Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1893-04-14
t|ihFTF,R 1T.
THE FESTIVAL AND Thk SACRIFICE

- z
She faced her lOpCr trith n confident, ten
der smile upon her face.
The smoke was rising and blowing
away in the fresh morning wind from
hundreds Of round apertures in the roof.
h, the people Of Atzlan prepared their
morning meal hurriedly for they were
anxious to he out and preparing for the
greatest Of their religious festivals. One
by one they emerged and clambered
quickly down the tall ladders until hun.
dreds Of then were gathered about in
groups or bualy arranging for the cere.
monies Of the day, gathering fruits and
flowers, maize cakes and pinon nuts for
the minor sacrifices, and decorating the
interior and front of the court and tenn
pie. To each of the four great phratries
or divisions of the inhabitants, according
to kinship, was assigned particular du-
ties connected with the festival
While some were engaged in building
and decorating bowers others prepared
food in great quantities, while others ar
ranged for the games and dances which
followed the sacrifices. Others were
driving the animals devoted to sacrifice
into an inclosed field.
Gathered in front of the temple stood
number of priests waiting to form in
the sacred procession and chatting mer-
rily, with frequent jests, among them
selves. Their white dresses formed a
contrast with the brilliant coloring of
the costumes of the people, and the red
suns embroidered upon their breasts,
the. emblem of their holy calling, showed
forth thu more conspicuously.
Multitudes of little, stunted, wolfish
dogs ran in and out between the peoples
legs, attesting by frequent bowls q
plentitude of we'll aimed kicks. The
houses emptied forth into the square
every inmate, for every living soul in
the city who was able to move or to be
moved was obliged to be present at the
sacrifce-and few were loath to witness
the spectacle. Its bloody delights were
eagerly awaited and long remembered.
Children were there to be held up to see
the rare sight and to have it impressed
upon their memories by many q re-
minder in future years, and old women,
wagging their heads, told of many a
past scene of splendid slaughter, when
were killed not one but q dozen beauti-
full virgins to sppease Kinchahan's
wrath in times Of famine.
Kulcan stood upon the temple roof
gazing down upon the scene. The aged
Iklapel, weary with his vigil, was slum.
bering in the warm sunlight, his withered
hand resting on the edge of the altar.
whose fire seemed dying slowly out. The
young priest was not clad in his sacred
robes, but wore long yellow tunic, en-
circled at the waist by belt made Of
turquoise squares set in gold and fas-
tened by . looped serpent. On his head
he wore feather cap, surmounted by
an eagles plume-the totem of his fam
lily. His legs were naked, revealing .
shapely, muscular development, and his
feet were clad in leather shoes or bus
kins, with heavy meats leather soles.
They were fastened with gold loops over
buttons of the same metal. Around his
left wrist was coiled heavy bracelet,
modelled like serpent with raised head
the rattlesnake of the plains and can
yons-s sacred, mysterious emblem Of
their religion.
He was tall and we'll built, and his
face was Drowned by exposure to the
burning suns Of twenty-six summers.
But the narrow opening in his tunic
showed . skin beneath as white as ivory.
With eyes of deep blue and hair of
tawny yellow he resembled as he stood
there, his lip curled into contemptuous
sneer, gazing fxedly at tho group Of
priests below, viking chieftain, . man
Of the land of cold and snow instead of
the hot arid desert. But his mouth and
chin showed elements of weakness and
vacillation, and the blue eyes held IN
indecision and wsvering in their depths
that betrayed his character.
He had already acquiesced in the old
priests decision and realized the use
lessness of opposition. In him there was
none Of the stuff Of the hero who would
die defending the woman he loved, nor
dared he kill himself with the knife that
ilew her. No, he would wait-perhaps
some miracle might occur. What if X
lapel were wrong after all, and Quetzal-
eostl should appear And, too, it was q
question not only Of self preservation,
but Of his religion, of his priestly order
and their fat livings and cherished priv
Leges. Though he loved Aimee with all
his heart, yet he questioned, What was
one mans love to be set against the in
terests Of . whole priesthOod-despise
them though he did one and all from the
bottom of hearth
Then his thoughts turned in bitter
hatred against them, and he felt that he
could do no better than to SKATER the
whole system Of lying and deceit, pre-
tense and jugglery. But he was not
sure, even were he to die, that such
would be the result In the turmoil Of
his thoughts. for he was used to little
thinking, having heretofore allowed Ii.
lapel to perform that duty for him, he
finally resolved to let affairs take their
sourse. weakly hoping against hope that
something would intervene. Skeptcal
though he was as to his religion, he had
still strong faint Of Atzlan supersti-
lion inrooted in him, part Of his very
nature, and the prodigy Of the night, as
tklapel related it, certainly signifed
something at least unusual about to &C.
eur.
He made his decision, or allowed it
rather to be made for him by the force
Of circumstances as well as habit, and
awakening the high priest they descend
I'd the trapdoor behind the altar TO-
yether and attired themselves in their
sacred robes.
Unlike the continuous encircling
building, the temple was not without
doors or windows on the ground floor.
Its stories were set successfully one be-
hind the other, giving the structure
somewhat the appearance of a pyramid,
each story having a wide terrace or
platform completely around it, and
stone steps leading to the one above.
The second floor was reached on the
outside by a graded ascent thirty feet
wide, the platform being even wider.
Within there were also ladders, as in
The other parts OF the city.
Upon the top Of the temple before the
perpetual fire stood an immense efigy