Vitzliputzli - Part 3
Lo! the stars are gleaming paler,
From the lake the mists are rising,
Morning mists like pallid spectres
With their trailing snowy mantles.
End of feasting and of torches
In the temple of the idol.
On his bloody roof the priesthood
And the laity lie snoring.
None awake but Scarlet Jacket,
By a single lamp illumined.
Smirking slyly, grimly jesting,
Thus the priest the god addresses:
" Vitzliputzli, Putzlivitzli,
O my little Vitzliputzli!
Ha! to-day thou hast been merry!
Thou hast revelled in sweet odours!
" 'Twas to-day the blood of Spaniards.
Oh, its steam was appetizing,
And thy nose so fine and dainty
Shone with pleasure when it sniffed it.
" 'Tis the horses' turn to-morrow,
Noble, whinnying, gallant monsters,
Sired by spirits of the tempest,
With the sea-cow for their mother.
" Good and gracious thou must be, though,
And must send us further triumphs;
Let us conquer, Vitzliputzli,
Putzlivitzli, Vitzliputzli!
" Bring destruction on our foemen,
On those strangers who from distant
And still undiscovered countries
Hither sailed across the ocean.
" Wherefore left these men their country?
Were they hungry, or blood-guilty?
" Stay at home, and live by labour"
Is a good and wise old proverb.
" What, I wonder, are they seeking?
With our gold they fill their pockets,
And desire us to be happy
After death, above in heaven.
" And at first we thought them beings
Born of ancestry the noblest;
With the sun for sire — immortal,
Armed with lightning and with thunder.
" But they're only men, and mortal
Like the rest of us; my knife
Their mortality has proven:
They are merely men who perish.
" They are men, and are no fairer
Than we others; some among them
Are as hideous as the monkeys,
And, like them, have hairy faces.
" And they even say that many
Carry, hidden in their breeches,
Monkey-tails, for who but monkeys
Would require to go in breeches?
" And their morals, too, are hateful:
They are impiously wicked;
Why, 'tis said they go so far as
To devour their very gods!
" O annihilate these wretched,
Sacrilegious god-devourers!
Vitzliputzli, Putzlivitzli,
Let us triumph, Vitzliputzli! "
To the god thus spake the priest,
And the answer sounded sighing
Like the rustle of the night-wind
When it whispers to the sedges.
" Scarlet Jacket, bloody butcher,
Thou hast slaughtered many thousands;
Pierce at last thine own old body
With the sacrificial knife.
" When slit open is thy body,
Forth thy soul will crawl, and, pattering
Over roots and over gravel,
Reach the pool where dwell the tree-frogs.
" Thou wilt find the queen of rats there;
She's my cousin, and will greet thee,
Saying, " Naked soul, good morrow;
Speak, how fares it with my nephew?
" " Is he Vitzliputzlying gaily
In the sunlight sweet as honey,
Sweet and golden? Does good fortune
Keep his brow from flies and sorrow?
" " Or does hateful Katzlagara,
Goddess grim of misadventure,
With her iron black feet scratch him,
That she dips in adders' poison?"
" Naked spirit, thou shalt answer,
" Vitzliputzli greets thee, hoping
That a pestilence may plague thee
In thy belly, hag accursid!
" " Thou didst urge him to the conflict,
Didst abysmal ruin counsel,
For we near now the fulfilment
Of that prophecy of eld,
" " Which predicts our land's destruction
By a dreadful bearded people
Who were one day to come flying
From the East on wooden birds.
" " There's an ancient proverb also:
Woman's will the will of God is —
Doubly strong the will of God, then,
When the woman is God's mother.
" " It is she who wakes my fury,
She, the Princess proud of heaven;
She, the Virgin without blemish,
Skilled in miracles and magic.
" " It is she who shields the Spaniards,
And destruction sure awaits us —
Me, of all the gods most wretched,
And poor Mexico, my country.
" " This accomplished, Scarlet Jacket,
Down a sand-hole thou shalt burrow,
Naked soul, and slumber soundly,
That thou mayst not see my sorrow.
" Overthrown shall be my temple,
In its ashes I shall tumble —
I myself but smoke and ruin —
Never more shall any see me.
" Yet I shall not die — I cannot —
For we gods are like the parrots,
Live as long and moult as they do,
Moult like them and change our feathers.
" To the region they call Europe,
To the country of my foes,
I will fly, and, having reached it,
Start a new career of glory.
" I will damn myself, and thenceforth
Be no longer god but devil;
As the foe of foes detested,
I will operate and labour.
" I will plague these Christian people,
Yes, with phantoms I will fright them,
They shall taste of hell beforehand,
And be always sniffing sulphur.
" I will tempt both wise and foolish,
I will lure them and decoy them,
I will tickle, tease, their virtue,
Till it laughs like any harlot.
" I will turn into a devil,
And will greet as trusty comrades
Old Beelzebub and Satan,
Belial, too, and Ashtaroth.
" I will greet thee, Lilith, also —
Sin's great mother, slippery serpent!
In thy gruesome lore instruct me,
And the noble art of lying!
" My beloved Mexico!
Though I cannot save my country
I can fearfully avenge her!
