Queen Moo's Talisman: The Fall of the Maya Empire

								

General Bravo, after a prolonged struggle, and their capital of Chan
Santa Cruz was taken.

  ARGUMENT.

  I.

A soul returns to earth to live again in mortal form as daughter of a
potentate who rules over the Maya Empire. When the Princess reaches
womanhood, the High Priest Cay, her father’s brother, describes to her
the destruction of the great land whence her people came; consults Fate
regarding her future; gives advice to the Princess, and presents her
with a talismanic stone, warning her that its loss might deprive her of
her throne.

  II.

The Princess is wooed by two of her brothers, who thus become rivals.
Her preference is for Coh, whom she weds. Cay prophesies to her that in
another earthly incarnation she will again be the sister and wife of
him she has chosen for consort.
Aac, the unsuccessful suitor, is filled with jealous wrath.
The sovereign Can, and his brother the High Priest Cay, both pass away.
The Can’s eldest son, also named Cay, becomes High Priest; Móo is Queen
of Chicħen, and her consort the supreme military chief.

  III.

The Prince consort is treacherously slain by his brother Aac, who
admits his guilt, and is banished from the royal city, his elder
brother warning him that he, Aac, will cause the downfall of the Can
dynasty.

  IV.

Multitudes assemble to bewail the death of Coh and witness the funeral
rites. His ashes are laid to rest and, with his charred heart,
deposited in a stone urn, the widowed Queen places her talisman, hoping
to thus link her destiny with that of Coh. She builds a monument over
his mortal remains and a statue made to his likeness, and erects a
memorial hall, upon whose exterior walls she inscribes an invocation to
the manes of her consort.

  V.

Notwithstanding his crime, Aac ventures to renew his entreaties.
Failing in his desire, he brings about a war that causes the ruin of
the country and people. Finally the Queen is captured and imprisoned by
Aac; but she is rescued by loyal subjects and with them flees to
foreign lands.

  VI.

Aac, frustrated even in his hour of triumph, becomes a tyrant,
oppresses those under his sway, turns a deaf ear to better promptings,
and at last is killed in a contest with some of his own subjects, who
would restrain him. The famous CAN dynasty is thus brought to its close.

  VII.

The Queen and her rescuers find tranquillity in the land of the Nile,
where, long before, Maya colonists had made their homes. Here, Móo is
received with open arms, and reigns again to the hour of her death.

  SEQUEL.

  I.

After many centuries have passed away, in a land far distant from that
of the Mayas, Death snatches a baby girl from a loving brother. He
stays upon earth; his lost sister again takes mortal form in another
family; they meet and are united; the prophecy of the High Priest Cay
being thus fulfilled. Together they journey to the land of the Mayas