CHAPTER XIV
THE RE-KINDLING OF THE SACRED FIRE
Now this story of mine is nearly done, for there are but few things leftfor me to tell. It is not for me to write of all the battles that wefought after the City of the Sun and the region about it fell into ourhands, for to do that is a task better fitted to the hands of him wholed my ever-growing hosts to victory after victory until the whole landthat had been my fathers' was mine from north to south and from thegreat rivers of the east to the Sea of the Setting Sun, which you nowcall the Pacific Ocean.
It is enough for me to say that I used my gold without stint, and thatit did all and more than the work I had been told it would do. As wemarched southward and westward to the sea, army after army left thosewho were fighting between themselves for the ruins of the land and,having no real quarrel of their own, ranged themselves under the RainbowBanner and fought with me for freedom and the ancient faith of theirlong-dead fathers, and how city after city welcomed me as I came to giveit peace and wealth instead of strife and misery.
My unforgotten story and the marvel of my coming back from the days ofour old-time glories had sped like the leaps of the lightning frommountain to mountain and valley to valley, and every man in whose veinsflowed even the smallest drop of the Sacred Blood threw aside the brokenfragments of the oppressor's yoke and came to give me his service.
From other countries, too, and from far over the sea, there came men tofight for me, men whom Hartness had called from afar by speaking to themover the lightning-wires, and they brought ships with them, armed withflame and thunder, which the promise of my gold had purchased, and thesetook all the seaports for me, while my ever-growing armies were takingthe cities of the inland valleys--all of which those who would learn mayread in the great book which Francis Hartness and the professor, whowith Joyful Star have helped out these lame words of mine, are writingtogether to tell how the ancient empire of the Incas rose at my calland the bidding of my gold--which I doubt not was far stronger thanI--out of the degradation into which the oppressors had cast it, and haseven now begun to prosper again with more than its former glory.
But, as I have said, these things are not for me to tell, since I haveneither the skill nor the knowledge to do so. What I have set down hereis only the story of my own awakening out of the death-sleep into whichthe arts of the priests of the Sun had cast me with Golden Star, and ofher return to join me in my new life. I have told of that and of allthat befell us afterwards, and now there remains only the telling ofthat which fulfilled our strange fates and completed our happiness inthe new world into which those fates had brought us.
Many weeks passed and grew into months before the oppressors werefinally subdued and I found myself undisputed lord of all the land, and,as I had promised Joyful Star, all this had to come to pass before Iwould ask her to put her hand into mine and take her place beside me asmy Coya and queen on the throne of Huayna-Capac.
But at length there was peace in the land and we returned from Lima, thecapital of the Spaniards, where I had been proclaimed and acknowledgedInca and Emperor of my ancient domains, to the City of the Sun, whichmany loving and willing hands had cleansed of the abominations of itsnew idolatries and made in some measure fit to receive us, to crown ournew lives with such happiness as, with the help and blessing of theUnnameable, we might be able to bestow upon each other.
The treasures of gold and silver and ornaments of jewels, the richhangings and the sacred and precious emblems had been brought from theHall of Gold and the throne-room beneath the Sacsahuaman and set up inthe chief temple of the Spaniards, which stands in the place where theholy Temple of the Sun once stood and is in great part built of theself-same stones.[F]
It was the eve of the Feast of Raymi, or the Coming of the Sun, which inthe olden time we counted as the beginning of the year, and I haddetermined that this day should witness the restoration of the old orderand the beginning of my own true happiness--so that night Golden Starand I, as became the son and daughter of the Royal Race and SacredBlood, watched and prayed according to the ancient rites--she in achamber of what had once been the House of the Virgins of Sun, and I inthe purified temple--from the setting of the sun until the first waningof the stars in the coming dawn.
Very early in the morning she was brought to me in the temple byTupac-Rayca--whom I had in virtue of his pure blood and noble decent,consecrated Villac-Umu or High Priest of the Sun, and who had in turninvested such others of the Blood as he thought worthy with thesubordinate dignities of the holy office. He and his attendants werearrayed in the ancient priestly robes and adorned with the sacredemblems of their rank, and Golden Star was attired as a royal Virgin ofthe Sun, in garments of white edged with scarlet and decked withornaments of pure gold.
Then we prayed together before the newly-set-up altar, which stood overagainst the eastern window of the Sanctuary, and when that duty wasended, and while the growing light was yet dim, there came to us JoyfulStar, also arrayed as a princess of the Blood, and Francis Hartness,whom my thankful people had already named Viracocha, after one of ourgolden-haired hero-gods of the olden time.
