The Story of Mexico/Chapter 5
V.
NEZAHUALCOYOTL, THE HUNGRY FOX.
When the city of Texcuco was seized, the young prince Nezahualcoyotl, the heir to the crown, was but fifteen years old. He fled before the turbulent crowd of Tepanecs as they rushed into the palace gardens, and hid himself in the branches of a tree which most luckily happened to come in his way. From his hiding-place among its thick leaves he saw his father, Ixtlilxochitl, left alone for the moment turn and face his furious enemies. They seized and killed him on the spot, and the frightened boy saw the bleeding body carried off, a victim, as he well knew, for future sacrifice. Filled with horror and burning with thoughts of vengeance, he fled from the spot, seeking safety for the moment, with the firm resolve of turning later upon the assassins of his father and the usurpers of his inheritance.
As the country was full of the triumphant army, in a few days the young prince fell into the hands of his pursuers, who knew too much to leave him at large. He was seized and imprisoned temporarily, until some decision should be taken as to his fate. The prison was a strong place guarded by the same governor who had held it in the previous reign, for the new government had not yet had time to change such offices. This old man knew the prince well, and was devoted to his line. He helped him to escape and took his place in the dungeon cell. It was long enough before the change was discovered for the prince to be far out of reach of pursuit. The good old governor lost his head, but Nezahualcoyotl found shelter in the neighboring province of Tlaxcalla, whose rulers were for the moment friendly to his family.
This is the place which later offered to Cortes protection and aid in his enterprise of conquest. Prescott calls it a republic in the midst of many small monarchies, dwelling apart on a system of government wholly independent.
Climbing by rail the ascent from Vera Cruz, the modern traveller, after reaching the barren plateau of the cold region, and crossing a dreary, dismal country, strikes an insensibly downward grade, which gradually leads him to the central basin of Mexico. The Malinche presides over the landscape, an isolated peak, which all the year conceals beds of snow in the crevices of its summit, though unseen below, rising more than thirteen thousand feet above the level of the sea. Less majestic than the two great volcanoes, it yet has wonderful beauty of outline, and from its solitary position gains importance.
This mountain was long the object of worship for the tribes who lived around its base, among them the Tlaxcallans, whose home lies to the northwest of it, in a deep valley surrounded by barren ridges. Their so-called social organization and mode of government, which have given their country the name of a kind of Mexican Switzerland, is now thought to have differed little from those of their neighbors. Their chiefs were elected from an hereditary house of rulers, and two of them formed the nominal head of the tribe, while the true power lay in a council. Their territory consisted of narrow valleys spreading into fertile fields, where they maintained long their independence, subject to the attacks of neighboring tribes. Tlaxcalla means "the land of bread." Its rich products naturally were tempting to the neighboring tribes, whose limits included land not so good for cultivation. Their next neighbors were the Cholulans, who dwelt under the great pyramid. The Tlaxcallans had the reputation of triumphing over their foes in battle, for they were both bold and strong.
It was with the friendly Tlaxcallans that the wandering prince lived, unmolested in the companionship of a brave man who followed the fortunes of his young master. He had been the family preceptor ever since the birth of the prince. This tutor was wise as well as learned; although he was strongly prejudiced in favor of the legitimate family and against the usurpation of the fierce Tepanec, he counselled restraint and patience, and caused his pupil to lead a quiet life without attracting attention, while he was giving him lessons in the art of governing and training in all the qualities good for a monarch to possess.
Meanwhile, the son of the usurper grew up untrained and indulged in the royal palace, humored but feared by all who surrounded him. Maxtla was born of a race of no gentle attributes; he cared little for study, and knew no discipline. He knew the rightful prince, and hated him on account of his better claim to the throne, while he despised his reserve and modesty, which he set down to weakness, knowing nothing of the qualities of self-restraint and reserved force. When Tezozomoc died, he bequeathed his empire to his son Maxtla. On the accession of the new sovereign, all the great families hastened to do him homage, and among them came Nezahualcoyotl, then twenty-three years old, with a present of flowers, which he laid at the feet of the young king. Maxtla sprang up and spurned the flowers with his foot, and then turned his back upon the true prince, who had self-control enough to withdraw quietly, admonished by signs from all the royal attendants, with whom he was a favorite. He lost no time in leaving the royal palace, and hastened back to the deserted one at Texcuco.
