[Sidenote: QUETZALCOATL LEAVES MARKS ON A STONE.]
While Quetzalcoatl was enjoying this good fortune with pomp and majesty, we are told that a great magician called Titlacahua [Tezcatlipoca], another of the gods, arrived at Tulla. He took the form of an old man, and went in to see Quetzalcoatl, saying to him, My lord, inasmuch as I know thine intent and how much thou desirest to set out for certain distant lands, also, because I know from thy servants that thou art unwell, I have brought thee a certain beverage, by drinking which thou shalt attain thine end. Thou shalt so make thy way to the country thou desirest, having perfect health to make the journey; neither shalt thou remember at all the fatigues and toils of life, nor how thou art mortal.[VII-21] Seeing all his projects thus discovered by the pretended old man, Quetzalcoatl questioned him, Where have I to go. Tezcatlipoca answered, That it was already determined with the supreme gods, that he had to go to Tlapalla, and that the thing was inevitable, because there was another old man waiting for him at his destination. As Quetzalcoatl heard this, he said that it was true, and that he desired it much; and he took the vessel and drank the liquor it contained. Quetzalcoatl was thus easily persuaded to what Tezcatlipoca desired, because he wished to make himself immortal and to enjoy perpetual life. Having swallowed the draught he became beside himself, and out of his mind, weeping sadly and bitterly. He determined to go to Tlapalla. He destroyed or buried all his plate and other property and set out. First he arrived at the place, Quauhtitlan, where the great tree was and where he, borrowing a mirror from his servants, found himself "already old." The name of this place was changed by him to Huehuequauhtitlan, that is to say, "near the old tree, or the tree of the old man;" and the trunk of the tree was filled with stones that he cast at it. After that he journeyed on, his people playing flutes and other instruments, till he came to a mountain near the city of Tlalnepantla, two leagues from the city of Mexico, where he sat down on a stone and put his hands on it, leaving marks embedded therein that may be seen to this day. The truth of this thing is strongly corroborated by the inhabitants of that district; I myself have questioned them upon the subject, and it has been certified to me. Furthermore we have it written down accurately by many worthy authors; and the name of the locality is now Temacpalco, that is to say "in the palm of the hand."