My beloved Mexico! "
From the lake the mists are rising,
Morning mists like pallid spectres
With their trailing snowy mantles.
End of feasting and of torches
In the temple of the idol.
On his bloody roof the priesthood
And the laity lie snoring.
None awake but Scarlet Jacket,
By a single lamp illumined.
Smirking slyly, grimly jesting,
Thus the priest the god addresses:
" Vitzliputzli, Putzlivitzli,
O my little Vitzliputzli!
Ha! to-day thou hast been merry!
Thou hast revelled in sweet odours!
" 'Twas to-day the blood of Spaniards.
Oh, its steam was appetizing,
And thy nose so fine and dainty
Shone with pleasure when it sniffed it.
" 'Tis the horses' turn to-morrow,
Noble, whinnying, gallant monsters,
Sired by spirits of the tempest,
With the sea-cow for their mother.
" Good and gracious thou must be, though,
And must send us further triumphs;
Let us conquer, Vitzliputzli,
Putzlivitzli, Vitzliputzli!
" Bring destruction on our foemen,
On those strangers who from distant
And still undiscovered countries
Hither sailed across the ocean.
" Wherefore left these men their country?
Were they hungry, or blood-guilty?
" Stay at home, and live by labour"
Is a good and wise old proverb.
" What, I wonder, are they seeking?
With our gold they fill their pockets,
And desire us to be happy
After death, above in heaven.
" And at first we thought them beings
Born of ancestry the noblest;
With the sun for sire — immortal,
Armed with lightning and with thunder.
" But they're only men, and mortal
Like the rest of us; my knife
Their mortality has proven:
They are merely men who perish.
" They are men, and are no fairer
Than we others; some among them
Are as hideous as the monkeys,
And, like them, have hairy faces.
" And they even say that many
Carry, hidden in their breeches,
Monkey-tails, for who but monkeys
Would require to go in breeches?
" And their morals, too, are hateful:
They are impiously wicked;
Why, 'tis said they go so far as
To devour their very gods!
" O annihilate these wretched,
Sacrilegious god-devourers!
Vitzliputzli, Putzlivitzli,
Let us triumph, Vitzliputzli! "
To the god thus spake the priest,
And the answer sounded sighing
Like the rustle of the night-wind
When it whispers to the sedges.
" Scarlet Jacket, bloody butcher,
Thou hast slaughtered many thousands;
Pierce at last thine own old body
With the sacrificial knife.
" When slit open is thy body,
Forth thy soul will crawl, and, pattering
Over roots and over gravel,
Reach the pool where dwell the tree-frogs.
" Thou wilt find the queen of rats there;
She's my cousin, and will greet thee,
Saying, " Naked soul, good morrow;
Speak, how fares it with my nephew?
" " Is he Vitzliputzlying gaily
In the sunlight sweet as honey,
Sweet and golden? Does good fortune
Keep his brow from flies and sorrow?
" " Or does hateful Katzlagara,
Goddess grim of misadventure,
With her iron black feet scratch him,
That she dips in adders' poison?"
" Naked spirit, thou shalt answer,
" Vitzliputzli greets thee, hoping
That a pestilence may plague thee
In thy belly, hag accursid!
" " Thou didst urge him to the conflict,
Didst abysmal ruin counsel,
For we near now the fulfilment
Of that prophecy of eld,
" " Which predicts our land's destruction
By a dreadful bearded people
Who were one day to come flying
From the East on wooden birds.
" " There's an ancient proverb also:
Woman's will the will of God is —
Doubly strong the will of God, then,
When the woman is God's mother.
" " It is she who wakes my fury,
She, the Princess proud of heaven;
She, the Virgin without blemish,
Skilled in miracles and magic.
" " It is she who shields the Spaniards,
And destruction sure awaits us —
Me, of all the gods most wretched,
And poor Mexico, my country.
" " This accomplished, Scarlet Jacket,
Down a sand-hole thou shalt burrow,
Naked soul, and slumber soundly,
That thou mayst not see my sorrow.
" Overthrown shall be my temple,
In its ashes I shall tumble —
I myself but smoke and ruin —
Never more shall any see me.
" Yet I shall not die — I cannot —
For we gods are like the parrots,
Live as long and moult as they do,
Moult like them and change our feathers.
" To the region they call Europe,
To the country of my foes,
I will fly, and, having reached it,
Start a new career of glory.
" I will damn myself, and thenceforth
Be no longer god but devil;
As the foe of foes detested,
I will operate and labour.
" I will plague these Christian people,
Yes, with phantoms I will fright them,
They shall taste of hell beforehand,
And be always sniffing sulphur.
" I will tempt both wise and foolish,
I will lure them and decoy them,
I will tickle, tease, their virtue,
Till it laughs like any harlot.
" I will turn into a devil,
And will greet as trusty comrades
Old Beelzebub and Satan,
Belial, too, and Ashtaroth.
" I will greet thee, Lilith, also —
Sin's great mother, slippery serpent!
In thy gruesome lore instruct me,
And the noble art of lying!
" My beloved Mexico!
Though I cannot save my country
I can fearfully avenge her!
My beloved Mexico! "
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