The approach of the year had, as usual, revived the old superstition, and possibly some vague rumors from Yucatan or the Islands had intensified the dread with which the Mexican emperor contemplated the possible loss of his sovereignty.  Omens were reported in the sky, on earth and in the waters.  The sages and diviners were consulted, but their answers were darker than the ignorance they were asked to dispel.  Yes, they agreed, a change is to come, the present order of things will be swept away, perhaps by Quetzalcoatl, perhaps by hideous beings with faces of serpents, who walk with one foot, whose heads are in their breasts, whose huge hands serve as sun shades, and who can fold themselves in their immense ears.[1]

[Footnote 1:  The names of these mysterious beings are given by Tezozomoc as Tezocuilyoxique, Zenteicxique and Coayxaques.  Cronica Mexicana, caps, cviii and civ.]

Little satisfied with these grotesque prophecies the monarch summoned his dwarfs and hunchbacks—­a class of dependents he maintained in imitation of Quetzalcoatl—­and ordered them to proceed to the sacred Cave of Cincalco.

“Enter its darknes,” he said, “without fear.  There you will find him who ages ago lived in Tula, who calls himself Huemac, the Great Hand.[1] If one enters, he dies indeed, but only to be born to an eternal life in a land where food and wine are in perennial plenty.  It is shady with trees, filled with fruit, gay with flowers, and those who dwell there know nought but joy.  Huemac is king of that land, and he who lives with him is ever happy.”

[Footnote 1:  Huemac, as I have already said, is stated by Sahagun to have been the war chief of Tula, as Quetzalcoatl was the sacerdotal head (Lib. iii, cap. v).  But Duran and most writers state that it was simply another name of Quetzalcoatl.]

The dwarfs and hunchbacks departed on their mission, under the guidance of the priests.  After a time they returned and reported that they had entered the cave and reached a place where four roads met.  They chose that which descended most rapidly, and soon were accosted by an old man with a staff in his hand.  This was Totec, who led them to his lord Huemac, to whom they stated the wish of Montezuma for definite information.  The reply was vague and threatening, and though twice afterwards the emperor sent other embassies, only ominous and obscure announcements were returned by the priests.[1]

Clearly they preferred to be prophets of evil, and quite possibly they themselves were the slaves of gloomy forebodings.

[Footnote 1:  Tezozomoc, Cronica Mexicana, caps. cviii, cix; Sahagun, Historia, Lib. xii, cap. ix.  The four roads which met one on the journey to the Under World are also described in the Popol Vuh, p. 83.  Each is of a different color, and only one is safe to follow.]

Dissatisfied with their reports, Montezuma determined to visit the underground realm himself, and by penetrating through the cave of Cincalco to reach the mysterious land where his attendants and priests professed to have been.  For obvious reasons such a suggestion was not palatable to them, and they succeeded in persuading him to renounce the plan, and their deceptions remained undiscovered.