'
Now Otomie paused as one who has something to say that she can scarcely
find words to fit, but I, remembering only what had been said, swelled
inwardly with the sense of my own greatness, and because this lovely
princess had declared that I was the most beautiful man in Anahuac,
I who though I was well-looking enough, had never before been called
'beautiful' by man, woman, or child. But in this case as in many
another, pride went before a fall.
'It must be spoken, Teule,' Otomie continued. 'Alas! that it should be I
who am fated to tell you. For a year you will rule as a god in this city
of Tenoctitlan, and except for certain ceremonies that you must undergo,
and certain arts which you must learn, none will trouble you. Your
slightest wish will be a law, and when you smile on any, it shall be an
omen of good to them and they will bless you; even my father Montezuma
will treat you with reverence as an equal or more. Every delight shall
be yours except that of marriage, and this will be withheld till the
twelfth month of the year. Then the four most beautiful maidens in the
land will be given to you as brides.'
'And who will choose them?' I asked.
'Nay, I know not, Teule, who do not meddle in such mysteries,' she
answered hurriedly. 'Sometimes the god is judge and sometimes the
priests judge for him. It is as it may chance.
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