glyphics the
principal events of each year of the king's reign.

Lower down were other reservoirs, adorned with statuary, and yielding
water to channels that ran through the gardens or to cascades that tumbled
riotously over the rocks. Here were marble porticoes and pavilions, and
baths cut in the solid rock, which the natives still show to visitors
under the title of the "Baths of Montezuma." Near the base of the hill,
amid lofty groves of cedar, rose the royal villa, with its light arcades
and airy halls, affording a delightful relief to the monarch from the
duties of the court. Relics of this villa and garden still remain to
attest their former beauty, and indicate that this Indian king lived in a
magnificence resembling that of the far-famed court of the caliph
Haroun-al-Raschid.

He was like the celebrated caliph of the "Arabian Nights" in another way,
for it was his custom to wander about the streets, conversing with the
humblest of his people and learning their condition and needs from their
own words. Many anecdotes are told of this kind, in which it was his
delight to reward merit and relieve distress. Some of these may be read
with interest.

On one occasion he met a boy who was gathering sticks in a field for fuel,
and asked him why he did not go into the neighboring forest, where he
would find plenty of them.

"I dare not do that," said the boy. "It's the king's wood, and he would
punish me with death if I took sticks from there."

"What kind of man is your king?"

"He is a very hard man," answered the boy, "for he takes from his people
what God has given them."

The boy was right; the forest laws in Tezcuco were as severe as those of
Norman England. The king advised the boy not to heed such cruel laws but
to help himself in the forest, for there was no one who would betray him.
But the lad sturdily refused, and told his tempter that he was a traitor
who wished to bring him into trouble.

The next day the boy and his parents were sent for to come to the palace.
They obeyed with wonder and dread, and the boy was filled with terror on
seeing the king and recognizing him as the man with whom he had talked so
freely. But the good-natured monarch bade him not to fear, and thanked him
for the lesson he had given his king, praising his respect for the laws
and commending his parents for bringing up their son so wisely. He
dismissed them with liberal presents, and afterwards gave orders that any
one might