Certainly it was so, if we can depend upon the authority
of a ballad translated from the original immediately after the conquest,
cited by the venerable traveller and artist Count de Waldeck. It
purports to be from the lover of one of these vestals, and referring to
her occupation asks with a fine allusion to its mystic meaning--
"O vierge, quand pourrai-je te posseder pour ma compagne cherie?
Combien de temps faut-il encore que tes voeux soient accomplis?
Dis-moi le jour qui doit devancer la belle nuit ou tous deux,
Alimenterons le feu qui nous fit naitre et que nous devons
perpetuer."[147-1]
There is a bright as well as a dark side even to such a worship. In
Mexico, Peru, and Yucatan, the women who watched the flames must be
undoubted virgins; they were usually of noble blood, and must vow
eternal chastity, or at least were free to none but the ruler of the
realm. As long as they were consecrated to the fire, so long any carnal
ardor was degrading to their lofty duties.
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