The Aztec Nation:

[Popol Vuh]

Long ago there was an enchanted land where deer frolicked on rolling meadows with manicured flower beds under graceful willow trees. Birds of many sizes and bright plumage soared from the branches where squirrels played. The climate was always mild. The sweet scent of flowers and varieties of ripe fruit hanging from carefully attended trees, perfumed the air. Waterfalls and streams fed fountains and ponds full of brightly colored fish. Handsome brick houses, smooth tile streets and dramatic carved temples of polished marble and granite mingled with the sweeping gardens of lush beauty.

Devoutly religious, the people were humbled before the eyes of their spiritual powers. These god-fearing people were governed by eight guiding commandments given to them by their Supreme Creator. Theft was unknown. True wealth was measured by a person's charity. The poor, the old, the crippled were provided for. Hospitals were available to everyone at no charge. Citizens were models of cleanliness, bathing daily, sometimes twice. For leisure pleasures they read books, listened to musical orchestras or marveled at jugglers and acrobats. Men dressed as birdmen soared above the heads of amazed spectators at the festivals.

Intellectuals and philosophers bested each other in poetry and natural sciences. The universities turned out architects, engineers, artists, sculptures, accountants, medical doctors, attorneys, scribes as well as the finest of the breed to manage their grand cities. The Chief Spokesman was chosen, based on ability, by a council of experienced leaders. A full compliment of civil services kept the bustling metropolises running smoothly. A medical profession, far advanced in herbal medicine, tended to the needs of the population that had swelled to fifty millions citizens.

At the markets, the quality and quantity of goods was so vast, to shop took days. Lumber, concrete, plaster, glass lenses, bronze bells, fine linen, emeralds, gold and jade could be purchased along with roast turkey, broiled swordfish, pineapple, tomatoes, potatoes, avocados, cigars, wine, hot chocolate and even flavored snow. This monstrous market was managed with deft rectitude.

The people lived and governed for the good of all. They were considerate of the Earth, most everything was recycled, and there was little waste. The well-constructed roads were swept daily and had rest stations for the passerby's to relieve themselves. The bridges, dams and dwellings were built with precision and of definitive quality. They understood the Sun to be another star.

This is the Aztec Mexico as well as all other mesoamerican societies before the European invasion of 1519.

[Popol Vuh]

1. Some letters from the Spainards

In 1520, Cortes wrote a glowing letter to his king, Charles V. The letter gave a detailed description of the setting they found in Ixtapalapan, where Cortes and his staff were quartered on their way to Tenochtitlán:

"It's Lord or Chief has some new houses which, though still unfinished, are as good as the best in Spain; I mean as large and well constructed, not only in stonework but also in woodwork, and all arrangements for every kind of household service, all except the carved relief work and other rich details which are used in Spanish houses but not found here.

There are both upper and lower rooms and very refreshing gardens with many trees and sweet scented flowers, and bathing places of fresh water, well constructed and having steps leading to the bottom.

He also has a large orchard near the house, overlooked by a high terrace with many beautiful corridors and rooms. Within the orchard is a great square pool of fresh water, very well constructed, with sides of handsome masonry, around which runs a walk with well-laid pavement of tiles, so wide that four persons can walk abreast on it, and 400 paces square, making in all 600 paces.

On the other side of the promenade toward the wall of the garden are hedges of lattice work made of cane, behind which are sorts of plantations of trees and aromatic herbs. The pool contained many fish and different kinds of waterfowl." -- Hernan Cortes (1520)

The same sense of awe and wonder is found in the journals of Bernal Diaz. This Conquistador noted in his journal a remarkable find at the pueblo of Oaxtepac:

"When Captain Sandoval found himself free from that struggle, he gave thanks to God and went to rest and sleep at an orchard within the town, which was so beautiful and contained so many fine buildings that it was the best worth beholding of anything we had seen in New Spain. There were so many things in it to look at that were really wonderful and was certainly the orchard of a great prince, and they could not go all through it then, for it was more than a quarter of a league in length."

Descriptions by the first Europeans defy the imagination. Bernal Diaz was in the company of Hernan Cortes, in 1519, when they first laid eyes on the Aztec cities, he wrote:

"When we saw so many cities and villages built on the water, and other great towns on dry land, plus that straight and level causeway going towards Mexico (Tenochtitlán, the capital city), we were amazed....And some of our soldiers even asked whether the things that we saw were not a dream." -- Bernal Diaz (1519)