside  over  plenty,  fertility  and  reproduction.  This  was 
quite  markedly  the  case  with  Quetzalcoatl.  His  land  and 
city  were  the  homes  of  abundance  ;  his  people,  the  Toltecs, 
"  were  skilled  in  all  arts,  all  of  which  they  had  been  taught 
by  Quetzalcoatl  himself.  They  were,  moreover,  very  rich ; 
they  lacked  nothing;  food  was  never  scarce  and  crops 
never  failed.  They  had  no  need  to  save  the  small  ears  of 
corn,  so  all  the  use  they  made  of  them  was  to  burn  them 
in  heating  their  baths."3 

As  thus  the  promoter  of  fertility  in  the  vegetable  world, 
he  was  also  the  genius  of  reproduction  in  the  human  race. 

1  Codex  Telleriano  Eemensis,  PI.  xxxm. 

2  Mendieta,  Hist.  Edesiastia  Indiana,  Lib.  n,  cap.  xiv.     "  Una 
tonta  ficcion,"  comments  the  worthy  chronicler  upon  the  narrative, 
u  corno  son  las  demas  que  creian  cerca  de  susdioses."     This  has  been 
the  universal  opinion.     My  ambition  in  writing  this  book  is,  that  it  will 
be  universal  no  longer. 

3  Sahagun,  Historia,  Lib.  in,  cap.  in. 


MARRIAGE   ADDRESS.  127 

The  ceremonies  of  marriage  which  were  in  use  among  the 
Aztecs  were  attributed  to  him/  and  when  the  wife  found 
she  was  with  child  it  was  to  him  that  she  was  told  to  address 
her  thanks.  One  of  her  relatives  recited  to  her  a  formal 
exhortation,  which  began  as  follows  : — 

"My  beloved  little  daughter,  precious  as  sapphire  and 
jade,  tender  and  generous !  Our  Lord,  who  dwells  every 
where  and  rains  his  bounties  on  whom  he  pleases,  has 
remembered  you.  The  God  now  wishes  to  give  you  the 
fruit  of  marriage,  and  has  placed  within  you  a  jewel,  a 
rich  feather.  Perhaps  you  have  watched,  and  swept,  and 
offered  incense ;  for  such  good  works  the  kindness  of  the 
Lord  has  been  made  manifest,  and  it  was  decreed  in  Heaven 
and  Hell,  before  the  beginning  of  the  World,  that  this 
grace  should  be  accorded  you.  For  these  reasons  our 
Lord,  Quetzalcoatl,  who  is  the  author  and  creator  of  things, 
has  shown  you  this  favor  ;  thus  has  resolved  He  in  heaven, 
who  is  at  once  both  man  and  woman,  and  is  known  under 
the  names  Twice  Master  and  Twice  Mistress."2 

It  is  recorded  in  the  old  histories  that  the  priests  dedi 
cated  to  his  service  wore  a  peculiar  head-dress,  imitating  a 

1  Veitia,  cap.  xvn,  in  Kingsborough. 

2Sahagun,  Historia,  Lib.  vi,  cap.  xxv.  The  bisexual  nature  of 
the  Mexican  gods,  referred  to  in  this  passage,  is  well  marked  in  many 
features  of  their  mythology  Quetzalcoatl  is  often  addressed  in  the 
prayers  as  "  father  and  mother,"  just  as,  in  the  Egyptian  ritual,  Chnum 
was  appealed  to  as  "  father  of  fathers  and  mother  of  mothers"  (Tiele, 
Hist,  of  the  Egyptian  Religion,  p.  134).  I  have  endeavored  to  ex 
plain  this  widespread  belief  in  hermaphroditic  deities  in  my  work 
entitled,  The  Religious  Sentiment,  Its  Source  and  Aim,  pp.  65-68, 
(New  York,  1876). 


128  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

snail  shell,  and  for  that  reason  were  called  Quateczizque.1 
No  one  has  explained  this  curiously  shaped  bonnet.  But 
it  was  undoubtedly  because  Quetzalcoatl  was  the  god  of 
reproduction,  for  among  the  Aztecs  the  snail  was  a  well 
known  symbol  of  the  process  of  parturition.2 

Quetzalcoatl  was  that  marvelous  artist  who  fashions  in 
the  womb  of  the  mother  the  delicate  limbs  and  tender  organs 
of  the  unborn  infant.  Therefore,  when  a  couple  of  high  rank 
were  blessed  with  a  child,  an  official  orator  visited  them, 
and  the  baby  being  placed  naked  before  him,  he  addressed 
it  beginning  with  these  words : — 

"  My  child  and  lord,  precious  gem,  emerald,  sapphire, 
beauteous  feather,  product  of  a  noble  union,  you  have 
been  formed  far  above  us,  in  the  ninth  heaven,  where  dwell 
the  two  highest  divinities.  His  Divine  Majesty  has  fash 
ioned  you  in  a  mould,  as  one  fashions  a  ball  of  gold  ;  you 
have  been  chiseled  as  a  precious  stone,  artistically  dressed 
by  your  Father  and  Mother,  the  great  God  and  the  great 
Goddess,  assisted  by  their  son,  Quetzalcoatl." : 

As  he  was  thus  the  god  on  whom  depended  the  fertiliza 
tion  of  the  womb,  sterile  women  made  their  vows  to  him, 
and  invoked  his  aid  to  be  relieved  from  the  shame  of 
barrenness.4 

1  Duran,  in  Kingsborough,  vol.   vin,   p.   267.     The   word  is  from 
quaitl,  head  or  top,  and  tecziztli,  a  snail  shell. 

2  "  Mettevanli  in  testa  una  lumaca  marina  per  Jimostrare  que  sic- 
come  il  piscato  esce  dalle  pieghe  di  quell' osso,  o  conca.  cosi  va  ed 
esce  Tuorno  db  utero  matris  suae."       Codice  Vaticana,  Tavola  xxvi. 

3  Sahagun,  Historia.  Lib.  vi,  cap.  xxxiv. 

4  Torquemada,  Monarquia  Indiana,  Lib.  xi,  cap.  xxiv. 


THE  TEACHER  OF  CHASTITY.  129 

In  still  another  direction  is  this  function  of  his  godship 
shown.  The  worship  of  the  genesiac  principle  is  as  often 
characterized  by  an  excessive  austerity  as  by  indulgence  in 
sexual  acts.  Here  we  have  an  example.  Nearly  all  the 
accounts  tell  us  that  Quetzalcoatl  was  never  married,  and 
that  he  held  himself  aloof  from  all  women,  in  absolute 
chastity.  We  are  told  that  on  one  occasion  his  subjects 
urged  upon  him  the  propriety  of  marriage,  and  to  their 
importunities  he  returned  the  dark  answer  that,  Yes,  he 
had  determined  to  take  a  wife ;  but  that  it  would  be  when 
the  oak  tree  shall  cast  chestnuts,  when  the  sun  shall  rise  in 
the  west,  when  one  can  cross  the  sea  dry-shod,  and  when 
nightingales  grow  beards.1 

Following  the  example  of  their  Master,  many  of  the 
priests  of  his  cult  refrained  from  sexual  relations,  and  as  a 
mortification  of  the  flesh  they  practiced  a  painful  rite  by 
transfixing  the  tongue  and  male  member  with  the  sharp 
thorns  of  the  maguey  plant,  an  austerity  which,  according 
to  their  traditions,  he  was  the  first  to  institute.2  There  were 
also  in  the  cities  where  his  special  worship  was  in  vogue, 

1  Duran,  in  Kingsborough,  vol.  vm,  p.  267.     I  believe  Alva  Ixtlilxo- 
chitl  is  the  only  author  who  specifically  assigns  a  family  to  Quetzalcoatl. 
This  author  does  not  mention  a   wife,   but   names   two   sons,   one, 
Xilotzin,  who  was  killed  in  war,  the  other,  Pochotl,  who  was  educated 
by  his  nurse,  Toxcueye,  and  who,  after  the  destruction  of  Tollan, 
collected  the  scattered  Toltecs  and  settled  with  them  around  the  Lake 
of  Tezcuco  (Relaciones  Historicas,  p.  394,  in  Kingsborough,  vol.  ix). 
All  this  is  in  contradiction  to  the  reports  of  earlier  and  better  authorities. 
For  instance,    Motolinia    says  pointedly,    "  no   fu6   casado,   ni  se  le 
conocio  mujer  "  (Historia  de  los  Indios,  Epistola  Proemial). 

2  Codex  Vaticanus,  Tab.  xxn. 

9 


130  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

houses  of  nuns,  the  inmates  of  which  had  vowed  perpetual 
virginity,  and  it  was  said  that  Quetzalcoatl  himself  had 
founded  these  institutions.1 

His  connection  with  the  worship  of  the  reproductive 
principle  seems  to  be  further  indicated  by  his  surname, 
Ce  acatl.  This  means  One  Reed,  and  is  the  name  of  a  day 
in  the  calendar.  But  in  the  Nahuatl  language,  the  word 
acatl,  reed,  cornstalk,  is  also  applied  to  the  virile  member ; 
and  it  has  been  suggested  that  this  is  the  real  signification 
of  the  word  when  applied  to  the  hero-god.  The  sugges 
tion  is  plausible,  but  the  word  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
so  construed  by  the  early  writers.  If  such  an  under 
standing  had  been  current,  it  could  scarcely  have  escaped 
the  inquiries  of  such  a  close  student  and  thorough  master  of 
the  Nahuatl  tongue  as  Father  Sahagun. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  said,  in  corroboration  of 
this  identification,  that  the  same  idea  appears  to  be  conveyed 
by  the  symbol  of  the  serpent.  One  correct  translation 
of  the  name  Quetzalcoatl  is  "  the  beautiful  serpent ;" 
his  temple  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  according  to  Tor- 
quemada,  had  a  door  in  the  form  of  a  serpent's  mouth; 
and  in  the  Codex  VaticanuSj  No.  3738,  published  by 
Lord  Kingsborough,  of  which  we  have  an  explanation 
by  competent  native  authority,  he  is  represented  as  a 
serpent;  while  in  the  same  Codex,  in  the  astrological  signs 
which  were  supposed  to  control  the  different  parts  of  the 
human  body,  the  serpent  is  pictured  as  the  sign  of  the 
1  Veitia,  Historia,  cap.  xvn. 


THE   SERPENT   SYMBOL.  131 

male  member.1     This  indicates  the  probability  that  in  his 

i*  \X 

function  as  god   of  reproduction   Quetzalcoatl  may  have 
stood  in  some  relation  to  phallic  rites. 

This  same  sign,  Ce  Coatl,  One  Serpent,  used  in  their 
astrology,  was  that  of  one  of  the  gods  of  the  merchants, 
and  apparently  for  this  reason,  some  writers  have  identified 
the  chief  god  of  traffic,  Yacatecutli  (God  of  Journeying), 
with  Quetzalcoatl.  This  seems  the  more  likely  as 
another  name  of  this  divinity  was  Yatacoliuhquij  With 
the  End  Curved,  a  name  which  appears  to  refer  to  the 
curved  rod  or  stick  which  was  both  his  sign  and  one  of 
those  of  Quetzalcoatl.2  The  merchants  also  constantly 
associated  in  their  prayers  this  deity  with  Huitzilopochtli, 
which  is  another  reason  for  supposing  their  patron  was  one 
of  the  four  primeval  brothers,  and  but  another  manifesta 
tion  of  Quetzalcoatl.  His  character,  as  patron  of  arts, 
the  model  of  orators,  and  the  cultivator  of  peaceful  inter 
course  among  men,  would  naturally  lend  itself  to  this 
position. 

1  Compare  the  Codex  Vaticanus,  No.  3738,  plates  44  and  75,  Kings- 
borough,  Mexican  Antiquities,  vol.  n. 

2  Compare  Torquemada,  Monarquia  Indiana,  Lib.  YI,  cap.  xxvin, 
and  Sahagun,  Historia  de  Nueva  Espafia,  Lib.  ix,  passim. 

Yacatecutli,  is  from  tecutli,  lord,  and  either  yaqui,  traveler,  or  else 
yacana,  to  conduct. 

Yacacoliuhqui,  is  translated  by  Torquemada,  "el  que  tiene  la  nariz 
aquilena."  It  is  from  yaque,  a  point  or  end,  and  hence,  also,  the  nose, 
and  coliuhqui,  bent  or  curved.  The  translation  in  the  text  is  quite 
as  allowable  as  that  of  Torquemada,  and  more  appropriate.  I  have 
already  mentioned  that  this  divinity  was  suspected,  by  Dr.  Schultz- 
Sellack,  to  be  merely  another  form  of  Quetzalcoatl.  See  above, 
page  81. 


132  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

But  Quetzalcoatl,  as  god  of  tlie  violent  wind-storms, 
which  destroy  the  houses  and  crops,  and  as  one,  who,  in 
his  own  history,  was  driven  from  his  kingdom  and  lost  his 
all,  wras  not  considered  a  deity  of  invariably  good  augury. 
His  day  and  sign,  ce  acatl,  One  Reed,  was  of  bad  omen. 
A  person  born  on  it  would  not  succeed  in  life.1  His  plans 
and  possessions  would  be  lost,  blown  away,  as  it  were,  by 
the  wind,  and  dissipated  into  thin  air. 

Through  the  association  of  his  person  with  the  prying 
winds  he  came,  curiously  enough,  to  be  the  patron  saint  of 
a  certain  class  of  thieves,  who  stupefied  their  victims  before 
robbing  them.  They  applied  to  him  to  exercise  his 
maleficent  power  on  those  whom  they  planned  to  deprive  of 
their  goods.  His  image  was  borne  at  the  head  of  the  gang 
when  they  made  their  raids,  and  the  preferred  season  was 
when  his  sign  was  in  the  ascendant.2  This  is  a  singular 
parallelism  to  the  Aryan  Hermes  myth,  as  I  have  previously 
observed  (Chap.  I). 

The  representation  of  Quetzalcoatl  in  the  Aztec  manu 
scripts,  his  images  and  the  forms  of  his  temples  and  altars, 
referred  to  his  double  functions  as  Lord  of  the  Light 
and  the  Winds. 

He  was  not  represented  with  pleasing  features.  On  the 
contrary,  Sahagun  tells  us  that  his  face,  that  is,  that  of  his 
image,  was  "  very  ugly,  with  a  large  head  and  a  full  beard." " 

1  Sahagun,  Historia,  Lib.  iv,  cap.  vin. 

2  Ibid,  Lib.  iv,  cap.  xxxi. 

3  "  La  cara  que  tenia  era  muy  fea  y  la  cabeza  larga  y  barbuda." 
Historia,  Lib.  in,  cap.  HI.     On  the  other  hand  Ixtlilxochitl  speaks  of 


QUETZALCOATL'S  RETURN.  133 

The  beard,  in  this  and  similar  instances,  was  to  represent 
the  rays  of  the  sun.  His  hair  at  times  was  also  shown 
rising  straight  from  his  forehead,  for  the  same  reason.1 

At  times  he  was  painted  with  a  large  hat  and  flowing 
robe,  and  was  then  called  "Father  of  the  Sons  of  the 
Clouds,"  that  is,  of  the  rain  drops.2 

These  various  representations  doubtless  referred  to  him 
at  different  parts  of  his  chequered  career,  and  as  a  god 
under  different  manifestations  of  his  divine  nature.  The 
religious  art  of  the  Aztecs  did  not  demand  any  uniformity 
in  this  respect. 

§  5.   The  Return  of  Quetzalcoatl . 

Quetzalcoatl  was  gone. 

Whether  he  had  removed  to  the  palace  prepared  for  him 
in  Tlapallan,  whether  he  had  floated  out  to  sea  on  his 
rafLa£sorpont  skins,  or  whether  his  body  had  been 
burned  on  the  sandy  sea  strand  and  his  soul  had  mounted 
to  the  morning  star,  the  wise  men  were  not  agreed.  But 
on  one  point  there  was  unanimity.  Quetzalcoatl  was  gone; 
but  he  would  return. 

In  his  own  good  time,  in  the  sign  of  his  year,  when  the 
ages  were  ripe,  once  more  he  would  come  from  the  east, 
surrounded  by  his  fair-faced  retinue,  and  resume  the  sway 

him  as  "  de  bella  figura."  Historia  Chichimeca,  cap.  vm.  He  was 
occasionally  represented  with  his  face  painted  black,  probably  express 
ing  the  sun  in  its  absence. 

1  He  is  so  portrayed  in  the  Codex  Vaticanus.  and  Ixtlilxochitl  says, 
"  tubiese  el  cabello  levantado  desde  la  frente  hasta  la  nuca  como  a 
manera  de  penacho."     Historia  Chichimeca,  cap.  vm. 

2  Diego  Duran,  Historia,  in  Kingsborough,  vm,  p.  267. 


134  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

of  his  people  and  their  descendants.  Tezcatlipoca  had  con 
quered,  but  not  for  aye.  The  immutable  laws  which  had 
fixed  the  destruction  of  Tollan  assigned  likewise  its  restora 
tion.  Such  was  the  universal  belief  among  the  Aztec  race. 

For  this  reason  QuetzalcoatFs  statue,  or  one  of  them, 
was  in  a  reclining  position  and  covered  with  wrappings, 
signifying  that  he  was  absent,  aas  of  one  who  lays  him 
down  to  sleep,  and  that  when  he  should  awake  from  that 
dream  of  absence,  he  should  rise  to  rule  again  the  land."1 

He  was  not  dead.  He  had  indeed  built  mansions  un 
derground,  to  the  Lord  of  Mictlan,  the  abode  of  the  dead, 
the  place  of  darkness,  but  he  himself  did  not  occupy  them.2 
Where  he  passed  his  time  was  where  the  sun  stays  at  night. 
As  this,  too,  is  somewhere  beneath  the  level  of  the  earth, 
it  was  occasionally  spoken  of  as  Tlillapa,  The  Murky 
Land,3  and  allied  therefore  to  Mictlan.  Caverns  led  down 
to  it,  especially  one  south  of  Chapultepec,  called  Cincalco, 
"  To  the  Abode  of  Abundance,"  through  whose  gloomy 
corridors  one  could  reach  the  habitation  of  the  sun  and  the 
happy  land  still  governed  by  Quetzalcoatl  and  his  lieuten 
ant  Totec.4 

1  Torquemada,  Monarquia   Indiana,  Lib.  vi,   cap.   xxiv.     So   in 
Egyptian  mythology  Turn  was  called  "the  concealed  or  imprisoned 
god,  in  a  physical  sense  the  Sun-god  in  the  darkness  of  night,  not 
revealing  himself,  but  alive,  nevertheless."     Tiele,  History   of  the 
Egyptian  Religion,  p.  77. 

2  Sahagun,  Historia,  Lib.  in.  cap.  ult. 

3  Mendieta,  Hist.  Edesiast.  Indiana,  Lib.  n,  cap.  v.     The  name 
is  from  tlilli,  something  dark,  obscure. 

4  Sahagun,  Historia,  Lib.  xn,  cap.  ix  ;  Duran,  Historia,  cap.  LXVIII  ; 
Tezozomoc,   Cron.  Mexicana,  cap.  cm.      Sahagun  and  Tezozomoc 


135 

But  the  real  and  proper  names  of  that  land  were 
Tlapallan,  the  Red  Land,  and  Tizapan,  the  White  Land,  for 
either  of  these  colors  is  that  of  the  sun-light.1 

It  was  generally  understood  to  be  the  same  land  whence 
he  and  the  Toltecs  had  come  forth  in  ancient  times ;  or  if 
not  actually  the  same,  nevertheless,  very  similar  to  it. 
While  the  myth  refers  to  the  latter  as  Tlapallan,  it  speaks 
of  the  former  as  Huey  Tlapallan,  Old  Tlapallan,  or  the 
first  Tlapallan.  But  Old  TJapallan  was  usually  located  to 
the  West,  where  the  sun  disappears  at  night  ;2  while  New 
Tlapallan,  the  goal  of  Quetzalcoatl's  journey,  was  in  the 
East,  where  the  day-orb  rises  in  the  morning.  The 
relationship  is  obvious,  and  is  based  on  the  similarity  of 
the  morning  and  the  evening  skies,  the  heavens  at  sunset 
and  at  sunrise. 

In  his  capacity  as  master  of  arts,  and,  at  the -same 
time,  ruler  of  the  underground  realm,  in  other  words,  as 
representing  in  his  absence  the  Sun  at  night,  he  was  sup 
posed  to  preside  over  the  schools  where  the  youth  were  shut 
up  and  severely  trained  in  ascetic  lives,  previous  to  coming 
forth  into  the  world.  In  this  function  he  was  addressed 

give  the  name  Cincalco,  To  the  House  of  Maize,  L  e.,  Fertility,  Abun 
dance,  the  Paradise.  Duran  gives  Cicalco,  and  translates  it  a  casa 
de  la  liebre,"  citli,  hare,  calli,  house,  co  locative.  But  this  is,  no 
doubt,  an  error,  mistaking  citli  for  cintli,  maize. 

1  Tizapan  from  tizatl,  white  earth  or  other  substance,  and  pan,  in. 
Mendieta,  Lib.  n,  cap.  iv. 

2  "  Huitlapalan,  que  es  la  que  al  presente  Hainan  de  Cortes,  que  por 
parecer  vermeja  le  pusieron  el  nombre  referido."     Alva  Ixtlilxochitl, 
Historia  Chichimeca,  Cap.  n. 


136  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

as  Quetzalcoatl  Tlilpotonqui,  the  Dark  or  Black  Plumed, 
and  the  child,  on  admittance,  was  painted  this  color,  and 
blood  drawn  from  his  ears  and  offered  to  the  god.1 
Probably  for  the  same  reason,  in  many  picture  writings, 
both  his  face  and  body  were  blackened. 

It  is  at  first  sight  singular  to  find  his  character  and 
symbols  thus  in  a  sense  reversed,  but  it  would  not  be  difficult 
to  quote  similar  instances  from  Aryan  and  Egyptian 
mythology.  The  sun  at  night  was  often  considered  to  be 
the  ruler  of  the  realm  of  the  dead,  and  became  associated 
with  its  gloomy  symbolism. 

Wherever  he  was,  Quetzalcoatl  was  expected  to  return 
and  resume  the  sceptre  of  sovereignty,  which  he  had  laid 
down  at  the  instigation  of  Tezcatlipoca.  In  what  cycle  he 
would  appear  the  sages  knew  not,  but  the  year  of  the  cycle 
was  predicted  by  himself  of  old. 

Here  appears  an  extraordinary  coincidence.  The  sign 
of  the  year  of  Quetzalcoatl  was,  as  I  have  said,  One  Reed, 
Ce  Acatl.  In  the  Mexican  calendar  this  recurs  only  once 
in  their  cycle  of  fifty-two  years.  The  myth  ran  that  on 
some  recurrence  of  this  year  his  arrival  was  to  take  place. 
The  year  1519  of  the  Christian  era  was  the  year  One  Reed, 
and  in  that  year  Hernan  Cortes  landed  his  army  on 
Mexican  soil ! 

The  approach  of  the  year  had,  as  usual,  revived  the  old 
superstition,  and  possibly  some  vague  rumors  from  Yucatan 
or  the  Islands  had  intensified  the  dread  with  which  the 

1  Sahagun,  Lib.  in,  Append,  cap.  vn.  and  cf.  Lib.  i,  cap  v.  The 
surname  is  from  tlilti,  black,  and  potonia,  "  emplumar  &  otro." 


THE    LAND    OF    HUEMAC.  137 

Mexican  emperor  contemplated  the  possible  loss  of  his 
sovereignty.  Omens  were  reported  in  the  sky,  on  earth 
and  in  the  waters.  The  sages  and  diviners  were  consulted, 
but  their  answers  were  darker  than  the  ignorance  they  were 
asked  to  dispel.  Yes,  they  agreed,  a  change  is  to  come, 
the  present  order  of  things  will  be  swept  away,  perhaps  by 
Quetzalcoatl,  perhaps  by  hideous  beings  with  face*  of 
serpents,  who  walk  with  one  foot,  whose  heads  are  in  their 
breasts,  whose  huge  hands  serve  as  sun  shades,  and  who  can 
fold  themselves  in  their  immense  ears.1 

Little  satisfied  with  these  grotesque  prophecies  the 
monarch  summoned  his  dwarfs  and  hunchbacks — a  class  of 
dependents  he  maintained  in  imitation  of  Quetzalcoatl — 
and  ordered  them  to  proceed  to  the  sacred  Cave  of 
Cincalco. 

"  Enter  its  darknes,"  he  said,  "  without  fear.  There  you 
will  find  him  who  ages  ago  lived  in  Tula,  who  calls  himself 
Huemac,  the  Great  Hand.2  If  one  enters,  he  dies  indeed, 
but  only  to  be  born  to  an  eternal  life  in  a  land  where  food  and 
wine  are  in  perennial  plenty.  It  is  shady  with  trees,  filled 
with  fruit,  gay  with  flowers,  and  those  who  dwell  there 
know  nought  but  joy.  Huemac  is  king  of  that  land,  and 
he  who  lives  with  him  is  ever  happy." 

1  The  names  of  these  mysterious  beings  are  given  by  Tezozomoc  as 
TezocuHyomque,  Zenteicxique  and  Coayxiqnes.     Cronica  Mexicana, 
caps,  cvin  and  cix. 

2  Huemac,  as  I  have  already  said,  is  stated  by  Sahagun  to  have  been 
the  war  chief  of  Tula,  as  Quetzalcoatl  was  the  sacerdotal  head  (Lib. 
in,  cap.  v).     But  Duran   and  most  writers   state  that  it  was  simply 
another  name  of  Quetzalcoatl. 


138  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

The  dwarfs  and  hunchbacks  departed  on  their  mission, 
under  the  guidance  of  the  priests.  After  a  time  they 
returned  and  reported  that  they  had  entered  the  cave  and 
reached  a  place  where  four  roads  met.  They  chose  that 
which  descended  most  rapidly,  and  soon  were  accosted  by 
an  old  man  with  a  staff  in  his  hand.  This  was  Totec, 
who  led  them  to  his  lord  Huemac,  to  whom  they  stated 
the  wish  of  Montezuma  for  definite  information.  The 
reply  was  vague  and  threatening,  and  though  twice  after 
wards  the  emperor  sent  other  embassies,  only  ominous  and 
obscure  announcements  were  returned  by  the  priests.1 

Clearly  they  preferred  to  be  prophets  of  evil,  and  quite 
possibly  they  themselves  were  the  slaves  of  gloomy  fore 
bodings. 

Dissatisfied  with  their  reports,  Moutezuma  determined  to 
visit  the  underground  realm  himself,  and  by  penetrating 
through  the  cave  of  Cincalco  to  reach  the  mysterious  land 
where  his  attendants  and  priests  professed  to  have  been. 
For  obvious  reasons  such  a  suggestion  was  not  palatable  to 
them,  and  they  succeeded  in  persuading  him  to  renounce 
the  plan,  and  their  deceptions  remained  undiscovered. 

Their  idle  tales  broughtno  relief  to  the  anxious  monarch, 
and  at  length,  when  his  artists  showed  him  pictures  of  the 
bearded  Spaniards  and  strings  of  glittering  beads  from 
Cortes,  the  emperor  could  doubt  no  longer,  and  exclaimed  : 

1  Tezozomoc,  CronicaMexicana,  caps,  cvm,  cix;  Sahagun,  Historia, 
Lib.  xn,  cap.  ix.  The  four  roads  which  met  one  on  the  journey  to 
the  Under  World  are  also  described  in  the  Popol  Vuh,  p.  83.  Each  is 
of  a  different  color,  and  only  one  is  safe  to  follow. 


MONTEZUMA'S  ADDRESS.  139 

"  Truly  this  is  the  Quetzalcoatl  we  expected,  he  who  lived 
with  us  of  old  in  Tula.  Undoubtedly  it  is  he,  Ce  Acatl 
Inacuil,  the  god  of  One  Reed,  who  fs  journey  ing."1 

On  his  very  first  interview  with  Cortes,  he  addressed 
him  through  the  interpreter  Marina  in  remarkable  words 
which  have  been  preserved  to  us  by  the  Spanish  conqueror 
himself.  Cortes  writes  : — 

"Having  delivered  me  the  presents,  he  seated  himself 
next  to  me  and  spoke  as  follows  :  — 

" '  We  have  known  for  a  long  time,  by  the  writings 
handed  down  by  our  forefathers,  that  neither  I  nor  any  who 
inhabit  this  land  are  natives  of  it,  but  foreigners  who  came 
here  from  remote  parts.  We  also  know  that  we  were  led 
here  by  a  ruler,  whose  subjects  we  all  were,  who  returned 
to  his  country,  and  after  a  long  time  came  here  again  and 
wished  to  take  his  people  away.  But  they  had  married 
wives  and  built  houses,  and  they  would  neither  go  with 
him  nor  recognize  him  as  their  king;  therefore  he  went 
back.  We  have  ever  believed  that  those  who  were  of  his 
lineage  would  some  time  come  and  claim  this  land  as  his, 
and  us  as  his  vassals.  From  the  direction  whence  you 
come,  which  is  where  the  sun  rises,  and  from  what  you  tell 
me  of  this  great  lord  who  sent  you,  we  believe  and  think 
it  certain  that  he  is  our  natural  ruler,  especially  since  you 
say  that  for  a  long  time  he  has  known  about  us.  There 
fore  you  may  feel  certain  that  we  shall  obey  you,  and  shall 
respect  you  as  holding  the  place  of  that  great  lord  ;  and  in 
1  Tezozomoc,  Cronica  Mexicana,  cap.  cvm. 