After them came all those of the Sacred Race that were left in theland--men and matrons, youths and maidens--all dressed in thelong-forbidden garb of their forefathers, and ranged themselves in twosilent, orderly ranks down the sides of the Sanctuary, waiting withpatient eagerness for that which they had been bidden here to see.
Above the altar hung the great golden Emblem of the Sun, upon which theradiant glance of the Lord of Light would first fall through thecircular window in the eastern wall, and on it was a pyramid of woodanointed with scented oils; for here was soon to be re-kindled--if ourLord the Sun should smile on the new fortunes of his long-sufferingchildren--without the aid of human hands, that sacred fire first lit byManco Capac and Mama Occlu, son and daughter of the Sun, and which hadburnt unquenched through all the ages that had passed from the foundingto the fall of our ancient empire. Beside it lay a cone-shaped vessel ofburnished gold, in the depths of which the Sacred Fleece awaited thetouch that was to change it into flame.
When all were assembled, Tupac-Rayca mounted the steps of the altar,and, facing the silent throng, began to speak in the ancient andunforgotten tongue and said,--
'Children of the Sun, sons and daughters of those whose ancestors in theunremembered days received the divine command to create the empire overwhich they ruled with ever-growing glory until, by the inscrutabledecrees of the Unnameable, the destroyer and oppressor were permitted tocome into the land, listen with open ears and thankful hearts to thewords which our Father shall put into my mouth to say to you!'
All bowed their heads and crossed their hands over their breasts as hespoke, and after a little silence he went on,--
'The last of the Villac-Umus who stood where I am standing told yourfathers and mine of the near-approaching night of gloom and desolationthat was about to fall upon the Land of the Four Regions. For what sinsof his children our Father permitted that night to eclipse the brightday of their empire we know not, nor is it lawful for us to inquire. Letit be enough for us to believe that, grievous as the doom was, it couldnot have been anything save the inflexible justice of the Unnameable.'
Again they bowed their heads, and there was silence for a little spaceuntil he went on, speaking this time in a gladder voice,--
'But, stern as that justice was, it was yet not untempered with mercy,for with the words of doom there came from our Father, by the lips ofhis minister, the holy Anda-Huillac, those words of hope and promisewhich from that day to this have been handed down in secret, yetunforgotten, from father to son and from mother to daughter, and whichnow for the first time since then may be spoken openly in the land:--
'"_To that Son of the Sacred Race who, for honour and faith and love, shall take the hand of a pure virgin of his own holy blood and with her pass fearless through the gate of death into the shadows which lie beyond, shall be given the glory of casting down the
oppressor and raising the Rainbow Banner once more above the Golden Throne of the Incas. On that throne he shall sit, and wield power and mete out justice and mercy to the Children of the Sun when the gloom that is now falling upon the Land of the Four Regions shall have passed away in the dawn of a brighter age._"
'Sons and daughters of the long-dead, turn your eyes and see how theeastern skies are swiftly brightening with first rays of thatlong-looked-for dawn. This is the morning of our deliverance, for ourdeliverers stand here before us, and with your own eyes you may lookupon those who, in the strength of their love and faith, dared the doomto win the promise, for here in the living flesh stands that Vilcaroya,son of the great Huayna-Capac, and there beside him is Golden Star, thatvirgin of the Royal Race who of her own will joined hands with him inthe wedlock of death, and whose pure soul has dwelt with his in theMansions of the Sun while ten generations of men have lived and diedawaiting their return to the land.
'To us, more blessed, it has been given to see that which our fatherswaited for in vain. To us our Lord Vilcaroya and our Lady Golden Starhave come back from the shadows of death into the light of life andglory of victory. Already you have seen the oppressor pay the price oflife for life, and blood for blood, and shame for shame. You have seenour Lord seated on the golden throne of the Divine Manco with theRainbow Banner waving high above him, and now the moment has come foryou to see the fulfilling of what yet remains of the promiseunfulfilled. Behold the visible presence of our Father comes near tosmile once more on his children long left in darkness!'
While he was speaking these last words the light in the eastern sky hadbrightened fast until a sunray leapt over the lower rim of the windowand shone on the painted ceiling of the Sanctuary. At a sign fromTupac-Rayca, Golden Star took up the vessel in which lay the SacredFleece, and, standing in the middle of the altar on the highest step,held it poised in her hands above her head, with her pale, fair face andshining eyes upturned towards the window.
Foot by foot the light crept along the roof, broadening and brighteningas it went, till it touched the western wall. Then, ever followed by theanxious eyes of the silent throng, it descended until the great Symbolof the Sun flashed and flamed in its radiance. Still lower it sank andthe burnished vessel that Golden Star held to receive them caught thegathering rays and glowed as though filled with liquid fire.
