Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1893-03-23
TIE STORY oF ATzLAN.

/ EM NS:5sSlrN
lklapel tells his story.
Every day now old Klapel sought out
Gilbert and spent an hour or two in
eager questioning. He drank In Eric's
words with more than childish avidity
and belief. To his mind, sharpened by
the self communing of more than CEN
tury, the wonders of which Gilbert
spoke were as the things he had vaguely
seen in dreams, wonderful, but conceiv-
able. He accepted everything with q
sanguine expectation of beholding it
himself now that Gilbert had come
Among the people. Kulcan often sat
with them as Gilbert told, though it
taxed his meager store of Atzlan words,
Of steamboats,, railroads. balloons, can.
non, telephones and thousand other
things which we call necessities, but
which seemed miracles to the priests.
He told them-and sometimes Leila with
little Eliza sat by his side the while-of
the history of the nations; how while
Atzlan had slept so peacefully in the
canyon whole races of men had -four
ished gloriously and passed away and
been forgotten.
Sometimes he would wander off with
the old priest into the woods, for he
found Iklapel to be philosopher and
full of quaint ideas. His comments upon
the facts Gilbert narrated were often
witty, and always showed mind of
great breadth and power. Of the greed
for money he had but little conception,
and therefore found the utmost difficulty
in understanding much of Gilbert's dis
course, nor could the latter easily e1-
plain it to him. When they discussed
religion Gilbert found him an advanced
thinker, a believer in one god-the Gre
ator-but elevated above all forms and
ceremonials of worship. He had ques-
toned Gilbert one warm day, as they
sat together in the shade, until the lat
ter had grown tired Of talking and was
lying upon his back, with his hands un-
der his head, gazing up into the green
network above him.
Klapel unused with a faraway look in
| his eyes for q long time and then turned
to the younger man and said:
"You have told me Of your people, of
the great cities and their wondrous do
ings. Now will tell you of mine, for
they are the fathers Of all the world.
Older than all the people are they, yet
they still live, q nation saved from food
and fire. from wars and famines, to see
what their children have done. I, who
have kept the record of Atzlan as it has
been handed down from father to son
for thousands upon thousands Of years,
inviolate, unchanged, will tell you truly,
for with my knowledge and what you
have told me / can see how true are all
our old traditions. AS you have said
truly, all the nations of the world tell
much the same tale of their origin, but
tbs so clouded in fanciful imagery that
It seems but a child's story. will tell
you the true tale as my father told me
and as it was told to him by his father,
word for word, and so on back to the
very first father Of all.
cages ago, so far in the past that the
records have been lost from sheer decay,
our people dwelt on the shores of a great
sea. Cities greater and richer than
Atzlan were there. and the people were
more numerous than the sands Of the
desert. Across the sea there led mar
row strip of land to the city of the
gods, which was called At, q wondrous
city ON g mountain, rich In gold and
silver, surrounded by water, and in
which resided the great ruler Of the
whole worlds wise, wonder working
king. To him our cities paid yearly
tribute, and In his city our priests were
taught and sent out to proclaim the
truth. There was then no winter, no
cold; It was the summer age.
seThe dwellers in at were wiser than
ali other people. They commanded the
thunder and the lightning and brought
down fire from heaven, as youdo. They
journeyed on the water in great canoes,
and the wind obeyed their commands;
they sailed by night, for they knew the
stars and had amsgic guide. They it was
who taught the early dwellers 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. 1Hey were white and bearded;
It's from them we derive the white blood
In our people, but they were of greater
stature; they were large men, like you.
In fact they were 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,
iefying the gods. Then there appeared
in the sky great serpent OF fire. For
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
fed 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