Utec of Aztalan
The diary of a dog
A summer day, the year 1132 A.D.
I smell something. I always smell something. Right now I smell the boy. He's is over by the hut sleeping. And I smell the woman, the boy's mother, she is cooking a catfish that the boy caught in the river. I smell the corn ripening in the field. I smell a rabbit that's burrowed somewhere nearby. And I smell something odd on the wind too.
I trot to the top of the hill to have a better look around. People wave and smile at me as I scuttle up the dirt street. "Good day, Utec," they say, or "Hello puppy." Sometimes someone will bend down to scratch my ears. I halt and oblige. It feels divine. (I've got a few fleas, I'm sorry to say.) Then I'm on my way again.
At the top of the hill I can see the whole city of Aztalan and beyond. I can see all the way over the sturdy, low houses. People are moving about, doing whatever it is people do all the time. Men are working around the ceremony mound, carrying and stacking armfuls of wood. That means there will be a fire tonight. I can see out passed the log walls that surround the city and out across the river. Women are wading in the water checking the fish traps There are three deer grazing on grass at the edge of the clearing. A hunter with a bow is sneaking up on them, but already the deer sense the hunter's presence. Children are gathering berries in a nearby wooded area. I smell the cooking catfish again. It's time to eat.
The boy is sleeping on a grass woven mat in the hut. I put my wet nose on his ear and he wakes. "Utec stop, I was sleeping" he says. "And don't you wag your tail at me. Do you think it's time to eat?"
I follow the boy to where the boy's mother is cooking. She speaks. "Look at you two. You look like your stomachs might be empty. Well, the fish is just about ready."
My tail is pounding on the dirt. The boy looks at me and smiles. We eat and my belly is round. I ate too much again.
I want to take a nap, but the boy says, "Come on Utec, let's go swimming," He starts down the path to the river and I trot lazily along behind.
The boy swims, and I lay on the shore and think about chasing a frog that I see hiding in the reeds. But I'm too full and sleepy. I'm dozing off now, with my eyes half closed and the sun warming my belly. The boy is laying on the shore now too. He's on his back staring up at the sun. I'm content, but then the strange smell comes back. I sit up. Some of the men from the town are coming down the path and looking down the river. The smell is stronger, and there in the distance are two big canoes, moving slowly against the current. There's murmured talk among the men as they watch the boats get closer. The boy sits up, and I move over to his side. He touches the top of my head. The smell is stronger. It is the smell of strangers.
When the boats land there is talk and gesturing between the town men and the strangers. The strangers look the same as the town men except the clothes they wear are cut differently, and they wear wrist and neck jewelry made of white metal and blue stones. And the strangers have front teeth that have been filed to points, which gives them a mean-spirited look. Men like these things I have never seen around here.
Most of man's talk I do not understand, so I just look on with an interested expression. Soon the boats are pulled up onto the bank and the strangers go with the town men into the walled city of Aztalan. I stay with the boy. A flea is biting me high on my hind leg. I nibble at it frantically. The boy laughs.
That Evening
There is a fire on top of the ceremony mound, inside the walled place. The walled place is made out of wood and surrounds the fire pit and gathering area. From inside the walled place atop the mound you can see only the fire and the stars in the night sky. I don't know why the men make the fires, but it is very important to the people of Aztalan. The expressions on their faces tell of their joy as the flames lick up into the sky and illuminate the night. There is singing, slow and loud in time with a heavy beat pounded out on a log drum. The boy and I watch the fire, and he pats me on the head. I sit quietly by his side. The strangers watch too, but huddled together away from the fires. They talk among themselves and peek and point about.
The next day
A walk through the streets of the city is extra special after a ceremony night. Everyone is in a good mood and generous with treats for little Utec. Bits of venison meat and fish and bread in cooking grease make my stomach round and taut. My tail wags and wags. Then I hear loud talking among men. I follow the sound and come upon the strangers and town men in an argument. I would stay and look on like I knew what they were saying (like I always like to do), but the flea biting on my hind leg is driving me mad. I am unable to stay and watch the men argue. I have to leave. I have to get to the river and take a swim. I'll drowned the maddening flea.
The river feels fine and I root about in the muddy water searching for crayfish and frogs to snack on. A muskrat slides off the bank into the water in front of me, and I give chase. The rat-like creature swims quickly as I splash and yelp and hop through the water. I follow for a long way and the muskrat stays just ahead of me until it disappears into some tall weeds. I crash through the weeds barking-- and then stop cold. Several boats and a group of ten or more men are assembled under the drooping branches of a willow tree. They all look at me, and then begin to chuckle and mumble to each other. It's then I see their pointy filed teeth. One man speaks to me and holds out his hand, but I back away. The stranger lunges at me. I run. Too many strangers. What are they doing here?
I hurry back down the shore where I here the boy's voice calling. I follow the voice and run to the boy and jump up on him and try to lick his face. He gets covered with the mud from my fur and paws.
Later that day
The boy and I are hunting frogs. He holds a fishing spear up by his shoulder, ready to throw it in an instant. I stalk behind him slowly. Men come down to the shore, strangers and town men. In silence the strangers slide their canoe into the water and glide off. The town men watch them slip away and then mumble a little to each other. I don't know what they are saying. I don't know what it all means. I don't know much. I'm just a dog. And now I have to go because that flea is back and it's driving me crazy. I gotta bite it, I gotta bite... Oh, Oh. Now the boy is way ahead of me up the river. Wait boy, wait for me. Wait for Utec.
to be continued...
Learn about the real ancient city of Aztalan
