Aztec: The Death of a Nation

The Tzoncoztli, the scribe responsible for the night watch in the Temple of Tezcatlipoca, was careful not to wake the apprentices, dreaming the uneasy dreams brought about by their yearlong fast, when he rose to make his rounds. The hour was rapidly approaching midnight, and as he looked to the east, he saw a light on the distant horizon. As he watched, the light began to rise in the night sky, and as it rose, it grew larger and larger until it blossomed into a glowing white cloud, so bright that it lit up the city as if it were midday. He roused the apprentices, and they watched the specter as it spread across the sky like a shimmering curtain, then diminished in intensity until it was lost in the light of early dawn.

When they told Moctezuma what they had seen, he questioned each of the apprentices in turn, then dismissed their tale as no more than a bad dream.

“Lord,” the Tzoncoztli said, “Why would we tell the greatest ruler in the world that we had seen something that lies beyond all reason? If you doubt us, watch the heavens tonight and you will see it for yourself.”

The following night Moctezuma climbed to the roof of the palace and spent the night watching the apparition, which was whiter that the snows of the sierra, cross the heavens of Mexico. At daybreak he sent his hunchbacks to fetch the Tzoncoztli, and when he arrived, Moctezuma said, “What you have told me is true. Last night I saw the cloud rise and cross the sky, just as you described it. But what must I do? Who can I call upon to tell me its meaning?”

The scribe replied, “Lord, Mexico is the center of the world, and you are a sovereign who knows no peer. Who am I to tell you the significance of the cloud? Surely there are necromancers and diviners who can explain it to  you.”

But when he summoned the sorcerers and diviners to the palace, they could tell him nothing about the apparition, for none had eve seen anything like it. In frustration, he ordered them taken to Cuauhcalco and sealed into the walls.

Next he sent his nobles to Texcoco to invite the lord Nezahualpilli to Tenochtitlán, and when he arrived, Moctezuma took him to his private quarters.

“Most honored lord, as a man of great learning, a man who understands the motions of the heavens, what can you tell me of this apparition that has appeared in our skies? Is it of worldly origin, or is it an omen sent by the gods?”

Nezahualpilli replied, “Surely lord, those who watch over the city have told you of its meaning. Have they no reckoning of the sky and the stars? The apparition has appeared in our skies for many nights, but as I believed that its meaning had been revealed to you, I did not speak of it.

If it is a sign that all will come to an end, what can I say to you other than as a man of spirit, gather your courage and brace yourself for the blows of misfortune, for as I once told you, a great disaster will come in your time. As for me, my beloved son, I have but one consolation-I shall not witness the end, for my remaining days are few.”

Moctezuma wept, and through his tears he said, “My lord, what will become of me? Where will I go, what will I do? Must I now become a bird to fly away and hide, or must I wait here for whatever the heavens have in store for me?”