140  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

all  the  land  I  rule  you  may  give  what  orders  you  wish,  and 
they  shall  be  obeyed,  and  everything  we  have  shall  be  put 
at  your  service.  And  since  you  are  thus  in  your  own 
heritage  and  your  own  house,  take  your  ease  and  rest  from 
the  fatigue  of  the  journey  and  the  wars  you  have  had  on 
the  way/  " 1 

Such  was  the  extraordinary  address  with  which  the 
Spaniard,  with  his  handful  of  men,  was  received  by  the 
most  powerful  war  chief  of  the  American  continent. 
It  confessed  complete  submission,  without  a  struggle.  But 
it  was  the  expression  of  a  general  sentiment.  When  the 
Spanish  ships  for  the  first  time  reached  the  Mexican  shores 
the  natives  kissed  their  sides  and  hailed  the  white  and 
bearded  strangers  from  the  east  as  gods,  sons  and  brothers 
of  Quetzalcoatl,  come  back  from  their  celestial  home  to 
claim  their  own  on  earth  and  bring  again  the  days  of 
Paradise ; 2  a  hope,  dryly  observes  Father  Mendieta,  which 

1  Cortes,  Carta  Segunda,  October  30th,  1520.     According  to  Bernal 
Diaz  Montezuma  referred  to  the  prediction  several  times.     Historia 
Verdadera  de  la  Conquista  de  la  Nueva  Esparto,,  cap.  LXXXIX,   xc. 
The  words  of  Montezuma  are  also  given  by  Father  Sahagun,  Historia 
de  Nueva  Espaila,  Lib.  xn,  cap.  xvr.     The  statement  of  Montezuma 
that  Quetzalcoatl  had  already  returned,  but  had  not  been  well  received 
by  the  people,  and  had,  therefore,  left  them  again,  is  very  interesting. 
It  is  a  part  of  the  Quetzalcoatl  myth  which  I  have  not  found  in  any 
other  Aztec  source.     But  it  distinctly  appears  in  the  Kiche  which  I  shall 
quote  on  a  later  page,  and  is  also  in  close  parallelism  with  the  hero- 
myths  of  Yucatan,  Peru  and  elsewhere.     It  is,  to  my  mind,  a  strong 
evidence  of  the  accuracy  of  Marina's  translation  of  Montezuma' s  words, 
and  the  fidelity  of  Cortes'  memory. 

2  Sahagun,  Historia,  Lib.  xn,  cap.  n. 


THE   PRESENTIMENT    EXPLAINED.  141 

the  poor  Indians  soon  gave  up  when  they  came  to  feel  the 
acts  of  their  visitors.1 

Such  presentiments  were  found  scattered  through 
America.  They  have  excited  the  suspicion  of  historians 
and  puzzled  antiquaries  to  explain.  But  their  interpre 
tation  is  simple  enough.  The  primitive  myth  of  the  sun 
which  had  sunk  but  should  rise  again,  had  in  the  lapse  of 
time  lost  its  peculiarly  religious  sense,  and  had  been  in 
part  taken  to  refer  to  past  historical  events.  The  Light-God 
had  become  merged  in  the  divine  culture  hero.  He  it  was  .  .. 
who  was  believed  to  have  gone  away,  not  to  die,  for  he  was 
immortal,  but  to  dwell  in  the  distant  east,  whence  in  the 
fullness  of  time  he  would  return. 

This  was  why  Montezuma  and  his  subjects  received  the 
whites  as  expected  guests,  and  quoted  to  them  prophecies 
of  their  coming.  The  Mayas  of  Yucatan,  the  Muyscas  of 
Bogota,  the  Qquichuas  of  Peru,  all  did  the  same,  and  all 
on  the  same  grounds — the  confident  hope  of  the  return  of 
the  Light-God  from  the  under  world. 

This  hope  is  an  integral  part  of  this  great  Myth  of 
Light,  in  whatever  part  of  the  world  we  find  it.  Osiris, 
though  murdered,  and  his  body  cast  into  "  the  unclean 
sea,"  will  come  again  from  the  eastern  shores.  Balder, 
slain  by  the  wiles  of  Loki,  is  not  dead  forever,  but  at  the 

1  "  Los  Indies  siempre  esperaron  que  se  habia  de  cumplir  aquella 
profecia  y  cuando  vieron  venir  a  los  cristianos  luego  los  llamaron 
dioses,  hijos,  y  hermanos  de  Quetzalcoatl,  aunque  despues  que 
conocieron  y  experiraentaron  sus  obras,  no  los  tuvieron  por 
celestiales."  Historia  Eclesiastica  Indiana,  Lib.  n,  cap.  x. 


142  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

appointed  time  will  appear  again  in  nobler  majesty.    So  in 
her  divine  fury  sings  the  prophetess  of  the  Voluspa : — 

11  Shall  arise  a  second  time, 
Earth  from  ocean,  green  and  fair, 
The  waters  ebb,  the  eagles  fly, 
Snatch  the  fish  from  out  the  flood. 

"  Once  again  the  wondrous  runes, 
Golden  tablets,  shall  be  found  ; 
Mystic  runes  by  ./Esir  carved, 
Gods  who  ruled  Fiolnir's  line. 

"  Then  shall  fields  unseeded  bear, 
111  shall  flee,  and  Balder  come, 
Dwell  in  Odin's  highest  hall, 
He  and  all  the  happy  gods. 

u  Outshines  the  sun  that  mighty  hall, 
Glitters  gold  on  heaven's  hill ; 
There  shall  god-like  princes  dwell, 
And  rule  for  aye  a  happy  world." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    HERO-GODS   OF   THE  MAYAS. 

CIVILIZATION  OF  THE  MAYAS — WHENCE  IT  ORIGINATED— DUPLICATE 
TRADITIONS. 

\  1 .     The  Culture  Hero  Itzamna. 

ITZAMNA  AS  RULER,  PRIEST  AND  TEACHER — As  CHIEF  GOD  AND  CREATOR 
OF  THE  WORLD — LAS  CASAS'  SUPPOSED  CHRIST  MYTH — THE  FOUR 
BACABS— ITZAMNA  AS  LORD  OF  THE  WINDS  AND  RAINS— THE 
SYMBOL  OF  THE  CROSS — As  LORD  OF  THE  LIGHT  AND  DAY — DERIVA 
TION  OF  His  VARIOUS  NAMES. 

§  2.     The  Culture  Hero  Kukulcan. 

KUKULCAN   AS    CONNECTED    WITH    THE      CALENDAR — MEANING     OF    THE 

NAME— THE  MYTH  OF  THE  FOUR  BROTHERS— KUKULCAN' s  HAPPY 
RULE  AND  MIRACULOUS  DISAPPEARANCE— RELATION  TO  QUET- 
ZALCOATL — AZTEC  AND  MAYA  MYTHOLOGY — KUKULCAN  A  MAYA 
DIVINITY — THE  EXPECTED  RETURN  OF  THE  HERO-GOBS— THE  MAYA 
PROPHECIES — THEIR  EXPLANATION. 

The  high-water  mark  of  ancient  American  civilization 
was  touched  by  the  Mayas,  the  race  who  inhabited  the 
peninsula  of  Yucatan  and  vicinity.  Its  members  extended 
to  the  Pacific  coast  and  included  the  tribes  of  Yera  Paz, 
Guatemala,  and  parts  of  Chiapas  and  Honduras,  and  had 
an  outlying  branch  in  the  hot  lowlands  watered  by  the 
River  Panuco,  north  of  Vera  Cruz.  In  all,  it  has  been 
estimated  that  they  numbered  at  the  time  of  the  Conquest 
perhaps  two  million  souls.  To  them  are  due  the  vast 
structures  of  Copan,  Palenque  and  Uxrnal,  and  they  alone 
possessed  a  mode  of  writing  which  rested  distinctly  on  a 
phonetic  basis. 

The  zenith  of  their  prosperity  had,  however,  been  passed 

143 


144  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

a  century  before  the  Spanish  conquerors  invaded  their 
soil.  A  large  part  of  the  peninsula  of  Yucatan  had  been 
for  generations  ruled  in  peace  by  a  confederation  of  several 
tribes,  whose  capital  city  was  Mayapan,  ten  leagues  south 
of  where  Me"rida  now  stands,  and  whose  ruins  still  cover 
many  hundred  acres  of  the  plain.  Somewhere  about  the 
year  1440  there  was  a  general  revolt  of  the  eastern  prov 
inces  ;  Mayapan  itself  was  assaulted  and  destroyed,  and  the 
Peninsula  was  divided  among  a  number  of  petty  chieftains. 

Such  was  its  political  condition  at  the  time  of  the  dis 
covery.  There  were  numerous  populous  cities,  well  built 
of  stone  and  mortar,  but  their  inhabitants  were  at  war  with 
each  other  and  devoid  of  unity  of  purpose.1  Hence  they 
fell  a  comparatively  easy  prey  to  the  conquistadors. 

Whence  came  this  civilization?  Was  it  an  offshoot  of 
that  of  the  Aztecs  ?  Or  did  it  produce  the  latter  ? 

These  interesting  questions  I  cannot  discuss,  in  full  at 
this  time.  All  that  concerns  my  present  purpose  is  to 
treat  of  them  so  far  as  they  are  connected  with  the  myth 
ology  of  the  race.  Incidentally,  however,  this  will  throw 
some  light  on  these  obscure  points,  and  at  any  rate  enable 
us  to  dismiss  certain  prevalent  assumptions  as  erroneous. 

One  of  these  is  the   notion  that  the  Toltecs  were  the 

1  Francisco  de  Montejo,  who  was  the  first  to  explore  Yucatan  (1528), 
has  left  strong  testimony  to  the  majesty  of  its  c'.ties  and  the  agricultu 
ral  industry  of  its  inhabitants.  He  writes  to  the  King,  in  the  report  of 
his  expedition:  "  La  tierra  es  muy  poblada  y  de  muy  grandes  ciuda- 
des  y  villas  muy  frescas.  Todos  los  pueblos  son  una  huerta  de  fru- 
tales."  Garta  d  su  Magestad,  13  Abril,  1529,  in  the  Colecdon  de 
Documentos  Ineditos  del  Archivo  de  Indicts,  Tom.  xin. 


MYTHS    OF    YUCATAN.  145 

originators  of    Yucatan  culture.      I    hope    I    have   said      ^ 
enough  in  the  previous  chapter  to  exorcise  permanently 
from   ancient  American    history    these   purely    imaginary 
beings.     They  have  served  long  enough  as  the  last  refuge 
of  ignorance. 

Let  us  rather  ask  what  accounts  the  Mayas  themselves 
gave  of  the  origin  of  their  arts  and  their  ancestors. 

Most  unfortunately  very  meagre  sources  of  information 
are  open  to  us.  We  have  no  Sahagun  to  report  to  us  the 
traditions  and  prayers  of  this  strange  people.  Only  frag 
ments  of  their  legends  and  hints  of  their  history  have  been 
saved,  almost  by  accident,  from  the  general  wreck  of  their 
civilization.  From  these,  however,  it  is  possible  to  piece 
together  enough  to  give  us  a  glimpse  of  their  original  form, 
and  we  shall  find  it  not  unlike  those  we  have  already 
reviewed. 

There  appear  to  have  been  two  distinct  cycles  of  myths 
in  Yucatan,  the  most  ancient  and  general  that  relating  to 
Itzamna,  the  second,  of  later  date  and  different  origin, 
referring  to  Kukulcan.  It  is  barely  possible  that  these 
may  be  different  versions  of  the  same ;  but  certainly  they 
were  regarded  as  distinct  by  the  natives  at  and  long  before 
the  time  of  the  Conquest. 

This  is  seen  in  the  account  they  gave  of  their  origin. 
They  did  not  pretend  to  be  autochthonous,  but  claimed 
that  their  ancestors  came  from  distant  regions,  in  two  bands. 
The  largest  and  most  ancient  immigration  was  from  the 
East,  across,  or  rather  through,  the  ocean — for  the  gods  had 


146  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

opened  twelve  paths  through  it — and  this  was  conducted 
by  the  mythical  civil izer  Itzamna.  The  second  band,  less 
in  number  and  later  in  time,  came  in,  from  the  West,  and 
^  with  them  was  Kukulcan.  The  former  was  called  the 
Great  Arrival ;  the  latter,  the  Less  Arrival.1 

§  1.     The  Culture  Hero,  Itzamnd. 

To  this  ancient  leader,  Itzamna,  the  nation  alluded  as 
their  guide,  instructor  and  civilizer.  It  was  he  who  gave 
names  to  all  the  rivers  and  divisions  of  land  ;  he  was  their 
first  priest,  and  taught  them  the  proper  rites  wherewith  to 
please  the  gods  and  appease  their  ill-will ;  he  was  the 
patron  of  the  healers  and  diviners,  aud  had  disclosed  to 
them  the  mysterious  virtues  of  plants ;  in  the  month  Uo 
they  assembled  and  made  new  fire  and  burned  to  him 
incense,  and  having  cleansed  their  books  with  water  drawn 
from  a  fountain  from  which  no  woman  had  ever  drunk,  the 
most  learned  of  the  sages  opened  the  volumes  to  forecast 
the  character  of  the  coming  year. 

.  It   was  Itzamna  who  first    invented  the   characters  or 

letters  in  which  the  Mayas  wrote  their  numerous  books, 

1  Cogolludo  contradicts  himself  in  describing  these  events  ;  saying 
first  that  the  greater  band  came  from  the  West,  but  later  in  the  same 
chapter  corrects  himself,  and  criticizes  Father  Lizana  for  having 
committed  the  same  error.  Cogolludo' s  authority  was  the  original 
MSS.  of  Gaspar  Antonio,  an  educated  native,  of  royal  lineage,  who 
wrote  in  1582.  Historia  de  Yucatan,  Lib.  iv,  caps,  in,  iv.  Lizana  gives 
the  names  of  these  arrivals  as  Nohtiial  and  Genial.  These  words  are 
badly  mutilated.  They  should  read  noh  emel  (noh,  great,  emel, 
descent,  arrival)  and  zeo,  emel  (oeo,  small).  Landa  supports  the 
position  of  Cogolludo.  Relation  de  las  Cosas  de  Yucatan,  p.  28.  It 
is  he  who  speaks  of  the  "  doce  caminos  por  el  mar." 


ITZAMNA    AS   RULER.  147 

and  which  they  carved  in  such-  profusion  on  the  stone  and 
wood  of  their  edifices.  He  also  devised  their  calendar,  one 
more  perfect  even  than  that  of  the  Mexicans,  though  in  a 
general  way  similar  to  it.1 

As  city-builder  and  king,  his  history  is  intimately 
associated  with  the  noble  edifices  of  Itzamal,  which  he  laid 
out  and  constructed,  and  over  which  he  ruled,  enacting  wise 
laws  and  extending  the  power  and  happiness  of  his  people 
for  an  indefinite  period. 

Thus  Itzamna,  regarded  as  ruler,  priest  and  teacher,  was, 
no  doubt,  spoken  of  as  an  historical  personage,  and  is  so  put 
down  by  various  historians,,  even  to  the  most  recent.2  But 
another  form  in  which  he  appears  proves  him  to  have  been 
an  incarnation  of  deity,  and  carries  his  history  from  earth 
to  heaven.  This  is  shown  in  the  very  earliest  account  we 
have  of  the  Maya  mythology. 

1  The  authorities  on  this  phase  of  Itzamna' s  character  are  Cogolludo, 
Historia  de  Yucatan,  Lib.  iv,  cap.  in  ;  Landa,  Cosas  de  Yucatan,  pp. 
285,  289,  and  Beltran  de  Santa  Rosa  Maria,  Arte  del  Idioma  Maya,  p. 
16.     The  latter  has  a  particularly  valuable  extract  from  the  now  lost 
Maya  Dictionary  of  F.  Gabriel  de  San  Buenaventura.     "El   primero 
que  hallo  las  letras  de  la  lengua  Maya  e  hizo  el  compute  de  los  anos-, 
meses  y  edades,  y  lo  enseno  todo  a  los  Indios  de  esta  Provincia,  fue 
un  Indio  llamado  Kinchahau,  y  por  otro  nombre  Tzamna.     Noticia 
que  debemos  a  dicho  R.  F.  Gabriel,  y  trae  en  su  Calepino,  lit.  K.  verb. 
Kinchahau,  fol.  390,  vuelt." 

2  Crescencio     Carrillo,    Historia  Antigua    de    Yucatan,    p.     144, 
Merida,  1881.     Though  obliged  to  differ  on  many   points  with  this 
indefatigable  archaeologist,  I  must  not  omit  to  state  my  appreciation 
and   respect  for   his   earnest  interest  in  the  language  and  antiquities 
of  his  country.     I  know  of  no  other  Yucatecan  who  has  equal  enthu 
siasm  or  so  just  an  estimate  of  the  antiquarian  riches  of  his  native  land. 


148  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

For  this  account  we  are  indebted  to  the  celebrated  Las 
Casas,  the  "  Apostle  of  the  Indians."  In  1545  he  sent  a 
certain  priest,  Francisco  Hernandez  by  name,  into  the  pe 
ninsula  as  a  missionary.  Hernandez  had  already  traversed 
it  as  chaplain  to  Montejo's  expedition,  in  1528,  and  was  to 
some  degree  familiar  with  the  Maya  tongue.  After  nearly 
a  year  spent  among  the  natives  he  forwarded  a  report  to 
Las  Casas,  in  which,  among  other  matters,  he  noted  a  resem 
blance  which  seemed  to  exist  between  the  myths  recounted 
by  the  Maya  priests  and  the  Christian  dogmas.  They  told 
him  that  the  highest  deity  they  worshiped  was  Izona, 
who  had  made  men  and  all  things.  To  him  was  born  a  son, 
named  Bacab  or  Bacabab,  by  a  virgin,  Chibilias,  whose 
mother  was  Ixchel.  Bacab  was  slain  by  a  certain  Eopuco, 
on  the  day  called  hemix,  but  after  three  days  rose  from  the 
dead  and  ascended  into  heaven.  The  Holy  Ghost  was 
represented  by  Echuac,  who  furnished  the  world  with  all 
things  necessary  to  man's  life  and  comfort.  Asked  what 
Bacab  meant,  they  replied,  "  the  Son  of  the  Great  Father," 
and  Echuac  they  translated  by  "  the  merchant." ] 

This  is  the  story  that  a  modern  writer  says,  "  ought  to 
be  repudiated  without  question."2  But  I  think  not.  It  is 
not  difficult  to  restore  these  names  to  their  correct  forms, 
and  then  the  fancied  resemblance  to  Christian  theology 
disappears,  while  the  character  of  the  original  myth  becomes 
apparent. 

1  Las  Casas,  Historia  Apologetica  de  las  Indias  Occidentals,  cap. 

CXXIII. 

2  John  T.  Short,  The  North  Americans  of  Antiquity ,  p.  231. 


SUPPOSED    CHRIST    MYTH.  149 

• 

Cogolludo  long  since  justly  construed  Izona  as  a  mis 
reading  for  Izamna.  Bacabab  is  the  plural  form  of  Baeab, 
and  shows  that  the  sons  were  several.  We  are  well 
acquainted  with  the  Bacabab.  Bishop  Landa  tells  us  all  * 
about  them.  They  were  four  in  number,  four  gigantic 
brothers,  who  supported  the  four  corners  of  the  heavens, 
who  blew  the  four  winds  from  the  four  cardinal  points,  and 
who  presided  over  the  four  Dominical  signs  of  the  Calendar. 
As  each  year  in  the  Calendar  was  supposed  to  be  under  the 
influence  of  one  or  the  other  of  these  brothers,  one  Bacab 
was  said  to  die  at  the  close  of  the  year ;  and  after  the 
11  nameless  "  or  intercalary  days  had  passed  the  next  Bacab 
would  live;  and  as  each  computation  of  the  year  began  on 
the  day  Imix,  which  was  the  third  before  the  close  of  the 
Maya  week,  this  was  said  figuratively  to  be  the  day  of  death 
of  the  Bacab  of  that  year.  And  whereas  three  (or  four) 
days  later  a  new  year  began,  with  another  Bacab,  the  one 
was  said  to  have  died  and  risen  again. 

The  myth  further  relates  that  the  Bacabs  were  sons 
of  Ix-chel.  She  was  the  Goddess  of  the  Rainbow,  which  M 
her  name  signifies.  She  was  likewise  believed  to  be  the 
guardian  of  women  in  childbirth,  and  one  of  the  patrons  of 
the  art  of  medicine.  The  early  historians,  Roman  and 
Landa,  also  associate  her  with  Itzamna,1  thus  verifying 

the  legend  recorded  by  Hernandez. 

1  Fray  Hieronimo  Roman,  De  la  Republica  de  las  Tndias  Occiden- 
tales,  Lib.  n,  cap.  xv ;  Diego  de  Landa,  Relacion  de  las  Cosas  de 
Yucatan,  p.  288.  Cogolludo  also  mentions  Ix  chel,  Historia  de 
Yucatan,  Lib.  iv,  cap.  vi.  The  word  in  Maya  for  rainbow  is  chel  or 
cheel ;  ix  is  the  feminine  prefix,  which  also  changes  the  noun  from  the 
inanimate  to  the  animate  sense. 


150  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

• 

That  the  Rainbow  should  be  personified  as  wife  of  the 
Light-God  and  mother  of  the  rain-gods,  is  an  idea  strictly 
in  accordance  with  the  course  of  mythological  thought  in 
the  red  race,  and  is  founded  on  natural  relations  too  evi 
dent  to  be  misconstrued.  The  rainbow  is  never  seen  but 
during  a  shower,  and  while  the  sun  is  shining;  hence  it  is 
always  associated  with  these  two  meteorological  phenomena. 

I  may  quote  in  comparison  the  rainbow  myth  of  the 
Moxos  of  South  America.  They  held  it  to  be  the  wife  of 
Arama,  their  god  of  light,  and  her  duty  was  to  pour  the 
refreshing  rains  on  the  soil  parched  by  the  glaring  eye  of 
her  mighty  spouse.  Hence  they  looked  upon  her  as 
goddess  of  waters,  of  trees  and  plants,  and  of  fertility  in 
general.1 

Or  we  may  take  the  Muyscas,  a  cultivated  and  interest 
ing  nation  who  dwelt  on  the  lofty  plateau  where  Bogota  is 
situated.  They  worshiped  the  Rainbow  under  the  name 
Cachaviva  and  personified  it  as  a  goddess,  who  took  partic 
ular  care  of  those  sick  with  fevers  and  of  women  in  childbirth . 
She  was  also  closely  associated  in  their  myth  with  their 
culture-hero  Bochica,  the  story  being  that  on  one  occasion, 
when  an  ill-natured  divinity  had  inundated  the  plain  of 

1  "  Fabula,  ridicula  adspersam  superstitione,  habebant  de  iride.  A- 
jebant  illam  esse  Aramam  feminam,  soils  conjugem,  cujus  officiurn 
sit  terras  a  viro  exustas  imbrium  beneficio  recreare.  Cum  enim  vi- 
derent  arcum  ilium  non  nisi  pluvio  tempore  in  conspectu  venire,  et 
tune  arborum  cacu minibus  velut  insidere,  persuadebant  sibi  aquarum 
ilium  esse  Pra3sidem,  arboresque  proceras  omnes  sua  in  tutela  habere." 
Franc.  Xav. ,  Eder,  Descriptio  Provincice  Moxitarum  in  Regno  Peruano 
p.  249  (Budas,  1791). 


IXCHEL,   THE    RAINBOW.  151 

Bogota,  Bochica  appeared  to  the  distressed  inhabitants  in 
company  with  Cuehaviva,  and  cleaving  the  mountains  with 
a  blow  of  his  golden  sceptre,  opened  a  passage  for  the 
waters  into  the  valley  below.1 

As  goddess  of  the  fertilizing  showers,  of  growth  and  life, 
it  is  easily  seen  how  Ixchel  came  to  be  the  deity  both  of 
women  in  childbirth  and  of  the  medical  art,  a  Juno  Sospita 
as  well  as  a  Juno  Lucina. 

The  statement  is  also  significant,  that  the  Bacabs  were 
supposed  to  be  the  victims  of  Ah-puchah,  the  Despoiler  or 
.Destroyer,2  though  the  precise  import  of  that  character  in 
the  mythical  drama  is  left  uncertain.3 

The  supposed  Holy  Ghost,  Echuac,  properly  Ah-Kiuic, 
Master  of  the  Market,  was  the  god  of  the  merchants  and 
the  cacao  plantations.  He  formed  a  triad  with  two  other 
gods,  Chac,  one  of  the  rain  gods,  and  Hobnel,  also  a  god  of 

1  E.   Uricoechea,  Gramatica  de  la  Lengua  Chibcha,  Introd.,  p.  xx. 
The  similarity  of  these  to  the  Biblical  account  is  not  to   be   attributed 
to  borrowing  from  the  latter,  but  simply  that  it,  as  they,  are  both  the 
mythological  expressions  of  the  same  natural  phenomenon.     In  Norse 
mythology,  Freya  is  the  rainbow  goddess.  She  wears  the  bow  as  a  neck 
lace  or  girdle.     It  was  hammered  out  for  her  by  four  dwarfs,  the  four 
winds  from  the  cardinal  points,  and  Odin  seeks   to   get   it   from   her. 
Schwartz,  Ursprung  der  Mythologie,  S.  117. 

2  Eopuco   I  take  to  be  from  the  verb  pitch  or  puk,  to  melt,   to  dis 
solve,  to  shell  corn  from  the  cob,  to  spoil  ;  hence  puk,  spoiled,  rotten, 
podrida,  and  possibly  ppuch,  to  flog,  to  beat.     The  prefix  ah,  signifies 
one  who  practices  or  is  skilled  in  the  action  which  the  verb  denotes. 

3  The  mother  of  the  Bacabs  is  given  in  the  myth   as    Chibilias   (or 
Chibirias,  but  there  is  no  r  in  the  Maya  alphabet).     Cogolludo  men 
tions  a  goddess  Ix  chebel  yax,  one  of  whose  functions  was  to  preside 
over  drawing  and  painting.     The  name  is  from  chebel,  the  brush  used 
in  these  arts.     But  the  connection  is  obscure. 


152  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

the  food  supply.  To  this  triad  travelers,  on  stopping  for 
the  night,  set  'on  end  three  stones  and  placed  in  front  of 
them  three  flat  stones,  on  which  incense  was  burned. 
At  their  festival  in  the  month  Muan  precisely  three  cups 
of  native  wine  (mead)  were  drained  by  each  person 
present.1 

The  description  of  some  such  rites  as  these  is,  no  doubt, 
what  led  the  worthy  Hernandez  to  suppose  that  the  Mayas 
had  Trinitarian  doctrines.  When  they  said  that  the  god 
of  the  merchants  and  planters  supplied  the  wants  of  men 
and  furnished  the  world  with  desirable  things,  it  was  but  a 
slightly  figurative  way  of  stating  a  simple  truth. 

The  four  Bacabs  are  called  by  Cogolludo  "the  gods  of 
the  winds."  Each  was  identified  with  a  particular  color 
and  a  certain  cardinal  point.  The  first  was  that  of  the 
South.  He  was  called  Hobnil,  the  Belly;  his  color  was 
yellow,  which,  as  that  of  the  ripe  ears,  was  regarded  as  a 
favorable  and  promising  hue ;  the  augury  of  his  year  was 
propitious,  and  it  was  said  of  him,  referring  to  some  myth 
now  lost,  that  he  had  never  sinned  as  had  his  brothers.  He 
answered  to  the  day  Kan*  which  was  the  first  of  the  Maya 
week  of  thirteen  days.2  The  remaining  Bacabs  were  the 

1  Landa,  Relation  de  las  Cosas  de  Yucatan,  pp.  156,  260. 

2  Lancia,  Relation,  pp.  208,  211,  etc.     Hobnil  is  the  ordinary  word 
for  belly,  stomach,  from  hobol,  hollow.    Figuratively,  in  these  dialects 
it  meant  subsistence,  life,  as  we  use  in  both  these  senses  ihe  word 
u  vitals."     Among  the  Kiches  of  Guatemala,  a  tribe  of  Maya  stock, 

^  we  find,  as  terms  applied  to  their  highest  divinity,  u  pam  uleu,  u  pam 
i^     cah,  literally  Belly  of  the  Earth,  Belly  of  the  Sky,  meaning  that  by 
which  earth  and  sky  exist.     Popol  Vuh,  p.  332. 


NAMES    OF    ITZAMNA.  153 

Red,  assigned  to  the  East,  the  White,  to  the  North,  and  the 
Black,  to  the  West,  and  the  winds  and  rains  from  those 
directions  were  believed  to  be  under  the  charge  of  these 
giant  caryatides. 

Their  close  relation  with  Itzamna  is  evidenced,  not  only 
in  the  fragmentary  myth  preserved  by  Hernandez,  but 
quite  amply  in  the  descriptions  of  the  rites  at  the  close 
of  each  year  and  in  the  various  festivals  during  the  year, 
as  narrated  by  Bishop  Landa.  Thus  at  the  termina 
tion  of  the  year,  along  with  the  sacrifices  to  the  Bacab  of 
the  year  were  others  to  Itzamna,  either  under  his  surname 
Canil,  which  has  various  meanings,1  or  as  Kinich-ahau, 
Lord  of  the  Eye  of  the  Day,2  or  Yax-coc-ahmut,  the  first 
to  know  and  hear  of  events,3  or  finally  as  Uac-metun-ahau, 
Lord  of  the  Wheel  of  the  Months.4 

The  word  bacab  means  "erected,"  "setup."5     It  was 

lCan,  of  which  the  "determinative"  form  is  canil,  may  mean  a 
serpent,  or  the  yellow  one,  or  the  strong  one,  or  he  who  gives  gifts,  or 
the  converser. 

2  Kin,  the  day  ;  ich,  eye  ;  ahau,  lord. 

3  Yax,  first ;  coc,  which  means  literally  deaf,  and  hence  to  listen  at 
tentively  (whence  the  name  Cocomes,  for  the  ancient  royal  family  of 
Chichen  Itza,  an  appellation  correctly  translated   "  escuchadores") 
and   ah-mut,  master  of  the  news,  mut  meaning  news,  good  or  bad. 

4  Uac,  the  months,  is  a  rare  and  now  obsolete  form  of  the  plural  of  w, 
month,  llUac,  i.  e.  w,  por  meses  y  habla  de  tiempo  pasado."     Dic- 
cionano  Maya-Espanol  del  Convento  de  Motul,  MS.     Metun  (Landa, 
mitun)  is  from  met,  a  wheel.     The  calendars,  both   in  Yucatan  and 
Mexico,  were  represented  as  a  wheel. 

5 The  Diccionario  Maya  del  Convento  de  Motul,  MS.,  the  only  dic 
tionary  in  which  I  find  the  exact  word,  translates  bacab  by  "  represen- 
taute,  juglar,  bufon."  This  is  no  doubt  a  late  meaning  taken  from  the 


154  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

applied  to  the  Bacabs  because  they  were  imagined  to  be 
enormous  giants,  standing  like  pillars  at  the  four  corners  of 
/the  earth,  supporting  the  heavens.  In  this  sense  they  were 
,  /  also  called  chac,  the  giants,  as  the  rain  senders.  They  were 
also  the  gods  of  fertility  and  abundance,  who  watered  the 
crops,  and  on  whose  favor  depended  the  return  of  the  har 
vests.  They  presided  over  the  streams  and  wells,  and  were 
the  divinities  whose  might  is  manifested  in  the  thunder  and 
lightning,  gods  of  the  storms,  as  well  as  of  the  gentle 
showers.1  The  festival  to  these  gods  of  the  harvest  was  in 
the  month  Mae,  which  occurred  in  the  early  spring.  In 
this  ceremony,  Itzamna  was  also  worshiped  as  the  leader  of 
the  Bacabs,  and  an  important  rite  called  "  the  extinction  of 
the  fire  "  was  performed.  "  The  object  of  these  sacrifices 
and  this  festival,"  writes  Bishop  Landa,  "  was  to  secure  an 
abundance  of  water  for  their  crops."' 

