Aztec mythology; Indian mythology -- Mexico; Mexico -- Religion
Sahagun states [128] that after Tezcatlipocâ had succeeded in driving
Quetzalcoatl from the country, “he proceeded further guilefully to kill
many Toltecs and to ally himself by marriage with Vemac or Uemac, who
was the temporal lord of the Toltecs, even as Quetzalcoatl was the
spiritual ruler of that people. To accomplish these things Tezcatlipocâ
took the appearance of a poor foreigner and presented himself naked, as
was the custom of such people, in the market-place of Tulla, selling
green chilli pepper. Now the palace of Vemac, the great king,
overlooked the market-place, and he had an only daughter, and the girl,
looking by chance among the buyers and sellers, saw the disguised god.
She was smitten through with love of him, and she began to sicken.
Vemac heard of her sickness, and he inquired of the women who guarded
her as to what ailed his daughter. They told him as best they could,
how for the love of a peddler of pepper, named Toveyo, the princess had
lain down to die. The king immediately sent a crier upon the mountain
Tzatzitepec to make this proclamation: ‘O Toltecs, seek me out Toveyo
that goes about selling green pepper, let him be brought before me.’ So
the people sought everywhere for the pepper vendor, but he was nowhere
to be found. Then after they could not find him, he appeared of his own
accord one day, at his old place and trade in the market. He was
brought before the king, who said to him: ‘Where dost thou belong to?’
and Toveyo answered, ‘I am a foreigner, come here to sell my green
pepper.’ ‘Why dost thou delay to cover thyself with breeches and a
blanket?’ said Vemac. Toveyo answered that in his country such things
were not in the fashion. Vemac continued: ‘My daughter longs after
thee, not willing to be comforted by any Toltec. She is sick of love
and thou must heal her.’ But Toveyo replied: ‘This thing can in no wise
be; kill me first; I desire to die, not being worthy to hear these
words, who get my living by selling green pepper.’ ‘I tell thee,’ said
the king, ‘that thou must heal my daughter of this her sickness; fear
not.’ Then they took the cunning god and washed him, and cut his hair,
and dyed all his body and put breeches on him and a blanket; and the
king Vemac said, ‘Get thee in and see my daughter, there, where they
guard her.’ Then the young man went in and he remained with the
princess and she became sound and well; thus Toveyo became the
son-in-law of the king of Tulla.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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