by Lew Wallace
CHAPTER IX.
A KING'S BANQUET.
At last the evening of the royal banquet arrived,--theme of incessanttalk and object of preparation for two days and a night, out of thecapital no less than in it; for all the nobler classes within aconvenient radius of the lake had been bidden, and, with them, people ofdistinction, such as successful artists, artisans, and merchants.
It is not to be supposed that a king of Montezuma's subtlety in mattersgovernmental could overlook the importance of the social element, orneglect it. Education imports a society; more yet, academies, such aswere in Tenochtitlan for the culture of women, always import a refinedand cultivated society. And such there was in the beautiful valley.
My picture of the entertainment will be feeble, I know, and I give itrather as a suggestion of the reality, which was gorgeous enough to beinteresting to any nursling even of the court of His Most CatholicMajesty; for, though heathen in religion, Montezuma was not altogetherbarbarian in taste; and, sooth to say, no monarch in Christendom betterunderstood the influence of kingliness splendidly maintained. About it,moreover, was all that makes chivalry adorable,--the dance, the feast,the wassail; brave men, fair women, and the majesty of royalty in stateamidst its most absolute proofs of power.
On such occasions it was the custom of the great king to throw open thepalace, with all its accompaniments, for the delight of his guests,admitting them freely to aviary, menagerie, and garden, the latteritself spacious enough for the recreation of thirty thousand persons.
The house, it must be remembered, formed a vast square, with _patios_ orcourt-yards in the interior, around which the rooms were ranged. Thepart devoted to domestic uses was magnificently furnished. Another veryconsiderable portion was necessary to the state and high duties of themonarch; such were offices for his functionaries, quarters for hisguards, and chambers for the safe deposit of the archives of the Empire,consisting of maps, laws, decrees and proclamations, accounts andreports financial and military, and the accumulated trophies ofcampaigns and conquests innumerable. When we consider the regard inwhich the king was held by his people, amounting almost to worship, andtheir curiosity to see all that pertained to his establishment, an ideamay be formed of what the palace and its appurtenances were asaccessaries to one of his entertainments.
Passing from the endless succession of rooms, the visitor might go intothe garden, where the walks were freshly strewn with shells, theshrubbery studded with colored lamps, the fountains all at play, and theair loaded with the perfume of flowers, which were an Aztec passion, andseemed everywhere a part of everything.
And all this convenience and splendor was not wasted upon aninappreciative horde,--ferocious Caribs or simple children ofHispaniola. At such times the order requiring the wearing of _nequen_was suspended; so that in the matter of costume there were no limitsupon the guest, except such as were prescribed by his taste orcondition. In the animated current that swept from room to room and fromhouse to garden might be seen citizens in plain attire, and warriorsarrayed in regalia which permitted all dazzling colors, and pabashooded, surpliced, and gowned, brooding darkly even there, and stoledminstrels, with their harps, and pages, gay as butterflies, while overall was the beauty of the presence of lovely women.
Yet, withal, the presence of Montezuma was more attractive than the calmnight in the garden; neither stars, nor perfumed summer airs, norsinging fountains, nor walks strewn with shells, nor chant of minstrelscould keep the guests from the great hall where he sat in state; so thatit was alike the centre of all coming and all going. There the aged andsedate whiled away the hours in conversation; the young danced, laughed,and were happy; and in the common joyousness none exceeded the beautiesof the harem, transiently released from the jealous thraldom that madethe palace their prison.
From the house-tops, or from the dykes, or out on the water, the commonpeople of the capital, in vast multitudes, witnessed the coming of theguests across the lake. The rivalry of the great lords and families wasat all times extravagant in the matter of pomp and show; a king'sbanquet, however, seemed its special opportunity, and the lake itsparticular field of display. The king Cacama, for example, left his cityin a canoe of exquisite workmanship, pranked with pennons, ribbons, andgarlands; behind him, or at his right and left, constantly ploying anddeploying, attended a flotilla of hundreds of canoes only a little lessrich in decoration than his own, and timed in every movement, even thatof the paddles, by the music of conch-shells and tambours; yet princelyas the turn-out was, it did not exceed that of the lord Cuitlahua,governor of Iztapalapan. And if others were inferior to them inextravagance, nevertheless they helped clothe the beloved sea with abeauty and interest scarcely to be imagined by people who neverwitnessed or read of the grand Venetian pageants.