These  four  Chac  or  Bicabab  were  worshiped  under  the 

scenic  representations  of  the  supposed  doings  of  the  gods  in  the  ritual 
•ceremonies.  The  proper  form  of  the  word  is  uacab  or  vacab,  which 
the  dictionary  mentioned  renders  il  cosa  que  esta  en  pie  6  enhiesta 
delante  de  otra."  The  change  from  the  initial  v  to  b  is  quite  com 
mon,  as  may  be  .seen  by  comparing  the  two  letters  in  Pio  Perez's  Die- 
cionario  de  la  Lengua  Maya,  e.  g.  balak,  the  revolution  of  a  wheel, 
from  ualak,  to  turn,  to  revolve. 

1  The   entries  in  the   Diccionario  Maya-Espartol  del  Convento  de 
Motul,  MS.,  are  as  follows  : — 

u  Chaac :  gigante,  hombre  de  grande  estatura. 

"  Chaac  :  fue  un  hombre  asi  grande  que  enseiio  la  agricultura,  al  cual 
tuvieron  despues  por  Dios  de  los  panes,  del  agua,  de  los  truenos  y  re- 
lampagos.  Y  asi  se  dice,  hao  chaac,  el  rayo ;  u  lemba  chaac  el  relam  - 
pago  ;  u  pec  chaac,  el  trueno,"  etc. 

2  Relation,  etc.,  p.  255. 


THE   CROSS   SYMBOL.  155 

symbol  of  the  cross,  the  four  arms  of  which  represented  the 
four  cardinal  points.  Both  in  language  and  religious  art, 
this  was  regarded  as  a  tree.  In  the  Maya  tongue  it  was 
called  "the  tree  of  bread/7  or  "the  tree  of  life."1  The 
celebrated  cross  of  Palenque  is  one  of  its  representations,  as 
I  believe  I  was  the  first  to  point  out,  and  has  now  been 
generally  acknowledged  to  be  correct.2  There  was  another 
such  cross,  about  eight  feet  high,  in  a  temple  on  the  island  of 
Cozumel.  This  was  worshiped  as  "  the  god  of  rain,"  or 
more  correctly,  as  the  symbol  of  the  four  rain  gods,  the 
Bacabs.  In  periods  of  drought  offerings  were  made  to  it 
of  birds  (symbols  of  the  winds)  and  it  was  sprinkled  with 
water.  "  When  this  had  been  done,"  adds  the  historian, 
"they  felt  certain  that  the  rains  would  promptly  fall."3 

1  The  Maya  word  is  uahomche,  from  uah,  originally  the  tortilla  or 
maize  cake,  now  used  for  bread  generally.     It  is  also  current  in  the 
sense  of  life  ("  la  vida  en  cierta  manera,"  Diccionario  Maya  Espanol 
del  Convento  de  Motul,  MS.).     Che  is  the  generic  word  for  tree.     I 
cannot  find  any  particular  tree  called  Homche.     Horn  was  the  name 
applied  to   a   wind   instrument,  a   sort  of  trumpet.      In  the   Codex 
TroanOj  Plates  xxv,  xxvn,  xxxiv,  it  is  represented  in  use.     The  four 
Bacabs   were  probably   imagined  to   blow  the  winds  from  the  four 
corners  of  the  earth  through  such  instruments.     A  similar  represent 
ation  is  given  in  the  Codex  Borgianus,  Plate  xm,  in  Kingsborough. 
As  the  Chac  was  the  god  of  bread,  Dios  de  los  panes,  so  the  cross  was 
the  tree  of  bread. 

2  See  the   Myths  of  the  Neri  World,  p.  95  (1st   ed.,  New  York, 
1868).     This  explanation  has  since  been  adopted  by  Dr.  Carl  Schultz- 
Sellack,  although  he  omits  to  state  whence  he  derived  M.     His  article 
is  entitled  Die  Amerikanischen  Goiter  der  Vier  Weltgegenden  mid  ihre 
Tempel  in  Palenque  in  the  Zeitschrift  fur  Ethnologie,  1879.     Compare 
also  Charles  Rau,  The  Palenque  Tablet,  p.  44  (Washington,  1879). 

"  Al  pie  de  aquella  misma  torre  estaba  im  cercado  de  piedra  y  cal, 
muy  bien  lucido  y  almenado,  en  medio  del  cual  habia  una  cruz  de  cal 


156  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

Each  of  the  four  Bacabs  was  also  called  Acantun,  which 
means  "  a  stone  set  up,"  such  a  stone  being  erected  and 
painted  of  the  color  sacred  to  the  cardinal  point  that  the 
Bacab  represented.1  Some  of  these  stones  are  still  found 
among  the  ruins  of  Yucatecan  cities,  and  are  to  this  day 
connected  by  the  natives  with  reproductive  signs.2  It  is 
probable,  however,  that  actual  phallic  worship  was  not 
customary  in  Yucatan.  The  Bacabs  and  Itzamna  were 
closely  related  to  ideas  of  fertility  and  reproduction,  indeed, 
but  it  appears  to  have  been  especially  as  gods  of  the  rains, 
the  harvests,  and  the  food  supply  generally.  The  Spanish 
writers  were  eager  to  discover  all  the  depravity  possible  in 
the  religion  of  the  natives,  and  they  certainly  would  not 
have  missed  such  an  opportunity  for  their  tirades,  had  it 
existed.  As  it  is,  the  references  to  it  are  not  many,  and  not 
clear. 

From  what  I  have  now  presented  we  see  that  Itzamna 

tan  alta  como  diez  palmos,  &  la  cual  tenian  y  adoraban  por  dios  de  la 
lluvia,  porque  quando  no  llovia  y  habia  falta  de  agua,  iban  a  ella  en 
procesion  y  muy  devotos  ;  ofrescianle  codornices  sacrificadas  por 
aplacarle  la  ira  y  enojo  con  que  ellos  tenia  6  mostraba  tener,  con  la 
sangre  de  aquella  simple  avezica."  Francisco  Lopez  de  Gornara, 
Conquistade  Mejico,  p.  305  (Ed.  Paris,  1852). 

1  The  feasts  of  the  Bacabs  Acantun  are  described  in  Landa's  work. 
The  name  he  does  not  explain.     I  take  it  to  be  acaan,  past  participle 
of  acted,  to  erect,  and  tun,  stone.     But  it  may  have  another  meaning. 
The  word  acara  .meant  wine,  or  rather,  mead,  the  intoxicating  hydromel 
the  natives  manufactured.     The  god  of  this  drink  also  bore  the  name 
Acan    ("ACAX;  el   Dios   del  vino   que   es   Baco,"    Diccionario   del 
Convento  de  Motul,  MS.).     It  would   be   quite   appropriate  for  the 
Bacabs  to  be  gods  of  wine. 

2  Stephens,  Travels  in  Yucatan,  Vol.  i,  p.  434. 


ITZAMNA   AS   LIGHT-GOD.  157 


came  from  the  distant  east,  beyond  the  ocean  marge ;  that 


he  was  the  teacher  of  arts  and  agriculture  ;  that  he,  more 
over,  as  a  divinity,  ruled  the  winds  and  rains,  and  sent  at 
his  will  harvests  and  prosperity.  Can  we  identify  him 
further  with  that  personification  of  Light  which,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  was  the  dominant  figure  in  other 
American  mythologies  ? 

This  seems  indicated  by  his  names  and  titles.  They  were 
many,  some  of  which  I  have  already  analyzed.  That  by 
which  he  was  best  known  was  Itzamnd,  a  word  of  contested 
meaning  but  which  contains  the  same  radicals  as  the 
words  for  the  morning  and  the  dawn,1  and  points  to  his 
identification  with  the  grand  central  fact  at  the  basis  of  all 
these  mythologies,  the  welcome  advent  of  the  light  in  the 
eastern  horizon  after  the  gloom  of  the  night. 

1  Some  have  derived  Itzamua  from  i,  grandson  by  a  son,  used  only 
by  a  female;  zamal,  morning,  morrow,  from  zam,  before,  early, 
related  to  yam,  first,  whence  also  zamalzam,  the  dawn,  the  aurora  ; 
and  nd,  mother.  Without  the  accent  na  means  house.  Crescencio 
Carrillo  prefers  the  derivation  from  itz,  anything  that  trickles  in  drops, 
as  gum  from  a  tree,  rain  or  dew  from  the  sky,  milk  from  teats, 
and  semen  ("leche  de  amor,"  Dice,  de  Motul,  MS.).  He  says: 
"  Itzamna,  esto  es,  rocio  diario,  6  sustancia  cuotidiana  del  cielo,  es  el 
mismo  nombre  del  fundador  (de  Itzamal)."  Historia  Antigua  de 
Yucatan,  p.  145.  (Merida,  1881.)  This  does  not  explain  the  last 
syllable,  nd,  which  is  always  strongly  accented.  It  is  said  that  Itzamna 
spoke  of  himself  only  in  the  words  Itz  en  caan,  UI  am  that  which 
trickles  from  the  sky  ;  "  Itz  en  muyal,  "  I  am  that  which  trickles  from 
the  clouds."  This  plainly  refers  to  his  character  as  a  rain  god. 
Lizana,  Historia  de  Yucatan,  Lib.  i,  cap.  4.  If  a  compound  of  itz, 
amal,  nd,  the  name,  could  be  translated,  ''  the  milk  of  the  mother  of 
the  morning,"  or  of  the  dawn,  i.  e.,  the  dew;  while  i,  zamal,  nd 
would  be  ''son  of  the  mother  of  the  morning." 


158  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

His  next  most  frequent  title  was  Kin-ieh-ahau,  which 
may  be  '  translated  either,  "  Lord  of  the  Sun's  Face/' 
or,  "  The  Lord,  the  Eye  of  the  Day." 1  As  such  he  was 
the  deity  who  presided  in  the  Sun's  disk  and  shot  forth  his 
scorching  rays.  There  was  a  temple  at  Itzamal  consecrated 
to  him  as  Kin-ieh-kak-mo,  "  the  Eye  of  the  Day,  the  Bird 
of  Fire."2  In  a  time  of  pestilence  the  people  resorted  to 
this  temple,  and  at  high  noon  a  sacrifice  was  spread  upon 
the  altar.  The  moment  the  sun  reached  the  zenith,  a  bird 
of  brilliant  plumage,  but  which,  in  fact,  was  nothing  else 
than  a  fiery  flame  shot  from  the  sun,  descended  and  consumed 
the  offering  in  the  sight  of  all.  At  Campeche  he  had  a 
temple,  as  Kin-ich-ahau-haban,  "  the  Lord  of  the  Sun's 
face,  the  Hunter"  where  the  rites  were  sanguinary.3 

Another  temple  at  Itzamal  was  consecrated  to  him,  under 
one  of  his  names,  Kabii,  He  of  the  Lucky  Hand,4  and  the 

1  Cogolludo,   who  makes  a  distinction   between   Kinich-ahau  and 
Itzamna  (Hist,  de  Yucatan,  Lib.  iv,  cap.  vm),  may  be  corrected  by 
Landa  and  Buenaventura,  whom  I  have  already  quoted. 

2  Kin,  the  sun,  the  day;  ich,  the  face,  but  generally  the  eye  or  eyes  ; 
kak,  fire  ;  mo,  the  brilliant  plumaged,  sacred  bird,  the  ara  or  guaca- 
maya,  the  red  macaw.     This  was  adopted  as  the  title  of  the  ruler  of 
Itzamal,  as  we  learn  from  the  Chronicle  of  Chichen  Itza — u  Ho  ahau 
paxci  u  call  yahau  ah  Itzmal  Kinich  Kakmo  " — "  In  the  fifth  Age  the 
town  (of  Chichen  Itza)   was  destroyed  by  King  Kinich  Kakmo,  o* 
Itzamal."     El  Libro  de  Chiton  Balam  de  Chumayel,  MS. 

3  Cogolludo,  Historia  de  Yucatan,  Lib.  iv,  cap.  vm. 

4  Lizana  says :   "  Se  llama  y  nombra  Kab-ul  que  quiere  decir  mano 
obradora,"    and   all   writers   have   followed   him,  although   no  such 
meaning  can  be  made  out  of  the  name  thus  written.     The  proper  word 
is  kabil,  which  is  defined  in  the  Diccionario  del  Convento  de  Motul, 
MS.,  "el  que  tiene  buena  mano  para  sembrar,  6  para  poner  colmenas, 
etc."     Landa  also  gives  this  orthography,  Relation,  p.  216. 


KUKULCAN.  159 

X 

sick  were  brought  there,  as  it  was  said  that  he  had  cured 
many  by  merely  touching  them.  This  fane  was  extremely 
popular,  and  to  it  pilgrimages  were  made  from  even  such 
remote  regions  as  Tabasco,  Guatemala  and  Chiapas.  To 
accommodate  the  pilgrims  four  paved  roads  had  been 
constructed,  to  the  North,  South,  East  and  West,  straight 
toward  the  quarters  of  the  four  winds. 

§  2.     The  Culture  Hero,  Kukulcan. 

The  second  important  hero-myth  of  the  Mayas  was  that 
about  Kukulcan.  This  is  in  no  way  connected  with  that 
of  Itzamna,  and  is  probably  later  in  date,  and  less  national 
in  character.  The  first  reference  to  it  we  also  owe  to 
Father  Francisco  Hernandez,  whom  I  have  already  quoted, 
and  who  reported  it  to  Bishop  Las  Casas  in  1545.  His 
words  clearly  indicate  that  we  have  here  to  do  with  a  myth 
relating  to  the  formation  of  the  calendar,  an  opinion  which 
can  likewise  be  supported  from  other  sources. 

The  natives  affirmed,  says  Las  Casas,  that  in  ancient 
times  there  came  to  that  land  twenty  men,  the  chief  of 
whom  was  called  "Cocolcan,"  and  him  they  spoke  of  as 
the  god  of  fevers  or  agues,  two  of  the  others  as  gods  of 
fishing,  another  two  as  the  gods  of  farms  and  fields,  another 
was  the  thunder  god,  etc.  They  wore  flowing  robes  and 
sandals  on  their  feet,  they  had  long  beards,  and  their  heads 
were  bare.  They  ordered  that  the  people  should  confess 
and  fast,  and  some  of  the  natives  fasted  on  Fridays,  because 
on  that  day  the  god  Bacab  died;  and  the  name  of  that  day 


160  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

in  their  language  is  himix,  which  they  especially  honor  and 
hold  in  reverence  as  the  day  of  the  death  of  Bacab.1 

In  the  manuscript  of  Hernandez,  which  Las  Casas 
had  before  him  whe.n  he  was  writing  his  Apologetical 
History,  the  names  of  all  the  twenty  were  given ;  but 
unfortunately  for  antiquarian  research,  the  good  bishop 
excuses  himself  from  quoting  them,  on  account  of  their 
barbarous  appearance.  I  have  little  doubt,  however,  that 
had  he  done  so,  we  should  find  them  to  be  the  names  of  the 
twenty  days  of  the  native  calendar  month.  These  are  the 
visitors  who  come,  one  every  morning,  with  flowing  robes, 
full  beard  and  hair,  and  bring  with  them  our  good  or  bad 
luck — whatever  the  day  brings  forth.  Hernandez  made 
the  same  mistake  as  did  Father  Francisco  de  Bobadilla, 
when  he  inquired  of  the  Nicaraguans  the  names  of  their 
gods,  and  they  gave  him  those  of  the  twenty  days  of  the 
month.2  Each  day  was,  indeed,  personified  by  these 
nations,  and  supposed  to  be  at  once  a  deity  and  a  date, 
favorable  or  unfavorable  to  fishing  or  hunting,  planting 
or  fighting,  as  the  case  might  be. 

Kukulcan  seems,  therefore,  to  have  stood  in  the   same 

J        relation  in  Yucatan  to  the  other  divinities  of  the  days  as 

did  Votan  in  Chiapa  and  Quetzalcoatl  Ce  Acatl  inCholula. 

His  name  has  usually  been  supposed  to  be  a  compound, 
meaning  "  a  serpent  adorned  with  feathers/'  but  there  are 
no  words  in  the  Maya  language  to  justify  such  a  rendering. 

1  Las  Casas,  Historia  Apologetica  de  las  Indicts  Occidentals,  cap. 

CXXIII. 

2  Oviedo,  Historia  General  de  las  Indicts,  Lib.  XLII,  cap.  in. 


MEANING    OF    KUKULCAN.  161 

There  is  some  variation  in  its  orthography,  and  its  original 
pronunciation  may  possibly  be  lost;  but  if  we  adopt  as 
correct  the  spelling  which  I  have  given  above,  of  which, 
however,  I  have  some  doubts,  then  it  means,  u  The  God 
of  the  Mighty  Speech.7'1 

The  reference  probably  was  to  the  fame  of  this  divinity 
as  an  oracle,  as  connected  with  the  calendar.  But  it  is  true 
that  the  name  could  with  equal  correctness  be  translated 
"  The  God,  the  Mighty  Serpent,"  for  can  is  a  homonym 
with  these  and  other  meanings,  and  we  are  without 
positive  proof  which  was  intended. 

To  bring  Kukulcan  into  closer  relations  with  other 
American  hero-gods  we  must  turn  to  the  locality  where  he 
was  especially  worshiped,  to  the  traditions  of  the  ancient 
and  opulent  city  of  Chichen  Itza,  whose  ruins  still  rank 
among  the  most  imposing  on  the  peninsula.  The  frag 
ments  of  its  chronicles,  as  preserved  to  us  in  the  Books 
of  Chilan  Balam  and  by  Bishop  Landa,  tell  us  that  its 

1  Eligio  Ancona,  after  giving  the  rendering,  ''  serpiente  adornada  de 
plumas,"  adds,  "  ha  sido  repetido  por  tal  numero  de  etimologistas  que 
tendremos  necesidad  de  aceptarla,  aunque  nos  parece  un  poco 
violento,"  Historic*  de  Yucatan,  Vol.  i,  p.  44.  The  Abb6  Brasseur, 
in  his  Vocabulaire  Maya,  boldly  states  that  kukul  means  "  emplumado 
6  adornado  con  plumas/'  This  rendering  is  absolutely  without 
authority,  either  modern  or  ancient.  The  word  for  feathers  in  Maya 
is  kukum;  kul,  in  composition,  means  "very"  or  "much,"  as  "  kid- 
vinici  muy  hombre,  hombre  de  respeto  6  hecho,"  Diccionario  de 
Motul,  MS.  Ku  is  god,  divinity.  For  can  see  p.  153.  Can  was  and 
still  is  a  common  surname  in  Yucatan.  (Berendt,  Nombres  Proprios 
en  Lengua  Maya,  MS.) 

I  should  prefer  to  spell  the  name  Kukulkan,  and  have  it  refer  to  the 
first  day  of  the  Maya  week,  Kan. 
11 


162  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

site  was  first  settled  by  four  bands  who  came  from  the 
four  cardinal  points  and  were  ruled  over  by  four  brothers. 
These  brothers  chose  no  wives,  but  lived  chastely  and  ruled 
righteously,  until  at  a  certain  time  one  died  or  departed, 
and  two  began  to  act  unjustly  and  were  put  to  death. 
The  one  remaining  was  Kukulcan.  He  appeased  the 
strife  which  his  brothers'  acts  had  aroused,  directed  the 
minds  of  the  people  to  the  arts  of  peace,  and  caused  to 
be  built  various  important  structures.  After  he  had  com 
pleted  his  work  in  Chicheu  Itza,  he  founded  and  named 
the  great  city  of  Mayapan,  destined  to  be  the  capital  of  the 
confederacy  of  the  Mayas.  In  it  was  built  a  temple  in  his 
honor,  and  named  for  him,  as  there  was  one  in  Chichen 
Itza.  These  were  unlike  others  in  Yucatan,  having  circu 
lar  walls  and  four  doors,  directed,  presumably,  toward  the 
four  cardinal  points.1 

In  gratifying  confirmation  of  the  legend,  travelers  do 
actually  find  in  Mayapan  and  Chichen  Itza,  and  nowhere 
else  in  Yucatan,  the  ruins  of  two  circular  temples  with 
doors  opening  toward  the  cardinal  points.2 

Under  the  beneficent  rule  of  Kukulcan,  the  nation 
enjoyed  its  halcyon  days  of  peace  and  prosperity.  The 
harvests  were  abundant  and  the  people  turned  cheerfully 
to  their  daily  duties,  to  their  families  and  their  lords.  They 
forgot  the  use  of  arms,  even  for  the  chase,  and  contented 
themselves  with  snares  and  traps. 

1  El  Libra  de  Chilan  Balam  de  Chumayel,  MS.;  Landa,  Relation, 
pp.  34-38,  and  299  ;  Herrera,  Historia  de  las  Indias,  Dec.  iv,  Lib. 
x,  cap  n. 

2  Stephens,  Incidents  of  Travel  in  Yucatan,  Vol.  n,  p.  298. 


DEPARTURE    OF    KUKULCAX.  168 

At  length  the  time  drew  near  for  Kukulcan  to  depart. 
He  gathered  the  chiefs  together  and  expounded  to  them  his 
laws.  From  among  them  he  chose  as  his  successor  a  member 
of  the  ancient  and  wealthy  family  of  the  Cocoms.  His 
arrangements  completed,  he  is  said,  by  some,  to  have  jour 
neyed  westward,  to  Mexico,  or  to  some  other  spot  toward  the 
sun-setting.  But  by  the  people  at  large  he  was  confidently 
believed  to  have  ascended  into  the  heavens,  and  there,  from 
his  lofty  house,  he  was  supposed  to  watch  over  the  interests 
of  his  faithful  adherents. 

Such  was  the  tradition  of  their  mythical  hero  told  by  the 
Itzas.  No  wonder  that  the  early  missionaries,  many  of 
whom,  like  Landa,  had  lived  in  Mexico  and  had  become 
familiar  with  the  story  of  Quetzalcoatl  and  his  alleged 
departure  toward  the  east,  identified  him  with  Kukulcan,  and 
that,  following  the  notion  of  this  assumed  identity,  numerous 
later  writers  have  framed  theories  to  account  for  the  civili 
zation  of  ancient  Yucatan  through  colonies  of  "Toltec" 
immigrants. 

It  can,  indeed,  be  shown  beyond  doubt  that  there  were 
various  points  of  contact  between  the  Aztec  and  Maya 
civilizations.  The  complex  and  artificial  method  of  reckon 
ing  time  was  one  of  these ;  certain  architectural  devices  were 
others ;  a  small  number  of  words,  probably  a  hundred  all 
told,  have  been  borrowed  by  the  one  tongue  from  the  other. 
Mexican  merchants  traded  with  Yucatan,  and  bands  of  Aztec 
warriors  with  their  families,  from  Tabasco,  dwelt  in  Mayapan 
by  invitation  of  its  rulers,  and  after  its  destruction,  settled 


164  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

in  the  province  of  Canul,  on  the  western  coast,  where  they 
lived  strictly  separate  from  the  Maya-speaking  population 
at  the  time  the  Spaniards  conquered  the  country.1 

But  all  this  is  very  far  from  showing  that  at  any  time  a 
race  speaking  the  Aztec  tongue  ruled  the  Peninsula.  There 
are  very  strong  grounds  to  deny  this.  The  traditions  which 
point  to  a  migration  from  the  west  or  southwest  may  well 
have  referred  to  the  depopulation  of  Palenque,  a  city  which 
undoubtedly  was  a  product  of  Maya  architects.  The 
language  of  Yucatan  is  too  absolutely  dissimilar  from  the 
Nahuatl  for  it  ever  to  have  been  moulded  by  leaders  of 
that  race.  The  details  of  Maya  civilization  are  markedly 
its  own,  and  show  an  evolution  peculiar  to  the  people  and 
their  surroundings. 

How  far  they  borrowed  from  the  fertile  mythology  of 
their  Nahuatl  visitors  is  not  easily  answered.  That  the 
circular  temple  in  Mayapan,  with  four  doors,  specified  by 
Landa  as  different  from  any  other  in  Yucatan,  was  erected 
to  Quetzalcoatl,  by  or  because  of  the  Aztec  colony  there, 
may  plausibly  be  supposed  when  we  recall  how  peculiarly  this 
form  was  devoted  to  his  worship.  Again,  one  of  the  Maya 
chronicles — that  translated  by  Pio  Perez  and  published  by 
Stephens  in  his  Travels  in  Yucatan — opens  with  a  distinct 
reference  to  Tula  and  Xonoal,  names  inseparable  from  the 
Quetzalcoatl  myth.  A  statue  of  a  sleeping  god  holding 
a  vase  was  disinterred  by  Dr.  Le  Plongeon  at  Chichen  Itza, 

1  El  Libra  de  Chilan  Balam  de  Chumayel,  MS. ;  Landa,  Relation, 
p.  54. 


THE    LORD    OF   THE   VASE.  165 

and  it  is  too  entirely  similar  to  others  found  at  Tlaxcala 
and  near  the  city  of  Mexico,  for  us  to  doubt  but  that  they 
represented  the  same  divinity,  and  that  the  god  of  rains, 
fertility  and  the  harvests.1 

The  version  of  the  tradition  which  made  Kukulcan 
arrive  from  the  West,  and  at  his  disappearance  return  to 
the  AYest — a  version  quoted  by  Landa,  and  which  evi 
dently  originally  referred  to  the  westward  course  of  the 
sun,  easily  led  to  an  identification  of  him  with  the  Aztec 
Quetzalcoatl,  by  those  acquainted  with  both  myths. 

The  probability  seems  to  be  that  Kukulcan  was  an 
original  Maya  divinity,  one  of  their  hero-gods,  whose 
myth  had  in  it  so  many  similarities  to  that  of  Quetzal 
coatl  that  the  priests  of  the  two  nations  came  to  regard 
the  one  as  the  same  as  the  other.  After  the  destruction  of 
Mayapan,  about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  when 
the  Aztec  mercenaries  were  banished  to  Canul,  and  the 
reigning  family  (the  Xiu)  who  supported  them  became 
reduced  in  power,  the  worship  of  Kukulcan  fell,  to  some 

1 1  refer  to  the  statue  which  Dr.  LePlongeon  was  pleased  to  name 
"  Chac  Mool."  See  the  Eitudio  acerca  de  laEstataa  llamada  Ckac- 
Mool  6  ret/  tigre,  by  Sr.  Jesus  Sanchez,  in  the  Anales  del  Maseo 
National  de  Mexico,  Tom.  i.  p.  270.  There  was  a  divinity  worshiped 
in  Yucatan,  called  Cum-ahau,  lord  of  the  vase,  whom  the  Diccionario 
de  Motul,  MS.  terms,  "Lucifer,  principal  de  los  demonios."  The 
name  is  also  given  by  Pio  Perez  in  his  manuscript  dictionary  in  my 
possession,  but  is  omitted  in  the  printed  copy.  As  Lucifer,  the  morn 
ing  star,  was  identified  with  Quetzalcoatl  in  Mexican  mythology,  and 
as  the  word  cum,  vase,  Aztec  comitl,  is  the  same  in  both  tongues,  there 
is  good  ground  to  suppose  that  this  lord  of  the  vase,  the  "prince  of 
devils,"  was  the  god  of  fertility,  common  to  both  cults. 


166  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

extent,  into  disfavor.     Of  this  we  are  informed  by  Landa, 
in  an  interesting  passage. 

He  tells  us  that  many  of  the  natives  believed  that 
Kukulcan,  after  his  earthly  labors,  had  ascended  into 
Heaven  and  become  one  of  their  gods.  Previous  to  the 
destruction  of  Mayapan  temples  were  built  to  him,  and 
he  was  worshiped  throughout  the  land,  but  after  that 
event  he  was  paid  such  honor  only  in  the  province  of 
Mani  (governed  by  the  Xiu).  Nevertheless,  in  gratitude 
for  what  ajl  recognized  they  owed  to  him,  the  kings  of 
the  neighboring  provinces  sent  yearly  to  Maui,  on  the 
occasion  of  his  annual  festival,  which  took  place  on  the 
16th  of  the  month  Xul  (November  8th),  either  four  or  five 
magnificent  feather  banners.  These  were  placed  in  his 
temple,  with  appropriate  ceremonies,  such  as  fasting,  the 
burning  of  incense,  dancing,  and  with  simple  offerings  of 
food  cooked  without  salt  or  pepper,  and  drink  from  beans 
and  gourd  seeds.  This  lasted  five  nights  and  five  days; 
and,  adds  Bishop  Landa,  they  said,  and  held  it  for  certain, 
that  on  the  last  day  of  the  festival  Kukulcan  himself 
descended  from  Heaven  and  personally  received  the  sacri 
fices  and  offerings  which  were  made  in  his  honor.  The 
celebration  itself  was  called  the  Festival  of  the  Founder, l 
with  reference,  I  suppose,  to  the  alleged  founding  of  the 
cities  of  Mayapan  and  Chichen  Itza  by  this  hero-god. 

1  "  Llamaban  a  esta  fiesta  Chic  Kaban ;"  Landa,  Relation,  p.  302. 
I  take  it  this  should  read  Chile  u  Kaba  ( Chiic ;  fundar  6  poblar 
alguna  cosa,  casa,  pueblo,  etc.  Diccionario  de  Motul,  MS.) 


THE    MAYA    PROPHECIES.  167 

The  five  days  and  five  sacred  banners  again  bring  to  mind 
the  close  relation  of  this  with  the  Quetzalcoatl  symbolism. 

As  Itzamua  had  disappeared  without  undergoing  the 
pains  of  death,  as  Kukulcan  had  risen  into  the  heavens  and 
thence  returned  annually,  though  but  for  a  moment,  on  the 
last  day  of  the  festival  in  his  honor,  so  it  was  devoutly 
believed  by  the  Mayas  that  the  time  would  come  when  the 
worship  of  other  gods  should  be  done  away  with,  and  these 
mighty  deities  alone  demand  the  adoration  of  their  race. 
None  of  the  American  nations  seems  to  have  been  more 
given  than  they  to  prognostics  and  prophecies,  and  of  none 
other  have  we  so  large  an  amount  of  this  kind  of  literature 
remaining.  Some  of  it  has  been  preserved  by  the  Spanish 
missionaries,  who  used  it  with  good  effect  for  their  own 
purposes  of  proselyting  ;  but  that  it  was  not  manufactured 
by  them  for  this  purpose,  as  some  late  writers  have 
thought,  is  proved  by  the  existence  of  copies  of  these 
prophecies,  made  by  native  waiters  themselves,  at  the  time 
of  the  Conquest  and  at  dates  shortly  subsequent. 

