His Guard Consisted Of Two Hundred Nobles, Who Had Apartments
Adjoining His Own.
Certain persons only among these were permitted to
speak to him, and when they went into his presence, they
Laid aside their
ordinary rich dresses, putting on others quite plain but clean, entering
his apartment barefooted, with their eyes fixed on the ground, and making
three profound reverences as they approached him. On addressing him, they
always began, Lord! my Lord! great Lord! and when they had finished, he
always dismissed them in few words; on which they retired with their faces
towards him, keeping their eyes fixed on the ground. I observed likewise,
that all the great men who waited upon him on business, always entered the
palace barefooted and in plain habits, never entering the gate directly,
but making a circuit in going towards it.
The cooks of the palace had above thirty different ways of dressing meats,
which were served up in earthen vessels of a very ingenious construction
for keeping their contents always hot. For Montezumas own table above
three hundred dishes were dressed every day, and more than a thousand for
his guards. Montezuma sometimes went before dinner to inspect the
preparations, on which occasions his officers pointed out to him which
were the best, explaining what birds or flesh they were composed of. It is
said that the flesh of young children was sometimes dressed for his table;
but after Cortes had spoken to him respecting the barbarity of this
inhuman custom, it was no longer practised in the palace. The ordinary
meats were domestic fowls, pheasants, geese, partridges, quails, venison,
Indian hogs or _pecaris_, pigeons, hares, rabbits and many other animals
and birds peculiar to the country; the various meats being served up on
black and red earthen-ware made at Cholula. In the cold weather while at
his meals, a number of torches were lighted up, of the bark of a tree
which has an aromatic smell and gives no smoke; and to prevent the glare
and heat of those from being troublesome, rich screens ornamented with
gold and paintings of their idols were interposed between Montezuma and
the torches. At his meals he was seated on a low throne or chair, at a
table of proportional height covered with white cloths and napkins, four
beautiful women attending to present him with water for his hands, in
vessels named _xicales_, having plates under them, after which they gave
him towels to dry his hands. Two other women attended with small cakes of
bread; and when he began to eat, a large screen of gilt wood was placed
before him, to prevent him from being seen. Four ancient nobles, who were
his relations and served as councillors and judges, stood beside the
throne, with whom he occasionally conversed, giving them a part of what he
was eating, which they received with profound respect, and eat without
lifting their eyes from the ground. Fruit of all kinds produced in the
country was served up to him at table, of which he eat in great moderation;
and a certain liquor prepared from cocoa, said to be of a stimulant and
strengthening nature, was presented to him from time to time in golden
cups.
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