Jaguar Claw

As Jaguar Claw was led quickly down the hallway his father called to him saying, "Be good Jaguar Claw, I will see you soon!" He tried to see his father, but the priest's robe swirled around him blocking his view.

The high priest was very excited. He walked forward briskly, briefly pausing only once to stare down at the boy and breathe, "Exceptional." He brought Jaguar Claw to a large hall with pictures of the gods painted on the walls. It would have looked like a tomb except for the high windows that allowed beams of light to cut through the smoky air.

At the far end of the hall was a stone seat upon which sat the king surrounded by his court and the twenty seven other high priests. Jaguar Claw was lead before them and told to prostrate himself. He gladly flung himself down onto the stone floor and closed his eyes once more.

The high priest raised his right hand and chanted:

Great Lord Twelve Serpents

King of our people

He who brings light in the morning

And rain in its season

And life to our land

I bring you a gift.

There was silence for a moment, and then the king said, "It looks like a boy."

"Indeed you are correct, great lord."

The king moved uncomfortably on his seat, then nervously looked sideways to one of his advisors. He cleared his throat once, then said, "I thank you for your gift, priest, but I am unsure of your meaning in giving me a boy. Boys I have, and girls as well, and men and women have I many. Sons and daughters and wives and concubines and many slaves."

"Yes, great lord, it is true that many people call you master, even our whole city, and so I give you this boy which is more than just a boy. Great lord, this boy is a dwarf. For seven generations our people have not had a dwarf among us, and now one comes again. The gods are pleased with us!"

The king sat back in his seat, eyes wide in surprise. "A dwarf?"

"Yes, great lord, a dwarf."

"Well then, that's different. A dwarf. Very good. I am quite pleased with your gift. Thank you. A dwarf. Extraordinary." The king frowned, "What exactly, high priest, are dwarfs good for?"

The high priest shuffled a bit and squinted, then said, "Dwarfs are ... pleasing to the gods. They are a gift from the gods." He shrugged a bit. "It's been seven generations, great lord, since we had a dwarf among us. Perhaps we should observe it and we shall learn how our people will be blessed given some time. The boy only recently performed First Penance and while he is now human, perhaps he has not yet come into his full powers as a dwarf."

The king fingered his chin then asked, "What should I do with it while I wait? Wouldn't it be easier to just send it back to the gods? Or perhaps give it back to its family."

"I think that we shouldn't be too hasty to return to the gods what the gods have only just recently given us," said the high priest, "and the boy's father is nothing more than a merchant of cloth and will be unable to provide the care needed to raise him as he should be."

"Well then, high priest, I will give my dwarf to you for safe keeping. You shall train him and watch over him and observe him, and you will report back to me when his dwarfish powers appear."

"Yes, great lord. Thank you, great lord. But perhaps ... You see ... great lord, I am very old. Perhaps..."

"Nonsense, you are quite healthy. You take the dwarf and do as I have commanded."

"Yes, great lord."

The high priest led Jaguar Claw out of the hall, through a maze of passage ways and out into the bright sunshine. Jaguar Claw's life had changed completely, and it was still not yet time for the mid day meal. The priest led him across a great field that lay at the foot of the temple of the sun and into the priestly housing district. The houses were similar to his father's house. His father may have been just a merchant of cloth, but the cloth he dealt in was very fine cloth and expensive. His was a wealthy family.

The high priest had a large house with many servants, and he caused them to prepare a room for Jaguar Claw and a meal.

They sat together on cushions, and the high priest said, "Well boy, here we are. You are the kings own now, and mine to teach. I am called Turtle Head. We might as well become familiar. You may call me by my name, and perhaps I'll call you boy or son, though my grand son has a son your age, or maybe I'll just call you by your name. You do have one don't you?"

Jaguar Claw nodded, unable to speak.

The servants brought in food then and set the bowls and plates at their feet.

Turtle Head smiled and said, "Perhaps after we eat you will tell me your name." He waved a hand at the food and began to eat.

Jaguar Claw found himself suddenly famished. He reached for a piece of meat tentatively, unsure that he was in fact welcome to eat with the great high priest.

"Go ahead, dear boy. You may eat."

The meat was very good. Spiced perfectly with just a hint of sweetness.

"Jaguar Claw." said the boy.

"Eh? No this is not jaguar we are eating. Something else. Llama I believe."

"My name is Jaguar Claw."

"A fine name. Good name for a warrior, though perhaps a bit pretentious for one who will never grow taller than my chest."

"I can still be a warrior."

"Maybe so," said Turtle Head, "Maybe so. But I would guess that your life will not have much war in it unless the way wars are fought change in a very big ... er ... drastic way."

After his meal Jaguar Claw was sent to his room and told to rest before he attended his evening lessons. The lessons were unlike anything he had ever experienced before. His father taught him to read some of the symbols on the walls of the temples and on the great staircase, but he never imagined that there was an easier way.

Turtle Head met him in the dining area and announced that since he was a priest and had been given charge of teaching the king's dwarf, he would train him in all the ways of the priesthood.

He set a small table on Jaguar Claw's lap and placed a sheet of paper on it. By his knee he set a pot of black paint and into his hand he thrust a fine brush. "These are the weapons of the priesthood, Jaguar Claw, and I will teach you to wield them with truth and honor. You will learn the language of the priesthood, the writing of the priesthood, and the history of the priesthood. I shall teach you mathematics and astronomy as well, for these are all things that I know. First, you will learn the secrets of our writing. I will show you how to write your name."

Jaguar Claw frowned, "My father taught me to write my name. I can do so now if you wish."

Turtle Head smiled and nodded, but said, "Not all things are as you understand them to be. Even so, you may write your name."

The boy dipped his brush in the paint and slowly drew the pictures that said, "Jaguar Claw"

"Very good," said the priest. "That does say Jaguar Claw. You have a very good hand. But let me now take the brush and paper and I will write something and see if you can read it."

Turtle head dipped the brush in the paint then quickly formed a few squiggles on the paper below the boys large pictographs. It took him only a few seconds, and then he handed the paper back to the boy.

"There. What do you think of that?"

Jaguar Claw stared at the paper. The squiggles didn't mean anything. There were no pictures. There was nothing to read at all.

He shrugged and handed the paper back. "Where are the words?"

"These are, boy, the marks below your name. Many thousands of generations ago when the two sons of the sky created the earth and the plants and all of the animals and the people, they asked their children, our first parents, to help them in the creation of all things. They wrote their instructions for their children and taught them to read their words.

This writing is not the same. Too much time has passed and our language has changed, but it is very similar. It is small, as you can see. Much smaller than your writing, and it is written more quickly. This thing I have written here uses only a few marks on the paper, yet it says many words"

"What does it say?" asked Jaguar Claw.

"It says, I am Turtle Head and I am very pleased to be your teacher."

Turtle Head taught him how to write his name that evening and he taught a little string math and they talked a little about history and about the gods and they had a very nice time, for which both of them were surprised. Jaguar Claw never expected the high priest, a great lord of the city, the man who officiated at many of the sacrifices, to be such a nice person. And Turtle Head, who was in truth of a very great age, found that he enjoyed teaching the small boy.

When they were done and Jaguar Claw was sent off to his sleeping mats, Turtle Head sat for a long time reading an old, old book that told of ships and many waters and great warriors. It had been a long time since he took such joy in reading the old words. "Perhaps," he mused, "this little dwarf will teach me a thing or two as well."