These  prophecies  were  as  obscure  and  ambiguous  as  all 
successful  prophets  are  accustomed  to  make  their  predic 
tions;  but  the  one  point  that  is  clear  in  them  is,  that  they 
distinctly  referred  to  the  arrival  of  white  and  bearded 
strangers  from  the  East,  who  should  control  the  land  and 
alter  the  prevailing  religion.1 

1  Nakuk  Pech,  Concixta  yetel  mapa,  1562  MS.  ;  El  Libro  de 
Chilan  Balam  de  Maul,  1595,  MS.  The  former  is  a  history  of  the 
Conquest  written  in  Maya,  by  a  native  noble,  who  was  an  adult  at  the 
time  that  Merida  was  founded  (1542). 


168  AMERICAN   HERO -MYTHS. 

Even  that  portion  of  the  Ttzas  who  had  separated  from 
the  rest  of  their  nation  at  the  time  of  the  destruction  of 
Mayapan  (about  1440-50)  and  wandered  off  to  the  far 
south,  to  establish  a  powerful  nation  around  Lake  Peten, 
carried  with  them  a  forewarning  that  at  the  "eighth  age" 
they  should  be  subjected  to  a  white  race  and  have  to 
embrace  their  religion ;  and,  sure  enough,  when  that  time 
came,  and  not  till  then,  that  is,  at  the  close  of  the  seven 
teenth  century  of  our  reckoning,  they  were  driven  from 
their  island  homes  by  Governor  Ursua,  and  their  numerous 
temples,  filled  with  idols,  leveled  to  the  soil.1 

The  ground  of  all  such  prophecies  was,  I  have  no  doubt, 
the  expected  return  of  the  hero-gods,  whose  myths  I  have 
been  recording.  Both  of  them  represented  in  their  origi 
nal  forms  the  light  of  day,  which  disappears  at  nightfall 
but  returns  at  dawn  with  unfailing  certainty.  When  the 
natural  phenomenon  had  become  lost  in  its  personification, 
this  expectation  of  a  return  remained  and  led  the  priests, 
who  more  than  others  retained  the  recollection  of  the 
ancient  forms  of  the  myth,  to  embrace  this  expectation  in 
the  prognostics  which  it  was  their  custom  and  duty  to 
pronounce  with  reference  to  the  future. 

1  Juan  de  Villagutierre  Sotomayor,  Historia  de  la  Provincia  de  el 
Itza,  passim  (Madrid,  1701). 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   QQUICHUA   HERO-GOD   VIRACOCHA. 

*VlRACOCHA   AS    THE  FlRST    CAUSE— HlS  NAME,   ILLA  TlCCI— QQUICHUA 

PRAYERS— OTHER  NAMES  AND  TITLES  OF  VIRACOCHA— His  WORSHIP 
A  TRUE  MONOTHEISM— THE  MYTH  OF  THE  FOUR  BROTHERS — MYTH  OF 
THE  TWIN  BROTHERS. 

VIRACOCHA  AS  TUNAPA,  HE  WHO  PERFECTS — VARIOUS  INCIDENTS  IN 
His  LIFE — R  EL  ATI  oft  TO  MANCO  CAPAC — HE  DISAPPEARS  IN  THE  WEST. 

VIRACOCHA  RISES  FROM  LAKE  TITICACA  AND  JOURNEYS  TO  THE  WEST — 
DERIVATION  OF  His  NAME— HE  WAS  REPRESENTED  AS  WHITE  AND 
BEARDED— THE  MYTH  OF  CON  AND  PACHACAMAC — "CONTICE  VIRACO 
CHA — PROPHECIES  OF  THE  PERUVIAN  SEERS — THE  WHITE  MEN  CALLED 
VIRACOCHAS— SIMILARITIES  TO  AZTEC  MYTHS. 

The  most  majestic  empire  on  this  continent  at  the  time 
of  its  discovery  was  that  of  the  Incas.  It  extended  along 
the  Pacific,  from  the  parallel  of  2°  north  latitude  to  20° 
south,  and  may  be  roughly  said  to  have  been  1500  miles 
in  length,  with  an  average  width  of  400  miles.  The 
official  and  principal  tongue  was  the  Qquichua,  the  two 
other  languages  of  importance  being  the  Yunca,  spoken  by 
the  coast  tribes,  and  the  Aymara,  around  Lake  Titicaca  and 
south  of  it.  The  latter,  in  phonetics  and  in  many  root- 
words,  betrays  a  relationship  to  the.  Qquichua,  but  a 
remote  one. 

The  Qquichuas  were  a  race  of  considerable  cultivation. 
They  had  a  developed  metrical  system,  and  were  especially 
fond  of  the  drama.  Several  specimens  of  their  poetical 
and  dramatic  compositions  have  been  preserved,  and  indi 
cate  a  correct  taste.  Although  they  did  not  possess  a 

169 


170  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

method  of  writing,  they  had  various  mnemonic  aids,  by 
which  they  were  enabled  to  recall  their  verses  and  their 
historical  traditions. 

In  the  mythology  of  the  Qquichuas,  and  apparently  also 
of  the  Aymaras,  the  leading  figure  is  Viraeocha.  His  august" 
presence  is  in  one  cycle  of  legends  that  of  Infinite  Creator, 
the  Primal  Cause ;  in  another  he  is  the  beneficent  teacher 
and  wise  ruler ;  in  other  words,  he  too,  like  Quetzalcoatl 
and  the  others  whom  I  have  told  about, is  at  onetime  God, 
at  others  the  incarnation  of  God. 

As  the  first  cause  and  ground  of  all  things,  Viracocha's 
distinctive  epithet  was  Tied,  the  Cause,  the  Beginning,  or 
Ilia  ticei,  the  Ancient  Cause,1  the  First  Beginning,  an 
endeavor  in  words  to  express  the  absolute  priority  of  his  es 
sence  and  existence.  He  it  was  who  had  made  and  moulded 
the  Sun  and  endowed  it  with  a  portion  of  his  own  divinity,  to 
wit,  the  glory  of  its  far-shining  rays ;  he  had  formed  the 
Moon  and  given  her  light,  and  set  her  in  the  heavens  to 
rule  over  the  waters  and  the  winds,  over  the  queens  of  the 
earth  and  the  parturition  of  women ;  and  it  was  still  he,  the 
great  Yiracocha,  who  had  created  the  beautiful  Chasca,  the 
Aurora,  the  Dawn,  goddess  of  all  unspotted  maidens  like 
herself,  her  who  in  turn  decked  the  fields  and  woods  with 
flowers,  whose  time  was  the  gloaming  and  the  twilight, 

1  "  Tied,  origen,  principle,  fundamento,  ciraiento,  causa.  Ylla  ;  to- 
do  lo  que  es  antiguo."  Holguin,  Vocabvlario  de  la  Lengva  Qquichuh 
6  del  Inga  (Ciudad  de  los  Reyes,  1608).  Tied  is  not  to  be  confounded 
with  aticsi,  he  conquers,  from  atini,  I  conquer,  a  term  also  occasionally 
applied  to  Viracocha. 


ILLA   TICCI   VIRACOCHA.  171 

whose  messengers  were  the  fleecy  clouds  which  sail  through 
the  sky,  and  who,  when  she  shakes  her  clustering  hair, 
drops  noiselessly  pearls  of  dew  on  the  green  grass  fields.1 

Invisible  and  incorporeal  himself,  so,  also,  were  his 
messengers  (the  light-rays),  called  huaminca,  the  faithful 
soldiers,  and  hayhuaypanti,  the  shining  ones,  who  conveyed 
his  decrees  to  every  part.2  He  himself  was  omnipresent, 
imparting  motion  and  life,  form  and  existence,  to  all  that 
is.  Therefore  it  was,  says  an  old  writer,  with  more  than 
usual  insight  into  man's  moral  nature,  with  more  than 
usual  charity  for  a  persecuted  race,  that  when  these  natives 
worshiped  some  swift  river  or  pellucid  spring,  some 
mountain  or  grove,  "  it  was  not  that  they  believed  that 
some  particular  divinity  was  there,  or  that  it  was  a  living 
thing,  but  because  they  believed  that  the  great  God,  Ilia 
Ticci,  had  created  and  placed  it  there  and  impressed  upon 
it  some  mark  of  distinction,  beyond  other  objects  of  its 
class,  that  it  might  thus  be  designated  as  an  appropriate  spot 
whereat  to  worship  the  maker  of  all  things;  and  this  is  mani 
fest  from  the  prayers  they  uttered  when  engaged  in  adoration, 
because  they  are  not  addressed  to  that  mountain,  or  river, 
or  cave,  but  to  the  great  Ilia  Ticci  Yiracocha,  who,  they 
believed,  lived  in  the  heavens,  and  yet  was  invisibly  present 
in  that  sacred  object."3 

In  the  prayers  for  the  dead,  Ilia  Ticci  was  appealed  to, 
to  protect  the  body,  that  it  should  not  see  corruption  nor 

1  Relation  An6nyma,  de  los  Costumbres  Antiguos  de  los  Naturales 
<ld  Piru,  p.  138.     1615.     (Published,  Madrid,  1879). 

2  Ibid.,  p.  140.  3  Ibid.,  p.  147. 


172  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

become  lost  in  the  earth,  and  that  he  should  not  allow  the  soul 
to  wander  aimlessly  in  the  infinite  spaces,  but  that  it  should 
be  conducted  to  some  secure  haven  of  contentment,  where  it 
might  receive  the  sacrifices  and  offerings  which  loving  hands 
laid  upon  the  tomb.1  Were  other  gods  also  called  upon,  it 
was  that  they  might  intercede  with  the  Supreme  Divinity 
in  favor  of  these  petitions  of  mortals. 

To  him,  likewise,  the  chief  priest  at  certain  times  offered 
a  child  of  six  years,  with  a  prayer  for  the  prosperity  of  the 
Inca,  in  such  terras  as  these  : — 

"Oh,  L:>rd,  we  offer  thee  this  child,  in  order  that  thou 
wilt  maintain  us  in  comfort,  and  give  us  victory  in  war, 
and  keep  to  our  Lord,  the  Inca,  his  greatness  and  his  state, 
and  grant  him  wisdom  that  he  may  govern  us  righteously.2 

Or  such  a  prayer  as  this  was  offered  up  by  the  assembled 
multitude  :• — 

"  Oh,  Viracocha  ever  present,  Viracocha  Cause  of  All, 
Viracocha  the  Helper,  the  Ceaseless  Worker,  Viracocha 
who  gives  the  beginnings,  Viracocha  who  encourages, 
Viracocha  the  always  fortunate,  Viracocha  ever  near, 
listen  to  this  our  prayer,  send  health,  send  prosperity  to 
us  thy  people."  3 

Thus  Viracocha  was  placed  above  and  beyond  all  other 
gods,  the  essential  First  Cause,  infinite,  incorporeal,  invis- 

^bid.,  p.  154. 

2  Herrera,  Historia  de  las  Indias,  Dec.  v,  Lib.  iv,  cap.  i. 

3  Christoval  de  Molina,  The  Fables  and  Rites  of  the  Incas,  p.  29. 
Molina  gives  the  original  Qquichua,  the  translation  of  which  is  obvi 
ously  incomplete,  and  I  have  extended  it. 


NAMES    OF   VIRACOCHA.  173 

ible,  above  the  sun,  older  than  the  beginning,  but  omni 
present,  accessible,  beneficent. 

Does  this  seern  too  abstract,  too  elevated  a  notion  of  God 
for  a  race  whom  AVC  are  accustomed  to  deem  gross  and 
barbaric?  I  cannot  help  it.  The  testimony  of  the  earliest 
observers,  and  the  living  proof  of  language,  are  too  strong 
to  allow  of  doubt.  The  adjectives  which  were  applied  to 
this  divinity  by  the  native  priests  are  still  on  record,  and 
that  they  were  not  a  loan  from  Christian  theology  is  con 
clusively  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  very  writers  who 
preserved  them  often  did  not  know  their  meaning,  and 
translated  them  incorrectly.  * 

Thus  even  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  himself  of  the  blood 
of  the  Incas,  tells  us  that  neither  he  nor  the  natives  of 
that  day  could  translate  Tied.1  Thus,  also,  Garcia  and 
Acosta  inform  us  that  Viracocha  was  surnamed  Usapu, 
which  they  translate  "  admirable," 2  but  really  it  means  "  he 
who  accomplishes  all  that  he  undertakes,  he  who  is  success 
ful  in  all  things;"  Molina  has  preserved  the  term  Ymamana, 
which  means  "  he  who  controls  or  owns  all  things  ;" 
the  title  Pachayachachi,  which  the  Spanish  writers  render 
" Creator/7  really  means  the  "Teacher  of  the  World;" 
that  of  Caylla  signifies  "the  Ever-present  one;"  Taripaca, 

1  "  Dan  (los  Indies),  otro  nombre  a  Dios,  que  es  Tici  Viracocha, 
que  yo  no  se  que  signifique,  ni  ellos  tampoco."  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega, 
Comentarios  Reales,  Lib.  n,  cap.  n. 

2  Garcia,  Origen  de  los  Indios,  Lib.  in,  cap.  vi  ;  Acosta,  Historia 
Natural  y  Moral  de  las  Indias,  fol.  199  (Barcelona  1591). 

8  Christoval  de  Molina,  The  Fables  and  Rites  of  the  Incas,  Eng. 
Trans.,  p.  6. 


174  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

which  has  been  guessed  to  be  the  same  as  tarapaca,  an 
eagle,  is  really  a  derivative  of  toriponi,  to  sit  in  judgment, 
and  was  applied  to  Viracocha  as  the  final  arbiter  of  the 
actions  and  destinies  of  man.  Another  of  his  frequent 
appellations  for  which  no  explanation  has  been  offered, 
was  Tokay  or  Tocopo,  properly  Tukupay.1  It  means 
"  he  who  finishes,"  who  completes  and  perfects,  and 
is  antithetical  to  Ticci,  he  who  begins.  These  two 
terms  express  the  eternity  of  divinity;  they  convey  the 
same  idea  of  mastery  over  time  and  the  things  of  time,  as 
do  those  words  heard  by  the  Evangelist  in  his  vision  in 
the  isle  called  Patrnos,*"  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega ;  1  am 
the  Beginning  and  the  End." 

Yet  another  epithet  of  Viracocha  was  Zapala?  It 
conveys  strongly  and  positively  the  monotheistic  idea. 
It  means  "  The  One,"  or,  more  strongly,  "  The  Only  One." 

Nor  must  it  be  supposed  that  this  monotheism  was 
unconscious  ;  that  it  was,  for  example,  a  form  of 
"  henotheism,"  where  the  devotion  of  the  adorer  filled  his 
soul,  merely  to  the  forgetfulness  of  other  deities ;  or  that 
it  was  simply  the  logical  law  of  unity  asserting  itself,  as 
was  the  case  with  many  of  the  apparently  monotheistic 
utterances  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  writers. 

1  Melchior  Hernandez,  one  of  the  earliest  writers,  whose  works  are 
now  lost,  but  who  is  quoted  in  the  Relation  Andnima,  gives  this  name 
Tocapu ;  Christoval  de  Molina  (ubi  sup.)  spells  it  Tocapo ;  La  Vega 
Tocay;  Molina  gives  its  signification,  "the  maker."     It  is  from  the 
word  tukupay  or  tucuychani,  to  finish,  complete,  perfect. 

2  Gomara,  Historia  de  las  Indias,  p.  232  (ed.  Paris,  1852). 


A    MONOTHEISTIC   CULT.  175 

No;  the  evidence  is  such  that  we  are  obliged  to  acknowl 
edge  that  the  religion  of  Peru  was  a  consciously  mono 
theistic  cult,  every  whit  as  much  so  as  the  Greek  or  Roman 
Catholic  Churches  of  Christendom. 

Those  writers  who  have  called  the  Inca  religion  a  "sun 
worship"  have  been  led  astray  by  superficial  resemblances. 
One  of  the  best  early  authorities,  Christoval  de  Molina, 
repeats  with  emphasis  the  statement,  "  They  did  not 
recognize  the  Sim  as  their  Creator,  but  as  created  by  the 
Creator/7  and  this  creator  was  "  not  born  of  woman,  but 
was  unchangeable  and  eternal. "  For  conclusive  testimony 
on  this  point,  however,  we  may  turn  to  an  Information  or 
Inquiry  as  to  the  ancient  belief,  instituted  in  1571,  by  order 
of  the  viceroy  Don  Francisco  de  Toledo.  The  oldest 
Indians,  especially  those  of  noble  birth,  including  many 
descendants  of  the  Incas,  were  assembled  at  different  times 
and  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  and  carefully  questioned, 
through  the  official  interpreter,  as  to  just  what  the  old 
religion  was.  The  questions  were  not  leading  ones,  and  the 
replies  have  great  uniformity.  They  all  agreed  that 
Viracocha  was  worshiped  as  creator,  and  as  the  ever-present 
active  divinity;  he  alone  answered  prayers,  and  aided  in 
time  of  need ;  he  was  the  sole  efficient  god.  All  prayers  to 
the  Sun  or  to  the  deceased  Incas,  or  to  idols,  were  directed  to 
them  as  intercessors  only.  On  this  point  the  statements 

1  Christoval  de  Molina,  The  Fables  and  Rites  of  the  Incas,  pp.  8,  17. 
Eng.  Trans. 


176  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

were  most  positive.1  The  Sun  was  but  one  of  Viracocha's 
creations,  not  itself  the  Creator. 

It  is  singular  that  historians  have  continued  to  repeat  that 
the  Qquichuas  adored  the  Sun  as  their  principal  divinity, 
in  the  face  of  such  evidence  to  the  contrary.  If  this  In 
quiry  and  its  important  statements  had  not  been  accessible 
to  them,  at  any  rate  they  could  readily  have  learned  the 
same  lesson  from  the  well  known  History  of  Father  Joseph 
de  Acosta.  That  author  says,  and  repeats  with  great 
positiveness,  that  the  Sun  was  in  Peru  a  secondary  divinity, 
and  that  the  supreme  deity,  the  Creator  and  ruler  of  the 
world,  was  Viracocha.2 

Another  misapprehension  is  that  these  natives  worshiped 
directly  their  ancestors.  Thus,  Mr.  Markharn  writes  :  "The 
Incas  worshiped  their  ancestors,  the  Pacarina,  or  fore 
father  of  the  AyllUj  or  lineage,  being  idolized  as  the  soul 


1  "  Ellos  solo  Viracocha  tenian  por  hacedor  de  todas  las  cosas,  y  que 
el  solo  los  podia  socorrer,  y  que  de  todos  los  demas  los  tenian  por  sus 
intercesores,  y  que   ansi  los  decian  ellos  en  sus  oraciones  antiguas, 
antes  que  fuesen  cristianos,  y  que  ansi  lo  dicen  y  declaran  por  cosa 
muy  cierta  y  verdadera."     Information  de  las  Idolatras  de  los  Incas 
£  Indios,  in  the   Coleccion  de  Documentos  Ineditos  del  Archivo  de 
Lidias,  vol.  XXE,  p.  198.     Other  witnesses  said:   "  Los  dichos  Ingasy 
sus  antepasados  tenian  por  criador  al  solo  Viracocha,  y  que  solo  los 
podia  socorrer,"  id.  p.  184.     "Adoraban  4  Viracocha  por  hacedor  de 
todas  las  cosas,  como  4  el  sol  y   a  Hachaccuna  los  adoraban  porque 
los  tenia  por  hijos  de  Viracocha  y  por  cosa  muy  allegada  suya,"  p. 
133. 

2  "  Sientany  confiessanun  supremo  seiior,  y  hazedor  detodo,  al  qual 
los  del  Piru  llamavan  Viracocha.      *      *      Despues  del  Viracocha,  o 
supremo  Dios,  fui,  y  es  en  los  infieles,  el  que  mas  comunmente  veneran 
y  adoran  el  sol."    Acosta,  De  la  Historia  Moral  de  las  Indias,  Lib,  v. 
cap.  in,  iv,  (Barcelona,  1591). 


PERUVIAN    MONOTHEISM.  177 

or  essence  of  his  descendants."  l  But  in  the  Inquiry  above 
quoted  it  is  explained  that  the  beliaf,  in  fact,  was  that 
the  soul  of  the  Inca  went  at  death  to  the  presence  of  the 
deity  Viracocha,  and  its  emblem,  the  actual  body,  carefully 
preserved,  was  paid  divine  honors  in  order  that  the  soul 
might  intercede  with  Viracocha  for  the  fulfillment  of  the 
prayers.2 

We  are  compelled,  therefore,  by  the  best  evidence  now 
attainable,  to  adopt  the  conclusion  that  the  Inca  religion, 
in  its  purity,  deserved  the  name  of  monotheism.  The 
statements  of  the  natives  and  the  terms  of  their  religious 
language  unite  in  confirming  this  opinion. 

It  is  not  right  to  depreciate  the  force  of  these  facts 
simply  because  we  have  made  up  our  minds  that  a  people 
in  the  intellectual  stage  of  the  Peruvians  could  not  have 
mounted  to  such  a  pure  air  of  religion.  A  prejudgment 
of  this  kind  is  unworthy  of  a  scientific  mind.  The  evi 
dence  is  complete  that  the  terms  I  have  quoted  did  belong 
to  the  religious  language  of  ancient  Peru.  They  express 
the  conception  of  divinity  which  the  thinkers  of  that  people 
had  formed.  And  whether  it  is  thought  to  be  in  keeping 
or  not  with  the  rest  of  their  development,  it  is  our 
bounden  duty  to  accept  it,  and  explain  it  as  best  we  can. 
Other  instances  might  be  quoted,  from  the  religious  history 
of  the  old  world,  where  a  nation's  insight  into  the  attributes 

1  Clements  R.  Markham,  Journal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society, 
1871,  p.  291.     Pacarina  is  the  present  participle  of  pacarini,  to  dawn, 
to  begin,  to  be  born. 

2  Information,  etc.,  p.  209. 


178  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

of  deity  was  singularly  in  advance  of  their  general  state  of 
cultivation.  The  best  thinkers  of  the  Semitic  race,  for 
example,  from  Moses  to  Spinoza,  have  been  in  this  respect 
far  ahead  of  their  often  more  generally  enlightened  Aryan 
contemporaries. 

The  more  interesting,  in  view  of  this  lofty  ideal  of 
divinity  they  had  attained,  become  the  Peruvian  myths  of 
the  incarnation  of  Viracocha,  his  life  and  doings  as  a  man 
among  men. 

These  myths  present  themselves  in  different,  but  to  the 
reader  who  has  accompanied  me  thus  far.  now  familiar 
forms.  Once  more  we  meet  the  story  of  the  four  brothers, 
the  first  of  men.  They  appeared  on  the  earth  after  it  had 
been  rescued  from  the  primeval  waters;  and  the  face  of  the 
land  was  divided  between  them.  Manco  Capac  took  the 
North,  Colla  the  South,  Pinahua  the  West,  and  the  East, 
the  region  whence  come  the  sun  and  the  light,  was  given  to 
Tokay  or  Tocapa,  to  Viracocha,  under  his  name  of  the 
Finisher,  he  who  completes  and  perfects.1 

The  outlines  of  this  legend  are  identical  with  another, 
where  Viracocha  appears  under  the  name  of  Ayar  Cachi. 
This  was,  in  its  broad  outlines,  the  most  general  rnyth,  that 
which  has  been  handed  down  by  the  most  numerous 
authorities,  and  which  they  tell  us  was  taken  directly  from 
the  ancient  songs  of  the  Indians,  as  repeated  by  those  who 
could  recall  the  days  of  the  Incas  Huascar  and  Atahualpa.2 

1  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  Comentarios  jReales,  Lib.  i,  cap.  xvm. 

2  "Parece  por  los  caritares  de  los  Indies;     *     *     *     afirmaron  los 
Orejones  que  quedaron  de  los  tiempos  de  Guascar  i  de  Atahualpa  ; 


THE   FOUR   BROTHERS.  179 

It  ran  in  this  wise :  In  the  beginning  of  things  there 
appeared  on  the  earth  four  brothers,  whose  names  were,  of 
the  oldest,  Ayar  Cachi,  which  means  he  who  gives  Being, 
or  who  Causes  ; 1  of  the  youngest,  Ayar  Manco,  and  of 
the  others,  Ayar  Aucca  (the  enemy),  and  Ayar  Uchu. 
Their  father  was  the  Sun,  and  the  place  of  their  birth,  or 
rather  of  their  appearance  on  earth,  was  Paccari-tampu, 
which  means  The  Hoilse  of  the  Morning  or  the  Mansion 
of  the  Dawn.2  In  after  days  a  certain  cave  near  Cuzco 
was  so  called,  and  pointed  out  as  the  scene  of  this  moment 
ous  event,  but  we  may  well  believe  that  a  nobler  site  than 
any  the  earth  affords  could  be  correctly  designated. 

These  brothers  were  clothed  in  long  and  flowing  robes, 
with  short  upper  garments  without  sleeves  or  collar,  and 
this  raiment  was  worked  with  marvelous  skill,  and  glittered 
and  shone  like  light.  They  were  powerful  and  proud, 
and  determined  to  rule  the  whole  earth,  and  for  this  pur 
pose  divided  it  into  four  parts,  the  North,  the  South,  the 
East,  and  the  West.  Hence  they  were  called  by  the  people, 

'  cuentan  los  Indies  del  Cuzco  mas  viejos,  etc.,"  repeats 
the  historian  Herrera,  Historia  de  las  Indias  Occidentales,  Dec.  v, 
Lib.  in,  cap.  vn,  vin. 

1  "  Cachini;  dar  el  ser  y  hazer  que  sea  ;  cachi  chiuachic,  el  autor 
y  causa  de  algo."      Holguin,  Vocabvlario  de  la  Lengva  Qquichua, 
sub  voce,  cachipuni.     The  names  differ  little  in  Herrera  (who,  how 
ever,  omits  Uchu),  Montesinos,  Balboa,  Oliva,  La  Vega  and  Pacha- 
cuti  ;  I  have  followed  the  orthography  of  the  two  latter,  as  both  were 
native  Qquichuas. 

2  Holguin  (ubi  suprd,}  gives  paccarin,  the  morning,  paccarini,  to 
dawn  ;  tampu,  venta  6  meson. 


180  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

Tahuantin  Suyu  Kapac,  Lords  of  all  four  Quarters  of  the 
Earth.1 

The  most  powerful  of  these  was  Ayar  Cachi.  He  pos 
sessed  a  sling  of  gold,  and  in  it  a  stone  with  which  he  could 
demolish  lofty  mountains  and  hurl  aloft  to  the  clouds  them 
selves.  He  gathered  together  the  natives  of  the  country  at 
Pacari  tampu,  and  accumulated  at  the  House  of  the  Dawn 
a  great  treasure  of  yellow  gold.  Like  the  glittering  hoard 
which  we  read  of  in  the  lay  of  the  Nibelung,  the  treasure 
brought  with  it  the  destruction  of  its  owner,  for  his 
brothers,  envious  of  the  wondrous  pile,  persuaded  Ayar 
Cachi  to  enter  the  cave  where  he  kept  his  hoard,  in  order  to 
bring  out  a  certain  vase,  and  also  to  pray  to  their  father, 
the  Sun,  to  aid  them  to  rule  their  domains.  As  soon  as  he 
had  entered,  they  stopped  the  mouth  of  the  cave  with  huge 
stones;  and  thus  rid  of  him,  they  set  about  collecting  the 
people  and  making  a  settlement  at  a  certain  place  called 
Tampu  quiru  (the  Teeth  of  the  House). 

But  they  did  not  know  the  magical  power  of  their 
brother.  While  they  were  busy  with  their  plans,  what  was 
their  dismay  to  see  Ayar  Cachi,  freed  from  the  cave,  and 
with  great  wings  of  brilliantly  colored  feathers,  hovering 
like  a  bird  in  the  air  over  their  heads.  They  expected 
swift  retribution  for  their  intended  fratricide,  but  instead  of 
this  they  heard  reassuring  words  from  his  lips. 

"  Have  no  fear,"  he  said,  "  I  left  you  in  order  that  the 
great  empire  of  the  Incas  might  be  known  to  men. 

1  Tahuantin,  all  four,  'from  tahua,  four ;  suyu,  division,  section ; 
kapac,  king. 


MYTH   OF   THE    FOUR   BROTHERS.  181 

Leave,  therefore,  this  settlement  of  Tarupu  quiru,  and 
descend  into  the  Valley  of  Cuzco,  where  you  shall  found 
a  famous  city,  and  in  it  build  a  sumptuous  temple  to  the 
Sun.  As  for  me,  I  shall  remain  in  the  form  in  which  you 
see  me,  and  shall  dwell  in  the  mountain  peak  Guanacaure, 
ready  to  help  you,  and  on  that  mountain  you  must  build  me 
an  altar  and  make  to  me  sacrifices.  And  the  sign  that  you 
shall  wear,  whereby  you  shall  be  feared  and  respected  of 
your  subjects,  is  that  you  shall  have  your  ears  pierced,  as 
are  mine,"  saying  which  he  showed  them  his  ears  pierced 
and  carrying  large,  round  plates  of  gold. 

They  promised  him  obedience  in  all  things,  and  forthwith 
built  an  altar  on  the  mountain  Guanacaure,  which  ever 
after  was  esteemed  a  most  holy  place.  Here  again  Ayar 
Cachi  appeared  to  them,  and  bestowed  on  Ayar  Manco  the 
scarlet  fillet  which  became  the  perpetual  insignia  of  the 
reigning  Inca.  The  remaning  brothers  were  turned  into 
stone,  and  Manco,  assuming  the  title  of  Kapae,  King,  and 
the  metaphorical  surname  of  Pirhua,  the  Granary  or 
Treasure  house,  founded  the  City  of  Cuzco,  married  his 
four  sisters,  and  became  the  first  of  the  dynasty  of  the  Incas. 
He  lived  to  a  great  age,  and  during  the  whole  of  his  life 
never  omitted  to  pay  divine  honors  to  his  brothers,  and 
especially  to  Ayar  Cachi. 