Arrived at the capital, the younger warriors proceeded to the palaceafoot; while the matrons and maids, and the older and more dignifiedlords, were borne thither in palanquins. By evening the whole wereassembled.
About the second quarter of the night two men came up the great streetto the palace, and made their way through the palanquins stationed therein waiting. They were guests; so their garbs bespoke them. One wore thegown and carried the harp of a minstrel; very white locks escaped fromhis hood, and a staff was required to assist his enfeebled steps. Theother was younger, and with consistent vanity sported a militarycostume. To say the truth, his extremely warlike demeanor lost nothingby the flash of a dauntless eye and a step that made the pave ringagain.
An official received them at the door, and, by request, conducted themto the garden.
"This is indeed royal!" the warrior said to the minstrel. "It bewildersme. Be yours the lead."
"I know the walks as a deer his paths, or a bird the brake thatshelters its mate. Come," and the voice was strangely firm for one soaged,--"come, let us see the company."
Now and then they passed ladies, escorted by gallants, and frequentlythere were pauses to send second looks after the handsome soldier, andwords of pity for his feeble companion. By and by, coming to anintersection of the walk they were pursuing, they were hailed,--"Stay,minstrel, and give us a song."
By the door of a summer-house they saw, upon stopping, a girl whosebeauty was worthy the tribute she sought. The elder sat down upon abench and replied,--
"A song is gentle medicine for sorrows. Have you such? You are veryyoung."
Her look of sympathy gave place to one of surprise.
"I would I were assured that minstrelsy is your proper calling."
"You doubt it! Here is my harp: a soldier is known by his shield."
"But I have heard your voice before," she persisted.
"The children of Tenochtitlan, and many who are old now, have heard mesing."
"But I am a Chalcan."
"I have sung in Chalco."
"May I ask your name?"
"There are many streets in the city, and on each they call medifferently."
The girl was still perplexed.
"Minstrels have patrons," she said, directly, "who--"
"Nay, child, this soldier here is all the friend I have."
Some one then threw aside the vine that draped the door. While theminstrel looked to see who the intruder was, his inquisitor gazed at thesoldier, who, on his part, saw neither of them; he was making anobeisance so very low that his face and hand both touched the ground.
"Does the minstrel intend to sing, Yeteve?" asked Nenetzin, steppinginto the light that flooded the walk.
The old man bent forward on his seat.
"Heaven's best blessing on the child of the king! It should be a noblerhand than mine that strikes a string to one so beautiful."
The comely princess replied, her face beaming with pleasure, "Verily,minstrel, much familiarity with song has given you courtly speech."
"I have courtly friends, and only borrow their words. This place isfair, but to my dull fancy it seems that a maiden would prefer the greathall, unle
ss she has a grief to indulge."
"O, I have a great grief," she returned; "though I do borrow it as youyour words."
"Then you love some one who is unhappy. I understand. Is this child inyour service?" he asked, looking at Yeteve.
"Call it mine. She loves me well enough to serve me."
The minstrel struck the strings of his harp softly, as if commencing amournful story.
"I have a friend," he said, "a prince and warrior, whose presence hereis banned. He sits in his palace to-night, and is visited by thoughtssuch as make men old in their youth. He has seen much of life, and wonfame, but is fast finding that glory does not sweeten misfortune, andthat of all things, ingratitude is the most bitter. His heart is setupon a noble woman; and now, when his love is strongest, he is separatedfrom her, and may not say farewell. O, it is not in the ear of a truewoman that lover so unhappy could breathe his story in vain. What wouldthe princess Nenetzin do, if she knew a service of hers might soothe hisgreat grief?"
Nenetzin's eyes were dewy with tears.
"Good minstrel, I know the story; it is the 'tzin's. Are you a friend ofhis?"
"His true friend. I bring his farewell to Tula."
"I will serve him." And, stepping to the old man, she laid her hand onhis. "Tell me what to do, and what you would have."
"Only a moment's speech with her."
"With Tula?"
"A moment to say the farewell he cannot. Go to the palace, and tell herwhat I seek. I will follow directly. Tell her she may know me in thethrong by these locks, whose whiteness will prove my sincerity anddevotion. And further, I will twine my harp with a branch of this vine;its leaves will mark me, and at the same time tell her that his love isgreen as in the day a king's smile sunned it into ripeness. Be quick.The moment comes when she cannot in honor listen to the message I am tospeak."
He bent over his harp again, and Nenetzin and Yeteve hurried away.