San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-02-20

JUurneyed on the water Ill great canoes
and the wind obeyed their commands;
they sailed by night, for they knew the
stars and had a magic guide. They it was
who taught the early jewellers on the
shores of the sea how to build their
houses, plant their seed, make their rec
ords and worship their god. They
brought them seed in times of famine.
and cattle and fowls. Twas said of
them that they could see farther than
other men, by which i judge they pos
sesSed magic tubes, such as you, my
brother, have. Indeed our books show
them looking through such tubes toward
the stars. They were white and bearded;
It's from them we derive the white blood
Ill our people, UuJ Gney Were or greater
stature; they We're large men, like you.
In fact they We're a people such as you
have told me Of-people who know all
things.
But there came a time, the legends
tell, when they grew bold and wicked,
defying the gods. Then there appeared
days it was seen approaching, and all
the world trembled with an awful
dread. The light of it was terrible, and
flames went before its mouth. 1t de-
vOured the sun, as you can see in our
sacred books, which show Quetzal bat
thing with it and conquering it; but that
is religious fable. AS it approached
the earth grew dry and parched; men
fled into caverns and deep pits, into
mines and wells. to avoid its blighting,
poisonous breath. The earth was swept
with fame. Then came scathing, grind
ing showers of stone and sand, tearing
away the forests, filling the valleys, lev
cling and burying the cities. Great At
sank beneath the sea, the bridge was de-
strOyed forever, and the people persisted
from the face of the earth.
The legends differ, even in our fam
lily tales; SOME tell of two who survived
i'll their canoe, others on th% back of the
turtle; but the common Attain tale, the
one we tell the children, is nearer the
truth. 1t says that the people first came
from cave III a mountain, where they
were entOmbed when Ahey fled, with cat
tie and other animals. There was but
dim light, Testing only few hours each
day, but there We're two blind men who
cheered the dull hours with flute play
ing.
lone of these struck the roof by
chance with his flute, bringing out
hollow sound, upon which the elders of
the tribe determined to bore in that di-
rection. The flute was set up against
the roof, and the raccOOn sent up the
tube to dig way out, but he could not.
Then the earthwOrm mounted and bored
until he found himself on the outside of
the mountain surrounded by water; this
water soon flowed off, leaving only mud.
The worm returned to the cave, and the
raccoon went up into the mud, sinking
into it midleg deep, as the marks on his
fur show to this day.
The mud dried away, and the animals
began coming up from the cave. This
took several days; then came the men.
When they were under ground they
spoke one tongue, but when they came
forth they had many languages. The
earth was then very small; the light
was as scanty as it had been below;
there was no heaven, no sun, no stars.
So council was held and committee
appointed to make these. They made
the heavens and set the stars in patterns
of bears, birds and such things, but a
Cd in l,,
as they now lie. This is the legend" said
Iklapel, land it conceals the truth in its
mythical language.
LAS have said, mankind took refuge
in caverns, but they were all, according
to our records, destroyed with the ex-
ceptiOn of two. Some lived to see the
earth swept with water and covered
many feet deep with mud and then with
ice. They had no food, and they de-
voured each other until they were exter-
minated.
But far, far in the south, where the
fire and stony rain and the floods were
less severe, there survived two people,
the progenitors of the Atzlan race-a
white man and red woman. In canoe
they came here from the sea, and they
built new cities and populated the earth
But it took many ages to do this, and
the people have forgotten their origin,
but as they had existed in darkness for so
long, when the sun returned they wOr-
SHIPPED it and have continued to do so
ever SINCE, and have made the serpent
their god of evil since that day when,
filled with terror, they saw the sun swal-
lowed up"
Not only a single kingdom was de-
stroyed, but half the world" continued
the priest. "All mankind was believed
L. l.