This procession finished, it having occupied the greater part of the day, all was prepared for a sacrifice. The king himself acted the part of priest; taking a censer, he put incense therein with certain ceremonies and incensed the image of the god. This done, they took down again the idol, Paynalton, and set out in march, those going in front that had to be sacrificed, together with all things pertaining to the fatal rite. Two or three times they made the circle of the temple, moving in horrid cortège, and then ascended to the top, where they slew the victims; beginning with the prisoners of war, and finishing with the fattened slaves, purchased for the occasion, rending out their hearts and casting the same at the feet of the idol.
[Sidenote: SYMBOLIC DEATH OF HUITZILOPOCHTLI.]
All through this day the festivities and the rejoicings continued, and all the day and night the priests watched vigilantly the dough statue of Huitzilopochtli, so that no oversight or carelessness should interfere with the veneration and service due thereto. Early next day they took down said statue and set it on its feet in a hall. Into this hall there entered the priest, called after Quetzalcoatl, who had carried the image of Paynalton in his arms in the procession, as before related; there entered also the king, with one of the most intimate servants, called Tehua, of the god Huitzilopochtli, four other great priests, and four of the principal youths, called Telpochtlatoque, out of the number of those that had charge of the other youths of the temple. These mentioned, and these alone, being assembled, the priest named after Quetzalcoatl took a dart tipped with flint and hurled it into the breast of the statue of dough, which fell on receiving the stroke. This ceremony was styled, 'killing the god Huitzilopochtli so that his body might be eaten.' Upon this the priests advanced to the fallen image and one of them pulled the heart out of it, and gave the same to the king. The other priests cut the pasty body into two halves. One half was given to the people of Tlatelulco, who parted it out in crumbs among all their wards, and specially to the young soldiers--no woman being allowed to taste a morsel. The other half was allotted to the people of that part of Mexico called Tenochtlitlan; it was divided among the four wards, Teopan, Atzaqualco, Quepopan, and Moyotlan; and given to the men, to both small and great, even to the men-children in the cradle. All this ceremony was called _teoqualo_, that is to say, 'god is eaten,' and this making of the dough statue and eating of it was renewed once every year.[VIII-10]