Quetzalcoatl was a large man. He often wore a conical cap made from the skin of the jaguar and a cloak made from the feathers of the quetzal bird. He wore a chain of sea-shells around his neck and a chain of rattles around his ankles. His voice was so strong that it could be heard for thirty miles. While he was alive, every cob of corn was as strong as a human being, pumpkins were as tall as human beings, and corn grew in many colors.
Quetzalcoatl was the son of the Sun and the goddess Coatlicue. Coatlicue would sweep the heavens twice each day: once to usher in the night and the arrival of her children, the stars, and once to usher in the day, and the arrival of her husband, the Sun.
One day at twilight, after Sun had left the sky and Coatlicue's hundreds of children had not yet appeared, a lone multicolored feather floated down from the heavens. It was so lovely that Coatlicue picked it up and placed it in the neckline of her dress.
Later that night, when she had finished sweeping, Coatlicue sat down on the surface of the earth and rested. She reached for her feather but could not find it. She called to it, but it did not answer. In tears over her loss, she was heartbroken until she realized that she was pregnant.
When the stars heard that their mother was pregnant, they were determined to k** the father of the fetus. When they found that Sun was the father, they were not surprised. He was their father too and they hated him. They were always attempting to k** him. As yet, they could not k** him for more than one night. In spite of their best efforts, every dawn as usual he climbed into the eastern sky as usual.
It was not long before Quetzalcoatl was born, and in an even shorter time he grew to be the size of a nine-year-old. Soon after, the stars k**ed Sun and buried his body in the sand. Vultures saw the event as they flew through the sky. They quickly found Quetzalcoatl and told him of the murder. Quetzalcoatl sought the help of an eagle, coyote, a wolf, and hundreds of moles, and together they followed the vultures to the burial site. The animals helped Quetzalcoatl dig up his father's body. Once again the stars had been successful only temporarily.
When he had grown to be a man, Quetzalcoatl arrived at the Toltec town of Tula as a stranger. He taught the people how to raise corn and cotton, weave clothe, work with gold, jade, feathers, wood, and stone, and write, paint, and dance. Quetzalcoatl became famous for his moral principles. He had a great respect for all forms of life. He did not believe in k**ing flowers by picking them, or k**ing any of the animals of the forest. He became the ruler of the Toltec people, and even evil magicians could not tempt him to perform human sacrifices.
A powerful man, even when he is good, is never without enemies. Tezcatlipoca, who had worked with Quetzalcoatl to create the earth and to bring music to humans, now wished to destroy his rival's power.
Tezcatlipoca was a formidable enemy. The Dark One had originally emerged from a cloud and descended to earth by means of a twisted spider's web. He was capable of performing deeds of virtue as well as deeds of evil. So great was his intelligence that he could create whatever his mind imagined. He could see into the depths of trees and rocks and into the minds and hearts of human beings. He had given human beings the gift of intelligence, and he was known to reward people who were good and to punish with disease those who were evil.
Once Tezcatlipoca set his mind to conquering Quetzalcoatl, he was clever enough to succeed where all others had failed. First, in the course of playing a game with Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca transformed himself into a jaguar and chased Quetzalcoatl from one community to another for the cruel enjoyment of it.
Now Tezcatlipoca held a mirror up to the face of the ruler. "Oh," Quetzalcoatl groaned. "My skin is wrinkled like that of an ancient creature. My eyes look sunken like valleys in my face, and my eyelids are all puffed up. I am truly hideous to behold. I cannot walk the face of the earth if this is the way I look. I am so ugly that my people will be tempted to destroy me. I must leave the world of human beings."
"Nonsense," Tezcatlipoca replied. "I can make you look handsome. Then you will be proud of yourself."
Tezcatlipoca dressed Quetzalcoatl in splendid clothes. He covered his body in a robe made of the feathers of the quetzal bird, he colored his face with red and yellow dye, and he placed a turquoise mask over his eyes. Finally he added a wig and a feathered beard. When his decoration was complete, he again held a mirror up to Quetzalcoatl's face. This time Quetzalcoatl was delighted. He looked so young and handsome that he gave up the idea of living a secluded life.
However, Tezcatlipoca had planted the seeds of fear in Quetzalcoatl's mind. His vision in the mirror had convinced that he was an old man and he began to have a great fear of d**h. Tezcatlipoca catered to this fear by offering Quetzalcoatl an intoxicating drink. "Drink this, my friend," he said. "It will bring joy to your heart, peace to your mind, and youth to your body. It will chase away all thoughts of d**h as the rays of Sun scatter dark clouds."
"I have no interest in your drink, no matter what powers you say it possesses," Quetzalcoatl replied.
"Oh, come now," Tezcatlipoca said. "You act like a man who is afraid of his own shadow! Dip the tip of your finger into the bowl and taste the wine. Surely you can have no fear of just a lick! How foolish you are being."