In  another  myth  of  the  incarnation  the  infinite  Creator 
Ticci  Viracocha  duplicates  himself  in  the  twin  incarna 
tion  of  Ymamana  Viracocha  and  Tocapu  Viracocha, 
names  which  we  have  already  seen  mean  "  he  who  has  all 


182  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

things,"  and  "  he  who  perfects  all  things."  The  legend 
was  that  these  brothers  started  in  the  distant  East  and 
journeyed  toward  the  West.  The  one  went  by  way  of  the 
mountains,  the  other  by  the  paths  of  the  lowlands,  and 
each  on  his  journey,  like  Itzamna  in  Yucatecan  story,  gave 
names  to  the  places  he  passed,  and  also  to  all  trees  and 
herbs  of  the  field,  and  to  all  fruits,  and  taught  the  people 
which  were  good  for  food,  which  of  virtue  as  medicines, 
and  which  were  poisonous  and  to  be  shunned.  Thus  they 
journeyed  westward,  imparting  knowledge  and  doing  good 
works,  until  they  reached  the  western  ocean,  the  great  Pacific, 
whose  waves  seem  to  stretch  westward  into  infinity.  There, 
"  having  accomplished  all  they  had  to  do  in  this  world, 
they  ascended  into  Heaven,"  once  more  to  form  part  of 
the  Infinite  Being ;  for  the  venerable  authority  whom  I 
am  following  is  careful  to  add,  most  explicitly,  that  "  these 
Indians  believed  for  a  certainty  that  neither  the  Creator 
nor  his  sons  were  born  of  woman,  but  that  they  all  were 
unchangeable  and  eternal."3 

Still  more  human  does  Viracocha  become  in  the  myth 
where  he  appears  under  the  surnames  Tunapa  and  Tari- 
paca.  The  latter  I  have  already  explained  to  mean  He 
who  Judges,  and  the  former  is  a  synonym  of  Tocapu,  as  it  is 
from  the  verb  ttaniy  or  Uanini,  and  means  He  who  Finishes 
completes  or  perfects,  although,  like  several  other  of  his 
names,  the  significance  of  this  one  has  up  to  the  present 
remained  unexplained  and  lost.  The  myth  has  been 

1  Christoval  de  Molina,  Fables  and  Rites  of  the  Incas,  p.  6. 


THE    STORY   OF   TUNAPA.  183 

preserved  to  us  by  a  native  Indian  writer,  Joan  de  Santa 
Cruz  Pachacuti,  who  wrote  it  out  somewhere  about  the 
year  1600.1 

He  tells  us  that  at  a  very  remote  period,  shortly  after 
the  country  of  Peru  had  been  populated,  there  came  from 
Lake  Titicaca  to  the  tribes  an  elderly  man  with  flowing 
beard  and  abundant  white  hair,  supporting  himself  on  a 
staff  and  dressed  in  wide-spreading  robes.  He  went  among 
the  people,  calling  them  his  sons  and  daughters,  relieving 
their  infirmities  and  teaching  them  the  precepts  of  wisdom. 

Often,  however,  he  met  the  fate  of  so  many  other  wise 
teachers,  and  was  rejected  and  scornfully  entreated  by  those 

1  Relation  de  Antiguedades  deste  Reyno  del  Piru,  por  Don  Joan  de 
Santacruz  Pachacuti  Yamqui,  passim.  Pachacuti  relates  the  story  of 
Tunapa  as  being  distinctly  the  hero-myth  of  the  Qquichuas.  He  was 
also  the  hero-god  of  the  Aymaras,  and  about  him,  says  Father  Ludo- 
vico  Bertonio,  "they  to  this  day  relate  many  fables  and  follies." 
Vocabulario  de  la  Lengua  Aymara,  s.  v.  Another  name  he  bore  in 
Aymara  was  Ecaco,  which  in  that  language  means,  as  a  common 
noun,  an  ingenious,  shifty  man  of  many  plans  (Bertonio,  Vocabulario, 
s.  v.).  "  Thunnupa,"  as  Bertonio  spells  it,  does  not  lend  itself  to  any 
obvious  etymology  in  Aymara,  which  is  further  evidence  that  the 
name  was  introduced  from  the  Qquichua.  This  is  by  no  means  a 
singular  example  of  the  identity  of  religious  thought  and  terms 
between  these  nations.  In  comparing  the  two  tongues,  M.  Alcide 
D'  Orbigny  long  since  observed  :  u  On  retrouve  m£rne  a  peu  pres  un 
vingtieme  des  mots  qui  ont  evidemment  la  meme  origine,  surtout  ceux 
qui  expriment  les  idees  religieuses."  L1  Homme  Amgricain,  consider^ 
sous  ses  Rapports  Physiologiques  et  Moraux,  Tome  I,  p.  322  (Paris, 
1839).  This  author  endeavors  to  prove  that  the  Qquichua  religion 
was  mainly  borrowed  from  the  Aymaras,  and  of  the  two  he  regards 
the  latter  as  the  senior  in  civilization.  But  so  far  as  I  have  been  able 
to  study  the  mythology  of  the  Aymaras,  which  is  but  very  superficially, 
on  account  of  the  lack  of  sources,  it  does  not  seem  to  be  entitled 
to  this  credit. 


184  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

whom  he  was  striving  to  instruct.  Swift  retribution 
sometimes  fell  upon  such  stiff-necked  listeners.  Thus  he 
once  entered  the  town  of  Yamquesupa,  the  principal  place 
in  the  province  of  the  South,  and  began  teaching  the 
inhabitants;  but  they  heeded  him  not,  and  seized  him, 
and  with  insult  and  blows  drove  .him  from  the  town,  so 
that  he  had  to  sleep  in  the  open  fields.  Thereupon  he 
cursed  their  town,  and  straightway  it  sank  into  the  earth 
with  all  its  inhabitants,  and  the  depression  was  filled  with 
water,  and  all  were  drowned.  To  this  day  it  is  known  as 
the  lake  of  Yamquesupa,  and  all  the  people  about  there 
well  know  that  what  is  now  a  sheet  of  water  was  once  the 
site  of  a  flourishing  city. 

At  another  time  he  visited  Tiahuanaco,  where  may  yet 
be  seen  the  colossal  ruins  of  some  ancient  city,  and  massive 
figures  in  stone  of  men  and  women.  In  his  time  this  was 
a  populous  mart,  its  people  rich  and  proud,  given  to 
revelry,  to  drunkenness  and  dances.  Little  they  cared  for 
the  words  of  the  preacher,  and  they  treated  him  with  dis 
dain.  Then  he  turned  upon  them  his  anger,  and  in  an 
instant  the  dancers  were  changed  into  stone,  just  as  they 
stood,  and  there  they  remain  to  this  day,  as  any  one  can 
see,  perpetual  warnings  not  to  scorn  the  words  of  the  wise. 

On  another  occasion  he  was  seized  by  the  people  who 
dwelt  by  the  great  lake  of  Carapaco,  and  tied  hands  and 
feet  with  stout  cords,  it  being  their  intention  to  put  him  to 
a  cruel  death  the  next  day.  But  very  early  in  the  morn 
ing,  just  at  the  time  of  the  dawn,  a  beautiful  youth  entered 


THE   ESCAPE   OF   TUNAPA.  185 

and  said,  "  Fear  not,  I  have  come  to  call  you  in  the  name 
of  the  lady  who  is  awaiting  you,  that  you  may  go  with 
her  to  the  place  of  joys."  With  that  he  touched  the 
fetters  on  Tunapa's  limbs,  and  the  ropes  snapped  asunder, 
and  they  went  forth  untouched  by  the  guards,  who  stood 
around.  They  descended  to  the  lake  shore,  and  just  as 
the  dawn  appeared,  Tuuapa  spread  his  mantle  on  the 
waves,  and  he  and  his  companion  stepping  itpon  it,  as  upon 
a  raft,  were  wafted  rapidly  away  into  the  rays  of  the 
morning  light. 

The  cautious  Pachacuti  does  not  let  us  into  the  secret  of 
this  mysterious  assignation,  either  because  he  did  not  know? 
or  because  he  would  not  disclose  the  mysteries  of  his  ances 
tral  faith.  But  I  am  not  so  discreet,  and  I  vehemently 
suspect  that  the  lady  who  was  awaiting  the  virtuous 
Tunapa,  was  Chasca,  the  Dawn  Maiden,  she  of  the  beauti 
ful  hair  which  distills  the  dew,  and  that  the  place  of  joys 
whither  she  invited  him  was  the  Mansion  of  the  Sky,  into 
which,  daily,  the  Light-God,  at  the  hour  of  the  morning 
twilight,  is  ushered  by  the  chaste  maiden  Aurora. 

As  the  anger  of  Tunapa  was  dreadful,  so  his  favors  were 
more  than  regal.  At  the  close  of  a  day  he  once  reached  the 
town  of  the  chief  Apotampo,  otherwise  Pacari  tampu, 
which  means  the  House  or  Lodgings  of  the  Dawn,  where 
the  festivities  of  a  wedding  were  in  progress.  The  guests, 
intent  upon  the  pleasures  of  the  hour,  listened  with  small 
patience  to  the  words  of  the  old  man,  but  the  chief  himself 
heard  them  with  profound  attention  and  delight.  There- 


186  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

fore,  as  Tunapa  was  leaving  he  presented  to  the  chief,  as  a 
reward  for  his  hospitality  and  respect,  the  staff  which  had 
assisted  his  feeble  limbs  in  many  a  journey.  It  was  of  no 
great  seemliness,  but  upon  it  were  inscribed  characters  of 
magic  power,  and  the  chief  wisely  cherished  it  among  his 
treasures.  It  was  well  he  did,  for  on  the  day  of  the  birth 
of  his  next  child  the  staff  turned  into  fine  gold,  and  that 
child  was  none  other  than  the  far-famed  Manco  Capac, 
destined  to  become  the  ancestor  of  the  illustrious  line  of  the 
Incas,  Sons  of  the  Sun,  and  famous  in  all  countries  that  it 
shines  upon;  and  as  for  the  golden  staff,  it  became,  through 
all  after  time  until  the  Spanish  conquest,  the  sceptre  of 
the  Incas  and  the  sign  of  their  sovereignty,  the  famous  and 
sacred  tnpa  yauri,  the  royal  wand.1 

It  became,  indeed,  to  Manco  Capac  a  mentor  and  guide. 
His  father  and  mother  having  died,  he  started  out  with  his 
brothers  and  sisters,  seven  brothers  and  seven  sisters  of 
them,  to  seek  new  lands,  taking  this  staff  in  his  hand. 
Like  the  seven  brothers  who,  in  Mexican  legend,  left  Aztlau, 
the  White  Land,  to  found  nations  and  cities,  so  the  brothers 
of  Manco  Capac,  leaving  Pacari  tarnpu,  the  Lodgings  of  the 
Dawn,  became  the  sinchi,  or  heads  of  various  noble  houses 
and  chiefs  of  tribes  in  the  empire  of  the  Incas.  As  for 
Manco,  it  is  well  known  that  with  his  golden  wand  he 
journeyed  on,  overcoming  demons  and  destroying  his 
enemies,  until  he  reached  the  mountain  over  against  the 

1  "  Tupa yauri;  El  cetro  real,  vara  insignia  real  del  Inca."  Holguin, 
Vocabvlario  de  la  Lengva  Qquichua  o  del  Inca,  s.  v. 


THE    FOUNDING   OF   CUZCO.  187 

spot  where  the  city  of  Cuzco  now  stands.  Here  the  sacred 
wand  sunk  of  its  own  motion  into  the  earth,  and  Manco 
Capac,  recognizing  the  divine  monition,  named  the  moun 
tain  Huanacauri,  the  Place  of  Repose.  In  the  valley  at 
the  base  he  founded  the  great  city  which  he  called  Cuzco, 
the  Navel.  Its  inhabitants  ever  afterwards  classed  Huan 
acauri  as  one  of  their  principal  deities.1 

When  Manco  Capac's  work  was  done,  he  did  not  die, 
like  other  mortals,  but  rose  to  heaven,  and  became  the 
planet  Jupiter,  under  the  name  Pirua.  From  this,  accord 
ing  to  some  writers,  the  country  of  Peru  derived  its  name.2 

It  may  fairly  be  supposed  that  this  founder  of  the  Inca 
dynasty  was  an  actual  historical  personage.  But  it  is 
evident  that  much  that  is  told  about  him  is  imagery  drawn 
from  the  legend  of  the  Light-God. 

And  what  became  of  Tunapa  ?  We  left  him  sailing  on  his 
outspread  mantle,  into  the  light  of  the  morning,  over  Lake 
Carapaco.  But  the  legend  does  not  stop  there.  Where- 
ever  he  went  that  day,  he  returned  to  his  toil,  and  pursued 
his  way  down  the  river  Chacamarca  till  he  reached  the 
sea.  There  his  fate  becomes  obscure;  but,  adds  Pacha- 

1  Don  Gav.no  Pacheco  Zegarra  derives  Huanacauri  from  huanaya, 
to  rest  oneself,  and  cayn',  here;    "  c'est  ici  qu'il  faut  se    reposer." 
Ollaiitai,  Introd.,  p.  xxv.      It  was   distinctly  the   huaca,    or  sacred 
fetish  of  the  Incas,  and  they  were  figuratively  said  to  have  descended 
from  it.     Its  worship  was  very  prominent  in  ancient  Peru.      See  the 
Information  de  las  Idolatras  de  los  Incas  y  Indios,  1571,  previously 
quoted. 

2  The  identification   of  Manco  Capac   with    the   planet   Jupiter   is 
mentioned  in  the  Relation  Anonima,  on   the   authority  of  Melchior 
Hernandez. 


188  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

cuti,  "  I  understand  that  he  passed  by  the  strait  (of  Pana 
ma)  into  the  other  sea  (back  toward  the  East).  This  is 
what  is  averred  by  the  most  ancient  sages  of  the  Inca.line, 
(por  aquellos  ingas  antiquissimos)"  We  may  well  believe 
he  did ;  for  the  light  of  day,  which  is  quenched  in  the 
western  ocean,  passes  back  again,  by  the  straits  or  in  some 
other  way,  and  appears  again  the  next  morning,  not  in  the 
West,  where  we  watched  its  dying  rays,  but  in  the  East, 
where  again  it  is  born  to  pursue  its  daily  and  ever  recur 
ring  journey. 

According  to  another,  and  also  very  early  account,  Vira- 
cocha  was  preceded  by  a  host  of  attendants,  who  were 
his  messengers  and  soldiers.  When  he  reached  the  sea, 
he  and  these  his  followers  marched  out  upon  the  waves 
as  if  it  had  been  dry  land,  and  disappeared  in  the  West.1 

These  followers  were,  like  himself,  white  and  bearded. 
Just  as,  in  Mexico,  the  natives  attributed  the  erection  of 
buildings,  the  history  of  which  had  been  lost,  to  the  white 
Toltecs,  the  subjects  of  Quetzalcoatl  (see  above,  page  87), 
so  in  Peru  various  ancient  ruins,  whose  builders  had  been 
lost  to  memory,  were  pointed  out  to  the  Spaniards  as  the 
work  of  a  white  and  bearded  race  who  held  the  country 
in  possession  long-  before  the  Incas  had  founded  their 

dynasty.2     The  explanation  in  both  cases  is  the  same.     In 

1  Garcia,  Origen  de  los  Indios,  Lib.  v,  Cap.  vn. 

2  Speaking  of  certain  "  grandesy  muy  antiquissimos  edificios"  on  the 
river  Vinaque,  Cieza  de  Leon  says  :   u  Preguntando  ;!  los  Indies  com- 
arcanos  quien  hizo  aquella  antigualla,  responden  que  otras  gentes  bar- 
badas  y  blancas  como   nosotros :  los  cuales,  muchos  tiempos  antes 
que  los  Ingas  reinasen,  dicen  que  vinieron  a  estas  partes  y  hicieron 
alii  su  morada."     La  Cr6nicadel  Peru,  cap.  LXXXVI. 


THE   BENEFICENT  TEACHER.  189 

both  the  early  works  of  art  of  unknown  origin  were  sup 
posed  to  be  the  productions  of  the  personified  light  rays, 
which  tire  the  source  of  skill,  because  they  supply  the 
means  indispensable  to  the  aquisition  of  knowledge. 

The  versions  of  these  myths  which  have  been  preserved 
to  us  by  Juan  de  Betanzos,  and  the  documents  on  which 
the  historian  Herrera  founded  his  narrative,  are  in  the 
main  identical  with  that  which  I  have  quoted  from  the 
narrative  of  Pachacuti.  I  shall,  however,  give  that  of 
Herrera,  as  it  has  some  interesting  features. 

He  tells  us  that  the  traditions  and  songs  which  the 
Indians  had  received  from  their  remote  ancestors  related 
that  in  very  early  times  there  was  a  period  when  there 
was  no  sun,  and  men  lived  in  darkness."  At  length,  in 
answer  to  their  urgent  prayers,  the  sun  emerged  from  Lake 
Titicaca,  and  soon  afterwards  there  came  a  man  from  the 
south,  of  fair  complexion,  large  in  stature,  and  of 
venerable  presence,  whose  power  was  boundless.  He 
removed  mountains,  filled  up  valleys,  caused  fountains  to 
burst  from  the  solid  rocks,  and  gave  life  to  men 
and  animals.  Hence  the  people  called  him  the  "  Begin 
ning  of  all  Created  Things/7  and  "  Father  of  the 
Sun."  Many  good  works  he  performed,  bringing  order 
among  the  people,  giving  them  wise  counsel,  working 
miracles  and  teaching.  He  went  on  his  journey  toward 
the  north,  but  until  the  latest  times  they  bore  his  deeds 
and  person  in  memory,  under  the  names  of  Tici  Vira- 
cocha  and  Tuapaca,  and  elsewhere  as  Arnava.  They 


190  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

erected  many  temples  to  him,  in  which  they  placed  his 
figure  and  image  as  described. 

They  also  said  that  after  a  certain  length  of  time  there 
re-appeared  another  like  this  first  one,  or  else  he  was  the 
same,  who  also  gave  wise  counsel  and  cured  the  sick.  He 
met  disfavor,  and  at  one  spot  the  people  set  about  to  slay 
him,  but  he  called  down  upon  them  fire  from  heaven, 
which  burned  their  village  and  scorched  the  mountains 
into  cinders.  Then  they  threw  away  their  weapons  and 
begged  of  him  to  deliver  them  from  the  danger,  which  he 
did.1  He  passed  on  toward  the  West  until  he  reached  the 
shore  of  the  sea.  There  he  spread  out  his  mantle,  and 
seating  himself  upon  it,  sailed  away  and  was  never  seen 
again.  For  this  reason,  adds  the  chronicler,  "  the  name 
was  given  to  him,  FiracocAa,  which  means  Foam  of  the 
Sea,  though  afterwards  it  changed  in  signification.'7  2 

This  leads  me  to  the  etymology  of  the  name.  It  is 
confessed lyj)bscu re.  The  translation  which  Herrera  gives, 
is  that  generally  offered  by  the  Spanish  writers,  but  it  is 
not  literal.  The  word  uira  means  fat,  and  cocha,  lake,  sea, 
or  other  large  body  of  water ;  therefore,  as  the  genitive 

1  This  incident  is  also  related  by  Pachacuti   and   Betanzos.     All 
three  locate  the  scene  of  the  event  at  Oarcha,  eighteen  leagues  from 
Cuzco,  where  the  Canas  tribe  lived  at  the  Conquest.     Pachacuti  states 
that  the  cause  of  the  anger  of  Viracocha  was  that  upon  the  Sierra 
there   was  the   statue  of  a  woman  to   whom   human   victims   were 
sacrificed.     If  this  was  the  tradition,  it  would  offer  another  point  of 
identity  with  that  of  Quetzalcoatl,  who  was  also  said  to  have  forbidden 
human  sacrifices. 

2  Herrera,  Historia  de  las  Indias  Occidentals,  Dec.  v,  Lib.  in, 
cap.  vi. 


MEANING   OF   VIRACOCHA.  191 

must  be  prefixed  in  the  Qquichua  tongue,  the  translation 
must  be  "  Lake  or  Sea  of  Fat/'  This  was  shown  by 
Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  in  his  Royal  Commentaries,  and  as 
he  could  see  no  sense  or  propriety  in  applying  such  a  term 
as  "Lake  of  Grease  "  to  the  Supreme  Divinity,  he  rejected 
this  derivation,  and  contented  himself  by  saying  that  the 
meaning  of  the  name  was  totally  unknown.1  In  this  Mr. 
Clements  R.  Markham,  who  is  an  authority  on  Peru 
vian  matters,  coincides,  though  acknowledging  that  no 
other  meaning  suggests  itself.2  I  shall  not  say  anything 
about  the  derivations  of  this  name  from  the  Sanskrit,3  or 
the  ancient  Egyptian  ; 4  these  are  etymological  amusements 
with  which  serious  studies  have  nothing  to  do. 

The  first  and  accepted  derivation  has  been  ably  and 
to  my  mind  successfully  defended  by  probably  the  most 
accomplished  Qquichua  scholar  of  our  age,  Seiior  Gavino 
Pacheco  Zegarra,  who,  in  the  introduction  to  his  most  ex 
cellent  edition  of  the  Drama  of  Ollanta'i,  maintains  that 
Yiracocha,  literally  "Lake  of  Fat,"  was  a  simile  applied  to 
the  frothing,  foaming  sea,  and  adds  that  as  a  personal  name 

r 

1  "  Donde  consta  claro  no  ser  nombre  compuesto,  sino  proprio  de 
aquella  fantasma  que  dijo  llamarse  Viracocha  y  que  erahijo  del  Sol." 
Com.  Reales,  Lib.  v,  cap.  xxi. 

2  Introduction  to  Narratives  of  the  Rites  and  Laws  of  the  Incas,  p. 

XI. 

"  Le  nom  de  Viracocha  dont  la  physionomie  sanskrite  est  si 
frappante,"  etc.  Desjardins,  Le  Perou  avant  la  Conquete  Espagnole, 
p.  180  (Paris  1858). 

4  Viracocha  "is  the  II  or  Ra  of  the  Babylonian  monuments,  and 
thus  the  Ra  of  Egypt,  "etc.  Professor  John  Campbell,  Compte- Rendu 
du  Congrts  International  des  A?n£ricanistes,  Vol.  I,  p.  362  (1875). 


AMERICAN    HERO -MYTHS. 

in   this  signification   it  is  in  entire   conformity  with   the 
genius  of  the  Qquichua  tongue.1 

To  quote  his  words: — "The  tradition  was  that  Viracocha's 
face  was  extremely  white  and  bearded.  From  this  his 
name  was  derived,  which  means,  taken  literally,  "Lake  of 
Fat;'  by  extension,  however,  the  word  means  ' Sea-Foam/ 
as  in  the  Qquichua  language  the  foam  is  called  fat,  no 
doubt  on  account  of  its  whiteness." 

It  had  a  double  appropriateness  in  its  application  to  the 
hero-god.  Not  only  was  he  supposed  in  the  one  myth  to 
have  risen  from  the  waves  of  Lake  Titicaca,  and  in  another 
to  have  appeared  when  the  primeval  ocean  left  the  land 
dry,  but  he  was  universally  described  as  of  fair  complexion, 
a  white  man.  Strange,  indeed,  it  is  that  these  people  who 
had  never  seen  a  member  of  the  white  race,  should  so 
persistently  have  represented  their  highest  gods  as  of 
this  hue,  and  what  is  more,  with  the  flowing  beard  and 
abundant  light  hair  which  is  their  characteristic. 

\  There  is  no  denying,  however,  that  such  is  the  fact.  Did 
it  depend  on  legend  alone  we  might,  however  strong  the 
consensus  of  testimony,  harbor  some  doubt  about  it.  But 
it  does  not.  The  monuments  themselves  attest  it.  There 
is,  indeed,  a  singular  uniformity  of  statement  in  the  myths. 
Viracocha,  under  any  and  all  his  surnames,  is  always 
described  as  white  and  bearded,  dressed  in  flowing  robes 

1  Ollantai,  Drameenvers  Quechuas,  Introd.,  p.  xxxvi  (Paris,  1878). 
There  was  a  class  of  diviners  in  Peru  who  foretold  the  future  by 
inspecting  the  fat  of  animals  ;  they  were  called  Vira-piricuc.  Molina, 
Fables  and  Rites,  p.  13. 


THE   WHITE   CIVILIZEE.  193 

aud  of  imposing  mien.  His  robes  were  also  white,  and 
thus  he  was  figured  at  the  entrance  of  one  of  his  most_, 
celebrated  temples,  that  of  Urcos.  His  image  at  that- 
place  was  of  a  man  with  a  white  robe  falling  to  his  waist, 
and  thence  to  his  feet;  by  him,  cut  in  stone,  were  his  birds, 
the  eagle  and  the  falcon.1  So,  also,  on  a  certain  occasion 
when  he  was  said  to  have  appeared  in  a  dream  to  one  of 
the  Incas  who  afterwards  adopted  his  name,  he  was  said  to 
have  come  with  beard  more  than  a  span  in  length,  and 
clothed  in  a  large  and  loose  mantle,  which  fell  to  his  feet, 
while  with  his  hand  he  held,  by  a  cord  to  its  neck?some  un 
known  animal.  And  thus  in  after  times  he  was  represented 
in  painting  and  statue,  by  order  of  that  Inca.2 

An  early  writer  tells  us  that  the  great  temple  of  Cuzco, 
which  was  afterwards  chosen  for  the  Cathedral,  was 
originally  that  of  Ilia  Ticci  Viracocha.  It  contained  only 
one  altar,  and  upon  it  a  marble  statue  of  the  god.  This  is 
described  as  being,  "both  as  to  the  hair,  complexion, 
features,  raiment  and  sandals,  just  as  painters  represent  the 
Apostle,  Saint  Bartholomew."3 

Misled  by  the  statements  of  the  historian  Garcilasso  de 
la  Vega,  some  later  writers,  among  whom  I  may  note  the 
eminent  German  traveler  Yon  Tschudi,  have  supposed 
that  Yiracocha  belonged  to  the  historical  deities  of 

1  Christoval  de  Molina,  ubi  supra,  p.  29. 

2  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  Comentarios  Reales,  Lib.  iv,  cap.  xxi. 

3  Relation  anonima,  p.  148. 


13 


194  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

Peru,  and  that  his  worship  was  of  comparatively  recent 
origin.1  La  Vega,  who  could  not  understand  the  name  of  the 
divinity,  and,  moreover,  either  knew  little  about  the  ancient 
religion,  or  else  concealed  his  knowledge  (as  is  shown  by 
his  reiterated  statement  that  human  sacrifices  were  un 
known),  pretended  that  Viracocha  first  came  to  be  honored 
through  a  dream  of  the  Inca  who  assumed  his  name. 
But  the  narrative  of  the  occurrence  that  he  himself  gives 
shows  that  even  at  that  time  the  myth  was  well  known 
and  of  great  antiquity.' 

The  statements  which  he  makes  on  the  authority  of 
Father  Bias  Valera,  that  the  Inca  Tupac  Yupanqui 
sought  to  purify  the  religion  of  his  day  by  leading  it 
toward  the  contemplation  of  an  incorporeal  God,8  is 
probably,  in  the  main,  correct.  It  is  supported  by  a 
similar  account  given  by  Acosta,  of  the  famous  Huayua 
Capac.  Indeed,  they  read  so  much  alike  that  they  are 
probably  repetitions  of  teachings  familiar  to  the  nobles 
and  higher  priests.  Both  Incas  maintained  that  the  Sun 
could  not  be  the  chief  god,  because  he  ran  daily  his  accus 
tomed  course,  like  a  slave,  or  an  animal  that  is  led.  He 

1  "  La  principal  de  estas  Deidades  historicas  era  Viracocha.  *   *    * 
Dos  siglos  contaba  el  culto  de  Viracocha  a  la  llegada  de  los  Espanoles. ' ' 
J.  Diego  de  Tschudi,  Antiguedades  Peruanas,  pp.  159,  160  (Vienna, 
1851).  ' 

2  Compare    the   account  in  Garcilasso  de   la   Vega,   Comentarios 
Reales,  Lib.  n,  cap.  iv;  Lib.  IT,  cap.  xxi,  xxm,  with  that  in  Acosta, 
Historia  Natural  y  Moral  de  las  Indias,  Lib.  vi,  cap.  xxi. 

3  Comentarios  Reales,  Pt.  i,  Lib.  vin,  cap.  vin. 


THE    DEITY   CON.  195 

must  therefore  be  the  subject  of  a  mightier  power  than 
himself. 

We  may  reasonably  suppose  that  these  expressions  are 
proof  of  a  growing  sense  of  the  attributes  of  divinity. 
They  are  indications  of  the  evolution  of  religious  thought, 
and  go  to  show  that  the  monotheistic  ideas  which  I  have 
pointed  out  in  the  titles  and  names  of  the  highest  God, 
were  clearly  recognized  and  publicly  announced. 

Viracocha  was  also  worshiped  under  the  title  Con-ticci- 
Viraeocha.  Various  explanations  of  the  name  Con  have 
been  offered.  It  is  not  positively  certain  that  it  belongs 
to  the  Qquichua  tongue.  A  myth  preserved  by  Gomara 
treats  Con  as  a  distinct  deity.  He  is  said  to  have  come 
from  the  north,  to  have  been  without  bones,  muscles  or 
members,  to  have  the  power  of  running  with  infinite 
swiftness,  and  to  have  leveled  mountains,  filled  up  valleys, 
and  deprived  the  coast  plains  of  rain.  At  the  same  time 
he  is  called  a  son  of  the  Sun  and  the  Moon,  and  it  was 
owing  to  his  good  will  and  creative  power  that  men  and 
women  were  formed,  and  maize  and  fruits  given  them 
upon  which  to  subsist. 

Another  more  powerful  god,  however,  by  name  Pa- 
chacamac,  also  a  son  of  the  Sun  and  Moon,  and  hence 
brother  to  Con,  rose  up  against  him  and  drove  him  from 
the  laud.  The  men  and  women  whom  Con  had  formed 
were  changed  by  Pachacamac  into  brutes,  and  others  cre 
ated  who  were  the  ancestors  of  the  present  race.  These  he 
supplied  with  what  was  necessary  for  their  support,  and 


196  AMEKICAX   HERO-MYTHS. 

taught  them  the  arts  of  war  and  peace.  For  these  rea 
sons  they  venerated  him  as  a  god,  and  constructed  for  his 
worship  a  sumptuous  temple,  a  league  and  a  half  from  the 
present  city  of  Lima.1 

This  myth  of  the  conflict  of  the  two  brothers  is  too 
similar  to  others  I  have  quoted  for  its  significance  to  be 
mistaken.  Unfortunately  it  has  been  handed  down  in  so 
fragmentary  a  condition  that  it  does  not  seem  possible  to 
assign  it  its  proper  relations  to  the  cycle  of  Yiracocha 
legends. 

