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He concluded that a well-trained Roman legion would have made short shrift of
the lot-but at the moment he did not have access to a Roman legion. The trip
began, the captives led by the ropes of woven leather.
Day after day the party made its way deeper into the interior. They passed
many villages, and Casca looked curiously at the inhabitants of this strange
land. As a rule they were a handsome and ruddycolored people; with square
features and jaws, but with eyes like pieces of obsidian peeking out from
beneath black hair cut shoulder length and with bangs.
During the days of their trek, Casca was introduced to many new foods. One was
a yellow grain made into large fat cakes, something like those he had known in
the East. There was a particularly tasty tuber plant. But the prize of the lot
was a hot spice that burned the inside of the mouth like acid. Something the
natives called "chile" as near as he could make out the word. This the natives
used every time they cooked. Surprisingly enough, though, after a couple of
days of eating the "chiles" regularly, he began to develop a taste for them.
On the trail the party was joined for short periods by others carrying market
items, as Casca decided they do all over the world. There were pelts from the
great spotted cat, snakeskins over ten feet long, and birds, thousands of
brilliantly colored birds. The whole countryside seemed to have a madness for
bird feathers.
The trail led up and up. Casca knew they were climbing and he was puzzled by
it. Was this strange land that big that the interior should be so high? They
left the tropical regions behind and entered a desert landscape where the
vegetation was sparse, but cacti of many kinds flourished. Several times he
saw the strange snakes with beads on their tails that they would shake at one
if excited. Although Casca already knew it, his captors indicated by signs
that the bite of the reptiles was poisonous.
He became aware of a certain ceremony, endlessly repeated.
As the war party and its captives approached a village, a deputation
consisting of the village leaders would come out and make obeisance to the
leader of the Teotecs and offerings of food and drink would be tendered.
Before the party continued on its way many of the inhabitants of the village
would come to where the prisoners were, bringing their children. They would
smile and bob their heads in what was obvious approval. Several of the bolder
souls would come close enough to touch a prisoner on the heed and then touch
their own, grinning all the while, obviously pleased. Casca surprised them the
most, held them the most in awe. His paler skin and sun-streaked hair seemed
to fascinate them.
There was some kind of meaning to the repeated ceremony, but he could not
figure out what it was. The trails they traveled on were well used. Traffic on
them was regular, if not heavy. What surprised him was to find that each
night, when they stopped on the trail, it would be at already prepared
facilities, permanent facilities. Used as he was to the Roman civilization, he
was surprised to find in this strange land an equally elaborate organization,
if not the same, at least along the same lines.
As the party crested a hill on the twelfth day, Casca caught his first look at
their destination. Shock, and wonder engulfed him. There in the vast bowl of
the plateau below them was a city such as might compare in grandeur and size
with many Roman and Greek cities he had seen. Yet it was strange also. It
resembled what he imagined had been the cities whose ruins he had seen in
Mesopotamia. There were straight streets and broad avenues, temples and
pyramids. From this distance the pyramids looked like those fellow soldiers in
the legion who had served in Egypt had described to him. The walls of the city
flashed with color even at this distance. It had the feel of being filled with
low, square buildings; it had the look of being clean-and of being laid out
geometrically. Thousands of the inhabitants were visible. At this distance
they looked like ants as they went about their business.
The leader of the Teotec pointed proudly to the scene below.
"Teotah!" he exclaimed, then pointed to the sky and repeated, "Teotah."
Teotah ... Teotec .... City of the gods. Good enough. At least I should be
able to find out what's going to happen here, Casca thought. The plain below
was shimmering with the heat of midday. Cacti, those long-leafed spiny plants
that reached heights of over six feet, were abundant. There were also fields
planted with crops of which Casca knew nothing, but the fields were obviously
well cared for and well tended.
The Jaguar leader sent one of his men ahead as a runner, apparently to
announce their arrival. The full party continued at a more leisurely pace.
Crowds had already gathered to look at the captives as they entered the city
from the south along a broad thoroughfare. Casca was able to get a good look [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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