Now the moment for the giving of the Sign had come.
_To face page 280._]
Now the moment for the giving of the Sign had come. A faint wreath ofpale blue smoke curled upwards from the Sacred Fleece. It grew darkerand denser, and then a little tongue of flame leapt out from the midstof it. At the same instant Tupac seized the vessel and held it upturnedover the pyramid of wood upon the altar. The burning fleece fell downupon the anointed wood, a long shaft of fire shot upward, and, as thedescending sunrays fell over the face and bosom of Golden Star, thevoice of Tupac rang out in an exultant chant through the silence,saying,--
'Rejoice, Children of the Sun, rejoice! for your Father has once morelooked in kindness and blessing upon you, and with the radiant glance ofhis eyes he has re-kindled the long-quenched fire which henceforth shallburn upon his altar as long as his visible presence shall make brightthe heavens and beautiful the earth!'
As he ceased, Golden Star's voice rose up clear and sweet, singing thefirst words of the Hymn to the Sun--as I alone of all that throng hadheard her sing them in the days that were no more. Then the Children ofthe Blood raised their voices too, and out of the fulness of theirthankful hearts poured forth their first tribute of praise andthanksgiving to Him who had broken the yoke of the oppressor and givenback light and joy and peace to the long-darkened Land of the FourRegions.
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When the Hymn to the Sun was ended and the Children of the Blood hadreceived the blessing of Tupac, there was yet one more ceremony to beperformed before the rejoicings of the Feast of Raymi began. There islittle need for me to tell you what it was. In love as in war I hadstriven and conquered, and now the dearest of my rewards, dearer farthan wealth or empire, was to be made mine by the free gift of her whowas herself that which she gave.
Two of the priests brought forth the marriage-font and placed it infront of the altar, and Joyful Star stood on the one side of it and I onthe other and we joined hands across it.
It was a double vessel of gold, formed of two twin cups, and betweenthem there was a hole stopped by a golden plug, to which a little chainwas fastened. The cup on my side was filled with blood-red wine and thattowards Joyful Star with pure water, crystal clear.
Tupac took our hands in his and parted them, saying as he did so,--
'To meet and to part is the lot of man and woman upon earth, yet whentwo true souls meet and two faithful hearts are joined even death canpart them but in seeming, for in the bright halls of the Mansions of theSun they shall dwell for ever in the blessed presence of our Father!'
So saying, he joined our hands again, and drawing out the golden plug,he pointed to the mingling fluids and went on, speaking now to each ofus in turn,--
'Here, Vilcaroya Inca, and you, Joyful Star, daughter of a conqueringrace and well-beloved of our Lord, see the emblem of the union betweenyou! As the strong red wine colours and strengthens the pure water, so,Joyful Star, shall the stronger nature of thy chosen husband colour andstrengthen thine, and, as the pure water tempers and purifies the wine,so, Vilcaroya Inca, shall the gentler and purer nature of her who ishenceforth thy wife and queen by the rites of our ancient law, softenand purify thine according to the will and purpose of the Unnameable,who to this end sent man and woman upon earth that together they mightpossess and enjoy it, each helping the other, man making the worldfruitful and beautiful by his labour, and woman sweetening his toil bythe reward of her love and her constancy.'
Then he raised his hands above our heads as we bowed them together overthe emblem of our mingling lives, and said again,--
'Son and daughter, man and wife, who have met from afar, and who in thissolemn act have sworn in the all-pervading presence of the Unnameable tolead each other from this your meeting-place to the dim border of theshadow-land which lies between this world and the threshold of theMansions of the Sun, may the blessing of our Father clothe your browswith honour and fill your hearts with everlasting love and trust, andmay He guide your feet to walk in pleasant places from now even to theend!'
As he ceased our hands parted, only to meet again a moment later afterwe had stepped aside to yield up our places at the marriage-font toFrancis Hartness and Golden Star.
FOOTNOTES:
[F] This is not quite correct, although a natural mistake on the part ofthe Inca. It is not the Cathedral of Cuzco, but the Church of SantoDomingo, which stands on the site of the ancient Temple of the Sun. Itis by far the finest church in Cuzco. The Cathedral faces the greatsquare.
_Coiston and Coy. Limited, Printers, Edinburgh_
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List of corrections:
"Anahauc" corrected into "Anahuac"
page 206 and bid Anahauc and Ainu close the door page 208 Anahauc came and prostrated himself
"ont" corrected into "out"
page 298 mete ont justice and mercy
"Ullulo" corrected into "Ullullo"
page 288: Ullulo, the first friend
The Romance of Golden Star ... Page 18