As  I  have  hinted,  we  are  not  sure  of  the  meaning  of  the 
name  Con,  nor  whether  it  is  of  Qquichua  origin.  If  it  is,  as 
is  indeed  likely,  then  we  may  suppose  that  it  is  a  transcription 
of  the  word  ccun,  which  in  Qquichua  is  the  third  person 
singular,  present  indicative,  of  ccuni,  I  give.  "  He  Gives ;" 
the  Giver,  would  seem  an  appropriate  name  for  the  first 
creator  of  things.  But  the  myth  itself,  and  the  description 
of  the  deity,  incorporeal  and  swift,  bringer  at  one  time  of 
the  fertilizing  rains,  at  another  of  the  drought,  seems  to 
point  unmistakably  to  a  god  of  the  winds.  Linguistic 
analogy  bears  this  out,  for  the  name  given  to  a  whirlwind 
or  violent  wind  storm  was  Conchuy,  with  an  additional 
word  to  signify  whether  it  was  one  of  rain  or  merely  a  dust 
storm.2  For  this  reason  I  think  M.  Wiener's  attempt  to 

1  Francisco    Lopez   de   Gomara,    Historia   de    las  Indias,  p.  233 
(Ed.  Paris,  1852). 

2  A  whirlwind  with  rain  was  paria  conchuy  (paria,  rain),  one  with 
clouds  of  dust,  allpa  conchuy  (allpa,  earth,  dust)  ;  Holguin,  Vocab- 
vlario  Qquichva,  s.  v.  Antay  conchuy. 


PACHACAMAC.  197 

make  of  Con  (or  Qqiionn,  as  he  prefers  to  spell  it)  merely 
a  deity  of  the  rains,  is  too  narrow.1 

The  legend  would  seem  to  indicate  that  he  was  supposed 
to  have  been  defeated  and  quite  driven  away.  But  the 
study  of  the  monuments  indicates  that  this  was  not  the  case. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  antiquities  in  Peru  is  at  a  place 
called  Concacha,  three  leagues  south  of  Abancay,  on  the 
road  from  Cuzco  to  Lima.  M.  Leonce  Angrand  has 
observed  that  this  "  was  evidently  one  of  the  great  religious 
centres  of  the  primitive  peoples  of  Peru."  Here  is  found 
an  enormous  block  of  granite,  very  curiously  carved  to 
facilitate  the  dispersion  of  a  liquid  poured  on  its  summit 
into  varied  streams  and  to  quaint  receptacles.  Whether  the 
liquid  was  the  blood  of  victims,  the  intoxicating  beverage 
of  the  country,  or  pure  water,  all  of  which  have  been 
suggested,  we  do  not  positively  know,  but  I  am  inclined  to 
believe,  with  M.  Wiener,  that  it  was  the  last  mentioned, 
and  that  it  was  as  the  beneficent  deity  of  the  rains  that  Con 
was  worshiped  at  this  sacred  spot.  Its  name  con  cacha, 
"  the  Messenger  of  Con,"  points  to  this.2 

The  words  Pacha  camac  mean  "animating"  or  "giving 
life  to  the  world."  It  is  said  by  Father  Acosta  to  have 
been  one  of  the  names  of  Viracooha,3  and  in  a  sacred  song 

1  Le  Peroii  et  Bolivie,  p.  694.     (Paris,  1880.) 

2  These  remains   are  carefully  described  by  Charles  Wiener,  Perou 
et  Bolivie,  p.  282,  seq;  from  the  notes  of  M.  Angrand,  by  Desjardins, 
Le  Perou  avant  la   Conquete  Espagnole,  p.  132;  and  in  a  superficial 
manner  by  Squier,  Peru,  p.  555. 

3  Historia  Natural  y  Moral  de  las  Indias,  Lib.  v,  cap.  in. 


198  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

preserved  by  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega  he  is  appealed  to  by 
this  title.1  The  identity  of  these  two  divinities  seems, 
therefore,  sufficiently  established. 

The  worship  of  Pachacamac  is  asserted  by  competent 
antiquarian  students  to  have  been  more  extended  in  ancient 
Peru  than  the  older  historians  supposed.  This  is  indicated 
by  the  many  remains  of  temples  which  local  tradition 
attribute  to  his  worship,  and  by  the  customs  of  the 
natives.2  For  instance,  at  the  birth  of  a  child  it  was 
formally  offered  to  him  and  his  protection  solicited.  On 
reaching  some  arduous  height  the  toiling  Indian  would 
address  a  few  words  of  thanks  to  Pachacamac ;  and  the 
piles  of  stones,  which  were  the  simple  signs  of  their 
gratitude,  are  still  visible  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

This  variation  of  the  story  of  Yiracocha  aids  to  an 
understanding  of  his  mythical  purport.  The  oft-recurring 
epithet  "  Contice  Viracocha  "  shows  a  close  relationship 

1  Comentarios  Reales,  Lib.  n,  cap.  xxvui. 

2  Von  Tschudi,  who  in  one  part   of  his  work  maintains  that  sun- 
worship  was  the  prevalent   religion  of  Peru,  modifies  the  assertion 
considerably  in  the  following  passage:   "  El  culto  de  Pachacamac  se 
hallaba  mucho  mas  extendido  de  lo  que  suponen  los  historiadores  ; 
y  se  puede  sin  error  aventurar  la  opinion  de  que  era  la  Deidad  popu 
lar  y  acatada  por  las  masas  peruanas  ;  mientras  que  la  religion  del  Sol 
era  la  de  la  corte,  culto  que,  por  mas  adoptado  que  fuese  entre  los 
Indies,  nunca  llego  a  desarraigar  la  fe  y  la  devocion  al  Numen  primi 
tive.    En  effecto,  en  todas  las  relaciones  de  la  vida  de  los  Indies,  resalta 
la  profunda  veneracion  que  tributavan  d  Pachacamac."     Antigueda- 
des  Peruanas,  p.  149.     Inasmuch  as  elsewhere  this  author  takes  pains 
to  show  that  the  Incas  discarded  the  worship  of  the  Sun,  and  insti 
tuted  in  place  of  it  that  of  Viracocha,  the  above  would  seem  to  dimin 
ish  the  sphere  of  Sun-worship  very  much. 


THE    EXPECTED   WHITE   CONQUERORS.  199 

between  his  character  and  that  of  the  divinity  Con,  in  fact, 
an  identity  which  deserves  close  attention.  It  is  ex 
plained,  I  believe,  by  the  supposition  that  Viracocha  was 
the  Lord  of  the  Wind  as  well  as  of  the  Light.  Like  all 
the  other  light  gods,  and  deities  of  the  cardinal  points,  he 
was  at  the  same  time  the  wind  from  them.  What  has  been 
saved  from  the  ancient  mythology  is  enough  to  show  this, 
but  not  enough  to  allow  us  to  reconcile  the  seeming  con 
tradictions  which  it  suggests.  Moreover,  it  must  be  ever 
remembered  that  all  religions  repose  on  contradictions, 
contradictions  of  fact,  of  logic,  and  of  statement,  so  that 
we  must  not  seek  to  force  any  one  of  them  into  consistent 
unity  of  form,  even  with  itself. 

I  have  yet  to  add  another  point  of  similarity  between 
the  myth  of  Viracocha  and  those  of  Quetzalcoatl,  Itzamna 
and  the  others,  which  I  have  already  narrated.  As  in 
Mexico,  Yucatan  and  elsewhere,  so  in  the  realms  of  the 
Incas,  the  Spaniards  found  themselves  not  unexpected 
guests.  Here,  too,  texts  of  ancient  prophecies  were  called 
to  mind,  words  of  warning  from  solemn  and  antique  songs, 
foretelling  that  other  Viracochas,  men  of  fair  complexion 
and  flowing  beards,  would  some  day  come  from  the  Sun, 
the  father  of  existent  nature,  and  subject  the  empire  to 
their  rule.  When  the  great  Inca,  Huayna  Capac,  was  on 
his  death-bed,  he  recalled  these  prophecies,  and  impressed 
them  upon  the  mind  of  his  successor,  so  that  when  De 
Soto,  the  lieutenant  of  Pizarro,  had  his  first  interview 
with  the  envoy  of  Atahuallpa,  the  latter  humbly  addressed 


200  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

him  as  Viracocha,  the  great  God,  son  of  the  Sun,  and  told 
him  that  it  was  Huayna  Capac's  last  command  to  pay 
homage  to  the  white  men  when  they  should  arrive.1 

We  need  no  longer  entertain  about  such  statements  that 
suspicion  or  incredulity  which  so  many  historians  have 
thought  it  necessary  to  indulge  in.  They  are  too  generally 
paralleled  in  other  American  hero-myths  to  leave  the 
slightest  doubt  as  to  their  reality,  or  as  to  their  significance. 
They  are  again  the  expression  of  the  expected  return  of  the 
Light-God,  after  his  departure  and  disappearance  in  the 
western  horizon.  Modifications  of  what  was  originally  a 
statement  of  a  simple  occurrence  of  daily  routine,  they 
became  transmitted  in  the  limbeck  of  mythology  to  the 
story  of  the  beneficent  god  of  the  past,  and  the  promise  of 
golden  days  when  again  he  should  return  to  the  people 
whom  erstwhile  he  ruled  and  taught. 

The  Qquichuas  expected  the  return  of  Yiracocha,  not 
merely  as  an  earthly  ruler  to  govern  their  nation,  but  as  a 
god  who,  by  his  divine  power,  would  call  the  dead  to  life. 
Precisely  as  in  ancient  Egypt  the  literal  belief  in  the  resur 
rection  of  the  body  led  to  the  custom  of  preserving  the 
corpses  with  the  most  sedulous  care,  so  in  Peru  the 
cadaver  was  mummied  and  deposited  in  the  most  secret 
and  inaccessible  spots,  so  that  it  should  remain  undisturbed 
to  the  great  day  of  resurrection. 

And  when  was  that  to  be? 

1  Garcilasso  de  La  Vega,  Comentarios  Reales,  Lib.  ix,  caps,  xiv, 
xv;  Cieza  de  Leon,  Relation,  MS.  in  Prescott,  Conquest  of  Perut 
Vol.  i,  p.  329.  The  latter  is  the  second  part  of  Cieza  de  Leon. 


THE   RESURRECTION.  201 

We  are  not  left  in  doubt  on  this  point.  It  was  to  be 
when  Viracocha  should  return  to  earth  in  his  bodily  form. 
Then  he  would  restore  the  dead  to  life,  and  they  should 
enjoy  the  good  things  of  a  land  far  more  glorious  than  this 
work-a-day  world  of  ours.1 

As  at  the  first  meeting  between  the  races  the  name  of  the 
hero-god  was  applied  to  the  conquering  strangers,  so  to  this 
day  the  custom  has  continued.  A  recent  traveler  tells  us, 
"Among  Los  Indios  del  Campo,  or  Indians  of  the  fields,  the 
llama  herdsmen  of  t\\Q  punas,  and  the  fishermen  of  the  lakes, 
the  common  salutation  to  strangers  of  a  fair  skin  and  blue 
eyes  is  '  Tai-tai  Viracocha.'"2  Even  if  this  is  used  now, 
as  M.  Wiener  seems  to  think,3  merely  as  a  servile  flattery, 
there  is  no  doubt  but  that  at  the  beginning  it  was  applied 
because  the  white  strangers  were  identified  with  the  white 
and  bearded  hero  and  his  followers  of  their  culture  myth, 
whose  return  had  been  foretold  by  their  priests. 

Are  we  obliged  to  explain  these  similarities  to  the 
Mexican  tradition  by  supposing  some  ancieut  intercourse 
between  these  peoples,  the  arrival,  for  instance,  and  settle 
ment  on  the  highlands  around  Lake  Titicaca,  of  some 
"Toltec"  colony,  as  has  baen  maintained  by  such  able 
writers  on  Peruvian  antiquities  as  Leonce  Angrand  and  J. 

1  "  Dijeron  quellos  oyeron  decir  a  sus  padres  y  pasados  que  un  Vira 
cocha  habia  de  revolver  la  tierra,  y  habia  de  resucitar  esos  muertos,  y 
que  estos  habian  de  bibir  en  esta  tierra."  Information  de  las  Idolatras 
de  los  Incas  6  Indios,  in  the  Coll.  de  Docs,  ineditos  del  Archivo  de 
Indias,  vol.  xxi,  p.  152. 

2  E.  G.  Squier,  Travels  in  Peru,  p.  414. 

3  C.  Wiener,  Perou  et  Bolivie,  p.  717. 


202  AMERICAN    HERO- MYTHS. 

J.  von  Tschudi?1  I  think  not.  The  great  events  of 
nature,  day  and  night,  storm  and  sunshine,  are  everywhere 
the  same,  and  the  impressions  they  produced  on  the  minds 
of  this  race  were  the  same,  whether  the  scene  was  in  the 
forests  of  the  north  temperate  zone,  amid  the  palms  of  the 
tropics,  or  on  the  lofty  and  barren  plateaux  of  the  Andes. 
These  impressions  found  utterance  in  similar  myths,  and 
were  represented  in  art  under  similar  forms.  It  is,  there 
fore,  to  the  oneness  of  cause  and  of  racial  psychology, 
not  to  ancient  migrations,  that  we  must  look  to  explain  the 
identities  of  myth  and  representation  that  wre  find  between 
such  widely  sundered  nations. 

1  L.  Angrand,  Lettre  sur  lea  Antiquitds  de  Tiaguanaco  et  V  Origine 
presumable  de  la  plus  ancienne  civilisation  du  Haut-Perou.  Extrait 
du  24eme  vol.  de  la  Revue  Generate  d1  Architecture,  1866-.  Von 
Tschudi,  Das  Ollantadrama,  p.  177-9.  The  latter  says  :  "  Der  von 
dem  Plateau  von  Anahuac  ausgewanderte  Stamm  verpflanzte  seine 
Gesittung  und  die  Hauptziige  seiner  Religion  durch  das  westliche 
Siidamerica,  etc." 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE    EXTENSION    AND    INFLUENCE    OF, THE    TYPICAL 
HERO-MYTH. 

THE  TYPICAL  MYTH  FOUND  IN  MANY  PARTS  OF  THE  CONTINENT — 
DIFFICULTIES  IN  TRACING  IT— RELIGIOUS  EVOLUTION  IN  AMERICA 
SIMILAR  TO  THAT  IN  THE  OLD  WORLD — FAILURE  OF  CHRISTIANITY 
IN  THE  RED  RACE. 

THE  CULTURE  MYTH  OF  THE  TARASCOS  OF  MECHOACAN — THAT  OF  THE 
KICHES  OF  GUATEMALA — THE  VOTAN  MYTH  OF  THE  TZENDALS  OF 
CHIAPAS — A  FRAGMENT  OF  A  MIXE  MYTH — THE  HERO-GOD  OF 

THE    MUYSCAS    OF    NEW    GRANADA— OF     THE    TuPI-GuARANAY    STEM 

OF  PARAGUAY   AND    BRAZIL — MYTHS    OF  THE    DENE    OF    BRITISH 
AMERICA. 

SUN  WORSHIP  IN  AMERICA — GERMS  OF  PROGRESS  IN  AMERICAN 
RELIGIONS — RELATION  OF  RELIGION  AND  MORALITY — THE  LIGHT- 
GOD  A  MORAL  AND  BENEFICENT  CREATION — His  WORSHIP  WAS 
ELEVATING— MORAL  CONDITION  OF  NATIVE  SOCIETIES  BEFORE  THE 
CONQUEST — PROGRESS  IN  THE  DEFINITION  OF  THE  IDEA  OF  GOD  IN 
PERU,  MEXICO,  AND  YUCATAN — ERRONEOUS  STATEMENTS  ABOUT  THE 
MORALS  OF  THE  NATIVES— EVOLUTION  OF  THEIR  ETHICAL  PRIN 
CIPLES. 

In  the  foregoing  chapters  I  have  passed  in  review  the  hero- 
myths  of  five  nations  widely  asunder  in  location,  in  culture 
and  in  language.  I  have  shown  the  strange  similarity  in  their 
accounts  of  their  mysterious  early  benefactor  and  teacher, 
and  their  still  more  strange,  because  true,  presentiments  of 
the  arrival  of  pale-faced  conquerors  from  the  East. 

I  have  selected  these  nations  because  their  myths  have 
been  most  fully  recorded,  not  that  they  alone  possessed  this 
striking  legend.  It  is,  I  repeat,  the  fundamental  myth  in  the 
religious  lore  of  American  nations.  Not,  indeed,  that  it  can 

203 


204  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

be  discovered  in  all  tribes,  especially  in  the  amplitude  of 
incident  which  it  possesses  among  some.  But  there  are 
comparatively  few  of  the  native  mythologies  that  do  not 
betray  some  of  its  elements,  some  fragments  of  it,  and, 
often  enough  to  justify  us  in  the  supposition  that  had  we 
the  complete  body  of  their  sacred  stories,  we  should  find 
this  one  in  quite  as  defined  a  form  as  I  have  given  it. 

The  student  of  American  mythology,  unfortunately, 
labors  under  peculiar  disadvantages.  When  he  seeks  for  his 
material,  he  finds  an  extraordinary  dearth  of  it.  The  mis 
sionaries  usually  refused  to  preserve  the  native  myths,  be- 
caused  they  believed  them  harmful,  or  at  least  foolish;  while 
men  of  science,  who  have  had  such  opportunities,  rejected  all 
those  that  seemed  the  least  like  a  Biblical  story,  as  they 
suspected  them  to  be  modern  and  valueless  compositions, 
and  thus  lost  the  very  life  of  the  genuine  ancient  faiths. 

A  further  disadvantage  is  the  slight  attention  which  has 
been  paid  to  the  aboriginal  American  tongues,  and  the 
sad  deficiency  of  material  for  their  study.  It  is  now 
recognized  on  all  hands  that  the  key  of  a  mythology  is  to 
be  found  in  the  language  of  its  believers.  As  a  German 
writer  remarks,  "  the  formation  of  the  language  and  the 
evolution  of  the  myth  go  hand  in  hand/'1  We  must  know 

1  "  In  der  Sprache  herrscht  immer  und  erneut  sich  stets  die  sinnliche 
Anschaunng,  die  vor  Jahrtausenden  mit  dem  glaubigen  Sinn  verm'ahlt 
die  Mythologien  schuf,  und  gerade  durch  sie  wird  es  am  klarsten,  wie 
Sprachenschopfung  und  mythologische  Entwicklung,  der  Ausdruck 
des  Denkens  und  Grlaubens,  einst  Hand  in  Hand  gegangen."  Dr.  F. 
L.W.  Schwartz,  Der  Ursprung  der  Mythologie  dargelegt  an  Griechischer 
undDeutscher  Sage,  p.  23  (Berlin,  1860). 


RELIGIOUS    EVOLUTION.  205 

the  language  of  a  tribe,  at  least  we  must  understand  the 
grammatical  construction  and  have  facilities  to  trace  out 
the  meaning  and  derivation  of  names,  before  we  can  obtain 
any  accurate  notion  of  the  foundation  in  nature  of  its 
religious  beliefs.  No  convenient  generality  will  help  us. 

I  make  these  remarks  as  a  sort  of  apology  for  the  short 
comings  of  the  present  study,  and  especially  for  the 
imperfections  of  the  fragments  I  have  still  to  present. 
They  are,  however,  sufficiently  defined  to  make  it  certain 
that  they  belonged  to  cycles  of  myths  closely  akin  to  those 
already  given.  They  will  serve  to  support  my  thesis  that 
the  seemingly  confused  and  puerile  fables  of  the  native 
Americans  are  fully  as  worthy  the  attention  of  the  student 
of  human  nature  as  the  more  poetic  narratives  of  the  Veda 
or  the  Edda.  The  red  man  felt  out  after  God  with  like 
childish  gropings  as  his  white  brother  in  Central  Asia. 
When  his  course  was  interrupted,  he  was  pursuing  the  same 
path  toward  the  discovery  of  truth.  In  the  words  of  a 
thoughtful  writer:  "  In  a  world  wholly  separated  from 
that  which  it  is  customary  to  call  the  Old  World,  the 
religious  evolution  of  man  took  place  precisely  in  the  same 
manner  as  in  those  surroundings  which  produced  the 
civilization  of  western  Europe."1 

But  this  religious  development  of  the  red  man  was 
violently  broken  by  the  forcible  imposition  of  a  creed 
which  he  could  not  understand,  and  which  was  not  suited 

1  Girard  de  Rialle,  La  Mythologie  Comparte,  vol.  i,  p.  363  (Paris, 
1878). 


206  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

to  his  wants,  and  by  the  heavy  yoke  of  a  priesthood  totally 
out  of  sympathy  with  his  line  of  progress.  What  has  been 
the  result  ?  "  Has  Christianity,"  asks  the  writer  I  have 
just  quoted,  "  exerted  a  progressive  action  on  these  peoples? 
Has  it  brought  them  forward,  has  it  aided  their  natural 
evolution  ?  We  are  obliged  to  answer,  No."  *  This  sad 
reply  is  repeated  by  careful  observers  who  have  studied 
dispassionately  the  natives  in  their  homes.2  The  only 
difference  in  the  results  of  the  two  great  divisions  of  the 
Christian  world  seems  to  be  that  on  Catholic  missions  has 
followed  the  debasement,  on  Protestant  missions  the 
destruction  of  the  race. 

It  may  be  objected  to  this  that  it  was  not  Christianity, 
but  its  accompaniments,  the  greedy  horde  of  adventurers, 
the  profligate  traders,  the  selfish  priests,  and  the  unscrupu 
lous  officials,  that  wrought  the  degradation  of  the  native 

1  Girard  de  Rialle,  ibid,  p.  362. 

2  Those  who  would  convince  themselves  of  this  may  read  the  work 
of  Don  Francisco   Pimentel,    Memoria   sobre  las    Causas  que  han 
originado  la  Situation  Actual  de  la  Raza  Indigena  de  Mexico  (Mexico, 
1864),  and  that  of  the  Licentiate  Apolinar  Garcia  y  Garcia,  Historia 
de  la  Gaerra  de  Castas  de  Yucatan,  Prologo  (Merida,  1865).     That 
the  Indians  of  the  United  States  have  directly  and  positively  degen 
erated  in  moral  sense  as  a  race,  since  the  introduction  of  Christianity, 
was  also  very  decidedly  the  opinion  of  the  late  Prof.  Theodor  Waltz,  a 
most  competent  ethnologist.     See  Die  Indianer  Nordamericd's.  Eine 
Studie,  von  Theodor  Waitz,  p.  39,  etc.    (Leipzig,  1865).     This  opinion 
was  also  that  of  the  visiting  committee  of  the  Society  of  Friends  who 
reported  on  the  Indian  Tribes  in  1842 ;  see  the  Report  of  a  Visit  to 
Some  of  the  Tribes  of  Indians  West  of  the  Mississippi  River,  by  John 
D.  Lang  and  Samuel  Taylor,  Jr.  (New  York,  1843).     The  language  of 
this  Report  is  calm,  but  positive  as  to  the  increased  moral  degradation 
of  the  tribes,  as  the  direct  result  of  co'ntact  with  the  whites. 


FAILURE    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  207 

race.  Be  it  so.  Then  I  merely  modify  my  assertion,  by 
saying  that  Christianity  has  shown  itself  incapable  of 
controlling  its  inevitable  adjuncts,  and  that  it  would  have 
been  better,  morally  and  socially,  for  the  American  race 
never  to  have  known  Christianity  at  all,  than  to  have 
received  it  on  the  only  terms  on  which  it  has  been  possible 
to  offer  it. 

With  the  more  earnestness,  therefore,  in  view  of  this 
acknowledged  failure  of  Christian  effort,  do  I  turn  to  the 
native  beliefs,  and  desire  to  vindicate  for  them  a  dignified 
position  among  the  faiths  which  have  helped  to  raise  man 
above  the  level  of  the  brute,  and  inspired  him  with  hope 
and  ambition  for  betterment. 

For  this  purpose  I  shall  offer  some  additional  evidence 
of  the  extension  of  the  myth  I  have  set  forth,  and  then 
proceed  to  discuss  its  influence  on  the  minds  of  its 
believers. 

The  Tarascos  were  an  interesting  nation  who  lived  in 
the  province  of  Michoacan,  due  west  of  the  valley  of 
Mexico.  They  were  a  polished  race,  speaking  a  sonorous, 
vocalic  language,  so  bold  in  war  that  their  boast  was  that 
they  had  never  been  defeated,  and  yet  their  religious  rites 
were  almost  bloodless,  and  their  preference  was  for  peace. 
The  hardy  Aztecs  had  been  driven  back  at  every  attempt 
they  made  to  conquer  Michoacan,  but  its  ruler  submitted 
himself  without  a  murmur  to  Cortes,  recognizing  in  him 
an  opponent  of  the  common  enemy,  and  a  warrior  of  more 
than  human  powers. 


208  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

Among  these  Tarascos  we  find  the  same  legend  of  a 
hero-god  who  brought  them  out  of  barbarism,  gave  them 
laws,  arranged  their  calendar,  which,  in  principles,  was 
the  same  as  that  of  the  Aztecs  and  Mayas,  and  decided  on 
the  form  of -their  govern  ment.  His  name  was  Surites  or 
Curicaberis,  words  which,  from  my  limited  resources  in 
that  tongue,  I  am  not  able  to  analyze.  He  dwelt  in  the 
town  Cromuscuaro,  which  name  means  the  Watch-tower 
or  Look-out,  and  the  hour  in  which  he  gave  his  instruc 
tions  was  always  at  sunrise,  just  as  the  orb  of  light  ap 
peared  on  the  eastern  horizon.  One  of  the  feasts  which  he 
appointed  to  be  celebrated  in  his  honor  was  called  Zitacu- 
arencuaro,  which  melodious  word  is  said  by  the  Spanish 
missionaries  to  mean  "the  resurrection  from  death."  When 
to  this  it  is  added  that  he  distinctly  predicted  that  a  white 
race  of  men  should  arrive  in  the  country,  and  that  he  him 
self  should  return,1  his  identity  with  the  light-gods  of 
similar  American  myths  is  too  manifest  to  require  argument. 

The  king  of  the  Tarascos  was  considered  merely  the 
vicegerent  of  the  absent  hero-god,  and  ready  to  lay  down 
the  sceptre  when  Curicaberis  should  return  to  earth. 

1  P.  Francisco  Xavier  Alegre,  Historia  de  la  Compartia  de  Jesus 
en  la  Nueva  Espana,  Totno  i,  pp.  91,  92  (Mexico,  1841).  The 
authorities  whom  Alegre*  quotes  are  P.  F.  Alonso  de  la  Rea,  Cronica 
de  Mechoacan  (Mexico,  1648),  and  D.  Basalenque,  Cronica  de  San 
Augustin  de  Mechoacan  (Mexico,  1673).  I  regret  that  I  have  been 
unable  to  find  either  of  these  books  in  any  library  in  the  United  States. 
It  is  a  great  pity  that  the  student  of  American  history  is  so  often 
limited  in  his  investigations  in  this  country,  by  the  lack  of  material. 
It  is  sad  to  think  that  such  an  opulent  and  intelligent  land  does  not 
possess  a  single  complete  library  of  its  own  history. 


MYTHS    OF    THE   TABASCOS.  209 

We  do  not  know  whether  the  myth  of  the  Four  Broth 
ers  prevailed  among  the  Tarascos ;  but  there  is  hardly  a 
nation  on  the  continent  among  whom  the  number  Four 
was  more  distinctly  sacred.  The  kingdom  was  divided 
into  four  parts  (as  also  among  the  Itzas,  Qquichuas  and 
numerous  other  tribes),  the  four  rulers  of  which  constituted, 
with  the  king,  the  sacred  council  of  five,  in  imitation,  I 
can  hardly  doubt,  of  the  hero-god,  and  the  four  deities  of 
the  winds. 

The  goddess  of  water  and  the  rains,  the  female 
counterpart  of  Curicaberis,  was  the  goddess  Cueravaperi. 
"She  is  named,"  says  the  authority  I  quote,  "in  all 
their  fables  and  speeches.  They  say  that  she  is  the  mother 
of  all  the  gods  of  the  earth,  and  that  it  is  she  who  bestows 
the  harvests  and  the  germination  of  seeds.'7  With  her  ever 
went  four  attendant  goddesses,  the  personifications  of  the 
rains  from  the  four  cardinal  points.  At  the  sacred  dances, 
which  were  also  dramatizations  of  her  supposed  action, 
these  attendants  were  represented  by  four  priests  clad 
respectively  in  white,  yellow,  red  and  black,  to  represent 
the  four  colors  of  the  clouds.1  In  other  words,  she  doubt 
less  bore  the  same  relation  to  Curicaberis  that  Ixchel  did 
to  Itzamna  in  the  mythology  of  the  Mayas,  or  the  rainbow 

1  Relation  de  las  Ceremonias  y  Ritos,  etc. ,  de  Mechoacan,  in  the 
Coleccion  de  Documentos  para  la  Historia  de  Esparto,,  vol.  LIU,  pp. 
13,  19,  20.  This  account  is  anonymous,  but  was  written  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  by  some  one  familiar  with  the  subject.  A  handsome 
MS.  of  it,  with  colored  illustrations  (these  of  no  great  value,  however), 
is  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  obtained  from  the  collection  of  the  late 
Col.  Peter  Force. 

14 


210  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

goddess  to  Arama  in  the  religious  legends  of  the  Moxos.1 
She  was  the  divinity  that  presided  over  the  rains,  and  hence 
over  fertility  and  the  harvests,  standing  in  intimate  relation 
to  the  god  of  the  sun's  rays  and  the  four  winds. 

The  Kiches  of  Guatemala  were  not  distant  relatives  of 
the  Mayas  of  Yucatan,  and  their  mythology  has  been  pre 
served  to  us  in  a  rescript  of  their  national  book,  the  Popol 
Vuh.  Evidently  they  had  borrowed  something  from  Aztec 
sources,  and  a  flavor  of  Christian  teaching  is  occasionally 
noticeable  in  this  record ;  but  for  all  that  it  is  one  of  the 
most  valuable  we  possess  on  the  subject. 

It  begins  by  connecting  the  creation  of  men  and  things 
with  the  appearance  of  light.  In  other  words,  as  in  so 
many  mythologies,  the  history  of  the  world  is  that  of  the 
day;  each  begins  with  a  dawn.  Thus  the  Popol  Vuh 
reads : — 

"This  is  how  the  heaven  exists,  how  the  Heart  of  Heaven 
exists,  he,  the  god,  whose  name  isQabauil." 

"  His  word  came  in  the  darkness  to  the  Lord,  to  Gucuinatz, 
and  it  spoke  with  the  Lord,  with  Gucumatz." 

"They  spoke  together;  they  consulted  and  planned; 
they  understood ;  they  united  in  words  and  plans." 

