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Show S £ C To IIJ, Deific:~tion ot the fun ar.d moon, II I S 'f 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. [elves worthy to live with her eternally in heaven : but fince they chafe to abide upon the earth, {he delired them to go to MiC!Imrteuf!li, god of hell, and :dk of him one of the bones of the men that had dted ; to fprinkle this . with their own blood, and from it. th y would have a man and a wo1nan who would afterwards mu1uply. At the fame time {he warned them to be upon their guard ag< inft MiCI/anteuClft', who after giving the bone might fuddenly repent. With thefc inil: ruCl:ions from his mother, Xolotl, one of the he oes, went to hell, and after ob taining what he fought, began to run towards the upper furface of the earth: upon which Miti/anteuflli enraged purfued him, but being unable to come up with him, returned to hell. Xolotl in his precipitate flight !tumbled, and falling broke the bo e irJto unequal pieces. Gathering them up again, he con inned his courfe till he ar- 1·ived at the place where his brothers aw::titec..l him; ,when they put the fragments into a veifel, and fprinkled them with their blood which they drew from ~.tfe~nt parts of their bodies. Upon the fourth day they beheld a boy, and continuing to fprinkle with blood for t1uree days more, a girl was likewife formed. They were both configned to the care of Xolotl to be brought up, who fed them with the mUk of the thiil:le. In that way, they btdieved' the rec<Wery of mankind was efteCl:ed at thar tin'le. Thence took its rife, as they affirmed, the practice of drawing hlood from difrerent parts of the bod¥, whith as we ihall .fee was fo common among thefe nations : and they believed the differences irr the future of men tO have been occafioned· by the in .. equality of the pieces of the bone. Cihuacohuatl (woman ferpent) called li'k.ewi~ fl!~ilaztli.. This they believed to ha-ve been the firt1: womart that had children in tne world; and frle had always twins. Shewn' eil:eemed1a great go~e.Cs, and they wid that {he would frequently alew herfelf, carrying a child in a cradle u.pon her b;?.clt. 'I'onatrrcli and Meztli, names of the fun and moon, both deifiel by thefe nations. 'they faid, that after the recovery and' multiplication of mankind, each of the above mentioned heroes or demigods, had a.:. mong the men, nis fervants and adherents: and that there being no £lua, the one that had been, having come tG an end, the: he~:oes affembled i~. Tr:otihuacan around a great fit•e, and ft~,d to the met~ that the ~rtl: l-l I i T 0 R Y 0 F M . E X . I C 0. fir!l: of them tha~ fhould throw ·himfelf into the fire would have the glory to become a fun. Forthwith one of the men, more intrepid than the reft, called Nanabuazti'n, threw himfelf into the flatl}~s. and defcended t0 hell. In· the interval while ' they all remained expeCting the eJJent, the heroes made wagers with the quails, locut1:s, and other. a.ni.J.nals, about the place of the ik.y where the fun would firfl: appear; and the animals being miftaken in their cqnjeCl:ut·es were immediately 4tcrl6.ced. At length the fun arofe in that quarter which from that time forward h;:~s b~eJJ. called the L e7.Jatt.f'; but he had fcarcely rifen above the hori~on when he il:opped; which the heroes perceiving, fent to denre him to continue his courfe. The fun replied, that he would not, .unt:il be fhould fee them all put to death. The heroes were no lefs emaged than terrified by that anfwer: upon which one of them named. Cit/,i,. taking his bow and three arrows, 1hot one at the Citn ;. but the fun .(aved hirnfdf by il:ooping. Citli aimed two other arrows,. but in vain. The fun enraged turned back the lafl: arrow, and fixed it in the forehead of Citlz', who inil:antly expired. The refl: ir1timidated by the fate of their: ~rother, and unable to cope with the fun, refolved to die by the hands of Xolotl, who after ki11ing all his brothers, put an end to his own life. The heroes before they died left their c1oaths to their fervants i and fince the conqueft of thefe countrit" s by the Spaniards, certain ancient garments have been found, which were preferved by the Indians with extraordinary veneration .. ·under a belief that they had them by inheritance from thofe ancient heroes. The men were affeCted with g reat melancholy upon lofing t)!eir mafters ; but Tezcatlipoca commanded one of them to go to th ~ }loufe of the fun, and from thence to b.ring mufic to celebrate his fcf ... , tival : he told him that for his journey which was to be by {ca, he would prepare a bridge of whales and tortoifes, and defired him to ling .llways as he went, a fong which he gave him. This the Mexica!lS faid, was the origin of the mufic and dancing with which they ce}e. br.ated the fefiivals of their gods. They afcribed the daily (;Krifice which they made of qu·ails to the fun, to that which the heroes made of thofe birds; and the barbarous facrifices of human viCtims, fo com- · Qlon afterwards in the[<! countries, they afcribed to the example of Xo-lotJ with his brethren. . They 2+7 BOOK V ], ~ |