But Maxtla could not fail to see that the sympathies even of his own followers were with his rival, whose manners, indeed, were those to win, while his own repelled the affection of courtiers and inferiors. He resolved to do away with him, and formed a plan which failed through the vigilance of the wily old tutor. When the prince was invited to an evening entertainment by Maxtla, the tutor was sure that more was meant than a friendly attention. He could not permit his pupil to go, but accepted the invitation for him, and sent in his stead a young man he had at hand who singularly resembled Nezahualcoyotl. This youth, perhaps, was pleased to attend a royal feast, dressed in the rich robes which the son of a king, even if lacking a throne, might wear; but there must have been a moment, just as he felt the deadly iztli weapon at his throat, when he perceived the game was not worth the candle; for the guest was assassinated as he came to the table, before the substitution could be perceived; and thus the true prince escaped. His descendant, who tells us the story, does not let us know whether Nezahualcoyotl was a party to the deception. We will leave the blame on the shoulders of the wily old tutor, in order to preserve the honor of our hero unsullied.
When Maxtla found that his rival was not dead, like a prince in a fairy tale, he gave up secret plots, and boldly sent a band of armed soldiers to the old palace at Texcuco, to seize the young man whose popularity he feared. The tutor, always on the watch, arranged everything as usual, and when the emissaries of Maxtla arrived, they found the prince playing ball in the court of the palace. He received them courteously, as if he thought they came on a friendly visit, and invited them to come in, while he stepped into a room which opened on the court, as if to give orders for refreshments for them. They seemed to be seeing him all the time, but, by the directions of the old tutor, a censer which stood in the passage was so fed and stirred by the servants that it threw up clouds of incense between the guests and their host, between which Nezahualcoyotl disappeared into a secret passage which communicated with a great pipe made of pottery, formerly used to carry water into the palace. He stayed there till after dark, when he could escape without being seen, and found safety in a cottage belonging to an old subject loyal to his father's name. A price was set upon his head, and a reward offered to him who should take him dead or alive, in the shape of a marriage with some lady of birth and broad possessions. This bride never came to her wedding, for the prince was not found. Too many faithful vassals watched over him, in spite of the temptation of such a brilliant match; they hid him under heaps of magueys, and furnished him with every means of escape. They turned their heads away when they saw him pass, lest they should be forced to betray the knowledge; they put food for him in places where he might steal forth and find it. They hid him once in a large thing like a drum, around which they were dancing as if to amuse themselves. In fact, no one would give him up; the whole population connived to protect him and hide him from his half-hearted pursuers, forced to the task by their sovereign. It was a poor sort of life he led, and his own sufferings were increased by his tender heart for the difficulties these caused his loyal protectors.
Most of the chiefs of the regions round about were, from policy, allied to the usurper, but the dethroned prince had friends, and the party on his side grew large as the tyranny of Maxtla and his oppressions caused defections among his followers. When the time came for a general rising, Nezahualcoyotl found himself at the head of a courageous band which gained in size and strength, until it seemed safe to attack the regular forces of Maxtla. In the battle which took place the tyrant was routed, and the true prince triumphant. As soon as this was known all the chiefs flocked to do him homage, and he entered his capital in triumph, crossing to the sound of military music the spot where he had passed an evening under a drum, and entering by the royal gates the palace he had left through a water-pipe. Horses were not known in Anahuac until after the advent of the Conquistadores. The young victor was borne in a sort of palanquin by four of the chief nobles of the kingdom.
Thus did Nezahualcoyotl return to the throne of his fathers. The Mexicans, who had helped his former enemies to overthrow the rule of his father, now joined forces with him, abandoning without hesitation Maxtla, whose oppression and exaction made him an uncomfortable ally. A league of the other neighboring tribes, combining with the Mexicans, under the lead of the true prince of Texcuco, utterly routed the forces of Maxtla, and this tyrant who himself assassinated the father was slain by the hand of the son.
Maxtla was killed in 1428. The usurpation of the throne of the Chichimecs by Tezozomoc first, and afterwards by Maxtla, his son, had lasted ten years. By this event the kingdom of Atzcapotzalco came to an end, having lasted not more than two hundred and sixty years.
The kingdom which Nezahualcoyotl regained from the usurpers, whose kings traced their lineage back to the Chichimec Xolotl (Eye of great Vigilance), now became the kingdom of Texcuco Aculhuacan, by which it was known when Cortés, with his conquering legions, appeared on the plains of Anahuac.