"As  they  consulted,  the  day  appeared,  the  white  light 

came  forth,  mankind  was  produced,  while  thus  they  held 

counsel  about  the  growth  of  trees  and  vines,  about  life  and 

mankind,   in   the   darkness,    in    the    night   (the    creation 

1  See  above,  page  150. 


MYTHS   OF   THE    KICHES.  211 

was  brought  about),  by  the  Heart  of  Heaven,  whose  name 
is  Hurakan."1 

But  the  national  culture-hero  of  the  Kiches  seems  to  have 
been  Xbalanquc,  a  name  which  has  the  literal  meaning, 
"  Little  Tiger  Deer,"  and  is  a  symbolical  appellation  refer 
ring  to  days  in  their  calendar.  Although  many  of  his 
deeds  are  recounted  in  the  Popol  Vuh,  that  work  does  not  ^ 
furnish  us  his  complete  mythical  history.  From  it  and  ' 
other  sources  we  learn  that  he  was  one  of  the  twins  sup 
posed  to  have  been  born  of  a  virgin  mother  in  Utatlan, 
the  central  province  of  the  Kiches,  to  have  been  the  guide 
and  protector  of  their  nation,  and  in  its  interest  to  have 
made  a  journey  to  the  Underworld,  in  order  to  revenge 
himself  on  his  powerful  enemies,  its  rulers.  He  was  suc 
cessful,  and  having  overcome  them,  hejset ;__free_the.  San, 
which  they  had  seized,  and  restored  to  life  four  hundred 
youths  whom  they  had  slain,  and  who,  in  fact,  were  the 
stars  of  heaven.  On  his  return,  he  emerged  from  the 
bowels  of  the  earth  and  the  place  of  darkness,  at  a  point 
far  to  the  east  of  Utatlan,  at  some  place  located  by  the 
Kiches  near  Coban,  in  Vera  Paz,  and  came  again  to  his 
people,  looking  to  be  received  with  fitting  honors.  But 
like  Viracocha,  Quetzalcoatl,  and  others  of  these  worthies, 
the  story  goes  that  they  treated  him  with  scant  courtesy, 
and  in  anger  at  their  ingratitude,  he  left  them  forever,  in 
order  to  seek  a  nobler  people. 

I  need  not  enter  into  a  detailed  discussion  of  this  myth, 
1  Popol  Vuh,  le  Livre  Sacre  des  QuickCs,  p.  9  (Paris,  1861). 


212  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

many  points  in  which  are  obscure,  the  less  so  as  I  have 
treated  them  at  length  in  a  monograph  readily  accessible 
to  the  reader  who  would  push  his  inquiries  further. 
Enough  if  I  quote  the  conclusion  to  which  I  there  arrive. 
It  is  as  follows  : — 

u  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  hero-god,  whose  name  is  thus 
compounded  of  two  signs  in  the  calendar,  who  is  one  of 
twins  born  of  a  virgin,  who  performs  many  surprising 
feats  of  prowess  on  the  earth,  who  descends  into  the  world 
of  darkness  and  sets  free  the  sun,  moon  and  stars  to 
perform  their  daily  and  nigFitly  journeys  through  the 
heavens,  presents  in  these  and  other  traits  such  numerous 
resemblances  to  the  Divinity  of  Light,  the  Day-maker  of 
the  northern  hunting  tribes,  reappearing  in  so  many 
American  legends,  that  I  do  not  hesitate  to  identify  the 
narrative  of  Xbalanque  and  his  deeds  as  but  another  ver 
sion  of  this  wide-spread,  this  well-nigh  universal  myth."1 

Few  of  our  hero-myths  have  given  occasion  for  wilder 
speculation  than  that  of  Votan.  He  was  the  culture 
hero  of  the  Tzendals,  a  branch  of  the  Maya  race,  whose 
home  was  in  Chiapas  and  Tabasco.  Even  the  usually 
cautious  Humboldt  suggested  that  his  name  might  be  a 
form  of  Odin  or  Buddha!  As  for  more  imaginative 
writers,  they  have  made  not  the  least  difficulty  in  discover 
ing  that  it  is  identical  with  the  Odon  of  the  Tarascos,  the 
Oton  of  the  Othomis,  the  Poudan  of  the  East  Indian 

1  The  Names  of  the  Gods  in  the  Kiche  Myths,  Central  America,  by 
Daniel  Gr.  Brinton,  M.  D.,  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  American  Philo 
sophical  Society  for  1881. 


THE   STORY   OF   VOTAN.  213 

Tamuls,  the  Vaudoux  of  the  Louisiana  negroes,  etc.  All 
this  has  been  done  without  any  attempt  having  been  made 
to  ascertain  the  precise  meaning  and  derivation  of  the  name 
Votan.  Superficial  phonetic  similarities  have  been  the 
only  guide. 

We  are  not  well  acquainted  with  the  Votan  myth. 
It  appears  to  have  been  written  down  some  time  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  by  a  Christianized  native.  His 
manuscript  of  five  or  six  folios,  in  the  Tzendal  tongue, 
came  into  the  possession  of  Nunez  de  la  Vega,  Bishop  of 
Chiapas,  about  1690,  and  later  into  the  hands  of  Don 
Ramon  Ordonez  y  Aguiar,  where  it  was  seen  by  Dr. 
Paul  Felix  Cabrera,  about  1790.  What  has  become  of  it 
is  not  known. 

No  complete  translation  of  it  was  made ;  and  the  extracts 
or  abstracts  given  by  the  authors  just  named  are  most 
unsatisfactory,  and  disfigured  by  ignorance  and  prejudice. 
None  of  them,  probably,  was  familiar  with  the  Tzeudal 
tongue,  especially  in  its  ancient  form.  What  they  tell  us 
runs  as  follows: — 

At  some  indefinitely  remote  epoch,  Votan  came  from 
the  far  East.  He  was  sent  by  God  to  divide  out  and 
assign  to  the  different  races  of  men  the  earth  on  which 
they  dwell,  and  to  give  to  each  its  own  language.  The 
land  whence  he  came  was  vaguely  called  ualum  uotanj  the 
land  of  Votan. 

His  message  was  especially  to  the  Tzendals.  Previous 
to  his  arrival  they  were  ignorant,  barbarous,  and  without 


214  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

fixed  habitations.  He  collected  them  into  villages,  taught 
them  how  to  cultivate  the  maize  and  cotton,  and  invented 
the  hieroglyphic  signs,  which  they  learned  to  carve  on  the 
walls  of  their  temples.  It  is  even  said  that  he  wrote  his 
own  history  in  them. 

He  instituted  civil  laws  for  their  government,  and  im- 

,  parted  to  them  the  proper  ceremonials  of  religious  worship. 

For  this  reason  he  was  also  called   "  Master  of  the  Sacred 

Drum/7  the  instrument  with  which  they  summoned  the 

votaries  to  the  ritual  dances. 

They  especially  remembered  him  as  the  inventor  of  their 
calendar.  His  name  stood  third  in  the  week  of  twenty 
days,  and  was  the  first  Dominical  sign,  according  to  which 
they  counted  their  year,  corresponding  to  the  Kan  of  the 
Mayas. 

As  a  city-builder,  he  was  spoken  of  as  the  founder  of 
Palenque,  Nachan,  Huehuetlan — in  fact,  of  any  ancient 
place  the  origin  of  which  had  been  forgotten.  Near  the 
last  mentioned  locality,  Huehuetlan  in  Soconusco,  he  was 
reported  to  have  constructed  an  underground  temple  by 
merely  blowing  with  his  breath.  In  this  gloomy  mansion 
he  deposited  his  treasures,  and  appointed  a  priestess  to 
guard  it,  for  whose  assistance  he  created  the  tapirs. 

Yotan  brought  with  him,  according  to  one  statement, 
or,  according  to  another,  was  followed  from  his  native 
land  by,  certain  attendants  or  subordinates,  called  in  the 
myth  tzequil,  petticoated,  from  the  long  and  flowing  robes 
they  wore.  These  aided  him  in  the  work  of  civilization. 


THE  DEPARTURE  OF  VOTAN.          215 

On  four  occasions  he  returned  to  his  former  home,  dividing 
the  country,  when  he  was  about  to  leave,  into  four  dis 
tricts,  over  which  he  placed  these  attendants. 

When  at  last  the  time  came  for  his  final  departure,  he 
did  not  pass  through  the  valley  of  death,  as  must  all 
mortals,  but  he  penetrated  through  a  cave  into  the  under- 
earth,  and  found  his  way  to  "  the  root  of  heaven."  With 
this  mysterious  expression,  the  native  myth  closes  its 
account  of  him.1 

He  was  worshiped  by  the  Tzendals  as  their  principal 
deity  and  their  beneficent  patron.  But  he  had  a  rival  in 
their  religious  observances,  the  feared  Yalahaa,  Lord  of 
Blackness,  or  Lord  of  the  Waters.  He  was  represented  as 
a  terrible  warrior,  cruel  to  the  people,  and  one  of  the  first 
of  men.2 

According  to  an  unpublished  work  by  Fuentes,  Votan 

1  The  references  to  the  Votan  myth  are  Nunez  de  la  Vega,  Constitu- 
ciones  Diocesanas,   Prologo  (Romas,    1702 1;    Boturini,  Idea  de  una 
Nueva  Historia  de  la  America  septentrional,  pp.  114,  et  seq.,  who 
discusses  the  former  ;  Dr.  Paul  Felix  Cabrera,  Teatro  Critico  Ameri 
cano,  translated,  London,  1822  ;    Brasseur   de    Bourbourg,  Hist,    des 
Nations  Civftisees  de  Mexique,  vol.  i,  chap,  n,  who  gives  some  "addi 
tional  points  from  Ordonez  ;  and  H.  de  Charencey,  Le  Mi/the  de  Votanj 
Etude  s>ir  les    Origines    Asiatiqnes   de   la    Civilization  Americaine. 
(Alencon,  1871). 

2  Yalahan  is  referred  to  by  Bishop  Nunez  de  la  Vega  as  venerated 
in  Occhuc  and   other  Tzendal   towns  of  Chiapas.       He  translates   it 
'•  Senor  de  los  Negros."     The  terminal  ahau  is  pure  Maya,  meaning 
king,  ruler,  lord ;    Yal  is  also  Maya,  and  means  water.      The  god  of 
the  waters,  of  darkness,  night  and  blackness,  is  often  one  and  the  same 
in  mythology,  and  probably  had  we  the  myth  complete,  he  would  prove 
to  be  Votan' s  brother  and  antagonist. 


216  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

was  one  of  four  brothers,  the  common  ancestors  of  the 
southwestern  branches  of  the  Maya  family.1 

All  these  traits  of  this  popular  hero  are  too  exactly 
similar  to  those  of  the  other  representatives  of  this  myth,  for 
them  to  leave  any  doubt  as  to  what  we  are  to  make  of  Votan. 
Like  the  rest  of  them,  he  and  his  long-robed  attendants  are 
personifications  of  the  eastern  light  and  its  rays.  Though 
but  uncritical  epitomes  of  a  fragmentary  myth  about  him 
remain,  they  are  enough  to  stamp  it  as  that  which  meets 
us  so  constantly ;  no  matter  where  we  turn  in  the  New 
World.2 

It  scarcely  seems  necessary  for  me  to  point  out  that  his 
name  Votan  is  in  no  way  akin  to  Othomi  or  Tarasco  roots, 
still  less  to  the  Norse  Wodau  or  the  Indian  B  add  ha,  but 
is  derived  from  a  radical  in  pure  Maya.  Yet  I  will  do  so, 
in  order,  if  possible,  to  put  a  stop  to  such  visionary 
etymologies. 

1  Quoted  in  Emeterio  Pineda,  Description  Geogrqfica  de  Chiapas  y 
Soconusco,  p.  9  (Mexico,  1845). 

2  The   title  of  the  Tzendal  MSS.,  is  said  by  Cabrera  to  be  "  Proof 
that  Tarn  a  Chan."    The  author  writes  in  the  person  of  Vetan  himself, 
and  proves  his  claim  that  he   is  a  Chan,  "because  he  is  a  Chivim." 
Chan  has  been  translated  serpent ;   on  chivim  the  commentators  have 
almost  given  up.     Supposing  that  the  serpent  was  a  totem  of  one  of 
the  Tzendal  clans,  then  the  effort  would  be  to  show  that  their  hero-god 
was  of  that  totem  ;  but   how    this  is  shown  by   his   being  proved   a 
chivim  is   not  obvious.      The  term   ualum  chivim,  the   land   of  the 
chivim.  appears  to  be  that  applied,  in  the  MS.,  to  the  country  of  the 
Tzendals,  or  a  part  of  it.     The  words  chi  uinic  would  mean,  u  men  of 
the  shore,"  and  might  be  a  local  name  applied  to  a  clan  on  the  coast. 
But  in  default  of  the  original  text  we  can  but  surmise  as  to  the  precise 
meaning  of  the  writer. 


THE   NAME   VOTAN.  217 

As  we  are  informed  by  Bishop  Nunez  de  la  Vega,  uotan 
in  Tzendal  means  heart.  Votan  was  spoken  oflisT^tEeT 
heirt  or  soul  of  his  people."  This  derivation  has  been 
questioned,  because  the  word  for  the  heart  in  the  other  Maya 
dialects  is  different,  and  it  has  been  suggested  that  this  was 
but  an  example  of  "  otosis,"  where  a  foreign  proper  name 
was  turned  into  a  familiar  common  noun.  But  these 
objections  do  not  hold  good. 

In  regard  to  derivation,  uotan  is  from  the  pure  Maya 
root-word  tan,  which  means  primarily  "  the  breast,"  or  that 
which  is  in  front  or  in  the  middle  of  the  body ;  with  the 
possessive  prefix  it  becomes  utan.  In  Tzendal  this  word 
means  both  breast  and  heart.  This  is  well  illustrated  by  an 
ancient  manuscript,  dating  from  1707,  in  my  possession:  It 
is  a  guide  to  priests  for  administering  the  sacraments1  in 
Spanish  and  Tzendal.  I  quote  the  passage  in  point  i1 — 


"Con  todo  tu  corazon,  hirien- 
dote  en  los  pechos,  di,  conmigo." 


Ta  zpizil  auotan,  xatigh  zny 
auotan,  zghoyoc,  alagh  ghoyoc. — 


Here,  a  is  the  possessive  of  the  second  person,  and  uotan 
is  used  both  for  heart  and  breast.  Thus  the  derivation  of 
the  word  from  the  Maya  radical  is  clear. 

The  figure  of  speech  by  which  the  chief  divinity  is  called 
"  the  heart  of  the  earth/'  "  the  heart  of  the  sky,"  is  common 
in  these  dialects,  and  occurs  repeatedly  in  the  Popol  Vuh, 
the  sacred  legend  of  the  Kiches  of  Guatemala.2 

1  Modo  de  Administrar  los  Sacramentos  en  Castellano  y   Tzendal, 
1707.     4toMS.,  p.  13. 

2  Thus  we  have  (Popol  Vuh,  Part  I,  p.  2)   uqux  cho,  Heart   of  the 
Lakes,  and  u  qux  palo,  Heart  of  the  Ocean,  as  names  of  the  highest 


218  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

The  immediate  neighbors  of  the  Tzendals  were  the 
Mixes  and  Zoques,  the  former  resident  in  the  central 
mountains  of  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  the  latter 
rather  in  the  lowlands  and  toward  the  eastern  coast.  The 
Mixes  nowadays  number  but  a  few  villages,  whose  inhab 
itants  are  reported  as  drunken  and  worthless,  but  the  time 
was  when  they  were  a  powerful  and  warlike  nation.  They 
are  in  nowise  akin  to  the  Maya  stock,  although  they  are  so 
classed  in  Mr.  H.  H.  Bancroft's  excellent  work.1  They 
have,  however,  a  distinct  relationship  with  the  Zoques, 
about  thirty  per  cent  of  the  words  in  the  two  languages 
being  similar.2  The  Zoques,  whose  mythology  we  unfor- 

divinity  ;  later,  we  find  u  qux  cah,  Heart  of  the  Sky  (p.  8),  u  q>  x  uleu, 
Heart  of  the  Earth,  p.  12,  14,  etc. 

I  may  here  repeat  what  I  have  elsewhere  written  on  this  figurative 
expression  in  the  Maya  languages:  "  The  literal  or  physical  sense  of 
the  word  heart  is  not  that  which  is  here  intended.  In  these  dialects 
this  word  has  a  richer  metaphorical  meaning  than  in  our  tongue.  It 
stands  for  all  the  psychical  powers,  the  memory,  will  and  reasoning 
faculties,  the  life,  the  spirit,  the  soul.  It  would  be  more  correct  to 
render  these  names  the  'Spirit'  or  'Soul'  of  the  lake,  etc.,  than 
the  'Heart.'  They  indicate  a  dimly  understood  sense  of  the  unity  of 
spirit  or  energy  in  all  the  various  manifestations  of  organic  and 
inorganic  existence."  The  Names  of  the  Gods  in  the  Kiche  Myths, 
Central  America,  by  Daniel  G.  Brinton,  in  Proceedings  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  vol.  xix,  1881,  p.  623. 

1  "Mijes,  Maya  nation,"  The  Native  Races   of  the  Pacific  States, 
Vol.  v,  p.  712. 

2  Apuntes  sobre  la  Lengua  Mije,  por  C.  H.  Berendt,  M  D.,  MS.,  in 
my  hands.     The    comparison    is   made  of    158   words    in   the    two 
languages,  of  which  44  have   marked  affinity,  besides  the  numerals, 
eight  out  often  of  which  are  the  same.     Many  of  the  remaining  words 
are  related  to  the  Zapotec,  and  there  are  very  few  and  faint  resem 
blances  to  Maya  dialects.     One  of  them  may  possibly  be  in  this  name, 
Votan  (uotan),  heart,  however.     In  Mixe  the  word  for  heart  is  hot. 
I  note  this  merely  to  complete  my  observations  on  the  Votan  myth. 


A   MYTH    OF   THE   MIXES.  219 

tunately  know  little  or  nothing  about,  adjoined  the-Tzen- 
dals,  and  were  in  constant  intercourse  with  them. 

We  have  but  faint  traces  of  the  early  mythology  of 
these  tribes ;  but  they  preserved  some  legends  which  show 
that  they  also  partook  of  the  belief,  so  general  among  their 
neighbors,  of  a  beneficent  culture-god. 

This  myth  relates  that  their  first  father,  who  was  also 
their  Supreme  God,  came  forth  from  a  cave  in  a  lofty 
mountain  in  their  country,  to  govern  and  direct  them. 
He  covered  the  soil  with  forests,  located  the  springs  and 
streams,  peopled  them  with  fish  and  the  woods  with  game 
and  birds,  and  taught  the  tribe  how  to  catch  them.  They 
did  not  believe  that  he  had  died,  but  that  after  a  certain 
length  of  time,  he,  with  his  servants  and  captives,  all  laden 
with  bright  gleaming  gold,  retired  into  the  cave  and  closed 
its  mouth,  not  to  remain  there,  but  to  reappear  at  some 
other  part  of  the  world  and  confer  similar  favors  on  other 
nations. 

The  name,  or  one  of  the  names,  of  this  benefactor  was 
Condoy,  the  meaning  of  which  my  facilities  do  not  enable 
me  to  ascertain.1 

There  is  scarcely  enough  of  this  to  reveal  the  exact 
lineaments  of  their  hero  ;  but  if  we  may  judge  from  these 
fragments  as  given  by  Carriedo,  it  appears  to  be  of  pre 
cisely  the  same  class  as  the  other  hero-myths  I  have  col 
lected  in  this  volume.  Historians  of  authority  assure  us 

1  Juan  B.  Carriedo,  Estudios  Historicos  y  Estadisticos  del  Estado 
Libre  de  Oaxaca,  p.  3  (Oaxaca,  1847). 


220  AMERICAN   HERO -MYTHS. 

that  the  Mixes,  Zoques  and  Zapotecs  united  in  the  expec 
tation,  founded  on  their  ancient  myths  and  prophecies,  of  the 
arrival,  some  time,  of  men  from  the  East,  fair  of  hue  and 
mighty  in  power,  masters  of  the  lightning,  who  would 
occupy  the  land.1 

On  the  lofty  plateau  of  the  Andes,  in  New  Granada, 
where,  though  nearly  under  the  equator,  the  temperature  is 
that  of  a  perpetual  spring,  was  the  fortunate  home  of 
the  Muyscas.  It  is  the « true  El  Dorado  of  America ; 
every  mountain  stream  a  Pactolus,  and  every  hill  a  mine 
of  gold.  The  natives  were  peaceful  in  disposition",  skilled 
in  smelting  and  beating  the  precious  metal  that  was  every 
where  at  hand,  lovers  of  agriculture,  and  versed  in  the  arts 
of  spinning,  weaving  and  dying  cotton.  Their  remaining 
sculptures  prove  them  to  have  been  of  no  mean  ability  in 
design  ing,  and  it  is  asserted  that  they  had  a  form  of 
writing,  of  which  their  signs  for  the  numerals  have  alone 
been  preserved. 

The  knowledge  of  these  various  arts  they  attributed  to 
the  instructions  o'f  a  wise  stranger  who  dwelt  among  them 
many  cycles  before  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards.  He  came 
from  the  East,  from  the  llanos  of  Venezuela  or  beyond  them, 
and  it  was  said  that  the  path  he  made  was  broad  and  long, 
a  hundred  leagues  in  length,  and  led  directly  to  the  holy 
temple  at  his  shrine  at  Sogamoso.  In  the  province  of 
Ubaque  his  footprints  on  the  solid  rock  were  reverently 

1Ibid.,  p.  94,  note,  quoting  from  the  works  of  Las  Casas  and  Fran 
cisco  Burgoa. 


MYTH   OF   THE   MUYSCAS.  221 

pointed  out  long  after  the  Conquest.  His  hair  was 
abundant,  his  beard  fell  to  his  waist,  and  he  dressed  in 
long  and  flowing  robes.  He  went  among  the  nations  of  the 
plateaux,  addressing  each  in  its  own  dialect,  taught  them 
to  live  in  villages  and  to  observe  just  laws.  Near  the 
village  of  Goto  was  a  high  hill  held  in  special  veneration, 
for  from  its  prominent  summit  he  was  wont  to  address  the 
people  who  gathered  round  its  base.  Therefore  it  was 
esteemed  a  sanctuary,  holy  to  the  living  and  the  dead. 
Princely  families  from  a  distance  carried  their  dead  there 
to  be  interred,  because  this  teacher  had  said  that  man  does 
not  perish  when  he  dies,  but  shall  rise  again.  It  was  held 
that  this  would  be  more  certain  to  occur  in  the  very  spot 
where  he  announced  this  doctrine.  Every  sunset,  when  he 
had  finished  his  discourse,  he  retired  into  a  cave  in  the 
mountain,  not  to  reappear  again  until  .the  next  morning. 

For  many  years,  some  said  for  two  thousand  years,  did 
he  rule  the  people  with  equity,  and  then  he  departed,  going 
back  to  the  East  whence  he  came,  said  some  authorities,  but 
others  averred  that  he  rose  up  to  heaven.  At  any  rate, 
before  he  left,  he  appointed  a  successor  in  the  sovereignty, 
and  recommended  him  to  pursue  the  paths  of  justice.1 

What  led  the  Spanish  missionaries  to  suspect  that  this 
was  one  of  the  twelve  apostles,  was  not  only  these  doctrines, 

1  "Afirman  que  fue  trasladado  al  cielo,  y  que  al  tiempo  de  su  partida 
dexo  al  Cacique  de  aquella  Provincia  por  heredero  de  su  santidad  i 
poderio."  Lucas  Fernandez  Piedrahita,  Historia  General  de  las 
Conquistas  del  Nuevo  Reyno  de  Granada,  Lib.  i,  cap.  in  (Amberes, 
1688). 


222  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

but  the  undoubted  fact  that  they  found  the  symbol  of  the 
cross  already  a  religious  emblem  among  this  people.  It 
appeared  in  their  sacred  paintings,  and  especially,  they 
erected  one  over  the  grave  of  a  person  who  had  died  from 
the  bite  of  a  serpent. 

A  little  careful  investigation  will  permit  us  to  accept 
these  statements  as  quite  true,  and  yet  give  them  a  very 
different  interpretation. 

That  this  culture-hero  arrives  from  the  East  and  returns 
to  the  East  are  points  that  at  once  excite  the  suspicion  that 
he  was  the  personification  of  the  Light.  But  when  we 
come  to  his  names,  no  doubt  can  remain.  These  were 
various,  but  one  of  the  most  usual  was  Chimizapagua, 
which,  we  are  told,  means  "  a  messenger  from  Chiminigagua" 
In  the  cosmogonical  myths  of  the  Muyscas  this  was  the 
home  or  source  of  Light,  and  was  a  name  applied  to  the 
demiurgic  force.  In  that  mysterious  dwelling,  so  their 
account  ran,  light  was  shut  up,  and  the  world  lay  in 
primeval  gloom.  At  a  certain  time  the  light  manifested 
itself,  and  the  dawn  of  the  first  morning  appeared,  the 
light  being  carried  to  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth  by 
great  black  birds,  who  blew  the  air  and  winds  from  their 
beaks.  Modern  grammarians  profess  themselves  unable  to 
explain  the  exact  meaning  of  the  name  Chiminigagua,  but 
it  is  a  compound,  in  which,  evidently,  appear  the  words 
chie,  light,  and  gagua,  Sun.1 

1  Uricoechea  says,  "  al  principle  delmundo  la  luz  estaba  encerrada 
en  una  cosa  que  no  podian  describir  i  que  llamaban  Chiminigague,  6 
El  Criador."  Gramatica  de  la  Lengua  Chibcha,  Introd.,  p.  xix. 


NAMES  OF  BOCHICA.  223 

Other  names  applied  to  this  hero-god  were  Nemtere- 
queteba,  Bochica,  and  Zuhe,  or  Sua,  the  last  mentioned 
being  also  the  ordinary  word  for  the  Sun.  He  was  re 
ported  to  have  been  of  light  complexion,  and  when  the 
Spaniards  first  arrived  they  were  supposed  to  be  his  envoys, 
and  were  called  sua  or  gagua,just  as  from  the  memory  of 
a  similar  myth  in  Peru  they  were  addressed  as  Virti- 
cochas. 

In  his  form  as  Bochica,  he  is  represented  as  the  supreme 
male  divinity,  whose  female  associate  is  the  Rainbow, 
Cuchaviva,  goddess  of  rains  and  waters,  of  the  fertility  of 
the  fields,  of  medicine,  and  of  child-bearing  in  women,  a 
relationship  which  I  have  already  explained.1 

Wherever  the  widespread  Tupi-Guaranay  race  ex 
tended — from  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  and  the 
boundless  plains  of  the  Pampas,  north  to  the  northernmost 
islands  of  the  West  Indian  Archipelago — the  early  ex 
plorers  found  the  natives  piously  attributing  their  knowl 
edge  of  the  arts  of  life  to  a  venerable  and  benevolent  old 
man  whom  they  called  "  Our  Ancestor/7  Tamu,  or  Tume, 
or  Zume. 

Chie  in  this  tongue  means  light,  moon,  month,  honor,  and  is  also  the 
first  person  plural  of  the  personal  pronoun.  Ibid.,  p.  94.  Father  Simon 
says  gagua  is  "  el  nombre  del  mismo  sol,"  though  ordinarily  Sun  is 
Sua. 

1  The  principal  authority  for  the  mythology  of  the  Muyscas,  or 
Chibchas,  is  Padre  Pedro  Simon,  Noticias  Historiales  de  las  Conquis- 
tas  de  Tierra  Firme  en  el  Nuevo  Reyno  de  Granada,  Ft.  iv,  caps.  11, 
in,  iv,  printed  in  Kingsborough,  Mexican  Antiquities,  vol.  vm,  and 
Piedrahita  as  above  quoted. 


224  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

The  early  Jesuit  missionaries  to  the  Guaranis  and 
affiliated  tribes  of  Paraguay  and  southern  Brazil,  have 
much  to  say  of  this  personage,  and  some  of  them  were 
convinced  that  he  could  have  been  no  other  than  the 
Apostle  St.  Thomas  on  his  proselytizing  journey  around 
the  world. 

The  legend  was  that  'Pay  Ziime,  as  he  was  called  in 
Paraguay  (Pay  =  magician,  diviner,  priest),  came  from 
the  East,  from  the  Sun-rising,  in  years  long  gone  by.  He 
instructed  the  people  in  the  arts  of  hunting  and  agricul 
ture,  especially  in  the  culture  and  preparation  of  the  mani- 
oca  plant,  their  chief  source  of  vegetable  food.  Near  the 
city  of'  Assumption  is  situated  a  lofty  rock,  around 
which,  says  the  myth,  he  was  accustomed  to  gather  the 
people,  while  he  stood  above  them  on  its  summit,  and  de 
livered  his  instructions  and  his  laws,  just  #s  did  Quetzal- 
coat  1  from  the  top  of  the  mountain  Tzatzitepec,  the  Hill  of 
Shouting.  The  spot  where  he  stood  is  still  marked  by  the 
impress  of  his  feet,  which  the  pious  natives  of  a  later  day 
took  pride  in  pointing  out  as  a  convincing  proof  that  their 
ancestors  received  and  remembered  the  preachings  of  St. 
Thomas.1  This  was  not  a  suggestion  of  their  later  learn- 

1  "  Juxta  Paraquarige  metropolim  rupes  utcumque  cuspidata,  sed  in 
modi  cam  planitiem  desinens  cernitur,  in  cujus  snmmitate  vestigia 
pedum  kumanorum  saxo  impressa  adhuc  manerit,  affirmantibus  con- 
stanter  indigenis,  ex  eo  loco  Apostolum  Thomam  multitudini  unde- 
quaque  ad  eum  audiendum  confluent!  solitum  fuisse  legem  divinam 
tradere :  et  addunt  mandiocae,  ex  qua  farinam  suam  ligneam  con- 
ficiunt,  plantandae  rationem  ab  eodem  accepisse."  P.  Nicolao  del 
Techo,  Historia  Provincice  Paraquarice  Societatis  Jesu,  Lib.  vi,  cap. 
IT  (folio,  Leodii,  1673). 