Once Quetzalcoatl had tasted wine, he could not resist it. He drank bowl after bowl, until he had consumed five containers of wine and was very drunk. Quetzalcoatl's sister and servants followed his lead, and soon they too had become very drunk. In this state, Quetzalcoatl no longer thought about living an honorable life. He forgot his religious practices and did whatever his senses enjoyed, without caring about the consequences.
When the effects of the wine eventually wore off, Quetzalcoatl realized that, among other immoral deeds, he had had s**ual relations with his sister. He felt terribly ashamed. "Knowing what I have learned about myself how can I walk among the Toltecs as a proud man?" he asked himself. "My people are weak. They need a strong man to lead them, a man they can admire and follow. However, if I leave them, they will only follow Tezcatlipoca. Surely they are better off if I remain their king."
So Quetzalcoatl remained king of the Toltecs. Tezcatlipoca also remained among them. "I have done all I need to do to destroy Quetzalcoatl." he said to himself. "Now it is time to destroy his people! I shall begin by making them sing themselves to d**h!"
Tezcatlipoca came before the Toltecs as a great entertainer, leading them in song after song. The people cheered as they sang along with him. They sang as the sun sank in the western sky. They sang as the stars appeared in the heavens. They sang throughout the night. The music Tezcatlipoca created pulsed within their hearts, faster and faster, stronger and stronger. One by one, their hearts cracked from the strain,a nd many collapsed and died.
Tezcatlipoca next transformed himself into a warrior and called the remaining Toltec men to join him in battle against a great enemy. Once they had a**embled, he a**umed his natural form and k**ed many more Toltecs.
Tezcatlipoca then transformed himself into a puppeteer. He appeared in the marketplace with a puppet of Quetzalcoatl and entertained the Toltecs by making the figure dance in the palm of his hand. The people gathered eagerly about him, captivated by his performance.
When he was satisfied with the size of his audience, Tezcatlipoca said,"Why are you watching us you fools! Are we not trying to make you dance as, not long ago, we made you sing? Surely we deserve to be stoned to d**h! Who among you is sensible enough to throw the first stone?"
Tezcatlipoca goaded the Toltecs into stoning him. His body fell to earth as if the rocks had k**ed him, and dreadful fumes began to raise from the fallen figure. Whoever smelled the fumes died. The wind blew the fumes throughout the city.
Finally Tezcatlipoca gave the Toltecs the courage to approach the figure and attempt to get rid of it. But the corpse turned out to be so heavy that it could not be budged.
In the meantime, the food the Toltecs raised began to have such a bitter taste that it was inedible. Before long the people began to starve to d**h. When they were desperate for food, Tezcatlipoca appeared in the marketplace in the guise of an old woman. He built a bonfire and began to roast kernels of corn.
The Toltec people could not resist the tantalizing aroma. It had been so long since they had eaten a tasty morsel that word spread like a summer storm, and they quickly gathered from all parts of the city, hoping to appease their hunger. When the last person had arrived, Tezcatlipoca a**umed his natural form and k**ed them all.
So it came to pa** that Tezcatlipoca destroyed Quetzalcoatl's people and forced their king to leave the city of Tula. Quetzalcoatl hid his wealth deep within the mountains and canyons. He burned his rich palaces, turned cacao trees into desert brush, and ordered the birds to leave the area. Then he went on his way, travelling in a southeastern direction toward the sea.
At one point in his journey, Quetzalcoatl stopped, looked at his image in a mirror and saw that he was as old as he had feared. In anger he threw stones at a huge tree that was standing nearby; those stones have remained embedded in the trunk to this day.
At another point Quetzalcoatl sat down to rest on a large rock. While he was sitting there, he wept tears the size and weight of hailstones. His body and his tears have left their impression on that rock to this day.
Finally Quetzalcoatl came upon a group of demons who said,"Quetzalcoatl, stop and turn back! Where do you think you are going?"
"Sun has called me, and that is where I am going!" Quetzalcoatl replied.
"You may proceed but only if you agree to our conditions," the demons said. "You must toss away all your j**els and all your wealth. You must leave every sk** that you possess with us: your ability to write, to cut gems and jade, to cast gold, to create objects from feathers,and to carve objects from wood and stone."
"If that is what I must do," Quetzalcoatl replied," then I will do it. For I must go where Sun calls me."
Before he reached the end of his journey, Quetzalcoatl planted fiber-producing plants, built a ballcourt, built a house in the land of the dead, and proved that, even as an old man, he was strong enough to push a rock with his little finger that no other man could move at all.
Finally Quetzalcoatl reached the shore of the eastern sea. He wept with joy as he put on his feathered cloak and turquoise mask. He climbed on a raft woven of snakes and set off toward Sun, who was beginning his morning journey across the heavens.
Some observers heard Quetzalcoatl exclaim, "Some day I will return to my people and my land."
Others watched Quetzalcoatl's body burn up from the heat of Sun's rays. They say that his ashes became transformed into a colorful array of birds. The birds rose high into the air and carried his heart into the heavens where it became the morning star that we call Venus.