THE   PATH   OF   THE   GOD.  225 

ing,  but  merely  a  christianized  term  given  to  their  au 
thentic  ancient  legend.  As  early  as  1552,  when  Father 
Emanuel  Nobrega  was  visiting  the  missions  of  Brazil,  he 
heard  the  legend,  and  learned  of  a  locality  where  not  only 
the  marks  of  the  feet,  but  also  of  the  hands  of  the  hero- 
god  had  been  indelibly  impressed  upon  the  hard  rock. 
Not  satisfied  with  the  mere  report,  he  visited  the  spot  and 
saw  them  with  his  own  eyes,  but  indulged  in  some  skepti 
cism  as  to  their  origin.1 

The  story  was  that  wherever  this  hero-god  walked,  he 
left  behind  him  a  well-marked  path,  which  was  permanent, 
and  as  the  Muyscas  of  New  Granada  pointed  out  the  path 
of  Bochica,  so  did  the  Guaranays  that  of  Zume,  which  the 
missionaries  regarded  "  not  without  astonishment."'  He 
lived  a  certain  length  of  time  with  his  people  and  then  left 

1  "Ipse  abii,"   he  writes  in  his  well  known  Letter,  a  et  propriis 
oculis  inspexi,    quatuor  pedum  et  digitorum  satis  alte  impressa  ve 
stigia,    quae  nonnunquani  aqua    excrescens  cooperit."     The   reader 
will  remember  the  similar  event  in  the  history  of  Quetzalcoatl  (see 
above,  page  114). 

2  "  E  Brasilia^   in    Guairaniam   euntibus   spectabilis   adhuc  semita 
viditur,  quam  ab  Sancto  Thoma  ideo   incolas  vocant,  quod   per   earn 
Apostolus  iter  fecisse  credatur ;  quae  semita  quovis  anni  tempore  eum- 
dem  statum  conservat,  modice  in  ea  crescentibus  herbis,  ab  adjacent* 
campo  .multum   herbescenii   prorsus  dissimilibus,  prasbetque  speciem 
viae  artificiose  ductae ;  quam  Socii  nostri  Guairaniam  excolentes  per- 
saepe  non  sine  stupore  perspexisse  setestantur."     Nicolao  del  Techo, 
ubi  suprd,  Lib.  vi,  cap.  iv. 

The  connection  of  this  myth  with  the  course  of  the  sun  in  the  sky, 
u  the  path  of  the  bright  God,"  as  it  is  called  in  the  Veda,  appears  ob 
vious.  So  also  in  later  legend  we  read  of  the  wonderful  slot  or  trail  of 
the  dragon  Fafnir  across  the  Glittering  Heath,  and  many  cognate  in 
stances,  which  mythologists  now  explain  by  the  same  reference. 

15 


226  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

them,  going  back  over  the  ocean  toward  the  East,  accord 
ing  to  some  accounts.  But  according  to  others,  he  was 
driven  away  by  his  stiff-necked  and  unwilling  auditors, 
who  had  become  tired  of  his  advice.  They  pursued  him 
to  the  bank  of  a  river,  and  there,  thinking  that 
the  quickest  riddance  of  him  was  to  kill  him,  they  dis 
charged  their  arrows  at  him.  But  he  caught  the  arrows 
in  his  hand  and  hurled  them  back,  and  dividing  the 
waters  of  the  river  by  his  divine  power  he  walked  between 
them  to  the  other  bank,  dry-shod,  and  disappeared  from 
their  view  in  the  distance. 

Like  all  the  hero-gods,  he  left  behind  him  the  well- 
remembered  promise  that  at  some  future  day  he  should 
return  to  them,  and  that  a  race  of  men  should  come  in 
time,  to  gather  them  into  towns  and  rule  them  in  peace.1 
These  predictions  were  carefully  noted  by  the  missionaries, 
and  regarded  as  the  "  unconscious  prophecies  of  heathen 
dom"  of  the  advent  of  Christianity  ;  but  to  me  they  bear 

1  "Ilium  quoque  pollicituin  fuis?e,  se  aliquando  has  regiones  revis- 
urum."  Father  Nobrega,  ubi  suprd.  For  the  other  particulars  I 
have  given  see  Nicolao  del  Techo,  Historia  Provincice  Paraquarice, 
Lib.  vi,  cap.  iv,  "  De  D.  Thomas  Apostoli  itineribus  ;"  and  P.  An 
tonio  Ruiz,  Conquista  Espiritual  hecha  por  los  Religiosos  de  la  Com- 
pania  de  Jesus  en  las  Provincias  del  Paraguay,  Parana,  Uruguay  y 
Tape,  fol.  29,  30  (4to.,  Madrid,  1639).  The  remarkable  identity  of 
the  words  relating  to  their  religious  beliefs  and  observances  throughout 
this  widespread  group  of  tribes  has  been  demonstrated  and  forcibly 
commented  on  by  Alcide  D'Orbigny,  L '  Homme  Americain,  vol.  n, 
p.  277.  The  Vicomte  de  Porto  Seguro  identifies  Zume  with  the  Certii 
of  the  Antilles,  and  this  etymology  is  at  any  rate  not  so  fanciful  as 
most  of  those  he  gives  in  his  imaginative  work,  L"1  Origine  Touran- 
ienne  des  Americaines  Tupis-Caribes,p.  62  (Vienna,  1876). 


THE   TWO    BROTHERS.  227 

too  unmistakably  the  stamp  of  the  light-myth  I  have  been 
following  up  in  so  many  localities  of  the  New  World  for 
me  to  entertain  a  doubt  about  their  origin  and  meaning. 

I  have  not  yet  exhausted  the  sources  from  which  I  could 
bring  evidence  of  the  widespread  presence  of  the  elements 
'of  this  mythical  creation  in  America.  But  probably  I 
have  said  enough  to  satisfy  the  reader  on  this  point.  At 
any  rate  it  will  be  sufficient  if  I  close  the  list  with  some 
manifest  fragments  of  the  myth,  picked  out  from  the  con 
fused  and  generally  modern  reports  we  have  of  the 
religions  of  the  Athabascan  race.  This  stem  is  one  of  the 
most  widely  distributed  in  North  America,  extending 
across  the  whole  continent  south  of  the  Eskimos,  and  scat 
tered  toward  the  warmer  latitudes  quite  into  Mexico.  It 
is  low  down  in  the  intellectual  scale,  its  component  tribes 
are  usually  migratory  savages,  and  its  dialects  are  ex 
tremely  synthetic  and  of  difficult  phonetics,  requiring  as 
many  as  sixty-five  letters  for  their  proper  orthography. 
No  wonder,  therefore,  that  we  have  but  limited  knowledge 
of  their  mental  life. 

Conspicuous  in  their  myths  is  the  tale  of  the  Two 
Brothers.  These  mysterious  beings  are  upon  the  earth 
before  man  appears.  Though  alone,  they  do  not  agree,  and 
the  one  attacks  and  slays  the  other.  Another  brother  ap 
pears  on  the  scene,  who  seems  to  be  the  one  slain,  who  has 
come  to  life,  and  the  two  are  given  wives  by  the  Being 
who  was  the  Creator  of  things.  These  two  women  were 
perfectly  beautiful,  but  invisible  to  the  eyes  of  mortals. 


228  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

The  one  was  named,  The  Woman  of  the  Light  or  The 
Woman  of  the  Morning  ;  the  other  was  the  Woman  of 
Darkness  or  the  Woman  of  Evening.  The  brothers 
lived  together  in  one  tent  with  these  women,  who  each 
in  turn  went  out  to  work.  When  the  Woman  of  Light 
was  at  work,  it  was  daytime  ;  when  the  Woman  of  Dark 
ness  was  at  her  labors,  it  was  night. 

In  the  course  of  time  one  of  the  brothers  disappeared 
and  the  other  determined  to  select  a  wife  from  one  of  the  two 
women,  as  it  seems  he  had  not  yet  chosen.  He  watched 
what  the  Woman  of  Darkness  did  in  her  absence,  and  dis 
covered  that  she  descended  into  the  waters  and  enjoyed 
the  embraces  of  a  monster,  while  the  Woman  of  Light 
passed  her  time  in  feeding  white  birds.  In  course  of  time 
the  former  brought  forth  black  man-serpents,  while  the 
Woman  of  Light  was  delivered  of  beautiful  boys  with 
white  skins.  The  master  of  the  house  killed  the  former 
with  his  arrows,  but  preserved  the  latter,  and  marrying 
the  Woman  of  Light,  became  the  father  of  the  human 
race,  and  especially  of  the  Dene  Dindjie,  who  have  pre 
served  the  memory  of  him.1 

In  another  myth  of  this  stock,  clearly  a  version  of  the 
former,  this  father  of  the  race  is  represented  as  a  mighty 
bird,  called  Yel,  or  Yale,  or  Orelbcde,  from  the  root  ell,  a  term 


1  Monographic  des  D£n&  Dindjfe,  par  C.  R.  P.  E.  Petitot,  pp. 
84-87  (Paris,  1876).  Elsewhere  the  writer  says  :  "Tout  d'  abordje 
dois  rappeler  mon  observation  que  presque  toujours,  dans  les  tradi 
tions  Dene,  le  couple  primitif  se  compose  de  deux  freres."  Ibid., 
p.  62, 


ATHABASCAN    MYTHS.  229 

they  apply  to  everything  supernatural.  He  took  to  wife 
the  daughter  of  the  Sun  (the  Woman  of  Light),  and  by  her 
begat  the  race  of  man.  He  formed  the  dry  land  for  a 
place  for  them  to  live  upon,  and  stocked  the  rivers  with 
salmon,  that  they  might  have  food.  When  he  enters  his 
nest  it  is  day,  but  when  he  leaves  it  it  is  night;  or,  accord 
ing  to  another  myth,  he  has  the  two  women  for  wives,  the 
one  of  whom  makes  the  day,  the  other  the  night. 

In  the  begining  Yel  was  white  in  plumage,  but  he  had 
an  enemy,  by  name  Cantiook,  with  whom  he  had  various 
contests,  and  by  whose  machinations  he  was  turned  black. 
Yel  is  further  represented  as  the  god  of  the  winds  and 
storms,  and  of  the  thunder  and  lightning.1 

Thus  we  find,  even  in  this  extremely  low  specimen  of 
the  native  race,  the  same  basis  for  their  mythology  as  in  the 
most  cultivated  nations  of  Central  America.  Not  only 
this;  it  is  the  same  basis  upon  which  is  built  the  major 
part  of  the  sacred  stories  of  all  early  religions,  in  both  con 
tinents  ;  and  the  excellent  Father  Petitot,  who  is  so  much 
impressed  by  these  resemblances  that  he  founds  upon  them 
a  learned  argument  to  prove  that  the  Dene  are  of  oriental 
extraction,2  would  have  written  more  to  the  purpose  had 

1  For  the  extent  and  particulars  of  this  myth,  many  of  the  details  of 
which  I  omit,  see   Petitot,  -',ibi   suprd,   pp.  68,   87,  note  ;     Matthew 
Macfie.  Travels  in  Vancouver  *s  land  and  British  Columbia,  pp.  452- 
455  (London,  1865);    and  J.  ^».  Lord,  The  Naturalist  in  Vancouver 
Island  and  British  Columbia  'London,  1866).     It  is  referred  to  by 
Mackenzie  and  other  early  writers. 

2  See   his  ''Essai   sur  TOrigine  des  Dene-Dindjie,"  in  his  Mono- 
graphie,  above  quoted. 


230  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

his  acquaintance  with  American  religions  been  as  extensive 
as  it  was  with  those  of  Asiatic  origin. 

There  is  one  point  in  all  these  myths  which  I  wish  to 
bring  out  forcibly.  That  is,  the  distinction  which  is  every 
where  drawn  between  the  God  of  Light  and  the  Sun. 
Unless  this  distinction  is  fully  comprehended,  American 
mythology  loses  most  of  its  meaning. 

The  assertion  has  been  so  often  repeated,  even  clown  to 
,  the  latest  writers,  that  the  American  Indians  were  nearly 
/  all  sun- worshipers,  that  I  take  pains  formally  to  con 
tradict  it.  Neither  the  Sun  nor  the  Spirit  of  the  Sun  was 
their  chief  divinity. 

Of  course,  the  daily  history  of  the  appearance  and 
disappearance  of  light  is  intimately  connected  with  the 
apparent  motion  of  the  sun.  Hence,  in  the  myths  there  is 
often  a  seeming  identification  of  the  two,  which  I  have 
been  at  no  pains  to  avoid.  But  the  identity  is  superficial 
only  •  it  entirely  disappears  in  other  parts  of  the  myth,  and 
the  conceptions,  as  fundamentally  distinct,  must  be  studied 
separately,  to  reach  accurate  results.  It  is  an  easy,  but  by 
no  means  a  profound  method  of  treating  these  religions,  to 
dismiss  them  all  by  the  facile  explanations  of  "  animism/' 
and  "  sun  and  moon  worship." 

I  have  said,  and  quoted  strops  authority  to  confirm  the 
opinion,  that  the  native  tribes  0*  America  have  lost  ground 
in  morals  and  have  retrograded  n  their  religious  life  since 
the  introduction  of  Christianity.  (  Their  own  faiths,  though 
lower  in  form,  had  in  them  the  £-;erms  of  a  religious  and 


RELIGION    VERSUS    MORALITY.  231 

moral  evolution,  more  likely,  with  proper  regulation,  to 
lead  these  people  to  a  higher  plane  of  thought  than  the 
Aryan  doctrines  which  were  forced  upon  them. 

This  may  seem  a  daring,  even  a  heterodox  assertion, 
but  I  think  that  most  modern  ethnologists  will  agree  that 
it  is  no  more  possible  for  races  in  all  stages  of  culture  and 
of  widely  different  faculties  to  receive  with  benefit  any 
one  religion,  than  it  is  for  them  to  thrive  under  one  form 
of  government,  or  to  adopt  with  advantage  one  uniform 
plan  of  building  houses.  The  moral  and  religious  life  is 
a  growth,  and  the  brash  wood  of  ancient  date  cannot  be 
grafted  on  the  green  stem.  It  is  well  to  remember  that 
the  heathendoms  of  America  were  very  far  from  wanting 
living  seeds  of  sound  morality  and  healthy  mental  educa 
tion.  I  shall  endeavor  to  point  this  out  in  a  few  brief 
paragraphs. 

In  their  origin  in  the  human  mind,  religion  and  morality 
have  nothing  in  common.  They  are  even  antagonistic. 
At  the  root  of  all  religions  is  the  passionate  desire  for  the 
widest  possible  life,  for  the  most  unlimited  exercise  of  all 
the  powers.  The  basis  of  all  morality  is  self-sacrifice,  they 
willingness  to  give  up  our  wishes  to  the  will  of  another/ 
The  criterion  of  the  power  of  a  religion  is  its  ability  to 
command  this  sacrifice  ;  the  criterion  of  the  excellence  of  a 
religion  is  the  extent  to  which  its  commands  coincide  with 
the  good  of  the  race,  with  the  lofty  standard  of  the  "  cate 
gorical  imperative." 

With  these  axioms  well  in  mind,  we  can  advance  with 


232  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

confidence  to  examine  the  claims  of  a  religion.  It  will 
rise  in  the  scale  just  in  proportion  as  its  behests,  were  they 
universally  adopted,  would  permanently  increase  the  hap 
piness  of  the  human  race. 

In  their  origin,  as  I  have  said,  morality  and  religion  are 
opposites ;  but  they  are  opposites  which  inevitably  attract 
and  unite.  The  first  lesson  of  all  religions  is  that  we  gain 
by  giving,  that  to  secure  any  end  we  must  sacrifice  some 
thing.  This,  too,  is  taught  by  all  social  intercourse,  and, 
therefore,  an  acute  German  psychologist  has  set  up  the 
formula, l<  All  manners  are  moral,"1  because  they  all  imply 
a  subjection  of  the  personal  will  of  the  individual  to  the 
general  will  of  those  who  surround  him,  as  expressed  in 
usage  and  custom. 

Even  the   religion   which   demands    bloody    sacrifices, 
which  forces  its  votaries  to  futile  and  abhorrent  rites,  is  f 
at  least  training  its  adherents  in  the  virtues  of  obedience  ' 
and  renunciation,  in  endurance  and  confidence. 

But  concerning  American  religions  I  need  not  have 
recourse  to  such  a  questionable  vindication.  They  held  in 
them  far  nobler  elements,  as  is  proved  beyond  cavil  by  the 
words  of  many  of  the  earliest  missionaries  themselves. 
Bigoted  and  bitter  haters  of  the  native  faiths,  as  they  were, 

14'Alle  Sit*  en  sind  sittlich."  Lazarus,  Ursprung  der  Sitte,  S.  5, 
quoted  by  Roskoff.  I  hardly  need  mention  that  our  word  morality, 
from  mos,  means  by  etymology,  simply  what  is  customary  and  of  current 
usage.  The  moral  man  is  he  who  conforms  himself  to  the  opinions 
of  the  majority.  This  is  also  at  the  basis  of  Robert  Browning's  defi 
nition  of  a  people  :  "A  people  is  but  the  attempt  of  many  to  rise  to 
the  completer  life  of  one  "  (A  Soul's  Tragedy). 


THE   MORAL   IDEAL.  233 

they  discovered  in  them  so  much  that  was  good,  so  much  that 
approximated  to  the  purer  doctrines  that  they  themselves 
came  to  teach,  that    they  have   left   on  record    many  an 
attempt  to  prove  that  there  must,  in  some  remote  and 
unknown  epoch,  have  come  Christian  teachers  to  the  Newf 
World,  St.  Thomas,  St.  Bartholomew,  monks  from  Ireland,/ 
or  Asiatic  disciples,  to  acquaint  the  natives  with  such  salu-) 
tary  doctrines.     It   is   precisely   in   connection    with    the 
myths  which  I  have  been  relating  in  this  volume  that  these 
theories  were  put  forth,  and  I  have  referred  to  them  in 
various  passages. 

The  facts  are  as  stated,  but  the  credit  of  developing  these 
elevated  moral  conceptions  must  not  be  refused  to  the  red 
race.  They  are  its  own  property,  the  legitimate  growth  of 
its  own  religious  sense. 

The  hero-god,  the  embodiment  of  the  Light  of  Bay,  is 
essentially  a  moral  and  beneficent  creation.  Whether 'his 
name  be  Michabo,  loskeha,  or  Quetzalcoatl,  Itzamna,  Vira- 
cocha  or  Tamu,  he  is  always  the  giver  of  laws,  the  instruc 
tor  in  the  arts  of  social  life,  the  founder  of  commonwealths, 
the  patron  of  agriculture.  He  casts  his  influence  in  favor 
of  peace,  'and  against  wars  and  deeds  of  violence.  He 
punishes  those  who  pursue  iniquity,  and  he  favors  those 
who  work  for  the  good  of  the  community. 

In  many  instances  he  sets  an  example  of  chaste  living, 
of  strict  temperance,  of  complete  subjection  of  the  lusts  and 
appetites.  I  have  but  to  refer  to  what  I  have  already  said 
of  the  Maya  Kukulcan  and  the  Aztec  Quetzalcoatl,  to  show 


234  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

this.  Both  are  particularly  noted  as  characters  free  from 
the  taint  of  indulgence. 

Thus  it  occurred  that  the  early  monks  often  express 
surprise  that  these,  whom  they  chose  to  call  savages  and 
heathens,  had  developed  a  moral  law  of  undeniable  purity. 
"  The  matters  that  Bochica  taught,"  says  the  chronicler 
Piedrahita,  "  were  certainly  excellent,  inasmuch  as  these  na 
tives  hold  as  right  to  do  just  the  same  that  we  do."  "  The 
priests  of  these  Muyscas,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  lived  most 
chastely  and  with  great  purity  of  life,  insomuch  that  even  in 
eating,  their  food  was  simple  and  of  small  quantity,  and 
they  refrained  altogether  from  women  and  marriage.  Did 
one  transgress  in  this  respect,  he  was  dismissed  from  the 
priesthood."1 

The  prayers  addressed  to  these  deities  breathe  as  pure  a 
spirit  of  devotion  as  many  now  heard  in  Christian  lands. 
Change  the  names,  and  some  of  the  formulas  preserved  by 
Christobal  de  Molina  and  Sahagun  would  not  jar  on  the 
ears  of  a  congregation  in  one  of  our  own  churches. 

Although  sanguinary  rites  were  common,  they  were  not 
usual  in  the  worship  of  these  highest  divinities,  but  rather 
as  propitiations  to  the  demons  of  the  darkness,  or  the  spirits 
of  the  terrible  phenomena  of  uatuje.  The  mild  god  of 
light  did  not  demand  them. 

To  appreciate  the  effect  of  all   this  on  the  mind  of  the 

1  "  Las  cosas  que  el  Bochica  les  ensenaba  eran  buenas,  siendo  assi, 
que  tenian  por  malo  lo  mismo  que  nosotros  tenemos  por  tal." 
Piedrahita,  Historia  General  de  las  Conquistas  del  Nuevo  Reyno  de 
Granada,  Lib.  i,  Cap.  in. 


NATIVE   LAWS.  235 

race,  let  it  be  remembered  that  these  culture-heroes  were 
also  the  creators,  the  primal  and  most  potent  of  divin 
ities,  and  that  usually  many  temples  and  a  large  corps  of 
priests  were  devoted  to  their  worship,  at  least  in  the  nations 
of  higher  civilization.  These  votaries  were  engaged  in 
keeping  alive  the  myth,  in  impressing  the  supposed  com 
mands  of  the  deity  on  the  people,  and  in  imitating  him  in 
example  and  precept.  Thus  they  had  formed  a  lofty  ideal 
of  man,  and  were  publishing  this  ideal  to  their  fellows. 
Certainly  this  could  not  fail  of  working  to  the  good  of  the 
nation,  and  of  elevating  and  purifying  its  moral  concep 
tions. 

That  it  did  so  we  have  ample  evidence  in  the  authentic 
accounts  of  the  ancient  society  as  it  existed  before  the 
Europeans  destroyed  and  corrupted  it,  and  in  the  collec 
tions  of  laws,  all  distinctly  stamped  with  the  seal  of  reli 
gion,  which  have  been  preserved,  as  they  were  in  vogue  in 
Anahuac,  Utatlan,  Peru  and  other  localities.1  Any  one 
who  peruses  these  will  see  that  the  great  moral  principles, 
the  radical  doctrines  of  individual  virtue,  were  clearly 
recognized  and  deliberately  enforced  as  divine  and  civil 
precepts  in  these  communities.  Moreover,  they  weregene- 

1  The  reader  willing  to  pursue  the  argument  further  can  find  these 
collections  of  ancient  American  laws  in  Sahagun,  Historia  de  Nueva 
Espaii'i,  for  Mexico ;  in  Geronimo  Roman,  Republica  de  las  Indias 
Occidentals^  for  Utatlan  and  other  nations  ;  for  Peru  in  the  Rdacion 
del  Origen,  Descendencia,  Politico,,  y  Gobierno  de  los  Incas,  por  el 
licenciado  Fernando  de  Santillan  (published  at  Madrid,  1879)  ;  and 
for  the  Muyscas,  in  Piedrahita,  Hist.  Gen.  del  Nuevo  Reyno  'de  Gra 
nada,  Lib.  n,  cap.  v. 


236  AMERICAN   HERO-MYTHS. 

rally  and  cheerfully  obeyed,  and  the  people  of  many  of 
these  lands  were  industrious,  peaceable,  moral,  and  happy, 
far  more  so  than  they  have  ever  been  since. 

There  was  also  a  manifest  progress  in  the  definition  of 
the  idea  of  God,  that  is,  of  a  single  infinite  intelligence 
as  the  source  and  controlling  power  of  phenomena.  We 
have  it  on  record  that  in  Peru  this  was  the  direct  fruit  of 
the  myth  of  Viracocha.  It  is  related  that  the  Inca  Yu- 
pangui  published  to  his  people  that  to  him  had  appeared 
Yiracocha,  with  admonition  that  he  alone  was  lord  of  the 
world,  and  creator  of  all  things ;  that  he  had  made  the 
heavens,  the  sun,  and  man ;  and  that  it  was  not  right 
that  these,  his  works,  should  receive  equal  homage  with 
himself.  Therefore,  the  Inca  decreed  that  the  image  of 
Viracocha  should  thereafter  be  assigned  supremacy  to  those 
of  all  other  divinities,  and  that  no  tribute  nor  sacrifice 
should  be  paid  to  him,  for  He  was  master  of  all  the  earth, 
and  could  take  from  it  as  he  chose.1  This  was  evidently  a 
direct  attempt  on  the  part  of  an  enlightened  ruler  to  lift 
his  people  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  form  of  religion,  from 
idolatry  to  theism.  The  Inca  even  went  so  far  as  to  banish 
all  images  of  Viracocha  from  his  temples,  so  that  this,  the 
greatest  of  gods,  should  be  worshiped  as  an  immaterial 
spirit  only. 

A  parallel  instance  is  presented  in  Aztec  annals.  Neza- 
hualcoyotzin,  an  enlightened  ruler  of  Tezcuco,  about  1450, 

1  P.  Joseph  de  Acosta,  Historia  Natural  y  Moral  de  las  Indias, 
Lib.  vi,  cap.  31  (Barcelona,  1591). 


GROWTH   OF   THE   IDEA   OF   GOD.  •  237 

was  both  a  philosopher  and  a  poet,  and  the  songs  which  he 
left,  seventy  in  number,  some  of  which  are  still  preserved, 
breathe  a  spirit  of  emancipation  from  the  idolatrous  super 
stition  of  his  day.  He  announced  that  there  was  one  only 
god,  who  sustained  and  created  all  things,  and  who  dwelt 
above  the  ninth  heaven,  out  of  sight  of  man.  No  image 
was  fitting  for  this  divinity,  nor  did  he  ever  appear  bodily 
to  the  eyes  of  men.  But  he  listened  to  their  prayers  and 
received  their  souls.1 

These  traditions  have  been  doubted,  for  no  other  reason 
than  because  it  was  assumed  that  such  thoughts  were  above 
the  level  of  the  red  race.  But  the  proper  names  and  titles, 
unquestionably  ancient  and  genuine,  which  I  have  analyzed 
in  the  preceding  pages  refute  this  supposition. 

We  may  safely  affirm  that  other  and  stronger  instances 
of  the  kind  could  be  quoted,  had  the  early  missionaries 
preserved  more  extensively  the  sacred  chants  and  prayers 
of  the  natives.  In  the  Maya  tongue  of  Yucatan  a  certain 
number  of  them  have  escaped  destruction,  and  although 
they  are  open  to  some  suspicion  of  having  been  colored  for 
proselytizing  purposes,  there  is  direct  evidence  from 
natives  who  were  adults  at  the  time  of  the  Conquest  that 
some  of  their  priests  had  predicted  the  time  should  come 
when  the  worship  of  one  only  God  should  prevail.  This 
was  nothing  more  than  another  instance  of  the  monotheis 
tic  idea  finding  its  expression,  and  its  apparition  is  not  more 

1  See  Fernando  de  Alva  Ixtlilxochitl,  Historia  Chichimeca,  cap. 
XLIX  ;  and  Joseph  Joaquin  Granados  y  Galvez,  Tardes  Americanas, 
p.  90  (Mexico,  1778). 


238  AMERICAN    HERO-MYTHS. 

extraordinary  in  Yucatan  or  Peru  than  in  ancient  Egypt 
or  Greece. 

The  actual  religious  and  moral  progress  of  the  natives 
was  designedly  ignored  and  belittled  by  the  early  missionaries 
and  conquerors.  Bishop  Las  Casas  directly  charges  those  of 
his  day  with  magnifying  the  vices  of  the  Indians  and  the 
cruelties  of  their  worship ;  and  even  such  a  liberal 
thinker  as  Roger  Williams  tells  us  that  he  would  not  be 
present  at  their  ceremonies,  "Lest  I  should  have  been  par 
taker  of  Satan's  Inventions  and  Worships." l  This  same 
prejudice  completely  blinded  the  first  visitors  to  the  New 
World,  and  it  was  only  the  extravagant  notion  that  Chris 
tianity  had  at  some  former  time  been  preached  here  that 
saved  us  most  of  the  little  that  we  have  on  record. 

Yet  now  and  then  the  truth  breaks  through  even  this 
dense  veil  of  prejudice.  For  instance,  I  have  quoted  in 
this  chapter  the  evidence  of  the  Spanish  chroniclers  to  the 
purity  of  the  teaching  attributed  to  Bochica.  The  eifect  of 
such  doctrines  could  not  be  lost  on  a  people  who  looked 
upon  him  at  once  as  an  exemplar  and  a  deity.  Nor  was  it. 
The  Spaniards  have  left  strong  testimony  to  the  pacificand 
virtuous  character  of  that  nation,  and  its  freedom  from  the 
vices  so  prevalent  in  lower  races.2 

Now,  as  I  dismiss  from  the  domain  of  actual  fact  all 
these  legendary  instructors,  the  question  remains,  whence 

1  Roger  Williams,  A  Key  Into  the  Language  of  America,  p.  152. 

2  See  especially  the  Noticias  sobre  el  Nuevo  Reino  de  Granada,  in 
the  Collection  de  Documentos  ineditos  del  Archivo  de  Indias,  vol.  v, 
p.  529. 


PROCESS   OF   MORAL   GROWTH.  239 

did  these  secluded  tribes  obtain  the  sentiments  of  justice 
and  morality  which  they  loved  to  attribute  to  their  divine 
founders,  and,  in  a  measure,  to  practice  themselves? 

The  question  is  pertinent,  and  with  its  answer  I  may 
fitly  close  this  study  in  American  native  religions. 

If  the  theory  that  I  have  advocated  is  correct,  these  myths 
had  to  do  at  first  with  merely  natural  occurrences,  the 
advent  and  departure  of  the  daylight,  the  winds,  the  storm 
and  the  rains.  The  beneficent  and  injurious  results  of 
these  phenomena  were  attributed  to  their  personifications. 
Especially  was  the  dispersal  of  darkness  by  the  light 
regarded  as  the  transaction  of  all  most  favorable  to  man. 
The  facilities  that  it  gave  him  were  imputed  to  the  goodness 
of  the  personified  Spirit  of  Light,  and  by  a  natural  associa 
tion  of  id,eas,  the  benevolent  emotions  and  affections  devel 
oped  by  improving  social  intercourse  were  also  brought  into 
relation  to  this  kindly  Being.  They  came  to  be  regarded 
as  his  behests,  and,  in  the  national  mind,  he  grew  into  a 
teacher  of  the  friendly  relations  of  man  to  man,  and  an  ideal 
of  those  powers  which  "  make  for  righteousness."  Priests 
and  chieftains  favored  the  acceptance  of  these  views,  because 
they  felt  their  intrinsic  wisdom,  and  hence  the  moral  evo 
lution  of  the  nation  proceeded  steadily  from  its  mythology. 
That  the  results  achieved  were  similar  to  those  taught  by 
the  best  religions  of  the  eastern  world  should  not  excite  any 
surprise,  for  the  basic  principles  of  ethics  are  the  same 
everywhere  and  in  all  time. 

THE  END. 


UNIVERSITY 

or 


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V.ES